FelixSH
(He/Him)
Eight days already, huh? I wished I had more time to play this game, I enjoy it a lot. Way more than I expected, it's a blast. I think the only other FF that surprised me so much was FF III, which became an instant favourite. Fascinating, really.
Well, where was I? Right, Lightning pushed ahead, with Hope running after her and Sazh and Vanille taking a break. It just so happens that a bridge gets destroyed.
So, Lightning has a plan. She wants to fight Eden, who seems to be the leader of the Cocoon Eidolons. Fitting, with him being basically a fortress, nice choice. I wonder, is Bahamut the leader of the Pulse fal'Cie? But then, they probably don't have a leader, having a very different structure, if I remember correctly. Bahamut, as a strong, flying summon feels like he belongs more on Pulse than on Cocoon.
Speaking of, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but it feels a bit like an inversion to games where danger is coming from the moon. Later on, with only Sazh and Vanille, we get this great shot from a cliff, where we can see a continent in the sky. A continent from Pulse. It's a great shot, really. Anyway, my point is that normally, we are on the planet, and the moon houses our greatest fears. Here, it's kinda reversed. Cocoon is the small place in the sky, but it's our home. And the danger comes from the main planet.
Except that this isn't true, and the danger comes from Cocoon. I guess. I forgot what Dysley had planned, exactly. We'll get to that.
Right, Lightning wants to get to Eden, and make him pay for what happens. It's fight of flight, and she choses to fight. It does feel kinda hopeless, really, so it's understandable. They just deal with things completely out of their control.
Still, it's a bad plan, because they all KNOW that this will destroy Cocoon. She is just lashing out, ignoring the fallout of her plan.
Interestingly, Vanille sees through Lightnings anger. Vanille is clearly set up as being emotionally strongly connected, and getting stuff (also, she knows more than she lets on). She sees how Lightning suffers, and how this plan of hers is a cry for help.
It is nice, having the person who charges forward, who would often be clearly the one who gets it, is here always shown to be in totally over her head. And the bubly, cheerful airhead is not only emotionally connected, but also simply smart. Granted, this isn't new, it was always part of this archetype, starting with Yuffie in VII. But this just shows that this series always had deeper characters than standard RPGs.
This is the point where they decide to split, in a way. Lightning pushes forward, and Hope follows her. Vanille and Sazh decide that they go the opposite way, getting as far away from the fal'Cie as possible. Interesting, that the two more level-headed people of the party, who aren't just operating on blind anger, decide to not fight the fight, but run away. It's normally the opposite of what the heroes do, which might be part of the deconstruction of the hero myth this game does.
There is a fun, short scene, where Hope climbs into a machine and lets you use the arms of it to throw enemies just away. It's dumb and fun, but also kinda pointless.
Also, even before Lightning really starts to see Hope for how he feels and is, she seems to start to respect him. She offers him to call her Light.
Interesting. Later on, she explains that Lightning can only destroy, it pushes forward. But Light is something helpful, even protective and warm. Considering that she starts to care for the boy, which will only get stronger, this already shows where she is headed, personality-wise.
But we aren't there yet. For now, she soon gets tired of taking care of Hope, with her snapping at him when he falls down, exhausted. It's when Odin appears.
That fight felt annoying, like a gamble, if I would survive the initial onslaught. Because he attacks really fast and strong, plus knocking both characters to the ground, meaning that their actions will take a break. Even when I made it, it was partly luck that I didn't die at the start. The time limit seemed also a bit too harsh. But it worked out, thankfully, and this time, I did it as I should have. Felt good, but he could do a bit less damage.
Interestingly, it seems to change Lightnings mark. She does apologize, having gotten something out of this. Not that she is perfect - she promises to toughen him up. But it got through to her, that it is important to care for others - that this boy is dependant on her. She soon takes a break, when he starts to stumble again.
Later on, she wants him to be the hope he is named for. I guess it's the other way - she needs him, as a hope for herself, that there is still a future, something to fight for.
We switch to Snow and Fang, for a bit, though I think we didn't get Fangs name there. They are on the Lindblum (I like that they kept the name), the main ship of a special unit of the Guardian Force, lead by this games Cid. I remember this guy as the hardest boss in the game, but nothing at all about him otherwise. Pretty forgettable, for a Cid. Considering that Fang will later join us, and also work together with Snow now(?), I don't get where they exactly stand (I think she is part of his unit?), but there is still time to explain.
