[Orphan's Cradle]THE ENDGAME: Final Dungeons of the Final Fantasy Series
- Thread starter ForceStealer
- Start date
Dark and Divine
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- D&D
Kefka's Tower is one of my favourite final dungeons.
Like Force said, the music is awesome and it just makes you what to go forth and the boss battles are fun, specially the ones against the Warring Triad. In the battles against them, some members of my team were not in the greatest shape, and those were tough battles, but i still managed to go through them after a few tries.
And finally, at the top of the tower, we have one of my four favourite scenes of FFVI -
Like Force said, the music is awesome and it just makes you what to go forth and the boss battles are fun, specially the ones against the Warring Triad. In the battles against them, some members of my team were not in the greatest shape, and those were tough battles, but i still managed to go through them after a few tries.
And finally, at the top of the tower, we have one of my four favourite scenes of FFVI -
It was nice to "listen" to each of each party members' hopes and dreams, but it was great to have some more Kefka pwnage in the form of the "Self-help booklet" line. And i also liked to see Kefka throwing some party members around and unleashing the Light of Judgement in the land.
The tiers are already epic, but Kefka's final form is beyond epic. Finally, Dancing Mad - another element of the final battle that's quite epic. While "One Winged Angel", in all its awesomeness, has an overbearing quality and builds tension by seemingly puts the weight of the world in one's shoulders, Dancing Mad has the same sense of urgency, but its beats make you want to fight and go further. Very epic indeed!
But then again, everything about Kefka is epic, so...
But then again, everything about Kefka is epic, so...
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ForceStealer
Double Growth
So why did Kefka build the tower in the first place? Sure, he's a power hungry madman and towers seem to be the way to go with them. But given that by the time you reach him he's decided to just destroy everything, does that mean his thought process was different at first?
DrakeClawfang
The Wanderer of Time
That's what I assume. He conquered the world, ruled it with an iron fist and was capable of burning anyone who opposed him. Besides holding out for a final brawl with the party, what else was there for Kefka to do with his time? He spent a year reigning as a god, when you're nearly omnipotent and have the world fearing you, what do you do with your spare time? Kefka doesn't strike me as the type to take up a hobby like poker or video games to keep himself busy in-between bouts of kicking humanity when it's down.
I figure he had fun ruling the ashes of the world for a year or so and pissing on what was left of civilization for lulz, but by the time the party had gotten to him Kefka was bored and there was nothing left for him to do. He's effectively accomplished everything he's set out to do already, what else is left for him? When he proclaims the struggles of life are futile, he's speaking from experience - he knows this to be true, because he's come to realize his own search for power has ended up getting him nowhere, and because he's spent the last year making sure it's true for everyone else.
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DrakeClawfang
The Wanderer of Time
Well the K-man certainly has that covered then.
Ryushikaze
Deus Admiral Parsimonious, PHD, DDS, MD, JD, OBE
- AKA
- Tim, Ryu
Kefka's a member of the David Bowie Palamecia fanclub and wanted a tower just as awesome as his was, but there was no hell to conquer in that world so he had to make do with what he had lying around.
He's like the Macguyver of villainous strongholds.
Force, are you planning on doing entires on the dungeons of things like 10-2, Revenant Wings, and Tactics?
He's like the Macguyver of villainous strongholds.
Force, are you planning on doing entires on the dungeons of things like 10-2, Revenant Wings, and Tactics?
ForceStealer
Double Growth
I wasn't really planning on Revenant Wings as I know next to nothing about the game. Tactics doesn't really have a "dungeon" per se, its just a series of battles.
And honestly I had completely forgotten about X-2, but I think it makes sense that I should.
And honestly I had completely forgotten about X-2, but I think it makes sense that I should.
ForceStealer
Double Growth
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.
Sephiroth, your mortal enemy for several reasons, cast his doomsday spell and holed up in the crater made by the asteroid that delivered his ‘mother’ 2000 years ago. Complete with an energy shield around the entrance, he intends to simply wait until the Meteor hits, inflicting the wound that will give him access to all the souls on the Planet. Shinra was kind enough to take down his barrier for you, so all that remains is to climb down to the depths of the planet and release the hold he has on humanity’s only hope.
As we all know, Final Fantasy VII represented a huge change for the series. Apart from the graphics, gone was the medieval high-fantasy setting; gone were the princesses and crystalline dungeons. How did this all translate to the endgame?
