Game - Final Fantasy X, Day 70
Hours Played/Hours Total - 8 hrs / 21 hrs
Starting Point - Highroad North End.
Current Goal - Head for the "Command Center" and find out what the Crusader's operation is all about most likely.
What Happened - I'm heading straight through Final Fantasy X! I'm not as far as I should be as far as time is concerned, but I'm still moving right along. Let's not delay any further and get right on this post.
Where I left off, I was about to continue past the Mi'ihen Road and onward to the next area. Maester Seymour granted us passage through this area, much to Tidus's disliking. I head right along and a nice little scene interrupts my travels. (All this game seems to be is paths with scenes...paths and scenes.) Seymour is speaking briefly with the Crusaders. He's giving them his support and a bit of a pep talk. He claims that he is there to bear witness to their deeds today and wishes them luck. Wakka is at the side lines of all of this, and he's kinda angry with it. He doesn't understand why Seymour is supporting them despite their violation of the teachings. (The use of machina is forbidden...just reminding.) Yuna chimes in that despite the violation, these people are risking it all for the greater good of Spira and believes that Seymour sees it the same way. Wakka tries to get Lulu on his side, but she's still speculating about the whole thing. Auron tells him to ask Seymour himself since he's heading towards us.
Seymour greets the group and Auron more specifically. He asks Auron what he's been doing the past ten years, and Auron simply says that he has nothing to say about it. He then proceeds to walk away, and Seymour turns to Yuna instead. He is about to start talking with her when Wakka interrupts him. Wakka asks him why he isn't stopping the operation and seems to be supporting it instead. He brings up the teachings of Yevon thing once again here. Seymour admits that he should try to put a stop to it, but he instead urges the two groups in their wish for peace. Their wishes formed this operation, and despite the sacrilege involved, the overall intentions are pure. He claims that he, Seymour Guado, wishes them well as a citizen of Spira, not a Maester of Yevon. Wakka tries to bring up the bit about machina again, but Seymour tells him to pretend he didn't see it. This makes everybody gasp (I honestly laughed a little.), and Wakka says a Maester shouldn't be saying that! Seymour follows that up with pretend I didn't say it. Seymour continues on his way, and Narrator Tidus admits that he didn't like Seymour but felt the things he said did make some sense.
We continue down the Mushroom Rock Road and are stopped by a Crusader. He informs us that Seymour has requested Yuna's presence at the command center and to take a alternate path ahead. We change rails and head a different path to it. (To be fair, they blocked the other one, so I didn't have much choice here.) As we continue along the rocky cliffs, there are magical Yevon pads that lift me up as I head closer to the command center. They seem to use water or something to life the land upwards...and yet they ban machina use. I do encounter quite a number of monsters as I walk through, but they aren't too challenging really. That...and I'm using an awful lot of Lulu. It seems that 4 out of every 5 enemies tend to have an elemental weakness. Who has the most elemental abilities? Lulu. Simple enough I guess, but it seems unfair to everybody else at times.
Anyways, as we are getting closer to the command center, we spot a few friendly faces. It's Luzzu and Gatta of the Crusaders! The two seem to be having an argument about the operation. Gatta was ordered to stay at the command center while Luzzu is on the front lines with the rest. Gatta, a newer recruit, wants to jump in on the action because he joined the Crusaders to fight Sin! Luzzu tells him that his orders were to protect the command center, and it does need protection so he should follow those orders. Gatta storms off at this point, and we approach Luzzu. Tidus tells him that Gatta deserves better, but Wakka says that he'll at least be safe here. Of course, the follows this up by questioning Luzzu about the mission. He's all like "WHY SO CLOSE? WHY YOU NO USE MACHINA?!" Luzzu explains that the Al Bhed need time for the machine to get set up, and the Crusaders are supposed to distract Sin until then.
For some reason, Luzzu decides to drop a little bomb after that discussion. I guess he just feels it is time to come clean...Lulu leaps forward saying NO! because she knows what is about to be told. Luzzu reveals that he is the one who convinced Chappu, Wakka's brother, to join the Crusaders. Wakka isn't too happy to hear this of course, and he punches Luzzu. Tidus starts holding Wakka back telling him that's enough. Wakka starts talking after that though. He says that Chappu was going to propose to Lulu when they finally won the Blitzball cup, but he suddenly just upped and joined the Crusaders before that. Luzzu added in that Chappu told him something about that. He claimed it was good being with your girl, but it was better to keep Sin away from her. It seemed that Lulu knew about this and hadn't told anybody, but she had hit Luzzu as well. A call goes out to the Crusaders to assemble for the operation, and Luzzu heads on out. Yuna begs him not to go, but Auron tells her that she must let him go because they have each chosen their path. So...Luzzu heads onward.
