Breath of Fire...III

I've heard nothing but good things about the Breath of Fire serious, but I've never played a single one. I've played a few hours of I and IV, but not enough to remember anything or draw a conclusion. The internet informs me the third game is the best, so I'm starting off at the top. Is it the best? Is the franchise any good? Who knows? But let's find out.

We start the game in a mine, where two people prepare to blow up a crystal with a dragon in it. Seems reasonable. After a quick conversation, where one man tells the other that this happens from time to time, the other guy sets the timer, and the bombs go off! The purple crystal is gone, but the dragon housed within is very much alive. The two men do the only sensible thing and that's attack the mythical beast!

We are now in our first battle, but we're the Dragon Whelp. We have the option to perform a normal attack, but we also have Whelp Breath at our disposal. We also have counters, which are performed with the breath attack. With our legendary powers, we incinerate our opponents. One of them carried the Melted Blade, which is a decent weapon in a moment. We then stroll our way out of the mines, dealing a similar fate upon anyone who wishes to oppose a dragon. I think there are four such battles. As we reach the exit, a large man comes out to try his luck. As the battle starts, we hear a voice telling us not to attack. It causes us to lose attention, and the engineer behind us controls the crane to whack us on the head, knocking us out.

We then see a few scenes where we're transported into a small cage onto a train and carried out over a cliff. As we leave, we regain our senses, shake around our cage, and manage to knock us off the train and into the forest below. We see a large catman stalking a pig, saying how hard food is to come by this season. The pig hears sounds in the distance and runs off, which causes the catman to investigate. He sees two wolves about to feast on a small, naked boy near a cage. He gets his revenge on them by killing them. He considers letting the boy die, seeing as there's not enough good in the forest for himself, but his kind nature shows, and he takes him home.

When the catman returns to his home, he talks to his young friend, Teepo. We learn the catman's name is Rei, and these two live and struggle together in this neat treehouse. Rei puts us to bed, and the other two head to the village for food. We wake up shortly thereafter and begin our exploration. There are no random battles yet, so get you're fill in now. Also, enjoy the music here. It's enjoyable and a great way to start the game. It gives me Chrono Trigger vibes. We can talk to three monster looking guys, but they're tutorials that we can't do much with now. At the exit is a man who tells us that Rei and Teepo and bullies and to stay away from them... We walk through the forest, but theres' nothing here now. A few apples where Rei found us, and a few more people, who reaffirm how terrible the harvest was this year, but we reach the end in time. We come to the world map, but I can't get a good grasp of things yet. To the south of the Cedar Woods is the village of McNeil.

As we enter, we see Rei and Teepo being chased out of a nearby house. It turns out they're thieves who are here trying to find food for the three of us. They're well known around here, so their attempt goes poorly. They notice that Ryu has woken up, so they decide to include him in their next plan. But first, we need to be properly equipped and not in our pajamas! Rei enters the general store, leaving Ryu and Teepo to talk. During their conversation, Teepo instinctively calls us Ryu. This is odd since we haven't introduced ourselves yet. It comes as a shock to him, but Rei comes out before we can dig too deep. Their second attempt at robbery goes better as they manage to get Ryu some armor and a weapon.
 
From here, we're to keep going south to the Yraail Road, but I went back into the forest. I wanted to see the combat and talk to the monsters. I managed to learn about some of the mechanics in the game. Everyone is a Blue Mage! That sounds both fun and tedious... At around level five, I get on to the story. We pass the farmyard, where we learn McNeil is a terrible mayor, and the local cows are attacked every night by a monster. We eventually come to the Road fork. We've come to lay siege to anyone passing by and steal their food. Rei doesn't want to hurt anyone, so he says we'll keep it clean. There is honor amongst these thieves! The two of them give us a lay of the local land and tell up they want to live in Windia, just down the road, one day when they're famous, but that'll come later. We need food now!

We don't have to wait long as a large man out for a walk has come to the fork. Rei tells us it's time for us to show what we've got, but we seem reluctant. We don't have a choice as he throws us to the lions. We bounce off our would-be target, but he seems unfazed. He warns us of Rei and Teepo and tells us to keep our nose out of trouble before carrying on his way. Rei knows that man's name is Bunyan, a well known stout man in the area, and laments the score. Teepo realizes that if he's out, maybe we can raid his house. It's so good an idea that we head right there. After a quick case of the joint, we head down in his basement. We find some Beef Jerky, so rad. What's not rad is we hear that someone else has entered the house. Assuming it's Bunyan, Rei heads upstairs in an attempt to let us get away. We hear crashing sounds and screams of pain... Teepo says the coast should be clear and heads up. We hear nothing this time, so we try to leave. The first floor is clear, but as soon we exit and notice our new friends, we're smacked in the head by Bunyan.

We wake up wrapped in rope with Bunyan trying to preach to us about living a clean life. He thinks we should be ran out of the forest but decides to use our strength to his advantage. He tells Rei to hunt down a monster living in Mt. Glaus. Teepo and Ryu stay back to cut firewood in a mini-game like thing. I got twenty two blocks! Shortly afterwards, Teepo tells us he's worried about Rei. When Bunyan takes his eyes off us, we run away. We keep running until we reach Rei in a house on the mountain. Since the sun is going down, we decide to camp out here for the night. In the morning, we'll help Rei with his hunt.

If day comes at 6:00 AM, the screams of a monster comes at 6:05 AM. We're immediately attacked by Nue! Our first boss can be tough, especially since I wanted to steal from it. You can get a Power Meal, which ups a characters' strength, so it's up to you if you want it. Nue can cast Chlorine, which is this game's poison. Teepo is a mage who starts the game with Flare, a fire spell, and Nue seems weak to Fire. Either that or she resists Ice. The furry frog with snakes for tails puts up a fight, but nothing too dangerous right now. Good thing we rested! Unfortunately, she runs away. Not wanting her to regain her strength, the team decides to give chase.

Inside a cave, just up from the shack, the team finds a trail of blood, which we can think is from Nue! There are a few items off the track, a sword, for example, but we don't go too far from the stains. At the second fork, keep following the blood. We'll follow it to a dead end, which confuses the team. When we exit the room, Teepo will tell us his hypothesis. There was a cave behind a waterfall in the previous room, and he thinks Nue swam into that to get away. Head back to the second fork and head up. In the room to the left is a ledge over a stream. Rei will ask us if we believe Teepo's theory, and we'll jump in. It turns out Teepo was correct, and, after we shake off the water, we see a wounded Nue.

By now, Ryu was low on mana, and I had no antidotes. Zombies, man... I found a good number of Healing Herbs, which did their job. Nue has the same steal, and the fight is exactly the same. Despite both of us being weaker, I think she had the upper hand this time. When the dist settles, Nue "dies on her feet," seemingly guarding the passage to a back room. The team sneaks past her and sees three dead cubs. Her children have been dead for a long time, but she kept bringing them food. It's a bit dark and shows that even the deadliest monster is just trying to protect her kids. Sad music plays as we leave, jump back into the river, and leave the mountain. We return to Bunyan, and he congratulates us for doing some honest work. Don't we feel better?

Time passes, and winter goes by real quick. I like snow, so I would have liked to see the forest then. Regardless, Spring has sprung, and Rei seems to have given up his knifing ways. He suggests this harvest will be better than last years and wants to pay the village a visit. Teepo wants them to congratulate us for killing their assailant, but Rei just wants to see people. I, however, save and call it a night.

Day one lacks a big plot dump, but I am asking why was I a dragon, how does Teepo know my name, and who was the voice? I suppose I have fifty hours to find that out, eh?

Final Fantasy X: The End of Tradition

Final Fantasy X was the first big name game Squaresoft made for the Playstation 2. It was a fairly big change in how they've made games in the past and has several things that many people point to as the start of a "modern" Square. Because of that, there are some criticisms. Before I get into my "review," I want to talk about them.

People yell at FFXIII as a corridor simulator. Some ask why FFX doesn't get criticized for the same thing. FFX isn't an open world game, which every previous game in the franchise was at some point. Instead, Tidus walks down a long, straight path to reach his destinations. There is little deviation from those paths, and there is no denying that. It was, as the title here would suggest, a loss tradition. But, as someone who hates XIII but loves X, there is a significant difference between the two "hallway" systems.
Spira feels alive! You meet an assortment of people going about their lives who take time out of their schedules to talk to you and tell Yuna how cool she and her dad are. People in Besaid pay no mind to you, and Killika citizens are busy dealing with the aftermath of Sin. In Luca, you see the festivities around the Maesters and the Bliztall tournament, but no one cares about you. Everyone is preoccupied in Mi'hen and Mushroom Rock to care too much about you. Shoopufs gonna puf at the Moonflow, and the guado guard the Farplane. Along the roads, you meet a decent sized cast of reoccurring characters. Gatta and Luzzu are among the first, and you can have a tremendous effect on their lives. Lucil, Elma, and Clasko take their place, and you can keep having an impact on one of them. Early on, The Aurochs are everywhere you go. Maechen is always somewhere nearby to tell you long lost secrets of the world, and O'aka has more character growth than the entire cast of FFXII. Brother and the Al Bhed show up at the start of the game, but they're not just filler. You meet them again at the end. Spira is a world that is, ironically, teeming with life. We're constantly hearing the stories of Braska, Jecht, and Auron from ten years ago. It's filled with people trying to save the world however they're able. The Crusaders and Al Bhed try to kill Sin, and the Al Bhed try to protect summoners from themselves. The Yevon adherents want to bring people to repentance, and the guado live to serve Seymour. Even all the random dudes out for a walk in a fiend infested landscape gives me the feeling things will happen without us being there. It doesn't because it's a video game, but what can ya do? We're constantly surrounded by these people until we reach Mt. Gagazet. Until we're branded traitors by Yevon and are to be killed on sight. Until we're at the end of our journey. Then, and only then, are we truly alone. Shelinda is nowhere to be seen, nor is Maechen, and Wantz never makes it to Zanarkand. Even our rivals, Dona and Issaru, are unseen past this point. To say nothing of Belgemme and Bahamut!
Cocoon, though, is a world where nothing is going on. The entire world revolves around your team of criminals. There are no NPCs to get to know. No one else feels relevant. There's no reason to write a song about any location in this world. Which is odd since there are two worlds! And the people you do see are forgettable for most of the game. What happens to the NORA agents working with Snow at the start or Hope's dad? I just looked this up, and there are only five NPCs I'd categorize as non-hostile NPCs. Outside of Natalus, we have no idea what's going on in the greater world. There's no Operation Mi'hen equivalent or Al Bhed doing nefarious things in the name of kindness. There are no twists about the nature of Sin, Seymour and guado treachery, or Unsent people! It's boring and bland. And that's just the world. To think, I could compare character development across the game...

But anyway, I've written enough about Final Fantasy X over the lifetime of this blog, so let's wrap this up! Here's a list of things I hate about Final Fantasy X:
Um...it's not an open world? It is a downgrade over Final Fantasy IX. I loved exploring the world, soaring through the sky, and you don't really get that feeling here, though. Starring down on a map just doesn't hit the same notes. I'm fine with that, but...uh...I'm stretching here.

I've been thinking this through for about seventy hours, but there is nothing about FFX that I can outright say I hate. I strongly dislike several of the mini-games, but I don't hate them. So what are my favorite parts?

The characters are pretty good. Some shine more than others, but that's by design. The game revolves around Yuna, Tidus, and Auron, in that order of importance. Wakka has his moments, as does Rikku. Lulu is relevant here and there, but Kimahri is kinda just kinda around. I like his backstory, though, so I have no problem with him being in the game. Most of them grow and overcome challenges to be better people. Yuna is a naive child who tries to keep her emotions bottled in. Despite her role, she doesn't want to rely on her guardians' help. But all of that changes when her plans fail, and she falls in love. She's still the pillar of the group, destined to die to save the world, but it is our next character to bring about these changes.
Tidus is a naive child who reached superstardom too early. More critiques of the game are thrown at him about "being emo," but it's easy to forget both of these people are seventeen. One has been training to die her whole life, and the other is the son of a star who has stepped into this father's shoes. Neither of them are ready for such tasks, and neither really know what to do in their roles. When you're told to die in your teens, it's gonna mess you up. When you learn you're not real and your slightly abusive dad is responsible for the deaths of billions of people, it's gonna mess you up. There wasn't much reconciliation between Tidus and his dad at the end, but I don't think there needed to be. I see where Tidus is coming from, but how many scenes with the two of them did Tidus remember? I don't have a great relationship with my dad and can only bring up the bad memories. Do I want to "re-connect"? I dunno. Tidus said his peace, Jecht understands, and the two high fived at the end. Seemed pretty amicable to me.
Wakka grows from a product of his upbringing to understanding why his racism is unacceptable. He changes. That's all you can ask for in someone like that. Once again, a lot of people insist that Wakka is a racist and not worth liking. His scene with Cid should have changed that thinking, but maybe no one saw it? He's the representative for the general populace for the player. He shows us what everyone in Spira is "supposed" to be thinking. He, and the rest of Spira, are "supposed" to have questionable ethics until he shows us how much the world has changed at the end.
Rikku doesn't have much. She's a tad bit overly emotional, but she's fifteen, I think. I don't know much about girls that age, but Hollywood tells me that's how they act. Although, can you be over emotional when your dear cousin is going to die soon? I wonder how much the two of them interacted over the years?
Lulu only gets about three scenes that I'd point out. First at the Yunaleska fight, at the end, and in the Sunkern Cave. She's a calm, cold, and calculating woman who doesn't like to mess around. That's cool, but Auron fills a similar role just as well and has more relevance. When she shows her emotions, it's nice to see. When she's mad at Yunaleska and when we send Lady Ginnem are pivotal scenes.
Kimahri is a shame, though. He gets one neat scene but quickly fades away.
We can see Auron change over the course of ten years. The prim and proper monk becomes cool with the drunkard, Jecht, and begins to feel scared when his friends are about to die. His anger rising towards Yunaleska just before he tries to follow them is powerful. He's a less-than-silent watcher during the pilgrimage, but he's always there to conduct us as long as we stay on the tracks. He even jokes from time to time. He can be a bit narrow minded when he focuses on the pilgrimage too much. I would have liked to see a bit more personality, but we saw enough when he remembers stories from the past.
And everyone has a role to fit in battle. Rikku's niche and limited, and Kimahri's role is all the roles, meaning he has no role. It falls apart with them, but everyone else was a part of the ever changing battle team. Yuna heals and summons, Lulu casts magic on mobs, Auron slices armored foes, Wakka is the archer, and Tidus is good against fast things. You knew you could always count on them to defeat whatever stands in our way!

This carries into how much I love the combat system in the game! The ability to change your party on the fly with no ramifications is marvelous! You can even swap gear too! If you start a battle with Auron, Tidus, and Wakka but are up against a flan and a larger than average mob, swap in Lulu to kill the small guy, and Yuna can summon someone to sweep. And if you're against a wolf and a bird next time, swamp back in your physical guys. You're never caught out, and you never need a strategy to fit all holes. I've said before how I didn't like FFVII's three person team since it makes everyone feel samey. FFX does the three man group, but I never felt limited. I get to enjoy the presence of everyone and never felt like I left anyone out. I don't get why this system took so long to reach games or why I haven't seen it since!
The Sphere Grid is kinda hit-and-miss, though. I liked feeling how every battle meant something since you leveled up pretty often. It can get tedious, however, needing to enter the menu after every two or three encounters. It seems like it was designed to indicate if a character was at a proper level. Most fights are over in one or two turns, which keeps battles from feeling stale. If they're not, though, you know who to grind up so that Wakka can one-shot the birds in Macalania, which was the only time I left underleveled. It's a shame magic kinda falls off at the very late game. I struggled to level up Lulu towards the end and had no idea what to do with Rikku once I reached the end of her path on the grid. Did I use Kimahri once I got his Celestial Weapon?
It is another mechanic where tradition went out the window. There's no ATB system here, but speed is essential. I think there's a meter when looking at the turn order, but it's a small part of the window some players won't notice. If you're into the ATB stuff, pretend it's one wait mode the whole game with no delay between actions.
And I haven't mentioned customization! The ability to edit your weapons and armor to any situation was mind blowing as a kid and is pretty cool as an adult. It can sometimes be a little hard to get the gear you need, like zombieproof against Yunaleska, but you can. The arena sidequest even helps you, rewarding you with items needed to make the effects just before you need them. It all connects!

Chrono Trigger may have the best OST in all video gamedom, but Final Fantasy X gives it a run for its money. I remember coming home from school, equipping Lulu with a no-encounter armor, and just walking around Spira to listen to the music. I'd walk from Besaid to Zanarkand and just enjoy the music the game has to offer along that route. When I learned you can buy the music spheres in Luca, I would throw on "Auron's Theme" and a few others and do homework until my mom yelled at me to stop playing video games. She didn't think I could multitask, apparently. She can wash dishes, yell at her imaginary friends, and listen to the radio, but, I guess, I can't vibe to "Besaid" and do multiplication? Every song is so good and memorable. I added half of the soundtrack to my Spotify playlist and recently heard several lo-fi hip hop tracks on Youtube that I come back to all the time. It's a perfect mix of peaceful, nostalgic, and hopeful and adds a bit of forlorn love in there from time to time. And "Challenge" is just perfect when you fight a boss! I'm pretty sure I gave it my favorite boss theme in the FF Music Challenge. I know much of the world is based on the South Pacific, but I have no idea if the music is inspired from there as well. Every track fits its place perfectly, and I can't imagine walking the Moonflow listening to anything other than "Movement in Green." Actually, I can, and that's one of the reasons I don't like X-2.

I enjoy long term mini-games. I'm terrible at the Monster Arena stuff, but I enjoyed capturing all the monsters around Spira. Not only is it another reason to return to old haunts, but if you're into super-bosses, FFX has about thirty of them. Blitzball may be my favorite mini-game. I have an old save file with 250 hours on it. I'm pretty sure 150 of them are just in Bliztball. I've used a wide array of characters, all offense and all defense or only bad players. I've dared people to score against me and tried to score twenty before. I think my best is fourteen. The rewards for Wakka can be a drag to get, but if you don't care, realize, or have all the time in the world, then what's it matter? I could never find a second forward, though... Sure, I'll never do the Lightning Dodging stuff because it sucks, and the Cactuar Village and Butterfly Catching game are tedious and bland, but when they're good they're great. And when they're bad, just don't do them! More importantly, they all lead somewhere. Unlike Jumping Rope in IX, the card game in VIII, most of Gold Saucer, everything in X leads somewhere. There's no reason to re-do the fun motorcycle or snowboarding scenes in VII other than personal enjoyment. FFX gets you Celestial Weapon gear, which gives a massive boost to your characters!

The plot is superb!. There's a multitude of twists and turns that younger me never saw coming. A few are a bit out there (Dream Zanarkand), but it does fit into the lore of the game. Before those twists, you're asking questions that a video game should be asking. Like, "How'd I get here, and how do I get home?"Tidus never realizes how serious this trip is until pretty late in the game, but the foreshadowing is there for anyone who goes back to look for it. The random silences aren't just there for reflection; no one wants Yuna to die. As someone who's never liked religion and only has negative reinforcement from that cult I joined in college, I dig it when a religion ends up being totally corrupt. This is an in-game loss of tradition, by the way, when we see it crumble at the end.

This kinda helps Seymour out a little bit. I have mixed feelings towards him in a vacuum, but he fits with the world very well. On the other hand, I've also called him a knockoff Kefka. He's all about power and reducing the world to nothing, but he has a slightly different reason why. He wants to end sorrow in Spira, and he thinks the only way to do that is to destroy everything and revert it back to nothingness. Seymour is more of a cynical nihilism fella, whereas Kefka wants to destroy everything for the sake of doing it. Both crave power to destroy, but Seymour has a hint of kindness in his actions, even if that's utter balderdash. I think I've convinced myself that Seymour is a better character but since he's not over-the-top, or even the final boss, so he'll never the credit he's deserved. Great hair, though!

I've already said how much I loved the world of Spira, so I won't reiterate it here. If one of those "if you're sucked into the last video game world you played" on Facebook posts, I hope it's Spira where I'll be warped to. I don't know if I want more sequels (what we got already is pretty not good), but I want prequels! I want to know about the Macina War, summoners, and to see all the ruins we walked through during the game.

I spent $10 to replace my old FFX disk. The "new" one was still busted, but I managed to get through. A part of me wants to splurge on a brand new copy because I think Final Fantasy X may be the best game in the franchise. The characters, the music, the story, the world, the battle system, and everything else are top tier in JRPGs. I've been going back and forth on my favorite in the franchise for a few years, but I'm ready to say X is the best. Is it better than Chrono Trigger? I dunno. Is it better than Star Ocean 2? Honestly? Maybe! I won't gush anymore, though.
 
FFX-2 is a strange sequel that I don't know I'll play. I don't hate it, but I don't find it very good, either. It's nice to see the "happier-ever-after" scenarios for some of our favorite side characters, but I feel it drags on too long, and you need a guide to get 101%. Not to mention pPhere Break *shudders*
 
See you on Monday for either FFIV or a brand new franchise!

From Zanarkand

First of all, let's discuss the Jecht Sphere's.
The one at the Moonflow shows us the aftermath of when Jechy attacked the shoopuf. Jecht is apologetic and promises to never drink again, not wanting to embarrass his family back home.
There's one at the Travel Agency in Mi'hen, which shows the time Jecht wanted to attack the Chocobo Eater. This shows how similar Tidus and his dad actually are.
There's one next to the temple in Besaid. Braska enters the village, and Jecht comments on how small it is. Braska likes it and asks Auron to bring Yuna here when this is all over. It's small, but it tells us why Auron asked Kimahri to bring Yuna here.
Aboard the SS Liki from Besaid to Killika, they discuss getting Valefor, which seems to the last aeon for Braska, and then heading to Zanarkand. Auron seems more open to Jecht being from the place. Jecht appears to have accepted he's stuck in Spira at this point but has some thread of hope left. He tells Braska not to make his little girl cry.
In Luca, Jecht asks Braska if he recorded the last match as he wants to show it to Tidus when he gets home. Jecht hopes to make his son a star one day, even if Tidus wasn't good at it when he was young. Oddly enough, Jecht starts crying a little bit at the end.
The last one was back before the elevator to where we met Kinoc before Operation Mi'hen, and it's, fittingly, Auron's Sphere. It's Kinoc and Auron discussing the new leadership that Kinoc got. It was meant for Auron, but when he turned down the marriage, he lost it. Once you've collected all the spheres, Auron's last Overdrive, Tornado, is usable. That's cool and all, but who filmed some of these?
 
Second of all, I knocked out Omega Weapon last night. He poses no threat, which was mildly annoying. The power increase the Celestial Weapons give are massive and sudden. I went from dealing about 3000 damage to over the cap pretty fast. I forgot to use Kimarhi's Lancet on Omega, though, so I'll never see Nova now. But it did encourage me to rush through to the end of the game. That, and I wasn't having good luck with Bliztaball rewards for Wakka. Sorry buddy, but RNG screwed ya, ya?

But onward over the mountain! We left Bevelle last night and are ready to make the final push against Sin! Cid turns on the ship's sound system, and the Hymn begins to play! Everyone wonders if Shelinda did her job, but Brother quickly yells out that Sin's here. Tidus says, "we're going in," and by that, he means we're gonna get eaten. If need be, they'll rip open a new hole, which is a strange thing to do to your father. Cid's excited as we head for the ship's deck. We can hear all of Spira singing the Hymn, and the team promises to fulfill their end of the deal. Tidus shows Yuna the sphere she dropped on Gagazet and chucks it into the aether.

Before we can attack, Sin shows off his power. In a move that distorts the clouds, water, and even the moon around him, he gathers in energy and fires it off in seven directions. These don't seem to hit anything, but they leave scars on the planet thousands of miles long. The clouds are torn apart, the ocean is left, momentarily, as a massive ditch, and things begin to explode somehow as everything goes back to normal. What was the point of it, though? Sin then begins to end the showboating and attacks in full force. After each battle, Cid fires off the ship's big guns, knocking an arm off the floating whale. After the second one, though, the main gun breaks. Cid asks us to come back in to make a new plan, but Tidus overrides him. He suggests we finish this now by continuing to fight Sin before he regenerates. In a scene that changes based on the affection mechanics, a character will run up past Tidus and toss themselves off the deck. For me, it was Yuna, but everyone has a line. Tidus gets playfully upset, and the rest of the team follows. They all land on Sin, and a third battle begins with another core and a Sinspawn. Despite the additional mob, this is another easy battle if you've done too much grinding.

But I've gotten slightly ahead of myself. There are two battles against Sin, but both are barely worth mentioning at this point. The first is against his left arm. We're to attack the glowing blue point, and the battle works similarly to the fight against Evrae. Since we made so easy work of Omega, Sin poses an even tinier threat. Move us in close, and attack him with your strongest characters. I really wish I had Wakka's weapon, but Yuna's Holy did plenty of damage. Next up is the right arm, which is the exact same battle.
The third fight is against another core and a Spinspawn. The second mob deals damage but is just as quickly dispatched as the rest of Sin.

The camera cuts far away from Sin as he begins to fall from the sky. He lands just outside of Bevelle. The team returns to the cockpit. Cid seems pleased, but everyone knows we're not done. "We need to beat the guy inside Sin." We can talk to our comrades again, who say nothing of value. Find Yuna on the deck to continue. She'll wonder what Bahamut meant when he asked her to summon them. The cogs start turning in her head. Yevon merges with an aeon, and Sin is reborn. But it'll be small and weak, right? That should give us time to defeat them without the Final Aeon. Yuna has some uneasy feelings about us killing her aeon fiends, but she starts to wonder more about the dreams of the fayth. She asks Tidus if he'll go away, but Tidus doesn't get a chance to answer. Sin sprouts insect wings on his back and flies up to the skies, and he perches on the tower of Bevelle.

The two return to the cockpit, where Auron says, "Jecht is waiting for you." Cid has no idea what to do, but Tidus tells him to take us in, and we'll do the rest. Everyone is pumped and behind the plan. Return to the deck again, and Sin will take to the skies. We now fight the body of Sin himself in a fight that's nearly identical to the others we just did. We get three turns to prepare, though, but I only need one to cast Hastega, giving me all the edge I need. After the battle, Sin's head begins to dissolve and explode in blue light. The airship starts to travel into the hole we made and gets surrounded by purple mist and pyreflies. And then we hear the laugh of a dead man, and we pass through the eye of Seymour.

We then walk through the shallow lake with no map. We have to find our way through, but it isn't too hard or long. Find the glowing Yevon symbols and follow the light tunnels they make. There are a few treasures off the beaten paths, but once you see them, you should have an idea of how to get to them. We keep walking until we reach a grand staircase. At the top is our long lost friend Seymour...again. He keeps talking about the same stuff he has been all game and says he'll control Sin. A fight breaks out. I didn't one-shot Omnis, but I did three-shot him. I had Auron cast Armor Break, Tidus used Energy Rain, and then I had Wakka use his Attack Slots Overdrive. I don't know Omnis' gimmick, but I liked his fancy rubric's switch things. After he beat him...again, Yuna finally sends him as he tells us Spira will join him in sorrow soon.

Beyond Seymour is the City of the Dead, a path with several hidden treasures. If you see a blue glyph on the ground, you can activate them, and they'll take you to one to three treasure chests. There's a green glyph wall at the start, but I didn't bother with that. You can kill thirty-five mobs (not battles), but most of the fights only have one enemy in them, and I was out of patience. The reward is Level Four Key Sphere, which I didn't even need. The second save point is the point of no return for the game. As you walk north from it, a building will fall in front of us. If you've done everything in Spira, you can continue, but this is your last chance! I finished up the Calm Lands Arena getting everything Inside Sin and giving Wakka's stuff one final chance at showing up. Neither of his two Overdrives appeared in eight games, so I had to call it. If we return to the airship now, our friends say nothing of value. Auron says he wants to see Jecht one last time before he fades, but that's all worth noting.

Inside this building is the place we saw Luzzu and the rest of the Crusaders after Operation Mi'hen. We have to find nine treasures, for some reason, to advance. If we get hit by a spiked pillar, a fight happens with a random Inside Sin mob. The items aren't good, and I'm confused. Regardless, once you've gotten them all, we're teleported to the place we first went to when we got sucked into Spira. We're above a ruined Zanarakand, and I just now figured out why we were there.
 
But, before us stands Jecht. As Tidus walks closer, Jecht tells Auron he's late and says how big his son has gotten. Not a lot of muscle, though. He tries to ask his son questions that a father who hasn't seen his son in ten years would ask, but how do you make that not awkward? Jecht says a joke I didn't get but upset Tidus. Tidus, fighting back the tears, tells his dad he hates him. Jecht laughs it off and accepts his fate. He can't hear the Hymn anymore, indicative that he's going to be fully absorbed soon. He warns the party that he won't be able to hold back in the fight. Tidus, still fighting the tears, wants to get this over with now. Jecht does some stuff to make himself glow. Tidus runs up to him but can't reach him in time before Jecht jumps off a ledge. Light comes from behind him that travels through the city, turning on all the lights in the place.

"Otherworld" begins to play again as a massive flaming claw replaces where Jecht once stood. The claw pulls up the rest of Braska's Final Aeon, the final, real boss of Final Fantasy X. This is a two stage boss, but I did way too much grinding to make them meaningful. The Pagodas on either side of BFA can heal and charge the Overdrive gauge. If Tidus talks, he can reset that gauge, though. Other than the pagodas, which are easily killed with anything that can reach, there aren't any gimmicks. Attack, attack, and attack!
The second stage is much of the same, except BFA has a giant sword and more HP. I tried to bring up some aeons here, but they were quickly killed. The Pagodas seem to come back far more often in stage two. Sadly, the Magus Sisters' Sandy got the final kill. A bit anti-climactic, yeah?

Braska's Final Aeon drops his sword as a red and black spirit flies out of its' back. Jecht returns to normal for a moment as Tidus runs up to him. Jecht says "crying" four times in four seconds, all at his son's expense. Tidus says, "I hate you, dad," one more time before both dreams realize this fight isn't over. Tidus then tells his dad, "For the first time, I'm glad to have you as my father." Yuna tries to do something, but Jecht, accompanied by Bahamut, tells her to call the aeons! Jecht turns into pyreflies as the spirit attacks us.

We're teleported to a bigger version of BFA's sword. The spirit turns into a roach/spider looking thing, which is the most parasitic thing I've ever seen. Fitting. From here on are battles we can't lose. We have the auto-life effect on us, which never fades, even if we die. The goal here is to kill our aeon friends. When we summon them, they get possessed by Yu Yevon, the parasite thing floating around. I went down the line in reverse order of when I got them. The Magus Sisters, being three, I had to kill with Anima's Oblivion. Every other aeon went down in one hit to Auron's Masamune. Shiva was the hardest because we couldn't hit her, so Yuna had to use Holy. I saved Bahamut for last, seeing as he's the most story relevant aeon. Nothing special happened. I don't know if these fights have set HP or if they're based on how much you've empowered them. The pagodas are also here, but I don't know if they can be killed. They have more than 99999 HP, I know that. They have the same purpose as they did in the final fight. Between each battle, we see Yuna is in pain. We can see the sorrow on her face as we slay everything she's worked hard to obtain. Our entire journey was gathering them, fighting alongside them, and making them more powerful. Fortunately, their goals and ours are still the same, even if it's a bit more macabre now.

After we've beaten the aeons, Tidus takes the group aside and tells them this is the last time we'll fight together. Lulu gets mad, and Yuna looks even more worried than before. He never says why, but he tells them he'll disappear after they beat Yu Yevon. Yu Yevon counters every attack with a heal that tops out at 9999. Holy is doing over 40000, and Auron and Tidus do close to 15000. You can break his armor and magical defense to aid you, so why not do it? The only attack I saw was a massive gravity spell, but gravity spells can't kill anything in Final Fantasy.

With Yuna hitting the final blow, the pagodas surround and merge with Yu Yevon. The three of them emit a blinding light with black particles spewing from it. We've won.

The scene shifts to Besaid. We see the Aurochs, O'aka, Wantz, Lucil, Elma, and Gotta watching the battle playout, I guess. This reminds me, Clasko was on the ship to Killika as the resident Chocobo expert. Everyone salutes as the camera runs towards the temple, past Maechen and a monk, and on to the cloister. We see the light the fayth usually emanates dim, and the vibrant colors turn a normal orange/brown hue. The soul trapped in the fayth is finally dead. We see the same thing happen for Shiva and finally for Bahamut as the Mysterious Boy fades away.

We return to the scene of the final fight. We see Yuna performing The Sending for whatever is around. Pyreflies emanate from Auron, and he tells her, "don't stop." "Auron's Theme" plays for the last time as he gives Kimarhi a fist bump to his chest, gives the rest of the guardians a look, draws his sword, and tells us, "this is your world now." He accepts his death and turns into pyreflies.

The final CGI scene takes place on the deck of the airship. Yuna is performing The Sending on all of the aeons. The body of Sin drops, and everything turns into a beautiful mosaic of color when they turn to pyreflies and other magical entities. We shift to the giant fayth on Gagazet as the colors there drain out as well. The magic water feature around the fayth begins to stop working as we zoom in to reveal the citizens of Zanarkand, one of whom is Tidus. We cut back to him, in real time, as he begins to fade. Yuna continues to grieve, and Tidus tells her, "it's time to go," and he apologizes for not being able to show her Zanarkand. Yuna runs into his arms one more time, but he's already lost his ability to be physically touched. She lies there crying, and he does as well. She gets up and says, "I love you," which is very blunt for a JRPG. I'm not sure I've heard it very often from a main character. I've read she says "thank you" in the Japanese version, which is boring. Tidus does his best to put his arms around her, but as the sun starts to rise, he says his final farewells and jumps off the ship. He sees the images of Braska, Auron, and high fives Jecht as the screen goes black.

Yuna is heard whistling, trying to get Tidus' attention, until Lulu tells her it's time. We're in Luca, and Yuna gives a speech, with her guardians behind her, discussing the Eternal Calm. She talks of loss: home, dreams, and friends. She talks of rebuilding in a post-Sin world. "Spira is ours again." If we work together, we make new homes...and new dreams. She talks of the future. She asks everyone to never forget the people...and dreams we've lost as we see memories of her and Tidus.

"Suteki Da Ne" plays as the credits roll. There's a post scene where Tidus wakes up in a vast ocean and swims to the top. He's smiling, but we don't see anymore.

"To Zanarkand" plays as we see "The End."

Back to Bevelle

Let's pretend I didn't do most of the side quests last night. Let's pretend I didn't do the majority of playing tonight focused on side quests. Let's not pretend I'm going to play Blitzball tomorrow.

We went straight to the Highbridge outside Bevelle. Two guards stand in our way and are prepared for a fight. Suddenly, a woman's voice comes out and tells them to stop. The guards call her captain as Shelinda enters?! How did the nun become a guard? Auron guesses it's because of a lack of believers, but more on that later. She tells the guards that Yuna isn't a traitor, and that's just a rumor started by the Al Bhed. Rikku gets upset for being scapegoated. We ask to see Maester Mika, and Shellinda lets us in.

Mika, unrepentant that he tried to kill us, asks why we're still here? He's worried about the chaos he's caused and thinks Yuna can save them with the Calm. Yuna informs him that we killed Yunaleska and the Final Aeon will never be again. He becomes a little panicky at this, yelling that now Spira will never know peace. "Destruction is inevitable." He says he'd rather not exist than see Spira give in to despair. He mentions someone named Yu Yevon, who Yunaleska discussed too. When we ask him who that is, he responds, "He who crafts the souls of the dead into unholy armor. An armor called Sin!" Mika then sends himself to the Farplane and dies. Bahamut appears before Tidus and Yuna, asking them to "come to my room," so we return to the fayth. The Boy asks us if we have a plan. We can say no, but I said we'll fight Yu Yevon. Bahamut then gives us the information on him. Yu Vevon is Sin's summoner, and he used that to be immortal. Any aeon that defeats Sin gets merged with Yu, and the cycle is repeated. He continues, Yu lives inside Sin, and he asks Yuna to summon the aeons against him. He then turns to Tidus and reminds him that the aeon's dream will end, and Tidus will vanish. Tidus and Yuna have a conversation where Yuna knows her boyfriend is hiding something. He won't tell her, but she says he's a bad liar.

As we leave, Shelinda shows up. Rikku asks her to tell people to prepare to sing the Hymn. If everyone in Spira sings the Hymn at the same time, it should weaken Sin and give us a shot at him. Shelinda is confused at first, but she comes around when we tell her it's our plan to defeat Sin.
 
We return to the airship to talk to our party again.
Auron says he was worried at the start and congratulates us.
Yuna wonders what "all those teaching...what were they for"?
Lulu says we're going to bring an Eternal Calm.
Wakka apologizes to Cid for being racist. He admits his ignorance, and the two shake off each other's transgressions. I was hoping for this scene to bring Wakka around. He was racist, but I'm more focused on the future. It's always refreshing to see reformed former white supremacists in real life, so we should feel the same way now towards Wakka. He's a product of how he was raised, but the cycle ends now.
Rin tells us how Braska and Yuna's mother met. He keeps the story going until he says Sin attacked a boat Yuna's mom was on, and that was what spurred Braska to become a summoner.
I have no idea where Rikku was.

Regardless, that's where I'm at right now. Last night, I spent more time in the side quests. Over the last two days, I got everyone's Celestial Weapons, and all of them are at full power! Except for Lulu because I'm not dodging 200 lightning bolts. Screw that noise! I also need to get Wakka's, but I'll do that tomorrow. I also started finishing up the Monster Arena. Omega Ruins has some pretty scary stuff, and I can't get into the final dungeon yet. I plan to do them...probably, but I'm too fragile now. I got all the secret aeons and sent Belgemme. I don't know much longer we've got, but we're nearing the end!

Some of the extra stuff has lore behind it, so let me touch on it all now.
Auron's Celestial Weapon once belonged to Mi'hen, and Wakka's was Lord Oholland's, who he talked about in Killika.
The Omega Ruins was where a Yevon heretic, Omega, ran off to 700 years ago. He became an incredibly powerful fiend into those centuries.  
If you go to Baaj Temple, Tidus recognizes it as the place he started his journey in Spira from. He gets revenge on the Geo...fella (barely) and heads towards the secret fayth. We discover the fayth is Seymour's mother. She tells us his backstory as visions of what the temple once looked like pass before us. It's fun to contrast how they looked when Tidus was there. She says her son has had a hard life and blames herself. Both of his parents blame themselves for Seymour's attitude. He was caught between two worlds. His mother became a fayth to protect her son, but he wanted more and more power, which further explains why he wants to become Sin. She asks us to end Seymour's fascination with Sin.
If we return to Guadosalem, Tromell meets us. He, and the rest of the guado, are prepared to die, willing to die even. They've given in to despair and hope for Sin to destroy them. If we follow him to the Farplane, he talks to Jyscal and apologizes. While we're here, we see Lulu talking to Lady Ginnem, and she looks forward to returning to her with good news.
In Macalania Woods, Wantz has set up a customization shop. He sells four empty slotted equipment that we can use to make whatever weapons we want. We also find an old guado woman who informs us that the guado were the ones who set the fiend loose in Luca.
If we return to the temples, we can talk to the fayths. They give us story on Sin and how they're ready to rest. It's all quite riddled, though. 1000 years must have rotted their minds? If we return to Zanarkand, we'll see Dona and Barthello leave the dome. She's upset and gets more so when we tell her what we did. I guess she resigns herself to playing a bit part now.
All of these scenes are imposed upon the general populace's view of their changing Spira. Al Bhed are all over the place now, and some still hold racist attitudes towards them. Others seem fine, though. Many people tell us how they've lost faith in Yevon or fled from Bevelle. They have anger towards the church for abandoning their defensive positions around temples and roads. The Crusaders have taken up their role and now protect the roads. Gotta is in charge of the Besaid unit and protects the town. He seems happy but admits his heart is heavy. Maybe peace can heal him?

Who knows when I'll end this, but probably soon. Final Fantasy X has been better than I remember it being, and I remembered it being really good!

Someday the Dream Will End

We last left off in the Mt. Gagazet caves. There are several small puzzles we will need to do to advance, but they’re all easy. To the left of the save point is a water filled cavern. Everyone wishes Tidus, Wakka, and Rikku luck as they’re the only ones who know how to swim. The first puzzle has Wakka trying to hit a target surrounded by two armored shells. Time your throw right, in the middle of the outer shell's rotation, and you’ll hit the mark. Go back to everyone else, and head to the now open section. The second puzzle has the three of them hitting a switch at the same time. To do so, place a character in a similar sized hole as the character. It’s just that easy. Return to the rest of the party and head to the exit. Auron will hang back to tell Yuna that “she” has sent fiends to test the resolve of summoners. When Yuna asks who “she” is, Auron states it’s Yunaleska. After a quick discussion about her still being alive, Auron warns us a boss is ahead.

But I’m left wondering how other guardian groups made it past these puzzles. That’s another thing that’s always bothered me about video games. Why are so many puzzles only doable by a group of this many people with these exact skills? Did Auron and Braska swim in these waters ten years ago?
 
Regardless, the moment we step out of the caves and onto open ground, we're attacked. Sanctuary Keeper is fragile. He's vulnerable to Power and Armor Break, so use them. Hastega up and wail on him with Limits Breaks. I think I summoned Bahamut to get the Overkill bonus. Watch out for Proton Wings, which can inflect several debuffs on the party. I brought in Wakka to use Dark Buster, which works for one turn, but I pretty much beat this dude with Yuna, Tidus, and Auron. I am far stronger than I ever have been in this game.
 
After the fight, Rikku asks to rest for a bit for obvious reasons. Auron doesn't let her. Tidus hangs back, and Wakka tries to get him to go. Auron laughs and reveals that Tidus reminds him of himself. Auron acted in a similar fashion ten years ago. He knew what was about to happen but could do nothing to change it. Wakka is shocked that a legendary guardian could "choke," and Auron says he wasn't legendary then. He was just a boy.  

The team turns a corner, and we see the megacity that was once Zanarkand. It's in ruins, and nothing is like it was in Tidus' mind. He tries to speak but can't muster anything up. Rikku tries to stop Yuna one more time, but Yuna can't stop. Rikku just wants to save her cousin. Yuna has been preparing for this her whole life, though. She rushes into Rikku's arms to give her a hug, and a sphere drops out of her dress. We don't see it yet, as Yuna tells Rikku to say goodbye to Cid. Rikku still thinks we can save her.

Tidus picks up the sphere, and we cut to the Mi'hen Travel Agency, where Yuna was sitting by the cliff overlooking the ruins. Yuna's talking to herself and saying thank you to all her guardians.
First up in Auron. She tells us the story of how she and Kimahri met. Auron met him after Jecht killed Sin, and he instructed the ronso to take Yuna to Besaid. She's honored to have him as a guardian, and her way to saying thanks is by beating Sin. She reveals that this is to be heard upon her death.
Next is Kimarhi, and she goes into more details about their first meeting. Everyone was joyous, including herself. But then night fell, and she realized she was alone. She went to the Highbridge to overlook where Braska did battle with Sin. Kimahri showed up and asked, "for the daughter of Braska." Yuna was scared at first but came around quickly because he's so gentle. He tells the child why he's here, and she began to cry, knowing Braska was dead. Kimahri held her. When they got to Besaid, Kimahri tried to leave, but Yuna started crying again as she didn't want him to go. Kimahri stayed. She then says how much she likes his broken horn.
Wakka and Lulu are combined here. Yuna happily recounts her childhood growing up with them and Chappu. When she wanted to become a summoner, they both said no, which made her happy. It taught her how much people care about her. Yuna views them as an older brother and sister and loves watching Wakka play Blitzball. She even loves when Lulu scolds her.
Finally, we come to Tidus. Yuna doesn't know exactly what to say, seeing as only just met at this point. It's clear she's in love with him, though. She finally knows love, and it's a great feeling, but it hurts sometimes. Probably because she knows the love can't ever be. She's about to redo the last portion until Tidus walks up to her, which was when they started making plans to live in a place like this.

We regain control of Tidus in the present and make our way down to Zanarkand. The cliffs quickly give way to the beautiful, destroyed, desolate city of Zanarkand. Everything is in ruins, and the shiny, vibrant colors we saw at the start of the game are replaced by sandblasted oranges and browns. "A city dead for 1000 years..." These images, coupled with the sun setting in the background inspired me to write a song about the place in high school.
 
We make our way down to sea level, and the opening cinematic plays again. It turns out that the whole game, thus far, has been Tidus retelling everything. This explains the narration before, during, and after many scenes. It's a strange framing device that angers some people, but it doesn't take anything away from the story. I really enjoyed the inner monologues and reflection! Eventually, though, all stories need to end. Yuna no longer wants to reminisce, obviously, and she says it's time to go.

"Someday the Dream will End" plays, which is one of my top four favorite video game songs of all time. The sun has set by now, and we walk the home stretch of our journey. The song keeps playing in battle as we walk the same road that Tidus walked with Auron at the start of the game. At least, I always thought it was the same. We come to the Blitzball dome, where a random spirit appears before us and looks into Yuna's eyes to see her resolve. He allows us passage and tells us to see Yunaleska. Inside the dome, we fight machina and dead Bevelle monks. I assume these are remnants of the Machina War from 1000 years ago. More importantly, we see the last images of several people.
The first we see is the guardian of Lady Yocum, the first High Summoner. Her guardian says she's willing to die for her. Auron tells us how this works.
The Second such vision is a small child. He's crying because he doesn't want his mother to die. His mother, though, says she doesn't have much time left. Wakka and Rikku recognize the kid as Seymour.
The third vision is Braska, Auron, and Jecht. Jecht is trying to talk Braska out of this, and we see Auron's faith waver for the first time. Auron has been the stoic warrior for thirty hours, so to see him in such a state is enlightening and a bit scary. We see then again when Jecht complains about another trial.

The Zanarkand Cloister of Trials sucks. It's tedious and boring. We have to light up various floor panels as indicated on the board to the north. They're not to scale with the room, but the shapes are scattered about. They don't change between puzzles, but we have to five of them! Place the Kilika and Besaid spheres in their pedestals, and an elevator down appears. But first...

The Spectral Keeper appears. Have Auron use Provoke and, using the trigger commands, move your other two characters behind the boss. Use Hastega, and have Yuna heal Auron when need be. Protect and Regain may be wise, too. When a glyph bomb is placed, move your characters, or else they'll die. SK counters all attacks, and he hits all three locations in front of him, which is why you need to move Yuna and Tidus behind him. If the Keeper berserks Auron, leave it on. He'll do more damage that way. Don't use summons, as they might mess up the official facing of the boss. This was one of the easiest fights in the game!

Yuna gets on the elevator while everyone else waits here. We hear Jechts voice complain that there's no fayth, and Yuna comes back up to concur. The whole party goes down this time. Yuna tells us this isn't a fayth, and another random spirit talks to us. This is Lord Zaon, the original Final Aeon. His soul has long departed, though, but that's a part of the plan. The spirit tells us to speak to Yunaleska behind him. She has the power to make a new Final Aeon. Rikku and Tidus get mad at Auron for not saying anything, but would that have changed anything? Inside the new room is a lavish hall with a nearly naked woman in it: Yunaleska. She congratulates Yuna on making it here but asks Yuna to choose which guardian will become the Final Aeon. The Final Aeon can only be summoned if the bond between summoner and guardian is strong enough. Which guardian will become the fayth of the Final Aeon?

Another vision of Braska's party appears. Auron wants everyone to leave, but Braska doesn't want another group to have to deal with this. Jecht has decided and volunteers to become the fayth. He can't make it make to his Zanarkand. He'll never train Tidus to become a star Blitzball player. This may be the way to give his new life meaning. Auron tries to talk him out of it. Braska accepts and thanks him. Jecht tells Auron to protect Braska until he fights Sin. Auron has lost all faith and says that Sin always comes back, making their deaths mean nothing. Braska insists it might work this time, and Jecht declares he'll find a way to break the cycle and starts to laugh. I begin to cry a little, not gonna lie. When Braska and Jecht leave, Auron's vision remains, and our Auron loses his temper and starts to attack it. He then says, "and the cycle went on." Tidus says, "we'll break it."  Ignoring him, Lulu volunteers for the aeon, and so does Wakka. Tidus says the same thing Auron did ten years ago. Wakka and Lulu try to tell him there's no other way, but he doesn't care. Tidus believes there's another way. Maybe if we ask Yunaleska, we'll come up with something. Yuna says she'll do what she'll do with no regrets.

We step into the door where Yunaleska went through and exit out into space. Before making her choice, Yuna asks about the Final Aeon. Yunaleska says that Sin is eternal. Any aeon that defeats Sin becomes Sin, and Sin is reborn. Sin is never ending. Wakka gets upset because of the Yevon teachings, but Yunaleska asks if humanity can ever atone. Lulu finally shows some emotion and gets angry because she realized that she's been misled her whole life. Yunaleska states that the teachings are for hope and nothing else. Hope allows us to accept fate, no matter how tragic. The vision of Auron returns from Braska's Calm. He yells at Yunaleska, asking about the sense in it all. Yunaleska states the same thing she just told us about hope, and Auron rushes in. It doesn't go well for him...

Yunaleska restates that everything is about hope, even if it doesn't mean anything, and she asks who'll be the Final Aeon.

"No one." "The Final Summoning is a false tradition that should be thrown away."

Yunaleska insults Braska by misunderstanding what he died for, and Yuna says he died to rid the world of sorrow. The 1000-year-old woman responds with, "sorrow can not be abolished." Yuna says she'll live with her sorrow and live her own life until she can conquer it. She will do so without false hope. Yunaleska starts acting like Seymour and says she'll kill us in hope. It's better than dying in despair.

Our characters then get pumped up to fight the first person to slay Sin 1000 years ago.
Auron's is too good to sum up, so here it is the full thing: "Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!"
Rikku says she's fighting (she won't).
Wakka and Lulu think about running, but they couldn't live with themselves.
Tidus is with Yuna all the way.

What many people consider to be the hardest fight in FFX happens. If you can, head back to the dome and fight the monks. Have Rikku steal Candle of Lifes from them. Ten can be customized to an armor to create Zombieproof. Yunaleska tries to turn everyone into zombies and casts Cura and Regen on them, which is bad if you're dead. Yunaleska has three forms.
Form one is simple. Hastega up. It won't last long, at least on your attackers, but Yuna should be at full speed all the time. Attack with basic attacks to deplete her 20000 HP. She tends to counter with a weak hit that negates the buffs. It also afflicts blind on the attacker. Her regular move is Absorb, which halves the max HP of the target, healing her as well. The target will be whoever has the most HP. Yuna should heal Auron afterwards. Round one is simple, but round two can be a dozy.
Form two starts off with the move Hellbiter. This inflicts Zombie status on everyone and leads to the scenario I stated above. Buffs will last longer in this form, though, so Hastega up again. With the Zombieproof armors, this form poses no threat.
Form three, though... Her third form starts the battle with Mega Death. This kills everyone who isn't a zombie. It can be prevented with Deathproof, which is an easy to get ability. Simply capture all the fiends in the Calm Lands, but you only get enough to make put three of them. With these two abilities, you'll still have to be wary of Mind Blast. This can inflect curse on characters, preventing them from using their Overdrives. More concerning, it confuses them. If you're practically immortal, curse has no effect, but confusion can be scary when Auron is attacking you for 6000 damage. I didn't have enough room to add Deathproof to my armor, though. What I did was summon an aeon to put the final touches on Form Two. The aeons never lasted long, but they bought time. After they died, I attacked with Tidus and Auron until it was Yuna's last turn before the boss. Summon another aeon to use their Overdrive and repeat. This strategy allowed me two kill Yunaleska without dying once, barely taking damage, and only using Yuna, Tidus, and Auron. I'm sure a similar team could have accomplished this feat ten years ago...

Yunaleska dies and laments that all hope is gone from Spira. Only she can bring the Final Aeon, the only way to fell Sin. Even if we destroy Sin, Yu Yevon will simply recreate Sin. Tidus wonders who that is, but Yunaleska apologizes to Zaon, and the pyreflies take her away. Yuna is shocked, and Tidus suggests we keep doing more things unbelievable. He doesn't know how, but we'll figure it out. Get the Sun Sigil and exit the room. What was once a lavish room is now more ruins, and Auron talks to Tidus. Auron tells us he is an Unsent. He tried to get revenge against Yunaleska, but we just saw him die. He somehow got to Kimahri, and the plan went into motion. Being dead allowed Auron to ride Sin to Tidus' Zanarkand. When Tidus asks why, Auron reveals the last scene with Jecht. Jecht asked Auron to take care of Tidus. Jecht almost doesn't ask, but Auron insists. Auron has no idea how he'd get there, but Jecht believes in him. The whole time, Auron has been following through on the promise he made to Jecht, even though he never liked him until the end. Auron is one of my favorite characters in any game. He has so much growth if you pay attention to all the timeline stuff, but I'm noticing it even more than before.

The party leaves the dome as the sun begins to rise. Sin is in the distance but is as calm as can be. Tidus talks to him as best he can and promises that he'll find a way to end this. The airship comes from behind Sin and picks the team up. In the cockpit, Cid says that we look so happy. They don't... No one has any ideas on how to beat Sin. Auron reminds us that Sin is Jecht, and we have his son; that bond may be the key. Auron leaves and passes by Yuna. He gives her a strange look... Yuna comes in and tries to talk to Cid in the most respectful way. He ignores her, but only because he's crying. The facial animations in FFX were great! Yuna and Kimahri walk off. We gain control of Tidus and can talk to everyone. Everyone tells us to think. Hunting down Yuna and Kimahri, Yuna also has no idea. She only knows the teaching of Yeven, which we know now are false. Kimahri suggests the teachings may offer some clue, though, and we should talk to Mika. He knows more things than he lets on, so we make plans to re-raid Bevelle. Tidus comes back to the cockpit, and Wakka and Rikku have a fun bicker over who came up with the idea. Lulu buts in and says, "The Hymn." Jecht likes the hymn, and it can calm him down. If we use that, he may be able to get a sneak attack on him.


So we're either raiding Bevelle or fighting Sin tomorrow. I've forgotten which!



But I kept playing. We now have full control of the airship, or as full as FFX lets us. It doesn't work like it did in previous games, but it's whatever. I went around and did a few airship related sidequests involving the Input and Coordinate search stuff, so I got a bunch of Rikku's junk. I also got Auron's Masamune. It still sucks, but I'll master the celestial weapons later. I also paid Yojimbo.

Servants of the Mountain

As I suspected, last night would have been a bad day to type. I still played the game, but I didn't do anything story related. I got a no encounter shield for Tidus the night before, so I used it to explore where I could go. Guadosalem is the limit right now. I got all the monsters between the Sunken Cave and the Lightning Plains.
I found some more Jecht's Spheres. The one in the south forest was when Jecht joined Braska. Auron was furious, but Braska wanted to defeat Sin with a team involving a fallen summoner who married an Al Bhed, an exiled monk who didn't marry a priestess, and a drunkard from Zanarkand. The second in the Thunder Plains was more humorous than anything. Jecht gets struck by lightning, and the boringly stoic Auron laughs.
I finally made some early leaps towards the Celestial Weapons. I got the Cloudy Mirror, Kimarhi's Spirit Lance, Tidus' Caldabolg, Yuna's Nirvana, the rusty sword, and a few sigils and crests. The weapons are still terrible now, but it's progress. And yes, that means I got a perfect time in Chocobo Catcher!
I didn't get Yojimbo, though. I'm frugal!

But that was last night! Tonight, I march upwards and over the mountain that is Gagazet. As we leave the Calm Lands, Yuna turns around and stares. She's done this a few times, Tidus tells us, but he never knew why. Until now. She's saying goodbye to the places she'll never see again.

The transition from plains to jagged mountain range is sudden, but we come to the foot of Mt. Gagazet. As we reach a clearing, we're attacked by ronsos. Maester Kelk is behind Biran/Yenke, Kimahri's not-friends, and informs us that traitors aren't welcome on Yevon's Sacred Mountain. He even threatens to kill us if need be. Yuna, however, takes charge! She tells everyone that Yevon is a lie, and the rest of the group backs her. Even Wakka seems to have come around. Biran/Yenke tries to attack us, but Kimarhi stops him. Lulu and Auron jump in to remind Kelk of what he knows as a Maester, former or otherwise. Yuna comes back to tell the angry ronso that we're not going to flee. Kelk is surprised that a traitor would keep fighting and asks why. "I fight for Spira," responds Yuna. She fights to end pain and bring peace. Even if it means sacrificing herself to people who hate her, she will keep fighting. These words quickly change the mind of Kelk, and he tells his people to let us pass. He says that somewhat excitedly. Yuna thanks him, and we have a chance to talk to everyone.
Yuna says, "It's just a little further now." It's pretty obvious what that means.
Rikku is still trying to find a way to save Yuna.
Wakka seems to finally believe that Tidus is from Zanarkand, or at least open the idea. He says that his star Bliztball player will be home soon, one way or another.
Lulu is amazed at how strong Yuna has become. She's become strong because of her dedication and will to fight.
Auron confirms that he knows now that Yevon is in turmoil. Tidus doesn't care because he's not a Yevonite, but Auron tells him that those who are are in for dark times.
Kimahri warns us of Biran and Yekne. He knows he has to fight and win.
There are also several ronso around, one of whom is a shop.

As we approach the north, Kimarhi's inkling comes true. Biran and Yenke will not allow us to pass. To be more precise, they won't allow Kimahri to pass. They have a feud that has lasted ten years. Ever since Kimahri refused to acknowledge that Biran, Hero of the Ronso, beat him, the two horned tribesmen have not liked Kimarhi. They broke his horn, and that forced Kimahri into exile. The ronso don't mess around, so, after a quick argument for players, Kimarhi fights! Kimahri doesn't let us join, so it's two on one, and Kimahri is the weakest character I have. He's in a strange place in the Sphere Grid, in that he has no role. He's a blue mage based on his Overdrive, but he carries a spear and plays a warrior. How do you build one of those? After I finished his section, I started him down Tidus' portion, while using several Skill Spheres to teach him some magic. He knows all the -a spells. Start by casting Haste. From there, use Lancet on both men until you run out of limits to learn. You can learn White Wind and Mighty Guard from this battle too, but you have to wait until the opponents use it. If Kimarhi knows Cura and Haste, the battle is easy. He gets two attacks in a row before they get one. The guy with the highest HP guards for the other one, but they often split up when they use Bulldoze. Whale on the weaker one until he dies, and then do that same to the survivor. After the fight, they congratulate Kimarhi. They turn around to Mt. Gagazet and proclaim that Kimahri is strong and should be allowed to pass. The ronso sub-religion seems like a strange thing to me, but I'm a weak English major, so who am I to judge. As we leave, they say they'll build a statue to Yuna. She doubts anyone would make a statue for a traitor, so they say that the ronso will make one, "with grand horn on head." These guys are cooler than I remember. As we leave, they stop us once more time, to Tidus' chagrin. The whole tribe starts to sing the Hymn of the Fayth.

"Servants of the Mountain" begins to play as we climb Mt. Gagazet. Gagazet has a super high encounter rate, so use it to teach Lulu -ga spells. Along the way, we see the graves of slain summoners. Lulu gives her thoughts at each one and lets us know that summoners who die here aren't sent. Does this explain the high encounter rate? About halfway through, we can find a Jecht Sphere. It's actually Braska's, and he uses it to tell Yuna how much he loves her. Whatever she does, she has her father's full support. Remember, Mt. Gagazet is the final dungeon of sorts for summoners. He knows he's about to die. We meet a man named Wantz at some point. He's O'aka's brother. He tells us O'aka has been thrown in jail for helping traitors: Yuna. O'aka has no regrets and even told Wantz to help us. Wantz tries to avoid telling us why, but he opens a shop for us. The last shop...

Eventually, the team reaches the top of the mountain. Rikku hangs back to talk to Tidus, and she tells us stuff we already know. After being slightly bummed for a moment, Tidus tries to remain positive. Rikku calls Tidus a leader, and he goes to catch up to everyone. As he does, Rikku sees a person standing behind him.
 
Seymour.

Rikku reluctantly runs off to get everyone else. Lulu tells Yuna to send him, but Seymour stops him. He informs "the last ronso" about his people and how they threw themselves at him to protect Yuna. Seymour then talks about how great death is, and he wants to become Sin. He continues by saying, "Once I have become the next Sin, your father will be freed." Tidus runs in, and Seymour transforms into Flux.

I remember this fight being harder. Seymour has similar tactics as the fight in Bevelle, but he turns us into zombies this time instead of stone. You can buy a few Zombie Ward armors in Gagazet, but those don't work that much. But this time, Auron's worked perfectly! Couple that with me building up our Aeon's Overdrive gauge, which can do max damage against Seymour already, and Seymour only got six attacks in. Also, why can Valefor do 21000 damage?
EDIT: Upgrade the Nirvana once. The weapon is easy to get, and you can find the crest before you meet Wakka in Besaid.

After the fight, Yuna gets confused. She asks what Seymour meant by becoming Sin to save Sir Jecht. Auron is cagey, but Tidus gives in. He tells everyone that Sin is Jecht. He apologizes, and everyone wonders how he can fight. Tidus hates his dad, so it's a non sequitur. Wakka tries to distance the fact that Jecht killed Chappu. Rather than return to Gagazet, we carry on. In the next location is a massive, massive fayth made out of hundreds of people. Yuna notices that it is in use and whatever it's the fayth of is in our world now. Rikku tries to get Auron to "spill the beans," but he won't since this is our journey. Tidus agrees and touches the fayth. This causes him to pass out.

He wakes up in Zanarkand, his Zanarkand, by his house. Inside is the Mysterious Boy/Bahamut's fayth. He acts a bit creepy as Tidus' friends try to wake him up. Tidus recognizes that this is a dream, but the fayth calls Tidus the dream and runs out. Outside, the boy tells us more about the Machina War. Zanarkand had summoners, but they were nothing compared to the machina of Bevelle. Rather than all die, the townspeople became fayth for the summoning. Tidus assumes the summoning is Sin, but the boy tells us that Zanarkand is the summon. This city, and all its inhabitants, are dreams of the fayth. Tidus, Jecht, and everyone else we meet at the start of the game aren't real. He then shows us what will happen if the fayth stop dreaming: Zanarkand disappears. Tidus says he wants to keep living, but the boy asks us to let everyone rest. Only Tidus and Jecht can save them as they've been touched by Sin. The Spiral of Death revolves around Sin, so only he can stop this. Yuna manages to wake him up, and he comes back to reality. He tries to play it off like nothing happened, succeeds, and we continue on to the caves of Mt. Gagazet.

But we'll do that tomorrow!

And there's the third twist. Only two more to go!

PS: I lied, actually, I finished up the mountain tonight, but this felt like a better place to end. I have a boss coming tomorrow, but I'll talk about the dungeon then. It also seems like a better place to start and may have a better ending as well. I hope I don't ruin your immersion. Did you expect Tidus to be a dream?

The Calm Lands and its Mini games!

After the fiasco of last night, the party leaves the crystalized wood of Macalania and steps out into the world renowned Clam Lands.

The camera pans over a vast deserted field of green with cliffs all around it. Lulu tells us this is where the High Summoners fought Sin. It's also the end of the road for several reasons. Lulu continues, from here, there are "no towns, no villages, only endless plains." Auron steps in to say this is where many summoners end their journey and lose their way. He doesn't go into detail about why. Yuna remains determined while Tidus is getting bummed but remains focused on keeping Yuna alive.

After Yuna rolls on the grass for a moment, we head down the hill to see Maechen. Even before Sin, this place was a battlefield. Zanarkand and Bevelle battled here in the Machina War 1000 years ago in the same war that led to Sin. Modern summoners took note of the emptiness and choose to fight Sin here, away from onlookers. Maechen assumes Sin will die here again and bring about a new peace, hence the Calm Lands name. In the middle of the fields is a Rin's Travel Agency. When we get there, someone Lulu knows as Father Zuke shows up. He's come to inform us that Mika blames us for Kinoc's death, and we are now to be killed on sight. He informs us Bevelle is in a state of chaos at the top. Regardless, he tells us to avoid temples, and he was curious about Lulu's new summoner. Lulu informs the group that Zuke was a summoner until six months ago. She and Wakka guarded Zeke during that time. He quit here, and he was Lulu's second guardianship. The other ended here, as well. Before we leave, we can talk to everyone again.
Wakka was pleased his journey ended because he was "into the game."
Yuna fears about the future. Being a traitor and everything as a seventeen-year-old girl would do that. She wonders what Braska thought when he was here. They think about asking Auron, but they end up jokingly mocking him instead.
Kimahri tells us we're nearing his home, but he's not thrilled.
Auron ponders the chaos in Yevon.
Rikku is still worried about Yuna dying, and Tidus, annoyed, manages to bring some hope to her.
There's also a guy in the back who tells us what happened to Cid.

But the Calm Lands is where the mini games are! I made my way toward the exit but made a few pitstops. I probably should have waited a little bit. I'll have to redo a few of them later for the Ultimate Weapons side quests. I should have rushed the Cloudy Mirror for two of the rewards!
First was to the north, where I meet Savanda. She says that the raised cliffs are from all the battles with Sin.
To the east side of the plains is the Monster Hunting arena. The man in charge asks us to capture mobs which we can do battle with later on. First is the Calm Lands! I got all nine, and a chest appeared. I can't open it yet, and I got murdered by the monster the old man created.
Next up was Chocobo Training. It's everyone's second favorite mini-game! Dodge balls, then birds, then do a race where you do it all again. If you finish with 0 seconds, you get a piece of Tidus' best weapon. If you beat the trainer, the way to his Caldabolg opens.
Since you need a chocobo for this, I went to the Remium Temple next. Take the chocobo towards the Macalania entrance but keep heading right. Examine the feather on the ground and head to the next area. We see a beautiful temple with Belgemme inside. Which reminds me, we actually fought her en route to the camp. Beat her, and you get the ability to train your aeons' stats. Now though, she wants to test us in stronger battles. After she reveals she's an Unsent, she challenges Yuna to more aeon fights. Right now, she's pretty easy. Shiva and Bahamut can take out anything she uses, but it'll get harder later on. Defeating her Bahamut rewards us with a Flower Scepter. I didn't do this, but under the temple is a chocobo race that rewards us with a Cloudy Mirror. Take that somewhere in the Woods to make it better and start collecting the ultimate weapons. I, however, wanted to do some plot tonight.

Make your way toward Mt. Gagazet, and we'll be attacked by more guado. They want us to meet with Seymour, dead or alive, but we refuse. They attack us with a giant stone machination. Defender X has a lot of HP and attack power but poses little threat. I finally got Hastega for Tidus, so use that. Yuna can protect your party, and Auron should start with Armor Break. It randomly counters, but that move only halves the target's HP. Watch out for Haymaker, but a protected character should survive it, and Yuna should get a chance to heal. Afterwards, we head down to where the machination came from, and Lulu tells us what's down there. Wakka is shocked she knows so much.

Down here, we see a cave (and several Crusaders). Lulu keeps knowing what's up, and the cogs in Wakka's head start to turn. Lulu tells us her first summoner died here and urges Yuna to continue. The Cavern of the Stolen Fayth is a short dungeon that has a high encounter rate. There's a teleporter at the entrance, but it won't work now. In the second open room, Rikku asks why there's a fayth here. Lulu says it was stolen long ago. Auron adds that it was a part of a plot to keep summoners from training, getting the final aeon, and defeating Sin. Rikku seems happy that the summoner won't die, but there's something off about this whole thing, even if Tidus agrees. Keep walking deeper in until we reach the end. "Lulu's Theme" begins to play for the first and only time as the pyreflies start to form into a pallet swamped Belgemme. Lulu knows it as her first summoner, Lady Ginnem. She asks for forgiveness before Auron tells Yuna to send her. Ginnem stops her with her magical psychic power, which causes Lulu to get prepared for battle.

Ginnem summons an aeon that's a pushover. Yojimbo and his dog enter the battlefield, but the aeon averages under 500 HP an attack. I assume you don't want that Overdrive gauge to fill up, though. It was one of the easier fights in the game. Afterward, Lulu said she thought this would be sadder, and Wakka suggests she's gotten stronger. She then tells Yuna to enter the fayth. The whole party goes in, and we learn Yojimbo sucks. In order to recruit him, we need to pay him 250000 Gil. I ain't got that much money! I'm told you can haggle, but the weapons you can buy in the Calm Lands are expensive!

Sad that I'm a peasant, I take the teleporter out of the cave, return to the exit, save, and call it a night!

The upcoming scenes in Final Fantasy X are amongst the most beautiful in any game. Unfortunately, they're also some of the worst. I'm ready for three zombie proofs, but those are only slightly adequate. Let's see if I get stopped in my tracks tomorrow. But, heads up. I got my second Covid shot today, so I might be skipping tomorrow's update. It all depends on side effect severity.

A Kiss to Build a Nightmare On

Since I didn't talk to anyone on the airship last night, I didn't do it again! Once again, it was an accident. I'm terrible at this.

If you leave the cockpit, the ship begins to shake. Rin calmly enters the room to inform us that some of the guado made it onto the vessel. Before Cid can say anything, Rikku stops him. She thinks he was going to say he'll blow up the shit. She and Tidus team up when they agree they'll finish the guado off. We then proceed through the airship, talking to everyone we missed earlier, until we come to an observation deck. Out the window is a massive flying enemy. Lulu points out that that's the Bevelle Sacred Defender, Evrae. This means we've gotten close to Bevelle! Auron says the red carpet has teeth. Cid tells us we're going to attack it, so out to the deck we go!

Evrae isn't too hard, but it has some unique trigger commands. We can fight it from afar, but only Lulu, Wakka, and Lancet are effective from that range. The airship also gets an attack, represented by Cid's face. It fires a volley of missiles at it that does a decent amount of damage but is limited to only three times. If we're up close, Evrae can cast Stone Gaze or Poison Breath on us. Poison Breath takes two turns to use, so, using Rikku or Tidus, we should order Cid to back away. You can cast slow on it, but it casts haste once it reaches an HP threshold. Plan those movements around Cid's turn. It was tricky, but I didn't find it terribly hard.

As the battle ends, pyreflies swarm from the body and onto the wedding below. Maester Kinoc is there, and he knows what's up. He then orders military personnel, all decked out with forbidden gun machina, to stand ready. There are also floating mobile mortars... Some religions teachings, huh? The airship launches sky anchors that land on the skyway over Bevelle, and the team grinds their way down on the cables. It doesn't make any sense, but it made twelve-year-old me super pumped. To be honest, it makes thirty-one-year-old me excited, too. Fun fact, Lulu isn't in this cutscene because her dress was hard to animate. We then fight our way through monks with guns and robots until we reach Yuna and Seymour. Or, at least until we get surrounded. Yuna uses this distraction as an opening to perform The Sending, but Maester Mika stops her. Mika has no problem with Seymour being dead. Not only that, but he uses us as hostages. If Yuna doesn't marry Seymour, he'll kill the rest of the team. Yuna drops her magically appearing staff and finishes the ceremony. The whole team sees the two of them kiss. And it's a very long kiss.

After that, Seymour tells the monks to kill us. Kinoc and Auron have a discussion about guns, but it's stopped short by Yuna, who's slowly walking backwards... She tells everyone to let us go, "or else." At this point, she's standing at a high ledge, and we all know what's to come. It works, and Seymour calls it off. Tidus and Rikku run forward, wanting Yuna to come back, but she tells us to go. She says she can fly, and then she falls. As she does so, she summons Valefor to save her. Rikku throws a flashbang, and the group runs off. Kimahri has to hold back Tidus, but they don't stop until they reach the temple, where Yuna probably went.

The temple has more forbidden machina, and Wakka continues to have a faith crisis. The group says it's too quiet, and Lulu thinks it could be a trap. As for the Cloister, it's a floating platform maze. The Destruction Sphere is mandatory here, so don't worry about it. When they reach the Chamber, Tidus tries to pry open the door that only summoners can venture through. Before Wakka can say anything about taboos, Tidus shuts him down. He can't lift the door alone, but Kimarhi is there to help, and the two of them can open the door. Inside, we see Yuna and the Mysterious Kid from Zanarkand. Auron tells us that this is a fayth: a person frozen in stone 1000 years ago to fight Sin. The Kid flies into Yuna, and she passes out. This explains why she was missing for a day in Besaid. We can now name Bahamut. Tidus picks her up and carries her out, only to find that this whole thing was a trap. We see Kinoc and several guards waiting for us. We surrender, and they take us off to trial.

We only see Yuna's trial. It's proceeded by the ronso Maester, Kelk. The whole thing is a farce, of course. Everyone knows that Symoure is dead, and no one cares. Kelk is shocked that Seymour admits to killing his own father but is, otherwise, still loyal to Yevon. Yuna asks Mika if she can send him anyway, but Mika reveals that he is also an Unsent. "Even in death, he is invaluable to Spira." "Enlightened role by the dead is preferable to the misguided failures of the living." "Life is but a passing dream, but death is eternal." "...only the power of death truly commands in Spira." When Yuna wonders about her point in life, everyone says she brings hope to the people and isn't in vain. "Never futile, but never ending," as Auron sums it up. Mika officially declares us traitors, and we cut to Tidus and Auron in jail.

They agree that Yuna will survive, and Tidus asks why everything in Spira is about people dying. "The Spiral of Death," as Auron calls it. Sin brings death, and summoners kill him. In doing so, they die. Guardians die on the pilgrimage, and even the leaders of Yevon are dead. The fayth are the souls of the dead. "Only Sin is reborn, and only to bring more death." Kinoc shows up to execute them, as only he would do to a friend. This part is a little strange. It seems everyone gets one of two death penalties. Wakka, Rikku, and Tidus are thrown into an underground lake, and everyone is taken to the Via Purifico labyrinth. Before we do anything, we see three of the Maesters in the courtroom. They insult the missing ronso Maester and conspire to make sure we die. Seymour tries to save Yuna, but Mika won't have it. He then offers to make sure she dies, to kill his bride, but Kinoc wants to come along. Seymour doesn't want him, but they go anyway. If they really wanted us to die, why not throw Yuna, who can't swim, into the lake with Tidus?

We then cut to Yuna, alone in a dungeon. She must travel the labyrinth of the Via Purifico. Along the way, she can find Lulu, Kimahri, and Auron. Lulu is on the left side, Kimahri is on the right, and Auron is near the exit. Even if you miss one, they catch up in the end. At the exit, we see Issaru. He's been hired by the Maesters to kill us, and he challenges Yuna to a summon fight. His first is Ifrit, with a full Overdrive gauge. Shiva's Diamond Dust makes quick work of him. Next, he summons Valefor, who lost to Ixion. Last was his Bahamut. He did nothing for five turns but charge up Mega Flare. Guard when the countdown is at 1, and Valefor will be fine. I was really disappointed in Issaru's Bahamut... After Yuna wins, we leave, and Auron tells the loser that his pilgrimage is over.

Next, we cut to the Team Swimmy. Their dungeon is a quick but annoying swim through the waterways. After the second save sphere, we notice the number of pyreflies down here. They quickly form into Evrae. or Evrae Altana, to be precise. You only need to worry about Stone Gaze, which is absolutely stupid. The game doesn't even give you a chance to heal it! Take advantage of the Zombie Status it's inflected with. Use two Pheonix Downs and casually swim out the rest of the dungeon. Apparently, there are two good weapons down here, but guess who didn't find them?!

Once back on dry land, we meet back up with Team VP. The celebration doesn't last long as Seymour, Kinoc, and four guards block our exit. When they get before us, one of the guards drops a dead Kinoc at our feet. Seymour offers to join Yuna on the pilgrimage to reach Zanarkand. He then says something about becoming the next Sin because he sees the futility in life and how great death is. Is Seymour Kefka? Kimahri runs up to stab him, but it doesn't phase the Unsent. The rest of the group reluctantly run off. At the end of the road, Yuna stops. She doesn't want Kimahri to fight Seymour alone. Tidus reminds her that her guardians will follow her anywhere, and the two of them run back to Kimahri. Everyone follows. We now have to run back, in real time, to the battle. O'aka is nearby to top up our items, and there are a few save spheres along the way. When we reach Kimarhi, he shakes his head, and we fight Seymour Natus.

I focused on his shield guy thing, Mortibody. It won't die, but it will drain HP from Seymour when its HP drops to zero. That drains drops as the battle goes on, and it eventually starts healing Seymour, but it's an easy way to do 4000-1000 damage to a Protected boss. Seymour likes to cast Break on characters, which the Moribody will destroy, removing them from battle. O'aka has softs back on the bridge. Customizing a Stoneward/proof armor will help too. Otherwise, Haste up and use Reflect. Don't buff the whole group, as Morti will use a move to purge buffs from time to time. If it weren't for Break, this battle would be easy. Seymour will one-shot aeons, so try not to bring them in too often. I used Ixion to remove Protect and brought in Bahamut for Mega Flare. Mega Flare in the first move in the game to break the damage limit. This makes it a great way to get the Overkill bonus when Seymour drops to under 10K HP. During the fight, Tidus, Yuna, and Auron can talk to him. Auron says that he and Kinoc were friends, even if the Maester wasn't the man he once was. I don't remember if we ever get an explanation of what happened between them all those years ago?

After the battle, the team flees back into the Macalania Woods. Yuna is alone near another crystal tree with Kimarhi watching her. The rest of the team is really eager for Tidus to talk to her, so we might as well. Tidus, finally knowing the truth about the summoner dying, apologizes for preparing for a post-Sin world. He hopes it didn't make her sad. Yuna responds that it actually made her happy. The two then consider ending the pilgrimage and running off to having a boring life. Everyone else would be easily swayed but Auron, but whatever, right? They then think about going to Zanarkand, Tidus' Zanarkand. They'll watch the Blitzball games, party all night long, and see the lights go out at sunrise on the sea. Tidus gives a really beautiful description of his home during this, and it makes Yuna really happy. At least, we thought so... Yuna begins to cry, knowing that she can't stop. Unsure of what to do next, "Suteki Da Ne" begins to play, and Tidus embraces Yuna. The two float around the water, kissing. The way the tree petals float about, the moon and stars reflecting off the water, and two people who care for each other try to come to terms with their lives makes this a stunning scene. Graphically, it's amazing. Especially when you remember this was the early PS2 era!

The making out worked, as Yuna says she'll continue the journey with a much more chipper vocal inflection. Tidus says he'll go with her, "Not to the end, but always." Kimarhi finally leaves, and the two of them begin to return to camp. Yuna says Tidus should go first but quickly catches back up to him. The two hold hands as they get back to the others. Yuna states the plan, apologizes, and Auron tells her to rest before she finishes her next thought. The next morning, we all wake up and prepare to enter the Clam Lands, en route to Mt. Gagazet and Zanarkand.

...tomorrow...

Yuna didn't send Seymour again...

I'm very annoying, huh? I'm very annoying, huh? I'm very annoying, huh?

We're alone in a desert. This will surely end well...

Tidus walks forward for a moment until he's attacked by a Zu. Zu are giant, massive, humungus birds. I trust Tidus to be able to solo this. It only takes two hits until Tidus is about to die. Luckily, Auron shows up. Auron can't heal, but he can weaken it. Zus have 18000 HP, though. More help comes soon after when lightning strikes. Lulu's on the scene! The three of them manage to slay the beast and begin to wonder where everyone else, especially Yuna, could be. After a short walk north, and I do mean short, we see Wakka sitting beneath mechanical rubble. He says he was attacked by machina and laments our current situation. In the next location, we see Kimahri trying to climb a sand dune. He's failing. Rikku is a bit more north, and things start to roll. She says she knows where we're at but needs Wakka to promise to never tell anyone.` After a short argument where Wakka keeps being racist and Tidus yells at him, Rikku tells us we're on Bikanel Island, where the Al Bhed live! She infers that Yevon did something terrible to them long ago but gives no specifics.

She then guides us through the desert, which takes a long time. Who knew deserts were so large? Along the way, we learn (for real this time) that Rikku can one-shot machina if she steals from them. This is also how to get grenades. We deal with the various character specific mobs, more Zus, and even giant worms with 45000 HP. Those worms give terrible rewards, so don't bother wasting Auron's Shooting Star Overdrive on them. 3000 AP... Also, the Zu's aren't worth it either. Do take note of the cactaurs. They cast 10000 needles every turn unless they run. You probably can't win right now, but you can die! Towards the end, there are three antlions in the sand whirlpools. The first two guard megaelixers, and the last one guards the entrance to Home. Home is the Al Bhed capital city! As we crest a sand dune between the two, Rikku screams and runs off. The party gives chase and sees the place being attacked by fiends.

When they reach Home, Wakka asks for Yuna. Rikku, though, sees a friend, Keyyako, die before her eyes. She asks who's attacking, and his last words are, "Yevon...Guado..." Another man shows up who asks us to help kick the guado out of Home. This is Cid, leader of the Al Bhed and Rikku's dad. The next several moments are us running through the ruins of Home, avoiding rubble, Al Bhed corpses, and fighting guado. The guado fight like they did in Macalania, but with different mobs. Bombs and high powered Duel Horms are all over the place. There are three Al Bhed Primers in this location, so get them. I finally got one that I've been missing for eighteen years! Remember to go back from the second save sphere. After the second staged battle, we hear Cid say something in Al Bhed over the PA. Rikku tells us we need to get underground, where Yuna is.

Before the third, Wakka says, "this place done for." An incredibly somber Rikku agrees and gives us some backstory. Not long ago, her people were spread across Spira. It wasn't until Cid united them that they've had a place to rest. This seems to change Wakka's mind as he becomes angry at the guado. After that, Lulu asks about the summoner's sanctum. Riku says it's where they keep the summoners. "You kidnap them," says Wakka. Tidus agrees with Wakka since guardians, if they do their job, should be able to keep the summoner safe. "Right? Right!" Kimahri steps up and says, "It's quiet. Kimahri go now."

"To Zanarkand" plays for some reason as the party enters the sanctum. All around us are dead Al Bhed but no Yuna. Dona, Issaru, and his guardians are here, though. They ask us to wait while they perform The Sending. It's the proper thing to do for those who protected them. Pacce runs up to Tidus to ask him what sacrificed means. The Al Bhed want to stop summoners from sacrificing themselves, and Tidus remains upset. Then Rikku speaks up...

By, "sacrifice" they mean it. If Yuna reaches Zanarkand and gets the Final Aeon, the Aeon will kill Yuna. Tidus starts to yell and shake Rikku, asking her why everyone hid it from him. He's spent the whole journey making plans with Yuna for when they defeat Sin, and everyone let him. They didn't say anything because it was too hard. Wakka and Lulu tried to stop her, but "Yuna knew what she was doing." Rikku and the Al Bhed didn't want people to kill themselves over something temporary or fake, depending on how you view the Yevon teachings. Auron and the summoners remain willing to do such for the people of Spira, but Tidus isn't having it. A Wendigo spawns from the pyreflies, so Ifrit and Valefor are summoned. Tidus runs up to Valefor and starts hitting her for reasons I don't get. She seems fine with it as he lets out his anger, but it's still a dick move, Tido. We then flashback to the Luca scene, just before they left for the Highroad.

Tidus comes back to normal, determined to not let Yuna die. The party goes deeper into Home and enters something interesting. Cid is there, and Tidus asks him where Yuna is. Cid says something in Al Bhed before Tidus gets physical. The two talk, with Tidus admitting his ignorance and need to apologize. Cid believes he'll still "drag her to Zanarkand" and makes a comeback in their wrestling match. Tidus promises he won't let Yuna die, and Cid says if he does, "I will make you regret it." But he still doesn't know where she is. His idea is to look for her in this airship! Several scenes are shown where the thing we explored at the start of the game rises to the sky outside Home. It then begins to fly away when we start hearing Al Bhed again. Rikku becomes depressed and lets us know Cid's going to blow up Home. Brother starts to sing the Hymn of the Fayth, and torpedoes are launched. It's a glorious explosion!

Cid is oddly excited, and Brother starts to cry before his dad says something in Al Bhed. Wakka tries to cheer up Rikku in the worst way possible by comparing the destruction of her city to festival fireworks. From here, we can explore the airship and talk to the party, but I didn't do that! I missed the twentieth primer yet again, so I loaded an earlier save, found it, and loaded the Al Bhed data to my current file. Because I left the room, I missed everything. Most talk about current events. Wakka has mixed emotions about flying in this thing, and Lulu talking to Cid are the ones worth mentioning. Cid has no idea what's going on! Issaru is also on board, but he agrees to return to the pilgrimage. Done seems to be thinking about leaving her pilgrimage, and we can respond however we want. Rin's here too if you need to buy things. All proceeds go to the restoration of Home. Tidus can also practice his Al Bhed with him. I got all of this from a Youtube video, by the way.

When we enter back to the cockpit, Auron is grilling Cid. Auron doesn't want the pilgrimage to end, but Cid does. He doesn't want his niece to die and will force her to stop the journey, even if he needs to use violence against us! Auron gives up the fight, but there's something cooking. Wakka begins to come to terms with Yuna being half Al Bhed. Talk to Brother to advance, and he'll say something in Al Bhed. The screen will pop up, and we'll see Yuna in a wedding dress next to Seymour. They're in Bevelle, and Tidus wants to go now. Cid is scared of the defense, so Tidus gives a rousing speech to easily convince "gramps." Looks like we're crashing a wedding...

...tomorrow!

So there's the big twist! Yuna will die if we carry on the journey, like all others before her have. I've tried to keep that a secret but gave hints that something wasn't right in Spira. I hope they worked. More importantly, I've been missing that primer for years, and it's so good to finally have it! Sadly, it turns out I'm still missing one, but it's in the post-game dungeon, so I don't feel too bad. Looks like I'm going Omega hunting at some point! But, hey! Why is Brother's name "Brother"? I think he's older than Rikku, so what was his name before he was a brother, brother?