- Location
- Land of the Midday Sun
You could also try to steal a Ribbon from Ultima Weapon, it's a rare steal unfortunately but it comes really handy.
Let's Play Every Final Fantasy Game In Order Of Release [Now Finished: Final Fantasy Tactics]
- Thread starter Omicron
- Start date
- Let's Play
- Location
- PA
…Yeha so kid me just doesn't spot the 'how does Kefka get the experts to go magicite' problem.
Not so much the kicking their butts bit? But yeah, that sells.
And the bit where Kefka wrecks Ghestal works because it's not his power it's the triad…
Umm…
Not so much the kicking their butts bit? But yeah, that sells.
And the bit where Kefka wrecks Ghestal works because it's not his power it's the triad…
Umm…
So there are cutscenes that you can get to see if you have shadow in your party and you rest in various beds throughout the world. Feel like I should mention that, just dunno if it should be said 'aloud so to speak.'
- Location
- Portugal
Goddamn what a wild update. I did not know there was an actual apocalypse with a 1-year timeskip in the plot of Final Fantasy VI.
I'm kind of torn, and it incites a fascinating mix of feelings. The in-universe rationale of a whole bunch of things in this section seems flat broken and hard to swallow, but the character beats and setpieces do some really compelling stuff.
I'm kind of torn, and it incites a fascinating mix of feelings. The in-universe rationale of a whole bunch of things in this section seems flat broken and hard to swallow, but the character beats and setpieces do some really compelling stuff.
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Omegahugger
Inattentive Idiot
I didn't play FFVI as a kid, but it tracks that most people that did didn't have a problem with the scene.
"Villain pulls out a bullshit new power not even hinted at beforehand" is precisely the sort of thing most of us never notice as young tykes, leaving the emotions of the scene to be what sticks in your mind.
"Villain pulls out a bullshit new power not even hinted at beforehand" is precisely the sort of thing most of us never notice as young tykes, leaving the emotions of the scene to be what sticks in your mind.
I must say, I was really glad seeing that scene as up until this moment I was convinced that the Emperor actually was legit in his desire to put an end to war, and the twist was that Kefka has escaped prison, gathered a bunch of dissatisfied soldiers and went on his own.
But no, of course the emperor was going to betray us all along and was fully behind Kefka's actions.
So that's nice.
The usual tactic is to cast Stop on it, then use powerful physical attacks like Drill and Stray Cat, while keeping party HP topped. It works fine, assuming you aren't KO'd in one hit.
The reward is that Intangir is a good defensive Rage so long as you remember to Silence Gau beforehand (Intangir knows Transfusion, which heals a party member and kills the caster). Since you don't use Gau much, it's not very relevant to you.
You do also get 10 AP, more than any other monster gives at this point, but it's not actually great: in the time it takes to kill Intangir even with perfect strategy, you can easily complete ten fights against opponents giving 1 AP and then some.
Look, the emperor respects anyone who can tell salad fork apart from dessert one.
So, since you're redoing this section anyway, here's something interesting: every enemy here carries valuable relics you can steal, including Hermes Sandals (auto-casts Haste) and Gengi Glove (you know what it does), so Locke is plenty useful. Ultima Weapon also carries a Ribbon in rare steal slot.
Most enemies also can't breach invisible status, so an easy strategy to cheese this section is to equip someone with Phantom, summon it for party-wide invisibility, then kill everyone at your leisure after stealing their stuff. Gaia's Garb is also useful since then Lifeshaver move (the drain effect those weird floating skeletons do) would actually heal you and kill the enemies.
You actually don't need to walk around, the fight is simply initiated every couple of seconds.
So, fun fact: Ultima Weapon dies if its MP reach zero. This is one of the few fights where Rasp is actually useful for this reason, especially since the monster's battle phases are tied to HP and don't care about MP, so they never activate this way.
As you've discovered, it's not that hard to deal with it normally, though. Terra is not at the peak of her power, but even now she's the boss killer.
"Get in the robot, Celes."
