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[Let's Play] Final Fantasy 'II' - What DOES Spoony Mean? (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
Owenashi
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Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II'
In 1990, Square (later known as Squaresoft and now as Square-Enix) decided to jump on the Super-NES (or Super Famicom in Japan) boat with other third-party developers via it's Final Fantasy franchise. Originally planning to wait till Final Fantasy 5 to do so, Square changed their minds and used Final Fantasy 4 to kick off the SNES years. This choice would end up starting a tradition to give every generation of home consoles (NES, SNES, Playstation, and Playstation-2) a trio of FF-games from the main series before moving on to the next new kid on the block. Japanese gamers were given their first taste of 16-bit FF-goodness with FF4's release on July 19, 1991 thanks to the efforts of the FF-dream team; director Hironobu Sakaguchi, artist/designer Yoshitaka Amano, and composer Nobuo Uematsu. The result of their work was a game that held a story deeper then most games of the time with equally engrossing characters. A game which ended up selling 1.5 million copies.
We won't be playing that game. Not exactly.
The original Final Fantasy had been released in Japan in 1987. However, American gamers didn't have a chance to try the game until 1990. In between that time, FF2 and FF3 had been released in Japan for the NES. Concidering that the 'future is now' with the SNES' release in 1990, Nintendo and Square were relcutant to say the least to spend money translating two games that might not sell due to us gamers having tossed their NES consoles already to the back of their closets. Also, Nintendo didn't wanna admit to their customers that they basically screwed them out of two games. Luckily, the Internet and the crowds of nosy busybodies it'd attract were all still toddlers then, drooling over it's teething rings and dreaming of the day it'd be able to inform, spoil and nerdrage in their 56K-dialup big boy pants.
Final Fantasy 4 thus came out to the US as Final Fantasy II, with no one the wiser that besides some of the natural edits that came with translating Japanese text to English text in those days, we were given a game slightly neutered when it came to certain subplots, some inherent and now missing character abilities, merged and missing items and also anything Nintendo felt was too adult or too Christian-offending. The altered game didn't bother US gamers however as it got solid reviews and high praise. It took Square releasing Final Fantasy VII on a non-Nintendo system years later more or less for the general gaming public to get wise on how much we exactly missed. Still, during these days of proper multiple ports of the NES and SNES Final Fantasy games, there's still those of us who enjoy (and dump over, sadly) the original US release of FF4.
Now, before we get started, I'd like to lay out a few things first for the LP.
1) This is pretty much my first proper LP here. So I will probably make quite a few mistakes. In that regard, please feel free to tell me how bad I'm screwing up either in gameplay or presentation. Feedback of any kind is welcome here. Just try to keep the insults about my intelligence down to one per post.
2) I love Final Fantasy but I'm not the sort of fan who knows every facet of it 100%. So while I will point out stuff from this game and how it connects to other FF-titles, there may be a probability that I'll goof up with the facts. So if I say something wrong like Chocobo feathers are flavescent yellow when they're actually chartreuse, you're more then welcome to correct me.
3) I know the game's certainly passed the need for spoiler-protection but I'd still like to ask that those who wanna say stuff about the plot still use the spoiler-box for it. There may be some that haven't had a chance to see this particular version of Final Fantasy 4 before or perhaps not played it at all. I'll be using the box myself to place updates in as well as plot-talk. I'll be labeling both so you know what's what.
4) I don't mind too much if discussion in the thread gets sidetracked to other titles for a few posts but G&T does have it's own Final Fantasy topic so it'll be best to save some of the more heated discussions not related to the LP like 'Cloud vs Lightning' and '50 reasons I like/don't like Marche' to there. I'll try to do the same.
Right! If anyone's still with me after all that text, let's get to the game.
Table Of Chapters (and links):
Chapter 1 - Next post after this one!
Chapter 2 - Here!
Chapter 3 - Here!
Chapter 4 - Here!
Chapter 5 - Here!
Chapter 6 - Here!
Chapter 7 - Here!
Chapter 8 - Here!
Chapter 9/iBard 1 - Here!
Chapter 10 - Here!
In 1990, Square (later known as Squaresoft and now as Square-Enix) decided to jump on the Super-NES (or Super Famicom in Japan) boat with other third-party developers via it's Final Fantasy franchise. Originally planning to wait till Final Fantasy 5 to do so, Square changed their minds and used Final Fantasy 4 to kick off the SNES years. This choice would end up starting a tradition to give every generation of home consoles (NES, SNES, Playstation, and Playstation-2) a trio of FF-games from the main series before moving on to the next new kid on the block. Japanese gamers were given their first taste of 16-bit FF-goodness with FF4's release on July 19, 1991 thanks to the efforts of the FF-dream team; director Hironobu Sakaguchi, artist/designer Yoshitaka Amano, and composer Nobuo Uematsu. The result of their work was a game that held a story deeper then most games of the time with equally engrossing characters. A game which ended up selling 1.5 million copies.
We won't be playing that game. Not exactly.
The original Final Fantasy had been released in Japan in 1987. However, American gamers didn't have a chance to try the game until 1990. In between that time, FF2 and FF3 had been released in Japan for the NES. Concidering that the 'future is now' with the SNES' release in 1990, Nintendo and Square were relcutant to say the least to spend money translating two games that might not sell due to us gamers having tossed their NES consoles already to the back of their closets. Also, Nintendo didn't wanna admit to their customers that they basically screwed them out of two games. Luckily, the Internet and the crowds of nosy busybodies it'd attract were all still toddlers then, drooling over it's teething rings and dreaming of the day it'd be able to inform, spoil and nerdrage in their 56K-dialup big boy pants.
Final Fantasy 4 thus came out to the US as Final Fantasy II, with no one the wiser that besides some of the natural edits that came with translating Japanese text to English text in those days, we were given a game slightly neutered when it came to certain subplots, some inherent and now missing character abilities, merged and missing items and also anything Nintendo felt was too adult or too Christian-offending. The altered game didn't bother US gamers however as it got solid reviews and high praise. It took Square releasing Final Fantasy VII on a non-Nintendo system years later more or less for the general gaming public to get wise on how much we exactly missed. Still, during these days of proper multiple ports of the NES and SNES Final Fantasy games, there's still those of us who enjoy (and dump over, sadly) the original US release of FF4.
Now, before we get started, I'd like to lay out a few things first for the LP.
