Note: I’m taking this slow. Reading tutorials, datalog lore, and getting used to everything. I apologize to anyone hoping for a faster pace. I may speed up at some point when I’m more comfortable.
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Hanging Edge - Datalog
-Let’s check out the datalog’s mechanics intro.
-Save Stations gives me vendor access, with different passes unlocking different merchants. Like Crisis Core, iirc.
-I’m glad they show blue indicators for auto-jump spots. No need for random wall-humping.
-Items don’t deplete the ATB gauge. This is a TITANIC change! It incentivizes item use far more than any prior FF game. The “action or item?” choice no longer exists in XIII.
-Whew! There’s a “repeat” option for the auto-battle.
-The “Battle Team Leader” role seems more important than I’d assumed. I thought it was a cosmetic thing, just the character you control when running around. Nope!
“If the battle team leader’s HP reaches zero, the game is over – regardless of whether or not other members are still standing.”
-I’m immediately in love with the “Retry” mechanic. If I’m reading this correctly, you can just reset a lost fight to try again. I hope it resets you to just before the fight so you can choose to avoid it entirely.
-Battle speed influences rating, and the resulting rewards. I gotta not fuck around in combat.
I haaaate this. I wanted the calm, strategic pace of FFX and now it’s incentivizing me to go-go-go.
…Y’know what? Screw it. I don’t want to be the “this Thing is different, therefore I dislike it” guy. Let me give this a fair shot. I’m going to try leaning into the speed thing. Maybe I’ll like it.
-Ooh, an “Enemy Intel” list! (A bestiary.) I often ignore these, but I’m determined to check this frequently. They often contain great tactical tips and lore.
There’s a chain of type, subtype, and log entry. My only current entry is the Manasvin Warmech.
-The Manasvin Warmech shows a “Stagger Point” of 300.0%. That’s the gauge I saw on its head earlier. My best guess is that when I reach that point by doing enough damage in a short time, it gets stunned?
-The vulnerabilities and statuses looks pretty straightforward. I see fire, ice, lightning, water, nature, earth, and… slashing and blunt? It’s immune to what looks like death, stop, and bio.
[Later edit: I see now that the sword and cane icons symbolize strength and magic rather than slashing and blunt.]
-That’s it for now. I like that the datalog just shows me what’s relevant now rather than overwhelming me with later mechanics. A+ tutorialing, XIII.
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Hanging Edge
-The only vendor pass I have now is the Unicorn Mart. Basic potions and phoenix downs.
My eyebrows raise, because a unicorn (what I took as Ixion) is one of the three discernible creatures on the game’s logo. Seems like it’ll be a core thing.
-Most enemies here are “PSICOM” soldiers, the scuba mask dudes. Not sure what that term means - my first thought is "Psionic Commandos" but they don't use psychic attack or whatever.
-What’s up with the sky? Dark green with patches of light. Is it a canopy of trees surrounding us? Probably not – this doesn’t seem like a tree-friendly city. Some kind of pollutant is more likely.
-I’m loving the dynamic environments! For example, we crossed a bridge, and some falling airship or something destroyed the platform segment behind us, cutting off retreat.
-I have to be careful about these jump points and fully explore the area before using one. Some have been one-way jumps.
LIGHTNING: “Better to die than get sent to Pulse. It’s hell without the brimstone.” Pulse must be where the people on the train were being exiled to.
-The PSICOMS use those blue portals to summon guardian mechs, Pantherons.
-Enemy Intel shows some PSICOM units take half damage from strength attacks. I don’t have any magic attacks yet – assuming Blitz is strength-based – but this is great to know.
-I’ve only been fighting for like 10 minutes and this rating system is already growing on me. It makes me think actively about how to maximize my damage in each situation.
-OH MY GOD I LOVE THE COMBAT SO FAR! Two things specifically:
1) The return of “instanced” combat, unlike FFXII’s more open world. Each fight is its own scene.
