Board 8 > Leonhart plays lots of Final Fantasy games! [spoilers] [nostalgia] [squall]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Part 7!

Games beated:

1. FFVI
2. FFVII
3. FFT

Games not beated:

1. FFVIII - Currently playing!
2. FFIX
3. FFX
4. FFX-2
5. FFXII
6. FFXIII
7. FFXIII-2?

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"So cold. I am always by your side."
"There ain't no gettin' off of this train we on!"

XIII-2 yes

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"When I was a young man, I had liberty, but I did not see it. I had time, but I did not know it."

"Whew, good stuff. Anyway, after that, I got involved in some not-so-good stuff of trying to deal with Trabia's Random rule to get Selphie's card, and then trying to prevent it from spreading to other regions. It took many soft resets and much frustration, but I eventually succeeded. Man, Random is such an awful rule. Also, Plus is a terrible thing to have when you don't have Open. After a certain point, you stop being surprised at the CPU hitting you with a Plus on its last card to turn 7-3 into 3-7. And without Open, there's really nothing you can do to guard against it. Just hope it works out. I'm not sure how I lost the Open rule to begin with, actually. It's very puzzling. I ended up having to pay the Queen of Cards to reinstate it so I could have it back. Of course, when I tried to play cards with her so I could get rid of Random, the game kept trying to spread Random into Balamb, bah! Granted, I haven't really studied much into the details of rule manipulation for Triple Triad, so I'm sure there's a better way of doing it than the way I'm doing it, but still, annoying.

So annoying that it took up too much of my playtime!"

Can go into detail about it if you want me to. The incredibly short version is that if you're happy with rules in a region and someone in that region asks you to mix with rules from another region, decline and keep challenging and declining until they stop asking. If you dislike the rules in a region then save before doing anything card-wise in that region, accept a mix but quit without playing until either a) the rules change in a positive way such as open spreading or random being abolished or whatever (perfect), b) the rules change in a negative way such as the inverse of a) (reload), or c) they stop asking to mix (reload). Also, they'll only ask you to mix in the first place if you are carrying a rule not practiced in that region.

But in your case, if you have random and go to Balamb you should never agree to mix rules, 'cause Balamb's starting situation with just Open is ideal (assuming you don't want to make the card game more difficult for yourself for fun).

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James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism

Treating choice like a physical law creates a deterministic world though!

That's fate!

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

I don't know if I really agree with that, but still, it's an interesting thought!

Oh right, totally forgot to mention that "Ami," the song that plays during all the orphanage stuff, is a great song. I'm a sucker for good piano pieces, and "Ami" is no exception. Also, for all you language enthusiasts, "Ami" is the French word for "Friend," so it makes sense in context...!

I never fail to take advantage of the rare opportunities I get to put my four semesters of French in high school to work. Man, what was I thinking.

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I took five Spanish classes!

Pretty sure I stopped learning after the second one.

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

Well, Spanish would've actually been a worthwhile investment considering about half of the population in my community is Hispanic!

But nooooo, my teenage self had to say, "Man, everyone's takin' Spanish. I don't wanna take Spanish!"

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Requisite tag.

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The RPG Duelling League: www.rpgdl.com
An unparalleled source for RPG information and discussion

I should read the rest of the other topic before it purges...

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I do because I can.....and because I'm bored.
http://www.yourgamercards.net/trophy/a/Micer101.png

As I mentioned in the last topic, there are...ways of finding the topic after it purges...!

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"I couldn't stand a day without a past or future. I need to live each moment to keep fighting here and now."

I would prefer not to search though

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I do because I can.....and because I'm bored.
http://www.yourgamercards.net/trophy/a/Micer101.png

Well, then you'd better hurry!

Nothing tonight though. Was out all evening, just got back like 30 minutes ago.

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"Hold on a minute! That testimony stinks!"
"Witness! You can't just say 'Hello' and expect us to get anywhere! I want you to testify!"

Gonna finish up Disc 2 today, hopefully!

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Aw yeah, Disc 2 finished.

Thoughts in a bit.

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I always thought it was weird that they make a big deal about the orphanage and going to see it, and when you get there, the game won't even let you go inside and look around at that point. Squall will even recognize that this is Edea's house, but then he'll sense that something big is looming nearby. That thing is, of course, Galbadia Garden. Presumably, Ultimecia had used the truth about Seifer's past in her favor, in order to reinforce his loyalty to her for the coming battle. Kinda weird how both sides had the same idea right before the big battle. They both thought it was important to know and understand their pasts because it would help them.

