And Wrath of the Righteous is still releasing DLC, yeah. Wartales is a tactical game but it's still a turn-based party combat game. Chained Echoes was pretty recent and relatively high-profile, that's turn-based. P5R, as mentioned. Octopath. Etrian Odyssey PC ports.
Like, I agree with the core complaint (non-turn-based combat has been terrible in the FF series in terms of improving my enjoyment of them; the more actiony they make them the worse they play, though the AI system in FFXII mitigated a lot of the issues) but there are absolutely a bunch of non-FF high-profile turn-based games released. DQXI, from FF's biggest domestic competitor series, was properly turn-based, and it was great in that aspect!
I haven't seen anything of FFVII Remake (or the original), but mechanically, the game doesn't start until the team arrives to Narshe, so I could honestly a good translation of the entire intro sequence from 2D to a 3D cinematic just as capable of rocking our socks off, as long as they don't go Full Anime (which the scene doesn't even need anyway).
Maybe at first, but he's not that bad. He's an above average physical fighter. He depends a lot on gear unlike Terra or Edgar who have offensive skills and he's limited to three classes of weapons and no heavy armor. But all those weapon classes are strong, he's fast and dodgy, and later you can turn Steal into Mug so even his utility is offensive. Plus he can dual wield two of the ultimate weapons, one of them unique for him, and both ignore defense even if they use contradictory mechanics; with those, some particular relics and some basic semi-smart grinding, you can easily turn him into a 8-hit damage cap Wombo Combo monster.
Like, I agree with the core complaint (non-turn-based combat has been terrible in the FF series in terms of improving my enjoyment of them; the more actiony they make them the worse they play, though the AI system in FFXII mitigated a lot of the issues) but there are absolutely a bunch of non-FF high-profile turn-based games released. DQXI, from FF's biggest domestic competitor series, was properly turn-based, and it was great in that aspect!
Is that across the board? For a MMO, combat in FFXIV can be very engaging, and what I've seen of Stranger of Paradise it can also be very fun (although that one wasn't made by Square...)
That said, I am by all means willing to be proven wrong - what is the latest high-profile video game release with a turn-based combat system which wasn't a tactical game (ie, Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea and similar) to come out? I might have missed it.
The Trails series by Falcom. Those games even specifically demonstrate that the point about the cave sequence with multiple parties is absolutely something that could be done again, because they do that from time to time.
Pokémon tends to be treated as its own genre, is the reason why; how much that's legitimate is up to personal taste.
Anyway, that was a lot of titles that were mentioned for me to look over. I feel it's necessary to point out that many (maybe even most, but not all) of those are remakes, remasters, expansions, upgrades or otherwise improved variants of titles whom's original publishing date is around seven years ago, which isn't exactly "recent" (that's the amount of times that went through between the original Final Fantasy and FFVI); by that metric, the pixel remasters of the Final Fantasy series are a very recent turn-based game that has been released, after all.
Nevertheless, the point has been made that, overall, turn-based combat isn't dead, so I will concede it, easily. Although I will still argue that it's much more niche now than it was in the '80s and '90s, and it's certainly missing from the Final Fantasy series itself, enough that to expect it to be used in an expensive "Remake" title would be something of a bad bet to make.
Pokémon tends to be treated as its own genre, is the reason why; how much that's legitimate is up to personal taste.
Anyway, that was a lot of titles that were mentioned for me to look over. I feel it's necessary to point out that many (maybe even most, but not all) of those are remakes, remasters, expansions, upgrades or otherwise improved variants of titles whom's original publishing date is around seven years ago, which isn't exactly "recent" (that's the amount of times that went through between the original Final Fantasy and FFVI); by that metric, the pixel remasters of the Final Fantasy series are a very recent turn-based game that has been released, after all.
Nevertheless, the point has been made that, overall, turn-based combat isn't dead, so I will concede it, easily. Although I will still argue that it's much more niche now than it was in the '80s and '90s, and it's certainly missing from the Final Fantasy series itself, enough that to expect it to be used in an expensive "Remake" title would be something of a bad bet to make.
Thats not just turn based. FFXVI is "soon", and XV was both seven years and a spinoff with a mainline coat of paint. The last mainline FF game INTENDED to be mainline from the start is over a decade ago - well over if you count the MMOs as a separate subseries (XIII was 14 years ago, seven years before XV).
EVERYTHING takes forever to develop these days thanks to how much more is involved in making modern HD games.
I mean, I agree with this completely; I just think that this means that something is deeply wrong in many modern games' developing process. But I don't feel qualified to argue about that too much, and I'm sure everybody already has their own opinions on the matter anyway.
Anyway, next update's theoreticlaly ready to fire, only the Google Gods have decided that whatever tricksy bullshit I pulled last time to make the pictures work isn't going to fly anymore. I have attempted a number of shenanigans like "copy the document in incognito viewer mode on a different browser" and nothing works, it looks like Google straight up won't let me port pictures from a gdoc to a forum reply. At this point it seems like "manually upload every image to imgur" might be my only path forward but, haha, lmao *looks at current imgur news*
Pokémon tends to be treated as its own genre, is the reason why; how much that's legitimate is up to personal taste.
Anyway, that was a lot of titles that were mentioned for me to look over. I feel it's necessary to point out that many (maybe even most, but not all) of those are remakes, remasters, expansions, upgrades or otherwise improved variants of titles whom's original publishing date is around seven years ago, which isn't exactly "recent" (that's the amount of times that went through between the original Final Fantasy and FFVI); by that metric, the pixel remasters of the Final Fantasy series are a very recent turn-based game that has been released, after all.
