Board 8 > SaveEstelle/LeonhartFour in Different Houses: Remastered Edition [SELF]

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Mac Arrowny
09/29/19 1:19:42 PM
#451:


BK_Sheikah00 posted...
Man, just cleared Chapter 7. What would I have given for a party with Iris, Aranea and Luna.


yeah Aranea and Iris are better than any of the main four

Why Luna though? She's barely even a character...
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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 1:57:18 PM
#452:


what does being a character have to do with it

Luna's cool
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Mac Arrowny
09/29/19 2:29:32 PM
#453:


wait cool how

she never does anything, let alone anything cool
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pjbasis
09/29/19 2:42:10 PM
#454:


Bunch of weebs prefer all female casts more at 11

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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 2:53:26 PM
#455:


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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 2:57:58 PM
#456:


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pyresword
09/29/19 3:09:54 PM
#457:


Hey it's not my fault that like 50% of all anime can be described as "unremarkable male MC enters a new chapter in his life and meets many quirky, interesting girls".

Eventually you just get used it.
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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 3:32:04 PM
#458:


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Mac Arrowny
09/29/19 3:37:54 PM
#459:


LeonhartFour posted...
this is why you play RPGs with strong male leads


Too bad those aren't really a thing nowadays...
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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 3:40:51 PM
#460:


well you can still play the classics as I often do

and you occasionally have stuff like Cold Steel and Persona 5, although they also encourage you to build a harem so they kinda cancel each other out I guess
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Mac Arrowny
09/29/19 3:50:29 PM
#461:


I'll give you CS1, definitely, but I feel like Rean wasn't quite as compelling in CS2. Too much focus on the whole 'chosen one' thing.

As for P5... I'd certainly say Joker enhances the game, but I dunno if I'd call him a strong lead in himself. Silent protagonists are an odd category.
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pjbasis
09/29/19 3:52:11 PM
#462:


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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 3:52:52 PM
#463:


I think Joker had a pretty strong and well defined personality despite being silent, probably one of the few who have ever pulled that off.

Which makes the fact that they did nothing with him in the anime really sad when the P4 anime turned Narukami into a strong lead when he was kinda nothing in P4 itself.
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Mac Arrowny
09/29/19 3:55:34 PM
#464:


Hmm, yeah, I'm probably letting the anime color my memory of him here. Anime Joker was quite boring. Never even ended up watching those sequel OVAs...
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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 4:00:07 PM
#465:


Yeah, they were okay. The P5 anime really took no risks at all, so there's pretty much zero reason to watch it if you've already played the game.
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pyresword
09/29/19 4:03:44 PM
#466:


I liked Rean more in CS2 than in CS1 I think, though I wouldn't say he was amazing in either.
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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 4:05:58 PM
#467:


I think Rean is solid in both games. I wouldn't say he's been amazing, but he definitely has his moments when he shines.
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pyresword
09/29/19 4:13:43 PM
#468:


Just let me play as Lloyd instead in Cold Steel 3/4 tbh
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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 4:23:50 PM
#469:


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Janus5k
09/29/19 4:24:01 PM
#470:


All Three Houses beated - probably not doing Silver Snow since it's apparently largely redundant with Verdant Wind (but with less Claude) so that's likely it

Good game, definitely got repetitive and grindy but it endeared me to most of the cast (probably helped that I made sure to get every non-S support conversation at least once), which I can't always say is true about FE games.

BE: Edelgard > Bernadetta > Petra > Hubert > Dorothea > Ferdinand > Caspar > Linhardt

BL: Felix > Dimitri > Annette > Ashe > Dedue > Mercedes > Sylvain > Ingrid

GD: Claude > Lysithea > Lorenz > Marianne > Raphael > Hilda > Ignatz > Leonie

CoS: Seteth > Alois > Shamir > Flayn > Hanneman > Manuela > Gilbert > Catherine > Cyril

The three houses are all pretty solid - most of the characters at the bottom at least had their moments. Everyone in the Church below Hanneman bothered me in some fashion (yet another reason not to do that one I guess!) except Gilbert who was kinda just boring.

