Game - Final Fantasy X, Day 73
Hours Played/Hours Total - 14-1/2 hrs / 54 hrs
Starting Point - Calm Lands.
Current Goal - Get to Zanarkand. Figure out an alternate way to defeat Sin.
What Happened - Well, it seems I'm reaching the final-ish portion of the game. There's only a few more areas left, and then I'm basically at the end. However, this is also gearing up to be the longest portion since I can start working on a lot of side quests at this point. I'm going to aim to complete at least ONE Ultimate Weapon, but who knows...I might get frustrated before then and quit! It is quite likely with these side quests in mind, but we shall see how it goes. ONWARD...TO THE GAMEPLAY!
The first thing I did was locate another side area known as the arena. The arena is a place where you can fight monsters at your leisure for items and such. The catch to it all? Is just that. You have to literally go out and catch the monsters for the guy because he lost them all. He asked me to catch everything I could in the Calm Lands first, so I started with that. I spent quite a bit of time on this though because there are two or three monsters that are rare encounters or only show up in certain spots. After catching for a while, I decided to stop near the middle of the Calm Lands at a pit stop of sorts.
Upon my arrival, the group breaks up for a bit and relaxes at the stop. (As much as you can in a monster-ridden plains?) When they do, a man walks up to them and greets them. Lulu identifies him as Father Zuke and seems to know him. He warns the group that they are being blamed for murdering Maester Kinoc. They are wanted now and should probably avoid temples if possible. Bevelle is currently in a pretty big uproar with Yevon problems. He (Father Zuke) doesn't plan to stop us and heads off. When asked why he came out here, he said he wanted to deliver the message to us and see the Summoner that Lulu was with. He heads off and the group continues being among themselves. Lulu explains that she has actually been on three different pilgrimages, and that Father Zuke was the second of those. It seems that everybody up until Yuna had quit when they reached the Calm Lands. Wakka adds in that he was one of Zuke's guardians as well, but he was relieved when Zuke quit. Around that time, Wakka was trying to be a serious Blitzball player. I talked with everybody else at that point, but nobody really had anything relevant to add, so I continued with the game.
Kimahri says that Mount Gagazet is our next stop, and that it is the homeland of the Ronso tribe. I was about tired of catching monsters and was almost ready to move on, but then I managed to find the last couple of monsters! Among the last and most rare ones was the infamous Malboro. That battle almost didn't end well. His Bad Breath ability, like in previous games, throws almost all of the status effects at you, and this wasn't a good deal. Poison deals a lot of damage in this title. (I haven't actually looked into it, but it seems almost like 1/4th of your total health!) On top of that, it had quite a bit of health. With just a little bit of luck, I managed to finish off the deadly Malboro and catch it for the arena. I'm not looking forward to catching more though...Anyways, I was just about ready to head for Mount Gagazet, but then I got myself off track with another side quest.
This side quest is fairly important though, and it's a huge requirement for completing Ultimate Weapons. A while back, I picked up the Cloudy Mirror. This is a key item necessary in the super weapon process, but it's not complete as is. With the Cloudy Mirror in hand, I backtracked a small ways and made my way into Macalania Woods. Once there, I had to do a roundabout quest of talking to a small family. First I had to find the dad, and he wasn't in the actual woods, but I didn't realize this until later on. I wasted quite a bit of time walking around and searching for him. I was rewarded later on with more arena gifts, so I looked past the time wasted. After finding the dad, I had to look for the kid. The kid had ventured off into an upper location next to a strange glowing area. As it turns out though, he led me to right where I needed to go. I was able to use the Cloudy Mirror here and turn it into the Celestial Mirror! The family meets up and walks off, and that's the last of them. With the Celestial Mirror in hand, I'm ready to get some Ultimate Weapons started!
I'll go over this briefly and get it out of the way. I have already explained it before, but I'll go into the details a little more this time. Each character has an Ultimate Weapon that has a special significant name and origin (Nirvana, Masamune, Onion Knight, etc). You can only open the chests with the weapons if you have the Celestial Mirror. When you receive the Ultimate Weapon, it only comes with the "No AP" ability. This means the initial weapon is completely worthless. However, each weapon comes with a related Crest and Sigil to upgrade it. Each character has a specific set of Sigil/Crest that are named after planets and such. (Sun Crest/Sigil, Moon Crest/Sigil, Mars, etc.) The biggest annoyance of the entire process is getting the Sigils. The Crests are just found as you adventure through the game. Of course, you might miss some and have to go back. (BACK TO THE SIGILS.) The Sigils are unlocked through various tasks, side quests, and mini-games. I'll talk about these when I get around to them in the next post, but let me just say...It's a handful. Back to the post!
With that small task completed, I made my way back to the Calm Lands. While there, I was able to obtain my first Ultimate Weapon, the Caladbolg, (Tidus's) but I don't have the Crest or Sigil for it (Sun). I spent a little more time in the Calm Lands and then made my way to the north (I think) to head on with the game. We were just reaching the foot of Mt Gagazet when a couple of Guados get in our way. They came before us and said that Maester Seymour has summoned us. Yuna says no to that, and the rest of the group reinforces that statement. The Guados simply state that she isn't needed back alive and walk away. As they do, a massive stone golem thing comes charging up towards us for BOSS BATTLE TIME!
