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xyzzysqrlI have really been burning through the levels, gaining power, gaining a group that can stand up to some of the hardest things the game's thrown at me. There is, however, one challenge I really haven't even tried to overcome. One thing I really should face up to. First, though I pop by and visit Ondore again.
Ashe makes a decent case. There is really no point to supporting the Empire anymore. Ondore should buck up and move Bhujerba's support under her, and together they will kick Vayne out of Dalmasca. "What then?" Ondore wonders. His position is that Ashe cannot actually prove she's a princess, since her "proof" got left behind on the Dreadnought. His vote is that Ashe should sit back and wait until the time is right. Balthier gives not a crap about ANY of this and starts negotiating. He rescued a princess! Can he at least get a hot meal in exchange? Maybe a bath and some freshly-cleaned clothes? Ashe looks pensive as the scene fades out.
When the scene fades back in, we're the in the cockpit of the Strahl, Balthier's airship. Ashe is attempting to hotwire it or something, and Vaan peeks in to find out what exactly she's up to. She's going to go get proof she's a princess, of COURSE. She may have lost one of the shards, but there's a second out there that would work just as well.
"You can't just go around stealing other people's airships!" Vaan protests. "What are you trying to do?"
"I'm trying to CONCENTRATE." Ashe snarks back. Also, seriously Vaan? NOW you develop a moral compass? YOU'RE a thief.
Suddenly Ondore's voice cuts through the cockpit. "That's quite enough, your majesty!" Pan over to Balthier, speaking into a microphone. "What do you think?" he asks in Ondore's voice. "Little over the top?" he continues, in his own. A few seconds of fiddling with his little gizmo and "I'm trying to concentrate!" comes out in a distorted but recognizable version of Ashe's voice.
Congratulations, Balthier. You can now make prank phone calls with impunity. Anyway, he just thought he'd show off. He's leaving her here.
Ashe is extremely pissed. At first she asks for passage, then she grouches. Can't Balthier just KIDNAP her or something? C'mon! Sorry, Ashe, that was the plot starter of Final Fantasy 9, we can't reuse that idea. Anyway, she manages to catch Balthier's interest with rumors of great treasure buried with the Dawn Shard. He eventually gives a thumbs-up on plan Kidnap Ashe For Her Own Good.
In the middle of this scene, Fran strolls in from the cabins with her arm kind of casually draped around Penelo's shoulders. ... Okay then!
Anyway, Vaan doesn't want to stay behind, and Penelo wants to come too, and so blah blah they're all off to go tomb raiding!
There is a scene with the Emperor and Judge Gabranth and the Emperor is sick and he is worried about what Vayne's doing and of course the council doesn't want an emperor like Vayne to ascend to the throne and so on. Also, at some point the Empire wrecked Basch and Gabranth's homeland, but Gabranth is loyal ANYWAY, unlike his brother. The Emperor is impressed that Gabranth will happily kill his brother. Then the conversation takes an interesting turn: The one thing the Emperor wants most is for Larsa to never come into conflict with Vayne. He begs Gabranth to shield Larsa, protect his innocence.
That's sweet of him. I don't know if it will work, having seen both Vayne's ambition and Larsa's intellect, but it's a nice idea.
Back in Dalmasca, Balthier parks his airship and then -cloaks it-. What the -- WHERE did he get a cloaking device?
"It's tough being popular." he deadpans. Vaan meanwhile explains to Penelo that they can't fly any further, because they're in "jagd". It's not really explained what "Jagd" is, except that "Skystones" won't work there. Being Vaan and Penelo they fall into comedy slapstick over who is teaching who in no time. "At least we brought entertainment." Balthier says, as Ashe facepalms.
Anyway, we are back in Dalmasca, and I grab a teleporter to the city. I'm going to face... The T-Rex.
You remember the T-Rex, right? Cause of many Benny Hill fast-motion runaways? Well, the foot is in the other pants now, and it's time to go put a spear in its bumpy dinosaur hide.
Or we could hit it with one chain of quickenings and it falls over and dies. Man, I feel... faintly let down. I was hoping for a big Moby Dick showdown that would have nearly killed me but ultimately satisfied my lust for revenge. That's what that book was about, right? This does not stop me from backing off and coming back to farm it for experience, though!
Except... except he's not there.
I killed it forever.
T-Rex! T-REXXXXXX! I NEVER MEANT TO KILL YOU FOREVER! Our memories... our memories... *sad, sepia-toned flashback of fast-motion running, overlaid with Benny Hill theme* ...wait, oh, okay. He's just on like a five minute respawn timer. I MISSED YOU, T-REX! Let me show my affection with this spear! I stab him to death in celebration, and then leave.
Okay, so... There's some new stuff in stores and I'm in frantic need of money, so I hit up the usual places. At the Clan HQ I hit up Montblanc the Moogle for any paying work, kupo, but sadly he doesn't seem to have any. In the pub, though, there's a Wyvern that's advertised as threatening the area. ... Also, I kind of wanted to swing south and see if those Werewolves are as tough as they claim.
Interestingly, the person posting the bill for the Wyvern is an Empire guard. He saw it at the edge of the Sandsea and got worried. What if it attacked the city? His C.O. dismissed that as insane, but he's been feeling so nervous about it, he ponied up money out of his own pocket to get a bill posted.
The common Empire footsolider... not such a bad guy, y'know? Anyway, I accept and the hunt is on, but first... werewolves. On the way, I stop off in the small village on the plains. You guys remember the "making sunstone" thing? Work fit for small children? Apparently Vaan is decent enough at it that they'll pay him to run around doing that for them. Vaan once more joins the local workforce of nine-year-olds. Meanwhile to my delight the werewolves turn out to be higher-level than me, but beatable. Big fluffy experience pinatas, yay!
After a bit of bashing those, I get distracted and bored. There must be a faster way to get... ah, right. I could go where the plot is implying. I head off to see if I can find the area west of the sandsea. ... Heck, I head off to see if I can find the sandsea! My first guess is -not- correct. It leads to an area off the Dalmasca Westersand called the "Zertinan Caverns", where enemies resistant to physical damage wait. Not the right direction.
While I'm cruising around the Westersand, though, I do find and poke a rare-spawn wolf called the "Lindbur Wolf". I remember this being ANOTHER thing that killed me stone-dead while I was playing the first time around. Man, there are a LOT of those, aren't there? I was really bad at this, you guys! Now I'm either not or this version is enormously easier! I have no idea!
There's also a particularly nasty jerk called the "Fideliant", who is a tall skeleton fellow that gives me a fair bit of trouble until I realize he is a skeleton and therefore undead. Penelo hits him with "Raise", and he dies instantly. Little tricks like that have been around since the birth of the series. I can't remember a time I didn't know to hit undead with healing spells to hurt them, and I'm always faintly AFFRONTED when it doesn't work. Like, don't you know the RULES, Game Designer?
Eventually, I find the passage that leads to the Sandsea. Man, that wa-- I recognize this little clearing. This is where we parked the airship. Before I teleported off to the main city. ... FFFFFFFFFFF...
I could have taken a teleporter here the whole time. But golly, then I wouldn't have fought undead and wolves and stuff. *tap fingers* RIGHT. Moving on to the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea, as it's properly called, to make some money so I can come back and spend money and then move on again.
The "Sandsea", as it happens... is some -freaky- crap. The sand literally does ripple and flow like water, sloshing around in huge waves. It's kind of jaw-dropping. Basch explains that we'll have to cross both the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea and the Nam-Yensa Sandsea, before ending up at the Tomb of Raithwall, which is where this Dawn Shard is. "An expanse larger still than all Dalmasca."
Well. This'll be quite the road trip.
Luckily, there's a large system of oil derricks and other mechanical platforms across the sandsea, because if one thing is consistant in human nature, it's "Ooh, this is a weird land feature, I wonder what's underneath it!" Vaan stops to peer at them, and Basch explains that they're from another kingdom entirely, one at war with a different kingdom. While he's explaining that war, war never changes, Vossler shows up! He traced them off to Dalmasca and caught up. Hi, Vossler! Good to see you join us again.
Fran is not so happy. She's noticed something coming their way. Not a sandstorm. It's... sand SHARKS. Then the camera zooms in closer. It's a group of... what look like Mad Max-style gangers crossed with Tuskan Raiders. And they are RIDING sand-sharks.
If there's one thing you can't fault this game for, it's rampant creativity, y'know?
Anyway, I finally have the cash to bail, head back to town, stock up on things, and then come back. But now I am le tired.