I kind of see it as a theme for the game as a whole: evil prospers if you do nothing to stop it. We faced Kefka multiple times throughout the game, but he always got away (admittedly, the gameplay-story segregation makes some of his escapes seem forced), but it gives the general feeling that people are underestimating the spite and madness bubbling inside Kefka. If Sabin and Shadow had managed to stop him at Doma, then Cyan would still have his family. If the Returners hadn't let Kefka retreat at Narshe after they beat him, he wouldn't have caused trouble later. And even later, he's left to rot in jail, forgotten and dismissed as a threat. But all that time, he has been working to become stronger, until he's finally in a position to turn the tables. The theme also reflects on the Empire as a whole, with Gestahl enabling Kefka's violence; by the time he decides to rein the jester in, it's too late, and the destructive heart of the Empire has at last consumed its veneer of nobility.
Not that the game necessarily framed the plot quite right in that aspect. I'm just saying that it is a theme you can take out of this.
Then again:
Yeah, I swallowed the whole plot without question when I played the game so many years ago.
Yeah, I really prefer Woolsey's take on this. The current translation just makes Kefka seem offended and sniveling, whereas him just saying hate over and over sells his final fall into full-fledged madness. He's not just upset at Celes, but rather he has entirely snapped and just hates the whole world for getting in his way.
I know, right? Appearance-wise, it's one of my favorite boss battles from the game.And, while we're falling… Well, remember that ridiculous (but kinda cool) 'fighting in the middle of falling down a waterfall bit from way earlier in the game?
Yeah.
God I love that design. Look at these goofy cartoon faces! These angry missile pods and that grinning shark-like face, it's a great monster.
Well, the Empire didn't entirely leave South Figaro. If you return to that secret passage where Celes was locked up, the random encounters for that section (featuring Imperial soldiers and guard dogs) remain active - at least, they were when I played the PS1 version. Maybe it's just a leftover that the devs forgot to remove after you finished the rescue Celes arc, but I like to think that it also fits within the story's narrative; the Empire pretended to give up South Figaro, but they still have troops hidden there on standby, ready to retake the town once they get the signal.
I think you should specify that it's Chupon who does the sneezing.
Kuja
I'M A SQUIIIID
- Location
- AZ
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The phrase is "evil prospers when good men do nothing." And it's already been pointed out that that's a completely broken aesop for this game because repeatedly the heroes beat the snot out of Kefka and then he just bullshits out because if we killed him then the game would end too early. There's zero question that Sabin and Cyan would kill him at Doma if they could - they can't because the game can't let it happen. (Same deal with the Narshe resistance at the siege.) The closest time the heroes "allow" Kefka to get away is when he's thrown in prison by the Empire instead of suing for him to be executed, but the game covers that with the Empire playing possom after the esper rampage.
"You're not doing enough to stop the bad guy" doesn't work when the game forces you not to stop the bad guy.
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RogueIce
Noctis Æternæ
- Location
- New Lunar Republic, Equestria
Minor spoiler, but if I wait until after your next update, you'll probably have to replay a bunch of the game, assuming that you decide to.
The slow fish are sickly, and feeding them to Cid won't let him recover from his illness. That said, there's also a timer, and Cid's health goes down for every second he doesn't get a fish.
I'd honestly suggest going for the good ending first, and then checking out the bad ending.
I'd honestly suggest going for the good ending first, and then checking out the bad ending.
FunkyEntropy
Occasionally insightful, possibly grumpy
- Location
- Los Angeles
I mean, if you like spaghetti westerns I guess. I like to think of it as a little bit as Uematsu getting cheeky revenge on Hollywood for its wholesale theft of Seven Samurai as the Magnificent Seven.
(I actually really like Shadow's theme, it's catchy)
Setzer may be of questionable morals, but his theme is where it's at IMO. Great use of brass and strings.
- Location
- Lake Wobegon
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Eh, there's a pretty clear through-line running through Omi's commentary that he'd rather execute the Empire people if he could, and here the game gives you a chance. By slow and excruciating starvation (feeding Cid nothing), or by poison (feeding him bad fish), no less.
Let the nature run its course.
- Location
- Not your place of residence
That's really the question surrounding this entire part of the plot, isn't it?
How far are you willing to accept the "I Win" button that has been attached to Kefka over the final 2 updates? How much does it matter that the entire plot beat that the entire story up until now has been building up to is contingent on a couple really dumb contrivances (though I'd argue that Kefka being able to kill the Emperor wasn't really a contrivance considering their relative combat status, almost every other beat felt like one at the very least)?
