Summary: We visit occupied Maranda, followed by the Imperial capitol of Vector.
Vector
-Found Vector. The Imperial capitol, iirc.
-Going to first explore Maranda in the west. I’ll be back.
---
Airship
-Quick stop here to explore.
-This place is way bigger than I first thought.
-I tried clicking near the different gaming tables to see if anything happened, but no dice. (SEE, SETZER? I CAN MAKE BAD GAMBLING PUNS TOO.)
-Tried adding Setzer to my party, but he just gives me some flavor text telling me to go away. I’m kind of nervous how a gambler will play.
The last gambling mechanic the Final Fantasy series gave me was horrifically bad. It was the Oracle job in FFV, whose randomized abilities ended up killing me 4/5 of the time. On the other hand, I loved a lot of the other randomized elements of FFV, including the Geomancer and the Ranger’s !Animal ability, so it’s not like FF can’t do random.
---
Maranda
-Headed west to Maranda.
-SERIOUSLY, EMPIRE? TAKING BETS ON DOG FIGHTS??
I wish I had Shadow here. He and Takedown would destroy y’all.
-Hey, it’s that woman who corresponded with that soldier in that other city! (I forget which – maybe South Figaro?)
Nice continuity.
-Lots of anti-Empire sentiment here.
-Not much else to do right now. Onto Vector.
---
Vector
-Great Imperial-sounding music.
-Hee! We stop at an inn and for the first time ever it’s occupied. We walk right up to a couple laying in bed and listen to their conversation.
It’s actually an interesting one. They are on their way to make a new start in Maranda. The guy likes Vector and wants to join the Imperial army now that he’s here, but the woman reminds him that the Empire destroyed their village. I wonder if we’ll see them down the line.
-A Returner! He offers to help me get through to the magitek facility, but I want to explore the rest of the city first.
-Very industrial look to this place. Lots of metal and crossbeams.
-Random woman in house: “Are you loyal to the Empire?” At first I say “Yes,” but nothing happens. I talk to her again and say “No.” Some weak guards attack me, and after I kill them the woman cheers me on before healing me.
Cool to see anti-Imperial sentiment even in their capitol.
Still, lots of pro-Imperial talk to go with it.
-Creepily enough, there’s a kid running around who casts Cure on me.
Whee! What other fun genetic modifications can you make on children?
This is kind of horrifying? I mean, better that than Fire, but still. Cid runs the magitek facility.
Poor guy. In FFIV he started out working for Baron, in FFV he overworked the crystals and pushed them to the breaking point, and here he’s working for Gestahl. I imagine he’ll continue in this game as a good guy stuck working for the wrong side to start with, but we’ll see.
-Yikes. All the soldiers at the Magitek Research Facility can now use magic. Thanks for making things harder on us, Cid.
-WHAT?? Kefka was Cid’s first experimental magitek knight, and the experiment altered his mind somehow. I wonder if we’ll ever see a flashback of pre-magitek Kefka.
-General Leo never got a magitek infusion. Good on you, Leo. Maybe he didn’t want to end up like Kefka, but I imagine it may be more that he wanted to remain a pure soldier.
-Snuck past some guards (FFVI uses stealth mechanics way more than any prior FF), and made it to the Imperial Palace. Can’t get inside though.
-OH SHIT IT’S “THE GUARDIAN” THAT I WAS WARNED ABOUT. It’s a gun turret guardian the palace. I run from the fight, as I was urged to do.
-You know what? Fuck it. Let’s yolo this.
-Ow.
-Yeah, running was the better choice. None of my abilities, magic, or attacks did anything, and it retaliated for 7-8k damage.
-I head back to the Returner in Vector. He distracts the guards pretty hilariously, by pretending to be on the verge of vomiting, complete with sprite animations. We scoot by and head into the Magitek Research Facility.
---
Next time: Let’s free some espers!
Vector
-Found Vector. The Imperial capitol, iirc.
-Going to first explore Maranda in the west. I’ll be back.
---
Airship
-Quick stop here to explore.
-This place is way bigger than I first thought.
-I tried clicking near the different gaming tables to see if anything happened, but no dice. (SEE, SETZER? I CAN MAKE BAD GAMBLING PUNS TOO.)
-Tried adding Setzer to my party, but he just gives me some flavor text telling me to go away. I’m kind of nervous how a gambler will play.
The last gambling mechanic the Final Fantasy series gave me was horrifically bad. It was the Oracle job in FFV, whose randomized abilities ended up killing me 4/5 of the time. On the other hand, I loved a lot of the other randomized elements of FFV, including the Geomancer and the Ranger’s !Animal ability, so it’s not like FF can’t do random.
---
Maranda
-Headed west to Maranda.
-SERIOUSLY, EMPIRE? TAKING BETS ON DOG FIGHTS??
I wish I had Shadow here. He and Takedown would destroy y’all.
-Hey, it’s that woman who corresponded with that soldier in that other city! (I forget which – maybe South Figaro?)
Nice continuity.
-Lots of anti-Empire sentiment here.
-Not much else to do right now. Onto Vector.
---
Vector
-Great Imperial-sounding music.
-Hee! We stop at an inn and for the first time ever it’s occupied. We walk right up to a couple laying in bed and listen to their conversation.
It’s actually an interesting one. They are on their way to make a new start in Maranda. The guy likes Vector and wants to join the Imperial army now that he’s here, but the woman reminds him that the Empire destroyed their village. I wonder if we’ll see them down the line.
-A Returner! He offers to help me get through to the magitek facility, but I want to explore the rest of the city first.
-Very industrial look to this place. Lots of metal and crossbeams.
-Random woman in house: “Are you loyal to the Empire?” At first I say “Yes,” but nothing happens. I talk to her again and say “No.” Some weak guards attack me, and after I kill them the woman cheers me on before healing me.
Cool to see anti-Imperial sentiment even in their capitol.
Still, lots of pro-Imperial talk to go with it.
-Creepily enough, there’s a kid running around who casts Cure on me.
Whee! What other fun genetic modifications can you make on children?
This is kind of horrifying? I mean, better that than Fire, but still. Cid runs the magitek facility.
Poor guy. In FFIV he started out working for Baron, in FFV he overworked the crystals and pushed them to the breaking point, and here he’s working for Gestahl. I imagine he’ll continue in this game as a good guy stuck working for the wrong side to start with, but we’ll see.
-Yikes. All the soldiers at the Magitek Research Facility can now use magic. Thanks for making things harder on us, Cid.
-WHAT?? Kefka was Cid’s first experimental magitek knight, and the experiment altered his mind somehow. I wonder if we’ll ever see a flashback of pre-magitek Kefka.
-General Leo never got a magitek infusion. Good on you, Leo. Maybe he didn’t want to end up like Kefka, but I imagine it may be more that he wanted to remain a pure soldier.
-Snuck past some guards (FFVI uses stealth mechanics way more than any prior FF), and made it to the Imperial Palace. Can’t get inside though.
-OH SHIT IT’S “THE GUARDIAN” THAT I WAS WARNED ABOUT. It’s a gun turret guardian the palace. I run from the fight, as I was urged to do.
-You know what? Fuck it. Let’s yolo this.
-Ow.
-Yeah, running was the better choice. None of my abilities, magic, or attacks did anything, and it retaliated for 7-8k damage.
-I head back to the Returner in Vector. He distracts the guards pretty hilariously, by pretending to be on the verge of vomiting, complete with sprite animations. We scoot by and head into the Magitek Research Facility.
---
Next time: Let’s free some espers!