NEXT TIME: More crazy crap, who knows?
Ashe makes a decent case. There is really no point to supporting the Empire anymore. Ondore should buck up and move Bhujerba's support under her, and together they will kick Vayne out of Dalmasca. "What then?" Ondore wonders. His position is that Ashe cannot actually prove she's a princess, since her "proof" got left behind on the Dreadnought. His vote is that Ashe should sit back and wait until the time is right. Balthier gives not a crap about ANY of this and starts negotiating. He rescued a princess! Can he at least get a hot meal in exchange? Maybe a bath and some freshly-cleaned clothes? Ashe looks pensive as the scene fades out.
When the scene fades back in, we're the in the cockpit of the Strahl, Balthier's airship. Ashe is attempting to hotwire it or something, and Vaan peeks in to find out what exactly she's up to. She's going to go get proof she's a princess, of COURSE. She may have lost one of the shards, but there's a second out there that would work just as well.
"You can't just go around stealing other people's airships!" Vaan protests. "What are you trying to do?"
"I'm trying to CONCENTRATE." Ashe snarks back. Also, seriously Vaan? NOW you develop a moral compass? YOU'RE a thief.
Suddenly Ondore's voice cuts through the cockpit. "That's quite enough, your majesty!" Pan over to Balthier, speaking into a microphone. "What do you think?" he asks in Ondore's voice. "Little over the top?" he continues, in his own. A few seconds of fiddling with his little gizmo and "I'm trying to concentrate!" comes out in a distorted but recognizable version of Ashe's voice.
Congratulations, Balthier. You can now make prank phone calls with impunity. Anyway, he just thought he'd show off. He's leaving her here.
Ashe is extremely pissed. At first she asks for passage, then she grouches. Can't Balthier just KIDNAP her or something? C'mon! Sorry, Ashe, that was the plot starter of Final Fantasy 9, we can't reuse that idea. Anyway, she manages to catch Balthier's interest with rumors of great treasure buried with the Dawn Shard. He eventually gives a thumbs-up on plan Kidnap Ashe For Her Own Good.
In the middle of this scene, Fran strolls in from the cabins with her arm kind of casually draped around Penelo's shoulders. ... Okay then!
Anyway, Vaan doesn't want to stay behind, and Penelo wants to come too, and so blah blah they're all off to go tomb raiding!
There is a scene with the Emperor and Judge Gabranth and the Emperor is sick and he is worried about what Vayne's doing and of course the council doesn't want an emperor like Vayne to ascend to the throne and so on. Also, at some point the Empire wrecked Basch and Gabranth's homeland, but Gabranth is loyal ANYWAY, unlike his brother. The Emperor is impressed that Gabranth will happily kill his brother. Then the conversation takes an interesting turn: The one thing the Emperor wants most is for Larsa to never come into conflict with Vayne. He begs Gabranth to shield Larsa, protect his innocence.
That's sweet of him. I don't know if it will work, having seen both Vayne's ambition and Larsa's intellect, but it's a nice idea.
Back in Dalmasca, Balthier parks his airship and then -cloaks it-. What the -- WHERE did he get a cloaking device?
"It's tough being popular." he deadpans. Vaan meanwhile explains to Penelo that they can't fly any further, because they're in "jagd". It's not really explained what "Jagd" is, except that "Skystones" won't work there. Being Vaan and Penelo they fall into comedy slapstick over who is teaching who in no time. "At least we brought entertainment." Balthier says, as Ashe facepalms.
Anyway, we are back in Dalmasca, and I grab a teleporter to the city. I'm going to face... The T-Rex.
You remember the T-Rex, right? Cause of many Benny Hill fast-motion runaways? Well, the foot is in the other pants now, and it's time to go put a spear in its bumpy dinosaur hide.
Or we could hit it with one chain of quickenings and it falls over and dies. Man, I feel... faintly let down. I was hoping for a big Moby Dick showdown that would have nearly killed me but ultimately satisfied my lust for revenge. That's what that book was about, right? This does not stop me from backing off and coming back to farm it for experience, though!
Except... except he's not there.
I killed it forever.
