A Tale of Two Scripts: Let's play FF3 US & FF6 RPGOne!

In the GBA version (at least), Terra says that she thought Sabin was another one of Vargas's bears. Which, yeah, makes more sense.

Here's a nifty little trick, if you don't mind taking a little poison damage during battle, you can "cure" it by equiping the Star Pendant afterwards. Saves on both Antidotes AND Relics.

Part III - I've Never Been Traipsing Before, Does It Hurt?

Let's take a look at that again, shall we? RPGOne Powers, Activate!



Edgar "We'll be heading through the cave, and then east to the town of South Figaro. Then, we turn north and head for the Returners' headquarters."
Edgar "I want you to go back to Figaro Castle and inform them of this."
Soldier "Sir! Good luck!"

And in we go!

Cave to South Figaro
Monsters: Episyrphus, Faux Pas, Demiurwok



Yeah, not much different here.



And that's why we don't use the Bio Blast much.



The hilariously named Antdot has a more familiar name in this version.

South Figaro Area
Monsters: Mu, Unseelie Court, Beelemodon



"Damn it, Lock, I told you not to eat that Mexican food before we left!"



Matias has a soft side; who knew?



So apparently when he fled the castle, he took his favorite silverware too?



Licorice peppermint lavender? Ew...



Brilliant deduction, Holmes!

Flipping people off again, Edgar?

Edgar "Do you know this man?"
Old Man "Yah, yah, I know him. Two, three days ago, he heard Master Duncan was killed. He left immediately for the nearby mountain. Master Duncan's son, Vargas, found out where he was going... I hope nothing bad happens."

That sounds bad.



Right into a wall. Yep, pretty impressive.



Moglie "Dash Shoes...They make you run twice as fast in the field.
Knight's Code...The wearer protects weakened allies by taking damage in their place.
Gauntlet...You gain the ability to hold a weapon in two hands, increasing overall damage.
Each character can equip up to two Accessories."

Good to know! And on that note...



ZOOM ZOOM!



Ahahahano. The inn here is utterly pointless, since you can just nap in Matias' cabin.



Lock "Could you at least respond?"
Edgar "Stand back, I've seen him somewhere before. He must be..."



Edgar "Shadow... He's an assassin who would kill his best friend for money."
Lock "In that case, let's not talk to him."

Wise decision. And yes, Edgar's line there doesn't have quite the flow of "slit his momma's throat for a nickel", but... um... it's more accurate! Yeah, I could've phrased it better.



At least in this version Interceptor's not a raving murderous monster.



OMG WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!? (You'll see later.)



Sure you are, kid. Who's Leo, I wonder?

Man "It's rude to come in uninvited. I'm in the middle of writing a letter! Ahem. I really am the richest man in town."

Wow, he's even less subtle in this version. Not sure why he felt the need to justify that. Presumably it should've been "Well, I AM the richest man in town."



I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count. How about the HUGE GAPING HOLE BEHIND THE BOOKCASE that leads down to your secret basement?



Layer manipulation (thank you, ZSNES!) lets you see that there's a hidden stairwell here. What could be down there?



...Those are sandals, me. For all of your mythological references you got, this one really tripped you up. Silly me, when will you learn? Anyway, Edgar gets this.

Also, not pictured: a Hyper Wrist is also down here, which goes on Lock, who hits like he's wielding a styrofoam bat right now.



What a gyp. The other 3,000 Gil down here made up for it, though.



Clever adventurers are smart shoppers! I buy 1 Great Sword, 2 Large Shields, 3 Feathered Hats, 1 Cotton Robe, and 1 Kempo Gear, and the rest is handled by what I already have.

NPCs in South Figaro have some stuff to say too!

Gone Walkabout
Portly Man "You can find high-quality items such as weapons, armor, and accessories for sale in the shops around town."
Man "This is the town of South Figaro."
(No, I never would've guessed!)
Little Girl "Oh, this is just great! Now we're gonna be enemies with the Empire..."
Old Man "If you head beyond Mount Colts, you'll find the Saber mountain range on the far side."
(Mount Colts? What, is it covered in young horses?)
Little Boy "Did you see it? Bold Figaro Castle went underground. ...Seems pointless. You can't see anything underground."
(I'm almost certain I messed something up in this kid's dialogue...)
Man "If you head east, you'll find Mount Colts."
Little Boy "The richest family in town lives in the house to the north."
Man "This town's defenses are strong! Even if so-called Imperial Majick-Armored soldiers invade, we won't give up!"
(I suspect a dose of fatal overconfidence...)

