Final Fantasy Tactics, Part 4 - Queklain's Tinnitus

Look at all the classes I've got unlocked now. Dragoon is a big one, but unfortunately it isn't any good until lances become a purchasable weapon type in stores. That isn't the case just yet. Went Thief to try and steal Gaffgarion's Blood Sword, but that ship has sailed. Alas.

Originally posted March 2016, now remastered for 2025

I thought I was trapped in this corner of the map, but it turns out that you can walk through Lionel Castle without getting pulled into a fight (as long as you don't stop on it). If Golgorand Execution Site was a brutal fight, it's probably a good idea to stop and grind here, which means backtracking.

Lionel Castle has more difficult fights, starting with Ramza being locked into a one-on-one fight with Gaffgarion.

He's still a badass, and if the player is unprepared, this is definitely a place where they can hit a wall.

No Blood Sword this time, so no second chance at it. I'm guessing this was to prevent people from stealing a second Blood Sword. When I was younger I'd always get the sword from him at Golgorand, so I figured the Ancient Sword here was what the game gave him to make up for his lack of weapon. Not the case, it gets replaced no matter what.

The characters outside of the gate have a handful to deal with, too.

Luckily, I grinded to prepare for the fight, and have Ramza simply teleport off the wall. He then annihilates the enemy Summoner while Gaffgarion roams around aimlessly on the other side of the wall.

Agrias unleashes a holy sword attack that I didn't demonstrate previously. This one does a lot of damage and adds the Doom/Countdown effect. Not as good as the move that has a chance to insta-KO, but it usually does a little more damage and has a better range, making it better against bosses early-game.

Hallowed Bolt is debatably the best one. It hits all enemies in a five-square space and sometimes silences their casting. It also does significant damage and has terrific range.

Divine Ruination is the final holy sword attack, and blasts all enemies in a straight line (with a confuse effect). I still usually call it Holy Explosion, the awesome PS1 version name.

Speaking of straight line attacks, Monk Shockwave can go through the wall to hit Gaffgarion. I could just sploit this until I win, but I'll play his game.

Ramza teleports through the wall again and opens the gate. This way if Ramza is losing the fight, other characters can come in and intervene.

He doesn't lose, though. Too bad the battle ends as soon as Gaffgarion falls (due to all the goons outside being defeated already), and I don't have the chance to get his crystal.

Reset and did it again (yes, the entire battle) just to find out what abilities he has. YAWN.

Cutscene with Delita and Ovelia walking. I don't remember this from the PS1 version, likely another War of the Lions addition.

Some goons appear, and they take a moment to talk smack about Gaffgarion. Most everyone is shocked that he didn't take out our heroes, but this guy thinks he was overrated. Somebody's got Dark Knight class envy.

PSP bonus battle time! Delita is controllable, which is pretty cool in and of itself because I don't think he ever was in the PS1 version. It isn't much of a fight though, he steamrolls the three enemies. His abilities are the same as Agrias (if you've gotten all of her abilities by now).

Delita gives Ovelia the ultimatum: "Come with me if you want to live."

Man, now the Cardinal is talking smack about Gaffgarion too.

He makes a startling revelation: Princess Ovelia has joined the New World Order!
 
Also, he's a demonic hellspawn. Wait, what?

The Cardinal whips out one of the Zodiac Stones and uses his own body as a conduit for -Lucavi-, the evil bastards who nearly brought ruin to the world once upon a time.

Cuchulainn will always be Queklain from the PS1 version to me. This guy made an appearance in Final Fantasy XII, since that game had all of the bosses from this game as summonable espers. It also had the final bosses of the first five Final Fantasies to go with them and round out the esper clique.

Queklain has a beastly stomach-mouth (and you really don't want to see his vagina).

This fight is way harder than it should be... if you have bad luck. Queklain himself is a pretty weak opponent, but he likes to inflict Doom and Sleep on characters. Once a character is asleep, they're asleep forever unless one of your other characters spends a turn attacking them. Queklain is content to rain status AOEs on the party and watch them expire to countdowns while they sit around asleep. Whoever ISN'T asleep has to futilly attack him.

Luckily, I manage to break Ramza away from the pack and have him do all the damage. One could argue that this was the first real boss of the game, though I'd say Gaffgarion had that honor.

So, was this the Cardinal's "true form"? No, not exactly. Queklain and the other Lucavi are ancient demons who lurk within the Zodiac Stones. Possessing those stones is akin to holding The One Ring, and if one is corruptible (i.e. nearly anyone), the corruption will make its way into their body. Before they know it, they get taken over ala The Thing. At that point the Lucavi just waits inside them to strike. The Lucavi only possess people in positions of power, since their goal is to cause war and unbalance. You'll never see one of these vile bastards taking over someone who does blue-collar work down at the local meat market.

Delita is moving up in the world, and has landed an audience with Duke Goltanna. One of the claimants to the throne, and Larg's sworn foe, Goltanna finds a much-needed ally in Delita. Joke's on him, because Delita is loyal only to one thing: The Poon.

Delita's first act as Goltanna's new ally is to expose a traitor in his midst. The guy immediately demands that Delita be silenced, which pretty much gives away that the guy doesn't have the truth on his side.

Delita then slays him in front of the Duke. I like how Orlandu (top right) reaches for his sword at the first sign of violence. Orlandu doesn't mess around.

Thanks to the actions of Delita and the New World Order, war is upon us. Delita wants to see Ovelia reign, while the NWO just wants lots of violence. Then there's Larg and Goltanna who each think they're running things.

Fast forward a bit, and the various factions are meeting to hear about the massive casualties they've sustained.

Orlandu is fed up with this whole thing already, but no one at this table is listening. Blanche certainly lives up to his name.

Chapter three out of four begins. This is where the game really gets rough.

Final note before I close this out for today: Here's Ovelia's amazing theme.

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