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Robindaybird
Aug 21, 2007

Neat. Sweet. Petite.

and FFXIV has a Cactuar mid-boss that has a 100000 needles attack, and it will wipe the party no matter what class you're in so you have to interrupt her and defeat her guards to keep that from going off.

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Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!

Robindaybird posted:

and FFXIV has a Cactuar mid-boss that has a 100000 needles attack, and it will wipe the party no matter what class you're in so you have to interrupt her and defeat her guards to keep that from going off.

Instant wipe attacks are one thing I don't miss about playing XIV.

Regalingualius posted:

And it had the best “getting hit by a Limit Break” animation of them all.

This is correct.

morallyobjected posted:

then there's FF8, which had a Cactuar with 10000 needles

Said Cactuar will be joining the team in two updates I believe.

People haven't thrown out any nicknames since the first time I mentioned it, so I decided to name Cactuar/Cactrot "M.C.Hammer" some time during the last recording session. :colbert: I love Cactuars, so I'm calling dibs.

Commander Keene posted:

1,000 Needles was a lot more threatening when your party (and enemies) didn't have such ridiculously inflated HP pools. Now it's basically just a good early-game attack.

Yeah, they've had to jack up the damage over time to catch up with the ridiculous HP pools in later games.

Robindaybird
Aug 21, 2007

Neat. Sweet. Petite.

I really enjoyed FFXIV but I hit a skill/willingness to dedicate into minmaxing wall, and right when my main class gotten drastically nerfed so I ended up quitting.

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!
This is another short chapter, so let's take a quick opportunity to go grab some optional Mirages.



First, it's time to take on that Behemoth from the tutorial area.



Not so big now, are ya? I love that feeling of returning to an area that used to kick the crap out of you and then just lording your new later-game power over everything.



You have to deal a significant amount of damage to create a capture chance. Even then, the bastard puts up a lot of resistance. Takes like 5 attempts to catch it.

Behemoths started as a boss in FFII, and were later relegated to a normal enemy. They've appeared in every main title since, as well as a lot of the side games. They are super popular. They're usually late game enemies that hit like trucks and have a high defence.



I also return to the Watchplains in order to take care of that random Cornelian citizen's quest of Goblin culling. While I'm there, I get the missing Goblin types.





Done with that. I make a pit stop at Chocolatte's to scope out the new items that are supposedly in stock, and...



You suck Chocolatte. 30k for Drain/Confuse/Sleep? The few times I need those I'll use items, and by the time it gets too expensive I'll have Mirages that can do it (or I'll just find one of these seeds).



Back to the hunt. Here is the Maxima added Murkrift I pointed out in the last update. Time to see what special Mirage it's hiding.



It's a pony! It also has a really annoying capture condition!

Landing a critical hit is one of the worse capture conditions to have to meet. There are some attacks or board spots that can boost Crit chance, but you're still mostly relying on luck.





They aren't insanely powerful, but unstacking to get more chances at a critical is a bit risky. Take out one of them first, then try unstacking and swinging away. Of course, if you manage a critical in the process of taking one of them out, then just give Imprisming a shot. Never know, RNG might decide to smile on you.



Ponini is a new Mirage made for the Maxima expansion. It's a pony, not a unicorn. That's... that's about all I got. Into the Prism Case with you.

That takes care of everything for now. Back to the story stuff.

Update 11 Highlights - Meeting Quistis


This technically starts right after the save opportunity (after that whole Faris event), but I wanted to get those Mirages out of the way first.



Well... (I don't know... Are we really just gonna follow some random prophecy word for word?)

Do you have a better idea? You do an awful lot of useless pondering, Reynn.

(But, what other leads do we have?)

Exactly. If you don't have any alternatives, then zip it.

Fine. I guess we'll run with it.

Huh? What?

Captain Faris, can you tell us how to get to the Low Seas?

Hmm... Perhaps. But I'll not be lending you this ship. For one, she can't venture down sea, even if I were feeling generous.




[Moogle]: Guest, kupo?


You know who. Oi. The lass in glasses.


[Moogle]: Oh, from the League, kupo! She might be, kupo. I'll go look, kupo.




World of Final Fantasy Music: League Melody


It's Quistis! Quistis is voiced by Kristina Pesic in English, Miyuki Sawashiro in Japanese.



Quistis hails from FFVIII. She's one of those "I'm your class' 18-year old teacher because I'm a child prodigy" characters. You know, the bullshit ones for when you want a teacher that's still young enough for the main character to possibly be paired with without it being weird, although it is still incredibly weird because of the power dynamic.

We'll talk more about Quistis' job and history later on. For now, all you need to know is that she's a teacher that has a fan club of groupies called "Trepies" which is a really weird and Japanese thing I don't understand (my other LP had a teen aged girl teacher with a fan club as well).

So she's a blonde haired teacher in glasses that uses a whip as her weapon. This is how the game introduces her. Oh Nomura, you crazy.

Sorry to detain you.

I thought we were done with our transaction. Did you find some sort of problem with the cargo?

No, the goods were sound. I've another quandary... if you'll hear me out.

What's that?

These gents here have business in the Low Seas.

Who are they?

The Jiants from the Hills. In the flesh.









Yeah. There are a bunch of other Mirage Keeper Jiants from somewhere that's a reference to hills that it could be.

*One more explanation later*

Very intriguing.

So, they need a boat. And as I recall, you've got one.



then we don't owe him anything. Which means... that the boat is up for grabs.

Aye.

Wait, "up for grabs"? What do you mean?

Oh, my group had some business to attend to in Saronia, so we presented the thane with a boat. Some might call it a... a bribe.

You don't need to wheel and the-deal with a bunch of no-good monsters like that.

Yeah!

You're not even listening.

Yeah!

So you're absolutely certain? You saw the thane undergo a transformation?

Aye, and then Syldra let him have it!

After we beat him to within an inch of his life. I'm willing to forgive you for the lost EXP though, since I sort of robbed your crew of nearly 10,000 gil. We'll call it even.

Okay. Well, don't get me wrong. I can see that they're Jiants...



Ha. One splash in the Low Seas can't stop a prophecy.

...Well, I guess you win. You can take the fastcraft down to the Low Seas.

Oh, sweet!

Thank you so much! (Although, that whispering wasn't very encouraging...)



We get a chance to go take care of stuff if we want, although there's not really a reason to do so (for me anyway, since I already did it all through the magic of LP time travel).



Godspeed, gents.

Thanks! Oh, right... Where's my manners? Sorry we tried to rob you!

I'm not! Sweet sweet gil.

We really didn't mean to cause you trouble.

You can make it up to me. Perhaps... If you survive. Farewell!

Huh?!

Come on! This way.



The other road is crawling with Mirages. Nobody uses that one anymore.

Considering the number of ships docked on that route as well as the houses/huts we passed with lights on inside as well as there being no signs up around the nearest entrance, I call bullshit on that.

Dude! Oh, I so wish we knew about that coming in.

Well, that figures. I thought something about these docks smelled fishy.

Oh, shut up the gently caress up Reynn. You thought no such thing. You can't just second guess every single thing and then later go "Oh yeah, I knew all along."

But at least we found some good the-Mirages! No worries, the-right?

Yeah! No worries at all! *whimper*





This weirdly shaped vehicle is from FFVIII, just like Quistis. It's the landing ship that the party takes during their "final exam", and by that I mean they use it during a Normandy-style beach assault. The reason for that will have to wait until I get into a discussion about what group Quistis belongs to, which will be when the other FFVIII rep shows up.

*Lann and Reynn board the ship*

I set the helm to autopilot, so it'll take you right to the Low Seas.

Another autopilot ship? Is this going to be a reoccurring theme for games I LP? That I never get to have fun actually driving these things? Laaaame.

Now get going, before the thane or the rest of the Federation catch on.

How many times do we have to put that guy down?

Wow, you're just as nice as a peach.

Thank you for everything!



Huh?

What?!

Update 11 Highlights - Cruise Conversation


I can't the-believe they loaned us this great boat! We really lucked the-out this time.

Dude, I know, right? We don't even have to steer it. I love the easy life.

Could you guys speak up a bit? I'm getting some background noise.

But Lann...

Hm?

Aren't you just a little worried about what Faris and Quistis said?

What did they say?

Now that you mention it, they did kind of make it the-sound like we weren't gonna live out the day.

Pretty much.

Wonder why.

Hmm... What's so bad about the Low Seas? We're just going south... right? You know, somewhere lower down on the map or something?

Pause for a moment and think about what you just said Reynn. You overthink everything else, so why not this? I promise you, the answer is quite obvious.

What if they're called "low"... because of all the lowlifes living the-there?

That could be it.

Hey, uh, Reynn?

Huh?

Is it just me, or is the river getting more whooshy?

Y-you think so?

You guys might want to get inside rather than hang out on this weird sofa deck space.

Reynn, all of a sudden, I am suddenly getting this really bad sudden feeling.

Yeah, me too.

Bad feeling? About the-what?

Update 11 Highlights - To the Low Seas Cutscene






Note to self: the Low Seas are not south.













:3: Tama's havin fun.







Oh sweet, they're dead. Maybe I can track down the League of S people and start following them instead.



Crap.

Gaaah!

Agh, jelly sandwich!

H-how are we alive?

Tama, you still with us?

Never been the-betterer...

You can fly, how did you even end up in the water?

*Tama starts shaking herself off like a dog*

Hey! Don't do that on my head!



This is a small area, but it does have a gate for us to go back to Nine Wood. Seems to be something going down in the foreground though. Should check that out first.

Now that our boat's busted, how are we supposed to get where we're going?

Ugh. Don't ask me.





Hey! Cut it out! Nobody likes a bully!

Looks like snakes need to be taught a lesson!



Sea Snake just needs a splash of water to capture. These things aren't really difficult.



Sea Snakes show up in the first FF, although they looked like actual snakes in that appearance. Other than that, they are entirely unremarkable.



Pretty sure this is a food chain situation.

Update 11 Highlights - Meeting Adamantoise


Reynn, c'mon!

Huh? What?

We're Mirage Keepers! If you're gonna let 'em just swim away, then--



Then you are... you're... doing exactly the right thing!





:3:


[Adamantoise]: Hmm?


*We fade out as the little turtle tells the big turtle not to crush our heroes and explains what happened*


[Adamantoise]: Young Mirage Keepers. My minimantoise here tells me that you saved his life. I thank you.




It... it talked! With words!

Hwooow... A talking the-Mirage!

Seriously?

Your regular reminder that Lann is a moron. Also, Tama apparently drifts in and out of it too.


[Adamantoise]: Now, tell me what a pair of Keepers like you are doing all the way out here?


Uh, well...

*Another fade out and explanation*


[Adamantoise]: Hmm... Then, I shall help you find this "Babil." You are free to ride on my back.


Dude!

Are you sure?



So now we can talk to Adamantoise to hitch a ride. I'll get into Adamantoise when we actually get one as a Mirage. We'll be getting our hands on a minimantoise soon.



:smug: You wish.



Despite getting control of the Adamantoise, this area is just a long corridor. Our objective is to avoid the Mega Sharquals patrolling the route, but I'm going to immediately ignore those warnings and go straight at the first one we come across.


[Adamantoise]: I know little about the world above, let alone this "Babil" you seek. If you don't mind, I'll leave you to navigate.


Something's swimming around over there.

I don't like the look of it one the-bit.

Why not?

Lann, does this not remind you of anything?

Bruce?

Hey! Let's try touching it!

Oh, please don't.

Too late, we're totally touching it.



It's hostile!

And really the-strong!

These Mega Sharquals have 4386 HP. That's not that bad.



It's fairly strong, okay. Still not worried.



It has incredible defence, okay. That's slightly more of a problem. Still not worried. I can easily circumvent that.



I am not leaving this thing behind. It will be ours.







Suck it high natural defence + Protect.

So the Mega Sharqual and one of the minimantoises have to go first, then we can focus on dealing damage to the remaining one and catching the little bugger.



These things are almost as strong as the Mega Sharqual, so it takes a while, but it is definitely doable.

Also, here's a wordplay joke that works on multiple levels, not all of which the description writers may have intended. I think this one works a little better than "Hex Life."

Update 11 Highlights - Low Seas Mega Sharqual Fight + Minimantoise Capture


There's some dialogue that happens if you lose to these groups. It's kind of a funny response actually, just in terms of delivery.



Lann, what are you doing?!

Now despite what I just did, you should be avoiding these things at all costs, or running from them if you accidentally hit one. The Mega Sharquals would be fine on their own, but the addition of two minimantoises turns this into a dangerous encounter. They are more than likely slightly faster than you, and all of them are capable of dishing out 700+ damage per hit. The only good damage dealers to them at this stage of the game is the Cactuar 1,000 Needles attack, since it bypasses defense and deals a flat 1,000 damage. However, with 4,000 HP each you will probably be overwhelmed before you can take one of them down.

They pay out about 10,000 experience, but that's not really worth it for the amount of effort you have to put in. You'd be better off going to the secret area of Nether Nebula.

Anyway, after moving ahead a bit and dodging some Mega Sharquals, we get a scene.

Update 11 Highlights - Meeting Rikku


Aaah!

*Something comes flying out of the water*

Whoa! What was that?



Uh, who are you?

Oh! My bad. My name's Rikku!



Rikku is voiced by Tara Strong in English, Marika Matsumoto in Japanese.

World of Final Fantasy pulls some weirdness with the characters for their appearances here. The Rikku we see here is based on her FFX-2 appearance, but according to the "Who's Who" she is 15, which is the age she is in FFX.



Oh well. Artistic license and all that. Rikku is originally from FFX, where she is an Al-Bhed that tried to kidnap Yuna in order to "protect" her by forcible confinement. Al-Bheds are this ethnic group or some poo poo that believed in the power of scavenged ancient technology rather than the shady world religion that everyone else believes in. They also have weird swirly eyes for some reason, which you can see in Rikku's chibi appearance here.

So Rikku joins the party almost immediately after this kidnapping attempt, because only Tidus realises she was piloting the kidnapper robot and she kind of saved Tidus' rear end when he first wound up in the world. We learn that her and Yuna are cousins as well, which is... okay? There is supposed to be some conflict related to some people *coughWakkacough* being racists and coming to terms with Yuna actually being part Al-Bhed, but it really ends up being a minor and not important detail.

