Day 39

Game - Final Fantasy 6, Day 39
Hours Played/Hours Total - 2-1/2 hrs / 2-1/2 hrs
Starting Point - Beginning of Final Fantasy 6.
Current Goal - Start Final Fantasy 6!

What Happened - Here we are...Final Fantasy 6. Amazing how I'm already this far in! I'm most definitely looking forward to 6 through 9. I am not looking as forward to the remainder, but I digress. Let's get on to the "What Happened."
     The game starts off and already getting a history lesson! Basically, the world has advanced to the point of having advanced technology. And of course, the one with the best technology is in power. However, the world used to be host to magic, and of course, someone is trying to bring the magic back...for evil reasons! It doesn't directly say it like that, but that's the basic point. It comes to a point, and I'm introduced to a group of three people: Two soldiers (named Biggs and Wedge) and a nameless woman. They talk about her destroying a group of soldiers by herself, but that she wouldn't do anything with her slave crown on. The game switches to the opening credits of the three people, who are currently in bad-ass robot walkers, heading towards a village. They're heading that way after something called an Esper (magical creature monster thing...in bad terms).
     The town they've come to is known as Narshe, and it is a mining town. There's not much I can do except move straight forward. And the intro battles...stupid easy. You have three characters, and they're each in a giant robot armor called Magitek Armor. They have super attacks that kill everything in one hit. The enemy was the local militia, and they were throwing people and dogs at me. I just...Why would you have your dogs charge straight at giant walking robot armor? Giant walking robot armor...with lasers. I have no damn clue what the dogs could possibly do here, but whatever! I kept on pushing forward until I hit the mines. The two soldiers talked about how this must be the mine where the Esper was located. I proceed further inside and come face to face with the first...BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     This boss was incredibly straightforward, and the soldiers even told me what to NOT do. It was a giant slug monster with lightning powers. Basically, if it retracted itself back into the shell, I had to stop attacking it. If I happened to attack it (accidentally -_-), I would be zapped for a decent amount of damage party wide. However, the Magitek Armor had healing abilities as well. So all in all...a pretty easy boss battle. Proceeding further in, I finally located the mysterious Esper. As the group approached it, a strange energy started fluctuating around the three. It destroyed the two soldiers while leaving the mysterious woman in tact. Everything went hazy, and the game made a jump.
     The woman wakes up in a strange house, and a guy comes over and takes off her slave crown. As soon as he does it, I get to name the mysterious woman. Her actual name is Terra, and that's what I went with! Terra was quickly recovering to the surprise of the guy who helped her. However, things were going too well, and so plot stepped in! Some of the local militia figured out Terra was there and were trying to get her. I quickly escaped out the back, and so the game truly begins.
     Here we are...the first cave dungeon of sorts! The goal...try to make it out without being caught I guess. It shouldn't be too hard of a task though. I'm already level 5, and I have both Fire and Cure magic. Woo! I met a handful of enemy monsters along the way, but nothing gave me much trouble. So far, the game doesn't really have any kind of special job or class system, and the battles simply use the ATB (Active Time Battle) system again. Nothing new to report so far. A little further into the cave and...basically got caught. Soldiers rushed in, and Terra fell through the floor. She gets knocked out, and I am treated to a small cutscene. Basically, it features a mysterious yet crazy looking man (I know it's Kefka, but let's wait for the name to come naturally!) who placed the slave crown on Terra. Next up was a scene of Terra burning everything with a Magitek Armor. Following that was a man named Gestahl, who is apparently the emperor of...the Empire I'm assuming, speaking to his troops about a new age coming to the lands with magic coming back!
     The game then jumps back to the house with the man, and we meet the next character...Locke! He's a master thief and obtained of old relics, but he prefers the term "Treasure Hunter." The two talk for a bit about the Empire and joining a resistance called the Returners (Sounds awfully familiar...FF2 anyone?). He told Locke to go and help the woman out and head to a castle southwest of here to meet up with the Returners. Locke went out  and located Terra, but it was almost too late! The soldiers were just about to be upon them, but luckily, some moogles came along and helped the group out! I was then given three teams and an tunnels to cover. Basically, it was a small tactics bit to handle. I had a little trouble, but I quickly came out victorious! Once defeated, Locke ran on through and out of the cave. Terra had awaken at this point, and I was well on my way to the next location.
     My next goal was to reach a castle southwest of my current position. It was a small walk across the world map, and I found myself at...Figaro Castle! A castle in the middle of the desert and home to the knowledgeable yet ladies' man Edgar. He's the king of Figaro and (SUPPOSEDLY) an ally to the Empire. Locke left Terra behind at this point, and I was allowed to explore. Not having much to explore...I went to sleep in-game (I figured that would move it along). That didn't work, so I had to look around even more. Eventually, I stumbled upon a woman who told me a bit of Edgar's past. It seems he has a twin brother named Sabin. When the king was dying, Sabin ran away from it all, and so the throne went to Edgar instead.
     As I made my way to Edgar to talk again, someone from the Empire had shown up. Edgar figures it is Kefka (and it was). The game then jumps over to Kefka travelling through the desert. He's complaining about the Emperor's orders and why Edgar lives in the middle of nowhere. He has the soldiers clean the sand off his shoes and then laughs. (I realize adding this much detail is slightly absurd, but I felt it necessary to get across that Kefka is...crazy.) He enters the castle, and I gain control of Edgar now. Basically, the situation is Kefka's search for Terra. Edgar denies the claim, and Kefka just leaves saying how he hopes Edgar isn't lying to him.