There wasn't anything special about this boss battle, but it wasn't a cake walk either. The giant monster we fought this time is actually a large machina...I think. It looks like a large stone golem of sorts, but it also has gears and cogs on its appearance. Anyways, it's a fairly tough boss with a decent defense and magical defense. Lucky for me, Auron's Armor Break works, but that really only enables me to cut a little harder. The boss comes with only a couple different attacks, but they are pretty strong. I had to cast Protect on everybody taking part in the battle if I wanted them to remotely last long. Even Auron (having the most health at this point) was liable to lose nearly 3000+ health on most attacks! The golem, called Defender X, also has an annoying counter attack called Blaster Punch. That just does half of your current health in damage. Fun, fun. Once you round it down to under half its HP, it casts Mighty Guard on itself (Shell and Protect). This does delay the battle a bit, but that's all it really does. I mean...it's almost dead now, so all it really does is extend the time a bit. Regardless, I beat that jerk and was able to move right along.
Before moving into the mountains though, I noticed a path going below the nearby bridge into Mt Gagazet. I took it down and beneath to explore that area first. There isn't a whole lot down there unfortunately, but I did get a few things out of it. Off to one side, I found a random Rusty Sword just sitting there, so I took it of course. (It's needed for Auron's Ultimate Weapon.) In the other direction is a large and mysterious cave, I tried to enter inside but was interrupted by Lulu. She recognized the place and said something about the first Summoner she traveled with. Apparently, the summoner died there in that cave... The group moves right along to head inside, but I didn't because I wasn't ready for it yet. With this little area fully explored for now, I made my way back to the main path and into Mt Gagazet!
The group starts to move on, but Yuna stays behind briefly. Tidus looks upon her and realizes something. He thinks she is saying goodbye to all of these places since she will never be coming back. Sad times...Tidus really wants to think of another solution, but for now, we continue up the mountain. I climb only a small ways up when I am met by the Ronsos, including Maester Kelk Ronso. As soon as we approach, he tells us to turn around and leave right now. Mt Gagazet is a sacred mountain of Yevon and is Ronso land. He says that the mountain will not bear the steps of infidels. The Ronso known as Biran (one of the two that were bothering Kimarhi so much) steps forward and says that enemies of Yevon are enemies of the Ronso, and he tells us to leave. Yuna tells them all that she has cast aside the Temple and won't be following Yevon anymore. Kelk says that she will die by those words. Yuna responds "so be it!" and claims that the teachings have been warped. They betray all of them now, and the group agrees with her. Their besmirching of Yevon angers the Ronsos there, and they step forward. Kimahri jumps in front of the group though and doesn't let them get closer.
At this point, Lulu points out to Kelk that he also left Bevelle behind during all this uproar. Auron says that he is guarding Gagazet as a Ronso and not a maester. (Quite a bit happened, so I am paraphrasing quite a bit.) Yenke steps forward (the second Ronso who was bother Kimahri) and tells Kelk to let them deal with the traitors. They won't let us escape! Yuna says that she has no plans to run, and she will fight and continue onward. Kelk is surprised to hear that she is willing to fight Sin despite being branded a traitor. She is lost to the temple and hated by her people, yet she continues her pilgrimage! Kelk says that everything is lost to her and asks what she fights for at this point. Yuna answers that she fights for Spira. The people are longing for a calm, and she wants to bring that to them. It's all she can possibly do. If she can defeat Sin and end the pain, she will do it. Kelk is surprised to hear that she would willingly sacrifice herself even under the circumstances. He tells the Ronsos to let us pass and says to Yuna that her will is stronger than any steel. Mt. Gagazet welcomes her, and Yuna thanks him for this. With his blessing, it is time to head on up the mountain! Of course, we aren't getting up that easily.
However, the only one with the problem at this point is Kimahri! As I try to head up, Biran and Yenke get in the way again. They say that everybody can pass EXCEPT Kimahri. They say that Kimahri has shamed his brothers and forgotten his birth. He has forgotten his people and his mountain. The mountain is for the strong, and Kimahri must prove his strength! Biran claims that Kimahri will never forget who took his horn and beat him. (Biran did that...just clarifying.) Yenke joins in and says that Kimahri will never beat Biran. Kimahri steps forward and claims that he will win. Tidus tries to join with him, but Kimahri stops him and says that this is his fight. So, it's BOSS BATTLE TIME! KIMAHRI EDITION!
For this round, I'm only allowed to use Kimahri, and I have to fight off both Yenke and Biran. When the battle starts off, it's really not that challenging. Yenke and Biran aren't super strong, but they do have an annoying "Bulldoze" attack. It's mostly just a lengthy attack and causes them to switch sides on Kimahri, so they are constantly going in front of and behind Kimahri. One nice little bonus of this battle is that you can Lancet new Ronso Rages off the duo. I already have several of them, but I gained a few new ones through the battle.