Then FFX happened and everything that entailed. She shows up again as one of the three heroines of FFX-2 as part of the Gullwings, a group of treasure hunters. Apparently when the Gullwings were coming together, Rikku saw what Yuna was up to with her rebellious wardrobe change and went "Bitch thinks she can upstage me? Not a chance!"



And so she found a way to somehow wear less clothing than Yuna, which is the appearance you see here. She doesn't have as big a role in what follows, which is probably for the best since she probably would have shown up in the buff if she had.

That's enough about that, though. The horrors of FFX's EU are still a ways off, peeking out just over the horizon and waiting for its moment to strike.

Man, I wish that Mirage hadn't come along and trashed my boat, 'cause I was having a great day of treasure hunting. I'm a good swimmer so it's no biggie, but I was really starting to get pooped. Then I spotted you guys sailing along on top of old Adamantoise here. So, is there some story behind all this?

It's kind of not your business, but there's nothing better to do while we sail so Lann and Reynn will just explain it all anyway.



Thank you! Man, how totally awesome are you Mirage Keepers! It can't be easy befriending an adamantoise!

Honestly, I think we just happened to bump into a really nice one.

Hmm. Oh! So you're trying to get to the Babil region, right? You need to set a course thataway!

*And so they went "thataway."*



Take it away!

Let's the-go!

Which is the same direction we were already going. Thanks Rikku.

We've got a bunch more patrolling Mega Sharquals to get past. If one connects with you then just spam the Escape option until you slip away. Some Mirages also have the Flee ability which guarantees an escape. The sharks get faster as we keep going, so the timing will be trickier, especially since they start layering themselves in such a way that you can get caught between them.

Just stick to the right or left and wait for them to head off towards the opposite direction.



Well...

And that conversation just kind of peters out there.

*A little further ahead*



And then that conversation just kind of peters out.



The Rainbow Shore is the stopping point for Chapter 9. Next time we'll be on our way to Chapter 10, where we will have to slog our way through the mountains.

Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Jun 14, 2019

Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

I just realized that our protagonists are named Land and Rain.

BisbyWorl
Jan 12, 2019

Knowledge is pain plus observation.


Rikku's Al-Bhed eyes look so much creepier when they're the size of her arms.

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!

BisbyWorl posted:

Rikku's Al-Bhed eyes look so much creepier when they're the size of her arms.

It also doesn't help that she has this weirdly sinister looking smirk all the time.

Blaze Dragon posted:

I just realized that our protagonists are named Land and Rain.

I don't think this comes up during the game at all. I could be wrong, but I don't recall any thematic connection.

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!
Update 12 Highlights - Rainbow Shore


So when we last left off, we were headed straight into the next chapter on the back of an Adamantoise through shark infested waters with a stripper treasure hunter towards a place called Rainbow Shore.

Sure sounds like a magical adventure.



Hup...

Hup...




[Adamantoise]: Nonsense. No trouble at all.


Thanks for showing us the way, Rikku!

Yeah, how would we ever have found this place without your guidance.

No problem! I needed a little breather anyway.

So! Where are you headed from here?

Umm...




[Adamantoise]: Sure. I must head back myself. Not a problem.


Thanks a bunch! Okay then! Back to my regularly scheduled totally awesome treasure hunting!

Good luck! And be careful.

See ya!



drat right we will. Also, bye Rikku! Enjoy not being part of the upcoming storm of horror that FFX will one day trigger!

And put on some pants, dammit! Or at the very least swap out that G-string that's riding up your rear end.



Anyway, this is certainly a scenic location. Too bad that's only going to last for this single screen. It's deathly mountain passes for the next little while.

There's some treasure to be found tucked away on the right side of that screenshot. You need to turn Jiant to reach it. It has an elixir. Awesome, another EXP boost from Undead Princess should we require it. The thread hasn't really been suggesting names or Mirages though, so maybe I won't need it.

Right, so... uh, what's next?

Well first, why don't we look for a town?

Be the-careful. Whatever's up ahead, it's causing my Mirage-dar to go the-bonkers.



There is a gate towards the exit of the area, but there's also a Murkrift. This is another new Maxima murkrift. Level 32 is a bit up there, but let's take a crack at it anyway and see what we've got.



Must. Have.

Dramut has a lengthy capture condition, needing to be hit by three different elemental attacks. The timing on this is going to be difficult, because trying to stack the capture chance will likely just result in one wearing off just as you apply the second. Breaking up the stacks isn't a good idea, because--



Dramut packs a good punch at current levels. Reynn's stack resists Blizzard, and even that hit her group for 250. Dramut is also quick, so it will most likely run circles around your group if you split them up.

If your Mirage stacks are missing particular elements, then remember that you have probably picked up attack items that can serve as a substitute. If you don't have any, then Chocolatte sells them.



It takes two battle attempts, but I manage to capture it. The EXP it gives out is actually a little underwhelming considering the level advantage it had over us.

Dramut is a baby version of Bahamut, who we haven't run into yet. Bahamut is a major player in the FF series, but we won't be getting our hands on one for a long long time. The reference to being "Frenemies with Tidus" will likewise have to wait until later.

For now, Dramut hits the Prism Case and we continue on our journey.





From the Rainbow Shore we head straight to The Dragon Scars. This place is going to be a slog. There are a lot of dead-end side paths that lead to items, Flutter points, and fixed encounters.



Whoa!

Hey Lann, slapstick's less funny if you die from it.

I dunno, I think it would still be kind of funny. In a dark way.

Straight ahead from the entrance to this place, there's a fork in the road. The left path is a dead-end that has a treasure chest with 5 frigicite in it (Ice attack item).



After backtracking to the fork, we get the first encounter and our first new Mirage for this area.



We'll need to take out the Copper Gnome stack first for this one. That's an easy task considering they aren't really much stronger than they were in the Nether Nebula.



Annoyingly, Blood Eyes can inflict Oblivion with their attacks, meaning they can cut off your abilities and Imprism commands. Rememb Herbs can cure this.

After 5 attempts, it finally stays caught.



Come on WoFF! Stop mentioning food in these descriptions! I just had dinner and yet this is still making me hungry.



Taking the right path from the fork leads us to this mess of terrain. We can jump off of the ledges that have the plants growing on them. First we jump down to the right.



Wh-th-whoa!

Wow, it's even funnier the second time.

The path on the bottom takes us to the next area, but to snag the treasure chest we need to take the high road and circle back.

When we get to the top of that path, there is another split. The left gets us to the Flutter point, while the right leads into a nest that has a treasure chest sitting in it. It contains 3 hi-potions.



Take the flutter point across the gap and then jump down from the middle ledge. The ledge on the far left will just bring us back to where we started. The small ledge closest to the flutter gap will dump you on the wrong side of the rocks.



Worth it. Curatives are always welcome.

Jump down the only ledge you can, and then we're back on track for progress.



Ugggghhhhh...

Okay, in the next area there is another fork. The left path leads to--



Oh. Hey, new Dragon friend.

You the-need to learn to exploit your Mirages' elemental resistances.

You want us to blow them up?

Um, that's "explode," and while I'd love to give you credit for the first four letters, you clearly weren't listening.

Exploit, explode, it's all the same as far as I'm concerned. Also, this is a really late stage of the game to be just now talking about exploiting weaknesses. You really should have had this conversation back during our fight with Ramuh/Shiva/Ifrit.

I was listening! They're mental resistors.

Ugh! That's clearly what you've got.



Right, we're getting off track a bit. Heading towards the dragon and fluttering across, the battle will trigger as soon as we approach.



Like with the Holy Dragon, these guys come in pairs. Unlike the Holy Dragon, these won't revive their partner if we knock one out.

Unfortunately, it does have the irritating Critical Hit capture condition.

They also don't have a ton of HP. That makes getting rid of one of them easy, but it makes hitting with a critical harder for the remaining one. Depending on how much RNG hates you, you may have to get one of your Mirages to heal the dragon while the others are swinging away at it.



Not much help I can give you beyond that. If you're lucky enough to have a High Crit ability then good for you! If not, then settle in for what could be a while.

If you accidentally defeat both of them then don't worry about reloading. There are a few more of these fixed encounters around the Dragon Scars, so you'll have other chances.

Behind the dragon we just beat/captured, there is a chest with 3 wobblestoppers in it. Then we back track to that fork in the path and proceed to the right.



There's a cave with a hard to miss chest in it just beyond the fork.



While running along the progress path, I get ambushed by the baby versions of the Dragons.



This capture condition is pretty open-ended. Just make sure you check out the Mirage's ailment resistances before you start chucking items or abilities at them. Spark Dragon here is really susceptible to Confuse and Sleep, while resisting Poison and Slow.



Tricky, but still easy. We now have the Holy, Fire, and baby lightning dragons. Also Dramut I guess. He technically counts as an elemental dragon.



A little further ahead, we come to a bigger ledge jumping area.

Jump down the closest ledge and then down the next ledge from that to reach a chest with ethers in it. You should be in the large middle section now. Run to the right from that chest to the centre of the whole jumping puzzle thing, and then take that ledge down.



Like so. To the far right there is another chest, this one containing 2 remedies. That's it for the treasure chests here, so there's no need to run back to the top and jump down the other ledge paths.



When we try to progress through the dungeon, the twins decide that now is a good time to continue that conversation from earlier.

Would you stop?

Aww...

Right, where the-was I... Oh! You may have noticed the Mirages here like to the-fight with fire.



I got bored during this conversation and started popping Lann and Reynn between their Lilikin and Jiant forms.



Moving on, another fork. Left will once again take us to a flutter point. There's a chest here with a Cure seed in it.

Back to the fork and to the right, we can move on to the next section of dungeon.



I hadn't triggered this reaction yet because I never tried moving around the Gimme Golems until now. If you try and walk around a Gimme Golem on a wide path, they'll shift to block you. Little bastards.

I guess we'll have to give it what it wants...



So we have to go to the right and track down whatever the hell it is that the Gimme Golem wants. Of course, the area we have to search is huge.

Sure! Basically, we need to imprism as many of the Mirages around here as we can.

Wha?!

Whoa!

Wh... what?

You're the-right!

Somehow you understood what to do even if you didn't understand the whys.

Ha ha ha! I'm a man of action! I don't believe in "whys"!

That much is the-obvious.

No one in her right mind would put "Lann" and "wise" in the same sentence.

You and Tama aren't exactly doing too hot either, Reynn. I can't believe you are only having the elemental resistances discussion now.

Anyway, take the first south path to a flutter point and cross it to get to a chest with a remedy. Head back and proceed right.



So many side paths. The item we need for the Gimme Golem is in the next area so we could just head straight for it, but we may as well go and grab some of the treasure laying around along the way.



We go up the dead-end path and fight this dragon. After beating it, Cactuar discovers some phoenix down for us in the nest. Good job Cactuar.



Then we go to the second flutter gap, which is next to the path we need to take to the next area. There is a chest here with 2 hi-potions.



Another new Mirage, except not quite. This is a variant of the Doublizard we already have. Still, not going to skip capturing it. Need to knock down that stack and take out the Spark Dragons first though.



Leaving it as the last one standing will give us a capture chance. Another Mirage for the case.

The semi-circle path that loops around the dead-end path in the middle only has one chest on it with 4 dragon scales, so it's probably a good idea to just grab it on the way back to the Gimme Golem.



The path were supposed to take into the next area is guarded by another Red Dragon. This one isn't optional, you'll have to fight it. The battle is against three of them this time.



After beating these guys, I stopped short of the next area as inspiration struck. The thread hasn't been suggesting any names since the first time I mentioned it, so I decided to call dibs on Cactuar and rename him M.C.Hammer. :kimchi:



Another tutorial card greets us as we enter the next section. This is kind of a weird spot for it considering that this is not a secret area, but I suppose sticking this card in a secret area would kind of defeat the purpose of a tutorial on finding secret areas.

Continuing on, we still need that item for the Gimme Golem, so hopefully we can find it--



:stare: ...You're a big one, aren't you?

Well, no choice here. That thing has to be protecting the Gimme Golem item, so this fight needs to happen.

Update 12 Highlights - Cerberus Battle and Capture


Like Dramut, we need to hit this one with three different elements. Fire, Ice, and Thunder.

You could also just fight it if you didn't feel like bothering to catch it. 13,000 HP looks like a lot, but this guy is actually pretty weak. Reynn's stack dealt 700 damage to it with a Fire spell (which Cerberus resists).

In terms of offence, Cerberus' basic physical attack only managed about 200 damage. It's kind of a paper tiger, which I guess is understandable since it is a story-mandated fight with no save points nearby.



It takes forever for me to capture it (I had to reapply the three elemental spells 3 times because the capture chance kept wearing off while he broke out). 25k EXP is a good haul though.



Cerberus is a semi-regular enemy in the FF series. It first appears as a boss in FFIII and looks like the Cerberus from mythology, that is, a three-headed dog. There's an enemy in the first Final Fantasy called Hellhound which was named Cerberus in the NES version, but it doesn't have the three-headed appearance the mythological Cerberus is known for.

The Mr. Valentine reference refers to Vincent Valentine from FFVII. His gun in Dirge of Cerberus is called Cerberus which he... forget it. That's part of the EU rabbit hole that we'll be forced to go down at some point in the near future. Vincent isn't in this game, so this isn't the right time to open that can of worms.

As for why this mirage is XL sized, we're obviously going to get a tutorial for it, so let's just get on with the show.





So there will be some Mirages that are special summons we can call upon. Be aware that you will still need to level them up like regular Mirages though. If we summoned the Cerberus we just caught right now, it would be weak as poo poo since it's still level 1.

It's up to you if you want to put the effort into these guys or not. I think they are pretty cool, but I also don't recall using XL Mirages during my Vita play through. They need solid levelling in order to be stronger than just using your existing stacks and they tend to be less versatile. That being said, they can serve as useful damage sponges in case you need to buy some time against a boss, or you can summon them at the start of a fight to get some early shots in before your main stacks come in.

I will keep at least one XL Mirage on the team at all times even if you guys don't request one or don't name one. I'll look for opportunities to show off their summon sequences when I can.



We get a Cerberus memento from the fight as well, which means we can turn Black Nakk into a White Nakk and then into Fenrir before finally turning it into Cerberus. This is probably the better way to go rather than use the one we just caught. Black Nakk already has a lot of stat boosts under its belt.

The item for the Gimme Golem also lies behind Cerberus. Sweet, let's get back to that roadblock and clear it.



Okay, let's get rolling and--



Oh come on. Again?

