Summary: Bevelle. Revisiting my grids and dresspheres. Labyrinth and gaol beneath the city. Baralai.
Celsius
-Wait, there was a treasure chest down there beneath Chateau Leblanc and we didn’t even get to open it? I’ll have to remember to head back there later.
-Yuna tries to play as if she wants to still steal spheres primarily, but she still has Spira’s best interest at heart.
Leblanc’s not wrong. Yuna has a noble streak the size of Montana.
-Btw, I don’t know if this will happen, but I’m pretty sure that Leblanc and Brother would make an awesome pair. They both have similar mannerisms, similar styles. I mildly ship it. And then I hope that ship sails far, far away because I can only take both of them in small doses.
-I can’t return to Chateau Leblanc now. Only option is to head to Bevelle for Vegnagun.
---
Bevelle
-Leblanc’s plan: nab the head of New Yevon, make them lead us to Vegnagun, and “checkmate.” It’s not a bad plan.
-Baralai is the New Yevon “praetor.”
-Logos makes some asinine remark about him Baralai being a “girly man” and he can fuck right off with that misogyny. He does know he’s a crappy fifth-tier villain in a game where the protagonists are a trio of badass women, right? Using feminine adjectives as insults can eat a bag of hell. All the bags.
-The Bevelle guards notice us and attack.
-hahahahhaa – I was thinking we were going to have a two party thing, maybe I’d get to play as Logos/Ormi/Leblanc, but Leblanc sees the guards, says “Good luck!” and peaces the fuck out. XD
-Mission time. Infiltrate Bevelle, find Vegnagun. But first…
---
Dresspheres and Garment Grids
-I’ve been coasting by a bit on these, and want to act a bit more intentionally with my choices.
-The dresspheres I’m working on for each character:
RIKKU: Thief, Gun Mage, White Mage, Black Mage.
PAINE: Festivalist, Warrior
YUNA: White Mage, Gunner, Songstress
I didn’t choose them for any particular reasons. I had no real idea how garment grids and dresspheres would play out or feel in practice, and that’s okay with me. This was a first shot.
Let’s try something a little bit different:
RIKKU: Abandoning White Mage for now and leaving her as a backup healer with the Healing Light grid. This grants me access to various healing abilities like Cure, Cura, Life, Curaga, and Full-Cure depending on how I move across it. Four slots. Thief, Gun Mage, Gunner, and Warrior. Leaving Black Mage alone for now.
PAINE: Covetous grid, granting Drain and (more importantly) Osmose. Going to give her three spheres without natural sustain. Festivalist, Warrior, and will also start building Gun Mage.
YUNA: Seething Cauldron grid for bonus magic. White Mage, Festivalist, Black Mage, and Songstress. It’s a pretty radical departure from what she’s got, but now that I’ve seen garment grids, I think I’ll benefit in the long-run from trying to build up an array of more focused magic dresspheres/abilities on one character.
Celsius
-Wait, there was a treasure chest down there beneath Chateau Leblanc and we didn’t even get to open it? I’ll have to remember to head back there later.
-Yuna tries to play as if she wants to still steal spheres primarily, but she still has Spira’s best interest at heart.
Leblanc’s not wrong. Yuna has a noble streak the size of Montana.
-Btw, I don’t know if this will happen, but I’m pretty sure that Leblanc and Brother would make an awesome pair. They both have similar mannerisms, similar styles. I mildly ship it. And then I hope that ship sails far, far away because I can only take both of them in small doses.
-I can’t return to Chateau Leblanc now. Only option is to head to Bevelle for Vegnagun.
---
Bevelle
-Leblanc’s plan: nab the head of New Yevon, make them lead us to Vegnagun, and “checkmate.” It’s not a bad plan.
-Baralai is the New Yevon “praetor.”
-Logos makes some asinine remark about him Baralai being a “girly man” and he can fuck right off with that misogyny. He does know he’s a crappy fifth-tier villain in a game where the protagonists are a trio of badass women, right? Using feminine adjectives as insults can eat a bag of hell. All the bags.
-The Bevelle guards notice us and attack.
