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The Dreams of Man
-Through the Hypogeum to the Transept. This may be the bottom level.
-I dig the look of these berserkers. Like metal centaurs.
-Is this a ruined city out here? Looks like buried skyscrapers. It’s some kind of scrap maze.
-Snow has found his resolve. “It’s not the fal’Cie we should be listening to. It’s Serah and Raines… Our Focus doesn’t matter. What matters to me is that we protect Cocoon, whatever it takes.”
-oh good lord, we’re doing a fist pile.
I like cheese, and this is a bit much even for me lol. (I think I’d be okay with it if Snow weren’t leading it.)
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On Wings of Misery
-Fang isn’t down. Cocoon doesn’t care about her, why should she care about it?
-It’s more than that. Going against the fal’Cie would mean abandoning her beloved Vanille to Cie’thood.
She’s desperate. Which means it’s Eidolon time.
-It’s got a demonic theme. I’m gonna guess Diabolos.
-And of course, everyone protects her.
-OH SHIT, IT’S NOT DIABOLOS – IT’S FRIGGING BAHAMUT
-I die while trying to figure out my paradigms. Like, immediately.
-Second try. Bahamut yields when I defend and weaken. Gotta focus on sentinel and saboteur.
-VICTORY! Fang hops aboard her new flying Bahamut hoverboard and my life is complete.
So frigging metal.
-The Eidolons have an interestingly ambiguous role. They’re ostensibly here to murder us if we stray from the fal’Cie’s path, but is that it? They’ve been the spark that cements our free will as often as not. Hard to tell if that’s coincidence.
VANILLE: “Hey, Serah. So I guess being a l’Cie doesn’t mean you can’t do what’s right, does it?”
-Damn, my paradigm decks reset every time I change my battle team. That’s super annoying. [Non-rhetorical question: is there a way to save them?]
-I like the piano melody playing here post-Bahamut.
-We press on and fine a janky looking Gran Pulse airship. There’s even a gate to Gran Pulse!
-And this time, everybody’s in. Fang and Hope and all.
-We get a nice flashback to the night of the fireworks.
VANILLE: “The tiniest spark of hope that we could change our fate.”
-We hop into the airship and fly through the gate towards Gran Pulse.
-AND A GIANT FRIGGING CENTIPEDE FLIES AT US
Gran Pulse is just gonna be Australia, isn’t it? Giant predators and insects and stuff. (Or at least one particular pop culture image of Australia.)
-The whole airship thing is short-lived as the centipede knocks us for a loop. Thank goodness for Bahamut.
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Terra Incognita
-Gran Pulse is lush and green as seen from above. Home sweet home for Fang and Vanille.
-Oh that’s WEIRD – is that Cocoon up there in the sky? It must be.
-As Vanille describes the world’s brutality. We see it in action as a chocobo flees its predators.
The chocobo is unsuccessful.
VANILLE: “There is no such thing as mercy. Only a never-ending string of trials that weed out the weak and leave only the strong.”
-It’s not just wilderness though. There are plenty of ruins here, what look like old buildings and skyscrapers. Perhaps a glimpse at Gran Pulse before the War of Transgression.
V: “Would bringing the Maker back into this world really lead to our salvation?” I’m gonna say that’s a no. I’d be blown away if the game ends this with the Maker returning and saving everything.
WHAT THE FRESH HELL IS THAT GIANT MOLTEN GIANT EATING A DINOSAUR
-omg I love this image of Chocobo flitting about from person to person.
-Ruh-oh. It’s not happy flitting. It’s Lassie telling us that Timmy fell down a well. Hope’s missing.
-The datalog tells me that a lot of time passed and the characters are feeling despair. I should’ve picked up on that.
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A Fruitless Search
-We find him down the road, unconscious.
-Everyone is feeling desperate when Vanille chimes in: “We could go a little further.” She has somewhere in mind.
HOPE: “Oerba. The place where it all began. The place where the Pulse fal’Cie lay dreaming.” How does he know all this? L’Cie vision, or Vanille told him? I’m betting the former.
-Hope wants us to leave him behind. He’s close to becoming Cie’th. Doesn’t want to see us hurt.
AND HOPE EIDOLON TIME! A giant robot erupts from him. Alexander?
-It’s kind of inspiring. In a l’Cie’s most desperate time, this titanic reminder of the strength inside them pops out.
-Yup, Alexander.
-This is all about healing and buffing. I baaaarely win, with under 100 ticks to go on doom.
-Afterward, Alexander takes on a traditional form. He grafts onto giant arms and Hope hops aboard.
HOPE: “I always thought the Eidolons were here to set us free through death, but I think maybe they’re here to snap us out of our slumps.” Agreed.
-On towards Oerba.
VANILLE: “Our final journey had just begun.” Maybe we really are getting close to the end.
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Next time: the Archylte Steppe.
