It's that time of month again.   Another four weeks have passed, and Square Enix has decided to bless (or curse) us with three additional episodes to Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.   If this is the first you've heard of this episodic sequel, refer to this review of the initial available downloads and a follow-up that covered the tales of Yang, Palom, and Edge.   With the release of three additional episodes on August 3, 2009, that now brings The After Years' number of quests to eight.   The story is now nearly complete, but much is yet a mystery.   Will each plot thread have a proper resolution?   Who knows, but my current mission is to bring you a full review of each of the three August episodes.

 
The month of August provides us with episodes featuring characters with very distinct personalities and abilities.   One of these characters is a personal favorite of mine, while the others are merely a passing interest.   The first new downloadable episode details the life of an adult White Mage named, Porom who was formerly a kid in Final Fantasy IV.   Porom was known for being rather mature for her age in FFIV, so it is interesting to see the personal transformations she has made on her path to adulthood.  

The second new downloadable episode features one of the most reviled characters in FF history even though he's actually quite original.   This character, Edward, the lowly Bard (and Prince), would often run from his problems (and battle), but now that he is a full-fledged king, has he changed?  

Finally, the last episode is from the perspective of two Lunarians who had entered a deep slumber.   One was formerly an evil despot who was feared throughout the land, while the other had white hair as pure as snow.   Each of these new episodes are quite short, but they make for some of the most interesting episodes in The After Years pantheon.   Read on to see which episodes are worth skipping a meal for.

Porom's Tale: The Vanished Lunar Whale  
 

Let me get this out of the way: Porom was one of the least likeable characters in Final Fantasy IV.   First of all, she had an obnoxious twin brother, which was hard enough to deal with, but it was made worse by the fact that she always had to be right.   Being somewhat mature at her young age was admirable, but Porom came off as too much of a suck-up.   If Sage Tellah had lived longer, I'm sure he would have put an end to her charade, but alas, nothing can be done about the past unless you're Crono, so it's time to fast-forward to the present.

 
Despite being somewhat of a dud in Final Fantasy IV, Porom's The After Years episode is quite interesting not only because it details the transformations she has made through written dialogue, but because of its clever use of flashbacks.   Several years have passed since the Blue Planet was saved from Zemus, and during that time, much has changed, including Porom's transformation from a boyish- looking kid into a beautiful young lady (or sprite, if you will).   Now, you can actually tell Porom and Palom apart--her bright pink hair and stylish robes are a far cry from Palom's Harry Potter look.   However, looks aren't the only important thing, so it's necessary to take a look at Porom's other transformations.

As you learned in Palom's episode, he began to mature through teaching others, but Porom needed a quest of her own.   Being fairly humble and quiet, she decided to keep her dreams to herself instead of approaching the Elder.   Like any good elder would do, Mysidia's senior ranking official took matters into his own hands.   He approached Porom, and saw that she was somewhat jealous of Palom.   It quickly became evident that Porom was yearning to go on a quest of her own.   The Elder of Mysidia could sense the impending danger threatening the planet, so he decided to call on Porom to seek out Dragoon Kain.   He was Mysidia's only hope with the Lunar Whale's mysterious disappearance.   It was rumored that Cecil's traitorous friend could be found on Mt. Ordeals where he completed a sacred ritual, so Porom set out with nameless Black and White Mage sidekicks to fetch the infamous Dragoon.

Before this pursuit of Kain Highwind began, there were several flashback scenes where the player could actually participate in the events that transpired between the end of FFIV and the start of The After Years.   During this portion of Porom's episode, you spend much of the time playing with the original FFIV character sprites.   It's interesting that the director of The After Years decided to use the original miniature sprites in place of The After Years-FFVI-sized character models.   Some would call this lazy, but I felt that it provided additional nostalgia to FFIV fans.  

Much of Porom's past is spent babysitting Palom as he follows in Tellah's footsteps.  Porom attempts to help her brother mature, but he pays no heed to her advice.   Thankfully, other FFIV characters who you will meet along the way are able to talk some sense into Porom.   During this portion of the quest, you'll encounter familiar areas that you've already traversed in Final Fantasy IV and even The After Years.   Reading the character dialogue during these portions is fun, and adds to the character development of two people who were barely a part of your party in FFIV, but the reused dungeons felt lazy.

Even when the player enters the present with Porom, you're still entering areas you've already cleared in other The After Years episodes.   Mt. Ordeals isn't that exciting, since you already met (and played as) Kain there in a few other episodes.   Even with the all-too familiar environments, it's nice that players will finally get to see what happened in Mysidia.   In previous episodes, the events that transpired there were merely hinted at.

The last point worth mentioning about Porom's episode is that it's fairly easy for once.   You'll find no pointless grinding here; instead, you'll mostly spend time exploring and watching characters banter back and forth.   Even though Palom and Porom no longer have their Twin ability, they're able to use powerful magic, so you'll be able to make quick work of most enemies without having to level up.

Porom's episode is quite brief (it only took me one-and-a-half hours), but at least there is no tedious grinding to be found.   You won't find a deep plot and new environments here, but if you're interested in learning more about Palom and Porom and their progression towards adulthood, this episode is worth checking out.   If you've had a long day, just download this episode and put your mid-level spells on repeat.

Score: 7.5

Time elapsed: 1:32

Edward's Tale: Star-Crossed Damcyan 

Final Fantasy IV fans have been dreading playing as the cowardly Prince (and Bard) known as Edward, but unfortunately that ungodly hour has arrived.   Those of you who've played FFIV remember using this wimp during early portions of the game.   For those who aren't familiar with this infamous bard, here's a bit of history: Edward was set to marry Tellah's daughter, Anna, but unfortunately his plan was foiled due to Golbez's aerial bombardment of his kingdom, Damcyan. During the days that followed, Edward spent much of his time weeping as any normal person would, but unfortunately, his failure to protect Anna caused him to lose faith in himself.   Until halfway through the adventure, Edward was unable to act on his decisions, and his cowardice translated into poor performance on the battlefield.   By the end of Final Fantasy IV, Edward had become a capable ruler, but he still questioned himself at times, and this remains true in The After Years.   Unfortunately, his battlefield abilities remained pathetic, so you'll be stuck with his lowly harp in The After Years.  

 
Unlike in Final Fantasy IV, The After Years' Edward is stuck with a single song, so he's practically useless on the battlefield.   Once a mysterious meteor strikes the planet, he's forced to venture out after his secretary, Harley,  who has yet to return, and he is unwillingly accompanied by a contingent of guards.   Thankfully, these guards remain with you most of the time; otherwise, you'd quickly become monster fodder.   Your three Damcyan guardians are relatively weak, but at least they actually wield swords that can decapitate monsters in five blows.