The Inn
Man "The Empire attacked Figaro Castle? Ah, this will lead to war."
(I was tempted to nab a shot of this just to have Edgar in bed with him. Yes, I do have a dirty mind.)

The Pub
Old Man "One of Duncan's students looks a bit like you."
(GEE I WONDER WHY THAT MIGHT BE.)
Portly Man "That man at the counter... He's eerie..."
Dancer "The Empire is invading many towns, right? I don't think South Figaro is safe, either."
Thief "Duncan forced his son Vargas to train under him. He never forgave him for that."
(I sense a grudge!)
Little Girl "Are children allowed in here? What do you think? Okaaaay..."
(Then she runs out. Aww...)

Pub Basement
Merchant "You're in my way! Move aside! I have to deliver this wine to some old man. It's my job. So, if you don't mind, get out of my way!"
(How redundant. And rude.)

Docks
Portly Men "This ship isn't leaving port."

Duncan's House
Old Woman "Master Duncan is a famous teacher of martial arts in Figaro. He's taken his pupils to Mount Colts for training."

Porter's House
Little Boy "My grandfather was a waiter for the rich man's family up north a long time ago."
Merchant "I've done my job! You're in my way. Move aside!"
(This guy's never happy, is he?)
Old Man "I'm not in the mood to talk to strangers. If you bring me my wine, THEN I'll talk."
(No wonder. This old guy won't shut his yap when he's around.)

Rich Family's House
Maid "Is war really about to begin here? ...Maybe I'd better go back to my homeland soon."
Little Boy "KACHUNK! KACHUNK! I'm riding Majick Armor!"

Anyway, it's pretty obvious that we need to head to Mount Colts, so off we go!



After I nab a completely useless Mithril Claw from a Beelemodon! Why would I do that? But yeah, to Mount Colts!

See?

Mount Colts
Monsters: Zagrem, Gorgias, Cirpius, Telarium, Spiritza



What useless scum is slinking about in the rain on the mountain?



Hooray for hidden treasure! Now Lock can disarm sword-wielding opponents! (Or he could if that were a real main gauche.)



Oho, what's this? ANOTHER hidden path?



Hooray! This goes right onto Edgar, making him far more awesome. It boosts his damage output by about 25% (though ostensibly it should be about 50%, the calculations never work out that way).



I'd say we're being... shadowed. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH! *rockin' theme*



This is the cornerstone of surviving this mountain at a low level.



Who is this mysterious shadow-man? Is it actually Shadow? We may never know! (Yes we will.)



Ahh, refreshing! And just in the nick of time, too! Tina's MP was almost up, and the boys were looking kinda rough, but now we can tackle the last third of the mountain in style!



And one uneventful trek later...



SURPRISE BUTTSEX!

Edgar "Matias? Is Matias nearby?"
Lock "You were following us before, weren't you?"
Vargas "That I was!"
(No he wasn't. That line should be "If I was?")
Vargas "Hmph, I don't know who you are, but I'll kill you here. It's unfortunate that you ran into me, Vargas, and now you must die!!"



This'll be cake.



Owchuchuwawawa! Thank goodness for Cure!



Fun fact: Almost all humanoids in FF6 are weak vs. poison attacks, even if they cannot be poisoned. Vargas here takes more damage from the Bio Blast than from the Auto Bow Gun!



Vargas "Well then, off to the next world with you!!"
(Ooh, are we going to Giant Land!? Or maybe Pipe Land!?)



Who could that be?



Matias "Vargas, why, why, why did you kill master Duncan? You were his star pupil, and his son!"
(Dunno why he's master Duncan here and Master Duncan everywhere else...)
Vargas "Because... He decided not to choose me, his own son, to be his successor... He put me through all of that, his beloved child, only to reject me in favor of you!"
(Ooh, daddy AND rival issues! Vargas needs a good psychologist.)
Matias "That's not true! Our teacher chose you......"
Vargas "Not true? Ha, your lies are written clearly on your face!"
Matias "The teacher didn't choose me...... He chose you, Vargas! He saw your genius, and......"
(This was actually set up more along the lines of "He knew you'd be smart enough to...", implying that Duncan was making it clear that Matias would be chosen by his actions, but subtly hinting that Vargas was his choice in the hopes that Vargas would get it. Clearly he didn't.)
Vargas "Enough with your nonsense! Hmph! Now I shall make you pay, as well! Feel my superior power!!"



That does not sound like a good time.



Vargas "Now I understand what father must have seen in you."
Matias "I......I guess I just have to do this..."
Vargas "This is fate. And now, I shall defeat you for good! This, too, is fate!!!"
(Over-punctuation in battles like this was a carry-over from the Japanese script, by the way. It was meant to emphasize that everyone's more intense in battle, I guess. It just looks sloppy, though.)



