[Orphan's Cradle]THE ENDGAME: Final Dungeons of the Final Fantasy Series

Minor but important point- The WOD is a one way dungeon- you can't come back out after you enter. If you want to do anything but fight CoD on that save, you have to save OUTSIDE of the WoD, which means saving outside the tower. Which pretty much makes the Crystal Tower also part of the final haul. It did for me.

Also, the Lunar Subterrane. 'Here's an uber we-boss! Now here's your weapon!'

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.


Did I mention that this was a tough dungeon? The Chaos Shrine was long and the difficulty inconsistent, but the Lunar Subterrane combines length with constant pressure. The final couple floors consist of straight-up bosses as random encounters in addition to the tough creatures guarding the chests. When I played through this dungeon I warped back out a couple times to completely heal up (as it is a bit faster when you beeline after having acquired the treasure).

The music is great. The bombastic opening as the crystals teleport you to the dungeon immediately get you fired up, and determined sound of it keeps you going after that (as well as being long enough to not become grating). The music even changes to increasingly ominous tunes as you start getting to the bottom few, obligatory crystalline, floors. I mentioned that the random encounters in these floors were bosses - the boss music even takes over as the "normal" battle theme around here. I think that's a nice touch.

It IS a bit of a slog, tempting you to just forego some of those chests though that is against your best interests, and the difficulty can be pretty punishing. If you're not prepared for the treasure haul IV's annoying item limit will become an issue, forcing you to warp out. The GBA version, in my opinion, remedies a lot of this. I believe it is a touch easier (though I know purists must not like that), and there is no carrying limit.


Stay tuned as up next is one of my personal favorites: The Interdimensional Rift!

I don't know about the original version, but the NDS's was indeed punishing. I remember I got tired of this last dungeon and went to Youtube to watch the ending :\

It, at least, has a save point near the very end.
And yes, while FFIV had an item limit, the Fat Chocobo... Did not. I dumped all my old stuff on El Tubbo before heading down, and I managed to get out alive.
Getting the tails was and is ASS though.
The real impressive thing about the Subterrane isn't the sheer linear length, but the multitude of sidepaths you could take, and the hidden entrances onto these paths. Like the overly circuitous path to DBahamut. Wanna go left? Head right!

Plus the random encounters could often times be as hard as the optional bosses.

and the ladies make out

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Oh, awesome.

Yeah, some of the hidden passages don't even go anywhere. Either dead-ends or at least one just loops back on itself.

I just happened to fall in love with FFIV the moment I saw my brother playing it. (He got it for the Playstation before I had the chance to play it, and the very same day he got it, he asked me to slay the mist dragon for him because we had to leave soon and he had to do something, so he wanted me to carry on and save the game. I swear I fell in love with it, then and there.

With that said, reaching the final dungeon was a feat for me, back then, and I enjoyed it so much. Long, with stuff to loot, hard random enemies, and the end of the game lying down. Hell yeah! Besides, the originality of not being on Earth has to be noticed.

Ryu said:

Getting the tails was and is ASS though.

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I used to have difficulty getting a pink tail. Then I finally stopped asking one day and just took it.

Haven't had a problem since.

I remember the only way I was able to beat the final boss was to cheat a little bit by exploiting the weapon duplication trick. And then spammed Edge throwing Cecil's strongest weapons. Even then, I still barely managed to win.

Zeromus = Hard?

Huh. Maybe I set the bar too high with my first few RPGs.

The first two times I fought him he wiped the floor with me. Then, inexplicably, I won pretty decisively the third time without making any real changes to my strategy, go figure.

I won the second time I fought him, and I remember quite clearly that it was Kain who delivered the final blow.

Guess the Japanese weren't quite kind enough when they gave us Zeromus EG (Easy Game) rather then the ones they had to deal with.

We never got Zeromus EG until FFIV Advance. EG's a totally different beast, both visually and tactics wise than Hardtype and US Zeromus.

The US version is easier than JP Hardtype, but Easytype is easier than it by far.

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.

With that in mind, going there also has a pretty cool air about it. It's not quite like Hell in II where we already have ideas about it, but it gets pretty built up over the course of FFV and you also see numerous locales sucked into it over the course of the game, giving it a definite sense of foreboding to follow them.

Speaking of foreboding, that's exactly what the music is here. I said before that I prefer my final dungeon music to be rousing, but this does fit the Rift very well, for reasons I'll get to in a second. The final area has different music, which is a bit more triumphant, but its a bit sad too, which fits a certain event that happens there to a favorite character of mine.

The amalgamation of environments and areas that make up you approach to Exdeath has a really cool affect. The next final dungeon in the series has a similar approach but it doesn't have the same effect. You're moving through new areas as well as areas you have seen sucked into the void during the game. The ambiguous passage of time in the rift makes you wonder how long these places have been here. (In fact, if you leave right before fighting Exdeath, the towns that were banished are actually back, implying that time had traveled backwards since you entered.) Neat little effects such as entering the library from a door in the ruins to find only books and exit to be in a completely different area. I remember wondering while I played how the characters had any idea they were going the right direction.

Revisting the Phantom Village was also really spooky and cool. When it emerged with Exdeath merged the worlds, the inhabitants were unaware that any time had passed, and now you can see why. The entire town is frozen as you maneuver around the frozen townspeople, thankful that you are, for some reason, not frozen with them.


Krile engages in a futile staring contest.