Blue Lions route was probably my favorite from a story perspective, mainly for Dimitri's arc. Golden Deer answers more questions but Claude sort of just felt along for the ride. Also the last map was kinda random and I was surprised TWSITD only got one chapter after being touted as the Real Enemy. Black Eagles was just way too short what the heck how do you spend 12 chapters at school and then 6 conquering a continent.

Think I need a break from games before CS3.
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BK_Sheikah00
09/29/19 4:34:24 PM
#471:


I like how the scenes of kid Noctis and Luna make me think of Riku and Namine.
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LordoftheMorons
09/29/19 7:03:46 PM
#472:


Somnium Files beated

Good game, would recommend

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BK_Sheikah00
09/29/19 7:22:20 PM
#473:


Costlemark Tower, the one with the slow moving blocks, is one of the worst dungeons I've ever played.
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Leonhart4
09/29/19 8:14:10 PM
#474:


BK_Sheikah00 posted...
Costlemark Tower, the one with the slow moving blocks, is one of the worst dungeons I've ever played.


Yeah, that's a pretty common opinion. It wasn't good.
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Leonhart4
09/29/19 8:14:46 PM
#475:


Also, glad I played Fournette today. Suddenly I have a chance to win despite not really having a great day in fantasy so far.
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The Mana Sword
09/29/19 8:28:24 PM
#476:


Nick Chubb locked up my win for this week, thankfully.

Also, who knew Austin Hooper would be the surprise best TE in the NFL when I drafted him. Especially considering the Falcons suck.
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Shadow Dino
09/29/19 9:00:37 PM
#477:


Mac Arrowny posted...
Hmm, yeah, I'm probably letting the anime color my memory of him here. Anime Joker was quite boring. Never even ended up watching those sequel OVAs...


Such a goddamn waste of Jun Fukuyama. How you gonna get him to voice the MC and not let him ham it up?
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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 9:14:37 PM
#478:


The Mana Sword posted...
Nick Chubb locked up my win for this week, thankfully.

Also, who knew Austin Hooper would be the surprise best TE in the NFL when I drafted him. Especially considering the Falcons suck.


I had Chubb last year. He's great. McCaffrey is really the only thing keeping my opponent in it right now. I've got Dak and Michael Thomas playing right now, and he's got JuJu tomorrow, and we're essentially tied right now.
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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 11:21:00 PM
#479:


literally nobody in my starting lineup scored a TD today and Thomas finished 5 yards short of 100 bah

so I need JuJu to stay under 13 points tomorrow to win

man don't make me watch Steelers/Bengals
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The Mana Sword
09/29/19 11:31:45 PM
#480:


I need JuJu to stay under 54 points tomorrow to win

<_<
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LeonhartFour
09/29/19 11:32:36 PM
#481:


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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 12:05:52 AM
#482:


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xp1337
09/30/19 12:12:18 AM
#483:


sballen just wanted to make things fair for the others. it's in the tournament of champions with sonic 3 & knuckles, mario v sonic, and barkley
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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 12:16:05 AM
#484:


Back to the Ragnarok! Squall finds that there's still air and some artificial gravity on the airship. Once they get changed out of their spacesuits, Rinoa properly thanks him for saving her, and he says that he just did what he wanted to do, which is the truth and perhaps the first time he's just done what he wanted in a very long time. Rinoa opens her arms wide so they can have a real hug without the spacesuits getting in the way, but Squall hasn't completely gone off the deep end into sentimentalism quite yet, so he says they need to focus on getting back safe and sound first. Rinoa doesn't argue with him and now we're free to explore the ship.

Except there are a bunch of giant monsters known as Propagators on board. Before we can return to the surface, we have to defeat all eight of them, but there's a trick to it. Each one has a different
colored head and legs, and they correspond to another one somewhere on the ship. You have to defeat them back to back. Otherwise, they can revive each other as you're fighting one of a different color. They also chase after you once you get close, so you can't really just sneak around them. This can be kind of annoying if you don't know the trick or where they all are, but there is a room on the ship that has a note that explains the trick, at least.

