---
Chapter 1, cont. – New Bodhum AF 003
-I can now access paradigms and crystarium.
-XIII’s paradigms all had preset patterns of whether each character attacked the same or different targets. XIII-2 lets me customize that.
-“Focusing on the development of one role is highly efficient as you gain Growth Bonuses while leveling up that role.”
OKAY THAT’S COOL! I just opened up the crystarium. Serah’s is shaped in the outline of Starseeker, her moogle crossbow.
Like a constellation. Noel’s is in the shape of his twin weapons.
[Non-rhetorical question/later edit: I still don’t understand “Growth Bonuses.” Does that refer to the choice I get after the crystarium expands, like whether to unlock a new role or gain ATB segments?]
-I think I’ll try to give my characters a main role and secondary role at about a 2:1 CP distribution. To start, going COM/SEN for Noel, RAV/COM for Serah.
-Time Gates each require a specific artefact to activate. “By passing through these gates and traveling outside the timeline, it is said one can eventually arrive in Valhalla.”
So Valhalla is somewhere beyond time. Perhaps my afterlife theory is still in play.
-The chest in Serah’s room has “Lebreau’s Olive Tattoo,” and “adornment.” Dunno how to use it yet.
-NORA is (reasonably) skeptical of Noel. An artefact to open the time gate will be proof.
-New mechanic: “The Moogle’s Bobble.” Mog’s pom glows bright when artefact and treasures are nearby. A bit of hot ‘n’ cold.
-Life on Cocoon was untenable after it fell. Sounds like the fal’Cie were either untrusted or out of commission. Everyone (or almost everyone?) moved down to Pulse, where life was harder.
-The biggest town is at the base of the pillar holding up Cocoon.
-KITTIES! Another common thread with Chrono Trigger. One kitty is Serah’s, a gift from NORA after Snow was gone. (Still not sure where he is.)
”Come, Serah! My pom glows when kittens are near!”
Omg she named her cat Snow
NOEL: “[NORA] is like your family, right?” I get four options to answer this:
1) If only Snow was here…
2) If only Lightning was here…
3) Why don’t you settle down here, too?
4) THE CAT IS MY ONLY FAMILY
I BADLY want to pick #4, but I doubt Serah would say that. I think she’d see it as insulting to NORA. I go with #2.
-Someone in the future told Noel about artefacts and gates. Someone before we saw him in Valhalla. Not sure who.
-The vegetables growing in town shock Noel. In the future, the soil is all barren. They hunt.
-Noel was literally the last human alive. Everyone else had died before he left.
-ANOTHER new mechanic: Fragment Quests. Sound like kill or collect side quests.
-Not all missions will be solvable in the current time period. If I can’t find what I’m looking for, it may appear later.
No way I’ll 100% this, but I’ll give it the ol’ college try like always.
-Serah’s a teacher. AND SHE’S A HARDASS LOL!
That’s not what I expected. I like the subversion. Noel’s grandmother was a teacher too.
-Meanwhile, Maqui is being… weird. Someone stole something from him.
-Got my first side mission: retrieve a lost med kit. This wasn’t marked on a map. I just talked to someone and she gave it to me.
[Non-rhetorical question: Are there missions where I have to talk to people multiple times to discover if they have a mission for me, or will they offer as soon as I talk to them once?]
Tried back tracking to find it, but no luck. It must be ahead somewhere.
-Mog’s pom lights up as he finds… Lightning’s knife? Not really an “artefact.”
-Serah flashes back to the reunion at the end of XIII.
-WAIT, THIS IS THE LIE VERSION! Lightning’s not here. Instead, Hope sadly hands Serah the knife he found near the base of the pillar.
-Even in this memory, Serah knows something’s weird. “She was right here a second ago! I saw her. We talked. She gave us her blessing.”
Poor Serah. This happy moment was ripped from her, and even ripped from others’ memories. Nobody believed her. Except Noel now. That’s gotta be refreshing.
-So why does nobody remember? I choose the “history must have changed” live trigger option, but that’s apparently the wrong one. Hm.
A random image of Mog hopping into Serah’s arms after battle.