The dungeon is not as difficult as IV's, but its another long one with a wide variety of enemies. Many of them are mysteriously susceptible to instant-death. (What happens to you when you die in the Rift, anyway? - Apparently go to the only place worse to exist: Final Fantasy VIII) You also have your boss gauntlet. These consist of the creatures of the Rift that Exdeath has persuaded to join him with promises of a new world for them. Many have innocuous appearances and trick the characters, which is a fun little twist on this now-tradition (the final one involving the aforementioned memorable scene). Speaking of developing traditions, what do you suppose the final area is?


Why crystalline of course! Take it in though, this is actually the last crystalline final dungeon we'll see for a little while.

But damn do the enemies dish out AP in this last area. Any jobs you wanna master before taking on Exdeath, here's where you want to do it. Thanks almost entirely to the atmosphere, and helped by the game's excellent system, this is definitely high on my list of favorite final dungeons. Not to mention it is my favorite location in Dissidia. So go on and prepare to never look at trees the same way again.


KILL IT!


Next up, that crazy clown's high-rise apartment.

where Exdeath was banished to 10 years ago

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*cough*30yearsago*cough*

FFV was my second FF game. The final dungeon was something to remember. So many locations it didn't feel like a dungeon at all.

While FFIV's final dungeon was a pain for me, I enjoyed every screen from V's.

V is actually the last one I've played (besides XIII), and I was sorry I had missed it for so long. I'd say its the most underrated game in the bunch. And the final dungeon is no exception, a ton of fun.

It is the most underrated game, along with III, I'd say, but yeah, the dungeon is... well, quite special. One of a kind.

No mention of Omega or Shinryuu?

I agree the rift is spiffy awesome, and the bit just before the end is touching, but somehow the very end of the dungeon just felt a little flat to me, mostly because compared to the rest, I was expecting a horrible disjointed world, attached haphazardly together, but instead we get crystals against a starry background. Pretty, but less impressive than my expectations.

I dunno, I try to keep this about the dungeon themselves rather than the bosses (especially optional ones) that they contain. But I dunno, I don't think I ever beat Shinryu because hes freaking tough.

You're right about the lackluster final area, similar to the Ultimecia's Castle really, lots of build up for something crazy but just ends up being another castle. I'll add that to the post when I frontpage it.

It's not that they're there, it's the way both are presented as part of the dungeon. Omega is actually walking around, and you have to avoid touching him or you have to fight him. Shinryuu they actually give you a visible warning for.
FFV presented Omega at least as a PART of the dungeon, something existing in the rift, instead of waiting for the party like so many other bosses.

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.

Unlike the last few dungeons, Kefka’s tower hasn’t been built up over the course of the game as a dread or wondrous location. It doesn’t even show up until the last act of the game. All the foreboding created by the tower is how much time you spend trying to find enough friends to even stand a chance of defeating the enemy – who displayed his power in spectacular fashion at the close of the last act.

I know, it’s “another tower.” RPGs love towers. In an interesting little twist, you actually enter this tower from the airship. So you climb down the tower, I think. Honestly, it’s not very clear that you’re in a tower once you enter. You do not appear to make clear progress in any one direction, vertically or horizontally.

Anyway, this is similar to the Rift in that elements of previous dungeons are present throughout the tower, with significantly less variety. It would appear that Kefka fashioned his abode with parts belonging to the old Empire. As I said this does not have quite the same impact, as it feels more like a retread of Vector and the Magitek Factory. It makes sense in-universe though, so what do you want?

The music definitely steps up to the plate here, like the rest of the soundtrack. It returns to that “go forth!” sound to which a badass could walk slowly and determinedly forward. And, though by no means unique to the final dungeon, I just love the boss music so freaking much.

Kefka’s tower is shorter than the moon in FFIV and the boss gauntlet is not quite as extensive as the Rift in V. There are several optional boss monsters to take on, from the last of the dragons you may have started on the outside or Atma, but the true gauntlet comes in the form of the Warring Triad – the three statues which are the creators and source of magic in the world. Whoa. So, here, what the bosses lack in quantity they make up for in gravity.



I do find this dungeon a bit difficult and it can very easily catch you woefully unprepared, as it did to me. The random encounters here combine many types of enemies in some tricky layouts which seem designed to punish you until you put together effective strategies for each setup. However, all final dungeons do that to an extent, what really can make Kefka’s Tower so difficult is its unique approach. Final Fantasy VI has the biggest cast in the series, so big that even players who like to keep their characters balanced are likely to leave someone to the dogs. If you are a player that tends to focus on your favorite characters (as I did in my first playthrough), then you may as well go home. This dungeon forces you to use every single character in three parties. Having to use your shunned characters against the random encounters here would be bad enough, but each party must take on bosses, the Warring Triad in particular. This means you have to split your best characters up, weakening your position further.



Gameplay-wise: a veritable pain in the neck for young ForceStealer. Story-wise: very cool. It makes the most sense; how many characters sit uselessly in the sidelines in RPGs for no logical reason? Furthermore, taking out one of the statues before the others could alert Kefka in enough time to interfere – this way, the entire party wipes out the sources of magic simultaneously. It adds to the grand scale of the whole affair, and makes their reunion just before the final battle that much more awesome than the half-hearted attempt at this the next dungeon will make.

All in all, it is a solid dungeon to conclude a masterpiece of a game. However, other games have done the final dungeon better, and were I to list my favorites in the series, I don’t know how high the Tower would place (remember, the final bosses are not being considered).

Next up, from high into the air to deep underground.

The final battles against Kefka (including the Goddesses and the literal 'tower of Kefka' boss) is, the most epic finale of any Final Fantasy to date. None of the FFs since have topped the grandness of the entire 14 man party chewing up the God of Magic from the bottom up to the everchanging tune of Dancing Mad. None.

Not my personal favorite, but one thing is clear:

Epic final dungeon. 'Nuff said.