As we continue along, guess what happens? ANOTHER INTERRUPTION! (Should just call this game Final INTERRUPTION Fantasy.) We are passing a group of machina weapons that look like cannons. Wakka goes up to one and kicks it. Of course, he hurts himself in this move, and Tidus asks why Wakka seems to hate them so much. Lulu chimes as usual and explains that it has to do with Chappu (again). Before Chappu went to battle, he left the sword Wakka gave him in Besaid and used an Al Bhed machina weapon instead. Wakka overhears her and claims that has nothing to do with his hate. He simply hates the sacriligious-ness of the things regardless. In the area below, the Crusaders are loading the last of the Sinspawn into a large cage below. Wakka is convinced that the plan will fail, but Yuna tells him to not say that. It might be against Yevon's teachings, but the Crusaders and Al Bhed are just doing their best to defeat Sin and rid Spira of it forever, just like them. Wakka gives in to that idea, but he makes a point of stating he still dislikes machina. As they are finishing up, a lady comes up and tells us to head on to the command center. (I AM TRYING TO! SO MANY SCENES!) She says that Seymour is waiting on us along with another Maester that has shown up.
As I approach the command center, I talked with a few of the Crusaders, and one of them re-explained their entire operation to me. The cannons we just saw were provided free of charge by the Al Bhed, and they are going to be part of the initial strike on Sin. The large cage of Sinspawn is for attracting Sin in since it always comes to retrieve its spawn. The Chocobo Knights and other Crusaders will distract Sin and hold it at bay while the Al Bhed get ready. Once ready, the Al Bhed will use their super weapon (whatever it is) to deliver the final blow!
Onward to the command center!...After talking to Gatta. We run into a disappointed Gatta who just wants to fight Sin like everybody else. Auron says that he can prove himself by completing the tasks he is given first, but Gatta is still unsure. Talking with him again gives me a split of dialogue. I can either suggest he go to the front lines anyways, or tell him that guarding the command center is also important. I go with guarding the command center because it is important and other reasons. (Will reveal those later if you don't find it obvious when the times comes.) I finally make it to the command center and meet another Maester of Yevon. (There's four Maesters apparently.) He is Maester Kinoc. He leads the warriors monks and is the commander of the Crusaders. (Also one of the four.) Like many before him, he notices Auron and asks where Auron has been the past ten years and what he was doing. Auron says they don't have time for this right now and dodges the question as usual. Kinoc responds by saying that they both know the mission will fail but just to let them dream a bit longer.
This surprises everybody because honestly...that's pretty messed up. Seymour calls Kinoc and tells him to proceed with the operation. As Kinoc walks off, Auron seems a little surprised to find Kinoc is a Maester now. Kinoc overhears this and tells Auron that a lot has changed in the past ten years, and he re-asks where and what Auron was doing all this time. He simply answers that he was fulfilling the promise of a friend, and he currently still is. (It is referring to Tidus of course.) Before Kinoc leaves us, he asks Auron a final question... Has he seen Zanarkand? Auron doesn't answer that, and we jump over to Yuna and Tidus. She's incredibly nervous and doesn't think the group belongs there right now. Of course, it is a bit late now, and the party is just about to start. They start off by throwing out their lure, the Sinspawn cage. They start electrocuting it in hopes of urging Sin to respond. As the operation is getting started, we get a large greeting from the sky. It's a giant Sinspawn for BOSS BATTLE TIME!
The large monster from the sky seems to be a scorpion of sorts. It has two claws, a tail, and a main body. Attempts to attack the main body straight-up results in blocking with its claws, so I get to do the runabout method here. I have to eliminate the claws and slowly chip away at the body. The arms eventually come back, but they aren't too hard so it was just a minor annoyance. The tail kept trying to charge a super move of some sort, but I never gave it a chance here. Attacking the tail cancelled that, and I eventually killed it. It took some time, but I managed to beat the scorpion sinspawn with teamwork! However, the big powerhouse for this battle was everybody's favorite sassy black mage, Lulu! I recently acquired the -ra spells with her (Fira, Watera, etc), so she is taking pretty good chunks of health away with each spell. Aside from her, everybody else was simply chipping away where they could. As the battle finished, the game switches over to story mode with cutscenes!
