-I checked out “Trial Mode” briefly. It seems to just be a series of fights against stuff I saw in game. Pass.
-Bahamut is my next destination. Definitely the final dungeon. The game gives me a message: “Once you leave for Bahamut, you will not be able to return. Continue?”
I love this feature. The series has gotten waaaay better about providing it.
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Sky Fortress Bahamut
-We see a massive, awe-inspiring tornado moving on Rabanastre with Sky Fortress Bahamut at the center.
-Vayne’s in command. Larsa’s by his side.
-The Bahamut fires on resistance ships. I love the animation of the blast – it’s a flare-like implosion. A nice touch, given Bahamut’s traditional megaflare.
-Vayne wants to destroy the Resistance completely. He thinks mercy is a show of weakness, that if he accepts the Resistance’s surrender then they’ll just rise up later. (He’s not wrong on this last part.)
LARSA: “You are wrong, brother.”
VAYNE: “And if I am? You need find the strength to correct me.”
Is he honestly trying to cow Larsa, or prod Larsa into action?
-Vayne is an interesting villain in the FF series. Most villains have had solo ambitions. Kefka and Ultimecia and Zeromus and Exdeath and Chaos wanted to become gods on their own power level.
Vayne? Not so much. Right now, he honestly seems to think he’s doing his best for his Empire.
-Marquis Ondore’s resistance begins to fight back. This is giving me MAJOR rebellion vs. the Death Star vibes, with our party as the missile making our way to the center. Marquis Ondore = Admiral Ackbar.
“The Carrier Galuf-Val – she’s lost!” Poor Galuf.
-Team Ashe arrives. Larsa radios into Marquis Ondore that he’ll help.
-oh lol, that was Vaan doing Larsa impression over the radio to convince Ondore. XD
-THIS IS TOTALLY STAR WARS! The Strahl is the Millenium Falcon, Balthier is Han Solo, Fran is Chewbacca, Vaan is Luke, Princess Ashe is Princess Leia. Basch is Obi-Wan. Penelo is… R2D2? Idk.
-We start on the dungeon. The party has a nice quiet moment together before proceeding.
The Bahamut is set up as an outer ring around a central elevator/core thing.
-Even now, Vaan and Penelo are so confident in victory. They take a bit to talk about Ashe as queen.
ASHE: “You think I’m that strong.”
VAAN, to Ashe: “Who said anything about [you needing to be] strong? You’ll make it. You got good friends.”
I’ve said this before, but I really like that Vaan as a protagonist is so comfortable from start to finish with the strength of friendship, with being part of a team.
-We reach the inner core. Judge Gabranth finds us – he lives! He’s enraged Basch managed to hold onto his honor through all the shit they went through.
GABRANTH JUST DID THE LOGO STANCE!!
-We take him down. Poor Gabranth.
-Basch even calls him by his original name. Noah.
GABRANTH: “I have no right to be called by that name.”
BASCH: “Then live! And reclaim it.”
And we have our Darth Vader. I know, it’s not perfect – he’s not Vaan/Luke’s father - but the broad strokes are there.
-We rise to the top. Vayne and Larsa await. [Later edit: I’m surprised at how short this final dungeon was. Basically a couple of rooms and then the boss.]
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Emperor Vayne
VAYNE: “Permit me to ask: who are you?”
lolol. I get that he’s speaking metaphorically about Ashe’s role right now, but this doubles as a self-referential joke about how little we’ve interacted.
VAYNE: “Are you an angel of vengeance? Or perhaps a saint of salvation?”
ASHE: “I am simply myself. No more, no less. And I want only to be free.”
-Larsa raises his sword against Vayne, openly joining Team Ashe!
-All through this, Judge Anakin Gabranth was thrown down the tube, but struggles up. Determined to protect Larsa.
-Boss time: Vayne. Vayne goes through a few phases, but my party is overpowered. Only takes a few hits to transition him to the next phase.
-Vayne uses manufacted nethicite to go Super Saiyan. He’s now hilariously beefy with muscles popping out on his neck.
Phase 2: Vayne Novus.
-A bunch of lights swarm around Vayne Novus, magic(k) swords that move at his will.
-We take him down. Gabranth swoops in at the last second and lands the killing blow.
GABRANTH: “Even a stray has pride.” HELL YES KICK THE EMEPROR’S ASS! [Later edit: it hits me now that Emperor Vayne is a reasonable stand-in for Emperor Palpatine.]
Gabranth does damage but takes damage here too. A brutal shot from Vayne’s floaty swords.
