Starting Thoughts
There are a few things I want to do before moving onto Ipsen’s Castle:
1)Revisit different cities to see new dialogue. Brief visits. The fact that Doctor Tot didn’t have extra dialogue last time makes me think there’s not too much story to discover just from random wandering in zones I’ve already been through.
2)Search the mountains (especially the Forgotten Continent) for the next Choco area.
3)Explore the ocean to see if there are any islands with cool stuff that’s now accessible by airship.
4)Explore the WORLD to see if there are any areas that were previously inaccessible and are now accessible by airship. With an eye specifically towards islands and higher plateaus.
---
Lindblum Qu Marsh
-The frogs at the Qu Marsh north of Lindblum have replenished. I want to try catching the golden frog early.
-Up to 40 frogs caught now. Quale gives me a Bistro Fork. I caught the golden frog second and got the bistro fork before I caught it, so not sure what role the Golden Frog has yet.
-Quale didn’t say much when we visited their home.
---
Dali and Surrounding
-Oh! Dutiful Daughter Slai is the daughter of Morrid, the observatory tender. He feels guilty that the airships he helped shepherd were being used for war.
-Morrid mentions wanting some good coffee. I have two of the beans, but not the third. I’ve kind of given up hope that I’ll find the third, unless it’s in Terra.
-The girl who was running the store in Dali has her mother back. The factory closed down, and families together again is an upside.
-The mother, Eisha, wants us to run the shop for a week while she vacations with her daughter. I say yes, and… nothing happens. Hm. Maybe this starts a quest that we take later, or maybe one of the endings features us helping out in Dali or something like that.
-HOLY SHIT
THERE’S ACTUAL DETAIL ON TETRA MASTER!!!
Not much, but it’s something. The evolve thing is new to me. I also had assumed that A was stronger than B, but it’s the opposite.
-The downside of the factory closing, of course, is that it hurts the economy.
-The mayor still kicks us out of his room. He wants to find a way for the town to make money, so maybe if we find such a way and return, he’ll talk to us, give us the Mayor’s Key, and we can see what the deal is with the windmill.
-Oops, never mind. Since the factory has stopped, the windmill has stopped too. Got the two treasures I couldn’t get before: Cacusha (a nice accessory) and an Elixir. The Mayor’s Key opens up a locked door, but apparently something unrelated to the windmill.
-The innkeeper from before is feeling especially useless, but since he kidnapped Vivi, I couldn’t care less about his plight.
---
Mist Continent
-Tried getting into the Evil Forest, but it’s still petrified.
-Alexandria still rebuilding. I like the respect that’s developed between Beatrix’s guard and the Knights of Pluto.
-The jump-roping kids are back. Relocated to the bell tower. Got to 40 jumps before my hand gave out.
-FOUND A THING! I found a thing, an opening on the side of a mountain.
---
Quan’s Dwelling
-Is this Vivi’s grandpa’s place?
-Found the Scorpio Stellazio coin.
-Writing on the wall… wait. Oh god. Quan was initially planning to EAT Vivi. I wonder if that was a joke or if he just changed his mind.
-There’s a clock on the terrace of this place. It stopped a week before they abducted Dagger. Huh. Was Vivi going to Alexandria tied to that?? …no, I don’t think so. I think this just indicates that Vivi happened to leave this place and stop winding the clock when he did, confirming that this was Vivi’s last residence.
-There’s something at the bottom of this ledge sticking out of the mountain in the ocean. “Looks like foam.”
-I see it. Bubbles. But it’s in deep ocean. Can’t reach it on a chocobo. Perhaps I’ll get a submarine or a ship at some point.
---
Chocobo Forest
-This place is newly active! I was able to find a Chocograph Piece here. Must’ve restocked.
-Also got a Dead Pepper. The description suggests that something happens if I give it to a chocobo, but not sure what. Not sure really even HOW to give it to Choco. Or maybe I am supposed to head back to Dali and give it to the Chocobos there.
-This is kind of awesome. Because I can now climb mountains on this chocobo, more of the Chocobo Forest is open for exploration. Sometimes I find stuff on little side cliffs.
-Whole lot of Hot & Cold, until I’ve found all the Chocographs. Mene tells me to try the Lagoon again. Hell yes.
-Tried feeding Choco a Dead Pepper, and he sort of freaked out, stabbing out every which way. Perhaps THAT’S how I get into the cracked wall on the Lost Continent. Worth a shot.
---
Choco Stuff
-Found a chocobo chest with a High Mage Staff. It allows Vivi to learn Meteor. Holy shit.
I’ve been wondering of late how far into the game I am. I still have Terra to travel to, but if I’m learning Meteor and all the x-aga spells now, I must be pretty far. 3/5 of the way into the game if I had to guess. 59 hours played at this point.
-omg yes yes yes, hit another “Getting sleeeeeepy” chest.
-We can now cross oceans. Choco is Dark Blue. This is so fucking rad. The last chocobo form in the dreamworld is the white chocobo. That must be flight.
-Tried going back to the foam beneath Quan’s Dwelling since I can reach it now. Still no luck. That’s surprising. Even tried giving Choco a Dead Pepper to make him flail and dive, but didn’t net me anything.
-Went to the Lost Continent, gave Choco a Dead Pepper, and… success!!
He busted through the crack to find treasure that includes 41 Lapis Lazulis and a Rosetta Ring, a Protect Ring, and Airship Card. Both rings are ridiculously powerful.
-Found another chocobo chest on the lost continent with a metric ton of gems.
-I’ve been reading the Chocograph Pieces and some of them have clues that point me towards specific parts of the map. One said to go to the Salvage Archipelago and I found a shady spot here. The problem is that I can’t get my chocobo to here. No beach. I’ll have to remember to return here when Choco can fly.
-Encountered two Grand Dragons on this island, but no problem for this party of dragon-slayers! Ice magic obliterates it.
---
Chocobo Lagoon
-Mene is surprised by the newly deep blue Choco, but takes it in stride.
-Just as with the prior area, the range of places I can hunt for Hot & Cold is much expanded now that Choco can wade through deep water.
-Mene tells me I found all the chocograph pieces. Not sure what he means by that since I haven’t found all the treasures yet, but the key item Chocograph Pieces have fuller descriptions now.
-And shortly after, I found all the chocographs themselves that I can get here.
Mene suggests using Dead Peppers to find others. Good call!
-Going to call it for now.
---
Next time: More world exploration! Apologies to anyone who was hoping I’d push onto Ipsen’s Castle. It’s just that there turns out to be more than I was expecting to find in Gaia, and I’m really enjoying it. Not feeling any particular need to rush right now.
More immediately next time, I’ll follow-up on the treasures I found. Perhaps those will unlock flying for me. We’ll see. After doing the treasures, try to follow the clues on the key item chocograph pieces.
Also turn in the Scorpio Stellazzio coin. Oh, and also revisit Qu Marshes in case other frogs replenished. And then inspect the islands. SO MUCH LEFT.