Anyway, as you approach Galbadia Garden, Nida will hand Squall a pair of binoculars and tell him to take a look. Upon seeing the Garden, he thinks that they probably realize Balamb is nearby as well, but if not, they can launch a surprise attack. Either way, this fight is happening right here, right now. At this point, Squall has to give orders to the rest of Garden. You can say as much or as little as you choose. I don't know that what you choose actually affects anything, except Nida getting onto you if you try to say too much. You can choose to share your feelings on the matter. If you do, Squall will say that Seifer is with the enemy, and he plans to settle everything once and for all with this final battle. You can also have a little fun by telling the students to hide the hot dogs so the enemy can't have any. Hot dogs are serious business.

When you head down the lift, Selphie, Irvine, and Quistis will be waiting for you. Squall says that when Zell arrives, they'll divide into two teams, but apparently there's a problem. Zell's off...taking a nap or something? Squall realizes something's up and he's none too happy about it, but he doesn't pursue the matter any further. There are more important things to worry about right now. Squall decides to go check on the quad, and you get to choose two party members to come along. He tells the remaining party member to find Zell and lead the defense at the front gate. As you hop on the elevator, the party member you leave behind will ask what you want to do about Rinoa. After thinking about it for a moment, he asks the other party member and Zell to take care of her.

Even though Squall says he's headed to the quad, the elevator will automatically stop on the 2nd floor. You can play leader if you like and have Squall talk to all the people in the area to help them find their posts. When you head down to the 1st floor, there are lots of people scrambling around everywhere, with a big group organized at the front gate and another at the quad. When you get to the quad, Zell will already be there, organizing and rallying the troops. He seems to have come a long way from screwing up on the first mission while not having lost his enthusiasm. He seems like he's become more dependable.

When Squall arrives, he'll tell Zell he thought he was sleeping or something. He says that the announcement woke him up, but something seems fishy, although Squall still doesn't pursue the matter. Rather, it's Zell who takes the initiative. This may not be the right time (there's an understatement), but he wants to ask a favor. He wants to borrow Squall's ring for a while. He swears he'll give it back, and he won't lose it. When asked why he wants to borrow it, Zell is surprisingly mum. Squall is reluctant, but he figures it's okay as long as he just wants to borrow it, so he takes it off of his finger and hands it over. Hey look, it's an act of trust in Zell with something he cares about! Looks like Squall thinks he's becoming more reliable, too.

(By the way, does Squall wear his ring over his gloves or something? That's what it seems like, considering he takes it off without removing his gloves. Plus, how else would anyone even know about the ring if it's under his gloves all the time? How strange.)

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Upon receiving the ring, Zell's all pumped up and thanks Squall for letting him borrow it. He didn't think he would do it, but Rinoa's gonna be happy when she finds out. Very iiiiiinteresting...At this point, the remaining party member will arrive, along with Rinoa, who says she wants to fight with everyone. She doesn't just want to hide and let everyone else do the work. She has to prove to herself that she can do it and that she belongs with them. Squall tells her to be careful, and she lines up with the rest of the troops.

At this point, Nida will call Squall back to the bridge. As he looks through the binoculars again, they can see Galbadia Garden approaching on a collision course with them. We get an FMV of Seifer standing atop the Garden overlooking everything as the battle draws near. Squall tells Nida not to back down, and Balamb Garden keeps moving forward. We cut back to Seifer standing near some ramps loaded with Galbadian soldiers on motorcycles. After giving the signal (upon which "The Landing" cues up, aw yeah), the Galbadian soldiers zoom off the ramps and into Balamb Garden. Nida realizes that Galbadia Garden isn't taking any sort of evasive maneuvers and it's going to crash right into them. He tries to dodge, but to no avail as the two Gardens collide.

Man, I love this sequence of events. This might be my favorite part of the game right here. From start to finish, the Battle of the Gardens is full of fast-paced, intense action. You're always moving from one thing to the next. Something's always happening. Plus, you get plenty of good character interaction interspersed during these segments. It also uses several FMVs to display the action, and they all look really cool. This is one of the most important parts of the game, and Square doesn't hold back and throws a ton of stuff at you in quick succession. As usual, the presentation is top notch. So much good stuff here. Doesn't get much better than this.

Anyway, at this point, we'll cut back to the quad, where Squall warns Zell, Rinoa, and the other party member to watch out for the invading Galbadians. They decide to head straight for the entry point where they're coming in and make a stand. Before they head off, Zell takes the time to hand Squall's ring over to Rinoa. He tells her to hold onto it for now, and he'll make her one just like it later. Rinoa asks him what he said to convince Squall to give it to him, and Zell's all like, "I just told him to hand it over," playing it all cool. Rinoa tries the ring on, but it's too big, so she puts it on her necklace for safekeeping.

