the dungeons of final fantasy

I’ve been inspired by Hilander’s ZLDA dungeons recently. It’s made me reconsider what I view as the essential components of a dungeon. This is not the first time I’ve mused about dungeons, but I’ve gained some experience since then. I feel more confident in saying that a dungeon is any dangerous location isolated from the outside world. This is a non-traditional definition of the word, especially considering the essays cited in my previous blog post, but I believe it’s actually more in-line with the way people use the term in practice.

Today, I want to take a look at the dungeons in the first three Final Fantasy games — the Famicom trilogy. My goal is to break each one down into its core components so we can look at them in aggregate. While I am not including every single location referred to as a dungeon for each game, I do ensure that each game’s major dungeons are included.

Final Fantasy

You play as four prophesied heroes tasked with restoring light to the four elemental crystals. The world is filled with monsters because the crystals are unlit. The interesting aspect of this setup is the fact that the four heroes are not particularly special except for the fact that they show up with four crystal shards, which can be used to re-light the larger crystals. Anyone could do the job, but these four showed up with the tools to do it.

Marsh Cave

Hook	It’s very easy to accidentally stumble into this cave while exploring. Failing that, you can meet the “Elf King” at the Western Keep, who will ask you to retrieve his stolen crown from the Marsh Cave.
Objective	Recover the crown.
Theme	Poison.
Danger	This is a dark cave filled with many poison-aspected monsters. The route to the bottom is obscured, and the last floor is a massive grid of sealed rooms, leading to constant random encounters. There is no boss.
Treasure	The crown.

Cavern of Earth

Hook	The residents of Melmond ask you to slay the vampire that attacked their town. Later, the sage Sadda gives you an earth rod to go deeper in the cavern.
Objective	Slay the vampire. Slay the lich. Restore light to the earth crystal.
Theme	Undead. Earth element.
Danger	Undead monsters, including a vampire, are under the control of a lich. The lich is the final boss, and the vampire is a mini-boss.
Treasure	The star ruby. The earth crystal.

Mount Gulg

Hook	A circle of sages in the town of Crescent Lake inform you that the fiend of fire has awoken early due to the death of the fiend of earth. They direct you west to a volcano named Mount Gulg.
Objective	Slay the marilith. Restore light to the fire crystal.
Theme	Lava. Fire element.
Danger	Much of the floor is lava, causing damage when you walk through it. There is no way to bypass this hazard; you just have to heal through it. Various fire-aspected monsters challenge you as random encounters before the marilith boss.
Treasure	The fire crystal.

Cavern of Ice

Hook	A man in Crescent Lake informs you that he’s been looking for a levistone, and he hears there’s one in the Cavern of Ice to the northwest. He has given up on obtaining it due to the danger.
Objective	Obtain the levistone for ourselves.
Theme	Ice.
Danger	Parts of the floor are thin ice, causing you to fall into lower floors. Some floors are covered in jagged ice, causing you to take damage when you walk through it. Like Mount Gulg, there is no way to bypass this damage. Ice-aspected monsters form the bulk of random encounters. There is an Evil Eye boss.
Treasure	The levistone.

Citadel of Trials

Hook	The dragons of the Cardian Islands tell you of a test of courage they undergo at a nearby citadel. If we complete it, we will be worthy of recognition by their king, Bahamut.
Objective	Complete the Citadel of Trials and retrieve a token of courage.
Theme	Teleportation.
Danger	Teleporters with unknown destinations make it difficult to reach the end. There is no particular theme to the random encounters, but a variety of monsters will challenge you along the way. There is no boss.
Treasure	The rat’s tail.

Sunken Shrine

Hook	Residents of the village of Onrac ask you to restore the Sunken Shrine and re-light the crystal of water it holds. The spirit of a mermaid who lives in the shrine asks you to save the other mermaids.
Objective	Defeat the kraken. Restore light to the water crystal.
Theme	Water.
Danger	The dungeon is bigger than previous ones, leading to a higher total amount of random encounters. Traversal is maze-like. Water-aspected monsters are encountered, and the kraken is the dungeon boss.
Treasure	The water crystal. The rosetta stone.

