I mentioned that Seifer uses his limit break in the intro cutscene; Edea's limit break is the giant icicle she uses to impale Squall.
I love it when games use their mechanics as part of their storytelling. I wish it happened more often in this series.
That is pretty great. And very fitting, considering that she is a sorceress.
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At the start of disc 2, we get another flashback/dream/whatever, where we take the role of Laguna and his friends. Well, friend, because Zell is stuck with Ward, who does nothing but clean up a prison and miss the time with his buddies.
Fitting to the fact, that I remember disc 1 way better than the rest, I had completely forgotten that there were more then two Laguna sequences in this game. I have no memory of this one, at all.
So, Laguna has built up a nice live in a cozy little village, where he plays with a girl named Ellone and helps out, while getting food and a house from a woman named Raine. Ellone is the girl that talked to Squall and Quistis near the start, and that both didn't remember, right?
It's acutally not so cozy, monsters are running around inside the town, and it's Lagunas job to kill as many as he can, to keep the place safe. Also, there are Galbadia soldiers who are scared of a place called Esthar, and an attack from there. Due to that place being ruled by a sorceress, and her looking for a kid to take her place, after she died. Oh, and the sorceress that rules Esthar is called Adel. I think that's the one who is imprisoned on the moon?
When Laguna talks to Raine, there is a cute scene where both of them get in trouble with Raine, and make fun of it. It's really sweet, and we are immediately shown that Laguna has found a home here. Which is made more clear, when a guest appears. It's Kiros, who has looked for Laguna since what happened in the last backflash.
When Kiros asks Laguna what he plans on doing, we get different answers, with one of them grayed out - it's Squalls own answer, asking where he is. It's interesting, Laguna can hear Squall, if Squall tries, but doesn't understand him. This whole flashback stuff is never explained, is it? I guess it has to do with Time Compression? Well, I'll see later on, I guess.
The situation here is worse than it appears, with all adult men being sent to fight in a war. Against Esthar? Or are they still working on taking over Timber?
Julia did fulfill her dream, she is a singer now, and has released "Eyes On Me". She is also married to General Caraway, which blew my mind a bit. Also, there is a story going around that she waited for a soldier, who never came back, and Caraway was there for her.
I like how this plays out. Lagunas life is at a different place now, and while it seems to hurt him a bit, that his chance has gone, he seems to be fine with her being happy. Just the fact, that we get this romance between the two, but they don't end up together and we still don't get drama out of it - it all seems pretty real.
Lagunas job is pretty easy, considering he is a soldier. He just has to kill pretty weak monster (I don't think they are implied to be strong), and just spends his time in the little town of Winhill. There is a funny scene at the item shop, where the owner clearly hates him, for unclear reasons. I think the owner assumes Laguna might be a bad influence, for Raine and Ellone?
Kiros also tells us, that he talked with the chief editor of Timber Maniacs, who would be interested in someone like Laguna, who can write about foreign places. So, basically what Laguna dreamed of doing. But, again, he is in a different place now. He built up this whole new life, and it is clearly fulfilling for him, especially with Raine and Ellone. He basically has a family, and is at a point where he seems to want to settle down.
Basically, he grew up, I guess.
Soon afterwards, the dream ends, and Zell wakes up in a cell. Together with Quistis, Rinoa and Selphie. Here we learn, that he was Ward, and did nothing of interest, at all. But it makes him realize, that he does know this place, as its really the prison from the memory.
As nosimpleway alluded to, this time, the situation is seriuos. Attacking the president? No big deal. Attacking Edea? Major offense, punishable by death. Well, after her speach, where she just killed Deling in front of everyone, and no one cared, it was obvious that she is the person in charge, and probably has been for some time.
I wonder, how honest Deling was with himself. I mean, it must have been clear that Edea was the bigger player, but he seems to have been a pompous ass. So, did he think he was the senior partner in this business relationship? Well, we'll never know. I'll just assume, that he was taken completely by surprise.