Two of the most annoying aspects of Edward's quest are the endless monsters and pathetic amount of damage your party does.   The monsters aren't that difficult, and fortunately, there aren't many bosses, but it just takes forever to slay your foes with such weak party members.   During one portion of the adventure, you're forced to return to a dungeon you've previously been to a second time with only Edward to acquire a certain pearl that was needed to cure Desert Fever in FFIV, but thankfully, you don't have to battle a familiar, fearsome foe with just Edward.   As a result, you can save yourself the trouble of having to fight lengthy battles with your pathetic harp-plucker, and just make a run for it.

Edward's adventure is simply a retread for the most part, but at least you'll have the pleasure of reminiscing with a renowned sage in ethereal form.   You'll also get to meet Edward's "secretary" who is a somewhat valuable party member with her Gil-Toss, but don't expect the kind of performance you'd see from change chuckers in FFV.   With only a couple highlights, this portion of The After Years experience should only be played by FFIV diehards that enjoyed previous episodes of this sequel.

Score: 6.5

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The Lunarians' Tale: The Blue Planet That Was

Most of the earlier episodes of The After Years haven't done much to advance this downloadable game's plot.   These adventures continually mention the moon, a mysterious meteor that crashed on Earth, the rising of the Lunar Whale, and a powerful blue-haired assailant that commands Eidolons, but they rarely move beyond that.   Usually, each story ends in a cliffhanger after covering familiar ground, so ultimately we have failed to learn anything.   Well, finally, The After Years' story appears to be coming to a close.   With only one more episode after the Lunarians' tale, it only makes sense.   Thankfully, this downloadable episode follows one of my favorite villains of the entire FF series (no, I'm not talking about Zemus).

Remember the evil man who commanded a great fleet of airships?   The one who had no problem with kidnapping innocent women, bombarding kingdoms, and burning down villages, all in the pursuit of crystals?   Yes, we're talking about the one and only, Golbez.   Much like Darth Vader in Star Wars, Golbez has a past shrouded in mystery; he's not entirely evil, but due to certain events that transpired during his lifetime (which were finally described in FFIV DS), he could easily be manipulated.   Thankfully, Golbez at least partly redeemed himself by the end of FFIV, and found favor with his brother, Cecil, before entering eternal slumber on the moon.  

Like I imagined long ago with my own self-created FFIV sequel, Golbez awoke from his slumber.   He found most other Lunarians in stasis, but the old man who'd brought him to his senses was now missing.   This man, Fu So Ya, was nowhere to be found, so Golbez set out to explore the Moon's depths.   This subterranean maze was daunting, but he eventually managed to find Fu So Ya, and also stumbled upon the now blood-red crystals.

Golbez and Fu So Ya would then seek out the cavern of the Hummingways.   Next, they would visit a meteor that had crash-landed on the moon.    During the next to last portion of their journey, these intrepid figures would enter the lair of the legendary King of Dragons, Bahamut.   Finally, Golbez and Fu So Ya would return to where their journey had commenced, and confront a great evil that had reawakened.

With The After Years, many feared for the day in which the Moon would return.   The much reviled barren wasteland of Final Fantasy IV was notorious for its endless battles, difficult dungeons, and oodles of secrets.   In the Final Fantasy IV remake, the final dungeon was even worse, because of the extreme amount of grinding that was necessary.   Even though you could defeat Bahamut without too much trouble while in your sixties, Zemus was nearly impossible unless you leveled your entire party to the lofty level eighty.   Not only did this level give you Rydia's ultimate spell, Meteor, but it also enabled your party to withstand Zeromus' devastating attacks like Big Bang.

Thankfully, The After Years' Moon isn't as hard (at least in this episode).   When you begin with just Golbez, you won't have to fight difficult battles nearly every step (that's a good thing as you don't have access to Golbez's ultimate abilities).   Instead, you'll encounter a pre-determined battle in almost every room.   Luckily, most of these can be won with a simple Firaga or Blizzaga.

It's a shame that Golbez is no longer donning his badass costume, but at least you'll finally get to see the man behind the mask.   Like most Lunarians, he has flowing silver hair, but he no longer strikes fear into his foes without his bulky armor.   It's also too bad that you can't shoot beams of light out of his fingertips, but then the game wouldn't be fair, right?

The rest of the dungeons in the Lunarians' episode can be cleared without much grinding, but the difficult does increase gradually.   It's important to stock up on tents and any other healing items you can afford, because there aren't many opportunities to replenish your inventory.   Certain new monsters such as Malboros can quickly send you to the Game Over screen, so it's important to keep a stock of Ethers, Phoenix Downs, and High Potions.   Unfortunately, you can't run from certain monsters such as the Malboros that were mentioned previously, so you'll need to think quickly and pray that certain status ailments won't affect you.   Bahamut's lair is the most difficult portion of this episode with the exception of the final boss, so enter with caution.   The familiar foe you'll face at the end is a nuisance, but at least you'll have a new ability (not W. Meteo unfortunately) to help put him to rest.

This next to last episode of The After Years finally explains some unresolved issues, so that's reason enough alone to purchase it for fans of this downloadable sequel.   Unfortunately, you'll have to deal with one of the most detested areas of FFIV--the Moon, but at least you'll finally get to play as one of the greatest villains of the entire FF series.   If you like Golbez and his old man pal, or just want to see some After Years issues resolved, this is an episode worth downloading.   Everyone else will want to wait for The After Years onslaught to end in September.

Score: 7.5

Time Elapsed: 1:31 

Most RPG fans have probably heard of Final Fantasy IV's episodic sequel by now, but in case you missed out on The After Years due to E3, here's a quick recap.  The After Years is a series of nine episodes that were originally created for cell phone, and now they've been ported to WiiWare.  Instead of receiving a graphical revamp, The After Years looks similar to the original, albeit bigger character sprites and widescreen support.  The world map and towns are replicas of those found in Final Fantasy IV, with a few minor additions.  Over the course of nine episodes, you'll travel to nearly every dungeon and town you frequented in the original, but this time, you'll spelunk a few new caves and travel to previously inaccessible areas, such as the Devil's Road.  Besides featuring a sparse amount of new environments, The After Years also relies on the original's tunes.  So far, I've noticed two new additions to the FFIV repertoire, but for the most part, you're experiencing a slightly remixed soundtrack.

Besides featuring familiar graphics and music, you'll also get to play as many of the characters from the original.  Most of the now-aging characters have several padawans of their own.  You'll find that they have similar techniques, but a slightly neutered skill-set.  For example, Rydia no longer has the ability to summon, and she lacks many of her high level spells.  Characters do have some new abilities, however.  They now have the ability to perform combination attacks similar to techs found in Chrono Trigger, and their magic abilities and physical attack power are partially dependent on the current phase of the moon.  Camping or staying at inns can alter the state of the moon, so use this to your advantage.

