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I’ve been experiencing anxiety about playing as I approach the final days. I like how skill-based the game is, but it freaks me out too. What if I reach a boss I’m simply not good enough to beat? Someone I can’t land blocks on or understand the timing for, no matter how much I try?
I’m more comfortable asking for help than I was years ago. So I’m going to ease my anxiety now by giving myself permission: if I really struggle on a mandatory main story boss, I’ll let myself look up hints/strategies. Hopefully it won’t get to that point! But I do want to beat this game.
Sorry for the tangent. I haven’t felt this particular brand of stress about other games in the series and wanted to share that. [Non-rhetorical question: Any of you felt this?]
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Transition to Day 11
Nothing of note happens on Day 10. Mostly sleep.
-Got a new Martial Monk garb. It has Punt, transformed to Whirlwind Kick. Hm. Idk how to effectively use punt. May have to try this out at some point.
-Lumina meets me again, and she brought a friend. Yeul.
“There are people here. They want to see you.”
Everyone I saved – Sazh, Snow, etc. – appears! And disappears in a blink.
-Lumina says it’s because Lightning’s too far gone from humanity without Serah, and Serah is hidden.
YEUL: “If it means saving Serah, will you fight God?” Almost definitely. I’d be slobberknocked if Bhunivelze isn’t the game’s final boss.
-Yeul leaves, warning that Lightning must save herself before anyone else.
-Something’s missing from Lightning. And Lumina won’t say what.
“It doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t figure it out on your own!”
DON’T JUDGE ME, I’LL USE A GUIDE IF I… wait, you’re talking about Lightning.
-Then Lightning’s sailing through that clockwork spinny gate thing. On her way from the Ark.
-Hope keeps bugging me about what’s wrong, and Lightning will not tell him. Good. I trust this Hope about as far as I can throw him.
Me. Not Lightning, cause she can throw him pretty far.
-Day 11 goes quickly. Finished off one side quest, helping a girl in Luxerion (Luka) learn to cry and connect with her past trauma again.
LR has such a unique tone.
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Transition to Day 12
-Awaiting me in my mindspace on the way to the Ark is the last person I expect: Cid Raines.
-Nm. Cid is long gone. This creature just took Cid’s form as a convenience.
“I am the voice of many, of the countless multitude who call the Chaos home. I am the speaker for the dead.” This is a representative of those dwelling in Chaos.
-He claims the Order misled Vanille. The Soulsong ritual will indeed obliterate the dead, but Chaos has a bigger role than she was led to believe.
“The Chaos will drown this world, but it’s also the key to our humanity. When we die, we return to it… but only for a short time.”
Souls persist. They’re reborn! And they can be reborn in the new world too, but only if Vanille chooses to do so. UNLIKE LIGHTNING, SHE CAN SAVE THE DEAD!
-The Order lied to Vanille. They preach salvation only for the living.
I love that Vanille is as much a savior as Lightning.
-Bhunivelze doesn’t want to save all these dead souls either. Why? Does he think saving the souls in the Chaos will corrupt his new world’s fresh start, or is he physically unable to extract them from Chaos?
-This explains the Cid costume. Cid defied the gods and was killed for it. That’ll be us.
Hee! I just got it. The Order (of Bhunivelze) is opposed to Chaos.
-Still, defeating God is… a challenge. Apparently, finding Serah in the Chaos will grant us that power.
-“Cid” smiles as he fades. I can’t tell if he , he smiled. Sinister smile or “yay, she can do it!” smile? Idk.
-Back to the Ark. Hope says this is the last day. I’ll save here in case I royally screw up what comes next.
-HOPE FEELS SO SKETCHY. He says that even though God can’t reach into the Chaos to pull Serah’s soul out, he’ll just make her anew in the new world so it’ll be fine.
A fresh new sister! How nice.
-He promises me that if he dies before me, he’ll try to find Serah in the Chaos and reunite us.
Huh. That’s… actually a genuinely nice offer that doesn’t smack of being Bhunivelze’s spy for once. It gives me hope (heh) that I might be wrong, that he might not be a total fake? Gah, idk.
-I sleep Day 12 away. I’m ready.
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Transition to Day 13
-Yggradil is blooming in some new way.
-“Day 13, one day until the end.” Huh?? I thought day 13 WAS the end.
-Three of my garbs just got upgraded. Like, Mist Wizard is now Mist Wizard+.
-This is major! Equilibrium+ has Attack Lv. 4 and dramatically increases the ATB recovery of standby garbs, which is crucial with stuff like Soldier of Peace that starts at 0.
-Hope is surprised by this day. “This might be the lost time. We’re getting it back, here at the end.”
OHHH RIGHT, that lore bit from the beginning. When the Chaos flooded the world, the 26 hour day changed to 24 hours. I got so much Eradia that there’s all the time is back now.
-One more day to accomplish anything missing, but for me that’ll probably be sleep lol.
-Never mind! Hope says a new dungeon is unlocked in the Dead Dunes.
-OH GOD, IT’S CALLED “THE ULTIMATE LAIR.” This is some boss-filled super dungeon bullshit, right?
-I guess I’ll try it. Worse comes to worse I die horribly, and I’m used to that. No pressure. I’m expecting to stall out and die when I meet the first Omega or Shinryu or whatever.
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The Ultimate Lair
-Time doesn’t stop during battles.
-The enemies are all “Last Ones.” [Non-rhetorical question: the quest I had to extinguish all the monsters said there’s an easier way to do it than just killing thousands of enemies. Is this it?]
-No Chronostasis in the ruins. So this is a speed thing. Which I suck at lol.
That’s okay. I have no expectations here. This feels very optional.
-First enemy is a Last Hoplite. I can warp to the next floor, or two or three floors down. Hm. I’ll just go floor by floor I guess.
-The Last Zaltys is pretty nasty. The Last Gorgonospid, less-so.
-Ten floors clear. Most of which were empty.
-RIP Schrodinger the cat. Sorry, bud.
-When I reach level 15, Hope chimes in that this is some legendary divine testing ground, where God pitted his new creations against each other.
-JESUS THIS LAST CACTUAR! It obliterates me. Spams me with 1,000 Needles, and an Elementa attack I can’t seem to time my blocks against effectively.
-A few tries later, Fire + overclock + artemis’ arrows gets the job done.
I’m actually glad I can’t use chronostasis. It means the punishment has an end date.
-Last One Cyclops was especially tough. Only a one star victory, but I’ll take it.
-Last One Earth Eater is hard. yikes. Not seeing the patterns. I just keep getting hit by everything, debuffed to hell, blowing through my resources and dying.
*next attempt after reloading*
PERFECT ATTEMPT WTFFF, I’M THE GOD OF LIGHTNING RETURNS!
I didn’t even need to use heals or anything. I used Counterattack to dodge its attacks, swapped to my mage garb to stagger with Aerora, Deprotect, then hit it with Artemis’ Arrows.
FDHJKLSFDHSJKL THAT WAS SO SATISFYING
-Okay, calling it for this session on that high note. Dunno how many more high notes I’ll get in this place.
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Next time: continuing through the Ultimate Lair to floor 23.