Squall is also here, but in solitary confinement. This prison is really elaborate, as it has cells that can be taken out by a giant, mechanical arm, and put somewhere else. Reminded me a bit of the place in the Matrix, where Neo finds himself after waking up.
He is taken to a torture room, by Seifer. We see Squall crucified, and hurt by electroshocks. I wonder, is the crucification an intentional religios symbol, or is it just used because it looks so scary, and is strongly related to torture? Or does it just look cool in a bad way?
I mean, there doesn't seem to be much religious subtext in this game, but then, we do have basically witches who are hunted. And one of them becomes kind-of god, by ruling not only over the world, but all of time and space. Dunno, maybe I'll come back to this later.
Here we learn, that there is more behind the SeeDs, than even Squall knows. Seifer asks him, as Edea wants to know, but he doesn't either. Not that this should be a total surprise, Cid alluded to us being more than just soldiers more than once. To spare Squall from more torture (without GFs, he is probably a regular, vulnerable human), I let him lie - SeeDs want to spread flowers everwhere, so that they seem harmless, and can catch their enemies off guard. The guard who is left behind by Seifer is dumb enough to believe it, and runs out to tell someone.
There is actually some jumping between Squall and the others, but the scenes are too short to cover them that way, I think. It's a nice way of making the whole stuff more interesting, and I'm glad we actually learn what's up with Squall.
The others are visited by an asshole guard, who the game fittingly calls "Mean Guy". Zells brain sets out, and he doesn't realize, for now, that he doesn't need a weapon to fight back against these losers. I mean, they can't use magic and their GFs, due to some anti-magic field, or something, but Zell is still a trained martial artist. I'm glad the game takes this into account, even if it's a bit later than it should be.
Mean Guy punches and kicks Zell, until Rinoa comes with him, which was what he wanted.
Right, I forgot about the part with Seifer and Squall, where Seifer talks about his dream of being a knight is now fulfilled. Squall tells him, that he is just a torturer.
This is an interesting moment for Seifer. This reaction makes him angry - he wanted this to be the dramatic moment, where Squall told him his eternal hatred, or something, and how they are now mortal enemies. He actually wants to be the hero, in a story of an evil mercenary vs the sorceresses knight.
I still can't say how much brainwashing is going on with Seifer, as this probably fits wonderfully in the script, he has for his life. Him as the hero, fighting for justice. Like he never grew out of the fairytales he heard, as a child. The whole thing is just really a childrens fantasy, that you should grow out of. But then, he is still a teenager (and some dumbasses never grow out of the fantasy of being the hero in a simple story of black and white), and I guess we were all there, at some point, wanting to be like the heroes we see in games and on TV.
You know, I have for some time now thought about how we have so many stories that are about some rightous hero, who stands up against the evil government, ignores all the rules and saves the day. Which is a really bad idea of how to think about the world. I mean, situations in real life aren't so black and white, and a hero who just ignores all the rules is a criminal. I mean, these type of stories seem to suggest that all leaders are bad, rules are always about oppression and that it is ok to take the law into your own hands.
Dunno, I just think we need less stories about these loner heroes, who do what they think is right, ignoring everything and still come out as the heroes. It doesn't work that way. It just creates people like Seifer, who put themselves above the law and think, no matter what they do, they are the hero.
Sorry, this is all mushed, I think I can't really get a grasp on my thoughts today. Feel free to disagree with me here. My interpretation seems off, here.
The others get food by one of the lion guys, who is then kicked by Mean Guy. When thinking of an escape plan, Selphie suggests to skin him, and use his fur as a disguise. Which, uh, aside from being horrible wouldn't even work. Selphie, are you with us?
The lion guy is right next to her. He can hear her. Selphie is scary. She also can use some kind of magic in here. I read a fan theory, about Selphie maybe being a sorceress, also due to her Limit Break, which gives her access to spells she otherwise doesn't have. Plus one that kills everything. Seems like a sensible theory, honestly.
Zell gets his brain back, and he realizes that he can just punch everyone. That way, everyone gets back their weapon, and each character (including the lion guy) gets this weird scene were they grow gigantic for a few seconds, say something cool and show off how good they are with their weapons.
