Game - Final Fantasy X, Day 68
Hours Played/Hours Total - 5 hrs / 5 hrs
Starting Point - Beginning of the Game.
Current Goal - Start the game. Finish the game.
What Happened - It took me two months to finish FF9, and that's too long my friends! I'm ready to charge right into FFX while the steam is still going. I'm going to shoot for the goal of one month, and as far as I am concerned, that is more than possible with FFX. I won't finish them all before the year is up, but damn it! I will finish what I can before then. So without further ado, I'm going to get this ball rolling. (The only true bummer about FFX and FFXII is that I have to play them both on the PS2...blech.)
The game opens up with one of those "already partway into the story" scenes. I get a glimpse at all of the characters sitting about around a fire. One guy goes up and looks at the sunset, and he says something about listening to his story because it'll be the last chance. After this little piano opening bit, the game finally starts me off but in the past before this bit!
I'm in the middle of a futuristic city, and one of the characters from the opening is here. One can assume he is the main guy in this title. I walk out and a bunch of people are gathered around. A kid asks him to sign a strange ball, and I get to name the guy here. I go with the actual names as usual. In this case, the main guy is Tidus.
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| Tidus |
The first thing I'd like to mention is....Really Square? Look at that ridiculous outfit! It's like coverall shorts with zip-off legs. Add a high cut shirt with one arm being covered in all sorts of crap and just...damn. Also, oh dear...it has voice acting. Yaaaaaay...The guy talks with people that are apparently fans of whatever game he's in. I'm walking along and this game is already throwing in oodles of talking. There's some form of an announcer going on in the back, and he's talking about someone named Jecht as well as blitzball. Obviously, that is the sport going on in question. Moving right along, Tidus needs to make it to the game, so I head that way.
I reach the arena, and cutscene! It's a pretty nice looking cutscene. Tidus is playing the blitzball game. It's some sort of underwater football from what I can tell. However, it won't be going well anytime soon because a giant water wave is coming that way, and it is engulfing the entire city! Tidus launches himself out of the water to kick the ball, and that is when he sees it. Everything falls apart and the scene ends. I find myself outside the crumbling arena and have to make a run for it. As I'm leaving, Tidus spots a strangely dressed man from the cutscene. He's wearing a red bathrobe (more or less) and sunglasses. Tidus addresses him as Auron and asks what is going on. Auron says he was waiting for Tidus, and the two start walking.
Another little scene occurs here. A strange kid appears and freezes time. He tells Tidus that it begins and to not cry. Auron points out a giant floating bubble of water and says it is called Sin. It causes some sort of pod to emerge from a nearby building, and the pod launches out monsters onto the road we're walking on. Auron hands Tidus a sword and says it is a gift from Jecht. Tidus replies "my old man!?", and my very first battle starts here. The game melds the real world with the battle world, so the game immediately jumps to battle where I am. I start taking out the monsters in front of me, and as I do, the two of them advance through the line. Auron suggests only taking out those in front so we can keep going of course. The monsters just keep coming, and the two head straight for my very first and very sudden BOSS BATTLE TIME!
We approach one of the giant pods that is launching monsters and start attacking it. I also get to use the game's super moves known as Overdrives. Overdrive meters fill up as you get hurt, and once full, you get to use your Overdrive. Each character has a different one, but the biggest key to Overdrive is what is required to use it after the meter. Each Overdrive has a specific skill challenge you have to do. Auron's Overdrive required I push in a button sequence while timed. Tidus's Overdrive had me time my button press to hit a bar in the middle of a gauge. I smack the creature so many times...Thankfully, the only thing it seems to use is Demi, so I can't really die here. I did get pretty low on health before finishing it off, but I still came out a winner. With the battle's conclusion, I run around the giant dead pod and make my way to...somewhere.
We get a little further on and find ourselves in the middle of a giant horde of enemies. It doesn't look good, but Auron suggests we attack a nearby object. It takes several turns, and it seems like a bad idea at first and turns into a bad idea. The attacks sever the object in two, and a portion of it falls from the highway we are on. This blows up the nearby building and causes it to crush our enemies. From there, Tidus and Auron run along the fallen building to the other side. Just as Tidus reaches it...cutscene!