While the mish mashing environments of the previous two dungeons are gone, the Northern Crater has some incredibly varied locales. From Lifestream waterfalls to skeletons of giant creatures and even a section with a camera angle reminiscent of a side-scroller, you certainly will not get bored from the scenery. I don’t mean to ramble about the attractiveness of the dungeon, I just want to emphasize that the good graphics were not the only reason it’s so easy on the eyes: its design is very imaginative.
Unfortunately, it also hits several snags as compared to its predecessors. Chief among these is difficulty – or lack thereof. Now, in fairness, if you head directly to the crater after popping in Disc 3, you are likely to be low to mid 50s in level. At this point the dungeon is reasonably tough. King Behemoths can deal heavy damage; dragons will as well with several attacks, gargoyles and Edward Scissorhands cosplayers will hit you with instant death. And as any Final Fantasy player worth his or her salt knows, the Master Tonberries will ruin your day.
However, if you undertake any sidequests at all, even very minor leveling or obtaining some ultimate weapons, you will rapidly eclipse the enemies here. They simply do not have the HP counts to stand up to Double Cuts from three ultimate weapons, or even just a party pushing level 65 and up. On top of that, there is no boss gauntlet. Well, not a true one at least. The rocks you have to hop from on your way to the final battle are subject to some powerful monsters (again, only if you came directly here; Go ignored and $200 uncollected), but they lack story relevance that past gauntlets have had.
Kefka’s Tower can still backhand a player across the face at level 80 if the player is not prepared, but overlevelled parties in FFVII can simply steamroll their way through the Northern Crater. This does little to help the dungeon’s already short length. The fact that it is shorter than the past couple would not be a huge deal as a standard playthrough of FFVII is longer than one in FFs V and VI by this point. What are puzzling are the dungeon’s efforts to shorten itself.
Halfway through, the path forks, and you must direct party members to different paths. Like Kefka’s Tower, right? Well, it is until you reach the part that you do not control your other party members. You just meet up with that at the bottom and they give you the items they found along the way. This means that, if you’re playing normally, you only see half the dungeon. This is really a shame because the areas are, as I’ve mentioned, very pretty and you should be able to see them. It was years before I even knew what the other half looked like (which happens to look awesome with the corkscrew and massive skeletons). Furthermore, as I said, the dungeon’s rather short. If you actually had to go through the whole thing, it would probably be a normal length. If, for example, there were no split, or even more reasonably, you just had to control all the groups, this would all be remedied. Even the difficulty would step up as you’d have to use the other characters.
Phew, anyway, to end on a positive note, I deliberately avoided talking about the music. And that is because the song here very nearly makes up for every single one of these misgivings. This song is awesome. In my opinion Final Fantasy VII does not, in fact, have the best overall soundtrack, but “Judgment Day” is the standard to which I hold all other endgame themes. I’ve mentioned liking a rousing score for my march to save the world, and Judgment Day actually doesn’t have that “go forth” quality I mentioned. However, if you could the write “determination” in music, this is it. You are pissed at Sephiroth and this is the perfect song to mentally prepare you for the spanking you intend to hand him. Incidentally, ocremix has a fantastic version of this song that captures its feel and manages to make it even more awesome.
The more subdued areas have the Promised Land music, and your ‘final approach’ is heralded by the ever-badass JENOVA theme.
So they missed some major opportunities with the Northern Crater. And they are amplified by my recent journey through the previous ones. However, this dungeon nailed the atmosphere better than any other. Hell was an awesome place to charge through, and the Rift was disconcerting and spooky, but graphically and musically speaking, Final Fantasy VII’s final dungeon hits it out of the park.
With towers and holes and other dimensions, where could we possibly have left to go? Why through time, of course!
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.
Sephiroth, your mortal enemy for several reasons, cast his doomsday spell and holed up in the crater made by the asteroid that delivered his ‘mother’ 2000 years ago. Complete with an energy shield around the entrance, he intends to simply wait until the Meteor hits, inflicting the wound that will give him access to all the souls on the Planet. Shinra was kind enough to take down his barrier for you, so all that remains is to climb down to the depths of the planet and release the hold he has on humanity’s only hope.
As we all know, Final Fantasy VII represented a huge change for the series. Apart from the graphics, gone was the medieval high-fantasy setting; gone were the princesses and crystalline dungeons. How did this all translate to the endgame?
While the mish mashing environments of the previous two dungeons are gone, the Northern Crater has some incredibly varied locales. From Lifestream waterfalls to skeletons of giant creatures and even a section with a camera angle reminiscent of a side-scroller, you certainly will not get bored from the scenery. I don’t mean to ramble about the attractiveness of the dungeon, I just want to emphasize that the good graphics were not the only reason it’s so easy on the eyes: its design is very imaginative.