Because if you're a kid who didn't notice them, or are not a kid but are willing to overlook them for a second, then these scenes are still impactful even besides that. This is the Dragon Ascending moment, and Kefka pulls that off spectacularly. This is the moment where the World is ripped asunder, and he certainly does that.
If the plot bending around Kefka a bit (and I feel a bit is the right way to put it, it's noticeable but much, much worse plot contrivances have happened in fiction at the behest of both heroes and villains before) matters too much to keep you invested in the story, then that feels really unfortunate to me, because in the process you miss one hell of a show. This is, even with the setup being more than a little bumpy, IMO one of the greatest scenes in Final Fantasy.
And I'm still not sure it's the best scene in this game.
Edit: Side note, this is what really sells the empire as a whole and Leo in particular to me; no, Gestahl is not the good Emperor who only needs to see reason, only needs to know what is going on. He knows how much of a monster he's being and how bad of a monster he's created in Kefka, and he doesn't care until Kefka's no longer HIS monster.
How far are you willing to accept the "I Win" button that has been attached to Kefka over the final 2 updates? How much does it matter that the entire plot beat that the entire story up until now has been building up to is contingent on a couple really dumb contrivances (though I'd argue that Kefka being able to kill the Emperor wasn't really a contrivance considering their relative combat status, almost every other beat felt like one at the very least)?
Because if you're a kid who didn't notice them, or are not a kid but are willing to overlook them for a second, then these scenes are still impactful even besides that. This is the Dragon Ascending moment, and Kefka pulls that off spectacularly. This is the moment where the World is ripped asunder, and he certainly does that.
If the plot bending around Kefka a bit (and I feel a bit is the right way to put it, it's noticeable but much, much worse plot contrivances have happened in fiction at the behest of both heroes and villains before) matters too much to keep you invested in the story, then that feels really unfortunate to me, because in the process you miss one hell of a show. This is, even with the setup being more than a little bumpy, IMO one of the greatest scenes in Final Fantasy.
And I'm still not sure it's the best scene in this game.
Edit: Side note, this is what really sells the empire as a whole and Leo in particular to me; no, Gestahl is not the good Emperor who only needs to see reason, only needs to know what is going on. He knows how much of a monster he's being and how bad of a monster he's created in Kefka, and he doesn't care until Kefka's no longer HIS monster.
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- Location
- Amman, Jordan
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Well, we've gotten here. Even though the method may have been bullshit (what with Kefka's free, unearned wins), the end result is both terrifying and jaw-dropping. The apocalypse happens, the good guys failed, and the world is perma-wrecked.
Yes, it's happened before in the FF series, but never quite with the same impact. FFI just had you show up at tragedies after the fact, and wooden NPCs didn't exactly fill you with sympathy for their plights. FFII had the Emperor destroying cities right and left with his superweapons, but you only arrive after the fact and only register them as ruined cities. FFIII had a ruined world, but had you recover the lost parts so it kind of undid the apocalypse, as it were, giving (almost) everyone a happy ending. FFIV had its ruined cities, but none were shown in their prior glory; you only still see them as ruins and chaos and death. FFV allowed you to visit the cities first before vanishing them, but it's implied in the ending that killing Exdeath and then NeoExdeath that everything was undone, that everything is being rebuilt and the towns and cities are back again. There's been death and destruction, sure, but for the most part the world is in sound shape and can recover.
Here, you get the World of Balance, then the World of Ruin - and you sure as shit ain't going back to WoB! There's no reset button on the destruction here, and the survivors are now going to have to struggle to keep going - all while Kefka rules from above with his weapons of destruction like a mad god. It's like Mad Max, only with someone controlling the last active nuclear weapons arsenal - and that someone is the Joker, and he's getting bored.
I think Kefka's plot wins are a little too reminiscent of DC's Joker; the Clown Prince of Crime is popular, so he gets away with literal murder and chaos every time he shows up. Kefka was designed with the same mindset, but didn't stick the landing, so it comes off as cheap plot armor victories rather than a good storyline.
Still, overall this is the "Holy Shit" moment of FFIII/FFVI, and while it might not be the best scene, it's certainly a game-changer. The world has irrevocably changed, and all you can do is keep moving forwards.
