Heading to the Pier
-I think I understand what the watery background on the names in the status screen means. It means they’re active party members, and the person without a watery background (Yuna right now) is inactive.
-Went to the “Aeon” menu in the status screen and there’s a ton of info on Valefor. It seems like Valefor is almost a party member. She’s got stats, her own overdrive… really looking forward to learning how aeons work in FFX. I think they’ll be different than prior games.
-Attacked under the giant structure! It’s Lulu’s fellow guardian, the lionicorn, and he looks PISSED. Why? Angry he’s left behind?
-It’s just a one-on-one fight, Tidus versus Lionicorn. Lionicorn has a sweet halberd.
-He just jumped! Perhaps he’s a dragoon.
-Wakka steps in, breaks the fight up, and the lionicorn stalks off.
-Kimahri Ronso. Wakka stopped him. Learned the “Fiends’” way of fighting. Which… is jumping? Are the fiends corrupted dragoons?
-Very protective of Yuna. Doesn’t speak much. I’m guessing he was testing Tidus in some way.
-I may have been wrong about the watery stuff. Now Yuna’s name has the watery background while Lulu’s doesn’t.
-Got a Staff of Wisdom from Kimahri Ronso. It has an ability, “Sensor,” but I can’t seem to find what it does.
-You know, Kimahri can jump. And attacked me by jumping off this structure. Maybe he’ll join me as a party member and I’ll be able to use his jump to reach the treasure chests and save points atop this structure.
-A flyer attacks. More of that “it’s your department” to Wakka. Maybe he really is stronger against flyers.
-I CAN SWAP PARTY MEMBERS IN DURING COMBAT????????
-Ok. Aeon time. Aeons are a bit like in FFVIII in that they have HP, and can get KO’d. They can recover at save spheres, but still mainly for tougher fights.
-OMG YUNA STROKED VALEFOR’S NECK AND SHE LEANED INTO IT AND KINDA PURRED??
-And now the other party members are gone and it’s just the Aeon vs the enemy. VERY interesting.
-The ability I got from the dog is an overdrive, because Valefor can take enough hits and go into overdrive and use special abilities. Really is like a party member in combat.
-Valefor has Sonic Wings (which delays its turn) and black magic, like Lulu.
-Oops, Sonic Wings delays the ENEMY’S turn, not Valefor’s. Just tried using it twice in a row, but the delay doesn’t stack.
-Valefor’s attacks increase her overdrive. I think that may be unique to Valefor currently, or perhaps she has a different temperament than Stoic active.
-The enemy here is Garuda, btw. A bird enemy that’s been around since FFIII iirc when it was a mid-game boss.
-I’m trying to figure out why I’m seeing Garuda’s stats right now. I wonder…YES!! This must be Yuna’s “Sensor” ability.
-Sonic Wing seems to work best by rotating it. Sonic Wing, then spell/attack, then Sonic Wing, then spell/attack.
-Activated Valefor’s overdrive. She has Energy Blast and Energy Ray. The description of each is similar, each doing “non-elemental damage to all enemies.” The main difference is that Energy Ray delays Garuda’s attack one round. Which is strange. I can’t imagine that Energy Ray is strictly better. Maybe Energy Blast does more damage but Energy Ray has a delay factor?
-Aaaaand Energy Blast does 1401 damage. Most other attacks were in the 100-250 range. Daaaaamn.
-Victory! Got a “Warrior’s Sword,” which increases Tidus’s strength by only 3% while the Brotherhood sword from Wakka increases it by 5%. Vendor trash? Hm.
-Another Garuda fight, and Wakka takes over. He has “Dark Attack” which inflicts darkness on enemy for 3 turns.” I remember from Garuda’s scan that it’s weak to darkness.
-I also learned that Yuna is awful at meleeing. That’s okay. She can summon Valefor and do white magic.
-Got a “Blind Pass” ball for Wakka.
-OHO! I just went back to the tutorial menu and THIS is where I see what the auto-abilities are. A bit weird that they hide it away here, but it seems each auto-ability has a stronger version that’ll get learned down the line.
-Reached the cliff where Wakka pushed Tidus in. I can’t jump back in, as nice as the water looks. Gotta head to the dock/beach.
---
Besaid – Port
-Explored a bit along the beach just in case I missed anything, but I think I’m good.
-Townspeople are gathered around the ship to bid farewell. Some give me gifts to pass to Yuna, like a Seeker’s Ring. It looks like FFX is drawing on FFIX’s equipment/ability system to some degree, which I love.
-Kimahri is coming. Yay! (I think? He’ll probably give Tidus a hard time, but I’d be shocked if he betrays Yuna.)
-Lots of tears as the ship departs.
---
Aboard the S.S. Liki
-Neat map system! The map overlaid on the ship shows us we’re traveling to Kilika Port. I know that name, Kilika, from the structure on Besaid where Kimhari ambushed us. “Kilika and Bekanel” or something.
-Lots of horseplay on the ship. A light, fun environment.
-Tidus… don’t do that. Don’t use your binoculars to zoom in on Lulu’s chest. Please?
