- Location
- Lake Wobegon
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Fact remains that there hasn't been a 3D FFVI remake in the same vein as, say, IV. I draw no conclusions from that, it just happens to be the case.
Let's Play Every Final Fantasy Game In Order Of Release [Now Finished: Final Fantasy Tactics]
- Thread starter Omicron
- Start date
- Let's Play
ChildishChimera
A umbran summon
- Location
- New York
Honestly the river feels like something that would either be in the minigame dimension or would be exactly the same since the actual thing that matters is the battle with Ultros. The closest I can think of 6 being made action based would be to make the river section a shooter with Edgers crossbow, Sabins Hadokens and Terra's magic since even the 2d version of the game knows the raft isn't a close combat area.
Honestly if 6 was 3d Locke's whole stealing outfits thing seems like a slam dunk for a side activity either her can get outfits from stealing from certain foes, or just give him full on metal gear sections to show off his treasure hunting skills plus a cast with rich king, amnesiac blond, and man who steals entire wardrobes seem exactly like the crew that would get more outfits.
Egleris
Vagrant Dragon
- Location
- Italy
Maybe you missed my original post, but my argument is motivated by me having made the comment that "Final Fantasy VI is a quintessentially 2D experience", meaning the game, taken as a whole, would not work/be severely diminished in quality if it was converted to 3D, especially the kind of 3D action-combat games that are most popular today. Having made this claim, I now have to defend it, bringing up arguments to support it; that's what the various points I'm raising are about.
Speaking of which, I want to note something about this:
I don't disagree. In fact, my post specifically stated "the changing clothes would easily be done with character model swap"; my point was more that it'd be unlikely to be done through combat; the way "steal" abilities are handled in 3D action games doesn't lend itself well to it. I expect the entire South Figaro area would be reworked as a proper stealth section and stealing clothes would be done by knocking out the target. Which is fine, but it lacks the cleverness of using the steal command to break the game's conventions. It can be translated easily, but it'd be less interesting.
...I can picture what you're presenting, but I wouldn't call that "executed easily"; sounds like a pretty complex stretch of programming to me. Also, a nightmare to play through. But I'll still concede the point - we're three updates into the game and we've barely even started on the crazier stuff, I'll have plenty of opportunities to keep making my case.
Kadmus
Dragon's teeth are surprisingly hard to sow
- Location
- Devon
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Sure; the VI update was with the weird mobile port that did things to the spritework that I still don't understand the point of. III and IV were the only ones to get a 3D remake until VII did so recently; logically speaking I'm assuming they either ran out of money or talent for V and VI, or they wouldn't fit on the system they were doing the 3D remakes for (the DS). Or the remakes did poorly, or whatever.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
What I'll say about spritework and 2D games is that one thing I'm glad for with the Pixel Remasters, I've been spared the agony of playing through whatever the fuck this RPGmaker-ass glossy nonsense is:
I get that FFV wasn't the most popular of the series but goddamned, the old mobile/Steam version did it dirty.
I get that FFV wasn't the most popular of the series but goddamned, the old mobile/Steam version did it dirty.
There is a very, very good reason I've only ever referred to those versions with disdain whenever I mentioned them in this thread, and those screenshots pretty much sum it up. Heck, they've been delisted with the release of the pixel remasters so you know Square Enix probably agrees.
We did lose put on the bonus dungeons though, sadly you'll have to "acquire" the GBA versions if you ever want to experience those.
Wait SHIT is that another blonde concept art girl with the Faris mugshot? AMANOOOOOO-
We did lose put on the bonus dungeons though, sadly you'll have to "acquire" the GBA versions if you ever want to experience those.
Wait SHIT is that another blonde concept art girl with the Faris mugshot? AMANOOOOOO-
Last edited:
- Location
- Lost in Hell
Tera is also blonde in Amano's art.
All Final Fantasy characters are actually blond until 7 and you can't convince me otherwise.
Egleris
Vagrant Dragon
- Location
- Italy
I mean, you could image search for Amano's concept art for Lenna from FFV - she's clearly not blonde. It's rare, but he does occasionally bother to fill in the hair of his concept art instead of leaving them empty and claim that's "blonde" instead of "didn't want to add color to it".
I've played a bit of the VI version of the mobile ports, and I actually think the portraits don't look bad, and I've always been a fan of the whole 'show the character's portait when they're speaking' approach. Really I think the problem is that it looks like whoever redid the sprites seems to have been a different person/team than whoever they got to touch up the maps, and so the styles clash. I could see the mobile versions of the sprites actually looking pretty good on backgrounds that match them. Several of the poses/animations actually read clearer on the mobile version (in particular, the 'finger wagging' sequence, which they use just one of the two at several points as a pose, but in the original sprite work can look like the sprite raising a middle finger 
).
).
- Location
- Lake Wobegon
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I personally see no reason to privilege Amano's art over Shibuya's, especially as hers was the only art the vast majority of players (the ones who aren't insufferable nerds who do things like buy Ultimanias) will have ever seen.
- Location
- Canada, probably
*Cough* AlsoAmano'sArtIsHideous *Cough* Sorry, had a tickle in my throat.
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Sheesh, you're all making me feel increasingly guilty about having once purchased a $99AU boxset (The Sky) of Amano's art~
Oh, Amano's art is great, I absolutely adore it. It's just hilarious to me that the whole "wow most of the FF6 cast so far is blonde to the point that Terra was in concept art and they probably changed it to green just for some variety", and then out comes the picture with Amano Faris and she's also blonde, despite being bright purple in game.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
None of you Amano deniers will see Heaven.
Don't be mad, you clearly were being prescient to the events and plot points of a game decades old. Enjoy the knowledge you that you too have discerned the critical hooks to draw in an audience.
One thing I do remember is that damage calcs in FF6 all included a modifier using your level. So when at level 5 a fireball that does 50 damage will do 55 damage when you level up to 6, to throw out some random numbers.
Another poster has already commented on it being MP not HP you are recovering with Runic.
From what I remember the one issue I had with Runic is that it would deactivate once her ATB gauge filled. So if I wasn't quick on the ball to refresh it the enemy might get a spell off while in between.
Amano art exists in state that is simultaneously gorgeous and wrong just wrong
Final Fantasy VI, Part 4: Doma
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Alright!
I'm probably going to slow down these updates at some point but I'm going fast through the early game first because I'm quite enjoying it, but also because I feel like the game's full mechanics aren't going to start unlocking until we've actually met our first esper, so I'd like to get to that point soon.
To which end, I've changed my mind, we'll go with Terra's group for now. I doubt they'll meet the esper as part of their solo scenario, but it's worth a shot!
For this scenario, we start on the map, in the northern region, close to Narshe. Going there is as easy as walking a short distance and boom! We're back in Narshe!
Unfortunately, it looks like nothing has changed regarding people's feelings towards Terra, as the moment we attempt to enter town, we meet a wall of guards blocking our way. Well, no, things have improved; they're no longer 'murder on sight,' so maybe the old man managed to talk them down. They're still 'get the fuck out' on sight, though, so for our money that's not much of an improvement; the guards recognize Terra on sight, block her at the entrance to the town, and when Banon attempts to explain the situation they have no patience for his old age or whatever status he holds among general society, and in fact do not hesitate to straight up knock him to the ground; Edgar protests, announcing himself as the King of Figaro, and they give him the same treatment.