Flying Fortress

Hook	Residents of the town of Lufenia ask you to retake their ancestral floating castle, which has been occupied by the fiend Tiamat. They give you a key to the Mirage Tower, which serves as a gateway to the flying fortress.
Objective	Defeat Tiamat. Restore light to the wind crystal.
Theme	Wind. Technology.
Danger	You must go through a short mini-dungeon (the Mirage Tower) before reaching the Flying Fortress proper. Wind-aspected enemies attack in random encounters. The Warmech can be encountered as a superboss. Tiamat is the dungeon boss.
Treasure	The wind crystal. Adamantite.

Chaos Shrine

Hook	The king of Cornelia asks you to save princess Sarah who has been kidnapped by Garland and taken here. Later in the game, the circle of sages at Crystal Lake guide you back to the Chaos Shrine where all of the elemental energy in the world is being gathered.
Objective	Defeat Garland. Defeat Chaos. (Save the world.)
Theme	Elements.
Danger	Each floor is a callback to previous elemental dungeons, with similar random encounters before a rematch with the corresponding elemental fiend. Chaos, a boss monster, awaits you at the very bottom.
Treasure	n/a

Final Fantasy II

You play as three children who have been orphaned by the war between Fynn and Palamecia. Your fourth party member changes throughout the story as various allies join you temporarily. These are not destined heroes or prophesied warriors. They are simply people taking a stand against a fascist empire; they start out very weak, but grow strong over time. The Palamecian Emperor has released monsters into the world and has been wreaking havoc with his magic.

Semitt Falls

Hook	Princess Hilda asks you to retrieve mythril to better equip the rebel army. The residents of Salamand have been captured and forced into slave labor to mine mythril in the cave of Semitt Falls.
Objective	Free the slaves. Obtain mythril.
Theme	Cave.
Danger	There are only basic enemies as this is the first dungeon. The “boss” is a sergeant of the Palamecian army, and is not very challenging.
Treasure	Mythril

Snow Cave

Hook	Princess Hilda asks you to retrieve the Goddess’s Bell (so you can enter Kashuan Keep to retrieve the Sunfire and use it to destroy the Dreadnought). Legend has it was hidden in a cavern of snow.
Objective	Obtain the Goddess’s Bell.
Theme	Snow and ice.
Danger	Ice-themed enemies and a selection of “normal” monsters fill the random encounter table. The boss is an Adamantoise.
Treasure	Goddess’s Bell

The Dreadnought

Hook	Princess Hilda and Cid were captured by the Dreadnought. We also want to blow up the Dreadnought so infiltrating it is killing two birds with one stone.
Objective	Rescue Princess Hilda and Cid. Destroy the Dreadnought.
Theme	Mechanical, airship, military.
Danger	Soldiers accompanied by trained monsters.
Treasure	“Princess Hilda” and Cid

Deist Cavern

Hook	The last of the wyverns has asked us to place its egg in the sacred spring at the bottom of Deist Cavern, that it may one day hatch.
Objective	Place the wyvern egg in the sacred spring.
Theme	Cave, hot springs
Danger	Animal and “cave”-type monsters. Several Chimera guard the sacred spring.
Treasure	A pendant that lets you speak to wyverns.

Tropical Island

Hook	The wizards of Mysidia have asked us to retrieve the Black Mask to unseal the tower where the ultimate magic is kept.
Objective	Retrieve the Black Mask
Theme	Cave, tropical, poison
Danger	Animal and poison monsters. Several Big Horn monsters guard the Black Mask.
Treasure	Black Mask

This dungeon gave me the most pause when I played through Final Fantasy II. I encountered it before ever visiting the town of Mysidia. There is a group of islanders on the top floor of the dungeon, depicted as a gross stereotype. They claim the Black Mask is their treasure, and it appeared as though the game required you to pillage these islanders to progress. The truth is that the mask is mysidian in origin, and we have been given permission by the mysidians to retrieve it, but the situation still felt icky to me. At the very least, I was disappointed in the islander stereotype.