Now it's back to business. They head out to the deck of the quad, just in time for the two Gardens to crash into each other right next to them. The pressure from the collision causes part of the deck to collapse. Zell is barely able to get back to the ledge in time, but Rinoa isn't so lucky. She slides down the side until she's finally just barely able to grab onto a small ledge as she watches the piece that broke off of the Garden fall down and get smashed in the propeller.

Zell is obviously freakin' out, screaming at the top of his lungs that he can't reach her. The other party member will recommend that you go try to find something you can use to pull her up, like a rope or something, and so we're off, realizing there's nothing more we can do here. Zell will encounter Squall running toward the front gate, and he'll tell him that Rinoa's life is in danger. He expresses his frustration in his mind, but he doesn't say anything aloud or turn to acknowledge Zell. At this point, Nida will come over the intercom and announce that the enemy's about to breach the 2nd floor classroom, and someone needs to get up there to help them. There's so much going on that Squall can hardly take it all in, so he's trying to focus on his responsibility as a leader.

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"But you have been given freedom. Freedom to be...outside."
"I am lightning...the rain transformed."

Zell screams at the top of his lungs again and asks Squall if he heard what he said. In a rare outburst of emotions, Squall will reply with "YEAH!!!" That's literally what he says. Just like that. All caps and three exclamation points. You can tell he feels bad and wants to help Rinoa, but he feels like he can't shy away from his responsibilities as a leader right now. She's not the only one in danger. It definitely shows that he cares about her because he's usually calm and collected, and even when he does show emotion, it's very rarely on that level. He's conflicted because he doesn't really know what to do about it. There are too many things demanding his attention right now.

Squall decides to divide everyone into three groups. He takes two people with him to go to the 2nd floor classroom, and he leaves the other one to help Xu at the front gate. He tells Zell to help Rinoa and do whatever it takes to save her. Once again, you can sense an urgency in the way he says it that shows he does care about her. You can argue about the extent of his "caring," but at this point in the game, it's blatantly obvious he does care about her, even if just as a friend and a comrade. They might not have gotten along at first, but their relationship has changed over the course of their time together. The way they each see the other is different now than it was before.

Anyway, enough of that for now. When you head up to the 2nd floor classroom, we get a cool FMV of some Galbadian paratroopers use some sort of weird flying machine that allows them to attach to the side of the Garden and rappel down the side and smash through the windows. If I'm not mistaken, the battle of the Gardens is the only time you encounter these green Galbadian soldiers. They're not much tougher than regular soldiers, but they do occasionally use status effects like Slow, which can be a bit irritating.

After the battle, Nida will call Squall back to the bridge because Dr. Kadowaki wants to speak with him. He doesn't really understand why she would want to speak with him, but he heads off anyway. When they get back, she asks him to apprise her of the situation. Squall tells her that they've held off the first two waves of the attack so far, but he doesn't know if they can withstand another one. Galbadia Garden has more experienced fighters. Most of the people in Balamb Garden are still students in training. They've done an admirable job so far, but there are a lot of injured and they don't have a lot left in the tank. Squall begins to wonder if he should've focused more on offense instead of defense.

Dr. Kadowaki reminds Squall what he said about Seifer all the way back at the beginning of the game. He can't just run away from him, and especially not now. It's kind of like his destiny to fight him. When she asks Squall if he's just going to run away now, in his mind, he says he'll never run from Seifer. Squall says that attacking them may be the best chance they have, but how are they going to get aboard? Irvine suggests just ramming into them. Galbadia's pilot has been doing it to them all day, so Nida could just return the favor.

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"I can set you free, mate."
"My freedom was forfeit long ago!"

Tag

Battle of the Gardens was one of my favourite parts of the game as well, never really a dull moment

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Not changing this sig until the Winnipeg Blue Bombers win the grey cup. Started Aug. 16/04

At this point, Zell will come in and say he couldn't get to Rinoa. The Galbadians have taken over the quad and have it barricaded off. The only way they could reach her now is by going over the roof somehow or flying there. Squall apparently gives off a reaction with his body language that makes Irvine think he just gave up on her, and he asks him to go help Rinoa himself. It may be too late to save her, but he doesn't want him to give up until he's absolutely certain of it.

Squall protests that he has to lead the attack, but Irvine says he doesn't care what he has to do or how he feels. He begs him just to do this for Rinoa. Everyone else concurs that it's gotta be him. Irvine reassures him that he can lead everyone into Galbadia Garden. He knows the place like the back of his hand. They'll go on ahead and wait for him to arrive (Oh, by the way, if you think Squall tries to avoid going to save Rinoa because he doesn't care about her, you're a moron. Well, maybe that's a bit too harsh. It's more like...Yeah, you're a moron. At this point, Squall is all about duty even at the expense of emotion and desire. To him, he can't simply choose to do whatever he wants because too many people are relying on him. He wants to save her, but there's too much he feels he can't break away from to do it himself, so he tries to get other people to do it).