I'm really thankful for the character scenes in here, because the prison, as a dungeon, is awful. Everything looks the same, and is horribly boring. For fun, there is a one-of-a-kind magazine at the very bottom. I mean, I think the game doesn't tell you if you need to go up or down, which means you might get to the bottom, basically pointlessly. There are people in some cells, but nothing really interesting.
To be honest, despite my best efforts, I don't really understand what they are doing inside. Running up, running down, running up and down, and then they get out. It's confusing. Thankfully, at some point we have the scene where everyone takes cover from being shot at, and Irvine arrives, doing heroic poses. And then, Rinoa kicks him down the stairs. That was funny, and earned, considering that he only wanted to save her, ordered by Caraway.
So, Edea didn't realize that Caraway was behind everything? Considering how smart she seems to be, I'm surprised that she doesn't know. Aside from that, why isn't he under her spell? And why is Irvine free? He fought against Edea too.
I don't feel like the game is offering answers here. If it does, I would love to hear them.
There is a fun bit, where Selphie suggests to jump from the top right down to the bottom. I love Selphie.
And there is the scene, where a guard nearly kills Zell, and Squall saves him. First, the way Squall jumps in is the coolest way to do so, and I'm sure he knows this. He might act like "I have no emotion, don't look at me", but he is a teenager and clearly craves attention, and getting some by being cool is the dream of someone like him. Jumping in that way is clearly intentional.
Second, Zell clings onto Squall, thanking him for being saved. Squall hits him on the head with the grip of his gunblade. It makes a 'donk'-sound. As I said, I'm glad for these scenes. I feel like this game is at it's best, when it is just dumb teens being dumb teens. I would love for the alternative story, where Squall is always made to help other people at school, and hating it, but also loving it inside, or something. And how no one would realize how he hates everything, and is just like "we are best buddies". I want more school hijinks out of this game.
More stuff happens, and we get to the top, where we see that the prison is made up of three GIANT pillars, connected by bridges. And the pillars can drill out of or into the ground, and it looks like the are drilling out of it, but are actually drilling in. So, we are extremely high (and fight a lame boss), have a thrilling FMV where we can get a game over, if we don't move Squall, despite not knowing that we have to, because it's an FMV. I think. I never let Squall just hang there.
And then it's over, and we drive out with cars.
Honestly, I have no idea how the whole escaping works. I mean, sure, someone drilled the towers underground again, but the actualy steps of who did what and why are beyond me. It feels like one of those times in movies, where people are running around in a giant complex and have to find each other, free someone and get out, and they get everywhere they need to, just by running around aimlessly. It's fine, but I don't like it much.
Anyway, Rinoa told Quistis that the Sorceress is going to launch rockets at the Gardens. As mentioned, attacking Deling doesn't matter. Attacking Edea is a declaration of war.
So, we split up. One half is going to Balamb, to warn everyone. The other half is going to the missilbe base, due to Selphie not wanting that Trabia Garden, where she came from, is going to get destroyed. Because that is also a target.
I'm really glad we get more Selphie. She was a bit of a non-entity on disc 1, glad she got a bit more of the spotlight. I let Quistis and Rinoa come with Squall.
It's the moment, where Quistis calls Squall the leader, and wants him to decide on the team composition.
"Leader? I never asked to be a the leader."
Squall really doesn't realize all the abilities that he has. He is a person, that people look up to, and who takes charge. He is a leader, maybe by being raised that way, but I think also by the abilities he just has.
It is also a special moment, in general. Squall briefs the others, and tells them, that this is different than their other missions. There is no request, no one is asking them to do this. They are acting on their own. It's their decision, to do this.
Like a good leader, he asks Selphie if she has a plan. And she straight up says, that she will make it up as she goes along. It's not like there is time for planning much out, but I appreciate how honest these people are with each other.
Selphie feels, that this is really important, and that she has to do it. Even if it's dangerous, and she doesn't know what to expect. And Squall knows this, doesn't critizise it, and just trusts her abilities.
They are becoming a team. I like where this is going.