So I sort of lied, as I found writing this to be a nice way to take my mind off stress inbetween studying.

Continuing from last time, and... wait... could it be.. IS THERE REALLY NO SEYMOUR IN THIS ENTRY?!






She tells them this almost too easily, when it was apparent Braska and co didn't know. I'm not sure about the others, but they may have decided years of calm would be better than nothing.




What does this mean really? Purity by just... not using machina? And then there aren't even laws against ALL machina, just the ones that can cause harm to people! I wouldn't really call that "purity."



It's easy to forget that Lulu is also a devoted follower of Yevon since she never protests to the degree Wakka does, but most of the world is and she becomes a lot quieter and less certain later on since she's more out of her element.






Yeah, they definitely didn't know all the details until Auron confronts her afterward. I can't help but wonder... are Jecht and Braska all he had? I know he had an issue with his past job, so likely yes. It's little wonder this breaks him so in that case.

-- and a couple of details aside that will be apparent later, this part of the game is really good and almost makes me forget about the Bevelle post!




You know, I'm not sure what exactly Yunalesca's goal is. It's likely that she wanted her father to live on as a religious figure, especially since it causes his teachings to be spread throughout Spira and stops people form using the machina that nearly destroyed them and Zanarkand being wiped from public memory.

... but then why does she care about this? Whether or not they have hope is none of her concern. I guess she could also care about Spira, but then why let so many of them die repeatedly? This is another part of the game where just a little bit of clarification would've helped a lot.


(The final summoning)


Honestly, under normal circumstances I'd protest about this since, as Lulu said last time, getting a little is better than aiming for everything and getting nothing, but by now we know that

-Every calm is shorter than the last. The first was over 500 years, which would be worth it, but Braska's was... less than a year. This one would probably be what, a month?
-The final aeon will never truly defeat Sin. Summoners are likely okay with dying under the same hope that Braska had, specifically that Sin won't revive this time-- I mean hey, that dragon boss from FFV revives 3 times and then finally dies the 4th time! And Seymour you have to kill 4 times! When that's not the case, well, when combined with the point above, suddenly there is no point.
-Almost all of Spira is kept under the influence of a false religion that tried to kill us repeatedly and is lead by asshats. It doesn't really do that much harm in most areas, but bloody Bevelle.

There are several cases of abrupt character changes in the FF series which come out of nowhere for ~DEVELOPMENT! (VIII is most guilty of this.) This is not one of them.



Yuna says Yunalesca is dead wrong. Antagonists in this game really need to stop assuming they know what he wanted.

I wonder how awkward it is to be named "Yuna" when opposing your namesake.






... but when the "sorrow" we're talking about is in the form of a giant floating death whale...

While the above speech Yuna gives feels natural and is cool (VA aside) due to how much it showcases character development and is relevant, what follows feels a lot more forced and then everyone jumps on the LET'S MAKE COOL-SOUNDING COMMENTS BEFORE BATTLE bandwagon. That was something pleasantly missing in this game before this!



Well, we WERE talking about Sin, not the concept of sorrow itself, you can't really erase sorrow completely. She mentions living with her own sorrow, and I suppose it means that she'll live with knowing she completely turned away from the final aeon and even if she doesn't find a way to defeat sin otherwise, she'll live with it because she knew she wasn't feeding people even more lies... but then, why not just say that if that were the case?

Wait, repeated words while avoiding saying it obviously...

The Nomura influence is strong with this one!






How many years in advance did he prepare those lines?



Wakka: Can't even get the cool battle speeches part right!



The cameraman had way too much coffee today and just can't stay still.



Yunalesca is annoying. Very annoying. She loves spamming status effects, especially zombie, which makes it impossible to heal, but then later on she uses mass death which hits everyone who ISN'T afflicted with zombie so it's counterproductive to cure it.

I seemed to remember this fight being long. I was surprised seeing I got half her HP down so quickly, hahaha... So little I didn't remember.



One benefit to using the elemental aeons over Bahamut, despite how Bahamut can limit break, is how easily you can heal the elemental ones now that I taught them -aga level skills. Just target yourself and-- instant 7000 heal! And all the extra thundagas for 7000+ damage really add up. (You could do this with thunder and thundara of course, but usually then you're healing for about the same amount of damage you're taking)

Of course, this becomes irrelevant if you can teach them curaga, but I'm lacking those items.



That HP total above? Only for her first form, hhahahaha

I have no clue why she turned into Medusa. I seriously thought about this for awhile, wondering if there's any significance there, and can't find any that wouldn't be the kind of BS I'd write for an essay asking me to go into detail about symbolism in a book where there isn't much.





Considering how people have been trying that for 1000 years to no avail, "I don't know, but... somehow!" is very motivating.



Auron explains that he's an unset, surprising no one. Not even in canon. And some of these guys were surprised that the overly blatant Seymour was evil! We're okay with this and not going to send him because he's cool. Well, that, and...



He promised to look after Tidus, despite having no clue how to get to Zanarkand, and proved to be a better parental figure than Jecht ever was.



... that's a lovely thing to see as a reward for beating Yunalesca. Who needs the fireworks Jecht wanted when you have a source of constant death waiting for you?



I'm not sure how he can tell when they rarely move any part of their face other than their mouth outside of the cinematic cutscenes.




And given how we've already been trying to think for quite awhile, this may take a long time.



There's a fairly long silent cutscene between Yuna and Cid that I'm not 100% sure I get. I think... he's proud that she took a different path and ended the traditions he hated so much, but it's hard to say.




B'aw, but half the letters were even pink! It has to count for something!


"With this ship, revenge against the followers of Yevon will be ours" ... you know, the Al Bhed are largely presented as a positive group in this game (although disliked by Spira itself), but a few of them are constantly doing/saying things which are as questionable as much of what Bevelle says. It wasn't even really Yevon that attacked Home so much as Seymour being a douche and some of the followers of Yevon helped them.




To be fair, even those who don't follow Yevon never found an answer.



Exactly who I would ask. Kimahri has been full of answers and always willing to talk!



Fishbait: "That's it! Kimahri, you rock!"

Shocker. Not even sure if Kimahri is wise or not since this is the only time I remember him offering something.



No Wakka, we're not going to have all of Luca just throw blitzballs at Sin. That would not work. Nothing involving blitzballs should EVER work.



Stealing ideas from the Al Bhed. You never quit, do you Wakka?



I'd say that happened quickly when we've been thinking for so long, but it really was Rikku's ide and she's been thinking non-stop since before the Calm Lands.

I now get access to the airship, can go wherever I want, and see Bevelle: Highbride on the List and immediately click it since HAH, what bad could ever come from going back into the heart of a city that has ordered we should be killed on sight?!




This is far exceeding my expectations!

I like how Tidus' line implies we went there without any kind of plan to boot.



My exact reaction upon hearing this: "*LAUGHS* WHAT"



Yes, that.

Shelinda explains that there's no longer much structure in Bevelle since people are outraged at the organization of Yevon there (rightfully, after that nonsense we saw the last time we were there), especially since 3/4 of the maesters are dead or have disappeared. She got appointed captain of the guard out of nowhere due to being one of the few devoted people left, and Mika is... now saying that the Yuna = traitor bit was just a rumor.

Which reminds me

ELIGIBLE BACHELORETTE #14: Shelinda. I left her off earlier because I thought she was about Rikku's age, when it turns out she's actually 19. And sure, she's talking about evil Al Bhed rumors, but she did help them earlier after Operation Mi'ihen and that's minor in comparison to anything Wakka says.



I can't recall exactly who, but I think it was Auron, mentions that Mika is just trying to save face since Yuna bringing the calm is now his biggest chance at bringing people back to the temples.



Which is great for us because otherwise this would be "oh hey, can we be taken to the guy who could easily just lead us back to prison and this time shoot us while we're in the cages instead stupidly of giving us a chance to escape"



Yuna, quite confidently, says she's defeated Yunalesca instead and




Mika is confusing to me. Like Yunalesca, this implies that he does care about the people or Spira and considered momentary calms to be the best option if the only other option is "let Sin kill everything," but then why in the farplane does he go around like "mwhaha oh Seymour, killing your father and your bride, you scoundrel, I'm so pleased by your heartlessness!"

Mika's like "lol 'kay, I'm out" and sends himself off to the Farplane



I've been making up a lot of Spira-based curses, and I only NOW get one in canon?! ... at least I was right that shoopuff-based insults are a thing, but I still like "Yunalesca on a shoopuf" better.




You know, if the fayth knew the truth behind everything, then... why don't they tell summoners this to begin with? Especially since they want to stop dreaming, you'd think it would benefit them to edge summoners towards defeating Yu Yevon instead of Sin.



The fact Tidus knows about the fayth is obviously suspicious, even more so after he looks at Tidus while saying that, when they're gone, their dreams will fade too. ... but he continues to say nothing.




I didn't even remember this exchange when I said Wakka and Cid would get along if they were both in the same group earlier...

After that little adventure, I got to the second most dangerous place I can think of: Guadosalam!



I love how it doesn't let me get away with just waltzing into places I presumably wouldn't be welcome.



How much did Seymour get to this guy? He goes on with some disturbing images, like how he'd like to be boiled in oil, and says they're all just waiting to die, but talking to the NPCs around... that definitely isn't the case for all of them, as some are even like "hah, we're now leaderless, I could try to become the leader!"



Or this one, who is upset that Seymour deceived them in the first place.



I'm still wondering about that. I guess they couldn't use it for publicity like they wanted, but then why did they even try it...

Ironically, while I was fine in Bevelle and Guadosalam, I go to Besaid and get--



Completely wiped by a sudden Dark Aeon. The version of this game I had for the ps2 didn't even have Dark Aeons. How am I supposed to get into Besaid without leveling like mad first?



Pfft, random reuses for poses we haven't seen since the blitzball match! (There's one I'll have to save for the next part which is 100x better than this though, I just... died seeing it)

I haven't had enough of being trolled, so at this point I'm like "Let's try to get into Bevelle... again! I'm sure they love us even more now that Mika mysteriously disappeared while we were there."




You know, for a kid growing up in a world obsessed with death, he really seems to be lacking in some details...

Also, why are they sure he died? I guess he was really old, but he kind of just... vanished before us.



While I was running around talking to random NPCs, what I managed to gather was that a lot of people are fleeing Bevelle because they're afraid of those riots and no longer trust the temple authority. I'm just headcanoning that those running away or rioting saw the nonsense that was that wedding, even if there's no indication of that, it helps make that scene seem less absurd.




Not listening to Auron after all, I see.

And look at that background! This is why I will be eternally disappointed we never get to see Bevelle, especially there was no reason for it at all in X-2. A massive city that would have a lot to explore, and we're constantly stopped at the door.



I believe this is the 3rd time Isaaru - who is now stuck trying to prevent people from being hurt in riots - has apologized in some form for that fight. I think he should apologize some more. I didn't quite get it the first 3 times, and I've fought him way more than 3 times in the last few months.



But I can give you so much more detail on that! And not just an unspeakable crime, but crimeS he's committed!




100 respect points for O'waka!

Though seriously speaking, the Bevelle prison system isn't exactly the most practical... we just kind of... walked out ourselves.




All this time I thought he showed up because it was convenient and they couldn't put shops in the middle of a road. I'm rather impressed they instead wrote in a backstory about his sister dying during her pilgrimage, so now he tries to help another one as much as he can because of his guilt.



Again with this! Guys, that is not something you want to know the details of.

I just want to point out that spellcheck always wants to turn Braska into either Bra Ska or Nebraska. I'm not sure what Bra Ska is, but my guess it's a new subgenre of Ska where everyone dresses up in multiple checkered bras and tries to see if they can play brass instruments without having any kind of [insertbodypart] slip.

And just for fun, what my phone thinks of other FFX names if I turn auto-replace on:

Tidus: Tides
Yuna: Tuna (I mentioned this early on but it deserves repeating)
Wakka: Walkable
Rikku: Rip
Auron: Aurora (the legendary beautiful sleeping princess guardian!)
Jecht: Jelly
Elma: Elms
Clasko: Kosher (what)
Isaaru: Isaac, although the second suggestion is "Is aardvark"
Maroda: Maria (better start preparing for that Opera)
Shelinda: She lindane
Yunalesca: Tuna escape
Yu Yevon: You Unconscious
O'aka: Obama

Some of these are expected, but then I have no clue how you get Kosher out of Clasko, Aardvark out of Isaaru, or Unconscious out of Yevon.