Nevertheless, the point has been made that, overall, turn-based combat isn't dead, so I will concede it, easily. Although I will still argue that it's much more niche now than it was in the '80s and '90s, and it's certainly missing from the Final Fantasy series itself, enough that to expect it to be used in an expensive "Remake" title would be something of a bad bet to make.
And if we're not limiting ourselves strictly to JRPGs given that Owlcat's Pathfinder games were mentioned, Baldur's Gate 3 is due out in August, and Owlcat themselves is working on a Warhammer 40k game. Turn-based RPGs are niche, so I'm not sure what the bar for a 'major' title is in that context but high effort ones are still getting made.
Is that across the board? For a MMO, combat in FFXIV can be very engaging, and what I've seen of Stranger of Paradise it can also be very fun (although that one wasn't made by Square...)
For me, personally? Every mainline FF game would have been massively improved if it were actually turn-based. Yes, even FFXIV, which would also be immensely improved if it were not an MMO and were instead single-player; I'd sacrifice turn-based to get single-player, for FFXIV (and the devs know this and have worked to try and make it as single-player as possible!). FFVII Remake's combat system was a massive albatross arounds its neck that dragged my enjoyment of it down enormously.
Stranger of Paradise kinda doesn't count for me because a) it's a game made by people who know how to make action-RPGs as opposed to being made by Squeenix, who do not know how to make ARPGs and b) it's not actually a Final Fantasy game, it's Nioh with a paintjob and everyone is fully aware of that, so the expectations/desires going in are different.
This is the same mode that's been used for airships previously - using the world map as a flat, tilted background to create an impression of relief - but this time it's been brought 'closer' to the screen and the character sprite, while making an elaborate sprite of the chocobo in motion, and the map has been keyed so that it moves 'around' the character that is facing forward, so as to create the effect of riding the chocobo in a particular direction. The effect creates an illusion of depth and forward movement, as seen in the intro with the mech, but this time with the player in control. This is the same method which would be used extensively in SNES racing games:
You can see why the same technique used in racing games might be desirable to give the chocobo a feeling of speed and control, of 'racing' through the world.
We don't spend long with the chocobo this time, though, as we must ditch it in order to enter South Figaro Cave, which is a very small dungeon on the path to South Figaro.
Edgar tells the man his plans - South Figaro is a stop on their way the Returners headquarters in the North - and orders the soldier to return to the castle and pass the word, before heading into the cave.
Hi there, Ghido.
South Figaro Cave is about three short screens long, not much to write home about, although during our stay Terra does level up:
It looks like Terra's Magic skill works the same way as Rydia's did in IV, gaining new spells naturally as she levels up, rather than buying them in stores. Which makes sense, considering this isn't a setting where you could just find magic on sale. Also, the cave holds not one, but two Ethers in chests; given how rare and expensive that item used to be in the early games of other FFs, I'm guessing the game is trying to incentivize me to actually use Terra's magic rather than hoard my MP out of fear of running out. Which is nice?
Although as things stand, Edgar's Auto-Crossbow deals more damage than an omni-cast Fire, to all enemies, at no resource cost, so right now he's my powerhouse. We'll see if that changes in the future.
Soon enough, we arrive at our destination!
A classic early game town with its greenery, simple buildings and inhabitants and -
Wait.
Hold up.
Is that a fucking ninja?
And he's moving with a purpose, going down the town's streets towards the inn.
Okay, I'm not crazy, there's a ninja and his dog at the counter, and not just that, but the moment I walked in, the game started playing some Enio Morricone-style tune, like we just walked into a saloon from a Western movie and this Clint Eastwood motherfucker was waiting for us. So of course, I approach him.
Oh of course he's a playable character.
The default name for this ninja dude is 'Shadow,' which is just. Honestly. If you are an assassin for hire who goes everywhere literally dressed up as a ninja and being rude to anyone who approaches you, why not go and name yourself 'Shadow' on top of it while you're at it.
Edgar warns us that Shadow is an assassin who would 'kill his own best friend for the right price,' someone best not trifled with, so we back off for now. Attempting to talk to Shadow results in him warning us that 'the dog eats strangers,' which, poor pet training, right there.
Aside from Shadow, most of the ambient dialogue concerns the citizens' fears regarding the Empire and the war, and whether South Figaro is safe from their ambition, as well as mentions of an old martial artist named Duncan who trains a number of students, including a certain Vargas.
There's also a massive house which dominates the city, and which we learn is where 'the richest man in South Figaro' is living, and upon paying him a visit, hm.
Right, okay, so this guy is very obviously sending inside information to the Empire in order to plan an attack on South Figaro. Once again, the rich cannot be trusted. Even children! When talking to this guy's daughter, she says "My dad's super important, so important people come for dinner here all the time! Even General Le- I mean, um… General-ly…"
Which is admittedly a pretty funny beat but shows that 1) this guy is conspiring with some kind of imperial general, 2) the kid knows, 3) the kid knows it's bad and should be kept secret.
Rich people.
And it doesn't stop there! Talking to the guy's wife has her mention that there's a draft that's making her cold. I am familiar enough with these games' logic to get that this means there is a hidden passage somewhere inside the room - and wouldn't you know it!
Dude's got a secret hidden dungeon basement.
