Board 8 > Andy plays Final Fantasy VI

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Jakyl25
01/04/21 5:29:40 PM
#52:


Yeah I think the character side scenes just dont happen if you dont have everyone necessary
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Jakyl25
01/04/21 5:30:58 PM
#53:


andylt posted...
We get told about an opera house, and I have to say I think this is the first time in a JRPG that I've seen opera be featured.


Theres a very overt reference to the FFVI Opera scene in Undertale, if that counts as a JRPG
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Grand Kirby
01/04/21 5:42:18 PM
#54:


Oh yeah, I forgot that there were exclusive little scenes in this section. You picked a great party to see them.

The chainsaw is a fun weapon, mostly because if you keep using it you'll see Edgar put on a Jason-esque hockey mask which is incredible.

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Okay, I rolled a 14. What's that mean? Hsu
That you're a cheater. This is a 12-sided die. Chan
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SeabassDebeste
01/04/21 7:39:37 PM
#55:


andylt posted...
The music here is a nice remix of the terrific overworld theme. There's also been a slower version of that theme played earlier so I'm guessing it's the equivalent of this game's main theme.

the overworld theme is called "terra" and the slow version is called "awakening." i tend to think of awakening as "terra's theme" in my head. but yeah, it's an incredible melody.
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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
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andylt
01/05/21 8:14:07 AM
#56:


Sounds like I got lucky with my party choices, phew.

Jakyl25 posted...
Theres a very overt reference to the FFVI Opera scene in Undertale, if that counts as a JRPG
I haven't played Undertale but that's cool, I guess 'JRPG Opera' is just associated with this game now.

SeabassDebeste posted...
the overworld theme is called "terra" and the slow version is called "awakening." i tend to think of awakening as "terra's theme" in my head. but yeah, it's an incredible melody.
Oh that makes sense, like Cloud's theme being the main one in VII. Not sure how people debate Terra being the lead with evidence like that! It is most likely my fav overworld theme of the series (that I've heard so far).

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Slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado. Currently playing: FFVI
Congrats to azuarc, Guru Champion 2020!
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andylt
01/07/21 12:08:08 PM
#57:


Into the Opera House, Locke devises a plan to get Setzer's airship which involves Celes mimicking Maria. (Where is Maria btw, odd we don't see her). Ultros is also here but nobody pays him any attention. Before I know it we're off to the races and the opera begins.

Locke watches the intro and then pops in to check on Celes. We get to look at Celes's lines and, not wanting to cheat and write them down, I try to remember the ends of each lines to get the rhyming order. Sadly that is the exact opposite of what I should've done >_> Thankfully I don't mess it up anyway, and the opera goes on. This scene is... really good. I love that they put together an actual opera-sounding plot here, unlike the comic stylings of say FF7's play or FF8's action movie. I mean I know very little about the medium but it really seems to get the style right.

The most impressive thing though is the music- I don't know how they worked this out, but the lyrics fit with the music pretty much perfectly (this could be a GBA alteration) and they're honestly pretty affecting, as is the tune. I imagine the themes of the opera will continue to resonate for the characters throughout the game too, or at least for Locke and Celes. There's the perfect amount of player interaction here so it doesn't feel like we're just watching a bunch of cutscenes. After Maria/Celes's lines she has to 'dance' with some memory of her Draco, which was not in the instructions and completely threw me, I was looking for the balcony to throw the flowers! It works out though, until the rest of the gang has to go stop Ultros, who helpfully informs us of his plan so we can put an end to it.

Again the opera's music underscores the mission here, it's not a unique idea for games (maybe it was at the time) but this whole sequence is just really fun. The time limit is forgiving but not ridiculously so, so the sense of urgency is kept, and we all eventually crash down and almost spoil the opera with Locke's dreadful acting (lol). The Impresario rolls with it though and we have our boss fight.

Ultros isn't so tough, thankfully we have him surrounded so he can't hit us all at once. It takes a while and he does hit pretty hard, and I definitely feel the lack of Celes here. Thankfully we've trained our Espers a bit to get a little magic, and Cyan and Edgar are pretty tough physical attackers. He eventually goes down (along with much of our Hi-Potion supply), and Setzer takes Celes, ending the opera for now. I hope there really is an Act 2!

Setzer uh... plans to give Celes 'attention' later (this guy is gonna join our party?), and after some chatting we lay our cards on the table. Celes gets a trick coin from Edgar, which is a very nice way to presumably reveal that he fixed the coin toss with Sabin way back. I wonder if Sabin would react if he was in the party now, or what Celes would do if Edgar wasn't here. Anyway she successfully tricks him and he admires that so agrees to help us. We sadly don't get to wander the world with the airship, but we do get a nice cinematic scene introducing the southern continent, reminiscent of the game's opening. They learned how to do this perspective pretty damn well between V and VI I see! Into Empire Land we go.

A couple notes:
  • Celes learns how to sing incredibly quickly.
  • The sound of the characters' voices during the opera reminded me of Wandersong
  • OK Aeris's theme intentionally riffs on that bit of the opera right? Cos Celes's part starts off almost identically.

