Now that we know the basics of how to explore the overworld, going from place to place, fighting (or avoiding) enemies, we now need to discuss where we’re going, and why. In the vanilla Final Fantasy game, there was a (more or less) linear progression of events that dictate your path through the game. Briefly:
¶ The Path Through the Vanilla Game
- You’ll start outside of Coneria and (after an expected conversation with the King about how the evil Garland captured the princess, Sara) you’d head north to the ruins of the Temple of Fiends. You’d battle Garland, defeating the fallen knight, rescuing the princess, taking her back home. The King would reward you with the BRIDGE, granting access northeast, while the princess would give you an heirloom, the LUTE.
- With progress open to the northeast, you could head over to Pravoka (while possibly stopping off in Matoya’s cave, where the old witch would say that she’s missing her crystal and cannot see). When you hit Pravoka you’d be told about the pirates there who were terrorizing the town. Talking to their leader, Bikke, started a fight against the pirate crew. After defeating them Bikke would give up his SHIP, letting you sail off around the inner sea.
- Over in Elfland, to the south in the inner sea, you’d hear that the elf prince had been magically put to sleep by the evil Astos. Venturing northwest from there you’d find the ruins of the Northwest Castle where a kindly king would tell you that his crown had been stolen by Astos and buried in the Marsh Cave to the south. In Marsh Cave, the CROWN resided in a chest in the bottom of the cave. Taking this back to the kindly old king would reveal himself to be Astos all along. Defeating him granted the CRYSTAL, which you’d take back to Matoya. Crystal in hand, she’d then give you the HERB, which you’d take to the sleeping prince. This wakes him, and out of gratitude he’d grant the mystic KEY.
- The key will unlocked a number of treasuries in various locations (Coneria Castle, Elf Castle, Northwest Castle, Marsh Cave, and Dwarf Cave which, technically, you haven’t even had to visit yet), but the important place was Coneria Castle. Within its treasury was the TNT, which you’d then take to the dwarves. Nerrick, at the bottom of Dwarf Cave, would take that TNT and use it to open a CANAL, allowing access out of the inner sea.
- The next stop was Melmond, just outside the new canal. Here, the town had been ravaged by an evil Vampire in the Earth Cave to the south. Heading into that cave you’d eventually, three floors down, find the Vampire. He’d battle you, but once defeated, the chest behind him would provide the RUBY. You’d need to leave Earth Cave at that point, exiting and heading northwest to Titan’s Tunnel. The Titan within would take your ruby (because they’re tasty) and then leave, letting you exit the tunnel on the other side. The path led south to Sarda’s Cave where the old man within would give you the ROD. This stick would be used back in Earth Cave, at a point just past where you fought the Vampire. It’d break a stone plate, letting you venture further in where, at the bottom of the cave, resided the Lich, the first of the four elemental fiends. Defeating the Lich lit one of the four orbs the heroes started with (sitting in your menu in the top left).
- Congratulations, you just finished the first quarter of the game.
- Next, sailing westwards would lead to Crescent Lake. Because you defeated Lich, when you visited the circle of sages at the northeast of town (a bunch of old men, in a circle, doing yoga) one of the sages would give you the CANOE. This would let you venture onto the rivers around the world, something you couldn’t have done yet. With the canoe in hand you could do any number of objectives, but the intended route was that you then canoed through the rivers around Crescent Lake to the Volcano, which was just to the northwest of town. Within, at the very bottom of the deep dungeon, resided Kary, the second of the elemental fiends. Defeating her would light the second of your orbs.
- Congratulations, you just finished the second quarter of the game. Wasn’t that quick?
- Now, to the north of the Volcano (although in the vanilla game you’ll have to canoe back to Crescent Lake and then sail to another river slightly north of town before going back into the river system) sits the Ice Cave. Ice Cave was set up as a big loop, and within the center of that loop, behind a chest guarded by an Eye, was the FLOATER. This stone, when taken to the desert just south of Crescent Lake, would raise the AIRSHIP, letting you into the air, opening up the entire world.