Terra is the only one to escape their blows, being wise (shy) enough to shut the fuck up; the guards leave, though it's clear attempting to enter the room again will be no more fruitful (to be clear, the guards aren't so reckless as to strike a king, they simply think Edgar is lying, and he escaped Figaro too quickly to have any proof of his status with him). Then Edgar has this rather intriguing comment, for someone who is, or plays at, being an inveterate womanizer:
This is definitely an intriguing morsel of characterization that I'll be thinking about.
Anyway, the path forward is obvious, we go back to the hidden cave entrance, Terra mentions Locke activating a hidden switch, Edgar says Locke told him about it and twists one of the stones, and presto! We're back in and, through the old mining tunnels, back into the lattice of scaffolding over Narshe.
There's a really interesting choice being made here in having a town that's so repeatedly emphasized as important, that we start the game in, and that we come back to, and yet at no point can we navigate it like a 'normal' town because the population is hostile the entire time.
One of the few new features of the caves this time around is this simple follow-the-light maze:
It's a test room for city guards, and we have to memorize the pattern the light follows through the rocks and repeat it ourselves. If we mess up, the light gathers around us, and we must quickly hit the confirm button when faced with an orange light or face an encounter with extra monsters, like so:
All in all, a simple puzzle, and even the penalty for screwing up is not particularly erroneous. We're almost on the way out, although if we do a brief detour by the area in which Locke rescued the unconscious Terra, we actually find nearby, what else, the same moogles who helped Locke save her!
However, it seems like we can only understand their language when they speak to us through the fourth wall in cutscenes.
This place also contains a Rune Blade, a blade which consumes MP to ensure critical hits. That seems pretty good, so we'll keep it. Then we're back out of the mines, following the first path we took while escaping from the old man's house, and are once again in familiar territory:
We finally know the old man's name, Arvis! And as he tells us, nothing's changed, the town still insists on its neutrality, Arvis failed to convince them to side with the Returners and everyone's been on edge since the esper's discovery (do they plan to do anything with it? They can't just let it sit there in ice forever). Arvis expresses hope that, with the King of Figaro's presence, the Returners might be able to get through to the populace - especially if Terra is able to offer answers as to the esper that has them so concerned; if they are approached the right way, Arvis is confident the townspeople will allow her to see the esper. To which Edgar asks, half-joking, half-ominous, "That esper is either going to save us… or dig us an early grave."
Cue final scenario choice with only one option left.
Wait, that was it?
Wow, that was… perfunctory. It was basically just getting the group from Point A to Point B, no new dungeon, no boss, no real character development, just a simple puzzle. Damn, that was underwhelming. Ah, well. It was just a transition, I guess. Let's check out what's going on with Sabin, it can't possibly be that big a deal.
Looks like he washed ashore at the far end of the Lethe River, to the East of the continent, several [?????] away from the main group. That small cabin there appears to be an old man's house where he keeps a resting stop for travelers, of which there are two, one of them instantly recognizable by his theme music:
Sabin doesn't seem aware of Shadow's reputation, and so approaches him without concern.
Shadow explains that the only route to Narshe passes through Doma - and unfortunately, the Empire has set up camp on the way, planning to invade and conquer Doma Castle. Surprisingly, Shadow offers his help of his own volition and without asking for compensation, simply saying that he'll take Sabin to Doma if he likes, but that he "may decide to leave him at any time…"
Yeah, your big brooding loner act isn't fooling me, you're as much of a real lone wolf as the other Shadow, you know, the Hedgehog.
Also, in what might be a self-referential joke to Locke's scenario and its disguise shenanigans, the green-uniformed soldier riding a chocobo in that screenshot is not, in fact, a soldier at all, but a merchant.
The merchant notably sells some of the basic equipment required to make use of Shadow; as a Ninja, he has access to the now-familiar Throw command, whose functionality has been expanded somewhat - it can throw Shuriken (which are finally, finally cheap enough to buy by the dozen and spam in combat, at 30 gil a piece) as well as an Invisibility Scroll and a Shadow Scroll - both of which are self-buffs; it looks like the Throw command and the various Ninjutsu-style actions of past Ninja iterations have been combined into a single command, where the Ninja's Image function is now a consumable scroll which uses Throw to cast. Interesting!
With our party of two all geared up (the dog is not a playable character), we're ready to leave, paying a brief visit to the old man in the Cabin:
The old man has apparently been waiting for a clockmaker to repair his clock, which has been broken for a year, or five years, or ten years, he's not sure how many, and refuses to acknowledge Sabin's protests that he is not, in fact, a clock repairman. There's no clock visible in the room, but interacting with the stove causes Sabin to burn himself, upsetting the old man for 'causing trouble like a kid,' then, huh…
…I think this old man might have dementia. Which is unfortunate, as he lives alone in this cabin. Unfortunately, there's no visible way to solve the clock situation for now, so we'll just leave and head for Doma.
Bitchin' portrait, though.
Or rather, heading to the Imperial Camp that's been set up in front of the only bridge leading to Doma, blocking the path and besieging the castle. As Sabin and Shadow hide being a convenient chest-high wall, two of the Imperial soldiers meet up in the middle of camp and strike a conversation in hushed tones - Kefka is here, and they don't like his plans.
"Don't even joke about that," replies the other, If that freak becomes our general, I'll quit!"
'General Leo.' That's definitely the 'General Le-' that that rich guy in South Figaro was hosting for dinner before his betrayal.
…
The more the game line advances, the more it slowly introduces internal complexity in its villain groups. I don't mean moral ambiguity; I mean that in I, all the Fiends are united in service to Chaos; in II, Leon declares himself Emperor after the Emperor's death and the reborn Emperor smites him for it, but the Empire is otherwise totally unified; in III, the antagonists are all working for the same dark force; in IV, there is actually conflict within enemy ranks due to the prevalence of mind control as a source of loyalty and Dr Lugae following his own plans against the orders of Rubicante, but this is all either low-key or high-key and very dramatic but all about people struggling against mind-control, rather than actual personal ambitions putting them at odds (except my problematic fave, the Dark Elf); and in V, we are once again back to all antagonists mostly obeying Exdeath's designs in some way or another. So even if we've had signs of it before, this dialogue, which makes it clear that the high-ranking members of the Empire are ambitious and willing to plot to backstab each other, is a huge step forward in making the antagonists feel like a living, human organization, whose evil is rife with petty ambitions and internal dissent.
This is sort of a repeat of Final Fantasy 2's Dreadnought-building town, where people were pleased with the Dark Knight being in charge, but dreaded Borghen taking over, but more clearly emphasized.
Which is not to say the execution will be the most elegant it could be.
Anyway, one of the soldiers, while clearly sharing the other's opinion, tells him to shut up - what if Kefka hears them? Just as this moment, the court mage emerges from his tent, grumpy as hell; one of the guards attempts to suck up to him by saying what a pleasant surprise it is to see him and asking how his day's been, only to be immediately shut down.