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Slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado. Currently playing: FFVI
Congrats to azuarc, Guru Champion 2020!
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redrocket
01/07/21 12:12:52 PM
#58:


Setzer is classic Chaotic Neutral.

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ShadowYosuke
01/07/21 12:14:24 PM
#59:


Sabin does react if he's in the party! If Edgar isn't there, I don't think it's ever mentioned how she got the coin or its significance. Which is a shame.
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WazzupGenius00
01/07/21 2:49:17 PM
#60:


It is unfortunate that so many characters (like Gau and others you've not met yet) have little connection to the plot or other members of the party, so you are disincentivized from using them because you'll miss a lot of cool dialogue scenes

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Grand Kirby
01/07/21 3:05:08 PM
#61:


andylt posted...
The most impressive thing though is the music- I don't know how they worked this out, but the lyrics fit with the music pretty much perfectly (this could be a GBA alteration)
Yup. The original translation for this was... really bad. It was perfectly well-enough written, but it didn't follow the music at ALL. The GBA translation of it is a wonder, as it translates the lines well, sticking close to the original themes, and sounding like an actual song would sound like, while also going along with the rhythm of the music.

I know some people prefer the SNES lyrics because of nostalgia, but at certain Final Fantasy live concerts they'll play Maria and Draco and it's so much more clearer how amazing the new translated lyrics sound and work. I went to Distant Worlds a couple of years ago and they performed the entire opera sequence, with real opera singers playing the parts and a professional narrator and it was easily the most incredible performance of the night. The standing ovation lasted for like three straight minutes. You can hear what it would have sounded like here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enprAgkvvxM

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Okay, I rolled a 14. What's that mean? Hsu
That you're a cheater. This is a 12-sided die. Chan
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SSBM_Guy
01/07/21 3:28:35 PM
#62:


In a game full of memorable and cinematic scenes, opera remains the best

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SeabassDebeste
01/07/21 3:29:36 PM
#63:


opera scene (and theme!) sooooo good
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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
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andylt
01/07/21 4:52:34 PM
#64:


Can I read that spoiler text? Also that opera vid is cool, it's amazing how operatic the scene still feels in a GBA game, if they remade it well in 3D it could be amazing. (Or worse if they mess it up, v possibly).

WazzupGenius00 posted...
It is unfortunate that so many characters (like Gau and others you've not met yet) have little connection to the plot or other members of the party, so you are disincentivized from using them because you'll miss a lot of cool dialogue scenes
Yeah this is a bit of a problem, Gau is the most disconnected but there's clearly an A and B group in terms of plot relevance so far. Celes/Locke/Terra and then the rest (Figaros probs before Cyan, then Gau last). I'll try to mix it up still but I don't like missing important developments!

Anyway we're onto a new continent, with a bunch of new places to visit. Sadly there's not too much to do in them, we're thrown out of an outpost in the east and all the towns are basically the same. Of course this is the point, the Empire has had them burned and put under occupation. We visit Maranda, which I remember being a town Celes is responsible for burning, but weirdly there's no dialogue to reflect this from the locals or from Celes. A Shame!

We do learn that monsters on this continent are weak to magic, and the Empire has a weapon called the Guardian. There's reference to this game's Ultima Weapons used in the War of the Magi- a sword, of course, and also a monster. Very curious. We encounter a Fossil Dragon in the desert that is too strong for us right now, the first time I've had to flee this game! The Imperial City of Vector isn't massively impressive, the locals still have some fire in them and I sneak past some guards to go in the front door only to face the aforementioned Guardian. Oops. We barely manage to escape, and head in the proper way through the back.

Into the Magitek Factory, a neat dungeon filled with a lot of enemies and conveyor belts. Good music too. Magic is indeed strong on everything here, weird given where we are, and Edgar's Flash is very powerful at zero MP cost. I go the long way round trying to round up all the chests, and eventually we see Kefka toss some Espers in the trash while talking about some Warring Triad he wants to revive. Probably a bad thing. Down in the waste disposal we have a boss fight with who else but Ifrit and Shiva!

Celes has Blizzard and is the strongest mage, and three of my party have Fire, so this is not a hard battle. The two enemies are never on screen together, and it doesn't take long to off them. They realise we have Ramuh and are good guys, so pour their essence into more crystals and we now have two new Espers. Yay! We go up a bunch of stairs, not quite Shinra level but clearly building to something, and face more experimental enemies that I'm guessing are manmade, including a boss named No. 24, who is no problem.

We finally reach a group of Espers suspended in tanks, and realising their and our plight they willingly transform themselves into magicite. It's hard to be sad when this means six new junction systems to play with! Or does it? Cid arrives and chats with Celes, not realising that she's abandoned the Empire. Or so I think! Turns out Celes infiltrated our group as a spy and is still working for the Empire! Great twist, I didn't see this coming at all. Of course Celes claims this isn't the case, and she clearly cares about the crew, warping herself and Kefka somewhere else. Still this is great. I wonder if the torture was faked, or she was just so deep undercover that only the higher-ups knew what was going on. The Empire clearly knows more than they let on about our little escapades, I'm very excited to see what happens with Celes now. Cyan affirms his decision not to trust her, and Edgar remains silent but must feel silly about his whole 'you can trust people in the Empire' speech now.

Cid has a very abrupt change of heart about his experiments and helps us escape, possibly sacrificing himself to Kefka to help us. Cue an on-rails sequence, and this time the graphics haven't quite held up so well. Weirdly the enemies are easier here than they were in the factory itself, perhaps this is where the rejects go. There's another boss fight at the end of the line with No. 128, a big guy with 3 targets. Fortunately Edgar's Flash is still super useful here and we take him down without too much trouble. We crash into a Magitek soldier (sucks for him!) and flee with Setzer back to the airship. A pissed Kefka shows up from wherever he was taken and chases after us, and we're right into yet another boss battle on the airship!

This is our first fight with Setzer, who has a slot machine gimmick. Oh boy, I generally don't use gamble tricks and his character hasn't drawn himself to me so I can see me ditching this guy pretty quickly. There isn't an insta-game over slot in this one, is there? I actually do pretty well with the slots though, and the team continues their established jobs pretty well. Locke is equipped with Thunder Sword which heals the enemy, and an electrical charge is mentioned which worries me so I keep him on healing duty. Thankfully the enemies are dealt with before whatever electrical thing they were building up releases. Phew!

No time to relax as we're taken right back to Terra in Zozo. She finally awakens and remembers her past, and we're off to relive a past experience in the Esper World. Long story short an Esper named Maduin encounters Madeline, a human woman who fled her world in disgust at the greed she saw (imagine that >_>) and arrived here via storm, and they spiral around each other in a void and make a crystal baby, as you do. Two years later Gestahl and his cronies arrive through a similar storm, and take several Espers with them. The Elder almost ruins Gestahl's plans but Madeline, Terra and Maduin end up taken back to the human world, proving a great help to the Emperor. Oh dear! Terra's origin gives some Rydia/Feymarch vibes.

Terra herself seems perfectly fine now, and Locke notes that Celes must have gotten her power through one of the Espers Gestahl brought back. We decide to head back to Narshe (that is the second time the non-party members have just... left their posts for no good reason) and now we finally have control of the airship. Also it turns out we actually did take those 6 Espers from the factory, I thought they were in Celes's hands but hey I'll take it. Not sure what party to take now, Sabin and Terra will be coming back and I guess I should try Gau and Setzer but idk, we'll see next time. A lot of great stuff to cover today, mainly involving Celes. Hopefully this makes up for the lack of updates the past few days!

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Slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado. Currently playing: FFVI
Congrats to azuarc, Guru Champion 2020!
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Leonhart4
01/07/21 4:55:08 PM
#65:


The spoiler text is just telling you how the scene is different with other party members.

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Grand Kirby
01/07/21 5:01:44 PM
#66:


andylt posted...
They realise we have Ramuh and are good guys, so pour their essence into more crystals and we now have two new Espers.
Weirdly enough, it's possible to just actually... not pick up their crystals and miss out on them forever. Don't know why anyone would do that (and I think one of them blocks a door or something), but it's curious.

andylt posted...
We finally reach a group of Espers suspended in tanks, and realising their and our plight they willingly transform themselves into magicite. It's hard to be sad when this means six new junction systems to play with!
It's kind of like the FFV problem where you're supposed to want to save the crystals, but you kind of want them to get destroyed since it means fun new powerups.

andylt posted...
Cue an on-rails sequence, and this time the graphics haven't quite held up so well.
I wouldn't say that. Even back in the day this sequence looked horrible...

andylt posted...
This is our first fight with Setzer, who has a slot machine gimmick. Oh boy, I generally don't use gamble tricks and his character hasn't drawn himself to me so I can see me ditching this guy pretty quickly. There isn't an insta-game over slot in this one, is there?
Yes there is. And I remember when I first rolled it, it was during some long sequence of events and I was pissed at having to restart the whole thing over. Never used it again.

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Okay, I rolled a 14. What's that mean? Hsu
That you're a cheater. This is a 12-sided die. Chan
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Leonhart4
01/07/21 5:04:25 PM
#67:


Yeah, I got the insta-game over reel once and never used it again as well.

I loved the on-rails sequence mostly for the music, even if graphically it looked weird.

Magitek Factory is a great part of the game.

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mnkboy907
01/07/21 5:12:40 PM
#68:


There's something optional that opens up when you get back to Narshe. I forget if any townsfolk will point you in the right direction or not, but just do a bit of exploring in town again.

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SeabassDebeste
01/07/21 5:32:08 PM
#69:


Leonhart4 posted...
I loved the on-rails sequence mostly for the music

yup, same here - anywhere the music overrides battle music is almost always gonna be cool, and when the music is this good it adds a ton

i never used the slots either. it's just not fun!
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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
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Fiop
01/07/21 5:33:50 PM
#70:


FYI, you can change your equipped weapon and shield in battle, in case you find your weapon doesn't work on the enemy.

Slots aren't too bad, IMO. I don't think I've ever gotten the insta-game over reel. Be aware that it's not as skill based as you might think. The game will both cheat in your favor for certain things and against you for others. Some of the easier to get things are fairly decent.

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"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude." - 1 Cor 13:4-5
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SSBM_Guy
01/07/21 6:26:13 PM
#71:


oh, since you got setzer

Kingdom Hearts doesn't really acknowledge pre-VII Final Fantasy, but it does for one character...!



he beats up kids for fun

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Grand Kirby
01/07/21 6:36:45 PM
#72:


And he has to try and bribe in order to win....

Yeah, that's not Setzer. Just some random dude who stole his name.

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Okay, I rolled a 14. What's that mean? Hsu
That you're a cheater. This is a 12-sided die. Chan
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andylt
01/07/21 6:49:19 PM
#73:


^I have never understood Kingdom Hearts and I'm not about to start now. What a random character to represent 2D FF!

I hope the Sabin coin thing comes up again, or I'm gonna feel the urge to replay this like a dozen times to get every little bit of dialogue from everyone >_>

Grand Kirby posted...
It's kind of like the FFV problem where you're supposed to want to save the crystals, but you kind of want them to get destroyed since it means fun new powerups.
Lol yes I meant to reference this, exactly what I thought of.

Fiop posted...
FYI, you can change your equipped weapon and shield in battle, in case you find your weapon doesn't work on the enemy.
I always forget this! I also forgot about actually summoning the espers for all of today lol. If it's not on the menu it's not on my mind I guess. I didn't realise you could skip to the next character with no action either until I saw it in the tutorial school at Narshe, I missed out on that entirely through IV-V oops.

Game over slots mean I'm probably not gonna be using Setzer much! Thanks for the heads up all, I could see that irritating me massively. In battle the slots spun up two bars and a chocobo or something and I suddenly remembered Cait Sith having some game over one like that in 7 so thought I'd ask.

I liked the on-rails sequence it just looked way goofier than all other shots from that angle have (the opening, flying south). Also conceptually it was really similar to the rapids and the underwater thing but with even less player input.


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Congrats to azuarc, Guru Champion 2020!
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Grand Kirby
01/07/21 6:50:18 PM
#74:


andylt posted...
I didn't realise you could skip to the next character with no action either until I saw it in the tutorial school at Narshe, I missed out on that entirely through IV-V oops.
I think this was the first game you could do that, actually.

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Okay, I rolled a 14. What's that mean? Hsu
That you're a cheater. This is a 12-sided die. Chan
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Team Rocket Elite
01/07/21 7:09:34 PM
#75:


For what it is worth, the is only 1 combination in Slots that kills your entire team. For this combination, the slot reels are purely based on timing so avoiding it is always under your control. The game will never cheat and force you into it.
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Fiop
01/07/21 7:23:04 PM
#76:


There are two specific slots that can kill your entire team. One is 7-7-bar. The game does not rig the first or second slot, and it does rig the third slot, to either help you or hurt you. It will not rig the 3rd slot in your favor to hurt you, at least. To explain the rigging more, it's RNG whether you can get some of the better skills - if the RNG doesn't favor something, it won't let you match it. But it basically always helps you get some of the weaker stuff, and the weaker stuff can do good damage.

The other one to be aware of is bar-bar-bar. This will summon a random esper. In most circumstances, this is fine but there is one specific, late game esper that will do an attack that hits both you and the enemy for pretty big damage, which can often kill you. This is also an issue with the magicite item that summons a random esper.

It's probably not worth the risk to go for 7's, or probably even bar's, but if you go for anything else, you should be fine. For what it's worth, these are the two things that are rigged most against you.

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andylt
01/08/21 6:49:58 PM
#77:


Grand Kirby posted...
I think this was the first game you could do that, actually.
Oh good, that makes me feel better. It was annoying in V trying to cycle through the characters to get Mime to work the way I wanted it to!

Before anything else we of course have to travel around the world in our airship looking for new places to set foot in. Unfortunately it's a bit hard to see where things are on the map, and it doesn't seem like there's all that much new to discover. Gau learns some new tricks on the Veldt, I send and receive a record from Veldt to Maranda, and we get wrecked by a monster in a forest on an island in the north-east. It's invisible and asleep most of the time, and retaliates to any hit with Meteor before going invisible again. Too tough for me right now!

The only new location I find is the town of Thamasa, a very odd place where everybody is very cold to me. I can't buy things or go past certain doors, and people just repeat one or two lines, they are all very wary of an outsider. I'm told the innkeeper charges extra for outsiders, and seeing nothing else to do I pay the fee and hope something will happen in the inn. Sadly it doesn't, that's 1500 Gil down the drain. This place intrigues me greatly though, one for the list.

Not finding anything else to do I head to Narshe, and the town has finally decided to stand up to the Empire. To stand a chance we are to go and open the gate to the Esper World (this sounds like a terrible idea!!), and remarkably Terra consents. Wonder how this scene plays out without her around.

Per mnkboy's advice I talk to the locals, figuring the new thing available is something to do with that yeti I saw earlier. I find the home of the Moogles but there's nothing but a single chest here, and back at town someone tells me Wolfman is in the area, and I catch him stealing from the locked chest. Chasing him all the way to the Esper, he holds a Moogle hostage. Going up to him doesn't work, and standing still doesn't work, so I figure I'll head all the way back to the other Moogles to get them to help me. Of course this doesn't work either, the only change is the static Moogle that was in the back has disappeared.

Turns out I was indeed supposed to just stand there and wait, I merely wasn't patient enough. I rescue talking Moogle Mog, and Wolfman jumps/falls off a cliff. Very curious what happens if I go to the wolf guy first instead! Mog joins our party, oddly enough as a dancer! I swap Gau and Setzer out for Mog and Locke (I love stealing things too much), and we head to a now abandoned outpost on the southern continent. There's a room here I can't access, either. Mog learns a dance after his very first battle, not sure the triggers for that.

We enter the cave to the Sealed Gate, a lava area on the south east of the map that is filled with undead enemies (just like in V!). This is a goldmine for grinding, the Zombie Dragons here drop crazy exp and I can mug them for Phoenix Downs. Terra has Raise, too, and Sabin's Aura Cannon is incredibly powerful down here. Mog is pretty useful, honestly the first time he stumbled attempting to Dance I considered dropping him but he succeeds more often than not and he can do sizable damage. The Dance he learned usually heals us, too, which is nice to get for free. The dungeon itself is pretty fun, it's standard puzzle stuff but there's plenty of goodies to be found, including Genji Gloves (I put these on Locke for double Mugging chance!), Magicite Shards, and... Ultima Weapon?! OK Ultima scales to the user's HP so it's not crazy OP, but still!

We eventually find our way to the gate, and of course Kefka shows up. He reveals that the Empire 'let' us take Terra in order to have her lead them to this gate and open it for them. Seems... unlikely. If they captured Terra back they could surely just make her a puppet again and order her to open the gate for them. It's not like they didn't have an outpost right next to here! Not sure what their plan was there, maybe Kefka is full of it. Anyway Terra decides to open the gate while we hold off Kefka (again, seems like a very stupid plan! He wants the gate open!). We have a fake boss fight that ends in one round, and the gate opens to a bunch of angry Espers flying out and knocking us all down, sweeping Kefka away.

I like that they gave us glimpses of the summons we will be getting, I'm sure I saw Bahamut but the others I couldn't say! Seems like they reused this idea for the WEAPONs releasing in 7. We head back to the airship and follow the Espers towards Vector (OK hey maybe this will work after all!), but one of them knocks us out of the sky and we lose the capability of flight (nvm). Ah, V flashbacks. We'll have to head to Vector on foot, and I'm very curious what will become of this. Feels like we're heading to a major crux here.

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Slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado. Currently playing: FFVI
Congrats to azuarc, Guru Champion 2020!
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Mr Crispy
01/08/21 6:57:00 PM
#78:


If you save the wolf guy, he gives you a gold hairpin (which you can get more of later anyway) but Mog won't join you until later.

Mog dances are kinda like geomancy except it changes the background instead of being based on the current background - you get it by fighting at least one battle on a type of background (hence why I said earlier you would have to go out of the way to fight underwater with mog in the party at least once for the water dance)

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Not changing this line until I beat Seven Heroes (2/24/07) - Fulfilled 2/20/18
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Grand Kirby
01/08/21 7:00:40 PM
#79:


Yeah. You can get a hard to obtain dance for Mog by traveling through the Serpent Trench again. It'll end up being a bit of a roundabout trip. Don't get lost if you try.

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Okay, I rolled a 14. What's that mean? Hsu
That you're a cheater. This is a 12-sided die. Chan
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ZeldaTPLink
01/08/21 7:57:23 PM
#80:


Iirc Mog has 100% accuracy if you use the dance that matches the background you're at. But if you are at a different one, he can miss. Sometimes it's still worth it because he makes the background change after the first use so he won't miss again in that fight. And some dances are better than others. But if you're in a place where the default dance seems to suck, the Mog is just mediocre too.
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PunishedBen
01/08/21 9:14:27 PM
#81:


Yeah I always saw Mog as more of Geomancer than a Dancer

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MalcolmMasher
01/08/21 9:33:53 PM
#82:


Mog is, of course, a Geodancer.
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ZeldaTPLink
01/09/21 1:56:30 PM
#83:


This topic is making me want to play this game again, and I still need to play all the other FFs some time!

Maybe I'll direct that feeling to a playthrough topic of a different FF.
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colliding
01/09/21 2:08:20 PM
#84:


Later you can pick up a relic that changes Setzer's "slot" to something else, which makes him a bit more viable

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while you slept, the world changed
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pjbasis
01/09/21 4:35:42 PM
#85:


Grand Kirby posted...


Yeah, that's not Setzer. Just some random dude who stole his name.

Whatever you think is right, you're wrong. And that... is a big mistake.

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andylt
01/09/21 5:15:12 PM
#86:


Thanks for the Mog info, a shame I'm stranded on this one continent now! And I have a relic that changes Slot to Gil Toss if that's what you mean, colliding. Haven't used it though.

ZeldaTPLink posted...
This topic is making me want to play this game again, and I still need to play all the other FFs some time!

Maybe I'll direct that feeling to a playthrough topic of a different FF.
My fav part of doing these topics is getting others itching to play the games again!

I wasn't planning to play today but did a little bit anyway. I had to see what happened next, and our grand plot twist is... dinner with the Emperor. Huh. Not what I expected! Vector is a mess when we arrive, and Banon is weirdly shocked at the Espers having done this- isn't this exactly what we wanted them for? Anyway the Emperor wants to sue for peace and officially ends the war, then we have a minigame to talk to as many soldiers as possible. I wasn't sure if I'd get locked out of this area afterwards so I make some mistakes here, going out of my way to pick up chests and talking to Kefka in jail which wastes several seconds. Oh yeah, Kefka is in jail for his poisoning shenanigans.

I get 23 soldiers in total, and then we have an incredibly awkward dinner conversation that feels like we're taking part in a test. Gestahl is very apologetic but we have many optional questions to ask and answer, I left a save before Vector so may go back and try the other options later. It was very tempting to select 'Execute Kefka', but I resisted. He basically insists that the Esper massacre means his war is done, but I don't buy it for a second. This is a guy who wanted to raid the ends of the world and the next to gain power, and no way he wasn't aware of what Kefka was capable of when he hired him. Thankfully the crew isn't dim, they all assume the same thing.

Nonetheless we agree to go with the plan he proposes- sending Terra to Crescent Isle to calm the Espers. Everyone is skeptical of the Empire so... they decide to stay here in the capital, surrounded by soldiers, leaving Terra alone. Maybe not such a wise call, guys. Locke goes with Terra, because... he thinks of every woman as a chance to make good on his failed promise to Rachel? He wants to get over Celes so is hopping on the only other woman nearby? He thinks he's the main character? Who knows, but he's going, and it's a two person party. General Leo, the 'ethical' war general, will join us.

I mean clearly something is going on here, the easy answer is Gestahl's just using Terra's power to his own ends, but idk. This many soldiers couldn't be all tricking us, so he must be keeping the truth kept between him and Kefka? IDK. I'm wary of General Leo too, I know these kinds of games absolutely love the Noble General in Bad Guy's Army trope but given that he's accompanying us there's reason to worry. Unless Gestahl is just keeping Leo and Terra out of the way while he springs whatever his plan is on everyone else in Vector.

We get a bunch of items from the unlocked armoury in that abandoned outpost, and I wait outside Albrook. One of the elephants in the room: where is Celes? Gestahl claims Kefka was lying about her still siding with the Empire, but she isn't anywhere to be found in Vector. I really feel like the gang is making a massive mistake splitting up like this, but at least they're all on guard and not trusting Gestahl. We'll see exactly how things go south next time!

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Slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado. Currently playing: FFVI
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colliding
01/09/21 8:02:08 PM
#87:


the banquet scene is an underrated FFVI scene. everyone talks about the opera house and stuff later but no one talks about the banquet. love it

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Team Rocket Elite
01/09/21 8:04:39 PM
#88:


andylt posted...
then we have an incredibly awkward dinner conversation that feels like we're taking part in a test


I mean, it is a test. >_> What prizes did you get at the end?
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MalcolmMasher
01/09/21 10:59:43 PM
#89:


Vector is a mess when we arrive, and Banon is weirdly shocked at the Espers having done this- isn't this exactly what we wanted them for?

I think what the game is trying to convey is that even the Returners are disconcerted by how much destruction the Espers have wrought.

We get a bunch of items from the unlocked armoury in that abandoned outpost, and I wait outside Albrook.

Before you enter Albrook, you can head back to the Blackjack for a missable scene with Setzer. Sadly, it's a bit of a trek. There are a few chocobo stables hidden in forests on the southern continent, if I recall correctly, but none near Albrook.
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andylt
01/10/21 10:25:14 AM
#90:


The banquet was a fun surprise, I was expecting a full on assault or something!

Team Rocket Elite posted...
I mean, it is a test. >_> What prizes did you get at the end?
Oh the guy afterwards who rewarded us for our decorum? Gestahl took his soldiers out of South Figaro and Doma, and he unlocked the armoury in the eastern outpost. There was a bunch of stuff in the armoury, can't remember all of it.

Thanks for the tip Malcolm, I'll wander back to the ship before continuing (assuming Blackjack is the airship).

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MalcolmMasher
01/10/21 10:43:56 AM
#91:


Yeah, the Blackjack is Setzer's airship. ...which, come to think of it, I don't think is ever actually stated within the game, so I should've just said "the airship". My bad!
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Fiop
01/10/21 11:16:28 AM
#92:


There were two other relics you couldve gotten from the banquet, but theyre no big deal and can be obtained elsewhere anyway. As long as you at least got the armory, thats good enough.