He explains, that the public is tired of being scared of the danger that are the l'Cie, and that there will be a public execution. And they are close to the others. Huh.
We see a flashback to day 7, where Serah tells Snow about being a l'Cie now. And, after being shocked at the start, he soon runs after her, making sure that she knows that he will stay at her side, no matter what.
Snow is an idiot, and he has a romaniticized vision of his role in the world, but I do like this. That he doesn't care about Serah being a l'Cie. This is the expection here, not the rule, he is exceptional here. This scene hits more the longer I play, and the clearer it gets how incredibly hateful the people are against Pulse l'Cie.
They talk about what works basically as a legend here, that l'Cie who fulfill their focus will love forever. Which feels really like a sick joke, at this point.
But also, I find it interesting how this world has this creation myth, these legends of godlike creatures who might give you tasks and eternal life, which people know about but also don't believe in. But it is all a thing. But it fits together with how there are gods here, which actually exist. Like, it would be like Apollo would actually pull the sun over the sky, and every thunder bolt is actually thrown by Zeus.
The datalog tells us about the War of Transgression, from hundreds of years ago. Back then, armies from Pulse attacked, but where thrown back by Cocoon. Interestingly, it was the last, known time, where Cocoon fal'Cie created l'Cie. With even the datalog pointing out that it is specifically the last KNOWN time. Sazhs son probably wasn't the only victim of this nonsense.
During this war, the outer rim of Cocoon was badly damaged, but the attack was stopped. And the war boosted the public faith in the Sanctum and the fal'Cie.
Which really begs the question: Was this intended by Cocoon? I guess not, but it was likely used by the Sanctum and the fal'Cie.
Also, considering that humans aren't really the focus of the fal'Cie. This was a war between the two groups of fal'Cie, about whatever it was they disagreed on, right? I guess the game will go more into detail, but I tend to think of the summons as creatures there for us. For the people in these gameworlds, for us the players. Sure, there are societies, but they are not really explored. Or rather, the summons were never such a group where there was infighting, where they weren't a unit. It seems like they are the main creatures of this planet, with their own war, that humans are part of, but not the main players.
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I played more, but I'm also tired. Will write more later.
Well, where was I? Right, Lightning pushed ahead, with Hope running after her and Sazh and Vanille taking a break. It just so happens that a bridge gets destroyed.
So, Lightning has a plan. She wants to fight Eden, who seems to be the leader of the Cocoon Eidolons. Fitting, with him being basically a fortress, nice choice. I wonder, is Bahamut the leader of the Pulse fal'Cie? But then, they probably don't have a leader, having a very different structure, if I remember correctly. Bahamut, as a strong, flying summon feels like he belongs more on Pulse than on Cocoon.
Speaking of, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but it feels a bit like an inversion to games where danger is coming from the moon. Later on, with only Sazh and Vanille, we get this great shot from a cliff, where we can see a continent in the sky. A continent from Pulse. It's a great shot, really. Anyway, my point is that normally, we are on the planet, and the moon houses our greatest fears. Here, it's kinda reversed. Cocoon is the small place in the sky, but it's our home. And the danger comes from the main planet.
Except that this isn't true, and the danger comes from Cocoon. I guess. I forgot what Dysley had planned, exactly. We'll get to that.
Right, Lightning wants to get to Eden, and make him pay for what happens. It's fight of flight, and she choses to fight. It does feel kinda hopeless, really, so it's understandable. They just deal with things completely out of their control.
Still, it's a bad plan, because they all KNOW that this will destroy Cocoon. She is just lashing out, ignoring the fallout of her plan.
Interestingly, Vanille sees through Lightnings anger. Vanille is clearly set up as being emotionally strongly connected, and getting stuff (also, she knows more than she lets on). She sees how Lightning suffers, and how this plan of hers is a cry for help.
It is nice, having the person who charges forward, who would often be clearly the one who gets it, is here always shown to be in totally over her head. And the bubly, cheerful airhead is not only emotionally connected, but also simply smart. Granted, this isn't new, it was always part of this archetype, starting with Yuffie in VII. But this just shows that this series always had deeper characters than standard RPGs.
