Chapter 17: Don't push your luck
28th May - 1st June 2012 (notionally)
Skype and stream: Monday the 28th of May, 19:00 UTC
The target for this chapter is outside Mideel (or what used to be Mideel, at least), once the Lifestream sequence is complete.
Picture:
Questions:
How did you do with the compulsory train battles, and did you manage to stop it before it hit Corel? If not, you might want to try again, because you miss out on the extremely powerful Ultima materia.
What was your choice of strategy in Fort Condor? Did you fight it properly, use the quick (and cheap) way, or lose deliberately so you can fight the Cmd. Grand Horn and get the Imperial Guard?
Did you manage to steal a Curse Ring from Ultima Weapon, and if so, how many tries did it take? I have a bit of a grudge, you see... Did the battle pose any problems for you?
What are your thoughts on everything that was revealed in the Lifestream? Personally, I think the part where Cloud takes his helmet off is one of the greatest moments in the whole series. What's your number one?
If you're a first time player, how well do you think you understand the story at this point? If you've played it before, how many playthroughs did it take you before you really "got" it?
Sorry I missed the skype playthrough tonight but yay I can update without having to Triple-post the main thing from stopping me from posting this awaited chapter. I found there was a lot to talk about too so it’s gonna be a long one
Chapter 14
Well right away I got into a couple of fights with some Trickplays and Boundfats which meant Yuffie immediately was able to learn Level 4 Suicide and Death Sentence as they both quite happily chose to cast these on my characters, got through the Coral Valley quite quickly and grabbed all items along the way, equipping Tifa with the Magic Plus materia.
I love Icicle Inn, for me it’s like the last point you get to where despite what just happened there’s still almost an element of light-heartedness and relaxed atmosphere, even the music dispels the tension, it’s just a nice place. It’s also, unless you decided to return to it once you reach the Great Glacier and bar a small scene later on the last time you hear the World map theme before entering the town, again I think that reflects the end of the game’s more relaxed atmosphere.
First thing I did was grabbed all items available and then went straight to the weapon shop to get some upgrades, I love the weapons here because they really do feel like a proper power upgrade, it’s also really the first time in a while you can buy some weapons with good slots and decent power for the other characters. After that I headed to Ifalna and Gast’s abandoned house and as always viewed all videos, the one thing in the house I don’t understand is the button that allows you to adjust the light in the house, never really got what the deal with that was.
Aerith’s past, I wish there was more of it, while I find the videos interesting I wish there was a little bit more detail on how Aerith’s parent’s fell in love because at one moment they’re talking about the WEAPONS and Jenova, next thing you know they’ve just had a baby together, I also always though it would’ve been adorable to see a baby Aerith on screen, I dunno I just always thought she was a cute kid.
I just feel so sorry for Aerith when you realise considering she was only about 3 weeks old when Hojo captured her and Ifalna, that until they escaped when she was seven that she probably lived completely within the Shinra Building and was more than likely brought up in a lab and I know it was done with Sephiroth but it’s still a sickening thought to know that Hojo probably experimented on her as a baby and how powerless Ifalna probably would have been to stop that, he is essentially just one sick bastard.
You finally also get to figure out the truth about Jenova and what she actually was. It was also interesting to see that the scientist that Sephiroth respected so much turned out to be Aerith’s father. I think Sephiroth must’ve seen Gast as a father figure at least and clearly he vanished when Sephiroth was still quite young probably only around 12/13 years old (CC suggests that there’s at least 10 years age difference between Sephiroth and Aerith). It’d be interesting to see how Gast would’ve reacted to know the person who looked up to him the most killed his daughter, but then again had Gast been alive would Sephiroth have snapped so badly? He obviously wonders in the Kalm flashback why Gast never told him anything about his past and why he died (I’d love to know what they actually told him about Gast’s death) and Gast knew the truth about what Jenova was from Ifalna. Something just makes me believe that Sephiroth never would have snapped so badly had Gast been there to tell him the truth and I’m sure had Gast still be alive he would have done so. I think he still would’ve handled it quite badly but not to the extent that he did and more than likely would have learned the truth about who his mother really was. Had that happened things probably could have been very different but I guess we’ll never know now.