After wasting a couple rounds, it was time to get down to business! Since I could see both of their total HP (Sense ability), I saw that Yenke was weaker, so I focused on him first. Unfortunately, I built Kimahri kinda poorly by heading down Lulu's path. I wanted to get him Black Magic, but now he doesn't have very good health or offense. Once Yenke went down, Biran cast Berserk on himself, and that's when the battle became very unfun. With Biran berserked, he was able to do around 1,000 damage per hit! Kimahri only had a little over 2,000 HP, so I had to keep healing him to keep him going. This was especially crappy because the High Potions only heal 1,000, and the X-Potion is the only step up. Meaning I had to waste several X-Potions to keep myself from dying. So it took a couple of turns, but I managed to take down Biran as well. And to Kimahri...goes the victory!
With the battle finished, they turn to the mountain and give a little speech. (Biran does the speaking part actually.) He says that he honors Kimahri's name and allows them to pass. The two Ronsos promise to stop anybody from pursuing them up the mountain. Yuna thanks them for this and is very grateful to them. They say that the Ronsos will protect from behind while Kimahri protects from the front. The Ronsos seem to think quite highly of Yuna at this point, and they say that they will honor her well and shiner her statue the brightest. Yuna doesn't believe she'll get a statue like the others, but the Ronsos say that they will make one for her with a grand horn on her head. Ha-HA! Let's continue on up the mountain now. We don't get too far before we're interrupted by the Ronso duo once again. Thankfully, it's just for a small parting gesture. The two of them begin to sing the Hymn of the Fayth. From there, more and more Ronsos join in to sing it. And thus we are finally allowed to climb up the mountain.
The path up the mountain is fairly straightforward from here. There aren't too many branching pathways, and I really only head off to get an item here and there. As I continue up the mountain path, I pass along several strange stone monuments. Lulu explains that these are monuments (graves) that belong to Summoners and Guardians who failed at this point. That kinda sucks considering the end of the journey is basically at the top of the mountain. A bad side effect of their failure is that they all tend to remain unsent since nobody is around to send them. So...we get a whole pile of fiends, courtesy of dead Summoners and Guardians! It's a pretty long trip up the mountain, and it doesn't help having all the constant battles. I catch more than enough fiends for the Arena though. As we reach a high point, Rikku turns around and talks to Tidus briefly. She says that Zanarkand is really soon, and they're both clueless on what to do to save Yuna.
As they wrap up the brief conversation, who should appear but everybody's favorite villain, Seymour! Rikku runs off to get the rest of the group. (They all kept on walking while leaving the two behind.) The group runs back up quickly though, and Seymour tells Tidus that he, the son of Jecht, will be dying quite soon. As the group comes back in, ready for battle, Seymour lets Kimahri know that the Ronsos fought quite well...as he annihilated basically all of them below. He claims that he has released them all from pain by killing them. He goes on to explain that his plan is basically the same idea. He will heal Spira by destroying it, and he plans to accomplish this by becoming Sin! (With Yuna's help, because no other summoner can accomplish this for him for some reason.) He tells Tidus that his father will be free from his position when Seymour takes the role of Sin. (Nobody really says anything right here...but wait for it!) Seymour backs off the nearby cliff and merges with a monstrous being, so it seems like we are in for yet another BOSS BATTLE TIME! SEYMOUR EDITION!
So...this is the third time we've fought Seymour. As far as it is concerned, this battle is almost identical to the previous one. The biggest change is he has combined with a large thing that is different from the previous one. I can't really explain it, but it has arms with hands and a pair of swords. This big stupid jerk comes with a kinda lame combo attack that he likes to do pretty often during the first half of the fight. He strikes with a spear attack that causes Zombie, and then he follows that up with the Full Life spell to aim for an instant kill. This means I either have to waste my time curing Zombie or revive people that have recently died. Aeons are useless too because he can just Banish them from the battle. Despite that, you can get in at least one attack ,and I took off a good chunk of his health with Bahamut's Mega Flare. After that though, it was just down to my people (didn't feel like wasting more Aeons).
He has several powerful attacks and spells at his disposal. The worst of these attacks were Cross Cleave and Final Annihilation (not 100% sure if that's the right name but close enough). Cross Cleave is a group wide physical strike where he pulls out a pair of massive swords and attacks everybody. This move alone makes the Protect spell a necessity in this battle. As far as Final Fantasy X is concerned, both the Protect and Shell spells have been made incredibly useful again. It's been a couple of titles since they've been overly useful. In FFX, each spell HALVES the damage of what they are supposed to! This means that they are insanely useful and sometimes an absolute necessity depending on the boss/enemy. In this boss's case, they are a complete necessity. Cross Cleave alone can easily deal around 2,000 damage if you don't have Protect up, so it seems like a big necessity. Cross Cleave isn't even the worst here! There's another attack...Final Annihilation.
The name kinda gives it away, but it's basically his super kill-all ultimate attack. He takes a few turns to charge it up, and when he does, it unleashes death upon everybody! Rather than one big attack, it's more like a flurry of multiple hits that do small bits of damage. However, it hits each character like six to eight times (guessing) for a fair amount of damage. This move makes Protect and Shell a requirement because without those, the characters will most likely die. The only scenario that they won't die without the protective spells involves a lot more level up time than I have put in. Honestly, he nearly killed off my team with Final Annihilation, and I was fully prepared for it! He only got that move off one time though. Following that, I got my team fully Haste-d and started laying down the pain. Thanks to the guide tips (Shell and Protect in preparation), I was able to beat him with little trouble outside of a few hiccups. With Seymour's third defeat, he fades away once again. Maybe he'll stay gone this time? I doubt it, but we shall see.
