Game - Final Fantasy 7, Day 48
Hours Played/Hours Total - 10 hrs / 22 hrs
Starting Point - Outside of Costa del Sol.
Current Goal - Follow after Sephiroth and keep him from getting the Promised Land.
What Happened - Hoo boy! Quite a bit has happened, so without further ado, let us get started on this post.
Beginning right where I left off, I did a minor bit of farming nearby Costa del Sol, but then I made my way west towards Mount Corel (my next goal). From what I could tell, there really wasn't anything interesting along the way. Just a bunch of boring...and monsters of course. The climb through Mount Corel was quite easy actually. Most of the enemies didn't offer much of a challenge along the way. As for details of the path, first there was a mountain, then there was a mako reactor (up in the mountains!), and finally we came upon a train track. The train track was a pretty straightforward bit with items randomly lying around...on the tracks. The game forced me to take an alternate path briefly to lower the train bridge for all of us. After that, I found myself in a broken down town called Corel.
The first thing that happened in this town was a bunch of people giving Barret some crap, but he didn't seem to react much outside of apologizing. Barret didn't seem to want to talk about it right now...so I did a bit of looking around the town. There wasn't a lot here. It was basically a big pile of junk and poor people. I left the town briefly and did some farming. I didn't really need it, but it wasn't going to hurt to get a bunch of money and extra levels while I had the time. I was even starting to level up my materia! By leveling it up, you generally gain access to new spells and powers, so this was most definitely a win-win scenario (although there wasn't really any way to lose...). I eventually got bored of the farming and went back into Corel. I took the exit from there labelled "Gold Saucer." At this time, Barret finally broke down and told us what happened. Backstory time!
First and foremost, Corel is his hometown, but it wasn't always in the shitty condition it is now...It was slightly less shitty before! It was a coal town trying to survive in a modern society (the classic story...of an old town). The village was considering letting Shinra put in a mako reactor, but one person was still against it. This person was Dyne, Barret's old friend. After a little convincing from Barret, the town caves in and lets Shinra build it. Then...tragedy strikes! Barret and Dyne go away at some point after the reactor was built, and they come back to find Shinra burning down the town. Barret always blamed himself for what happened. The group reassures him that they all believed in Shinra at one point. Yuffie simply comments that she doesn't feel sorry for Barret at all because he shouldn't have ever trusted Shinra to begin with! (This made me laugh a little really) As Barret winds down from his story...the group decides to go to the Gold Saucer!
It's a giant amusement park with games and such. And to make it even better, it has its own money type! Yaaaaaaaaay! You can just tell how excited I am about it. /end sarcasm. Despite my sarcasm, it's actually got some cool stuff around. There's a section for playing all the in-game mini-games (like the motorcycle bit from earlier plus ones I haven't gotten to yet!). There are also some made up mini-games like boxing and arm wrestling, but those aren't as good. Lots of fun stuff to be had, and there's even a battle section! But I wasn't allowed to do anything with that yet. Getting back to the story, the group arrives and decides to explore, but Barret isn't in the mood for any of this (of course he isn't...all the backstory stuffs). He takes off, and I'm left to explore with the party member of my choice. I picked Yuffie of course! Why only one? Well, while exploring the Gold Saucer, I ran into a new friend.
Bad move for me it seems. Going to the Battle Square revealed some bad happenings. I walked in to find a Shinra soldier there, but he was dead...from bullet wounds. Further investigation of the Battle Square revealed more people with bullet wounds, and the last one alive mentioned something about a man with a gun arm. (Obviously pointing to a Mr. Barret who was currently not present.) Just as we are looking around, Dio walks in and blames us for this because well...it is suspicious looking after all. The group tries to run, but they get caught and thrown down into the depths of the desert...known as Corel Prison. Right below the Gold Saucer is a massive desert that doubles as a prison. Nobody can escape because they get lost in the desert and die there...like a real desert!
