STORY
Our game begins in Rabanastere, when two rulers, Prince Rasler and Princess of Ashelia, decided to settle down and get married. From out of nowhere, the Archadian empire decided to conquer the both Nabradia and Dalmasca, cities where the two rulers hail from. In the process, Rasler was killed, a city called Nabudis was damaged, and King Raminas of Dalmascan also got killed. That’s even after signing a treaty to renounce their kingdom.
The assassin, by the name of Bascha, a Dalmascan captain. He was tried to death. Meanwhile, as this happens, it was announced that Princess Ashe has taken her own life.
Fast forward to two years when we see our main character, Vaan, trying to trespass the palace as the inauguration of Varne Solidor, Prince of Archadia, for being appointed as a consul. As he sneaks in, he discovers a chest that contains a magical crystal called magicite. He got caught by two pirates named Fran and Balthier, who are also looking for the stone. They leave the area as they discover the Dalmascan Resistance invade the vicinity. When they reach the sewers, they meet Amalia, the Resistance leader. Eventually, they got eventually captured by Archadian forces who brought them into the Nalbina Dungeons. In there, they meet an assassin. That assassin was Basch, who was initially reported to be killed. He said it was his twin brother, Gabranth, who killed the king. All of them managed to escape with help coming from Penelo, and all of them went to Bhujerba.
As they go there, they’re acquainted to Lamont. Apparently, he’s just in disguise and is really Larsa, the younger brother of Vayne. Basch took the opportunity to confront Marquis, who was the one who announced that he was the assassin. Before things could even get further, they’re captured once again and brought to the Leviathan airship. Once again, they meet Amalia, who at this time was revealed to be Princess Ashelia.
What about the magicite Vaan took? Well, Ghis took it and brought to Archadia. The group escapes once again. This time around, they went for another piece of nethicite called Dawn Shard. To the surprise of no one, they once again got captured by Ghis. Seeing that they got a new stone on their hands, he used it to power the Leviathan. Not knowing the effects of the stone, the airship sudden got destroyed, causing our ratpack to escape once again.
They eventually met Larsa once again. They convinced him to join them instead of having signing another peace treaty. Afterwards, they went ahead to Mt. Bur-Omisace, not to escape, but to speak with Gran Kiltias Anastasis. He’s the religious leader of Ivalice, and he’s the only key to make Ahse as the Dalmascan queen. While in there, they were introduced to Al-Cid Margrace who seeks to put a stop on the Archadian and Rozzarian war. All those plans were averted when Archadia kills Anastasis. Just right after that, Gramis passes away, giving the inheritance of the throne to Vayne.
As our party tries to take the Sword of Kings and be successful with it, they journey their way to Archadia to save Larsa. On their way, they meet Doctor Cid, who created a magicite for them and advises them to head to Giruvegan, where they can destroy the source of the nethicite. When they reach the area, only Ashe managed to get in. She meets the nethicite creators called Occuria. They made her a Treaty Blade that would destroy the source (Sun-cryst). One of the Occuria members, Venat, betrayed the group for his own selfish reasons, controlling Cid and Vayne in the process. While doing so, they invaded Ivalice giving him the reigns to be the Dynast King as well as a create another magicite to weaken Occuria. All of this was Archadia’s plan to retrieve the remaining pieces of nethicite.
As for our friends, they went to Pharos Tower where the Sun-cryst can be found. Ashe makes sure that she destroys the Sun-cryst. As they journey in doing that, the defeated Gabranth, who’s the real killer of King Raminas. Before destroying the Sun-cryst, they’ve also defeated Cid who says that the Resistance is on its way to wage a war with Archadia in Rabanastre. Archadia, however, packs more muscle when they acquired Sky Fortress Bahamut. That’s a big deal because it’s powered by the mist brought about by the Sun-Cryst’s destruction. Our rat pack heads to Bahamut and sees Larsa trying to persuade Vayne. That didn’t turn out well so our party went on a little fight, eventually beating Venat and Vayne, ending the battle once and for all.