One of the soldiers muses that it's like "General Leo got all the good qualities a man could have, and Kefka got stuck with the leftovers," which on the one hand, ouch, on the other hand, now I'm just thinking of Metal Gear Solid and Liquid Snake ranting about recessive genes. Anyway, I'm not sure how 'good' that General Leo can truly be when he's actively here to conquer an independent nation for the Empire's naked ambition, but of course the Empire's own soldiers would see it differently. The other soldier tells his companion to keep it down - General Leo may be a decent man, but Kefka is twisted, and any visible insubordination is going to have terrible consequences.
Then a Captain approaches, telling the soldiers they're about to storm the castle, and they'll be part of the assault team - and we watch that assault unfold in real time.
Then cut to inside the castle, where the Doman Sentries are desperate to thwart the assault - only for a hero to appear.
This is Cyan, the Samurai, who plans to meet the enemy commander in the field and defeat him in single combat, breaking enemy morale. Can this plan succeed? Well, it's not clear if the enemy Captain would willingly engage Cyan in a duel, but our man here doesn't plan on giving him a choice, opening the gates of the castle and storming out to meet the man in the middle of the melee.
Cyan looks old, by the way, which I find a neat choice for the experienced, loyal sworn servant.
Doma is a Western-style castle, its sentries wear turban, its chief protector is a Samurai… Kind of a strange melting pot of inspirations, isn't it?
Cyan's chief command is !Bushido, which at this stage of the game, has two commands, Fang and Sky, each one a sword move; they must 'build up power' before they are unleashed, and I'm not clear on how that works. Fang is a straightforward damage move, and Sky is a counter; the first time I use Sky it doesn't do anything, but the second time it responds to the Captain's attack with a devastating 660 damage attack, higher than anything I've used so far.
Interestingly, the aesthetic thing the game is doing with these attacks' names - giving them an English name, but putting them next to the Japanese character for their name - is not far from what the Samurai in FFXIV would do. In FFXIV, a Lancer has a move like "Raiden Thrust," but a Samurai has a move like "Tsubame-gaeshi," despite the two jobs ostensibly being translated from Japanese; there was a choice in the localization to preserve the Samurai's 'Japanese' feel by transliterating, but not translating its technique, so we do not use the 'Swallow Reversal.'
That attachment from Western designer to preserve the 'exoticism' in the Samurai when translating it from a language where it isn't exotic is just… interesting, to me.
Anyway, Cyan overwhelms the Captain with his advanced techniques, and the enemy breaks.
The attack on Castle Doma is repelled, and the day is saved!
Great job, everyone, end of scenario.
…
If only.
The soldiers report to their general, who has thoughts on the matter.
General Leo is clearly familiar with Doman tactics - in this case, 'playing the waiting game,' withdrawing in their castle and waiting for their enemies to grow tired. The soldier says they're ready to attack when Leo gives the order, but he urges patience; a hasty attack would bring too many casualties.
Historically, while we might imagine that 'the besieged in their castle have no access to resources and will starve, while the besiegers have the run of the countryside and will be well-supplied,' this is not actually true. Siege armies must be larger than the defending armies they seek to defeat (in order to defeat the significant advantage granted by fortifications) which means they eat more food, and while they can forage the countryside they will quickly exhaust its reserve because they are static - they can't move long distance freely to find more food, or there's no longer a siege! Nor do they have the luxury of coming to the siege with plentiful stocks of protected supplies, like presumably exist inside the fortress - they obviously come with their own supplies, but an army must eat on the march, and each unit of food has to be transported, which by itself incurs more food cost, creating an absolute mathematical limit on how much effective food the siege army can afford to arrive with.
Now, Magitek most likely alleviates this to some extent, which is likely why the Empire can even afford to launch an invasion on a country a continent away from its core in the first place, but they do not have rail transport to the siege site, so the logistical constraints exist. Dragging out the siege does in fact favor Doma, and the Empire risks starving before the defenders of the castle, which Leo recognizes.
This is what makes 'assault the castle and take it by force' such an attractive position - time favors the defenders, not the assailants, so overwhelming them with superior numbers and magitek power is tempting. But this would be, inevitably, a mass-casualty scenario. There is no taking a castle full of prepared defenders cleanly and without risk. The soldier - perhaps surprisingly - claims he is prepared to 'lay down my life for the Empire at any time!' and Leo tempers that resolve, asking the soldier if he is 'from Madara,' a location we haven't heard mentioned before. The soldier, confuses, says yes, but asks what that has to do with anything?
"You're a human being before you're a soldier," he says, "don't be so eager to throw away your life." On the one hand, we have Leo clearly posed here as a decent general, sparing with the lives of his men, unwilling to commit to reckless courses of action. Not pusillanimous, but reserved; conscious of the human cost of warfare though, by his being a general in the Empire, fully willing to shoulder that cost when necessity demands it.
On the other hand, this can't possibly reflect the ideology of the Empire as a whole. Kefka was fully willing to burn Figaro to its foundations; Kefka, we know from having done Locke's scenario first, is planning to poison the entire population of Doma right now; Celes protested against these measures and was arrested, demoted, and sentenced to execution by soldiers who see her as nothing more than a traitor. Gestahl's speech, in the brief flashback we saw of him, had blatant fascist overtones and claimed the entire world as his people's birthright. Whatever sensibility and human decency Leo has carried with him, I don't think it's a good fit for the Empire.
It's a good fit for Actual Strategy That Works, though. The Empire needs to preserve its armies, needs to avoid its conquered or core territories losing faith in the Empire's might and prosperity by throwing their children's lives away in pointless assaults. General Leo isn't just a humane general, he's also one who understands the delicate balance he's playing with here.
But when he concludes "Emperor Gestahl wouldn't want you to die for nothing," I think he's fooling himself.
Not that it matters. The loyal soldier, clearly impacted by this speech, takes his leave, and another approach, announcing that a new message arrived by carrier pigeon.
…
There is something inherently funny to this world-spanning empire with an industrial aesthetic and heavy war machinery supported by weaponized magic using something as frail, organic, and slow as carrier pigeons. On the other hand, it's a very clever decision; it's been mentioned at least twice now that this is how the Empire communicates over strategic distances, and it means that all their communications are slow. This game does not, as far as we've established, have a Golbez who can maintain a telepathic link with all his subordinates continents away, scry from a distance, and teleport at will. The Empire is vast, but it moves faster than it can follow itself. Plans have already been enacted by the time people learn they've been made; the army in Doma is completely disconnected from the one marching on Narshe; the Empire is analog, not digital. No radio for them, at least not for now.
As for the nature of the message, it's going to be where my praise of this sequence is going to run into a wall.
Emperor Gestahl has summoned Leo, who must return to the imperial core at once. He says that he will 'leave the rest in the hands' of the soldiers he's talking to, and insists that they do not rush things, and ask that they don't let him down. Not only do the soldiers enthusiastically agree, but Sabin, of all people, does.
I get what they're going for. Sabin can recognize that even if the Empire is a bloody engine of conquest, it may contain good men, even among its commanders.
But some of these good men may be stupid men, still.
Kefka assures Leo that he will "take care of things faster than he ever would," and Leo warns him, "Nothing dirty, Kefka! They may be our enemies, but they're still human beings. Try not to forget that."