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"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude." - 1 Cor 13:4-5
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redrocket
01/10/21 12:43:23 PM
#93:


Theres a hidden chocobo stable in the woods around Maranda that is useful for getting back

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andylt
01/10/21 6:45:37 PM
#94:


Thanks to Malcolm I witness a scene with Setzer and Cid, and learn a bit of Setzer's backstory with a woman named Darill. Humanises him a bit, glad I got to see this. And thanks to redrocket we get a chocobo ride back to Albrook. Leo tells us we are to be joined on our journey by Shadow and Celes (!), who is still being very quiet. Locke tries to apologise to her but she doesn't respond, he thinks she hasn't forgiven him but I'm thinking she feels guilty about something. The opera music plays over this scene, a nice touch.

Terra has a nice chat with Leo, notably he focuses on the fact that her emotions have returned, not her memories. He at least acknowledges that he is still complicit in the Empire's atrocities, and out of nowhere Terra talks about wanting to fall in love. Not sure who she's thinking of here, Locke I guess? I also have to agree with Seabass that Awakening really feels like her proper theme. How old is Terra supposed to be btw, her 'I want to know now!' feels a bit childish. Shadow tries to comfort her with a very nice line: "There are people in this world who have chosen to kill their emotions. Remember that." I quite like Shadow, he's such a tropey assassin type (his name is Shadow for goodness' sake) but the game's not pretending he's anything else. Locke throws up.

Turns out Crescent Isle is the place we visited earlier with the hamlet of Thamasa. The locals aren't as hostile to us now (a bit weak that this changes just because of plot progression), and they are certainly much more clumsy about hiding their magical secret. It's a neat reason for their earlier hostilities though, and we meet not one but two future party members here- Strago and Relm. The cast is filling up! In the middle of the night Strago wakes us up (why?? I get that he's panicking but he's still trying to hide his powers, he literally wakes us up to go follow and watch him cast spells >_>). Shadow wasn't paid for this lol. Anyway Relm is stuck inside a burning house, and we have some battles and then a boss fight. I make sure to use my magic in front of Strago but he doesn't take any notice, sadly.

Strago is a Blue Mage and he comes readily equipped with Aqua Breath, which I remember being very useful in V. Our boss fight is with Flame Eater, this goes pretty smoothly once I get Shell cast on the trio, a lone Aqua Breath wipes out the Balloons he spawns and we eventually wear him down. Interceptor beat us to the punch in rescuing Relm, but we're all trapped anyway until Shadow rescues us with... a Smoke Bomb? Somehow? Hey, I'll roll with it! Shadow leaves us and we head west to the mountains to find the Espers- it's pretty lame that an opening in the mountains is just suddenly there now.

We work our way through the mountains, gaining abilities (sigh, Shadow barely got a chance to learn spells, if he ever joins us properly he's gonna be far behind!), and the party remaining blissfully unaware of Relm having jumped ahead of us somehow. We get some lore on the Warring Triad that I remember Kefka talking about (these guys don't seem to remember), it's some pretty cool god lore. Fearing each other's powers they turned humans into Espers to fight each other, and eventually growing tired of the fighting they gave the Espers their free will back and turned themselves to stone. Then Ultros shows up.

Oh, Ultros. There was a topic recently about whether people like him or not, and I honestly don't know. His jokes are hit or miss, he shows up to ruin serious moments, but it generally... works? IDK. He throws a mention to Siegfried who I had forgotten about, then it's time to fight. It's a standard boss fight (I lol'd at him not even getting generic boss music) until Relm shows up, and then the comedy stylings get a little ridiculous. Locke smashes the fourth wall and Relm requests to draw Uncle Ulty's picture, which he denies until the others shame him into accepting. I'm not really feeling this joke, but then we go back into fighting and it suddenly makes sense. Relm has a Sketch command and I'm more than a little amused that gentle Uncle Ulty suddenly starts springing much stronger spells on us. OK game, you managed to make that scene work.

Relm joins us and we head further up. I trip down the first hole I see which turns out to be the plot related one to move head, so much for those chests I saw! We meet some young Espers lead by Yura, and sensing Terra's nature we all come to an understanding. Weirdly Locke and Terra seem to believe the Empire's peace treaty now (I don't remember if they specifically were skeptical before but everyone else seemed to be!), and we all warp back to Thamasa. Farewell, treasure chests.

Back at Thamasa General Leo happily welcomes the Espers, everyone has a good old laugh at Locke and Celes's sexual tension, and then they all live happily ever after. The End.


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andylt
01/10/21 6:55:59 PM
#95:


Uwee-hee-hee! Of course Kefka shows up and confirms this was all a set-up. He knocks everybody down, and kills all the young Espers (oof). We wake up playing as a solo Leo. I wander round the hamlet but there's not much to do, so I try talking to the Knight before taking on Kefka. Big mistake! Leo fights the Guardian, and does precisely 0 damage despite his fancy Shock ability. He gets taken out, and... game over? Oh, I thought that was gonna be a scripted death. Oops! Oh well, back to the mountains means I can get all the chests this time. I do so, then press A through all the text to get back to where I was. This time Leo charges Kefka himself.