As the game comes to a close, Larsa is appointed as the emperor of Archadia and Ashe becomes the Dalmascan queen. Basch, on the other hand, becomes Larsa’s bodyguard. Meanwhile, Penelo and Vaan fly off to get some more adventures.
WALKTHROUGH
NALBINA FORTRESS
You know what’s good about tutorial stage of the game? Is that it doesn’t allow you to fail at allow. Everything is in detail so there are no gray areas. From battle systems to how interact with NPC’s, everything is carved out for your convenience. Anyway, I don’t have to get into that since the game does that for you already. If it does this for the entire game, I won’t have to make a guide at all.
Anyway, so much for that. Just get familiar with the basics until you get yourself to the first boss.
BOSS BATTLE: AIR CUTTER REMORA
Now, all you have to do is keep up with the boss while balancing yourself out. When you do that, chances are you’ll defeat him eventually.
In fact, when your health gets low, your teammates will throw a heal at you. But if you want to do things on your own, try Cure Magick or some potions.
Following the very rigorous boss fight (NOT!), now’s the time for you explore the area. From the minimap, you may follow which direction you want to go to. When you see a split, head north until you meet a group of Swordsmen.
After beating them, head right from the split you just came from then open the chest you’ll come across to and open it up for a Potion. Keep going up then head west taking you to the upper part of the map. There’s another Potion waiting for you here hidden in the chest.
Do a quick backtrack to reach the steps. Move up and if you see a Save Point, go ahead and do your thing. When you make it to the next floor, fight off the Imperial Soldiers. Don’t worry, you can take care of them, even if you need to cast some Cure from time to time. Follow the path afterwards when you’re done with them.
RABANASTRE
Being in control of Vaan, you’re tasked to take out the waterway rats. This is a cakewalk for you, considering that your foes are marked on your map. After beating them, you’ll get a cutscene.
Right after the scene, you can further explore the map if you want to grind up. If you want to go head on though, proceed to Migelo’s place, which is marked on your map by moving right until you see the urn symbol. You’re on the right track if that’s the case.
From here, look for Kytes found north from where are at the moment, also called Sandsea. When you reach the area, you’re given a guide on how use the Notice Board.
Right after that, you’ll be meet Tomaj’s who’ll fill you in on about the Hunts. If you agree to track these hunts, he’ll give you a Clan Primer to help you on this task. Aside from that, he’ll give you an Orrachea Armlet, which eventually introduces you to the Licensing system.
A few moments after, Vaan weill get the Writ of Transit, giving him a go signal to exit the area. Use the Orrache Armlet before leaving then head to the south. Leave left then go the steps taking you to the Dalmasca Estersand.
DALMASCA ESTERSAND
This is the area where you can start fighting off your foes to boost your level as well as earn License Points. You can fight your enemies at any time you wish since the fights are not random at all.
Speaking of randomness, the contents on the chests are also random, ranging from Gil to special items. The good thing about them is that they re-spawn when you exit the section and then returning after leaving for quite a while.
That makes it hard for me to give you the chest locations, and as to where special items can be found. Then again, I’ll be more than helpful to give you an estimated location of the items should be retrieved.
Back to the game itself, proceed to the boulder found on the southern portion. When you reach that part, you have to move northeast where you’ll eventually meet the Rogue Tomato.
BOSS BATTLE: ROGUE TOMATO
HP
LV
134
2
Heal up before starting your fight. After a few successful hits, the boss will fall off from the edge to recharge his HP. Follow him by walking off to the side then start finishing him. Once he’s toast, you’ll get Galbana Lilies.
If you want to get started with the License System, it’s recommended you use Cure and White Magick.
You might also a T-Rex roaming around. I dare you not to even touch him. You see the HP bar above his head? Its color will tell whether he’ll come running to you or not. Since you’ve just started the game, it would be best not to get near to the red ones.
Since the boss has been defeated, you have the liberty to roam the area for some items. If you’re all set, go back to Sandsea and look for Kytes at the gate for another scene.