Kefka retorts "we needn't show mercy to those who side with the Returners. Which is good, because I never seem to have any of the stuff."
And then Leo leaves.
Which. Like.
Dude.
I realize that Kefka may be hiding his power level from his fellow generals, but like. I have met this dude twice, and it's already clear that he's the fucking Joker. He has zero sense of morality and delights in suffering. There is no way Leo failed to recognize this unless he's completely oblivious, or, like… Blinded by his own implicit trust in his fellow man? So loyal to the Empire that he doesn't realize that it is not, in fact, an organization which fosters righteous behavior, but instead rewards rampant sociopathic behavior? Maybe that's the tragedy of Leo, that he was incapable of seeing the true evil in the hearts of the men standing by his side? But there is something comical to him saying 'Try not to forget our enemies' humanity' to the literal evil clown who laughs while burning people alive and putting slave crowns on people then testing them with live fire against his own soldiers.
My point is, he's leaving Kefka in charge.
Literally the second Leo is gone, Kefka goes to one of the soldiers and asks him to bring out the poison. The soldier, horrified, says this is against Leo's orders, and Kefka tells him Leo's no longer in charge, he is. The soldier insists, they have prisoners in the castle, their own men are going to die, and Kefka's answer is a callous "They're the ones who were stupid enough to get caught by the enemy!"
This is, in fact, so bare-facedly evil that Sabin can no longer stand it, and comes out of his hiding spot, in full view of the camp, to challenge Kefka.
Cue com…
…baaaaaat?
Okay, show of hands, which ones of you were quietly laughing when I did that whole spiel about the comedy of character sprites vs enemy sprites, knowing full well that there was going to be a Kefka battle in which Kefka is using a character sprite.
What does this mean? Is this an aesthetic choice to put Kefka on the same 'level' as the player characters, to signal that he is, in some way, their true foil, the real antagonist of the piece? Is this completely the opposite, a humorous means of indicating that we're not supposed to take Kefka seriously, that he doesn't even get a 'proper' sprite? Is this foreshadowing a playable Kefka sequence?
Damn. That really tickles my brain.
Anyway, as far combat goes, I'm not even sure Kefka can fight. I didn't bother waiting for him to move, and on the first attack he receives, a cutscene immediately plays out; Sabin says "Kefka, wait!" and braces for a Blitz attack, and Kefka understandably refuses to play along and escapes:
Oh, puns. He really is a jester.
This repeats twice as we chase him through the camp…
Just posting that one to note the lovely, lovely background details with the Magitek armor recharging from huge pod-like stations. Fantastic stuff.
Then ultimately throws a bunch of guards at us…
…which is, however simple that encounter is (I have made no effort to level up Sabin or Shadow, but a single Shuriken or Blitz move is still enough to take out the Soldiers, and a combo of one of each enough to kill a Templar), is all the time Kefka needs to enact his plan.
No doubt about it, this dude is an actual psycho.
As the waters turn a sickly purple, the poison spreads through the river and begins to take his toll on the Doman garrison, most of the inhabitants of the castle (implausibly, if we're honest; this is happening way too quickly) succumbing within moments.
The dramatic presentation on this one is pretty striking. Soldiers collapse all throughout the castle, one of them staggering and falling from the tower in the grip of the toxin, a sweeping tide of death coursing through Doma. Cyan immediately rushes to warn the King - only to find that it is already too late.
Okay, but for real. Does Doma have, like, a coordinated water-drinking hour that everyone settled on to drink from the same stream at the same moment?
Cyan implores his King to be strong, and the King weakly thanks Cyan for his service, defending the realm "since the days of my father before me," and asks for his forgiveness for failing to protect his kingdom - failing to honor Cyan's own strength and valor with success. As Cyan tries to reassure him that it is not his fault, the King tells Cyan to worry about his family, not himself. Cyan implores him to save his strength, but it is hopeless; with a last coughing fit, the King succombs. A surviving sentry enters, looking for some kind of order, and Cyan tells him to search the castle for any survivors, heading for his own quarters…
Where tragedy awaits.
Cyan's wife, Elayne, lies dead on the ground. Cyan rushes to her side, imploring her not to leave him - then as the reality of her death strikes him, remembers his son, who lies, it seems, peacefully in bed. He reaches for him… And the son's lifeless body rolls out of bed to the ground.
Cyan crumples to the ground in disbelief, muttering that this is impossible, it can't be happening - and then, his sorrow and grief channeled into rage, stands up and swears the Empire must pay for this and storms out of the castle, alone, on what is very clearly the suicide charge of a man who just lost all that he held dear within moments, while utterly powerless to do anything, and is now so utterly desperate that he will throw himself against the blades of his enemies and die rather than face what just happened to him.
Man.
This is a really affecting scene. It's hard to render in my limited screenshot count and wordy descriptions, but Kefka's evil laughter, the waters turning red, the camera sweeping across Doma Castle as the men fall one by one to a sickness they can fight, Cyan running around the castle desperate to do something and totally powerless, all his experience and skill and prowess with the sword utterly useless in the front of this invisible enemy, all of it culminating in this, this quiet horror of a man walking home to find his wife dead, and his son lying in bed, seeming to sleep the entire time, until he pulls down the covers and his lifeless body slumps to the ground, and the despair that follows…
This is Final Fantasy at its theatrical best, its most dramatic and poignant, using tragedy and loss in a way that gets around the protagonists' own skills and hits where they can't protect themselves.
…
On the other hand what the fuck kind of magic poison is that.
Like what, was Owain (Cyan's son) in bed but then he got up just in the narrow time window to drink the poison water? Did Kefka time his actions precisely with Owain's last before-going-to-bed glass of water? How is the poison simultaneously so rapid that everyone collapses within minutes, but so… slow-acting??? That everybody had time to drink water before realizing its effects? Does Doma have no conception of 'poisoning the water supply,' one of the time-honored siege tactics used to get around the offense-defense dilemma I outlined some paragraphs ago?
I don't want to turn into CinemaSins here. These are not, at the end of the day, major issues. They aren't 'plot holes' so much as contrivances of presentation to ensure the scene flows properly. And they benefit from the 2D presentation, because we allow sprite-based 2D games to get away with not showing a lot of physical causality which makes that kind of sleight of hand easier to pass by your audience. It only really bugged me here, writing this, a few hours after the fact.
It's still, at the end of the day, a very powerful scene, but still.
The poison water is definitely magic, Kefka might be a total phony when he comes to his own power but he definitely trapped a poison elemental or something.
Anyway, Sabin's scenario is not over yet, but this is a good stopping point for tonight and for this update. Next time: Cyan's desperate charge.
I'm probably going to slow down these updates at some point but I'm going fast through the early game first because I'm quite enjoying it, but also because I feel like the game's full mechanics aren't going to start unlocking until we've actually met our first esper, so I'd like to get to that point soon.
To which end, I've changed my mind, we'll go with Terra's group for now. I doubt they'll meet the esper as part of their solo scenario, but it's worth a shot!
For this scenario, we start on the map, in the northern region, close to Narshe. Going there is as easy as walking a short distance and boom! We're back in Narshe!