-HAHA LARSA SHATTERES THE MANUFACTED NETHICITE THAT HAD GIVEN HIM POWER GO LARSA!
-Vayne slumps away wounded to a deck outside the Bahamut. Venat guards his retreat. I really like that Venat’s surreal presence is enough to stop Vaan from following Vayne (lots of v’s) with his presence. Nothing as overt as violence. Just stares Vaan down.
-Vayne walks out onto the ship. He’s dying. He calls out to Venat – apologizes for failing. He urges Venat to find another to try to fulfill her ambitions.
Venat is so cool. She inspires such loyalty in her cohorts.
VENAT: “They are fulfilled beyond your knowing. The Cryst is sundered. The Age of Stones is complete. From the undying ones, the world is freed. You shall not tread this path alone. Together we go. Come.”
That’s a good point! Even if he’s no Dynast King, they freed themselves of the gods.
-Venat disappears and… possesses Vayne? Burns him up. Venat uses Vayne’s body to blast nearby Resistance ships.
-I was wrong – Venat isn’t burning Vayne. Just the opposite. He’s armoring Vayne, drawing nearby metal to give Vayne a metallic set of armor and wings.
HAHA HE’S BECOMING A METALLIC BAHAMUT
-Another boss fight. This hybrid of Vayne and Venat is “The Undying.” No visible health bar.
-I love the Undying’s design. During his Gigaflare Sword animation, his screaming face looks like something from Silent Hill.
-Speaking of great animations: Scathe! It’s my first time using it. Ashe goes all “IMMA FIIIIRING MAH LAZORS!”
[Later edit: Scathe in FFXIV radically different from in FFXII. In FFXII, it’s the ultimate black magic. In FFXIV, it’s a quick little bit of instant damage when you’re on the move. Interesting design choice.]
-The Undying goes down. The cobbled together Bahamut-esque monstrosity of Vayne and Venat erupts in fire. Vayne’s definitely dead. I’m not so sure about Venat.
-lolol balthier and fran stoically fist pound in celebration with a laconic “Hm.”
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Escape from the Bahamut
-No time to celebrate. The dogfight’s still going on. Ashe leads us back inside.
Hail to the Queen.
-The Bahamut is in bad shape. Its gear things keeping it afloat have stopped. Baltheir and Fran pass control of the Strahl to Vaan and Penelo. Change of the sky pirate guard.
-Gabranth (still dying) urges Basch to serve Larsa and protect him, lest Archadia fall into civil war.
-MORE RADIO SHENANIGANS! Basch pretends to be Gabranth, ordering the Arcadian fleet to hold back.
-Larsa goes on the radio, taking command.
-And then Ashe. Victory!
-The Bahamut is exploding. Right over Rabanastre.
-Judge Zaargabarth (sp?) plans to sacrifice his ship, the Alexander, to ram the Bahamut away from Rabanastre. A noble offer from the Empire for the sake of the city it was trying to conquer.
-Balthier radios in. He’s still on the Bahamut. Is he trying to repair it? Yes!
-SUCCESS!! Han and Chewie can repair anything.
-SHIT FRAN GOT KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS, DO NOT DIE
-lol even half unconscious she still can shit talk him
-Will Fran and Balthier escape? Hard to say. But they saved Rabanastre successfully. The Bahamut crashed in the desert outside.
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One Year Later
Pretty closing song!
-A YEAR LATER. Penelo is in Rabanastre , narrating. The kingdom of Dalmasca is restored. .
-Ashe’s coronation is next month. She’s getting more distant. Makes sense; she’s a queen.
-This narration is a letter from Penelo to Larsa.
-AWWW BASCH IS BACK IN JUDGE GEAR! Guarding Larsa.
-Basch keeps his brother’s helmet nearby as a reminder.
-Vaan and Penelo had been using the Strahl, but it was stolen.
-We see Penelo and Vaan check a note from Balthier. ITS FROM BALTHEIR AND FRAN! THEY MADE IT OUT! (and stole their ship back lol)
Vaan and Penelo leave to meet up with the pair.
PENELO: “I’ll be going too. Every good sky pirate needs a partner, right?”
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Credits
-The credits roll. Names atop sketches from the game.
-Is that li’l Ashe snuggling a chocobo?
-Baltheir and Fran!
-lol Cid with four girls.
-Young Basch and Gabranth. I really like this art.
-The game offers me the chance to start New Game+. No thanks.
And that’s Final Fantasy XII!
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Next time: Final thoughts on FFXII up next week. A short break, and then beginning “War of the Lions” on iOS the week of November 5th.
