TW: monster image that could be considered nightmare fuel.
Brahne’s Fleet Arrives
-ATE. Some Lindblum soldiers note that the Alexandrians are loading food, not valuables. Possibly for a long trip.
-I think I see where we’re going with this. The Alexandrians need the steam-powered ship, they got the Falcon Claw, they’re loading up food for a voyage – they’re going to leave the Mist Continent to search for the last shard.
-The soldiers note that the Alexandrians already rule this continent. What else is there? A whole world is my guess.
-The scene switches into Lindblum Castle. Two Alexandrian soldiers are talking, wondering the same thing: where are they going next? Nowhere else poses a threat to Alexandria, and that was probably the official reason for attacking Lindblum, Cleyra, and Burmecia – the potential threat.
-Ultimately, they trust in their Queen. It’s not “their place” to ask. Once again, we’re dealing with the limits and responsibilities of duty.
-Some Lindblum soldiers locked themselves in the guest room. Weird.
-Dagger and Zidane use the distraction to slip by the guards to the elevator.
-On the way down, Dagger expresses worry for Vivi’s and Zidane’s safety. See, I like this relationship development a lot more already than Rinoa and Squall for one simple reason: we see interest from both directions. Not immediate, not magical, but interest nonetheless. My big problem with that relationship in FFVIII was that it was always Rinoa pursuing Squall with almost no hints of reciprocity. Not the same issue here.
Sure, Zidane’s more flirty, but what I’m seeing in body language and verbal cues from Dagger leads me to believe this isn’t two-way. He doesn’t usually seem to overstep – though I’m male, so I may be missing something in this interaction if it’s more one-way than I’m seeing.
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Gate
-We arrive at the bottom of the elevator. Cid and Vivi are down here.
-Woo! Cid gives us an ancient treasure of Lindblum as a parting gift: a World Map!
-Goodbyes are said. Cid is gonna be fine I think, and will do his best to keep Lindblum ready for a counterattack when Kuja’s out of the way. (Which, given my experience with Kefka, I think will be a much taller order than the party currently anticipates.)
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<Gwok-Gwok> How Infuriating!
-This is a pretty hilarious name for an ATE.
-Hee! Some of the Alexandrian soldiers are kinda goofy too, slacking a bit. And Cid sabotaged one of the trams to help slow things down.
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Lindblum Castle – Dragon’s Gate
-The party arrives at the Dragon’s Gate. Moonte the moogle is here, so we deliver our message from Moodon at the Lindblum Inn.
-Moodon is worried that Mogki (the moogle from the guest quarters in the castle) is missing. Moonte hasn’t heard from Mogki. I hope he’s okay. It’s one thing for citizens to get hurt, another for save moogles.
-The excavation is due north of here.
-A vendor here sells weapons, armor, and potions, but I got everything I need back in town.
-I’m so worried about Quina. I hope we hear from them soon.
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Overworld
-It’s chocobo time. I wonder if there’s anything I can access now that I have the reefs open to me.
-Yay! Found Bird’s-Eye Lagoon.
-And another, “Small Beach.” On a roll. This one is on Lanshake Island. I want to try fighting on some of these islands in case there is anything interesting.
-There’s not. Just Vice and Ironite, enemies we’ve seen.
-The treasure chest netted me some potions along with two very interesting items. The first is an Oak Staff that can teach Vivi three new spells: Stop, Bio, and Drain. Hell yes.
-But it’s the second that really has my jimmies in a frizz. “Rising Sun.” Thrown weapons. “But Coldrun,” you say, “why is that interesting?” BECAUSE IT IMPLIES WE MAY NOT BE DONE COLLECTING PARTY MEMBERS FDJSKFHDSJKLFDSJKFDHSL!!!1
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Chocobo Forest
-Returned to the Chocobo Forest, and Mene didn’t recognize the now blue chocobo.
-Mene tells us that he’s looking for paradise on earth, and that certain chocobos can lead their masters there. Related to chocobo evolution.
