We discuss the Desert Palace, the Tower of Hera, obtaining the Master Sword, and fighting Agahnim at Hyrule Castle.

The next episode will be in two weeks, and will cover dungeons 1-3 in the Dark World.

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We begin with a short segment of A Link to the Past, taking us through the first introductory dungeon, along with various discussion of game mechanics and the history and significance of Zelda.

The next episode will be in two weeks, and will go through the boss fight with Agahnim and the end of the game's first act.

Links:

The long discussion about Ocarina of Time that Jay and @perculia did in blog format.

Jay's phone lock screen for some years now.

"Official" Zelda series timeline, from Hyrule Historia.

Actual image from Nintendo Power guide.

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For those who didn't hear at the end of our last episode on Final Fantasy 6: our next game will be: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past!

Like Final Fantasy 6, Link to the Past was originally on SNES.  A remake was made for Game Boy Advance, that you can play on a GBA or Nintendo DS.  Finally, it's available on the Virtual Console online store on a Nintendo 3DS, Wii, or Wii U.

As with Final Fantasy 6, you can listen and play along, or simply listen.  This is game is shorter than FF6, so, especially if you've never played Link to the Past, consider giving it a try!

The first episode will be on Monday 5/22, and we will play from the start of the game through the Eastern Palace.

The end of our discussion on Final Fantasy 6! Kefka's Tower, the ending, and a discussion of the overall design and balance of the game.

We also announce our next game!  Hear what it is in the final five minutes of this episode, or check back here or on our twitter within a few days.  Our first segment of the new game will be posted in two weeks, and we will cover the first few hours of gameplay.

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Article on the art of the FF6 Steam/iOS remake.

Though we have completed the game at this point, we shift topics for one episode before our conclusion.  We have guest Nathaniel Chapman on to discuss the music of Final Fantasy 6 with us.  Topics include leitmotif, Final Fantasy battle music, the differences between NES- and SNES-era musical technology, and the game's climactic piece Dancing Mad.

In our next episode in two weeks, we will conclude our discussion on Final Fantasy 6 with Kefka's Tower and our overall thoughts on the game, and we will also announce our next game!

As always, you can keep up with any developments on our twitter.

Links relating to this episode:

Full FF6 OST, for reference

Bird singing Chocobo theme

Related to our discussion of Shadow's theme, the Balance and Ruin reinterpretation "A Fistful of Nickels"

Dancing Mad, OST version

Dancing Mad, Black Mages

Michelangelo's Pietà, and the composition of the third statue fight

Examples of Kefka sequence in SNES version, with elegant transitions between the four movements of Dancing Mad, and in Steam/iOS version, with abrupt cuts after every phase.

We complete all of the remaining optional content in the World of Ruin, leaving only Kefka's Tower remaining.

Our next episode in two weeks will not be the final episode, instead it will be a special interlude discussing the music of Final Fantasy 6, with our coworker Nathaniel Chapman as a guest.  However, since we'll be talking about the whole game including Kefka and the ending, it's recommended you finish the game anyway.

The episode following that will return normal discussion, covering Kefka's Tower and our concluding thoughts.

Around that time, you can also keep an eye on our twitter for discussion of our next game!

We fill out the remainder of the party, by visiting the Phoenix Cave and Narshe, and a few other places.  Now with all 14 party members gathered, we're very close to the end.

The next episode in two weeks will cover everything outside of Kefka's Tower.  The main pieces of content are optional dungeons in:

• Fanatics' Tower
• Doma Castle
• Ancient Castle (clue for location is picked up outside Fanatics' Tower)

Reminder that we're now on Twitter at @ogpluscast!

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We discuss the overall structure and design of the World of Ruin, and then reunite with Cyan, Relm, Gau, Shadow, and Interceptor.

This post will be updated with more details on what we expect to cover in the next episode in two weeks, but we are at least planning to include the quests/characters in:

• Narshe and the caves behind Narshe
• The star-shaped mountain range
• Mobliz
• Triangle Island

At the end of this segment, we will have all 14 characters in the party.

Finally, listeners can now follow us on Twitter!  Go to @ogpluscast to keep up to date with discussions, plans, announcements, questions, and anything else.

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Setting out into the desolate World of Ruin, we find the first few lost friends and once again gain the ability to travel by air.

For those playing along: now that we are into the open-ended segment of the World of Ruin and can visit nearly any location by air, it's a little more complicated to track what will happen in each segment.  We will do our best to note which areas/quests are likely to be in the next segment so that you're likely to have seen the things we're covering in a given show.  For the next segment (two weeks from now), we expect to cover questlines/characters that are in:

• Maranda and Zozo
• Jidoor
• Veldt and the Cave on the Veldt

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The game's first act closes with the Esper Cave, the showdown at Thamasa, and the finale at the Floating Continent.  We end with a major change to the world and a discussion of Shadow's fate.

For those playing along, the next segment will go through Daryl's Tomb.

Content note: suicide, on the upcoming segment.

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