-hahahahhaa – I was thinking we were going to have a two party thing, maybe I’d get to play as Logos/Ormi/Leblanc, but Leblanc sees the guards, says “Good luck!” and peaces the fuck out. XD
-Mission time. Infiltrate Bevelle, find Vegnagun. But first…
---
Dresspheres and Garment Grids
-I’ve been coasting by a bit on these, and want to act a bit more intentionally with my choices.
-The dresspheres I’m working on for each character:
RIKKU: Thief, Gun Mage, White Mage, Black Mage.
PAINE: Festivalist, Warrior
YUNA: White Mage, Gunner, Songstress
I didn’t choose them for any particular reasons. I had no real idea how garment grids and dresspheres would play out or feel in practice, and that’s okay with me. This was a first shot.
Let’s try something a little bit different:
RIKKU: Abandoning White Mage for now and leaving her as a backup healer with the Healing Light grid. This grants me access to various healing abilities like Cure, Cura, Life, Curaga, and Full-Cure depending on how I move across it. Four slots. Thief, Gun Mage, Gunner, and Warrior. Leaving Black Mage alone for now.
PAINE: Covetous grid, granting Drain and (more importantly) Osmose. Going to give her three spheres without natural sustain. Festivalist, Warrior, and will also start building Gun Mage.
YUNA: Seething Cauldron grid for bonus magic. White Mage, Festivalist, Black Mage, and Songstress. It’s a pretty radical departure from what she’s got, but now that I’ve seen garment grids, I think I’ll benefit in the long-run from trying to build up an array of more focused magic dresspheres/abilities on one character.
-I’m 1000000% certain this is still not optimal, and perhaps even a step
back since I’m abandoning some dresspheres temporarily that I’d been
building towards, but it seems a reasonable attempt. I’ll see how it
goes.
-Was about to say what accessories I’d use, but so many of them just depend on what enemies I fight. Main staples though will be Soul of Thamasa on Yuna, Shining Bracer (auto-protect) for Paine.
---
Bevelle
-Just heard a new start-of-combat banter from Rikku and Paine:
RIKKU: “Dr. P is in the house!”
PAINE: “Stop that.”
Lololol
-I just noticed something. I thought all abilities would grant 1 AP, but Yuna’s black mage spells grant three per cast. I should experiment more with that.
-We move deeper into Bevelle.
-Townspeople are feeling the ground shake. Sounds pretty Vegnaguny to me.
-Bevelle is such a beautiful city. Reminds me very much of an FFVIII Garden.
-The praetor is missing. The monks inside here, in the New Yevon HQ, are freaking out.
-Solved a mini puzzled to alter the path of the lift. Going down. Into the smoke.
-The next area is that automatic escalator area from FFX.
-Digging the HELL out of the music here.
-All of the elevator-based trickery and shenanigans from FFX’s Bevelle trials are gone. It’s just running around on these belts now.
Which, for the record, I’m fine with. I wasn’t looking forward to re-solving that puzzle.
-I keep seeing glimpses of platforms I can’t reach, conveyor belts I can’t access. Three options jump out to me:
1)They’re cosmetic and inaccessible.
2)I’m supposed to access them now but am unsuccessful at solving the puzzle.
3)I’m supposed to access them later.
-Reached the end, where Bahamut used to be. That Fayth is gone. There’s a huge chasm, a hole going God know how far down beneath.
-The Gullwings JUMP DOWN THE FUCKING CHASM.
I know that in video game logic, jumping down a hole is probably no biggie, but still. Anyone who ever rips the Gullwings for courage or strength, or says they’re not serious enough, should take into account that they just jumped into a huge pit not knowing what lies below, except that somewhere eventually we’ll probably run into a demon weapon.
I love small bits of courage like that. Reminds me a bit of one of my favorite parts of The Hobbit, where the narrator talks about how one of the greatest moments of courage was Bilbo frozen in terror in Smaug's tunnel, and ultimately deciding to continue forward.
-Was about to say what accessories I’d use, but so many of them just depend on what enemies I fight. Main staples though will be Soul of Thamasa on Yuna, Shining Bracer (auto-protect) for Paine.
---
Bevelle
-Just heard a new start-of-combat banter from Rikku and Paine:
RIKKU: “Dr. P is in the house!”
PAINE: “Stop that.”
Lololol
-I just noticed something. I thought all abilities would grant 1 AP, but Yuna’s black mage spells grant three per cast. I should experiment more with that.
