So …
You love JRPGs for their epic late game?
Then why not skip the boring Stuff?
- Venture straight into the final dungeon of this heroic journey,
- Lay aside your legendary equipment for even better pieces,
- Slay bosses and super bosses with versatile skills and mighty finishers!
Three Girls, two Gods
Maradook and Gorth, evil gods from ancient times, have been sealed away in the Final Fortress. At the eleventh hour before their awakening, three heroines have gathered and arrive at the fortress: Ariel, the chosen one; Billie, a dragon-slaying princess from the north; Celsia, a witch-turned-magician with stellar talent, but no temperament to speak of.
Analyse — equip — destroy!
A number of bosses stand in the way before the heroines can take on an ancient god. Strategic combinations of equipment and skills are required to stand a chance. After each battle, a new piece of ultra-legendary equipment is acquired which provides higher stats, a passive effect and a powerful skill. Only the most synergetic combinations may prevail against the power of an ancient god!
Oh, and there’s other Things …
Follow delightful conversations, solve puzzles, collect collectibles and listen to some self-written music. Find metroidvania-style items and upgrade your Celestial Tea while you’re at it! Maybe you can even fill that fourth character slot with an unexpected, but powerful ally? There’s a lot to do, all crammed into a 5-hour experience.
Get started now! Finish before Lunch or Dinner!
It’s not that short, but I kinda liked the claim. Anyway, give it a try! Get LV99: Final Fortress here:
Browser Demo
Just want to try it for a bit? Like, the first dungeon maybe? Play the new browser demo right here and right now!
(Please note that assets may load slower in the browser demo because they are only downloaded when needed. In the installed version, that latency isn’t present, of course.)
More Screenshots
I spent quite some time on the art style of the game. Please have another look:
Database
Here’s a list of the skills and items you make use of in LV99: Final Fortress.
Skills
Weapon Skills
Valkyrie
EP: 20
A very versatile skill from the Highlance. Attacks fast and staggers. Deals more damage if the enemy has high HP. May trigger a follow-up attack.
Berserk
EP: 20
Hydra Slayer skill. Attacks multiple times with random targets. Deals more damage if the user has taken damage. Crits stagger.
Spectral Hammer
EP: 20
Equip the Polar Eclipse staff to use this skill. Attacks with heavy damage based on MAG. Slow.
Aim for the Soul
EP: 20
The skill the legendary bow provides. Deals ranged damage based on MAG. Deals more damage to poisoned targets. Crits deal even more damage.
Vampyric Kiss
EP: 20
The legendary scythe enables you to use this powerful skill. Deals dark damage and drains some HP. Deals more damage if the enemy has low HP.
Starlight Attack
EP: 20
Attacks and staggers all enemies. Deals more damage to non-bosses.
Plasma Beam
EP: 20
Deals neutral damage and removes buffs. Deals more damage to staggered enemies. Um, does anyone know what plasma actually is?
Off-Hand Skills
Radiance
EP: 20
The skill enabled by holding the Cerulean Mirror shield. Deals holy damage to all enemies thrice. Grants 5 EP per hit on an enemy weak to holy. Crits blind.
Flame Juggler
EP: 20
Legendary gloves allow you to throw fire balls like an Italian plumber. Deals fire damage based on STR to multiple targets. Crits burn.
Arcane Frost
EP: 20
Deals ice damage to 3 random targets with a high-EP damage bonus. Crits cool. No idea what’s arcane about it, though. Are all wizardly things considered arcane?
Tar Trap
EP: 20
Another tool from the Ranger’s Handbag. (A ranger should always know where their handbag is.) May trigger at the end of a turn, which deals anti-heavy damage to all enemies and tars. Slow.
Harvest
HP: 250
A skill that costs HP instead of EP. Welcome to the dark side! Deals dark damage to all enemies. Deals more damage if the enemy has low HP. Crits generate EP.
Headgear Skills
Pantheon
Raises Attack Times, BAR and EVA of all heroines. A very versatile skill you — or your opponents — should not underestimate.
Haughty Grin
The user taunts and counters attacks. You can grin haughtily just so, of course, but this skill grants it some magical properties or something.
Northern Lights
Raises elemental damage dealt and healing received. You may want to try really nailing the theme by using a certain snow-storm skill with Northern Lights. Should be pretty effective too …
Iris
Raises elemental damage taken. Also doubles ranged damage taken for beasts and dragons. Obviously, this makes dealing with beasts and dragons a lot easier, but even in other encounters, this is very useful.
Underworldly Power
Raises MAG and Crit Rate, but degenerates HP. At the end of a turn, attacks staggered enemies. Who says legendary heroines can’t dip their feet in the devil’s water every once in a little while? (Get the reference? Great song!)