Unfortunately, it also hits several snags as compared to its predecessors. Chief among these is difficulty – or lack thereof. Now, in fairness, if you head directly to the crater after popping in Disc 3, you are likely to be low to mid 50s in level. At this point the dungeon is reasonably tough. King Behemoths can deal heavy damage; dragons will as well with several attacks, gargoyles and Edward Scissorhands cosplayers will hit you with instant death. And as any Final Fantasy player worth his or her salt knows, the Master Tonberries will ruin your day.
However, if you undertake any sidequests at all, even very minor leveling or obtaining some ultimate weapons, you will rapidly eclipse the enemies here. They simply do not have the HP counts to stand up to Double Cuts from three ultimate weapons, or even just a party pushing level 65 and up. On top of that, there is no boss gauntlet. Well, not a true one at least. The rocks you have to hop from on your way to the final battle are subject to some powerful monsters (again, only if you came directly here; Go ignored and $200 uncollected), but they lack story relevance that past gauntlets have had.
Kefka’s Tower can still backhand a player across the face at level 80 if the player is not prepared, but overlevelled parties in FFVII can simply steamroll their way through the Northern Crater. This does little to help the dungeon’s already short length. The fact that it is shorter than the past couple would not be a huge deal as a standard playthrough of FFVII is longer than one in FFs V and VI by this point. What are puzzling are the dungeon’s efforts to shorten itself.
Halfway through, the path forks, and you must direct party members to different paths. Like Kefka’s Tower, right? Well, it is until you reach the part that you do not control your other party members. You just meet up with that at the bottom and they give you the items they found along the way. This means that, if you’re playing normally, you only see half the dungeon. This is really a shame because the areas are, as I’ve mentioned, very pretty and you should be able to see them. It was years before I even knew what the other half looked like (which happens to look awesome with the corkscrew and massive skeletons). Furthermore, as I said, the dungeon’s rather short. If you actually had to go through the whole thing, it would probably be a normal length. If, for example, there were no split, or even more reasonably, you just had to control all the groups, this would all be remedied. Even the difficulty would step up as you’d have to use the other characters.
Phew, anyway, to end on a positive note, I deliberately avoided talking about the music. And that is because the song here very nearly makes up for every single one of these misgivings. This song is awesome. In my opinion Final Fantasy VII does not, in fact, have the best overall soundtrack, but “Judgment Day” is the standard to which I hold all other endgame themes. I’ve mentioned liking a rousing score for my march to save the world, and Judgment Day actually doesn’t have that “go forth” quality I mentioned. However, if you could the write “determination” in music, this is it. You are pissed at Sephiroth and this is the perfect song to mentally prepare you for the spanking you intend to hand him. Incidentally, ocremix has a fantastic version of this song that captures its feel and manages to make it even more awesome.
The more subdued areas have the Promised Land music, and your ‘final approach’ is heralded by the ever-badass JENOVA theme.
So they missed some major opportunities with the Northern Crater. And they are amplified by my recent journey through the previous ones. However, this dungeon nailed the atmosphere better than any other. Hell was an awesome place to charge through, and the Rift was disconcerting and spooky, but graphically and musically speaking, Final Fantasy VII’s final dungeon hits it out of the park.
With towers and holes and other dimensions, where could we possibly have left to go? Why through time, of course!
Ryushikaze
Deus Admiral Parsimonious, PHD, DDS, MD, JD, OBE
- AKA
- Tim, Ryu
Spiffy. But Crosspost to our coverage of the Remixes. OCremix still gets the credit, we get a few more hits.
Also, Ulti's Castle really isn't through time, but I do quite like it as a final dungeon.
Also, Ulti's Castle really isn't through time, but I do quite like it as a final dungeon.
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Alex Strife
Ex-SOLDIER
Let's mosey!
Whatever. My personal favorite (you can call me FFVII fanboy, I do not care, these are my tastes and there's nothing wrong with it).
I loved the music, the feeling you get there, and the looks of that place. Great.
Whatever. My personal favorite (you can call me FFVII fanboy, I do not care, these are my tastes and there's nothing wrong with it).
I loved the music, the feeling you get there, and the looks of that place. Great.
Masamune
Fiat Lux
- AKA
- Masa
Good write-up. The diversity and surrealism of the Northern Crater was unforgettable, married with the suspense of venturing deeper and deeper into the abyss. It really did carry that sense of no turning back. What a strange assortment of beasties down there, too, like Christopher and Gighee (wtf?).
Whatever you do, DON'T use the Save Crystal at the rendezvous point. I did that once and it screwed up my file. Had to start over from scratch!