Fine. Jump down that ledge and get that chest that's visible in the screenshot. It has 2 wobblestoppers. Next, jump down the small ledge that's behind the chest we just opened.



Next, take the ledge on the left of the chest shown above. That leads to another chest with a Fire Resistance+ seed.

With all the treasures picked up, we now need to head right and circle back to the top of the cliff where we first started.



Back at the top, take the same ledge down that we did before. However, instead of taking the small ledge to the right, take the ledge to the left. Then take the left ledge again from there.



That leads us to the next area with even more side paths and flutter points. The chest off to the right contains a hi-potion.



Back on the main path, we start climbing uphill and eventually spot a save point. Thank god. Make sure to take advantage of this, because there's something fishy just around the corner.



Namely that thing.

Update 12 Highlights - Boss Battle and Scenes








Lann, do your ears work? You should have been able to hear that thing the second it started to move. It's huge.



Also, you might want to duck.

Lann! Shrink, now!





"Holy mom bombs"? That's a new one.

Get ready!



Yeah! We all taste bad! But especially Lann!

He'll make you the-want to barf!

You don't have to be mean about it!



Mega Red Dragon is just a boss version of the ones we've been fighting throughout the Dragon Scars. It has more HP, but there isn't much else to say about it.

It resists all ailments except for Blind. So if you are having a hard time with its damage output, then you can try to blind it and make it miss more often.

It's regular attacks are hitting for about 260 in this fight. Obviously that's going to vary based on stack composition and levels.



It has a special attack called Gnaw, but it missed when it tried to hit Reynn. The other special attack is Flare Star+ which causes some fairly decent damage to all targets.

It also has Fira, which hit Reynn's stack for about 300. Overall, Flare Star+ is what you want to watch out for. Outside of that, this is a 2 on 1 fight, which means all you really need to do is make sure one of your stacks is on healing duty when necessary.



Yay for miracles.

Come on, that wasn't that hard. Wimps.

Now's our chance to run the-past them!

Yeah, good i--

Eep!



Yes Tama, yes it is. How it managed to sneak up on you is anyone's guess, but it's there now.









Why does everyone keep kill-stealing? I need that EXP for Mirage transfigs and SP. Tama could have totally survived that without intervention... probably.





Tifa is voice by Rachael Leigh Cook in English, Ayumi Ito in Japanese. Like the weirdness with Rikku, in World of Final Fantasy Tifa is dressed in an outfit from a different time than her age. She's wearing the "cowgirl" outfit from the Nibelheim incident, at which point she was 15 years old. However, her age in Grymoire is 20, which is how old she is at the start of FFVII.



Tifa "Neo" Lockhart comes from FFVII, where she manages to dodge enough fatal bullets to make Morpheus proud. I think she escapes death about 8 or 9 times over the course of Final Fantasy VII, and I don't mean the typical "Oh, the heroes are fighting a really threatening monster or only barely escape from an explosion". Long story short, she survives falling off a bridge on a deadly mountain pass twice (once as a child), taking a gut wound from a six foot blade, nearly crushed by a falling city block, almost slides off the deck of an airship that is nearly hit by a Godzilla Captain Planet, gas chamber execution, said gas chamber being hit by a laser cutter from a different Godzilla Captain Planet, scaling the side of a building to escape said gas chamber, jumping off a massive harbour cannon and barely catching a rope from an airship, falling in the FF equivalent of the River Styx, etc. etc.

Anyway, Tifa is Cloud's childhood friend and love interest. She runs a bar called Seventh Heaven at the start of the game, which is secretly playing host to the terrorist group AVALANCHE that is trying to destroy Mako reactors so the planet doesn't get sucked dry of all of its life juice and poisoned (it's basically an allegory for oil and climate change).

Tifa is the monk class of FFVII, and as such she carries on the proud legacy of Sabin by suplexing the poo poo out of things multiple times her size as part of her special move, including a different Godzilla Captain Planet.



Never forget (Sadly, no, Sabin is not a character in WoFF).

She's one of my favourites from FFVII. She grapples with a lot of poo poo over the course of the game, most importantly the fact that her childhood friend knows everything about a certain incident that she's positive he wasn't there for, which really messes with her head and emotions.

Speaking of her childhood friend and love interest, the two of them don't cross paths in this game as far as I remember. Square has this weird thing about keeping Tifa and Cloud apart in their crossover appearances. Tifa isn't in Dissidia and due to memory fuckery of the characters, Cloud doesn't have memories of her or his world. They barely (if at all) meet in Dissidia Duodecim where Tifa is a playable character. To my knowledge, they only meet for a few seconds in Kingdom Hearts (I could be wrong about that, but they definitely don't spend any length of time together). The only explanation for this I can think of is that someone/some people on the FF dev team want to keep fuelling the "love triangle" of FFVII, even though that's been settled for ages in various ways including the Ultimania guide (Tifa wins, Aerith fans. She has actual history and deeper emotional connections with Cloud). It really bothers me that they do this.

Anyway, enough of my gushing and complaining. Tifa is also part of a dark and evil expanded universe, but as with FFX we don't yet have all the pieces in place to start discussing it.

Oh! I can celebrate later. Come on, this way! Hurry!



Literally right behind our heroes (you can still see them in this screenshot), the mysterious woman makes another appearance.



Also Plumed Knight is there.

Then you mean the Azure Prophecy... is coming true. So what. No matter how many Champions arise, the laws of this world are beyond their power to change.

The first sign of an idiot antagonist is them feeling safe and confident that there's nothing the heroes can do to mess things up. AMCP, people! Always Make Contingency Plans!



We must fulfill the Crimson Prophecy. And swiftly. Are we agreed?

Yes.



I'm just glad you're all right. Huge dragons live in the Scars. You're lucky you only ran into the two. Normally, people don't set foot near the place, but I heard all the ruckus and knew something must be up.

It's a good thing you did. Gotta say, though, you pack quite a punch!

Oh. Well... I might've gotten lucky.



...Why are the subtitles appearing in the little boxes? This isn't an overworld scene, it's a "cutscene", so the subtitles should just be normal. Weird.

Oh!

Reynn is reacting to a little sparkle of light from Tifa that signifies she's awakened as a Champion.

I live to the north of here, in a town called Nibelheim. Come on by, if you get a chance!

And with that, Tifa's Champion Medal becomes available for purchase.



Also the Warrior of Light's... Champion Jewel? Also Refia's? And Tifa's?







This is a new feature of the Maxima add-on. Now instead of just summoning Champions, we can actually turn Lann and Reynn into them. I'll show this off during the next Lil' Update, but I probably won't be using this during story gameplay (unless people really want me to).



Makes you wonder what her master must be the-like!

The world may never know, because Zangan is only seen briefly in a flashback and his larger role in VII was ultimately cut. Poor Zangan. The world needs more awesome old guys that don't bite it in the end.

We finally hit the Babil Region once we leave the Dragon Scars behind and...



:colbert: That is not Nibelheim.

Brrr! S-something about that place makes my fur the-crawl! I don't know what it is, but it gives me the heebie-the-jeebies!



Whatever, we'll sort it out once we get there. I spy a different town we can go to. Let's procrastinate!





This place seems quaint.

Well, this is a charming little town. But something feels kind of... I dunno, "off" about it. I can't quite put my finger on what it is.

Hmm... I think it might be a good idea for us to keep a low profile around here.

Why's that?

Because... Oh, just do it!

Uh, okay. Low profile, Tama.

Okay. Roger the-wilco...

You guys worry too much. This place seems perfectly peaceful. Everyone is just milling around and minding their own business.



There's even a guy here that has a sidequest for us. We need to go fight Cactuars for him so he can gauge their strength and decide if he should go after one to try and race them.

Even though M.C.Hammer is right there and could easily just race the guy himself. Whatever, we'll fill the quest eventually.

Okay, so that guy is kind of a weirdo for wanting to foot race a Cactuar. Everyone else doesn't seem so bad though.











......Huh.



Off to Nibelheim!



Oh, there's another Girl's Diary Entry in a treasure chest next to those three kids.

There's also another Old Journalist Notes behind the Gate. Almost have the full set.

Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Jun 14, 2019

TracerK
Jun 25, 2013

The only name request I have for the moment is calling the Cerberus Clifford since he's a big red dog.

Leraika
Jun 14, 2015

Luckily, I *did* save your old avatar. Fucked around and found out indeed.
Well, if you want more suggestions:

Dramut named Babyhamut, and the holy and red dragons named Beowulf and Reis, respectively.

morallyobjected
Nov 3, 2012
is Agarthir a reference to something?

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!

morallyobjected posted:

is Agarthir a reference to something?

I can't think of anything myself. I think it may be a new location for WoFF. Usually the reference locations have an associated FF character either in them or at least nearby.

If anyone does recognize this place then feel free to chime in. The design of the town doesn't seem overly unique, but maybe I've forgotten about "that town with a tower in it".


Leraika posted:

Well, if you want more suggestions:

Dramut named Babyhamut, and the holy and red dragons named Beowulf and Reis, respectively.

TracerK posted:

The only name request I have for the moment is calling the Cerberus Clifford since he's a big red dog.

I'll get on that during the next session.

I'm always looking for more suggestions. If the thread stays quiet then we'll likely end up with the team we have now for the entire game. I'd rather not decide on the team myself, because I'll just naturally gravitate towards the ones I used in my first play through.

The stacks get a slight shake up in the next update, which means I'll have swapped in every current Mirage at least once pretty soon. I think maybe Wark and Foozles are the only two that haven't been in a stack yet. I can't remember if I've used Mugsy, but I think he's due for a round as well.

Worldwalker_Pure
Feb 27, 2015


Please use a Champion Jewel to turn Lann into Tifa at least once, that feels like something there'd be dialogue for. Also yeah I'm seconding using the Babyhamut name, it's excellent.

Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

Worldwalker_Pure posted:

Please use a Champion Jewel to turn Lann into Tifa at least once, that feels like something there'd be dialogue for. Also yeah I'm seconding using the Babyhamut name, it's excellent.

There wouldn't be because Champion Jewels can't be used on opposite-sex characters.

Also please use all the dragons. I have no real name suggestions, I just like dragons.

morallyobjected
Nov 3, 2012
it seems obvious to me that the red dragon would be Smaug

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!

Worldwalker_Pure posted:

Please use a Champion Jewel to turn Lann into Tifa at least once, that feels like something there'd be dialogue for. Also yeah I'm seconding using the Babyhamut name, it's excellent.

Yeah, unfortunately like Blaze Dragon said, Champion Jewels have to match the gender of the main character. I also don't think there is any special dialogue from doing it, but this is a new feature so I could be wrong. I just doubt Square put that much effort into this.

Basically, at the moment we can have Reynn turn into Refia or Tifa. Lann can turn into Warrior of Light. The DLC champions don't get Jewels, so we can't have him running around as Balthier or Sephiroth.


Blaze Dragon posted:

Also please use all the dragons. I have no real name suggestions, I just like dragons.

I'll see what I can do. It's about time we cycled out some of the Mirages, so I'll see what others I can slot in. At the very least Babyhamut is a shoe-in. It's a new Maxima mirage and I think it looks cool, so I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do/transfig into.

Miz Kriss
Mar 17, 2009

It's only an avatar if the Cubs get swept.
That little baby firrit should be named Litten. I also thought of suggesting something stupid like mimic-chan for any of the mimics, but that's too many characters.

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!
We're taking another break from the story to check in with friends. We're also going to pick up some DLC Mirages, take a look at the Champion Jewel system, and start clean with our stacks.





First of all, I drop back to the Coliseum to pick up DLC variants of Mirages we have.



It then occurs to me that I don't think I showed the Cactuar's description when I transfigged it from a Cactrot. I am deeply ashamed, because the description is awesome.

Speaking of Cactuar, M.C.Hammer gained access to a new Transfig.



Gigantuar is a huge Cactuar enemy that first showed up in FFVIII where it was called Jumbo Cactuar. It was an optional boss that had a version of the Cactuar's 1,000 Needles called 10,000 Needles, which would deal 10,000 damage. It also had a special animation for getting hit by Squall's Renzokuken limit break.



It's awesome. :3:



It's also time we changed up the stacks a bit and cycled in some new Mirages. The thread coughed up some nickname suggestions, so we'll slot those in and remove some of the Mirages that have been with us for a long time.

Lann's stack gets reworked with M.C.Hammer on the bottom and Boco on top. Boco hasn't had a chance to contribute since being rechristened.



Reynn was originally going to get a stack with Smaug, which is the name the thread came up with for the Red Dragon we caught in The Dragon Scars. Beowulf, the Holy Dragon we caught in the secret area of Icicle Ridge was also a contender. However, I realized that Mugsy had not gotten a chance to get in on the fun.

So Reynn's stack for now will include Mugsy on bottom and Babyhamut on top. Babyhamut is the name given to Dramut by the thread. It is a new Mirage for Maxima and has a very good selection of abilities, including great elemental coverage and field abilities (Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, plus the field skills Chill, Sizzle, and Zap). The drawback is that it has no Transfigs. Still, it's a really good S Mirage. The field abilities alone means that it will probably remain on the roster for the rest of the game just for utility purposes.



I train up the new crew, and this is what we will be rolling with for a while. Dingldoink hangs around for coverage skills, Floating Eye gets Transfigged into Blood Eye (because it's still the only thing with Flutter at the moment), Wark and Magus also stay on board (Magus has a lot of Transfig potentials and Wark hasn't had a chance to shine yet). Foozles is taken out mainly because we're already overloaded on Chocobos. Dutch Oven stays on because it has two Transfigs coming in the near future.

Also, Cerberus gets renamed to Clifford. Clifford the Big Red Dog from the gates of the Underworld.



With that out of the way, let's get cracking on some of these Intervention Quests.

Lil' Update 3 Highlights - Underdog Day



[Moogle]: It's Underdog Day, kupo!


Aye! When any pirate can challenge his betters. Only the strongest can captain us! Do any of you have the pom-poms to dispute me?



Oh, well aren't you full of fire. So what have you got for me this time?


[Moogle]: I've seized a most ancient, forbidden spell, kupo. Cap'n, you're sharkbait, kupooo!




Hm? That's it?





Why does saying "kupo" a lot summon Ifrit?


[Moogle]: Ku-kupo? It was a summoning spell, kupo?!


Don't you "kupo" me. Fool! You didn't know what it was?

So you're the one? You dragged me to this place?!