I really loved the lack of name length limits, huh?



Vargas "Your life is over now!"
(Wanna bet?)



Tatsumakisempukyaku!

Matias "If only you hadn't let your hatred overcome you... Master would still be......"
(Vargas flees after this and never shows up again. Coward.)



Matias "Big brother?"
Lock "Oh... He's your younger twin brother!?"
(The Japanese are big on identifying which twin came first, even in casual conversation.)
Tina "Younger brother? Ah, I... think you look more like a big bear..."
(At least he doesn't look like a bear wearing a marshmallow, which I have on good authority is quite comfy, so shu'up.)
Matias "A BEAR!?"
Matias "A bear... I like it!"
(And suddenly this whole scene makes a lot more sense.)
Matias "Hey big brother. What are you doing in a place like this...?"
Edgar "We're going to the Saber mountain range."
Matias "Is that so... To the Returners' underground resistance headquarters?"
(Long-windedness, thy name be Sky Render.)
Matias "So it's begun at last! I've been watching things heat up around here lately. As it is, Figaro's barely keeping those Imperial dogs at bay."
Edgar "This is our chance to counterattack. if we don't act now, the Empire will surely defeat us."
Matias "Don't you think my skills would prove helpful in your efforts?"
Edgar "You're coming with us? Matias...!"
Matias "I think using my skills to save the world would fulfill my debt to Master Duncan!"
Lock "Then let's get going!"



Ah, so THAT'S why I stole that useless claw! Heh, Matias is 3 levels higher than the rest of the party...



Fun Fact: This is the only part of this mountain where you can encounter Spiritzas! But they also show up in the mines of Narche, so why does it matter? I don't know!



And here's where we leave off, same spot as Lucas. Next time we'll be continuing this dual exploration of FF6, so don't miss it!

BONUS!

Most players never go back to South Figaro after getting Matias, they just go straight to the Returners' Hideout. But what if you do?



Matias "The master and Vargas were... Vargas..."
Old Woman "I never understood Vargas... But the master trained you in the art of Deathblows, so we need not regret..."
(Ow, cold.)
Matias "For 10 years you've taken care of me as if I were a member of your family. I am indebted to you...!"

Huh! Well that bookends that nicely. Also, new NPC dialogue at the pub!

Old Man "Duncan is rumored to be dead. The poor man..."
Portly Man "That man at the count... Huh, he's gone?"
(What a sharp customer.)

And that's it for now! Next time, the Returners!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep6Xnrkumys

Amusingly enough, I think that move of Matias' really is called "hyakuretsuken" in the original Japanese script. "Hundred Fist Strike" doesn't sound very good in English, though, which probably explains why I dubbed it "Power Rush".

Well, I learned three new things today! The two secret paths and the bodybuilder/bear explanation are completely new to me. I always thought Sabin just pictured himself as some sleek rogue-type guy, and had some kind of self-image problem. Now I know!

Here's an interesting tidbit that I didn't even realize until a year or two ago: most of those "na" spells in FF (ie. Poisona, Esuna) are intended to end with nul, not na. Those two should be Poisonul and S-nul (short for Status Null; I can't believe how long it took me to deduce that).

Me too! At least, I don't think I've ever found those before.

That makes so much more sense. Poisona always bothered me, in particular.

The editing was much better on these update guys! Keep it up!

- Eddie

What are the null-X (null-fire) series called in Japaneses?

They're all prefixed with Ba (ie. BaFire, BaThunder, etc.). As best I can surmise, the Ba is probably short for Banish, but your guess is as good as mine.

Bah! Fire!

And where does this put -ra, -ga, and -ja spells?

I'm not sure it even applies to those. Presumably they needed some way to make a spell sound more powerful without sticking a number on the end, so they just tacked on a different ending syllable. Given how they're consistently thematic in progression (ie. they all end in an -a), but lack any logical reference point, that theory seems sound. It's certainly how Dragon Quest games indicate power increases for later iterations of spells, just tacking on random bits to the end of the original spell name (Bagi/Bagiram/Bagicross, for example).

Nice work you two! This is precisely the sort of thing I was hoping to read when I read the first post.

When we last left our heroes, they were in desperate straits. If you were paying very close attention, you might have noticed that Terra was unconscious in the AuraBolt screenshots. She was taken down by Vargas right before Sabin’s intervention; I could have brought her back, but I would have needed a Fenix Down for that and didn’t really feel like using one when I was so close to free healing. She wasn’t really contributing much anyway. The real “desperate straits” part is that subsequent random encounters wiped out Locke and Edgar as well. Fortunately we’ve got Sabin, who’s strong enough to carry the other three on his back and get them safely to the

(Don’t ask me why the Returner uniform seems to include aviator goggles.)


