Summary: Squad B reaches the Dollet Town Square, then pushes on against orders to the Communications Tower. Selphie joins. Everyone decides that it’s “Pick on Zell Day.” Grr. On a happier note, PUPPY!
Dollet – Town Square
-I said it last time, but when I logged in at the save point it hit me again. This music. Seriously.
-Reviewing Zell’s “duels.” It’s gonna take some time to learn them. When I got Sabin in FFVI, I only had to learn one blitz at a time, while here I get a ton at once. I’ll take it slow.
-There’s an “Info Net Sky System.” Must be the internet basically.
-The party taunts some of the backups about not being on the frontlines. Nothing like competition to bring a squad together!
-The soldiers we fight recognize the uniforms as SeeD. Must be a pretty expansive organization – makes sense. We already learned that they’re mercenaries who fight all over.
-Other SeeDlings are pretty casual about this. Eating in the restaurants as they’re supposed to be defending the city.
-The other squads seem to have different specialties.
Some are intelligence, some are back-up. Squad B is the frontline.
-Reached a central square. A PUPPY STARTED WALKING ACROSS THE SCREEN! JUST CHILLING! JUST BEING A PUPPY!
-THE PUPPY WANTS TO PLAY WITH SEIFER BUT HE’S JUST ANNOYED
-WTF SEIFER. IT’S A PUPPY. YOU ARE THE FF SERIES’ GREATEST MONSTER.
-That was… quick? Only like three fights, all of which were easy.
-Just going to chill in the Central Square for a bit. Try to guess Seifer’s reaction.
-Ok. The puppy keeps trying to play with Seifer and Seifer scared it away. Fuck Seifer.
-The sound of gunfire off in the distance. (I’m getting used to it now.) Everyone’s bored in the square. This is actually pretty funny – I was expecting an epic battle, and they’re just hanging out while other people fight. XD
Zell is bored. Seifer is bored. The dog is just… being a dog. Scratching himself and hanging out.
¬-Huh. The dog starts howling. Is it a scout dog for the Galbadian soldiers?
-Nope. He alerted Squad B to hide, and some Galbadians ran by. Seifer’s going to lead the team against orders to the hill.
-Now it makes sense! The fights were SUPPOSED to be easy, to convey that sense of being not challenged.
-I’m pleasantly surprised by this. Squall respects Seifer’s decision and wants to test out his skills, but ZELL of all people is against the idea of charging into battle.
I’m with Zell, though Seifer wins the day. Heading to “the Facility.”
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Dollet – Mountain Hideout
-A downed Dollet soldier mentions that the G-Army wants the Communications Tower.
-A monster appears. Looks like a cobra. “Anacondaur.” [Thought I took a screenshot, but I didn’t.]
SEIFER: “The finishing blow determines the EXP.” …really? I don’t know that I like that. I guess it means I can funnel exp to whoever I want, but I’m unpleasantly surprised that it doesn’t distribute evenly.
-The Anacondaur was super weak to cold. Seifer’s Shiva did major work.
-OH! Ok. So everyone gets experience, but it looks like the character with the killing blow gets extra experience. That I like.
LOLOLOL
ZELL: “Monsters, huh? That sucks.” So prosaic. XD XD
-Quezacotl learned “Boost,” and I still have no indication what it did. My guess is that it probably just increased all his stats by a bit, but dunno. [Non-rhetorical question for y’all: what does Boost actually do?]
-The next ability I’m going for on him is “Card.” Not sure what that does either, but it’s a command ability, so I’ll know sooner rather than later. I’m hoping it lets me craft a Triple Triad card of the monster we’re fighting.
-Reached the top of the mountain, outside the Communications Tower. Some G-Soldiers are talking about boosting or something, probably trying to boost a signal and get a message out.
-Hee! This feels like the scene from The Princess Bride where they’re outside the castle, evaluating the defenses. Seifer is Wesley, Squall is Fezzik, and Zell is Inigo.
-In another nice and unexpected moment, when Seifer asks Squall if he’s scared of this first battle, Squall says he doesn’t know. He’s not feeling anything. I would’ve expected him to be… well, what Seifer is. “I love battles. I fear nothing.”
-Aw. Seifer feels closer in battle to fulfilling his dream. Not sure what that dream is, and Squall doesn’t want to talk about his own dream.
-hahahahahaha – Zell feels left out and wants in on the Moment they’re having!
-An energetic Garden student stumbles over the mountain cliff. Is that…?
Yes. It’s Selphie. She’s here as a messenger from Squad A. She has to get a message to Seifer, but he ran inside the Communications Tower. We all follow.
-I think I had the choice to jump off the cliff to follow Selphie or take the long way around on a path. I used the path unthinkingly, though FFVII makes me wonder if this will have any consequences. Like, maybe jumping off the cliff instead of going the long way would’ve opened up a friendship/romance possibility with Selphie.
-Awwww. Dammit. There was a piece of dialogue where Squall could’ve said either he would usually jump off a cliff or wouldn’t. I went with saying he would, but he turned that into an opportunity to be a dick to Zell, calling him a chicken-wuss.
-I’ve compared this game before to FFV in terms of its humor, but the style of humor is much different. FFV was sweet. This is much meaner.
-Ok, seriously, wtf. Now Selphie is getting in on the action of ripping Zell, calling him a pig instead of a chicken. I don’t get it.
LEAVE ZELL ALONE PLZ.
-Like, it was cute and funny a bit early and seemed friendlier then, but this is turning into some more major bullying that rubs me the wrong way. And with Squall saying, “Don’t take it personally!” to Zell, I just want Zell to kick everyone’s ass.
-SELPHIE JOINS THE PARTY!!! A very pleasant surprise. I thought she’d just be comic relief, not an actual party member. She took Seifer’s place, since he ran ahead inside.
AND SHE’S BADASS! She has these extendable nunchuk looking weapons.
What are those called? Or are they just a made-up weapon for FFVIII?
-The team moves in, in pursuit of the captain.
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Next time: into the Communications Tower.