*One wacky misunderstanding explanation later*

Ohhh... "Underdog Day," is it? Sounds like my kind of diversion. Very well... I shall be your opponent, human one! This ship of yours, all of you-- soon you will bow down before Ifrit as your master!


[Moogle]: But, but that isn't fair, kupo! If it wasn't for me, you would be--


Grrraaah! Only the strongest can lead this pathetic crew. Now, we begin!

Ha! As you wish. Come on, you animal!



Well, is it Underdog Day or isn't it?!

If you think you're stronger, shouldn't you be ready to prove it?

Ha ha ha ha ha! Once you have felt my true wrath, you'll regret those words!

Why do they call it "Underdog Day" anyway? "Dark Horse Day" would sound a hundred times cooler.

I guess that's a reasonable question. When did you learn a fancy expression like "dark horse"?

Since we're in Grymoire, wouldn't it the-have to be "Dark Chocobo Day"?

Ohhh, that's a great idea! We could blindfold a bunch of chocobos-- no, put boxes on their heads-- and then we can have them race!

That's mean. Don't do that to Chocobos. Regardless of how adorable it may be to imagine it.

Maybe he doesn't the-know what "dark horse" means after all.

Why me...

Poor the-Reynn...

She kind of brings it on herself as far as I'm concerned.



This Ifrit absorbs fire and is weak to Ice and Water. HP is pretty solid. Attacks range in the 300's, but that will vary based on levels.









Like Shiva and Ramuh, Ifrit has a special attack as well. Hellfire is Ifrit's signature move from the series. Make sure you are prepared for it, especially if one of your stacks is weak to Fire.

Not a difficult fight overall. I think it's likely the easiest of the three, assuming your stacks aren't focused heavily on Magic Defence at the cost of Physical Defence.





Heh. Ha ha ha, aha ha ha ha! Now that's what I call a challenge, Mog! But, don't go slinging spells without knowing what they do.


[Moogle]: Sink or swim, I say, kupo! That's why I don't taste the food I cook, kupo!


Well, you should! The muck from your galley makes me want to jump overboard!

And that's all for Faris and her crew of irritating Moogle pirates.



Next up, we have a quest that I'm really looking forward to. :allears:

Lil' Update 3 Highlights - Cranberry Knights




:swoon:



Boooo! Go away!


[Tonberry]: And I knew that you would... my old friends.


So, let's hear it. What's wrong, Tondawg?

Also, since we've got these three as side-characters that have their own quests and stuff, I guess I should mention who voices each of them.

Cactuar Conductor - Andrew Morris (English), Shigeru Chiba (Japanese)

Master Tonberry - Steven Barr (English), Jouji Nakata (Japanese)

Moogle - Bailey Gambertoglio (English), Sumire Morohashi (Japanese)

Unfortunately, I only have a character portrait for CC.


[Tonberry]: Oh-- Hm? Did I just hear you refer to me as "Tondawg"?


[Moogle]: What's the sitrep, kupo? Tonnypoo!


[Tonberry]: Wait. What is this? Since when you have you called me such ghastly names?


"Since when," he says. Listen to you! We just started now!




[Tonberry]: Now hold on. I don't even know where to begin. I mean, let's say I called you two...




They're getting off topic, but I don't care to stop them. :allears:

Not at all, Tonbuddy!


[Moogle]: I love it, kupo! Tonchops!


[Tonberry]: Ugh... You win. Call me whatever you want. As long as they're not the kind of nickname that you have to squeak.


*The scene fades out as Tonberry explains the situation*


Ohh. What a pickle. So this coliseum, which hides within a strange and mysterious mist that can connect it to whole other worlds...


[Moogle]: ...Was suddenly struck by an unexpected and chaotic phenomenon that caused a bunch of Mirages to run amok. Right, kupo?


[Tonberry]: ...Thank you for the exposition. So now that you know the problem, I would very much appreciate your assistance.


......


[Moogle]:......


[Tonberry]: Hm? All right then?


......


[Moogle]:......




Tonberry does a little spin and "kawaii" pose every time he says their nicknames.


Woo-hoo-hoo! Count me in! Everything's going to be peachy keen!

GODDAMMIT, I WANT YOU ON MY DESK!



Oh, screw you Square-Enix... (Not to mention that's in USD, so it's like 50 bucks CAD for a little 4-inch figurine, plus $30 shipping. Kiss my rear end, SE.)


[Moogle]: Darn tootin', kupo! Friends stick together, kupo!


[Tonberry]: Uh, yes. Um, thank you.




And so begins the battle, which is against... Huh. Not exactly a strong showing.

Yeah! Just lemme at 'em!


[Moogle]: Bring it on, kupo!




None of these are very strong. You can probably one-shot them by this point. Useful if you haven't caught one of these three, I guess. None of them are difficult to track down though.



A second battle starts immediately after the first.

Right! All aboard now!


[Moogle]: I can do this all day, kupo!


Same as the last battle, none of these Mirages are difficult. Right Hand is a tiny bit harder to track down, so this is a good chance to grab one if you didn't in Pyreglow or Icicle Ridge.



Ugh! I can't move my arms! Wait, that's normal.

:kimchi:


[Moogle]: I'm... so... pumped up, kupo!


Third battle straight after the second. This group is a little tougher because of the Cockatrice (potential Death Beak) and Ahriman (might confuse).

Let's take the opportunity to mess around with the Mega Mirage feature by summoning Clifford. Clifford requires 12 AP between Lann and Reynn in order to summon.

World of Final Fantasy Music: Mega Mirage Melody
















So Mega Mirages will stick around until their HP is reduced to 0 or their AP runs out.



A regular attack will cost 2 AP.



At the moment, Clifford only has 2 abilities unlocked. A Fire spell that hits all, and an Ice spell that hits all. He can also get Thunderbolt.

As you can see, his only real use is as a damage sponge.



His damage isn't boosted or anything either. I could honestly be doing far more damage if I had just stuck with Lann and Reynn in separate stacks. To be slightly fair to him, Clifford's level is lagging a little behind the others. He's level 22 at the moment.



Still, Mega Mirages do have some uses. Clifford is also only our first one. We'll get others with different ability boards that may be more useful.




[Moogle]: So they're not just acting up, kupo?


Hmm, you're right. I get the distinct impression that we're getting in their way more than vice-a versa.


[Tonberry]: Our Mirage opponents have been getting steadily stronger.


Heh, hoo, hah... I know I'm tough, but even I'm starting to feel the burn here. Hot dang!


[Moogle]: Oh! Let's stack, kupo!


[Tonberry]: Stack what?


[Moogle]: Us, kupo! I mean if those twin goobers can do it, we can too, kupo!


You're right. They do get a lot stronger when they stack, now don't they?


[Tonberry]: Hmm... So how do we decide the order?


[Moogle]: First, we have to pick a leader, kupo. How 'bout... we do rock-paper-scissors for it, kupo? Me and the cap'n do it all the time, kupo!


[Tonberry]: Are you sure?


[Moogle]: Rooock... Paperrr... KUPO!


Guys? How are we supposed to figure out who won?




[Moogle]: Yippee, kupo! Mog takes the prize, kupo!


Huh?


[Tonberry]: Heh?


[Moogle]: So with that settled, your new leader will assign the positions, kupo.


.....


[Tonberry]: Ohhh... All right.




I must say, my head's getting kind of itchy...


[Tonberry]: I can't move.




Oh, hey Tifa. What uhh... how did you get here?

Ugh! How does master expect this to help me train?!


[Tonberry]: Wait, is that a human?




Somersault is Tifa's second Level 1 Limit Break. The way Tifa's Limit Break works is by stopping a series of slots with "Yeah!", "Hit!", and "Miss". "Yeah" and "Hit" will allow her to chain her limits together. So by the time the end of the game rolls around, Tifa's complete Limit Break is Beat Rush->Somersault->Waterkick->Meteodrive->Dolphin Blow->Meteor Strike->Final Heaven, for a total of seven attacks.

Hmm... Now we know what got into the Mirages. The young lady is a bona fide public menace!


[Tonberry]: Yes, I would agree.


[Moogle]: Okay, then we have to stop her, kupo!


I mean, she's doing what we do all the time. This is the Coliseum. I come here sometimes just to beat up Mirages to test stacks out. Then again, I suppose that doesn't necessarily mean we aren't public menaces.

I'll take you all on! Let's do this!




[Tonberry]: Oof. She's too... powerful...


[Moogle]: Oh! Hey, I have an idea, kupo! Whisper whisper, whisper whisper...


Right then! Let's go ahead and give it a shot!


[Tonberry]: Oh, it's on.




Huh? Not you again! Beat it, cactuar!

*Tifa goes to punch him, but he zips away*

Zip!

Huh? I missed?




[Tonberry]: Guess who? Tonberry in the house. Poke!


*Tonberry appears behind Tifa and pokes her in the back with his knife*

---------!! Hey! That didn't feel good!


[Tonberry]: Now, friends!




Ack! Uhhh...



Not that I want to question Cactuar Conductor and Tonberry's contributions, but if you were just going to put her to sleep then you could have just opened with that.


[Tonberry]: Whew... I think we had better send this young lady back to Grymoire.


[Moogle]: Seems to me... that the three of us make one dashing duo, kupo!


Indeed!


[Tonberry]: Heh?




The "Cranberry Knights" is a reference to Final Fantasy Type-0. In that game, the Cranberry Knights is a group of 13 Moogles that represent the 13 classes.

At this point, Dutch Oven and Mugsy get their new Transfigs. Let's have a look.





Sweet.



Back to interventions. There's two left available for now.

Lil' Update 3 Highlights - Rikku Interventions



[Adamantoise]: So, Rikku, was it? Where might you be headed this fine day?


Adamantoise is voiced by William Knight in English, Hiroshi Iwasaki in Japanese.

Hee hee hee. Do you really need to ask? Treasure Island!


[Adamantoise]: Ahhh. So the Low Seas have managed to keep a few secrets from me.


It's full of treasure chests! Now that's what I call a paradise! The currents are so strong, I never could have made the trip all by my lonesome. It sure is a good thing I found you, Addy-boy.


[Adamantoise]: You'd risk your life to reach this place? I wonder if treasure hunting is as fun as you say.


It sure is! All those little trejies have been around way longer than I have. I'll be the first person to touch them in years upon years... Ooooh, I could just squeal!

Please, don't.


[Adamantoise]: Hmm... I see now. I had that same spark ages ago. How I miss it.


Yeah? Well, why don't you come along on this treasure hunt with me?




[Adamantoise]: I envy you. Living life as you please-- now that is a true treasure.


Hmm... if you say so. Oh! There's the island! I see it!



That's Treasure Island? I guess it's technically correct. Kind of disappointing looking though.




[Adamantoise]: No trouble at all. How will you get home?


Look at all the stuff lying around here! There's gotta be some relic that'll help me. Oh, hey. Why don't you take something with you? I don't know what's in that chest there, but it's sure gonna be something good!




[Adamantoise]: Rikku. I will help you.


You'd do that? You're so sweet. Now... get that cheeest!



Yeah, I never the-liked jack-in-the-boxes.

Yes! It stinks! But the only way to know what we'll find is to jump right in!

Thanks for making it sound like we're dumpster diving. Very uplifting.

This battle is against standard Mimics. Nothing difficult. I have a move I want to try out though...



:getin:









You rock, M.C.Hammer.




[Adamantoise]: Your job's full of surprises.


Ha ha ha. Well, sometimes. Yeah.


[Adamantoise]: Despite the danger, you still mean to continue with it?


Of course! It's in my blood. I live for treasure hunting! All my trejies need me! I can't stop now!


[Adamantoise]: Heh, I see. Then I wish you a safe and fruitful journey.


Mm! Thanks again, Addy! I'll see you real soon!




[Adamantoise]: Perhaps my kin have been missing out. Perhaps it's time for an adventure of their own. I wonder... Would those Mirage keepers help us?


If by "help" you mean Imprisming you and your friends/children, then the answer is yes.



One last quest to take care of.

Nnnrrrggghhh!



Why is every single chest I find a stupid mimic?! Why're you trejies playing hard to get? HELP ME OUT HEEERE! Ugh... Well... As long as there's one more chest to crack... I'm not gonna give up now!



*Insert battle with a single standard Mimic that you can take out in a few shots*

You see what happens to trejie impostors? Rikku happens, and don't you forget it!

You know... now that I think about it, shouldn't we be helping the Mimics here? Rikku is invading their home and beating the poo poo out of them, then getting pissed off at them for being there. I think we're on the side of the bad guys for this one.



This is a call back to FFX. Rikku was terrified of lightning because her brother saved her from a monster one time by casting Thunder on it... while both of them were in the water.



:raise:



Oh, I see. So all these mimics infesting the island, that was your idea? You...are...doomed! I'm taking you out, and ridding this island of all your little wannabes!

This is their habitat, Rikku. You're kind of loving with their home. Don't try and claim the moral high ground here.



How sinister! Who wouldn't open a treasure chest this big?! It's like the mother lode!

It would be tempting. I guess this is what they mean when they say not to look a gift horse-- er, chest-- in the mouth...

Mimic Queen is not too bad of a fight. We can't imprism this one, but we'll get the memento for it from this fight. It's weak to Light, but strong against Thunder.

One thing to watch out for, it also knows Death, like Mimics do. If it connects, then revive right away. If it decides to pull it twice in a row then the battle could just end in two shots.









It also has a special attack that's kind of hilarious. It struts up with a come-hither look, then hauls back and stabs with the four hair drills, then does a sassy turn and walks away.



Man, that was a really cheap shot there, pulling out all those thunderbolts like that! I thought I was a goner for sure but, at least now I can fina-- Huh? ...What? Aaah! Wh-what happened to all of the trejies?! No waaay... Well, at least with the mimics out of the picture, I know every chest I open is the real deal!

This island is not that big. Where the hell are you finding all these treasure chests?

I'm not gonna let one little setback set me back!



I'd actually like it if you didn't thank us for our involvement. I'm kind of wishing we had a choice to side with the Mimics to be perfectly honest.

Ohhh-kay, the big treasure hunt is on! Ooh! Trejie spotted straight aheaaad!

Finally, to end off the update, we run back to the Coliseum for a special event and a feature showcase. While taking on the Test of Might challenges in the Coliseum, an event triggered for me where the battle is switched out for something... different.







Hm? Uh, right back at you.

Well, it's like... Hmm... Oh, I know! Didn't you use to call it a "part-time job"?

