#ffxii:tza

[flowersforone]

Found a clean version of the new art for the FFXII:TZA Nintendo Switch release via Instagram.  

[cellarspider]

Well, that last post included a pleasant, if potentially X-Files-y airship ride to Rabanastre. TIME TO HOP ON ANOTHER ONE TO NALBINA.

It’s so I can start booting creepy assholes off these ships so they’ll stop pestering the stewards.

Lirschell: Ah, you must be the lad Rande mentioned the other day. This is…what, your second airship? I doubt you’ve the funds to see this through. We’re sure to win!

Fuck, I wish the combat menu was available right now.

Merchant: Do you think it’s because of the reconstruction in Nalbina? All these seeq and bangaa onboard, I mean. It’s not helping me relax, I’ll say that.

Well heck you too, lady.

Bohemian: You’ve heard of Theodora the Highborn, I presume. The epic tale of romance and intrigue set against the backdrop of Nalbina Fortress. To think, I’ll soon walk the halls and byways of the novel! I cannot wait!

May all your headcanons come true, ma’am.

[cellarspider]

July: I’m working, in case you hadn’t noticed. And the sooner I finish, the sooner I can be out of this chocobo fetor and back home in Archades.

So, we have a lady spying on these two guards just outside of Nalbina. Why?

Gibbs: How long are we going to be out here, sir? With Leviathan and her fleet sunk, I couldn’t help but wonder if we should—

Deweg: Desert our post? The Empire doesn’t look kindly upon deserters, Gibbs!

And why are their names so strange?

Gibbs: Of-Of course not! But our commanders did go down with the others in jagd. If we don’t receive new orders, we’re like to stand watch here till our armor rusts! I thought we might find a way to transfer to a new division.

Deweg: You want to end up fighting on the front lines?

Strange, but familiar.

Gibbs: N-No sir! Only, it’s so…boring here.

Deweg: A proper soldier never leaves his post until he’s relieved. If that means staying until your dying day, so be it. More like you’ll be shipped off to battle long before that, though.

Almost like it’s a weird spoonerism of the names Wedge and Biggs, two recurring Star Wars references throughout the Final Fantasy series.

Gibbs. Fair enough, sir, but why’d it have to be here? Here of all places?

Deweg: A soldier doesn’t complain about his post, Gibbs. Granted it’s hot…the city reeks of sweat…and I’ve sand in places sand has no right to be.

In the original Japanese, these two weren’t Wedge and Biggs, though. They were just Senpai and Kohai.

Deweg: And I’ll never get the stink of chocobo out of my nose. That reminds me. The ones at Lord Vayne’s appointment ceremony…a gift of your family, weren’t they?

Gibbs: I’d hoped to forget. The fewer that know about that, the better.

But it seems that when the dub script was in production, one of the writers looked around and asked “Where are Wedge and Biggs”, and thus decreed these two must be them. But not actually use the names, for some reason. Maybe more Star Wars parallels would be too on the nose in this game.

Deweg: What’s to be ashamed of? You ought to be proud. Your family raises some of the finest in the Empire.

July: Finest what? Sorry to say I couldn’t attend the appointment ceremony… This place does stink, and no mistake. Better finish my work here and be off. Can’t go back to Archades smelling like this.

Now, obviously there’s a chocobo stable not far from here. I could rent one right now, and trigger another scene. But no, that cuts off a chance to mess with these guys that I intend to show you all.

But it involves getting the shit kicked out of me by a tornado dinosaur again.

…I need to level up a bit first.

[cellarspider]

Down into the pit with a strange something guarding a tall doorway.

Hi.

We’re here to take the Dawn Shard and steal the king’s treasure, what’s your name?

Okay maybe I made the wrong impression there.

This is our boss for today. He’s two giant goat-men sharing a single body, which means the little hands can cast magic on you and the Big Hands can whallop the shit out of everything.

I took a shitton of screenshots of this guy, even though this isn’t actually the best light, because look at him! That’s goddamn cool!

Okay maybe cool was the wrong word here.

Great big honking fire spell out of nowhere, which for some reason coated Balthier and Vossler in oil and left the women unscathed. Okay then.

Belias is defeated, he poofs into sparkles, and then…

Well, since this is Final Fantasy and that’s a crystal, he must be more important than your average boss.

You obtained the Esper Belias, the Gigas.

In fact, he’s our first summon! Huzzah!

Fran: In vainglory they arose, shouting challenges at the gods. But prevail they did not. Their doom it was to walk the Mist until Time’s end. A legend of the nu mou.

Ashe: My family tells a story of the Dynast-King and an Esper. The story goes that in his youth, the Dynast-King defeated a mighty gigas, for which the gods took heed of him. Thereafter, it was ever bound to him in thralldom.