1) This is pretty much my first proper LP here. So I will probably make quite a few mistakes. In that regard, please feel free to tell me how bad I'm screwing up either in gameplay or presentation. Feedback of any kind is welcome here. Just try to keep the insults about my intelligence down to one per post.
2) I love Final Fantasy but I'm not the sort of fan who knows every facet of it 100%. So while I will point out stuff from this game and how it connects to other FF-titles, there may be a probability that I'll goof up with the facts. So if I say something wrong like Chocobo feathers are flavescent yellow when they're actually chartreuse, you're more then welcome to correct me.
3) I know the game's certainly passed the need for spoiler-protection but I'd still like to ask that those who wanna say stuff about the plot still use the spoiler-box for it. There may be some that haven't had a chance to see this particular version of Final Fantasy 4 before or perhaps not played it at all. I'll be using the box myself to place updates in as well as plot-talk. I'll be labeling both so you know what's what.
4) I don't mind too much if discussion in the thread gets sidetracked to other titles for a few posts but G&T does have it's own Final Fantasy topic so it'll be best to save some of the more heated discussions not related to the LP like 'Cloud vs Lightning' and '50 reasons I like/don't like Marche' to there. I'll try to do the same.
Right! If anyone's still with me after all that text, let's get to the game.
Table Of Chapters (and links):
Chapter 1 - Next post after this one!
Chapter 2 - Here!
Chapter 3 - Here!
Chapter 4 - Here!
Chapter 5 - Here!
Chapter 6 - Here!
Chapter 7 - Here!
Chapter 8 - Here!
Chapter 9/iBard 1 - Here!
Chapter 10 - Here!
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Final Fantasy 'II' - Chapter 1: The Most Well-Armored Delivery Boy On The Planet
Contrary to popular belief, punching in the Konami Code here won't unlock the Japanese version of the game.
The game opens up with a shot of one of FF's staples; airships. These belong to the kingdom of Baron and their air-force, the Red Wings.
Not everyone's into the whole matching uniform motif though.
Our man in blue is FFII's main hero, Cecil Harvey, leader of the Red Wings and Baron's unique Dark Knight. By today's standards, the Dark Knight job in Final Fantasy means a hardcore warrior willing to hurt himself to activate special dark powers against his enemies. By the time this chapter ends, you might think that Cecil follows the 'hurt himself' part at times all too well..
Cecil: Stupid regulations. I should be able to eat my 5-Gold Footlong whenever I want!
(Unimportant NPC) Crew: Do we really have to keep doing this?
The complaints of his clone-crew send Cecil right into a yellow-tinted flashback..
..dragging us along for our viewing pleasure.
Cecil: Done? Have you seen the way you painted this room?
Cecil: Wedgies, all around!
The Red Wings perform their underwear-torturing task...
...to body-disintegrating results.
One bra-snapping moment soon leaves the Elder to face alone a gruesome fate; a bald-headed swirly.
The Elder wisely gives in to avoid a toilet-water bath.
Cecil tosses the yet-unnamed Water Crystal of Mysidia into his invisible backpack and leaves.
But not before receiving a guilt-trip to go.
Back on the ship, a Crew finally voices his thoughts loud enough to break through Cecil's flashback, knowing his commander will never be able to tell who it came from.
Cecil: I know you're all nameless cannon-fodder but why didn't speak up earlier?!
Cecil: Possessing the crystal is an essential factor for our prosperity. Moreover, His Majesty judged that Mysidians know too much about the secret of the crystal. We are the Red Wings, the air force of the Kingdom Baron! The Royal Command is absolute.
(Many-times copied sprite) Crew: Captain!
Fortunately for Cecil, any further complaints are shut down by the appearance of cutscene-interrupting monsters.
Cecil: Man the cannons! Turn to firing positions! Wet and roll towels for close-quarters combat!
The screen goes fuzzy...
...dumping Cecil and us into our first fight. It's all on auto for now though as it's simply meant to show us how pretty it looks on the SNES.
Cecil's pyromania also shows off the new 16-bit special effects.
A break in the fight shows the general 'Tell my daughter I loved her!' unconscious/dead pose used by quite a few NPCs during the game.
'More' means one really, which Cecil takes care of much like the pair before. Both fights are ended pretty quck with items you won't be seeing used for the rest of the game.
Cecil: What's happening to this world? Are the sins of it's people rising up to seek karmic retribution? Are we as a nation doing more harm then good in our search for the crystals? Killing innocents for the sake of peace is a contradiction, a step towards evil! Is this why I took up the Dark Sword? Is this why I trained for so long? Sweat, tears and blood, all for His Majesty! The sacrifices. Why? Why did I have to baptize my sword with my cat's guts?! Was peeing on the King's throne that one time truly a great offense?! Oh Mr. Fluffy, do you curse me from kitty-hell now?!?!
Crew ...
Cecil: ...
Crew ...
Cecil: ...
Crew ...what?
Cecil: Oh crap, did I say that out loud?
Cecil: Whew, that was close..
Down on the ground and at the front gate of the castle, Cecil runs into the King's captain of the guards, Baigan.
Who turns out to be a bit of a prick.
Baigan Gotta sni-er, introduce your presence to the King first.
Cecil: Er, ok...hmmm...one tile, two tiles, three tiles four...
Inside the King's throne room, Baigan fails the tattletale test right away by telling on Cecil to the King.
Baigan: Your Majesty! I'm afraid Cecil has developed quite a rebelious air.
King: Truly!? Well done, Baigan! We must do something. Call him in!
Cecil: Here, My Liege.
One text-involved transfer later, the King tells Cecil to hit the bricks while he and Baigan are wiping their chins dry of obviously-not villainous drool over the Water Crystal.
Cecil makes it to the door...
...before he decides to commit a huge mistake.
Namely, questioning your medieval-like royal boss.
Cecil: And the needless killing. And the arson. And don't get me started on telling their kids the truth about Santa Claus!
King (Jerk): If you cannot trust me, I can no longer place the Red Wings in your command. You are dismissed from your post!
The loss of his favorite airship-peanuts is something Cecil can't afford to lose.
So Cecil's gone from a general of the skies to Mr. UPS. Probably the only thing that can make it worse...
...is getting a friend dragged into it.
This is Kain Highwind, Dragon Knight or Dragoon as it tends to be called in the Final Fantasy series. The Highwind surname will probably be familiar to those who've played FF7. Most likely Kain's last name and class were used as inspiration for a certain character there but we'll go more into that when we meet the guy who donates the character's first name here. The main thing to remember about Kain right now is that he's Cecil's best pal.