Throughout The After Years, you'll find many familiar scenarios and inside jokes that only FFIV veterans will understand.  You'll witness several flashback scenes and references to past events; for example, Yang's wife jokes to his daughter that she won't hit him with a frying pan this time when leaving on a voyage.  Fans of the turncoat Kain, will also behold familiar scenarios.

A full review of the first two scenarios has been available for quite some time, but I'll now bring you a complete review of the three episodes released on July 6th.  These episodes bring back a few of my favorite characters.  One episode lets you play as the karate man, Yang; another has you playing as a cocky black mage named, Palom; and the final episode to this FFIV trifecta has you playing as the dashing ninja, Edge.  Each of these episodes is fairly brief, so I'll write a mini-review for each one.

Yang's Tale

Coming off of Rydia's episode, which should have been titled, "The World's Ultimate Grindfest," I wasn't expecting much.  Having to gain fifteen levels to complete a dungeon wasn't my idea of fun, but being a glutton for punishment, I prepared to get pummeled by Yang's kicks.  When I fired up his episode, I witnessed this badass martial artist in his full glory.  I was immediately thrown into a battle with many of Yang's students.  After making them look like wimpy white belts, Yang's tale began. 

During the seven years since the end of FFIV, Yang had become king of Fabul, and had a baby with his wife, Sheila.  His daughter, Ursula, was a tomboy who wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father.  She desired to become a strong warrior, but Yang wanted her to become a properly lady.  He didn't seem against training her, but Yang was concerned that she only desired power.  After asking her father to train her, Ursula runs off to Mt. Hobs after he refuses, which is where Cecil met Yang in Final Fantasy IV.  Yang and his gang of monks decide to rush after her, and the adventure commences. 

Much of what takes place on Mt. Hobs is similar to what occurs in the original, but Yang's adventure then takes you to other places.  Yang travels to two entirely new destinations, but much of his adventure will feel vaguely familiar.  Thankfully, his journey isn't too difficult, and there is a  nice balance of story and gameplay.  You won't find yourself gaining fifteen levels here, unlike Rydia's absurd quest.  The new dungeons are nothing special, but at least they're not simply caves like some of the new dungeons in other episodes.

Yang's adventure doesn't bring much new to the table, but it is one of the better episodes of The After Years.  The new characters didn't have much of an impact on me, but some of the familiar events and great dialogue provided for some nostalgia.  It's a shame that Yang doesn't say, "ACHOOO," like in the horribly mistranslated FFIV (FFII SNES version), but there are still some humorous moments.  If you wish Yang had died in the Tower of Babil, you might not want to experience this one hour and forty minute adventure, but otherwise, I'd say it's worth the 300 points.

Score: 7.5

Palom's Tale

Remember that cocky kid with the twin sister who used to conk him on the head?  Yeah?  Well, Palom is back.  It's too bad you can't play as the now deceased mage Tellah (thanks Golbez), but Palom is pretty fun to use despite being somewhat of a jerk.  In this tale, Palom has been entrusted by the Elder of Mysidia with helping some Epopts (Troian clerics).  At the beginning of the journey, you can already tell that Palom is reluctant to go on this voyage across the sea, as he's quite a jerk to the sailors.  He is easily able to intimidate them, and seems annoyed with their use of formalities.  When he lands at Troia, he's instructed to train a new Epopt, because one of the eight Epopts who are needed to govern Troia is ill.  Palom wonders why he was sent, since he's a user of black magic and Epopts are experts in the art of white magic, but he quickly learns that they have other ambitions.

The girl he is supposed to train, Leonora, clearly isn't interested in being a mere Epopt; she desires to become a great sage, and Palom quickly catches on to this.  Leonora seems quite shy and lacks confidence in her abilities, and Palom is quick to criticize her self-doubt and lack of motivation.  He takes her through a new dungeon--a tower south of Troia, where she has to pass a test in order to become an Epopt.  This tower is quite lengthy, with a test on almost every floor.  Thankfully, it's a breeze for the most part due to Palom's repertoire of black magic and the prevalence of healing pots in this multi-storied dungeon. 

Once you return to Troia, you quickly learn that the world is under assault by a mysterious assailant like in the other quests.  As a result, you're entrusted with the safe-keeping of the Earth Crystal, and anyone who's played FFIV should be able to guess what happens next (hint: there's a familiar dungeon nearby).

Palom is a bit snarky for my tastes, but I still had some fun with his two hour quest.  The final dungeon bored me, as I'd already been there in FFIV, but overall, a decent time was had.  Just make sure to save regularly, because the final boss can be brutal if you're not prepared.  By the end of the episode, The After Years' story finally seemed to be progressing, and I'm happy to report that there was no ridiculous cliffhanger as in Yang's episode.  If you have an innate talent for magic and/or admire snarky black mages, this episode is probably worth your while.

Score: 7.0

Edge's Tale

The previous two episodes followed similar conventions--you guide a familiar character through a short story involving scenarios pulled straight out of the first game, and occasionally, you'd explore a new dungeon.  Well, Edge's quest doesn't entirely do away with these conventions, but it does apply a new scenario system.  Like the beginning of Yang's quest, Edge trains a group of ninjas in the traditional arts of his kingdom.  They seem eager to become the best ninjas in the world, and Edge wonders why, due to it being a peaceful era.  Unfortunately, a foreboding atmosphere is spoiling the temporary tranquility, and Edge realizes he needs some reconnaissance done to figure out what is happening with the world.  Edge's ninjas beg to be scouts for the kingdom of Eblan, so Edge assigns each of them with a mission.  One of his ninjas ends up as a black mage trainee in Mysidia; another is assigned to the Kingdom of the Dwarves in the underworld; a third (female) ninja is sent to Troia as an Epopt trainee; and finally, a fourth ninja is sent to a new dungeon where  a meteor crashed (that you have already seen if you played Yang's adventure).

Each of these ninja missions are dungeon crawls, but the game seems to progress regardless of whether or not you finish them.  Being a ninja has its benefits, as you're often able to easily escape from battle.  However, for some ninja missions, such as the one in Troia, you won't want to escape from battles, because a powerful boss lurks at the top.  For that mission, and the one in the underworld, you'll want to level up your characters.  During the other missions, you can feel free to flee from battle as often as you'd like, due to their easy nature.  What I found interesting about these missions is that one even gives you a gameplay choice where a character's life can be sacrificed.

Finally, after completing all of these missions, Edge will decide to investigate the Tower of Babil himself.  He'll later be joined by his crew of ninjas who will team up to assault the tower's merciless baddies.  You won't encounter Ruibcante this time (or will you?), but you'll witness some familiar events, and will be saved by pure luck.