I totally respect voice actors who are able to get a script that’s a great big pile of words signifying nothing to them in particular, and then make it sound very serious and important.

Balthier: So all this time it’s been here guarding the Dynast-King’s treasure.

Ashe: Not so. The Esper is the Dynast-King’s treasure.

lol Balthier got played again

Balthier: That’s your treasure?

Ashe: In this Esper we now command rests a power whose worth is beyond any measure.

Balthier: Call me old-fashioned, but I was hoping for a treasure whose worth we could measure.

Seriously, how is it that you’re a famous sky pirate if you keep failing to get paid so often.

[cellarspider]

We return to a place we have never goddamn seen before.

We don’t get a caption this time so I’ve never been quite certain if this is supposed to be a dream or not, but I can just tell you where this is: This is where the capital of Nabradia used to be. When the Empire took the city there was a catastrophic explosion that leveled the city, turning it into a barren, soggy, misty nothing a la the Dead Marshes from Lord of the Rings. No one’s sure what happened, but many speculate.

Rasler used to be the heir to Nabradia, so it makes sense that he’s here.

Vaan, though. That’s still weird.

The Royal City of Rabanastre Four Days After the Sinking of Leviathan

Dang it why did Ghis have to go and let the nerds stick a rock in the microwave

Still not over that

Basch: So it was the Dawn Shard that brought down the Imperial fleet.

The game catches up everyone who’s slow on the draw (like I was the first time I played this. Derp.)

Balthier: You know your stuff.

Basch: Destructive power of such force—I’ve seen it before. Lady Ashe, you know of what I speak.

Ashe: Nabudis.

Basch: The capital of Old Nabradia—Lord Rasler’s fatherland.

It’s been two years since that happened, and it’s already Old Nabradia. That’s kind of depressing.

Basch: At the time of the invasion, a division of Imperials entered the city… There was a mighty explosion. Friend and foe died alike. Something was there—one of the Dynast-King’s relics. The Midlight Shard was in Nabradia.

Balthier: More nethicite. Well, no wonder they invaded.

I haven’t touched on this before, but this is an excellent time to do so now: Ashe talked about Raithwall’s reign being peaceful and prosperous, but given what we know about the Shards now, it seems he kept the peace because he had weapons of mass destruction, and no one else did.

Archadia’s been working to synthesize this stuff, and Vayne in particular has been collecting the genuine article. That’s bad.

Ashe: That ridiculous war, the trap at the treaty-signing—all this because Vayne wanted power. He must not be allowed to claim the nethicite. The Empire must never hold it.

See, Ashe agrees with me.

Balthier: Oh? They already do. The Dusk Shard, most likely the Midlight Shard, too. Besides, can’t they manufact nethicite now?

Ashe: Very well, then the path set before us is clear. We’ll use the Dawn Shard to fight them! Dalmasca does not forget kindness nor ill deed done. With sword in hand she aids her allies. Sword in hand, she lays rest to her foes. This nethicite I hold must be my sword. I will avenge those who have died. And the Empire will know remorse.

Aaaand this is where I part ways with Ashe. Her answer to “A bad man we don’t like has WMDs and might’ve used them already” is “well we have one too, let’s use it!”

I’ll get us over to Nabudis eventually for a good look at what she’s really talking about. It will take a while, though: It’s utter misery to get through the Deadlands that lie around it for miles in every direction.

And it’s not as if the Empire wouldn’t be able to retaliate: they control Dalmasca. A large portion of Rabanastre’s population is bottled up in Lowtown, and the Empire controls all the exits. In essence, a ghetto. If Ashe goes and starts blowing up more fleets, or attempts to strike at Imperial civilian centers, Rabanastre will suffer. That’s without even taking into account the fact that Rozarria would almost certainly respond, both to a weakened Empire and to the danger Ashe would then pose to them. Would she fight them too?

Vaan: You even know how to use it?

Ashe: I—

…And Vaan brings up an excellent further point: Where the heck is the On switch for this purple doomsday rock we got here.

Fran: The garif may know.

Not really helping, Fran. I mean, you are helping, but not in a way that’s preferable right now.

Fran: The garif people live by the old ways. Magicite lore is a part of their culture. They may hear it. The cry of the nethicite’s power.

Fran: Whispers of the Stone’s menace.

This is ridiculously dramatic but given that the rock made her flip out and kick a bunch of people in the head before it exploded, she’s got good reason.

Ashe: Dangerous though it be, what we need now is power. Should we declare Dalmasca free without the means to defend our claim, the Empire would crush us. You must take me to meet with the garif.

