Topic: Who Needs the Fight Command, Anyway? Let's Play Final Fantasy 6 Advance! (Read 46988 times)

R^2 · « **Reply #160 on:** October 09, 2013, 11:14:58 AM »

The game has uncoupled dialog from anyone in particular, since there's no telling who will be in the party at this point. I guess I'll refer to lines like that as just "Party".

Ramuh: This girl is your friend, I presume?
Party: Terra... Is she all right?
Ramuh: So, her name is Terra... ...Terra, you say? Interesting...!

Terra pops out of bed and craws across the floor, growling.

R^2 · « **Reply #161 on:** October 09, 2013, 11:25:41 AM »

Party: You're an esper!? Don't espers live in another world?
Ramuh: That doesn't mean there's anything stopping us from living in this one. Espers come in a variety of forms. My appearance is similar to your own, so I can live here as one of you... ...without a fear of anyone discovering the truth.
Party: Why hide the fact that you're an esper?
Ramuh: Humans and espers are incompatible creatures.
Locke: But my grandma told me that humans and espers once lived side by side... Of course, that was only a bedtime story...
Ramuh: No, that was no fairy tale. That was the truth. Humans and espers used to live together in harmony. At least... until the War of the Magi.
Party: Until the War of the Magi...?
Ramuh: It took place long ago... Espers fought humans who had been infused with magical powers extracted from other espers. After the meaningless war had ended, the espers fashioned a new realm to which they exiled themselves. They feared that if they remained, it would only be a matter of time befor etheir powers were targeted again.

Ramuh: I narrowly escaped that same fate, and now I am here with you.

Nobody bothered to move Terra back into her bed while Ramuh gave that expository dump. Locke finally does the job.

Party: So Terra's... an esper?
Ramuh: No, she's a bit different from us...
Party: She looks like she's in pain...
Ramuh: She is afraid of what she is, and that is a painful thing.
Party: What can we do to help her?
Ramuh: Once she understands her true nature, the fear and doubt should subside.
Party: Is there nothing we can do?
Ramuh: The others of my kind who are trapped in Gestahl's Magitek Research Facility may be able to help her.
Party: And if we can get inside that facility, you're sure we'll find them?
Celes: ...The Magitek Research Facility? Your people are in there?
Ramuh: I escaped alone, abandoning my friends and hiding here like a coward. But I fear I can remain here no longer.
Party: What do you mean?
Ramuh: Gestahl's methods are mistaken. You can't drain an esper's powers by force -- that weakens them. Only when we become magicite can our powers be transferred in full.
Party: What are you saying?
Ramuh: I am going to turn myself into magicite so that I may lend you my strength.
Party: Magicite...?
Ramuh: Magicite is an esper's power in its purest form. When an esper dies, magicite is all that is left behind...
Party: But...!

R^2 · « **Reply #162 on:** October 09, 2013, 11:28:34 AM »

Nice, traditional summon beast.

Promoted from minor boss!

...kind of out of nowhere!

There have been some monsters by this name in previous games, so kind of weird to get it as an esper.

R^2 · « **Reply #163 on:** October 09, 2013, 11:33:25 AM »

Celes: I was asleep when I they performed my infusion, so I don't know for sure. But... I've heard rumors to that effect.

Edgar: We'd best split up again. We still need to beef up our defenses in Narshe.
Cyan: That would indeed be wise.

Sabin: But alone...?
Locke: Don't worry. I'll go with her.
Celes: Locke!
Cyan: It may not hurt to have a few more people along.

At this point, Shadow leaves. Locke and Celes are required for this next bit, but voting is open for the other two party members!

A² · « **Reply #164 on:** October 10, 2013, 10:52:35 AM »

Gau, Sabin

Thad · « **Reply #165 on:** October 12, 2013, 02:19:18 AM »

Quote from: TA on September 30, 2013, 03:33:38 PM

Quote from: R^2 on September 30, 2013, 01:37:00 PM
Or set your Config menu to "Memory", put Banon on Pray duty and Edgar on the Autocrossbow, and strap down the controller button overnight. Banon will keep everyone healed up in random battles while everyone else kills monsters, and without any further oversight you can come back to the game at level 30 or so. Or spend two days doing it for level 50 or so. Or whatever.

You're hurting yourself long-term if you do this! I mean, not that much, since it's a damn easy game, but maybe in the postgame dungeon. Since you'll gain all those levels with zero Magicite stat boosts.

You can come back later and do it with Setzer's Slot -- if you've just got the button getting whacked repeatedly it'll always fail and use his free heal ability.

Quote from: R^2 on October 04, 2013, 10:41:49 AM

There are eight attacks in the full skillset, but he only knows three to start.

I once got him early enough that he only had two. Must have run from a lot of battles or something.

