LogFAQs > #940714468

So hey, I didn't know where the switches were even when I managed to reach the westernmost and northernmost points before. This time, knowing there were switches, it's easy to find them and fight the BROTHERS. I cast Shell on everyone, but apparently it's Protect that guards against physical attacks. Whatevs - either way, I let the GFs go completely ham to beat them up.

With a new GF in hand (!) it's time to return to the capital of Gabaldia, whose name I forget, and into the mansion. Before we go in, Rinoa prods us to ascertain our loyalty. It's the home of a general... specifically, Rinoa's dad, though they're estranged, and Rinoa herself disappears in her house while the mission is explained to us. We need a Gateway team, ft. Quistis, and a Sniper team, which Squall decides will obviously be him and Irvine.

I enjoy these heist explanations a lot - it really feels mission-based and clever - but actually walking in the FFVIII map just doesn't feel fun. I struggle to figure out where you can and can't cross stuff, what you can and can't interact with; what is and isn't an exit to the screen. (It takes me quite a while to figure out where the Sniper team is supposed to go while we're waiting for the parade.) The battle system doesn't really help things; I basically try to Draw from random encounters first, but run from them after a while because I don't want my enemies to become overleveled.

In a moment of almost absurd idiocy/contrivance, Quistis suddenly feels bad about having been snippy with Rinoa (whose immature side is coming out more). We go back to her place and, shockingly, get separated from Rinoa. Yeesh. Meanwhile, Rinoa herself tries to cripple the Sorceress and immediately gets rekt, plus beset by crazy beasts. The Sorceress is openly contemptuous of the population, who cheer her on raucously as she assassinates the president. This is America.

Squall and Irvine hop on up to rescue Rinoa, who gives us a line about being too weak alone or something (which will soon be changed to I CAN FIGHT WITH YOU, but which isn't particularly interesting), and Quistis navigates through the sewers. Seifer leads Edea through the streets.

Irvine begins to choke. Lots of issues we have to deal with here - Irvine's nerve, Rinoa's childishness, Quistis's brain. Squall takes off his MORAL RELATIVISM HAT and puts on his LEADERSHIP HAT again, encouraging Irvine to take the shot - even if it misses (or gets blocked, as we see), it will act as a signal. (Irvine doesn't actually give a reason why he can't take the shot, but I assume that since this is a teen-oriented JRPG, he has an issue with actually killing a defenseless enemy.)

With the shot blocked, it's time to fight head-on. Seifer's up first; we duel him one-on-one. This time I figure out to cast Shell/Protect correctly and bring him down with Thunder and the gunblade. Then it's time for the Sorceress herself, though fortunately I've got company for this one. I wear her down while stocking up on Cure 2, which should come in helpful in the future. Shell seems to keep damage manageable enough that I'm able to farm her pretty effectively for turns.

When we beat her, she sounds out a shard of ice that hits Squall and sends him over the edge. Save point get.

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* I indicated to my girlfriend that hey, I'm fighting a dude with a gunblade. She noticed that he was using magic and I wasn't and that he looked cooler as a result. I did a spell and she thought about it and said "nah, his is cooler." Bastard was using Level 2 spells, that's not fair!
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yet all azuarc of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness