Let's Play Every Final Fantasy Game In Order Of Release [Now Playing: Final Fantasy Tactics]
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I still haven't finished the Whole FFIV Reference arc from 6.5 T_T
I'd be interested in hearing why sometime. I took a pretty long break during that period, but that's because of some Hot Takes I have about post 6.3's writing and gameplay. Regardless, the (blatantly obvious for anyone with knowledge of IV but spoilered anyways) Barbariccia fight makes the whole thing worth it.
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At the time, it was mostly just "oh I'm busy with [other thing, mainly playing games for this LP] and the story is dramatic but the stakes aren't super high in terms of personal stuff so I'll get to it in a bit" and then just keeping on delaying getting to it because there was 'other stuff,' but after Dawntrail came out I experienced a feeling of like... Tiredness? Not with the story, but, hm.
Basically, Endwalker introducing a Trust Trial and then having some of the best solo duties in the game, and then the 6.X patches going back to mostly normal gameplay flow, have intensified how... Alienating? I find the endgame FFXIV experience?
Like, every major story beat in the game is resolved by a Trial. Which means every major story beat reaching its climactic confrontation, its moment of absolute dramatic peak, when it's time for the Warrior of Light to throw down with the greatest threat in the story since the last greatest threat... And then I just spend the next thirty minutes dying, waiting for the healer's Raise cooldowns to end, briefly getting up to try and complete a rotation, then dying again and waiting for the Healers to realize that I'm a lost cause and just leaving me to wait until everyone's down killing the boss without me so I can maybe at least enjoy the pretty animations.
Which is a profoundly unsatisfying way to experience the final epic battle for the fate of the country/continent/world/universe in which I'm supposed to play the main protagonist.
And because this is such a frustrating experience, I don't want to subject myself to it more than I have to, so I avoid doing current story content roulette, so I don't really learn how to deal with "current level of complexity expected from Trials" difficulty, and then the next expac came out and suddenly I have even more buttons to keep track of and the bosses have even more complex patterns so everything is even more difficult for me.
I managed to tough it up to the Golbez Trial but then I decided to put off the next patch for a while, and by the time Dawntrail had already come out for a few weeks and people were like "wow this is more difficult than it used to be" I felt my soul wither on the inside at the very thought of having to go through with it.
Like, there are fights that I absolutely love in FFXIV and that are lasting experiences that will stay with me, but they're like, uh... New Rhitahtyn, New Lahabrea, Thancred vs Ran'jit, Zenos at the end of the universe, Hydaelyn, which all have something in common and it's "there are no other players involved." The final boss of Endwalker is an impossibly gorgeous fight but I'm not playing it, I'm just waiting for other people to finish doing so.
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Well, on the plus side you can play through 90% of Dawntrail solo since only the final trial requires other players.
The downside is that still pretty much runs squarely into your issue.
You could probably convince a bunch of people on this thread to do a party with you and accept a wipe whenever you go down.
I'm sad to hear that the gameplay is such a big hurdle, esp. since it's actually at a place where I largely like now (I was literally falling asleep during stuff like the NM Rubicante fight because it was so plodding). If it's any consolation, the increase in difficulty is also being matched by even more MSQ content being soloable with trusts now. I think only the DT final boss has required grouping? Although the heavy use of Trusts is having a pretty deleterious effect on the narrative IMO, but that's a convo for later. But hey, when they finalize Cross-Region DC Travel, we can all happily drag you across any finish line you need with no qualms.
EDIT: Of course EW is honestly a perfectly fine to call it quits, especially as far as a retrospective/review of the game goes. The current post-EW plotline is likely gonna be only 1/4th of the way complete by the time you get to it.
Funny how they turned the game's biggest joke into the best bossfight in the ARR.
EDIT: Of course EW is honestly a perfectly fine to call it quits, especially as far as a retrospective/review of the game goes. The current post-EW plotline is likely gonna be only 1/4th of the way complete by the time you get to it.
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Yeah that's always been one of the risks. I had that experience on the last boss of the final Shadowbringers dungeon - made worse by the fact that I was the healer. I just had the misfortune of a very good party who managed to not die even with me dead. It sucks.
Unfortunately too the best way to avoid it in my experience is to do the content at launch, because then people are more likely to wipe and you'll get room to actually learn the fight rather than just getting carried. Some fights can be particularly bad about this - E7's portals can be fiddly to get your head around first run, so it really helps if your party wipes and you get to reset and redo the fight. I feel sorry for anyone doing Eden now since odds are they'll just die a bunch there and get dragged through, which isn't much fun.
I feel it's improving the narrative, at least now you do trial/dungeons with the group you're actively traveling with instead of random teleported adventurers.
Mmm, yes and no imo. In general yeah, I agree it provides more narrative cohesion, but there were times during DT when they were arranging party splits and you could just feel the hand of the Trust requirements hanging over things. People would be there and you could just tell it was so you'd have the right people available for a Trust.
Though my issue with them is more the opposite really - I don't really enjoy doing trials with Trusts, and I don't like feeling like the narrative is forcing me to do it for the story. For all there's the risk that you floortank and get carried, if you can get a good run with other first timers and die together it's just a much more enjoyable experience imo.
I'll put this in spoilers since It should really go in the FFXXIV thread, and then that's the last I'll comment on it...for now.
One of my Hot Takes is that I would rather take the ludonarrative hit of pairing up with 3 randos or AI controlled GC squad members or whatever to run dungeons than have to be shackled to 3-6 other Scions at all times during the story, as is the current style. IMO, the whole reason we're stuck with the Scions who are all far, far past their narrative sell-by-date is because they have to stick around for the trust system. It's even more aggravating that you end up knowing that there's going to be a Dungeon or Trial happening because immediately 2-4 more of them will show up, waste time having explain why they're here and what they're doing. And I think it's not the only reason behind post-ShB XIV's atrocious pacing that finally culminated in DT, but it's a big, big part of it.
TL;DR: It makes you choose between the Scions either smothering the narrative or become pointless paper dolls dragged around my narrative fiat.
TL;DR: It makes you choose between the Scions either smothering the narrative or become pointless paper dolls dragged around my narrative fiat.
I knew the trust system was having a bad effect on DT's story when I realised that Urianger had to show up for all these major boss battles and dungeons despite doing almost nothing but sitting next to a campfire and smiling vacantly for the majority of his screentime.
And that's why I'm convinced Agrias is secretly Ramza's sister.
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He's blond... She's blond... He wears a blue top at the start of the game... She wears a blue top... It all makes perfect sense!
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At least EW seems like a satisfying stopping point for the story, I wound up hit with that weird malaise over the game after finishing ShB. Which is frustrating when I hear so many good things about EW's story, but trying to get myself through the ShB post-patch content just feels like pulling teeth for some reason.
And then half the time I wind up playing FFXI anyway, so I mean, I guess I'll be prepared for the raid series if I can ever push myself to the end of DT?
And then half the time I wind up playing FFXI anyway, so I mean, I guess I'll be prepared for the raid series if I can ever push myself to the end of DT?
Trust is good when you don't play day one, care about watching things and don't have a team of first timers with you.
Which is a probably decent part of the playerbase. There is no fun to enter in a new dungeon and to do it in a speedy gonzales mode, because all the other players are just here for the xp.
It allows you to train on your class tools, even if it's true that your AI teammates are a bit too good if you compare with normal players.
But except for these, I suppose that's normal to have no interest in it and to be a little displeased with the narrative, depending about how it's done to put all the needed of characters at the entrance of the dungeon.
Which is a probably decent part of the playerbase. There is no fun to enter in a new dungeon and to do it in a speedy gonzales mode, because all the other players are just here for the xp.
It allows you to train on your class tools, even if it's true that your AI teammates are a bit too good if you compare with normal players.
But except for these, I suppose that's normal to have no interest in it and to be a little displeased with the narrative, depending about how it's done to put all the needed of characters at the entrance of the dungeon.
Final Fantasy Tactics, Part 11.A: Mining Town Gollund & Royal Capital Lesalia
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Hear ye, hear ye! 'Tis the year of our lord 2024, and it has come to pass that Ramza Beoulve has come forth to the royal capital to make a brave and hopeful, yet ultimately foolish, entreaty for peace, only to find himself set against by new and sinister opposition…
The Story So Far: Ramza, scion of the noble House Beoulve, took up the life of a wandering mercenary without allegiance after being betrayed by his own kin. Now that the kingdom of Ivalice is torn by war, he has uncovered traces of a hidden conspiracy which manipulates events behind the scenes, and is now rushing to warn his brothers of the truth…
Before we head to the Royal City of Lesalia, though, we're going to engage in some light battling. Several new Errands have been unlocked, so we'll split our party in two, one half running Errands and one half engaging in random encounters to pass the time.
Hadrian is doing a light job detour. He's unlocked most of what we are about from Dragoon, so while we'll eventually get him support and movement abilities like Dragonheart (which casts Reraise on self when critically injured) and Ignore Elevation, for now I have my eyes on a different prize: the Samurai job has a support ability called Doublehand, which allows it to wield a weapon in two hands to increase attack power. This seems like the perfect way to increase the Dragoon's already considerable Jump attack power. If it turns out there is some hidden mechanic that makes Jump incompatible with Doublehand or something, well. I'll have wasted a bunch of this update. But it should be fine.
To become a Samurai however, Hadrian must first become a Knight in order to unlock Monk. That's a significant downgrade in power, so we're sending him off on Errand to not have to deal with it while grinding monster encounters.
Said Errand is the first of several "frontier marathons." These fascinating events appear to be more exploration than race, or rather they are a form of competitive exploration where several teams race to uncover "wonders of the ancient world." Each time we win, we are rewarded with the discovery of some cool ancient ruin, like the Forbidden Land of Eureka:
Hell yeah.
Other Errands include more salvaging of sunken ships, helping a depressed minstrel find new jokes, and more mining. We can currently run three Frontier Marathons, each of which appears to be a reference to past FF games - Eureka is of course the penultimate dungeon from FF3, then there's the gnome village of Tozus, which does appear to be populated with actual gnomes (shame we don't meet them in-character), also from FF3, and the third one reveals the Mirage Tower from the very first game.
There's also a new location available in cities - the Poacher's Den. When we visit it, the guy tells us he has nothing to sell us. This seems like it would be related to the Poach Support Ability that the Thief can learn; I've never bothered with it before, but figuring I might as well give it a shot, I teach it to Hester and in our next battle, monsters she kills with her attacks are slain instantly instead of being put on a cooldown and the screen tells us "Poached!" On our next visit…
…the Tradesman now has items to sell us. They're kinda lame - Holy Water and Ether, which I can't use - but they exist! They're also less expensive to purchase than they normally are, so the point of the Poacher's Den appears to be "kill monsters with a special ability to unlock discounted items." Frankly I don't think I'm going to bother thinking about it much.
With four random encounters about as many Errands, Hadrian can now level out of Knight and into Monk, making him hopefully useful to me again (or at least that's what I thought, but - well, we'll see).
So let's head to our next story destination, the Mining Town of Gollund.
A man named Orran appears to be trapped by a bunch of scoundrels. We've actually heard his name before; he was off-handedly mentioned by Cidolfus in the line "Orran tells me over one hundred thousand have already fled to Lesalia, and more pour by the day." So he looks to be an informant aligned with Duke Goltanna, though of course we don't know that in-character. Just as our man is cornered and driven to this rooftop, Ramza enters the screen; even without context, seeing a man about to be set upon by outlaws is immediately enough to stir him to help, and we begin battle.
Oran's job is "Astrologer," and he attacks people by… Reading a book at them? That's not a joke; he literally opens a book on his turn and damage happens. I assume what's going on there is that Orran is casting some magic from a tome, but there's no spell animation, so it really does look like he's just reading so painfully it causes people psychic damage.
The map is shaped in a way that makes it difficult to depict using screenshots, but: our enemies are three Thieves, two Chemists, and an Orator. Not a particularly intimidating setup, save that all the Thieves are running Steal Heart and also the enemy are a level range around lv 21, which is several levels above our non-Ramza units, and also the Chemists are rocking Mithryl Guns.
80 damage a shot is way higher than what Mustadio and Gillian can currently do with their own guns, jesus. Gillian goes down pretty much instantly. Most of our characters also have low Jump ratings, so the terrain is actually very difficult to navigate, requiring slow circling around the central house to take the slopes and climb.
Hadrian also deals way less damage than I expected - with 50 damage per hit, his Jump is actually lower damage than his normal attack? This is a huge downgrade. Anyway, we take down one of the Chemists, get to work on the others, but Orran is cornered up top and getting to him is a very slow process. On his turn, however, Orran reveals that he is far from defenseless, not just from his deadly book-reading skills but also from… Whatever the fuck is this:
God, okay. I guess Orran's Astrologer Abilities manifest chiefly in the power to show our world as a pale blue dot drifting through a field of stars or something??? This is such a ridiculously over the top move, and it has one of the longest animations of any attack in the game (still much shorter than any summon of the PSX era, of course). It's also shockingly useful: It's a status debuff that hits the entire screen, targeting every enemy with a chance to inflict Immobilize, Disable, and Stop. It basically shuts down almost the entire enemy side for at least a full round, which is enormous utility. I'm seriously hoping I can recruit this guy later.
Unfortunately it's not quite enough. The level gap between me and our opponents is high enough that it takes too much time whittling down their HP, and I need to raise Gillian so she can cast healing spells on Orran before the enemy kills him and we fail the mission objective. Ultimately, between the impractical terrain making it take so much time to get anywhere, my healer being down, and the level gap, I fail to protect the VIP.
It's a pretty painful way to fail this fight, but it gives me some ideas what to do next. Nobody on my team has unlocked Jump +X abilities, but I do have a stock of Spiked Boots that increase Jumping distance by 1, which should be helpful in navigating this uniquely vertical environment.
It's not the main problem, though. That would be the fact that our opposition just jumped up five levels during the timeskip. I guess we're supposed to engage in random encounters to represent the battling Ramza and everyone got up to in the four month interval between Chapters 2 and 3?
You know, the fact that enemy rise in level across the game is just a video game thing that's probably not meant to represent anything, but it's kind of funny to think about it diegetically. It's like everyone in this world is growing increasingly powerful the longer the story, and the war that it is concerned with, goes on - like soldiers who become veterans in the War of the Two Lions are literally gaining Experience and growing stronger over time.
Also having received pointers in the thread, hidden in the Chronicle menu is a missable cutscene:
It's a brief cutscene and doesn't teach us much that's new, but it's a neat characterization beat for Mustadio (he doesn't want to leave his father behind) that tells us why the old man was unable to escape - he has a bad leg and needs a cane to walk. The main things of note here are that Mustadio's father says the Zodiac Stone has the power to "destroy kingdoms," and that he was the one who told his son to go to Cardinal Delacroix.
We complete several more Errands and do a few more random encounters, until everyone's leveled up - Hadrian has finally unlocked Samurai, I've decided to make Hester into a Geomancer in order to unlock an additional job (she learned the Ninja's Dual Wielding skill so she's wielding two Ancient Swords), but mostly everyone is now in the 18-19 level range.
One thing I've noticed that's been inconvenient: Story-relevant units cannot be sent on Errands. Only generics can. Which means I can't teach Agrias all her Holy Sword skills by sending her on trips to the mine. Right now it's not much of an issue but when I inevitably have to like, make her a job level 1 Archer or whatever to round out her toolkit, it's going to be painful. That's Mustadio's current situation - I've taught him everything I want from the Machinist job, so now I've swapped him over to Chemist. Since guns' attack power is fixed, and Chemists can use guns, this expands his toolkit without reducing his power. Fun!
Alright, let's go again.
Long story short, Orran once again ends his journey in the snows of Gollund. As you can see in the above screenshot, Gillian was in the process of charging up Cura when the enemy Orator dealt the final blow. You can also see that almost the entire enemy party fits on the screen, because I tried to prioritize "keeping Orran alive" over "eliminate the enemy," which while not a bad idea in theory, can simply be done to excess until you forget that the first and best way to reduce enemy DPS is to kill them. Here, allowing these two Chemists to live meant three enemies with guns firing at Orran with superior damage from tremendous range. Of course it didn't help that my efforts at any kind of strategy where hampered by the enemy Thieves rolling two successful Steal Hearts at the start of the fight, forcing me to take a turn off to deal with half our party turning against us.
No matter. Let's try again.
Oh fuck off.
So, Ramza is Charmed. You can release a character from Charm by hitting them with an attack. I have Gillian hit Ramza with her stick, so hopefully I would only lose one turn.
Of course, this instead triggers Ramza's First Strike ability. He goes first, deletes half of Gillian's HP, cancels her attack, and takes his turn immediately after, still Charmed. At which point I just force quit the game and reload because there's no coming back from this humiliation.
Our next attempt also starts pretty badly. Namely, instead of Steal Heart, a Thief moves up and uses Steal Armor on Ramza. Because armor directly increases HP count and Ramza wears heavy armor, this tanks his max and current HP by 70.
And even though that Thief is right there in front of Ramza, I can't afford revenge. Charmed units are a problem, but the Chemists' guns are the actual threat here. So I have Ramza go and destroy all their bones with dark blade sorcery.
The real MVPs though are once again Hadrian and Gillian. Hadrian because his Jump is one of the few ways to hit at range in this nightmare of verticality, and his Jump has regained its tremendous power since swapping to Samurai:
And Gillian because White Magic also ignores elevation when determining its range, so I can have her cast Protect on Orran simply by standing at the bottom of the tower rather than chase after him, and Protect will make my job tremendously easier - all enemies in this encounter are dealing physical damage, rather than magical.
Pictured at the bottom: Agrias just unlocked Northwain's Strike.
This time, we are able to flank the enemy and push them into one lower section while Orran remains largely above the fray. He will not be using his hideously OP astrological magic in this iteration of the battle, yet the whole thing ends up feeling much easier than before nonetheless; a factor of good action order, casting a buff to protect our VIP, and enemies not turning half my team into turncoats, plus the extra levels. We're still a couple levels below the enemy units on average, but this is something that can be made up for with better builds and, hopefully, skillful play. Once the enemies are scattered and no longer focusing on Orran, we can clean the encounter one unit at a time, though we lose Ramza in the process - his max HP is too low without his armor.
The enemy succeeds in Charming Mustadio, who promptly shoots Gillian, but she survives. Hadrian's next Jump finishes off the enemy Orator, I move Gillian up to raise Ramza, and at this point it's down to two enemy Thieves vs our full team, which means this fight ends in classic FFT fashion:
With the entire party cornering one helpless fleeing opponent and stabbing them to death.
Victory! That was a messy battle but we made it.
Sadly, my hopes of recruiting this new Astrologer guy with his OP full screen paralysis magic are quickly dashed in the cutscene that follows.
Ramza: "Are you hurt?"
Orran: "I am fine, thank you. My name is Orran Durai. And yours?"
Ramza: "I am Ramza. Ramza Beoulve."
Orran: [He steps back lightly in visible shock.] "Ramza Beoulve!?"
Ramza: "What of it?"
Orran: "'Tis naught. Forgive me. Might I inquire as to the direction of your travels?"
Ramza: "We make for the royal capital. And you? You are welcome to accompany us if our paths are the same."
Orran: "A gracious offer, but I fear my road leads away from Lesalia."
Ramza: "I see. Fortune be with you, then."
Orran: "And you as well."
[They nod, then shake hands and part.]
Orran: "Gods willing, we may meet again. Try to keep yourself alive in the meantime."
Ramza: "I will do the best I can."
If you feel like you remember the name Durai from somewhere, it's because that's the last name of our present-day narrator, Arazlam Durai. I was wondering if we'd stumble on his ancestor at some point in the game, and it looks like we have. Orran has a Chronicle page, which tells us that Oran is actually Count Cidolfus's adopted son after his true father died in the 50YW. He has a gift for information-gathering and devising strategies, which certainly tracks with his descendant being a historian of some sort.