Edge's quest is an interesting addition to The After Years' library.  It's nice being able to travel to a variety of locations in one episode, but sadly, you've been to most of these locales before.  At least the villagers have new dialogue this time.  If you don't mind fighting (or running) from battles, Edge's episode is worth a play-through.  Edge is one of my favorite characters (personality and appearance-wise), and he generally lives up to his name (although he's not quite as funny as in the original).  If you don't mind retreading familiar ground for two hours, gather some shurikens and get ready to hurl ninja stars.

Score: 7.5

As I was transcribing and commenting on EGM's Top 100 list, I came across a game that is holier than thou.  This sacred game, Bible Adventures is displeasing to the Lord, but nevertheless I decided to research the company that created it.  Turns out, they have several award winners that for some reason or another never ended up on EGM's greatest games lists.  Some of these classics include: Jesus in Space, Bible Adventures, Spiritual Warfare, Noahs Ark 3D (their typo, not mine), Bible Touchdown, Bible Grand Slam Deluxe, Galilee Flyer, Interactive Parables, and last but not least, GodSpeed. 

These games intrigued me for several reasons, but one thing that amazed me were their clever titles that emphasize the core values of Christianity.  Take Spiritual Warfare for example.  It features what Jesus himself promoted: warfare.  A knight with a sword has a prominent place on the box art, so clearly this is a game about defeating the infidel.  Of course that's not at all like what terrorists in the Middle East are doing, right?  This game clearly represents the Christian ideal of "loving your neighbor as yourself".  Boy, is this Wisdom Tree sure doing devout Christians a service by giving them alternative products to those evil secular games that also promote violence.  The best thing about this ground breaking title however, is that it's only $7.50.  Isn't this incredible deal enticing?  You get a game that has low-quality NES graphics for only $2.50 less than a mediocre XBLA title like Bionic Commando.

Even though the devil was tempting me to purchase Spiritual Warfare, I resisted, and focused on one of Wisdom Tree's other spectacular adventures.  This game that kept my spirit whole was none other than Jesus in Space.  Unlike some other games on Wisdom Tree's website, Jesus in Space works with Windows Vista and only costs $22.95.  Before I scrounged up some lunch money, I decided to read the description of the game on the developer's website.  The premise even puts classics like Chrono Trigger to shame.  Here is the divine description that is clearly the will of the lord: "Join Captain Paul Hammer, Lieutenant Stu Dent, and Shelbot the Brainy Robot on a "Great Commission Adventure" to teach the Gospel on newly discovered worlds.  Man, don't you love all those clever puns like "Stu Dent?"  Honestly, if I was to travel into space, the first thing I would do is spread the "wisdom of the Lord" into space.  I mean come on, we're incredibly intelligent people right?  We do great things like build up huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons, enslave others, commit genocide, spread faith by the sword, and create biological weapons.  Clearly, God wants us to impart "divine" wisdom found in the Bible to other species that were not fortunate enough to receive "his message".  Well, as fun as journeying to places like "Planet Vet," "Planet Whammo," and "Ice Moon Alpha" sound, I decided to conjure up some new titles Wisdom Tree fans might enjoy.  Here are my divinely inspired ideas:

First I would create a sequel to Jesus in Space called, Jesus' Submarine Adventure.  In it, Jesus would shoot Bibles at enemies of God and mingle with Peter the Dolphin.

My second title is called, Thomas Doubts the Priest.  In this fantastic adventure, Thomas will go around to various churches and harass priests until they expel him from their respective places of worship.  Thomas can throw pies, install cherry bombs in toilets, and spy on priests with binoculars.  The goal of the adventure is to reveal the pedophile priests without getting excommunicated by the church.

Finally, I would create  a sequel to Galilee Flyer called Peter Paddle Battle.  In the game, Peter will challenge good Samaritans to high speed races across the tranquil Sea of Galilee.  If Peter hits Jesus who is walking on water, the game automatically ends.  However, Peter can sink boats using his holy cannon as long as they aren't followers of Jesus.

Unfortunately, God is no longer communicating with me, so I am out of ideas for the moment, but hopefully Wisdom Tree will consider creating these sure-to-be epic games.  Who needs Final Fantasy XIII when you can play Peter's Paddle Battle?

How many times have you played video games where the end-of-game difficulty is a quantum leap over  the rest of the game?  I can think of numerous titles that gave me little trouble over the twenty or more hours I played, when all of the sudden, the challenge ramps up to astronomical levels.   Even if a game that has an erratic difficulty curve is phenomenal, it can leave a sour taste in your mouth.  When I think about difficulty spikes, a few games come to mind: Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Suikoden V, Dragon Quest IV, and Terranigma.  Sure, there are games in other genres that have this problem (Mega Man comes to mind), but this problem seems to be especially frequent in RPGs. 

Out of this entire list, Star Ocean: Till the End of time is the most blatant offender.  For the most part, Star Ocean 3 is fairly easy as long as you fight enemies consistently and continue to buy new weapons.  There comes a point in the game however, where the difficulty curve makes a leap the equivalent of a small town like Podunk growing into a bustling metropolis like LA.  I was making quick work of the game's bosses, when suddenly, regular enemies started making me run for the hills.  You would think it'd be wise to sit and fight these insanely difficult enemies to gain massive amounts of experience, but as they say in Star Trek, resistance is futile.  Not only do these enemies send your characters crying to their mamas, but they also give paltry amounts of experience.  Why waste your time fighting these nearly invincible foes when you can waste hours fighting paraplegic enemies that give you the same amount of experience?  The problem is--neither option works.  What you have to do instead, is spend countless hours with a weapon-making mini-game.  Some people might enjoy that kind of thing, but for someone like me that mainly wants to experience the central story, this forced side quest turned me off as quickly as Fabio repels straight males.

As I mentioned earlier, Star Ocean: Till the End of time isn't the only guilty party.  Suikoden V is another game that infuriated me towards the end.  To me, Suikoden V was a great prequel to the Suikoden series that lived up to the legacy of the first two games.  The politically charged narrative was great, and the various battle systems gave me no trouble as usual.  However, like FFVI, the end forces you to split up into three parties of six.  This probably doesn't sound that bad, but when you consider the fact that you have to spend several hundred thousand potch (Suikoden's currency) on upgrading weapons and armor for your characters, this can be a grueling experience.  I was playing Suikoden V in the summer, and coming home from painting to grind for hours wasn't a fun experience.  I persevered and earned the money necessary to buy my characters equipment, but only because I cared about the Suikoden series enough to see the game's conclusion.  The end of Suikoden V was a pain, but at least I managed to complete it, unlike Star Ocean 3.