Anyway, once that's done, we're finally able to get up to the bridge. The Esthar Airstation happens to be sending a radio signal checking for its location (presumably in response to the Lunar Cry). The personnel assure them that they can track them from there after Squall inputs some info for them, and they should have enough fuel to make it back. It had been lost in space for 17 years, since it was used to get Adel's Tomb into space and the crew was killed by the Propagators afterwards. They also ask Squall to turn off the gravity generator to help save some fuel.

And with this, "Eyes On Me" begins to play. The text auto-scrolls so that the song ends at the same time the scene does. For some reason, the PS4 blocks you from recording this scene! Perhaps because of "Eyes On Me" itself...? Could be a copyright thing. Who knows! Anyway, Squall has to go grab Rinoa after the lack of gravity causes her to start floating. She floats into his lap, as he repeatedly urges her to get into her seat since she'll be safer there.

Squall admits that he was afraid of losing the feeling of comfort he got from Ellone as a kid after he lost it the first time, and Rinoa tells him that he's missed out on all the good things in life. They basically share a bunch of stuff about their families and their pasts, and then Rinoa catches Squall saying "Whatever" and says it at the same time.

Then Rinoa says that they probably won't be able to stay together anymore when they get back, although Squall doesn't catch on to what she's saying until the Airstation calls back and confirms that Rinoa is indeed a sorceress now. She says she doesn't want the future anymore. She just wants the present to stand still with him because no one will want to be with her anymore. The Airstation says that she'll be seized upon arrival, and Squall turns the panel off. As she starts shaking in fear, Squall takes her hand and then pulls her close to him as the scene fades out. How romantic.
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Mac Arrowny
09/30/19 12:23:00 AM
#485:


Wonder if Indivisible will end up good? I've thought it sounded cool since they announced it a couple years back (supposed to be an RPG with Valkyrie Profile-style gameplay?).
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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 12:36:19 AM
#486:


Then we cut to Squall being conflicted over what he should do next, and he recognizes that it's because he's fallen for Rinoa. Is he just supposed to let her go now? When they land, people from Esthar say that they need to seal her power for the sake of the world. She agrees to go with them and doesn't resist. Before she goes, she tells Squall about Ultimecia possessing her. She talks about how she's trying to achieve time compression because it's a world where only she would be able to exist. Rinoa decides that it's best for her powers to be sealed so Ultimecia can't use her anymore.

Squall chases after Rinoa and tells her not to go. She appreciates the sentiment, but she feels she has no choice. It's understandable why she would feel this way, not just because of the fact that Ultimecia could use her to accomplish unspeakable evil, but because people all over the world fear and despise sorceresses simply because they're sorceresses. It would be a difficult burden to live with. Then Rinoa remembers she has Squall's ring, but he tells her to keep it.

In his mind, Squall says that this was Rinoa's decision, so there's nothing he can do about it, but he adds a "...right?" at the end to indicate that he's still not sure what he should do or not do right now. As Squall continues to ponder over the situation, Selphie arrives. When he asks how she got here, she explained that the impact from the landing knocked her out cold. When she woke up, it was just her and Piet, and Ellone wasn't there. Piet said he would wait for the rescue crew, but Selphie went and found a chocobo, and she happened upon the Ragnarok. She asks if the ship can fly or move, but Squall doesn't really know yet.

Selphie says that he was just like a hero from a storybook when he jumped out into space. When she asks where the heroine is, Zell and the others arrive on the scene as well. He knows it's not the best timing, but there's a bunch of major problems going on right now. He explains about Lunatic Pandora's appearance, and how they discovered that Edea isn't a sorceress anymore because she gave away her power without realizing it. Then Zell explains how Lunatic Pandora initiated the Lunar Cry, and how it brought down Sorceress Adel with it. Odine thinks this was Galbadia's real goal.

Squall tells Zell that's enough for now because he can't think about anything other than Rinoa right now. He explains to everyone that Rinoa was the one who received Edea's powers, and he's been picked up by authorities from Esthar. Quistis asks if she was taken by force, but Squall says that it was her decision to go. She asks if he tried to stop her, but he says he had no right to object to her decision. Quistis asks him why Squall went all the way out into space to save Rinoa so they could be together if he was just going to turn around and let her go.

