Are you bored at work? Sitting in your cubicle in grim silence? Or are you bored at home? Sick of the same playlist all the time? If Pandora’s 40 hour per month limit has you down, you should head over to FinalFantasyRadio.net.

You may have noticed our recent affiliation with this site. In addition to being run by some cool people, you can make whatever you’re doing sound more epic from music primarily from Final Fantasy. There is also music having anything to do with FF or Uematsu, and even classic video game tunes completely unrelated. They have an intuitive automated request system if there’s a particular song you would like to hear. And if a DJ is on you can simply request a track from them in the chat box. You also may hear songs or versions of songs you never knew about as plenty of covers and OCRemixes are also frequently played.

It will play on most music players and they even offer a browser toolbar. Featuring concerts, live playthroughs of Final Fantasy games, and the chatbox provides great distraction. I know my workdays have improved dramatically. So do yourself a favor and check it out.

"Rude, why the hell did you request Eyes on Me? I was enjoying the flight."

Final Fantasy XIII: Orphan’s Cradle

After you fled Cocoon and your Focus, Barthandelus tracked you down, saying he had another plan to destroy Cocoon. Knowing that this IN NO WAY COULD BE A TRAP, your valiant party returned to Cocoon in spectacular fashion, even showing up the aerial assault on Sin in FFX. After storming through Eden in an intense, least-subtle-as-possible attack run, you arrive at the heart of Eden where Barthandelus has manipulated the Cavalry into going after Orphan, what he originally had in mind for you. So now you must head deep into the source of Cocoon’s power stop them, and kill Barthandelus.

Or at least cut his nails.

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We’re doing things a touch differently this week, as I am not very familiar with Final Fantasy XII. Despite a couple attempts, I have never gotten around to finishing it. So in the interest of giving you people the best article possible, I wanted to find someone who would know what they were talking about.

This is a guest entry from forum member DrakeClawfang on what is essentially the final dungeon of this game. Enjoy!

Final Fantasy XII: Pharos

After spending two years seeking the power to battle the Empire and restore Dalmasca, the power Princess Ashe seeks waits a few hundred feet overhead – the Sun-Cryst, the source of deifacted nethicite. With the Treaty Blade of the Occuria, Ashe can cut her own shards of the giant crystal and use their magic to battle the Empire, but it would mean more war between Arcadia and its enemies, and Dalmasca will be caught in the crossfire. Will Ashe hold on to her lust for vengeance, or can she set aside her personal desires and do what is best for her people and kingdom? She’ll have a long time to debate the issue. A convenient counter in the corner of the screen keeps track of the floors, telling us it’s a 100-story trek to the tower’s top room. And it definitely feels like you’re taking every step yourself, because the Pharos is one of the longest dungeons in the series.

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Final Fantasy X-2: The Farplane

Shuyin, a man who really did exist in Zanarkand 1000 years ago, plans to awaken Vegnagun. Vegnagun is an ancient machina powerful enough to destroy the world, naturally, and it falls to the person largely responsible for saving Spira the last time to stop him. Why does he seek the destruction of the world? Is he mad with power? Is he going to claim the respect that is rightfully his? No, he died before getting the chance to bang his girlfriend, and now he’s pissed. To be perfectly honest, I’ve heard worse reasons

This threat is distinctly different from Sin in that it is not one that everyone knows about and lives in fear of on a daily basis. Except for Yuna and her acquaintances, no one knows. So X-2 takes us back to thankless heroics, but given that Yuna already received gratitiude and fulfilled her supposed fantasy of being a jpop star, it doesn’t seem that unfair.

The inside of Sin in Final Fantasy X disappointed, but unlike any other game in the franchise, it actually gets a second crack at the final dungeon. The Farplane is the destination of pyreflies(souls) after death. It is, for all intents and purposes, the Lifestream. Except it is an actual location with structure rather than a giant subterranean sea of goo.

How is this visit to the great beyond then?

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Final Fantasy IX: Memoria and the Crystal World

Kuja, already miffed that Zidane was to be his replacement, lost all rational thought upon learning he would die. Like the petulant, spoiled child he is, he’s decided that he’s going to destroy the source of life. That’ll kill everyone including himself, and thus the world will not have to endure going on without him. What a guy.