Dragon Quest IV is another game that robbed me of my precious time.  Previously, I hated everything Dragon Quest related, but this was the first DQ (besides the ice cream) that I actually enjoyed.  The scenario system was innovative, and the dialogue was charming, despite the sometimes poor accents.  As you probably already know, Dragon Quest games are about as traditional as you can get when it comes to RPGs, so there's non-stop grinding.  I didn't mind too much throughout most of the game, because the battles are generally fast-paced, and I didn't have to run in circles to level up that often, but things got out of hand at the end of the game.  I had been terrorizing the game's bosses, but the head honcho decided to give me grief.  This sleezebagano decimated my nearly unstoppable party the first few times I fought him.  I took the hint, and spent a couple hours leveling up, so I could thrash him, but once again, I wasted valuable time.  Square-Enix could have easily done a little fine-tuning to balance the final boss, but I guess they wanted us to work for it.  It would have been nice if they only made the extended portion of the game a grind fest, but I guess this is Dragon Quest.

The final flagrant fouler I'd like to mention is Terranigma.  In comparison to the other games I mentioned, the crimes committed by Terranigma are minor; Terranigma's end is the equivalent of shoplifting, while the other games committed capital murder.  I recently played through Terranigma, and I only died a couple times during the entire game, mostly due to careless mistakes.  Fast-forward to the final boss, and the game is suddenly incredibly unbalanced.  Terranigma warns you to save before descending to the underworld to encounter this godly foe, but with three save files, it's likely that some gamers would ignore the warning.  There was a reason for this warning: You can't return to the surface to level up to prepare for this brutal boss encounter.  Due to using an emulator, I managed to beat the final boss with relatively low levels (level 29 to be exact), but it took nearly two hours of utilizing my quick reflexes and the handy save state option.  If I had known about this unbalanced final boss, I would have gained two to four extra levels to do uber-damage to this titan.   This boss is so unbalanced that players with a character level of lower than 31 will have an extremely difficult time defeating him.  When you're below level 31, your attacks do a paltry 2-5 damage, so you have to strike him for what seems like an eternity.  This game is old, so I can let that slide, but it's inexcusable that games of today are still using these cheap gameplay extension tricks.

After experiencing multiple games with erratic difficulty curves, I've decided that enough is enough.  I'm sure that I'm not the only gamer that feels this way, so I thought I'd ask what you, the gaming community thinks.  Are games with huge difficulty spikes inexcusable in this day and age?  Should developers spend more time balancing their software?  Is this kind of practice acceptable as long as they warn us ahead of time? 

It is time for game developers to hear our voice.

Welcome to part two of my journey in the world of Terranigma--a relatively unknown Action-RPG classic that never reached our shores.  To catch up on my sojourn in this mysterious world, review this entry.  Like my previous journal, spoilers await, so those of you who plan to explore the world of Terranigma would be advised to avoid this manuscript as if it were swine-flu.

For many of you, time is of the essence, so here is a brief synopsis of my previous journey.  I, the mischievous boy known as Ark, lived in a village known as Crysta, which I previously believed to be the epicenter of the Universe.  One day, I violated the Elder's trust and opened a mysterious door that brought a calamity upon my village.  The Elder then made me aware that this village was a part of a vast underworld and sent me on a journey to restore my village.  After activating five towers and restoring five continents: Eurasia, North America, South America, Africa, and Australia, my village reawakened.  The Elder then sent me on a journey to restore the world above.  I transformed what was once a barren wasteland into a world that was full of lush vegetation, flocks of birds, animals that roamed the Earth, and I brought about the restoration of humankind.  This journey was a grueling experience, so I lost consciousness for three years after reviving humankind.

Returning to the present, I awoke in small village in Tibet teaming with yaks and monks.  I hadn't witnessed a single human since my journey to the surface of the Earth, so this was a surprise.  I was made aware that I had been out cold for three years, so I once again attempted to find my place in this rapidly transforming world.  Before awakening, I had heard the Elder's voice.  He entrusted me with a new task: revive "The Genius".  Could he have been any more vague?  First, I was thrust into a land devoid of life, and now, I had to find a "Genius" in a land that was the polar opposite of what I had previously witnessed.  I wondered why the Elder knew so much? And why did he desire the revival of the surface and its inhabitants, when he previously secluded me and the rest of his village from the outside world.  I realized that regardless of what the Elder was thinking, I must press on with my journey; otherwise, there would be no hope of returning to my beloved homeland.

I decided to meet with the spiritual leader of this village hoping that he'd direct me towards this "genius".  I didn't find what I was looking for, but a traveler from afar interrupted our meeting and notified the village ruler, Kumari, of his missing granddaughter.  Apparently, the old man's granddaughter frequented this hidden village that was once home to her deceased parents.  As I expected, they asked for my assistance, but I was willing to oblige, since I figured this might give me a starting point for my next journey.  I immediately set out in search of this girl and the hidden village.  Without much difficulty, I discovered this village in the middle of a desert.  For a hidden village, it was quite a lively place.  Village people went about their business and they seemed to like this girl I was searching for.  After entering a house where she was mentioned, I discovered her after crawling through an inactive fireplace.  Being covered in soot was no big deal, but I was furious when she rejected my offer to take her home.  Her tantrum made me reconsider my options, so I decided to cool off at the local inn.

 

After resting, I awoke to a town full of the undead.  These walking corpses were out for my blood, so I had to quickly devise a plan to save myself and the girl.  I wondered why these people that were previously human were suddenly undead?  Did someone cast a spell on them?  My racing thoughts had to wait while I hunted for the girl through unconventional means.  With the help of the girl's scarf, her dog, and a holy emblem, I managed to find her amongst the hordes of the revolting undead.  When I discovered her, she was once again angry, but at least she was a little more talkative this time.  She informed me that she had created a mirage to make this undead city look like the town she formerly inhabited.  This girl, Meilin, hadn't gotten over her dead parents, so she would frequent the city to relive her memories.  Her powers enabled her to do so.   This time, I was able to take her back to her grandfather without any major problems.

Meilin's grandfather was joyful upon her return, so he and the village leader gave me directions that would enable me to reach new lands.  Their advice was to travel to a camp of nomads that would teach me how to cross a seemingly endless desert. 

When I reached the village of the nomads, they clearly resented city-dwellers like myself, but they imparted their wisdom that would enable me to cross the vast desert to the west.  I basically had to follow certain landmarks that would allow me to reach the exit without much trouble.  After sweating buckets, I reached a land abundant with chlorophyll.  These grasslands were a refreshing change of pace.  I soon discovered a medium-sized town, and decided to enter.  This was the village of Loire, and it appeared to be a European village.  The town of Loire was governed by a monarch who resided in a nearby castle, but it was also home to an interesting group of villagers; most notably one that had aspirations of liberty and democracy.  His wishes seemed like a pipe dream in this strictly governed domain, so I ignored him and decided to enter the castle.

