LogFAQs > #976426287

Alright, time for a big update! Obviously the first thing I did was the Yuffie quest. While exploring the westernmost landmass, that rascally ninja stole my Materia. It honestly wasn't too big of a deal because Cloud/Aeris/Tifa were strong enough to bash everything to death anyway. Still, it was annoying, so I chased Yuffie to her hometown. One of the buildings here was chock full of cats, which is pretty cool. Having to track down Yuffie was less cool. The quest was basically a game of hide and seek. It wasn't so bad the first few times, but after she tricked Cloud with a cage trap and ran off I couldn't find her for the life of me. I finally looked it up, and... oh, go ring a bell in a side area I hadn't even realized was open now because PS1 graphics make it difficult to tell.

As annoying as that part was, this quest honestly wasn't that bad. It was fun seeing the Turks on vacation. I laughed really hard when, after opening a chest and finding another Materia, Yuffie dropped down from the ceiling and stole that one too. Now that's dedication. I also got a look into her mindset. She wanted the Materia to empower her homeland, which had essentially become a tourist attraction after being subjugated by Shinra. Sadly, all the Materia in the world couldn't save her from getting grabbed by Corneo, that sleaze from way back at the beginning of the game. Elena got captured somehow too, so we teamed up with the Turks and rescued everyone. Yuffie returned the Materia, rejoined the party, and then everything was fine.

After that, I did some more exploration with the airplane. I'm just going to come out and say it, this airplane sucks and I hated riding around in it. It took forever to circle around the continents. I eventually found an archeology town, which told me where to go. Then I found the Ancient temple, but I needed a keystone. So I circled alllll the way back around the continents and just brute-force searched areas until I finally got a clue at some blacksmith's hut. He'd sold the keystone to the owner of the Gold Saucer, so I headed over there and won it in the battle arena. Well, I didn't really win. Poor Cloud got petrified in the second battle. Still, Dio took pity on him and handed over the keystone anyway.

I couldn't leave right away due to a tram malfunction, so the party took some time to go over the plot so far. It was a nice scene where everyone was present. I also liked the sorta-date that Cloud and Tifa went on right after. They wound up acting in a stage play (which seems like a horrible idea. Hey, let's take random people and have them do improv, that'll be fun for the rest of the crowd). Then they went on a ride on the Ferris wheel. After previously going up with Aeris, it was nice doing it with Tifa this time. She almost confessed her feelings, even trying to psyche herself up by saying that Aeris wouldn't be afraid to confess... but, in the end, she couldn't do it. And poor dense Cloud didn't realize what she was going for. Oh, will these two dorks ever find their way?

This heartwarming moment was then interrupted by the traitorous Cait Sith handing the keystone over to Shinra. It turns out the robot party member is being controlled by someone from the company, and they even kidnapped Marlene to force the party to keep it around afterwards. Man, now I've been betrayed by two of my party members! I hope we get to hunt down whoever is controlling this thing at some point, but for now my only means of rebellion will be refusing to ever use it. I'm nowhere near as angry at Yuffie, her betrayal was played for laughs, but I'm still going to wait for her to redeem herself before I officially welcome her back into my party.

The next day, the party circled allll the way back around the continent (seriously, this airplane sucks) and finally we got to the Ancient temple. Tseng was sitting wounded at the entrance, so, good job Cait Sith and friends, all you did was give Sephiroth a head start. Going in with my usual party of Cloud/Aeris/Tifa, this area wasn't too difficult. The layout was confusing, but I managed to grab all the items and even eventually made my way past a rolling rock puzzle. Aeris felt a deepening connection with the ancients the further we got. However, Sephiroth was here too, and he was connecting to the temple as well. We eventually found him in a room full of murals depicting a meteor. This destructive spell is what he's going to use to injure the planet, and then he'll overtake the healing lifestream in order to become a god. That's a scary idea!

What's even scarier is that there's something seriously off with Cloud. He kept acting funny, and it was like Sephiroth was able to take him over at times. The party came up with a plan to sacrifice Cait Sith's robot body in order to get the Black Materia. They tried really hard to make this sad, but... you're a traitor, Cait Sith. I don't like you anymore! The nicest thing I'll say is that it was kind of funny when, in the middle of the next big dramatic scene, his body double showed up and went "whoops, this is a bad time for me to introduce myself isn't it". Anyway, everything went well, at least until Sephiroth overtook Cloud's body and forced him to hand over the Black Materia.

With Cloud seemingly compromised, Aeris went off on her own to try and prevent Sephiroth's plan. I liked the little dream she and Cloud shared, where she basically told him to take care of himself. It also gave me a clue of where she went, and obviously Cloud would never let her go alone. I rode the stupid airplane back to the archeology town, dug up a magical harp, and then I moved through the forest. The group finally tracked Aeris down in the center of the next area. Cloud even managed to resist Sephiroth's influence, which tried to get him to hurt her. Sadly, all that did was force Sephiroth to take direct action. It was finally time for the famous scene. Aeris was stabbed through the back and died. Obviously I knew this was coming at some point, and in the lead-up to this I was pretty sure this would be it. Still, I'll admit, it managed to get to me, especially seeing my two party members say a quiet goodbye before Cloud put her body to rest.

END OF DISC ONE... oh my god the entire game up to now was only disc one? And I still have two other discs?!? How long is this game? I played a bit of the next section too, where Cloud grappled with the apparent corruption inside of himself. He's afraid of what he might do, and he suspects that him abandoning the quest might be the best thing for everyone. Still, he's come too far, lost too much, and is way too pissed off at Sephiroth to stop now. It was nice seeing him ask the others to come with him, so they could stop him from doing anything bad if it comes down to it. I'm not sure what the implications are of Sephiroth calling Cloud a puppet, but I'm excited to find out! I saved for the night once I hit the world map again in some sort of snow zone.

So, to recap the day's progress. Cid is a jerk. Cait Sith is a traitor. Yuffie is a thief. I'm hoping future events will redeem the three of them, but I guess I'll have to wait and see. And, lastly, Aeris is dead. My party for now is Cloud, Tifa, and a depressingly underleveled Barret. I'm really feeling the gap in my party composition without Aeris there to cast spells and heal everyone. I'll play around with Barret, Red, and Vincent to see who fits in best, at least until Cid, Yuffie, or Cait get a moment that makes me like them again. Still, RIP Aeris, I miss you already.