BANON: Is she the girl who can talk to Espers...?!
Terra: Espers...?!
Edgar: Seemed the Empire had complete control over her.
BANON: Carrier pigeons brought word that she wiped out 50 of the Empire’s best soldiers in a few minutes.
Terra: That’s a lie!!! [Considering she’s already had a flashback to that scene, she’s either protesting the number given or in denial. Since this is a teenage girl we’re talking about, I bet it’s the latter.]
Locke: Terra!
Edgar: Banon! She doesn’t remember ANYTHING!
BANON: Stay where you are! Perhaps you’ve heard this story? Once, when people were pure and innocent, there was a box they were told never to open. But one man went and opened it anyway. He unleashed all the evils of the world: envy... greed... pride... violence... control... All that was left in the box was a single ray of light: Hope.
Terra: ... ...
BANON: We now confront those evils...

Edgar: Banon!
BANON: I’m so tired... Let me rest a while.

And with that, we’re allowed to wander around the hideout for a while and talk to the residents.

Locke: I joined the Returners when I realized the Empire was rotten to the core. I wanted to make a difference.
Terra: But... I have no significant “other” in my life...
Locke: That’s not entirely true. Besides, I’m sure there are people who feel YOU’RE important to them! They are counting on you...

I have no idea who Locke is referring to in that screenshot. He frees people jailed by the Empire, and he’s had people taken away from him, but I cannot remember the game mentioning this person in any other place. Is this an attempt to make a character seem fleshed out with bits of dropped info or a translation quirk? Or is it just Locke lying? All three seem equally likely to me (but it’s probably the translation thing). And is it just me or is his encouragement there kind of anemic? The dude does have a thing about distressed damsels, but this... well, I don’t want to spoil anything.


“He’s always been fair with me. You can trust him, Terra... But don’t you DARE tell him I said that!”


“If we push you too hard, we’re no different than the Empire... So we want you to make up your own mind.”

And a few generic, aviator helmet-clad Returners:
“We’re a small organization now, but our membership is starting to soar.”
“Please join us in our battle!”
“The Empire is arresting Returners everywhere. We have to discover some means of fighting back, or...”

I was just about to take a nap in the Returners barracks when I remembered something: wasn’t Terra kinda, you know, dead when I showed up here? And isn’t she the only one in the party right now?

Yup. I just have to see what happens and head back to the world map to find a random encounter.


Sweet. I got this, you guys!


Or not. I’m just glad I saved at the save point in Banon’s bedroom and don’t get kicked back to before fighting Vargas.

Anyway, back to the story.
“Banon? He went outside a moment ago.”

“Will you become our last ray of hope? Y/N”

Hrmmmm. Eighteen-year-old girl, used as a robotic fighting machine by the evil Empire, in denial about being forced to kill people, orphan who never had a real childhood or knew her parents, even her “friends” have intimated she’s not human.... Yeah, sorry old man, but Terra’s got enough of her own problems to worry about without joining the fight of a bunch of wannabe aviators she’s just met; the answer is No.

BANON: I see... I thought as much... You’re sure about this?

(This is, as you would guess, a But Thou Must situation, with one difference. If you say yes, Banon gives you a thank you gift and the story goes on. Turn him down three times like I did (I stitched his three responses into one line there) and... the story goes on without Terra’s permission.)


Terra walks off to one side and mopes when BANON bursts into the hideout.
BANON: What’s going on? What happened?
A Returner stumbles in after BANON and collapses, the Returners gathering around.
BANON: Someone did a number on him...
“S...South Figaro... E...Empire... took Figaro... Coming... this way... unnnh...”
BANON: They’ve found us... We haven’t a moment to lose!
Edgar: Locke!
Locke: I know... “Someone” has to sneak into South Figaro and slow the Empire down, right?
Edgar: This’s right up your alley! Good luck!
Locke: Terra... Please wait for me... And... please... don’t let a lecherous young king, who shall remain nameless, near you!
Edgar: Locke!!! [Seriously. The last major kingdom resistant to the megalomaniac Empire just lost their largest and most economically important city, the Empire’s homing in on the rebel base, and you’re worried about Terra staying untouched for you? Sheesh. Not to mention the unfair and untrue implication on Locke’s part that he might actually be interested in Terra at all.]
Sabin: Big brother... Aren’t you EVER going to grow up? [Ok, maybe I’m reading too much into Locke and Edgar’s dialogue. Maybe.]
BANON: What’re we going to do?
Edgar: We’ll escape down the Lete River, and make our way to Narshe. I want to see that Esper for myself...
BANON: Right. There’s a raft by the back entrance. It’s a gamble, but we’re fresh out of options...

BANON: We’ve no time to dilly-dally. Let’s make for Narshe!
(The Returner next to BANON moves to talk to Terra)
Returner: I understand your unease. But even as we speak, innocent lives are being lost... Please. We need your abilities. This relic will keep you safe. (He gives her a Genji Glove.)

(The Genji Glove is a relic that provides a small defense boost and allows us to equip a weapon in each hand, making two attacks at a slight damage penalty. If we’d just said yes to Banon he’d have given us a Gauntlet, which gives you a damage bonus if you equip one hand and leave the other one empty. The Genji Glove, as you might expect of Genji Anything compared to almost anything else in an FF game, is better.)

And finally we’re off. A quick run to the Returner barracks to heal up Edgar and Sabin, save our game in Banon’s room, and it’s time to beat feet.

On the other hand, a little whitewater rafting on five logs crudely lashed together is a feat that beats beating feet any day. The game has some ground rules to lay down first, though:

“Head toward Narshe, but protect Banon at all costs. If Banon is put out of commission, your journey’s over.”

Yup, if Banon goes down even once it’s game over, no matter who else is still standing. Live strong, old man! Fortunately, he’s got an ace up his sleeve: the Health command. This unique command (I guess it was originally Prayer or something?) basically casts Cure2 on the whole party for free; this is practically guaranteed to heal each character for almost their max HP each turn and can be used at full strength from the back row.

In fact, AutoCrossbow and AuraBolt (both effective from the back row) make Terra’s physical damage pretty much negligible while the enemy’s damage in this area is fairly high, so if you don’t have everyone in the back row you’re running a risk and arguably Doing It Wrong (though I’m sure people will rush to say that this game is so easy there’s no way to Do It Wrong – I’m breaking the game over my knee here and it is my duty as an LPer to wring every advantage out of the engine that I can! And that means not putting everyone in the back row is Doing It Wrong!).

I kept Terra in the front row for this whole sequence. Yeah. Banon managed to keep her alive, but it was much closer for her than anyone else.


Lete River is one of several “dungeons” in the game that is actually an auto-scrolling sequence with encounters and a decision or two. In this case, the direction you choose at the first intersection determines how far it is to the first resting point and what enemies you’ll encounter on the way. Left is the shortest and safest route* while going straight is the longest and guarantees you’ll encounter the strongest regular enemy on the river. No matter which way you go you’ll reach a cave with a save point.

*In normal areas you get into random battles via a counter that increments with each step, the increment depending on your environment (some sources say there’s one number for the overworld and one for “indoors”, some say it depends on whether you’re in a forest area or a dungeon or plains or... trust me, I’m just as confused as you as to why there could be any controversy about how an algorithm works in a game as closely examined as this). I’ve heard about three different versions of how this works, but the counter is a constant. It all boils down to “counter goes up, random 8-bit number is picked, if it’s less than counter/256 you get in a fight.” This is not the case here, though. In the Lete River there are several checkpoints where you have a 50/50 chance of getting into a fight, with each checkpoint having different groups of monsters from which to choose.

I should also mention that, like Mt. Koltz and poison, it’s pretty likely that you’ll be hit with the blind status here. Blind is theoretically really annoying – when afflicted with it, any enemy you target with a physical attack will get a big boost to their evade stat. The wrinkle here is that the SNES version of the game has a bug where evade is never used. Not ever. All evasion is done with the magic evade stat, making blind absolutely pointless. All it does is give your dudes some neat shades; go ahead, try it out. Later on the evade bug will be a big factor when deciding equipment, but for now all you need to know is not to bother buying Eyedrops or otherwise protecting against blind. (Ok, ok, it does affect one character we get later, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.)

After the save point, you’ll be face with another intersection:

This one is slightly different: go left and there’s just an enemy checkpoint and another save point cave like you just left (fun fact: if you’ve never stepped on a save point up to this point and gotten the “eerie glow” tutorial, this is your last chance!); choose up and you’ll be put on a loop that puts you through up to three fights before popping you back to this intersection. This means that you can go into the Config menu, change your cursor type to Memory so it remembers your last battle command, use Fight with Terra and Sabin, AutoCrossbow with Edgar, and Health with Banon, then tape down the A button on your controller and walk away for a couple days; as long as your party doesn’t have a string of bad luck and wipe out, getting kicked back to the last save point you used, you’ll hit level 99 on these four characters without doing a thing.

