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Chapter 2: Legacy
Scene change to Luna, being greeted by a white and black dog, those messenger pups. She takes a ring from the dog. “Ring of the Lucii.”
[Later edit: a loading screen message describes this ring as hereditary through the line of the kings of Lucis. That feels a bit spoilery tbh, so I may try ignoring those going forward, but dunno. What do y’all suggest? Are these messages meant for people who’ve already played the game?]
Not sure who the dark-haired woman is.
-Next chapter: The Power of Kings.
-Scene change back to the squad in the car. Gladiolus’ sister, Iris, survived the attacks.
Pryna and Umbra, from the loading screen tips. WHAT GOOD PUPS!
-We roll into Hammerhead.
-The mood is more resigned than shocked. “Walls were made to fall.” “It was only a matter of time.” Sounds like the Empire has a rep.
-Cid confirms that the Empire has just been after the “Crystal and the king’s ring” this whole time. Never really interested in peace. Feels like we’re starting the game as the Mysidians in FFIV.
-Noctis is initially angry at his father for being a fool, but Cid tamps that quickly. He saw this coming, did the best he could, but ultimately Lucis was just overpowered.
-This is the first time Noctis hears how hard his father fought. He didn’t see the cutscene we did.
-Cid calls the former king “Reggie.” He and the former king must have been close. Maybe Cid was even once one of his knights, like Gladiolus to the king’s Noctis.
As the scene ends, the camera zooms into a photo on Cid’s desk: four young men near a car.
I feel nearly certain of that theory now.
-I head northwest to Prairie Outpost. A woman named Monica Elshett meets me. Sounds like she’s part of the Crownsguard.
-Most of the Crownsguard died in the attack. That makes sense.
-The Crownsguard brought Iris to Lestallum. Looking forward to meeting her.
-A news report announces that citizens are mourning the supposed death of Lunafreya. Really curious what her role really is within the Empire’s power structure.
-Hunters here talk about Cor as if he’s a legend. “Cor the Immortal.”
-We head to meet Cor at the royal tomb, Tomb of the Wise. Why? Safe spot?
-There may be more satisfying things in life than phase-striking birds out of the air, but idk what.
-Cor looks like a middle-aged dude. Maybe in his 40s-50s.
(Btw, I’m already sick of everyone in this game wearing all black.)
-Aha! He summoned us her for Noctis to magically claim some royal ancestral powers.
-Noctis is having a hard time processing this, and I don’t really blame him. He’s HURT that Regis knew the attack was coming but left Noctis in the dark, just sending him out on his wedding trip.
Personally, I suspect that if he told Noctis what he knew, Noctis would never have left. Then Lucis would be left without a king at all.
-Cor adds that Regis thought his death was inevitable. He wanted Noctis’ last memory of him to be as a father, not as a king. I like how much they’re humanizing Regis.
[Later edit: lol watch me eat those words, if they give us some flashback to Regis poisoning his enemies or something in a chapter.]
-OKAY THAT’S COOL AF – Noctis puts his hand on the tomb, and a ghostly sword flies into him.
COR: “The power of kings goes with you, Your Majesty.”
-Mechanically, Noctis can now use “royal arms.” Powerful weapons that also drain HP, so only use them when it’s safe.
[Non-rhetorical question: Which icon represents this (if any) when I Libra an enemy? Is it the spark thing on the far right?]
-The description of this first sword, Sword of the Wise: “A king built a mighty wall and protected the realm. This was his sword. It devastates foes with preemptive warp strikes.”
-This king must be an earlier one in Lucis’ life, maybe even the founder.
[Non-rhetorical question: What does “preemptive warp strikes” mean? That I deal extra damage if I open combat with a warp strike before they notice me?]
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Side Stuff
Trying this as a new section to separate out the non-main story stuff I do each session.
-When question for Takka, the Hammerhead cook, the party talks about him kinda creepily. How he can wield a chef’s knife at “all the points of separation” and is “quite the carver.” Is he a secret tonberry?
-A sign warns me to not ask Cid about the origin of the “Hammerhead” name. Really? What kind of tragic origins could “Hammerhead” hold?
Initial Bad Guess: Maybe “Hammerhead” was the nickname of a child of his who died tragically.
-Dino seems like he’ll be a recurring quest giver. Not sure how I feel about that.
He’s a bit obnoxious tbqh. I get that that's intentional, but he's not really obnoxious in a fun way.
-Life in Galdin Quay seems remarkably unperturbed after the capital’s fall.
-He sent me on a fetch quest, and it takes me an embarrassingly long time to find the desired ore. It’s a small area, but I made the mistake of just looking near the center.
On the plus side, I got to fight a dropship full of the Empty soldiers. Creepy af.
(Had to fight them about four separate times. Accidentally kept retriggering the event as I searched for the quest item.)
-Woot, Cid gives me a quest to upgrade items!
The only problem: I HAVE NO FLIPPING IDEA WHAT HE WANTS. He tells me to just go “over there” to bring him some scrap. Where? Idk. I looked all around Hammerhead and don’t see anything.
-AHA! A little while later I was in the Longwythe Rest Area and came across one of those blue dots. I forgot – it must be a random drop.
-Upgraded my Drain Lance and Engine Blades. My next upgrade items to find are coeurl whiskers and a glass gemstone. Not sure where to find them.
[Non-rhetorical question: Is there some in-game tip or menu that hints where to find these items? I’d be fine with just having to search around unguided, but I’m not sure if there’s a tooltip or something that I’m simply missing.]
-The Hammerhead Hot Sandwich may be the first food in-game that I do NOT want to eat.
It’s probably still delicious.
-New training available, “Serious Practice (Level 10).” Takes a few tries. I’m getting a bit with the give-and-take of when to attack and when to phase, but I’m a very slow learner.
-The day/night cycle is growing on me. I like the pace of doing a few things in a day, then taking a nap. I was afraid it’d feel like forced realism – like adding mandatory bathroom breaks or something – but it works so far.
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Next time: seeking the second tomb.