He actually has two of them - there's a 'normal,' wooden basement, where he's stored a bunch of money, several old clocks, a gramophone, and various other stuff. The only suspicious thing is that said basement also contains a small, square room, empty of everything but a bucket and a single chair (no table) - exactly the kind of place you might hold someone in while torturing them for information. And below that first basement, is this second, even more sinister basement, with washed-out colors, stone walls, and metal-barred cells.
Unfortunately, we are not given the option to run around and warn everyone that the rich guy is operating some kind of murder basement while working directly with the Empire to invade the city. All we can do, and it'll have to be enough, is loot everything that isn't nailed down in his house, which includes several thousand Gil and two Relics not available in local shops - the Power Wrist, which increases Strength by a whooping 15, and the Hermes Shoes, which grant a character auto-Haste at the beginning of battle. Pretty hefty! I put both on Terra because that poor girl needs something nice.
Anyway, speaking of Relics, we have our first Relic shop!
Not a lot of defining, Job-type stuff here; the Sprint Shoes grant double walking speed, which is convenient enough I immediately grab them and slap them on Locke, the Knight's Code basically provides the Cover ability and makes the user cover critically wounded allies, and the other three are simple status ailment protections - the Silver Spectacles prevent Blindness, the Star Pendant Poison, and the Jeweled Ring Petrification. I give Edgar the Knight's Code and buy a Star Pendant on the off chance of a place with poison-using enemies.
Also, interestingly, chocobos operate as a rental business now:
We can grab a chocobo whenever we want to go some place for a modest fee, but the moment we dismount it will run back to its stable, and we'll have to do any further movement on foot. Which is an… interesting compromise for making chocobos available this early, I guess?
Anyway, after scouting for a few hidden items and blowing the rest of our money on slightly better mithril gear (fantasy inflation really hit this game hard, mithril gear as early as the first town? Wild), with incidentally the interesting surprise that while Locke uses smaller blade as expected of a thief, Terra is actually proficient in great swords, which only raises further questions as to her background.
With all that sorted out, it's time to head out again.
The first location we explore is a small cabin we find lodged in the mountain, some distance from South Figaro, belonging to the aforementioned martial artist. Nobody's home at the moment, although as soon as he enters, Edgar starts acting oddly.
Several objects in the house can be interacted with, each prompting a cryptic comment; the tea that is currently brewing was 'his favorite', the dishes are 'just like the ones he always used,' the flowers are those 'he always liked.' As we go to leave, Edgar ponders aloud: could his twin brother, Sabin, be living here? If so, he can't have left long ago - there's still tea on the stove. Thankfully, a conveniently placed old man is here to answer our questions:
However, the answer he gives us is ominous; the cabin's inhabitant left for the mountains a couple of days ago, 'when he heard Master Duncan had been killed.' Woops.
This is kinda funny because one of the NPCs we meet in South Figaro? Is Duncan's wife. Who apparently doesn't live in the same house as he, and is unaware that he is dead, despite this being apparently knowledge that's spread enough that some random old man has heard it. She is in here for a rude morning soon. Also according to the man, Duncan's son is missing as well. Ominous!
Without further ado, we follow Sabin's trail (and the path we were meant to be taking anyway) to the mountains.
Also it turns out that unlike the back attacks of previous games, side attacks can trigger with us surrounding the enemies? This doesn't actually seem to have much benefit but it's there, I guess.
Mt Kolts' interior environments are just classic cave stuff, but the outside is honestly gorgeous. There's a fairly linear path to take through it, and it has us come up repeatedly in sight of some mysterious shadowy figure who immediately escapes our approach.
Look at that lush green grass and the texturing on these rocky formations.
Before long, we reach the other side of the mountain, and come face to face with our mystery figure - none other than Vargas, Duncan's son and disciple!
Without even giving us an answer, he proceeds to roundhouse kick the entire party at once, so hard he actually unfolds them from one to three characters!
Locke, who clearly was too busy watching out for stuff to steal to be listening to NPC conversations, has no idea who this is. Edgar is mostly interested in hearing the name 'Sabin' and wants to know where his brother is. Vargas is too focused on being the center of his own narrative and proudly proclaiming that he has 'no intention to surrender' to people who don't know who he is and have no reason to try and arrest him, and immediately engages the party in combat by unleashing the bears.
I found Hermes Shoes, which grant Terra auto-Haste at the start of every battle, so she's got that going for her now which is nice.
Vargas is non-targetable while the bears are still up, but still an active presence on the battlefield delivering powerful attacks, so we have to get rid of the bears quickly - luckily, Edgar now has a Bioblaster item which hits all enemies with Poison and Terra's Fire spell is still quite powerful for this stage of the game, and Locke is there also. With these combined assaults the bears are quickly dealt with and we can focus on the threat of Vargas himself.
I feel like this attack animation should have me tried in the Hague.
Vargas is still no pushover, with attacks capable of dealing heavy damage to the whole party, even knocking out Terra and forcing me to use my only Phoenix Down on her.
Vargas has taunt lines throughout the fight, before declaring he will 'send us all to the great beyond,' likely preparing some kind of deadly ultimate attack - only to be interrupted by a voice from off-screen shouting 'That's enough, Vargas!'
Sabin is here.
Okay.
Here's the thing.