Unfortunately, it looks like nothing has changed regarding people's feelings towards Terra, as the moment we attempt to enter town, we meet a wall of guards blocking our way. Well, no, things have improved; they're no longer 'murder on sight,' so maybe the old man managed to talk them down. They're still 'get the fuck out' on sight, though, so for our money that's not much of an improvement; the guards recognize Terra on sight, block her at the entrance to the town, and when Banon attempts to explain the situation they have no patience for his old age or whatever status he holds among general society, and in fact do not hesitate to straight up knock him to the ground; Edgar protests, announcing himself as the King of Figaro, and they give him the same treatment.
Terra is the only one to escape their blows, being wise (shy) enough to shut the fuck up; the guards leave, though it's clear attempting to enter the room again will be no more fruitful (to be clear, the guards aren't so reckless as to strike a king, they simply think Edgar is lying, and he escaped Figaro too quickly to have any proof of his status with him). Then Edgar has this rather intriguing comment, for someone who is, or plays at, being an inveterate womanizer:
This is definitely an intriguing morsel of characterization that I'll be thinking about.
Anyway, the path forward is obvious, we go back to the hidden cave entrance, Terra mentions Locke activating a hidden switch, Edgar says Locke told him about it and twists one of the stones, and presto! We're back in and, through the old mining tunnels, back into the lattice of scaffolding over Narshe.
There's a really interesting choice being made here in having a town that's so repeatedly emphasized as important, that we start the game in, and that we come back to, and yet at no point can we navigate it like a 'normal' town because the population is hostile the entire time.
One of the few new features of the caves this time around is this simple follow-the-light maze:
It's a test room for city guards, and we have to memorize the pattern the light follows through the rocks and repeat it ourselves. If we mess up, the light gathers around us, and we must quickly hit the confirm button when faced with an orange light or face an encounter with extra monsters, like so:
All in all, a simple puzzle, and even the penalty for screwing up is not particularly erroneous. We're almost on the way out, although if we do a brief detour by the area in which Locke rescued the unconscious Terra, we actually find nearby, what else, the same moogles who helped Locke save her!
However, it seems like we can only understand their language when they speak to us through the fourth wall in cutscenes.
This place also contains a Rune Blade, a blade which consumes MP to ensure critical hits. That seems pretty good, so we'll keep it. Then we're back out of the mines, following the first path we took while escaping from the old man's house, and are once again in familiar territory:
We finally know the old man's name, Arvis! And as he tells us, nothing's changed, the town still insists on its neutrality, Arvis failed to convince them to side with the Returners and everyone's been on edge since the esper's discovery (do they plan to do anything with it? They can't just let it sit there in ice forever). Arvis expresses hope that, with the King of Figaro's presence, the Returners might be able to get through to the populace - especially if Terra is able to offer answers as to the esper that has them so concerned; if they are approached the right way, Arvis is confident the townspeople will allow her to see the esper. To which Edgar asks, half-joking, half-ominous, "That esper is either going to save us… or dig us an early grave."
Cue final scenario choice with only one option left.
Wait, that was it?
Wow, that was… perfunctory. It was basically just getting the group from Point A to Point B, no new dungeon, no boss, no real character development, just a simple puzzle. Damn, that was underwhelming. Ah, well. It was just a transition, I guess. Let's check out what's going on with Sabin, it can't possibly be that big a deal.
Looks like he washed ashore at the far end of the Lethe River, to the East of the continent, several [?????] away from the main group. That small cabin there appears to be an old man's house where he keeps a resting stop for travelers, of which there are two, one of them instantly recognizable by his theme music:
Sabin doesn't seem aware of Shadow's reputation, and so approaches him without concern.
Shadow explains that the only route to Narshe passes through Doma - and unfortunately, the Empire has set up camp on the way, planning to invade and conquer Doma Castle. Surprisingly, Shadow offers his help of his own volition and without asking for compensation, simply saying that he'll take Sabin to Doma if he likes, but that he "may decide to leave him at any time…"
Yeah, your big brooding loner act isn't fooling me, you're as much of a real lone wolf as the other Shadow, you know, the Hedgehog.
Also, in what might be a self-referential joke to Locke's scenario and its disguise shenanigans, the green-uniformed soldier riding a chocobo in that screenshot is not, in fact, a soldier at all, but a merchant.
The merchant notably sells some of the basic equipment required to make use of Shadow; as a Ninja, he has access to the now-familiar Throw command, whose functionality has been expanded somewhat - it can throw Shuriken (which are finally, finally cheap enough to buy by the dozen and spam in combat, at 30 gil a piece) as well as an Invisibility Scroll and a Shadow Scroll - both of which are self-buffs; it looks like the Throw command and the various Ninjutsu-style actions of past Ninja iterations have been combined into a single command, where the Ninja's Image function is now a consumable scroll which uses Throw to cast. Interesting!
With our party of two all geared up (the dog is not a playable character), we're ready to leave, paying a brief visit to the old man in the Cabin:
The old man has apparently been waiting for a clockmaker to repair his clock, which has been broken for a year, or five years, or ten years, he's not sure how many, and refuses to acknowledge Sabin's protests that he is not, in fact, a clock repairman. There's no clock visible in the room, but interacting with the stove causes Sabin to burn himself, upsetting the old man for 'causing trouble like a kid,' then, huh…
…I think this old man might have dementia. Which is unfortunate, as he lives alone in this cabin. Unfortunately, there's no visible way to solve the clock situation for now, so we'll just leave and head for Doma.
Bitchin' portrait, though.
Or rather, heading to the Imperial Camp that's been set up in front of the only bridge leading to Doma, blocking the path and besieging the castle. As Sabin and Shadow hide being a convenient chest-high wall, two of the Imperial soldiers meet up in the middle of camp and strike a conversation in hushed tones - Kefka is here, and they don't like his plans.
"Don't even joke about that," replies the other, If that freak becomes our general, I'll quit!"
'General Leo.' That's definitely the 'General Le-' that that rich guy in South Figaro was hosting for dinner before his betrayal.
…
The more the game line advances, the more it slowly introduces internal complexity in its villain groups. I don't mean moral ambiguity; I mean that in I, all the Fiends are united in service to Chaos; in II, Leon declares himself Emperor after the Emperor's death and the reborn Emperor smites him for it, but the Empire is otherwise totally unified; in III, the antagonists are all working for the same dark force; in IV, there is actually conflict within enemy ranks due to the prevalence of mind control as a source of loyalty and Dr Lugae following his own plans against the orders of Rubicante, but this is all either low-key or high-key and very dramatic but all about people struggling against mind-control, rather than actual personal ambitions putting them at odds (except my problematic fave, the Dark Elf); and in V, we are once again back to all antagonists mostly obeying Exdeath's designs in some way or another. So even if we've had signs of it before, this dialogue, which makes it clear that the high-ranking members of the Empire are ambitious and willing to plot to backstab each other, is a huge step forward in making the antagonists feel like a living, human organization, whose evil is rife with petty ambitions and internal dissent.
This is sort of a repeat of Final Fantasy 2's Dreadnought-building town, where people were pleased with the Dark Knight being in charge, but dreaded Borghen taking over, but more clearly emphasized.