Auron is standing above him on the other side of the highway. Tidus keeps calling to him. As they are sitting there, the things called Sin starts to absorb everything in the area around us. Auron picks up Tidus and tells him that everything begins from here. Everything goes all hazy and then finally to white. Tidus awakens in a strange watery ruins and calls out to anyone around. Nobody responds of course, so I'm forced to explore the area. At this point, Tidus is alone again, but I get a glimpse into more of the game. It's got a map of the area in the top corner, so that plus the battles feels a bit more action-y.
As for the battle system, it definitely isn't ATB anymore. Instead of a meter filling up, you simply have a turn gauge on the right side of the screen. It shows the exact order everybody is going in, so you can use this to carefully plan out your attacks and other actions. It also shows you how your actions affect your current turn order. Some actions will delay later turns while other actions will move your turn to come up sooner. There is quite a bit to this system, and it's pretty interesting. I'll go over more details as they arise, but for now...back to the game!
I begin my exploration of this watered-down temple ruins. The first thing the game wants me to know is that "YOU CAN SWIM NOW!". It's a very important factor for the people who did this. That I can swim now! I find some dry land and start looking about. I don't get too far before spotting something in the water. It leaps up and destroys the bridge I'm on. This flings me down into the water, and the game shows off another new thing...underwater battles! I do question how he manages to hold his breath so long, but I'm assuming it has something to do with the Blitzball sport he plays. I fend off against the monster fish, and they are pretty easy really. They each go down with a single hit, but as I go for the last one, a new threat appears! A massive fish shows up and eats it. It then starts to attack me for BOSS BATTLE TIME! Although that isn't the best way to put it...
Rather than a true boss, it's more of an event boss. I attack him a couple of times, but then the big fish starts to chase me. Tidus spots a small cave entrance and swims towards it. He barely makes it inside as the big fish closes in on him. He makes it inside and....narration starts to go. Keep in mind, all of this adventure (up until a point) is being narrated and told by future Tidus. It is an interesting way to do it, but it's also kind of annoying. Moving right along, I start exploring the inside of the current ruined building. I wander into a central area, and Tidus decides that he is super cold. There's a central spot with the remains of a fire pit. I have to look around and try to find something to burn. I quickly find a dried and dead bouquet of flowers. With this, I have one part of the fire ready to go, but I also need some flint. Strangely enough, one of the dilapidated rooms in this ruins has some. After picking it all up, I return to the center and get a small fire going. As the fire gets going, Tidus falls asleep and has a flashback via dream. (I'm gonna call them DREAMBACKS!)
The dream has Tidus talking with Auron. Auron says something about a bad call that caused the team to lose. He says it's Tidus's fault, but Tidus doesn't really care. At this point, Auron comments that it has been ten years since then, but he can cry. Tidus claims that he wouldn't cry, but the mystery kid from the first of the game pops up and says "YOU CRIED!" With that, Tidus jumps awake and finds that the fire is dying. He starts to get up to try and find more wood, but a monster pops up! It's a pretty simple battle going down though. There's only Tidus and the monster, but the action is fairly fast in-battle despite this. It's mostly just trading hits back and forth between Tidus and the monster. Mid-battle, an explosion occurs off to the side! The door into the ruins explodes open, and a group of people enter inside. Among the group, a woman steps forward and helps Tidus out. The battle starts back up, and I get the edge over the monster. She comes with the ability to throw grenades, so I make use of those to blow this monster away. With the battle's conclusion, I finally get some experience from it! (I didn't get anything from the last couple of fights.) With that over, one of the people there knocks Tidus out, and we do a little jump.
When Tidus gets up, he's on a large boat of sorts in the middle of an ocean. The people there are talking some strange language that I can't understand. (I'd like to thank Square for being a jerk and make a fake language in the game at points where I'd like to know what is going on...Thanks.) One of the people from this group steps forward and tries to communicate with Tidus. He's an odd one among the group (an already odd group), and he has all sorts of tattoos with a pair of overalls on. Eventually, the woman from before steps forward and translate what he says. Lucky for me, she knows english! She explains that Tidus can stay with them if he will work. Before heading off though, she explains the game's level up system...the Sphere Grid!
I'm going to try and make this part fairly painless. I promise nothing though! The Sphere Grid is a massive grid of...spheres! It's like a giant map of connect-the-dot circles. You travel along a path and activate the different nodes. Rather than actual levels, your character gains "Sphere Levels" through battle experience called AP (Ability Points). You can only gain Ability Points by participating in battle, but participation means you actually have to take an action. Taking no actions (or switching out without doing anything) The Sphere Levels are what you use to travel along this path. The path is made up of different nodes based on one of four types: Strength, Magic, Speed, and Ability. (There are a few others, but they don't come up at this time.) Each one correlates to exactly what it states. Strength boosts defense, attack, and health. Magic boosts magic power and defense. Speed is evasion and character speed (as in turn speed). Ability unlocks the various powers that the character can use. Basically, as you travel the path, your character evolves and improves. It is possible to go backwards on the path, but that's obviously counterproductive. Each character has their own path, but the entire Sphere Grid is fully connected. This means at some point, you can go from one character's path to learn things on another character's! The game mentions something about "Locks" being in a future tutorial. That's a long ways off of course, but it means quite a few possibilities in the end. And that is my explanation! It's not the best one, but it is all you will get.
After learning the Sphere Grid, it's time to put it to use. Tidus gained a few sphere levels, so I can already gain a few new things. I bought my first ability, Cheer, and I moved right along. The mystery girl says that they are exploring the ruins underwater for a big prize. We join together and leap into the water to find the ruins. I get into a couple underwater fights with fish, but they aren't much trouble. I do discover that the mystery girl is a theif of sorts and comes with the Steal command. I swim down further and eventually swim inside of the ruins. (Apparently, everybody can breathe underwater or something.) We get inside, and Tidus punches a nearby console to open the door...classy. From there, they examine some sort of strange object, and when that starts up, everything around starts to power on. However, we head back into the previous area to meet with BOSS BATTLE TIME!
A large squid monster has swam inside of the ruins and attacks us. This battle quickly shows off an interesting and evolving battle system. At appropriate times, you are given special actions that can be performed, like destroying that one bit earlier on in the game. After attacking it a few times, the Squid starts moving around the room. (I didn't explain it earlier, but it's a large round room with a core bit in the middle.) Eventually, it moves fully around the room and charges through the two of them. I attack it a few more times, and it attempts the same maneuver. This time however...I am prepared! As it reaches the other side, I get an option to "pincer" attack it. The two swim to opposite sides of the monster and trap it. A few turns later, I destroy the squid monster, and the ruins is finished. The two swim out of the hole that it made and head back to the ship. Lights start popping on all over as these ruins come to life. We come back to the ship, and the group starts talking about what they found. The words are all gibberish except for one...AIRSHIP! (Woo!) They all go back inside the ship, but they force Tidus to stay outside.
After a bit, Tidus is sitting about and complaining about being hungry. As he says that, mystery girl appears again and offers him food. He asks her name, and she says that it is Rikku. Tidus asks about the language and is just glad she can understand him. She translates a few of the words as they talk too. He asks who they are, and she responds that they are Al-Bhed. After that, she quickly asks if he hates Al Bhed. Tidus is confused by this and answers no. After that, he tells her that he is just a blitzball player for the Zanarkand Abes. It zones out for a bit as he describes Zanarkand to her because narration and saving time. When he mentions Sin, she clearly recognizes that name and thinks he must be confused. Rikku informs him that Zanarkand was destroyed nearly a thousand years ago by Sin. Tidus isn't sure how to accept this, but she thinks he might just be confused because of Sin. She figures that since he plays Blitzball, he might be able to find out about himself at a place called Luca. She promises to help him get there as well. As she is heading back into the ship, she warns him to not reveal that he is from Zanarkand to anyone. She says it is some kind of holy place and would upset some people.
At this point, the narration swoops in to take over for a bit. I'm not going to type up what it said because most of it is irrelevant overall. It's mostly just Tidus's feelings about the situation AFTER the situation. He is sitting on the deck of the ship and thinking when...Sin shows up! The monstrous being knocks the ship about, and he falls off and into the water. He seems to be out for quite some time and has drifted to an island. As he wakes up, he has a blitzball thrown straight at him. Recognizing something in this strange place, he picks up the ball and shows off some blitzball skills! He heads to shore and seems to have thoroughly impressed this group. One of them steps forward and asks who he has played for. When he says the Zanarkand Abes, they all seem greatly confused. Taking a page from how Rikku reacted, he mentions something about being too close to Sin. They all seem to buy this and mention something about Sin's toxins. The leader of the group comes forward and introduces himself as Wakka, the captain of the Besaid Aurochs.
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| Wakka |
Wakka decides to lead Tidus into town and has him follow. Before going though, I spoke briefly with all the other blitzball players. Almost every single one handed over an item to me! Woooo! Free items are always nice. As the two walk away, Tidus inquires with Wakka about the fate of Zanarkand. Wakka claims that there used to be a large number of cities all over Spira. He talks about how these cities were all run by machina (machines) and were incredibly relaxed and ate ease. However, Sin destroyed all of that a long time ago along with the machines. This destruction included Zanarkand as well, which happened around a thousand years ago. Wakka believes they were all destroyed by Sin because they became overly rrogant. He thinks that it sucks that everybody now has to deal with Sin because of some past mistakes. He figures Tidus was just making some sort of joke when he mentioned Zanarkand Abes. He believes that Tidus's contact with Sin is to blame for his memory and claims that it will come back to him in time. With all that said and done, the two of them begin heading for the nearby village of Besaid.
Strangely enough, they decide to swim there. This game is all about the water. As we swim to the village, I start getting into more underwater battles. As it turns out, Wakka's weapon of choice is a blitzball. He throws it at enemies to attack him, so this makes him the ranged character. Through the small water channel, I quickly reach the village of Besaid. Before entering though, Wakka takes Tidus aside to ask him a question. After seeing his moves at the beach, he wants Tidus to join the Besaid Aurochs. Tidus agrees, and Wakka goes on to talk about his time as a blitzball player. He's been playing for the group for ten years, and they have never won. He decided to quite a while back because he has something else he is doing. Despite this, he can't stop thinking about the game. He's making this year his final year to play for the team and after that he has something else he'll be doing. He wants them to do the best they can, but Tidus says that isn't good enough. Tidus says they are going to aim at winning the upcoming tournament! He says the Aurochs are going to aim for victory and win it! This really gets Wakka going and he fully agrees.After the talk, they head straight into town. As we approach the village, we run into a couple of people. They warn us about fiends (monsters) on the road and head into Besaid. Wakka says they are Crusaders, and this confuses Tidus of course. Going back to the whole "Sin" excuse, Wakka thinks Tidus should learn more from them at their lodge. Wakka introduces Tidus to Besaid Village. He's going to his house, but he suggests Tidus introduces himself to the village summoner. Before walking off, he asks if Tidus knows the prayer. Of course he doesn't, so he shows him how to do it really quick. It is a bow of sorts and then you swing your arms about and bring them together in front of you like holding an orb. Tidus repeats it and Wakka heads off. As he does, narrator Tidus says that he remembers the gesture as a Blitzball symbol for victory from Zanarkand. (HMMM!) Moving right along, I take a good look around the village and talk to anybody I can. Lucky for me, an old lady offers to explain a few things for me.
She explains that Sin is a raging demon that appeared thousands of years ago. It seems to be very intent on destroying Spira. It travels all about and causes quite a bit of damage. Those not killed by Sin directly are affected by his toxins. Sin's toxin is made up of the vapors that come off of Sin, and people who come into contact with it lose a lot of their memories. They can't remember who they are or where they come from. I ask about Yevon, but the old lady seems to take offense to it. From what I do hear, Yevon is someone incredibly important. They seem to live by his teachings as some sort of religion or something. More to come on that as I learn about it.
Up next, I go and learn about the Crusaders and their cause. They ask Tidus about Sin, but he can't really remember anything. He just remembers being carried off by Sin. They find his extreme case of Sin Toxin poisoning to be quite unusual, but they seem to go with it anyways. As for the Crusaders, they are a group of people who fight off Sin. They were formed around 800 years ago as the Crimson Blades, but that was later changed to Crusaders. Tidus comments that they haven't beaten Sin of course. They state that their biggest accomplishments were steering Sin away from towns and villages. Unfortunately, they can't directly beat it. This just brings up more questions...like how can it be beaten?
They don't say a whole lot more after that though, so I make my way to the village's temple. In here, I am supposed to meet the village's summoner. As soon as I enter, it pans around and shows off a large grouping of statues all over. Tidus has to ask some questions here, and the people are super surprised to find he really doesn't know anything. He keeps with the Sin toxin excuse, but he's starting to feel bad about it. He learns all about the summoners and their abilities. They bring forth the Aeons to fight Sin. He talks about the newest statued added to the group being Lord Braska, the high summoner. Seems like an important name to remember for later. Seeing as I have met the village summoner, it is time to go back to Wakka. He tells Tidus to take a nap, and things get weird. A young Tidus is angry about something being gone, and based on earlier information, one can assume it's his father Jecht. Tidus suddenly wakes up and finds that Wakka is gone. While Tidus slept, he went off with the summoner from the temple. With that in mind, I head back to the temple.
Wakka is talking with the summoner there, and Tidus asks what is going on. It seems that a summoner apprentice went down into the temple catacombs to complete a trail. It's been quite some time now, and they still haven't returned. Tidus wants to enter inside and check on them, but Wakka and the old summoner both tell him it is forbidden. Tidus doesn't care though, and he enters to go check on the summoner apprentice. For this part, I get to learn about one of the game's repeating puzzle types, the Cloister of Trials. It's not the hardest form of puzzle though and kind of annoying really. Anyways, the trial involves the use of spheres (completely obsessed with them this game is). There are three kinds of spheres: Glyph, Destruction, and Location (name changes based on temple location). Each sphere does something a little bit different. Glyphs open up doorways, Destruction is used to open up walls to hidden treasure, and the Location ones activate special effects. The biggest bummer about these sphere trials is you can only hold a single sphere at a time. This means a lot of back and forth movement as you have to set one sphere down to pick up another. This is a pretty quick and easy Trial though, and I easily surpass it. I also found the hidden treasure...so woot!
I find the elevator leading to the bottom, and Wakka joins with me at this point. He reveals that he's one of the apprentice's Guardians. We go down into the chamber, and I meet two other Guardians in the group. The blue lion man in the back keeps to himself, but the other one is a oddly dressed woman. She approaches the two, and Wakka warns Tidus that she gets angry. And thus we meet...Lulu!
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| Lulu |
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| Yuna |
Fast forward a bit, and the village is gathered around a large bonfire. The village is holding a celebration for Yuna's now full summoner status. She's talking with people off to one side. Wakka formally introduces Tidus to the team as their new member. On top of that, he tells them that they have a new goal now...They're aiming at victory! They're going to try and win it, rather than just "do your best". It takes a little convincing, but Tidus gets the group amped up and aiming at victory. After that, Tidus tries to approach Yuna to talk with her. The people aren't too happy with Tidus though for entering the Cloister of Trials. Yuna doesn't care about that and approaches Tidus. She's thankful that he was worried about her. The biggest topic to come up here is Tidus mentioning Zanarkand. She seems to be interested in that subject, but they don't talk for too long. The two part for the night and time for sleep!
Tidus has another lovely and messed up dream sequence here. He's at the dock with Yuna, and they talk about leaving for Zanarkand. Rikku shows up and claims that Tidus was going to take her to Zanarkand. After that, Jecht shows up and makes fun of him. Says he couldn't get a lady if he wanted to. Tidus magically transforms into his younger self and tells Jecht that he hates him. The ladies cheer him on for this...and then he wakes up!
Tidus wakes up in the inn and goes to leave. When he is about to walk out, he sees and overhears Wakka talking with Lulu. Lulu is discussing Tidus's situation and that he isn't Chappu. They explain that Chappu is Wakka's deceased brother who died while fighting Sin with the Crusaders. Wakka says that he wants to fight Sin now too, and he's going to become a full Guardian. Tidus goes back to sleep. He wakes up the next day and finds the two waiting outside. They are waiting for Yuna to come back from the temple. It seems that they have all known each other for quite some time. They see Yuna as their younger sister and just want to protect her. Yuna comes out of the temple, and they are ready to go. Wakka gives Tidus a new sword and tells him to use it well. He says it was meant for Chappu, but he never got to use it. Time to go!
As I leave the village, I get into a couple tutorial fights. They mostly explain what each character's strengths are in battle. Tidus is most obviously a quick melee striker, but Wakka backs him up as the ranged person with his Blitzball. Lulu comes in as our black mage, and she's pretty powerful. This game takes the old Fire, Blizzard, Thunder combo and throws in Water for a fourth main element. Fire and Blizzard work against each other. Thunder and Water work against each other. On top of this, most monsters in the game come with their own elemental type. This means that Lulu has already thrown herself in as a powerful addition to the team. We get a small ways out of the town when the group takes a brief stop. They all pray to a strange rock formation outside of the village. It's a tradition that helps to bring safety and good luck to those who leave. Apparently, Chappu didn't do it and is dead now...(Not the real reason but whatever rationalizes it I guess?) After praying to the rock (I get a choice to do it or not and go for it), the group gets up and starts moving on. They have to catch the boat leaving Besaid.
They don't get too far when a cutscene flies up! The blue lion man from earlier is jumping all over and charges straight at Tidus for...STORY BOSS BATTLE TIME! It's a quick fight between the two, and I apparently prove myself to him. He's another one of Yuna's Guardians, and he apparently just wanted to test Tidus. He doesn't seem to talk much though, so Lulu introduces him as Kimahri Ronso of the Ronso tribe.
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| Kimahri |
The next one on the list is Yuna. As it turns out, she's a white mage and summoner combo. I don't really get why white mages are combined with the idea of a summoner though. Why not black mages? I'd almost question just being a straight up summoner, but that'd leave her with absolutely nothing to do. Why? Because Summons have been given a bit of a twist in this title. As the battle starts, Yuna is present with the group, and they ask her to bring out the Aeon. She summons in her recently obtained Aeon named Valefor. Instead of just striking the enemy for a single blast of damage, Valefor joins the field as its own character. All of the party members step out of this scenario, so the Aeon is left to fight the battle by itself. However, they are able to attack, cast spells, have a single special ability, and each one has their own Overdrive attack. (If you were wondering, I haven't had a chance to use anybodys, but I'll mention them as I get them.) This is a pretty cool idea of using a summon, but it comes with its side effects. Since the Aeon can be summoned permanently for the battle, it also has its own HP...and can die. Of course, they are a powerful force to be reckoned with so it is rarely a problem.
Moving right along, I get to learn a few more things about battle. The coolest thing is the ability to instantly swap party members. In the middle of battle, you can instantly change one person out for another. You don't even lose the swapped character's turn! Those coming into the battle take over that turn. This means you can switch your battle tactics on the fly, or you can switch out a low health character for a fresh starter. There are multiple reasons to swap out, but I won't go over anymore. So far, the overall battle system is pretty fun and fresh. Although it swapped back to purely turn-based, you are able to switch things up on the fly, and the overall speed of battle feels really fast paced. Not to be rude to the Active Time Battle system, but it did tend to feel a bit slow having to wait on meters to fill. We finally work our way around to the beach and spot the boat in the distance. The group heads straight for it, and I do a bit of exploring.
As it turns out, this game does greatly reward talking and looking about. Talking to almost everybody netted me some extra items. Exploring revealed small hidden spots where I claimed some new equipment! It's very rewarding to be able to constantly scrounge up free stuff. Anyways, after looking and talking, I got on the boat and it set sail for...Kilika! Apparently, we are going to touch down there and hit another temple for Yuna. As we slowly set sail, the village bids their farewell to Yuna. And thus...we explore! The game shows a nice little overworld map and points out our path to Kilika. After viewing a stupid scene of Tidus taking something from a guy, I finally regain control and are allowed to explore.
I do learn quite a few things on the boat ride though. As it turns out, Yuna is the daughter of the formerly mentioned High Summoner Lord Braska. He defeated Sin 10 years ago...(Yeah, the answer to this will be coming.) Upon hearing this, Tidus already thinks he knows how she feels. He says it's hard being the child of somebody famous. (He's referring to his father, Jecht, again. He was a famous Blitzball player in Zanarkand.) I look about the boat and talk to who I can. This nets me a couple more items. I eventually work my way around to Yuna, and the two get to talk for a bit. She comes straightforward and says that she believes Tidus about Zanarkand. She does truly believe he is from there. He asks her why she seems to believe him about it. She says that she heard all about Zanarkand from a man named Jecht. Jecht was one of her father's Guardians. (DUN DUN DUUUUUUNN) Tidus finds this astounding, but he doesn't think they are the same person. He claims that his father died ten years ago, and that this Jecht can't possibly be his Jecht. Yuna chimes in and says his father showed up about ten years ago. Thus...the time matches up! Tidus still isn't sure he believes it, but he doesn't get to think too long before CUTSCENE!
The ship is sailing when suddenly Sin appears! It comes out of the water and starts rocking the ship all about. A couple of Crusaders run to the front of the ship and target it with harpoons. Wakka tells them it can't be a good idea, and that they should just let it go. They explain that if they don't distract it here, it will head straight for their home of Kilika. So...we go with it. The harpoons are launched, and Sin is now tethered to the boat. That seems like a great idea! /end sarcasm Sin launches more of those pod monsters from earlier on, and it is time to fight! BOSS BATTLE TIME! (More of an event but roll with me.)
The battle features a trio of the weird pod monsters that are attacking the group. However, they aren't the main target here. I can also aim at Sin's fin. Even if I slay all three Sin monsters, Sin just launches another group at me to fight. Thus, I get to spend the battle fending off the Sin monsters as I attack its fin with whoever I can. Unfortunately, this leaves my direct attacking to Wakka with his ball and Lulu with her magic. Of course, this is a pretty early battle, so I just balanced my assault between the two objectives. I had to fight a couple pod monsters, or they'd cause some real damage. When we finally defeat the fin, it looks like we are good to go, but Sin rocks the boat and knocks Tidus off. Wakka leaps out and goes after Tidus. He revives Tidus, but they aren't alone in the water...BOSS BATTLE TIME PART TWO!
This part turned out to be kinda tough. It didn't help that I was already weak on top of everything, but I was also limited to just the two party members. The monster that showed up was a large and evil-looking squid with some fish friends. As for this battle, I can either attack the squid or its strange fish companions. However, I quickly find out that the companions are just "missiles" of sorts for the squid. They launch off and cause some damage. I ended up just focusing on the squid instead. It does some pretty decent damage though, and it can drain the two guys. Lucky for me, I have access to Wakka's special abilities! He has attacks that cause temporary status effects. The only one I have at this time is Dark Attack, but it proves insanely useful. With Dark Attack, the enemy is blind, and this keeps him from hitting anything. Only downside here is that it only lasts three turns. I have to keep after healing on the two, but I manage to come out victorious nonetheless. I receive all the experience for the two battles at this point. The group seems to all be okay on the boat, but...something bad happens.
A cutscene pops up showing a small but simple village on the water. Everybody is just enjoying their time and Sin comes in! It start running through and destroying pretty much anything it touches. And as it turns out, this was Kilika village. Tidus comes in with more narration, but I didn't take notes on it because it was kinda lame and boring. The group pulls up to the village in the ship, and everything is just bad. The group is approached by a couple of villagers. They ask Yuna to help them with a "sending" process since their summoner is away. She goes off with them with Kimahri and Lulu following behind. Wakka and a couple of the Auroch's go off to try and help. I start exploring the ruins of Kilika and quickly run into a grouping of villagers. Once there, Lulu explains what the "sending" is. The sending helps lead the souls of the dead to the Farplane. They need guidance there or otherwise they'll sit around. If they sit around, they start to fill with regret over their fate and refuse to move on. They yearn to live and resent those who still live. This envy turns into anger and eventually hate. If they remain for too long, the spirits eventually change into fiends. With the sending, they are able to reach the Farplane to rest in peace. As she finishes explaining, I get another cutscene. However, this is one of the more famous ones!
Yuna walks out onto the water, and yes, I do mean ONTO and not INTO. She reaches a spot and starts dancing about. The water rises with her, and the spirits from nearby dead bodies start to rise out of them. They all gather about her and eventually fly off into the sky. As she is finishing up, Tidus realizes that...it is tough being a summoner, but Lulu tells him that Yuna chose this path. All they can do as Guardians is to protect her until the end. Tidus asks what the end is. Lulu sighs and informs him that the end is where she defeats Sin. Narrator Tidus comes in and talks about how he doesn't like to watch the sending, but he does get to see it more apparently. The group then all sleeps for the night. They wake up the next day, and Tidus is asked by one of the blitzball players to go meet Wakka. When he finds Wakka, he asks him if it really is a good time to blitz. Wakka answers that now is the best time to do it. Blitzball is one of the few joys the people have, and it can help them beat the sadness with sports! We head off from there to meet the rest of the group.
As we approach the forest, the rest of the group is already gathered there. The group talks briefly about getting to the temple, and Yuna tells everybody that she wants Tidus to be a Guardian. They seem to protest this a little bit, and so she claims that she at least wants him to be around then. Tidus is confused by this idea but goes with it. The next battle I enter into is...another tutorial. This time, I get an explanation of Kimahri's abilities as a blue mage. To gain new blue magic, you have to use his Lancet ability on enemies. Unfortunately, his blue magic is only useable as an Overdrive! (Blargh) To make it slightly better, when you gain a new blue magic, it immediately fills up the Overdrive bar, so I guess that helps. Moving right along, I begin exploration of the forest. It's not too big though, and it's mostly a bunch of branching paths that intersect in different parts of the forest. However, one spot I run into is occupied by a massive monster plant for BOSS BATTLE TIME!
The monster I'm faced off against is Lord Ochu. He's a pretty big guy, and he isn't going down without a little effort. The majority of the battle was just throwing spells at him with Lulu. With his large weakness of Fire, she's basically the superstar for this battle. Outside of her Fire, I do my best to physically attack where I can. I also get to constantly switch in Yuna for healing purposes. It takes a little time, but I do mop the floor with Lord Ochu and continue through the forest. I'd like to add that Lulu is just ridiculous. With her pile of elemental spells, she is the most powerful and useful character at this point. Not having her in battle is just a bad decision. After the battle, I take some time to explore the forest a bit more. After exploring all of the forest I can, I make my way around and to a large ascending set of stairs. As we begin to climb, Wakka and a couple of Besaid blitzers want to race up the steps. They talked about how a famous high summoner named Ohalland was a great blitzball player, and that he trained in this very place. The group all lines up, and Yuna starts to count off. However, she takes off before everybody, and they follow her up. Lulu calls them a bunch of kids, but I follow them up.
As I reach the top, we hear a couple of them screaming about something, so the rest of the group rushes up and finds a huge monster waiting for us. BOSS BATTLE TIME! This battle showcases another fairly interesting aspect of the battle system in this game. The boss has three parts here: a body and two large arms. At the top of the screen, it describes whoever you currently have targeted. The arms will supposedly absorb any magic flung at the body, so with Lulu being my core offense here, I have to focus on the arms first. I go all out on the arms, and they fall pretty quickly. Most of the monsters in this part of the game aren't too hard, but my party doesn't have a huge stock of health either. Once I start hammering on the body, things start to ramp up. As I deplete its store of HP, it transforms into a secondary form. It was just a giant orb, but then it unfolded into a large plant monster. At this point though, without its arms to absorb magic, I wipe the floor with it and victory to me!
As the battle concludes, Tidus is all worn out from all this fighting. They do give him credit for holding his own, but he still has some way to go. One of them mentions that the monster was a Sinspawn and go on to explain. Basically, Sinspawn are large fiends that literally fall off of Sin. Eventually, Sin comes back to pick them up, so they have to be defeated fairly quickly. At this point, Tidus thinks that maybe he wants to be a Guardian. The group starts heading up the stairs when Wakka says something. He finally thinks he might believe Tidus about Zanarkand. He follows up with a little theory he has...He thinks that Sin has the ability to pick up people it doesn't kill and hold onto them through time. In all honesty, it's not a bad theory and would greatly fit both Tidus and Jecht's story. However, Lulu calls him on this and tells him that Chappu is dead. Lord Braska and Jecht are GONE! She says that he keeps jumping theories and can never settle on one. His current one is stupid, and he's stupid for believing it. As the group heads up, Wakka says that he just can't live up to Chappu. Tidus figures something happened between the three of them and decides to not intrude.
As we make it to the top, we have finally arrived at Kilika Temple. This is the home temple of the past high summoner Ohalland, and as I mentioned before, he's a famous blitzball player from here. The blitzball players want to pray for a good game, and we run into a rival team, the Luca Goers. They act all hotshot and make fun of the Besaid Aurochs. They walk away and the group decides to ignore them. We head inside and see a very similar temple area. Wakka starts pray for a good game while the rest of the group waits on him. As we are sitting there, another summoner is leaving the Cloister of Trials. She introduces herself as Dona and also introduces her Guardian, Barthello. The two talk briefly, but Donna comes off as incredibly rude. She makes fun of Yuna for having four Guardians and claims she only needs her single Guardian. This gets the group riled up, but Yuna makes a speech her. She says that she fully trusts and believes in her Guardians, so having a large number of them means she has a lot she can trust and believe in. (Take THAT Dona!) Dona walks away, and Tidus begins to wonder if Yuna believes in him like that. The groups is now ready to enter the Cloister of Trials...but I am not. I save at the nearby point, and I quit here for now.
Oh dear, that was a heck of a post. I've actually had enough material to make this post like 3-4 days ago, but I kept playing. Thus, I actually have another post on the backburner ready to go as well...That just means I'll easily have another post up and ready sooner rather than later. Look forward to it! Let's close it here for now, and I'll just say...I am looking forward to the gameplay!
Ending Point - Kilika Temple
Current Party - Yeaaaah, finding out that this part will have basically no details since characters don't have an actual "level" on them. I'll figure something out before I get too far though...I could try and keep up with how many spheres I've unlocked, but that's going to get ridiculous fast.
- Tidus
- Wakka
- Lulu
Next Goals - Enter Kilika Temple and help Yuna pray or whatever it is they do.
~May the Crystals Guide Me~
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