Whatever you do, DON'T use the Save Crystal at the rendezvous point. I did that once and it screwed up my file. Had to start over from scratch!
ForceStealer
Double Growth
Sorry for the delay.
Final Fantasy VIII: Ultimecia's Castle
So this villainous sorceress that has really only been alluded too 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.
Yet, it still manages to be a bit disappointing. This, more than all the others except maybe the Rift, called for a bizarre locale with each area residing in a different time period and maybe certain area existing in "fast forward" or slowed time. But, no, its just a medieval castle. Which is admittedly a change of scenery from the game its in, but still...
And the stopped clocks aren't a bad touch.
Its frustrating dungeon too, intentionally so, but it is certainly a maze. As for combat difficulty, if you're like me and despised Draw, the boss gauntlet can be pretty punishing. If you spent any time actually accumulating spells they're pretty average bosses. And, well, random encounters are kind of a non-issue, aren't they? Like FF6, Ultimecia's Castle returns to requiring the use of the entire cast (which is significantly smaller here), but it doesn't really make it tougher because there are actually only three bundles of stats in this game and six receptacles for you to store them.
Best. Characters. Ever.
But enough picking on FF8, this is actually a pretty cool dungeon. It hearkens back to Final Fantasy III in that the final boss is very easily accessible from the beginning but will be incredibly difficult if you do not do some things to increase your chances of success first.
You see, despite being unable to spell, Ultimecia's one smart cookie and joins Sephiroth as the only villains who thought it might actually be a good idea to put some defense mechanisms into their lairs apart from the cannon fodder that happens to reside there. All who enter her castle lost all of their powers save hitting stuff with their pointy sticks. So upon entering you lose your abilities to cast magic, summon GFs, use Limit Breaks, use command abilities, use items, raise fallen party members, or even save! (For some reason junction still works.)
So if you want to stand a chance against the sorceress you're going to want to unseal these abilities. But how could you release these arcane seals when you can't even cast magic yourself? Well this isFinal Fantasy a video game and so you solve it the same way you solve everything else - killing things! Yes, this dungeon's eight-monster boss gauntlet (not including the bastard that is Omega Weapon) still lacks V and VI's story relevence, but they must be offed to get your skills back. There is some pretty good variety to them too, from mainstays like a dragon and an Iron Giant, to some goofy looking (Sphinxaur) and cool looking (Gargantua) creatures. [EDIT: (this was in my outline and forgot to write it) It was also a very clever idea and a lot of fun. Its an interesting diversion besides looting (which there actually is not a whole lot of) and forcing you to use some strategy while simultaneously provided a reason for the boss gauntlet. Additional strategy is needed in that you choose which abilities become unsealed, so which is the most important to you?
Obviously it does not represent as huge a leap in graphics in IV and VII and like I said I had been expecting a bit more but its still a very pretty dungeon with scenery that looks very...out of place, if that's what they were going for, but its still very cool looking. The maze of rooms with different keys and floodgates and some legitimate puzzles culminating in that suspenseful spiral staircase just ooze atmosphere. The music is very haunting, no inspiring themes here folks, but it is still a great song that fits the scenery. The music to get you pumped up comes in the final boss fights.
So after Cloud's inspirational battle cry last time, what do you have for us Squall?!
Well, anyway, next time is the return of the kryst-, er, crystalline final dungeon!
Final Fantasy VIII: Ultimecia's Castle
So this villainous sorceress that has really only been alluded too 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.
Yet, it still manages to be a bit disappointing. This, more than all the others except maybe the Rift, called for a bizarre locale with each area residing in a different time period and maybe certain area existing in "fast forward" or slowed time. But, no, its just a medieval castle. Which is admittedly a change of scenery from the game its in, but still...
And the stopped clocks aren't a bad touch.
Its frustrating dungeon too, intentionally so, but it is certainly a maze. As for combat difficulty, if you're like me and despised Draw, the boss gauntlet can be pretty punishing. If you spent any time actually accumulating spells they're pretty average bosses. And, well, random encounters are kind of a non-issue, aren't they? Like FF6, Ultimecia's Castle returns to requiring the use of the entire cast (which is significantly smaller here), but it doesn't really make it tougher because there are actually only three bundles of stats in this game and six receptacles for you to store them.
Best. Characters. Ever.
But enough picking on FF8, this is actually a pretty cool dungeon. It hearkens back to Final Fantasy III in that the final boss is very easily accessible from the beginning but will be incredibly difficult if you do not do some things to increase your chances of success first.