The castle was home to a king, guards, servants, and a princess.  This princess was of a foreign land--a village of which she was the last remnant, so the king took her under his wing.  A female knight under his command named Fyda was responsible for the princess' protection.  I was soon made aware that this princess was mute, so foreign suitors had been entering the castle with the goal of helping her regain her voice. I tried my hand at making the princess speak, but I failed miserably.  As a clueless foreigner, I felt hopelessly lost, so I went in search of a solution.  By sleuthing, I had discovered a few clues: a Robin Hood-like figure was locked inside of the castle, the king appeared to have a bad reputation, a townsperson mentioned he was looking for a mushroom in a small forest, and there was the village the princess was from.  The princess' former home was guarded by a dense forest that was impassable without a certain item.  A magical bell was needed to guide a person through this forest, and it was in the possession of the king, so the only way to obtain that item would be to resort to thievery. 

With the forest impassable and the thief locked up, there was only one option--I went in search of the mushroom.  I brought the magical fungi back to the townsperson who requested it, and he soon concocted a sleeping potion, which he then gave to me free of charge.  Being mischievous and not wanting this generous fellow's work to go to waste, I decided to enter the kitchen of the castle and slip a bit of this tasty potion into the cook's stew.  I then exited the castle, and made my return after dinner.  The guards were out cold, so the first thing I did was pilfer the keys off a sleeping guard. I then used my newly acquired key on the lone thief's jail cell.  He thanked me and gave me some advice.  I was told that the king's treasure was hidden behind a statue in his room, so I made like Locke and bolted into the monarch's bedroom.  Sure enough, the statue near his bed contained a secret.  I pushed it to the side and crawled through a hole in the wall to discover a tower.  The king's bell awaited me at the top of the tower.  After obtaining my prize, I quickly escaped the castle without being detected.  I then entered a dense forest maze.

Without the bell, this forest would be impassable, so I equipped it to guide me in the correct direction.  I soon discovered the bridge to the village, but it was in worse shape than Zenan, so I had to take a longer route.  After reaching the village, I found that Meilin (the girl I saved previously who created the mirage) had been following me.  What was more interesting however, was that this village looked exactly the same as my hometown, except for the fact that this place was devoid of life.  The princess was from this village, and she looked exactly like my hometown sweetheart, Elle.  Her name was even the same.  What the hell was going on here?  Unfortunately, I couldn't go any further because of a pack of wolves that were guarding the village.  An item I discovered deep within the forest repelled the wolves who would have torn me to pieces, so I was then free to enter.

Once I was inside the town, I discovered the village's past with the help of Meilin.  Meilin had the ability to see what had transpired, so she offered to create a mirage in the hope that Elle would then speak.  We quickly returned to the castle, and Meilin unleashed her mirage.  In the mirage, we discovered that the king had been seeking a great treasure hidden in this village, and no one would reveal its location.  In a rage, he decided to wipe out the entire village.  Elle was the only person saved for unknown reasons, but her parents had been murdered.  After knowing that Elle had discovered the truth, the king expelled me from the castle.  I rested a night before proceeding onward in my journey.

The next morning when I awoke, I discovered that the king was dead and Princess Elle was nowhere to be found.  Had Elle murdered the king?  Was the princess kidnapped?  I was unable to return to the castle to find the answers, so instead, I participated in a town election before moving on.  Through voting, I helped the citizen wanting liberty and democracy obtain a position of power.  I then moved on to a previously inaccessible area guided by a toll booth.

I soon reached a small Portuguese fishing village where I received word that the Castle of Spain had turned into a nightmare.  Columbus, who had recently returned from an overseas voyage had been imprisoned there unjustly, because he was blamed for the death of the Queen's three sons.  Apparently, the Queen went berserk and  murdered everyone in the castle.  I decided to see if the rumors were true, so I headed to the Castle of Spain with the hope of rescuing Columbus and securing a vessel to cross the sea.

Upon arriving at the castle, I noticed that it emitted a foul odor and the grounds were seeping with poison.  The Castle of Spain was filled with puzzles and difficult enemies.  Four portraits were missing jewel eyes, so I had to return the jewels to their proper sockets.  These jewels wouldn't be easily obtained, so I immediately proceeded to solve the castle's difficult puzzles.  Upon solving them, a chandelier crashed to the floor and created an opening to the dungeon below.  I sensed the famous explorer's presence, so I jumped into the abyss.  I was confronted with strange 'Simon Says' mini-games and an 'attack-the-correct enemy' sequence before I finally encountered the undead queen: Bloody Mary.  My normal weapon of choice wasn't doing much damage, so I quickly brandished a light spear and turned her into mincemeat.  I then proceeded to Columbus, who looked like he hadn't taken a bath in months.

Columbus thanked me, and offered me his vessel.  Being an intrepid explorer, I had to accept, but I first wanted a good night's sleep.  During the evening, Fyda (Elle's bodyguard) came to me and requested that I take Elle with me on my journey, since she was in grave danger.  I didn't know who was after her, but I willingly obliged.  The next morning, I set sail, but we all know how ship voyages turn out.  Not only are ships often reduced to rubble from storms, but they often have to deal with sea monsters and ghosts.  As luck would have it, during the night I heard a scream.  Elle was in the clutches of a ghost, but I quickly fought off the howling banshees.  I put in a good night's work, so I thought I would lay back and catch some z's.  Like a famous spiky red-haired hero, I got out of bed late after the ship had arrived in the New World.   I noticed that Elle was missing, but I was handed a letter by a fellow sailor.  The letter revealed that she had indeed killed the king and didn't want to be a burden to me, so went off gallivanting.

I wasn't sure what to do in this racially diverse, strange new land, so I decided to look around the town of Freedom.  Despite this town looking like it was straight out of the 1800s, I encountered a skateboarder that would put Tony Hawk to shame.  I soon befriended him, and met some inventors that populated the town.  In a previous town, someone had been working on a camera that was completed with my assistance, so I decided to aid a couple good souls once again to benefit humanity.  I helped someone who was in the process of creating electricity, and I aided someone working on a device that allowed for two-way long distance communication.  These were strange devices, but perhaps they could bring prosperity and change to humankind.  I also engaged in some trade while touring this town.  I soon learned about two other towns: one was a farming village to the north, and another was a town in South America where every day was a carnival.

In the farming village, I discovered that there was a prominent inventor who had created a flying device, but he had gone missing ever since he crashed into the Great Lakes.  I attempted to enter the Great Lakes, but someone was guarding the entrance, awaiting his wife.  I decided not to end the pathetic man's life, and instead, proceeded to journey south.  A large river hampered my progress, but a builder was willing to do something about it if I could gather some logs.  I discovered a tiny forest full of evil stumps, and I started hacking away faster than Paul Bunyan.  Soon, I brought the engineer some logs, and he quickly constructed a bridge.  Once it was complete, I journeyed on to the carnival town of Liotto. 