Which is not to say the execution will be the most elegant it could be.
Anyway, one of the soldiers, while clearly sharing the other's opinion, tells him to shut up - what if Kefka hears them? Just as this moment, the court mage emerges from his tent, grumpy as hell; one of the guards attempts to suck up to him by saying what a pleasant surprise it is to see him and asking how his day's been, only to be immediately shut down.
One of the soldiers muses that it's like "General Leo got all the good qualities a man could have, and Kefka got stuck with the leftovers," which on the one hand, ouch, on the other hand, now I'm just thinking of Metal Gear Solid and Liquid Snake ranting about recessive genes. Anyway, I'm not sure how 'good' that General Leo can truly be when he's actively here to conquer an independent nation for the Empire's naked ambition, but of course the Empire's own soldiers would see it differently. The other soldier tells his companion to keep it down - General Leo may be a decent man, but Kefka is twisted, and any visible insubordination is going to have terrible consequences.
Then a Captain approaches, telling the soldiers they're about to storm the castle, and they'll be part of the assault team - and we watch that assault unfold in real time.
Then cut to inside the castle, where the Doman Sentries are desperate to thwart the assault - only for a hero to appear.
This is Cyan, the Samurai, who plans to meet the enemy commander in the field and defeat him in single combat, breaking enemy morale. Can this plan succeed? Well, it's not clear if the enemy Captain would willingly engage Cyan in a duel, but our man here doesn't plan on giving him a choice, opening the gates of the castle and storming out to meet the man in the middle of the melee.
Cyan looks old, by the way, which I find a neat choice for the experienced, loyal sworn servant.
Doma is a Western-style castle, its sentries wear turban, its chief protector is a Samurai… Kind of a strange melting pot of inspirations, isn't it?
Cyan's chief command is !Bushido, which at this stage of the game, has two commands, Fang and Sky, each one a sword move; they must 'build up power' before they are unleashed, and I'm not clear on how that works. Fang is a straightforward damage move, and Sky is a counter; the first time I use Sky it doesn't do anything, but the second time it responds to the Captain's attack with a devastating 660 damage attack, higher than anything I've used so far.
Interestingly, the aesthetic thing the game is doing with these attacks' names - giving them an English name, but putting them next to the Japanese character for their name - is not far from what the Samurai in FFXIV would do. In FFXIV, a Lancer has a move like "Raiden Thrust," but a Samurai has a move like "Tsubame-gaeshi," despite the two jobs ostensibly being translated from Japanese; there was a choice in the localization to preserve the Samurai's 'Japanese' feel by transliterating, but not translating its technique, so we do not use the 'Swallow Reversal.'
That attachment from Western designer to preserve the 'exoticism' in the Samurai when translating it from a language where it isn't exotic is just… interesting, to me.
Anyway, Cyan overwhelms the Captain with his advanced techniques, and the enemy breaks.
The attack on Castle Doma is repelled, and the day is saved!
Great job, everyone, end of scenario.
…
If only.
The soldiers report to their general, who has thoughts on the matter.
General Leo is clearly familiar with Doman tactics - in this case, 'playing the waiting game,' withdrawing in their castle and waiting for their enemies to grow tired. The soldier says they're ready to attack when Leo gives the order, but he urges patience; a hasty attack would bring too many casualties.
Historically, while we might imagine that 'the besieged in their castle have no access to resources and will starve, while the besiegers have the run of the countryside and will be well-supplied,' this is not actually true. Siege armies must be larger than the defending armies they seek to defeat (in order to defeat the significant advantage granted by fortifications) which means they eat more food, and while they can forage the countryside they will quickly exhaust its reserve because they are static - they can't move long distance freely to find more food, or there's no longer a siege! Nor do they have the luxury of coming to the siege with plentiful stocks of protected supplies, like presumably exist inside the fortress - they obviously come with their own supplies, but an army must eat on the march, and each unit of food has to be transported, which by itself incurs more food cost, creating an absolute mathematical limit on how much effective food the siege army can afford to arrive with.
Now, Magitek most likely alleviates this to some extent, which is likely why the Empire can even afford to launch an invasion on a country a continent away from its core in the first place, but they do not have rail transport to the siege site, so the logistical constraints exist. Dragging out the siege does in fact favor Doma, and the Empire risks starving before the defenders of the castle, which Leo recognizes.
This is what makes 'assault the castle and take it by force' such an attractive position - time favors the defenders, not the assailants, so overwhelming them with superior numbers and magitek power is tempting. But this would be, inevitably, a mass-casualty scenario. There is no taking a castle full of prepared defenders cleanly and without risk. The soldier - perhaps surprisingly - claims he is prepared to 'lay down my life for the Empire at any time!' and Leo tempers that resolve, asking the soldier if he is 'from Madara,' a location we haven't heard mentioned before. The soldier, confuses, says yes, but asks what that has to do with anything?
"You're a human being before you're a soldier," he says, "don't be so eager to throw away your life." On the one hand, we have Leo clearly posed here as a decent general, sparing with the lives of his men, unwilling to commit to reckless courses of action. Not pusillanimous, but reserved; conscious of the human cost of warfare though, by his being a general in the Empire, fully willing to shoulder that cost when necessity demands it.
On the other hand, this can't possibly reflect the ideology of the Empire as a whole. Kefka was fully willing to burn Figaro to its foundations; Kefka, we know from having done Locke's scenario first, is planning to poison the entire population of Doma right now; Celes protested against these measures and was arrested, demoted, and sentenced to execution by soldiers who see her as nothing more than a traitor. Gestahl's speech, in the brief flashback we saw of him, had blatant fascist overtones and claimed the entire world as his people's birthright. Whatever sensibility and human decency Leo has carried with him, I don't think it's a good fit for the Empire.
It's a good fit for Actual Strategy That Works, though. The Empire needs to preserve its armies, needs to avoid its conquered or core territories losing faith in the Empire's might and prosperity by throwing their children's lives away in pointless assaults. General Leo isn't just a humane general, he's also one who understands the delicate balance he's playing with here.
But when he concludes "Emperor Gestahl wouldn't want you to die for nothing," I think he's fooling himself.
Not that it matters. The loyal soldier, clearly impacted by this speech, takes his leave, and another approach, announcing that a new message arrived by carrier pigeon.
…
There is something inherently funny to this world-spanning empire with an industrial aesthetic and heavy war machinery supported by weaponized magic using something as frail, organic, and slow as carrier pigeons. On the other hand, it's a very clever decision; it's been mentioned at least twice now that this is how the Empire communicates over strategic distances, and it means that all their communications are slow. This game does not, as far as we've established, have a Golbez who can maintain a telepathic link with all his subordinates continents away, scry from a distance, and teleport at will. The Empire is vast, but it moves faster than it can follow itself. Plans have already been enacted by the time people learn they've been made; the army in Doma is completely disconnected from the one marching on Narshe; the Empire is analog, not digital. No radio for them, at least not for now.
As for the nature of the message, it's going to be where my praise of this sequence is going to run into a wall.