The group recuperates from the battle and is ready to move right along. However, Yuna has finally realized something. Apparently she is remembering what Seymour said (before we blew him away again) and starts asking Auron for answers. He's trying to play "dodge the question" again though, but she isn't going to let him get out of this one. Finally, Tidus speaks up and answers her. He reveals that Sin...is Jecht. He talks about how he could just sense Jecht when he was nearby Sin. The group is kinda confused by it all, and in the end, they find it most surprising that Tidus is willing to kill his father. (Personally, I don't get their surprise at this. From the very beginning, he's always been super bitter about him and says he HATES him.) The big reveal finally wraps up, and the group pushed on and upward.
However, we don't get too far before seeing a really weird sight. A little ways further up the mountain reveals a massive, shimmering wall of people. They're all melted into the wall. The game even did a little cutscene to make sure I got a creepily detailed version of the wall. Of course, it's quickly explained what's really going on here. Somebody mentions that it's a big grouping of fayth and that they are all currently in use. They can't possibly imagine who could be capable of using all those fayth at once though. Tidus reaches out and touches the wall...and initiates a dream sequence.
Tidus wakes up and finds himself back at old/his Zanarkand. He goes inside a nearby ship and finds the strange little kid who has appeared throughout. It was revealed earlier that he was a fayth, and he was the fayth at the Bevelle temple! Tidus starts talking with the kid, and when the kid asks, Tidus does feel he recognizes him somehow. The fayth (going to just stick with this term from here on) confirms for Tidus that the place he is in right now is his home, Zanarkand. As they are talking, Tidus starts seeing visions of his friends all about him, and they appear to be trying to wake him up. He realizes now that this is all a dream, but the fayth just laughs at this. He then drops the biggest and weirdest bomb of the game. Tidus isn't dreaming here...He IS the dream! (It sounds weird, but it is explained of course.)
The fayth goes on to explain how this is even remotely a plot device. Long ago, there was a war between Zanarkand and Bevelle. Unfortunately, Zanarkand's summoners were no match for Bevelle's machina. (Yuuuuuup, Bevelle were the ones with all the machina business.) Zanarkand was losing and doomed to fall. Thus the fayth organized an effort to try and save Zanarkand...if only in memory. The remaining summoners and survivors of the war became fayth for a massive summoning. Tidus asks if he means Sin, but the fayth answers no to that. What they were summoning...was Zanarkand. They used their dreams to summon the memories of the city, and Zanarkand became a city that never sleeps. They summoned everything, from people to the buildings. Basically, the people that live and breath in this summoned city are simply dreams of the sleeping fayth. They are all dreams, and if the fayth stop dreaming, then...everything stops. Tidus says that he likes being there even if he is just a dream. The fayth says that they have been dreaming for such a long time, and they are growing very tired. He asks Tidus if he and his father would let them all rest now. Because they have been touched by Sin, they have become something more than dreams. Maybe Tidus can be the one dream that ends all the dreaming for them. And then..Tidus is woken up.
I'm back on the mountain, and the group is all about Tidus and asks if he is okay. He says he was just dreaming, but they managed to wake him up. He's okay now, and we continue on up the mountain. The next area to go through is a large cave at the top. Not much going up here, there's a few small puzzles, but they aren't anything to go crazy about. However, I do reach a point of water where the party can't fully proceed. They leave it up to Tidus, Wakka, and Rikku to deal with these brief areas. The water areas are full of fish fiends, but I didn't have any real trouble with them. At the end of the first watered down area, I find the first trial that I must complete. It's...all about timing. Two rings are spinning around a glowing orb at different angles. I have to time throwing Wakka's blitzball through the rings so that I hit the glowing orb. It takes several tries, but I manage to pull that off. Completing this puzzle opens up a new path. I backtrack a small ways and head down the new path.
The new path points me towards another area of water. In that area of water, (as you probably guessed) there's another puzzle. Of course, this is less of a puzzle and more of a "hit three buttons". The buttons are various sizes and have to be hit by a specific person, but the answer is obvious considering the size of our three swimmers. The puzzle drops a treasure chest, and I claim it with haste! I swim back out of the water and continue down the final path to find...a dead end. There's treasure to be had, but it's still a dead end. I had to end up backtracking and looking around a bit. Thankfully, I had just missed a small, alternate side path and quickly resumed my journey.
As we are nearing the exit, Auron mentions that "She is sending fiends to test us." Of course, Yuna responds with a "She?", and he quickly replies with the name Yunalesca. This brings up some questions because (just reminding) Lady Yunalesca is known as the first summoner to ever defeat Sin. Of course, that was quite some time ago. Auron says that she's waiting for the strongest to arrive in Zanarkand. Someone asks if she is still alive, and Auron says she's as alive as Mika or Seymour at this point. (Dead but unsent.) That's all they say for now, and I head outside of the cave for BOSS BATTLE TIME!