Squall realizes that Quistis is right and decides they're going to get Rinoa back. Upon saying that, the Ragnarok starts flying as one of the best airship themes in the series, "Ride On," begins playing. Seriously, FFVIII has a top tier airship design (it's a friggin' DRAGON, people) and a top tier airship theme. If only you didn't get it so late in the game, but still, there's a lot more stuff available to you now that you have it.

Squall, Quistis, and Zell perfectly predict what the scene is in the cockpit when they stumble upon Selphie and Irvine in there. He tells her to head for the Sorceress Memorial so they can save Rinoa.
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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 12:46:27 AM
#487:


Upon arriving at the Sorceress Memorial, "The Oath" begins to play, and they all barge their way in. Squall cuts open the sealing apparatus with his gunblade, and Rinoa jumps out and into his arm, and we finally get the full hug that the opening scene teased (although it had a much prettier background than this does...!). Rinoa tries to tell him to stop because she's a sorceress, but he says that he doesn't care. At first, it seems like it'll be difficult to get out until a giant of a man dressed in Esthar clothing silently orders the soldiers to let them pass. Squall recognizes him, but he doesn't say whether he actually knows who he is or if he simply looks familiar.

Back on the Ragnarok, they try to figure out what they should do next. Zell says they need to stop Lunatic Pandora since the Galbadians are controlling it and that means Seifer is behind it all. Squall says that he's just Ultimecia's puppet. Rinoa requests that they go to the old orphanage because she wants to stay away from places where there are lots of people in case Ultimecia possesses her again.

And with that said, I guess I need to come up with a new poll for the next topic.
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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 12:50:51 AM
#488:


also why am I just now learning there's a Psycho-Pass season 3 starting next month
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The Mana Sword
09/30/19 3:26:04 PM
#489:


Link's Awakening beated

I'm not really a huge LA fan, but I think the remake was actually pretty fun despite it being essentially the same game.
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LordoftheMorons
09/30/19 3:40:44 PM
#490:


Playing that right now on my lunch break!

just barely managed to get under 30 seconds on the rapids race, phew.

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The Mana Sword
09/30/19 3:42:28 PM
#491:


Also, I've been considering trying out Trails of Cold Steel because I'm kinda in the mood some anime-ass JRPG - is there any discernible difference between the PS4 release and the PC one?
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xp1337
09/30/19 4:09:26 PM
#492:


The Mana Sword posted...
Also, I've been considering trying out Trails of Cold Steel because I'm kinda in the mood some anime-ass JRPG - is there any discernible difference between the PS4 release and the PC one?

Not on any major level.

The only difference that comes to mind is that the PC port would give you more graphics options. Durante did the port and went all out on it. There's all kinds of graphical bells and whistles you can enable, provided your computer can handle it, turbo mode is more customizable in the speed it accelerates IIRC, and I think it even has the option to automatically load up your most recent save on start-up.

However, on the content level there should be no appreciable difference. Same content, dual audio was patched into PC, etc.
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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 5:37:16 PM
#493:


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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 6:43:52 PM
#494:


When we get to Edea's house, Angelo is waiting for us and we follow her to the flower field. Zell apologizes for intruding into their alone time, saying he never expected Squall to be the romantic type. On the same note, Rinoa brings up the girl in the library. Zell instantly denies it, but she says all the girls in the Garden know about it and she noticed it immediately, too. With that, she successfully runs him off to give them some alone time.

Rinoa wonders what will become of her now, and Squall says that there have been many good sorceresses, including Edea. She replies that she can't guarantee it'll all turn out fine if Ultimecia possesses her again. She says it's scary to think what Ultimecia might make her do, and I can't blame her. The thought that someone could control you and force you to do something you would otherwise never do would be pretty freaky.

In his mind, Squall swears to be Rinoa's knight, even if she were to someday become the world's enemy. I once started writing a fanfiction about that over a decade ago, but I never finished it. I know how I wanted it to end, but real life got in the way and I stopped writing for fun on a regular basis around the time I finished college. I keep telling myself that one day I'd like to go back and finish it, but it'll probably never happen!