Emperor Gestahl has summoned Leo, who must return to the imperial core at once. He says that he will 'leave the rest in the hands' of the soldiers he's talking to, and insists that they do not rush things, and ask that they don't let him down. Not only do the soldiers enthusiastically agree, but Sabin, of all people, does.
I get what they're going for. Sabin can recognize that even if the Empire is a bloody engine of conquest, it may contain good men, even among its commanders.
But some of these good men may be stupid men, still.
Kefka assures Leo that he will "take care of things faster than he ever would," and Leo warns him, "Nothing dirty, Kefka! They may be our enemies, but they're still human beings. Try not to forget that."
Kefka retorts "we needn't show mercy to those who side with the Returners. Which is good, because I never seem to have any of the stuff."
And then Leo leaves.
Which. Like.
Dude.
I realize that Kefka may be hiding his power level from his fellow generals, but like. I have met this dude twice, and it's already clear that he's the fucking Joker. He has zero sense of morality and delights in suffering. There is no way Leo failed to recognize this unless he's completely oblivious, or, like… Blinded by his own implicit trust in his fellow man? So loyal to the Empire that he doesn't realize that it is not, in fact, an organization which fosters righteous behavior, but instead rewards rampant sociopathic behavior? Maybe that's the tragedy of Leo, that he was incapable of seeing the true evil in the hearts of the men standing by his side? But there is something comical to him saying 'Try not to forget our enemies' humanity' to the literal evil clown who laughs while burning people alive and putting slave crowns on people then testing them with live fire against his own soldiers.
My point is, he's leaving Kefka in charge.
Literally the second Leo is gone, Kefka goes to one of the soldiers and asks him to bring out the poison. The soldier, horrified, says this is against Leo's orders, and Kefka tells him Leo's no longer in charge, he is. The soldier insists, they have prisoners in the castle, their own men are going to die, and Kefka's answer is a callous "They're the ones who were stupid enough to get caught by the enemy!"
This is, in fact, so bare-facedly evil that Sabin can no longer stand it, and comes out of his hiding spot, in full view of the camp, to challenge Kefka.
Cue com…
…baaaaaat?
Okay, show of hands, which ones of you were quietly laughing when I did that whole spiel about the comedy of character sprites vs enemy sprites, knowing full well that there was going to be a Kefka battle in which Kefka is using a character sprite.
What does this mean? Is this an aesthetic choice to put Kefka on the same 'level' as the player characters, to signal that he is, in some way, their true foil, the real antagonist of the piece? Is this completely the opposite, a humorous means of indicating that we're not supposed to take Kefka seriously, that he doesn't even get a 'proper' sprite? Is this foreshadowing a playable Kefka sequence?
Damn. That really tickles my brain.
Anyway, as far combat goes, I'm not even sure Kefka can fight. I didn't bother waiting for him to move, and on the first attack he receives, a cutscene immediately plays out; Sabin says "Kefka, wait!" and braces for a Blitz attack, and Kefka understandably refuses to play along and escapes:
Oh, puns. He really is a jester.
This repeats twice as we chase him through the camp…
Just posting that one to note the lovely, lovely background details with the Magitek armor recharging from huge pod-like stations. Fantastic stuff.
Then ultimately throws a bunch of guards at us…
…which is, however simple that encounter is (I have made no effort to level up Sabin or Shadow, but a single Shuriken or Blitz move is still enough to take out the Soldiers, and a combo of one of each enough to kill a Templar), is all the time Kefka needs to enact his plan.
No doubt about it, this dude is an actual psycho.
As the waters turn a sickly purple, the poison spreads through the river and begins to take his toll on the Doman garrison, most of the inhabitants of the castle (implausibly, if we're honest; this is happening way too quickly) succumbing within moments.
The dramatic presentation on this one is pretty striking. Soldiers collapse all throughout the castle, one of them staggering and falling from the tower in the grip of the toxin, a sweeping tide of death coursing through Doma. Cyan immediately rushes to warn the King - only to find that it is already too late.
Okay, but for real. Does Doma have, like, a coordinated water-drinking hour that everyone settled on to drink from the same stream at the same moment?
Cyan implores his King to be strong, and the King weakly thanks Cyan for his service, defending the realm "since the days of my father before me," and asks for his forgiveness for failing to protect his kingdom - failing to honor Cyan's own strength and valor with success. As Cyan tries to reassure him that it is not his fault, the King tells Cyan to worry about his family, not himself. Cyan implores him to save his strength, but it is hopeless; with a last coughing fit, the King succombs. A surviving sentry enters, looking for some kind of order, and Cyan tells him to search the castle for any survivors, heading for his own quarters…
Where tragedy awaits.
Cyan's wife, Elayne, lies dead on the ground. Cyan rushes to her side, imploring her not to leave him - then as the reality of her death strikes him, remembers his son, who lies, it seems, peacefully in bed. He reaches for him… And the son's lifeless body rolls out of bed to the ground.
Cyan crumples to the ground in disbelief, muttering that this is impossible, it can't be happening - and then, his sorrow and grief channeled into rage, stands up and swears the Empire must pay for this and storms out of the castle, alone, on what is very clearly the suicide charge of a man who just lost all that he held dear within moments, while utterly powerless to do anything, and is now so utterly desperate that he will throw himself against the blades of his enemies and die rather than face what just happened to him.
Man.
This is a really affecting scene. It's hard to render in my limited screenshot count and wordy descriptions, but Kefka's evil laughter, the waters turning red, the camera sweeping across Doma Castle as the men fall one by one to a sickness they can fight, Cyan running around the castle desperate to do something and totally powerless, all his experience and skill and prowess with the sword utterly useless in the front of this invisible enemy, all of it culminating in this, this quiet horror of a man walking home to find his wife dead, and his son lying in bed, seeming to sleep the entire time, until he pulls down the covers and his lifeless body slumps to the ground, and the despair that follows…
This is Final Fantasy at its theatrical best, its most dramatic and poignant, using tragedy and loss in a way that gets around the protagonists' own skills and hits where they can't protect themselves.
…
On the other hand what the fuck kind of magic poison is that.
Like what, was Owain (Cyan's son) in bed but then he got up just in the narrow time window to drink the poison water? Did Kefka time his actions precisely with Owain's last before-going-to-bed glass of water? How is the poison simultaneously so rapid that everyone collapses within minutes, but so… slow-acting??? That everybody had time to drink water before realizing its effects? Does Doma have no conception of 'poisoning the water supply,' one of the time-honored siege tactics used to get around the offense-defense dilemma I outlined some paragraphs ago?
I don't want to turn into CinemaSins here. These are not, at the end of the day, major issues. They aren't 'plot holes' so much as contrivances of presentation to ensure the scene flows properly. And they benefit from the 2D presentation, because we allow sprite-based 2D games to get away with not showing a lot of physical causality which makes that kind of sleight of hand easier to pass by your audience. It only really bugged me here, writing this, a few hours after the fact.
It's still, at the end of the day, a very powerful scene, but still.
The poison water is definitely magic, Kefka might be a total phony when he comes to his own power but he definitely trapped a poison elemental or something.
Anyway, Sabin's scenario is not over yet, but this is a good stopping point for tonight and for this update. Next time: Cyan's desperate charge.