Dr. Kadowaki will tell Squall that he's forgetting something very important, and she brings him up the lift to the main station with Nida. She urges him to talk to his people. As their leader, it's his duty. Nida says that he may not realize this, but the people in Garden look up to him, and they like him. As with Rinoa, Squall's been so focused on the logical and rational aspects of battle that he's completely neglected the mental and emotional aspects of it. Dr. Kadowaki realizes that if they're going to make that final stand, they need a boost in morale, something to give them that extra boost of energy and desire to get them back on their feet.

Squall will slowly nod and pick up the microphone to speak to the troops, and "The Oath" will begin to play in the background. That song coupled with this speech...Chills, man. Good stuff. It takes him a few seconds to build up his courage to speak, but eventually he begins. He asks them how they're doing, sure that they're all tired and barely able to stand after all the fighting. Then Squall tells them that they still have a chance to win this battle, but he needs their help. They're going to attack Galbadia Garden before they have a chance to come in again. Irvine, Quistis, Zell, and Selphie are going to lead the assault, and he asks everyone else to assist them however they can.

Squall goes on to say that SeeD was formed to fight the sorceress, or at least that's what he was told. So in a sense, this battle is like their destiny. It's been a grueling battle, and they all must be exhausted. But he doesn't want to have any regrets, and he doesn't want anyone else to look back and regret this day either. With his final words, he pleads with them to give it everything they've got, for themselves...and for him. So good. It's good to see the various scenes as he speaks with people reacting to his words, too. With this speech, Squall cleared one of his personal hurdles. He takes the next step from simply being a strategist and a fighter to being a motivator and an inspiration to his people. Not too long ago, he refused to say anything publicly whatsoever, and now he's giving a rousing speech to stir up the troops. He's grown by leaps and bounds in his professional life in a short time, and now it's time to clear a hurdle in his personal life by saving Rinoa!

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"So cold. I am always by your side."
"There ain't no gettin' off of this train we on!"

With all that out of the way, Nida slams into Galbadia Garden, and the party boards. You can see their various thoughts about the coming battle in quick succession. It doesn't show their names by their thought bubbles, but it's easy enough to figure out who it is from the content. Irvine will say that this is for him and Selphie, who will in turn say this is for Balamb and Trabia. Quistis thinks in a much larger scale, and says that this is the battle for the world. Zell will be a bit more simplistic and say that it's payback time, and it is ON!

We cut back to Squall, who has ridden the elevator back down to the 2nd floor. As he steps off, one of the Garden students asks him to help her find one of the junior classmen. He doesn't really have time for this, but he doesn't have much of a choice. He finds the boy near the emergency exit crying, and he sends him on his way. At this point, one of those Galbadian paratroopers in the flying armor (who was polite enough to use the stairs to come in rather than breaking in through the window, and he's also polite enough to wait for you to decide what you want to do after he runs you over a couple of times. What a gentleman) will bust through the back door and bowl over Squall. As he stands back up, the paratrooper will slam him against the emergency door. At this point, you're given various options to figure out how to get out of this. Picking the wrong choice will just result in you getting slammed and losing more of your health, so the best thing to do is to look around for another option and then press the button for the emergency exit.

As the door slides open, the paratrooper slams into Squall once more, and the two of them fly above the Garden, holding on and fighting for dear life. This part is still kinda tough to win on the first try, even for me. Winning on the second try isn't too tough because they don't take off as much health, but I really don't know how to really handle the guy. I usually try to get in a couple of kicks quickly and then punch him a couple of times if he blocks. I dunno if there's really any surefire way to counter him and never get hit. If there is, I haven't found it yet. If you die, you can choose to restart with some extra health, but I'm pretty sure the game drops you down a SeeD rank if you do. It's pretty cool to see the FMV in the background of the battle while you're flying around, although it's hard to pay too much attention, obviously.

After you are victorious, Squall will take control of the machine and use it to rescue Rinoa. As you land safely in Galbadia Garden, you run off to the left and get a rapid flash of various battle scenes in an FMV. The FMV does a good job of showing the intensity of the battle. There's action everywhere, lots of explosions and stuff. My favorite part is the SeeD slashing the Galbadian soldier with his sword to knock him off of his motorcycle. So awesome.