We now have access to the Mining Town of Gollund, but before we engage in further Errands, let's save the game and press on to finally see Lesalia.
Cut for image count.
The Story So Far: Ramza, scion of the noble House Beoulve, took up the life of a wandering mercenary without allegiance after being betrayed by his own kin. Now that the kingdom of Ivalice is torn by war, he has uncovered traces of a hidden conspiracy which manipulates events behind the scenes, and is now rushing to warn his brothers of the truth…
Before we head to the Royal City of Lesalia, though, we're going to engage in some light battling. Several new Errands have been unlocked, so we'll split our party in two, one half running Errands and one half engaging in random encounters to pass the time.
Hadrian is doing a light job detour. He's unlocked most of what we are about from Dragoon, so while we'll eventually get him support and movement abilities like Dragonheart (which casts Reraise on self when critically injured) and Ignore Elevation, for now I have my eyes on a different prize: the Samurai job has a support ability called Doublehand, which allows it to wield a weapon in two hands to increase attack power. This seems like the perfect way to increase the Dragoon's already considerable Jump attack power. If it turns out there is some hidden mechanic that makes Jump incompatible with Doublehand or something, well. I'll have wasted a bunch of this update. But it should be fine.
To become a Samurai however, Hadrian must first become a Knight in order to unlock Monk. That's a significant downgrade in power, so we're sending him off on Errand to not have to deal with it while grinding monster encounters.
Said Errand is the first of several "frontier marathons." These fascinating events appear to be more exploration than race, or rather they are a form of competitive exploration where several teams race to uncover "wonders of the ancient world." Each time we win, we are rewarded with the discovery of some cool ancient ruin, like the Forbidden Land of Eureka:
Hell yeah.
Other Errands include more salvaging of sunken ships, helping a depressed minstrel find new jokes, and more mining. We can currently run three Frontier Marathons, each of which appears to be a reference to past FF games - Eureka is of course the penultimate dungeon from FF3, then there's the gnome village of Tozus, which does appear to be populated with actual gnomes (shame we don't meet them in-character), also from FF3, and the third one reveals the Mirage Tower from the very first game.
There's also a new location available in cities - the Poacher's Den. When we visit it, the guy tells us he has nothing to sell us. This seems like it would be related to the Poach Support Ability that the Thief can learn; I've never bothered with it before, but figuring I might as well give it a shot, I teach it to Hester and in our next battle, monsters she kills with her attacks are slain instantly instead of being put on a cooldown and the screen tells us "Poached!" On our next visit…
…the Tradesman now has items to sell us. They're kinda lame - Holy Water and Ether, which I can't use - but they exist! They're also less expensive to purchase than they normally are, so the point of the Poacher's Den appears to be "kill monsters with a special ability to unlock discounted items." Frankly I don't think I'm going to bother thinking about it much.
With four random encounters about as many Errands, Hadrian can now level out of Knight and into Monk, making him hopefully useful to me again (or at least that's what I thought, but - well, we'll see).
So let's head to our next story destination, the Mining Town of Gollund.
A man named Orran appears to be trapped by a bunch of scoundrels. We've actually heard his name before; he was off-handedly mentioned by Cidolfus in the line "Orran tells me over one hundred thousand have already fled to Lesalia, and more pour by the day." So he looks to be an informant aligned with Duke Goltanna, though of course we don't know that in-character. Just as our man is cornered and driven to this rooftop, Ramza enters the screen; even without context, seeing a man about to be set upon by outlaws is immediately enough to stir him to help, and we begin battle.
Oran's job is "Astrologer," and he attacks people by… Reading a book at them? That's not a joke; he literally opens a book on his turn and damage happens. I assume what's going on there is that Orran is casting some magic from a tome, but there's no spell animation, so it really does look like he's just reading so painfully it causes people psychic damage.
The map is shaped in a way that makes it difficult to depict using screenshots, but: our enemies are three Thieves, two Chemists, and an Orator. Not a particularly intimidating setup, save that all the Thieves are running Steal Heart and also the enemy are a level range around lv 21, which is several levels above our non-Ramza units, and also the Chemists are rocking Mithryl Guns.
80 damage a shot is way higher than what Mustadio and Gillian can currently do with their own guns, jesus. Gillian goes down pretty much instantly. Most of our characters also have low Jump ratings, so the terrain is actually very difficult to navigate, requiring slow circling around the central house to take the slopes and climb.
Hadrian also deals way less damage than I expected - with 50 damage per hit, his Jump is actually lower damage than his normal attack? This is a huge downgrade. Anyway, we take down one of the Chemists, get to work on the others, but Orran is cornered up top and getting to him is a very slow process. On his turn, however, Orran reveals that he is far from defenseless, not just from his deadly book-reading skills but also from… Whatever the fuck is this:
God, okay. I guess Orran's Astrologer Abilities manifest chiefly in the power to show our world as a pale blue dot drifting through a field of stars or something??? This is such a ridiculously over the top move, and it has one of the longest animations of any attack in the game (still much shorter than any summon of the PSX era, of course). It's also shockingly useful: It's a status debuff that hits the entire screen, targeting every enemy with a chance to inflict Immobilize, Disable, and Stop. It basically shuts down almost the entire enemy side for at least a full round, which is enormous utility. I'm seriously hoping I can recruit this guy later.
Unfortunately it's not quite enough. The level gap between me and our opponents is high enough that it takes too much time whittling down their HP, and I need to raise Gillian so she can cast healing spells on Orran before the enemy kills him and we fail the mission objective. Ultimately, between the impractical terrain making it take so much time to get anywhere, my healer being down, and the level gap, I fail to protect the VIP.
It's a pretty painful way to fail this fight, but it gives me some ideas what to do next. Nobody on my team has unlocked Jump +X abilities, but I do have a stock of Spiked Boots that increase Jumping distance by 1, which should be helpful in navigating this uniquely vertical environment.
It's not the main problem, though. That would be the fact that our opposition just jumped up five levels during the timeskip. I guess we're supposed to engage in random encounters to represent the battling Ramza and everyone got up to in the four month interval between Chapters 2 and 3?
You know, the fact that enemy rise in level across the game is just a video game thing that's probably not meant to represent anything, but it's kind of funny to think about it diegetically. It's like everyone in this world is growing increasingly powerful the longer the story, and the war that it is concerned with, goes on - like soldiers who become veterans in the War of the Two Lions are literally gaining Experience and growing stronger over time.
Also having received pointers in the thread, hidden in the Chronicle menu is a missable cutscene:
It's a brief cutscene and doesn't teach us much that's new, but it's a neat characterization beat for Mustadio (he doesn't want to leave his father behind) that tells us why the old man was unable to escape - he has a bad leg and needs a cane to walk. The main things of note here are that Mustadio's father says the Zodiac Stone has the power to "destroy kingdoms," and that he was the one who told his son to go to Cardinal Delacroix.
We complete several more Errands and do a few more random encounters, until everyone's leveled up - Hadrian has finally unlocked Samurai, I've decided to make Hester into a Geomancer in order to unlock an additional job (she learned the Ninja's Dual Wielding skill so she's wielding two Ancient Swords), but mostly everyone is now in the 18-19 level range.
One thing I've noticed that's been inconvenient: Story-relevant units cannot be sent on Errands. Only generics can. Which means I can't teach Agrias all her Holy Sword skills by sending her on trips to the mine. Right now it's not much of an issue but when I inevitably have to like, make her a job level 1 Archer or whatever to round out her toolkit, it's going to be painful. That's Mustadio's current situation - I've taught him everything I want from the Machinist job, so now I've swapped him over to Chemist. Since guns' attack power is fixed, and Chemists can use guns, this expands his toolkit without reducing his power. Fun!
Alright, let's go again.
Long story short, Orran once again ends his journey in the snows of Gollund. As you can see in the above screenshot, Gillian was in the process of charging up Cura when the enemy Orator dealt the final blow. You can also see that almost the entire enemy party fits on the screen, because I tried to prioritize "keeping Orran alive" over "eliminate the enemy," which while not a bad idea in theory, can simply be done to excess until you forget that the first and best way to reduce enemy DPS is to kill them. Here, allowing these two Chemists to live meant three enemies with guns firing at Orran with superior damage from tremendous range. Of course it didn't help that my efforts at any kind of strategy where hampered by the enemy Thieves rolling two successful Steal Hearts at the start of the fight, forcing me to take a turn off to deal with half our party turning against us.
No matter. Let's try again.
Oh fuck off.
So, Ramza is Charmed. You can release a character from Charm by hitting them with an attack. I have Gillian hit Ramza with her stick, so hopefully I would only lose one turn.
Of course, this instead triggers Ramza's First Strike ability. He goes first, deletes half of Gillian's HP, cancels her attack, and takes his turn immediately after, still Charmed. At which point I just force quit the game and reload because there's no coming back from this humiliation.
Our next attempt also starts pretty badly. Namely, instead of Steal Heart, a Thief moves up and uses Steal Armor on Ramza. Because armor directly increases HP count and Ramza wears heavy armor, this tanks his max and current HP by 70.
And even though that Thief is right there in front of Ramza, I can't afford revenge. Charmed units are a problem, but the Chemists' guns are the actual threat here. So I have Ramza go and destroy all their bones with dark blade sorcery.
The real MVPs though are once again Hadrian and Gillian. Hadrian because his Jump is one of the few ways to hit at range in this nightmare of verticality, and his Jump has regained its tremendous power since swapping to Samurai:
Pictured at the bottom: Agrias just unlocked Northwain's Strike.
This time, we are able to flank the enemy and push them into one lower section while Orran remains largely above the fray. He will not be using his hideously OP astrological magic in this iteration of the battle, yet the whole thing ends up feeling much easier than before nonetheless; a factor of good action order, casting a buff to protect our VIP, and enemies not turning half my team into turncoats, plus the extra levels. We're still a couple levels below the enemy units on average, but this is something that can be made up for with better builds and, hopefully, skillful play. Once the enemies are scattered and no longer focusing on Orran, we can clean the encounter one unit at a time, though we lose Ramza in the process - his max HP is too low without his armor.