One of the the funny things about Final Fantasy's 2D era is that there are inherent limitations to sprite design that incentivize a particular aesthetic. So, because playable characters need a vast number of sprites, presenting multiple poses, actions, outfits, and the like. So this means keeping sprites small, low-definition, and leads to that 'chibi' aesthetic they have. Meanwhile, enemies only need a single static sprite, so they get large, intricate sprites to fully portray the boss's aesthetic.
Vargas and Sabin are two brothers turned against one another, students of the same master, whose friendship has turned to bitter rivalry and now to outright enmity, a horrible crime committed making them now enemies for life, whose grudge can only be expiated in blood. They are two students of the martial arts, masters of fighting techniques so advanced they reach supernatural potency even in a world that has forgotten magic. Now they face one another, to find out which one truly is the best.
Here's what they look like facing one another:
It's just.
It's inherently comedic. I know this isn't anything new and I've even commented on it in the past, but this instance, right here, is the funniest of them all. Sabin is a quarter of Vargas's size and looks like a LEGO character in front of an elaborate anime figurine you'd buy at an anime convention for several hundred dollars.
Anyway, Vargas killed Duncan. He did so because he believes Duncan chose Sabin as his successor, rather than his own son; Sabin claims that this is not true, and Vargas accuses him of lying, the truth being 'written in that ugly sneer across his face,' which sounds like Vargas his just projecting? Sabin claims Duncan wanted Vargas to be his successor because he had the most potential, and Vargas refuses to believe him.
Classic martial arts story tragedy. Consumed by his own confidence issues and so jealous of his rival he couldn't see his own talent, Vargas got so far up his own head he couldn't see reality, and killed his own father. Either that, or it's Sabin who failed to see that the old man favored him over his own flesh and blood and the anger this caused in Vargas - it's not clear. Either way, Vargas is tired of talking, and pulls one of his ultimate moves, Blizzard Fist, which knocks the entire party out of the fight but for Sabin.
He immediately follows this with Doom Fist, which inflicts the Doom status effect on Sabin - there's a ticking counter over his head, and when it reaches 0, it's over. As the battle resumes, we are now in control of Sabin, the sole remaining fighter.
We've seen Monks before. In I, they're good because they have extreme offensive power, though no particular unique commands. In III, they were underwhelming - Kick was okay as a multi-target damage skill, I guess, Focus was trading time for offense without any real benefit. In IV, Yang had the same issues. In V, the Monk was fantastic early game for granting the Barehanded skill to casters, and was very good overall for granting Counter and when mastered the best Strength and Stamina in the game, so they're a great foundation but just that, rather than a class you play late-game, and their signature commands are still the same, Kick and Focus.
But Sabin is different. Sabin has the Blitz menu.
Blitz Commands are Raging Fist, a flurry of punches; Aura Cannon, which is literally the Kamehameha; and Meteor Strike, which is the ultimate powerbomb. Each one has an associated input - you have to Street Fighter it, basically; Left arrow right arrow left arrow confirm button for Raging Fist, the Aura Cannon command is literally the Hadoken (quarter circle then confirm)... Sabin's mechanics are a walking reference to fighting games.
Thankfully, it seems very hard to fuck up; the input window is not time sensitive and entering the wrong command just resets the string. The only way you could fail the input is by clicking Enter too early. And the reward for this are hideously damaging moves:
Raging Fist deals more damage than Terra's Fire, and Aura Cannon and Meteor Strike even more than that. It looks like our party has gained a new powerhouse.
Exeunt Vargas. The dramatic posing on this is really cool, by the way; you can almost see Vargas turn away from his opponent and to the camera with a somber look while Vargas omae wa mou shindeiru's in the background.
…
You know, it makes a lot more sense that Locke was a bit slow on the uptake in realizing the blasts of fiery destruction Terra was throwing around were magic, considering this is a setting where doing enough squats and katas lets you cast a Kamehameha. This world might not have magic, but it sure has some pretty magical physical feats!
With the fight over, the rest of the group who'd been knocked around by Vargas's Blizzard Fist get up gather around Sabin; Edgar calls out his name and Sabin only belatedly realizes his brother was there, Locke is like 'wait you're his brother?' and Terra has one of the funniest comments of all time:
Incredible.
Sabin laughs off the comment and decides to 'take it as a compliment', which, in a way, it is? I mean, I know several people who are into bears-
Ahem.
Edgar explains that the group is trying to reach the Returners' HQ, and Sabin comments that 'the wheels are finally turning' - he's been watching from a distance, hoping 'the world would come to its senses,' afraid that Figaro would end up a puppet state of the Empire. But Edgar replies that a means of striking back has presented itself, and he is tired of playing lapdog to the Empire.
And with this, we have our fourth party member!
A quick look at everyone's character portraits, while we're at it. They have a very particular drawing style.
With all this sorted out, it's time to move on to the Returner Headquarters, just a short hike beyond Mt Kolts.
I'm digging the steampunk aesthetic the setting has, from the Figaro guards with 19th century style hats to these guys with goggles on their hats, as well as the plentiful use of sepia tones and brass implements in the environment. Steampunk hadn't been killed by overexposure then. What a time to be alive.
The encounter with Banon goes… less smoothly than could be hoped. He's been kept informed by carrier pigeons of her rescue and previous mind controlled status, but also of the fact that she 'wiped out fifty Imperial soldiers in mere minutes,' which immediately causes Terra to freak out - oh, that's right. She didn't know about that, did she? It was only mentioned by Biggs and Wedge while she had the crown on. Edgar admonishes Banon - "For god's sake, the girl doesn't remember anything!" to which he replies "Hiding from the truth won't change it!"
