Sanubia Desert
-One of the little things I most love in games is when story and gameplay meet. I just ran into some machina enemies, and Rikku can use her Steal to destroy them.
THAT’S SO DAMN COOL. Because she’s Al Bhed, so familiar with machina! And machina are machines, so if you steal some core part, it makes sense that they die! And steal is Rikku’s thing!
Elegantly done, FFX.
-Stole Smoke Bomb from Alcyclone. Also from Zu. Sleeping Powder from a Sand Wolf. Shadow Gem from Sandworm. Also stole Stamina Spring from a Sandworm.
-Reached the central part of the desert. A sign: “Ahead is a place to rest.”
-Slow really works wonders on Zu.
-This desert is quite expansive. Trying my best to explore it.
-Another sign: “Beware of fiend! Weaker fiend to the right. Stronger fiend to the left.” (F>W, N>R, F>W, D>T, N>R, K>G, C>S)
-Consider my curiosity piqued. Let’s go left.
-Immediately facing a Sandworm.
-Wakka learned Tactician overdrive mode.
-Another sign, this one strangley spaced out: “h a s o d I // I T R O S” uhhh… ok?
-God, bio is SO GOOD in this area against the Zus and Sandworm.
-Encountered wild treasure chests for the first time. Stole an X-Potion, and IMMEDIATELY fucked up by using Ronso Rage – Aqua Breath afterwards, destroying the other.
-Mixing two Electro Marbles for Rikku causes “Rolling Thunder,” 6x Thundara.
-Another AL Bhed Primer, X > Q.
-Tidus learned “Energy Rain.” Sounds like a new overdrive. [Non-rhetorical question for y’all: are new overdrives unlocked overtime, or is it like FFVII where I have to use overdrives a certain number of times to unlock the next one? Starting to think it’s the latter.]
-I can choose to continue from this stronger left area to the west Sanubia Desert, but decide to backtrack, check out the weaker fiend area and see what I missed.
-Poor Wakka’s gotten swallowed by a Sandworm like three times in a row.
-Energy Rain is a group attack. Pretty neat.
-Note to self: when a party member gets swallowed, wait until they’re regurgitated to kill the Sandworm.
-FINALLY beat a Cactuar! Used Armor Break from Auron. Gave me a metric ton of AP. Also gave me a Cactuar Spy for Lulu, with Initiative.
-Another sign: “This way to Home.” We’re close.
-I see a valley filled with cactuses, and another of the Cactuar Stones from the Thunder Plains. Perhaps a sign of Big Papa Qactuar nearby?
-More signs: “Danger! Beware of sandstorms!” “Danger! Strong fiend in vicinity!” (J>V, O>Y)
-Found a Mercury Crest.
-Taught Valefor Demi with the Shadow Gems I’ve stolen.
-Found a chest that slid into a sand trap. I KNOW it’s a trap, but I gotta go anyway… yup. Trap. “Sandragora” (lol). I was expecting Antlion.
-I’m a bit nervous about going into the cactus sandstorm. The Gigantuar traditionally has two habits:
1)Amusing me to no end
2)Kicking my ass hard
Haven’t saved in a while. But here we go.
-OH BUMMER!!! I can’t actually get into cactusville. Probably for the best. I’m reasonably sure I’ll come back at some point down the line. Also possible however that I was supposed to solve some puzzle here that stops the sandstorm. I don’t know what that could be though. I tried pushing all the buttons available to me at the cactuar stone above the valley with no luck.
-Reached the end and HOLY SHIT IT’S UNDER ATTACK
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Home
-Vultures and dogs, those creatures we just fought, are attacking.
-Rikku finds a friend, Keyakku. He says “Yevon… Guado…” Well. Fucking Guado. How’d they find this place?
-Aaaaand Rikku’s father just died.