When they reach the entrance to Galbadia Garden, Rinoa thanks Squall for saving her life. He tries to play it off as just doing his job and says it was everyone else's idea, too. She giggles and tells him that she couldn't afford to die because she has something very important that belongs to him. She shows Squall the ring hanging from her necklace and tells him that Zell gave it to her. In his mind, Squall swears he's gonna kill that guy. Then he tells Rinoa that it's his favorite ring, and he's going to want it back.

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In some sort of movie (a trilogy at least!) or anime adaptation (probably 50-70 episodes), I always imagine Squall and Rinoa would storm the Garden alone and the rest of the party members got some epic fights with some Galbadian officers outside amidst the warzone.

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

Sorry guys, had to step out unexpectedly for a little while! Now let's finish this up!



Rinoa asks Squall what the monster on the ring is, and he tells her that it's a lion, not a monster. He says that lions are known for their great strength and pride. Rinoa will nonchalantly and semi-flirtatiously comment that it sounds a lot like him. Then she asks him if it has a name, and of course it does. At this point, you can rename it whatever you want, like Pikachu or what have you. The default name is Griever though, so yeah. Rinoa says that Zell is going to make her a ring exactly like it, and maybe she can become like a lion, too. Then she says that it'd be crazy if everyone got the wrong idea about the two of them, but Squall can tell from her reaction that she wouldn't mind too much if people got the "wrong idea." It's obvious to him that everyone's trying to get the two of them together (because they see it, am I right...!).

When you head inside, everyone's waiting for you (Well, except Irvine, but he shows up pretty quickly). Squall realizes that this is the point of no return. He tells everyone to forget about the past. Edea is their enemy now, so don't think twice for a second about it. There's no way they can fight her like that. She chose to fight and became their enemy, so now they choose to fight back. We have no choice, or at least that's how he's looking at it. Squall realizes in his mind that he's not making much sense because of his conflicted feelings, so he says there isn't much need to say much else. Rinoa tells him that they're still listening. They want to know how he feels. Squall promises to tell them later after this is all over, and we're off.

You know, I used to get really confused trying to navigate Galbadia Garden and figuring out where to go, especially in the first part since a lot of the areas look alike. It's not that tough once you get the first keycard though. Everything else just sort of flows and leads you where you need to go. Also, I gotta say one of the things I love about FFVIII is how that even random run of the mill enemies have great stuff to steal. Also, I love that Mug is the default steal command so I don't have to waste time building up to it. I can just attack and steal at the same time. Also, I love that Mug does the same damage as a regular attack so I'm not sacrificing power for stuff. They really got it right.

Anyway, at one point, you can talk to Raijin and Fujin, who are exhausted from the fighting. They tell Squall that they're leaving Seifer up to him. They don't know what's going on anymore, but they just want the old Seifer back. In his mind, Squall is sure Seifer thinks it's too late to go back now, but he doesn't say so aloud. Also, while you're here, you can get one of the best GFs in the game in Cerberus, but you have to fight him to earn his services. I love the dialogue when the battle first begins. One of the party members will ask if people in Galbadia Garden use GF, and Squall's like, "Ahh...Let's just take it," which prompts Cerberus to reply, "...PRETTY CONFIDENT." Cerberus uses some high level magic like Quake and Tornado, so he can hit your party pretty hard. The important thing is to make sure you dispel Triple right away if he casts it on himself.

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When you finally get up to where Seifer and Edea are waiting (and they'll even be nice and wait a little longer for you to save your game before you approach!), he'll begin by mockingly saying you guys shouldn't have come all this way just to see him. He was planning on visiting them anyway. Squall simply tells him to shut up, refusing to get caught up in a war of words with him. Seifer asks them if they came to fight Matron after all she's done for them.

At this point, you'll get some neat dialogue depending on who you brought with you to the fight. If you bring Selphie, Seifer will actually call her by name and say how he wishes they'd had time to get to know each other, but she'll simply say he's not really her type. He will ask Quistis if he's still one of her dearest students, and she will simply reply, "Not anymore." If Irvine is with you, he'll tell him to get back on Galbadia's side, and he'll respond that he's just fine right where he is. If you bring Zell, Seifer will say that a lot's happened between them, and he'll reply that he's dying to get even. Seifer will ask Rinoa if she's really going to fight against him when just a year ago, they...She'll cut him off and tell him to knock it off. Bah, I wanted some juicy details, darn it!

After all that, Squall will tell Seifer he can't mess with their minds anymore. Their resolve is set, and their mind is made up. To them, he's just another enemy like one of those monsters. Seifer will be outraged that you compared him to a mere monster. He proudly proclaims himself to be the sorceress's knight, and he says that THEY are the real monsters, attacking them like a swarm. He still views himself as a hero living a noble dream, and those who oppose the sorceress are evil. He's still caught up in a delusion, and you can see it in the way he talks.