There, I heard about a tower in the sea that was under attack by monsters.  Before heading out to kick some monster tail, I stopped at this romantic spot with Meilin who I had encountered again recently.  She wanted me to reveal my love for her at night, but alas, an image of Elle appeared, so she was out of luck.  With a hole permanently etched in her heart, she yelled at me and decided to skedaddle. Ignoring Meilin's outburst, I decided to rest once again.

In the morning, I journeyed to Mermaid Tower by boat, and cleared out the tall underwater structure that was infested with monsters.  How I could breathe underwater was a mystery, but I managed to free the mermaids from captivity.  One of them, was the wife of the man guarding the Great Lakes, and she had become a mermaid after dying in a shipwreck, due to reincarnation.  She bestowed me with a ring to give to her husband, so he could rest in peace.

I quickly returned to the Great Lakes and presented the annoying guard with a ring from his wife.  He thanked me and spontaneously vanished, so I proceeded to enter the cave underneath the lakes.  This cave was a clearly a giant monster's lair.  I fought off venomous enemies, traveled through underwater portals, used flippers to swim, and fought off starfish parasites plaguing a dragon.   These starfish had been holding Will, the man responsible for inventing the airplane hostage, so after a lengthy battle, I managed to secure his release.  Unfortunately, Will no longer had the parts to build another airplane, so I had to head to Yunkou where the parts were supposedly located.

I once again had to travel by sea, but before heading to Yunkou which was near the coast of China, I traveled to Neotokio in Japan.  This town was similar to late 1990's Japan with modern amenities such as TVs and computers.  It also featured a developer's room, where I got to meet various developers of Terranigma.  I don't know what developers are, but it was cool nonetheless.

I then reached Yunkou, and found that Fyda lay ill in a bed at the inn.  Being clueless when it comes to medicine, I decided to seek out a doctor.  He told me where I could find some Ginseng to create medicine, and after I obtained it, he quickly concocted a potion.  I presented the potion to Fyda, and she was thrown into a dream state.  There, I discovered that she was the one responsible for killing Elle's parents.  She didn't want to, but was forced to by the king in order to save Elle's life.  This atrocity was haunting her, but I reminded her that it wasn't entirely her fault, and she gave me a useful piece of information--that Elle was at the nearby Dragoon Castle.  I proceeded to Dragoon Castle where the skateboarder Perel was awaiting me.

Why was he here?  I don't know, but he offered to create a distraction so I could sneak inside the castle.  His distraction allowed me to make like Shadow and sneak inside the castle.  Instead of being a typical dungeon filled with monsters, this area was more Metal Gear- esque.  I couldn't break necks like Solid Snake, but I managed to sneak past guards holding flashlights with some running shoes I had obtained during a side trip to Australia.  When I reached the castle's prison, I encountered Elle hanging in chains.  As I went about rescuing her, I fell into a pit below.

 It turns out that Meilin had created a mirage of Elle.  She was angry with me for breaking her heart, and she had also been working for the owner of this castle (who was in league with the king who had destroyed Elle's village), all along.  I foolishly fell for a few other illusions, but Meilin was later done in by her own trickery.  Her boss, Mr. Wong, had turned on her since her usefulness had ended, and he decided to kill us both.  Fyda later appeared to help rescue Elle from his clutches.  A mercenary Mr. Wong had hired, Royd, who I encountered briefly in other parts of the world turned on Mr. Wong, so I managed to escape with Elle.  I discovered that Mr. Wong had been working for someone named Beruga that lived near the town of Mosque.  With this knowledge, I headed back to meet Will who had built an airplane.  I then borrowed Will's amazing airplane, and flew to the town of Mosque in the Middle East.

 When I reached Mosque, I was overcome with a feeling of dread.  The city appeared to be ran by religious zealots who worshipped a messianic figure known as Beruga.  Apparently, he was a renowned scientist who had been dead for ages, but his revival was imminent.  Bergua's place of residence was a futuristic monolith to the south, so I prepared to infiltrate the tower by land. 

This structure was unlike any building I had ever encountered.  It was completely mechanized, and was dark upon entry.  I found a switch to return power to the structure, so I was then able to see and access the elevator.  I made my descent into the tower with this handy elevator, and fought robots gone rogue.  I solved numerous puzzles and activated switches on each floor to progress further into the tower.  When I reached the bottom, I encountered a giant security robot that wielded machine guns and had several legs.  It was one of the most difficult encounters of my journey, but I managed to cripple the three-legged mechanized beast.  After beating him, the great Beruga awakened from his long slumber.  He congratulated me and proceeded to show me his plans.  Beruga planned for a world where only a few would survive, and they would become immortal while the other pathetic humans would perish.  I sensed this mad scientist's evil nature, so I planned to run my sword into the fanatic, but my effort was in vain.  His robots seized me, and proceeded to squeeze the life out of me.  Beruga then initiated an attack that engulfed Neotokio.  I also remember him mentioning that his liege from the underworld would soon awaken before I  passed out. 

After I was unconscious, I heard the Elder's voice.  He congratulated me for finally awakening "The Genius".  The Elder mentioned that my quest was complete, and that I could now rest for eternity.  Had I been used this entire time?  I thought I was a goner, but the ruler of Tibet managed to revive me, and I found myself in the village where my quest for "The Genius" began.  Beruga was obviously quite powerful, and an impending calamity threatened the surface, so it was clear that something had to be done.  I went to the Kumari, the village leader seeking what I must do.  He sent me on a quest in search of five starstones.  I feared that I was being used again, but I mustered up courage and took a chance.

Vague hints of the locations of these starstones were offered: they could be found in a dream, a desert, a ruin, a cold land, and a mountain peak.  Finding these locations proved to be a bit difficult, but I managed to receive one stone from a scientist atop a mountain in Austraila.  I found the next stone inside a skeleton in the Sahara desert.  The third stone was in Greenland, which had to be reached by unconventional means.  I found a hidden forest in South America that was home to migrating birds.  One of these strong gulls managed to carry me across the ocean to Greenland without a hitch.  Upon my return, I entered some ruins in western South America that featured a goblet.  This goblet took me to a dream world featuring characters I had encountered during my journey, but with different names.  After the dream's conclusion, I found a starstone at my side.  The final starstone was the most difficult to obtain.  It was beneath the now uninhabited Neotokio.  On a police transceiver, I heard a girl's voice that was coming from a sewer below the city.  After traversing the sewer and finding a key, I managed to save her from a lion that nearly devoured her.  It turns out that this lion was a grown-up version of the lion  I helped towards the beginning of my journey.  He let the girl go, and I obtained the last glowing starstone.