Of course, this is a silly thing to do at best; you don’t need to be anywhere near max level to beat the game and even if you want to max everything out this is a bad way to go about it. Still, the option’s there, if you really want to do it. Instead, we go left, get our save point, hop back on the raft, and...

Ultros: Game over! Don’t tease the octopus, kids!

Ultros, while he’s never a serious character, has more personality than just about any other antagonist in the game besides Kefka. Ultros might get the edge in character development, though you could argue that the reason Kefka is so awesome as an antagonist is because he doesn’t get any development and he’s pretty much the same batshit insane monster clown for the entire time he’s in the game. But story analysis is Sky Render’s job! And studying Kefka’s character should probably wait for a few updates anyway.

Ultros has a regular weak physical attack and two special attacks that you need to worry about. There’s Tentacle, which does moderate physical damage to everyone, and Tentacle, which does major physical damage to one person. (If you aren’t playing the SNES version you can also worry about Ink, which inflicts blind on someone.)
Another big part of Ultros’ character is that he talks throughout the fight, most of his lines being accompanied by scripted actions. On his first turn after ten seconds have passed:


And he hits Terra with his ST Tentacle, in this case literally knocking her block off. Notice it did one less than Terra’s max HP, so she would have died from it at anything less than full health and it would easily get a OHKO on Banon if he were in the front row. Yeesh. On the other hand, Terra probably would have survived that attack had she been in the back row.

After twenty seconds total, on his next turn he’ll go with

And hit Sabin hard; with his high HP and being in the back row, Sabin more or less shrugs it off. (Notice Terra’s been knocked down again; Edgar tried Fenix Down on her but I timed it badly and Ultros hit her again before she could be healed.) A couple turns after that is

And Banon takes a Tentacle to the face. I think it’s Banon’s crazy lion mane that scared Ultros. After this script he’ll start all over. These scripts are actually more complicated than I’m portraying them (the muscle-heads script actually has two different options it can take, both of which are two or three turns long, for instance) but put everyone in the back row, use Health and each character’s long-range attacks, and you shouldn’t have a problem.

You’ll notice Terra’s actually standing and mostly healed up in the previous shot. That’s actually thanks to a third Fenix Down (half my total stock at this point), because it took me that long to calm down, think things out, and enter Banon’s Health command after Edgar using a Down. It was all so I could show you Ultros’ most fan-beloved script (and the only one that actually responds to the player):

Terra actually stood up just in time to land the last hit on Ultros.

Edgar: Don’t bet on it... ... It’s probably just hiding from us... ...
(Terra is dragged to the bottom edge of the raft.)
Terra: Ewww!! Something’s stuck to my leg!
Edgar: Terra! Over here! (He grabs Terra and pulls her free.)
BANON: It’s all right now.
Sabin: Watch out! I’m going to hit it with a Blitz!
Edgar: No! Sabin!!
Sabin: Don’t distract me, brother!! (He jumps into the water.)
Edgar: He’s always been a tad zealous... ...
Terra: Sabin... ...!!!
BANON: Don’t worry about him!
Edgar: Are you sure he’s okay, Banon?
BANON: You should know better than any of us! Any moment he’ll flop right onto the raft! [...Didn’t Banon just meet Sabin today? He’s built up a high opinion of the martial artist in a short time.]
(And flop Sabin does, right into the sky. You’ll notice his legs at the top of the screen.)

Sabin: What the...?
BANON:... ...
Edgar: Seems a little too perky... ... Ha...!
Terra: Sabin!!!!!
Edgar: Sabin!!!! Take care of yourself!

And Lete River carries Sabin off in the opposite direction from Narshe.

The screen goes dark, and the characters representing the next three threads of the story appear.

“...but what about Sabin, who was swallowed by the raging waters...? And... how is Locke faring, after having penetrated the Empire’s defenses in South Figaro...

Is all going according to plan...?”

Find out next week!

I love the next part. I wish more RPGs would give you a split-party option like this.

I think I usually stick with Banon and the gang just to finish off the annoying river bit. I follow Sabin's zany adventures last, since it's the longest and the best.

Part IV - Lethe's Get Outta Here!

Bizzarro-presto-chang-o! Let's watch that again from the RPGOne lens, shall we?



So far so standard.



Um, it looks green to me in battle... {This was a translation error on the behalf of the Japanese translation staff, believe it or not! The Japanese have a bit of an odd spectrum of color, and many colors (blue and green, green and yellow, etc.) have in-between descriptors. So when they converted the term for "green", they got "yellow" and stuck that in instead! Oops!}



Ha ha, I'm disrespecting your property, old man!



Bannan "So this is the girl... I've heard your body reacted to the frozen Phantom Beast."
Tina "Phantom Beast...?" {Yeah, I don't know either. I should've stuck with Eidolon like I originally planned...}
Edgar "The Empire was manipulating her somehow the whole time."
Bannan "Carrier pigeons brought word of that to us. They claimed she massacred fifty Imperial soldiers in under three minutes..." {No holds barred in this script!}
Tina "No!!"
Lock "Tina!"
Edgar "Sir Bannan, you're being too harsh!"
Banna "Don't run away!" {This makes a bit more sense than Woolsey's version, if you ask me. He's not commanding Tina to stand still, he's telling her to face the truth.}



When evil was still absent from the hearts of men, there was said to be a box that could never be opened. However, one man decided to open that box. {The original legend of Pandora's Box says it was a woman, actually, and the Japanese script is gender-ambiguous. I guess I just wanted to mix things up?} From inside came all the evils of the human heart... Jealousy... Envy... Greed... Hatred... Control... But a single grain of light remained inside the box... A light known as hope."
Tina "..."
Bannan "No matter what may be, I don't believe your powers are a curse. They are the last grain of light left to this world. They are the grain of light called 'hope'." {MAN I was long-winded...}



Bannan "Think it over... I must rest now."

Well that was a bit of a bombshell for poor Tina. She needs some friendly advice from her teammates, methinks!



If the Empire keeps moving forward like they have been, there will just keep being more people like me. That's why I became a Returner." {The original Japanese was vague enough that I understand Woolsey's mistake there. Nobody was jailed; the implication was more that they'd killed or crippled someone Lock loved.}
Tina "But... I don't have anybody important to me..."
Lock "That's not true. On the contrary, there may be people who see you as important to them. Fight for their sake..." {I think Lock just hit on Tina!}



You can trust him too, Tina."
"Oh, but don't tell him what I just said if you see him! That would be embarrassing!" {Aww, little brother's gotta keep his image up!}



If we try to sway you to our side, we're no better than the Empire was. So... We want you to decide for yourself, Tina."

That covers our allies! Now to talk to the local peeps! But first...



For maximum comedy value, we shall leave it there! Tina's no maid!

Other Returners
Guy in dining hall "The Empire is attacking Returners everywhere, bent on destroying us. If we don't find a way to strike back soon..."

Guy in supply room "Please fight alongside us, there's no need to fear..." {After what that last guy said, I beg to differ!}

I totally didn't just buy two extra pairs of Dash Shoes. No siree. That would just be silly since there's only one party! But I did get 10 Eye Drops, because this patch fixed the bug that makes Blind status do nothing.



Heyhey, another hidden treasure room! This one's accessible from a hidden path on the upper right of the supply room.



Convenient!



Will you be our last, our final hope?"
Yes
No

I'll go ahead and show you what happens if you say 'yes'.



Tina "But... I'm still scared..."
Bannan "It's not unreasonable for you to be so uneasy."
Bannan "Tina... You'll be safe if you have this."
Tina "This is... ???"
Bannan "It's a talisman. Take it with you."



Bannan "I have a plan. Will you gather everybody together?"

Simple enough. But let's try a slightly different route...



Sorry old man, your face is scary. Maybe someone else can convince Tina.



Received "Genji Glove"!
"Please, lend us your strength."

SWEET! Now Tina will agree to your suicide plan, Bannan.



This bit replaced Bannan's little bit before giving you the Gauntlet. And, of course, he doesn't give you the Gauntlet since you have the Genji Glove. Lame.



Comedy successful! Okay, meeting time.

Bannan "The Empire has begun this war using the power of magic, as we all know. But how did Ghastra revive the power of magic? That is the point here."
Edgar "From the investigation I had Lock do, Ghastra seems to have assembled a team of teenagers with attitude scholars from around the world to study Phantom BeastsEidolons."
Lock "The attack on Narche was a part of that."
Tina "It's like there's some relationship between magic and the Eidolons......" {I'd say "no duh", but Tina IS kinda ill-informed.}
Bannan "Magic and Eidolons... I can remember only one account where both have been mentioned......" {The Kama Sutra?}
Edgar "You mean...?"
Bannan "Exactly. The Great Demon War." {I really wish I'd stuck with Great Magic War here...}
"What?"
"Impossible!"
Lock "My grandma told me it as a bedtime story... Did it really happen?"
Edgar "Is the calamity of the Great DemonMagic War about to repeat?"
Bannan "I don't know. It happened about 1,000 years ago. There are various theories about it held by scholars. One such is that power can be drawn out from Eidolons and transferred to humans..."
Tina "The power of magic is..."
Edgar "So we need to acquire magic powers to fight the Empire..."
Bannan "Never! Then we'd be repeating the same mistakes of the Great Magic War."
Edgar "So what do we do?"