This is not the same as flipping burgers at some fast-food joint.

Hey, it is what it is. So, I hope that you're ready to go through us!

Ha ha ha ha! If you think you can!



This is the battle that allows us to capture the story versions of Shiva and Ifrit. These fights are pretty easy, although you'll likely have to stand around attempting to capture them multiple times before it actually works. They do not want to be Imprismed.

Shiva's capture condition is just like Ifrit's, except you use Ice. It's pretty easy to guess.





Come on! What is with you guys and food?!

Anyway, as for the feature showcase, let's have a look at how Champion Jewels work.



Champion Jewels have to be equipped in the Mirajewels menu.

As explained in the tutorial, the Champion you want to turn into has to match genders with the twin. So Reynn can take the form of the girls, and Lann can take the form of the boys.

Each Champion will change the stats in some way and they will also get access to a special ability.



Lil' Update 3 Highlights - Tifa Champion Jewel


For Tifa, this means we can use Beat Rush, which is her first Level 1 Limit Break from FFVII.







And that's it. The character models only change in battle, so Reynn still appears while running around the map and in cutscenes. Champion Jewels also cost Arma Gems, and those are in short supply right now. I need to save whatever I can for Intervention Quests.

Honestly, this is a poorly implemented feature. It's a novelty at best, a detriment at worst (you can't use Mega Mirages or Champion Summons when a Jewel is equipped). The fact that you have to use your limited Arma Gems for them (while also needing them for Medals and Intervention Quests) makes it even worse.

Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Jun 14, 2019

BisbyWorl
Jan 12, 2019

Knowledge is pain plus observation.


Psycho Knight posted:

So Reynn's stack for now will include Mugsy on bottom and Babyhamut on top. Babyhamut is the name given to Dramut by the thread. It is a new Mirage for Maxima and has a very good selection of abilities, including great elemental coverage and field abilities (Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, plus the field skills Chill, Sizzle, and Zap). The drawback is that it has no Transfigs. Still, it's a really good S Mirage. The field abilities alone means that it will probably remain on the roster for the rest of the game just for utility purposes.

Honestly, field skills are another complaint I have with WoFF. A big selling point is being able to stick whatever monsters you want together yet half your slots need to be dedicated to mirages with field skills unless you want to burn a good chunk of cash on Seraphones. This is even more painful in the base game where you have 2 less mirage slots.

Psycho Knight posted:


Tonberry does a little spin and "kawaii" pose every time he says their nicknames.

All of you need to watch the video for this.

morallyobjected
Nov 3, 2012

BisbyWorl posted:

Honestly, field skills are another complaint I have with WoFF. A big selling point is being able to stick whatever monsters you want together yet half your slots need to be dedicated to mirages with field skills unless you want to burn a good chunk of cash on Seraphones. This is even more painful in the base game where you have 2 less mirage slots.

honestly, as long as you just keep 3 Seraphones on hand, you'll be fine. it doesn't come up THAT often, and you get plenty of chances to stop by Nine Wood Hills to stock up. but I agree the game doesn't really benefit from it that much

Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

In this update: cute nicknames that must be used when their Mirages join the party. Yes, I'm pre-emptively voting for this.

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!
Next update should be tomorrow. Sorry for the wait on this one. I had a week break from school and figured I'd take a week off from computer stuff to relax and play games I haven't been touching for a while.

BisbyWorl posted:

Honestly, field skills are another complaint I have with WoFF. A big selling point is being able to stick whatever monsters you want together yet half your slots need to be dedicated to mirages with field skills unless you want to burn a good chunk of cash on Seraphones. This is even more painful in the base game where you have 2 less mirage slots.

They are a nuisance. I understand wanting to block off side routes as secret areas, but there has to be a better way to do it than this. Having an extra two slots really does help, because I'm using one of those to truck Floating Eye everywhere for Flutter.

I also think Dramut was popped in to alleviate this a bit, since it gets easy access to three of the main ones.

morallyobjected posted:

honestly, as long as you just keep 3 Seraphones on hand, you'll be fine. it doesn't come up THAT often, and you get plenty of chances to stop by Nine Wood Hills to stock up. but I agree the game doesn't really benefit from it that much

Featured in the next update: My money-grubbing ways bite me in the rear end when I hit a switch I can't trigger and realize I don't have any Seraphones.

Blaze Dragon posted:

In this update: cute nicknames that must be used when their Mirages join the party. Yes, I'm pre-emptively voting for this.

We can't rename the story ones, but I can make this happen for generic Mirages. Moogle is already available, so I'll rename it next session. Tonberry is still unavailable (although I might be able to just transfig Red Bonnetberry). Cactuar Conductor is going to require the memento though.

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!


It makes Nine Wood Hills look the-humble!



This dude is just hanging around outside Nibelheim. He gives us smelling salts. You're a bro, random dude.

Back to what we were doing.

Update 13 Highlights - Chapter 11: Crimson and Azure


Which is us starting Chapter 11.





Welcome to Midelheigar. This is a weird fusion of locations from FFVII. Nibelheim is the name of the small mountain town that Tifa and Cloud grew up in. This place is not Nibelheim. For reference:



This is what Nibelheim looks like. What we see here is closer to Midgar, which is the giant industrial raised city that FFVII opens in. The tower you see in the outside shot is a little Lilikin version of the Shinra Building.

Hold on a sec.



Hmm... I don't see any chain on the place.

Well, maybe they're like Cornelia, and they haven't been annexed by the Federation.

Huh? It can't be.

Final Fantasy VII Music: Tifa's Theme (This is also the Music for "Not-belheim")

Note: In case you haven't been listening to these, or are only familiar with the music from WoFF or the source FF, it should be mentioned that all of these songs I'm linking to are remixes for WoFF (Prismelody is what the game calls them). Tifa's Theme here is a lot more upbeat sounding than in the original FFVII. It sounds like it's being played in a Saloon. Original FFVII Tifa's Theme is more gentle and slow, incorporating more of a flute sound (or as close to wind instruments as early PS1 audio could get).

Some of these remixes sound nice, but some of them don't quite work (at least in my opinion). This is one of the remix themes I'm not a fan of. However, we'll hear one for a FFVI song at some point that I really like, for example.



Also, I didn't mention this originally for some reason I can no longer remember, but that building behind Tifa is the Honeybee Inn. I'm not sure if this was an intentional reference the devs threw in or not. WoFF tries to stick to an E10+ rating, but the Honeybee Inn is a brothel from FFVII that operates in the equivalent of a Red Light District. Cloud can optionally infiltrate it after chasing Tifa to Wall Market (basically a Red Light District). Originally it was going to have more of a role, but it was partially cut out/toned down because FFVII is a Teen game and the Honeybee is a straight-up bordello. The devs felt that was pushing things a bit too far.

Hey there, guys! It is you, right?

Hey! Super punchy girl!

Hi! How are you doing, Tifa?

It's the-good to see you!

Same here! Hey, I have to ask. What are two Keepers and a Mirage doing way down here in Babil?

Oh, yeah. I guess we never told you, did we?

*And then our heroes explain everything for the umpteenth time*

Oh, good! I was starting to worry. What if I accidentally saved a couple of bad apples from the Bahamut Army?



I mean, they are known to employ Mirages as part of their army, as well as Jiants. It's a pretty easy assumption to make, Lann.

I don't know. I guess they don't see many Mirage Keepers anymore, unless they're working for the bad guys.

I believe we've been told something to that effect by at least two different characters. Pay attention! Both of you!

Yeah... And not just Keepers. Jiants, too. These days, they all seem to be fighting for Bahamut. I guess it makes sense in a way. They say the Federation conquered their homeland long ago.

Dude...

Still, the prophecy's a hot topic around Nibelheim. Everyone in town has heard of the Jiants from the Hills.

Ugh... I'm not sure I like being a celebrity.

Anyway. So you're looking for the valley of fire?

Unfortunately, that's the only real clue that we've got.



What do you mean?

If you're looking for fiery valleys, this region is full of them. But that's just it. Any one of those valleys could be the one the prophecy is talking about. Oh, right! I forgot there's a summoner in town doing research on the valley! She might know.



So we're off to see the summoner that's right over there. We're going to take a look around for goodies first.



Looks like Grymoire Shinra isn't sucking the planet dry of life juice. Good for them.



Just to the right of the well we find the fourth set of Journalist Notes. This is the last one. So let's check them all out.











All of these notes point towards Firion, from FFII.



Firion is voiced by Johnny Young Bosch in English, Hikaru Midorikawa in Japanese.

Firion was the first Final Fantasy hero to get a set name and narrative (the first FF used a player selected party of characters with no major identifying traits). His story is as timeless as it gets. Parents dead, hometown gets attacked by the evil army and burns to the ground, he fights to put a stop to it. He does this by joining the Wild Rose Rebellion, which is led by Princess Hilda. This is what the Journalist Notes are referencing with the mention of him looking for a Princess at the Coliseum. Wild Rose is also a code word that the rebels use.

Firion's design is very colourful and unique. I really like it. So when are we going to get to track him down and see what he can do?

Final Fantasy II Music: Rebel Army - Firion's Theme (This is the least spoilerly video I could find for this track. The others show Mirages we haven't seen yet.)




There you go. That is the extent of Firion's inclusion in Maxima. He doesn't get a Champion Summon, or Miniventures, or Intervention quests, or story involvement of any kind. The only thing I've been able to find on him for this game is that he is a Champion Jewel. That's it.

I want to point out that Firion is FFII's sole representative in this game. FFII had no characters in the base game, and when they decided to do the Maxima add-on, all they could muster for Firion's inclusion was as a Lann reskin and a series of collectible notes.

I was extremely disappointed to learn this. I thought for sure he would at least get a summon sequence. The notes they added even make it sound like this is leading up to a piece of additional story content or quest.

But nope. Skin swap. Good job Square. Way to quarter-rear end it.

:effort:

Let's just move on and stop dwelling on this insult to FFII.

While we're on the subject of Champions, let's see what Tifa's summon looks like (before I forget to use it).

Tifa Champion Summon
Final Fantasy VII Music: Those Who Fight














Tifa's summon is her Final Heaven Limit Break. I already talked about this earlier.

Back to Nibelheim. There's a weird guy standing to the right of Tifa and our mystery summoner.



Talking to him causes the camera to zoom all the way into this sign above his head.



Then it just shows him looking at us before starting to smile.

:stare: We're going to walk away now.



That bright future better not involve the use of planet-life-juice-sucking reactors. I've got my eye on you, Shinra.




[Knight]: At any rate, as long as SOLDIER is here, they won't be laying a finger on this town!


SOLDIER is the elite special forces group that Shinra employs in FFVII. That's how they are originally portrayed. Crisis Core retconned things to imply that SOLDIER used to be far more powerful and exclusive, but over the course of the game they lose a lot of their strongest personnel and leadership, to the point that by FFVII the group is mostly made up of tougher than usual troopers.



Sneaky reference, devs. Keep those up.

Anyway, that's enough farting around. Let's meet this summoner.

Update 13 Highlights - ProphecyRydiaProphecyProphecyProphecy


Aha ha ha... heh.

Yeah, that's us.

Hello there. I am the summoner Rydia.



Rydia is voiced by Caroline Macey in English, Noriko Shitaya in Japanese.



Rydia is from FFIV. She's a little girl that Cecil and Kain "rescue" from the destruction of her home town and the death of her mother... that Cecil and Kain were kinda responsible for. They didn't outright kill her mother in cold blood, but they did sorta murder the dragon her mother was linked to as a summoner, which causes the summoner to die. Then the thing Cecil and Kain delivered to the town kind of blows it up with Bomb monsters.

Aaaannywaaay, through wacky adventures Rydia joins the party on their journey, then gets knocked overboard when the ship the party is on is attacked. She winds up in the land where the summons live and, due to time flow fuckery, later rejoins the party as a young woman (as opposed to the 7-year old she was when she left).

There's more to her story, but once again we are missing a piece of the puzzle. Yes, FFIV has an EU of its own, unfortunately...



And this is the dragon mentioned earlier, except being used by Rydia instead of her mother.

Hey, you know... the way that Mirage follows you... you totally remind me of Yuna! I guess it's because you're both summoners.

Huh? You mean you know Lady Yuna?

We watched her dance on a pond. She attacked us. We kicked her rear end. Yeah, we've met.

Yeah, we met her. Back on the upper continent. She was really a lot of help to us.

We might not even be the-here if Yuna hadn't pointed us in the right direction.

The gently caress are you on about, Tama? We ran into her on the way to Saronia. She pointed us towards the place we were already going. All Yuna did was give us a history lesson.

Oh... Well then... I suppose you can't be all that bad.



That means you can trust them. For the time being, at least.

*The twins then proceed to explain everything AGAIN. Can we just go back to Nine Wood real quick and find a copy centre or something? Maybe print up some flyers we can just give people?*

So let me get this straight. You're searching for the four keys recorded in the prophecy?

Yeah. We came to Babil because we heard one of the keys was hidden here, in a valley of fire.

Right, but you know, the keys are part of the Crimson Prophecy.

Crimson Prophecy? So wait, you mean there's more than one version?

Yes. There used to be a single prophecy: the Azure Prophecy. It only spoke of four sigils, and said nothing about keys. It was much more abstract.

Maybe it's a Resident Evil situation, where the sigils are also keys.



Ugh, this is no business of yours.



Ugh...


[Fanatical Man]: Are you a summoner or not? You should pray that fate guides you to the Crystal Tower.


[Fanatical Woman]: The Crimson Prophecy is clear. Flanked by Mirages, the chosen ones shall acquire four keys. From the Crystal Tower they shall mount the heavens, where god will grant them the gift of eternity!


Eternity? Sorry to burst your bubbles, but we've met god, she's not that impressive.


[Fanatical Woman]: So long as you know to look for the signs, the keys shall be found.


[Fanatical Man]: So do as the Crimson Prophecy commands of you, hmm?


Right, so continue doing exactly what it is we've been doing this entire time. Keys, sigils, it's all the same.



Yeah, no kidding. At least they're not breaking any laws or getting violent, but it's still creepy.

Eh, it's not so much creepy, just incredibly rude and annoying.

What do those fools know, anyway? The Azure Prophecy was written by the First Summoner! It's the Crimson Prophecy that came later. The whole thing is nothing but a sham.

Still, that sham seems to be the prophecy folks believe in.