Pathfinder
Raises Action Times until the end of next turn. Slow. Well, two actions in a turn is nothing to sneeze at, as the expression goes.
Bodygear Skills
Soothing Sphere
Removes debuffs. For a number of turns, regenerates HP until taking damage. Taking damage can’t be entirely avoided, but maybe someone else could take a hit or two instead of your most injured heroine?
Liquid-Metal Skin
Raises the user’s DEF and BAR, but slows. Ever tried a full-blown taunt-and-stall strategy? Might be fun!
Ethereal Chant
Generates 25 EP for all heroines and raises MAG and BAR. May not seem that flashy, but remember that this is practically a 25% damage boost.
Pixy Roundel
Berserks. Raises STR, but lowers DEF and BAR. Best used on a character who attacks a lot anyway. So let’s distract Billie with some pixies, shall we, and watch the boss’s HP go down like nothing.
Lily Sigil
Lowers EP and seals attacks. Instead of generating EP, the enemy degenerates EP. This will become a lot more useful later in the game, trust me.
Enigma Field
Raises Critical Hit Rate and Evasion Rate of all heroines. Feeling lucky today? Well, why not feel even luckier with this buff active!
Finishers
Gracious Nova
EP: 100
Fully restores HP of all heroines and removes debuffs. Don’t use this too hastily. Wait for the perfect time to make the most out of it.
Meteor
EP: 100
Deals fire damage and staggers. Certain hit. Slow. Deals massive damage when combined with any damage-increasing effect.
Blizzard
EP: 100
Deals ice damage to all enemies a number of times. Deals more damage to floating enemies. Certain hit. Great against a large number of enemies. But also not bad against a single one.
Pulse Surreal
EP: 100
Generates EP for all other heroines and raises EP Generation at the end of a turn. This is arguably a little imbalanced, but it’s kinda supposed to be. Got the reference, by the way? Google it. You won’t be disappointed.
Inspire Skills: Ariel
Innervate
EP: 20
Restores HP based on the target’s EP and removes debuffs. Please note that some bosses may also use this skill, making EP denial/burning even more important.
Taunt
Taunts and raises Evasion Rate. Ariel, being the character with the HP-regen passive, can be used as a tank (a character who draws the attention of the enemies and takes damage for weaker allies) quite effectively.
Flare
Raises STR, MAG and Attack Times, but also EP Costs. Perfect for characters whose damage output is very high even without a finisher. There’s that sword, for example …
Shrink
Lowers STR and DEF. Sometimes, a simple spell will do.
Baffle
Lowers MAG and BAR. It’s a funny word, ‘baffle’, isn’t it? I like it a lot.
Inspire Skills: Billie
Swoop
EP: 20
Deals melee damage to an enemy. There’s not much else to say about this skill. It just hits an enemy for 600% damage.
Swipe
EP: 20
Deals melee damage to all enemies. 300% to be precise, which isn’t bad. Billie’s ‘inspirations’ may not be the most brilliant ones — hitting one enemy or all of them seems rather natural —, but they tend to get the job done.
Inspire Skills: Celsia
Flame
EP: 20
Deals fire damage and burns. Pretty straight-forward JRPG skill, huh?
Frost
EP: 20
Deals ice damage and cools (doubles melee damage taken). The ice equivalent of ‘Flame’. With its debuff, it also raises the damage the inflicted enemy takes, just like ‘Flame’, but in another way.
Shine
EP: 20
Deals holy damage and blinds. A more defensive option as far as the status effect is concerned. Doesn’t help much against mage-type enemies, though.
Shade
EP: 20
Deals dark damage and hazes (lowers MAG). I don’t know what kind of shade is summoned here, but it might very well be one of those cute little fellows from the House of Hades rushing to aid you. Who knows!
Items
Consumables
Celestial Tea
HP + 100%
Fully restores a heroine’s HP. You can find a number of these — three, to be precise —, and each one is refilled after battle.
Wrench
Tool
One of the tools from the Ranger’s Handbag. Use it to attack an enemy from a distance. The wrench deals heavy damage (900%!) and stuns. Quite handy.
Magnifier
Tool
Reveals an enemy’s weak points, lowering its DEF and BAR. Unlike Celestial Teas, which refill after battle, these tools disappear after battle.
Smoke Water
Tool
A strange liquid that, once splashed onto the ground, creates an illusive vapour, raising the Evasion Rate of all heroines by 40% for 2 turns.
Emerald Vial
Max HP + 500
There are no level-ups in LV99: Final Fortress, but you can still raise a heroine’s stats, even Max HP. Vials are pretty rare, though.
Rose Vial
Max EP + 25
If raising HP is a thing, raising EP should be a thing too. And it is! Rose Vials are just as rare as Emerald Vials, so use them carefully. There’s no respec option in the game.
