- Pronouns
- He/Him
Dial back.
Let's Play Every Final Fantasy Game In Order Of Release [Now Finished: Final Fantasy Tactics]
- Thread starter Omicron
- Start date
- Let's Play
Dial back.
- Location
- England, unfortunately.
- Pronouns
- She/They
See, other people immediately jumped to Parent.
I think it shows my mentality, though I'm not sure what, that my immediate assumption was "Ah, this is clearly a Xenogears Situation, Laguna is one of the past incarnations of Squall and Piano Girl is one of Blue Girls."
I think it shows my mentality, though I'm not sure what, that my immediate assumption was "Ah, this is clearly a Xenogears Situation, Laguna is one of the past incarnations of Squall and Piano Girl is one of Blue Girls."
Omegahugger
Inattentive Idiot
If Galbadia is based on 'vague European capitol' and is also our resident Empire, there's also a decent chance that the frescoes have been looted from somewhere else.
Probably not something people were cognizant of in the late nineties though.
Probably because Reincarnation Romances are a pretty common trope in anime and manga. I can think of like three different examples from around FFVIII's timeframe alone that included it in some way.
There's a reason why in was Sayaka's go to explanation when Madoka said she'd seen the mysterious transfer student in a dream.
Haven't read the rest of the update yet but I love the phrase 'A mysterious GF living in another dimension'. Guess we found FF8 Canada.
Egleris
Vagrant Dragon
- Location
- Italy
That doesn't work though, Laguna is noticeably older than Squall, in his mid-twenties or thereabouts.
...maybe he was subjected to de-aging before being put into stasis?
- Location
- The Middle of the Howling Wilderness
Connelly
As useless as a penguin with mittens
- Location
- Salamanca, Spain
They're not? We established they're both Galbadians in the Galbadian capital. What made you think otherwise?
Checking again? My lack of reading comprehension (I blame being tired).
- Location
- Singapore
- Pronouns
- Singular They
Now that we've officially seen Zell's Limit Break, there's a very minor bit of trivia that I've always found amusing and fascinating.
Given Zell's LB requires the player to input commands within the time limit of four to twelve seconds (depending on Crisis Level), it became quickly obvious that a valid way of maximizing damage within the time limit is to focus on quick, spammable attacks, rather than the big flashy attacks that require multiple button presses to execute.
And so, in possibly the most late 90s and early 00s Internet culture example, FFVIII players decided to call this technique "Armageddon Fist".
It's the sort of name that makes me go "yes, a 90s teenager absolutely came up with this".
Given Zell's LB requires the player to input commands within the time limit of four to twelve seconds (depending on Crisis Level), it became quickly obvious that a valid way of maximizing damage within the time limit is to focus on quick, spammable attacks, rather than the big flashy attacks that require multiple button presses to execute.
And so, in possibly the most late 90s and early 00s Internet culture example, FFVIII players decided to call this technique "Armageddon Fist".
It's the sort of name that makes me go "yes, a 90s teenager absolutely came up with this".
Unfortunately this strategy is very boring to pull off. With some practice you can fairly easily get 8-10 attacks in per second (since the timer only ticks during the inputs, and the quick attacks only require two button presses), and you then have to sit through the same repeating 2-3 second animations dozens or even upwards of a hundred times. Undeniably effective though.
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- Pronouns
- She/They
Oh boy that flashback is giving us a lot to chew through isn't it. I'm going to have to go with the theory that Squall was somehow physically present for the events of the flashback, with GF junctioning scrambling his memory of it, probably put into stasis or otherwise pulled into the present day by Cid, the evil mastermind he is.
My core argument for this is the fact that Squall being a future Laguna makes him constantly bitching about Laguna being a dork‐ass loser the funniest possible punchline once we get the reveal. Just imagine the look on his face upon realizing the he did, in fact, have earnest human emotions and personal connections in a past life, it would break his poor brain.
My core argument for this is the fact that Squall being a future Laguna makes him constantly bitching about Laguna being a dork‐ass loser the funniest possible punchline once we get the reveal. Just imagine the look on his face upon realizing the he did, in fact, have earnest human emotions and personal connections in a past life, it would break his poor brain.
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daniel_gudman
KING (in land of blind)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
People talking about Squall being a, de-aged future version of Laguna are missing an obvious alternate possibility:
That Laguna is a regular-aged future Squall.