Yes, it's happened before in the FF series, but never quite with the same impact. FFI just had you show up at tragedies after the fact, and wooden NPCs didn't exactly fill you with sympathy for their plights. FFII had the Emperor destroying cities right and left with his superweapons, but you only arrive after the fact and only register them as ruined cities. FFIII had a ruined world, but had you recover the lost parts so it kind of undid the apocalypse, as it were, giving (almost) everyone a happy ending. FFIV had its ruined cities, but none were shown in their prior glory; you only still see them as ruins and chaos and death. FFV allowed you to visit the cities first before vanishing them, but it's implied in the ending that killing Exdeath and then NeoExdeath that everything was undone, that everything is being rebuilt and the towns and cities are back again. There's been death and destruction, sure, but for the most part the world is in sound shape and can recover.
Here, you get the World of Balance, then the World of Ruin - and you sure as shit ain't going back to WoB! There's no reset button on the destruction here, and the survivors are now going to have to struggle to keep going - all while Kefka rules from above with his weapons of destruction like a mad god. It's like Mad Max, only with someone controlling the last active nuclear weapons arsenal - and that someone is the Joker, and he's getting bored.
I think Kefka's plot wins are a little too reminiscent of DC's Joker; the Clown Prince of Crime is popular, so he gets away with literal murder and chaos every time he shows up. Kefka was designed with the same mindset, but didn't stick the landing, so it comes off as cheap plot armor victories rather than a good storyline.
Still, overall this is the "Holy Shit" moment of FFIII/FFVI, and while it might not be the best scene, it's certainly a game-changer. The world has irrevocably changed, and all you can do is keep moving forwards.
Muramasa
Best Girl
So the floating island… Home of some of the hardest monster encounters in the game… If you don't know how to fight them. The monsters actually have some big vulnerabilities making this a solid place to grind. About 85% of the encounters here can be cheesed.
Behemoths are vulnerable to Break. Insta kill.
Dragons can be put to sleep, then you can cast thundara until he goes down
The Baphomet things are not really a threat. They go down with thundara.
Misfits are also vulnerable to break, and you're going to want to do that since them surviving any hit will make their life shaver do major damage to any one party member.
The face things, again break. While not a major threat, they have the lore spell 'one thousand needles'.
The only encounter I'd stay away from is ninja's. Technically they're vulnerable to the death spell and thundara, but they'll wreck your party very very quickly if you don't kill them fast.
If you summon Phantom and make your team invisible, the floating continent becomes like 80% less dangerous.
Also Catoblepas just wrecks entire monster encounters by itself. MVP of the floating continent.
Behemoths are vulnerable to Break. Insta kill.
Dragons can be put to sleep, then you can cast thundara until he goes down
The Baphomet things are not really a threat. They go down with thundara.
Misfits are also vulnerable to break, and you're going to want to do that since them surviving any hit will make their life shaver do major damage to any one party member.
The face things, again break. While not a major threat, they have the lore spell 'one thousand needles'.
The only encounter I'd stay away from is ninja's. Technically they're vulnerable to the death spell and thundara, but they'll wreck your party very very quickly if you don't kill them fast.
If you summon Phantom and make your team invisible, the floating continent becomes like 80% less dangerous.
Also Catoblepas just wrecks entire monster encounters by itself. MVP of the floating continent.
In regards to Kefka as a character, I have rather mixed feelings.
On the one hand, he's the logical endpoint of the imperial philosophy: he's the power that worships only itself, he's cruelty for the sake of cruelty, he's unrestrained sadism, and also he's someone who regards other people fighting back as a personal affront that sends him into a tantrum. He's the rotten heart of the empire, and from that perspective, him ascending the emperor as the true ultimate villain and literally just throwing old baggage into the void is extremely fitting.
It's also not a surprise that he sticks with people. From his very first scene, he's very memorable, immensely quotable and iconic.
On the other hand, I kinda like that the Dog-Emperor is this paternalistic asshole who can deliver a speech about how sad it makes him to put Kefka down and to some extent mean it, who can sit with you at a table and plot his betrayal and yet still make genuine concessions because you've impressed him with your diplomacy. He's the kind of evil that doesn't truly know itself, that hides behind the veneer of respectability and decorum. He's not, in truth, any better than Kefka (well, OK, he wouldn't intentionally destroy the world, but he would fuck around with the power of gods to put his boot on everyone's throat).
