We left off last night in Damzen with all information needed to reach Illia’s home. We head back to the Chug and head right. The new wing is filled with new mobs and new puzzles. The first of which consists of three blue flames blocking our path. Fortunately, just off one aide is a chest filled with Illia’s new tool, The Ice Rod. It shoots ice instead of firs and puts out the flames. The rest of the dungeon is the usual romp: pitfalls, platforms, and box puzzles. Simple stuff, but I did need to use my brain a bit. On the otherside of the mountain is an endless sea of snow. Normally, I love snow, but I had to shovel eight inches of it the day before, so I have mixed feelings.
We walk around to get a view of the land but, to continue, travel right at the mountain fork and come to a vast field. In the middle is the Sieljie Region. It has a cave map sprite, and its innards look the part. In the middle of the cave is what turns out to be a teleporter that takes us to the city. We’re transported to a very bright street that Illia knows well. So well, in fact, that the first person to talk to us is a rival/unrequited love interest of her. I think his name was Teddy, so I'm gonna call him Teddy. Teddy is another kid at the nearby Hogwarts that challenged Illia to a magic battle. She seems to have bailed on it but whether it is out of fear or for other commitments depends on who you ask. The challenge is still on, but it’ll have to wait. In the back of the town is the world renowned, Unnamed Magic School. It’s where we need to go to get the tablets translated. The professor in charge, Mr. McGregor, happily does it. His initial look-see reveals general info about where Odessa’s base is but will need another day to complete the job.
That night, Illia shows Ashley around town, sorta. The only place they go is to her favorite spot: The Dragon Exhibit in the school. There, she reveals her backstory. She and her sister were close and, when she died, Illia stopped trying to be close to people. She demands that Ashley promises he’ll never leave and wishes everyone else in ARMS could say that. She infers she knows how to blow up Odessa’s base and goes to pick something up. That is, until, a warning clarion is heard.
Everyone rushes to McGregor, who informs them the tablets were stolen. But who even knew we were heading this way? Ashley’s head voice suggests a spy, but who could it be? We’ll find out later, as we need to chase the thieves now. Valeria tracks their location, McGreg gives us a Bridge Key, and we go to a giant bridge.
The bridge can be raised or lowered by a computer at each end, and it’s up now. We, the player, can see it’s Liz and Ard’s doing. The party lowers the bridge, and we have five minutes to cross before the bridge has enough energy to raise again. Time doesn’t flow in battles, so the only thing to worry about are the hard-to-see door raising switches on the floor. It’s a straight line with nothing to explore, so it’s an easy gimmick. We fight Liz and Ard again, they escape, and we follow them to Greenhell. Greenhell is where Brad’s story began five years ago.
Nothing has changed, and we get to T’Bok Village. Nothing has changed, but we do notice a dog. Brad, somehow, immediately recognizes it as Rassyu. He also instantly recognizes an older Merrill, who’s thrilled to see him. She takes us to a wounded soldier who can only say Brad’s name. Brad fought alongside him in the Sleyheim Liberation War and knows his name is Billy. He then reveals that that whole operation was the master plan of Vinsfeld, the same guy in charge of Odessa. As we leave the village, we spoke to Rassyu again. Rassyu runs off to find treasure, which happens to be a Teleport Gem and the tablets we were looking for. Alas, the tablets are broken. We’re now told to return to the King, who says we should head to the Sleyheim location, the general area Greg thought Odessa's base is. To get there, we need to cross the desert and then a giant chasm.
There’s a city/bridge there named Quartly. As we cross, we meet a mysterious woman named Kanon, who forcibly hires us to clear out some ghosts in the Sleyheim Castle. We plan to do that tomorrow. That night, though, Ashley sees Brad talking to someone even more mysterious and begins to have questions about Brad. Is he the spy? Maybe we’ll find out...
...tomorrow!
Ya know, it’s for the best that we’re getting Illia and Brad’s story in multiple parts. Unlike Tim, they’re important. I don’t want massive plot dumps that leave them irrelevant to the narrative for large portions of the game. That's the one thing FFVII did wrong, and I'd hate to see it played out again.
No comments:
Post a Comment