This exchange strongly suggests that Edgar did know about Terra's body count, and chose not to mention it to not upset her? Which is… Perhaps understandable, but could easily be construed as manipulative. Because if Terra killed fifty soldiers before being mind-controlled,* then she - or 'she' depending on your views on the exact boundaries of memory and identity - is the one who did it, not the mindless puppet who is free of blame for her actions in Narshe under any reasonable moral standard (not, necessarily, emotional standard, obviously, it's still her figurative hands that did the killing). Who 'is' Terra, really?
*The timeline at this stage is ambiguous, because "Terra killed a bunch of soldiers while they were trying to capture her, before having the crown put on her" would be a natural read, but we also clearly see Kefka putting the crown on her then using her against a bunch of Imperial soldiers, so it could be that she was used to kill soldiers against her will, post-crown. If one of you 'clarifies things' because you think it should be obvious at this stage, I will literally tear your head off your neck and eat it, just so we're clear.
On the other hand, Banon ripping the bandaid off in the most brutal manner is pretty insensitive to a traumatized amnesiac!
Banon then decides to offer her moral guidance by… reciting the myth of Pandora's Box?
Like, word for word - Once people were pure and innocent, but there was a box they were told never to open, and when someone did it unleashed all the evils of the world today, with only hope remaining in the box. He concludes with "your power is a gift, not a curse. No matter what happens, you must remember that." Which, okay, but how is Pandora's Box relevant to that? I guess Terra is the 'ray of hope,' but in this metaphor, isn't magic the box that unleashes all the evils - the thing that destroyed mankind last time they thought to use it, and now threatens to destroy it again?
I guess that's it. By uncovering the lost magic of the ancient, mankind opened Pandora's Box again, unleashing the evils of the Empire, and now Terra, a magic user, is herself the last ray of hope left from that box, the box of uncovered magic. Magic is simultaneously all the evils now unleashed upon the world, and the one hope that can still save it. Yeah. That makes sense, I think. Glad we had that talk.
Banon then says he's grown tired, and asks to rest a while, and everyone splits up. We once again take control of Terra alone, as she wakes up in a small bedroom of the Hideout and starts walking around and talking to people.
Cool backstory bro, but what are you doing in Terra's bedroom?
Locke tells Terra he joined the Returners so no one else would suffer as he did, and Terra says that she doesn't have anyone important in her life, no family, no friends. Locke retorts "that's not true!" but, perhaps because he first met her literally three days ago, can't actually say that he's her friend, so he finishes lamely with "even if it was true, I'm sure there are people who feel you're important to them." Yeah. "People." Wonder who he's talking about, huh.
The others are scattered throughout the hideout, and can be talked to for similar conversations. Sabin says he doesn't know much about what's going on, but that he trusts his brother completely, as he's always cared about Sabin's need before his own, even as children, and he thinks Terra should trust him too.
I'd like to take advantage of this side-by-side comparison to note the sprite designers' bravery in giving Sabin a bigger chest than Terra. My man's built like Rob Lefield Captain America.
Meanwhile, Edgar says perhaps the most important things in this whole sequence - "It's not easy asking so much of you, and if we force our ideas onto you, we're no different from the Empire. So… we want you to decide for yourself."
Resistance to the Empire is meaningless if one simply adopts the means and ideology of the Empire, treating people as useful resources to exploit regardless of their will, and so Edgar is trying to make it clear that he will not go against Terra's wishes. But at the same time, he is still placing the enormous burden of expectations, of there being one correct choice and hoping she makes it, upon her shoulders. He can't not, after all; she was already forced into this conflict simply by being born with magic.
Or at least… This 'we're no better than the Empire if' stuff only really matters if you're an ideological resistance movement, isn't it? And I can't help but notice that's how they keep describing themselves, as a non-national resistance movement, an organization, a group.
On the one hand sure, it's just Star Wars. It's a resistance because Star Wars had an Empire and a Rebellion. I get that.
But within its own context it's weird because the Returners are operating in large parts on non-Imperial territory. They're a 'rebellion' operating in foreign lands. Why aren't they, instead, part of an actual war between national actors? Is it because all the countries in the world are too afraid of the Empire to face them militarily? Certainly, but also I think they're a movement of ideas primarily, which struggle to get state actors preoccupied with survival to see things their way; talking to the generic Returners members, they mentioned that their movement is small, though recently growing, and that the Empire has been conducting a campaign of systematic oppression everywhere they can find them.
As King of Figaro, one could fairly argue that Edgar's first duty is to Figaro as an independent state. If that were the case, then, he absolutely should use the devil's sword to fight the devil, because maybe it makes him 'just as bad as the Empire' but it preserves Figaro as an independent nation-state, which is a greater concern than ethics and ideology in the face of potential destruction or annexation. That he's choosing not to do that, and to offer Terra a choice rather than try to force her into serving the rebellion, is putting morality over the cold calculus of state security. A laudable choice, but one that could easily see him cast down by others more concerned with protecting Figaro than protecting it 'the right way.'
Having talked to anyone, it's time to meet Banon outside and give him our answer.
So, obviously, we can't really refuse in any permanent sense, or the story can't progress. At the same time, given Terra's issues, it feels weird for her to just immediately agree after a short pep talk from a few people she barely knows. In these situations, it's always interesting to see how the game handles a 'false' choice like this, where the story has to progress linearly but it's still giving you an opportunity for character expression.
There are three ways this scene can unfold. One is that Terra says 'Yes' immediately and without reservation, in which case even Banon himself seems surprised, asking "Really? You will?"
Terra looks away, saying only "But… I'm scared," and Banon reassures her that such fears are natural and presents her with a charm to keep her safe - it's the Gauntlet Relic, which allows for two-handing weapons. Then he declares he has a plan, and summons everyone to a briefing.
If Terra replies "No," then Banon simply says "I see…" and Terra returns to the hideout. One of the Returners now has new dialogue, saying they understand Terra's concerns, but that too many lives are being lost to the Empire while they wait and do nothing, and begs her to lend them her strength, before also giving her a relic to keep her safe - in this case the Genji Glove, which allows for dual-wielding weapons. Going back to Banon and agreeing then results in the same sequence playing out, only without him giving us the Gauntlet (cheapstake), and we move on to the meeting.
I love fantasy war briefings.
"The question is, where did they get that power?"
Banon explains he had Locke dig for information regarding Magitek, and it turns out the Empire has been running a brain drain program, gathering scholars from around the world to study espers. This, combined with the assault on Narshe being motivated by its recent discovery of an esper, naturally leads to the conclusion that there is a connection between Espers and Magitek. But the only connection they know of is legends of the War of the Magi - as Locke says, "My grandma used to tell me bedtime stories about magical machines, hard to believe those stories were true." It seems the War of the Magi actually featured Magitek, and so its resurgence risks bringing about a second war, and a second apocalypse. Many historians have different hypotheses as to the nature of the War of the Magi, but one such hypothesis is that energy was drained from espers to power machines, and that ordinary humans were themselves infused with such energy.
…
Okay, hold up, pause.
What the fuck is an esper.
No, not like - I know espers are going to be in some way this game's version of summons. But I know this from outside context. I have screenshotted every single line of dialogue in the game, and at no point is there even a cursory explanation of what an esper is according to the characters.
Here is every single line in the game referring to espers so far:
"Hard to believe an esper's been found frozen there a thousand years after the War of the Magi…"
"According to our source, some miners unearthed the frozen esper in a new shaft they were digging…"
"We're not handing over the esper!"
"So… is this the frozen esper?"
"This thing's giving me the creeps… Something's not right…"
"The frozen creature begins emitting an eerie light…"
"That esper reacted to your magical powers. There's got to be a relationship…"
"So, this is the girl… The one to whom the esper responded."
"...Esper?" (in this line, it seems like Terra doesn't actually know what an esper is.)
And now, this conversation. I don't know if the frozen espers they uncover is, like, the only one in the modern day? I don't know if espers - as the characters would know them - are animals, spirits, sentient, if there are some active and autonomous, if they're all dead or sealed somehow, if they're captured, how human society regards them… There is vanishingly little to go on here and it bugs me because this is stuff the characters all act like they already know. I mean, it's all a mystery to Terra, of course, the way everything is, but it's not a mystery to the others, they clearly know what are the basic cultural assumptions when someone says the word 'esper,' and they won't explain them to me even as they become a major part of their war plans.
Aaaargh.
Anyway.
Now that they have a better idea of what Magitek is, Edgar suggests that to fight the Empire's Magitek, they need Magitek of their own, and is immediately shot down by Banon, as "that would bring about another War of the Magi" - he wants to find a way to defeat the Empire without resorting to escalation of the same form of destructive warfare. Makes sense; getting into a nuclear standoff when the other party has a Kefka does not seem like a very stable proposition.
Instead, Banon suggests that they might be able to talk to an esper; Terra obviously has a connection to them, and if they can cause that reaction again, they might be able to wake up the mysterious being.
Banon, my dude, the last time they tried this, two people got sent to the Shadow Realm and Terra got her armor exploded and herself knocked out. Edgar is justifiably dubious, but while Banon admits he can't say for sure it'll work, he believes it's their best shot - of course, all predicated on Terra agreeing to help, which she does, taking a moment to reflect then turning and addressing her reply to Locke, rather than to Banon directly, which is an interesting touch.
Then, just as everyone is getting hyped up, a Returner sentry staggers in, calls out Banon's name, and collapses on the ground.
The Empire has taken South Figaro by storm, and is heading to the Hideout at this very moment.
See? I knew that rich dude was a traitor. I just didn't know he'd be acting so far.
This moves the timetable, and forces some adjustments; Locke is sent to infiltrate South Figaro and sabotage the Empire's advance to buy everyone time. Locke tells Terra to wait for him, as he won't be long, and to "watch out for a certain lecherous young king who shall remain nameless," to which Sabin mocks his brother for still having the same 'old habits', which has Edgar's sprite go into his 'shocked' state. So one thing he definitely has over Edge is that he's self-conscious enough to actually register the hits when people make fun of him.
Edgar then suggests he, Terra, Banon, and Sabin all escape through the Lethe River outside the cave, and make their way to Narshe to contact the esper and perhaps get some answers. It's a risky gamble - 'Lethe', in Greek Mythology, is one of the rivers of the Underworld, whose waters cause you to forget your memories, so it's definitely not a safe and happy place - but it's the best lead they have right now.
And thus, we are heading out.
Next time…
*heavy sigh*
The boat mini-game.
(Fortuitously, while I was planning to go back and finish the boat mini-game for this update, we've just hit 50 pictures, so this is a perfect stopping point and I don't have to go back in there after two wipes in a row.)
