Final Fantasy IX Part #75

Part 75: Wind Breaker

Bonaventure posted:

For anyone unaware, a Cool Thing about this version of the song is that it incorporates the first phrase or so of the traditional Dies Irae chant, which you have heard in everything ever to do with the apocalypse or spooky stuff.

Huh, that's actually pretty interesting. I never would've known it, or even just realized it in the first place, myself. Yeah, Uematsu does do some really subtle shit, and, well maybe fantastic or amazing are too strong of words, it something pretty great.

Tonberries are, of course, a staple mascot of the FF series since they first appeared in FF5. At least, I think so, maybe it was 3, I never finished that one. Or got much farther than getting the boat

Usually kind of threatening, these ones are push-overs. They only appear in Ipsen's Castle, and will randomly move in your general direction on their turn, or sometimes as a counter. If they get in too close, they'll use their ubiquitous max-damage knife attack. They do not, however, have Everyone's Grudge, to my knowledge.

The problem (for them) with this movement setup is that they also move laterally to line themselves up with a target. They tend to move toward the person who attacked them last on their turn, whether it's forward or to the right or left. Their counter will also move them toward their attacker, so it's entirely possible to more or less get them stuck in a loop of bumping into each other and wasting their turns.

Interacting with this wall continuously will give you a number of options.

I dunno, I think you're supposed to go down the list until you get Think, then do that three to five times, and some other stuff, and after enough trial and error, you'll get

And finally, Kilika will just be like "fuck it" and

You can now go to the balcony, which shows you that you opened up a passage underneath it with your shenanigans.

On your way out, the castle's traps start up.

You can jump down the holes to get this treasure now.

Well, let's check this place out.

Once you walk across this passage and see that there are treasures up on that chandelier, you can climb the fireman pole and get them. Just like every other treasure box in this area, they're just full of crappy beginning-of-the-game items, which is amusing because you are generally on your way out of this place by the time you can even get to those treasures.

Can't argue against this place's crazy architecture, though.

I can never quite remember how this room works, but it's like, you move the pots either clockwise or counterclockwise

and eventually, the thunder from the sword goes into the pot and you get the Ancient Aroma perfume.

There is a hint in this room, but it doesn't show up until you've unsuccessfully moved the pots about twenty or thirty times.

The Ancient Aroma teaches Odin's Sword to Holly. I dunno, someone else in this thread said something about how it's good, but it's a pretty cosmetic skill. It makes Odin do damage--admittedly, it's a really high base damage, and non-elemental--that deteriorates as the number of Ores in your inventory increases.

It's supposed to work inversely to the instant-kill success rate, which increases with the more Ores you have. At 99 Ores, you have something like a 49.5% success rate, but Odin's Sword will only have a base power of 46 or something, which is slightly more than Ramuh, Shiva, or Ifrit, but it sucks no matter how you size it up. I mean, if you just spent all 99 of your ores at the Synthesis Shop converting them into other jewels, like Garnets or Aquamarines, Odin will definitely be weaker than them at that point. Plus it costs double-digit (or very nearly so, like 8 or 9) ability crystals. You could equip two status defense abilities for that price. Even more if my double-digit assessment is right.

"What? What happened to Kawelo?
He was waiting for us as at the top and left as soon as we got there!
I thought he took off!"

You're solo now, which can be problematic and cause game overs if you're unlucky, but equip something that resists Fire (I didn't show off the Cerberus enemies here, and they have a nasty fire breath attack), abuse Softs on Gargoyles, and hope you can cut down everything else. Or just have Thievery doing 9999, I dunno

"I dunno, takin' a nap I guess"

"Or did you come back to mock me?"

"The guys outside told me that you hadn't come out yet. That's why I came here looking for you."
"We don't have anything to do with each other anymore...
You don't have anything to gain from this. Or do you?"
"Mmmmmm not really no, I'm probably not gonna use you aside from, y'know, I feel obligated to or something
Who cares about what I have to gain? You need help right now."

actually not really, i coulda done oelivert without, and you were pretty dead weight when you were in the party

... Well I guess there was that one time where he grabbed Makakao and Makie by the scruffs and jumped around the Iifa Tree, that was pretty hilarious

"The language on these mirrors was in the language only I can read."

"I'm sure the mirrors are pointing us to the locations that help us break the seal."

"'One is all. All is one.'
Meaning, there is a connection between these 4 seals..."

"I'm going to drop two of us off in each location."

"What? Why...?"
"It's called 'ladies first,' Kilika! And we girls have things to talk about!"

"I've been a sailor for a long time! I'm confident in my sense of direciton."

good for you

Well that was reliable enough I guess.

"It's not that I don't trust you..."

"'My power is protected atop a fiery mountain.' I think I'll ask 'Iole and Kawelo to take that location."
"Why them?"
"Uhh..."
"Oh, I got it. It's because Kawelo's hair is fiery, and because of 'Iole's fiery spirit!"
"... Actually it's because I wouldn't mind if they jumped headfirst into an active volcano"