Summary: Odin. Sazh and Vanille traverse the Vile Peaks. Snow meets Cid. A brief breakup with Serah on Day 7.
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Thunderous Hooves
-More of this great Hope and Lightning pair-up.
-Ooh, new enemy mech: an Uhlan. Wasn’t that the samurai job in FFXII?
-Reached a Pulsian Dreadnaught, but this one isn’t a boss. It’s a vehicle that Hope pilots.
-Whee! I get to bowl over loads of enemy robots.
-Lightning’s frustrated. She’s having trouble surviving, let alone protecting Hope when he can lag behind. (Y’know, being a KID AND NOT A TRAINED SOLDIER and all.)
L: “You want to get tough? Do it on your own!”
-While venting, her brand glows red. A crystarium-esque circle surrounds her, like a blooming flower.
This must be another Eidolon! She’s feeling desperate, trapped, and that’s when they show up.
-It’s an armored sword-and-shield user. Odin?
-The Eidolon swings at Hope and LIGHTNING JUMPS IN AND SAVE HIM!
Not done with Hope.
-Odin yields to those who heal the wounded. Gonna turtle up.
-He’s raising his shield for “Ullr’s Shield.” Yeah, I’m not attacking that… Or maybe I have to? After all, in order heal damage I have to make him deal damage.
-It’s a close call. Healing up seemed to fill his gestalt meter.
-Oh my frigging lord. Last time, the game kept telling me to press “X” to finish the fight, but no matter how much I pressed X it didn’t work. I just noticed that’s because the game tells me xbox controls and I’m using a PS4 controller. That means the “X” I was supposed to press was actually square.
HE ANIMORPHS INTO A HORSE AND LIGHTNING MOUNTS UP
-I also deeply love grumpy Lightning.
HOPE: “Am I really in your way?”
*Lightning starts walking away*
“I’ll do better! I’ll try harder, I’ll…”
L: “We’ll toughen you up.”
-She even apologizes for her earlier outburst.
-A fight after with some PSICOM leads to a gestalt mode tutorial.
-Characters can summon their personal Eidolon with TP.
-What a cool summoning animation! She throws the Odin Eidolith crystal into the air, slices it, and he emerges from a rosy crystarium circle.
“Odin, cut us a path!”
-Eidolons have an SP gauge that depletes gradually and when they take damage.
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Thunderous Hooves
-More of this great Hope and Lightning pair-up.
-Ooh, new enemy mech: an Uhlan. Wasn’t that the samurai job in FFXII?
-Reached a Pulsian Dreadnaught, but this one isn’t a boss. It’s a vehicle that Hope pilots.
-Whee! I get to bowl over loads of enemy robots.
-Lightning’s frustrated. She’s having trouble surviving, let alone protecting Hope when he can lag behind. (Y’know, being a KID AND NOT A TRAINED SOLDIER and all.)
L: “You want to get tough? Do it on your own!”
-While venting, her brand glows red. A crystarium-esque circle surrounds her, like a blooming flower.
This must be another Eidolon! She’s feeling desperate, trapped, and that’s when they show up.
-It’s an armored sword-and-shield user. Odin?
-The Eidolon swings at Hope and LIGHTNING JUMPS IN AND SAVE HIM!
Not done with Hope.
-Odin yields to those who heal the wounded. Gonna turtle up.
-He’s raising his shield for “Ullr’s Shield.” Yeah, I’m not attacking that… Or maybe I have to? After all, in order heal damage I have to make him deal damage.
-It’s a close call. Healing up seemed to fill his gestalt meter.
-Oh my frigging lord. Last time, the game kept telling me to press “X” to finish the fight, but no matter how much I pressed X it didn’t work. I just noticed that’s because the game tells me xbox controls and I’m using a PS4 controller. That means the “X” I was supposed to press was actually square.
HE ANIMORPHS INTO A HORSE AND LIGHTNING MOUNTS UP
-I also deeply love grumpy Lightning.
HOPE: “Am I really in your way?”
*Lightning starts walking away*
“I’ll do better! I’ll try harder, I’ll…”
L: “We’ll toughen you up.”
-She even apologizes for her earlier outburst.
-A fight after with some PSICOM leads to a gestalt mode tutorial.
-Characters can summon their personal Eidolon with TP.
-What a cool summoning animation! She throws the Odin Eidolith crystal into the air, slices it, and he emerges from a rosy crystarium circle.
“Odin, cut us a path!”
-Eidolons have an SP gauge that depletes gradually and when they take damage.
-With an Eidolon summoned, I can press square to activate “gestalt mode” and attack from the back of the Eidolon.
-There’s also a gestalt gauge showing how long gestalt mode lasts. Activate gestalt mode after the gauge has charged.
-I can charge the gestalt gauge by building attack chains with the Eidolon.
-There’s a “gestalt dial” that I use to execute attacks. Its count decreases on ability use. The Eidolon is dismissed when it reaches zero.