Then a boss battle with Seifer begins. As with all Seifer boss fights, it's not hard, but I enjoy the atmosphere and all the stuff he has to say to you during the battle. The only real things of note from the battle itself are the fact that you can Mug 8 Mega Phoenixes from him, and you can see his new Limit Break, Demon Slice, which is pretty cool-looking, I have to admit. Throughout the battle, Seifer will crow that he'll show you who's the better man and how he can't be beaten. Even when he loses, he can't believe he's been bested.

After the battle, Edea will show her disdain for Seifer's failure and transport through the floor. Despite this only being the second time Squall's ever been in Galbadia Garden, he knows that the auditorium is directly below them. Dude must have an outstanding memory. When you enter the auditorium, you'll see that the sorceress isn't there, and a weird distorted chant of "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec" will play in the background. Then Edea will descend from above and crash through the glass screen while doing a couple of somersaults and nailing the perfect landing. She certainly knows how to make an entrance!

Edea will say something about the time finally having come and saying that they must be the legendary SeeD destined to face her. Of course, Squall has no idea what she's talking about. Seifer will slowly walk up behind her, and she will berate him again. At this point, Squall will determine in his mind that this woman isn't their Matron. He's able to put that emotional distance between him and Edea as the battle begins.

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I've gotta admit, I absolutely love this boss fight. As I've said before, presentation and atmosphere score major points with me, and this boss fight has it in spades. "Premonition" blaring in the background, the buildup to this fight in the plot, and just the way the game does this battle, all outstanding. I love Seifer hunched over, struggling even to stand, desperate and determined to maintain his honor as the sorceress's knight, saying he can't afford to lose. It really gives a great impression of the stakes for both sides just to see Seifer in a different fighting stance. He's not hard at all, but atmosphere, man. So good. After beating him, he'll simply collapse to the ground and say, "...I'm disgraced." Simple, but heartfelt at the same time. Seifer honestly does not believe himself to be evil or in the wrong. You can sense his...sincerity, I guess you'd call it, in his words and how he reacts to the whole situation.

And then the fight with Edea begins (Don't forget to draw Alexander), and right away, you can tell the gloves have come off and this is unlike anyone you've faced up to this point because she slams you with Maelstrom, which does percentage-based damage and also inflicts you with Curse status so you can't use Limit Breaks. I remember the first time I played the game and Edea hit me with that move, it was like, "Holy crap what the heck did she just hit me with?!" There's just something about that move that leaves an impression on you. It just feels...ominous and sinister. And then she can pretty much just use it at will! She hit me with two Maelstroms in rapid succession during the battle this time. When you finally beat her, you get rewarded with 50 AP, heck yeah (Oh, and you can steal a Royal Crown from her, too).

After the battle, the room fills with some strange pink smoke, and there's a bright light that fills the room. After it clears, Squall seems to be having some sort of out-of-body experience as he looks at what's going on. Rinoa walks (if it can even be called "walking") over to Seifer (Oh right, Rinoa will run into the room right before the boss fight begins if you don't bring her, so one way or the other she's there. Plot mechanics and all, since she's the one who has to inherit the sorceress powers) and kneels down next to him. She leans her face right next to his, which elicits a shocked reaction from Squall, and I don't really blame him. First time I played the game, I thought Rinoa was kissing Seifer or something, and I was wondering what the heck was going on.

After that, Seifer will rise to his feet and walk away, and then Rinoa will collapse to the ground with a thud, which seems to shock Squall back into reality. Quistis runs over to her side to check on her. Then Edea will address all of the orphanage children by name and say how they've grown and become so strong. She says that she's waited for this day to come, but at the same time, she feared it. Then she wonders if she's protected Ellone. Understandably, Squall is confused, but then Quistis will alert him and say something's wrong with Rinoa, and that is how Disc 2 ends. At the very least, the surprise and the mystery of something happening to Rinoa that they can neither explain nor fix had the potential to awaken latent feelings within Squall, even if he may not have been fully aware of those feelings himself, but that's a discussion for another time!

END OF DISC REVIEW QUESTIONS!

1. What is your favorite part of Disc 2 and why?

2. What is your least favorite part of Disc 2 and why?

3. What is your favorite boss battle in the game?

4. Do you prefer Disc 1 or Disc 2? (Figured I'd go ahead and ask this now since I doubt anyone's going to say Disc 3 or 4 is their favorite!)

5. How would you rank the characters up to this point in the game?

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Not that it's a problem in VIII, but having only Mug would be a real problem in say, IX, because most rare items would take too many attempts and you'd kill the enemy more often than not.