Cave of Mysidia

Hook	The wizards of Mysidia have asked us to use the White Mask and the Black Mask in the Cave of Mysidia to obtain the Crystal Rod.
Objective	Retrieve the Crystal Rod.
Theme	Underground ruins
Danger	Poison and “psychic” monsters like brains and parasites. There is no boss.
Treasure	Crystal Rod

Leviathan

Hook	A giant sea creature called Leviathan swallows any vessel bearing a crystal rod. It swallowed the party as we approached the Mysidian Tower.
Objective	Escape.
Theme	Interior of a giant monster
Danger	Stomach acid floors deal damage similar to lava and sharp ice in the previous game. Fish-type monsters attack in random encounters, and a Roundworm boss guards the exit.
Treasure	n/a

Mysidian Tower

Hook	The wizards of Mysidia have deemed it time to retrieve the Ultima magic and tasked us with unsealing the tower with the Crystal Rod and obtaining it.
Objective	Retrieve Ultima.
Theme	Elemental magic
Danger	There are nine floors. Werewolves and vampires are common enemies, but each third of the tower is themed around a specific element: fire, ice, and lightning. There are three mini-bosses in the form of fire, ice, and lightning Gigases.
Treasure	Ultima Tome

The Cyclone

Hook	Princess Hilda and the rebellion have tasked us with infiltrating the flying tornado castle and defeating the Emperor before he uses it to destroy the kingdom. We also want revenge against the Emperor for killing our parents.
Objective	Defeat the Emperor.
Theme	Fortress, imperial troops
Danger	Monsters of all kinds appear in the random encounters, with a higher percentage of imperial soldiers. The Emperor is the dungeon’s boss.
Treasure	n/a

Pandaemonium

Hook	After we killed the Emperor he went to hell, where he defeated Satan and gained even more power. Unless we go to hell and defeat him again, he will destroy the world.
Objective	Defeat the Emperor (again). (Save the world.)
Theme	Hell, blue alien crystals
Danger	The denizens of hell. There are four mini-bosses: Zombie Borghen, Tiamat, Beelzebub, and Astaroth. There is a pseudo-superboss: Iron Giant. The Emperor is the final boss.
Treasure	n/a

Final Fantasy III

You play as four warriors of light, chosen by the crystal to restore the balance between light and darkness. More accurately, you are four children who fell into a cave and the wind vrystal used the last of its strength to empower you. I suspect they were more of a last resort than a first choice. In any case, you accept this duty with conviction and set forth to restore the crystals and defeat the growing darkness.

Altar Cave

Hook	We have fallen into the cave. We need to find a way out.
Objective	Leave.
Theme	Cave, tutorial.
Danger	Basic enemies like goblins and wisps. A Land Turtle guards the wind crystal.
Treasure	The wind crystal.

Tower of Owen

Hook	The Gulgan prophets advise us to head to the Tower of Owen, where the destiny of our companion Desch lies.
Objective	Climb the tower.
Theme	Mechanical.
Danger	Small monsters like bats and aughiskies. Medusa is attempting to destroy the tower, and she is the boss.
Treasure	n/a

Molten Cave

Hook	Gutsco the Rogue has stolen the dwarves’ Horns of Ice and is using them to obtain the power of the fire crystal in the Molten Cave. The dwarves have asked us to retrieve the horns.
Objective	Retrieve the Horns of Ice. Restore light to the fire crystal.
Theme	Lava
Danger	Fire-aspected enemies. Gutsco transforms into a Salamander and is the boss of the dungeon.
Treasure	The Horns of Ice. The fire crystal.