The enemy succeeds in Charming Mustadio, who promptly shoots Gillian, but she survives. Hadrian's next Jump finishes off the enemy Orator, I move Gillian up to raise Ramza, and at this point it's down to two enemy Thieves vs our full team, which means this fight ends in classic FFT fashion:
With the entire party cornering one helpless fleeing opponent and stabbing them to death.
Victory! That was a messy battle but we made it.
Sadly, my hopes of recruiting this new Astrologer guy with his OP full screen paralysis magic are quickly dashed in the cutscene that follows.
Ramza: "Are you hurt?"
Orran: "I am fine, thank you. My name is Orran Durai. And yours?"
Ramza: "I am Ramza. Ramza Beoulve."
Orran: [He steps back lightly in visible shock.] "Ramza Beoulve!?"
Ramza: "What of it?"
Orran: "'Tis naught. Forgive me. Might I inquire as to the direction of your travels?"
Ramza: "We make for the royal capital. And you? You are welcome to accompany us if our paths are the same."
Orran: "A gracious offer, but I fear my road leads away from Lesalia."
Ramza: "I see. Fortune be with you, then."
Orran: "And you as well."
[They nod, then shake hands and part.]
Orran: "Gods willing, we may meet again. Try to keep yourself alive in the meantime."
Ramza: "I will do the best I can."
If you feel like you remember the name Durai from somewhere, it's because that's the last name of our present-day narrator, Arazlam Durai. I was wondering if we'd stumble on his ancestor at some point in the game, and it looks like we have. Orran has a Chronicle page, which tells us that Oran is actually Count Cidolfus's adopted son after his true father died in the 50YW. He has a gift for information-gathering and devising strategies, which certainly tracks with his descendant being a historian of some sort.
We now have access to the Mining Town of Gollund, but before we engage in further Errands, let's save the game and press on to finally see Lesalia.
Cut for image count.
Final Fantasy Tactics, Part 11.B: Mining Town Gollund & Royal Capital Lesalia
New
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
We are not given a "prepare for battle" screen when entering Lesalia, so it looks like we might well enjoy a couple cutscenes' worth of peace - likely before being ambushed when we attempt to leave the city.
And then without further ado, we are in the presence of Ramza's brother, Zalbaag.
As a reminder, the last time we actually saw Zalbaag was when he ordered Argath to shoot, killing Tietra. He then left to confront a possibly returning Wiegraf. Since then, we've only heard of him in implications - Gaffgarion suggested that he was too stubborn to fully go along with his brother's plans, for one. That could mean Zalbaag has more of a conscience than Dycedarg, but… That seems a little much to hope for, and it's entirely possible that wasn't what Gaffgarion meant, and the ambiguous wording was used to create a red herring.
But now, Ramza has been let in to see his brother. I was surprised by him introducing himself to Orran as a Beoulve earlier, but this makes sense in a way; Ramza most likely needed to reveal his true identity in order for guards to allow him into the palace and show him to his brother. Which means that his location and identity are no longer hidden, so… Keep an eye on that.
Zalbaag: "Sit, won't you?" [Ramza does not move; Zalbaag looks up from his writing.] "You surprise me, Ramza. I did not think to see you in Lesalia. Alma is here, you know. I'm sure she'd be delighted to see you."
Ramza: "Zalbaag… I-"
Zalbaag: "Yes?"
Ramza: "Can you not end this fighting?"
Zalbaag: "What nonsense is this?"
Ramza: "What purpose can it serve? We Beoulves have ever fought to defend the people - not simply the Crown. And now we fight for no more than our own glory."
Zalbaag: "You speak of things you do not understand, Ramza!"
Ramza: "It is you who do not understand, Brother! All of this, this… war, has been plotted to some unseen purpose, Dukes Larg and Goltanna only puppets in some shadow play."
Zalbaag: "A shadow play? Pray tell how it ends."
[Ramza lowers his head in a defeated look.]
Ramza: "I… I do not know. Our lord brother planned the princess's abduction to prevent Duke Goltanna from becoming regent. But someone intervened. Princess Ovelia lives, and is now in Goltanna's care. Had the assassins succeeded, the Crown would surely have named Duke Goltanna a traitor and rallied its banners against him."
[Zalbaag stands up.]
Zalbaag: "Do you stand here accusing our brother of having some hand in this business with the princess? You think a man of your own blood capable of such a thing?"
Ramza: [He visibly staggers in dramatic surprise.] "So you knew naught of this, Zalbaag?"
Zalbaag: "Enough! Who have you become, that you do not trust your own family? Begone from my sight! Return to Eagrose and trouble me no more!"
Ramza: "You speak of Trust, Zalbaag, yet you show me none in kind!"
Zalbaag: "What have you ever done to inspire my trust? The mistake was my own. Until today I had looked on you as a true brother. But your mother's common blood forever stains you common. You are not fit to bear the Beoulve name!"
[Ramza returns to his normal stance.]
Ramza: "You cannot mean that."
Hmmm.
I really can't place Zalbaag here. He very much avoids saying anything about whether or not he knew about or believes Ramza's accusations; his response focuses entirely on centering Ramza's fault in lacking trust in his brothers and making accusations. If Zalbaag knew about Dycedarg's plans and agreed with them, he would still not even be lying, because he literally didn't address the accusation save for shaming Ramza for voicing them. This could easily be Zalbaag being genre savvy enough to avoid confessing in 'privacy' while someone could be listening. But by the same token it's entirely possible the idea of Dycedarg acting this way towards a princess (as opposed to a disposable commoner like Tietra) is unconscionable to him and he won't even consider the thought.
Either way, it doesn't really matter. He disowns Ramza all the same, an absolutely brutal move that reveals just how much love his brother truly had for him: Little more than for Delita and Tietra.
Ramza, unlike Delita, was granted conditional nobility. That nobility was predicated on his continued performance of loyalty to the family, and it could be stripped away at any time should he fail to conform to expectations.
(This is a point where it would be helpful to know the legal specifics of Ramza's birth; we now know his mother was a commoner, but did Barbaneth still marry her? Was she a concubine? Was Ramza officially and legally legitimized by his father? Depending on the specifics, it's entirely possible that Zalbaag might lack the legal authority to act on his threat, though that doesn't necessarily restrict his ability to fuck with Ramza in other ways.)
Before we can see whether Zalbaag can respond to Ramza, however, a knight of the Northern Sky enters the room with an urgent message.
"The Thunder God has broken through our lines at Dugeura Pass." It looks like Count Orlandeau is not so washed up as his allies accused him of being. Zalbaag is shocked, Cidolfus was supposed to be at Besselat, but there's no time to consider this or further deal with Ramza - he summons his War Council and leaves at once, without sparing his brother another word.
Which returns us to the world map.
It seems very likely we'll run into a battle the moment we attempt to leave town, so for now we'll check out the Tavern and shops. No new Rumors yet, some new Errands but for obvious reasons it would be foolish to separate from our best men right now, and the Outfitter doesn't have much of interest for us, so we just replenish any expended supplies (this frequently includes Ramza's Katanas, that have a chance of shattering when drawing out their power with Iaido, and not all cities include katanas in their stores, which is annoying).
Now, we go to leave the city, and get the battle prompt.
Two squads, though Ramza is alone when the cutscene starts - but not for long. He's hurrying to leave the Castle now that he's alone and possibly disowned, but a voice calls out to him before he can leave.
It's his sister, whom he hasn't seen in at least a year and a half.
Ramza was trying to leave without even seeing her, which is kind of a dirtbag move, but his excuses is that he was "never good at good-byes." A low excuse, if you ask me. Alma guesses that he's not coming back, and Ramza reveals to her what he did not reveal to Zalbaag: Delita lives. Alma is shocked and asks for explanations, and Ramza explains the conspiracy as best as he understands it:
Ramza: "At first I thought it was Duke Goltanna [who kidnapped the princess] - that Delita had sided with him to spite us. But now I fear he may be working with people far more dangerous still. It is they who wanted to thwart the plot to assassinate Princess Ovelia."
Alma: "Is it true that Dycedarg planned her abduction?"
Ramza: "It is. I am sure he had his reasons, but I cannot see them for the blood."
Alma: "Then Tietra-?"
Ramza: "-did not share her brother's luck."
[They both look down; Alma joins her hands, perhaps in prayer.]
Ramza tells Alma that there's much he doesn't know - who guides Delita's actions, what their endgame is, why Delita follows them, only that what's at the end is to be feared and that he wishes he knew Delita's reason. Alma asks if he means to fight them, and Ramza doesn't answer - but his refusal to answer, and the question itself, implicitly contain his answer. Ramza was rudderless, without a clear objective, he hoped his brothers might prove some help against the conspiracy, but now he knows the truth.
He's the only one who both knows enough, and cares enough, to work against these secret antagonists.
Then Alma drops the bomb - she wants to follow Ramza on his journey. She wants to help him prove the truth. Ramza rejects the idea out of hand, Alma counters, but before the discussion can go any further…
Well, well, well, if it isn't the Church. Good thing we've never killed a Cardinal in our lives.
Confessor Zalmour: "Ah, but I have you at a disadvantage. I am Confessor Zalmour Lucianada of the Holly Office of Inquisition. I come to bring you before the Office on charges of the murder of Cardinal Delacroix and suspicion of heresy. You will come with us. Should you resist, you admit your guilt, and will be executed as a heretic."
[More soldiers step forth.]
Ramza: "If I go with you, I only prolong my death!"
Alma: "You must run, Ramza! Quickly!"
Confessor Zalmour: "Then your choice is made! Put this heretic to the sword!"
[OBJECTIVE: DEFEAT ZALMOUR:]
Lmao, that was quick.
