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Towards the Meteorite
-uhhhh what the fuck? I just loaded the game for my next session and a voice came on saying “Final Fantasy XIII-2 – The Story so far!” It gave a little recap, like you might see at the start of a serialized TV episode. Was the game released episodically?
It’s not bad or anything, and I can appreciate it for when I don’t play for a while. Just surprised me.
-The datalog recommends Sentinel against multiple enemies who deal heavy physical damage. I’ll try to use that more this time.
-The calendar’s “AF” means “After the Fall.”
“[Magic] was once only the province of l’Cie, but since the catastrophe and the migration to Pulse, some former citizens of Cocoon have suddenly developed the ability to wield magic.” That explains how we have power without brands.
-Mog is the moogle. He’s good at finding lost objects and can transform into weapons.
“With the right components available, Mog is capable of evolving into even more powerful weaponry.” I’ll bet that’s what the fragment counter in the save screen refers to.
-The menu art of Serah and Noel is kind of adorable. It can only feed djinn87’s ship.
Team Not Snow?
-There are so many outfits for all my characters. INCLUDING MOG HOLY SHIT, THERE ARE SO MANY
Fashionista Mog, Pirate Mog, Tomato Mog.
-Noel has one called “Spacetime Guardian,” feeding into my belief that he’s a time traveler.
-Interesting! Noel was born on Pulse.
-New mechanic, a Mog Clock. When monsters materialize the Mog Clock appears and stars a progression.
GREEN: Enemy is immobile and I can pre-emptive strike.
YELLOW: Enemy is moving and ready for battle if I attack it.
RED: Enemy is fully alert. When time runs out, the battle begins. I can’t retry battles like this.
For a pre-emptive strike, swing at the enemy before the clock hits yellow.
BOOOO!! I liked being able to retry any battle. But we’ll see. They must’ve had a reason.
-I can attack any enemy within its encounter circle. I escape by moving out of range.
-Okay, the game has given me a few random encounters so far. Some immediate thoughts, pro/con:
PRO:
-Pre-emptive strikes feel easier and more in my control. It so far avoids those XIII moments where I’m sneaking up and the enemy turns to me at the last second, seemingly after I engaged it.
-The action element where I have to swing at the enemy to start the fight feels cool.
CON:
-The enemies materialize randomly. I can’t see them coming and plan ahead the way I could in XIII or even XII.
BUT RELATED PROS?
-This forces me to be more spontaneous. Not sure if this is a pro, but I’ll keep an open mind about it.
-Easier to grind if I want to, since enemies frequently respawn.
ONE LAST CON
-Enemies respawn. It can get a bit much when I’m just trying to explore. At least I can run away if I want rather than engaging.
-Serah’s dress (the one that appeared on her randomly) reminds Noel of Lightning’s garb in Valhalla. I don’t quite see it, but maybe there’s some resemblance.
-For not the last time, Serah wonders if she’s still dreaming. I’m really on edge about whether this foreshadows an “it was all a dreeeeam!” reveal on the horizon.
-Okay there’s DEFINITELY timey wimey shenanigans going on with Noel. He looks up at Cocoon and is all, “Wow, I can’t believe I’m really here!” If he was from Pulse in this time and place, wouldn’t he have seen this frequently over the past years?
Maybe he’s like Vanille and Fang and only just recently awoke from a millenia-long slumber?
-Found a map of this region in a treasure sphere. OMG THERE’S A % EXPLORED THING! I love being able to check off how much of an area I’ve explored on game maps. Getting those achievements in XIV is super satisfying.
-I just noticed that Noel has Rinoa-style wings on the back of his shirt.
He and Lightning both have that angel theme, whatever it means. Also, Lightning seems to work for the Goddess (maybe?). And Noel got to Valhalla by praying.
-A sneaky great thing about XIII-2’s pre-emptive strikes: pre-emptive strikes grant you temporary haste. I always felt obligated to keep Sazh in my party in XIII to cast haste at the start of every battle. This giaves me more flexibility in party-building.
-OMG I LOVE HOW AFTER BATTLE, MOG TRANSFORMS BACK FROM A WEAPON INTO A MOOGLE AND JUMPS INTO SERAH’S ARMS FOR A HUG
-As we get closer to the meteorite, there are these pockets of warping space (and presumably time). They’re wavy, dizzying. It’s hard to tell what’s about to break in.
But I get the sense it’s a specific place, not just a jumble of graphics.
-This also explains XIII-2’s new random encounter mechanic and why it’s easier to get pre-emptive strikes. Enemies spawn on top of you from these portals. If I attack them immediately, they are still confused about where they are. If I wait until the Mog Clock runs down, I’ve given them the chance to get situated in their new surroundings and ready to fight.
-As I think about it, I can understand why the game would want to incentivize attacking early. There’s a cost to waiting and adjusting my strategy. If I want to wait and plan, I have to pay the price.
-As we move along, Noel meets the various members of NORA. My favorite is Yuj. He seems genuinely excited by Serah’s new outfit, even though she doesn’t know where tf it came from.
“Hard to resist trying on a new outfit!”
-The meteorite seems to be warping time around it. Even some plants nearby have long decayed leaves mixed with fresh green leaves.
MAQUI: “Some spots seem to have sped forward centuries. But other parts haven’t changed at all!”
(For any “Worm” fans, this gives me horrific memories of Khonsu.)
-WAIT WTF, COCOON DISAPPEARED
-A boss appears in our way, Gogmagog. That demon reaching out of a time portal.
-His main thing is that he uses Swipe. Starts casting it, then hits for big damage shortly after. It gives me enough time to shift paradigms to Twin Shields (SEN SEN) and protect myself.
-our victory pushes him back into the portal.
-Ooh, got a fragment! Gogmagog was in an “anomaly.” Closing anomalies gives me fragments.
Fragments are “memories of time, solidified into shards, each containing a valuable piece of knowledge or slice of history.” There are 160 of them total. So this is what those are, not the Mog upgrade components.
-OKAY THIS IS GOOD, VERY GOOD! Part of my issue with FFXIII’s bestiary is how it was purely mechanical. It didn’t give all the flavor and lore bits that XII did so well.
The fragments lore addresses that issue. This first Gogmagog Fragment Alpha tells me of him. He’s a giant of the “Void Beyond,” banished for violating the laws of time. He’s so covered in etchings and markings because those were the charms used to seal him.
-There are there other fragments in New Bodhum-003 AF.
-Wait. The datalog lists “New Bodhum-003 AF” as a location? Why not just “New Bodhum?”
Prediction time, and I feel reasonably confident in this one: I think this’ll be like “Chrono Trigger,” where I’ll eventually be able to hop between different times in the same location.
-Reached the meteor. It’s surrounded by these time portals.
-And Noel confirms that he comes from a different time, the time we see through the portals.
“In my world, Cocoon doesn’t exist. The sky was born empty.” Past or future?
-Future, 700 years. “I’m the last of humanity.” Oh shit. Major FFXI vibes from the Rhapsodies of Vana’diel storyline, where someone came from a destroyed future to alter the timeline.
-They touch the meteor, and its jagged edges slough away to reveal a time gate.
Valhalla is on the other side. All the answers to the different histories around Lightning and her disappearance await.
-We return to town with NORA as Noel tells how he came here.
-To travel back in time, you need “artefacts.” Keys to the future. Things that don’t belong in your time.
So Lightning’s Valhalla exists elsewhere in time. Again, past or future? Betting future.
SERAH: “I want to believe. I want my sister back!”
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Next time: Back in town.