I kinda wish he was the one to destroy the world (not intentionally, but as a consequence of meddling with powers beyond his comprehension) and claimed the power of the Triad. Because I can see him being genuinely remorseful over it (it was to be his world, after all), but in a way that prompts him to set himself up as a savior. He would still seek power, he would still subjugate the ruined people to his will, and he would think himself right to do so, which I think could make for a more interesting villain than a simple madman, even if Kefka's laugh is iconic in a way the emperor fails to be.
On the one hand, he's the logical endpoint of the imperial philosophy: he's the power that worships only itself, he's cruelty for the sake of cruelty, he's unrestrained sadism, and also he's someone who regards other people fighting back as a personal affront that sends him into a tantrum. He's the rotten heart of the empire, and from that perspective, him ascending the emperor as the true ultimate villain and literally just throwing old baggage into the void is extremely fitting.
It's also not a surprise that he sticks with people. From his very first scene, he's very memorable, immensely quotable and iconic.
On the other hand, I kinda like that the Dog-Emperor is this paternalistic asshole who can deliver a speech about how sad it makes him to put Kefka down and to some extent mean it, who can sit with you at a table and plot his betrayal and yet still make genuine concessions because you've impressed him with your diplomacy. He's the kind of evil that doesn't truly know itself, that hides behind the veneer of respectability and decorum. He's not, in truth, any better than Kefka (well, OK, he wouldn't intentionally destroy the world, but he would fuck around with the power of gods to put his boot on everyone's throat).
I kinda wish he was the one to destroy the world (not intentionally, but as a consequence of meddling with powers beyond his comprehension) and claimed the power of the Triad. Because I can see him being genuinely remorseful over it (it was to be his world, after all), but in a way that prompts him to set himself up as a savior. He would still seek power, he would still subjugate the ruined people to his will, and he would think himself right to do so, which I think could make for a more interesting villain than a simple madman, even if Kefka's laugh is iconic in a way the emperor fails to be.
Oh boy, here we go, it's the big one, the update of updates when it comes to FFVI's story.
Too bad he's piss-easy at this point in the game, Terra is morphing into that magical monstrosity she is even without Trance by now. Pretty sure I gave mine two Earrings around here and when she hits weaknesses with -ra or Bio spells, she does... oh, 6000-8000 damage, no biggie.
(I love the blind glasses on the FF6 sprites.)
Now granted, the actual enemies on the Floating Continent mostly have relics you can get elsewhere (other than Dragon which has Genji Gloves, but as long as you encountered one it'll show up in the Veldt like most other enemies do), but there's actually two particular good steals in this entire sequence. One of the Air Force parts has a new Tool for Edgar if you didn't get it as a rare steal from the Crane waaaay back when, and later Ultima Weapon has one of the game's few Ribbons in its rare slot.
Yes, this does in fact mean you can have effectively missed two Ribbons at this point if you don't get that and with the "chests upgrade later" mechanic some areas had way back at the beginning of the game. Cool design FF6, very nice.
As for alternate strategies for Ultima Weapon, someone else mentioned the Rasp strat which does let you stay locked to Ultima Weapon's first phase, but there's also Reflect Rings. I honestly suggest making sure you have four Reflect Rings (or use Carbuncle I guess) at some point, because being able to walk into magical specialist bosses and laugh them off is pretty fun.
I guess it leaves the opening for Shadow's Big Damn Hero moment, but still.
YOU FORGOT TO TAKE THE PLOT ARMOR BACK FROM KEFKA AFTER THE ESPERS SCENE, HE'S STILL IMMUNE TO MAGIIIIIIIIIIIC
Granted at least they actually justify it this time with Kefka's mention of standing in the center of the Triad, even if him knowing that's a thing feels kind of like an ass pull.
Or I mean, not-Rip because the thread immediately told you how to save him (and good on them for it), but man it's a hell of a thing to be able to just straight up lose a playable character like that.
And Here, We, Go.
Guess you won't be going back to previous worlds like in the last three games of Final Fantasy, huh?
But at the same time... who would, on a first playthrough? You'd absolutely want to know what happens next.
It's still kind of bullshit, but it's hardly insanely missable bullshit. It's no goddamn Zodiac Spear.