2) The dynamic movement! This is something I adored in Chrono Trigger, how characters move in ways that changed the battlefield. Like, if the enemies line up, you used a line attack.
Here, I watch for moments when enemies group up for a Blitz.
-One PSICOM shouts “Rebels!” at us. I guess this is a rebellion after all.
-The track we’re fighting on collapses, cutting off our movement.
-WTFFFF ABILITY IS THAT LIGHTNING??? She snaps her fingers and activates personal flight.
-Sazh freaks tf out that she’s gonna leave him behind and holds her back, until her Snappy Zappy wears off. Short duration I guess. Maybe that’s like a limit break.
-I like Sazh’s personality so far. He’s curious about Lightning. Outgoing without being zany or cloying.
Most importantly, he doesn’t just seem hop into “sidekick” mode. He’s cautious. He doesn’t want to get screwed. It’s early, but I like both these two so far.
Datalog: Suspect citizens of Cocoon (this city? This world?) are being threatened with exile to the Pulse. The civilians revolted in response.
-This PSICOM Marauder looks COOL! (In a GI Joe sort of way.)
-If I attack a bunch, I fill the enemy’s “stagger” gauge. Staggered enemies take extra damage.
That’s super helpful. I shouldn’t spread damage out against big hitters, but rather focus to get them into stagger range.
LIGHTNING: “I’m after the fal’Cie.” This freaks Sazh out badly. Wtf is the fal’Cie? A weapon?
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Resistance Front
-Scene change. A Sanctum Patriarch’s voice booms over the warzone, thanking the “selfless Pulse pioneers” for their sacrifice. Lolol not a very willing sacrifice. This is some Big Brother shit.
-Two new characters appear, Yuj and Snow. Rebels. Snow seems to be the leader.
SNOW: “What’s our motto?”
YUJ: “The army’s no match for NORA!”
Can’t spell AVALANCHE without... well, two letters from NORA.
-I’m now controlling Snow. I wonder if Lightning will be a main protagonist or if it’ll be a bunch of co-protagonists.
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Resistance Front – Datalog
-Cocoon fears a Pulsian invasion. So it’s a nation down there, not just a beast-ridden wasteland.
Bad Prediction Time: We’ll end up sympathizing with and supporting Pulse.
-Sanctum fears secret Pulsian agents, hence the Purge. Get rid of anyone even suspected I guess.
-Snow leads NORA, fighting the exile-turned-massacre.
-NORA started as a paramilitary neighborhood watch, only turning rebels with the Purge.
-Snow’s weapon is “Wild Bear,” an “army surplus item.” I don’t think it’s a wielded weapon. Seems more like a power-up unit, maybe one that enhances his punches. I won’t know until I see it in combat.
-A Pulsian fal’Cie was discovered in near Bodhum, having spent centuries in hibernation. This fal’Cie caused Sanctum’s panic.
-Apparently, Pulse tried invading Cocoon centuries ago. The current Cocoon populace fears them based largely on that history.
-Cocoon is a “world,” a shell. A big one, holding tens of millions, but I think it’s artificial? I’m imagining a Death Star meant for habitation rather than war.
-There was a “War of Transgression.” This Resistance Front was once a thriving center until a Pulsian attack “cracked Cocoon’s shell.”
-Sanctum rules Cocoon like a dictatorship.
-The fal’Cie build Cocoon, not humans. Interesting! So the fal’Cie are a race?? Wow. They even participate “superficially” in Cocoon’s government.
-Okay, I think I get it. Fal’Cie are an old race. Some are in Cocoon, and Sanctum is sort of okay with them. Some are in Pulse, and Sanctum is very not okay with them.
-What’s this whole “contamination” fear? Biological contamination, or is it, like, contamination of ideas?
-Sanctum’s Primarch is Galenth Dysley. Sounds like a Big Bad, or at least a potential mini-boss.
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Next time: exploring the Resistance Front with Snow.
