Summary: Chocobo Eater. Treasure hunting through bouncing around on chocobos. Seymour grants the party access to Operation Mi’ihen.
Highroad Agency
-Such generous citizens in this game. So many people just walk up to me and are like, “You’re a guardian? Neat! Have this.”
-Got another L1 Sphere Key. Tutorial time for it. Pretty straight forward.
-Rin pops by. Talks to me about Al Bhed Primers. He gives us one, R H. Volume VIII.
-The chocobos are under attack.
-Rin, I like you. He just gave us 2x Mega Potions. Bravo good sir.
-Well. I think we might have found what was eating the chocobos. She’s… large.
Chocobo Eater.
-Let’s start with some Valefor.
-Knocked her onto her back for one turn, but not sure how to take advantage of it. Tried a regular attack. No luck.
-God, Energy Blast is SO GOOD.
-Uh oh. Backs are against a cliff. Strong memories of that fucking FFIV boss that was the bane of my childhood, Evil Wall (the Sealed Cave boss).
-Aaaaand we fell off.
---
Highroad, Oldroad
-Huh. I’m surprised – we didn’t die. Just got a little story beat where we’re now at the bottom of the cliff. I like that. I wonder if it was a winnable fight – probably was.
-Went the opposite direction from the blinking red arrow and found a Mars Crest. Another “Celestial Token” like the Moon Crest I found before. Guessing these are like the stellazzio from FFIX, a nice little bonus token thing I can turn in down the line for gil and potions and the like.
-Hey, it’s O’aka! Doesn’t have much good stuff to sell so I gave him another 1,300 gil loan, bringing my total loan to 3,000 gil. I hope this isn’t like the FFIX Gimme Cat that tricked me into giving up a rare item for no reward.
-When I fell down the cliff, something that looked a bit like a chocobo feather floated down here. I found it on the road, but can’t interact with it.
-Lucil and her chocobos. This area is sealed off though for Crusader operations.
-Auron got the “Guard” ability, allowing him to take damage for another party member. Tank Auron.
-Aw. Shelinda thinks she’s gotten a reputation as someone the Crusaders can ignore.
-Came upon the main camp that Lucil told me about. Dona’s getting denied passage beyond, despite being a summoner. How will we have better luck?
-Don’t wanna talk to the guard captain yet to pass the blockade. That way lies progress. I want to backtrack and explore first.
There a couple of treasures in particular that are on ledges down below that I juuuuust can’t get to. Like the waterfall by Besaid Village. Maybe I’ll get Spring Boots or something later that will let me reach all those hard-to-reach things.
Highroad Agency
-Such generous citizens in this game. So many people just walk up to me and are like, “You’re a guardian? Neat! Have this.”
-Got another L1 Sphere Key. Tutorial time for it. Pretty straight forward.
-Rin pops by. Talks to me about Al Bhed Primers. He gives us one, R H. Volume VIII.
-The chocobos are under attack.
-Rin, I like you. He just gave us 2x Mega Potions. Bravo good sir.
-Well. I think we might have found what was eating the chocobos. She’s… large.
Chocobo Eater.
-Let’s start with some Valefor.
-Knocked her onto her back for one turn, but not sure how to take advantage of it. Tried a regular attack. No luck.
-God, Energy Blast is SO GOOD.
-Uh oh. Backs are against a cliff. Strong memories of that fucking FFIV boss that was the bane of my childhood, Evil Wall (the Sealed Cave boss).
-Aaaaand we fell off.
---
Highroad, Oldroad
-Huh. I’m surprised – we didn’t die. Just got a little story beat where we’re now at the bottom of the cliff. I like that. I wonder if it was a winnable fight – probably was.
-Went the opposite direction from the blinking red arrow and found a Mars Crest. Another “Celestial Token” like the Moon Crest I found before. Guessing these are like the stellazzio from FFIX, a nice little bonus token thing I can turn in down the line for gil and potions and the like.
-Hey, it’s O’aka! Doesn’t have much good stuff to sell so I gave him another 1,300 gil loan, bringing my total loan to 3,000 gil. I hope this isn’t like the FFIX Gimme Cat that tricked me into giving up a rare item for no reward.
-When I fell down the cliff, something that looked a bit like a chocobo feather floated down here. I found it on the road, but can’t interact with it.
-Lucil and her chocobos. This area is sealed off though for Crusader operations.
-Auron got the “Guard” ability, allowing him to take damage for another party member. Tank Auron.
-Aw. Shelinda thinks she’s gotten a reputation as someone the Crusaders can ignore.