Moving on, I love watching Elena roll out of town every time she misses smacking Cloud across the face, although sometimes I just let her smack Cloud across the face for funsies, not this time though. As for the snowboard game, I LOVE IT. Seriously I spend ages on it when it’s available in the Gold Saucer later, it’s one of my favourite things to do there and there are so many different routes available that it doesn’t get boring because it’s never quite the same route twice. I unfortunately on this occasion however can’t remember my time because it was really late at night when I did this meaning I was falling asleep while playing, (and constantly bumping into things on the course) luckily I landed at the gate of the Great Glacier and took the chance to save right away and go to sleep .
The Great Glacier is a fantastic place because you’re never guaranteed an exact starting place after the snowboard game, there’ so much to explore and plenty of battles with good EXP to fight. I find the map fairly easy to read once you can figure out what each location is I think it’s quite easy to navigate your general direction so one of the first things I did was head to the Hot Springs in order to start the process of grabbing Alexander Materia.
I did encounter one problem though after touching them, no matter how hard I tried, for the first time in my life playing FFVII I just couldn’t seem to locate the cave with the Snow enemy and in the end had to get help from my fellow TLS skypers to find her. I also collapsed once during the search for her due to endless running around but as I wasn’t finished I chose not to save and end the checkpoint. I finally managed to locate her and get my materia but the one thing I never understood though was how this was regarded as a boss battle, she’s no more difficult than any of the other Snow enemies you encounter, there could have at least been a change of appearance and a few more attack abilities in there to make her more of a challenge, I just find it a bit odd. In the end I gave my Alexander materia to Tifa in the end as Odin wasn’t getting much use.
After that I focused on the other items and found them easily enough and made the decision to use the infinite Elixir glitch to get 99 of them (collapsing three times in the process) while leaving the last one there so if I ever need a replenishment I’ll have it (dunno if I CBA using the w-item glitch later). In total I think I collapsed 5-6 times by the time I got everything and explored the area thoroughly, Added cut materia being the most difficult to find after the Snow enemy because I can never quite remember which screen it’s on. On another little trivia note the stone face that appears in one of the mountain walls at the Great Glacier is an easter egg that can be found in several other FFs and make two appearances in FFVII (the other being the chocobo racetrack).
So that’s pretty much it, on the way back I made it to Holzoff’s place without collapsing (I find that flagpoint area easy to navigate through) all that’s left to do is give you guys an update of my stats etc, as for what’s due to come I feel very adequately in place and have no worries at all about it, the levelling this time was purely just from running around most of the Great Glacier so it was kinda cool to bump up a few levels without trying too much and as always there’s a few changes to my materia line up. New mastered materia include Restore, a couple of Alls, Destruct materia reaching the Death spell and Heal materia reaching Resist.
Chapter 15
Apologies for the double post again but I reckon no-one will be posting ahead of me for a little bit while I throw this update in and I'd rather keep chapters where I have a lot to write about separate. I am quite happy to say however that I am now caught up as the next couple of chapters still need to be fleshed out by Flint. Can I also just say a quick thanks to Flint for the thought he puts into what questions to ask about our experiences during the playthrough and also at how regularly he updates to keep things on track while still giving people the time to catch up, you’re doing a great job dude
I find Gaea’s cliff’s a very easy area to get through and the enemies not too difficult. I encountered a Stilva very quickly and managed to manipulate it on the first go so Yuffie immediately learned Trine and I had all three characters learn Magic Breath. I grabbed the other Ribbon too and gave it to Tifa which meant once I got into a fight the only character affected by Bad Breath was Yuffie but again all three characters learned the skill quickly enough. I quite like the inside of Gaea’s cliff I think It’s got some really beautiful backgrounds and structures, I do however find the warm up and climbing of the cliff’s a bit boring. The fight with Schizo went very easily I used All Creation with Yuffie, summoned Bahamut and Alexander, couple of Deathblows, some Fire3 and Ice3 spells and that was that no real trouble, only thing I did make sure to do was cast Big Guard and regen for those Dragon Fang attacks as I know they can be pretty powerful. I decided that although Cloud had an Onmislash ready to go, not to use it and save it for my next battle, something that ended up actually being a really good decision, as explained next.