Yeah as discussed before, it's just kind of... total Esper genocide happened over the course of a single cutscene, for some reason. Not really a plot choice I agree with, but here we are, trying to recover from the fumble that is the low point of the game's plot.
I'd forgotten how weirdly organic the Floating Continent was playing through, and it really is a unique vibe. I wonder if that means this area always looked like that, deep within the Sealed Gate? Some section of the Esper lands that they refused to visit because it was where their creators, the Warring Triad, was forever sealed away?
Hopefully you at least encountered one and ran from it, so they'll show up on the Veldt later. There are a few strategies to kill one even now, since they're one of the enemies that die when MP = 0 you can just Rasp them to death, but it's still not particularly worth worrying about until a later part of the game.
I'm sure the Empire would have swept back in eventually, but I suspect Gestahl at least wants the illusion that he's working towards peace, before he acquires ultimate power and sweeps back over the land.
Well, the reason for a party of 3 instead of 4 quickly becomes apparent when you find Shadow on the Floating Continent... but it's still pretty silly, not gonna lie. Unfortunately it's a kind of problem you'll just have to memory-hole as the series goes on from here, because FF6 might be the first game in the series with selectable parties... but it sure isn't the last.
Look, he's no Gilgamesh, but I'll give him this, Ultros is dedicated to being a pain in your ass. Minor credit for that.
Too bad he's piss-easy at this point in the game, Terra is morphing into that magical monstrosity she is even without Trance by now. Pretty sure I gave mine two Earrings around here and when she hits weaknesses with -ra or Bio spells, she does... oh, 6000-8000 damage, no biggie.
See look at her, Terra's just too cool for this shit.Anyway, this doesn't really matter, because at this point Trance Terra is a weapon of mass destruction hitting for several thousands of damage when she can hit an elemental weakness:
(I love the blind glasses on the FF6 sprites.)
Oh hey, it took me until now to realize you didn't bring Locke for stealing utility.
Now granted, the actual enemies on the Floating Continent mostly have relics you can get elsewhere (other than Dragon which has Genji Gloves, but as long as you encountered one it'll show up in the Veldt like most other enemies do), but there's actually two particular good steals in this entire sequence. One of the Air Force parts has a new Tool for Edgar if you didn't get it as a rare steal from the Crane waaaay back when, and later Ultima Weapon has one of the game's few Ribbons in its rare slot.
Yes, this does in fact mean you can have effectively missed two Ribbons at this point if you don't get that and with the "chests upgrade later" mechanic some areas had way back at the beginning of the game. Cool design FF6, very nice.
And here it is, the reason you had to have three party members. Honestly I kind of thought we were over things being this clunky like back in FF4 with its rotating party deaths, but guess not. At least Shadow is the coolest so I can't complain too much
So someone else mentioned it before me, but you can actually just cheese a majority of the Floating Continent with two tricks: most of the enemies aren't immune to instant Death like the Death spell or some of Gau's Rages, and the Phantom Esper casts Vanish on the entire party, where most enemies don't have magical attacks. Helps a lot for traversing the area.
Honestly, part of me looks at the two Ultima Weapons, Sword and Monster, and thinks back to that out of game lore tidbit of Ultima back in FF2: How it was the ultimate magic back in the day, but compared to modern tech and magic it doesn't quite hold up and that's why it's not nearly as useful as it should be. I don't think the same is meant to play out here, but it's a fun headcannon.
As for alternate strategies for Ultima Weapon, someone else mentioned the Rasp strat which does let you stay locked to Ultima Weapon's first phase, but there's also Reflect Rings. I honestly suggest making sure you have four Reflect Rings (or use Carbuncle I guess) at some point, because being able to walk into magical specialist bosses and laugh them off is pretty fun.
I think what makes this particularly weird for me is like... Celes doesn't actually join the party again until after the entire cutscene, where Shadow is left behind anyways. Would it really have been that hard to have both around at once?
I guess it leaves the opening for Shadow's Big Damn Hero moment, but still.
It's good to see Celes is dedicating herself to the Empire in such a way - truly, the most loyal of generals, ordering herself in such a manner
And so, we finally get to the moment, the point where Kefka just completely snaps for good. I don't think you confirmed you knew about "Kefka big bad" in your early-game discussion of what you already know, but to be fair last I checked Kefka is also a boss in FFXIV so... I kind of assumed you had an inkling of where things were going all along.