     Edgar walks off to consult his chancellor about their strategy. Locke takes Terra to her room, and they begin to talk more. This game is awfully talky so far (Not that I mind, but it is getting long to type >_<). Turns out Edgar isn't really with the Empire! (Surprise!) He's collaborating with the Returners to try and take down the Empire. Locke is the go-between guy for the group. Everybody goes to sleep and then...Kefka strikes! He sets fire to the castle and demands Edgar hand over Terra. Edgar responds by...running away! He takes a group of chocobos and runs off. However, that's not all that happens. Just as they run off, Figaro Castle pulls together and dives underneath the desert...in a submarine-ish fashion. Despite our running away, we are chased by Magitek Armor for BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     During the middle of the battle, the characters start sporadically talking. They reacted as soon as I cast a Fire spell with Terra. The two hadn't realized that she could use Magic and were both seeing magic use for the first time. After their little talk, the battle continues...and ends quite quickly. I guess it was all about the Magic. Also, we get to see Edgar's fighting ability for the first time....Tools! Basically, he has a huge assortment of tool weapon things with special attacks. Auto Crossbow, Noise Blaster, and Bio Blaster are some of the first ones I have. I know you get a Chainsaw later on, so it gets awesome-r from here! While running away from Kefka, Edgar and Locke both pinpoint our next directive is to talk with a leader of the Returners named Baron. To get there, we need to head through a cave to the South that leads to...South Figaro!
     The cave (which didn't seem to have a name) was short and sweet. I plowed through all of the enemies, collected some items, and made it to the other side with no real trouble. On the other side, I went just a small ways from the cave and entered...South Figaro! It was a fairly big town. Lots of places to see and enter. While there, I went ahead and upgraded all of my weapons plus some of my armor. I also got a hold of my first group of Relics. In Final Fantasy 6, there are items called Relics. They are basically specialized accessories that grant your characters special abilities for inside combat (like Two-Handed or Cover), outside of Combat (like Dash), or even just straight up protection (like Poison or Darkness Immunity). They're really useful, and you gain a large selection of them throughout the game. The best thing that happened while in South Figaro was the meeting of a new character...Shadow! He's this game's Ninja Badass. He didn't join the group yet, but the fact that I got to name him meant that I'll get him eventually. (I also know for a fact that he very much joins.) After walking about and talking to NPCs, I left South Figaro to find my next destination.
     Just north of South Figaro was a lone house. I went inside and looked around. Edgar identified many of the items as being well liked and favorites of his brother Sabin. After walking outside the house again, the group met an old man who told them of Sabin's current location. It seems he had made his way to a nearby mountain (Mt. Kolts) to search for his master Duncan. It seems that Duncan had been slain, and there was worries about Duncan's son Vargas. With these details in mind, I made my way further east and then north to Mt. Kolts.
     Once there, I began the perilous climb upward and onward to search for...Sabin I guess. I thought there was talk of the Returners, but the game hasn't mentioned it recently. Whatever! Moving along~ It was your general climbing of a mountain. The enemies were mildly tough, but nothing I couldn't handle. While moving up, I came across a shadowed figure (No, not Shadow.) I went ahead and chased after him. I did learn one thing while climbing up this mountain. The Auto Crossbow (one of the Tools for Edgar) is almost game-breaking cheap at this point in the game. Most enemy groups are either slain or horribly disfigured with one using of it. (It hits all enemies for a pretty damn good amount of damage.) I made my way through the mountain and eventually ran into the man known as Vargas. It seemed he thought we were in league with Sabin, but in the end, he didn't really care. He attacked us for BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     The interesting part here is that he didn't attack us alone. Apparently he had a pair of bears he trained to fight with him. (That's the only explanation for why he'd have a group of bears with him.) After defeating the bears, I was able to take Vargas on directly. He wasn't too difficult (different from previous fights with him I believe...), and I dealt out all sorts of damage before....Sabin showed up! He faced off against Vargas and immediately asked him why he killed his father! (Duncan) Dun dun duuuuun! Apparently, there was a big drama happening. Vargas killed his father Duncan because his father had chosen Sabin as his successor as opposed to his son...Vargas. Sabin tried to explain that his father had chosen him to be his successor, but Vargas wouldn't listen. So....Sabin laid the smack down on him and defeated Vargas!
     With Vargas defeated (and assuming dead...), the group talked a bit. It was the first time Edgar had seen his brother Sabin since he left long ago. Sabin decided to join the group and help with the Returner's resistance effort. He figured the most he could do was help make the world peaceful. And now..onward through the rest of the mountain! Sabin's ability is called Blitz. By typing in special commands (much like those in a fighting game), Sabin is able to perform special moves that are incredibly effective and powerful. So...he's a great addition to the party. I continued a little further and found myself on the other side of the mountain. I then traveled north and found myself at the Returner's Hideout! Time to get down to some REBELLION business!
     However, seeing as this post is fairly long as is...I'm going to stop and wrap it up right here. Saved my game and quit for now. Not much time for a whole lot of plot, but I'm pretty sure all of the series will be like this. Hell, every opening has to have a large amount of stuff just to get you informed and in the right spot. Not important. Post over!

Ending Point - Inside the Returner's Hideout.
Current Party - *This game has a party of 4, but there are supposed to be TWELVE characters total. It still holds the record of having the highest number of total characters!

• Terra - Level 11
• Locke - Level 11
• Edgar - Level 12
• Sabin - Level 13

Goals Accomplished - Started Final Fantasy 6! Escaped from Narshe and made it to Figaro Castle. Escaped from Kefka at Figaro Castle. Made it through the cave and to South Figaro. Traveled through Mt. Kolts and gained Sabin. Made it to the Returner's Hideout.
Next Goals - Talk to Baron of the Returners. Stop the Empire and save the world!

~May the Crystals Guide Me~