Great Potion
HP + 100%
This is a Great Potion Game, so what was I thinking not including a Great Potion from the beginning? (The Great Potion was patched in later.) This is basically an additional Tea, except it’s gone for good once you’ve used it. Best keep it until you absolutely need it. For example, there’s that thing called the final boss …
Crystal of Life
Revive (100% HP)
An auto-revive item. As with the Great Potions, try not to make use of it too early.
Ether Grapes
EP + 100
Another actual consumable that you should keep for a moment of despair. Please note, though, that the game is beatable without any of the last three items listed here, so don’t worry too much!
Effect Items
Stygian Shell
Slightly weakens the effect of Disheartenment after a heroine has fallen. With this shell, the chances of a comeback increase. Its effect is active as soon as you obtain the item.
Ether Globe
Bosses generate less EP. Using more defensive character builds, it can be difficult to survive at later turns without burning the boss’s EP. With the Ether Globe, you may not need to do that.
Lyra
Slightly weakens the Enrage effect of bosses. This works well in combination with the Ether Globe, granting you more survivability with character builds that try to apply damage over time and outlast the boss.
Weapons
Heroic Weapons
Atlantis Spear
STR + 32, MAG + 32
Ariel’s default weapon, or rather the weapon she arrives with at the Final Fortress. It is balanced between strength and magic and also raises Crit Rate a bit. Nothing spectacular compared to the legendary weapons, but a good start.
Arena Greatsword
STR + 64
Billie’s initial weapon. Its name implies that she has once been a successful participanet in some arena, a staple of JRPGs.
Omega Staff
MAG + 64
The weapon Celsia starts with. There have been an Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Sigma Staff as well. Yeah, I just made that up, it’s not mentioned anywhere in the game. But why wouldn’t there?
Legendary Weapons
Highlance
STR + 64, MAG + 64
Allows for fast attacks that may also stagger — convenient! Damage against bosses is also raised. Don’t waste this bonus by attacking the small fry. The lance comes with the skill ‘Valkyrie’, which staggers with a guarantee and deals more damage if the enemy has high HP.
Hydra Slayer
STR + 192
As the name would suggest, the Hydra Slayer deals more damage against dragons. Yes, a Hydra is definitely a dragon? But even when not fighting one, this weapon lets you attack thrice, which not only deals a ton of damage, but also generates EP.
Polar Eclipse
MAG + 192
That’s not a typo, this weapon is just super cool and grim. It replaces your normal attack with an ice spell and lets you attack with ‘Spectral Hammer’, a heavy, but slow attack that deals a lot of damage to mage-type enemies with low DEF.
Yggdrassil
ATK + 96
It’s actually a bow made of only a branch from the norse world tree, but item names can’t have that many characters. If at high EP at the end of a turn, this thing becomes enchanted, turning any arrow fired with it into a poisonous projectile. Poison itself is just your regular damage-over-time effect, but the skill ‘Aim for the Soul’ deals massive bonus damage to poisoned enemies.
Fatale
ATK + 96, DEF − 48, MAG + 96, RES − 48
A weapon very strong on the offense. It may instantly kill minions. To make up for the decrease in defensive capabilities, ts skill, ‘Vampyric Kiss’, deals dark damage to an enemy and drains 25% of the damage dealt as HP.
Armour
Heroic Off-Hand
Mythril Shield
DEF + 32, BAR + 32
A shield made of mythril, the mystical metal that is super sturdy, but also super light. Perfect combination. Ariel has received this shield from a green-haired woman in a toga.
Champion’s Glove
ATK + 32
Gloves made for a dragon-slaying princess from the northern wilderness. They do look awesome. Well, too bad this is only a pixel game where you can’t actually see this awesomeness, right?
Arcane Tome
MAG + 32, BAR + 32
A tome with the most profound wisdom in it. If only one could spread the word, but, alas, there are runes in it that nobody alive can read!
Legendary Off-Hand
Cerulean Mirror
DEF + 96, BAR + 96
Reflects holy damage and absorbs dark damage. Prevents Haze. A great shield when fighting very specific enemies, but its powerful skill, Radiance, actually makes it a worthwhile addition anywhere else as well.
Comet Catchers
ATK + 64, DEF + 64
If at high EP at the end of a turn, the user may use Meteor on the boss. Note that it consumes EP to use the finisher skill. Still, not having to waste an action just to nearly obliterate the boss is pretty neat.
Science & Wisdom
BAR + 192
At battle start, generates EP based on BAR. Which is cool, because this thing greatly increases just that stat!
Ranger’s Handbag
No Main Stat Bonus
At battle start, adds 3 tools to the inventory. The tools are a wrench, a magnifier and something called Smoke Water. See the items section to learn more about tools.
