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Ebot’s Rock
-For this, I’ll start with Strago, Cyan, Umaro, and Setzer. Mix of magic and melee, with some of my lower level characters to start building them up.
A rare Setzer triple BAR: “Hellfire.”
-Huh. Nothing here. I really thought I’d trigger Hidon with Strago in my party, but maybe it’s a rare spawn or maybe I have to do something else. Going to head back to Thamasa in case Gungho is hanging aroud there.
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Thamasa
-Nothing here. Grr…
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Ebot’s Rock
-Going to try bringing Shadow and Relm into the party.
-hjkldsahfads
-Still didn’t work. Nothing on Ebot’s Rock.
---
Thamasa
-YES! Success. Something’s happening - Relm is happy to be home and breaks off.
-Gungho’s hurt. He got himself hurt hunting HIdon. (hee hee!)
-And by “hurt,” I now mean “dead.” Strago wants to continue pursuing his youthful dreams and avenge his friend (who seemed like an asshole last time we met) at the same time.
-He ran from it last time, and wants to face it alone.
STRAGO: “It’s a matter of pride, dear.”
RELM: “It’s a matter of you being a stubborn old man!”
We’re going as a group.
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Ebot’s Rock
-There’s now a cave here.
-Aw, dang. It’s one of those limited sight dungeons.
-I think I’m going to convert Setzer into Genji Glove-wielding auto-attack machine. I present my reasoning via the medium of a screenshot essay called “Fuck Setzer’s Slot Mechanic”:
-A sentient treasure chest is blocking the way forward. We have to find coral to feed it.
Hungry, Hungry Treasure Chests.
This feels like a callback to the giant in FFI we have to feed rocks to before he let us pass.
-The dungeon is made up of lots of disorienting portal stones. I collect pieces of coral from around the area and port back to the chest to feed it, but it says we need to feed more at once to fill it up.
-After a bunch of kind of random porting around, I have what feels like an arbitrarily large enough number and try again. Success.
-Found him.
Hidon.
Awesome sprite model once again. Looks like a particular creature from the MMO rift, in skeletal form. Easy fight at this point, especially compared to the Cultists’ Tower. Hurray for Strago!
The Grave Maker monsters of Rift.
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Thamasa
-Oh. I was wrong. Gungho’s still alive. He must’ve just gone to sleep. Oops.
-The animation here is kind of hilarious as both Strago and Gungho are jumping up and down in excitement, with Strago flailing his arms wildly. Gungho cedes that Strago beat him. All is well.
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Evening in Thamasa
-Lol. Strago’s telling Gungho of his victory. This is really cool to see.
I care less about the challenge or rewards of beating Hidon than about seeing what beating Hidon means to Strago and how he reacts to it. FFVI knows this well.
-oh god this is the best. Strago’s acting out his victory, and pacing back and forth as he talks. He cannot contain his excitement. “Bam! Thwack! Pow! Oh, I wish you could’ve been there to see me. And then…” Fade out.
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Same Evening, Outside the House
-Relm is standing outside when Gungho comes out to her.
-RELM YOU SNEAKY PETE
-Gungho didn’t really get wounded by Hidon. Relm put him up to it, to spur Strago’s competitive spirits so that he would accomplish his dream. Relm: never change.
GUNGHO: “I don’t know how a man like him ever managed to raise a granddaughter as wonderful as you…” Have I said that I love this yet? Because I love this.
AND THEN RELM CHIDES GUNGHO FOR PUTTING ON A CRAPPY PERFORMANCE LOLOL
-Let me touch on why I love this so deeply. Kefka’s world is defined so often by despair, hopelessness, a lack of meaning. Strago was in a deep funk. He joined the Cult of Kefka, thinking there was nothing left to live for. Then Relm comes along. She doesn’t just provide him the company of a loved one. She helps reignite his purpose, and gives him something truly meaningful.
She gives him joy and purpose. She helps him realize these things for himself. Who could ask for more?
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Next time: Flying around a bit to try Deathgaze, then heading back to Cid’s House with Locke and Celes to hopefully get a cutscene of some sort.
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