Hein’s Castle

Hook	The evil wizard Hein has transformed the Elder Tree of the Living Woods into a walking fortress and kidnapped the residents of the kingdom of Argus. We have been ambushed by Hein’s troops and kidnapped as well.
Objective	Defeat Hein and escape.
Theme	Wood, tree castle
Danger	Various summoned demons. Hein is the boss and he has a shifting elemental barrier.
Treasure	n/a

Cave of Tides

Hook	The water maiden Aria has asked us to restore the water crystal. Using a shard of the water crystal, she unseals the Cave of Tides for us.
Objective	Restore the water crystal.
Theme	Water
Danger	Poison and freshwater monsters. The Kraken is the dungeon’s boss.
Treasure	The water crystal.

Cave of Shadows

Hook	The wizard Unei informs us that the fang of earth is required to reach Xande’s crystal tower. It is located in the Cave of Shadows.
Objective	Obtain the fang of earth.
Theme	Darkness, demons
Danger	Demons with the ability to duplicate themselves unless slain by a Dark Knight. A Hecatoncheir is the cave’s boss.
Treasure	The fang of earth.

Ancients’ Maze

Hook	The final crystal of light lies within the Ancients’ Maze surrounding the Crystal Tower. Our duty is to restore light to it.
Objective	Restore the crystal of earth.
Theme	Lava, warped labyrinth
Danger	Powerful monsters like bone dragons and king behemoths. Titan guards the earth crystal.
Treasure	The earth crystal.

Forbidden Land Eureka

Hook	The wizards Doga and Unei give us the key to Eureka, the Forbidden Land. Inside are several powerful weapons sealed away for being too dangerous for humans. This is an optional dungeon.
Objective	Obtain the legendary weapons.
Theme	Abyss, cavern, void
Danger	Each weapon is guarded by a unique boss as a manifestation of itself: Ninja, Amon, Kunoichi, General, Scylla, and Guardian.
Treasure	The moonring blade, omnirod, masamune, excalibur, elder staff, and ragnarok.

Crystal Tower & World of Darkness

Hook	The evil wizard Xande plans to use the Cloud of Darkness to gain power. He makes his lair at the top of the Crystal Tower. After defeating him, we use a portal to the World of Darkness to confront the Cloud of Darkness. As there is no way to return from the World of Darkness, I consider these two to be effectively one extended dungeon.
Objective	Defeat Xande. Defeat the Cloud of Darkness. (Save the world.)
Theme	Crystal castle. Dark clouds.
Danger	The hardest monsters in the game, with several notable dragons. Xande and the Cloud of Darkness.
Treasure	n/a

unpacking all of that

The thing that stands out to me the most about dungeons in Final Fantasy is that they are almost never an exploration destination. People ask us to go into these dangerous places for a variety of reasons, but we rarely go into them due to our own desire. In fact, it isn’t until Final Fantasy III that we are even given optional dungeons, and the mentor figures in the game encourage us to seek them out to gain enough strength to defeat the darkness.

I am often frustrated by the conventions of the OSR. In my limited experience, you are expected to play characters self-motivated to enter these dangerous locations for wealth or power. I think it is a common stereotype that adventurers are soulless plunderers out for their own gain. The default dungeon is colonial.

My goal with this post is to establish data that suggests another culture. Final Fantasy is not the default expectation, but it is a goal that we can pursue.

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I was playing through Final Fantasy XIV’s annual Rising event recently, and struck by an interaction between two characters. Bathu Molkoh is a musician looking for her old rival, A’nimuili. She can’t understand why A’nimuili would become an adventurer, and the local guildmaster Baderon is able to shed some light:

Baderon: Since signin’ up with the guild, A’nimuili’s mainly taken on the little tasks. Deliverin’ packages, clearin’ away debris, an’ aye, searchin’ fer people too.

Bathu Molkoh: That’s rather…unexpected. I’d assumed adventurers did grander things, like exploring new lands and solving mysteries. Otherwise, why would Nimuili give up her life’s passion?

Baderon: Some few adventurers embark on grand quests an’ accomplish great feats, ’tis true enough.
Baderon: But most are content to make a difference in folk’s everyday lives, an’ A’nimuili struck me as the sort what simply enjoyed ‘elpin’ others.