Though he's going to probably regret that in a second.
Yep.
Most likely chucked upside Cecil's head thanks to his Royal Sourpuss. With that, the duo are bum-rushed out by the guards.
Cecil: First hooking you up with that 'girl' at the bar last week and now this..!
Kain(?): Walk in all directions using the Control Pad and talk to every person you meet using the A-Button. You must be careful not to miss what they say. An unexpected person may give you information.
With that fourth-wall breaking hint on chatting up everyone in sight for useful/less information, Kain exits stage-right. And I suppose I can do the same for now.
Next time: A (hopefully-image-light) tour through Baron Castle and two more important members of our game's cast.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
adj spoonier, spooniest
foolishly or stupidly amorous
n pl spoonies
a fool or silly person, esp one in love
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
Heh, I'll do my best. Anyway, Chapter 1's up (above)!
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
I'm looking for the name of that slow, sad piano track from FFII, something like into the cave or into the dark or something. I believe it's in the Mist Cave even? one of those dark mysterious Uematsu gems I can't remember the name of. It's very slow and somber.
Is it this one?
Into The Darkness
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
No prob.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
Blog||Tumblr|Steam|Twitter|FFXIV|Twitch|YouTube|Podcast|PSN|XBL|DarkZero
Steam: YOU FACE JARAXXUS| Twitch.tv: CainLoveless
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVtRC7d9LUs
Great 1st chapter by the way.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Oh, and I'm gonna tweak the two obviously not-in-game pictures in Chapter 1 as I feel they're not really giving you the proper look at Cecil's and Kain's armors.
Final Fantasy 'II' - Chapter 2: Bouncing About Baron (Castle)
Last time (on this same page for those who don't remember), we met Cecil Harvey, the Dark Knight of the Kingdom of Baron. Speaking to the King about Baron's method of securing magic Crystals via the true and tried ways of the Vikings got him demoted down to the job of mailman, sent to deliver a 'Package' to a place called Mist. Well, at least we don't have to leave right away, so let's get exploring!
Trying to see if the King's cooled off is a no-go as one of the guards that tossed you out is now blocking the door. Not even the 'let me get that spider on your back with my sword' trick will get him out of the way.
So we'll go follow where Kain went and see if he's really, really, REALLY not mad at us for being forced to tag along with us on the delivery.
Cecil: Defend, poking people through the chest, the occasional spanking, but DEFANTALLY no robbing!
Assured that he and Kain are still BFFs, Cecil can chat with this guy here to know which way to actually go with the Package.
Heading to the opposite end of the hallway allows us to check the King's approval rating. Seems like he might have to kiss a few babies.
Heading to the main hall of the castle allows you to check Baron's magic classes in the basement. Talking to some of the mages-in-training here gives you a chance to see some of the old school spell-names such as Fire-1, Ice-1 and Cure-1 being tossed about.
The main hall also gives players their first chance to check out 'secret' treasure rooms and wall-switches. If you think the switch is barely noticeable here, think about trying to see it on TVs back then.
Going up the stairs on the right presents us with A) loot-blocking guards.
And C) tower-blocking guards. Ah well, let's hit the left side of the castle.
Cecil: Doo-do-doodoo. Ignoring the non-clone. Walking along.
Cecil: Uh-oh..
Cecil: The girlfriend.
The scantily-clad gal who's caught up to Cecil is Rosa Farrell, his girlfriend as he mentally identified. Class-wise, she doubles up by being both a White Mage and an Archer. She also leads an aerobics class on the weekends.
Hearing Cecil's words of overwhelming victory promises a visit from her later on. We can only hope cookies will be involved.
We've just left our Beauty behind..
...only to run into a Beast. Though 'redneck' tends to spring more to mind in this case.
Our hairy friend here is Cid "I'm apparently not pretty enough for CGI" Pollendina, the engineering genius behind Baron's Red Wings. Cid happens to be another Final Fantasy tradition, appearing in almost every title that happens to bear the FF-title. In fact, while the first Cid didn't appear until the real FF2, Square-Enix has retconned a Cid into remakes of the first game. As for this Cid, it may not be surprising at all that his rough (for 16-bit) personality along with Kain's last name and abilities merged...
...and served as ample inspiration for what could be said as Final Fantasy's most memorable (but much less beardy) Cid, Cid Highwind from FF7. Such a cool guy. Right up there with Vincent. Ahhh, such memories....wait, where were we?
Oh yeah, Cid finding out about Cecil's demotion.
Kinda late on the ball there, Cid. Oh well, he's certainly not going to take what's happened ly-
Uhhh..
Nevermind then.
Two more places on our tour before turning in. First up is the castle's dungeon, currently full of (actually three) mages from Mysidia.
The second is the Red Wings' quarters.
Poor lads. The stress has reduced some to the minds of kindergartners.
Well, time to turn in. Poor Cecil's so beat, he forgets to tip the maid..
...and just flops into bed. Good thing that armor's got some padding inside.
No proper sleep for the 'why-me'-hearted though.
Cecil: Did we really have to snatch it from the peace loving people? Never again! Even if ordered!
Not five seconds after Cecil closes his eyes, we get that visit promised by Rosa.
Cecil: Certainlly no upsetting visions or bloodcurdling cries of death still ringing my ears. Welp, good-night!
Cecil: Crap.
Cecil: The look on the baby's face when we took that lollipop. The horror...the horror...
Rosa of course knows the right words to say to her disturbed boyfriend.
Rosa: The real Cecil wouldn't whine. Wouldn't hide stuff.
Cecil: Rosa..
Rosa: Wouldn't forget to call me while he's out.
Cecil: Uhhh...huh?
Rosa: Wouldn't forget to bring anything from his trips. Not even a Mysidian Meadow-Lily. You know how much I like them!
Cecil: I was busy!
Rosa: Kain? The same Kain who's always tripping over his own spear whenever he passes by me?
Cecil: It's late. Go back to your room.
And fade to black. Seriously.
The next morning...
Kain: Outside the Castle is the city of Baron. Let's gather information and equipment in the city.
Cue kickass exiting music!
Bring up the slow-moving exposition!
Crawling Text: And he and Dragoon Kain left Baron for the Village Mist in a valley enclosed in deep fog. Airships had been a dream of many people. After the realization of the dream, came greed and ambition. Through its fleet of airships, Baron became the most powerful nation.
Come on..
Finally!
