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Update #5: The Winged Galbana lilies are based on a real-world flower, and are what the Airship is named after. More importantly, they are the favorite flowers of Vaan's dead brother Reks. (Reks appears in the tutorial of FFXII, set 2 years before the events of that game. He dies in a dramatic fashion, which in turn gives some drama to the backstories of Vaan and other characters) It's cute to know Vaan's still thinking of his brother, although the detail gets lost easily because who remembers a minor character's favorite flower? Anyway, here's what they look like:  drat it i'm always getting those two mixed up. Soundtrack: Vaan's Theme (The Mosphoran Highwaste)   "It's perfect!"  "Aye-aye!" "Aye-aye!"  - Many of the places you'll visit, such as the airship's bridge, are filled with characters you can interact with. Some will give advice on where to go next, while others offer useful items and equipment for sale. - Soundtrack: Airship 1 (Near the Water)  When you're close enough to strike up a friendly conversation with someone, they get a cute little speech bubble over their head.   "You remember what Balthier said when we found the Cache of Glabados?" "Something about it having a connection with the eternal, right?" "You don't think the Cache has something to do with this airship, do you? That it brought us here?" "It just may have, Kytes. But what's it all mean?" "Whatever the answer is, I bet it's waiting for us on that island!"Talking to a character twice can prompt a different conversation. I'll transcribe these as one long conversation and won't point it out in the future.  Minor FFXII reference: Migelo is a Bangaa who runs an items shop in Rabanastre. He served as a paternal figure to Vaan and Penalo. "I just hope we get back to Rabanastre in one piece." "Take it easy, Penelo. I'm here. What could possibly go wrong?"  "Ya got me. But she seems to have accepted us as her crew. Guess we'll just have to see what happens."" What kind of monsters do you think we'll run into out here? Are we gonna be okay?" "Don't worry. It's just like hunting dire rats back home. Those never gave us too much trouble." "It's a long way down. If you don't start behaving, we can always show you the door." "Ngraah!"  "Think of the treasures we'll find. Not to mention a healthy supply of raw materials." "Yeah, so?" "You're not looking at the big picture, Vaan. We can use those materials to make new equipment, new weapons... all sorts of things. Those raw materials are treasures in their own right." "Whatever you say." "Well, just gather up what you find and bring 'em to me. I'll put 'em to good use." "Say Tomaj. I've been meanin' to ask you... Uh, why exactly are you here?" "That's a fine thing to say! I thought you'd be grateful for me help. Well, you will be soon enough!" Alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves. With all the optional conversations done here, all we have left to do it talk to Filo and advance the plot.  "You think anything's wrong with it?" "Maybe you should try using the Cache. It seemed to work before." "Aye-aye! Just let me know when you're ready to get under way!"  The control panel changes from blue to green, and the airship shudders to life! Soundtrack: World Map (Cerobi Steppe)  - Touch the screen in the direction you wish to move. The sirship can land at locations designated with a land icon. Approach named locations to enter them. Important locations containing missions that advance the story are marked with a flag. -  The world map is up on the top screen.  The large island to the East is called the The Muruc Cahuac Skysea, and lives up to its name by being almost entirely covered in a brilliant blue lake.  To the north, is an island covered in greenery and framed in a jagged mountain ridge, the centerpiece of which being a mountain surrounded by a moat of air. Arda, Heaven's Pillar is the name of this island.  Tormelados, Isle of the Megalith, looks like grassy ribbons covered in large crystal structures. It is on the west of our world map.  We'll be exploring those as the game progresses, but right now, we can only land on the island in the south; Zephyr, the Windward Isles. So let's go there. Soundtrack: Vaan's Theme (The Mosphoran Highwaste)  "Aye-aye!" "Am I the only one having second thoughts?" "Thanks, Tomaj." "Just one thing before we go. I want each of you to promise you'll do something for me."Soundtrack: Penelo's Theme "What kind of promise?" "Being a sky pirate isn't all thrill and adventure, you know." "It's not?" "Not exactly." "If you know the answer already, why won't you just tell us?" "It's the kinda thing you have to figure out for yourself." "Well, I guess a little hint couldn't hurt. Part of being a sky pirate is hunting for treasure." "Hunting for treasure? That's it?" "It's a start."  "We can all write down our ideas in a log as we go along." "Um... no?" "I never even wanted to be a sky pirate." "Then we're agreed. Everyone will keep a log until we get back to Rabanastre." "Right. (Who put her in charge?)" "Yes ma'am. (What a waste of time!)" "What!? All right, all right. If Penelo's finished, then... let's go!"   