-We move deeper into Bevelle.
-Townspeople are feeling the ground shake. Sounds pretty Vegnaguny to me.
-Bevelle is such a beautiful city. Reminds me very much of an FFVIII Garden.
-The praetor is missing. The monks inside here, in the New Yevon HQ, are freaking out.
-Solved a mini puzzled to alter the path of the lift. Going down. Into the smoke.
-The next area is that automatic escalator area from FFX.
-Digging the HELL out of the music here.
-All of the elevator-based trickery and shenanigans from FFX’s Bevelle trials are gone. It’s just running around on these belts now.
Which, for the record, I’m fine with. I wasn’t looking forward to re-solving that puzzle.
-I keep seeing glimpses of platforms I can’t reach, conveyor belts I can’t access. Three options jump out to me:
1)They’re cosmetic and inaccessible.
2)I’m supposed to access them now but am unsuccessful at solving the puzzle.
3)I’m supposed to access them later.
-Reached the end, where Bahamut used to be. That Fayth is gone. There’s a huge chasm, a hole going God know how far down beneath.
-The Gullwings JUMP DOWN THE FUCKING CHASM.
I know that in video game logic, jumping down a hole is probably no biggie, but still. Anyone who ever rips the Gullwings for courage or strength, or says they’re not serious enough, should take into account that they just jumped into a huge pit not knowing what lies below, except that somewhere eventually we’ll probably run into a demon weapon.
I love small bits of courage like that. Reminds me a bit of one of my favorite parts of The Hobbit, where the narrator talks about how one of the greatest moments of courage was Bilbo frozen in terror in Smaug's tunnel, and ultimately deciding to continue forward.
---
Bevelle – Restricted Area
-Oh, how convenient. Ormi, Leblanc, and Logos show up now. Nice of you to join us.
-This place is HUGE!! It’s a cavernous, metallic, machina-filled… place. Just lying underneath here the whole time. Getting flashbacks to Deepground in Dirge of Cerberus.
-Alarms go off. Robot guards activate.
-I have to disengage certain security measures to reach a lower sanctum.
-There are six security towers. I’m only supposed to unlock the blue ones, but I’m curious to see what happens if I unlock all of them.
-Boss time! Giant mantis thing.
Precepts Guard.
-Scan tells me it is weak to Holy. Warrior!Paine’s Excalibur does huge work.
-It used bio a couple of times, but pretty quick fight.
-So… I should probably proceed, but I really want to press that last red tower…
-HELLO GIANT AQUATIC MONSTER
Georapella.
-A bit tougher, but not by much. Pretty straightforward.
-I tried revisiting one of the towers and it had me fight another Precepts Guard. I think I’m ready to head down.
---
Bevelle – Labyrinth
-God this is SO CREEPY. Like a spooky subway tunnel.
-Found the Downtrodder garment grid, with some gravity abilities.
-I can’t seem to jump across this tunnel…
Aha! Had to jump on a pillar to activate it.
-Found a room with a huge piece of machinery in it. The machinery is moving. Active. No demon face, but this definitely could be part of or related to Vegnagun.
YUNA: “There’s a connection. Everything is connected. I can feel it.” Ominous af.
-The status screen calls this place “gaol.” Jesus. What kind of prisoners are kept in a jail like this?
-Getting major panopticon vibes as I see this machine rotate, seems to have cells on each arm and perhaps all around it.
-OH GOD WHAT’D I DO
-I stepped on a glowy seal thing and the machine stopped rotating.
-I feel like I should be able to get on top fo this thing since I see treasure chests around it…. Yes!
-Mini-game time. “Gaol from Afar.” Rikku can move the platforms while Yuna crosses them.
-Ok. This is pissing me off royally. The main flaw I’ve seen in the game so far with regards to jumping is that it’s really unclear to me where is okay to jump and where is too far. I find myself stuck on an arm of the gaol and can’t find anywhere to go. I’ve tried moving to each edge of the arm and holding/tapping B, but Yuna just does that “whoooa!!!” gesture.
-Like, sometimes I can get it to jump and other times I seem to be in the same spot and can’t jump. I’m venting a bit.
-No. I’m raging. I’m trying to jump back up from this platform that I was able to jump up from five minutes ago, but now I can’t.