And we're finally free, both out of the Castle and this chapter. Huzzah!
Next time: A quick (9.9) look at Baron-Town and our first steps into battle inside the Misty Valley. Make sure to bring your asthma inhalers and favorite choice of caffeine!
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
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Since this is a Let's Play, and FFII/IV actually let you rename all characters, can we come up with replacements for the party members?
Steam: TheArcadeBear
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
I'll be keeping the names as is, thought you can count on seeing how the game lets you rename characters in the next chapter!
Yeah, I think I remember it. It was like that because they also stuffed I think a partial strategy guide in it. In fact, I borrowed from the library a SNES guide made by Prima that among a few other games had a FF-'II' half-guide that started where the manual stopped. 5 bonus points for anyone who can find the cover for it!
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
Final Fantasy 'II' - Chapter 3: Don't Get Pissed. We're Getting To Mist
Last time, I used this very same picture to end the last chapter. This showed both Cecil and Kain having finally left Baron Castle to make a special delivery to the northern village of Mist while killing any monsters along the way.
So, forgoing any pizza-delivery jokes, we'll walk to the left or immediate right to take some time to visit the town-version of Baron as suggested by Kain.
As the guard in front of the door said, the building right in front of the town's entrance is the Training Room, perfect for those who like to skim past the pages of the instruction manual rather then study it's contents. Memorize the button mappings. Stick it close to your nose and inhale that new manual smell for a few seconds.
What?
By the way, the Training Room's where we first find Namingway. This yellow-hatted bunny lets you change any party member's name. He ends up being incapable of doing so in the DS-port thanks to the addition of voice-acting but manages to stick around via a game-spanning side-quest that centers around trying to find something new to do after the loss of his original job.
The next building to visit is the Item Shop, highlighted by a picture of a vase over the door. The advice given by the 'customer' inside is quite wise indeed as those who can't use healing magic like Cecil and Kain certainly need items to make up for it.
Some of the items shown in Baron's shopping list however tend to go by different names in properly translated FFs.
Cure1 = Potion - Restores HP
Life = Phoenix Down - Brings a dead party member to life
Heal = Remedy (not seen until Final Fantasy VI) - Cures all status ailments.
Ether1 = Ether - Restores MP
One thing to note is that rather then Heal, FF4 (like other FFs) had items that cured individual status problems. With the game's item-carrying limitations though and to probably keep things simple for us Americans, FF-II had all of them condensed into Heal.
There's thankfully no real need to buy items at this point of the game since you can take part of the grand old RPG tradition of checking pots, corners and everywhere else for hidden goodies. There's enough around town (plus what you scored in Baron Castle's available treasure room) to deal with the game's first dungeon.
You certainly won't be spending money on weapons and armor as the shop that sells both is shut up tight.
A visit to Baron's inn/bar has free (non-existent) booze, free (real) treasure, ads for dancers and girls worried about your morals. Inns in FF-games let you rest up to full health for a price while items known as Tents let you mostly heal up on the world map.
There's a few more stops in Baron-town before we can exit. First up is Cid's place, where we get an earful of what he does off-work from his daughter. I suspect his 'quarreling' with the naysayers involve a broken bottle jabbed at someone's eye near the end.
Cid: Zzz..happier...then RuPaul...at Mardi Gras...Zzz..
Leaving Cid, confused over his mumbling about apologies and starving pygmy kids in Silvera, we check out a specially-dressed lady at the north end of town...
...who shows off the act she plans to bring to the Inn. The version in the DS-port is a dance that's a bit...er, different.
This different if you're curious.
Our last stop in town is a visit to Rosa's mother, who happens to have caught wise to the latest gossip going around.
Note: Cecil is seen rushing out of the house before the 'wedding-aisle' exception could be tacked on.
Cecil: Whew, almost didn't see those bridal magazines on the table..
Cecil: Not that I don't want to marry Rosa. I just can't afford to thanks to what's going on right now.
Cecil: But between her and Cid and you, I think I might be able to turn all of this around. I'm so glad I can depend on your help with this mission.
Cecil: Together as the knights of Baron, nothing can stop us, Kain.
Cecil: ...Kain?
Baron Dancer: Um, sure, I can do my act for you. But what's with me wearing the blonde wig and pink bikini?
After a fast run back to Baron by Cecil and a quick push of the dancer into the lake by Kain, the two properly step out toward the Misty Valley. On our way there, we get into a fight which is a perfect time to explain them.
First off, Final Fantasy IV was the first FF game to use the Active Time Battle system or ATB for short. Basically, invisible bars of time fill out for everyone in the fight. Once the bars fill up completely for a character or enemy, they're able to act. Once the action's been done, the bar empties and starts refilling again. The time it takes for the bar to fill out depends on the Agility/speed stat attached to the character/enemy. Think I've used the word 'fill' enough? Such a fun word.
Kain's battle-menu pops up first. 'Fight' is a basic attack by your character with his/her equipped weapon. 'Item' lets you access all the items you've got during a fight, mainly the healing ones. While not seen normally, pressing right on the battle-menu offers up the ability to defend or 'Parry' as it's called in FF-II. This let's you take less damage for that turn if you're hit.
'Jump' is Kain's special ability. It allows him to leap up in the air for a short time and drop down on an enemy for more damage then a regular hit. The attack also gives the bonus of making Kain immune to attacks while he's in the air.
While Kain gets into leaping position, we see Cecil's battle-menu show up. You'll see that it's a little empty compared to Kain's. That's thanks to his special ability being yanked out in the 'II'-Translation. Cecil used to have a move called Darkness/Dark Wave, letting him give up a little of his own HP to toss out a wave of energy from his sword, hitting all enemies for some good damage.
Considering the fact that 'II' is meant to be a little easier, you'd think they'd keep the move in. It's possible the ability was taken out due to it possibly making battles too easy or it's allusion to being powered by evil. I can't help thinking that maybe someone big over at Nintendo insisted it be taken out for some other unknown, perhaps petty reason.
One can only guess who it was though.
By the way, after every random fight, there's a small chance the enemy will drop an item or two for you to take. Notice that the Package is in the same inventory screen with your other items. In future FFs, story-related items or Key Items as they're usually called will be placed into it's own separate inventory for orderliness' sake.
After an mostly fight-free trip up north, we finally enter the Misty Valley. Except it's called the Misty Cave as we enter. The first dungeon of FF-II is very brief, being just one foggy floor filled with enemies and a few items.