R^2 · « **Reply #166 on:** October 12, 2013, 04:06:09 AM »

Locke: If we need to change party members, I guess we'll just head back to Narshe...
Celes: So... how are we going to get there? The Empire's on the southern continent... They've closed down all the harbors, so there aren't even any ships sailing there anymore.
Locke: The town of Jidoor to the south is full of wealthy aristocrats... One of them might know a way in. "Where there's a gil..."
Celes: Locke.
Locke: Yeah?
Celes: Why are you coming with me?
Locke: Hmm? Well... there's the rumor about that legendary treasure being there and all... ...I just wanted to have a look around.

Once again, the poll was tied, this time for second place. Cyan secured his spot, but the last slot was tied between Edgar and Gau. And the coinflip went... to Gau. Dammit.

Anyway, I have the first four espers.

Espers do three things. First, they teach magic! Each esper teaches one to five spells, at different learning rates. Ramuh hear teaches Thunder quickly, Poison less quickly, and Thundara rather slowly.

Kirin teaches a few curative spells, such as Cure, Esuna, and Poisona -- Kirin's Cura is the slowest spell I can learn at this point, at only 1x modifier. Siren teaches Sleep, Silence, Slow, and Fire; all rather quickly at 5x or faster. Cait Sith teaches Confuse, Imp, and Float.

From here on out, battles will start giving magic AP. Multiply the magic AP earned after battle by the learning rate for any given spell, and the character will learn the product as a percentage of that spell. When it hits 100%, they learn the spell completely and can cast it forevermore.

So with those two AP, whoever has Ramuh equipped has (2 AP x 10 learn rate) 20% of Thunder, (2 x 5) 10% of Poison, and (2 x 2) 4% of Thundara.

The second thing espers do is boost character stats. Some espers have level up bonuses, giving a boost to strength, stamina, speed, magic, HP growth, or MP growth whenever a character levels up with that esper equipped. Ramuh here gives Stamina +1, Cait Sith gives Magic +1, Siren gives HP+10%, and Kirin gives nothing.

The HP bonus is based on what the character would have earned at level up, not their max HP. If Celes has 350 HP and would normally get 50 more at level up, equipping Sirens HP+10% turns 50 into 55 (add 10% of the gain), not turning 50 into 35 (adding 10% of Celes' maximum HP).

The last thing espers do is allow summon magic: characters can summon the esper they have equipped once per battle. Ramuh blasts enemies with electric damage, Kirin regens the whole party, Siren and Cait Sith silence and confuse all enemies respectively.

R^2 · « **Reply #167 on:** October 12, 2013, 04:13:52 AM »

Jidoor and Zozo are at the westernmost edge of the world map. Gau levels up on the easternmost part. So I go back through Figaro, South Figaro, Mt. Kolts, and the Lethe River. Thankfully I can walk to Nikeah from the old man's house, renting a chocobo to make it to Baren Falls. Skipping the hike through Doma and the Phantom Forest is much appreciated.

After wandering for hours, mostly searching for a Hill Gigas and not finding it, I get Gau the rages for Veil Dancer (Blizzara), Aspiran (Gigavolt, basically Thundaga), Mu (Snare, an instant-kill), and Anguiform (Aqua Breath).

I was shooting for Hill Gigas to get Magnitude8, but I'll take what I've got. Back in Jidoor...

Aristocrat: ...What, did you think I was going to suggest launching yourself from a catapult? Are you daft?

Auctioneer: I've heard you can get one in the Imperial capital of Vector...

Locke's participation: justified.

R^2 · « **Reply #168 on:** October 12, 2013, 04:17:37 AM »

There's a man in a tuxedo panicking in the largest mansion up north.

Impresario: Sorry, I mistook you for someone else. Wow, you could pass for Maria in a heartbeat! ...Oh dear, we're really in trouble this time...

The Impresario dropped a letter on his way out.

Maestro: Everyone just calls him "Impresario". He's been in a tizzy ever since that letter arrived.

Maestro: Were you born on a farm, son?

R^2 · « **Reply #169 on:** October 12, 2013, 04:20:24 AM »

Music: Sharkey's theme

Celes: If we had that airship, we'd have our way into the Empire...
Locke: Let's set up a meeting with this Setzer.

So let's comb the town for rumors, shall we?

Man: He's also a big fan of the opera. Of course, I heard he only goes there to see the leading lady...

R^2 · « **Reply #170 on:** October 12, 2013, 04:30:03 AM »

So I head south, to the opera house.

Music: Spinach Rag

Impresario: He'll probably appear right at the climax of the first act. He loves to make an entrance... *sigh*...

Impresario: Dear me, no! You'll ruin the performance! I'll lose my job!
Celes: But if you don't do anything...!
Impresario: Oh, this is simply horrible! I want the performance to be a success... but I don't want Maria to be abducted!

Locke: We'll use a decoy. Once he's got her, we'll follow him right back to his airship. If all goes well, we should be able to commandeer it!
Impresario: Are you mad!? If anything should happen to Maria...

Impresario: Come again?
Locke: You said Celes looks like Maria, right?
Celes: Now just a minute...
Impresario: Brilliant!
Celes: H-hold on here! I'm a former general, not some opera floozy!

Celes storms away... into the dressing room.

I am told it's not uncommon for stage performers who look good to take center stage, while someone more... vocally talented stands just out of sight and provides the singing. So while it'd be pretty contrived for Celes to be a star opera soprano without any training or practice whatsoever, chances are good there's a real singer just out of sight onstage providing the vocals while Celes, in the bustier and makeup, lip-synchs.

That's all way more than the game needs to tell to make the story happen, but it certainly helps suspend disbelief.

R^2 · « **Reply #171 on:** October 12, 2013, 04:31:34 AM »

Ultros throws a letter toward the party...

...where it lands just out of sight, behind them.

R^2 · « **Reply #172 on:** October 12, 2013, 04:39:09 AM »

I still haven't figured out how to do my own video recording, so the best I can do is trawl YouTube for the opera scenes. A screenshot LP won't do them justice, but now I'm torn: do I post the SNES videos with the better music, or the GBA videos with the better script?

Here's the most comprehensive video I could find, although I'd rather it be split into three parts so I could post the interstitial scenes it skips. Oh well!

Opera House (All songs)

Pause the video at 2:25 for this scene, where Locke gets up and walks around.

Impresario: Oh, I hope this works...

Gau: Owau! Pretty song, pretty song!
Cyan: Where art thou going? Thou should relax and enjoy the show!

Gau thinks it's pretty, Cyan the warrior-poet enjoys the spectacle. Should you bring them along, Edgar is pretty indifferent, IIRC, and Sabin is confused why everyone's singing.

A push-up bra and a professional makeup artist can do wonders for any battle-scarred military officer.

Celes: Locke... Why did you stand up for me when you did?
Locke: ...Because I'm tired of standing by and doing nothing while I lose the girls I like.

Celes: I have to go on stage soon. This next scene's an important one. Maria starts to worry that something's happened to Draco, and pours her feelings into song.
Locke: Shouldn't you check the score one last time?

The game tells you all the lyrics and stage directions to pull the iconic opera scene off flawlessly.

R^2 · « **Reply #173 on:** October 12, 2013, 04:43:03 AM »

As the video above shows, the game prompts at a few points for the next lyrics. You can, of course screw up and ruin the entire scene.

Music: Screwing up the Opera

The game kicks you out of the entire opera house as a functional game over.

R^2 · « **Reply #174 on:** October 12, 2013, 04:51:47 AM »

Pause the video above at 6:55, after Celes's big performance and the following wedding waltz, for this scene:

Ultros moved his letter into the dressing room.

Impresario: But how is he planning to disrupt the opera?
Party: ...With that!?

Now go watch the rest of the video. Following the declaration of a duel:

R^2 · « **Reply #175 on:** October 12, 2013, 05:01:48 AM »

Music: Duel 4
Duels one through three were parts of the opera linked in the video.

Ultros is quite prescient in his estimate: you have exactly five minutes to reach him.

But while the passage to the catwalks is to the left, you have to go to the right and talk to a stagehand to unlock the door leading there.

Otherwise you can't get further than this.

The catwalks themselves are full of vicious rats. If you kill the brown Stunners before the gold Goetia, the Stunners respawn, forcing you to spend even more time killing them.

Oh no! Somehow dicking around for the better part of a minute means I'm too late!

There's no gruesome splatter. Ultros throws the 4-ton weight offscreen...

And you're shunted back to the world map for another other try.

R^2 · « **Reply #176 on:** October 12, 2013, 05:04:34 AM »

Ultros flips over the party, rears back...

And in tackling the party off the catwalks, falls off himself.

The party lands on Draco, and Ultros lands on Ralse. So no one's terribly hurt, but...

A confused murmur runs through the crowd.

The crowd seems to appreciate it, since there's a cheer and a few whistles.

R^2 · « **Reply #177 on:** October 12, 2013, 05:14:13 AM »

Ultros: I challenge you to a duel!
Impresario: Hmm... might as well make the most of this. MUSIC!

Music: The Grand Finale?
One of my favorite tracks in the game. I cannot adequately describe why. I just like it.

Ultros: Long time no see! Did ya miss me?

Ultros, being a waterborne creature by nature, is not fond of electric attacks. All that time on the Veldt gave everyone enough time with Ramuh to learn Thundara, but Gau doesn't even need that. He pretends to be a floating jellyfish, and zaps Ultros with Gigavolt instead.

This Ultros form has 2550 HP, by the way. Gau just took him from full health to barely hanging on by his fingernails in one shot. Er, if octopuses had fingernails.

Ultros: I feel like such a sucker. Well, kids, hate to ink and run... but I AM an octopus!

R^2 · « **Reply #178 on:** October 12, 2013, 05:19:06 AM »

Music: Sharkey's theme

Setzer drops in from the catwalks. Why didn't we see him up there?

He spins Celes around...

...and when he grabs her, she's back in her usual costume instead of the opera dress. That's... handy.

R^2 · « **Reply #179 on:** October 12, 2013, 05:20:21 AM »

And the curtain falls. The opera's over!

News:

Author Topic: Who Needs the Fight Command, Anyway? Let's Play Final Fantasy 6 Advance! (Read 46988 times)