The whirlwind maze; due to getting too close and not watching my timing I got smacked about a few times mostly at the area where the green waves being appearing, I was fine in the first area and fine in the third but I didn’t time it carefully enough during the second area. As for the Wind Wings I honestly couldn’t be annoyed confusing them to learn White Wind when I already have two characters who know it and I can very easily go back on get some Enemy Skills for Yuffie once I have access to the Highwind. As for the Jenova DEATH battle, the Omnislash that I saved was used to open the battle and well that was it she was dead right away so can’t really report anything on that battle. On another note MP Turbo isn’t something I really use but I suppose it does come in handy for certain fights.
So Cloud completely snapping, I often found the dialogue quite confusing and couldn’t understand how everyone thought Cloud was a puppet it just didn’t make any sense. I also hate the fact that despite Hojo knowing Cloud wasn’t created five years previously, he goes ahead and tells everyone that anyway. I get the feeling he knew what was happening to Cloud from the beginning though, just if you look at what he says to Cloud waaaaay back at Costa Del Sol, it’s that classic case of we know that you know something about Cloud, we’re not sure what that is, but we’re sure it’s pretty fucked up at any rate.
Tifa I feel sorry for because her she’s just so shaken and even questions her own memories about Cloud,but then again I wish she’d just been honest with Cloud from the very beginning, when you look back at the game you can see all the places where it looks like she’s about to open her mouth and say something but doesn’t at the last second and it just makes you look at it and go JUST SAY SOMETHING! Cloud himself it really is one of those moments where you can see how broken he is, he’s gone from this calm, slightly cocky almost poker-face like demeanor to a complete shadow of that and it is quite shocking. He’s probably the only main character in an FF game I’ve ever seen break down like that so badly. It is touched upon with Zidane in FFIX but nowhere near the way it’s dealt with in Cloud’s case, gotta admit it’s quite a bold move to have your main character become like that in a game and also make you think, ok what’s gonna happen now then?
The WEAPON FMV is pretty cool but it’s not my personal favourite, my favourite is the Motor Cycle Chase, watching the characters break out of the shinra building like that, it’s one of the coolest scenes in a game I’ve ever seen and stands out as one of my all-time favourite Final Fantasy FMVs. As for the FMVs themselves I think they’re all really well done and I don’t think there’s one I forget, I suppose being the first FF with proper FMV sequences it would naturally stick out in everyone’s minds anyways but even the transition from the game sequence to them was well done, like there’s no loading time really at all and they flow very well.
By the time we get to the rest of the party escaping on the Highwind, yeah I did think that perhaps Rufus would call a truce and in the face of everything they would fight together but then of course he orders all their deaths it’s really just of case of, “Yeah figures” or as Barret so lovingly puts it; “I take back what little praise I had for this jackass” enough said. To be honest I couldn’t see Shinra helping in the long run anyways or at least Rufus, for some reason I can picture the Turks helping out, but Rufus has his own way of doing things and won’t change that for anyone so no I guess I couldn’t see him doing something unless it benefitted him, I would say that judgement has been clouded from watching AC and knowing that’s pretty much the way things kinda go with Rufus but anyways.
I’m not actually going to post any stats this time around that includes my time clocked and Gil remaining as I prefer to do it when I have a fully arranged party, I’m not even equipping Barret with any materia for the next short segment as the party will constantly be chopping and changing at any rate. I will however mention that I finally mastered Heal materia, Comet reached level 2 and Magic Plus gained a level. As Cid will mostly be taking over as party leader for a couple of chapters he’ll be given Cloud’s materia, Yuffie will of course keep hers and I haven’t decided who to take as my third member and give Tifa’s materia to, probably Barret but I’m still not sure yet.
The Icicle Inn seems like a nice enough place. There's a cozy inn and pub, a few houses with some people to talk to and items to pick up, and a weapons shop that sells expensive but powerful equipment. What did you get up to there?
I watched those videos with interest the first time I played the game. I skipped them this time.
How good are you at the snowboarding game? What was your time, if you can remember, and which path did you take? Note for first-time players: don't worry about getting balloons, they don't make a difference at this stage.
I spent like 5 minutes. I hate that game. Snowboarding was really big in 1996/97, so I assume that's why they but it in there. Some stuff feels modern when the programmers are developing it, but then just feels dated a decade later. This is one of those.
The Great Glacier is a vast place, and the map you picked up isn't particularly useful, so it's easy to get lost and possibly pass out before you've visit everywhere you want to. What did you do there, and how many visits did it take?