The first thing I witness in this new prison home is Barret standing above a dead guy with bullet wounds. It looks suspicious, but all he does is get mad and run off. I followed swiftly and manage to corner him in a house. The group asks what is up, and Barret spills more of his backstory. It seems that he and Dyne had came back during the village burning. They were about to go and try to help, but Shinra soldiers came along and started firing at them. They were pinned down and couldn't get away. Dyne slipped off the nearby cliff, and Barret went to try and pull him up. As he was pulling him up, the soldiers fired at them, and they both lost their arms at that time...Barret's right arm and Dyne's left arm. Sometime later, Barret changed out his prosthetic arm for a gun arm to get revenge on Shinra. And thus AVALANCHE was born. Barret said that he heard from the man who gave him his gun arm that he had done the same to another man previously but on the other side. Barret had always figured that this was Dyne, but he had never seen him since then. When asked if he shot the people in the Gold Saucer, he said he did not. THEREFORE...the game is hinting at the obvious. Dyne shot them...although technically anybody could have and use a gun. It's not like nobody can buy guns in this universe. Maybe they can't! Who knows! Anyways, back to the subject at hand.
Barret was sure that Dyne was here, and that he was up to all the hooliganism. So, he was ready to confront him. I took Barret and Cait Sith, and I began to look around. It wasn't too hard to find Dyne. You simply had to follow the dead bodies with bullet wounds. I eventually cornered him (sorta) in an area by a cliff. Once there, it was most obvious that he was the culprit. He had a large rifle for his left arm. Barret and Dyne talked for a bit. The biggest thing you get from this is "damn that Dyne is crazy." His whole thing is to DESTROY EVERYTHING EVER! (Kinda sounds like a certain clown's attitude, eh?) He even wants to kill his daughter Marlene (Yeah, Marlene is actually Dyne's daughter). Barret tries to convince Dyne that he should try and change for Marlene's sake, but he refuses and the two do battle! BOSS BATTLE TIME - SOLO EDITION! Yup, I get to do this entire battle with Barret only. It wasn't too hard really. It helps that I can heal Barret ever so often, and this alone kept me from losing in any way. After his defeat, Dyne claims that his hands are too dirty (metaphorically) to hold Marlene, and that she would be too young to ever know him. He hands over a necklace that belonged to his wife, and then he let himself fall off the nearby cliff. Sad stuff here...Anyways! With Dyne defeated, all that was left was finding a way to get out of Corel Prison. This was actually pretty easy.
I returned to the town of sorts in this little hell hole. I talked to a guy named Mr. Coates. He had a way of getting people back up as opposed to being down here. He wasn't about to let us through without talking to the boss first of course (the boss was Dyne...and he dead). After showing off the Pendant, he agrees to help the group. Turns out that one can go back up simply by joining in the Chocobo Races. The group elects Cloud to go race, and a woman named Esther walks in around this time. She is a manager for racers, and she agrees to help the group with this chocobo racing. Cloud goes back up into the Gold Saucer to race! (Esther loans him a chocobo to use) Basically, to make it anywhere past this part, you have to come in first place. This was an easy task since the Chocobo Racing is fairly easy (minus one racer..I can't remember his name, but he's a jerk). One ridiculous bit about this race is the manual and automatic settings for your chocobo. You can essentially let the chocobo handle the race all by itself, but that won't end well since it'll either never speed up OR tire itself out. Even if you DO manual, there's a chance the chocobo won't obey you regardless. So best to slap it on manual (it'll do the work), and then just hold Square + R1 + R2. The last two buttons slowly recharge your stamina while the Square speeds you up. You can also do Circle for a dash/boost, but that is best saved for the last bit of the race. Anyways, I came out victorious on my very first round. Woo!
With the wining of the race, Esther congratulated me, and she had a little surprise for us. Turns out that she had spoken to Dio about our little issue with the people who got shot earlier (by Dyne). She had gotten it cleared up, Dio had apologized, and he even gave us a vehicle! He also informed us that the Sephiroth person had went past the river and suggested we head that way if we wanted to catch him. With the buggy in hand, I was free to leave the desert and do more exploration! The buggy is some strange-looking vehicle that allows you to go through the desert and cross shallow rivers. Before moving on with the story, I spent some time backtracking to fill up a recently acquired second Enemy Skills materia. You can't just cast the skills on the second one to earn it, you have to get it straight from the source. I spent like an hour or more doing some side stuff, like Enemy Skills and a Fort Condor battle. After completing what the guide suggested, I decided to head back and move right along. Next up was crossing the river towards Gongaga Village.