At this point, Sin is fully approaching the small beach area. The cannons start firing upon Sin and knocking off pieces of it. Unfortunately, these pieces are turning into fiends somehow and heading for the beach. The Chocobo Knights charge the beach and start fighting the fiends as they approach. Right this moment, things look pretty hopeless for the operation. Eventually, Sin decides to stop playing around and pulls out the big gun...in the form of a shield. The shield expands to cover the entire beach and destroys everything there...Sin monsters and Crusaders alike. The blast was pretty bad, and Yuna wakes up to find the rest of them are missing. On a bigger note, Seymour is being attacked by the Sinspawn from before (the one I beat...or thought so), and Yuna goes over to help him. Auron appears from nowhere and joins the two for BOSS BATTLE TIME PART TWO!
The battle is the same as it was last time, but the Sinspawn was quite a bit weaker this time. That and I get Seymour for this battle!
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| Seymour Guado |
Tidus is waking up on the beach, and there are dead bodies all about. I walk up on Gatta who is freaking out on the spot, but obviously, anybody would with all the horribleness around. As we turn about, Sin is turning around and heading back out to sea. Tidus yells at Sin to not run away from him! (He's referring more to the belief that Sin is Jecht right now of course.) We then jump to Yuna who is determined to do something. She starts trying to summon an Aeon, but Seymour is telling her it won't work! He finally yells at her to stop and tells her she is too weak to make a difference now. Yuna says she has to do something, but Seymour tells her that she just can't.
We go back to Tidus who is currently attempting to swim after Sin. Narrator Tidus informs us that he doesn't know why he chased after Sin. Maybe he thought he could return home, but he starts off on another Jecht flashback. Tidus (kid version) is talking with his dad about some rumors. They say he doesn't practice anymore and drinks all the time. Jecht claims he is still the best Bltizball, and that he can quite drinking at any time. Tidus tells him to stop right now! Jecht responds by saying that he doesn't have to do it and might try to stop tomorrow. As the flashback ends, Tidus wakes up on the beach and realizes that he did sense Jecht somewhere. He also wonders how many people died today and sees Yuna over performing the Sending for all those that have died. Tidus wonders when Yuna will stop dancing as it seems to happen too often and too much. He comes to the realization that it will only stop when Sin is gone.
I go to leave the beach and Auron approaches Tidus. He comments that many people's stories ended today, but Tidus's still goes on. Sin had come and gone, but Tidus was still there. (He explains it more later.) Auron goes up to Kinoc and tells him that it was simply a swift retreat on Sin's part. He mentions that the unbelievers died today while those faithful to Yevon lived on. He asks Kinoc if he was satisfied with this, and Kinoc simply answers that Auron has changed and walks away. We jump over to Yuna who is being approached by Seymour. He tells her that she is now more than ever a living hop for Spira. People are expected to mourn their losses, but she must remain a shining spot of hope in all of it. The Summoner is Spira's last hope for defeating Sin, so she can't relent until that is done. He asks if she is afraid and tells her to take him as her Pillar of Strength. He says that Yunalesca had her Lord Zoan and bids farewell without explaining that at all. (It does cover it later, but not for a bit.)
As I go to leave AGAIN, Auron catches me for another little bit. He tells Tidus once again...Sin is Jecht. Tidus admits that he felt the presence earlier but isn't ready to believe Auron. Auron claims that Sin came here for him. Tidus exclaims that he killed all those people JUST to see him? Auron says that Jecht wanted to show Tidus this because that is what Sin does. Auron asks if he knows why he wanted to do this. Tidus of course answers no, and Auron says it is because Jecht wants Tidus to kill him. As Sin, Jecht will keep on killing and wants Tidus to put a stop to that. Finally, Tidus asks how Auron knows all this, but of course, he doesn't answer him. Tidus tells Auron not to run away, but he says that Tidus is the one running. We walk off and find the rest of the group waiting on us. We head down the road and make our way to the next temple.
Before going too far, Kimahri says his very first words! He says that Yuna is trying to be a bright spot among all this darkness. When people are worried, she tries her hardest to make up for it and that we need to try harder for her sake. Tidus stupidly says "Don't worry, be happy?" Kimahri claims that he will try harder as well. Tidus tells him to try and smile, and Kimahri smiles...quite awkwardly. After the little talk, we continue down the Djose Highroad. I hit a save point midway and play several rounds of Blitzball. I did pretty well in those many games, but I got cheated over by a faulty system! It's based on a lot of random factors, and I feel like it screwed me over a couple of times. Oh well! I head on down Djose Highroad and come to a two-pronged road. Tidus decides to ask how far away Zanarkand is. They go over the details of quite a long path ahead. There are several places they have to pass through, and along the way, they have a lot of temples for Yuna to stop and pray at. Summoners have to obtain all the blessings and Aeons before they can attempt the final summoning. Basically...we have a long way to go! We are about to make it to another temple ahead though, so it's time to move right along.
