Went all out clearing the rest of the main story; I put aside my qualms about doing levels with 'minimal upgrades' and spared no expanse on weapons. This meant that most of the final stage was fairly easy, with notable exceptions being 4-5, 4-8, and 4-9. Levels 4-5 and 4-8 are back-to-back gauntlets each ending with a Midboss. That difference is that they must be completed in a single attempt, which makes all the more frustrating when you need to reset.
Bowser Jr wasn't too difficult since he couldn't squeeze into pipes meaning you run circles around no problem. Still the 3 round limit for perfect required me to be more aggressive which resulted in me needing to try again after Luigi got squashed. I regret not using him in my team compositions earlier during my playthrough because 'Itchy Feet' gives a huge advantage at the beginning of levels, and 'Steely Stare' ability can deal some crazy damage especially when paired with Mario's 'Hero Sight'.
The next set of bosses were Lava Queen and the Bwaluigi / Bwario duo. 2 additional encounters precede the boss, and while they graciously recover your abilities before each; you don't get any chance to alter team setup between rounds. The enemies can usually be dispatched in 1-2 turns but that doesn't make it any less tedious on repeated attempts. The bosses weren't tough but stakes are higher if you mess up.
Which leaves only 4-9, the fight boss against Mega Dragon Bowser. Took a few tries to succeed while keeping everyone alive, managed to score a perfect score though. The main change to my approach was anticipating the enemy spawns and positioning my units to get rid of them pronto. Both Mario & Luigi were incredibly useful for attacking during the phase transitions. The ending was pretty anticlimactic and while the story wasn't meant to be taken seriously, I still found the "twist" that Beep-O's mysterious correspondent turned out to just be themselves from the future disappointing with all the build up it received. First of all, how did Beep-O and co. manage without the guidance of F.B? They wouldn't even have gotten weapons if not for the email (and you didn't even send them the best ones!?), and how do you transmit physical objects through an email anyway? If you could do that, why did you have me find the 'Goodness Relics' instead of just sending it? Yes, I know that F.B's Email was hacked by Bowser Jr. during this portion, but still wouldn't Beep-O in present time be aware he gets hacked and be able to give the statues beforehand? Why do the messages suddenly stop coming once you reach Lava Pits, did the previous Beep-O fail? Or did they simply feel it unnecessary to provide advice at that point?
The remaining objectives are the challenges and secret level in Lava Pits, and the ultimate challenges. I plugged away at UC-2 into the night, but kept failing at the last wave. I'm developing a concerning amount of hatred towards Boos and Rabbids.