GESTAHL YOU FOOL
YOU FORGOT TO TAKE THE PLOT ARMOR BACK FROM KEFKA AFTER THE ESPERS SCENE, HE'S STILL IMMUNE TO MAGIIIIIIIIIIIC
Granted at least they actually justify it this time with Kefka's mention of standing in the center of the Triad, even if him knowing that's a thing feels kind of like an ass pull.
Personally, unlike the bit back in Thamasa the "holy shit" of the entire sequence overwhelms the small "okay but why" bits. I won't deny it's got a bit of that "Joker wins because we said so" energy, but the actual execution of where it goes tends to be more than enough to keep me invested this time around.
RIP Shadow, he was the best edgelord we could have had.
Or I mean, not-Rip because the thread immediately told you how to save him (and good on them for it), but man it's a hell of a thing to be able to just straight up lose a playable character like that.
Speaking of Joker, earlier:
And Here, We, Go.
Welcome, Omi. Welcome, to the World of Ruin.
Guess you won't be going back to previous worlds like in the last three games of Final Fantasy, huh?
Well, I suppose there was the option to have an "End of Act" save, the way FFVII through FFVIII had "End of Disk" saves - at the end of the "world changed forever" bit bring up the save menu, so players could take a break there if they wanted.
But at the same time... who would, on a first playthrough? You'd absolutely want to know what happens next.
Have to admit my first thought during this scene was "boy Celes sure is pretty healthy for someone who's been stuck in a coma on a desert island for year". But that's just video game logic at work, I suppose.
Once again, I say: Welcome to the World of Ruin. And boy, that overworld track is just haunting, especially compared to what we had in the World of Balance.
Sadly, I don't think I ever played this completely blind, since my first experience with FF6 was actually on emulators after hearing all the "OH MAN KEFKA BEST VILLAIN HE WIN AND DESTROYS THE WORLD" hype. Which granted it still lived up to that hype when I played, but it was less blind playthrough, more one specific spoiler that sounds cool and invests you playthrough.
Un-RIP Shadow, he's still the best edgelord that we still have.
The game does actually have a hint towards Shadow's survival. If when you first reach the jump off point, you don't jump for whatever reason, the two prompts for jumping will change, with the "not yet" one becoming "gotta wait for Shadow...", hinting at the whole thing. And I'm sure someone would wait around just for the sake of the fact that they like Shadow and run into that.
It's still kind of bullshit, but it's hardly insanely missable bullshit. It's no goddamn Zodiac Spear.
That could make for a pretty interesting alternative, can't deny it. I mean I still like what we got, insane nihilist Kefka ascending to effective godhood and destroying things just for his own amusement, but Great Emperor Gestahl trying to act as the hand of the messiah and bring the world back under his rule could also make for quite something.
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Zap Rowsdower
Ex-cultist vagrant
- Location
- Bright lights, big city
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Naturally; its a JRPG. You go to sleep, and you're fully healed when you wake up. She just took longer to get to the wake up part than usual.
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I brought up Doctor Who before when talking about party sizes, but it might be more relevant to bring it up here.
Thirteen years after FFVI, there was a DW season finale that played out very similarly to the World of Balance/Ruin transition, in which an insane, clown-like politician keeps gaining power till he kills another politician who'd been in a bigger position of power. He then turns the whole world post-apocalyptic by unleashing a god-like force, then rules over the remains with an iron fist.
Now I have no idea whether FFVI was an influence on 'The Sound of Drums' or not, writer Russell T Davies doesn't strike me as a guy into jRPGs, but there are a ton of parallels I'm surprised I don't see brought up more often. Maybe that's because Mr. Saxon doesn't dress like a literal clown, I dunno.
There are key differences though, which I can't exactly bring up without spoiling (I'm starting to think we could use an 'Omicron plays FF Spoiler thread' like the one Leila Hann has). For now I'll say they mostly come from The Sound of Drums taking place on Earth whereas FFVI sure doesn't, and that Mr. Saxon was meant as a Tony Blair satire whereas Kefka wasn't for obvious reasons.