As the group leaves, Auron warns Tidus not to tell Yuna about the Sin-Jecht thing. He believes that if she knew she would distance herself form Tidus and things would just get weird among all of them. Tidus asks why Auron told him right now then. Auron believes that Tidus needed to know now as to not get emotional about it at a bad time. He heard that Tidus was a bit of a crybaby...Tidus admits it to himself as Auron walks away. We continue down the road and MORE INTERRUPTIONS! We meet up with some of the surviving Crusaders (who are currently excommunicated mind you), and they are going to rest at a nearby temple. Apparently, the believers are going to be nice enough to house them during their time of crisis. Among those survivors are the last of the Chocobo Knights. They are down to only the single surviving Chocobo and are planning to go get more...since they can't really be Chocobo Knights without them. Of course, all the Crusaders I pass by are like "Oh noooo, we should have NEVER forsaken Yevon or the teachings!", but I have different feelings on that. Especially after what a certain Maester said about the whole thing.
I approach a rather large mushroom rock formation, and it explodes open with rocks and electricity! This places, known as Thunder Mushroom Rock, houses the Djose Temple. Apparently, it does that little show of rocks and electricity when a Summoner has come up seeking the fayth. They believe someone is currently inside so...we head right in ourselves. As I approach the entrance, I find Gatta just nearby. Talking with him reveals some sad news, He said that he found Luzzu...torn in half. He doesn't know what to do with himself now, and he decides to return to Besaid after all that. I continue inside and meet with another summoner (to add to the list) as he is leaving the Cloister of Trials.
As we approach, he asks Yuna's name to confirm if she is Lord Braska's daughter. She asks if he knew him, but he said he didn't but sort of just could feel it. He introduces himself as Isaaru and talks briefly with Yuna. They talk about a race between themselves to beat Sin first (kinda strange but whatever motivates you I guess?), and Yuna accepts. Isaaru goes to leave at this point, so I decide to go and enter the Cloister of Trials. As the rest of the group ascends the stairs, Isaaru's group approaches Tidus and warns him of something. It seems that a lot of summoners have been disappearing lately. They think it could be fiends, but the disappearance rate is too fast for it to truly be that. Tidus keeps that in mind and enters the Cloister of Trials.
The Djose Cloister of Trials was all electricity-themed for this bit. Of course, it's not a very hard trial to complete, but I do have to run back and forth constantly. It's kinda annoying allowing me to only carry one sphere at a time, but I've already complained about that, so let's move on. I did end up checking a guide at one point, because I was completely confused in what I needed to do. It was mostly confused because there were like 6 different places for spheres, and I only needed two for the moment. The end result was activating an elevator that took me up and into the next floor. (I don't want to explain it because it seems pointless to. I apologize._ Up there, I just had to activate a group of switches and reveal the opening to the fayth. It also allowed me to place the Destruction Sphere and unlock the hidden treasure! It was a Magic Sphere for unlocking Magic on the Sphere Grid! Yaaaay...Moving right along. We go up, Yuna enters the fayth to pray, and the group waits.
As we are waiting, Dona and her Guardian Barthello shows up. Barthello spots Auron in the corner and approaches him. He asks if he can shake Auron's hand since he is the reason he became a Guardian. Auron does so, and Barthello talks about never washing that hand again. Dona says she'll cut it off if he touches her with it. After some time, Yuna comes out all exhausted and such. Dona approaches her and decides to turn on "bitch mode". She tells Yuna that she owes a lot to her father. All the guardians at her command plus the famous Sir Auron. Even the great Maester Seymour has taken an interest in her. Dona claims that the world must be different as Lord Braska's daughter. Yuna says it has nothing to do with her father, and she is travelling on her own to be a summoner. Dona tells her to try standing on her own because someday her Guardians won't be there when the time comes. /end scene The Aeon I got from this temple wasn't Ramuh but instead a lightning horse named Ixion.
The group wakes up the next day, but Yuna doesn't seem to be around. She was up all night tending to the hurt and performing Sendings for the fallen. I look around and find her still asleep at the temple. She gets up and around and goes to apologize to everybody. They make fun of her bedhead and the group begins to laugh. (Ah the sound of laughter...) From here, it is time to return to Djose Highroad and head for the next temple. Along the way, we meet back with the Chocobo Knights. They ask if Yuna will be okay after working so hard and plan to head north to find more Chocobos. They head on out, and we follow not too far afterwards. Coming back to the fork in the road, we are heading the other way to cross something called the Moonflow.
While heading towards the Moonflow, we meet up with the pair of Ronsos from earlier. (The ones who picked on Kimahri) They are here to pick on him again, but they are also here to warn him. They talk of the same thing that Isaaru warned us about. Summoners are disappearing around here, and Kimahri had best watch out. Kimahri lost his horn and will lose his summoner next! They head off after mocking him, and the group talks a bit. Tidus asks Kimahri what their deal with him is. Kimahri says that it is between them, and he will deal with that when the time is right. Tidus says he will help him, but Kimahri says he must do it alone. Wakka is all for letting Kimahri deal with his Ronso problems. Lulu says she is worried though...about the summoner problem. Tidus jumps in and says that as long as they do their job as Guardians, it shouldn't be a problem. Everybody realizes Tidus was right, and we move right along.
Moving through the road, I encounter quite a few Ochus as I go. They're a common occurring enemy in the Final Fantasy universe. They're a plant monster with giant tentacle arms and a large sharp-tooth filled mouth. They aren't too hard to deal with, but they have enough HP to make them seem like mini-bosses. I had to fight quite a few while passing through. Along the way, I ran into Belgemine again. She's the summoner from Mi'ihen Road who did the Aeon Vs. Aeon fight with Yuna. She greets the group and tells Yuna that she heard about Operation Mi'ihen. She says it should be obvious that machina aren't the answer, and in the end, only the summoners can defeat Sin. Yuna realizes this and knows she must train harder to accomplish it. Belgemine challenges Yuna to another Aeon fight, and the battle begins!
With this fight, I get another Aeon tutorial of their abilities. Belgemine brings Ixion into the battle, and that forces me to use Ifrit of course. It seems like I've got the battle under control, but she eventually casts Haste on Ixion and starts turning it around. The game shows up to say that her Ixion knows Haste while mine does not and explains that Aeons have the ability to learn new spells as I progress through. As far as the battle goes, it's a pretty close fight, but I manage to pull out and win...with only 12 HP left! Belgemine congratulates me and rewards me with items that can be used to teach spells. I then get the remainder of the Aeon Abilities tutorial. Basically, I can teach them a large range of new spells. Each spell has an item cost that must be paid to teach them the spell. It's pretty nice to be able to teach them such a wide range of abilities, but you have to do it on a per-Aeon basis. This means it is a pretty expensive venture when teaching them new spells and abilities. Seeing as I don't really have anything, I skip teaching them any new abilities for the moment and continue along the road. At the rate this game is going, I figure I'll have a tutorial for the final boss battle explaining that beating that boss also beats the game.
Pushing forward a bit more brings me to the Moonflow. The Moonflow appears to be a very large river. The river is quite pretty with Moon Lillies, and one of the group members talks about how the river glows brightly and beautifully with pyreflies late at night. Tidus thinks they should stay until night to see it, but Auron says they can't and must continue along. Tidus proclaims that they come back after defeating Sin to see it. The group moves right along, and I quickly discover our mode of transportation across the water. We are crossing the Moonflow via a large elephant-like creature called a Shoopuf. We ride on its back, and it simply walks over the lake. Yuna talks about when she rode a Shoopuf once. It was back when she was very young. She fell off the Shoopuf, but the Shoopuf picked her up with its trunk and put her back on. Kimahri stepped in and said Yuna did it three mores times because it was so much fun. The event had made Kimahri quite worried. Yuna apologized for that, but Kimahri said it was okay since she was happy.
Before boarding the Shoopuf, I have to walk around a bit and talk to people. There are several merchants here, and each one is trying to sell me something different at all forms of pricing. I didn't have a lot of money, so I only bought a few items here. After that, I started talking with the various and scattered members of the group. Auron had an interesting story to tell me. Apparently, Jecht was drunk when he first saw a Shoopuf. He mistook it for a fiend and attacked it. The group ended up offering all their money in apology for Jecht's actions, and Jecht never drank again after that. I also learn that the caretakers and drivers of the Shoopufs are an aquatic race of beings known as Hypellos. Strangely enough, they don't play blitzball, but Maechan (who told us a bit about them) said it's probably because they aren't a very challenge-filled race. Anyways, after talking to everybody, it's time to board the Shoopuf! Next stop, the North Shore of the Moonflow.
As I traverse the Moonflow, Wakka points out something to Tidus in the water. As he looks down, we see a massive ancient city below the water. Wakka explains that this city was built on a huge bridge that expanded over the Moonflow, but then one day, it sank below the water. Wakka thinks it is a good lesson to not try and defy the laws of nature with their machina and such. Tidus doesn't think that is true at all, and he points out that they all use all forms of machina like the Blitzball Stadiums and such. Lulu steps in and explains that the teachings of Yevon outline what machina they can and can't use. The main kind of machina that is banned is mostly the weapon variety. It's said that a great war was waged over a thousand years ago, and that machina was used to fight this war. Each nation kept building stronger and stronger weapons until they (SUPPOSEDLY) created something powerful enough to destroy the entire world. Then...Sin came. He destroyed all of the cities with their machina and ended the war. Sin became their reward and punishment for letting things go too far...as Wakka is concerned.
Tidus says that machina aren't evil, and Lulu adds that the machina are only as evil as their users. Wakka blames the Al Bhed for all their usage of forbidden machina. As the conversation winds down, strange sounds spook the Shoopuf. As it comes to a stop, a random Al Bhed shows up out of nowhere and kidnaps Yuna. Tidus and Wakka leap into the water to get her and encounter a large machina holding her hostage! BOSS BATTLE TIME! As I already stated, only Tidus and Wakka were able to jump in after her, so I'm forced to fight this with only two of them. However, it is a pretty easy battle. The giant machina is some strange sub-squid looking thing, but it doesn't throw out a lot of damage. It only has two attacks, and it never actually got around to its second attack. The second attack is where it drops explosive charges on the group, but it has to prepare for it, and I always knocked it down before it finished that. After the final blow hit, the machina broke down, and we retrieved Yuna.
As we came back to the Shoopuf, Yuna seems to be okay, and so we continue onward. Wakka is even angrier now with all the Al Bhed and wonder why they are doing it. He thinks maybe they're just angry about the Blitzball tournament or the failure of Operation Mi'ihen. Lulu brings up the rumors of disappearing summoners and thinks maybe the Al Bheds are the ones responsible for it. Wakka starts bringing down the blame on Al Bhed, and Tidus sees that it is bothering Yuna. (Remember, she's part-Al Bhed.) Tidus helps to changes the subject by saying that they'll defend Yuna no matter who or what comes at her, so there is no point ragging on the Al Bhed so much. Wakka seems to agree with that point and stops talking about it. Yuna mouths a thank you to Tidus. The Shoopuf makes it to the other side at this point, and we continue our journey.
The group has landed on the North Shore and is preparing to move out. I continue along the path and find an unconscious person lying on the shore. Upon closer examination, the person is the Al Bhed girl from earlier on...Rikku!
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| Rikku |
Of course, Wakka is the first to ask if Tidus knows her. Tidus says that he sorta does and then tells Yuna and Lulu that she is the one he told them about. Tidus almost introduces her as an Al Bhed, but he barely manages to catch himself. Rikku walks over to the girls and tells the rest of the guys that they are going to have a "girls only" talk. They walk away, and Rikku talks with them briefly over at the side. Not sure what it was, but next thing I know, Yuna is approaching Auron and asks if Rikku can be another Guardian. Auron looks her over and says that if Yuna wants her, then she can join. Rikku is the new member of the team, and Wakka is completely clueless to her Al Bhed origin. We move right along and another tutorial! This time, it involves Rikku's abilities.
Rikku's class is a thief, and she comes along with the Steal ability. Sometimes chests appear in battle alongside monsters. The chests will disappear after battle, and they only have 1 HP so any hit will destroy them. However, Rikku is able to steal from the chests! With her along, you can get some fairly rare and useful items. On top of this, she comes with her very special and pretty awesome Overdrive...Mix. Mix allows you to combine any two items you have to create a single super-powered item! Of course, the first time you mix a combo, it comes out with a random result. However as you learn more formulas, you can learn what makes what and get some really awesome results. Rikku is a pretty cool character, but she does come with a problem...She's insanely behind in levels. It just means I'll have to keep her around in battle until she can catch up with the others. It'll be a long road, but leveling is most of the fun in this game!
The path we are currently following leads us straight to Guadosalam, the city of Guados. (All about the word Guado it seems.) When we reach there, a Guado approaches the group and introduces himself. He has come here to invite Yuna on Maester Seymour's part. He has urgent business to discuss with Yuna, and of course, we are also invited to come along. As we head inside the city, Rikku stops and explains that she comes with ANOTHER ability! TUTORIAL! With Rikku on the team, I am able to customize my equipment with new abilities! This is by far one of the best things I can do so far. Basically, weapons have slots on them that hold their abilities, but if they have an open slot, then I can customize the weapon by filling that slot with a special ability! The cost here is simply the items required for whatever ability I want to add. This can be anything from HP+ to giving it elemental properties or other awesome and useful things! (There are quite a few, so I won't go into a full list here.) Depending on the abilities you add, the weapon's name will sometimes change to reflect what it does as well. It's pretty cool, but we must move along.
