So I went and added a poll for what to do next There's only two there, but if anyone wants to recommend another from the list of books (or any other books mentioned), it can be added too.
Edit; in my head, this next one would be done alongside finishing off the FFVII ones as well.
Just curious, how much did said ultimanias cost again? If TLS's saved up enough cash for 'em, 'it''ll go and fund 'em (or at least reimburse any cost made).
FFXII. I got to the end of FFVIII years ago but never got to finish it and now don't really remember what happened. But I have the game, and if that seems like the more popular choice then I'll play through it. Otherwise I'll finish what I'm playing at the moment
@Cthulhu: there's about $18-20 each. I can't remember how much the estimates for the costs were, but FFVIII is that price times 1, and FFXII the price times 5.
As a sample of what they're like, this is some stuff from the FFVIII books, the area guide for Balamb:
HISTORY
An island nation with abundant natural environments and surrounded by a beautiful ocean. During a time of war it became independent from the Holy Dollet Empire, and has since remained calm, without any unnecessary interventions into other nations' affairs. Even after the Balamb Garden was set up 12 years ago, there was no change to the national peace, and has managed to maintain a moderate financial wealth as well. One of the nation's characteristics is the design of many of its buildings, which is mainly based on curved lines with streamline patterning. In the interests of conserving the natural scenery, the houses in the town are kept to a uniform height.
GEOGRAPHY AND FOREIGN RELATIONS
Its warm and gentle climate makes it a pleasant environment to live all year round. From the edge of the island one can see the western continent dimly in the distance. The western continent, where the Galbadian territory expands out, and Balamb are connected by an undersea tunnel, and by using the transcontinental railroad running through it travel between the two countries is simple. The harbour in the town not only serves as port for general ships, but also functions as a departure and arrival area for SeeD vessels. The Fire Cave located on the east side of the island is known as a dangerous area seething with molten lava, but as there is a G.F. force field inside the cave, it is used by Garden students hoping to improve their combat abilities as a location for field training.
LIFESTYLE AND INDUSTRY
With its refreshing atmosphere, the city in Balamb is a popular tourist destination, and the souvenirs sold at the shop in front of the train station is one of the providers of valuable tourism revenue for the city. The Balamb Fish caught in the coastal waters is a massive fish with bright turquoise scales, and thanks to its good taste is considered one of the world's three greatest delicacies. However, because there is a similar breed of fish which can be poisonous, amateurs need to take care when cooking with it. The sea breeze common to all coastal towns means that the corrosion of metal is sped up, so at the garage of the rental car shop painstaking maintenance is preformed on its vehicles.
MILITARY
They have lived peacefully for a long time, and there does not appear to have been many situations demanding the use of an army. The existence of Balamb Garden and its SeeDs seems to give the citizens a sense of relief.
I don't know Dollet used to be an empire, but I don't remember much about the game Not sure how much of that is new if you actually remember the game, and Balamb probably isn't the most exciting location in the game.
Actually they talk about Dollet once being an empire pretty extensively in the game. And the Tomb of the Nameless King, is the tomb of the royal family who once ruled over the Dollet Empire.
While this is interesting, I'm pretty sure the Balamb stuff was stated in the Tutorial Menu that pretty much says all this stuff to you in the game. I think more interesting locations would yield more esoteric and profound info. Like....Esthar for example.
Thanks again though for this taste of what the Ultimania says though, hito. This helps us make our decision!
As a sample of what they're like, this is some stuff from the FFVIII books, the area guide for Balamb:
HISTORY
An island nation with abundant natural environments and surrounded by a beautiful ocean. During a time of war it became independent from the Holy Dollet Empire, and has since remained calm, without any unnecessary interventions into other nations' affairs. Even after the Balamb Garden was set up 12 years ago, there was no change to the national peace, and has managed to maintain a moderate financial wealth as well. One of the nation's characteristics is the design of many of its buildings, which is mainly based on curved lines with streamline patterning. In the interests of conserving the natural scenery, the houses in the town are kept to a uniform height.
GEOGRAPHY AND FOREIGN RELATIONS
Its warm and gentle climate makes it a pleasant environment to live all year round. From the edge of the island one can see the western continent dimly in the distance. The western continent, where the Galbadian territory expands out, and Balamb are connected by an undersea tunnel, and by using the transcontinental railroad running through it travel between the two countries is simple. The harbour in the town not only serves as port for general ships, but also functions as a departure and arrival area for SeeD vessels. The Fire Cave located on the east side of the island is known as a dangerous area seething with molten lava, but as there is a G.F. force field inside the cave, it is used by Garden students hoping to improve their combat abilities as a location for field training.