What exactly are they believing in? It sounds like the prophecies are entirely about the Jiants from the hills. Is the Crimson Prophecy promising free ice cream for everyone after the whole "Jiants get gift of eternity" thing? Believing in either one doesn't seem to be doing anything for regular people.

Unfortunately so. That's why I came here to sort the truth out myself. Tell me, then. Why are you searching for the keys like the prophecy says?

You see...

*Yes, they are really doing another exposition fade-to-black*

So you're telling me that your mother shares the same name as Lady Lusse Farna? And you're looking for the Heralds' castle to find her.

I get it! If you really are the Jiants from the Hills, all you have to do is follow the prophecy, and you might wind up there anyway.

Right. There's actually more to it. Someone told us we would find our family as long as we kept collecting Mirages and pressing onward.

Hmm... Well, whatever the case, it seems the only way to prove which prophecy is true... is to accompany the two of you to the valley of fire. In a way, you'd be accompanying me and doing me a favor.

What do you mean?

Oh! Never you mind! So, are we ready?

Uh, "are we ready"? We don't even know which valley to go to.

I've already figured it out. The valleys of Babil are numbered, and I believe the one we are looking for is Valley Seven.

How the hell do you know that?



Oh well. Guess we're just going to gloss over that.



The lady nearby has a quest for us. I already have the Dragon Scales needed, so this is instantly fulfilled. She gives us a Berserk Seed.

The treasure chest right next to her requires Jiant form and contains 3 earth hammers.



That's it for Nibelheim. Leaving and going to the right will lead us to the fire valleys.

World of Final Fantasy Music: Labyrinth of Fire
Update 13 Highlights - Valley Seven




Toasty.

Uugh...

Ooogh... I think my fur is the-melting...



.....

Hmm? You okay?

Oh! I'm all right. Shall we?



Just think about cold things! ...And then think about them melting.

This place isn't quite so bad as The Dragon Scars in my opinion. It's a bit more straightforward, although it does require a lot of running around to get to the side areas.

There's a path on the left that goes down to a little bridge. Shortly into our travels, we get hit by our first battle.



With new Mirages.



Can't really say I do to be honest. I don't recall any times where these little bastards ruined my progress.

Just to rub the Firion thing in more, the first enemy we run into made its debut in FFII. Bombs are a series staple that have appeared in all the major games. They are trick enemies which will grow larger and larger as you attack them, until they trigger Self-Destruct (they can also do this if their HP is low). Depending on the game, this can inflict some serious damage.





Aaaah! Why are you sneezing?! It's like five hundred degrees in here!

Trucking forward, across the bridge you can take a side path on the right and find an Agility+ seed hidden under the next bridge. Circle back up and keep going south.

Across another bridge we run into a split. The path on the right is blocked by a Gimme Golem, so it's off to the left for us.





Where a switch awaits. These conditions aren't too hard to meet. Smaug should be able to handle it on his own.





The switch causes a bridge to... morph? It kinda has this organic look with the way it extends that is a little gross.



Circle down and cross the new bridge to find another switch. What the hell is the point of putting two of these so close together?

That treasure chest has the Gimme Golem item we need in order to progress. The last switch, with the exact same trigger condition, is twenty feet behind us. If you can meet the condition of the first switch then you can obviously meet this one. Once again, who the hell would activate that one switch and then use a Seraphone or backtrack to the Exit Gate in order to remove the Mirage(s) they just used? This serves absolutely no purpose.



Whatever. Back to the Gimme Golem. Once we get it out of our way, we can cross the bridge to the right and run head first into another tutorial card.





Luckily, Babyhamut already has this field ability, so there's no need for me to go running back to get through this.

If you don't have Babyhamut, then Bablizz can also get Chill very early.





The bridge cools and we can run over to grab a treasure chest with 2 hi-ethers in it. Also, there's some kind of insane fire tornado going on. No way to interact with it though.



Backtracking a little and continuing right, we head into the next area and come upon a story scene.

Update 13 Highlights - Rydia's Freakout


What's going on? We'll never be able to put out a fire this big. Not with the Mirages that we've got!

I dunno. I think Bruce could put it out. Or maybe we could pop back and train a bit so--





What the hell, Rydia?!

Ah! Don't just stand there gawking like that! We can't just leave her to fend for herself!

You're one to talk, Reynn. Your "Ah!" reaction only came after watching her run across the bridge and out through that cave in the distance.

Oh... right! We gotta go after her!

Wh-what he the-said!



Great, so we're doing this now. Well, she can't have gotten that far, right? We'll meet up with her in the next area and--



DAMMIT, RYDIA!



Well fine then. If that's how it's going to be then your rear end is going to sit and wait in this hellhole while we run around and do side stuff.

The path to the right is where Rydia ran off to on her panic-induced half-marathon through an active volcano. The path up needs a boulder smashed, which Mugsy is happy to do.



Babyhamut finds a Flash Bomb hiding in the rock. Then we take the path behind it to find a chest with 2 hi-potions.

Heading back to the starting point, we hit up the left path towards the Murkrift.



There's a Chill spot in the way and a switch visible beyond that.



But first, another new Mirage.



Okay, so not really "new" in the typical sense. Lead Gnome is Mugsy's Chrome Giant baby form. We transfigged him into this though, so we don't really need this one. I catch it anyway though, just so I don't forget to show off the database entry.

Another one checked off the list. I'm going to do my best to get a 100% Mirage Database, purely because I don't want the thread to miss out on possible entertaining descriptions.



Anyway, the Murkrift is blocking access to the switch, so we'll need to get it out of the way. They will sometimes act as gatekeepers for secret areas (like back in the Saronia Docks). Level 30 is pretty doable with our current team, though. Let's see what we've got.





Not too scary. Inflicting Poison is relatively easy. We should have some Poison Inflicting items in the old pouch. If not, then Reynn's stack has Bio.



They're not especially strong, either. HP totals are a bit of a nuisance though, I'll admit. It takes a while to whittle two of them so I can focus on catching the last one. Thankfully, the capture succeeds on the first try. No need to stand around constantly throwing Pokeballs at it for like 5 minutes.

Memecoleous looks to be part of the Sphinx/Manticore family. They showed up in FF1 and have made scattered appearances in the series afterward. Not a very common enemy type to include (their other appearances are VIII, XI, and XIV, as well as some side games).



As for the switch that they were protecting... this one is actually going to be a bit of a problem. The Mirages I have with me can meet the Fire Resistance threshold, but weight comes up 1 short. Someone in the stack needs to gain a pound.

I (being a cheap son of a bitch) didn't purchase any more Seraphones. I'll have to return here once we track down a save point so we can see what's going on with this thing.



Heading back towards Rydia, we cross the bridge to the left of the starting platform and head down a bit to find a smash boulder. Behind it is a chest with 4 bomb fragments in it (item that deals fire damage).



At the top of the platform, there are three paths to take. Two of them have smash boulders, the unblocked one leads to where Rydia is. The path you see me going towards in this screenshot doesn't have anything on it. Not sure what its purpose is right now. Certainly a lot of mysteries going on in this place.

The other blocked path has a chest with a phoenix pinion in it.

Alright, time to go check on what's bothering Rydia, then drag her all the way back to the main route.

Update 13 Highlights - Saving Rydia


Awesome, she got herself cornered by an enemy.

Rydia!

We're coming!



Everyone! The-use Lann as a shield!

Right. Good idea. You ready, Lann?

Yeah! Wait, you're gonna use me as a WHAT?!



Nobody is going to use you as a shield, Lann. Not yet, anyway. M.C.Hammer has this covered.



I love you M.C.Hammer. :allears:



No! Stay away!



Whoa!

Rydia! Are you okay?

Ugh... I... I hate fire. More than anything. Long ago, the Federation decided to invade my home. The house I was in caught fire... I was all alone, and I...

Then why'd you come to a place like this?

You needed someone to help you, didn't you? I wanted to conquer my fears! But... I couldn't do it. The mere sight of so much fire... It was...

And the reason you couldn't mention this crippling fear of fire to the group in advance was...?

Well, I'd say you did pretty great!

Yeah, I mean, that fire Mirage? You doused it in one fell swoop!

A. Mist Dragon is the one that doused it, not Rydia. B. It was basically a bouncing corpse since we defeated it.

Right? You've got nothing to be scared of. Fire got you down? All you gotta do then is just blow it out, baby.

"Blow it out, baby"? That's your sage advice? She's not struggling with a fear of birthday cakes.

Oh no, please tell me you're not about to beat another "comedy" scene into the ground...

She's not?

No, dude.

I'm just going to get a snack or something. Hopefully by the time I'm back, this will be over with.





Oh wait, are you trying to make fire look cool?

It's the-cooler than you.

Hee hee! Ha ha ha! You're so weird. Heh heh!

Huh? I am not!

Yeah, you're way past weird.

Completely beyond the-redemption.

Heeey.

Ha ha! So, shall we?

Wh-what? But Rydia!

Go home. You've got nothing to prove. We'll let you know if we find anything.

Really? How will you get past that wall of fire?

Oh, uh...

Look. I'll return to Nibelheim after I put the fire out for you. Sound reasonable?

Yeah! Reasonlicious.

You're sure?

Yes. Come on.









Uh, hey. You okay?

Rydia...

.....! Misty!





Aw, yeah!

*Rydia nearly topples over*

!!

World of Final Fantasy Music: Refreshing Melody (I don't know why they didn't put Rydia's Theme in the OST)
...I'm fine. I just got a little worked up... and I couldn't keep my balance.

Whew.

All right then. I should return to town. I hate to leave...

Nah, you've done plenty for us.

See you the-next tama!

Hey, wait! When's the next tama, Tama?

Oh! Maybe it's the-sometime tama-rah!



And thanks, for everything.

No, thank you. Well, so long!



Best of the-luck on your adventure!

Ha ha. You're coming too, Tama. Nice try.

Hm? Oh poo poo, I was gone longer than I intended. We're back to story progress. Apparently Rydia left us, which sucks because there's another firestorm thing a ways back that could use a clearing.

Oh well, maybe we can drag her back here later. Let's just get this place done with.

Forward and to the right is a platform with a chest hidden at the end of the downward slope. It has some phoenix down in it.



We meet a new Mirage on the way back to the main route. Flammantoise needs to be hit by fire attacks to create a capture chance. Annoyingly, it comes in a very stable stack with a Spark Dragon, so you'll probably have to swing away at it to knock the stack over while also making sure to heal it periodically.



We can't the-give up now!

Technically we can, but let's get this over with.

The next area is the last. We've got a save point and a chest (with a hi-potion in it), as well as a very obvious boss platform in the back.

Before we tackle that, I swap out some Mirages so that we can get to the bottom of that switch near the Murkrift we couldn't trigger.



Smaug, Bomb, and Flammantoise are enough to meet the requirements.



It creates a bridge to the distant cave so that we can head in. What lies beyond?





Phoenix lies beyond.

The bad news is that I didn't have any healing things powerful enough to trigger the capture chance. I'll have to come back for it when I get my hands on another X/Mega-Potion or Elixer (I used the ones I had on Undead Princess to train up the current batch of Mirages).



drat. Well, at least it will just sit there and wait patiently. I'll head to the Coliseum when a Gate shows up and win an X-Potion or something. Then we'll be back for Phoenix.

On to the boss platform.

Update 13 Highlights - Key of Fire and Chapter End Cutscene


What do you the-know? Now that was a piece of the-cake!





Hey! Give us back that key, right now!

So much for a piece of cake, I guess...



Give it a shot.

Yeah, the-do it, do it!

Okay! Wait, where is its back?

Seriously?



Looks like the fire key is powering up the Bomb. We're dealing with a King Bomb now.

King Bomb isn't too bad on his own. Basic attacks hit for about 300, while his Fira spell hits for 600-800 (Lann's stack is still weak to fire, so it hits them pretty hard).



I don't have Bruce with me anymore, so I can't take advantage of the Water weakness. King Bomb can be put to sleep, but I don't really have a use for that in this fight. Sleep tends to wear off once the thing takes a hit, so it's only use here is to give some breathing room for healing.

So I cast Haste on Lann's stack and just wail away on it with physical attacks and the occasional Thousands of Needles.

As King Bomb's HP gets lower, you'll notice him start to grow. He's prepping his Self-Destruct, so before you finish him off make sure you top up your HP, just in case.





Explode will hit fairly hard. If you are a lower level then this could be dangerous. It shouldn't be enough to take out your party either way, unless you deliberately run your HP down to triple digits (or you've separated your stacks).





I guess...

What's up? You don't seem very happy.

No, it's not that at all, I just...

Reynn trails off and then we get a prompt saying we acquired the "Key of Flames". One MacGuffin down, three more to go.







And now we're back in anime land, where the proportions of our heroes somehow don't look quite as unsettling as the in-game graphics.

Is it 'cause we gave that bomb the old heave-the-ho?

*The ground starts to shake*

Ah! What now? An earthquake?!

Whoa! It must be a big one!







...Or it could be Leviathan. Somehow.



Oh no. Anything but another FLOOD!

Oh! Mayday! The-mayday!



And then our heroes get drowned for a second time.





Also Plumed Knight is there and captured Rydia. Figures. There goes my idea of grabbing her to help with that other firestorm.

And that's the end of the chapter. We got a key that may or may not destroy everything; Lann, Reynn, and Tama got sucked into a whirlpool and flushed to who-knows-where; Rydia is in the hands of the bad guys for some reason; I'd chalk that up as breaking even, personally.

Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Jun 14, 2019

Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

Psycho Knight posted:

(FFVII).png[/img]Yes. Come on.

quote:

World of Final Fantasy Music: Refreshing Melody [/b](I don't know why they didn't put Rydia's Theme in the OST)[/b]

Broken stuff here.

Also, while Firion's role here is indeed disappointing, it should be pointed out that Maxima apparently had a very small budget, so they did what they could. It's bad anyways but I'd put the blame here explicitly on the executives rather than on the people that worked on the game.

AweStriker
Oct 6, 2014

The other name that pops up in the Firion Files, Borghen, is a far more direct FFII reference; he's an officer in the Imperial army in that game.

Offhand he dies fairly early on but not before murdering Josef with a boulder trap.

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!

Blaze Dragon posted:

Broken stuff here.

Also, while Firion's role here is indeed disappointing, it should be pointed out that Maxima apparently had a very small budget, so they did what they could. It's bad anyways but I'd put the blame here explicitly on the executives rather than on the people that worked on the game.