We come face-to-face with a rather large best that I feel resembles Omega Weapon from FF6. Before going anywhere with this battle, I use Grand Summon to bring in Bahamut. (I figure I've said it before but going to restate it regardless. Grand Summon brings an Aeon in with full Overdrive.) With Bahamut in play, I immediately throw out a Mega Flare! Bahamut's pretty wicked in this alone because I dealt 20,000 damage with JUST that! The worst part of it is the boss in question only has around 40,000 HP total. With half of his health gone, there's really not much left to tell of this battle. I kept after the big guy, and he didn't have anything really special to hold me at bay. With his defeat, it seems we are just about to the top of Mt Gagazet. Rikku wants to rest for a minute, but Auron says we are close to the top and should just continue on. The rest of the group heads up, and Rikku talks with Tidus next. She just wanted more time to think up some way to save Yuna. The two of them are clueless though, and there's not a lot they can do at this point. She heads on up.
As we climb a bit further up, Tidus and Wakka start to really contemplate and realize where they are now. The both of them are a bit nervous of what is ahead and such. Auron chimes in during this and says that they are just like he was when he got up here. Back then, he thought he had his mind made up, but his convictions started to waver. He knew Braska would summon the Final Aeon to fight Sin...and then die. He wasn't sure what to think at that point, but he did continue onward. As we round the peak, we finally get our first view of current Zanarkand, and let's just say...the cutscene isn't pretty. It shows the group looking over the very dead ruins of Zanarkand. All forms of dilapidated and broken down buildings are skewered throughout the area. Tidus is acknowledging it all and realizes it is the end of Yuna's journey. However, he also feels that this is his last chapter, but he doesn't know what to say at this point.
Rikku runs up to Yuna and tells her no! If she goes down to Zanarkand, it's going to be the end for her. Yuna thanks Rikku for being a good friend and all, but Yuna has already made up her mind. She's prepared for this for her whole life. She thanks Rikku again and continues on up the mountain. As she's walking away though, she drops a small sphere. Everybody continues around the mountain, but Tidus stops to examine the sphere. (It's a video one like all of Jecht's.) The sphere is a message she made earlier on for everybody in the group. She's giving her last message and thanking them all for what they've done for her. It's a loong scene of her thanking each and every one separately. (Except Rikku...it was made earlier on when we were going on Mi'ihen Road, so Rikku wasn't around then.)
The first person she thanks is Sir Auron. She is very glad that he was there to help and guide her along her path. She heads on to thank and talk about Kimahri next. She describes their very first meeting as well. It seems that Sir Auron had instructed him to take her away from Bevelle and to Besaid. She was quite sad at that time because she realized her father was truly gone for good. She thanks Wakka and Lulu for being with her all the time when they were young. They were like her brother and sister and took care of her. She finishes up the message with talking about Tidus. The way she goes about it is basically saying that she really likes Tidus, but she doesn't ever say it directly. The recording ends kinda abruptly because Tidus was approaching her (on Mi'ihen Road) at that point. That's all she wrote. We continue down the path and finally come to the opening scene that plays at the menu and when you first start.
The group is on the border of the Zanarkand Ruins, and they are taking a final rest before we head in. All of the story up to this point is supposed to be Tidus telling the story. (I think...) He is finishing the story, and the group decides that it is time to move out. So...we move out! It's a fairly long and twisting path to reach the inner sanctum of Zanarkand. I fight quite a few fiends as I head in, but there's really nothing troublesome among them. I do fight a Behemoth here, but he's not that hard to beat in comparison to his previous brothers (in the previous FF titles). As we come to the end of the path, it has lead us to a very large dome, the Zanarkand Blitzball dome! An old man comes out and greets us (he's a spirit or whatevas). He talks to Yuna briefly and tells her that Lady Yunalesca is waiting to meet her inside. As we enter the dome, there are spirits/ghosts all about here! Auron explains that the area is just a swarm of pyreflies, and this dome is basically a giant sphere of memories.
I continue through the ruins of the Blitzball dome and get to fight off several hordes of undead soldiers and monks. (I guess they are supposed to be spirits or something, but they have the Zombie status on them and inflict it on you.) As we continue along, we see a couple different memories play out. The most notable memory that comes along is a strange memory of young Seymour and his mother. Seymour is crying and says something about not wanting his mother to become a fayth. (Suspiiiiicious.) A little ways past that, we run into the ghost version of Team Braska. They run past us, and both Auron and Jecht tell Braska that he doesn't have to do this. Of course, Braska has already made up his mind. I reach a building and head inside of there. In there, we see another memory of Team Braska. Jecht asks Braska if there are more trials to complete ahead. Braska says there probably will be, and Jecht is annoyed. He figures there would be celebrations and such, but Braska replies that there will be when they beat Sin. Ghost Team Braska heads inside, and I follow quickly after them and right into...the Zanarkand Cloister of Trials!
The trials in this place weren't too hard, and they were made even easier with the use of a guide! (I'm so close to beating it that it doesn't really matter at this point. I just want to beat this game and move oooon.) It's really not a hard puzzle to perform. You have to light up shapes on a field, and the shapes you light up have to match the ones needed on the screen. Basically, it's a trial-and-error puzzle at worst. If you light up the wrong ones, you just have to start all over. With the guide's help though, I easily light up all the necessary images and open the path to...BOSS BATTLE TIME!
I'm presented with yet another battle with a twist! The fiend in question only has a small selection of attacks at its disposal, but the special thing going on here is that I can move around him during the battle. There are six emblems all around him, and I'm able to move each character to wherever I want. This is necessary to keep the party up and going. For one thing, he has a group wide counterattack that would hit all three people if they were next to each other. For the second part, one of his three attacks is a trap of sorts. He turns three of the emblems/glyphs/whatever into bombs. They go off in a couple of turns, so you have to move your people off of them. In the fun spirit of game, the bombs are set to "auto-kill" and simply kill whoever is on them. His third attack is just a slash attack with his tail that has a chance to Berserk who it hits. Overall, he's not a very hard boss, but you do have to move around a little bit.
With that monster beaten, it's time for Yuna to get the Final Aeon. She gets on the elevator (appears after solving the trials) and heads down to obtain it. However, I then get a random line thrown at me from ghost Jecht. He says something about there not being a Final Aeon here! (It says that Jecht says it, but it's a black screen and kinda confusing if you ask me.) Yuna comes back up and has us follow her back down. We go down there, and the massive stone of the Final Aeon...is kinda dead. The stone isn't glowing anymore, and the group turns to Auron. They ask why he didn't tell them about it, but he replies that the knowledge of such wouldn't have changed their minds anyways. The Final Aeon used to be Lord Zaon, but his spirit was destroyed at some point. The fayth statue has been lifeless for some time. The random ghost priest (who greeted us at the entrance) tells us that Yunalesca will give us the details and allow Yuna to obtain the Final Aeon. We head into the next room and finally get to directly meet Yunalesca.
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| Lady Yunalesca, in all her borderline nude glory! |
Auron is trying to get Braska to turn back now. Braska asks him who would defeat Sin if he didn't. He knows that another summoner and guardian would do it instead. Auron believes there has to be another way somehow though, but Jecht intersects this conversation and adds his bit. Jecht figures this is their only option right now, and he asks Braska to make him the fayth. His dream is back in his Zanarkand, and he doesn't have any way to go back now. He wanted to make his son a start blitzball player so he could see the view from the top. However, he knows he can't go back and will never see his son again. his dream will never come true. Thus, he wants to be the fayth for the Final Aeon. He'll be able to fight Sin with Braska and maybe give some meaning to his life. Auron then begs Jecht not to do it. Maybe there's another way if they all think about it, but Jecht, much like Braska, has made up his mind. Jecht says that he is old now and might as well make a use of himself. The two are about to head on in the memory, and Jecht tells Auron to protect Braska when he goes to fight Sin. As the two are leaving the chamber, Auron gets in his final word for this. He says that Sin always comes back after a Calm, and that the cycle will simply continue. Their deaths will mean nothing. Braska thinks that any chance of Sin not coming back is worth the sacrifice. Jecht says that he understands how Auron feels and will try to find a way to break the cycle. As the two head on, Auron (current day) slashes at the image of his ghostly self in anger...because the cycle just kept going.
Finally, the little memory is finished, and Tidus jumps in to say that they'll break the cycle! Wakka asks how and if he even has a plan. Tidus figures that there has to be a way they can do it. Wakka and Lulu both volunteer to become the fayth, but Tidus says that their sacrifice won't matter because nothing will change! The cycle will simply continue unless it is broken somehow. The two confront Tidus about this of course. Wakka says that Tidus wants to defeat Sin, keep Yuna alive, AND doesn't want Sin coming back. That's just not going to happen. Lulu says he can't have everything, or he'll end up with absolutely nothing. Wakka says that he's acting like a child. Tidus comes to say that he gives up! What would an adult do here? Sit back and let summoners die so that they can live? He might not have a chance, but he won't let Yuna go and sacrifice herself. He believes what Auron said about their being another way is true.
Rikku asks him if he has come up with a plan. Tidus figures he can ask Yunalesca about it. Rikku is skeptical that she'll help, but there isn't any way of knowing if they don't try. Tidus says that it is his story, and it'll either go the way he wants it or end it all right here. Yuna speaks up and says that this is her story too. It'd be easy for her to give up and let fate carry her away, but she can't just give up here. She knows what she is going to do, and she will do it without any regrets. For now though, we're going to go ask Yunalesca. Yunalesca asks if Yuna has chosen the Guardian to be her fayth. Yuna asks her if Sin will come back regardless of the use of the Final Summoning to beat it.
Yunalesca answers her by saying that Sin is eternal. Every Aeon that defeats it becomes Sin in its place, and thus Sin is reborn. So that explains how Jecht became Sin. She adds on that Sin is an inevitable piece of Spira's destiny and is neverending. Wakka steps in and asks if Sin would stop coming when they atone for their crimes. Yunalesca responds by asking if humanity could ever possibly attain such purity. Lulu jumps in after that and can't believe what she is hearing! Basically, the teachings are a big pile of lies. They state that Sin can be exorcised with completely atonement, and that has been their only hope! Yunalesca replies by saying that hope is a comforting force that allows acceptance despite all of the tragedy around.
At this time, we get another fun littler interjection from ghost Auron. He runs into the room and starts yelling at Yunalesca. He asked her where the sense was in all of it. Braska believed in the teachings and died for them! Jecht believed in Braska and gave his life! Yunalesca (past version) says that they chose to die because they had hope. Ghost Auron charges at Yunalesca to attack her, but she simply flings him back. He's thrown clear across the area and onto the ground. The ghostly images fade away, and Yunalesca starts talking again.
She says that Yevon's teachings and the Final Summoning give Spira hope. Without that hope, the people would drown. She asks Yuna once again who will become her fayth. Yuna answers by saying that no one will! She would have gladly sacrificed herself for the people, but the Final Summoning is a false tradition that should be thrown away. Yunalesca tells her that it is their only hope. Braska sacrificed to give the people hope and in that they might forget their sorrow. Yuna says she is wrong! Her father wanted Spira's sorrow to go away, not be covered up with lies. Yunalesca claims that sorrow can't be abolished and trying to do so is meaningless. Yuna comes in with a final big speech here...To paraphrase it best, she will be strong, defeat sorrow, and will someday conquer said sorrow without false hope. Yunalesca goes off into a Seymour-esque speech and claims that she will free them from their sorrow by killing them. It seems as though the gloves are about to come off/go on/whatever works here. Auron throws out a final round of encouraging words and such. He tells them that it is now time to choose. They can die and be free of pain or live and fight their sorrow! The time has come to shape their stories, and fate is in their hands. Now that everybody has gotten their speeches in, it's time to fight! BOSS BATTLE TIME!
This is a fairly long and very annoying boss battle. First of all, it's split into three different forms. As you beat one form, Yunalesca immediately morphs into the next one. The first form is just a fairly normal-looking Yunalesca. This is the easiest form to deal with, and she really doesn't have anything special going on here. It's mostly just minor annoyances. She counters any form of an attack with an appropriate status effect. (IE Blind on physical strikes, Silence on magic attacks, Sleep on special ones...like Rikku items) Aside from the counter statuses, she really only strikes out with a minor physical attack and will drain people for health here and there. As she was reaching the end, I summoned up Bahamut to finish off the first form. Maybe not the best tactical decision, but I was ready to move on. With her first form out of the way, she jumps right into a second form which is larger and very strange-ish looking. (Not quite sure how to describe it honestly.)
The biggest addition with this form is the addition of her most annoying ability, Hellbiter. It's a group-wide attack that causes the Zombie status to everybody. With Zombie in place, she starts lashing out with Cure spells and Regen. (You probably know, but Zombie status makes you take damage from both of those.) Of course, if you cure the Zombie status, there's a small chance she'll use the spells on a cured character for your benefit! I knew what was kinda coming next, so I couldn't cure all of the Zombie-d characters. Also, it'd be a waste of time to constantly cure them because you'd waste time doing it and just have to repeat it soon enough. (She uses Hellbiter quite a bit.) I managed a Grand Summon with Yuna and brought in Shiva. (Forgot to say it, but Bahamut was tossed out with a single attack like all the major bosses do.) I blasted Yunalesca with Diamond Dust for massive damage! With Yunalesca 2.0 defeated, she began to evolve into her third form.
Her third form is even bigger than the last, and it reveals that she was standing atop a massive head that looks like a large Medusa head with Yunalesca riding on the top. For the sake of fun, the first thing Yunalesca 3.0 does is cast Mega Death on the party. This move will kill anybody who isn't Zombie-fied. (I don't know if the Death protections would be effective here cause I didn't have them.) Thus the reason to not cure everybody before making it this far. Alongside Mega Death, which she tends to do randomly at whim, she also gains a new attack called Mind Blast. Mind Blast is fairly strong and comes with a chance to confuse everybody. The biggest balance of this battle is keeping your Zombie'd party members alive, but not taking the Zombie off on account of Mega Death. Despite her large amount of HP and silly tactics, I managed to bring down Yunalesca entirely! (I will admit that I did get a Game Over on my first attempt. I didn't go through the bother of typing it like that because it would have made this part too long.)
With her defeat, Yunalesca has taken back her normal form again, but it seems like she is going to finally pass on. With her death, she claims that Spira will lose the Final Aeon and all of its hope as well. Tidus says that they'll find a new hope! Yunalesca is convinced there is no other way. Even if there was, Yu Yevon the immortal would just create Sin anew. Tidus is the only way to say "YU YEVON!?!" But that goes unanswered as she finally passes from this world. Her final words are a climatic ending with her apologizing to Zaon for letting Spira's light be robbed. (Something like that...) With that, Yunalesca fades away into nothingness.
Yuna is all of a sudden very surprised at what they did, but Tidus figures that they are going to top that very soon. He wants to go and defeat Sin without the Final Aeon, and with that action, hopefully it shouldn't come back again. They aren't quite sure how they'll defeat Sin, but they will figure something out. The group starts to slowly walk out of Yunalesca's chambers, but Auron stops Tidus briefly to talk. He tells Tidus that there is something he needs to know. As soon as he says that, Tidus seems to have already figured something out and asks if it is about him. Auron admits to Tidus that he is an unsent but sees that he isn't surprised by this new knowledge. (It's kinda surprising, but it makes sense if you consider all the past stuff.) Tidus says that he already knew and asks if it was Yunalesca who did it. Auron just goes on to say that he couldn't accept Jecht's and Braska's death. He came back to Yunalesca to try and avenge them. However, when he did come back, Yunalesca struck him down. From there, he somehow managed to make his way down the mountain, but he couldn't quite make it to Bevelle. He found Kimahri there and told him about Yuna right before he died. Ever since then, he has simply been wandering about and never going to the Farplane.
Tidus wants to feel bad for Auron, but Auron tells him not to. He says that being dead has some advantages. One of those was being able to ride Sin and go to Tidus's Zanarkand. From there, he was able to watch over Tidus. Of course, Tidus asks why he has watched him of all people. Auron responds that it's difficult to explain and will simply show him instead. Through magical dead powers, Auron shows us a small scene through his eyes. We see Jecht talking with Auron, and he's asking Auron for a final favor. He wants him to take care of his son in Zanarkand. Auron just asks how he's even supposed to GET to Jecht's Zanarkand. Jecht just laughs at that question and says that Auron himself already covered that. There has to be a way to get there, and he'll find it. (He told Jecht this earlier on.) Auron promises to do this and will guard him with his life. Jecht thanks him for it, and the memory ends.
The two of them rejoin the group, and we begin the trek back outside. When we finally make it out of the Blitzball arena, we find that Sin is waiting there for us. Tidus somehow communicates with it and tells him that he'll think of a way and to give them more time. As Sin starts to turn to leave, the Airship flies in to pick up the group. Next thing I know, we are on board the ship and trying to think of some ideas. Auron thinks the key to it all lies in that Sin is Jecht. Tidus's bond with Jecht might be what they need to stop it. Auron says we should all think about it and wait. Yuna comes onto the bridge and approaches Cid. They have a small and strange moment, but then she walks back out. She leaves, and I'm left to my own devices.
I'm allowed to explore the ship right now, but I can't leave it yet or anything. Looking about, I quickly locate Yuna with Kimahri in an upper area. Yuna still can't think of anything and apologizes. Kimahri says that she shouldn't apologize because that's just running. The three of them talk briefly about their next action, and Kimahri suggests we talk with Maester Mika. He would be the one with the greatest amount of knowledge, and maybe we can force some answers out of him. So it seems our next destination is Bevelle! I head back to the bridge and find the rest of the group has already figured something up. Wakka, Rikku, and Lulu seem to have come up with a small idea. They figure we can use the Hymn of the Fayth to momentarily disable Sin. They know that Jecht likes the hymn and was listening to it (as Sin) in Macalania. He was incredibly docile at that point, and they figure that using the hymn will calm him down enough that they can enact some further plans. It's not much, but that's about all we have to work with.
With all that said and done, I'm finally rolling into the final portion of the game. From here on, I can teleport to and from the airship via save points. Sadly enough though, I don't directly control the airship in FFX. I'm allowed to pick a location to travel to from a map and simply quick travel there. It's fast and easy, but it also feels kinda lame that I don't get to directly fly the thing. However, there are a few other interesting features to access on the Airship travel system. (Not what it's called, but I am going to call it that regardless!) You can enter Passwords into the system, and these unlock a few secret and extra locations where you can obtain a few nice items. There are only three passwords to obtain in the game, and they can simply be looked up. Trying to actually figure them out will take too long, and I don't really care to do that. Another neat option is the ability to look around the map and open up new points to travel to! Through this, you are able to access several locations old and new. (Once again...I used a guide.) I opened up several new locations of travel and then...I saved and quit.
Dear lord, this post has been waaaay too long in the making. I should have had it up several days ago, but I have nothing to blame except myself. I could have worked a little more fervently and had this out there. The biggest problem was wanting to type on this rather than playing a fun game OR playing more of FFX. I do kid, but I'm growing quite tired of FFX. Like pretty much all of the previous titles, the closer I get to the finish, the less I like it near the end. There's lots of side quests and extra battles to be fought, but I kind of just want to finish the game and be done with it. In FFX's case, I've opted to do several side quests and hopefully have a super-ultimate team ready for the final boss! This means I'll be spending at LEAST ten more hours trying to do extra shit, but it'll come with some nice rewards. The last post will probably be fairly lengthy, but it'll also be the last post for FFX! I'm aiming to finish this before the year ends, and I'm really coming down to the wire. Wish me luck! I'd like to thank anybody who took the time to read, and I hope you look forward to the final post for Final Fantasy X! Next time, on Recurring Fantasy, The Final Battle With Sin! Will we stop the cycle? Or will Sin ravage us with his... ferocity?
Ending Point - The Airship.
Current Party -
- Tidus
- Wakka
- Rikku
Next Goals - Complete a ton of Side Quests. Obtain and fully upgrade at least ONE Ultimate Weapon. Defeat Sin and save Spira!
~May the Crystals Guide Me~
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