Oh, and Kefka has way better taste in music
Thirteen years after FFVI, there was a DW season finale that played out very similarly to the World of Balance/Ruin transition, in which an insane, clown-like politician keeps gaining power till he kills another politician who'd been in a bigger position of power. He then turns the whole world post-apocalyptic by unleashing a god-like force, then rules over the remains with an iron fist.
Now I have no idea whether FFVI was an influence on 'The Sound of Drums' or not, writer Russell T Davies doesn't strike me as a guy into jRPGs, but there are a ton of parallels I'm surprised I don't see brought up more often. Maybe that's because Mr. Saxon doesn't dress like a literal clown, I dunno.
There are key differences though, which I can't exactly bring up without spoiling (I'm starting to think we could use an 'Omicron plays FF Spoiler thread' like the one Leila Hann has). For now I'll say they mostly come from The Sound of Drums taking place on Earth whereas FFVI sure doesn't, and that Mr. Saxon was meant as a Tony Blair satire whereas Kefka wasn't for obvious reasons.
Oh, and Kefka has way better taste in music
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Muramasa
Best Girl
Unrelated but I think the remaster actually whiffed on the floating continent and ultima weapon battle soundtracks here. To be fair, these are both great sound tracks that are difficult to top, and I feel the remaster didn't quite measure up here.
View: https://youtu.be/cPnZj2yG2gU
View: https://youtu.be/svUcKuUfftY
View: https://youtu.be/cPnZj2yG2gU
View: https://youtu.be/svUcKuUfftY
I was convinced FF3/VI was an epic movie Hollywood hadnt had since the Star Wars Triology, that I got to play.
That tension between playable game and a sweeping fantastic epic movie does mean there are a few gaping plotholes.
In the moment it was absolutely forgivable, just for the payoff you got. A madman did it, he pulled the trigger on destroying the world with weapons of mass destruction.
.... on reflection I suspect that part of this Armageddon alongside EVA was driven in part by the collapse of the Soviet Union and dread of MAD winding down
That tension between playable game and a sweeping fantastic epic movie does mean there are a few gaping plotholes.
In the moment it was absolutely forgivable, just for the payoff you got. A madman did it, he pulled the trigger on destroying the world with weapons of mass destruction.
.... on reflection I suspect that part of this Armageddon alongside EVA was driven in part by the collapse of the Soviet Union and dread of MAD winding down
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I don't see why Omicron shouldn't see this, it's extra scenes after all... Unless I'm missing something and it's newgame plus only?
So, two things.
For me I still think Kefka's win makes sense. The Esper genocide I already touched on.
Here at the end of the Floating Continent we have a different problem: Kefka's still inside the Triad's influence and we're not high enough leveled to beat him to death before he can magic us into oblivion. The barrier is fairly evidently a one-way street.
None of our magic can hurt him. He's free to cast anything he wants.
And he got the statues out of alignment before we were in any sort of position to be able to stop him from doing so.
There's no getting back on the plane after jumping out on your skydive. And this apocalypse, to paraphrase Ozymandias, was accomplished 35 minutes ago.
I will have check but I think (well, have a vague memory of) in the SNES version Shadow's line was to wait for him. The pic here is trust him, not so specific. Don't recall for sure though.
Second you can only get Mog's Water Rondo Dance before the Floating Continent.
Second you can only get Mog's Water Rondo Dance before the Floating Continent.
For me I still think Kefka's win makes sense. The Esper genocide I already touched on.
Here at the end of the Floating Continent we have a different problem: Kefka's still inside the Triad's influence and we're not high enough leveled to beat him to death before he can magic us into oblivion. The barrier is fairly evidently a one-way street.
None of our magic can hurt him. He's free to cast anything he wants.
And he got the statues out of alignment before we were in any sort of position to be able to stop him from doing so.
There's no getting back on the plane after jumping out on your skydive. And this apocalypse, to paraphrase Ozymandias, was accomplished 35 minutes ago.
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
About the Ultima Weapon originally being translated as 'Atma Weapon', at first I thought it was just a misspelling, or that they didn't want any confusion with the Ultima wRPGs. But no, credit to Woolsey, 'Atma' (also spelt Atman) is a real concept, being the Soul or True Self in Hinduism and other Dharmic religions.
Still maybe a stretch to describe the Weapon, but no more so than any other FF monster names
Still maybe a stretch to describe the Weapon, but no more so than any other FF monster names
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