Granted, it's the fucking Inquisition, I only expect "due process" from them in the sense that the process due is probably whatever they want it to be. Still, "either come with us immediately or your resistance will be immediately interpreted as proof of guilt and you will be executed" is harsh. Not that going with them would have been any better.
Frankly, the odds that Zalbaag just slipped a word on his way out so the Inquisition would know where to find Ramza and show up the moment he was gone to rid him of his forsaken brother seem pretty high at this point.
I do have to respect that Ramza had his troops just. Waiting in the wings behind a wall in case his conversation with Alma went awry somehow. After the trap at Lionel Castle Gate, our boy knows to do his setup. "Oh no, here I am ambushed all on my own without backup! Hadrian, obliterate their spines."
We have Alma as a Guest unit, incidentally. She's lv 03, reflecting her lack of battlefield experience, which makes her extremely vulnerable… But she doesn't really need to be strong as long as we can keep her alive; as a Cleric, her job command is Holy Magicks, and she knows Aegis, the spell Ovelia used to protect herself during her past encounters. Which is a neat nod to them being raised and taught together in a monastery school.
We're still below the average enemy level, so their side goes first, but they're too far from us to immediately move offensively for the most part. We're dealing with three Knights, two Monks and one special Celebrant class, Zalmour himself. Furthermore, for once, the terrain is advantageous to us: Ramza and Alma are on a raised platform which can only be accessed through two sets of stairs that incline at an angle partway through. As a result, the enemy splits into two separate parties: Both Monks, one Knight and the Celebrant square up on the right, while the remaining two Knights line up the left.
The enemies are rocking more intricate skillsets: one Monk and Zalmour both have Lifefont, which heals them every time they move, while several of them are rocking Geomancer abilities, namely Tanglevine, which is a long-range, 100% elevation attack that deals low damage with a chance to immobilize. This asshole above immediately targets Alma, which is not cool.
Zalmour is rocking high HP, higher level than Ramza, and a White Robe, a better tier of robe than any I own; he halves the MP cost of any spells, heals HP every time he moves, has a Pole that can hit at 2-range, and his Archer's Bane ability dodges any bow or crossbow attack. This guy isn't running any kind of nerf.
Now, my own characters are too far to immediately engage the enemy, but in my case it's fine; I actually benefit from that. I have Ramza stick close to Alma and use Tailwind on himself for faster action rate, then Gillian moves in through the door (the chief inconvenience in this level, as it will restrict my troops abilities to leave the castle and enter the battlefield proper) and cast Protect on Agrias, Ramza and Alma.
Alma (who is a Guest character and so runs her own actions) withdraws back inside the castle and casts Aegis… But, unlike Ovelia, she doesn't use it on herself.
She uses it on Ramza.
I find that a delightful bit of storytelling through mechanics. Ovelia doesn't know who to trust, and she uses her magic first and foremost to protect herself. Alma is thrown into battle with her brother, and she immediately lends him her aid, even though she's the one in most danger here.
With all status buffs received at once, Ramza goes again, and I immediately have him go down the stairs, block the way, and Tailwind himself, challenging all comers to try and go through him.
Meanwhile Gillian starts blasting.
I'm afraid I will never get tired of "White Mage with a Glock."
Confessor Zalmour approaches Ramza and from a safe distance starts poking him with his Pole. One of the left-side Knights approaches towards Gillian and Agrias's side of the stairs, but aside from weak Tanglevine ranged attacks they can't do much. Soon, Hadrian is out, clad in Samurai gear but still rocking Jump.
Note how the entire right-hand side has lined themselves up in one orderly file. I wish I still had Shockwave equipped.
Confessor Zalmour perhaps thought that putting a Knight between himself and Ramza would protect him from retaliation. Unfortunately, Iaido hits in a 2-square radius and is not blocked by obstacles, so Ramza just blasts both the Knight and Zalmour with Binding Darkness.
Immediately after, Hadrian completes his Jump, finishing off the front knight. Because of the way bodies occupy tiles, this means no one can occupy the tile in front of Ramza, and because character cannot pass through tiles occupied by an enemy, Ramza has this path completely locked down - at least until I decide that things are going well enough to afford a little greed; Ramza, buffed with two Tailwinds and Haste from Aegis, is basically acting twice as fast as everyone else, so he immediately goes again, flanks the file of Monks and Zalmour, and hits them both with a second Binding Darkness.
Of course, this puts him in a prime position to be pummeled on all sides - both monks flank him, though one of them instead uses Chakra to heal herself and the Celebrant for 60 HP.
Over on the left side, Agrias is dueling Knights and doing a fair job of it.
She's locking down her side of the battle about as effectively as Ramza did his own. Gillian, Mustadio, and Hadrian all have enormous range and so can just stand on the parapet taking potshots at everyone and casting heals or Hi-Potions to allies as needed.
The truth is, I'm not being as effective as I could - taking out our highest-level opponent who has all the tools to support the five meatheads that make up the rest of their team would be the actually effective option. But I don't want to kill Zalmour too early… He has dialogue.
Confessor Zalmour: "Your violence against us is as violence against the gods! But it is not too late! Repent of your sins! Repent, and be spared!"
Ramza: "You name me a heretic, but why? What have I done?"
Confessor Zalmour: "So you pretend ignorance? You slew Cardinal Delacroix to gain the auracite he held and offer it to whatever hellspawn you profane to call a god!"
Ramza: "You could not be more wrong! The legends of your holy auracite are lies! The Stones are magicite - they hold in them power for evil. The cardinal used this power, and it perverted him into one of the Lucavi!"
Confessor Zalmour: "Is it not enough that you murdered Cardinal Delacroix? Must you now slander his name as well? More's the pity. You will only see the name Beoulve washed away in tears."
[Battle resumes.]
Honestly, I assume Zalmour is on the conspiracy and that's somehow how he knew Ramza was involved with the murder and is fully aware of the Lucavi stuff just pretending otherwise, but it would be funny if this ended up being a Zenigata situation with Zalmour pursuing Ramza the whole game for a crime he absolutely did commit (we murdered the shit out of Delacroix) just with very important context that the Confessor is totally missing.
Zalmour then proves his chops as a high-ranking priest by moving away from the melee and casting Arise on the fallen Knight, bringing him up from KO with full HP.
Now, there's an obvious solution here - Arise as a very long casting time, and it would be easy to just kill Zalmour before he's done charging up. The problem is that this will instantly end the battle, and I will miss any other dialogue he might otherwise have. That's why my initial goal was to just clean out all mobs and then whittle him down progressively. But if he can raise an opponent I took several turns defeating at full HP with Arise… That becomes a lot trickier.
I decide to just carry on with a mixed approach - more Iaido hitting both the Confessor and one of the Monks, taking her out, while Hadrian and Agrias grind down the Knights on the left side of the screen. Shortly, I am rewarded with another dialogue beat:
Alma: "Flee, Ramza! You must! Those summoned before the Office do not return!"
Ramza: "I will not flee while you remain, Alma! I would not see them name you traitor with me! In staying you risk your own life!"
Alma: "I will not leave you to fight this battle alone!"
It's a short beat, mostly reaffirming the conflict/trust between the Lugria siblings where each one cares first and foremost about keeping the other safe. I do appreciate how this confirms a point of sinister worldbuilding - being summoned by the Office of Inquisition is a final sentence, one cannot expect to clear their name and be released, one who is brought before them has already been sentenced guilty with just the paperwork to finish signing. It builds up effectively on the sinister implications that have been foreshadowed in earlier scenes regarding the threat of declaring others heretics.
Unfortunately, Alma… Has all of 32 MP. And Aegis costs 30 MP. So when her NPC unit emphasizes her bravery and selflessness by having her step forward after Ramza, as if to cast support spells on her brother (Aegis just ran out last turn), she can't… Do that. She just stands there kind of useless. RIP.
Agrias finishes off the Knight in front of her, and Zalmour unfortunately finishes casting Arise. One Monk down, one Knight down… And then the remaining Monk decides to beat up on a child.
The fact that these guys keep focusing on the literal child in our midst really does a great job of making me despise them. Fortunately, Alma is a Guest unit, so she can't die (yet). But Ramza's Power Hour has run out and even if I raise Alma, she can't cast Aegis again.
Also, he is currently surrounded by two enemies on each side of him, including a powerful enemy spellcaster and a Monk who just hit Alma for 144 damage. I know, objectively, that I could win even if I kept dragging this out and the good Confessor threw in another Raise or two, but having this obvious a shot and not taking it is just galling to my player brain.
Fuck it, we've had two dialogue beats, that's probably the whole of it. Murder time.
Confessor Zalmour goes down. This ends the fight, and plays out his defeated animation:
Son of a-
And then he fucking teleports. Of course. All enemies vanish, and the battle is over.
We'll see more of the good inquisitor, no doubt about that.
Alma: "Ramza, you're all right!"
Ramza: "As are you. I'm glad. *sigh* None of this makes sense. How could the Office of Inquisition have learned of the auracite? Could the Church of Glabados be the ones supporting Delita? What do they hope to gain?"
Alma: "Ramza? You mentioned auracite. Have you truly seen the Stones from the legend? If auracite is real, then - I think I may have seen it once, too."
Ramza: "What ? Where!?"
Alma: "First you have to promise that you'll take me with you!"
Ramza: "You persist in this? Do you think I would risk putting you in such peril again? I will not take you with me!"
[They both turn their backs to one another.]
Sigh. Siblings.
Ramza: [He turns to her again, agitated.] "Do not act the child! Your very life is in danger!"
Alma: [She turns to him again.] "I should think it is. I've acted against the Office of Inquisition. Surely I am a heretic in their eyes. They will come for me as they do you. And when they do, do you think Dycedarg will protect me? He would never do anything that might endanger House Beoulve."
[A pause. Ramza lowers his head.]
Ramza: "No, I'm sure our dear brother would not. But you cannot come with me. The danger is too great! You must explain everything to Zalbaag and beg the forgiveness of the Church."
Alma: "The one I saw - it was in Orbonne. A crystal, engraved with the likeness of a virgin maid."