-oh good, it worked. Why? Idk.
Bevelle – Restricted Area
-Oh, how convenient. Ormi, Leblanc, and Logos show up now. Nice of you to join us.
-This place is HUGE!! It’s a cavernous, metallic, machina-filled… place. Just lying underneath here the whole time. Getting flashbacks to Deepground in Dirge of Cerberus.
-Alarms go off. Robot guards activate.
-I have to disengage certain security measures to reach a lower sanctum.
-There are six security towers. I’m only supposed to unlock the blue ones, but I’m curious to see what happens if I unlock all of them.
-Boss time! Giant mantis thing.
Precepts Guard.
-Scan tells me it is weak to Holy. Warrior!Paine’s Excalibur does huge work.
-It used bio a couple of times, but pretty quick fight.
-So… I should probably proceed, but I really want to press that last red tower…
-HELLO GIANT AQUATIC MONSTER
Georapella.
-A bit tougher, but not by much. Pretty straightforward.
-I tried revisiting one of the towers and it had me fight another Precepts Guard. I think I’m ready to head down.
---
Bevelle – Labyrinth
-God this is SO CREEPY. Like a spooky subway tunnel.
-Found the Downtrodder garment grid, with some gravity abilities.
-I can’t seem to jump across this tunnel…
Aha! Had to jump on a pillar to activate it.
-Found a room with a huge piece of machinery in it. The machinery is moving. Active. No demon face, but this definitely could be part of or related to Vegnagun.
YUNA: “There’s a connection. Everything is connected. I can feel it.” Ominous af.
-The status screen calls this place “gaol.” Jesus. What kind of prisoners are kept in a jail like this?
-Getting major panopticon vibes as I see this machine rotate, seems to have cells on each arm and perhaps all around it.
-OH GOD WHAT’D I DO
-I stepped on a glowy seal thing and the machine stopped rotating.
-I feel like I should be able to get on top fo this thing since I see treasure chests around it…. Yes!
-Mini-game time. “Gaol from Afar.” Rikku can move the platforms while Yuna crosses them.
-Ok. This is pissing me off royally. The main flaw I’ve seen in the game so far with regards to jumping is that it’s really unclear to me where is okay to jump and where is too far. I find myself stuck on an arm of the gaol and can’t find anywhere to go. I’ve tried moving to each edge of the arm and holding/tapping B, but Yuna just does that “whoooa!!!” gesture.
-Like, sometimes I can get it to jump and other times I seem to be in the same spot and can’t jump. I’m venting a bit.
-No. I’m raging. I’m trying to jump back up from this platform that I was able to jump up from five minutes ago, but now I can’t.
-oh good, it worked. Why? Idk.
-OHHH!!! I get it. I was fucking it up. I hold B to jump, and A to
climb. I was thinking it was B for everything. *bonks self*
-Ok. Finally got the treasure chest. “Bloodlust.” The auto-ability is “Kijo’s Soul.” I think it’s a berserk item based on the description.
-I’ve been standing here for about 10 minutes, trying to work this thing out. I see a door that I want to reach. I just can’t seem to get the arms to align in the right way.
-THERE! ! FUCKING FHDJKLSFHDS YESSSSSS
-I DID IT I SOLVED THE GAOL
Like, I know there are probably other puzzles here I haven’t seen, but I was trying for this and it finally clicked and I feel SO FRIGGING SATISFIED!! It takes me to a balcony outside the gaol with a treasure chest. If this is a potion or phoenix down, I will be vexed.
-An accessory. Wring. It boosts my magic through the roof. Enjoy, Yuna.
-And made it off. That was challenging, fun, frustrating, the whole nine yards. And if I never hear that bit of repeated mission dialogue again (“Rikku, go ahead!”) I’ll count myself lucky.
-Continuing into the labyrinth. There are three shuttles, and another mini-puzzle associated with each. Not too bad – not compared to the gaol at least.
-Still, I have a really hard time keeping a sense of direction here. I have a feeling I’d suck if I ever tried Portal.
-I’ve equipped the accessories that appear as gold btw.
Not Heady Perfume, since HP/MP Stroll doesn’t sound that great, but I gave Paine the Bloodlust and Yuna the Wring. Each are incredibly powerful, despite inflicting poison (I think?) on the wearers.