The first thing that comes into view near Gongaga Village is a giant carcass of something that looks like it exploded. I charge in and found myself face to face with the Turks (Reno and Rude to be precise). They were talking about who they like....yeah. It's KINDA funny, but it also just feels weird. (Reno likes Elena, Rude likes Tifa, Elena likes Tseng, Tseng likes Aeris...for those who care) Anyways, they spotted the group and time for BOSS BATTLE TIME! Another round of Turk fighting. They weren't too tough though. I just summoned all the summons I had, and then I followed up with some strong magic. The little pansies ran off before they could get off any decent attacks. After they ran off, the group wondered how the Turks even know where they were. They suspected a spy of some sort, but they immediately dropped it past that. With the Turks gone, I was left with a splitting path and a decision. I made towards the right and found myself at an exploded mako reactor. As I was looking at it, someone was approaching, so the group hid for the moment. Turns out that the ones approaching currently were the Turks leader Tseng and the head of the Shinra weapon development, Scarlet. They came up and examined the reactor's remains. Scarlet said something about junky reactors and junky materia. She asked Tseng if they had found any HUGE materia of any sort. He answered no, but that they would keep an eye out. The two of them left, I examined the reactor, obtained the Titan summon materia, and made my way back to the splitting path.
From here, I took to the left path this time and found myself in Gongaga Village. There wasn't much to this town. Stories from everybody told of how the reactor explosion took a lot away. After that, the town gave up modern living in favor for a more natural living...reactor and mako free. We also happened upon something random of sorts. One house (upon entering) gave entrance to a couple who asked about their son Zack. They said that he had left Gongaga long ago in favor of city life. He had sent them some letters about being in SOLDIER and about a girlfriend he had. They asked Aeris (currently in my party) if she was that girlfriend. She started acting strange and then went outside. I followed her out and talked with her. She admitted to being Zack's girlfriend (she mentioned him earlier on in the game as her first love). She figures he left for a different girl since he was such a ladies man or something like that. Cloud found it strange that he didn't recognize the name Zack since so few made it into SOLDIER First Class. With not much else to do in this town, I left Gongaga and headed onward to...somewhere. Using the Buggy, I made my way further around this continent and found myself in a strange canyon. Further in, I found myself in the town/village of Cosmo Canyon.
Upon entering, Red XIII immediately leaped in front of us. He said that this place was his hometown. I was then let into Cosmo Canyon and began looking around. I also learned that his real name was Natani. From what I could gather from those here, Cosmo Canyon was the leader in knowledge based on some planet life theory. I was able to stock up on items and buy some new weapons and armor as well. Once I finished with that, I met up with Red XIII who wanted us to meet his grandpa. His grandpa's name was Bugenhagen, and he had something to show/tell us. In his house, he has a very fancy machine that is a holographic version of their solar system. It shows all things that are taking place in space, but he used it to explain the planet life theory thing (I can't remember what they called it exactly).
Basically, every living thing that is born from the planet has a soul of some sort. When that living thing dies, its body and soul return to the planet. The souls swirl about inside the planet as a sort of stream referred to as the Lifestream. When a being is born into the world, their soul comes from the Lifestream. Basically, it's a big round circle of life. The problem is that the Lifestream is being harvested as a form of energy...Mako. The planet itself runs off the Lifestream and would die without it. Therefore, Shinra is, in a way, causing the planet pain and killing it faster than it should be dying. Bugenhagen says that at this rate, the planet could easily die out within the next 100 years if not sooner! The group wants to help save the planet, but he is skeptical that it will work. Nonetheless, he has shown us a lot of insight into "what's going on." With the explanation finished, he founds out from the group about Red XIII's dislike for his father.
You see...just a bit ago. Red XIII talked briefly about his parents. He mentioned that his mother died during a war, and that his father was a coward and had ran away. He can't think about his parents because of his anger towards his father. It was also mentioned that with his parents gone, he is the last of his kind. Upon hearing this, Bugenhagen had something to show Natani, Cloud, and one other friend (I chose Tifa). We then proceeded into the underground interior of Cosmo Canyon. Apparently, this cave was a cavern of lost souls from the battle between Red XIII's people and some group called the Gi. Their souls couldn't move on to the Lifestream...so they stayed here instead. I fought through these living dead soul things. I made it through to the end and came face to face with BOSS BATTLE TIME! The boss was the evil undead soul of the Gi chief or something like that. He was a massive and fearsome looking foe...I threw an X-Potion at him, and he died in one hit. TAKE THAT! With the giant demon thing out of the way, I was left to explore MORE STORY!