As our armored duo poke their weapons ahead to feel their way through the mist, let's take a brief (and post-extending) look at the Main Menu. Our options here are:
Item = Let's you check and use items in your inventory.
Magic = Let's you check your magic and use any that aren't battle-only.
Equip = Let's you put on and take off armor and weapons.
Status = Let's you check out a character's stats.
Form = Let's you switch a character's spot for another character's/open-slot for fights.
Change = Let's you switch the party's fighting position from 3 characters up front and 2 in the back to the opposite and back again.
Custom = Let's you tweak a few game settings.
Save = Let's you save your game but only on the world map and one other place.
Let's you...er, I mean here we pay a quick visit to the Equip screen for one final bit of gameplay tutelage (for this chapter anyway). The black part is where the inventory screen would show up once you pick an item your character is wearing so you can switch it for something else. The three numbers running from top to bottom represent attack power, defense and magic defense. As you can see, Cecil's doing alright with the first two but not so hot with the third. Kain sports similar stats wearing non-evil Iron armor and holding a regular Spear.
Stumbling through the cave, Cecil and Kain run across those who believe strongly in prosecuting trespassers. Half of them can be seen here, the Imp and the Swordrat. Imps are in fact a wrongly named enemy called the Goblin, with the mistranslation starting with the American port of FF1.
The other half of the population are Larvas and Sandmoths. Neither present much threat at all.
What IS threatening is a mysterious voice whispering sweet nothings to Cecil and Kain at two different locations throughout the cave.
Realizing that the two knights aren't exactly paying much attention, the voice tries a more direct approach for the third time.
Which in turn gets a direct response from Kain.
At this point, you're given an actual choice to press on or wuss out for the moment for healing's sake.
Cecil: Neither snow, nor rain, nor Fire-1 will keep me from my appointed rounds!
Needless to say, the mysterious voice has little patience for those who use the Postal Service motto for LP-jokes.
Say hello to the Mist Dragon or D.Mist as it's called in FF-II. This boss' tactics will end being copied & pasted for the first bosses of FF5, 6, and 7. In it's regular state, it just takes shots at either Cecil or Kain. No problem, right?
It's when we see this warning that things get tricky.
Cecil: Huh? It just melted.
Kain: Pffft. It's still there. Which means I can still stick it.
Cecil: Hold on, Kain, wait!
Yep, attacking it while it's at rest gets you a shot of painful freezing mist in both Cecil's and Kain's faces. So the way to go at D.Mist is to attack it when it's normal and defend while it's resting to wait for the shift back to it's regular state. I've found that the most efficient way to attack during it's normal period is to have Kain Jump twice and Cecil attack during those two aerial attacks. By the time Kain's dropped down on it's head for the second time, the boss should be seconds away from changing.
It should only take a few minutes of that and a couple of rest phases from the boss to see it poof away permanently.
Cecil: Uhhh, Kain? Where did he go now?
Kain: Up here! On the ceiling!
Cecil: What? How did you..?
Kain: My spear got stuck in the rock! Look, just shut up and help me down. And this time don't use your sword!
Ahhh. Sweet, sweet fresh air. Our heroes exit the 'Valley' and are just a few steps to the right from Mist.
So now's the perfect time to take a break!
Next time: Things go from humid to hot with a 80% chance of landslide
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Final Fantasy 'II' - Chapter 4: (Insert 'The Roof Is On Fire' Joke Here)
And for those who thought I was kidding at the end of the last chapter with how close they were to the town from the dungeon-exit, see the picture above.
All you need is a 'Ye Olde' added to the front of that label and we got the start of some tourist-trapping here.
Cecil: We're finally here.
Kain: Great. Now who do we give the box to?
Cecil: Not sure. His Majesty only put 'Happy Birthday, Mist' on the label.
Kain: Well THAT'S helpful. Look, let's give it to the first person we see and get to th-
Cue quick flashes of light, the kind proven not to cause seizures until 1997.
Bomb #1: Free, free, we're finally FREE!
Bomb #2: Damn, thought we'd never get here!
Bomb #1: I know, right?!
Cecil: ...uhhh..
Bomb #3: Ha-ha, did you see the way I set that chick on fire? No more flammable flowers in hippie-hair for her!
Bomb #4: That's great and all but...
Bomb #2: Oh here we go again.
Bomb #4: What? We're supposed to be mindless monsters! Why is the guy writing this making us talk?
Bomb #1: Dammit, Gary, stop breaking the fourth wall!
Gary: It's true! This isn't even original. He stole this joke from the guy who wrote those Resident Evil LPs over at Something Awful!
Bomb #3: Son of a...if you just cost us a paycheck, Gary, I swear to Ifrit..!
Kain: Huh...I guess I owe you 10 Gold. There WAS something making noise in the Package.
Someone obviously hasn't been paying attention to the "King's off his nut!" comments floating around the castle and town.
Cecil's pondering ceases as his attention is quickly caught by the first coherent words coming out of someone not crying out for a fire extinguisher.
Yes, that's a little girl. Yes, that's her mom lying dead. Yes, that green helmet is actually hair.
Cecil: We defeated the dragon, so her mother is gone also.
Kain: Uhhh..
Little Girl: W-what?
Cecil: Oh crap, did I say that out loud?
Cecil: Just ask the talking Bombs that got popped out of our Package and...oh. Yeah..
Kain comes in with the exposition for Cecil and the one or two players who haven't pieced together what's happened yet.
Cecil: Plus, you know, she's RIGHT next to us, hearing this!
Cecil: Mysidia, Mist, Mr.Fluffy. No more!
Knight-fight! Kniiiight-fight!!
Awww.
Cecil: Then will you...
Kain: But Baron is the mightiest kingdom in the world. It's impossible for us to challenge his might alone. We must gather other countries.
Kain: Her cookies. Her sweet, sweet cookies..
Cecil: Huh?
Kain: What?
Cecil: What did you say?
Kain: Uh-oh. Think fast, Kain!
Kain: Yessss, subject masterfully changed!
Hmmm, the little girl doesn't want to go with her mother's/town's murderers. What a shock.
Kain's not willing to take any sass from kids though, showing once again why he hasn't been invited back to the annual Baron's Orphans Picnic after that disastrous turn of events in the three-legged race.
After a two second chase too short for proper theme music... such as thisor this...the girl turns around to throw a proper Mist tantrum.
Kain: Ok, hold it right there. Don't make me put you across my knee!
Cecil: Kain, wait! Don't do anything rash. Seeing what we did to her...
Kain: Yes, yes, but we don't have time to take it easy with her.
Cecil: I know, but still...wait. What's she doing?
Kain: Like I know. At least she stopped...
Kain: ...running. Uh-oh.
Cecil: Holy cheese-n-crackers, what the devil is that?!
Cecil: Hit the dirt!
Kain: The dirt's hitting US, you idiot! Argh!!
Final Fantasy Fact: Love may move mountains but almost-naked giants can cause catastrophic landslides.
Coming back into focus, we soon find Cecil and the girl lying in a completely unburnt meadow.
Cecil: Physically anyway. Probably not mentally and emotionally. Mother, village, favorite toys, all going up in smoke..
Cecil quickly remembers about his co-conspirator in attempted villagecide.
Cecil gives the passionate search for his best friend a couple of turns and shouts before we get this.
So, tossing the girl over his armored shoulder (mind the spikes now) to where all his items mysteriously vanish off-screen to, Cecil leaves and so do we!
Next time: Hot desert + interrupted sleep = pounding the sand for some needed grinding.
Kain: Oh! Finally got my head clear! I'm over here, Cecil!
Kain: ...Cecil?
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Final Fantasy 'II' - Chapter 5: I'm Just A Caller Girl In A Final Fantasy World
We're out on the world map once again and in control. With Mist and the route back to Baron blocked by a new slice of mountain-range, the only way out is up and through a big desert area.
Along with the Moths and Larvas previously seen inhabiting the area, we also have Sandpedes and Sand Men, AKA Sahagin, a recurring FF enemy right from the start of the series.
The rest-stop Cecil's looking for comes in the form of Kaipo, a town situated at an sizable oasis-lake.
You don't get far inside the town before cutscene-madness overcomes us once again.
One beeline to the Inn later, we get the one-time free use of the beds here by the innkeeper.
Cecil: Oh good, you're awake...
Cecil:...and ignoring me...
Cecil: Is it Alice? Lara? Mary-Sue? Damn, this was a lot easier when I first met Rosa.
Cecil: Come on. I'll throw in as many cherries as you want.
With no reply given, Cecil decides to rest his weary self and take advantage of the Inn's air-conditioning to cool his overheated armor.
(Soon to be named) Girl: Weenie-face.
Later, at night..
Officer: In here!
Innkeeper: Hey, what're you doing? It's the middle of the night!
Officer: Shut it, old man! We're on the trail of a dangerous threat to the kingdom of Baron. We have reason to believe she's here in the company of our Dark Knight. You're going to tell us where she is, now!
Innkeeper: Baron? This isn't Baron's territory! All I'm going to tell you is where the door is!
Officer: Private Gleason!
Soldier: Yessir!
Innkeeper: Hey, what..ow, ow, owowowowow! Let go! Let go of my underwear!! Ok, ok, they're in the next room!
Yeah, this'll help the Girl's trust issues with Cecil.
Cecil: I'm not going to hand over a little girl so you can kill her! Can't you see that His Majesty's lost his mind?
Officer: Hmph. His Majesty seemed perfectly sane when he lent us the use of your personal airship.
Soldier: Heh, heh, and the key to your personal snack-locker..
Cecil: You...TOUCHED my peanuts?
Soldier: Uhhh...
Cecil: MY PEANUTS?!
Soldier: Uh-oh.
Officer: It was Gleason!
(Soon to be dead) Gleason: What?!
Cecil: No one eats my 'nuts! Killing time!
While this doesn't look like it, this counts as a mini-boss fight. It's designated so by the use of this particular piece of music.
The Officer himself doesn't do much at all except tell his Soldiers to attack every so often, which they do but only on his command. Fortunately, the Soldiers aren't hard to beat down themselves. There's two ways to end the fight. The first involves taking down all the Soldiers.
However, doing that means the Officer will bail before you can lay the beating needed to take him down.
So to get the max gold and experience from the fight, you'll have to leave one of the Soldiers alive and hack up the Officer first. Once he drops, you can kill the last piece of cannon-fodder and claim a sweet reward.
After the fight, once the bodies are gone and the innkeeper's finished his rant about doing no more charity work for guys carrying unconscious little girls under their arms..
...we finally get text out of the Girl's non-existent mouth.
Finally, a name!
And so, we replace Cecil's missing brother-in-armor with a magical seven year-old girl. Rydia's addition allows us to finally bring some magic into the fight. She's also capable of using both sides of the magical-coin rather then being locked in as a Black or White Mage. Just one problem.
She's at Level 1, a sobering starting point considering Cecil and Kain both started at Lv10. Plus as a mage-type character, she can't wear bulky armor like those two. AND since she's Lv1, she hasn't learned any actual Black or White spells yet. Yes, I know she has a third category of magic but more on that later.
First, let's make a quick check of Kaipo before we head outside. NPCs, check.
Second Training Room with Namingway inside, check.
Free stuff, check.
Town dancer, check.
Open weapon/armor shops, check. For those wondering all this time why the battle-versions of the characters pop up by the side of the shop-list, it's used in these two types of shops. Just pick an item...
...and the character(s) who can wear/wield it will start hopping up and down to let you know they can use it. One problem with this system though is that there's no way to tell if the item they're happy about is actually better or worse then what they got on already. At any rate, Rydia's pretty much fine with what she has on.
Right, time for a little level-grindage. Cecil will probably be doing the fighting for most of the fights. If you do want to use Rydia though in these early fights, just pick Item..
..scroll upward to select her already-equipped Rod..
...pick a target and watch the fun. To this day, I still Rydia flinging ninja-stars out from the top of the Rod.
The time you spend leveling Rydia may vary but once she's got these spells, you're pretty much good to go when it comes to leaving Kaipo.
So, let's head back to the Inn via this obviously not-reused screenshot and rest. Sure something good will turn up for Cecil in the morning.
Crap.
Next time: White-water tubing through waterfalls and tentacle monsters with little girls and old men. BYOT.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
I almost always leveled Rydia to around 15 before heading to the Waterway.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Heh, it all depends on your frame of mind.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
If only the rest of the game followed suit with the whole Redemption theme, instead of jumping the [strike]shark[/strike] moon whale.
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Final Fantasy 'II' - Chapter 6: Passing Through The Watery Falls
With that, we make a run right to the one building we haven't seen or mentioned yet.
Ok, it's a girl who knows Cecil, but what are the odds...
Crap!
Rosa: ......Mmm...Cecil
Well, either she's in pain or she's having a dream not rated for kids under 18 like Rydia.
We need a jewel to cure a fever? What kind of medical school did you go to?!
Ok, the book clears your diagnosis. You're good...for now.
While Cecil's off checking on Rosa, Rydia's getting the latest dish from the townspeople. To save you bandwidth, the talk around town basically say:
A) The only ones allowed into the Antlion's place are the royal figures of Damcyan, who's castle is up north.
C) Said crotchety old man might be someone named Tellah, a guy who raised his only daughter, Anna, all by himself only for her to run off with her boyfriend when Tellah told her to break the relationship off.
So, to the north we go. And on the way, we run into the desert's rarest enemy, a Sandworm.
Cecil: Defend yourself, Rydia! I heard this thing's extremely dangerous!!
Rydia: O-ok!
Rydia: Can I lower my arms yet? I'm getting tiiirrrred...
Cecil: Well, I gue-wait, look out!
Cecil: ...
Rydia: ...is that it?
Um yes. Well, at any rate, heading northeast will soon get us to the entrance of our next dungeon.
Welcome to the Watery Pass, AKA the Underground Waterway. This jaunt will be a two-part run, with the section we entered the biggest part of the dungeon, sporting about three floors.
Almost right away, we meet up with our first set of new enemies, the Cavetoad (Gigantoad). They're not much to talk about right now other then being weak to Ice spells. Still, we use Cecil's sword and Rydia's Rod-attack to take care of them.
Further along, we also run into Evilshels (Fangshells) and a Waterbug (Amoeba). The Evilshels are also easy to beat down, especially if you toss some Lit spells their way.
The Waterbug however counters any loss of health with it's version of Remedy, invisibly restoring it's health. You need to pound it down quick with hard physical hits or a strong shot of Lit.
Otherwise it just runs away after several self-healings.
Reaching the west side of the first floor, Cecil soon comes across the Pass' first blockade. Well, hopefully he'll s-
Kweh?
Rydia: Huh? A bard?
Rydia: I think I heard about him!
Cecil: One second, Rydia. Let the old man finish.
Tellah: I am Tellah. I'm going to Damcyan to get my daughter who eloped. But a huge monster is blocking the way. My magic is not strong enough to defeat it. Your Dark Sword might help. And... this girl is a Caller!? She is quite gifted, I sense.
Cecil: We are also on our way to Damcyan.
Tellah: Good! Let us work together to get to Damcyan. Let's hurry!
Party member get!
Say hi to Tellah. He starts at a whopping Lv20, having more HP then Cecil and more MP then Rydia. Sage, father, Mr.Playgirl (19)09, he knows all and done all.
Now if he could REMEMBER all. Sadly, Tellah's memory has had better days. All the spells you see here is all he can recall. And speaking of recalling...
...Tellah happens to be another victim of the II-Translation. He used to have an ability known as Recall where he'd sit and think for a bit before letting loose with a Black or White spell. However, you can't tell what he'll use, so he could bring out something devastating to the enemies or something completely useless and MP-wasteful to the situation. It's up to you to decide if Recall being gone is a good thing or not.
This screenshot right here is a good indication of what walking around the Pass is like; using bridges, stairs and walks through the shallow water itself to get around. After doing this to go down three floors and back up to get out, one might get a little tired of it all.
This secret room on the first floor however spices things up nicely though.
This is probably the best item to find in this hidden space. Elixirs will completely restore one character's HP and MP, good to have in case of an emergency.
Walking through the water by the way brings us into contact with another Pass enemy, the Pike (Killer Fish). Another water-based creature, another easy kill thanks to Lit-1.
The second floor is much like the first, including having it's own special room.
Though not one sporting treasure.
Tellah plants himself on the sweet-spot (designated so by the big S in the circle) to explain a brand new gimmick to the FF-series: save points.
Tellah: We can use our Tent or Cabin and even Save. Let's rest now and be prepared for the coming battle in my Tent!
Rydia: Cecil?
Cecil: It's ok. I'm sure the tent's big enough for all of us to sleep on our backs.
Tellah: What what? What's that supposed to mean?!
One time-shift into 'nighttime' later shows no tent but rather the three sitting in an enlarged version of the save point around a fire.
Actually Tellah first said it when they all met. Let's not tell him that though, ok? Shhhh.
Tellah: She seems very gifted as a magic-user. With proper training, she will be able to wield the magic other then calling monsters. How sweet! Just like Anna's childhood.
Cecil: Anna is your...
Tellah: Only daughter. She ran away to Damcyan with a Bard, because I did not consent to their marriage.
Tellah: Damn long-haired hippie. In my day, girls went for respectable clean-cut mages who didn't need any fancy harp or lute to cast their magic! He's bewitched my Anna I tell you. Bewitched her with that soft lilting music of his!
Cecil: Ok...how old is she anyway? Because you seem pretty ol-er, well aged yourself and so..
Tellah: Eighteen.
Cecil: Eighteen? Wait, she's eighteen? Doesn't that mean...man, how old were you when you met her mother?!
Tellah brings out the 'too old to hear you properly' subject-change maneuver to avoid answering questions that really shouldn't be answered.
Tellah: So you need the SandRuby. So you, too, are in a hurry.
Cecil: What is the monster of this cavern?
Tellah: It's a horrifying monster with eight huge tentacles. We must defeat it first to save Anna and your friend.
We fade out to black on this scene with Tellah once more contemplating Anna's surely dire fate while she's in the grip of easy-listening string music.
So, quick refresher of save points before we go: save points in Final Fantasy are monster-free spots inside dungeons that allow you to heal up using your Tents/Cabins and/or save your game.
Everyone on the same page? Good! Onward!
Not far from the save point is a nice new weapon for our mages. Rather then 'ninja stars', an IceRod will cast a MP-free shot of Ice-1 at an enemy. We give Rydia this new toy and let Tellah have her old Rod since the Staff he had equipped simply casts Heal.
On our way back up to the surface, we run into Waterhags (plain old Sahagin) and the more annoying TinyMages. These little guys can be a royal pain due to their super-high magic defense...
...their ability to cast the same magic as Rydia and Tellah...
...and their vein-popping spell Psych (Osmose), which sucks away precious MP from our two mages just to top off their own magical gas-tanks.
This is how bad it can get after a fight with just two of them, with poor Rydia and Tellah stuck under the effects of the action-stopping Hold spell.
Prior to our next fight, I wanted to show you what I consider one of the more nicer things about the II-Translation: visible secret passages. While you can't see where you are in one, at least you know they're there and that some nice goodies will probably be on the other end.
Here's yet another new type of enemy, Zombies!
Cecil: Don't worry.
Cecil: I got..
Cecil: ..this?
Oooops. Cecil has one major drawback to his physical buttkicking prowess. As a Dark Knight, he's incapable of doing any serious damage to enemies that might share the same not-so-good magic that powers his sword. Namely the undead. Luckily, Tellah's got Fire-1, which plows through undead enemies quite well.
And now it's time for more FF-battle tutoring! Random fights with monsters can start out in more then just one way. Enemies can attack from the rear, causing those squishier characters in the back row to find themselves now taking full physical hits. The best way to cure that is to press left on the control pad once a character's battle-menu shows up to select 'Row' and have everyone switch positions.
The other way shows itself in this fight with a new enemy, the Mad Toad (Toadgre). 'Strike first!' is a good message since it means the battle starts with all of the characters having full ATB bars, thus everyone gets a free round of attacks on the enemy before their bars start filling. 'Surprised!' is not a good message however. That means the enemy gets the free round of attacks on Cecil and his friends. Bad message, bad!
Ta-da, our first upgrade for Cecil, the Darkness Sword (Shadow Blade)! This adds 10 extra points to his attack power.
Mind you, the sword itself isn't very dark or shadowy..
Here's our last new enemy we're gonna show off for this place (yes!), the Jelly (Red Mousse). Similar to the TinyMages, it's got a high defense abiet for physical attacks rather then magic. The Jelly's biggest weakness is shown off by it's color. With it red, fire make it dead.
Tellah pipes up once we reach the exit, reminding Cecil and you that this dungeon's a two-parter. Thankfully the second part's much shorter.
We bivouac here by the second-part's entrance to get back any missing HP and more importantly any MP loss during spell-tossing and theft-by-midget.
Welcome to the Waterfalls-section of the Pass. Doesn't seem like we can go too far, right?
If you were wondering about how bad other parts of Tellah's brain was due to age, here's a good clue.
Cecil: Down here? I dunno about this. I mean, I got armor on. Maybe we can find a way around.
Rydia: Come on, Cecil! Don't be a scaredy-cat!
Cecil: Hey hey hey, no pushing, no pushing!
Look at this while counting 5-10 seconds in your head before scrolling down. Pretty much the same in the game.
Tellah: Oh my, I didn't think it would be that far down. Is everyone alright?
Cecil: You tell me. Take a look at the rock-shaped dents tattooed all over my back-side!
Rydia: That was fun! Again, again!
It doesn't take long at all to find more Darkness (Hades) pieces around the two small floors of the Waterfalls. As you can see, they help out Cecil nicely. For some reason though, Square never bothered to put in a Darkness Shield, leaving the set incomplete.
Well, that's troublesome-looking. Folks, I think we're about to run into blockade #2.
Stepping up to the two 'serpents' gets us a too-little-too-late warning from Tellah..
..as we get promptly surrounded.
Cecil: Get ready!
Rydia: Waaaah! I'm too young to be in this kinda scene!
Our eight serpents turn out to be our second boss of the game, Octomamm (Octomammoth). His gimmick is that at full health, he gets a lot of turns smacking Cecil and his friends around before they can return the favor. Imagine each turn as a tentacle taking a swipe at us and you'll see where this fight's headed.
Attacks in this fight revolve around Tellah using Lit-1...
..Cecil using his new sword..
..and Rydia finally using her Call ability.
It's not definitely not a earthquake-causing giant though.
Chocobos are another of Final Fantasy's staples, starting way back in FF2. Their main use in the series is transportation, acting much like horses. They've seen action however as party members and mini-games as well as starring in a sub-series of FF-games meant to draw in the little kids.
The other most noticeable time for Chocobos as a summoned monster is in FF7 where they're the first summons attainable for the characters there. It's a bit different then FF4's though.
We return now to the boss fight already in progress. As can be seen, the more damage we pile on Octomamm, the more limbs it loses. The less tentacles it has, the slower it's ATB-bar fills and the less bops it tosses at us.
Tellah reminds us about that once Octomamm's down to just two squeezers.
It takes little time after that to drop it's HP to 0 and make this happy and visually-suggestive boss fade away.
Cecil: Ahh, cleansing water. If it could only work on the mind as well as the body.
Cecil: By the way Rydia, why didn't you bring out that monster you clobbered me and Kain with? Not that I wanted another ton of rock to drop on me but...
Rydia: Ummm, I can't bring him out. I dunno how.
Cecil: What? You only know how to call a bird?!
Yes, Titan's appearance a couple of chapters back was simply part of that oh-so-special cutscene-magic. Chocobo's the only monster Rydia can summon for the foreseeable future.
Cecil: Well, it doesn't matter. At least we're almost to Damcyan. Hold on, Rosa.
Tellah: I'm almost there, Anna. Don't say "I do" yet!
Rydia: Hey, what's that up there?
Tellah: What what? What are those things up there?
Cecil: Those are Baron's Red Wings! I used to command them. The King's evil might have spread to the army but I'm sure my team's still loyal to me! If we can signal them, we can use them to get back to Kaipo quickly and...
Cecil: ...and...
Cecil: ...er...
Rydia: C-Cecil?
Tellah: Anna! NOOOOOOO!!
Cecil: ...nevermind.
Next time: Musical royalty and their giant-bug pets: who's using the magnifying glass on whom?
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Really? I can see them pretty well. They are visible nonetheless, right?
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
I picked 'em out right away.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
I don't think that the moon bit was jumping the shark here. I mean, you were basically in hell before that. o_O
Also wasn't the sci-fi bit not just a recurring theme in the earlier FF's?
What really made me o_O about this game was what started with Kain.
I mean EVERYTHING.
The cid of this game is honestly the "chuck norris" of Final Fantasy with the whole
See, I have no problem with the "sacrifices" made in RPGs that include ways to revive party members. The story usually takes it to a particular extreme to tug at the player's heartstrings, but anyone who's played an RPG beyond the opening sequences is going to know "I can always use a Revive Item/Spell".
I watch my characters explode with Fire 3, get impaled by icicles with Ice 3, and eat several gigawatts of power with Lit 3, then take several meteors in the face. As long as one person survives - Phoenix Down!
Fast forward to FF7:
Steam: TheArcadeBear