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http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr345/Rakaputra/pjbasis.png
SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

Oh right, another great thing about Mug in FFVIII.

Success rate doesn't suck.

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http://www.majhost.com/gallery/atukam/OHWD/snownd.gif

Okay, finally all caught up again.

Pronunciations:
Leonhart - Lee-on-hart
Rinoa - Rih-NO-uh
Dincht - Dincht
Quistis Trepe - Quiss-tis Trep
Irvine Kinneas - Ur-vine Kin-ay-uhs
Loire - Lwoir
Edea - Eh-DAY-uh
Kiros - Kee-ros
Raijin - RY-jin
Fujin - FOO-jin
Quetzacotl - Ketz-uh-coh-til (though I can't even look at it without wanting to autocorrect it to "Quetzalcoatl")
Ifrit - If-reet
Diablos - Dee-AH-blos
Bahamut - BAH-ha-mut (rhymes with "foot")

And city pronunciations!

Balamb - Buh-LAM
Trabia - Tra-BEE-uh
Galbadia - Gal-BAD-ee-uh
Esthar - Ess-ther

From: LeonhartFour | #427
Bringing up an argument I've tried to kill at least TWICE now isn't breaking up the monotony!

Typical Leonhart post.

From: LeonhartFour | #461
You can say Squall had a right to be a jerk to her and blow up at her, but it doesn't make him any less of a jerk for doing it!

I tore into Tsunami at the end of my contest for being an idiot, and I felt good about it, but I won't deny I was being a jerk even if he deserved it!

Bravo, bravo *mocking claps* My plan to usurp Ulti continues to bear fruit! #LiterallyObsessed

(the hashtag should make the sarcasm of this obvious, as I absolutely abhor Twitter)

From: LeonhartFour | #473
Well, if Selphie thinks hooking Rinoa up with Squall is fun, I doubt she's really be opposed to someone doing it for her with a guy she likes!

Selphie strikes me as the fantasy romance type of girl anyway.

Agreed 100%.

From: LeonhartFour | #010
As I mentioned in the last topic, there are...ways of finding the topic after it purges...!

Yes, and you were just as infuriatingly vague about it then as you are now.

From: pjbasis | #021
In some sort of movie (a trilogy at least!) or anime adaptation (probably 50-70 episodes), I always imagine Squall and Rinoa would storm the Garden alone and the rest of the party members got some epic fights with some Galbadian officers outside amidst the warzone.

That would be nice, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, most of the time when a video game is adapted into an anime, it's the standard 12 episodes, if not a mere 4-episode OAV. Unless you're something like Pokémon, which just had the dub Season 15 premiere this morning.

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I'm a cat person, but I can still appreciate a SuperNiceDog.

My condolences, Leon.

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"The people who play Final Fantasy 7 actually have lives and dont NEED polls" ~MajinUltima
SuperNiceDog: Bracket: Good, Taste: Bad

From: TsunamiXXVIII | #027
Typical Leonhart post.

Here's another one.

Shut up.

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"Hold on a minute! That testimony stinks!"
"Witness! You can't just say 'Hello' and expect us to get anywhere! I want you to testify!"

Whoa, that was probably the easiest time getting Edea's card that I've ever had.

I'm kinda stunned it was that easy, in fact.

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"I couldn't stand a day without a past or future. I need to live each moment to keep fighting here and now."

Just now noticed this. Amazing topic, amazing write-ups, makes me feel like I'm vicariously playing my favorite game of all time again without having the time to do so right now. 10/10

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Commodore
http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad258/CommodoreTN/CommodoreBrokemonpngtu.png

^5

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http://img.imgcake.com/leonpngpe.png
http://img.imgcake.com/squalloweenpngem.png

1. What is your favorite part of Disc 2 and why?

Battle of the Gardens because it's the climax of the game in a way. Everything before it is leading up to this moment, everything after is...weird. Regardless of your opinion of it, at the very least the general thrust of the plot is disjointed! But Square carry off every part of it so well. Cannot fault it in any way, and it would've been so easy for them to get a bunch of things wrong.

2. What is your least favorite part of Disc 2 and why?

Sorry, really cannot get over Same Orphanage. It adds nothing to the battle really (I know they refer to Edea as Matron and so on, but the bottom line is it makes no difference to how the rest of disc two actually goes). It raises some questions about GF usage which could've been really fascinating if they ever made any attempt to actually follow up on it, but they didn't. Instead we were just left with "contrived plot twist that just ruins immersion and doesn't add to anything!". To be fair, the badness of it is probably amplified by the fact that the rest of disc two is so good.