His Shock ability is useful (very cool that they added a unique ability for one single fight to presumably trick the player into thinking he's a party member), but turns out Kefka has been toying with us all. He summons an illusion of Gestahl, and for a second I think that Gestahl doesn't exist and has merely been an illusion of Kefka's the entire time. This is not the case. Frustrated at Leo's nature, Kefka jumps right on him and murders him pretty brutally with a 'Die, die, DIE!!!'. Jeez, dude.

A bunch of other Espers come bursting through the Sealed Gate to help the good guys, but this backfires in a pretty horrendous way. On the one hand Kefka annihilating them one by one is very effective at getting across his power levels and the hopelessness of opposing him, on the other hand I'm not really a fan of the 'villain hits the win button' trope- Kefka having all the powers of a child in a playground saying 'nuh-uh' and being utterly invulnerable and destroying everything he wants instantly. It's one of the reasons I don't like Sephiroth, but at least Kefka isn't trying to be all cool and badass. Hopefully later on we'll get some kind of insight into why he's so powerful, that would make this land better for me. Still, it works at getting its point across, and at least all the Espers are magicite now so I don't have to feel bad about wanting them to die to gain them for my team. Also I really like Kefka's theme.

For some reason Kefka leaves without murdering us- the rest of us I get but leaving Terra just lying there when he's seen how unique she is? Very odd. (I wonder if she could be turned into Magicite...) The gang mourns Leo, and... Shadow? Well that's clearly fake but I guess the game wants us to have Interceptor for some reason. The rest of the party flies in from Vector, apparently having fled before the Emperor's trap was sprung. This is a little lame honestly, why have them all stay back there other than to force the team setup? I was expecting to have to spring them out. Everybody reunites, and Edgar manages to out-creep Ultros in kinda hitting on the 10 year old girl. Ew. I'm never putting those two in the same party line-up! Really wish they had cut that out in the GBA translation, makes it harder to ignore the general tropey womanising stuff when you pull the 'waiting for kid to become an adult' spiel twice!

Meanwhile Gestahl and Kefka manage to enter the Esper world and raise a piece of land into the sky. The Warring Triad had turned themselves to stone while looking at each other (Doctor Who totally stole this!) and moving them will destroy the world or something. I'm surprised Kefka hasn't murdered Gestahl, not sure what he's bringing to the table given what we just saw of Kefka's power.

Phew, a lot to get through today! The Empire has made their move. I'll be sure to fly around everywhere before visiting the Floating Continent next time.

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Grand Kirby
01/10/21 7:07:44 PM
#96:


So, now's the point we need to talk about an important missable thing in the game. You can permanently lose a character forever in the next dungeon, so while I would normally avoid spoiling things, you might want to pay attention to this. I'll try not to go into too much detail though to keep plot elements a secret:

Basically, near the end of the next dungeon you will be put under a time limit and will have to escape before it runs out. At the very end, you'll be asked if you want to escape or wait a little longer. Choose to wait, then try to escape again. You'll be asked specifically if you want to leave or "Wait for [character]". Choose to wait again, then do NOTHING. Don't touch the controller or anything. Just let time run out, and when it does you'll automatically leave with the character. Otherwise that character will die and can't be used anymore.

andylt posted...
Really wish they had cut that out in the GBA translation
Technically they did... it's a bit more blatant in the original Japanese script...


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Okay, I rolled a 14. What's that mean? Hsu
That you're a cheater. This is a 12-sided die. Chan
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MalcolmMasher
01/10/21 10:18:28 PM
#97:


Terra's supposed to be 18, but she's presumably well below that in terms of maturity, given that she was treated as a weapon rather than a person for most of her life.

Typically, Blue Mages need to be hit by an ability in order to learn it, but Strago only needs to see it happen. The "see" part is literal, though; statuses such as Darkness can prevent Strago from learning his spells. And, of course, Strago is the primary reason why I didn't want to call Gau a Blue Mage earlier.
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PunishedBen
01/10/21 10:26:59 PM
#98:


Enjoying reading through this topic so far. Since you're past the opera, I must drop this

https://youtu.be/Ln9Sq7IOP3o

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andylt
01/11/21 7:09:17 PM
#99:


I'm tired and there's a lot to talk about so I'm leaving the update til tomorrow, but... hoo boy!

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Slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado. Currently playing: FFVI
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BlAcK TuRtLe
01/12/21 3:06:36 AM
#100:


DId they remove Vanish/Doom in the GBA version?

In the SNES version, Vanish was bugged in that it guaranteed a 100% hit rate for any magic cast on an enemy or ally that is invisible, which also included status spells like Death/Doom. I would say about 95% of the bosses in the game could be killed in this way once you learn those spells.

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WazzupGenius00
01/12/21 3:16:59 AM
#101:


They got rid of the main exploit, but there are related tricks that happen for the same reason that are still in the GBA version

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