Anyway, next update's theoreticlaly ready to fire, only the Google Gods have decided that whatever tricksy bullshit I pulled last time to make the pictures work isn't going to fly anymore. I have attempted a number of shenanigans like "copy the document in incognito viewer mode on a different browser" and nothing works, it looks like Google straight up won't let me port pictures from a gdoc to a forum reply. At this point it seems like "manually upload every image to imgur" might be my only path forward but, haha, lmao *looks at current imgur news*
So, this update didn't have anything that specifically showed how FFVI is built entirely around being a 2D game, and in fact it did have one of the things that are a problem for such a game, with the difference between characters sprites and static pictures for opponents, which does make things a bit sillier visually.
Consistency across character models is a big benefit that a 3D remake would have in this particular situation, I can concede that point. However, it's not impossible to have 2D sprite works that actually is visually consistent (Street Fighter did it before FFVI was ever a thing), it's just that it takes up more memory than FFVI had to spare. I would thus declare this a wash - a 3D remake might improve this one particular aspect of FFVI, but a 2D remake which had a larger memory storage to work with also would, and wouldn't have to face the other issues I'm bringing up.
Also, I'll make a note about Edgar's toolset - having a single character with a lot of variable weapons with very different looks and effects is not a point against adapting FFVI to a high-quality 3D render, in that I'm sure it could be done and done well, might even be quite cool looking, but I do think the design work would take up a lot longer than implementing the ability in a 2D game did.
And now, this conversation. I don't know if the frozen espers they uncover is, like, the only one in the modern day? I don't know if espers - as the characters would know them - are animals, spirits, sentient, if there are some active and autonomous, if they're all dead or sealed somehow, if they're captured, how human society regards them… There is vanishingly little to go on here and it bugs me because this is stuff the characters all act like they already know. I mean, it's all a mystery to Terra, of course, the way everything is, but it's not a mystery to the others, they clearly know what are the basic cultural assumptions when someone says the word 'esper,' and they won't explain them to me even as they become a major part of their war plans.
Ah yes, The Veil the Espers. Something vitally important, that we'll keep saying is important and that we clearly know something about but will only obliquely refer to our knowledge of, as it's so clear and obvious that it simply merits no explanation whatsoever.
I joke, I haven't played FF6 but I'm presuming they will in fact explain Espers, and the characters make more sense here at least.
Also the use of 'esper' to mean, presumably 'summon'(?) is certainly... one of the most choices you could make. Seeing as 'esper' just means 'human with psychic powers' (ESP-er. One of the worst terms to come out of the mid-century sci-fi obsession with psychic powers as a real thing real humans would develop, TBH). I'm assuming this is a Woolseyism 'cos a quick wiki check indicates that they aren't called 'espers' in Japanese, or indeed anything close to it.
This is kinda funny because one of the NPCs we meet in South Figaro? Is Duncan's wife. Who apparently doesn't live in the same house as he, and is unaware that he is dead, despite this being apparently knowledge that's spread enough that some random old man has heard it. She is in here for a rude morning soon. Also according to the man, Duncan's son is missing as well. Ominous!
"That lout, dead? Ha! He better not be before he cleans the dishes tonight, or I'll make sure he dies alright! Bwahahaha!"
*the party backpedals slowly from the woman*
Also it turns out that unlike the back attacks of previous games, side attacks can trigger with us surrounding the enemies? This doesn't actually seem to have much benefit but it's there, I guess.
You'd be surprised. People fucked up this shit ALL THE TIME. Sakaguchi did a livestream playing FF6 a few years ago, and he fucked this up, with the counter reaching zero and getting a game over.
The espers get explained relatively soon, but yeah, the characters keep talking about them without explaining it to Terra, even the little they do know. I don't think it's strictly a bad thing though, it reinforces the idea that Terra doesn't know anything and people don't always remember that.
Also the use of 'esper' to mean, presumably 'summon'(?) is certainly... one of the most choices you could make. Seeing as 'esper' just means 'human with psychic powers' (ESP-er. One of the worst terms to come out of the mid-century sci-fi obsession with psychic powers as a real thing real humans would develop, TBH). I'm assuming this is a Woolseyism 'cos a quick wiki check indicates that they aren't called 'espers' in Japanese, or indeed anything close to it.
Blitz Commands are Raging Fist, a flurry of punches; Aura Cannon, which is literally the Kamehameha; and Meteor Strike, which is the ultimate powerbomb. Each one has an associated input - you have to Street Fighter it, basically; Left arrow right arrow left arrow confirm button for Raging Fist, the Aura Cannon command is literally the Hadoken (quarter circle then confirm)... Sabin's mechanics are a walking reference to fighting games.
Thankfully, it seems very hard to fuck up; the input window is not time sensitive and entering the wrong command just resets the string. The only way you could fail the input is by clicking Enter too early. And the reward for this are hideously damaging moves:
The inputs are very forgiving, but in one of my minor gripes with the Pixel remaster, the inputs also need to be much slower than on SNES. Like, calling it a fighting game reference is very apt. Literally my hadouken muscle memory would get the move to trigger reliably back in the day, but trying to just brush through the inputs on a gamepad for the Pixel Remaster ended up not capturing the whole command. I miss the feel of it. >.<
*The timeline at this stage is ambiguous, because "Terra killed a bunch of soldiers while they were trying to capture her, before having the crown put on her" would be a natural read, but we also clearly see Kefka putting the crown on her then using her against a bunch of Imperial soldiers, so it could be that she was used to kill soldiers against her will, post-crown. If one of you 'clarifies things' because you think it should be obvious at this stage, I will uncork your head like a wine stopper and eat it whole.