This is more reasonable, though only barely: Nothing’s truly reasonable when it comes to a big shiny atomic bomb allegory. The idea of nuclear weapons as a deterrent is only as sensible as the people who control them, and Ashe has already stated she doesn’t intend for this to only be held in reserve as a threat. She intends to use it.

[cellarspider]

Cloudborne Resident: Even were there a resistance welling in Bhujerba, who would be fool enough to speak of it? Anyone could be a spy for the Empire…even you!

Nonsense. I’M CAPTAIN BASCH FON RONSENBURG OF DALMASCA

City Parijanah: Svagatam, traveler. Lucky for you the organization deemed you useful. After you spread that rumor…things could have gotten ugly.

Okay okay jeez

Lhusu Miner: My patience is spent, Moogle! Down! Adhuna! You are coming—“Kupo”!? I’ll give you kupo!

One of the mysteries I’m hoping to solve by being more attentive with this runthrough: Just what the fuck is the deal with these two. This has been at a stalemate ever since I first showed up in Bhujerba, and it doesn’t show any signs of stopping.

Anyway, time to finally leave Bhujerba on one of the passenger flights.

Traveler: Standing here I feel no less than the captain himself! Someday, someday… My shop in Archades does well, but not well enough to afford a ship. Still, even being able to travel by airship is a luxury I could only dream of when I lived in Rabanastre.

This relates to a ramble on Archadian culture I’ll include at some point, but we’re still missing pieces of it. But it’s worth noting that a lot of Dalmascans lost just about everything when the Empire took over, but some have profited since then. Overall, a net loss, but one that’s insidious for reasons I’ll expand upon later.

In the meantime…

Paranoid Man: I am not here to enjoy the wind against my face or any such mean pleasure in which these others bask. No, I am here to search the skies! They’re out there, yes. Out there, at the edge of vision! Waiting, watching… Had I the funds, I would buy an airship for their study. (sigh)

On the other hand…

Imperial: That little girl just over there’s been staring up at the sky for some time. Not doing anything dangerous, mind you, but something’s not right.

Oookay. Going back below decks now.

Saloon Steward: Last time I was in Rabanastre, let’s see… Right after Princess Ashe was born, musta been. Ninth in the Dalmascan line, and the first girl. The people were overjoyed, that they were. The city bustled with life. Rabanastre’s fallen on hard times, but she’ll get back that ol’ magick of hers, just you watch.

Yeah, ninth kid out of the family. Where did her brothers go? Well… they’re all dead. Either from war or illness, they’re toast. Vaan and Penelo have mentioned a plague that struck Dalmasca two years before the war, but I’ve no idea what other conflicts killed the rest. We don’t see any of them during the opening cutscene, at least not that can be identified. Nor is it clear whether Ashe was raised as a potential heir, or if she assumed that role after the death of her brothers. She is the heir now, though. She just needs that pesky legitimacy thing sorted out.

Wow this was a disjointed post.

[cellarspider]

The first sign of things not going well is that Fran starts freaking out.

Vaan: Fran?

Fran: Such heat. The Mist—it’s burning!

Again, on the list of things you don’t want to hear while in a flying tin can, “It’s burning!” is pretty high up there.

Technician: Sixty-eight hundred, sixty-nine hundred, seven thousand!

Two thousand and one more and we would have had a meme there.

Technician: This must be deifacted nethicite! The count still climbs!

I get that you guys are excited that you’re all going to get co-first authorship on whatever physics paper would theoretically get written about this but GUYS.

THIS IS WHY WE SUBMIT DANGEROUS PROJECT PROPOSALS TO THE SAFTEY REVIEW BOARD FIRST

Ghis: We found it at last: true deifacted nethicite. The power of the Dynast-King in my hands.

Gosh darn it, Ghis, you’re not helping.

Ghis: Blood alone does not an emperor make, Vayne.

And this is part of why and how Ghis snapped: As I mentioned before, the Archadian Empire theoretically elects its emperors. In practice it’s been inherited from one Emperor to his chosen heir for the past few hundred years, but Emperor Gramis hasn’t wanted to declare his smol, innocent son or his big, murder-y son emperor, because both would be terrible in their own ways. So there’s a significant chance he’s going to kick the bucket soon, and for the first time in generations the Senate is actually going to have the authority to choose someone who’s last name isn’t Solidor to be emperor.

And Ghis is the most senior Judge Magister, and a ruthless bastard to boot. So, if he can turn the situation against Vayne, he has a real shot at getting voted in. And I would have loved to see the drama that would have happened if this whole idea got added into the game’s political drama.

There’s just one problem. A really big one.

Technician: What is this? Something’s wrong!