You see, despite being unable to spell, Ultimecia's one smart cookie and joins Sephiroth as the only villains who thought it might actually be a good idea to put some defense mechanisms into their lairs apart from the cannon fodder that happens to reside there. All who enter her castle lost all of their powers save hitting stuff with their pointy sticks. So upon entering you lose your abilities to cast magic, summon GFs, use Limit Breaks, use command abilities, use items, raise fallen party members, or even save! (For some reason junction still works.)
So if you want to stand a chance against the sorceress you're going to want to unseal these abilities. But how could you release these arcane seals when you can't even cast magic yourself? Well this is
Obviously it does not represent as huge a leap in graphics in IV and VII and like I said I had been expecting a bit more but its still a very pretty dungeon with scenery that looks very...out of place, if that's what they were going for, but its still very cool looking. The maze of rooms with different keys and floodgates and some legitimate puzzles culminating in that suspenseful spiral staircase just ooze atmosphere. The music is very haunting, no inspiring themes here folks, but it is still a great song that fits the scenery. The music to get you pumped up comes in the final boss fights.
So after Cloud's inspirational battle cry last time, what do you have for us Squall?!
Well, anyway, next time is the return of the kryst-, er, crystalline final dungeon!
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Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
I loved Ultimecia's Castle. It's one of my favorite locations in FF. Her trap of punishing intruders by sealing their skills with her flunkies was really creative, imo. Not to mention the music was pretty cool.
...It was odd how they rendered her castle in Dissidia though. I wasn't that impressed with it.
...It was odd how they rendered her castle in Dissidia though. I wasn't that impressed with it.
Cat Rage Room
Great Old One
- AKA
- Mog
Ultimecia's Castle is one of the most visually stunning locales in any Final Fantasy game, ever.
Sprites
Waiting for something
- AKA
- Gems
My first playthrough of FFVIII: I didn't level up very well, get pieces together for upgrading my weapons or use the Junction or draw system except for getting my HP up and relied mainly on my GFs to help me through the game. Needless to say when I arrived at Ultimecia's castle with everyone's 1st weapons, low stats and no GFs to use I was pretty much screwed. Surprisingly though I did manage to beat the game on that save file after several months of frustration.
These days I revel in getting my party into perfect shape to go kick Ultimecia and her beasties' arses.
Visually I loved Ultimecia's castle too and found it rather easy to get lost in plus the music did give it that whole spooky haunted castle feeling.
I thought maybe you would've mentioned about them paying homage to FFVI though with the switching of groups which at sometimes was necessary in the castle in order to progress or in order to face Omega but ah well still a really nice review, can't wait for your FFIX one.
These days I revel in getting my party into perfect shape to go kick Ultimecia and her beasties' arses.
Visually I loved Ultimecia's castle too and found it rather easy to get lost in plus the music did give it that whole spooky haunted castle feeling.
I thought maybe you would've mentioned about them paying homage to FFVI though with the switching of groups which at sometimes was necessary in the castle in order to progress or in order to face Omega but ah well still a really nice review, can't wait for your FFIX one.
ForceStealer
Double Growth
I did mention FFVI in regards to switching parties.
And I wasn't trying to demean how it looks. When I post it on the front page I'll make it more clear that it does look really cool. My point was that I would have expected a place of converging times, not a castle. But no it looks great.
Agreed on Dissida, Mako, it looked very...purple.
And I wasn't trying to demean how it looks. When I post it on the front page I'll make it more clear that it does look really cool. My point was that I would have expected a place of converging times, not a castle. But no it looks great.
Agreed on Dissida, Mako, it looked very...purple.
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Splintered
unsavory tart
FFVIII is one of my least liked Final Fantasies, but I have to admit, it did so much right. And I think the visual direction of Ultimecia's castle is one of them. It's such a well realized last dungeon.
Too bad she has the worst level in Dissidia. No justice at all.
Too bad she has the worst level in Dissidia. No justice at all.
Sorry for the off-topicness here, but...
Are you going to talk about the Crystal World only, or are you gonna include Memoria as a part of FFIX's final dungeon too?
Are you going to talk about the Crystal World only, or are you gonna include Memoria as a part of FFIX's final dungeon too?
ForceStealer
Double Growth
Yeah I'm including Memoria 
Ite
Save your valediction (she/her)
- AKA
- Ite
I think the Final Dungeon really takes place starting with Time Compression at the beginning of Disk 4. There, you really do fly through a bunch of familiar locales as they melt away. There's a string of about six boss battles in all the towns of FFVIII, and that is a lot like FFV's rift. I was satisfied when I got to Ulty's Castle that I had been through a crap load of time-fuck adventures.