3. What is your favorite boss battle in the game?

Not sure. Possibly end of disc one?

4. Do you prefer Disc 1 or Disc 2? (Figured I'd go ahead and ask this now since I doubt anyone's going to say Disc 3 or 4 is their favorite!)

Disc 2 is almost entirely awesome.

5. How would you rank the characters up to this point in the game?

Squall > Laguna > Selphie > Zell > Kiros > Rinoa > Ward > Seifer > Quistis > Irvine

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James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism

From: Eeeevil Overlord | #033
Instead we were just left with "contrived plot twist that just ruins immersion and doesn't add to anything!"

I don't remember that part...!

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http://i.imgur.com/stNJf.png

Whew, another late night.

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"Why must we always choose between certain death and probable death?"
"I'm in an epic battle to the death, FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF!"

Tag for when I get nack to this.

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First is mnk'boy'907, who looks fab with her gray skin and grandma poncho/shawl thing~
http://img.imgcake.com/nio/boypngbu.png - Nio

The people demand Disc 3!

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

In due time!

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wait, you've never finished FF8 before?!?!?

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(='.'=] < http://img.imgcake.com/sbellcardjpgub.jpg

Hey, that's two topics in a row that this has happened!

I'm not playing through these games for the first time. I'm playing them AGAIN.

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oh, well thats more like it.

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(='.'=] < http://img.imgcake.com/sbellcardjpgub.jpg

Anti-purge bumb I guess.

What better way to bump it though than to post these results from the Dissidia012 board:


Worst FF
Final Fantasy II - 2
Final Fantasy III - 3
Final Fantasy IV - 2
Mystic Quest - 3
Final Fantasy V - 1
Dirge of Cerberus - 5
Final Fantasy VIII - 8
Final Fantasy X-2 - 2
Final Fantasy XII - 4
Revenant Wings - 1
Final Fantasy XIII - 6
Final Fantasy XIV - 2

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I do because I can.....and because I'm bored.
http://www.yourgamercards.net/trophy/a/Micer101.png

LOL Dissidia board

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"I can set you free, mate."
"My freedom was forfeit long ago!"

It's almost like most of those people are ignorant fools who haven't played FF2, 3 or Mystic Quest!

But no, that can't be it.

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James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism

Yeah pretty stupid not to see FF2 there much but whatever

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I do because I can.....and because I'm bored.
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/4565/mgrok.png

From: LeonhartFour | #043
LOL Dissidia board

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

Ganging up on FFVIII like it's the worst game in the series is one of those weird sentiments that I feel like results from people blowing its flaws out of proportion. Then again, I'm not an orthodox RPG player. My first RPG was Super Mario RPG, and FFVII was my second, so I'm hardly what you'd call an RPG traditionalist. I can understand why RPG traditionalists would dislike FFVIII because it breaks so many RPG norms (No MP, enemies leveling up with you, getting paid a salary instead of winning money from battles, etc.), but again, that's not a problem for me because FFVIII doing something out of the ordinary doesn't bother me because I had no sense of "ordinary."

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Strahax beginning to post on the FFVIII board is bothering me.

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I saw him there too >_>

And I'm pretty sure he was on the FFVII board...starting to tick me off.

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I do because I can.....and because I'm bored.
http://www.yourgamercards.net/trophy/a/Micer101.png

Ganging up on FFVIII like it's the worst game in the series is one of those weird sentiments that I feel like results from people blowing its flaws out of proportion. Then again, I'm not an orthodox RPG player. My first RPG was Super Mario RPG, and FFVII was my second, so I'm hardly what you'd call an RPG traditionalist. I can understand why RPG traditionalists would dislike FFVIII because it breaks so many RPG norms (No MP, enemies leveling up with you, getting paid a salary instead of winning money from battles, etc.), but again, that's not a problem for me because FFVIII doing something out of the ordinary doesn't bother me because I had no sense of "ordinary."

While I do think FF8 deserves a bit of disdain for its broken battle system, I think a fair bit of this is spot on. I'm actually fine with the game doing things differently (e.g. no MP is great, salary is fine) and I agree that some people are probably too harsh on the game for that (just like the insufferable NO TOWNS folks re FF13).

Of course FF2 not having more votes for worst strikes me as intensely weird. I just hope most people there haven't played it. I definitely don't think FF8 deserves to be in the discussion for worst despite my personal misgivings about the game, but I can see why some people think so... many haven't played the games that are clearly more deserving of the title, and it had the misfortune to follow FF7 which is pretty much one of the most hyped games of all time.

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The RPG Duelling League: www.rpgdl.com
An unparalleled source for RPG information and discussion