Summary:
Stopped at Melda Arch, then traversed the Ice Cavern. Another tutorial.
Or should I say – “Moogorial?” (No. No, I shouldn’t.) Black Waltz #1.
Mist Continent
-One of the lessons I’m trying to take from FFVIII specifically is to pay attention to the specific part of the map I’m in in case I need to find it later.
-The world map is really interesting in that it’s only one continent.
-There’s a word in the bottom left of the world map that I can’t make out. Looks like “Tonberry,” but I’m sure that’s not what it actually is.
-There are three points of interest currently marked on the map: Alexandria in the northeast, the Evil Forest between us and Alexandria, and the Ice Cavern to the south/southwest. That’s our target.
-We’re currently in the Gunitas Basin.
-It just hit me: my party when I started this playthrough series up in FFI was Fighter, Thief, Black Mage, White Mage. And that’s what my party is now. Steiner the Fighter, Zidane the Thief, Vivi the Black Mage, and Garnet the White Mage.
-The sound when I summon Moguo with my flute sounds very Zelda-esque. Or maybe Mario-esque, like I’m using a warp whistle.
---
Melda Arch
-Found a gate with a question mark over it. (Wandering all over the continent to explore a bit before heading into the Ice Cavern.) Melda Arch, going beneath the Mist between Alexandria and Burmecia.
-There’s smoke! War! Steiner’s pissed, since he thinks crimes are being committed by rogues in Alexandria’s name.
He probably doesn’t suspect the queen as I do.
-We listen closely to the door and hear metal grinding. I have the option to call out to people on the other side. That sounds like a notoriously bad idea.
-Fuck it. Let’s do it.
-Zidane hears a “husky, sexy voice” reply from the other side. She sells medicine. We buy some potions. That was a bit weird. We leave.
---
Ice Cavern
-Just before heading in, got into a fight with some squirrels. Saw that Garnet has the ability to summon already – and can ALREADY summon Bahamut, Odin, Shiva, Ifrit, and even ATOMOS!!! She doesn’t have the maximum mana to do so, but already has the ability. That’s really surprising. I thought we’d be introduced to summon stuff in the Ice Cavern by meeting Shiva, like with the Fire Cave in FFVIII.
-Vivi mentions his grandpa told him about this place. Ok, now I’m cannot WAIT to meet Vivi’s grandpa. Chance he’s gonna as adorable as Vivi: 10000%
-oh god nm. His grandfather passed away. Sorry Vivi
Nice dungeon title screen.
-There are wind gusts in the dungeon. Went up to one and got into a fight with some goofy looking mammoth monsters that hurt like hell.
Their attacks aren’t bad, but they cast something called “HP Switch” that sets my HP to 15.
“The wind shows my path.” So gotta stay out of those gusts.
-oh frak. It’s these guys. Flan. The pudding monsters that have plagued me since FFII. I can never remember whether their color is what they’re weak to or strong to. These are yellow puddings, so let’s try lightning… Yes!
-Found a secret wall that Vivi burned open for an ether. He’s so unsure about everything, poor li’l guy.
-Vivi’s magic is by far my strongest attack.
-Steiner can’t use any Sword Arts yet. Even when in a trance, which surprised me.
-This cave cements what I first observed about FFIX when I started: there are a METRIC TON of secrets! Not brain teasers really – not yet at least, though I’m sure that’ll come soon enough – but just walls where Vivi can burn to uncover a secret chest, or a log that I click and knock into a position to reach a new platform.
Pays to explore.
-I was wrong about Trance gauges. It seems that the gauge stays from fight to fight when building up trance – it’s just that when you go into a trance, it doesn’t last until the next fight. Which makes sense.
Love the animation on these cave imps.
Mist Continent
-One of the lessons I’m trying to take from FFVIII specifically is to pay attention to the specific part of the map I’m in in case I need to find it later.
-The world map is really interesting in that it’s only one continent.
-There’s a word in the bottom left of the world map that I can’t make out. Looks like “Tonberry,” but I’m sure that’s not what it actually is.
-There are three points of interest currently marked on the map: Alexandria in the northeast, the Evil Forest between us and Alexandria, and the Ice Cavern to the south/southwest. That’s our target.
-We’re currently in the Gunitas Basin.
-It just hit me: my party when I started this playthrough series up in FFI was Fighter, Thief, Black Mage, White Mage. And that’s what my party is now. Steiner the Fighter, Zidane the Thief, Vivi the Black Mage, and Garnet the White Mage.
-The sound when I summon Moguo with my flute sounds very Zelda-esque. Or maybe Mario-esque, like I’m using a warp whistle.
