Part 3: Free monster-in-a-box!
Last time we were introduced to a man who loots and plunders for a living and doesn't like to be reminded of it.AUDIO: Locke
His name is Indy, and his hobbies include ripping people's lungs out and stealing everything that isn't nailed down and he is best known for keeping the continent's biggest collection of comatose girls in his basement. All in all, an upstanding young man and a pillar of society. This says more about the FF6verse society than anything else.
Ha! Semantic nonsense!The old guy knows what's up, but...
There's a huge difference!
...Indy isn't really listening.
Anyway, is there something you needed me to do? There is indeed. ...I met the girl.
The city guard is pursuing her as we speak.This city has the strength to stand up to the Empire, but it won't use it...
Sure they do, which is why three low-level scrubs managed to invade the place and wipe out most of their army. Okay, one of them was a protagonist, but the other two were Biggs and Wedge.
The people are just too stubbornly independent to join an underground resistance group like the Returners.I tried to explain that the Empire was controlling the girl, but they wouldn't even listen...
That would be the idea. Make your way to Figaro for the time being...
One scene change later, Indy drops down through the hole Aeris fell in and manages not to knock himself unconscious in the process, thereby sparing us another sepia-toned flashback.
"This relic belongs in a museum!"
"and by museum I mean my basement"Fortunately, there is a distraction before he can subject Aeris to any further indignities.
Unfortunately, the distraction is made of guards.
And, they brought friends.
Wonderful... There's a whole bunch of 'em...
Suddenly...
...we are surrounded by furries!
Moogles... Are you saying you want to help?
Would you like an explanation?
Eh, I guess it can't hurt.
Defeat the leader of the guards before his men reach Aeris, or the battle's lost!
You're not the boss of me, furry!
However, "failing" this battle causes Indy to spaz out...
...and have a nervous breakdown, so let's avoid that.
Indy is joined by 11 moogles, and most of them are stronger than him. Mog in the second group is nearly twice his level, and a total powerhouse.
Therefore, he gets to clear out the grunts.
Of course, I also had other reasons for wanting him to fight down here...
Dance is Mog's special skill. It causes him to go berserk and use various skills without the player's input; which skills he uses depends on the dance, each one having two common effects and two rare ones. Right now, he only knows Twilight Requiem, the "cave" type dance, which has the following effects.
7/16 - Cave In (Reduces enemy's HP to 25% of current HP)
6/16 - Snare (Kills one enemy)
2/16 - Will o' the Wisp (Fire-Elemental attack)
1/16 - Poisonous Frog (Poison-Elemental attack, Poisons enemy if still alive)
You will see Cave In a lot, and it's not very useful right now since you can usually kill all enemies in one shot (the Megalodoth can take two if you're unlucky). Snare is pretty good, though, when you're not fighting things immune to it.
The big threat here is the Megalodoth's blizzard attack, which hits all allies for upwards 40 points, but Mog is durable enough to take out all the grunt units by himself.
With the minions gone, it is time for Indy to take over the fight...
...and Mog's equipment.
He can't use the spear, but that shield is nice. The SNES release of this game has a bug that causes Magic Evasion to be used for both magic and physical attacks, but that has been fixed for the GBA version. This means shields are actually very useful through the entire game.
The Guard Leader is not terribly tough, though he does get boss music. This changes once you kill both his minions, however - at that point he starts using Charge, a physical attack that can deal around 100 points of damage. Obviously, this is not a good thing, but since we know about it, it's easily avoided by leaving one of the silver lobos for last.
Before killing anything, though, we'll abuse Indy's special command, which is called Steal no matter the, well, semantic nonsense.
Stealing gets easier the higher your level is and more difficult the higher the enemy's level is, and succeeds roughly half the time if they are about equal. Enemies can carry "rare" and "common" items; if you manage to "hit" with the steal attempt, you have a 1/8 chance to get the rare one, 7/8 for the common. Some enemies only have one or the other, but either way you can only steal one item from any one enemy.