With the starstones in hand, I proceeded to a massive graveyard in a desert in Antarctica (I know, crazy right?), and there I placed the starstones inside five skulls.  A spirit appeared, and asked me why I was able to survive all these near-death experiences?  He explained that I was able to survive because I was the hero.  This spirit was the light side Ark, my spirit, and I was the dark side Ark.  We would work in tandem to save the world.  He explained that this Earth ran on a cycle.  Birth and rebirth were ever-present in this world and even the world could be destroyed and recreated, but someone had thrown this process off.  Because Beruga had been revived, the world was thrown into chaos, and it was up to me to do something about it.  The spirit then zapped me with a beam of light and I went unconscious.  He told me to dream about the Earth.

My dream was an usual one--I was a baby in the village of Storkholm (the surface parallel to Crysta), and the Elle of my home village walked in my room.  A voice told her to kill me, so she took me to the basement that looked just like the place where my journey began and proceeded to do so.  All of the sudden, the Elle from the surface walked in, and she was surprised that there was another Elle.  Before she could do anything, Yomi (the creature I unleashed from Pandora's Box at the beginning of the game) told my childhood friend Elle to kill me.  Before this could occur, several distant voices reached me.  Kumari, the elder from Tibet, the great tree I saved, and the animals I had revived told that I was the only hope for the world's revival.  Yomi then immobilized me and the Elle from the surface, and told my childhood friend, Elle, to kill me.  He mentioned that I no longer had any use after reviving Beruga.  The Elder had ordered my death, and this was necessary in order for Dark Gaia to revive.  Elle refused to kill me, so Yomi decided to carry out the deed, and she sacrificed herself in order to save me.  In her dying breath, she mentioned that she had always wanted to be with me, so I was deeply saddened by her passing.  I wondered why I had even gone on this journey in the first place?  Did I cause the death of my good friend because of my childish antics and need for adventure? Now was not the time for questions however, because I still had a world to save.

A box similar to the one I opened at the beginning of the game was in this basement.  What was inside?  Yomi.  This Yomi was light side Yomi, and appeared not to have evil intent, but one can never be too sure.  He mentioned that great treasures could also be found inside the box that were previously hidden from the king.  The village was guarded with wolves (or the spirits of the villagers) in order to protect the treasures.  What were the treasures?  Powerful hero equipment that's a perfect fit for a demon slaying badass like yours truly.  After donning the equipment, I was ready to waltz out of the village when a bird delivered an important message.  This message was from my allies who told me to meet at Beruga's tower in Siberia.  One transatlantic flight later, I arrived at Beruga's doorstep.  As I entered, I would encounter the old man from Lhasa, Fyda the swordswoman, Perel the skater, Royd, a former mercenary, and Meilin.  These allies would help me overcome many obstacles.  They activated numerous switches and destroyed deadly turrets and security cameras.  As we were about to corner Beruga, he climbed aboard his airship, but we managed to board the ship, just in the nick of time.   

My allies had found some time bombs earlier, so they handed them to me to plant on seven of the ship's computers.  I armed the bombs, and we detonated them shortly before we reached the ship's sole escape pod.  We discovered that Beruga had already reached the escape pod, and he mocked us saying that the computer needed to be operational in order for the escape pod to function.  As smart as Beruga was, he ended up falling into the ship's propellers as he backed away from us.  The cause of his demise will likely go down in the annals of history as being the most ridiculous death of all time.  Even though we managed to destroy "The Genius" (or rather "The Idiot") our mortal coil had expired, or so we thought.  Somehow, a gull had managed to reach the high elevation we were flying at, and it carried me to safety.  My allies decided to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of humanity.  I hastily returned to the surface of the Earth aboard the wings of a bird.

Looking for clues of where the ship landed, I went to a scientist atop a mountain in Australia.  This scientist had previously given me a starstone, and he saw this plane crash as a sign that the world was going to end.  I disregarded his pessimistic attitude and headed towards South America where he believed the ship crashed.  First, I explored the water, but it was no use--the plane was nowhere to be found.  I then began checking previously explored areas on the continent itself, and I discovered a new crater in the Earth where I had first accessed the surface world.  Strangely enough, the world's most famous explorer, Columbus, was standing right beside the crater.  He warned me that I may never be able to return (where had I heard that before?), but I jumped in anyway.  I then found myself in the underworld with all bones intact. 

What was there to do in this dark recess of the planet?  I decided to go to the Elder for answers.  The village inhabitants acted quite strange, and they even turned into spirits when I approached them.  Then, I reached the room of the Elder.  He complimented me on a job well done, but then went on to explain that I had seen too much.  A vortex opened and the Elder and I warped to an unknown location.  I found myself on a never-ending bridge.

The Elder mentioned that I was in the center of the underworld's sun.  He spoke about the light and the dark side, and how humankind were replicas of the crystal blue, and that they'd eventually revert back to that form.  There was a duality in this world--a balance of light and dark, but it was now time for the dark to conquer the light.  Dark Gaia required my death in order for this to occur, so the Elder (or Dark Gaia's spirit) sent me to my doom.  I was more powerful than he expected however, and I was able to vanquish this dark god.  It turns that the Elder's true form, Dark Gaia was sealed away all this time, so he needed me to revive Beruga to bring about his revival.  Dark Gaia expected me to perish, but instead, I managed to defeat him and create a bright future for the surface world.  After defeating Dark Gaia, my light side spirit spoke to me.

My light side spirit explained that I was hidden away in the village of Crysta, so I would be unable to meddle in Dark Gaia's affairs.  He had recognized me as the legendary hero, so he created a copy of a light side town and held me prisoner.  This place wasn't meant to exist, so it would soon disappear.  The surface world was all that would remain.  Even I would disappear for good.  The spirit gave me one last chance to walk around the village, however.  I felt a sense of despair as I walked around my once lively home.  Everything I had once known was forever lost.  I now understand the sadness that overwhelmed Elle when her homeland was crushed by a greedy king.  What did I go on this journey for?  I could have been happy and lived a carefree life in my faux village if I just minded my own business.  Yomi appeared and tried to comfort me.  He explained that I was basically a god-on-Earth with my ability to bring life to the world.  Yomi also mentioned that good and evil would always exist as long as humans were alive, so the cycle would be never-ending. 

Yomi not only tried to cheer me up, but I finally learned what he was.  Apparently, Yomi was the creature that humankind and animals had evolved from.  We evolved from his state, and may eventually return to his state (but that's not such a comforting thought if you ask me).  With nothing else left to tell me, I decided to accept my fate and sleep eternally.

Before perishing for good, I experienced one last dream.  Elle appeared, and mentioned that she tried to kill me when I was a baby at the Elder's command.  She failed because she realized that we were all individuals and shouldn't simply live at the command of one entity.  Elle told me we would meet again, and my last memory was my transformation into a bird, where I'd watch the world grow older...

But there is one last memory.  Someone knocked on Elle's door at the close of the adventure.  Could it have been me?