I'd decided I wasn't going to bother getting Alexander, so I walked around until I found the cave in the middle of nowhere, and then I got the chest in there - I can't remember what is in it though
Gaea's Cliff is one of the more difficult areas in the game to get through. As well as being a large and complex place that requires some backtracking, it has tough enemies like Stilva and Malboro, and a tough boss in the form of Schizo. How did you get on? Did you learn the enemy skills that the two aforementioned monsters know?
I learned one of the enemy skills, can't remember which one. (I really need to start typing up these chapters straight away!) Gaea's Cliff really bugged me the first time I played it, but I remember liking it too because it has snow - so in away it feels like 'my place'
How good are you at getting through the Whirlwind Maze without being hit by the wind/energy/lightning? Or did you deliberately get hit so you could fight some Wind Wings, who know the White Wind enemy skill?
I was awful at it during my first pt, but this time I ran right through them on my first attempt. I didn't know the enemies there knows White Wind though, that is useful information.
How did your fight with Jenova DEATH go, and what did you make of all the scenes before and after it? Specifically, Sephiroth showing Cloud the events of Nibelheim and making him question who he is - something Hojo also mentions.
Jenova DEATH was really easy. I was kinda confused of the storytelling here the first time I played the game; a lot of text and a lot of things to take in a and put together. And I sorta knew that Cloud wasn't acting as the real Cloud, but still it had me confused
The FMV near the end of this chapter, of WEAPON waking up, is ranked by most fans as one of the best in the game. What do you think of it, and what's your personal favourite FMV, if not that? And how do you think the videos of VII compare to other games in the series?
The FMV is really awesome, and I think the FMV's in this game is great. I love the Junon Canon scene, the scenes with the rocket - basically any FMV showing a better view of the great locations of VII.
After that scene, the Cloud-less party escapes with Rufus and the other Shinra executives on the Highwind airship. Cast your mind back to the first time you played VII (or maybe this is your first time) - did you believe Shinra and the party would maintain some level of cooperation in the face of their common enemies - Sephiroth, WEAPON, and now, Meteor? Do you think they should have done?
They were already cooperating with some individuals (like a couple of the Turks). Shinra might help, but then solely for power or economic purposes, and not for saving lives. Joining together towards a greater enemy is always a way of uniting, but I never thought Shinra would 'fight on the good side'. The nature of Shinra in the game is that it's sort of a 'machine'; you can't 'humanize' them really. That was how I saw it anyway.
I need to finish 16 and 17 soon. I have an exam Monday so not sure if I'll be able to Skype this weekend but I'll try to catch up with you guys.
I added questions for chapters 16 and 17. I still need to add 18, and on Monday it'll be time to put 19 up already. Sorry for falling slightly behind, and for not being able to arrange any times for us to play together. My timetable will return to normal next week, at least for a few days before I'll be away for the weekend.
I think everyone is at a different part of the game right now. We should just aim to be at the same point by some date in the future, perhaps next week, to give some of us time to catch up.
Chapter 18: I never even got to do my special victory dance
1st - 4th June 2012 (notionally)
The target for this chapter is when you've done everything you want to do with the submarine. I'll add a picture later.
Questions:
The Underwater Reactor contains the interesting Ghost Ship enemy. If you visited the Kalm Traveller, you might have picked up on his tip and morphed the ship for a Guide Book, which you'll be able to trade for something else later. Did you do that, or will you do it in the Battle Square later? Or will you skip it altogether?
Carry Armour can pose a lot of problems, though the battle seems quite luck-based. How did you get on with him this time, and how have you fared in the past?
Did you choose to fight or take prisoner the guards on the submarine? And how did you do with the submarine "game" itself? Don't worry if you fail, because you can still get another submarine. You won't be able to get one of the huge materias, but that doesn't really matter.
Once you've got control of the submarine on the world map, you can do a few interesting things, including: retrieve the huge materia from the red sub; get the Key to the Ancients (even though you don't know what to do with it yet); visit the Gelnika (even though it hasn't taken off yet!); visit Lucrecia's cave so you can get Vincent's ultimate weapon and limit break a bit later on; and fight Emerald Weapon if you are somehow strong enough to do that. What did you do with it at this point?
Can't think of a fifth questionWhat are your characters' levels and set-ups like at this stage of the game, now you've got Cloud back in the party?