Then Rinoa says that SeeD will have to kill her if she falls under Ultimecia's control again, but she says it's okay as long as Squall is the one to do it. This is a really weird hypothetical to have to ponder, and Squall agrees, as he tells her to stop because Rinoa isn't the sorceress he's after. She wonders how he could save her from a sorceress from the future who uses her body as her extension in this world, and he assures her that he'll find a way.

Squall tells her to trust him, and she says she does, but in the meantime, maybe she should stay at the Sorceress Memorial. He says that'd be pointless because he'd just end up going after her again. Squall tells her to just stay close to him, and she says those words started everything. He doesn't remember what she's talking about, but he said those words to her after he saved her from the Iguions back at the end of Disc 1. Squall blames it on the GF messing with his memories, and it might be true because he generally has a solid memory.

Then Rinoa tells Squall about a dream she had where they made a promise to see shooting stars together. However, she can't remember where she was supposed to meet him, and she starts to panic. She runs all over the place and just can't find him, and when she woke up, she was crying. Squall, ever the realist, tells her that it's just a dream and it doesn't mean anything. However, he does display some emotional growth, realizing that this really bothered her, because he promises to meet her here. He says that they couldn't find each other because they haven't made a promise together yet. Then he says the famous words that appear in the opening FMV, "I'll be waiting for you. If you come here, you'll find me. I promise." Back when I first played the game, the odds that Squall was the one to actually say those words was pretty low...!
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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 7:19:12 PM
#495:


With that, Zell reappears, saying they were contacted by Esthar's Presidential Palace. They have a plan to defeat Ultimecia, and they want to hire SeeD to execute it. Squall thinks it could be a trap, but when Zell says that the guy they spoke to was named Kiros, he decides that they should go.

Before they head out, Edea calls out to them, saying there is something she has to tell them. She tells them about meeting a sorceress on the verge of death 13 years ago. She voluntarily received her powers because she did not want one of the children to become a sorceress. Naturally, Edea is talking about what happens in the ending with Ultimecia. She says this was the beginning of her painful story, but now her part in it has come to a bitter end. She understands now that there is an end to every story, no matter how painful it may be. She should be telling all this to Tidus...! As such, Edea urges Squall to fight to the end, even though it may bring tragedy to others.

If you go back to the orphanage afterwards with Rinoa in your party, Edea will apologize to her for drastically changing her life. Rinoa says she doesn't blame her for it because she doesn't think it could be helped. Instead, she asks Edea to advise her. As a way to clear her anxiety about being a sorceress, she recommends that Rinoa find herself a knight who will always be by her side to protect her. All throughout history, almost all sorceresses have had a knight. Those who do not have knights usually ended up using their powers in evil ways. As an example, Edea says that Adel did not have a knight, and she believes Ultimecia probably doesn't have one either. When Rinoa asks if Edea has a knight, she confirms that she does, referring to Cid, of course.

Edea says that a knight presents a sorceress with peace of mind, and he will protect her spirit. Rinoa says that she's found an apprentice. Edea tells Squall that it may be difficult to be both a SeeD and a knight to the sorceress, but there is a way. Being a sorceress affects a person mentally and emotionally, and as such, she needs a stabilizing element. In this case, it's a knight who accepts her and protects her unconditionally. There is some evidence that having sorceress powers will also warp you physically if you don't have a knight or you misuse them. Adel barely even looks human, and Ultimecia shows signs of her body physically changing if you look at her character model closely (her feet, in particular).

When we enter the president's office, Squall recognizes Kiros and Ward, and knows it's probably Laguna with his back to them. Ward has a pretty suave full blond beard now, by the way! He runs over and gets Laguna's attention, and he comes over to talk to them. He says that he's been wanting to meet them, and Ellone told him that they were the ones in his head. He introduces himself as President Laguna Loire of Esthar. He says that he knows they're in a state of emergency, but whatever, let's take some time to talk!