Friar’s Lantern
MAG + 192
Restores HP and generates EP when an enemy is killed. Best used against bosses with minions, obviously. You should also try using it against some enemies encountered in a side quest later on.
Heroic Headgear
Mythril Helmet
DEF + 32, BAR + 32
A helmet made of mythril. In the sunlight, a faint blue glint covers its surface. In the moonlight, a faint green one does. You can’t see any of this on the sprites, but I’m sure you can imagine it!
Champion’s Bandeau
ATK + 32
A bandeau made for the Champion of the Arena. This thing seems to glow like ember in the right light. This can also not be seen in-game, sorry.
Arcane Hat
BAR + 32
A hat embued with magical energy. It also looks pretty cute. Or would, could you see it. Yeah, this headgear-on-sprites thing seems to be worth looking into, I realise.
Legendary Headgear
Skygazer
DEF + 64, BAR + 64
If at high HP at the end of a turn, uses Shine (even with no EP), sometimes twice. Pretty good. But its skill, Pantheon, is probably the real reason you will use this.
Primo Victoria
ATK + 64
At battle start, raises STR, DEF and Crit Rate of all heroines. The skill enabled by this piece of equipment allows to you provoke enemies, that is, concentrate their attacks on a specific character. Makes healing a lot easier.
Aurora’s Veil
BAR + 96
If at low EP at the end of a turn, generates EP. The skill, Northern Lights, raises elemental damage dealt and healing received, which makes this headgear a very versatile item.
Griffin-Feather Cap
BAR + 64
Raises Crit Damage. The interesting part about this headgear is, once again, its skill: Iris. It’s a debuff that raises elemental damage taken. Have you ever tried combining this with Aurora’s Veil and using Blizzard?
Minora’s Mask
MAG + 96
At battle start, stuns all enemies. So far so good. The skill this headgear grants, Underwordly Power, raises MAG and Crit Rate. Maybe you should try adding this to your Veil-Cap-Blizzard combo? Just an idea.
Heroic Body Armour
Mythril Mail
DEF + 64
Ensures high flexibility in combat. Does not raise any agility stat, however, so yeah, the flexibility goes only so far.
Champion’s Corslet
ATK + 32, DEF + 32
A mail made from the scales of a giant dragon. At least that’s what the blacksmith said. He seemed kind of trustworthy?
Arcane Robe
BAR + 64
An old robe the Arch Mage typically wears. It does not really fit, but that’s not the point of magical body armour, is it? It provides a lot of BAR, and if there’s one thing Celsia doesn’t like, it’s getting hit with spells herself.
Legendary Body Armour
White Wings
DEF + 64, BAR + 64
Wings of an angel or something. Can automatically revive the user when K.O.ed, but this effect requires 100 EP. Why not try not dying in the first place by using the skill from this piece of equipment, ‘Soothing Breeze’?
Adamantica
ATK + 192
A sturdy armour that also deals thorn damage to enemies. It must be some kind of magical effect, though, because there are no acual thorns as far as one can tell from the icon.
Galaxy Garment
MAG + 64, BAR + 64
Raises max EP by 25. The user’s skills no longer have any elemental attributes, so you can, for example, use Blizzard against enemies resistant to ice if you really want to.
Fig Leaves
No Main Stat Bonuses
Unsurprisingly, a scanty outfit such as this doesn’t provide any DEF or BAR. Maybe surprisingly, though, it does provide a bonus to the user’s Evasion Rate. Not sure how that works.
Thin Air
MAG + 96
Apparently, it is possible to wear thin air as armour, and in that case, thin air looks a lot like a black cloak. This thing lowers ranged and nullifies dark damage taken. More importanly, however, it grants its user a skill that can turn the tides in battle by lowering the enemy’s EP.
Accessories
Emberglow Lipstick
At battle start, generates EP. Raises fire damage dealt and lowers fire damage taken. Nobody knows why wearing red lipstick turns a Meteor into something even more devastating, but that’s essentially how this accessory works.
Heartflower Scent
At the end of a turn, converts HP into EP. Raises holy damage dealt and lowers holy damage taken. Who needs health if the battle can be finished in a few turns anyway?
Quivering Jewels
At the end of a turn, may generate HP and EP. Raise dark damage dealt and lower dark damage taken. A chance-based accessory for those who feel lucky.
Tinglesilk Panties
If the boss is enraged at the end of a turn, generates EP. With this, you generate more EP when you really need to.
Whisperwind Skirt
If at low EP at the end of a turn, generates EP. Raises ice damage dealt and lowers ice damage taken. For a headstart on your EP generation.
Wolfrider’s Creoles
If at low HP at the end of a turn, generates EP. If at very low HP, generates more EP. For those who enjoy a risky ‘battle rage’ build.