Summary: Sabin washes up and joins Shadow. They head towards Doma, and slow down at the imperial camp. The Empire attacks Doma, but Cyan emerges and stops the assault. We see the despised Kefka compared with the awesome General Leo.
Cabin
-Sabin washes ashore. NEAR MYSIDIA??? (lol no). Goes to the cabin nearby.
-Shadow! Puppy! Merchant! Chocobo! Shadow’s music! I stock up on a few things.
-Oh, right. Sabin never met Shadow.
-Shadow says the Empire is nearby, eying Doma Castle. Maybe Sabin’s scenario will be about stopping Darh Kefka from poisoning Doma.
-Shadow will join us, but “may leave at any time.” Not sure if flavor text or if, like, after each battle he has an x% chance of leaving.
-The road to Narshe goes through Doma.
-Inside the cabin, we get wacky music. An old man thinks we’re the clock-fixer.
FFVI really likes its clocks. He starts yelling at us, that he’ll throw us onto the Veldt. Bradbury style.
-I’m sure there’s a puzzle in here, but not sure exactly what. Maybe I have to bring Edgar the mechanic back here.
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Overworld
-SHADOW’S PUPPY! Puppy blocks a lot of damage, and retaliates with Takedown for massive damage.
-Went west, but hit a wall.
Really, game? Making me literally kill stray cats? Wtf.
-Hey! Just noticed I have more blitzes than Raging Fist. Aura Cannon and Meteor Strike.
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Imperial Camp
-Music is… imperal.
-Eavesdropping on soldiers. They’re afraid of Kefka overhearing.
-Kefka’s plotting to overthrow General Leo.
Even Kefka’s own soldiers are even creeped out by him. I don’t know that we’ve ever seen dissension in the enemy ranks before, in FFI through FFV. I love this.
-HI KEFKA! He scolds the soldiers for possible laziness, then walks away.
-Soldier B: “Hmph! Like we’re gonna listen to you, you pompous little…” WOW! It’s not just fear of Kefka. These guys flat out dislike and disrespect Kefka.
-Converseley, they speak reverently of General Leo. Could that really be two decent imperial generals we’ve met? Celes and Leo? 100% of the Empire’s generals we’ve met are good or not bad, depending on whether Leo lives up to this praise.
-Time for the Empire to assault Castle Doma.
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Doma Castle
-LOL THE EMPIRE SUCKS. They just run headlong into the walls and bounce off repeatedly. Still, this freaks out the Doman sentries.
-A knight emerges with martial music, to strengthen their hopes. And we get YET ANOTHER CHARACTER INTRO SCREEN. So many playable characters already! Definitely going the FFIV route, rather than the FFI, II, III, or V route.
Meet Cyan.
-“Sir Cyan” heads out to meet their commander. I’m now playing as him. He’s a Samurai.
-Bushido is a fascinating ability. It has 10 numbers, and every second I wait with Bushido selected, it moves to the next (and presumably more powerful) number.
-He defeats the captain, and the empire retreats. Huzzah!
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Imperial Camp
-We’re back to playing as Sabin/Shadow. Sneaking around camp. Found a treasure chest, and tried to kick it open, but that summoned an angry pack of Dobermans that hurt like hell.
-Eavesdropping on General Leo talking with a soldier. Leo has a SWEEEEEET mohawk.
-Leo is… wow, I’m actually blown away by this. He’s not a frothing warmongering tyrant.
The resulting conversation is amazing, and I have to transcribe it:
SOLDIER: “But… General! I’m prepared to lay down my life for the Empire at any time!”
LEO: “You’re from Maranda, are you not?”
SOLDIER: “Huh? I mean, yes, sir. I am, but… why do you ask, sir?”
LEO: “You would have me go there and deliver the news of your passing to your family? What would I say when I handed them your sword? How could I even look at them? You’er a human being before you’re a soldier. Don’t be so eager to throw away your life. Emperor Gestahl wouldn’t want you to die for nothing.”
W T F. So far, we’ve met Imperial soldiers doing their job, Biggs and Wedge, random Imperial soldiers who hate Kefka but love Leo, two Imperial generals in Celes and Leo, both of whom are… well, we don’t know much about them, but if they’re not “good,” they’re at least noble and human.
Kefka’s the only person who seems flat out bad so far, setting fire to the castle and wanting to poison Doma, but even he seems to be an exception, and a small one at that, relegated to “I’ll get you next time, Gadget!” fist-shaking.
Final Fantasy has simply NEVER looked at its enemy factions with this level of empathy and depth. Ever. Not even remotely. Maybe we’re headed for a storyline where the Empire is okay, and Banon has some evil agenda with the Returners?
They still are doing Magitek experiments and conquering cities, but I have to ask: what the hell kind of evil empire are you running, Gestahl?
-Gestahl summons Leo by carrier pigeon.
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Next time: We continue through the Imperial camp.
“Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony--Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy?”
--“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Erich Remarque