Bugenhagen lead the way outside and showed us a little something. No point walking around this. Natani/Red XIII's father, Seto, hadn't abandoned and ran away. He had come to this point and fought off the enemy until his last moments. The game panned upward and showed a stone form of what appeared to be a larger and older version of Red XIII. He was still standing there and defending this point from the enemy. Oh...sad times. Bugenhagen asked the group to leave so that he could talk with Natani alone. Once we left, he asked Natani to go with the group to help. He still doubts that we can change anything, but he figures it is worth a try regardless. The group got back together and were leaving town. Red XIII had said long ago that he was going to stay with us until this point, but just as we were about gone, he showed up and rejoined the crew. Woo! Red XIII is back on the team! (Also, I will be using the Red XIII name for the rest of the FF7 posts...so yeah.) With Cosmo Canyon conquered, my next destination was up ahead... Nibelheim.
If you remember Nibelheim from earlier on, it was Cloud and Tifa's hometown. Now though, we are actually here! But there is one small issue at hand...it's actually here. According to Cloud's story, it burned down 5 years ago. Questioning those around town, they all claimed that the town had been fine for all this time. The weirder part was all these black robed figures around the town. They were all over and mumbling something about Sephiroth and a Great Reunion. Creepiness aside, I decided to explore the Shinra Mansion. There was definitely something up with this place. The mansion was just how it was back then, and a mysterious note made everything even stranger. It seemed to be from Hojo. He talked about something being sealed here and leaving a key for it in a safe. I had to look about the mansion to find the numbers for the safe, but I've done this before...SO I cheated and looked up the numbers. I went upstairs, opened the safe, and BOSS BATTLE TIME! This battle was against a monster of an optional boss. It was some strange monster that was half-magic, half-physical. Depending on how you fought him, he evolved into something different as well. Using my team of Cloud, Cait Sith, and Tifa, I had a whale of a battle ahead of me. Lucky for me, I had obtained the Enemy Skill Big Guard. By far, it is the BEST Enemy Skill in the game. It gives you Haste, Barrier, and M-Barrier. It has a hefty cost, but it is most definitely worth it overall. Wanting to keep to his magic side, I kept up a barrage of spells and summons. I was dealing some pretty massive damage, and then he transformed into his full magical form. At this point, I had everybody's Limit Breaks saved up and unleashed the hell upon him! Those plus an extra attack or two sent him packing!
With that freak show defeated, I received some pretty nice items out of it. First and foremost, I got someone's 4th Limit item (Cosmo Memory for Red XIII. Will explain in a bit). I also got the Odin summon (WOO!) and a Key to the Basement (HMMMM). I took these items gladly and made my way to the secret basement laboratory. As for the 4th Limit Break item deal, basically, all your limits are earned through use or enemy killing EXCEPT for the 4th and Ultimate Limit Break. Those can only be learned with an item after you master all other Limit Breaks. The only real hard part is locating some of the 4th Limit Items. Some of them are placed in ways that can only be obtained through special means...but I digress. Back to the Mansion! Down in the basement, I ran into Sephiroth. He was there looking over some books, and he mentioned the Reunion things like the weirdos did. He then threw a materia at me and flew off...Again with the flying! I picked up the materia and made my way about the lab. Reading some of the books revealed something about a Subject A and Subject B. They were experimented on, but they ran away. Subject A was dead, but Subject B was still alive somewhere...huh. Didn't make much sense now, but I figure it will later.
As I went to leave the lab, I noticed a side door with some things behind it. I entered in and found a strange coffin there. Upon examination, it opened up and revealed a man inside. He awoke and spoke something about Nightmares. Talking to him further revealed that he used to work with Shinra as a Turk, but he had left that life and Shinra long ago. I tried to convince him to come with me, but he denied this and said that he need not add to his "sins." I asked his name before he went back to sleep, and he revealed himself as...Vincent. (Pictured below)
Seeing that he didn't appear to want to join, I started to leave, but he immediately came after me. He simply asked if we would be seeing Hojo again. Cloud simply said that we probably would at some point. Vincent joined with me in hopes of finding Hojo. Woo! That's 8 of 9 people...only one more to go. With Vincent recruited and the mansion looted, I was ready to move on!...Or at least, I was until I noticed how long this post had gotten. I saved the game and ended it there for now.
Ending Point - Nearby Nibelheim.
Current Party -
- Cloud - Level 31
- Aeris - Level 26
- Barret - Level 26
Next Goals - Follow after Sephiroth into Mount Nibel.
~May the Crystals Guide Me~
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