Alright so commenting on Junon, I find it quite disturbing that Tifa was getting gassed to death but Scarlet does seem like the type of person to draw out someone’s death very long and painfully. I also find Sapphire WEAPON’s headless body a little creepy but can’t help but wonder is it the reason for the underwater crater that forms once you can explore under water. Anyhoo getting Tifa out of the gas chamber went very smoothly normally it takes me a few attempts to get it right but it was really simple this time around, I always feel they should have put a timer or something in that before she switched the button for the gas off just to make it a little more challenging and panicky.
Fighting without Cloud, first couple of times I played through the game I found it tough mostly because I never used Yuffie or Cait Sith and didn’t use Barret too often, but this time I found it a lot easier, mostly because I remembered to rearrange and exchange some materia among characters to help in the fight and equip them with their best equipment and armour I had available at that point. Yuffie has been quite a prominent character in my playthrough this time around so she was fine to use and Cait Sith he was ok but I’m just not a fan of him.
There’s also nothing better than giving Scarlet a good hard slap across the face but I wonder does Tifa have some superhero resistance from falls seriously, of all the characters in FFVII who fall off something she definitely falls the most and survives pretty much every time.
The Highwind, is an airship I really like, the music is so cheerful too, but it’s not my favourite airship. I really like the Invincible (FFIX) and Lunar Whale (FFIV). Side quest wise I started to get Yuffie fully caught up on Enemy Skills and she is now caught up on every Enemy Skill possible to get at this point in the game apart from Laser which will have to wait until the Northern Crater later. I also made a quick detour to Goblin Island, learned Goblin Punch for all three characters and had my Luck+ materia gain a level .
Oh and on another note I fully sympathise with Yuffie (and Cloud) because I too am a horrendous sufferer of motion sickness and its fucking horrible, the nausea, the headachy feeling, the drowsiness and then the projectile vomiting out your car window or into a carrier bag yeah you feel fucking fantastic and it doesn’t calm down it’s not like once you’ve been sick you feel better, you just feel so much worse, so yeah full on sympathy here for them.
I headed to Cosmo Canyon and picked up My Full Cure materia, but I won’t equip it just yet, it’s not really necessary. During my Wutai playthrough I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t get the Turtle’s paradise prize and then it came to me, I hadn’t gone for the one at the Gold Saucer so I went back to go and get it, found it odd that Dio was at the entrance and there was no happy music and then found out for the first time that you can’t actually get in until Cloud is back in your party RAAAAAGGGGGGEEEEEE. So instead I took a detour to the Chocobo Sage, grabbed my last enemy skill, though I probably won’t use it, then headed to the stables to buy some greens and pick up another Lure materia. I really enjoy the side quest of breeding and racing but it’s something I’ll do later on when I have Cloud back in the group and more time, usually at this point in the game I prefer to do certain things and then get through Corel and Fort Condor quickly. I’m not a fan of using the glitch to get Quadra magic, there’s something more satisfying about breeding and raising your chocbos and doing it properly.
Mideel itself is one of my favourite little places in FFVII, I went straight ahead and bought lots of new weapons and some armour for everyone, then got my Contain materia and Curse Ring. On this occasion I gave my Contain materia to Yuffie replacing her Earth materia for it.
I wasn’t surprised by Tifa’s decision to leave the group so soon, you can tell she really cares for Cloud and is so upset by the state he’s found in. It’s touching that despite the fact she has her doubts about him being the person she really knew, she still wants to stay with him, still wants to make sure it’s him and still cares about him, for the others I think they understand completely because Tifa was the one most affected by Cloud’s breakdown and has known him the longest.
Honestly, I thought Cid WAS the best man for the job after Tifa departed, Barret is too outspoken and hot headed I didn’t even like him as the leader of AVALANCHE but Cid while a bit hot headed at times definitely shows more restraint and is calmer on the surface of things if not enjoying the odd swear word at times. Red XIII, just strikes me more of a character who prefers to play the supportive role within the group and he has his own leadership qualities in Cosmo Canyon to worry about. Yuffie is too immature and I really couldn’t see the group taking her serious as a party leader or entrusting her to such a task though I do think she matures a bit more over time in the game. Vincent seems too removed from everything and strikes me more as an observer rather than ‘man of action’ and willing to be the leader. Cait Sith just hasn’t gained enough trust still with the group to become leader although I do love that his comeback to Barret when he reiterates about him being a spy is pretty much like “Yeah, no shit, sing a new song”.