Ramza: "Virgo… I must reach it before they do. Thank you, Alma. Now go to Zalbaag, and do as I have said."
Alma: "And just how do you think to enter the monastery? You're a heretic, remember? Do you think you will be welcome at Orbonne?"
Ramza: "Ah…"
The "Ah…" of abject defeat.
Alma: [She leans forward.] "So, you need me after all."
Ramza: "Fine, but only until we reach Orbonne. When it is done, you will come home."
Alma: "I promise." [She spreads out her hands in a little princess pose.]
Ramza: "I will hold you to it."
Lmao, Alma. What a brat. Ramza in shambles, absolute sister triumph.
This is a very interesting exchange in several respects. Let me try to put my thoughts in order.
The truth is simply that the nature of this story and its themes make the question of "who can you trust" so salient that even Alma Beoulve-Lugria, Ramza's fun bratty younger sister with superpowered buff spells who blatantly wants to go on a cool adventure, can't fully be trusted.
Which is great. It feeds directly into the themes of the story. No one can fully be trusted, not even the ones closest to you.
That will do it for today. I enjoyed this bit of gameplay a lot but my writing process for it took longer than usual, so I don't have a clever final conclusion at the end. Excited for what's next, though.
As always, thank you for reading.
Next Time: Return to Orbonne Monastery.
Main Story Battle Count: 23
Random Battle Count: 30
And then without further ado, we are in the presence of Ramza's brother, Zalbaag.
As a reminder, the last time we actually saw Zalbaag was when he ordered Argath to shoot, killing Tietra. He then left to confront a possibly returning Wiegraf. Since then, we've only heard of him in implications - Gaffgarion suggested that he was too stubborn to fully go along with his brother's plans, for one. That could mean Zalbaag has more of a conscience than Dycedarg, but… That seems a little much to hope for, and it's entirely possible that wasn't what Gaffgarion meant, and the ambiguous wording was used to create a red herring.
But now, Ramza has been let in to see his brother. I was surprised by him introducing himself to Orran as a Beoulve earlier, but this makes sense in a way; Ramza most likely needed to reveal his true identity in order for guards to allow him into the palace and show him to his brother. Which means that his location and identity are no longer hidden, so… Keep an eye on that.
Zalbaag: "Sit, won't you?" [Ramza does not move; Zalbaag looks up from his writing.] "You surprise me, Ramza. I did not think to see you in Lesalia. Alma is here, you know. I'm sure she'd be delighted to see you."
Ramza: "Zalbaag… I-"
Zalbaag: "Yes?"
Ramza: "Can you not end this fighting?"
Zalbaag: "What nonsense is this?"
Ramza: "What purpose can it serve? We Beoulves have ever fought to defend the people - not simply the Crown. And now we fight for no more than our own glory."
Zalbaag: "You speak of things you do not understand, Ramza!"
Ramza: "It is you who do not understand, Brother! All of this, this… war, has been plotted to some unseen purpose, Dukes Larg and Goltanna only puppets in some shadow play."
Zalbaag: "A shadow play? Pray tell how it ends."
[Ramza lowers his head in a defeated look.]
Ramza: "I… I do not know. Our lord brother planned the princess's abduction to prevent Duke Goltanna from becoming regent. But someone intervened. Princess Ovelia lives, and is now in Goltanna's care. Had the assassins succeeded, the Crown would surely have named Duke Goltanna a traitor and rallied its banners against him."
[Zalbaag stands up.]
Zalbaag: "Do you stand here accusing our brother of having some hand in this business with the princess? You think a man of your own blood capable of such a thing?"
Ramza: [He visibly staggers in dramatic surprise.] "So you knew naught of this, Zalbaag?"
Zalbaag: "Enough! Who have you become, that you do not trust your own family? Begone from my sight! Return to Eagrose and trouble me no more!"
Ramza: "You speak of Trust, Zalbaag, yet you show me none in kind!"
Zalbaag: "What have you ever done to inspire my trust? The mistake was my own. Until today I had looked on you as a true brother. But your mother's common blood forever stains you common. You are not fit to bear the Beoulve name!"
[Ramza returns to his normal stance.]
Ramza: "You cannot mean that."
Hmmm.
I really can't place Zalbaag here. He very much avoids saying anything about whether or not he knew about or believes Ramza's accusations; his response focuses entirely on centering Ramza's fault in lacking trust in his brothers and making accusations. If Zalbaag knew about Dycedarg's plans and agreed with them, he would still not even be lying, because he literally didn't address the accusation save for shaming Ramza for voicing them. This could easily be Zalbaag being genre savvy enough to avoid confessing in 'privacy' while someone could be listening. But by the same token it's entirely possible the idea of Dycedarg acting this way towards a princess (as opposed to a disposable commoner like Tietra) is unconscionable to him and he won't even consider the thought.
Either way, it doesn't really matter. He disowns Ramza all the same, an absolutely brutal move that reveals just how much love his brother truly had for him: Little more than for Delita and Tietra.
Ramza, unlike Delita, was granted conditional nobility. That nobility was predicated on his continued performance of loyalty to the family, and it could be stripped away at any time should he fail to conform to expectations.
(This is a point where it would be helpful to know the legal specifics of Ramza's birth; we now know his mother was a commoner, but did Barbaneth still marry her? Was she a concubine? Was Ramza officially and legally legitimized by his father? Depending on the specifics, it's entirely possible that Zalbaag might lack the legal authority to act on his threat, though that doesn't necessarily restrict his ability to fuck with Ramza in other ways.)
Before we can see whether Zalbaag can respond to Ramza, however, a knight of the Northern Sky enters the room with an urgent message.
"The Thunder God has broken through our lines at Dugeura Pass." It looks like Count Orlandeau is not so washed up as his allies accused him of being. Zalbaag is shocked, Cidolfus was supposed to be at Besselat, but there's no time to consider this or further deal with Ramza - he summons his War Council and leaves at once, without sparing his brother another word.
Which returns us to the world map.
It seems very likely we'll run into a battle the moment we attempt to leave town, so for now we'll check out the Tavern and shops. No new Rumors yet, some new Errands but for obvious reasons it would be foolish to separate from our best men right now, and the Outfitter doesn't have much of interest for us, so we just replenish any expended supplies (this frequently includes Ramza's Katanas, that have a chance of shattering when drawing out their power with Iaido, and not all cities include katanas in their stores, which is annoying).
Now, we go to leave the city, and get the battle prompt.
Two squads, though Ramza is alone when the cutscene starts - but not for long. He's hurrying to leave the Castle now that he's alone and possibly disowned, but a voice calls out to him before he can leave.
It's his sister, whom he hasn't seen in at least a year and a half.
Ramza was trying to leave without even seeing her, which is kind of a dirtbag move, but his excuses is that he was "never good at good-byes." A low excuse, if you ask me. Alma guesses that he's not coming back, and Ramza reveals to her what he did not reveal to Zalbaag: Delita lives. Alma is shocked and asks for explanations, and Ramza explains the conspiracy as best as he understands it:
Ramza: "At first I thought it was Duke Goltanna [who kidnapped the princess] - that Delita had sided with him to spite us. But now I fear he may be working with people far more dangerous still. It is they who wanted to thwart the plot to assassinate Princess Ovelia."
Alma: "Is it true that Dycedarg planned her abduction?"
Ramza: "It is. I am sure he had his reasons, but I cannot see them for the blood."
Alma: "Then Tietra-?"
Ramza: "-did not share her brother's luck."
[They both look down; Alma joins her hands, perhaps in prayer.]
Ramza tells Alma that there's much he doesn't know - who guides Delita's actions, what their endgame is, why Delita follows them, only that what's at the end is to be feared and that he wishes he knew Delita's reason. Alma asks if he means to fight them, and Ramza doesn't answer - but his refusal to answer, and the question itself, implicitly contain his answer. Ramza was rudderless, without a clear objective, he hoped his brothers might prove some help against the conspiracy, but now he knows the truth.
He's the only one who both knows enough, and cares enough, to work against these secret antagonists.
Then Alma drops the bomb - she wants to follow Ramza on his journey. She wants to help him prove the truth. Ramza rejects the idea out of hand, Alma counters, but before the discussion can go any further…
Well, well, well, if it isn't the Church. Good thing we've never killed a Cardinal in our lives.
Confessor Zalmour: "Ah, but I have you at a disadvantage. I am Confessor Zalmour Lucianada of the Holly Office of Inquisition. I come to bring you before the Office on charges of the murder of Cardinal Delacroix and suspicion of heresy. You will come with us. Should you resist, you admit your guilt, and will be executed as a heretic."
[More soldiers step forth.]
Ramza: "If I go with you, I only prolong my death!"
Alma: "You must run, Ramza! Quickly!"
Confessor Zalmour: "Then your choice is made! Put this heretic to the sword!"
[OBJECTIVE: DEFEAT ZALMOUR:]
Lmao, that was quick.
Granted, it's the fucking Inquisition, I only expect "due process" from them in the sense that the process due is probably whatever they want it to be. Still, "either come with us immediately or your resistance will be immediately interpreted as proof of guilt and you will be executed" is harsh. Not that going with them would have been any better.
Frankly, the odds that Zalbaag just slipped a word on his way out so the Inquisition would know where to find Ramza and show up the moment he was gone to rid him of his forsaken brother seem pretty high at this point.
I do have to respect that Ramza had his troops just. Waiting in the wings behind a wall in case his conversation with Alma went awry somehow. After the trap at Lionel Castle Gate, our boy knows to do his setup. "Oh no, here I am ambushed all on my own without backup! Hadrian, obliterate their spines."
We have Alma as a Guest unit, incidentally. She's lv 03, reflecting her lack of battlefield experience, which makes her extremely vulnerable… But she doesn't really need to be strong as long as we can keep her alive; as a Cleric, her job command is Holy Magicks, and she knows Aegis, the spell Ovelia used to protect herself during her past encounters. Which is a neat nod to them being raised and taught together in a monastery school.