- The next intended step was to then head to the southeast to the Castle of Ordeals. Within that castle was the TAIL, which could be taken to Bamahut, who resided on an island to the west. He’d take the tail as proof of your courage, promoting you and giving you your class change. You could then learn magic on your Knight and Thief, buy higher magic for the Red Wizard, White Wizard, and Black Wizard, and equip some legendary gear.
- Once ready, the next intended step was to head to the continent west of Bahamut. There, in a desert in the center of the continent, was an oasis (which you could land on with your airship). Checking the oasis revealed a shop where the BOTTLE was sold. With the bottle purchased, you’d fly to the next continent to the west. A town locked within the mountains, Gaia, had a lake within it (to the north of town). If you’d opened the bottle there a fairy would appear. Out of gratitude for being freed she’d give you the OXYALE, allowing you to breathe underwater.
- With this new power, you’d head back to the previous continent and visit the town of Onrac there. A lady in the southeast of town guarded a submarine and, since you had the oxyale, she’d take you down into the water where the Undersea Shrine resided. The right path from the entrance of this dungeon led down into a large room where mermaids lived. One of the rooms within had the SLAB, which you’d need later. Back on the entrance floor, the left path led down to Kraken, the third elemental fiend. Defeating them lit the third orb.
- Congratulations, you’re now three-quarters of the way through the game!
- Now, before leaving Onrac continent, you’d take the rivers north of town to a waterfall. The path through the waterfall would lead to the only room in the cave. A robot was there, walking around, and they’d give you the CUBE.
- Back on your airship, a return trip to Melmond was in order. Dr. Unne, who was wandering the graveyard at the northeast of town, took the slab you found and taught the language of the Lefeinish. Flying back to Gaia and then a little more south, there was a clearing just south of the mountains. You’d walk all the way down to the tip of the continent to the ancient city of Lefein. Since you could speak the language, the citizens happily talked to you, with one wise person on the east side of town handing off the CHIME.
- Since you had the chime and cube in hand you could get back on your ship and fly back over to the desert just on the other side of the mountain range. A tall spiral tower sat in the middle of the desert. Within the tower was the ADAMANT, which you’d turn in later. At the very tip top of the tower lived Tiamat, the fourth elemental fiend. Defeating them lit your last orb.
- Congratulations, you’re nearly done now!
- Since your orbs are all lit, it was time to stock on and be ready. You could go back to the Dwarf Cave and speak to the blacksmith there. He’d take your adamant and create the Xcalibur, a powerful sword.
- Flying back to the ruins of the Temple of Fiends, it was time to go back into the very first dungeon you explored in the game. There was a black orb in the center of the dungeon, right behind where you talked to Sara. Touching that, with your orbs lit, transported you 2,000 years in the past into the Temple of Fiends Revisited. Traversing this dungeon, filled with high-level enemies, led to refights against the four fiends you fought before (each of whom had a few new tricks). Along the way you’ll need to use the lute you got from Sara, and unlock a door with the mystic key. At the very end of the dungeon was Chaos, who you’d learn was Garland all along. Your job was to defeat him, restore balance to the land, and save the future.
- And now, with Chaos defeated, you have finished the game. Congratulations!
So, why go over all of that? It’s important to know where items came from, and where they’re used, so you can know what to do in the randomizer. All of those items will be in the randomized game, shuffled around between locations. When you find one of those items (say, the CRYSTAL) you’ll then need to take it where it belongs (Matoya, in this case) so you can see what the next item will be. Eventually you’ll find the key items you need to complete all the dungeons (ROD, OXYALE, CHIME, CUBE, LUTE, KEY, as well as some way to reach the Volcano either via the rivers or the air) and that will let you unlock progress into the final dungeon to beat the game.