You can ask him where Ellone is, and he gives you her backstory first. When she was 2 years old, there was a massive hunt for girls in Esthar to find a successor for Adel. Soldiers came to Winhill, and they killed Ellone's parents when they resisted. Raine raised her after her parents died, and he came to know them both after he ended up in Winhill. Then Esthar came back and took Ellone away even though he was there, which he considers to be the most painful experience of his life.
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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 9:52:29 PM
#496:


After Laguna rescued her, he sent her back to Winhill, but Raine died shortly after that, so Ellone ended up in an orphanage. Unfortunately, Laguna had to stay in Esthar because he became president. The reason why she had to leave the orphanage and stay on the White SeeD ship was because of her special power. Even after Adel was deposed, Odine still wanted to do research on her special power and looked for her everywhere. I guess he was doing all this behind Laguna's back...! Ellone was on that ship for over 10 years. She says she was happy, but Laguna wonders how she could be happy being on a ship for that long. Unfortunately, Squall was completely left in the dark about all of this, and it scarred him for life (or at least his life up to this point).

Laguna tells us that the Esthar ship found the White SeeD ship after the Galbadians attacked them by pure chance. Ellone followed him up into space, and she told him everything. When Squall asks if she made it back safely, Laguna says that their rescue team was a little late, and the Galbadians got to her first. She's inside Lunatic Pandora, and they plan to rescue her with SeeD's help. If you ask Laguna about Raine, he says he couldn't because it's too much for him to remember.

If you ask Laguna what he's doing here, he replies that Squall should know what he's been doing with his life. He proceeds to honestly sum it up, starting by saying that he was a silly Galbadian soldier at first and he didn't like his attitude at all. Even so, he understood the bond between Laguna, Kiros, and Ward. Then he changed after he went to Winhill, and he went on a journey to Esthar to get Ellone back after she was abducted. He wrote articles and appeared in movies to get by until he could find a way in. What Squall doesn't understand is how he became the president.

Laguna said that rescuing Ellone was only the beginning because Esthar was ruled by Adel with help from Odine. They were both too interested in Ellone to just let them pack their bags and leave. Odine only cared about his research, of course, but even while he was following Adel's orders, he was making many other inventions on his own. One of them was a facility that could be used to seal magic, so perhaps they could use it to take down Adel. Laguna owed a big favor to the resistance movement since they had helped him rescue Ellone.

There were two issues they were facing. The first was stopping the Crystal Pillar from calling down monsters from the moon. The second was freeing Esthar from Adel's control. Following Odine's instructions, they managed to move the Crystal Pillar to the ocean. Of course, you couldn't move something that big without Adel finding out, so they lured her to the sealing facility, masquerading as the Sorceress Memorial. They tell her that the culprit who moved Lunatic Pandora was inside and was holding Ellone hostage.

Adel realized that the Ellone inside was a hologram, but they already had her right where they wanted her. Laguna shoves her into place and they trap her inside the sealing device. Dude has to be pretty strong to move someone that huge! Of course, they couldn't just leave Adel lying around as a trophy and risk someone setting her free, so they decided to launch her into space.

After that, Laguna was painted as the hero of the revolution and he was chosen to be the president of Esthar. He recognizes that it was a mistake to send Ellone back on her own and wishes he could have seen Raine one last time. Unfortunately, his job as president kept him busy, and before he knew it, all this time had passed.
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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 10:07:17 PM
#497:


Once they start discussing the plan to defeat Ultimecia, Odine enters the room. He explains that Ultimecia comes from the future and possesses the sorceress of the present day, meaning she leaves her body in the future and only sends her consciousness. It sounds exactly like how Ellone's power works. Odine's first guess was that there had to be someone in the future with a similar ability, but then he realized that it was done using a machine he began making in this time period. He made a pattern from the electric current running through Ellone's brain, and it was easy enough to mechanize. It's only a prototype now, but it's a fully functional machine in Ultimecia's time, called the Junction Machine Ellone. Odine is proud to know his invention is being used in the future, regardless of what it's being used for.

Squall speculates that Ultimecia came to learn about Ellone from that machine because of its name, and so she became her target. Odine says that the only way to defeat Ultimecia is to kill her in the future. Final Fantasy VIII is a lot more blunt about it than some JRPGs are...! They don't say anything about "defeating" her. They outright say they have to kill her. Anyway, Odine says they can't jump to the future under ordinary circumstances, but they can use Ultimecia's plans to compress time against her. Odine asks what good it would do for the sorceress to compress time, and that there may be many reasons, but it doesn't matter. I mean, for practical purposes, you're not wrong, but inquiring minds still want to know!