T-Rex! T-REXXXXXX! I NEVER MEANT TO KILL YOU FOREVER! Our memories... our memories... *sad, sepia-toned flashback of fast-motion running, overlaid with Benny Hill theme* ...wait, oh, okay. He's just on like a five minute respawn timer. I MISSED YOU, T-REX! Let me show my affection with this spear! I stab him to death in celebration, and then leave.
Okay, so... There's some new stuff in stores and I'm in frantic need of money, so I hit up the usual places. At the Clan HQ I hit up Montblanc the Moogle for any paying work, kupo, but sadly he doesn't seem to have any. In the pub, though, there's a Wyvern that's advertised as threatening the area. ... Also, I kind of wanted to swing south and see if those Werewolves are as tough as they claim.
Interestingly, the person posting the bill for the Wyvern is an Empire guard. He saw it at the edge of the Sandsea and got worried. What if it attacked the city? His C.O. dismissed that as insane, but he's been feeling so nervous about it, he ponied up money out of his own pocket to get a bill posted.
The common Empire footsolider... not such a bad guy, y'know? Anyway, I accept and the hunt is on, but first... werewolves. On the way, I stop off in the small village on the plains. You guys remember the "making sunstone" thing? Work fit for small children? Apparently Vaan is decent enough at it that they'll pay him to run around doing that for them. Vaan once more joins the local workforce of nine-year-olds. Meanwhile to my delight the werewolves turn out to be higher-level than me, but beatable. Big fluffy experience pinatas, yay!
After a bit of bashing those, I get distracted and bored. There must be a faster way to get... ah, right. I could go where the plot is implying. I head off to see if I can find the area west of the sandsea. ... Heck, I head off to see if I can find the sandsea! My first guess is -not- correct. It leads to an area off the Dalmasca Westersand called the "Zertinan Caverns", where enemies resistant to physical damage wait. Not the right direction.
While I'm cruising around the Westersand, though, I do find and poke a rare-spawn wolf called the "Lindbur Wolf". I remember this being ANOTHER thing that killed me stone-dead while I was playing the first time around. Man, there are a LOT of those, aren't there? I was really bad at this, you guys! Now I'm either not or this version is enormously easier! I have no idea!
There's also a particularly nasty jerk called the "Fideliant", who is a tall skeleton fellow that gives me a fair bit of trouble until I realize he is a skeleton and therefore undead. Penelo hits him with "Raise", and he dies instantly. Little tricks like that have been around since the birth of the series. I can't remember a time I didn't know to hit undead with healing spells to hurt them, and I'm always faintly AFFRONTED when it doesn't work. Like, don't you know the RULES, Game Designer?
Eventually, I find the passage that leads to the Sandsea. Man, that wa-- I recognize this little clearing. This is where we parked the airship. Before I teleported off to the main city. ... FFFFFFFFFFF...
I could have taken a teleporter here the whole time. But golly, then I wouldn't have fought undead and wolves and stuff. *tap fingers* RIGHT. Moving on to the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea, as it's properly called, to make some money so I can come back and spend money and then move on again.
The "Sandsea", as it happens... is some -freaky- crap. The sand literally does ripple and flow like water, sloshing around in huge waves. It's kind of jaw-dropping. Basch explains that we'll have to cross both the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea and the Nam-Yensa Sandsea, before ending up at the Tomb of Raithwall, which is where this Dawn Shard is. "An expanse larger still than all Dalmasca."
Well. This'll be quite the road trip.
Luckily, there's a large system of oil derricks and other mechanical platforms across the sandsea, because if one thing is consistant in human nature, it's "Ooh, this is a weird land feature, I wonder what's underneath it!" Vaan stops to peer at them, and Basch explains that they're from another kingdom entirely, one at war with a different kingdom. While he's explaining that war, war never changes, Vossler shows up! He traced them off to Dalmasca and caught up. Hi, Vossler! Good to see you join us again.
Fran is not so happy. She's noticed something coming their way. Not a sandstorm. It's... sand SHARKS. Then the camera zooms in closer. It's a group of... what look like Mad Max-style gangers crossed with Tuskan Raiders. And they are RIDING sand-sharks.
If there's one thing you can't fault this game for, it's rampant creativity, y'know?
Anyway, I finally have the cash to bail, head back to town, stock up on things, and then come back. But now I am le tired.
NEXT TIME: More crazy crap, who knows?
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Date: 2012-11-30 01:35 am (UTC)