Squall, utra-super-soldier, is literally on his way to help Timber fight off Galbadia. It is very possible that he is right on the cusp of the turning point of Timber reclaiming their independence and starting a new phase of the war.
That Laguna is a regular-aged future Squall.
Squall, utra-super-soldier, is literally on his way to help Timber fight off Galbadia. It is very possible that he is right on the cusp of the turning point of Timber reclaiming their independence and starting a new phase of the war.
- Location
- Spain
Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora
Dang, future Squall must have really gotten along with Kiros to tear the blade off his gunblade for a weapon for Kiros, leaving Laguna!Squall with just Gun.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I don't know, but consider this: A Laguna is a kind of body of water, and the Loire (his last name) is a river in France.
Good question! The answer, it turns out, is yes; Ward inherits all of Selphie's GFs, magic and level while Kiros gets Zell's.
What the fuck.
What possible connection would there be between these events. How does tying them together make any sense. Who is responsible
Your brain is huge.
Okay, okay, fair call, and that's probably the best "rock" version of it, but also consider:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17-q1dJJsaI
I did briefly entertain that notion, but I think there's a small issue with Kiros being either Zell or Selphie's dad, at the very least if we assume the memory transference passes down a hereditary/genetic line.
Egleris
Vagrant Dragon
- Location
- Italy
Weird as it might seem, a connection exists. It's meta, but you'll figure it out, eventually. To say more would be spoiler.
Speaking of that scene, since you could technically still watch the other version if you have a save before picking up the Timber Maniacs: do you want me to get the Italian translation for both versions of the scene, or just the one you played in this update?
Connelly
As useless as a penguin with mittens
- Location
- Salamanca, Spain
The Distant Worlds concerts are, indeed, hella baller, and I hold no issue against this preference.
deadcrystal
Slaaneshi Cultist
- Location
- The Warp
I really can't emphasise enough that there is literally no clue anywhere in the game that would lead you to realise that this is the case and make a choice about it. The only way to figure out that it even happens is to do multiple playthroughs, notice the change, and trial and error to figure out the cause.
FF8 also has a bunch of sidequests and secrets with equally esoteric mechanics, which to be honest, you will need to seek out outside guidance for if you want to have any hope whatsoever of doing them. Like the secret triple triad mechanics. Most of the sidequests have actual rewards as well, unlike this scene difference which ultimately doesn't matter.
The best explanation I've seen for this is that they shoved this crap in to serve as fodder to sell game guides, back when those chunky paper things existed.
- Location
- Singapore
- Pronouns
- Singular They
I actually have the Brady Games guide for FFVIII, albeit for the first PC version.
Nowhere does it mention anything about Timber Maniacs affecting cutscenes. In fact, the description of the entire Laguna sequence here is in one single box, and goes along the lines of "go this way, go here, talk to these people, and done". There's not even a mention of any cutscenes.
Which is plausible for a game guide that's concerned with gameplay mechanics (although some of the boss strategies are "hit it until it is defeated"), but very basic and uninformative for little technical details like the magazines affecting cutscenes.
Given the game guide is already 352 pages, I do doubt all these weird unexplained interactions were meant to sell guides, with their physical page limits. Thus, I have no idea why the devs bothered to put in these changes.
daniel_gudman
KING (in land of blind)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
(Going deeper down the rabbit hole) The last fight Squall participates in as "Squall" will give him a leg injury that makes it impossible to run around with a gunblade; that's the injury that cramps up whenever Laguna gets nervous, and why he can only fight by standing in place with Gun and needs to swing around from Chain during his Limit break.
Honestly I'd kind of think, like, just for the hell of it! They are game devs writing a game, at some level writing these little hooks where cut scenes trigger off different stuff has to involve some level of feeling clever at pulling off something tricky. It's just when that feeling of cleverness runs ahead of the lead writer asking "what does this Make Sense" that you get stuff like this.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It is, in fact, canon to the FFXIV setting that the gunblade predates the gun, and the term "Gunblade" initially came from the contraction of the "Blades of Gunnhildr"; when the Garlean Empire developed projectile-throwing weapons, the gunblade-using nation went "huh, this looks kind of like our gunblades, but without the 'blade'... I'll call it a 'gun!'"
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So. Trains.
Putting my rudimentary literary analysis hat on, the train in 6 is about death. It's a ghost train, a psychopomp full of the dead, and it very much takes its passengers on a one way trip to the end of the line. It's an enemy because the party wants to get off. (Its maybe a little half baked because Cyan is and that story beat is mostly his.)