-Aha! I got two more Chocographs from this place, and Mene says Choco is done. He’s gotten all he can from here for now.
-Whoa, I didn’t know that could happen. I played hot/cold one last time (really just to hear the music) and I hit the limit of things I could discover, getting 60 extra points for doing so.
-Choco’s beak is level 14.
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Qu’s Marsh
-Checking back here. If Quina was in trouble, they might return to the swamp for safety.
-YESSSSSSS
-Quina’s here. They’re okay. They’re safe. My monitor remains unpunched.
-like
-you have no idea how relieved I am right now. I was 95% sure that they would be okay, but that 5% chance that the game might use Quina to illustrate someone else being evil, as a vehicle for tragedy, wouldn’t stop nagging at me.
-Went to the hut to ask about Quale about excavation sites. They’re being weirdly cagey. Says that a path might exist, and it might be through the brush in the marsh.
-hahaha Quina followed their nose to new frogs and led us through the brush to the excavation. Bless you.
-This place looks creepy. More like a crypt than an excavation site.
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Marsh Cave
-I’m hyper vigilant for callbacks even when they’re incidental (like this one probably is), but I can’t help but think of the Marsh Cave in FFI where we got the crown for Astos, the place near Elfheim. I hope the monsters don’t poison in this place like they did in the FF1 Marsh Cave, but equipping the Antibody ability just in case.
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Fossil Roo
-Here we go. Spooky.
-There’s a locked door. I’ll have to come back here.
-FHDSKLJFHDSLFDS EARTHQUAKE AND A GIANT WRECKING MACHINE EMERGES
-It chased across a bridge with Sen’s Fortress-esque swinging pendulums of death. Dodged them, and probably dodged the boss fight by doing so. I hope I didn’t make a mistake and miss out on cool stuff to steal.
-We safely reach the other side and pick ourselves back up.
-And by “safely” I mean “we’re probably in trouble because Lani is here.”
-hee! Zidane starts to flirt with Lani almost on instinct and Dagger stops him.
-She’s after Dagger’s pendant. Dagger says no, and Lani says her orders are for the pendant, not for Dagger’s safe return. Basically: dead or alive.
-And wow, Lani’s got a massive frigging axe!
Cloud would be proud.
Boss time.
-I like Lani’s AI in relation to her story and mission. She seems to only target Dagger for her attacks. Nice touch, game. (Assuming I’m not just getting a string of weird luck.)
-We kick her butt pretty hard. I steal everything I can from her first, including a Gladius and Coral Sword. She “lets us go” (lol) for now.
-Going to backtrack to the entrance to see if we missed anything.
-This Abomination monster looks cool as hell.
Nightmare fuel, but cool as hell. Quina ate it (ew) and learned Night which casts sleep on all targets.
-FFIX’s gameplay is almost universally better than FFVIII, but I do miss FFVIII’s awesome Scan visuals.
-Not much was back here. Got an Elixir from the room the monster came from.
-Deeper in found a wild gargant roaming around. Zidane decides he wants to ride it rather than run screaming in terror like I would’ve done.
-It works! He found a tasty-looking flower and convinced the Gargant to give us a ride across the water to the other side.
-Met a Treasure Hunter in a bit further. Looking for fossils and rare ore and other treasures. He doesn’t know if the tunnel leads to the Outer Continent.
-Apparently, navigating with a gargant is the only way to travel down here. Gargants hate water, there’s a switch here that controls water in different areas, and we can use it to direct the gargant.
-Played the Treasure Hunter in Tetra Master. His cards are good, but I still whomp him.
-Moogles down here. It’s Mogki! Phew. He made it out of the castle safe. He got a letter from Kuppo, a moogle we haven’t met yet.
-Kuppo is in this cavern. Bored. Hiding behind a wall. THE HUNT IS ON, KUPPO.
-Stiltzkin is here too. He was injured in Cleyra, but back and moving. I buy another package of items from him to help fund his travels.
-Saving.
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Next time: Exploring the tunnels of the Fossil Roo.