---
Melda Arch
-Found a gate with a question mark over it. (Wandering all over the continent to explore a bit before heading into the Ice Cavern.) Melda Arch, going beneath the Mist between Alexandria and Burmecia.
-There’s smoke! War! Steiner’s pissed, since he thinks crimes are being committed by rogues in Alexandria’s name.
He probably doesn’t suspect the queen as I do.
-We listen closely to the door and hear metal grinding. I have the option to call out to people on the other side. That sounds like a notoriously bad idea.
-Fuck it. Let’s do it.
-Zidane hears a “husky, sexy voice” reply from the other side. She sells medicine. We buy some potions. That was a bit weird. We leave.
---
Ice Cavern
-Just before heading in, got into a fight with some squirrels. Saw that Garnet has the ability to summon already – and can ALREADY summon Bahamut, Odin, Shiva, Ifrit, and even ATOMOS!!! She doesn’t have the maximum mana to do so, but already has the ability. That’s really surprising. I thought we’d be introduced to summon stuff in the Ice Cavern by meeting Shiva, like with the Fire Cave in FFVIII.
-Vivi mentions his grandpa told him about this place. Ok, now I’m cannot WAIT to meet Vivi’s grandpa. Chance he’s gonna as adorable as Vivi: 10000%
-oh god nm. His grandfather passed away. Sorry Vivi
Nice dungeon title screen.
-There are wind gusts in the dungeon. Went up to one and got into a fight with some goofy looking mammoth monsters that hurt like hell.
Their attacks aren’t bad, but they cast something called “HP Switch” that sets my HP to 15.
“The wind shows my path.” So gotta stay out of those gusts.
-oh frak. It’s these guys. Flan. The pudding monsters that have plagued me since FFII. I can never remember whether their color is what they’re weak to or strong to. These are yellow puddings, so let’s try lightning… Yes!
-Found a secret wall that Vivi burned open for an ether. He’s so unsure about everything, poor li’l guy.
-Vivi’s magic is by far my strongest attack.
-Steiner can’t use any Sword Arts yet. Even when in a trance, which surprised me.
-This cave cements what I first observed about FFIX when I started: there are a METRIC TON of secrets! Not brain teasers really – not yet at least, though I’m sure that’ll come soon enough – but just walls where Vivi can burn to uncover a secret chest, or a log that I click and knock into a position to reach a new platform.
Pays to explore.
-I was wrong about Trance gauges. It seems that the gauge stays from fight to fight when building up trance – it’s just that when you go into a trance, it doesn’t last until the next fight. Which makes sense.
Love the animation on these cave imps.
-To be honest, I’m already pining a bit for the pre-set number of dungeon encounters from Chrono Trigger (rather than a random encounter rate typical to FF).
-OH NO THE WIND BLEW VIVI DOWN
-Steiner too. What the hell is happening?
Just too cold out here? Maybe. Steiner’s armor must be pretty heavy, and Vivi is so tiny.
-Never mind. Something weird is going on. Now everyone is asleep.
-Zidane wakes up to a sound of a bell or something, and wanders off on his own down the path to explore. BAD IDEA DUDE.
-OH CRAP IT’S AN EVIL RED VIVI!
“Black Waltz #1.”
-Boss fight. One on one.
-Wait, make that two on one. You gotta be kidding me. Black Waltz #1 (and how much you wanna bet I’ll met her older sisters #2, 3, and 4 at some point down the line?) summons a huge monster. Sea Lion.
-Thankfully, Zidane goes super Saiyan and gets his Trance on. His abilities wipe the attackers out.
-The message afterwards says “You defeated no. 1, but no. 2 and no. 3 will reclaim the princess!” First of all, I KNEW there were more. Second of all “reclaim?” That’s a weird word to use. What interest do these random “Black Waltzes” have in the princess, and why do they think she was theirs to begin with?
-Zidane runs back to the group, but not before seeing a quick glimpse up above of Zorn and Thorn looking down.
Are they #2 and #3? Probably not, but I’ll bet they’re behind the Waltzes somehow.
-The blizzard died down and the rest of the party wakes up. VIVI ADJUSTS HIS OVERSIZED HAT AS HE PICKS HIMSELF UP and I’ll never get used to that.
-Backtracked a bit and found a moogle frozen in ice. A save point I probably was meant to discover before the boss fight. Oh well lol.
-The dungeon really is quite beautiful. Not monochrome ice. The flowers in this room are especially wonderful. [Later edit: On looking at the screenshots more, I think this even moreso. The rich flora in here adds so much to the ice cavern environment.]
