-Met another summoner, Belgamine. She’s got some awesome hair things on the side of her head. Like massive ear muffs.
-Oh shit, she’s challenging us to an aeon-off!
-I like her. She pulls a Rubicante and heals up our aeons before the fight.
-She pops out her own Ifrit to start the fight. We can only choose Valefor.
-An aeon’s attributes rise with the summoner’s. The game suggests using Shield or Boost to help with overdrive. Shield is best for when a powerful attack is about to hit, and the game tells me Ifrit’s about to use Meteor Strike. Time for Shield.
[Non-rhetorical question for y’all: does Shield last only one turn, or is it a mode I set for the rest of the fight? I think the former, but not sure.]
-Victory! That was a great tutorial, really useful info. Got an Echo Ring.
-Belgemine says she doesn’t think she can defeat Sin. Why not? She seems pretty strong.
BELGEMINE: “Or should I say… I was not able to.” Oh shit. There’s a story there. But before she can tell it, she peaces out.
-No way we’ve seen the last of Belgemine.
-omg tidus is such a dork When he did Swordplay, he said “Eenie, meenie, miney, MOE!” like a battlecry.
-Everyone on this road knows Yuna. Met a cute little kid named Calli.
[I’m guessing this is term for prophesied post-Sin era.]
YUNA: Yes, very soon!
CALLI: Yay!
Um. Not to question your methods, Yuna, but that’s overpromising a bit. Like a young priest who promises a nervous parishioner that “yes, sure, God will take care of all your troubles” when things are often far more complicated than that. Doesn’t do Calli a service imo.
-Oh. The mother said “we’re looking forward to another Calm,” so maybe a Calm is just a period where Sin is temporarily beaten back.
-Thank goodness for AudienceSurrogate!Tidus, who asks directly what the Calm is. It’s after Sin is defeated… and before he is reborn. How do you kill Sin without him being reborn though? That seems the million dollar question.
-Again, Tidus asks my question: what’s the good of killing him if it’s just a temporary respite? But a temporary respite is a massive relief in this world, and definitely worth it.
TIDUS: “’That kind of time is worth anything. Don’t say it isn’t worth it.’ Your words that day, Yuna. I remember them well.” And just like that, the game has me wondering again what Tidus’ real present is like. The thing we saw at the intro.
Hee! At the start of a fight:
WAKKA: “Lulu! I’ll show you what I can do!”
LULU: *very Daria voice* “…go ahead.”
-Tidus, so rude. Saw a ball in the street, kicked it away, and then a kid ran up to us annoyed. “That was my ball!”
-I kind of wish there were an indicator that showed when a player has already taken an action in combat. I try rotating party members in to each get experience, but often forget who has been in and who hasn’t already.
-A huge plus for FFX over FFIX: I can save overdrive usage for future fights.
-Trying out Yuna’s overdrive, “Grand Summon.” It’s awesome. Summons in an aeon at full overdrive. Almost certainly the most powerful overdrive I have right now.
-Found a Crusader on the road… and yup, the Crusaders’ plan right now is to defeat Sin.
-Tried swapping weapons. Unlike swapping party members, it actually uses up a turn.
-Got a Level 1 Key Sphere. Now I see how this lock system works. I wonder how common these are.
-Some neat new abilities, including Pray, Aim, and Provoke.
-Big meeting on the road with the Crusaders and the Djose Chocobo Knights. Luzzu and Gatta are clearly subordinate to Lucil. “Yes, ma’am! Apologies, ma’am!”
-The meeting ends on a bit of a down note. Yuna telling Luzzu and Gatta that it’s not too late to change their minds and head back to Besaid, but they cut her off and leave.
-This conflict between Crusaders and the teachings of Yevon comes up a bit farther down the road. A disciple of Yevon named Shelinda tries to say something about the teachings to a Crusader who leaves in a huff.
-Hm. It may be more than just not wanting the Crusaders to go against Sin. Shelinda mentions that the mission is supposed to use “forbidden machina.”
-Shelinda is pretty discouraged since the Crusaders wouldn’t listen to her, but Yuna picks her right up, encourages her, empathizes with her standing as an acolyte. Yuna is so great.
-Came to a resting point, an Al Bhed rest stop. Which Wakka has a problem with.
-He tells Auron about the kidnapping as a way to justify his distrust of Al Bhed. Auron turns it around a bit, asking why her guardians didn’t save her, where they were, and Wakka literally does the casual “dum de dum, never mind, ignore me” style whistling. XD
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Highroad – Agency
-Maechen is here. Says “Mr. Rin’s shops” are all over. Is that what this is then?
-Bought a bunch of Pearl armor. Not equipping it now, but it boosts magic defense by 3% so may come in handy.
-Rin is an Al Bhed. He’s not here though.
-The store sells Grenades. Perhaps a harbinger of Rikku’s return?
-Another Al Bhed Compilation Sphere here. Used it, and achieved the rank of “Al Bhed Pakehhan.”
-Beautiful view outside.
-Conversation between Yuna and Tidus. She really feels the burden of her task right now – that she’ll have to fight Sin, and even if she wins he’ll be reborn.
-Tidus asks flat out why Sin comes back. She thinks it’s punishment for their vanity, lasting until they atone, but again, I don’t quite buy this. Until I see more about life back in Zanarkand. Nothing about that place suggested that they deserved this.
-BLESS YOU TIDUS – he’s one of the best audience surrogates I’ve ever seen in a game. Every time I have a question or concern, he seems to voice it in game.
-Even yuna isn’t sure whether the machina is that bad. She feels lost about this whole situation.
-lol tidus doing a “Mika” impression. XD
-He tries to give her a sports analogy about the need to focus, keep your head down. “After you beat Sin, that’s when you can worry about the future.” Not unreasonable.
-AGAIN, TIDUS COMING THROUGH WITH QUESTIONS I ACTUALLY HAVE AND WANT TO KNOW!! He asks how she’s supposed to beat something as big as Sin, and it’s a great question! I mean, don’t get me wrong, Valefor and Ifrit, and no doubt Shiva and Ramuh and all the others to come, are powerful, but Sin seems way beyond all that.
YUNA: “The Final Summoning.” That’s the purpose of this pilgrimage. To call this ultimate aeon. Perhaps Omega, perhaps Bahamut, perhaps something altogether different. (My money is on Omega, since it’s called the “Final” summoning.)
-That final summoning lies in Zanarkand, “at the world’s edge.” Holy god. What a set-up.
-Auron overhears this and joins in the conversation. Auron does his whole “You’ll see. Soon enough.” thing.
-I can’t get over the incredible color palette of this game. Case in point, literally everything here:
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Next time: continuing down the Highroad, towards Djose.