We're still below the average enemy level, so their side goes first, but they're too far from us to immediately move offensively for the most part. We're dealing with three Knights, two Monks and one special Celebrant class, Zalmour himself. Furthermore, for once, the terrain is advantageous to us: Ramza and Alma are on a raised platform which can only be accessed through two sets of stairs that incline at an angle partway through. As a result, the enemy splits into two separate parties: Both Monks, one Knight and the Celebrant square up on the right, while the remaining two Knights line up the left.
The enemies are rocking more intricate skillsets: one Monk and Zalmour both have Lifefont, which heals them every time they move, while several of them are rocking Geomancer abilities, namely Tanglevine, which is a long-range, 100% elevation attack that deals low damage with a chance to immobilize. This asshole above immediately targets Alma, which is not cool.
Zalmour is rocking high HP, higher level than Ramza, and a White Robe, a better tier of robe than any I own; he halves the MP cost of any spells, heals HP every time he moves, has a Pole that can hit at 2-range, and his Archer's Bane ability dodges any bow or crossbow attack. This guy isn't running any kind of nerf.
Now, my own characters are too far to immediately engage the enemy, but in my case it's fine; I actually benefit from that. I have Ramza stick close to Alma and use Tailwind on himself for faster action rate, then Gillian moves in through the door (the chief inconvenience in this level, as it will restrict my troops abilities to leave the castle and enter the battlefield proper) and cast Protect on Agrias, Ramza and Alma.
Alma (who is a Guest character and so runs her own actions) withdraws back inside the castle and casts Aegis… But, unlike Ovelia, she doesn't use it on herself.
She uses it on Ramza.
I find that a delightful bit of storytelling through mechanics. Ovelia doesn't know who to trust, and she uses her magic first and foremost to protect herself. Alma is thrown into battle with her brother, and she immediately lends him her aid, even though she's the one in most danger here.
With all status buffs received at once, Ramza goes again, and I immediately have him go down the stairs, block the way, and Tailwind himself, challenging all comers to try and go through him.
Meanwhile Gillian starts blasting.
I'm afraid I will never get tired of "White Mage with a Glock."
Confessor Zalmour approaches Ramza and from a safe distance starts poking him with his Pole. One of the left-side Knights approaches towards Gillian and Agrias's side of the stairs, but aside from weak Tanglevine ranged attacks they can't do much. Soon, Hadrian is out, clad in Samurai gear but still rocking Jump.
Note how the entire right-hand side has lined themselves up in one orderly file. I wish I still had Shockwave equipped.
Confessor Zalmour perhaps thought that putting a Knight between himself and Ramza would protect him from retaliation. Unfortunately, Iaido hits in a 2-square radius and is not blocked by obstacles, so Ramza just blasts both the Knight and Zalmour with Binding Darkness.
Immediately after, Hadrian completes his Jump, finishing off the front knight. Because of the way bodies occupy tiles, this means no one can occupy the tile in front of Ramza, and because character cannot pass through tiles occupied by an enemy, Ramza has this path completely locked down - at least until I decide that things are going well enough to afford a little greed; Ramza, buffed with two Tailwinds and Haste from Aegis, is basically acting twice as fast as everyone else, so he immediately goes again, flanks the file of Monks and Zalmour, and hits them both with a second Binding Darkness.
Of course, this puts him in a prime position to be pummeled on all sides - both monks flank him, though one of them instead uses Chakra to heal herself and the Celebrant for 60 HP.
Over on the left side, Agrias is dueling Knights and doing a fair job of it.
She's locking down her side of the battle about as effectively as Ramza did his own. Gillian, Mustadio, and Hadrian all have enormous range and so can just stand on the parapet taking potshots at everyone and casting heals or Hi-Potions to allies as needed.
The truth is, I'm not being as effective as I could - taking out our highest-level opponent who has all the tools to support the five meatheads that make up the rest of their team would be the actually effective option. But I don't want to kill Zalmour too early… He has dialogue.
Confessor Zalmour: "Your violence against us is as violence against the gods! But it is not too late! Repent of your sins! Repent, and be spared!"
Ramza: "You name me a heretic, but why? What have I done?"
Confessor Zalmour: "So you pretend ignorance? You slew Cardinal Delacroix to gain the auracite he held and offer it to whatever hellspawn you profane to call a god!"
Ramza: "You could not be more wrong! The legends of your holy auracite are lies! The Stones are magicite - they hold in them power for evil. The cardinal used this power, and it perverted him into one of the Lucavi!"
Confessor Zalmour: "Is it not enough that you murdered Cardinal Delacroix? Must you now slander his name as well? More's the pity. You will only see the name Beoulve washed away in tears."
[Battle resumes.]
Honestly, I assume Zalmour is on the conspiracy and that's somehow how he knew Ramza was involved with the murder and is fully aware of the Lucavi stuff just pretending otherwise, but it would be funny if this ended up being a Zenigata situation with Zalmour pursuing Ramza the whole game for a crime he absolutely did commit (we murdered the shit out of Delacroix) just with very important context that the Confessor is totally missing.
Zalmour then proves his chops as a high-ranking priest by moving away from the melee and casting Arise on the fallen Knight, bringing him up from KO with full HP.
Now, there's an obvious solution here - Arise as a very long casting time, and it would be easy to just kill Zalmour before he's done charging up. The problem is that this will instantly end the battle, and I will miss any other dialogue he might otherwise have. That's why my initial goal was to just clean out all mobs and then whittle him down progressively. But if he can raise an opponent I took several turns defeating at full HP with Arise… That becomes a lot trickier.
I decide to just carry on with a mixed approach - more Iaido hitting both the Confessor and one of the Monks, taking her out, while Hadrian and Agrias grind down the Knights on the left side of the screen. Shortly, I am rewarded with another dialogue beat:
Alma: "Flee, Ramza! You must! Those summoned before the Office do not return!"
Ramza: "I will not flee while you remain, Alma! I would not see them name you traitor with me! In staying you risk your own life!"
Alma: "I will not leave you to fight this battle alone!"
It's a short beat, mostly reaffirming the conflict/trust between the Lugria siblings where each one cares first and foremost about keeping the other safe. I do appreciate how this confirms a point of sinister worldbuilding - being summoned by the Office of Inquisition is a final sentence, one cannot expect to clear their name and be released, one who is brought before them has already been sentenced guilty with just the paperwork to finish signing. It builds up effectively on the sinister implications that have been foreshadowed in earlier scenes regarding the threat of declaring others heretics.
Unfortunately, Alma… Has all of 32 MP. And Aegis costs 30 MP. So when her NPC unit emphasizes her bravery and selflessness by having her step forward after Ramza, as if to cast support spells on her brother (Aegis just ran out last turn), she can't… Do that. She just stands there kind of useless. RIP.
Agrias finishes off the Knight in front of her, and Zalmour unfortunately finishes casting Arise. One Monk down, one Knight down… And then the remaining Monk decides to beat up on a child.
The fact that these guys keep focusing on the literal child in our midst really does a great job of making me despise them. Fortunately, Alma is a Guest unit, so she can't die (yet). But Ramza's Power Hour has run out and even if I raise Alma, she can't cast Aegis again.
Also, he is currently surrounded by two enemies on each side of him, including a powerful enemy spellcaster and a Monk who just hit Alma for 144 damage. I know, objectively, that I could win even if I kept dragging this out and the good Confessor threw in another Raise or two, but having this obvious a shot and not taking it is just galling to my player brain.
Fuck it, we've had two dialogue beats, that's probably the whole of it. Murder time.
Confessor Zalmour goes down. This ends the fight, and plays out his defeated animation:
Son of a-
And then he fucking teleports. Of course. All enemies vanish, and the battle is over.
We'll see more of the good inquisitor, no doubt about that.
Alma: "Ramza, you're all right!"
Ramza: "As are you. I'm glad. *sigh* None of this makes sense. How could the Office of Inquisition have learned of the auracite? Could the Church of Glabados be the ones supporting Delita? What do they hope to gain?"
Alma: "Ramza? You mentioned auracite. Have you truly seen the Stones from the legend? If auracite is real, then - I think I may have seen it once, too."
Ramza: "What ? Where!?"
Alma: "First you have to promise that you'll take me with you!"
Ramza: "You persist in this? Do you think I would risk putting you in such peril again? I will not take you with me!"
[They both turn their backs to one another.]
Sigh. Siblings.
Ramza: [He turns to her again, agitated.] "Do not act the child! Your very life is in danger!"
Alma: [She turns to him again.] "I should think it is. I've acted against the Office of Inquisition. Surely I am a heretic in their eyes. They will come for me as they do you. And when they do, do you think Dycedarg will protect me? He would never do anything that might endanger House Beoulve."
[A pause. Ramza lowers his head.]
Ramza: "No, I'm sure our dear brother would not. But you cannot come with me. The danger is too great! You must explain everything to Zalbaag and beg the forgiveness of the Church."
Alma: "The one I saw - it was in Orbonne. A crystal, engraved with the likeness of a virgin maid."
Ramza: "Virgo… I must reach it before they do. Thank you, Alma. Now go to Zalbaag, and do as I have said."
Alma: "And just how do you think to enter the monastery? You're a heretic, remember? Do you think you will be welcome at Orbonne?"
Ramza: "Ah…"
The "Ah…" of abject defeat.
Alma: [She leans forward.] "So, you need me after all."
Ramza: "Fine, but only until we reach Orbonne. When it is done, you will come home."
Alma: "I promise." [She spreads out her hands in a little princess pose.]
Ramza: "I will hold you to it."
Lmao, Alma. What a brat. Ramza in shambles, absolute sister triumph.
This is a very interesting exchange in several respects. Let me try to put my thoughts in order.
- Ramza suspects, as I do, that the Church as a whole is directly involved with the conspiracy. (The Delitacy?) Any alternative has to answer the question: How would they know about the auracite and that we killed Delacroix? In any other scenario, the obvious alternate answer would be 'one of our party members is a traitor.' Except our only party member when we arrived at Lesalia was… Well we had none. Agrias and Mustadio can both die, and so neither could be a traitor. The Church is our best candidate for the overall chief antagonist, as funny as Confessor Zenigata might be.