My new party consists of Cid, Yuffie and Red XIII, Cid was given Cloud’s materia combos and Red XIII was given Tifa for the time being. Character stats are below but there’s not too much change, however as I now have a constructed party I’ll happily post them.
Apart from Hundred and Heli Gunner, Junon is the first time in the game that you have to fight without Cloud in your party. It can feel pretty tough if you haven't been levelling Barret, Cait Sith and Yuffie (if you got her in the first place). How did you manage? More generally, if VII was one of the Final Fantasies that lets you switch the party leader out of the battle party, would you still use Cloud a lot?
I managed just fine because I've been using Yuffie, so not only was she properly leveled, but she's something familiar, which always makes things easier.
Actually the large use of Cloud is one of the things that bugs me with this game. It's great the first couple of playthroughs, but then you sort of wish you could have more options. I loved using Cid with Vincend and Yuffie and I was actually a bit disappointed when Cloud came back
(...)How do you think the Highwind compares to other airships from across the series, and what did you get up to with it at this stage? For example: there are some new items to pick up at various places around the world, and many shops have new items, while this is also your first opportunity to raise Chocobos. You can also get the fourth Enemy Skill materia now and, by utilising a glitch, you can get the Quadra Magic materia without having to breed a blue Chocobo.
I haven't done any of the extra things yet. I did all teh things in my last playthrough, so I'm thinking of being less perfect this time and just do what I have to do to get through the game. I do want 2xCut though, but I can't remember where it is X)
Highwind is cool enough. I can't really say there's an airship of FF I've really had feeling sfor (lol). Maybe Setzer's ship in 6 because it just seems... bigger. I wish the Highwind had a lot more to it. The Highwind music makes up for it though.
Mideel has a lot of new items to buy, but they come with hefty price tags. There are a couple of things you can get for free - the Contain materia and the Curse Ring accessory - but only if you know how. What did you get?
I got a lot of weapons, since I had a lot of gil to spend. I think I got like 4 or 5 of them, and they're all good. I keep poking at that key in the floor in Mideel but I can't remember where to get it out, and I can't remember where to get that nut that stupid little chocobo wants.
Were you surprised by Tifa's decision to leave the party, particularly so soon after Cloud left? And do you think Cid was the correct choice to be the stand-in party leader, or would you have given the role to someone else? How do you think all the different characters would have performed?
This is the part of the game where Tifa changes appearances from pin up girl to the girl nextdoor, and it's a refreshing change. I really like that we get some Tifa time in Junon. She comes off as more independent where she gets to do her own thang escaping Junon. About leaving to take care of Cloud though - it's good for the story, and I guess you couldn't possibly leave Cloud alone in that state. And it would be strange if it was anyone else doing it I guess. Cid is a good choice for a stand in because at this point you probably haven't used him much since he comes in so late.
to get the key out you need to go to the weapon shop and that door and inspect it then go back to where the key is, you should be able to pull it out. The when you go back to the door you should choose the option to be honest with the weapon guy. As for the baby chocobo, buy Mimett greens at the chocobo ranch although they're translated horribly, at Mideel Tifa/Cid will end up calling them samolean greens or something and scratch him behind the ears
^ I don't think you need to inspect the door before you can find the key. At least, I managed to get the key without inspecting it on this playthrough. Perhaps there is some other flag that needs to be triggered.
Anyway, I've fallen behind the schedule a bit due to real life commitments - I haven't had a day to myself since the 28th of May, or perhaps even longer than that, I can't remember. I don't think there's much point in posting three chapters or more all at the same time to get back on to schedule, so let's discuss an alternative. It seems like nobody has yet finished (or written up) chapter 18, so my suggestion is that we all try to complete that chapter this week, either one Skype or alone, and I'll put number 19 up on Friday
I think that's a good idea, I've fallen behind too but I'm on my next chappie pretty much right now, I reckon give or take a couple of days I'll be ready to rock and roll with chappie 19
I dunno for me it's always only worked if I inspect the door after seeing the key trapped in the boards but I could be wrong, maybe even if you just visit the weapon shop it acts as a flag?
Next chapter is going up tomorrow We can arrange a time to Skype. I can't really do tomorrow night, though, Saturday would have to be very late, and Sunday would have to be pretty early. Once again, real life gets in the way.