Yeah, I just went through and fixed some stuff. I had two directions flipped as well. For some reason I find errors easier to spot when I read over the update on my tablet after getting off the PC.

Oh, of course. I explicitly blame Square for that. You can tell that the devs behind this game had love for the franchise, but Square doesn't seem to give a poo poo. They had this add-on scrapped together on the cheap and then tossed it out for $20. So far I have not seen $20 of work to justify that price. They don't seem to have bothered putting effort into this, but they did seem to think they could get $20 for it from existing owners.

What Square does and does not decide to give attention to is all over the place. This game moved about 700k on PS4/Vita. I'm sure the Steam/XB1/NS release pushed it up over 1m. It seems to have done fairly well. At least well enough that they could have put in some change to make a summon sequence or a single intervention quest for Firion.

AweStriker posted:

The other name that pops up in the Firion Files, Borghen, is a far more direct FFII reference; he's an officer in the Imperial army in that game.

Offhand he dies fairly early on but not before murdering Josef with a boulder trap.

Thanks, I forgot to put that in. I got too wrapped up ranting about Firion.

Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Feb 22, 2019

LiefKatano
Aug 31, 2018

I swear, by my sword and capote, that I will once again prove victorious!!
Fun fact, I suppose: this is kind of an inversion of how Rydia got over her fear of fire in IV. Rather than douse a fire wall, she had to use Fire to melt an ice wall.

I also kind of want to say that Leviathan showing up and sending the heroes to god-knows-where is also a IV reference, where he, uh. Does that. With Rydia in the party, no less. That's how the age up shenanigans began.

Regalingualius
Jan 7, 2012

We gazed into the eyes of madness... And all we found was horny.




And he also scatters the other party members to the corners of the earth, and seemingly kills off the crew of their ship... who are apparently completely forgotten about by the time the party can meet him in his home.

Polsy
Mar 23, 2007

Psycho Knight posted:



Sneaky reference, devs. Keep those up.

In fact the building Tifa is initially standing near is the Honeybee Inn (per the giant pink sign), and the sign above the 'You want to practice with me?' guy is from outside the gym, so this whole area is closer to Wall Market then anything else.

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!

LiefKatano posted:

Fun fact, I suppose: this is kind of an inversion of how Rydia got over her fear of fire in IV. Rather than douse a fire wall, she had to use Fire to melt an ice wall.

I also kind of want to say that Leviathan showing up and sending the heroes to god-knows-where is also a IV reference, where he, uh. Does that. With Rydia in the party, no less. That's how the age up shenanigans began.

It's definitely a nice twist, and the devs seem to love doing these (Faris' introduction is reminiscent of her original meeting as well). This game may not be stellar, but it really knows how to tickle the nostalgia in fans.

Regalingualius posted:

And he also scatters the other party members to the corners of the earth, and seemingly kills off the crew of their ship... who are apparently completely forgotten about by the time the party can meet him in his home.

Everyone knows Leviathan's Tidal Wave has the power of singling out important characters. It's magic water that only main characters can breathe.

Polsy posted:

In fact the building Tifa is initially standing near is the Honeybee Inn (per the giant pink sign), and the sign above the 'You want to practice with me?' guy is from outside the gym, so this whole area is closer to Wall Market then anything else.

Oh, so that's what that guy's deal is. The Honeybee Inn I did notice, but I wasn't quite sure if it was something the developers were going for. The game tries to play it safe for age rating purposes, so throwing in a reference to a brothel seems like it would have gotten axed by executives. Then again, only people who have played FFVII would know what the building is anyway, so I guess they'd be fine with it. I may have been a little out of it at the time of writing as well. I remember thinking about the Honeybee Inn, and then I just didn't write about it for whatever reason.

The practice guy legitimately threw me for a loop though. I knew it had to be something, but I could not think of anything it could be referencing. He just asks you to practice with him, and then creepily looks at you before smiling silently.

So then we're actually in Wallmidbelmarket, or just Midbelmark. Man, they really got out of hand blending together the VII locations into a single town.

Polsy
Mar 23, 2007

Psycho Knight posted:

Oh, so that's what that guy's deal is. The Honeybee Inn I did notice, but I wasn't quite sure if it was something the developers were going for. The game tries to play it safe for age rating purposes, so throwing in a reference to a brothel seems like it would have gotten axed by executives. Then again, only people who have played FFVII would know what the building is anyway, so I guess they'd be fine with it. I may have been a little out of it at the time of writing as well. I remember thinking about the Honeybee Inn, and then I just didn't write about it for whatever reason.

Ah, I thought it was a bit too prominent for you to overlook, but then you didn't mention it, so. Yeah, I can imagine they wouldn't want to reference it directly but it does make the practice guy extra weird.

Commander Keene
Dec 21, 2016

Faster than the others



Psycho Knight posted:

So then we're actually in Wallmidbelmarket, or just Midbelmark. Man, they really got out of hand blending together the VII locations into a single town.
Well, Wall Market is still in Midgar IIRC, so the only weird part is how it's called Nibelheim. If we find parts of Wutai or Corel here, then it's getting out of hand.

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!

Commander Keene posted:

Well, Wall Market is still in Midgar IIRC, so the only weird part is how it's called Nibelheim. If we find parts of Wutai or Corel here, then it's getting out of hand.

Technically you're right. But in FFVII it's in the slums underneath Midgar, whereas here it's melded into the city itself. As for other towns that may have been smashed in here, I don't see anything from Wutai/Corel/Gold Saucer/Junon/etc. The only other part of the city is a pizza/pie slice looking section seen from the "world map" that is likely a reference to Barret's "It's cuz of that &^#$# 'pizza' that people underneath are sufferin'!" line (or just a reference to the Sector 7 drop).

Which, by the way, I have to repeat: Whatever bad things I may say or complain about when it comes to this game, there is no argument that the devs put a lot of love into the Final Fantasy aspects of it. I absolutely adore looking for all the nods and obscure things they've hidden.

Polsy posted:

Ah, I thought it was a bit too prominent for you to overlook, but then you didn't mention it, so. Yeah, I can imagine they wouldn't want to reference it directly but it does make the practice guy extra weird.

I have no idea why I didn't just talk about it, to be honest. I'm sure as poo poo not trying to keep this LP E10+. I've gone back and added a little mention of it. That week off I had must have made me lazy.

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!
Update 14 Highlights - Chapter Opening


If you recall from the last update, our heroes got flushed down the drain by Leviathan after obtaining the Key of Flames. Also we met Rydia and she got captured by the antagonists almost immediately.



Are they dead this time? They look pretty dead.



This better be the last time you tease me, game. We better not get a third dead man's float fake-out.

Make that a double jelly sandwich!

We're... gonna need the-therapy after this.

Ugh, please... No more cosmic flushing.



Ireland?

I don't think we're in Nibelheim anymore. Not by a long shot.





Maybe we shouldn't go this way after all...

Reynn, we've been over this. Do you have any alternatives in mind? No? Then shut up and let's go.

Moving forward a couple of steps will trigger a scene.





I instinctively hate it.

Is it a Mirage? 'Cause it doesn't act like one.


[Toad]: Ribbit! Ribbit. Ribbity ribbity ribbit!


Ribbit? Ribbity-ribbit? The-rib?


[Toad]: Ribbit? Ribbit! Ribba ribba ribbit.


Ribbee! The-bib.

What? You speak toadese?

Of the-course I do. Listen, you can tell from his accent that he's been the-toad-cursed.

I think the fact that he's a frog that has hair and a bandanna is a better indicator of that, but sure, whatever.

He's a GUY?

They have accents?

Obvious-the-ly.




[Toad]: Ribbit! Ribbi-rit. Ribbit!


What'd he say?

From what I gather, it sounds the-like that golden toad over there is the 'phibian that put the curse on him.



That's the-correct. First off, you need to the-imprism it the same as always.

Okay. We got this.

Careful you don't get toad-cursed.

Huh? You mean you're not coming?

Well, it's game over if we both go full toad, right?

Uh... right.

You're such a wimp, Reynn. Toad isn't even a status ailment in this game. You don't have anything to worry about.

Toad is a reoccurring status ailment in the franchise, though. It turns characters into Frogs that have very weak attack and defence. The item to cure it is usually called 'Maiden's Kiss', or sometimes getting hit with Toad status a second time will revert it.



So Reynn's stack ditches us for this part, although that's not a problem since this part is story mandated and impossible to fail.



Whoa! Is it just me, or does he look miffed?

Walking to the right a little bit and approaching the frog will trigger the fight.

L-Lann! Where did you the-learn to talk like that? You need to go the-wash your mouth out with a bar of soap!

What?! Dude, what did I say?!

We will unfortunately never know.



Lucky Toad is built tough enough to take a hit, so you shouldn't have to worry about taking it out in a single hit. I didn't try to see what happens if you just defeat it, but this is a story required capture, so I assume the battle just restarts until you catch it.



Toads have been around as an enemy type since FFII. Unlike sharks, they are a "real animal" enemy type that have managed to maintain a presence throughout the series (likely because of the Toad status ailment). They're typically pretty weak, but they try and even the playing field by inflicting Toad or other ailments.

Lucky Toad bears a resemblance to the Golden Toad from FFIV Advance. It was a special enemy that was similar to Metal Slimes from Dragon Quest. Nearly unbreakable defences, but loads of money and experience if you can beat it.









We've made a terrible, terrible mistake. Change him back!

Final Fantasy XIII Music: Snow's Theme - F


Snow is voiced by Troy Baker in English, Daisuke Ono in Japanese.



Snow is here from FFXIII. He plans to marry Serah, who is Lightning's sister. Lightning is... less than pleased about that whole engagement. Unfortunately, Serah gets turned to crystal because... well, it's a long story that I don't really want to tell, but thanks to Maxima I will have to. Now is not that time for it though.

So after that whole lover/sister crystal hood-ornament thing happens, Snow gets turned into a l'Cie--

FFXIII Encyclopedia Break: Boiling it down to its absolute baseline description, a l'Cie is somebody branded by a god to do poo poo for them or else get turned into a monster. If a l'Cie does god's errand, they get turned into crystal. FFXIII gods are kind of assholes. Also l'Cie have crazy magic powers and strength. We good? Okay, let's continue.

--and proceeds to try and save his home, and also free his girlfriend from crystal purgatory. At the end of the game, he gets to be with (no longer crystallized) Serah and Lightning is totally cool with him now and everything is swell.



In FFXIII-2, Snow's role is reduced. He fights with a Flan that threatens to destroy Cocoon (main character's home) because Lightning warned him about it in a dream while in the midst of traveling through time. Later on, Serah and the other protag of XIII-2 (who are also time travelers) help him destroy the Flan for good. Snow then disappears because of paradox shenanigans.

In the end, he is separated from Serah again when time is fixed/hosed, or the antagonist's plan was stopped/succeeded, or... whatever the gently caress the goal of XIII-2 was.



poo poo goes south between XIII-2 and Lightning Returns (AKA XIII-3), and Snow appears in that game as an immortal ruler of Not-Vegas after time breaks... or the mortal world fuses with the XIII equivalent of heaven... everybody becomes immortal, okay? Just go with it. So Snow is made the ruler because he's apparently the only one who can be trusted to fairly distribute food and poo poo, and spends 500+ years babysitting everyone so that they don't all break into wars.

His role beyond that is mainly just to mope and brood because Serah is dead again. Then Lightning slaps him out of his drunken stupor by revealing that Serah is maybe not dead. He shows up at the end to help "Lord and Savior Lightning Christ" kill god and then gets to reunite with Serah (again) in a new godless world where everything will definitely be totally awesome now for real this time.

My head hurts. I have to talk more about him, but first we need to let this scene play out for a bit longer.

I guess you are.

You guys seriously just saved my life. Oh, the name's Snow. I came to butt-kick the Big Jiggle lurking in this swamp. And then along the way, I saw this awesome golden toad and thought, Man, you don't see too many of those! But who knew? The things are contagious!



Could I really eat flies or live on lily pads? Deep questions. But then you all came along and saved my warts. Woo! You guys are the best! For real, bro.

Dude, I have no idea what's wrong with you, but as long as you're happy.

Did Lann just find someone he can talk the-down to? Never the-thought I'd see the day.

So, what's your deal? Where ya from?

*One exposition break later. Seriously guys, pamphlets*

You say you got swept here all the way from Nibelheim? Wow. And here I thought I had it pretty rough. I mean, Nibelheim, isn't that one continent up? How are you guys even alive?



I don't want to be a pro at it...

Anyway, it seems we're the-stuck here. All the goop around here makes it the-hard to look for a way out.

Oh yeah. Well, you've got that right. One false step and whsssht, you're history.

Okay, then how did you get out here, Snow?















Whoa! Cool idea!

Wait a minute. Are you a summoner?!

Wish I could say I was... but no. Sadly, "summoner" is way too fancy a word for what I am.

Huh?

But... that's not important.

While I agree with that, we still need to address it.



Remember when I was talking about Shiva and mentioned a weird form that the summon takes in XIII? This is Shiva's incarnation from XIII, namely the Twin Sisters of Shiva (Stiria and Nix). They are Snow's summon in that game. The reason why Snow says that he isn't a summoner is because of some semantics BS. In the "Who's Who" section of the WoFF database back in the Twin's Room, a section under Snow shows up that talks about why he isn't technically a summoner. It says that a summoner is one who opens pathways to other worlds, then uses their magic to form a pact with a Mirage. Snow is supposedly different, in that he was given a power that turned his left arm into a magic arm. He channels magic through it and that's how he made a pact with Shiva.

WoFF makes that distinction for a story reason, but I still think it's stupid. It just seems to be a corner that they had to write themselves out of. They wanted XIII Shiva in the game, but without messing up their plot.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. The Shiva Sisters. In FFXIII Shiva takes the form of two mechanical sisters like you see above. WoFF kind of combines the two into a single being called Shiva-Ixion. Why did they do that? Well, in FFXIII the summons are basically Transformers that can change into vehicles/weapons/beast forms. The Shiva Sisters turn into a motorcycle for example. WoFF, partially aiming for a younger crowd, would have a little difficulty depicting this transformation because the Shiva Sisters do it by locking legs/bodies with each other.



Which results in this. Yes, the two hot robot ladies interlock legs with each other and form a motorcycle. Snow then proceeds to ride them, with the face and torso of one of them by his crotch and the other one staring at his rear end.



Oh, and in the base version of WoFF you cannot get Shiva-Ixion. She's not a Mirage you can Imprism anywhere. This was changed in the Maxima add-on, but we still won't be able to get her until the Endgame.