If you return to the airship after Penelo's talk, there's some new dialouge.   Filo is right. Let's get to it!   Soundtrack: Field 1 - Battle 1 (Giza Plains)   "I didn't think we'd find our first treasure so soon!" "Hmm. Might as well take it, just in case." "If we found something this soon, just think how much treasure must be waiting out there!"      "Is he even a... a hume?" "Let's save him first, ask questions later!" - Objective: Save the wounded warrior! At least one ally must survive. -     Pretty simple, move all your units in and attack!      "Maybe all the people here have wings." "Over there!" - Move one of your group leaders to a Foraging Point and eat the berries growing there to recover HP. - On the top screen map, berries are represented as, well, red berries.  "Here, let me help you over there."  "I am well now, thank you."  "We're sky pirates, but don't let that give you the wrong idea." "What is this place? We came here by accident, and we don't really know where we are." "This is Lemurés. It is the land of my people, the aegyl."   "My companion." "She's in trouble!" "..." - Objective: Save Llyud's companion! At least one ally must survive. -  Now a tab for Llyud has been added. In many ways this battle is easier than the last. Berries are ample, and Penelo is here to heal you. Also, the battle only ends if everyone dies, so you don't have to babysit one unit.  - You can gather minerals and other useful resources by moving a group leader to one of the material nodes found throughout the map. Resources take time to gather, so make sure the area is clear before starting. -  I mentioned in an earlier update that Flying units interact differently with Ranged units, to balance out that they can fly. Well, this is the difference being able to fly makes. Flying units can go over empty sky, water, and other roadblocks Melee and Ranged units would be stopped by. They can take advantage of this as a shortcut, and become very mobile. And maybe a bit overpowered, without a strong weakness to Ranged units.  Penelo and Llyud both have abilities that you could set as their gambits now. Penelo's is Curaga, which provides area healing, by a noticeable amount.  Llyud's is Jump, in which he... well, he jumps into the air, and comes down on a foe. He can jump at foes which are outside the range of his regular attack, meaning he can use it to get the first strike.  These bones are a Material node. The green bars indicate how you're progressing in scavenging, when one fills, you get one material. Materials you get are displayed on the top screen, under the combat log. You can get a few materials out of each node.  To the north-west is another treasure chest. Treasure chests and Material Nodes share an icon on the field map, a yellow sack, so you'll have to pan the camera around to see what is what. Chests contain equipment upgrades generally, but sometimes other cool things. Not many, but a few chest items are missable. So grab every chest to avoid missing out!  There's no time limit to finish this mission, despite what the mission goal implies. It won't take you long anyway, but feel free to relax and explore a while if you want.    After showing you how much exp you get, the game will show you what items you got. Just showing it off.   "Yeah, but what was that all about, anyway? Who was attacking you?" "Sky pirates." "Sky pirates!?"Soundtrack: Suspicion (Auditory Hallucination)  "It is they who drive the Yarhi to their frenzy - sky pirates such as you."The camera pans across the Bosco Pampa.  "Behind this barrier we aegyl had dwelt here in peace for any thousands of years. But no longer." "Let him finish, Vaan!" "Not long ago, there came a great rush of Mist from the world below. This Mist breached the barrier. Our isolation was lost." "You don't think that could be--" "--the explosion of the Suncryst? Who'd have thought it could reach so far away?" "Now our very way of life is in jeopardy." "Tell ya what. Why don't we help you get rid of these sky pirates who are causin' all the trouble?" Soundtrack: Vaan's Theme (The Mosphoran Highwaste) "Not all of us sky pirates are bad, honest!" "We're not all that different from you. When we get into trouble, we help each other out."  "Then just show us where these troublemakers are, and we can get down to business." "They've set up camp in a temple not far from here. Come, I will show you." "That wasn't so hard, was it?" The Sun-Cryst exploding is something that happened in FFXII, and the fact it reveals this sky continent could be considered a ret-con. It's an event that happens late in FFXII, and brings a lot of other plot threads and events to a head, so a summary outside of what the game just told you would be filled with spoilers, tricky to write, and not really needed to understand what's happening here. So next time: We beat up some other sky pirates for a guy we just met! ok Amazing fucked around with this message at 10:27 on Sep 7, 2013 |
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Sep 7, 2013 10:25
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