And of course, it is a industrial era spectre of death, representative of the weapons of the empire and the tools that slaughtered Cyan's home.
In the broader series, at least up to this point, it's the first vehicle that's truly out of the player's control. FF4 had some cutscene vehicles, but you got to actually control versions of them elsewhere. A train is different. It can only take you on the tracks, and no driver can change that - and the party certainly doesn't get to drive. They can only get on or off, and maybe try to make it stop.
In FF7, the trains are no longer supernatural. People ride them to work under Midgar, or Shinra uses them to move their exploited goods around Corel, where the minecart tracks are broken and the party can only (hopefully) stop Shinra from running over North Corel.
There's no magic to the trains. But they are a metaphor. For the Planet - everyone is in this together, on the same ride. Some people might think they're on top of the world, some might think it's fine to run people over, and some might worry about the cost of running the train. Some want to make the train stop... or crash.
But at the end of the day, the rails can't be rebuilt while the train is running. There's going to be pain, an end of the line for good or bad, and you just have to deal with the tracks everyone built and try to come to a safe stop together.
But what about FF8?
It's already pretty clear that the train - which the party finds cool and fancy and great - is not under their control. They didnt buy tickets or choose their destination. Just like the whole Garden and mercenaries deal, everything except their moment to moment combat decisions is in the hands of others. Unless I missed them being told what their actual job is this time or who exactly they are working for, they have some major questions they are not supposed to ask. And they aren't.
But the question on top of that is, well, is the train magic?
They went to sleep in the fancy train car and found themselves dreaming of being other people. Of being adults with friendships inside and outside of work, with romance, with a stable job in one nation rather than the mercenary globetrotting. And it's a shared dream?
What prompted this NOW? Is it the train? Is it the party sleeping in one room post Ifrit acquisition? Is it the magic lamp? Heck, is it Selphie, transfer student who actually spoke about the dream that she is? No clue. Given past games, it could just be the train! Maybe those three are haunting that cabin on their train ride to the afterlife.
Putting my rudimentary literary analysis hat on, the train in 6 is about death. It's a ghost train, a psychopomp full of the dead, and it very much takes its passengers on a one way trip to the end of the line. It's an enemy because the party wants to get off. (Its maybe a little half baked because Cyan is and that story beat is mostly his.)
And of course, it is a industrial era spectre of death, representative of the weapons of the empire and the tools that slaughtered Cyan's home.
In the broader series, at least up to this point, it's the first vehicle that's truly out of the player's control. FF4 had some cutscene vehicles, but you got to actually control versions of them elsewhere. A train is different. It can only take you on the tracks, and no driver can change that - and the party certainly doesn't get to drive. They can only get on or off, and maybe try to make it stop.
In FF7, the trains are no longer supernatural. People ride them to work under Midgar, or Shinra uses them to move their exploited goods around Corel, where the minecart tracks are broken and the party can only (hopefully) stop Shinra from running over North Corel.
There's no magic to the trains. But they are a metaphor. For the Planet - everyone is in this together, on the same ride. Some people might think they're on top of the world, some might think it's fine to run people over, and some might worry about the cost of running the train. Some want to make the train stop... or crash.
But at the end of the day, the rails can't be rebuilt while the train is running. There's going to be pain, an end of the line for good or bad, and you just have to deal with the tracks everyone built and try to come to a safe stop together.
But what about FF8?
It's already pretty clear that the train - which the party finds cool and fancy and great - is not under their control. They didnt buy tickets or choose their destination. Just like the whole Garden and mercenaries deal, everything except their moment to moment combat decisions is in the hands of others. Unless I missed them being told what their actual job is this time or who exactly they are working for, they have some major questions they are not supposed to ask. And they aren't.
But the question on top of that is, well, is the train magic?
They went to sleep in the fancy train car and found themselves dreaming of being other people. Of being adults with friendships inside and outside of work, with romance, with a stable job in one nation rather than the mercenary globetrotting. And it's a shared dream?
What prompted this NOW? Is it the train? Is it the party sleeping in one room post Ifrit acquisition? Is it the magic lamp? Heck, is it Selphie, transfer student who actually spoke about the dream that she is? No clue. Given past games, it could just be the train! Maybe those three are haunting that cabin on their train ride to the afterlife.