-CID IT WAS CID, CID WAS RIKKU’S DAD!! Maybe? I mean, definitely Rikku’s dad, but not quite sure right now whether Cid was the person who died or the person leading the counterattack who cradled the dead dude’s body. Probably the latter, since I don’t think an FF game would kill off Cid so early.
[Later edit: Cid = the dude who died.]
-There’s some sort of message repeating that I can’t make out. Perhaps an Al Bhed defense broadcast. Sounds like “An annoying ton!”
-After pillaging some of the corpses of fallen Al Bhed because we’re respectful like that, time to head inside. God, this must be SO WEIRD for Wakka to be fighting alongside the Al Bhed against Yevon and Guado.
-Into Home. I feel like I’ve stepped back into the world of FFVII.
-A Guado Guardian and his army of bombs drops on our heads.
-Confirmation that Cid is still alive.
-We gotta head underground, to a Summoner’s Sanctum. Surprised they have one of those in Home, since I thought summoners were a Yevon thing.
-Difficulty in here really ramps up. Multiple Chimera packs.
-lolol we go in the wrong door and are met by another pair of massive chimeras.
-Ooh, found a code in Al Bhed. Pretty straight forward, and nets me a Special Sphere.
-A little Al Bhed quiz game. Got a Skill Sphere. The only one I was guessing on was the question about who leads the Al Bhed. Guessed “Brother” by process of elimination, and perhaps it was right. Or it was wrong, Cid is the leader, and it just forgave a wrong answer or two.
-Next area. Slow motion… uh oh. What does this mean?
-Rikku gives some backstory. Sin destroyed the main Al Bhed island. They scattered. Cid gathered them together again, but now this new home is under assault. Why? What do the Guado have to gain from this?
-The Summoners’ Sanctum is where the Al Bhed keep the summoners safe. So we know they’ve been stealing summoners, and doing something with them. That something seems to be keeping them safe. Maybe they knew Seymour was threatening them.
-We get this super dramatic – perhaps a bit overly dramatic – thunder crash and zoom-in series as Tidus expresses his confusion. Why kidnap the summoners? It’s the job of the guardians to keep them safe, right?
-I’m definitely confused now. Why the slow motion, why the sad music, wtf is going on?
-Hi, Dona! Issaaru too.
-A whole bunch of Al Bhed are here, dead. Sacrificed themselves for
-ok wait what
-if the pilgrimages get to Zanarkand, if they reach the Final Aeon, then they can beat Sin but die in the process. I kind of figured that might have happened. Like, that’s sad and all, but isn’t it totally worth killing Sin? Not even a question for me. And I’ll bet Yuna would find the sacrifice worth it too.
-This has gotta take a huge toll on the Guardians. Helping march the person they most care about to her inevitable death.
-Rikku is on Tidus’s side, doesn’t want summoners to sacrifice themselves for Spira. Again, I agree that it’s a sacrifice, but it’s not like the summoners were tricked into this, right? And are the Al Bhed providing an alternative?
Plus, it isn’t like the summoners are sacrificing themselves “just so Spira can be happy” in some intangible way. Killing Sin – even for a short while – saves a metric ton of lives.
I’m on Team Yevonite Summoner so far until I hear an alternative from Al Bhed.
-Dona and Issaaru step up here, making my argument. They feel the sacrifice is worth it.
-We get a nice little montage of various aeons. (Including the Wendigo?)
-Tidus is taking this really badly. I don’t blame him at all. He feels used, like he was acting like a fool in front of Yuna.
-Aw, Valefor
-Still not sure what the Guado are doing here. Just trying to free the summoners?
-Great, game, why don’t you crush my heart more with this flashback to Tidus and Yuna. Go for it.
-It’s the famous/infamous laugh scene, trying to smile when everything has gone to shit.
-Back to the present, Tidus promises to not let her die. I mean… I get that you care for her, but you’re a guardian now. It’s about more than you. I hope you respect Yuna’s choice in the end.
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Next time: airship.