-OMG. Before the moogle noticed that we set him on fire to burn the ice shell from around him, he screamed “You bastards!” That’s like hearing your 4 year old nephew swear. So unexpected.
---
Teach Me, Mogster! - Status
-Tutorial time part 2. The chance to revisit past topics and learn about three new ones. As with before, I’ll only note the stuff that’s new to me.
-Status effects first. Berserk says it increases attack but you can only attack. It doesn’t mention being out of control and attacking randomly as in past games. I’ll have to test that out.
-Two altogether new status effects: Heat and Freeze. When a character has heat, they get KO’d if they take any action. (For any World of Warcraft fans, this reminds me a LOT of the Shade of Aran fight in Karazhan, where you got surrounded by a Flame Wreath and couldn’t move while it was on you or you blew up the raid.)
-Freeze is a bit similar, but in reverse. If the character gets attacked while Freeze is on them, they get KOd. I wonder whether a character intercepting the attack still kills the character with Freeze since the attack was sent their way initially.
-Those are bad status effects, but there are also VERY bad status effects that don’t go away. Venom and Virus jump out to me. Trouble is a new status effect – when a character with Trouble takes damage, the damage is also dealt to other party members.
-The good status effects are pretty standard. Shell and Protect and Regen and the like. Vanish might be useful! It makes a character unable to be hit by physical attacks, though magic attacks bring the character out of Vanish.
-OH NO THE WIND BLEW VIVI DOWN
-Steiner too. What the hell is happening?
Just too cold out here? Maybe. Steiner’s armor must be pretty heavy, and Vivi is so tiny.
-Never mind. Something weird is going on. Now everyone is asleep.
-Zidane wakes up to a sound of a bell or something, and wanders off on his own down the path to explore. BAD IDEA DUDE.
-OH CRAP IT’S AN EVIL RED VIVI!
“Black Waltz #1.”
-Boss fight. One on one.
-Wait, make that two on one. You gotta be kidding me. Black Waltz #1 (and how much you wanna bet I’ll met her older sisters #2, 3, and 4 at some point down the line?) summons a huge monster. Sea Lion.
-Thankfully, Zidane goes super Saiyan and gets his Trance on. His abilities wipe the attackers out.
-The message afterwards says “You defeated no. 1, but no. 2 and no. 3 will reclaim the princess!” First of all, I KNEW there were more. Second of all “reclaim?” That’s a weird word to use. What interest do these random “Black Waltzes” have in the princess, and why do they think she was theirs to begin with?
-Zidane runs back to the group, but not before seeing a quick glimpse up above of Zorn and Thorn looking down.
Are they #2 and #3? Probably not, but I’ll bet they’re behind the Waltzes somehow.
-The blizzard died down and the rest of the party wakes up. VIVI ADJUSTS HIS OVERSIZED HAT AS HE PICKS HIMSELF UP and I’ll never get used to that.
-Backtracked a bit and found a moogle frozen in ice. A save point I probably was meant to discover before the boss fight. Oh well lol.
-The dungeon really is quite beautiful. Not monochrome ice. The flowers in this room are especially wonderful. [Later edit: On looking at the screenshots more, I think this even moreso. The rich flora in here adds so much to the ice cavern environment.]
-OMG. Before the moogle noticed that we set him on fire to burn the ice shell from around him, he screamed “You bastards!” That’s like hearing your 4 year old nephew swear. So unexpected.
---
Teach Me, Mogster! - Status
-Tutorial time part 2. The chance to revisit past topics and learn about three new ones. As with before, I’ll only note the stuff that’s new to me.
-Status effects first. Berserk says it increases attack but you can only attack. It doesn’t mention being out of control and attacking randomly as in past games. I’ll have to test that out.
-Two altogether new status effects: Heat and Freeze. When a character has heat, they get KO’d if they take any action. (For any World of Warcraft fans, this reminds me a LOT of the Shade of Aran fight in Karazhan, where you got surrounded by a Flame Wreath and couldn’t move while it was on you or you blew up the raid.)
-Freeze is a bit similar, but in reverse. If the character gets attacked while Freeze is on them, they get KOd. I wonder whether a character intercepting the attack still kills the character with Freeze since the attack was sent their way initially.
-Those are bad status effects, but there are also VERY bad status effects that don’t go away. Venom and Virus jump out to me. Trouble is a new status effect – when a character with Trouble takes damage, the damage is also dealt to other party members.
-The good status effects are pretty standard. Shell and Protect and Regen and the like. Vanish might be useful! It makes a character unable to be hit by physical attacks, though magic attacks bring the character out of Vanish.