Ultimecia has to take over the body of a sorceress in this time, but the length of time it can travel back must have a limit and she probably needs to go further back in order to achieve time compression. Only Ellone can do that, which is why Ultimecia is so desperate to find her. There are two known sorceresses in their time between Adel and Rinoa. Adel is still in the process of awakening, and Ultimecia will probably want to use her when she does, which is the worst case scenario. Adel would use their combined power to destroy this era first, so they need to get Ultimecia to use Rinoa instead.

The first step is to go to Lunatic Pandora and rescue Ellone. Then they need to kill Adel before she can fully awaken, leaving Rinoa as the only known sorceress. They'll wait for Ultimecia to possess Rinoa, and then Ellone will give her what she wants and send both of their consciousnesses back into the past. Once that happens, Ultimecia will use the time compression magic, and they'll start to feel its influence in the present. Once Ellone feels it, she'll cut Rinoa and Ultimecia off from the past. In the time compressed world, past, present, and future all get mixed together, and they can use that environment to travel to Ultimecia's world. It's a simple 9 step plan!

Once Squall accepts the mission, Laguna says he wants to have the final briefing aboard the Ragnarok because the name sounds so cool (as an aside, the name of the ship in Japanese is "Ragunarok," which would be why Laguna thinks the name sounds cool...!).
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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 10:18:11 PM
#498:


Aboard the Ragnarok, Laguna recaps the plan and then gives a rousing motivational speech. He says that Ultimecia lives far in the future where none of them can technically exist. There's only one way to exist in a world like that, and that's to remember each other and believe in each other. It's all about friendship and love! You can't have those things alone, after all. You need someone else. Laguna tells them to imagine a place that reminds them of their friends and try to imagine being there with them, and use that to get there once time compression begins (hence why they all choose to go to the orphanage). Laguna adds that they also need the courage to believe in love and friendship, so those are the three essential elements!

As Squall leaves, he says all that stuff sounds corny, but everyone seems to be up for it. Laguna asks if he thinks it'll succeed, and he responds that they'll try. It's definitely a different Squall now because the old Squall wouldn't be willing to go with such a vague plan! After he goes, Laguna's leg begins to cramp, indicating his nervousness about being around Squall. If you go back and talk to him, in addition to winning the Squall card from him, he'll tell him that he wants to talk once it's all over because he has a lot to tell him, but if Squall doesn't want to hear it, he understands. If you talk to Kiros, he'll say Squall looks a lot like his mother, and if you talk to Ward, he'll say (with Kiros's interpretive skills) that it's a good thing he doesn't look like his father. I mean, the only way it could get clearer than that is if they outright said it...!

With this, the game finally fully opens up, right at the end of Disc 3 (and once you enter Disc 4, a lot of it closes off). You only really have this brief window to get a lot of endgame stuff done (well, a lot of it is still available on Disc 4, although getting to the Ragnarok is a bit of a pain). Even if you accidentally fly into Lunatic Pandora with the Ragnarok and initiate that part of the game, you can still leave. Heck, you can leave all the way up to the boss fight with Seifer at the end of Disc 3. Once Disc 4 starts, you're stuck there though, so I'm probably going to go ahead and get a lot of it done now. I don't know that I'll have a lot to say about most of it other than commenting that I got it. The Platinum for FFVIII isn't that difficult, so I'd be remiss if I didn't go for it! The only really difficult one is beating Omega Weapon, but you can cheese that one pretty easily with Heroes and Holy Wars (and I have no issues with cheesing that fight!).
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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 10:20:11 PM
#499:


I was hoping to get to add an FFVIII character to the female character rankings this topic, but it'll have to wait until next time, I guess!

And maybe I'll get back to Three Houses until Cold Steel 3 drops so I can add a character from there, too!
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LeonhartFour
09/30/19 10:20:18 PM
#500:


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