-Came upon the main camp that Lucil told me about. Dona’s getting denied passage beyond, despite being a summoner. How will we have better luck?
-Don’t wanna talk to the guard captain yet to pass the blockade. That way lies progress. I want to backtrack and explore first.
There a couple of treasures in particular that are on ledges down below that I juuuuust can’t get to. Like the waterfall by Besaid Village. Maybe I’ll get Spring Boots or something later that will let me reach all those hard-to-reach things.
-Backtracking pays off! Found Al Bhed primer vol. IX. E --> I. Reached the rank of Al Bhed Typpman.
-Bombs are common enemies, and so I tried out NulBlaze from Yuna. I like how it works in this game, giving everyone a certain number of fire attack immunity charges.
-Dagnabit, MORE OF THESE CHESTS ON LEDGES… wait. I had access to rent a chocobo back at the camp. Maybe that’s how I reach the chests?
OF COURSE THAT MUST BE IT!! In the background of this scene where I am right now, I see chocobos flying up and down ledges. That’s what the game is trying to tell me.
-wait what just happened – Tidus just learned an Overdrive mid-fight, and I don’t know how, don’t know what triggered it.
-After the fight, I checked and Tidus doesn’t have a new overdrive. Hm. Maybe it was Auron. His overdrive is Dragon Fang. I don’t remember if that’s what it was before… I’ll have to keep an eye out for that. The message in combat went by too quickly.
-Back at the camp. Just checked my watch, and it’s definitely chocobo o’clock.
-No luck. Can’t jump.
-FHDJKLSFHDSFLDSHL FUCKING YES – so THAT’S what the feathers are for. They indicate places I can jump.
-I like this chocobo music a lot! It reminds me vaguely of Mario 64.
-Backtracked to that first chocobo feather I found, and it let me access a Fortune Sphere to activate a luck node.
-Jumping around on these chocobos is so much fun! Cool that it’s automatic, so no frustration in learning some z-axis jumping mini-game where I’m always falling off the platform and cursing to my cat.
-Talked to Dona in the camp.
She says she’s going to go take a nap, then seductively says “Oh Barthello?” So that’s how it is between the two. [Later edit: in hindsight, I don’t know if that was actually implied in her tone. The voice actress for Dona often sounds teasing, playful, so it could’ve just been her normal voice.]
-The road beyond the blockade here is the “Mushroom Rock Road.” Off-limits until the end of the Crusaders’ mission.
-Finally arrived back at the inn where the Chocobo Eater knocked me off, in hopes of finding her again. No luck.
-LOL – Elma, Lucil’s fellow Chocobo Knight (or possibly her subordinate) finished her off apparently. Brava, Elma!
-Saving at Rin’s Agency.
-Bombs are common enemies, and so I tried out NulBlaze from Yuna. I like how it works in this game, giving everyone a certain number of fire attack immunity charges.
-Dagnabit, MORE OF THESE CHESTS ON LEDGES… wait. I had access to rent a chocobo back at the camp. Maybe that’s how I reach the chests?
OF COURSE THAT MUST BE IT!! In the background of this scene where I am right now, I see chocobos flying up and down ledges. That’s what the game is trying to tell me.
-wait what just happened – Tidus just learned an Overdrive mid-fight, and I don’t know how, don’t know what triggered it.
-After the fight, I checked and Tidus doesn’t have a new overdrive. Hm. Maybe it was Auron. His overdrive is Dragon Fang. I don’t remember if that’s what it was before… I’ll have to keep an eye out for that. The message in combat went by too quickly.
-Back at the camp. Just checked my watch, and it’s definitely chocobo o’clock.
-No luck. Can’t jump.
-FHDJKLSFHDSFLDSHL FUCKING YES – so THAT’S what the feathers are for. They indicate places I can jump.
-I like this chocobo music a lot! It reminds me vaguely of Mario 64.
-Backtracked to that first chocobo feather I found, and it let me access a Fortune Sphere to activate a luck node.
-Jumping around on these chocobos is so much fun! Cool that it’s automatic, so no frustration in learning some z-axis jumping mini-game where I’m always falling off the platform and cursing to my cat.
-Talked to Dona in the camp.
She says she’s going to go take a nap, then seductively says “Oh Barthello?” So that’s how it is between the two. [Later edit: in hindsight, I don’t know if that was actually implied in her tone. The voice actress for Dona often sounds teasing, playful, so it could’ve just been her normal voice.]
-The road beyond the blockade here is the “Mushroom Rock Road.” Off-limits until the end of the Crusaders’ mission.
-Finally arrived back at the inn where the Chocobo Eater knocked me off, in hopes of finding her again. No luck.