I’m going to spoil something again: The Dusk Shard was doing some odd things back when Vaan had it. In fact, how he got it was weird: he wasn’t even looking for it, its hiding place opened on its own. The Dusk Shard definitely had something to do with Ashe and Vaan seeing a spectre of Ashe’s dead husband.

These are macguffins that were given to a certain bloodline by the gods. They play favorites.

And I think they’re pitching a fit right now.

Fran certainly is, at any rate.

Guard: You! Stand!

Vossler: Hold her down!

Fran shrieks like the damned and starts tossing guards off their feet, ripping pieces of armor straight off of some of them with the force of her claws alone.

Penelo: What’s wrong with her?!

Balthier: I always knew Fran didn’t take well to being tied up. I just never knew how much.

Confound it all Balthier you’re ruining the moment.

Balthier: How about you?

Still not helping

Ashe: I like Fran’s idea. Let’s get out of here!

Vossler: No farther!

Vossler: Sky pirates! The future of Dalmasca will not be stolen!

For heck’s sake dude the last time someone tried to stop these people from escaping this ship it didn’t go well.

[cellarspider]

Where are we now?

Coruscant. I didn’t know this was a Star Wars game all of a sudden.

Oh, it’s Archades again. You’ll forgive me for making the mistake, what with the art deco-inspired skyscrapers, loads of suspended walkways and light anti-gravity craft, and the senate building that looks like a goddamn Super Star Destroyer done up in paisley.

Truly, a building that doesn’t look evil at all.

The Imperial City of Archades The Senate

Senator 1: The Rozarrian Empire assembles a vast host under guise of martial exercises. It is our believe they wait for the proper pretext, the sooner to make their strike against Archadia.

Which is one way to interpret the situation. The other is that the 8th Fleet traipsed all the way out to right near the Rozarrian border, through an area they were never supposed to be able to fly, and then exploded without warning, scaring the bejeezus out of the Rozarrians. I mean, hey, Archadia’s down a fleet, cool. WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY DOING. HOW WERE THEY THE FUCK DOING. FUCK.

Senator 2: The loss of Leviathan and her fleet at such a time comes as a most grievous blow. Were Rozarria to invade, the battle would be hard-fought. Had Lord Vayne not deployed the fleet so capriciously, we would not now find ourselves in such perilous circumstance.

Also, I can recognize the voices of most of the senators, but for the life of me I can’t identify the actors behind them. Except for this guy:

Chairman Gregoroth: Lord Vayne shall be made to answer for his actions. It is the will of the Senate. Excellency, though he be your son, justice must be served.

Hi Simon Templeman! Yours is always a trustworthy voice that’s given to only good people!

Emperor Gramis: A convenient thing, justice. And so I must now make a choice... between my throne, and my son.

Although the Emperor’s voiced by Roger Jackson, who most people first encountered as the voice over the phone in Scream, and voiced Maester Kinoc in Final Fantasy X, among many other shifty as fuck voices. The fact that he seems to be a reasonable and rounded character in XII is startling as hell, honestly.

Chairman Gregoroth: A most lamentable situation for us all.

Senator 2: Oh? For Lord Vayne, perhaps, yet surely Lord Larsa will make for a fine emperor.

Emperor Gramis: Larsa so adores his brother, and he is yet young.

Senator 1: But he will not remain young forever. Already he busies himself unraveling Lord Vayne’s tangled skein. Lord Larsa has found his role to play, and pursues it with some enthusiasm.

Emperor Gramis: Ah, yes… And who would set him at such tasks?

Senator 2: What matter?

Kind of a lot of matter, but the senate’s getting pretty smug these days, now that Gramis is looking older and sicker than they are, and they have the loss of the fleet to pressure him into acting.

Senator 2: Lord Vayne himself once saw his elder brothers brought to like justice, did he not? At Your Excellency’s behest, as I recall.

It’s never expanded upon whether Gramis specifically set Vayne to go after his elder brothers and approved of the executions that followed, but one thing is for sure, at this point he’d rather his sons not have anything to do with killing each other. That would be nice, for once.

Gramis can’t give us any input at the moment, because his lungs are going all Vayne on him.

Chairman Gregoroth: You may put yourself at ease, Lord Gramis. So long as the Senate watches over her, Archadia’s well-being will ever be ensured.

Again, Simon Templeman’s voice makes this sound so sincere and not at all like he’s poisoning a certain someone’s coffee or whatever.

Gramis: By your will. I shall bid Vayne return to Archades.

He’s in too vulnerable a position to tell them to sod off, because honestly, he could die any damn day now, and then the Senate could go absolutely bananas. He has only a few more chances to try and deal with his sons personally, and so that’s his only option.