-Yuna is Braska’s daughter. He defeated Sin 10 years ago.
-Lulu is still suspicious of Tidus, and his origins.
-A merchant below the ship, O’aka. A bit of an odd duck. Plans to be famous. Asks me for a loan… you know what? Heck yes. I’m gonna trust he’ll become famous. I have 1,732 gil, and I’ll give him 1,200.
-OMG THE SHIP IS CHOCOBO-POWERED
-AND THE WOMAN TENDING THEM SINGS TO THEM
-Found Al Bhed Primer volume III L --> C.
-Uhhhh… I’m worried. I found a piece of luggage that I can kick and it keeps giving me potions. It sounds great, but I’ve played Chrono Trigger. I’m worried I’ll be prosecuted for this.
-Luzzu and Gatta are here, and guarding some secret cargo.
-The merchant, O’aka, told a woman topside that she’s “no good.” Wtf dude. That hurt her.
-Someone in a sweet green admiral’s hat inside the cockpit (or whatever the ship term for that is) says that although it looks sunny outside, Sin’s coming is always a threat. That’s gotta be terrifying.
-The pilot tells us that since Tidus is protecting Lady Yuna, he must be a guardian too. Is it that simple? It can’t be – I thought being a guardian has all kinds of religious implications relating to the Order of Yevon.
-Some sailors refer to Lady Yuna as “Lord Braska’s daughter,” and Tidus gets protective when he overhears, wants her referred to as Lady Yuna. Already interesting connections being drawn between Tidus and Yuna as living in the shadow of famous fathers.
-Kimahri is one fo the few on the ship who won’t talk to Tidus. Not really surprising.
-Some awkward but sweet flirting between Yuna and Tidus.
-Whoa. This is unexpected. Yuna says that she believes Tidus is from Zanarkand, that she heard there’s a huge and active blitzball stadium there. I assumed that the city was a holy/sacred ruin.
?DJSFKDSHFKLD
YUNA: “A man named Jecht told me. He was my father’s guardian.”
UHHHHH
-Ok. So a bit of timeline confusion on my part. Tidus says that Jecht died “10 years ago.” He really means 1,010 years ago I think. Yuna replies that Jecht came to Spira 10 years ago, and I think that must mean actually 10 years ago. Perhaps Sin can launch you 1,000 years into the future precisely?
-Yuna’s father left when Jecht came.
---
Sin Attacks
CRAP CUTE MOMENT INTERRUPTED BY SHIP ROCKING
Sin?
-YUP THAT’S FUCKING SIN ALRIGHT – we don’t see much of it, but we see enough. A huge body, and what appears to be a huge fin.
-It’s heading for Kilika. The Kilikan sailors on board want to sacrifice this ship to distract Sin, and Yuna gives the okay.
-They land a harpoon successfully. It gets Sin’s attention. It fires out some of those parasites at us. Combat time.
-Kimahri is with us, but I’m gonna try out Valefor. She takes out the Sinscales easily enough. More come on board.
-Yuna directs us to try taking out Sin’s fin. It’s at a distance, so only ranged attacks can hit it.
-Tried Energy Ray. It did lots of damage. Less than Energy Blast.
-RIP Valefor.
-Going to try a new strategy. Taking out the Sinscales until there’s only one left, then going ham on Sin with Wakka and Lulu swapped in place of Tidus.
-Down to one Sinscale left. Using Lulu, Wakka, and Kimahri. (Kimahri’s attack is melee, but he has the Freya ability “Lancet” which works at range.)
-Actually, nah. Let me have Tidus be a cheerleader to boost the party a bit.
-Victory! Though somebody got pulled off with the harpoon into the water. It was Tidus.
-Wakka to the rescue! Dives into the water, even knowing Sin is near. That’s bravery I wouldn’t be able to come close to.
-In the water, we’re attacked by Sinspawn Echuilles.
-Took out a single Sinscale, but it got replaced. Focusing now on Sinspawn.
-Btw, the Sinspawn looks a LOT like the creature in the tutorial sphere. Guessing that’s what it is – or perhaps it’s still Sin, and Sin is just a ginormous version of this.
-Victory again!
-and then… holy hell. Another full-on Sin attack, against Kilika.
It’s terrifying, a force of nature. Like a tsunami. I remember the 2011 Japan tsunami, and while this game predates it of course, I have to imagine it draws on imagery from prior tsunamis in the Pacific and south/southeast/east Asia.
-It’s so brutal and fast. Kids are playing blitzball, families are hanging out, and then bam. Panic, pain, and totally wiped out.
I really like the tempo of the attack. It’s not like Sin thrashes about and smashes everything. It feels like Sin is a force of nature more than a Godzilla villain. The waves emanating from Sin deal the real damage, and Sin seems to have a gravitational pull to it that causes water and debris to swirl hypnotically above.
-Yuna sees this from the ship and swears to stop Sin. She’s got that “Dagger Seeing Alexandria’s Destruction” look in her eye.
-Something about this drives home the reality that this is not a quick vacation to the future for Tidus. He’s here, and this is all real.
---
Next time: Kilika Port.
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