-LOL – Elma, Lucil’s fellow Chocobo Knight (or possibly her subordinate) finished her off apparently. Brava, Elma!
-Saving at Rin’s Agency.
---
The Gate
-Luzzu and Gatta are departing on their journey. They are optimistic.
-Donated 1,000 gil towards Operation Mi’ihen, the Crusaders’ operation. Got an Ice Lance in return. I had the chance to donate 10,000 gil, but I just don’t have that much.
-The operation… oh god. The operation is that the Crusaders brought sinspawn from all over Spira to this area, trying to lure Sin here to collect his spawn. Then the Al Bhed (joining the Crusaders for this mission) will strike and presumably kill Sin.
Like… the chances of this ending well are basically 0, right? Yeah. 0.
-Al Bhed is using machina in this, and so all the Crusaders participating have been excommunicated.
-So we’re turned away here. But guess who strolls down the road? (lol you don’t have to guess because you probably know everything about the game at this point.) It’s Maester Villainpants and his Guado Guard.
-Seymour pulls some strings, and invites us through according to Yuna’s request.
See, this guy is being awesome and helpful, but everything about him – the ominous music, the way he’s framed – marks him as a big bad in waiting.
The face of a hero?
-Yuna’s terrified of continuing. After all, her job is to beat Sin, and Sin is presumably just around the corner. I don’t think she believed she’d have to face him so soon.
Or maybe the plan right now isn’t to fight Sin. Maybe the plan is to continue along the pilgrimage. She doesn’t have the ability to summon the final aeon yet after all.
-Pulling up the Fiend Tutorials before I move forward. Let’s see what we’re about to face.
-Funguar, Garuda, and Basilisk.
-Funguar isn’t nearly as adorable as its FFVIII incarnation. It is weak to fire, and counters attacks with sleeping pollen.
-Garuda is the flyer we saw before. High strength, so use Dark on it. Wakka’s job.
-The Basilisk uses Stone Gaze. I wonder – do I have any armor that protects against it? I don’t think so.
-It looks AWESOME. Like a white cobra-dragon.
-Aeons are immune to status ailments, so might be an option. Good tip.
-Yeah, Ifrit and Meteor Strike may be the way to go.
---
Next time: Probably starting off with some blitzball, then towards Djose, the Crusaders’ (undoubtedly doomed) operation, and perhaps even a sight of Sin himself.
The Gate
-Luzzu and Gatta are departing on their journey. They are optimistic.
-Donated 1,000 gil towards Operation Mi’ihen, the Crusaders’ operation. Got an Ice Lance in return. I had the chance to donate 10,000 gil, but I just don’t have that much.
-The operation… oh god. The operation is that the Crusaders brought sinspawn from all over Spira to this area, trying to lure Sin here to collect his spawn. Then the Al Bhed (joining the Crusaders for this mission) will strike and presumably kill Sin.
Like… the chances of this ending well are basically 0, right? Yeah. 0.
-Al Bhed is using machina in this, and so all the Crusaders participating have been excommunicated.
-So we’re turned away here. But guess who strolls down the road? (lol you don’t have to guess because you probably know everything about the game at this point.) It’s Maester Villainpants and his Guado Guard.
-Seymour pulls some strings, and invites us through according to Yuna’s request.
See, this guy is being awesome and helpful, but everything about him – the ominous music, the way he’s framed – marks him as a big bad in waiting.
The face of a hero?
-Yuna’s terrified of continuing. After all, her job is to beat Sin, and Sin is presumably just around the corner. I don’t think she believed she’d have to face him so soon.
Or maybe the plan right now isn’t to fight Sin. Maybe the plan is to continue along the pilgrimage. She doesn’t have the ability to summon the final aeon yet after all.
-Pulling up the Fiend Tutorials before I move forward. Let’s see what we’re about to face.
-Funguar, Garuda, and Basilisk.
-Funguar isn’t nearly as adorable as its FFVIII incarnation. It is weak to fire, and counters attacks with sleeping pollen.
-Garuda is the flyer we saw before. High strength, so use Dark on it. Wakka’s job.
-The Basilisk uses Stone Gaze. I wonder – do I have any armor that protects against it? I don’t think so.
-It looks AWESOME. Like a white cobra-dragon.
-Aeons are immune to status ailments, so might be an option. Good tip.
-Yeah, Ifrit and Meteor Strike may be the way to go.
---
Next time: Probably starting off with some blitzball, then towards Djose, the Crusaders’ (undoubtedly doomed) operation, and perhaps even a sight of Sin himself.