I'm free tomorrow evening, Saturday evening and all day Sunday, my playthrough got side-tracked last night but I'll start again tonight I reckon I could have my two chapters done tonight if I don't fart about like I always do. Oh and I am free to skype in like an hours time
Finally a very late update, I found it very hard during the week to motivate myself to finish it even though the lifestream sequence is my favourite bit but I finally did it and soon I’ll get chapter 18 done
Chapter 17
I did absolutely fine on the compuslary train battles, I had my group well prepared and got a few limits in at the right time so there was no bother at all there . I also picked up Ultima and Catastrophe afterwards and that’s pretty much all I can say about the Corel battle except that I didn’t take Barret with me so I didn’t see the slightly extended dialogue you get if he’s there after the train stops.
Now I recall on my last chapter that I said I wouldn’t be using the getting the Quadra magic glitch…well curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see if I could do it, so I did it I will however been doing chocobo breeding and racing for the other material.
Fort Condor, I had no idea about that little cheat and was pretty much finishing it off when Lex informed me what you could do to end the battle quicker. I don’t mind so much as I like this mini-game. I don’t go out of my way to play it but when I do I usually set my soldiers around the top of the mountain and rearrange them so they’re ready to take on the enemies in every direction. I normally purchase the max amount possible and then go to town on them.
One thing I usually rant in my head about is after you’ve gone to all that trouble to protect the Condor and her egg and get the Huge Materia, Phoenix decides to take a wee stroll out of it’s materia and FRY MOMMA BIRD TO A CRISP! WTF is that all about seriously? Then you have baby bird that just after being born is humongous and flies away…right after being born…..It’s a wee bit screwy lewie to be honest.
I didn’t bother with stealing another Curse Ring I already have one and don’t particularly need another. The battle with Ultima Weapon went pretty easily; a quadra+freeze combo and a round of summons did the trick though I look forward to taking more pot shots at it later, I normally make it my goal to beat it before reaching Midgar for the second time.
The Lifestream sequence is my absolute favourite part of the game and always will be. It was always a bit of surprise to find out that Cloud and Tifa weren’t as close as originally thought because before this the way Tifa acted around Cloud and from the flashback originally you honestly would have thought they were close as children so it was interesting how Cloud really felt about it and how Tifa didn’t actually remember. Something that also kind of stopped me in my tracks and still kinda does is the Cloud holding his head and clearly in distress above the lifestream scene, again I just think it shows how broken he is.
I was always interested in the way they decided to have Tifa be able to move into Cloud’s consciousness, though I always did feel even before the ‘Maiden’ Novella that Aerith probably did have a hand in protecting Tifa’s mind from being shattered entirely and that she helped Tifa’s consciousness find Cloud’s. Just my own thought, again it brings me back to the thought also that had Aerith not died and the same thing happened to Tifa and Cloud would Tifa have so easily been able to reach out and find Cloud’s consciousness or would she find it because of the strength of her will to protect him and her feelings for him.
That scene where Cloud remove’s his helmet and the world map theme plays is in my eyes, a pretty iconic moment because it really does finally reveal the truth. I was also surprised that after all those stories about Sephiroth’s strength and the person he was, how Cloud was able to throw him off the reactor like that even when severely injured, it’s a bit like GO CLOUD YOU KICK ASS! But yeah the truth being revealed is definitely my favourite and I know a lot of people probably dislike it because there’s so much dialogue to get through but that’s one of the reasons I love it so much.
How many times did it take me before I really got it? Honestly, probably several years, my first couple of times I played the game I think was too young to understand the story properly. It wasn’t until I was around 15/16, had proper access to the internet and was able to start reading up stuff on forums, websites and the more in depth discussions about it that I realised I didn’t fully get the story. So I played it again very carefully, thought about the things I’d learned from looking up stuff on websites and forums and then finally got the story and the characters properly. I definitely think it’s one of the more mature and more complex FFs out there.
Finally my stats and rehashed party, for now I’m sticking with a party of Cloud, Tifa and Yuffie. Did a quick rejig of equipment and materia and now finally I’m ready to move on so here’s my next set of character stats
Bloody hell. I was going to update on Friday and I clean forgot, being busy with other things. It is going to be hard for me to get back into the rhythm of posting regular updates. I will get something up tomorrow (Sunday), I promise. Shout at me if I don't.
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