"Why should the world exist without my fabulous fashion sense? That wouldn't be fair."

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Final Fantasy VIII: Ultimecia’s Castle

The villainous sorceress that has really only been alluded to and seeks to wipe everything out of existence is your target. But she lives in the future, how will you get to her? Well she’s kind enough to facilitate that for you by compressing time into a singular point. So…stop her?

Of all the dungeons this probably has the least buildup as you don’t even know where you’re going when you arrive there. The anticipation is all established very soon before going there with a sweet scene depicting the initial Time Compression. It’s a spooky scene that really makes you think about what would actually happen if this occurred while simultaneously forcing you to take note of the power of your enemy.

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Final Fantasy VII: Northern Crater

Remember how I marveled at FFIV’s dungeon? I asked you to remember (or imagine) seeing it from the first time coming off the dungeons of Final Fantasies I-III. It was an impressive leap, it felt solid, it had some depth to it. The first three games almost felt like a board game. Impressive in their own rights, don’t misunderstand, but the SNES era games just added so much to the presentation.

Well as much as a leap as that was – remember or imagine, if you will, coming off the SNES Final Fantasies and coming across a final dungeon that looked like this:

I’ll give you a moment to pick yourselves up off the floor, because if you imagined/remembered properly, that’s exactly where you should be.

…

Ready? Okay.

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If you give an Onion Knight a Keyblade,  will he unlock the door to Disney?

I vote yes

I’ve said this many times before, often jokingly, but not without a truth to the matter. Final Fantasy 3 and the Kingdom Hearts series are amazingly similar, and the more of the series I play, the more I am convinced that Kingdom Hearts is Final Fantasy 3 with Disney added, that the two games, when you get right down to it, are telling the same story, not that this is a bad thing. Akira Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress and George Lucas’s Star Wars: A New Hope are the same story, but each is told in a way that makes each telling unique and worthwhile.

Final Fantasy VI: Kefka’s Tower

Ever since he torched the world, Kefka has been sitting atop his tower blasting cities that show any hint of opposition with the conservatively named “Light of Judgment.” What does he intend to do? Why is he just sitting up there? Why did he stop where he did? Well it is probably not a good idea to just wait and see, so we’re just gonna have to go up and find out.

Which is to say, kick his ass. 
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Final Fantasy V: The Interdimensional Rift

Welcome to the planar existence that presumably connects all the Final Fantasy worlds (and perhaps others), the Rift. This is FFV’s rug under which the people swept any problem the couldn’t figure out how to solve. That gives an unfair impression of it, admittedly, but that essentially what it is. It is where Enuo and his powers of the Void were sealed 1000 years ago and where Exdeath was banished to 30 years ago by the Warriors of Dawn. And now its up to the last group of Warriors of Light to take him out again.

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Here comes the moon.

Final Fantasy IV: The Lunar Subterrane

Now we’re gettin’ somewhere. This is a final dungeon. Its almost amazing this followed the World of Darkness in III. Even if you include the Crystal Tower in III’s ending I get the impression that this is much longer, much harder, and much more packed with loot. All things a final dungeon should be.

This dungeon just feels big and complex. The jump to the 16 bits really enhance things here as you can see several layers/floors of the dungeon at once, contributing to the sense of size. Also, there are secret passages everywhere, but they’re done right. There’s a little flaw in the wall when denoting the entrance. Its easy to miss but also makes it feasible for you to find them without a guide. Most of these passages lead to treasures (guarded by bosses) and you’ll want just about all of them. Cecil, Edge and Kain will both come away with their best setups (barring optional side stuff) and the ladies make out pretty well also. Loot should always be aplenty in final dungeons, its half your motivation, honestly.

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Final Fantasy III is the entry with which I am least familiar. But I have done my best to look into the story and events leading up to the final dungeon and take into account the overall atmosphere it must have. But you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t place emphasis where it should be placed or vice versa.

Final Fantasy III: World of Darkness

This dungeon is very to the point. You are here to kill the Cloud of Darkness and you do not seek to do anything that does not directly relate to that end nor does the dungeon intend to provide you with anything contrary to that purpose save the boss gauntlet. The only items to be found in the whole thing are Ribbons, and as a matter of fact, the door to the final battle is literally directly in front of you when you enter the dungeon.

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