Last edited:
Mister Bad Guy
Mr Mercury to friends
- Location
- Bay Area
Oh, man, you bet I was waiting for this to come up, because the workaround that the creators used is actually incredibly cool. See, during this scene, you have two characters in your party, right? Three, max, once Cyan joins up. But there's a fourth slot left over. So who's the fourth?
…baaaaaat?
Okay, show of hands, which ones of you were quietly laughing when I did that whole spiel about the comedy of character sprites vs enemy sprites, knowing full well that there was going to be a Kefka battle in which Kefka is using a character sprite.
What does this mean? Is this an aesthetic choice to put Kefka on the same 'level' as the player characters, to signal that he is, in some way, their true foil, the real antagonist of the piece? Is this completely the opposite, a humorous means of indicating that we're not supposed to take Kefka seriously, that he doesn't even get a 'proper' sprite? Is this foreshadowing a playable Kefka sequence?
Damn. That really tickles my brain.
Anyway, as far combat goes, I'm not even sure Kefka can fight. I didn't bother waiting for him to move, and on the first attack he receives, a cutscene immediately plays out; Sabin says "Kefka, wait!" and braces for a Blitz attack, and Kefka understandably refuses to play along and escapes:
Kefka. Kefka is the fourth person in your party. Kefka, within the game's code, has an entire playable-character slot. The game adds him to the party, not displaying his name or anything else about him, not placing him under the player's command, and then drops him out the moment the scene ends. This means that during these scenes, which are heavily scripted, Kefka can use the same elaborate sprites and motions that a party member can.
Indeed, several other pseudo-battle cutscenes will happen over the course of the game, and they use the same method: add an NPC into the party without displaying them to be in the party, and then have them do the things that only a member of the party can do.
Last edited:
Zap Rowsdower
Ex-cultist vagrant
- Location
- Bright lights, big city
- Pronouns
- He/Him
FFXIV related fun fact: the names Cyan and Owain are Woolseyisms. Cyan is, in Japanese, called Cayenne. Or, as its spelled in katakana, Kaien. Owain's Japanese name is Shun.
Last edited:
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
It's not actually a "Everyone drinks the water" bit going on, it's pretty much more of a nerve gas attack by all indications that has him drop some horrifying chemical weapon into the river and its byproducts are giga poison, that Cyan survived because he was just that fucking hard, or presumably had been poisoned in one of his youthful adventures or something and thus developed a tolerance to similar such attacks (Or something).
Honestly, Cyan surviving this at all is something of a plot hole, and it's never really explained despite the fact everyone else drops dead pretty much at once. Including people he was standing next to. It works for pathos certainly, but it's not something that holds up to scrutiny.
Honestly, Cyan surviving this at all is something of a plot hole, and it's never really explained despite the fact everyone else drops dead pretty much at once. Including people he was standing next to. It works for pathos certainly, but it's not something that holds up to scrutiny.
Last edited:
GilliamYaeger
M'crazy.
Both of which are names that should be familiar to you, if Cyan's theme hadn't given away the game already - Hien from FF14's childhood name was Shun.
- Location
- Columbus, OH
Watch the SNES version of Cyan's first fight here to get an idea of his pre-2014 gameplay:
View: https://youtu.be/iGNskqYu2_0?t=12721
In the old version, you just had to sit there and wait for the number of your preferred tech, and none of the other player characters could act at the same time. It was awful.
View: https://youtu.be/iGNskqYu2_0?t=12721
In the old version, you just had to sit there and wait for the number of your preferred tech, and none of the other player characters could act at the same time. It was awful.
Don't worry, you'll get to the next scenario soon enough.
So, remember earlier mentions of upgrading treasure chests?
Yeah, that was the one that becomes a ribbon later (and frankly from looking things up; the only chest in the game worth waiting on). That said, it'salso entirely possible to farm ribbons in the endgame, so don't worry too much about it if you don't want to replay all of Sabin's scenario so far just for that.
As I said, soon enough
But yes, for whatever reason Team Terra's scenario is extremely short, and Locke's isn't much bigger. Sabin's is easily bigger than both put together, since it shoveled him across the continent.
You uh, may or may not regret thinking that in the near future. We'll see.
True, sadly, Interceptor is not playable.
on the other hand, holy shit is he a dope support, can block hits for Shadow (works as a flat 50% chance to block physical attacks according to the wiki) and can counter attack for him.
So !Bushido... in older versions of the game, the building up power was a literal second atb bar where you had to wait for it to charge to each level of attack before using it. Fang would be near instant, but Sky would be longer, and so on. And key to this? Nobody else cluld take turns while waiting for Cyan to charge.
Pixel Remaster just lets you select one then slaps invisible charge times on instead, which is frankly a much-needed buff to someone often seen as one of the worst characters in the game... but we'llget there with the analysis.
Yeah, I would honestly be unsurprised if Gestahl had decided to remove Leo from Doma entirely because it's taking too long, and he knew Kefka would instead immediately go "OH BOY WAR CRIMES" when given command.
Hands are in the air, sir!
Quick aside here - did you remember to loot the camp before the templar encounter? This is actually the last point you have to run around getting all four chests, and a few items and encounters are unique here.Then ultimately throws a bunch of guards at us…
…which is, however simple that encounter is (I have made no effort to level up Sabin or Shadow, but a single Shuriken or Blitz move is still enough to take out the Soldiers, and a combo of one of each enough to kill a Templar), is all the time Kefka needs to enact his plan.
Yeah, it's just one of those things where you have to look past the inherent ridiculousness to enjoy what an otherwise powerful scene it is.
And now, new character analysis time!
Shadow is a suprisingly physically strong character for a ninja archetype, having both the second highest speed in the game behind Locke and good physical stats. In fact, even his magic isn't that bad, if you line up every single character he doesn't have anything that could be considered a straight dump stat. Add in that the !Throw command is plenty versatile between cheap shurikens, more scrolls than FFV which only had the elemental ones (Invisible in particular is a neat status effect, dropping your magic evasion to zero but automatically dodging all physical attacks until hit by magic), and of course the mentioned Interceptor bits above, and he's a top tier party member.
Only problem is, as he says Shadow comes and goes like the wind. At this point in the game, he has something like a 1/16 chance after every single fight to go "Alright see you later" and just leave the party, taking any equipment he has (including relics) with him, so be wary of that.
As for Cyan, well... he has a reputation as being one of the worst characters in the game, sadly. He does have some very solid physical stats, but those are somewhat offset by his bad magical stats and his absolutely abysmal speed. Seriously, I have him the Hermes Sandals for this scenario and that was still often barely enough to keep up with Shadow's normal ATB speed. And then !Bushido... on the surface, it isn't bad, and it's usually fine this early on. However, the stronger Bushido abilities he learns, the longer they take to charge. It's not quite as devastating as it was in older versions where you flat out had to wait for his second ATB bar to charge (as shown in the video Compellor linked above) since now you just fire and forget, but it still isn't the greatest. Plus, being restricted to a single weapon type in Katanas means he'll occasionally run into that wall of "I haven't found a new weapon for Cyan in the last 4 hours". Low natural speed + needs even more time to charge just... makes a character who has issues. He's still perfectly playable, but it's issues to keep in mind.
Last edited: