Part 30: I'm on a Raft

Chapter 30: I'm on a Raft



One thing that didn't really hit me until I made this LP is that every time you enter the house, Cid is always scurrying back into his bed. What a sickly man like himself is doing on that side of the house is probably his own business.



So here's how the fishing game works. Cid, being a very sick man, starts off at 120 health and loses 1 health every second, including when you're standing idle. The fish that we give him either deplete or raise his health, depending on how fast the fish goes.

Slow Fish: -16 health
Medium Fish: Either -4 or +16 health
Fast Fish: +32 health

You can pick up several fish at a time to add to or take away from the bonus, and the objective, if you're so inclined, is to raise his health above 255, at which point he'll become "cured" and stop losing health.



Naturally, Cid doesn't have a health indicator to tell you how you're doing, so he says different things instead, generally getting more upbeat the healthier he is and less so if he's getting closer to death.

Does that sound easy? It isn't. The fish tend to move randomly, oftentimes moving back and forth where you can't reach them. Sometimes there's no fish at the beach at all, and you have to run back to Cid in order to reset it. Adding to that the fact that you can't dawdle at all, and this sequence becomes annoying fast.



I estimate that in my run where I actually ended up saving the man, I made at least sixty excursions out to the beach, battling the clock all the way. I was so happy to finally see...





Cid: Celes...the project that kept me going over the past year is down below. Go have a look at it!



A lot of people don't seem to like FFVI's Cid that much, but any guy who would jump out of bed and work on a raft while on the brink of death deserves a bit of respect. And not just once. Every single time that Celes was out of the house, he'd be working on this. I personally only realized that when I was working on this LP, but rest assured, Cid is by no means undeserving of the name.



Music: The Day After (World of Ruin Town Theme)

Cid: Celes...You must leave this place. You have to find your friends!
: I know... But I'll bring 'em all back to meet you!
Cid: That Locke fellow, too, no doubt...



On the beach, Celes waves goodbye to Cid and then...



We shove off! Cid will be fine taking care of himself, and we'll be able to visit him later once we find an alternative means of transport. There is no tangible reward for saving him other than the satisfaction of aiding our fellow man.



But suppose we were a little less diligent, or perhaps we simply didn't know what the slow fish did, because the game sure doesn't hint that there's any difference between the different types of fish.



If you see this message, it's probably because you either fed him just the right combination of fish to push him under the limit or you waited too long in the house. Either way, it's over. You've failed. The next time you come in...



: Granddad. You have to eat, or else...W...what's the matter? Cid...

Music: Celes' Theme



: Granddad, ANSWER ME! Tell me you're just joking!





You get control of Celes again when you reach this mountain peak, and you have no choice but to climb it.



Cid: when they were feeling down they'd take a leap of faith from the cliffs up north...perked 'em right up!



: The world's slowly ebbing away...



Yes, boys and girls. In a game created in the SNES era, a character attempts to commit suicide. They can sugarcoat it all they want ("leap of faith" indeed), but that's essentially what this is.



But it doesn't take, and Celes just washes up onto the beach.





Music: Forever Rachel

: Hey, you! Where'd you get this!? Is the person who healed you still alive? Answer me!

The bird flies off, but it's accomplished its task.

: He's alive...Locke's still alive!!!

That's all well and good, but in this storyline, we don't have a raft.



Fortunately, a letter has mysteriously appeared next to Cid's wide-eyed corpse.



Find the stairs next to the stove. Down them lies your road to freedom.

Love, Granddad.

Then the raft scene continues as normal, except instead of happily waving goodbye, Celes instead says:

: I'll make you proud of me...Granddad...

I've heard it said that making Celes fail on purpose creates a stronger story, but I'm not entirely sure that's true. Certainly, more stuff happens when you inevitably fail the first time, but the game developers wouldn't have given you such a hard time saving Cid if they thought that having Celes fail was the better choice. Instead, I feel like both paths have their merits, and ultimately, it doesn't matter, because the story continues the same if Cid dies or not.

Next Time: We see the world and reunite with old friends.