Mission: Zack, the Materia Hunter > Anonymous Hints > Treasure Info 1 (1/6)
-Someone has information about some secret whatever thingy and Shinra wants me to track it down or something. Follows the pattern of the prior mission where I get an anonymous letter, but I don’t think it’s a continuation of Yuffie’s line.
-The plains. My bane. Lots of beetles and floating eyes.
-HAPPILY I WAS WRONG. IT’S YUFFIE.
-omg. This ending is pretty great. Zack wants to know how Yuffie got his information in the first place. She says she sent him an email to his cellphone telling him the answer.
Go ahead, Zack! Stand with your back to an open treasure chest, with Yuffie in front of you, and pull out your cellphone while averting your eyes from the treasure. I’m sure she’ll give you time to read it.
-To my shock, Zack picks up immediately on Yuffie’s ploy. She then runs off crying again.
-….LOL – and got away without telling Zack how she got his info. Not a win for Yuffie, but not a loss either. Brava.
I’m a bit worried about them running a pretty fun set of missions into the ground, so I’m curious to see where they go with Yuffie Campaign #2.
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Mission: Zack, the Materia Hunter > Anonymous Hints > Treasure Info 2 (2/6)
-Got another letter, and this one’s sender says she’s not the same as the prior “anonymous” sender.
How does she know there even WAS a prior anonymous sender? (Whatever, I can handwave that away by saying “she hacked Zack’s email to check.”) Some treasure in a cave that we should get before anti-Shinra elements can get it.
-Weird new enemy here: “Mover.” Not really new I suppose, but I think I only saw them briefly late in Final Fantasy V. They look here like a trio of bouncy balls. Much like their FFV counterparts, they have massive evasion here.
-Killed me with a lightning-y “Delta Attack.” Hm.
-They’re not weak to lightning. Killed me again, even while wearing an accessory that ignores lightning damage, so dunno what it really is. Let’s try fire and ice next time.
-Just picked up a Death Blade materia for insta-kill. Maybe that’s the trick?
-No, that doesn’t work.
-I beat them, but with a lucky limit break from…. God, it took me a second to remember his name because I’ve been so detached from the main storyline with this plethora of missions, but Angeal. Rush Assault destroyed the boss (a pair of Movers). Maybe the answer without a limit break is just to use Gravity spells and finish them off with weak melee? I’ll keep trying other stuff aswell.
-After I beat the boss and find the treasure, a voice (“???”) asks me to leave behind 100 gil to take the treasure.
-….and it’s Yuffie lololol – Zack sees her hiding behind a rock, but she doesn’t see him notice I don’t think.
-Awww!!!! He remembers that she always says she’s fighting to restore Wutai, and so he leave 100 gil out for the cause and leaves without confronting her. That’s really cool.
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Mission: Zack, the Materia Hunter > Anonymous Hints > Treasure Info 3 (3/6)
-This? This is awesome.
They’ve taken the tired “here’s another thing to find, gl!” style missions and turned them on their head. Now the reason they’re not very creative is that it’s a kid working a scam. “Sure, buddy, trust me! I’m not the same as the previous senders! Totally new person!” She’s inexperienced, in combination with the fact that the letters have been working so far.
-It’s also great because it gives character development to Zack. He’s not huffy about being played. He knows he’s helping out someone for Wutai. Kindness? Guilt? Even twinges, however small, of sympathy for anti-Shinra elements? Not saying he’s ready to join Team Genesis, but empathy with Shinra’s victims may be a positive sign.
Not sure. But it’s interesting.
-Lots of insect swarms here, which means lots of mana on Blizzard.
-This time, Zack leaves a Potion behind for Yuffie at her request.
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Mission: Zack, the Materia Hunter > Anonymous Hints > Treasure Info 4 (4/6)
-Another “Hard” mission, and likely the last one I’ll be able to do in the chain if I can even manage to complete it, but I want to try.
-lol. And I died almost immediately to a pack of Balloons.
They were freezy, so let’s try using an anti-Blizzard accessory, a fire materia, and Elemental Attack.
-Hah, nm. Forgot I had a Phoenix Down on. Survived the fight thanks to a timely Ifrit.
-HAHAHAHAH YEEESSSSSS – Got Chocobo Mode, and for the first time I summoned an actual Chocobo!
The Chocobo and Zack were doing this wonderful march together and together stomped on the enemies for massive damage. The humor, the art, the sound, everything about Chocobo Mode makes me delighted.
-I’m not sure how to kill these Balloons. They’re immune to Firaga, immune to my attacks… maybe they’re just immune to fire and my Elemental Strike + Firaga is the enemy here. The fact that I was able to steal “Firaga” materia from them makes me think this is the case, that they’re actually attuned to its damage. Angeal’s limit break saves me and I drop the Elemental Strike materia after the fight.
-Got another pack of them. I was sort of right. They are immune to fire and actively absorb blizzard, but now that I removed Elemental Strike + Firaga, my basic attacks hurt them.
-Cissnei’s limit break which ups my limit meter to Sky High/Heavenly really can snowball out of control.
-HAHA YES I’M A GENIUS! By which I mean, “I finally grasped this ridiculously basic materia interaction.” The Balloons kept hitting me with the Stop effect, and I don’t have an anti-Stop accessory. But just realized I can use my “Stop Blade” materia plus “Status Ward,” along with my Snow Armlet accessory to absorb blizzards. Now their “Chilling Whisper” spells don’t freeze and stop me. Instead, they heal me and that’s it!
-p.s. Turns out Balloons are susceptible to thunder.
Now THAT’S how you pop a balloon with style.
-At the end, Yuffie asks now for 200 gil. But come on, Zack, you can afford it.
Granted, this is a classic “Give a Mouse a Cookie” case, but whatever. And the treasure you got is called “Exploder Blade.” You basically spent 200 gil on a Dethklok album.
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Mission: Zack, the Materia Hunter > Anonymous Hints > Treasure Info 5 (5/6)
-Because I clearly don’t learn any lessons from my own recent past, I try this next “Very Hard” mission for giggles.
-Got past the first one, but then two hits from a bird kill me. I’ll come back later. Sorry, Yuffie – the Wutai Relief Fund will have to wait.
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Mission: Seeking Priceless Items > ESP Development Project > P’s Precognition Lv. 3 (3/6)
-This one downgraded just now to “Hard” from “Very Hard.” I take it on and knock it out thanks to some Hell Thundaga zaps destroying bug swarms.
-Next mission is “Very Hard,” so won’t try it now.
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Next time: STORY! I’ve finally cleared all the sub-Very Hard missions available, so back to the main plot.