-There’s a treasure chest I reeeeeallly want, but I’m missing something. Some piece of the puzzle. I’ll keep moving and hope I come across it.
-Actually, strike that. Yuna’s black magic is still low. The Wring doesn’t help too much, so I’ll swap it out so that she has some more HP until she gets the really powerful magic.
-Ok. Finally got the treasure chest. “Bloodlust.” The auto-ability is “Kijo’s Soul.” I think it’s a berserk item based on the description.
-I’ve been standing here for about 10 minutes, trying to work this thing out. I see a door that I want to reach. I just can’t seem to get the arms to align in the right way.
-THERE! ! FUCKING FHDJKLSFHDS YESSSSSS
-I DID IT I SOLVED THE GAOL
Like, I know there are probably other puzzles here I haven’t seen, but I was trying for this and it finally clicked and I feel SO FRIGGING SATISFIED!! It takes me to a balcony outside the gaol with a treasure chest. If this is a potion or phoenix down, I will be vexed.
-An accessory. Wring. It boosts my magic through the roof. Enjoy, Yuna.
-And made it off. That was challenging, fun, frustrating, the whole nine yards. And if I never hear that bit of repeated mission dialogue again (“Rikku, go ahead!”) I’ll count myself lucky.
-Continuing into the labyrinth. There are three shuttles, and another mini-puzzle associated with each. Not too bad – not compared to the gaol at least.
-Still, I have a really hard time keeping a sense of direction here. I have a feeling I’d suck if I ever tried Portal.
-I’ve equipped the accessories that appear as gold btw.
Not Heady Perfume, since HP/MP Stroll doesn’t sound that great, but I gave Paine the Bloodlust and Yuna the Wring. Each are incredibly powerful, despite inflicting poison (I think?) on the wearers.
-There’s a treasure chest I reeeeeallly want, but I’m missing something. Some piece of the puzzle. I’ll keep moving and hope I come across it.
-Actually, strike that. Yuna’s black magic is still low. The Wring doesn’t help too much, so I’ll swap it out so that she has some more HP until she gets the really powerful magic.
-A monk approaches us. I’ll bet this is the New Yevon praetor.
-Yup. Baralai.
-This makes sense. He wants to destroy Vegnagun also. (It makes sense because I had the choice to help New Yevon, and I’ll bet if I did, I’d meet Nooj at this point in the game after thinking he was trying to infiltrate Bevelle to steal it. Or something like that.)
-Baralai says Nooj can’t be trusted. Given how I’ve seen him around Leblanc, I am inclined to believe Baralai.
-Fight time coming I expect. He wants to keep “those who seek to harm Vegnagun away.”
-I really wish Yuna would ask right now: “Oh btw, what really is VEgnagun? What’s it’s history? What does it do?”
-Baralai seems to notice Paine all of a sudden and attacks. What’s Paine’s deal? She inspires some weird reactions in people. Baralai and Nooj both.
-He goes down super quick.
-Paine moves on ahead. Alone. Promises to fill us in later. (“Much later.”)
-Strike that. We’re joining her. Good.
YUNA: “With so many things woven together, what could be waiting when the threads meet?”
---
Next time: Following Paine deeper into the labyrinth.
-Yup. Baralai.
-This makes sense. He wants to destroy Vegnagun also. (It makes sense because I had the choice to help New Yevon, and I’ll bet if I did, I’d meet Nooj at this point in the game after thinking he was trying to infiltrate Bevelle to steal it. Or something like that.)
-Baralai says Nooj can’t be trusted. Given how I’ve seen him around Leblanc, I am inclined to believe Baralai.
-Fight time coming I expect. He wants to keep “those who seek to harm Vegnagun away.”
-I really wish Yuna would ask right now: “Oh btw, what really is VEgnagun? What’s it’s history? What does it do?”
-Baralai seems to notice Paine all of a sudden and attacks. What’s Paine’s deal? She inspires some weird reactions in people. Baralai and Nooj both.
-He goes down super quick.
-Paine moves on ahead. Alone. Promises to fill us in later. (“Much later.”)
-Strike that. We’re joining her. Good.
YUNA: “With so many things woven together, what could be waiting when the threads meet?”
---
Next time: Following Paine deeper into the labyrinth.
