In which I get thoroughly distracted and do exactly what the game warns me against multiple times.




"How to defeat sin without dying" has become a very popular topic lately.



Wait, is Kimahri still standing there and watching during the entire next scene?! Kimhari, you perv.



"I thought this would be easier, somehow."

It was, and everyone was even giving us free items for most of the game! ... but I don't think anyone could have predicted a blue coatrack stalker would fall in love with you and cause you to be labeled a traitor of Yevon.




True to what he told Cid, the first thing he does when reunited - when he doesn't have to immediately fight a boss battle - is apologize. He just didn't know, though, which isn't his fault.



Or so she says, but I'm not sure if she's just saying this to not upset him or not, as we already know she pretends to be happy when she's sad.



"Maybe I will"

... but I can already think of one major problem with that. Did you quickly forget we're wanted fugitives?



Well, I guess that's one idea, ignoring how we have no way to get back there and only the vague idea that Sin is the link.



As passionate as Tidus is about this, so much so that this is his longest sentence in the game, I don't remember seeing any signs of anything pretty beyond flashing lights in Zanarkand.




That answers my previous question, gj Tidus, you made her cry.



There's a pretty big jump between the default graphics and the cinematic ones, and I'm a little glad since if Tidus looked like this all the time, I wouldn't be able to look at him. With the default graphics, he looks okay. In ~CINEMATIC HD~ it makes this weird mix of realistic and anime which is just ow. I don't know, the other characters look better in the cinematic scenes, but Tidus..



This is oohh pretty background, but I've never really liked this scene. We're never given any indication that Yuna can breathe underwater, what is going on here?



I do like how Yuna kisses him back at least, as I have seen way too many anime/video games/movies/shows where the female just passively stands there and seemingly does nothing while the guy kisses her. Seems to be the worst in anime.

I'm not sure if I agree with this trophy name.



I do like the character development here, as the last few events have made Yuna a lot more assertive. She's no longer asking Auron before making decisions!



That's okay. "Be branded a traitor and have the main government try to kill me in 100 different ways" was near the top of my bucket list anyway!



Wait, really?! Details, please! This could actually help counter SO MUCH I had issues with last time, since that would mean the people of Bevelle did see all of that nonsense and aren't going to stand for that.

... but as I press X some more, all they do is pretty much say they're going to conveniently act like a Snorlax and block the path.



That Ronso mountain in the distance? No one lives there! And all that elevation is an illusion, it's only a plain!



At the beginning of the game, I would've said this is because of the pressure that was put on her because of her father, especially when she came out carrying tons of vacation luggage like she was going on a casual trip. Now, she seems like she's very much making her own decisions and has thought everything through a lot more.



How you know Yuna has become too OP: She's faster than Tidus and Rikku.



Oh hey, it's... someone we've never seen before! And as far as we know he's single! So that means...

ELIGIBLE BACHELOR #... uh... *goes back to look through posts* 12!: Zuke

Wow, the last one was the Shoopuff driver. It's been awhile, but hey, Lulu actually knows this guy! And he doesn't suffer from the FFX stupid hair curse a lot of the males have since he doesn't even have hair!



I'd watch out if I were you. We just have it out for bald monks!

(Although curiously they don't call him a monk like the others we've met, but rather "Father Zuke," which is the first time I remember hearing that and it brings to mind more western based religions. I don't know if it's an error in translation or not since it seems out of place given previous titles within Yevon)



The party acts completely shocked by this. After meeting Seymour again, did they all just purposely hit their heads against rocks repeatedly until they forgot him and in the process forgot that the entirety of the last post was Bevelle trying to kill us in a number of nonsensical ways?



So... no actual riots? Aw. I almost had closure!



Yeah, I got that, since Mika wanted continuity for reasons beyond me and Seymour wants to become Sin and destroy everything. What I really don't get is why they were working together in the first place.

Ah, and here I should note that I looked up Jyscal earlier and found that, according to additional data not in the game, he and Kelk, the Ronso maester, were made maesters as an "appeasement" policy to the other races. (Once again, Hypellos get left out of everything!) Since those two Mika just felt forced to bring in for his own stabliity, that explains why he had no problem with Seymour killing Jyscal and why Kelk was left out of all their evil scheming / sadistic dungeon viewing times. Still doesn't explain why Mika approves of Seymour, though.

After all this, I need to go back and read the Ultimania in full and hope it answers more, even if these sort of details should've been in the game itself.




Ever since the scene at the beginning, Rikku has been trying so hard to think of something, but if only it were possible to suddenly magic ideas out of nowhere.



And this. I'm reminded so much of the scene between Elma and Lucil at the Moonflow, as I believe Lucil even said that exact same phrase. Have to love that kind of continuity where you see even minor events influencing the characters later.




Given the way she worded that, I guess that would make it awkward, but I still stand by that he's 100% better than Wakka even though we'll likely never see him again and he shows up too late in the game to care about!



I was amusingly just wondering the same thing when we got here.



Yuna making fun of Auron?! Wow, how times have changed.



....

........

Bwhahhaa

Okay so the "play blitzball" option was blocked out since we left Guadosalam iirc, and that made sense for a lot of reasons.

Now that everyone is ordered to kill us on sight we're allowed to play blitzball again? Makes even more sense!

Plus when we first got to the Calm Lands, Auron made some comment about how many summoners lose their way here, get too distracted, and give up. I'm pretty sure going all the way BACK TO LUCA counts as being very, very distracted.



I press it for the lols, and remember I recruited two new members way back when I remembered to and... wow, in comparison to this, none of the default Besaid team even has any skills, outside of Wakka and Tidus.



Less skills, but still more than the defaults, and um... when the Guado are the most adamant about opposing us... I wonder how she feels about this arrangement.

But then I exit out as I remember blitzball is not fun to play.



My very thought when I saw you was "oh, you again."



Yeah, I think I've got that covered.

I'll give you one guess what I summon



And completely wipe the floor with.



I also run around looking for treasure, end up stuck on a corner, and get into a chocobo race when talking to a random NPC. I do it over 3 times and this is definitely a good use of my time. Who needs to get to Zanarkand and has to worry about pursuers from Bevelle? Not us!



And looks like the background graphics in FFVII. Despite this being an HD remake of a ps2 game.

After wasting a lot of time, I finally move on and




What.

... but, he needs Yuna alive, he even went so far as to conspire against the other maesters to ensure that last time!

*frustrated headdesk

... hey, I think I just figured out why the party seems to have lost part of their memory!

I suppose it's possible she could die and become an unsent, but can an unsent summon the final aeon? I doubt it or else a lot of summoners who died on their pilgrimage would've tried that. In any case, we beat the boss they throw at us and take yet another detour!




They wonder if it's to stop summoners from training, but while that's one possibility, another is that this particular fayth is a greedy bastard and was preventing all summoners from continuing on their pilgrimage in the first place since no one could afford him.

For example, if he were a required Aeon, Braska would've had to give up since he lost all his money due to Jecht's Shoopuf hitting adventure!




This is the only background we get on Lulu, and while I like Lulu and she plays a role as Yuna's big sister kind of figure, it wouldn't be fair of me to not mention how she's... not that important to the plot as a whole. There are a lot of other characters who could've filled in party slots from different factions (i.e. a crusader, a guado, etc) to help give more detail on the world. For example, Rikku joins later, but I find her more important to the plot than Wakka, Lulu, and Kimahri since she offers a different perspective as an Al Bhed and is tied to the events at Home. I've never wanted Lulu to be taken out of my party like the other two, but objectively speaking... even her backstory is an optional quest which doesn't add much to the plot as a whole.

Which I think explains why, while I really like her personality, she isn't among the most memorable FF characters to me or anything-- she probably COULD'VE been, but she's not really connected to much, so you don't remember her in actual events since... they never revolve around her.

This is probably also why I find myself liking so many NPCs, as I keep on thinking they fill roles that a lot of my party doesn't and are often important in the plot itself.



That was an easy fight, and I like how we don't kill the doggie in the process!



Because if they say it too loudly, you'll hear and will force them to pay royalties.



I select the first option because I really have no intention of using him, but then google tells me that's the worst option to make after I already picked it (I looked up how to bargin with him)... and reset the game to select the last one to save my pockets.



Unlike the "Yuna is going to die!" plot twist, the fact that, in the end, it's /Tidus/ instead who dies is done very well as really, in situations like this, he should be doing the same.



Tight leather thongs right in front of the camera on the other hand? Perfectly acceptable!




As badass and decisive as this sounds, it's a bit confusing since Yevon IS the teachings. I think she's trying to say that she's cast aside the organization of Yevon, but they didn't know how to word that.



Heathens Tidus and Rikku fully approve of this turn of events!



A very good point, actually, and worded in the way I think they were going for earlier.



This is so moving to them that they let us pass without a fight. Presumably because the cold should cause everyone except Auron to freeze to death anyway... both because he's already dead and he's the only one with a reasonable amount of clothes on. Well, and Kimahri I guess, as he has fur.



Auron makes a comment that, for those who truly believe, a lot of pain is coming. ... and that, I weep at what X-2 could have been. They do touch on that somewhat with the New Yevon vs. Youth League situation, but not nearly as much as would've been great.

... and what's really crazy about that is I always found New Yevon the better option since the Youth League just seemed angry and had no long-term plan with what they were doing, which could easily lead to a military dictatorship in the future. At least the "One Day At a Time" idea for getting people through it that New Yevon had was sensible, even if they still kept secrets. Yet, the game clearly wants you to side with the Youth League to the point I lost a % point for siding with New Yevon. Thankfully I couldn't care less about the 100% ending which ruins the ending to this game, but The Youth League had Leblanc! How could I ever side with them?! Leblanc makes Dona look awesome in comparison, and Dona... also joined the Youth League if I'm remembering correctly...

It's worth pointing out that this game also came with a free download code for X-2... Not sure if I even want to touch that.



I'm noticing that the female Ronso don't have horns. That... makes a lot of the HORNLESS jokes that come to mind even worse.

(Also, Rikku still thinking in the background)



I really should've started up a drinking game at the start of this game: Take a shot every time someone says "pass!" Two shots for "not pass!"



Brian is capable of sentences, but this one... I really wonder how bad of shape his other horn is in that he feels the need to mention this ALL the time.

Considering how I haven't used Kimahri in forever, I'm shocked I win this. They must scale them to your relative sphere level?




While this is touching given how everyone else wants to kill us, except the Al Bhed I guess, I know what it leads to...




Lmao, considering how female Ronso have no horns...

Although, horns are associated with summoners in other FF games, and I have one item in FFRK which optimize always puts on Kimahri and it cracks me up since:



TRY CALLING ME HORNLESS NOW



They all start singing as we go off, leaving me to wonder if the Hymn of the Fayth is the only song anyone in Spira knows



This is cute and the only positive aspect of this aeon, who I dismiss after summoning so I won't have to pay him



That's... one way to put it.

(And gdi Mysti, after you mentioning it, I can't unhear how much his inflection and tone sounds like mine)





So remember that time I got angry at Seymour for assuming he knew what Braska wanted...

Once I get the airship, I'm definitely going after all the Jecht spheres as finding these really makes the game feel more complete and it's so interesting in comparison to all the assumptions others make about these 3.



AND IMMEDIATELY RIGHT AFTER THAT

*AMBUSH ATTACK



I spent a long time climbing up this mountain since the random encounter rate is really high here, and I have decreased stats due to sphere difficulty I selected at the beginning. Ambushes are my biggest threat by far and I have to ragequit for a while.



And what do you wantz, Wantz?

ELIGIBLE BACHELOR #13: Wantz. He's a guy. Who apparently exists. And probably wants something. And can get further on dangerous mountains than I did the first time!

He explains that he's Owaka's brother and...




... and here I thought Owaka showing up on the Highbridge was just convenience and was going to have no consequence! I'm a little impressed, game. Logical sequence! Something sorely missing from the last entry!

Most importantly, he has a weapon for Yuna which prevents ambushes. I have just enough gil to buy it and immediately take it because PRAISE BE TO YEVON ALL MY TROUBLES ARE OVER. So far I've only had one game over that WASN'T to an ambush. And that was me derping up.



Trust me, I know.




Optimistic, but sensible, unlike...



Hahahahah...hahahah.

Hahahahahaha

I'm sorry, but I laugh because I kept on thinking I had to prepare for Sanctuary Keeper.

I completely forgot about Seymour.

There are so many reasons why I shouldn't have, as he's Seymour and annoying every time he appears and I've had to fight this version of him several times in FFRK, but Sanctuary Keeper is a much bigger threat that my mind just skipped over him. Oh Seymour, you're so irrelevant by now.

"Allow me to say something to the last Ronso before I leave"




Except, he really did a terrible job of this since the Ronso are definitely still around in the next game.

This is also a point where I have to wonder how anyone finds Seymour that sympathetic. His background revolves people not accepting him for being a halfbreed, but instead of playing that angle he's willing to commit genocide against other races. Clearly, I should've offered to hug him instead of Isaaru! All he needs is a hug to take away his pain!

(... that was painful to write, even in jest)



Yeah, he constantly contradicts himself, so he's pretty impossible to understand



He never paid Tidus any mind at all before, so where and when did he learn this?



*laughing and sobbing at the same time

AGAIN WITH THE DEATH

When you just said you want Yuna to turn you into Sin, which means you need her alive and... oh forget it. Every single time you show up, everything stops making sense. Stop ruining the plot, Seymour! I was happy with this part of the game up until you showed up again!



He has learned a new trick, as whenever I summon anything he uses "banish" which instantly removes it and then I can't summon that aeon again.

Since Seymour still isn't very bright, this ends up working to my advantage. See, he uses "banish" as an interrupt which overrides any skill he would've used, and when he gets low HP he starts charging... something, and to avoid that, I summon an aeon for him to banish instead of using whatever he was charging and then I never get hit with it as he wastes time using banish instead.



... and he also casts reflect on himself at one point, and doesn't seem to realize when I use dispel as he's once again flare'ing himself.



They tell her about Sin being Jecht, and amusingly the party is less "how is that possible?!" and more "you're okay with fighting your father?!" even though his father is a giant death whale.



It occurs to me he's only expressed his hatred for Jecht at Yuna and Auron, as Lulu is the one who asked.



Lmao, he's still stuck on this.



Classic Wakka.

And we're off to face lots and lots of cut scenes.