TW: brief mention of 9/11.
Kilika Port
-Yuna is welcomed here. Wants to perform “the sending,” and the villagers are grateful. The sending somehow stops people from becoming fiends. Maybe that’s some kind of corrupted-zombie version related to Sin’s toxin.
-Yuna and company go to start the sending with the villages. Wakka leaves to help rebuild the town.
-Tried going back to the ship, but I was stopped by one of the sailors doing repairwork.
-Most of the shops in the town are closed. With good reason.
-Yuna’s working on “the sending,” and Tidus sidles up to Lulu asking what’s up. Lol.
No sass like Lulu sass.
LULU: “The dead need guidance.”
So it’s a funereal rite.
It sounds like if they DON’T get “the sending,” the dead may live on as ghosts or zombies or something. Vengeful spirits. I need someone to write fan fic where Yuna joins up with Sam & Dean.
-The sending sends the spirits to the Farplane.
-Yuna LITERALLY walks on water for this.
-The dance she’s doing for the sending is beyond amazing. The colors, the art, the fluid movements, the lighting...
-Oh, so THAT’S what the glowy things from the intro were. Maybe we’ll wind up in the Farplane at the end of the game.
-Flashing between Yuna, townspeople grieving, and Tidus amazed.
-Ok. That was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in an FF game, right up there with the Esthar reveal in FFVIII.
-Lulu says they have to protect Yuna “until the end.” Tidus reacts like I do, freaking out about what that means. Like, until she dies naturally, or does this drain years from her life or something?
-Ah. “Until she defeats Sin.” I hope that defeating Sin doesn’t involve some brutal self-sacrifice.
-I love how although Lulu is short-tempered in some ways and with some people, she cares so deeply for Yuna.
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Next Day
-Woke up in the inn.
-Found the Al Bhed primer vol. 4. T --> D. Tidus is an Al Bhed Pakehhan.
-Found Wakka, he and the Aurochs helping to rebuild. Time to get ready for a game it sounds like.
-Lord Ohalland was a blitzer. Cool!
-This is just a wonderful little discussion. Tidus wonders if it’s appropriate to play now, after what just happened, and Wakka makes a speech about how important a game can be even now – ESPECIALLY now.
I’ve made no secret of growing up a New Yorker, and a Mets fan. I couldn’t agree with Wakka more. Just gonna post this here:
-Sports can be more than just games.
-The vendor here has lots of good equipment. I hope I can get to farm up some gil and return here.
-Two great conveniences on the vendor screen compared with FFIX:
1) I can equip an item immediately after I buy it without leaving the vendor window.
2) I can see the abilities it offers before I buy it compared what I’m currently using.
-Time for some Sphere Grid action. Boosted a bunch of stuff.
-The Kilika Beasts are the local team. Now I feel kinda bad for being on the team against them. Like being on the Atlanta Braves (YUCK) in the clip I posted above.
-Found someone hanging out who got infected by Sin’s toxin. Total amnesia.
-Saved a crying kid from a pier just before it collapsed. Maybe I can find her parents.
-Not quite, but close. She ran back to the tavern, and her big sister gave me an Ether in appreciation.
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Kilika Woods
-Yuna asks Tidus to be a guardian. This takes everyone else aback because he is inexperienced with fiends. She lowers the request to just being with her, not a formal guardian, and Lulu tables the discussion.
Lol tidus is just confused af about this whole exchange.
-KIMAHRI IS THE BLUE MAGE!!! His Lancet ability can do more than just drain health and mana – it can sometimes learn the enemy’s abilities.
[Non-rhetorical question for y’all: if an enemy has an ability Kimahri can learn and he uses Lancet on them, is there a 100% chance Kimahri will learn the ability? Or is there a chance I could fail to learn it and then learn the ability like 4-5 Lancet attempts later?]
-Kimahri learned “Seed Cannon” and used it as an Overdrive. Perhaps that’s the only time he can use blue magic.
-Something is written here: “d a b c f n c – J C U E I” (that last C was in pink, already translated)
-I see what looks like a boss up ahead. Will explore first and come back to it.
-I like the little banter/dialogue we get from party members as they swap in or cast stuff.
-OMG I GAVE LULU A CACTUAR DOLL AND SHE’S HOLDING IT
-Not only that, but when I had her just attack an enemy, she sent it after the enemy like a wind-up toy.
-Found some Crusaders in the forest here, training for their mission.
-BLESS. It seems like poison doesn’t last after combat. I’ll take poison being way more powerful than prior games if it means I don’t have to cure it afterwards.
-I have a feeling I’ll be selling relatively few items in this game. Seems most items are situationally stronger than others rather than strictly stronger than others.
-Bought everything I can from town and ready to progress.
-Approached this Grat-looking boss monster. Oops – it’s an Ochu. Luzzu and Gatta tell me it’s an exceptionally powerful fiend. I know I can skirt around it, but just saved so I want to try it anyway.
-Hey. Just noticed something. This Ochu is called a fiend. All the monsters we’ve been fighting are fiends. This must mean that the in-game explanation for monsters is that they are dead souls that did not get sent onto the Farlands. Neat!
-Fighting Ochu. Let’s start with Valefor.
-Did tons of damage, then died. [Non-rhetorical question for y’all: is there any way to unsummon Valefor once he’s been summoned, or is it just that he fights until the death once he’s out?]
Lord Ochu, taking a nap to heal up.
-Rotated the party members in, dealt good fire damage, used antidote when poisoned. Victory over Lord Ochu!
-hee! Gatta has a little marine chant as he walks off, inspired by what he just saw: “Young crusaders gather ROUND/ We’ll beat Sin into the GROUND”
-Checked my inventory and found two things of note.
1) Tried out the map in my inventory and it’s just so beautiful! Makes me want to dive into real life cartography.
2) The MP Sphere I got from Lord Ochu is unique. It fills an empty sphere on the grid! Gonna save it until I can use it on Yuna, since she’s my biggest mana user so far.
-Two new Sphere Grid abilities of note: Haste for Tidus and Extract Speed for Wakka. What’s Extract Speed? …ah! Makes an enemy drop Speed Spheres.
-Found a Luck Sphere. Can’t remember offhand what it is. Will keep an eye out for a tutorial screen to help me understand it.
-Got to try out Lulu’s overdrive ability, and… didn’t quite understand it. It said rotate the right stick, and I didn’t do it quick enough. I’ll bet if I do that enough it’ll really power up that aoe attack.
-Reached the temple.
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Next time: into the Kilika Temple.
