THE ENDGAME: Final Dungeons of the Final Fantasy Series Part XII

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.

The Pharos isn’t given much build-up, it’s only mentioned briefly before you set out to Giruvegan where the Occuria await, but what we know about it gives it an impact. It lies beyond the ocean in a land where airships cannot fly, and atop the tower lies the Sun-Cryst, the Crystal from which King Raithwall cut the Midlight, Dawn and Dusk Shards and used their power to unite Ivalice. The Sun-Cryst and thus the Pharos are the source of deifacted nethicite, the force the entire game’s plot has centered around. To take control of the Sun-Cryst would give Ashe the power to fight the Empire, but there’s already talk of a war between Archadia and Rozzaria, and at this point a war of such magnitude could destroy Dalmasca. The previously determined Ashe is only now doubting if her quest for revenge is what she really wants, since it seems it will come at the cost of the country she loves.

The Pharos is divided into three parts, called “Ascents”. The very first floor presents a puzzle in the form of four shrines that must be “fed” black orbs which are randomly dropped from enemies. Once the four shrines are sated the player enters an alternate reality and fights Pandaemonium, a giant turtle. After that begins the climbing, a long series of stairs leading up. Besides the normal enemies, the player must actively search for Brainpans and Deidars. When the green Brainpans die they spawn one “tile” of bridges leading to new areas, and Deidars spawn red bridges. But kill one of the other type while creating a bridge – like say, kill a red Deidar while creating a green bridge – and you lose a tile and have to kill an extra Brainpan. As you continue climbing finding enough enemies to complete the path you want requires you to backtrack quite a bit. After this is another boss, the blue fish Slyt.

That itself would be enough for a single dungeon, and takes as long as some other FF12 areas, but it’s just Part One of Three. For the second Ascent the player must choose an altar and give up usage of Attacks, Magic, their Minimap or Items, similar to Ultimecia’s Castle. Once they choose a handicap it’s a climb up through several floors of powerful enemies, eventually facing a third boss, the white wolf Fenrir. When Fenrir falls the party gets their ability back and moves on the Third Ascent. For the Third Ascent, the player gets to deal with a puzzle of colored Waystones that teleport them about. It’d a fairly simple puzzle if you know the solution, otherwise you’ll need to use your head and read runes scattered around the floors for clues to which color stone leads forward. Yet another boss awaits you now, the Esper of Earth and Bringer of Order, Hashmal. Finally you reach the final chamber and fight three bosses in a row. Aye yae yae.

The Pharos is a long, long trek and will take several hours. Fortunately save points are common and between floor lifts and Waystones you can leave the tower with fair ease. A Gate Crystal on the first floor conveniently lets you leave, restock your supplies and come back whenever you wish. The enemies are varied and can pose quite the challenge if the player is underleveled. The puzzles are varied and recall elements of previous dungeons, and the tower’s layout is full of false walls and optional paths, and in one section picking the one Waystone lands you in a room full of powerful zombies, so tread lightly. Counting the skeleton dragon Hydro the player must fight to enter the Pharos in the first place, there’s a total of eight bosses to be fought before the trip is done, but they’re spread out over the tower’s length so it doesn’t feel overwhelming.

The music for the dungeon is…well, forgettable. Final Fantasy XII’s soundtrack as a whole never left much of a mark on me, with the exception of the magnificent orchestral version of the series theme that plays when the game is turned on. There’s nothing really wrong with the theme, it just isn’t as memorable as some dungeon themes, not to mention that due to the battle system you’re probably more focused on looking for enemies lurking in the shadows off-screen waiting to pounce than you are enjoying the music.

The atmosphere besides the music is incredible though, the main chamber of the Pharos is a long column of water rising in the center of a ring-shaped room, and the side-chambers are often darkened and can sometimes be hard to navigate. The sight of the pillar of water rising to the summit every time you enter the central chamber serves to constantly remind you of the power that awaits you on the final floor. Compounding this are the cutscenes along the way that emphasize the moral dilemma Ashe is turning over in her head during the climb, building the suspense even more. Tack on the atmosphere and plot build-up to the long, long climb, and by the time you reach the Sun-Cryst you’re ready for a climax of epic proportions, and you get it. The strength of Final Fantasy XII’s voice acting and scripting really comes through in these scenes, due in no small part to Doctor Cid, who is perhaps the most deliciously hammy villain in the series short of the Dissidia cast.

Sit your ass down and drink some goddamn Sun Cryst!

It is at this point that you may proceed to the technical “final” dungeon, the Sky Fortress Bahamut, but like the Crystal World of Final Fantasy IX, it is little more than a corridor to the final boss minus the cool backgrounds.

The Pharos is a truly epic dungeon combining puzzle solving with endurance and good-old-fashion brawls with strings of powerful enemies and bosses, inter-spliced with tense cutscenes. After spending the last three games of the series traveling inward, Final Fantasy XII makes up for lost ground with a hundred-floor climb upward. For one of my favorite games in the series, the pay-off at the top is worth the trip.

12 down, 1 to go! Shouldn’t be too hard to finish now, it’ll be like taking a cradle from an orphan!