Legend of Legaia - Part 23 - Castle in the Sky

 

Welcome back to more Legend of Legaia.  Last time, we encountered the Soren, a tribe of winged people.  Today, we are going to visit the elder of the Soren and see if we can make our way to the dreaded Floating Castle.

Before we do that though, let’s explore the Soren Camp.  The area is built on top of mountains with bridges connecting one mountain to another.  A fairly small area, but there are some things we can check out.  

 

A Soren here tells us that he was the one that carried Noa.  Wait, what?  Turns out he didn’t die like I thought!

 

There’s an inn where you can rest for free.  Might as well stay here to rest up from our climb up Mt. Dhini.  Another Soren here tells us that Luctes and Grantes were the sons of the elder Cructes.  

 

Something I didn’t really show before was Luctes was pretty bitter whenever he heard his brother’s name mentioned, due to the events that transpired with him.

I do not see any accessories here, you stinky

 

On the other side of the camp, there are some shops.  This merchant here does NOT sell accessories, as he promised, but he does sell healing items should you need any.  Next to him is an equipment shop, and this shop is worth mentioning.   

 

This shop sells the best equipment money can buy!  Unlike the shop in Buma, this one includes every weapon and armor type for everyone.  They’re all expensive, but that should probably be a given.  A reminder: you can make easy money through the Muscle Dome by buying Soru Bread there and selling them for 3000G each.  Also, don’t forget to pick up the Healing Fruit in this campsite.

Let’s head to the elder’s place.  Luctes mentioned that he lives in the campsite furthest away.  

 

In there is another chest containing a Wonder Elixir, so take that.  I’m sure the old man’s not using it for anything.  We talk to the elder Cructes and he welcomes us to the Soren Camp.   

 

He has heard of what our heroes have done, and decides that he wants them to attack the Floating Castle.  Just like that!  The elder approves of us and wants us to destroy the castle.  Looks like Luctes was making more of a fuss than anything.

 

Head back outside to meet with Luctes.  He agrees to help our heroes infiltrate the Floating Castle, and calls upon his friends to carry them there.

 

We finally make it to the Floating Castle!  This castle is spraying mist all over Karisto, and if we destroy it, Karisto – and to that extent, the rest of the world – will finally be free from the mist!  The Soren place our heroes on a conveniently placed opening, and tell them that this is as far as they can go.  Now, it’s our job to do the rest.

oh quiet, you, like you can do any better

 

You can talk to Luctes to return to Soren Camp, but not without him making fun of you.  Still, if you need to return, you have that option.  But for now, let’s head in!

 

In the castle we go, and it’s got quite a rocky interior.  As you’d expect, there are new monsters we gotta watch out for.   

Barra is a new seru we have not yet encountered.  While not too powerful, it does have a windcutter attack that can do decent damage.  As always: if you’re trying to catch this seru, bring Ivory Books.  Its magic is pretty strong and may prove useful against an upcoming boss.

Topaz is not a seru… interesting; mist generator dungeons usually comprise only of serus.  It can heal other monsters, much like its previous versions, and it can cast white shield on itself to buff defense.  Otherwise, it’s the same monster you’ve fought before.

 

Thermo is like the mage we’ve faced before.  Goofy attacks, can buff defense, can unequip your accessory, the usual stuff.  Low attacks do nothing, as per the case for flying monsters.

 

Terror Face is another monster recolor.  These enemies are usually hard hitting and resilient, and this one’s no exception.  Just hit it with your best moves and it should go down eventually.  Also, watch out for its terror scream, an attack that can immobilize one party member for one turn.  Despite being a floating monster, it is not immune to low attacks.

 

I just wanna make a quick note on this dungeon’s music.  This also played during Zeto’s Dungeon and Dohati’s Castle.  I really like the more mechanical feel it’s going for.  Again, the drums are great.  But another neat thing I’d like to point out is that this dungeon theme continues to play even during battle!  It’s a really cool feature that I don’t see a lot of RPGs do.

now... where do I go?

This rocky area is kind of a maze.  But I want you to take note of where you’re going (or at least try to remember where you’re going).  Also, you may notice that you are unable to use a Door of Light.  There may be a reason for that.  There’s one side path that leads to a chest.  In it is a Healing Berry.

 

The way out of this maze is to the north.  A stairway will lead you to another maze like area.   

 

There’s another opening with a chest containing a Magic Ring.  This accessory raises max MP by 10%.  Navigate your way through the maze and find a way out to the south side.   

no guard rails, this is clearly a safety hazard

 

We find ourselves outside of the castle!  It’s probably a view from here, but we can’t really move this fixed camera, so follow the path to back in.

 

This is a new looking room.  It looks more mechanical, much like what we’ve seen in the previous Mist Generator dungeons.  There seems to be a platform all the way down.  Head to the north room and we’ll find a lever.  Flip it, and the platform will rise up to our level.  Now we can take this elevator and head deeper into the castle.

 

The mist is starting to roll in this area.  But before you head any further, there’s a small opening to the right.  