How about you? Are you still gonna... "butt-kick the Big Jiggle" or whatever it was?

You know it! It shouldn't be too far from where we are now.

So it's like a Mirage?

Yup! Me and Jiggles have got some history.

I will expound on said history once we meet this "Big Jiggle".

I gotcha. Then maybe we can help you out.

Uh, really?

We're sort of on a journey to round up Mirages anyway. So basically, the more you butt-kick, the more we profit.

Ahh, I gotcha now. Well, let's team up then. That stupid Big Jiggle will never know what hit it!



So now Snow is tagging along with us through this, actually very pleasant looking, area.

Take the newly formed ice bridge into the next area.



And by 'next area' I mean only major area. This dungeon is incredibly short. We could hit up the boss in about 30 seconds, not counting random battles along the way.



There are a few chill spots throughout the map. One of these is needed to progress, one is just a shortcut, and the others are for treasure chests. You don't need a Mirage with the Chill ability, Snow and Shiva-Ixion will just create the ice bridges for you. However, if you finish this dungeon without getting to the optional areas, then you will need a Chill capable Mirage if you come back here (Snow is only with us for this story section).

Anyway, veer straight to the left from the first ice bridge spot to find a small pond with a treasure chest nearby.



Walking through the water will sometimes result in monsters popping out.



It must be the-part of their disposition.

Too bad. I got here first!

Uh, yeah. You the-tell 'em.

Mirages, be warned. Dis-position is Lann's position.

We already have a Mini Flan, these are just the grown up versions. Hit it with a physical attack to create a capture chance, but maybe unstack first. These guys only have about 650 HP.



Jokes on you this time WoFF. I'm eating while recording this. I'm on to your constant food suggestive descriptions.

The treasure chest has 4 chimeric wings (wind damage items).



Back to the first ice bridge. On the other side of the bridge, directly to the right, is another Chill point. The ice bridge here leads to a small island with a chest on it that contains an Aero seed.



Directly ahead of the bridge we crossed there is another Chill point that creates a fast track to the save point. The left path is the long way around to the save point, but there's a chest and switch along the way. Let's go check those out first.



The switch seems to lead to a secret area (that green line on the left). I didn't have the proper Mirages to meet the switch conditions, so I hit the save point to swap Mirages before doubling back.

The treasure chest next to the switch contains a remedy. That will certainly come in handy in the immediate future. Why is that?



Because we're in Malboro country now.





Bad Breath is thankfully single-target in this game, but Malboros in this area can come in pairs, so it's still a little threatening. Lann got hit with Poison, Oblivion, and Confusion this time. The Miss was for Blind.

Incidentally, the Malboros in this place really loving hate Lann. Out of 6 or 7 Bad Breaths cast on the party while I was recording this section, Reynn was only targeted by 1 of them. Malboros seemed to like doubling up Bad Breath on Lann just to make sure.



The switch requirements are a weight of 14 and a Water Resistance of 25 or more. The resistance is easy to meet, but the weight can be a bit trickier. Bruce, Dingldoink, and Dualizard are the heaviest Mirages I could put together and they only just made it to 14.

Also, just as a side note, I like seeing Dingldoink ride on one of Dualizard's heads instead of just weirdly floating in the middle of them. :3:

The switch causes the water behind it to recede and reveal a sand path. What could be waiting for us on the other side?



Before we find out, I snag this thing along the way. It needs to be inflicted with Berserk to create a capture chance (which you can do with War Gongs if you don't have a Mirage with Berserk abilities). This is just the plain old version of the Lucky Toad we already have.



On to the secret area, where we find... some kind of Princess? Sure are a lot of those going around lately. What is this, the fourth one we've found?

Oh well. Wonder what this one is doing all the way out here in the swamp?



:raise: Huh?



:stare:



:gonk: Oh god no!

Chapter 14 Highlights - Malboro Menace + Flan Princess Battle


This is actually two Mirages in a stack, rather than an Angler fish type situation.



Flan Princess sits on top. We'll need to face her with just a single party member. That's kind of a risky proposition as long as...



this thing is on the field. The Malboro Menace stack can hit for close to 1000, so the Malboro Menace by itself could likely one-shot your individual characters. The safest bet here is to focus on capturing the Malboro first, then worry about the Flan Princess. There is a downside to doing it in this order, but the alternative relies on a large amount of luck.



Malboro Menace needs to be inflicted with status ailments for a capture chance, but it has resistances to everything. The weakest parts of its ailment resistance coverage are Oblivion and Slow. Doom is also a weak point, but you kind of don't want to hit it with that since it will knock it out when the countdown reaches 0. You'd be putting a short time limit on imprisming it.

Of course, you will get a memento when the battle is won. You could just take the Malboro out and then transfig a Korrigan later. Korrigans are easy to get (Basil has had access to that form for a long time).



After knocking the stack down, I chose the Oblivion route and got lucky. Both Chime items I used hit it and I managed to catch it on the second Imprism attempt.

With Malboro Menace out of the way, it's now time to deal with Flan Princess. You need to face her with a single party member to create a capture chance. That means you're going to have to get your Mirages to attack each other or themselves until they're all knocked out. Lann or Reynn must also be knocked out.



Flan Princess does have a trick up her sleeve that you need to be wary of. Dance with Me! will inflict Berserk. If this happens when you only have Lann or Reynn left standing, then you could get screwed over pretty quick. Flan Princess won't be taken out by piddly physical attacks from individual units, so she'll most likely knock out your last character while you are powerless to do anything.

Tranquilizers or Remedies can cure Berserk, if you have a non-affected character that can use the item that is.



Once you're down to one, you'll get your chance to capture. I admit that I was not paying the proper amount of attention here. The correct way to do this would be to throw a Phoenix Down of some type to get everyone back up, then try to Imprism Flan Princess so everyone gets to share in the experience.



I got too eager and went straight for Imprism, succeeding immediately.

This results in some... unbalanced leveling for Lann. I then ran straight to a save point and habitually saved, so that's set in stone. I'll have to look for an opportunity to get Reynn caught up.



Putrid Breath is an upgraded Bad Breath, which Malboro Menace decided not to use on me during this battle.



Flan Princess has appeared in the Final Fantasy franchise before (such as II and VI), but her appearance here is far more cutesy. In her other appearances, she looks like a regular flan, except pink. This "new makeover" of hers makes her look a lot more human.

And that's all for the secret area. Time to head for the boss. There is one more Mirage available in this place, but I couldn't get it to pop. I may just transfig to it (it's a Mu variant).



Save beforehand, and then head across the bridge. Once we reach the other side, it's cutscene time.

Update 14 Highlights - Meeting Big Jiggle




Whooooa.

It's huge!

Aha ha ha... Snow, which part of this thing is the butt?

Oh, it's all butt!



You do realize we're not fighting a mountain...?

My the-eyes! It's so the-shiny!



I hope you haven't been completely ignoring magic. Golden Flan is a complete joke if you have any form of magic element attack. It's weak to every ailment and can take between 2000-5000 damage depending on the level of spell you use.



Reynn's stack uses Thundara and nearly halves its health in one shot.

Golden Flan responds by slapping Lann's stack for 200 damage--



then gets promptly vaporized by Lann's stack.



It manages to hold on with just a sliver of health, but Reynn puts a quick end to that.



Upon being defeated, it then... shrinks?



I beg to differ. That was a total rear end-kicking.

I know. It's like we're right back to square one, except... nothing about that thing was square.

I guess we just didn't kick it hard enough.

Snow, what exactly do you have against it again?

If I don't keep it in line, it just grows and grows. Once, it used to be way, way bigger than this. Attacked my village. Did some serious damage. I've found that a nice, periodic butt-kicking is the best way to keep the Big Jiggle in check.

Sounds like a big, big, BIG nuisance to me.

This whole thing is a reference to XIII-2. Remember the thing I mentioned about Lightning giving Snow a dream warning while time traveling about a threat to Cocoon? The threat in question is a thing called Royal Ripeness, which is a big collection of Miniflan that merged together. Snow tries fighting it, but he doesn't deal any lasting damage since the thing can just reform itself.



It won't be attack towns for a while.

We could just imprism it while it's small. That would sort of solve the whole problem for good... No? Not going to bother bringing that up? Okay then.

Anyway... It looks like the swamp up ahead should be nice and dry now. I think you're good to walk. Okay... Maybe I'll see you all again sometime!

God, I hope not.



Yeah, I'll say. So, you ready to kiss this place good-bye?

I hope that the rest is the-easy going.

And with that, we get a prompt telling us that Snow's Champion Medal and Jewel are available. There's also some new items at the Chocolatte Mart. Then we can save.

This isn't the end of the chapter, though. There's a very tiny section left.



There's a beach area just beyond the boss arena. This is where the missing Mirage can supposedly be found, but I was unable to get it to appear.

Other than that, there is a Chill point over by that little island to the left (you will need a Mirage with Chill since Snow is gone). There is a chest on the island that contains 2 remedies.

And that's it. Proceeding to the mountains where the star on our map is will end the chapter. That was insanely short. Here I thought these would be getting longer, but we're just tearing through these.

Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Jun 14, 2019

malkav11
Aug 7, 2009
Well, FFXIII & co sound like a whole pile of pants-on-head writing.

Ixion is also a summon in at least one FF game (I believe it's X?), where it's a lightning horse.

EponymousMrYar
Jan 4, 2015

The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.
The best part of Lightning Returns is that Lightning is fed up of pretty much everything that's happened in the series to that point.

It's great meta-humour :allears:

Leraika
Jun 14, 2015

Luckily, I *did* save your old avatar. Fucked around and found out indeed.
It took me forever to get the dual capture for the malboro/flan princess combo.

How many tries did it take you?

BisbyWorl
Jan 12, 2019

Knowledge is pain plus observation.


Psycho Knight posted:

In FFXIII-2, Snow's role is reduced. He fights with a Flan that threatens to destroy Cocoon (main character's home) because Lightning warned him about it in a dream while in the midst of traveling through time. Later on, Serah and the other protag of XIII-2 (who are also time travelers) help him destroy the Flan for good. Snow then disappears because of paradox shenanigans.

In the end, he gets to be with Serah again once the world is saved, or time is fixed, or the antagonist's plan was stopped, or all three... whatever the gently caress the goal of XIII-2 was.

Small correction: Serah loving dies at the end of 13-2 (turns out having a Goddess-given ability to see the future does terrible things to your life span if said Goddess decides to mess with time) and the antagonist's plan goes off without a hitch (turns out having a Goddess that keeps time working give their heart to someone can very easily backfire)

The best part about The Lore for FF13 is that half the reason everything went to poo poo past 13-1 is because there was a JRPG goddess that actually wanted to help rather than just sit around and watch like 99% of other goddess'.

Psycho Knight
Jan 19, 2017

"Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!

malkav11 posted:

Well, FFXIII & co sound like a whole pile of pants-on-head writing.

Ixion is also a summon in at least one FF game (I believe it's X?), where it's a lightning horse.

Yes, Ixion is the name of lightning horse from X. Shiva-Ixion doesn't seem to have any connection to it, though. WoFF says that Ixion is her name while Shiva is her tribe. The only connection I can think of is to Ixion from Greek mythology, who was punished by being attached to a fiery wheel for eternity.

They likely just called her Ixion because it sounded neat.

Also, XIII's writing is pants-on-head writing. You should be aware that a lot of XIII's lore is buried in encyclopedia entries as well. You have to constantly cross reference terms to keep what anyone is talking about straight. My description of l'Cie is the bare minimum of what it is. Thankfully there are no l'Cie in WoFF, so I don't need to get into detail.

EponymousMrYar posted:

The best part of Lightning Returns is that Lightning is fed up of pretty much everything that's happened in the series to that point.

It's great meta-humour :allears:

Toriyama's massive hard-on for her seems to be the driving force behind the insane poo poo she goes through. "It's not enough for her to be the protagonist, she has to be the special chosen knight of a god! Wait, no, now she's going to be Final Fantasy Jesus! Wait, no, now she's going to be the absolute savior of humanity that delivers them the promised land!"

Sorry Lightning, but there is one god that you can never free yourself from. His name is Motomu.

Leraika posted:

It took me forever to get the dual capture for the malboro/flan princess combo.

How many tries did it take you?

The one you see in the video is actually the first attempt. Granted, I played the base version, so I had some idea of what was coming. It took me three tries in my original playthrough I believe. I had way worse luck with status ailments in that one and wasn't at quite so high a level.

That's part of the reason I missed the revive on Reynn and other Mirages. I was too eager to seal the victory before things could go south on me. It's also why I ran straight to the save point afterward.

Plus, I got real lucky in this attempt. Malboro didn't use Putrid Breath at all, while Flan Princess mostly avoided Dance with Me! (and M.C.Hammer dodged a berserk at one point that let me cure Lann).

BisbyWorl posted:

Small correction: Serah loving dies at the end of 13-2 (turns out having a Goddess-given ability to see the future does terrible things to your life span if said Goddess decides to mess with time) and the antagonist's plan goes off without a hitch (turns out having a Goddess that keeps time working give their heart to someone can very easily backfire)

The best part about The Lore for FF13 is that half the reason everything went to poo poo past 13-1 is because there was a JRPG goddess that actually wanted to help rather than just sit around and watch like 99% of other goddess'.

Right, I was thinking of a Paradox Ending, plus the fact that Serah is a force ghost/motivational imposter doll in LR. I even mention the fact that she's dead like two sentences later as Snow's moping reason. I need to fix that.

The trials and tribulations of being a diety in a JRPG. Remember kids:

"God: Bender, being God isn't easy. If you do too much, people get dependent on you. And if you do nothing, they lose hope. You have to use a light touch, like a safecracker or a pickpocket.

Bender: Or a guy who burns down a bar for the insurance money.

God: Yes, if you make it look like an electrical thing. When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."

I love you, Futurama.

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Edvarius
Aug 23, 2013
My opinion on Snow is a bit odd, in that I usually despise "idiot hero" types and yet he didn't really bother me. Maybe it was just because I didn't like the person they were actually presenting as the protagonist... or most of the other party members come to think of it. Or maybe he became even more insufferable in the sequels and as I never bothered with those I never noticed.

Oh well, with regards to this game I still have to wonder how Snow was planning on beating a creature that was weak to magic when he's very much a physical specialist. Just let Shiva do all the heavy lifting, I guess?

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