- It's very interesting that despite explicit mention that the Church's power has weakened in recent time, they're still effectively able to act as a kind of autonomous state-within-the-state who can show up to the estate of the third or fourth most powerful noble in the country (the Beoulves being the main support force of Duke Larg as House Orlandeau are Duke Goltanna's), arrest and take away one of their heirs, and it's very likely that Dycedarg would allow this to pass without opposition just because the consequences of the church branding the house as a whole heretic could upend the entire war and destroy their name. The Church is definitely one of the most powerful forces in the kingdom, despite not nominally being one of the claimants to the throne.
- in fact, this might be why they support the conspiracy; so that they can weaken their rivals before showing their hand and putting forward a claim to the throne. If they act too early, then they just become a third party in the war, and their ability to destroy rival houses using the Inquisition and their popular support is considerably diminished due to the obviously partisan nature of any denounciation.
- Ramza just can't fully shake off his years of trust in his brothers. Even after agreeing with Alma that Dycedarg would instantly sell her out to the Church if they asked, he still believes that with proper contrition and pleading, Zalbaag will protect her. While I think that Zalbaag is in on most of what his brother suggests, it's clear Ramza believes that Zalbaag may yet be the righteous one of his family, merely too outraged by his accusations to see the truth. He's growing, but he hasn't yet grown into the cynicism that many of the other characters in this series have embraced - for good or ill.
- Every point Alma makes is correct, and it's extremely obvious that going with Ramza is the safest place for her, even if it's not, objectively speaking, safe at all. It's just that all the other options are worse: Her half-brothers can't be trusted, the Church is corrupt and out for Ramza, she would almost definitely be used as a hostage against him. Meanwhile, traveling with Ramza's small group of mobile, stealthy, elite fighters is, if not comfortable, probably still the safest place someone can be in the middle of this devastating war. …granted, she is transparently making these arguments because she wants to stick with her almost-disappeared brother and go on a cool adventure, but she's still correct.
- …finally, the possibility exists, however remote, that Alma could herself be a traitor, who is trying to latch onto Ramza so she can act as a spy for the conspiracy. Sure, she's young, and she seems to love her brother, but we know how much bonds of siblinghood have been worth in this story so far. It's entirely possible that the line from ages ago when Ovelia said that Alma "had lived her entire life within monastery walls," something which seemed inconsistent with her established story, might not have been hyperbole but rather a lie meant to ingratiate herself to someone she was supposed to be spying on. That's… a stretch, though.
The truth is simply that the nature of this story and its themes make the question of "who can you trust" so salient that even Alma Beoulve-Lugria, Ramza's fun bratty younger sister with superpowered buff spells who blatantly wants to go on a cool adventure, can't fully be trusted.
Which is great. It feeds directly into the themes of the story. No one can fully be trusted, not even the ones closest to you.
That will do it for today. I enjoyed this bit of gameplay a lot but my writing process for it took longer than usual, so I don't have a clever final conclusion at the end. Excited for what's next, though.
As always, thank you for reading.
Next Time: Return to Orbonne Monastery.
Main Story Battle Count: 23
Random Battle Count: 30
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- Location
- Spain
"... and then Ramza crossed paths with my ancestor, Orran Durai. An incredibly mighty Astrologer capable of paralyzing an entire army with his Ultimate Move, Celestial Stasis"
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So I ended up looking this up since I recall some talk of how Dual-wield tends to be much better than Doublehand... and turns out Dragoons might actually be one of the few classes where that isn't true, because of how spears work. So, probably not a waste, though I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
So from what I recall (I didn't make much use of Poaching), basically every monster killed with Poach has two drops, a common and rare, that can be added to the shop, and the higher the tier of monster/rarer it is, the better items. So yeah, basic common monsters are just going to get you cheaper potions and whatnot, but skinning the Omega Dragon Lord or something might make the shopkeep go "dang I can forge the legendary Murasumemasamune outta this".
Dang, any relation to Arzlam? Because he seems to have taken that guy's reading skills to the next level, from "puts people to sleep in boredom" to "so godawful it causes physical pain".
So yeah, I don't recall having any difficulties with this battle back in the day, and this is exactly why: turn one or two, Orran just goes "Galaxy Stop Bitch" and now it's us against a bunch of stationary targets.
You know I was
I feel like "Ramza got charmed" is just generally an instant loss condition, since he's often built to be your most powerful party member, and most characters probably invested in something like First Strike or similar to take advantage of his default high Bravery.
...You see, I was just shitposting about the relation to Arazlam above, since I only remembered the "Cid's son" bit. But here we are.
Now the real question is how much of this is historically accurate, and how much of this is some Romance of the Three Kingdom's author shit of "oh yeah man my favorite character/ancestor? Was totally wicked awesome, super duper cool, he could beat up like 40 guys at once"
Maybe not to the same degree of Ramza, but I do think Zalbaag is the better, more honorable brother in that he's at least not a scheming asshole to that degree, surely he'll care about his brother enough to-
-oh nevermind, guess he's also an ass, doubly-so since he might be the one who called in the Inquisition.
Oh hey, it's that rake some of the thread was waiting for, just kinda casually mentioned in passing. I think people were hoping for more of a mid-battle "what the shit Katana's BREAK!?!?" from you, but I guess it just sorta happened in the background at some point.
Of course not, just a big ol' Oogie Boogie ripoff, that's all. No Cardinals here, inquisition peeps, you can leave anytime.
I see Ramza's trans clone is doing well in this fight, glad she could join us.
Goddamn, what do we gotta do to unlock this job? Or to recruit Ovellia/Alma, because "full buff suite" is always a nice thing to have available in one go.
Ah yes, the FFT combat dialogue problem. I guess it didn't work out as actually being much of a problem here, but it might be worth just clearing more difficult battles instead of worrying about it and letting the thread catch you up afterwards? Either that or looking up a video of the fight once you complete it to scan for dialogues, though that does of course risk Suddenly Spoilers at times.
To be fair that literal child is both the squishiest possible target on your side from an AI standpoint, and probably a priority target from a story standpoint when she's flinging around powerful holy magic buffs.
Can't wait to see what color of auracite this guy pulls out his ass when he turns into a big ol' demon with a re-appropriated name from some mythology or another. I'm guessing Green.
IT WAS LADD, IT WAS LADD THE WHOLE TIME
HE SOLD YOU OUT IN REVENGE FOR KILLING HIS MENTOR GAFFGARION
Though yeah, this does once again bring up that issue of permadeath VS story content; with Ramza as feasibly the only character alive in your group, there's no room to actually have a traitor of any kind.
It gets better - the framing device is that this is Arazlam putting things together from what he named the Durai Papers, and our erstwhile protagonist, a footnote in 'proper' history, just met Orran Durai, a man probably related to the author thereof if he's not said author himself, who is here depicted as an incredibly powerful spellcaster who was personally raised by a knight so skilled an entire army just redeployed to handle him.
We are, from here on out, forced to consider the possibility that this is all Orran's self-insert fanfiction.
Dybbukpossesed
Falling Somewhere
- Location
- California
He reads from the targets old Deviant art story archive and does embarrassment damage.
I mean he's an astrologian, so-
Orran: "Today's Horoscope for Capricorn: Die."
Foe suffers sudden debilitating heart attack
Orran: "Today's Horoscope for Capricorn: Die."
Foe suffers sudden debilitating heart attack
- Location
- Malaysia
Zalmour knowing that we took the auracite is probably because:
1. Delacroix's (one that turned him into Oogie Boogie) is officially given to the Cardinal by the Church. They can't find it on whatever remains of the man. Since Ramza don't actually ransack Lionel, and only the stone is missing, means that the stone is presumably our objective.
2. They believed that the auracite have some sort of magic in it, because Zalmour went straight to accuse us of trying to summon Satan with the stone. Meaning,
3. Ramza's estimation that Delacroix is collecting the stones to trigger the 'Zodiac Braves' scheme is probably an actual official plan of the Church, with the Cardinal 'collecting' the Taurus stone from the Bunansas as part of their unfortunate 'casualties'.
1. Delacroix's (one that turned him into Oogie Boogie) is officially given to the Cardinal by the Church. They can't find it on whatever remains of the man. Since Ramza don't actually ransack Lionel, and only the stone is missing, means that the stone is presumably our objective.
2. They believed that the auracite have some sort of magic in it, because Zalmour went straight to accuse us of trying to summon Satan with the stone. Meaning,
3. Ramza's estimation that Delacroix is collecting the stones to trigger the 'Zodiac Braves' scheme is probably an actual official plan of the Church, with the Cardinal 'collecting' the Taurus stone from the Bunansas as part of their unfortunate 'casualties'.
it's worth noting that while Zalbaag makes the disowning thing about trust and shuts Ramza down in a very unkind way…
Zalmour immediately showing up might not be due to Zalbaag tipping the church off.
Because if you assume that Zalbaag knows Ramza killed a cardinal, then maybe Zalbaag has good reason to pick a fight, disown his brother and let the Inquisition sort it out. On pain of, you know, the Inquisition.
I don't know that I really believe that, it requires some assumptions about the framing device and amount of spycraft, double-dealing and threats happening. But. If there's a cutscene coming up where Zalmour talks with Zalbaag I wouldn't exactly be surprised either.
Zalmour immediately showing up might not be due to Zalbaag tipping the church off.
Because if you assume that Zalbaag knows Ramza killed a cardinal, then maybe Zalbaag has good reason to pick a fight, disown his brother and let the Inquisition sort it out. On pain of, you know, the Inquisition.
I don't know that I really believe that, it requires some assumptions about the framing device and amount of spycraft, double-dealing and threats happening. But. If there's a cutscene coming up where Zalmour talks with Zalbaag I wouldn't exactly be surprised either.
- Location
- San Francisco
Someone needs to make that "trust no one, not even yourself" meme, but with Ramza.