I look about Guadosalam before heading for Guado Manor (Probably what it is called!). There is quite a bit here in Guadosalam. It's the hometown of the Guado people, and as far as I am concerned, they are basically an elf-type people with funky hair. I also run into the scholar Maechen who explains a few things for me. He talks about the Farplane and Pyreflies. Pyreflies are the lights seen when a fiend or person dies. They are involved in basically every mystical aspect of Spira, like spheres, fiends, visions, and even Aeons! As for the Farplane, it is related with the Pyreflies in a way. The Farplane is where Pyreflies born from a Sending gather at. They appear in the shape of dead people. The Al Bhed have a theory that Pyreflies simply react to a visitor's thoughts and memories and reflect that. Only the dead appear on the Farplane, and nobody living has ever appeared. It's a mystery why, but it is believed that the dead leave a bit of themselves in the hearts of the living. The Pyreflies use their power and borrow that memory to perform their paranormal acts. And that...is that. After learning what I did from Maechen, I decided it was time to continue, so I made my way back to Guado Manor and went inside.
We wait around a bit for Seymour to get there and are just looking about the place. The walls are decorated with the portraits of past Guado leaders. They all look very similar, but Seymour stands out quite a bit from them. The explanation for this is that Seymour's father, Maester Jyscal, wed a human woman and created the half-human, half-Guado Seymour. We are then ushered into a room with quite a banquet going. The Guado from earlier talks a little about Maester Jyscal. It seems that he was the one who brought the teachings of Yevon to the Guados. He believes that Seymour will help tie the Guados and humans with his duality of race. As he is finishing up, Seymour finally enters in and thanks us for coming. He has invited Yuna here to speak with her of a matter he finds important. Before this though, he has something to show us all.
He leads us into a giant sphere and a large cutscene ensues. I'm going to just say...It was a very pretty cutscene and looked very well done. As for the content of the scene, it shows the group as they are given a grand vision of the past. They are floating through a currently living and running city of the past. We are being shown Zanarkand from a thousand years ago. Seymour says that a certain person once lived in this great metropolis. Of course, someone (Yuna) asks who, and he responds that Yunalesca lived here. Seymour says that Yuna was named by her father after Yunalesca. He informs us that Lady Yunalesca was the very first to defeat Sin, but she wasn't alone in her task. He claims that she used the power of pure love to fight it, and that love was with a man (most likely) named Lord Zoan. (If you remember my comment from waaay earlier, almost near to the top of the post.) We see a woman embracing an armored man, and the scene disappears. Seymour says something to Yuna during the next bit, but the scene is strangely whited down. We can't hear what he says, but she seems kinda flustered by it. She comes over to the group and reveals...Seymour has asked Yuna to marry him!
Auron speaks up and says that Yuna has a task to complete. Seymour agrees but adds that like all summoners, she must do more than simply defeat Sin. Her duty to Spira is to bring hope and happiness to all of the people. As such, she is a leader for all of her people. He claims that he proposed to Yuna as a Maester of Yevon. Auron says that Spira isn't a playhouse and a momentary diversion will do nothing but amuse the people. In the end, it won't change anything. Seymour says that the "actors must play their parts" despite that. He does add that he doesn't expect an answer right now and wants her to think on it of course. Auron tells everybody that they are going now, and Seymour bids his farewell while awaiting her reply. He does add a final comment as Auron is leaving. He asks Auron "Why are you still here...Beg your pardon." Auron does stop to see what he has to say. Seymour apologizes and says that the Guado are keen to the scent of the Farplane and it seems to be about Auron. Tidus decides to give Auron a smell himself, but Auron pushes him aside and leaves...as do the rest of us.
We head outside and start talking with Yuna. Lulu says that their marriage would bring happiness and unity to the people. Yuna wants the people to be happy, but she doesn't know how she should answer. She plans to continue through her pilgrimage regardless and wait for the answer to come to her. Before that, she wants to visit the Farplane and speak with her father. (Explanation coming soon.) Narrator Tidus brings up a good point here. He wonders why nobody seems to ask her if she actually had feelings for Seymour or not. The group heads on for the Farplane...which is somehow accessible from here. Tidus starts to question it but answers himself in the process. The Farplane is where the spirits of the dead go, and the group is going there now so we can see them? Wakka says he'll understand it more when they get there. As we approach a strange portal, Auron says that he is going to stay behind. He mentions something about it being the past for him and being nothing there for him. Rikku brings up the Al Bhed's belief of what the Pyreflies do and claims that all they see are memories and nothing more. She is staying behind because she prefers to keep her memories inside her and nowhere else.
With those two staying behind, the rest of us pass through the portal and into the Farplane! The place we end up in is just a small floating platform high above a massive landscape. All around are Pyreflies just flying about and such. Narrator Tidus worries that Yuna seeing her happy parents here might make her consider Seymour's proposal more seriously. Off to one side, Wakka is talking with Chappu and is saying all sorts of things. He talks about giving up Blitzball to become a full-time Guardian. He talks about how Tidus is similar to him and such. Lulu watches on form the side and figures it is time to leave the memories of Chappu behind. Tidus suggests that she find someone else like Wakka! He thinks they get along pretty great. Lulu responds by saying it is more than just getting along together, and he would do well to take note of that. Lulu says that Chappu always thought she looked grumpy, but she remembers those times as her happiest memories.
Tidus goes over to Yuna who is looking at her parents and remembering the past. She remembers how happy the people of Spira where when her father defeated Sin. She says that they will be happy again if she is able to defeat Sin. She realizes that she needs to do her best to make the people happy, and her happiness shouldn't always be the first thing in mind. She says Tidus should try to see Jecht, and when he doesn't appear, she is happy because she knows that he is still alive somewhere. Tidus is starting to believe that Jecht is Sin now, and he knows that is the reason Jecht didn't appear. Yuna asks Tidus why he hates his father so much, so Tidus explains a bit of it. He talks about how his mom truly loved his father, so when his father left, she lost her will to live. Tidus always felt like his mom cared more about his father than him, and that's when the resentment started. When his father left and his mother despaired, he began to hate him even more. At this point, the group decides to leave the Farplane now.
As we head out of the portal, the spirit of Lord Jyscal tries to come back through as well! Yuna turns around to send him back. Strangely enough, Auron is acting a big weird at the bottom. The group leaves after that incident and wonder what just happened there. One of them mentions that a strong emotion must have kept him in Spira even after his Sending. Auron thinks he died an unclean death and is stuck here for that reason. (Obviously suggesting something as well...) We head back to the Manor because Yuan has her answer for Seymour. She goes inside by herself, and the rest of the group waits around.
Tidus asks Lulu what she thinks about the marriage. Lulu claims that she doesn't really care as long as the pilgrimage continues. Tidus asks what she means by that and if she truly doesn't care about Yuna's feelings on the matter. Lulu says that marriage is done for all sorts of reasons and that love isn't necessarily a requirement. She explains that the marriage and defeating Sin are both ways of bringing happiness to the people of Spira. Tidus doesn't really think that and doesn't get how she can. Speaking with Lulu further reveals a bit more of the truth on the matter. She says she wants Yuna to marry the one she loves, but she would have to object if that did happen. That...just sounds confusing at this point.
Anyways, as I'm waiting for Yuna, I run into Shelinda, the Yevon acolyte, as she's moving about Guadosalam. She says that Maester Seymour just left for Macalania Temple a while ago. He's the high priest of the temple and had business to attend to it seems. Tidus returns to tell the rest of the group this. Of course, we wonder what Yuna is taking so long to do. Jumping over to her, she seems to be trying to talk with Lord Jyscal's portrait. She heads outside and learns from the group about Seymour's leaving. Auron asks Yuna if something is wrong, and she says no. He knows she is lying, but he decides to leave her be for now. We head out of Guadosalam and right into the THUNDER PLAINS!
Yeah, that is right...the THUNDER PLAINS! It's a large path through Spira where it's constantly storming, and lightning strikes all over. There are various lightning rod towers all about, and they absorb part of the lightning. The group has to head through here to reach Macalania Temple and catch up with Seymour. As we are heading out, Rikku seems kinda scared of it. She jumps at the sound of lightning and doesn't seem to want to continue. Auron eventually says they'll leave her behind, so the group heads on. However, there is more to this area than the lightning...It's time for the Lightning Dodge! The Lightning Dodge is where you walk through the Thunder Plains and attempt to dodge the lightning as you go. It's one of the more memorable side quests in the game, and it is required as part of the ultimate weapons side quest. (I'll go over it when the time gets closer.) I head out and give it a shot right away! I manage to dodge a few here and there, but I don't ever build up a decent number. I head to a nearby lightning tower (where it's safe to stop) and save up my game...To wrap up this post!
Oh dear me, that turned into a whopper of a post. As usual, I didn't mean for it to get quite this long, but it builds up pretty fast from very little play. I spend half of my playtime making notes just so I don't forget what happened later. Unfortunately, I still forget some of the things that happen! I'm trying my best though, and I do catch most of the details. Anyways, it's a loong post with lots of stuff. I've had the material ready for three or four days now, but I've finally got it together. I hope you enjoyed what you read here, and as always, thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more Final Fantasy X Theater...Coming soon!
Ending Point - Thunder Plains - South.
Current Party -
- Tidus
- Rikku
- Lulu
Next Goals - Make it through the Thunder Plains and head for Macalania Temple.
~May the Crystals Guide Me~
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