-I tried it but don’t really understand it. I need some more practice. In the future at some point, I’ll probably save outside a fight and repeat that to get the hang of it. This seems like it’s building directly on the XII system. I like that – seems like there will be even more strategy and control.
-Later, they rest. Lightning sees Hope sleeping, dreaming.
DREAMING HOPE: “Mom?”
LIGHTINING: “Not by a long shot.” Lolol. But also, ouch. Ouch for all involved.
Not that Lightning wants to be a mom, but she clearly cares for the kid and knows she can’t help him just as he needs/wants.
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Loathing and Fear
-Scene change to Vanille and Sazh.
-Vanille reminds me of Rinoa from VIII. She similar teasing mannerisms. Even a similar gesture, where she puts her hands behind her back, bows and leans in, and cocks her head.
-They talk about Cocoon’s Pulse-phobia. Sazh even feels sort of the same, even as a Pule l’Cie. He’s afraid.
-This MUSIC THOUGH! Sounds jazzy, vaguely Latin, maybe Cuban? Idk, I’m really not versed in music. It’s incredible.
-Encountered my first bomb enemy. I like how even though it’s an automaton, its design references the goofy bombs of FF past.
Jagged segments of metal look like teeth, and a light looks like an eye.
-A door blocks our way. There’s a generator we reactivate… but wait. There was an elevator earlier in the level I couldn’t access because it had no power. Will be active now?
-Success! That elevator’s now active. Nothing too mind-blowing here, just some useful treasures including Oozes and Iron Shells to boost my exp modifiers.
-With that done, we continue on through Scrap Processing. The pair rests for the night on a cliffside.
-Vanille continues to be adorable. Just everything about her. Her mannerisms, the way she acts with Sazh, her optimism in the face of everything.
But I still know so little about her. I get the sense that part of her personality is masking a mission.
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Cold, Hard Fact
-Beautiful cinematic here as a fleet soars through the clouds.
LOOK AT THIS SHIT! How is this a real game I get to play?
-Snow and Mysterious Woman are aboard a titanic ship.
-The game’s subtitles spoil the woman’s name before she introduces herself. Her dialog says “Fang.”
-PSICOM Soldiers march Snow in chains through the through the ship. Oops, make that Guardian Corps.
-This is aboard the Lindblum, like the FFIX city.
-And like that Lindblum, Cid arrives. Cid Raines, GC brigadier general.
-He extends a hand to Snow. Okay, Bad Theory Time: I think the Cid is heading up some l’Cie-serving-Cocoon task force and uses Fang to recruit.
-They ask Snow about Serah, her Focus. Reasonable, since they probably think as a Pulse l’Cie, her Focus was, like, “Plans seven bombs in Eden,” making a completed focus scary.
RAINES: “The Sanctum devised a plan for you l’Cie. A public execution.” Lolol I was WAY off. He wants Snow’s help catching the other l’Cie.
So what’s Fang’s deal in all this?
-Snow flashback time, to Day 7 in Bodhum with Serah.
-She’s breaking up with him. Something about her being l’Cie.
Can we talk for a second about how cool Serah’s style is?
-Oh right, this is before the fireworks. This is him just learning about her as a l’Cie. How’d she get branded anyway?
-I like that upon hearing the news, Snow isn’t immediately all “Idc, I love you no matter what!” It hits him hard. He doesn’t know what to say and she runs off.
-After taking some time to absorb it, he pursues. The Pulse Vestige looms in the background.
-Datalog: Snow’s captors are part of the “Cavalry,” not directly involved with the Purge or tracking down of l’Cie. Really? They seem pretty “l’Cie tracky” to me.
This datalog also may intend to set up Fang and Raines as opposition, but not super baddies. It puts some distance between them and the Sanctum leadership.
-Now I get to control Snow, walking around the peaceful beach on Day 7. NORA’s here.
-WAIT WAIT WAIT – what if THAT’S why Fang was in Bodhum? She hunted down Snow. She was probably hunting for Serah as a known Pulse l’Cie.
-Aw, good guy Snow. He finds Serah, tells her he’ll help here even now to fulfill her Focus.
-She happily accepts his help. They’ll stay together.
-Even now, she knows she has shit choices. Either monster or crystal.
SNOW: “When l’Cie complete their Focus, they’re blessed with the gift of Eternity.” That’s… a terrifying gift. Eternity scares me badly on a personal level.
(I’ve recommended this before, but for anyone interested in that fear, check out one of Stephen King’s great and terrifying short stories, “The Jaunt.”)
So much of that “gift” depends on what Serah’s experience is like inside that crystal. Like, if she’s in a blissful dream state? Cool!
But what if she’s fully awake, fully aware of her surroundings and just unable to act or move? Nerves active? What if she has an itch at the bottom of her foot and can NEVER SCRATCH IT FOR ETERNITY?
If that were the case, give me the Cie’th ending any day. At least they can die.
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Next time: back with Lightning and Hope.
