For your listening pleasure: The Mystic Quest OST, starting with a stirring medley.
I won't even try to make excuses for how long it's been since I've made a post. Is that passively making an excuse? It's like a coach of mine once said "Excuses are like assholes... if you have one, you're an asshole."
Across the Rainbow Road: Pazuzu's Tower
 |
| Ben gets a tip about the tower. |
Across the rainbow bridge is Pazuzu's Tower, presumably where the Crystal of Wind is being held. There is an elevator which the tower's namesake uses to move around and taunt the hero. Flipping switches makes it so he cannot stop on certain floors, I think? Since you go up the tower than back down flipping switches, then eventually corner 'Zu on an upper level I never got this conceptually. I think I was probably trying to put more thought into the logistics than is necessary, or welcome, in a game like Mystic Quest. I still don't know if you can hit the switches in different orders and end up fighting Pazuzu on a different floor depending on how you do it.
 |
| I filled out the rest of my equipment and spell slots in the tower, acquiring Excalibur and the flare spell. |
Pazuzu
 |
| Prelude to the battle with Pazuzu |
The last evil fiend elemental crystal master (I'm not sure if, like other Final Fantasies, the group of four has a collective name) is the large anthropomorphic predatory bird, Pazuzu. Pazuzu takes his name and appearance from an ancient demon of Mesopotamia, brother to Humbaba of The Epic of Gilgamesh (Humbaba and Gilgamesh also make appearances in other Final Fantasy games). I'll link to this article instead of wikipedia, as the article not only references the movie The Exorcist, but also has Pazuzu having a serpent headed penis in the description of his appearance.
 |
| This is a screenshot of a statue of Pazuzu as it appears in The Exorcist. The image is reminiscent of an iconic statuette that depicts the demon, although with an erect phallus added for shock value, no doubt. Source. |
In Mystic Quest, Pazuzu can activate a shield, which if I recall, will make him counterattack if he is attacked while it is up. It's a simple version of an effect used in many RPGs. I simply waited until the shield went down. This might be a significant puzzle for someone new to RPGs, but it was not difficult for me.
I remember Pazuzu capturing my imagination in a significant way as a child. I believe I received both a book about demons and FF: Mystic Quest on the same Christmas. I read through the book, then when Pazuzu appeared in the game, it had an immediate impact on my imagination, fueling my interest and discovery. Ah, to be full of that wonder again.
After defeating the King of Wind Demons (Pazuzu), recovering the Crystal of Wind and the last coin, the heroes are stuck. They need Captain Mac's ship, which is landlocked, in order to reach the Focus Tower and use the final coin. They blow up a tunnel with the help of a thunder rock, and fill the empty space on the world map with water. I'll gloss over this part in the interest of expediency. Checking the dates on my screenshots, it looks like it has been over three months since I completed the game, so let's keep this bread truck rollin'.
Before they go get the ship, Reuben shows up to inform Ben that he discovered a stairway to the top of the Focus Tower after he took his little fall from the rope bridge. They take care of business, and then Phoebe joins back up. This is unfortunate, because unlike Kaeli, Phoebe's weapon is still the same from way back when we were in Aquaria. Then it was very powerful, at this point in the game, it is not. This is the first point in the game where some creatures cannot be defeated by a whack from Ben's weapon and his companions. This is kind of annoying, because it requires a big change in strategy. I ended up using more magic later in the game, which is good in a way, but rather than feeling like a natural increase in challenge, it just seemed artificial. I don't think I really have a good way to describe it, especially being so far removed from playing the game. There is a fine line that game designers have to walk between having the game be challenging enough that is rewarding, but not difficult in a way that is frustrating or an exercise in masochism.
 |
| This is how the final villain is introduced. A prophecy? That's both interesting and original. |
Doom Castle
Doom Castle is the appropriately named final area of the game. We got a tease of it earlier while exploring the Focus Tower. The music for this area is one of the best in the game, since I already linked to the OST, I bring you this awesome dude for the pleasing of your aural canals. It looks like he does metal covers of videogame tunes, but this one is already metal, so it's like putting metal in your metal. F*** yeah!
The "castle" consists of floors in the Focus Tower, which have the appearance of the four original dungeons holding the crystals. The exit from each floor is guarded by palette swapped versions of the four fiends. This creates a "boss rush" that harkens back to the original Final Fantasy, more on that when I play that game.
 |
| Ice Golem is now Stone Golem, but he still melts, like Harrenhal. |
Dark King
At the top of the tower waits Dark King. It would be proper english to call him "The Dark King." I prefer calling him Dark King as a proper name, because that's what the game seems to imply, and I find it humorous. In a twist that is not really original, but at least adds a little bit of creativity to the plot, Dark King says that he created the prophecy of the Knight of Legend; although he doesn't go into detail why. Even if his purpose was to get would be heroes to come to him to die, he probably set them up to get maxed out on equipment like Benjamin is. Once again, I'm probably thinking about this more than the writers did.
 |
| Dark King drops the bomb. |
Mystic Quest continues another Final Fantasy tradition, that is, the final boss having multiple forms. At this point it's expected, but that doesn't make it any less cool, to me.
 |
| This is Dark King's fourth and final form. |
 |
| S***... I guess he is the Dark King. However, the the is not capitalized so... |
The Ending
After defeating the Dark King, Ben finds out that the old man on the cloud is actually the crystal of light; guiding him all along. What follows is a satisfying enough series of cutscenes that feature all of the characters in the game. In the end, they send Benjamin off on Captain Mac's ship to greater adventure. I find it kind of refreshing that none of the females are shoehorned into being his love-interest/companion for the trip.
 |
| The happy send-off. |
Tristan shows up out of nowhere... and Benjamin sails off into the sunset.
 |
| Sorry I lied... the sun will set later... |