This is the point where they decide to split, in a way. Lightning pushes forward, and Hope follows her. Vanille and Sazh decide that they go the opposite way, getting as far away from the fal'Cie as possible. Interesting, that the two more level-headed people of the party, who aren't just operating on blind anger, decide to not fight the fight, but run away. It's normally the opposite of what the heroes do, which might be part of the deconstruction of the hero myth this game does.
There is a fun, short scene, where Hope climbs into a machine and lets you use the arms of it to throw enemies just away. It's dumb and fun, but also kinda pointless.
Also, even before Lightning really starts to see Hope for how he feels and is, she seems to start to respect him. She offers him to call her Light.
Interesting. Later on, she explains that Lightning can only destroy, it pushes forward. But Light is something helpful, even protective and warm. Considering that she starts to care for the boy, which will only get stronger, this already shows where she is headed, personality-wise.
But we aren't there yet. For now, she soon gets tired of taking care of Hope, with her snapping at him when he falls down, exhausted. It's when Odin appears.
That fight felt annoying, like a gamble, if I would survive the initial onslaught. Because he attacks really fast and strong, plus knocking both characters to the ground, meaning that their actions will take a break. Even when I made it, it was partly luck that I didn't die at the start. The time limit seemed also a bit too harsh. But it worked out, thankfully, and this time, I did it as I should have. Felt good, but he could do a bit less damage.
Interestingly, it seems to change Lightnings mark. She does apologize, having gotten something out of this. Not that she is perfect - she promises to toughen him up. But it got through to her, that it is important to care for others - that this boy is dependant on her. She soon takes a break, when he starts to stumble again.
Later on, she wants him to be the hope he is named for. I guess it's the other way - she needs him, as a hope for herself, that there is still a future, something to fight for.
We switch to Snow and Fang, for a bit, though I think we didn't get Fangs name there. They are on the Lindblum (I like that they kept the name), the main ship of a special unit of the Guardian Force, lead by this games Cid. I remember this guy as the hardest boss in the game, but nothing at all about him otherwise. Pretty forgettable, for a Cid. Considering that Fang will later join us, and also work together with Snow now(?), I don't get where they exactly stand (I think she is part of his unit?), but there is still time to explain.
He explains, that the public is tired of being scared of the danger that are the l'Cie, and that there will be a public execution. And they are close to the others. Huh.
We see a flashback to day 7, where Serah tells Snow about being a l'Cie now. And, after being shocked at the start, he soon runs after her, making sure that she knows that he will stay at her side, no matter what.
Snow is an idiot, and he has a romaniticized vision of his role in the world, but I do like this. That he doesn't care about Serah being a l'Cie. This is the expection here, not the rule, he is exceptional here. This scene hits more the longer I play, and the clearer it gets how incredibly hateful the people are against Pulse l'Cie.
They talk about what works basically as a legend here, that l'Cie who fulfill their focus will love forever. Which feels really like a sick joke, at this point.
But also, I find it interesting how this world has this creation myth, these legends of godlike creatures who might give you tasks and eternal life, which people know about but also don't believe in. But it is all a thing. But it fits together with how there are gods here, which actually exist. Like, it would be like Apollo would actually pull the sun over the sky, and every thunder bolt is actually thrown by Zeus.
The datalog tells us about the War of Transgression, from hundreds of years ago. Back then, armies from Pulse attacked, but where thrown back by Cocoon. Interestingly, it was the last, known time, where Cocoon fal'Cie created l'Cie. With even the datalog pointing out that it is specifically the last KNOWN time. Sazhs son probably wasn't the only victim of this nonsense.
During this war, the outer rim of Cocoon was badly damaged, but the attack was stopped. And the war boosted the public faith in the Sanctum and the fal'Cie.
Which really begs the question: Was this intended by Cocoon? I guess not, but it was likely used by the Sanctum and the fal'Cie.
Also, considering that humans aren't really the focus of the fal'Cie. This was a war between the two groups of fal'Cie, about whatever it was they disagreed on, right? I guess the game will go more into detail, but I tend to think of the summons as creatures there for us. For the people in these gameworlds, for us the players. Sure, there are societies, but they are not really explored. Or rather, the summons were never such a group where there was infighting, where they weren't a unit. It seems like they are the main creatures of this planet, with their own war, that humans are part of, but not the main players.
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I played more, but I'm also tired. Will write more later.