---
Teach Me, Mogster! - Elemental
-8 elements: fire, ice, thunder, earth, water, wind, holy, shadow.
-They go over various elemental interactions, and only one jumps out at me. I already knew that ice was effective against fire enemies, but now I also learn that it’s effective specifically against insects, large enemies, and dragon-type monsters as well. Neat!
---
Teach Me, Mogster! – Card Game
-Triple Triad no longer! The name of the game is Tetra Master.
-You put a card down next to an opponent’s card. If the arrow on your card points to your opponent’s card, you can win it after a card battle.
-If two or more cards would battle, you can choose the opponent’s card to battle. The winner takes the loser’s cards (boo). Going to try to learn a lesson from Triple Triad though and not fret about losing good cards or collecting all the cards. That’s a re-play kind of task. For this run-through, I’ll just try to play a bunch and see what it’s like and not let myself get too frustrated.
-I don’t really understand a lot of these rules, but I’m sure it’ll make sense in context once I play a game.
---
Ice Cavern
-This moogle is Mois. She asks me to get a letter to Gumo. On we go!
-Ah crapadoodle dandy. Forgot to use a tent. Oh well.
-We climb up the path in the cave towards where Zorn and Thorn were, past a waterfall, and exit.
---
Outside the Ice Cavern
-The view is breathtaking out here.
No – it’s more than that. There’s something about the image of these characters standing atop a cliff looking at the village below that seems picturesque. Maybe it’s the art style. Like I’m looking at a painting.
-Zidane thinks he might remember the village. OH CRAP, ZACK’S MEMORIES ARE RETURNING TO HIM oh wait wrong game.
-hahaha – Zidane suggests the princess adopt a new identity and Steiner in his rage at this INSOLENCE nearly pushes Zidane off the cliff.
-Garnet agrees with Zidane though. Time for a new name.
FUCKING BADASS
PRINCESS DAGGER
-This relieves one of my big worries. We hadn’t gotten a naming screen for Garnet yet, so I was afraid she was just a temporary character who’d die off or get shuffled away by some other method from being a main party character for most of the game. That fear is now allayed.
-Heee! To help with the disguise, Zidane has to pull a reverse Pygmalion. He has to teach her to not speak like a princess, and uses Vivi as a model.
-We head down the mountain.
---
Next time: to the village.
Teach Me, Mogster! - Elemental
-8 elements: fire, ice, thunder, earth, water, wind, holy, shadow.
-They go over various elemental interactions, and only one jumps out at me. I already knew that ice was effective against fire enemies, but now I also learn that it’s effective specifically against insects, large enemies, and dragon-type monsters as well. Neat!
---
Teach Me, Mogster! – Card Game
-Triple Triad no longer! The name of the game is Tetra Master.
-You put a card down next to an opponent’s card. If the arrow on your card points to your opponent’s card, you can win it after a card battle.
-If two or more cards would battle, you can choose the opponent’s card to battle. The winner takes the loser’s cards (boo). Going to try to learn a lesson from Triple Triad though and not fret about losing good cards or collecting all the cards. That’s a re-play kind of task. For this run-through, I’ll just try to play a bunch and see what it’s like and not let myself get too frustrated.
-I don’t really understand a lot of these rules, but I’m sure it’ll make sense in context once I play a game.
---
Ice Cavern
-This moogle is Mois. She asks me to get a letter to Gumo. On we go!
-Ah crapadoodle dandy. Forgot to use a tent. Oh well.
-We climb up the path in the cave towards where Zorn and Thorn were, past a waterfall, and exit.
---
Outside the Ice Cavern
-The view is breathtaking out here.
No – it’s more than that. There’s something about the image of these characters standing atop a cliff looking at the village below that seems picturesque. Maybe it’s the art style. Like I’m looking at a painting.
-Zidane thinks he might remember the village. OH CRAP, ZACK’S MEMORIES ARE RETURNING TO HIM oh wait wrong game.
-hahaha – Zidane suggests the princess adopt a new identity and Steiner in his rage at this INSOLENCE nearly pushes Zidane off the cliff.
-Garnet agrees with Zidane though. Time for a new name.
FUCKING BADASS
PRINCESS DAGGER
-This relieves one of my big worries. We hadn’t gotten a naming screen for Garnet yet, so I was afraid she was just a temporary character who’d die off or get shuffled away by some other method from being a main party character for most of the game. That fear is now allayed.
-Heee! To help with the disguise, Zidane has to pull a reverse Pygmalion. He has to teach her to not speak like a princess, and uses Vivi as a model.
-We head down the mountain.
---
Next time: to the village.