- Walkthrough of Final Fantasy (Mike's RPG Center)
And remember, if at any time you get lost in the game and aren't sure where on the overworld you are, you can always press B+SELECT on your controller (however you have those buttons mapped) to pull up an in-game map of the overworld.
¶ Incentives and Locations
To reiterate, there are specific key items you’ll collect. Those are:
- Turn In items: ADAMANT, BOTTLE, CROWN, CRYSTAL, FLOATER, HERB, SLAB, TAIL, and TNT
- Vehicles: AIRSHIP, CANOE, and SHIP
- Dungeon Access Items: CUBE, CHIME, KEY, LUTE, OXYALE, and ROD
- Overworld Path Items: BRIDGE and CANAL
Some of these items can only be accessed from one location (AIRSHIP can only ever come from the FLOATER) but most can be accessed from any of the incentive locations in the game (dungeons or key item turn ins) so you’ll need to know where you’re supposed to go in a seed and what items are available.
Along with key items, the randomizer also can allow players to put specific gear (like ribbons, end-game swords, and defensively powerful armor) into the incentive pool. It also allows players to choose what locations could have gear. We call these Incentive Locations and Incentive Items, and it’s important to know, in any given seed, how many of each you have so you can plan your path accordingly.
To do that, we’ll point over to the randomizer site itself:
As you can see from this, the left column has all our incentive locations, some of which are checked on. There is also the list of items available, some of which are checked on as well. Because we have the same number of locations and items (19 of 19) we call this a “0 Loose” flagset. That means that each item will appear at one of the given incentive locations, and nothing will be loose.
When an item is “loose” that means it can be in any chest anywhere in the world. The more loose items there are, the more chests you’re going to check until you’re sure you have all the progression you need to complete the game. However, there’s also a way for you to have too many locations and not enough items to go around:
When this happens that means you’ll have “dud” locations. In this instance, normal, probably common gear, will be at any location that doesn’t have one of your incentive items. You still have to check, of course, until you find everything you need, but if you find your dud locations early then you know that all your other locations will have the items you need.
Bear in mind that not all of the key items may be required for a given flagset or seed. For example, Black Belts are characters that do not need to class change (we’ll cover class change later) because they have all the power they need without any required upgrade. As such, the tail is likely not needed in Black Belt-led seeds. The ruby grants access through Titan’s Tunnel, but unless that cave is incentivized, there’s a chance you could get the airship before finding the ruby, making the ruby a dud item. It’s best to know what you need, and be able to react on the fly, as the seed presents itself to you.
¶ The Goal of the Game
Of course, all these key items are needed so you can progress to the end of the game where, presumably, you’re fighting Chaos. In our description of the vanilla game we went over collecting the four orbs so you can light your way into the final dungeon, but that isn’t the only kind of end-game goal the randomizer provides. Various goals are:
- Light the Orbs. This is, by default, 4 Orbs, but it can be lowered all the way down to 1. 0 Orbs is also possible, although that just means the last dungeon is already open to you.
- Shard Hunt. The four orbs have been shattered, their pieces spread across the world. You have to search them out, collecting however many are needed (minimum 16, maximum 36 in the randomizer) to reunite the pieces and open the path into the final dungeon. 12 shards total are on the four elemental fiends (two on Lich, two on Kary, four on Kraken, four on Tiamat) and the rest (technically more than are needed) are hidden in chests all around the game.
- Hidden Chaos. Instead of waiting at the end of the last dungeon, Chaos is instead hiding in a chest somewhere in the game. What a prankster. Find his chest and fight him to win.
- Deep Dungeon. At the center of the world, in place of Coneria Castle, is a fifty floor tower. The towns of the world are connected to various floors, and the four elemental fiends guard shortcuts through the tower. The goal is to reach the top where Chaos resides.
- NOverworld. Instead of an open map of the game, all the dungeons, caves, and towns are connected in one long, underground path. You need to navigate your way through, collecting items and building your party, so you can find Chaos and defeat him.
Thus it is very important to know what you’re playing towards, and what you need, to complete the game. Read your flags, come in prepared, know where to go and what to do, so you can finish the game.
¶ Advanced Concepts
¶ Shard Hunt
While the basics of Shard Hunt are easy to figure out (go around, collect shards), we want to emphasize some strategy here for the game. Specifically, make sure you clear dungeons when you go in. While it’s wise to route towards key item chests in dungeons in 0 loose flagsets (same number of key items as locations), in Shard Hunt, the important things to look out for are the lute and key (to get into the final dungeon) and all the shards you need to unlock the black orb. Technically nothing else is “required” to get into the final dungeon. You don’t need to kill all four fiends, you don’t need to get all the key items, you just need to unlock the final dungeon and get to killing Chaos.
When you’re in a dungeon, clear it. Hit all the boxes, make sure you keep an eye out for shards, take the ones you can get. Your opponents (if you’re racing) could get an advantage if you leave shards behind and they don’t, so grab those shards.
¶ Deep Dungeon
Since we touched upon it above, let’s take a moment to discuss Deep Dungeon. This mode transforms the main game into an “ancient cave” (named after a similar mode in Lufia 2) adventure. The 50 floors of the dungeon are procedurally generated by the seed, and it is up to the player to figure out the path through the dungeon, all the way to the end.
There are certain rules, however. For starters, there are shortcuts on the first floor of the dungeon. Depending on the mode, the shortcuts will either require a key item or a fiend fight to access them. These shortcuts will take you up to set points in the dungeon (up 10, 20, 30, and 40 floors, as per the shortcut). This means that, should you have to save out of the dungeon (or if you die) you’ll have quicker access back to where you last were upon your next dive.
There are also key things to look out for on the floors of the dungeon. Stairs to towns will appear within a set range of floors. Bahamut and the tail will appear within their own ranges. Ribbons are arranged to show up spread through the dungeon. And there are the key items needed to access to the shortcuts. Those, too, are spread through the tower. You can spend a lot of time exploring the dungeon, finding all the things and making your party as strong as possible… or you can try to run to the end as fast as possible and hope you can take on the boss. How you play is up to you.
¶ NOverworld
Another interesting mode in the game, NOverworld removes the overworld from the experience. Dungeon floors connect to each other, and between expected locations, with towns scattered through as well. By default these are in fixed locations, but the floors can be shuffled (we’ll discuss entrance and floor shuffling in a bit) to make a new NOverworld experience. Learning to navigate a world without an overworld can be tricky, but the sense of exploration can be its own reward.
![NOverworld Map [JPG]](/nooverworldmap.jpg){kind=link}
¶ Procgen Overworld
Although the randomizer defaults to the vanilla overworld for the standard play experience, it is possible to play on entirely new overworlds, those generated by the game itself. The overworld map can be changed out for a few other options:
- Generate New Overworld: This creates an entirely new overworld from the ground up, placing all the expected locations on new landmasses. The game will still follow the standard rules and expected progression, so if you know the vanilla game you should be able to figure out navigating an entirely new overworld.
- Note: Generating a new overworld can take a fair bit of time for the randomizer to process. There are, however, 256 pregenerated maps that can be used, and we do recommend letting the game use one of those (randomly selected, of course) for your “procgen” experience.
- Lost Woods: A procedurally generated overworld, but this one is one long stretch of nothing but grass, woods, and mountains. No water, as far as the eye can see.
- Desert of Death: Like with Lost Woods, this one generates a map stretching out in all directions, but instead of an endless forest, this is an endless desert.
- Import Custom Map: If you’ve made your own map (and we do have the tools to do that) you can import your own instead to play on. A fun way to enjoy your own labor.
If you're interested in creating your own worlds, our own wildham has made a Map Creation Tool for aspiring cartographers: