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?
No comments:
Post a Comment