LIFESTYLE AND INDUSTRY
With its refreshing atmosphere, the city in Balamb is a popular tourist destination, and the souvenirs sold at the shop in front of the train station is one of the providers of valuable tourism revenue for the city. The Balamb Fish caught in the coastal waters is a massive fish with bright turquoise scales, and thanks to its good taste is considered one of the world's three greatest delicacies. However, because there is a similar breed of fish which can be poisonous, amateurs need to take care when cooking with it. The sea breeze common to all coastal towns means that the corrosion of metal is sped up, so at the garage of the rental car shop painstaking maintenance is preformed on its vehicles.
MILITARY
They have lived peacefully for a long time, and there does not appear to have been many situations demanding the use of an army. The existence of Balamb Garden and its SeeDs seems to give the citizens a sense of relief.
I don't know Dollet used to be an empire, but I don't remember much about the game Not sure how much of that is new if you actually remember the game, and Balamb probably isn't the most exciting location in the game.
As a sample of what they're like, this is some stuff from the FFVIII books, the area guide for Balamb:
HISTORY
An island nation with abundant natural environments and surrounded by a beautiful ocean. During a time of war it became independent from the Holy Dollet Empire, and has since remained calm, without any unnecessary interventions into other nations' affairs. Even after the Balamb Garden was set up 12 years ago, there was no change to the national peace, and has managed to maintain a moderate financial wealth as well. One of the nation's characteristics is the design of many of its buildings, which is mainly based on curved lines with streamline patterning. In the interests of conserving the natural scenery, the houses in the town are kept to a uniform height.
GEOGRAPHY AND FOREIGN RELATIONS
Its warm and gentle climate makes it a pleasant environment to live all year round. From the edge of the island one can see the western continent dimly in the distance. The western continent, where the Galbadian territory expands out, and Balamb are connected by an undersea tunnel, and by using the transcontinental railroad running through it travel between the two countries is simple. The harbour in the town not only serves as port for general ships, but also functions as a departure and arrival area for SeeD vessels. The Fire Cave located on the east side of the island is known as a dangerous area seething with molten lava, but as there is a G.F. force field inside the cave, it is used by Garden students hoping to improve their combat abilities as a location for field training.
LIFESTYLE AND INDUSTRY
With its refreshing atmosphere, the city in Balamb is a popular tourist destination, and the souvenirs sold at the shop in front of the train station is one of the providers of valuable tourism revenue for the city. The Balamb Fish caught in the coastal waters is a massive fish with bright turquoise scales, and thanks to its good taste is considered one of the world's three greatest delicacies. However, because there is a similar breed of fish which can be poisonous, amateurs need to take care when cooking with it. The sea breeze common to all coastal towns means that the corrosion of metal is sped up, so at the garage of the rental car shop painstaking maintenance is preformed on its vehicles.
MILITARY
They have lived peacefully for a long time, and there does not appear to have been many situations demanding the use of an army. The existence of Balamb Garden and its SeeDs seems to give the citizens a sense of relief.
I don't know Dollet used to be an empire, but I don't remember much about the game Not sure how much of that is new if you actually remember the game, and Balamb probably isn't the most exciting location in the game.
Not that my scanner is currently hooked up, but I do have the FFVIII Ultimania if anyone needs anything. I'd actually been thinking about trying to tackle some things in there.
Not that my scanner is currently hooked up, but I do have the FFVIII Ultimania if anyone needs anything. I'd actually been thinking about trying to tackle some things in there.
I am an absolute SUCKER for things like world history. Do you have anything on the history/background of places like Dollet, Galbadia, Centra, etc? The Balamb history was posted earlier in this topic.
Well, I've not sat down and attempted translating any of it as yet (the most I've bothered with was the epilogue story at the back, which wasn't all that interesting it turns out; just a classroom lecture at the Garden about witches and Hyne that didn't tell us much we didn't already know), but I may take a crack at it tomorrow. I've got a couple days off starting then.
Anyhow, there's limited-to-semi-detailed-looking nation history stuff (about the same size as the Balamb section that hito did) for the following:
-Balamb (duh)
-Dollet
-Timber
-Galbadia
-F.H.
-Esthar
-Trabia
-Garden (includes a section about all three Gardens)
There's also a really small blurb for Centra.
Each applicable section also has a little glossary with info about important characters related to each area.
And the end of this section leads into the "terms" section where terms like "witch," "gunblade" and "Lunar Cry" are defined.
There's only two there, but if anyone wants to recommend another from the list of books (or any other books mentioned), it can be added too.
Not sure how much of that is new if you actually remember the game, and Balamb probably isn't the most exciting location in the game.