 

Follow the narrow path to find a chest containing a Life Water.  Head back to the main path and follow through the corridor.   

 

There are other rooms leading to some goodies, such as this chest containing an Evil God Icon.  …that’s a pretty metal name.  This accessory gives the wearer a chance to steal from the enemy whenever attacking.  It’s an accessory I haven’t played around with much though.

 

As we progress further into the castle, we’re blocked by these doors closing in front of us.  There must be another way around… fortunately, there is!   

 

There’s a ventilation shaft we can crawl into to the left.  If we follow through it, we’ll find a switch and… another seru!  

It mistakes us as new recruits in the castle.  Looks like Xain isn’t the only dumb seru in the enemy forces… but this seru quickly realizes that we’re actually here to destroy this castle.  We engage in a fight with this seru: the Puera!   

 

This seru isn’t too strong, but it has a very dangerous special attack: Death Game.

 

It pulls out 4 cards, then shuffles them and makes you pick one.  Each card has a different effect, as you can read.  “Both Damage” deals damage to both you and the seru.  It doesn’t deal a ton of damage, so it’s not too worrying.  “Puera Dies” is an instant death to the opponent.  This seems like a good choice, but if you’re trying to capture this seru, this card nullifies the chance of getting it, so if you’re trying to catch Puera, you actually want to avoid this card.  “Both Recover” is self-explanatory; both you and Puera restore some HP.  It’s probably the safest card to pull.  “Your Character Dies” is exactly what it says: instant death to your character.  You definitely don’t wanna pull this one.  The card shuffling isn’t terribly fast, but it can get easy to lose track of which card you wanna pull at times.  Don’t get distracted by the other cards moving around: just focus on the one you want to get.

As said before, it’s totally possible to capture this seru; in fact, I got it myself after this fight!   

 

But don’t fret if you don’t get it – like every other seru in this game, you’ll always have an opportunity to catch it again.  Puera’s magic is pretty strong, if not costly.

After defeating the Puera, we’re free to flip the switch the seru was guarding.  This will unlock the doors blocking our way.  Head back to the main corridor and follow the unlocked path.

 

Another sideroom contains this strange device with a switch on the other side.  The game immediately calls it a horrible device.  Well, let’s turn it on, and… oh god, there’s bones inside.   

 

If you examine there, you can find the Soren Secrets inside.  That one Soren can now teach you new arts once we head back.

 

The rest of the walk through the castle is fairly linear.  We’ll eventually reach this circular room.  It’s got a red carpet around the edges!  In the center is a save point, and you know what that means.  Save your game, or head back to heal up if needed.

 

Head inside to find another corridor.  There’s a big door along with switches blocked by 2 Pueras.  Beat them down and flip each switch.  The door opens, and we can head inside.

We have reached the throne room.  However, as we head closer to the throne itself, we find that it’s empty.   

 

What’s more, our heroes hear the sound of the Mist Generator.  It must be close!  Our heroes wonder where Zora, the master of the castle is…  

Meanwhile, back outside, the Soren notice someone coming.  It’s Zora!  The Soren fly away to avoid being seen.  It seems that she’s coming.

Back to our heroes, our heroes decide to look for the generator while Zora is away.  There are some doors behind the throne, so let’s check them out.   

 

The middle door leads to the generator, but it’s locked.  As expected, it’s not going to be that easy.  While we’re here, check the door to the left.  

 

In here is a chest containing a Magic Water, so don’t miss out on this one.  There’s nothing in the room to the right, though.

Well, with nothing left to do around here, let’s head out.  But before we can even leave the room, Zora appears before us!  

Noa asks her to give back the Ra-Seru Egg she stole from Grantes.  Zora laughs it off, saying she won’t hand it over without a fight.  We got no choice – let’s fight!

 

We face off against Zora, the master of the Floating Castle!  She’s less fishy than she looks, but she’s a dangerous foe if you take her lightly.  Her regular attacks can do heavy damage, dealing as high as 1000 HP!  

 

She also has a Glare attack, which has a chance to petrify a party member.  I say that, but throughout the fight, she used that twice and none of them landed!  That was lucky.  

for an attack called "Dark Typhoon" this sure looks pretty bright

Her most dangerous attack is Dark Typhoon, dealing about 1000 damage to everyone.  No tell with this attack, either, so keep everyone’s HP up whenever possible.

Her Glare attack can be a problem, so it may be a good idea to give someone a Wonder Amulet or Stone Amulet.  Don’t do what I did and bring an Ivory Book to this fight.  You cannot capture Zora, so don’t even try.  As said in a previous part, you should now have access to Miracle Arts (well, for Vahn and Noa most likely; Gala’s gonna need a lot more levels to reach 9 bars), so if you got them, use them on Zora.  I leveled up Barra a bit for Noa and it managed to do quite a bit of damage, so that’s a good spell I’d recommend for dealing against this boss.   

you know, Zora could just fly off from Barra or something

 

As per the case for flying monsters, low attacks won’t do anything.  Well, I think?  I managed to get in a low hit with Vahn in this fight.