I feel like I’m answering these live triggers wrong, missing out on rewards, but whatever.
-LOLOL – I spent the last 10 minutes wandering around town searching for a way out of town… until I realized I just had to jump over a small gate.
-We finally catch up with that kid Maqui was after outside town. Again, live triggers. I can either bribe him with kindness or go all bad-cop. It’s an easy choice.
SERAH: “All right now! Spill it, mister!” She threatens to triple his homework. You MONSTER.
get rekt kid
-…and it didn’t work? I guess I have to go with a different approach. [Non-rhetorical question, related to the other one: is getting these “wrong” the only way to see other answers?]
-Turns out he took Snow’s Necklace. But I thought he took something from Maqui? Idk.
-Flashback. Even without Serah’s memory, Snow believed Serah. He set out to find Lightning and gave Serah his necklace to hold onto.
So that’s where Snow’s been. He hasn’t returned in years. Still searching.
-I rip on Snow a lot, but I want to be clear it’s all about his bro-y style. He’s actually a sweet, reasonably reflective, supportive guy.
The fact that he believes Serah so readily and commits to helping find her sister is totally in character.
-Why didn’t Serah go with him? I think it’s for the kids she teaches. Maybe?
NOEL: “…Were you secretly glad Snow was out of your life?” WHOA HOLY SHIT DUDE
-Though it makes sense. He came from a world with only a handful of people at its maximum. Any sort of willing parting confuses him.
-I thought “Capacity: 50” meant that I could only carry 50 items on me. Nope. Each character can only equip 50 points worth of gear. For instance, a Power Wristband and an Iron Bangle are each worth 30 points, so since the capacity is 50, each character can only use one. That’s WAY better than inventory cap.
-Back to town. No luck finding artefacts, but something weird is still up. Two of Serah’s things were put in weird places.
-Now THIS is weird. Serah’s room now has a mysterious glowing mirror. A crystal cluster floats out from it… the anomalous artefact.
-Artefacts change shapes depending on who possesses them.
-Noel’s ready to open the gate.
SERAH: “What is it you want, exactly?”
NOEL: “A future where there’s people in it.” Oof. Good answer.
He was the last child born. The last person alive. He went through a time gate in desperation. That’s when he met Lightning in Valhalla, who told her the future could be changed, and now here he is.
-FINALLY found the missing med kit. It was in a section blocked off until just now. Note to self: if I can’t find a quest object and I’ve given the area a full once-over, chill. It may show up later.
-I return the medkit, getting some CP and a “Heart Prism” (?) as rewards.
-But the best reward is the lore/flavor text. The medium is the “Lenora’s Garage Latest.” The store newsletter maybe.
It’s about all the new magic being learned on Pulse. Serah describes her own secret to magic as “channeling the crystal within.”
-There are two more fragments in this time and location I haven’t discovered yet. I really hope they don’t require me going back and talking to the people I already talked to. That’d be the equivalent of how older games required you to just push on ALL the walls and hope you find a secret one.
-Back towards the meteorite. Gogmagog is in the way again.
-hee! The battle music’s vocals sound all death metal.
-Got a TON of CP, and the next fragment.
-CHOCOBO! HELLO FRIEND! Looking just as stern as in XIII.
-I can use gysahl greens to feed them and get some safe travel.
-Gogmagog may be a monster type, not an individual. Some believe it was a fal’Cie punished for trying to time travel.
-My crystarium just expanded… and I have a choice of a bonus. Do I get a COM bonus boost, a RAV bonus boost, unlock saboteur, increase the ATB, or increase accessory capacity?
Wow. That’s a huge choice. I wish I knew how much the boosts helped. But tbh, unlocking saboteur is an easy choice.
[Non-rhetorical question: is there a way to tell what the abilities do before I unlock them? Like, is there a way to hover over “Smite” before I pick it and see what it does?]
-Same thing with Noel. I choose to unlock synergist. My new plan is for Serah to be RAV/SAB and Noel to be COM/SYN.
-Very surprised these two roles opened up before medic.
---
Next time: continuing back to the meteorite.