And now, this conversation. I don't know if the frozen espers they uncover is, like, the only one in the modern day? I don't know if espers - as the characters would know them - are animals, spirits, sentient, if there are some active and autonomous, if they're all dead or sealed somehow, if they're captured, how human society regards them… There is vanishingly little to go on here and it bugs me because this is stuff the characters all act like they already know. I mean, it's all a mystery to Terra, of course, the way everything is, but it's not a mystery to the others, they clearly know what are the basic cultural assumptions when someone says the word 'esper,' and they won't explain them to me even as they become a major part of their war plans.
There will explanations on this further on in the plot as I'm sure you've guessed, but it's not always in a lot of detail. With the way this thread has been going I'm sure you'll have your pick of deep-dives eventually.
(Fortuitously, while I was planning to go back and finish the boat mini-game for this update, we've just hit 50 pictures, so this is a perfect stopping point and I don't have to go back in there after two wipes in a row.)
Yeah, this section was tougher than I remembered it when I did my Pixel Remaster playthrough as well. This version of the game has seemingly tweaked the AI scripts so that monsters use their abilities more often than they did in the SNES version, which results in sections like this that are noticeably harder without much change in enemy stats or what have you.
Ah yes, The Veil the Espers. Something vitally important, that we'll keep saying is important and that we clearly know something about but will only obliquely refer to our knowledge of, as it's so clear and obvious that it simply merits no explanation whatsoever.
I joke, I haven't played FF6 but I'm presuming they will in fact explain Espers, and the characters make more sense here at least.
You're not wrong. Theres pretty much only two names used for summons in the whole of the JP franchise, "phantom beasts" and, occasionally, "summoned beasts".
English, as we will see, tends to get more creative, starting with Woolsey.
Hey now! Destiny 2 has some really clever deep writing that shows a complex, educated, and frequently poetic understanding of both some really involved science, but also philosophy. The designers merely decided to keep that writing entirely external to the game experience, but it still exists.
Another anecdote from my first time playing as a child: due to the character limits for names in the original SNES translation, "Poisona" was translated as "Antdot", which is the best Woolsey could do for "Antidote".
Child me had never heard of the word "antidote" before, and so I had no idea what that spell was supposed to be. I spent all that time imagining dotted ants.
The Pixel Remaster (and I think earlier remakes like the GBA version) removed a NPC in the South Figaro Relic shop who explains what Relics are. (In exchange, they added another scholar in Narshe's tutorial hall with the same dialogue.)
That NPC was notable because they didn't just explain Relics, they also demonstrated one, namely the Sprint Shoes increasing movement speed... by running straight into the wall. After that slapstick moment, the NPC shakes off their daze and rushes off upstairs, never to be seen again.
Speaking of Sprint Shoes, their existence in FFVI remakes is also interesting. FFVI remakes, including the Pixel Remaster, have a default "run" mode, which you can use either by holding a button or setting "run" to default speed, in which case the held button returns you to regular walking speed in case you need more movement control or something.
Equipping the Sprint Shoes means the movement speed all goes up one tier: walk becomes run, and run becomes absurdly fast run.
Blitz Commands are Raging Fist, a flurry of punches; Aura Cannon, which is literally the Kamehameha; and Meteor Strike, which is the ultimate powerbomb. Each one has an associated input - you have to Street Fighter it, basically; Left arrow right arrow left arrow confirm button for Raging Fist, the Aura Cannon command is literally the Hadoken (quarter circle then confirm)... Sabin's mechanics are a walking reference to fighting games.
Back on the SNES, FFVI literally could not register diagonal movement inputs. Which posed a problem with Sabin's Blitz command, since it involved inputs like, as you saw, the Hadouken quarter-circle.
So what FFVI did was pretend that some inputs were diagonals. So for the down-left diagonal input, you could do either down or left, and it still read as down-left. Thus, a fair number of SNES era FFVI guides listed Blitzes like Aura Cannon as "Down, Down, Left".
This surprisingly still carries over into modern ports. You could do that simplified direction input just fine, even though the Pixel Remaster is running on hardware that reads diagonals just fine (and indeed lets the player move diagonally).
Also it was easier to mess up Blitzes on the SNES, because there was no in-battle tooltip for how to do each Blitz; the only instructions were on the party menu. So in the heat of combat, it was entirely possible to forget which inputs had already been done, which caused me issues embarrassingly often.
Also the use of 'esper' to mean, presumably 'summon'(?) is certainly... one of the most choices you could make. Seeing as 'esper' just means 'human with psychic powers' (ESP-er. One of the worst terms to come out of the mid-century sci-fi obsession with psychic powers as a real thing real humans would develop, TBH). I'm assuming this is a Woolseyism 'cos a quick wiki check indicates that they aren't called 'espers' in Japanese, or indeed anything close to it.
Yeah, they're called Genjū in FF6, as well as in FF4 and FF9. Seems like most of the other games call them Shōkanjū, literally "Summoned Beasts." Genjū is translated in other texts usually as either Phantom Beast or Mythical Beast. The jp Wikipedia page for legendary creatures has a heading for Genjū (幻獣) but I struggle to understand why some creatures are under that heading instead of others.