Lock "With an Eidolon!?"
Bannan "It will be dangerous, but... If that Eidolon were to react again to Tina, it might wake up."
Edgar "I wonder if that's really a good idea......"
Bannan "We cannot say just yet...... However...... {Ack, Suikodenitis! Too much punctuation!} We need Tina's cooperation for this."
Lock "Tina."
Tina "Let's do this."
Matias "Hah, what nonsense...... But it's pretty interesting."



Uh oh, is shit about to get real?



Looks like it!



Bannan "Hey, hey! What's going on!? What happened to you!?"
"Em... Empire is coming here... from South Figaro..."
Bannan "We've been found... We have to make a strategy fast, before they get here!!"
Edgar "Lock!!"
Lock "I know. Sneak into South Figaro and keep the enemy occupied, right?"
Edgar "It's the best mission for someone with your abilities! Good luck!"
Lock "Tina. Wait patiently for my return. Oh yes...... Take care around a certain infamous king and his swift hands." {Connotations! This line was hell to translate, I remember...}
Edgar "Lock!"
Matias "Big brother... You still haven't stopped doing those wierd things?" {Everyone's pickin' on Edgar today!}



Edgar "It'd probably be best to escape down the Lethe River, and go to Narche. I'm worried about that Eidolon thing found in the mineshaft."
Bannan "Hmm. Then, let us make for the raft at the back entrance. It'll be a bit dangerous, but we're out of options."
Edgar "It's dangerous here. Let's go to Narche together...... This may be a good chance to learn about your powers." {I think you want to learn about something else of hers, Edgar. "Swift hands" indeed!}
Bannan "There's no time to waste lolly-gagging about. Let's go to Narche immediately!"



Pushy, innee? First, let's get some chatting up with the Returners before we leave.

More Returners dialogue

Guy in Bannan's room "I hope Sir Bannan is doing well."
Guy in dining hall "Please hurry to Narche, and leave this place to us."
Guy in storage room "The Lethe River is a river that flows through a gigantic underground cavern."
Guy in bed "Ungh... Ungh..." {Don't even WANT to know what you're doing there, bub.}



OMG WHERE!?



Ha ha not funny. Anyway, a-rafting we will go!



But first, let's put the fragile old man in the back row so he doesn't get boatmurdered, shall we?



Okay okay, I'm going already!



Damn I hate escort missions...

Lethe River
Monsters: Lesser Lopros, Shibiramor, Ipelcrapple



Bannan will be keeping us alive with this move.



No hijinks for me! If I'ma keep my level low, I need to go the right way every time!



Save point 1 and all is well. Let's keep going...



Like I said, no hijinks. I'm skipping the Leveling Loop.



I don't know, I don't know!



I can't let you pass! So you're not gonna pass! Any questions? {Yeah, can I get a side-order of calamari with that?}



Even if his name is mythologically correct now, Orthros is just as hateful of getting burned as ever.



Nooo, not my magical girl!



You leave my musclehead alone, you damn octopus!



Or is it?

Edgar "No, we couldn't have...... Did it go underwater......!?"
Tina "Kyaah!! There's something on my leg!"
Edgar "Tina, come over here!"
Bannan "We should be okay now."
Matias "That thing's just playing with us! I'm going to tear it apart with my martial arts!"
Edgar "Matias! Let it be!!"
Matias "Don't try to stop be, big brother! Oriyaaah!!!!!" {Weird battle cry... Wasn't that in Lunar 2 as well?}



Edgar "That was rash of him..."
Tina "Matias......"
Bannan "Well, I wouldn't worry about it!"
Edgar "Why is that, sir Bannan......?"
Bannan "You're his older brother, you should know that he has enough energy stored up in him to take on a small army!"
Matias "Whoah!"
Bannan "...... ......"
Edgar "Well, he's as spirited as ever, at least...... Haha......" {Man I botched this. Bannan was supposed to comment on how Matias would hop out of the water back onto the raft any minute, and Edgar comment that he forgot the 'on the raft' bit.}
Tina "Matias~!!"
Edgar "Matias!! Take care of yourself!"



Nooo! Now my musclehead is adrift! This is the worst day ever!



Good question. I have no idea!



Okay! But next time, of course.

You should know, every time Matias* says "Big Brother," I want to read his dialogue with Alphonse Elric's voice.


* I'm guessing it's supposed to be the same "tia" as in "Dalmatian"?