Another interesting observation I found when fighting Zora, and I think this applies to any boss in general: bosses get weaker when they’re at low HP.  Zora did a regular combo on Noa at the beginning of the fight that did about 1000 damage, but later, she tried another combo attack on Noa again, but dealt only about 600 damage!  It seems that bosses’ regular attacks weaken when their HP drops.  It makes sense realistically, but it’s hardly something you ever see in a game; usually it’s the other way around.

that has such a nonchalant tone

 

Eventually, Zora finally falls.  Noa asks again where the Ra-Seru egg is, and Zora responds with this answer: she already used the Ra-Seru egg as a part of the Mist Generator.  What!?

 

Gala shares my reaction as well.  It turns out that the Mist Generators use Ra-Seru eggs to create mist!  The Ra-Serus confirm this as well.  This explains why the ra-serus were so solemn after destroying the generators.  Someone interrupts our heroes; it’s Songi, once again!   

ouch, sick burn

 

He tells our heroes that he has some business with the generator.  He walks up to the door, and kamehamehas it to smithereens.   

or a messatsu hadoken, take your pick

 

What is Songi planning to do, our heroes wonder?  They head past the blasted door and into the Mist Generator room.

 

Our heroes enter the room and they see the Mist Generator already crumbling before their eyes.  Songi destroyed the Mist Generator before them?  But why?

Songi appears before our heroes and confirms that he destroyed the generator.  He explains that this floating castle was all a trap set up by Cort.  It turns out that the mist produced by the castle was weakening this whole time, and this wasn’t the true source of Karisto’s mist!  Zora overhears all this, and is shocked to hear that Cort used her to lure our heroes in.   

 

Still in denial over Cort’s betrayal, Songi fires a blast and kills her off!  Geeze, Songi, chill!

Songi said this whole castle was a trap, and our heroes ask Songi what he meant.  Songi explains that the Mist Generator not only produced the mist, but it also kept the castle afloat.  And now with the generator destroyed… the castle starts shaking!  Noa quickly realizes that the floating castle is now falling!  

Songi blatantly tells our heroes that they have 6 minutes until impact.  We better make a run for it!

We’re immediately given a timer while we escape the floating castle.  That was no bluff – we really have 6 minutes to escape!  Fortunately, this timer is pretty lax, and that’s more than enough time to make the run back to the entrance.  A couple of things to note: time doesn’t count down while in the menu screen.  If you need to heal up, you can do that without worrying about the time ticking down.  Also, remember how you can’t use a Door of Light to just warp outside?  This is why.  You gotta do this escape scene legit. 

Enemy encounters will still occur while you’re running out!  Getting to a random encounter does affect your time, but not in the way you’d expect.  The time doesn’t actually tick down during a battle, but getting into one reduces your time by 20 seconds.  Considering how long these fights can get, having the time go down by that much is probably a better alternative.  If you wanna minimize encounters, give someone a Good Luck Bell or use some Incenses.

Most of the run back is linear, but the rocky maze may be a bit confusing to navigate.  Even more so when you have a visible counter ticking down.  Just remember that the exit to the first maze (from your direction) is to the north, and the maze’s exit is to the south.  Once you make your way through the second maze, you’re outta there!

Noa, now's not the time to T-pose

 

Our heroes run back to the entrance of the castle, but find that the Soren are gone!  This is bad news.  The castle starts crumbling apart, and our heroes start free falling from where they stand.   But as it looks like our heroes are going to meet their end...

 

The Soren then come at the nick of time and carry our heroes back to safety!

insert wind waker sploosh

 

Meanwhile, the castle crumbles into pieces as it falls from the sky.  It falls into the sea, making a huge splash.  Our heroes managed to make it out safely.  It turns out that the Soren were chased out by Seru monsters, but they were watching from the sky.  With that, everyone returns to Soren Camp.

 

Elder Cructes learns about what happened in the Floating Castle, and is shocked to hear how the Mist Generators were created by using Ra-Serus.  The Ra-Serus explain that the only way to destroy the generators was to kill the Ra-Seru inside.   

 

The thought behind that is upsetting, but it doesn’t seem like there was any other alternative.  Despite that… having learned that the Floating Castle was just a bait for our heroes to take, where could the true Mist Generator lie?  Fortunately, Cructes planned ahead.   

 

He sent some Soren to search around, and found the source coming from the northern mountains!  If we can get rid of that generator, all of Legaia would be free from mist!  For real this time!

Cructes explains that the Mist Generator is near Conkram, and has asked Luctes and his group to take them there.  

Noa seems excited to go; her journey to find her real parents is finally coming to an end!  …I’m a bit nervous about this though.

Well, I think that’s gonna do for this part.  We destroyed the Floating Castle, but the mist still remains in Karisto.  Next time: we head to Conkram and take one step closer to ridding the world of the mist once and for all!

I have a bad feeling about this…