The Silver Lobos carry potions in both slots (don't ask me how) and the Guard Leader has a Mythril Knife as a common steal, which is an upgrade for Indy. He actually manages to nab all three on his first attempt.
When you don't let the leader use Charge, the biggest annoyance here is Net, which causes Stop. This does exactly what it sounds like.
Once the boss is dead, the moogles disappear without a word, leaving Indy free to unconscious-girl-gaze as much as he wants.
Thanks, moogles! We're in your debt!Once he's done admiring the view, he grabs Aeris and runs off to the north.
We're spared the rest of this dungeon; the cutscene lasts all the way to the exit. Indy drops Aeris and goes to pull the huge switch on the wall...
This switch oughta...
*clunk*
She slept through the entire battle, but the sound of a secret door opening startles Aeris awake!
You... saved me? Save your thanks for the moogles!At least he's modest.
Ugh... I can't remember a thing... It's like my mind's trapped in a fog...
You lost your memory!?
A man said it would come back... eventually... So, you've got amnesia...Don't worry! I won't leave your side until your memory returns!
...?It's a valid question.
Well, technically not a question. But it's still valid.
I'm not gonna up and abandon someone just because they lost their memory!I'll keep you safe! I promise!
Aeris is very confused.
(And looking at the way that loops, it kind of looks like he's punching her. I am fairly certain that is not what they were going for.)
FFVI Abridged posted:
The cave closes behind us. This is just left of the entrance to Narshe, and will never be important again.
Trying to enter town again after stomping most of their guards flat in a mech does not go over well with the remaining ones.
The game tries its best to get us to where it wants us, but first...
Despite all of our recent advances in technology, the outside world remains full of monsters we know little about.
Here, we provide advice to travelers brace enough to face its many dangers.
We follow the man inside, not because we need the advice of these old fossils, but we want their free healing!
And their free stuff.
"We'll share this sleeping bag. You know, to keep warm." "..."
"Does this smell like chloroform to you?" 
Oh hey, another chest! More free stuff-
"SDHDFJF MY FACE"
That might have gone better if Indy had remembered to equip the knife he "treasure hunted" before opening the chest.
Anyway, that's all there is in Narshe for us at this time. Here's the world map, complete with minimap that can be turned on and off with the select button, like so.
It's full of wildlife that can be robbed and murdered for fun and profit, and this is basically how every fight goes: Indy steals, Aeris stabs, enemy dies. The first step is somewhat unreliable, but the last two never seem to fail.
Sometimes, she does this instead.
"What's that thing you do when you throw fire with your bare hands?" "Um I uh QCF+P?" "That makes perfect sense."
This is our destination, but if you're anything like me, you're going to have to explore everything before heading there.
The only thing of any real interest is a cave to the south,
...which is blocked by this big jerk.
Oh well, Figaro castle.
AUDIO: Edgar & Sabin
Normally, if you approach the gate, this guy jumps in front of you. However, if you approach him, he jumps away from you instead.
Together with this line, I imagine he's just that disgusted by Indy's unwelcome appearance.
We can't really do much inside until we see the king; NPCs block all the interesting places.
At least the shops are still open, and better yet, no one seems to mind if we loot their inventories!
They sell all sorts of weird stuff, but I'm sure we don't need any of that.
As a side note, ether sells for 750 bucks, which is not entirely insignificant this early on.
(Still not worth killing Ymir's shell for one.)
Indy continues his looting spree and obtains a free Phoenix Down...
...and a free view of the desert, but we can't see much of it because this game has no camera control.
Anyway. Security is tight what with the recent invasion of neighbouring countries which means
actually we just walk right up to the king and initiate a conversation. He is suitably impressed by Aeris' green hair and red swimsuit.
And her boobs.
Who are you?Aeris is less impressed.
Oh... my apologies!
It's probably not as rude as flipping her off.
Anyway, this oaf is our next party member and he needs a name.
AUDIO: Edguy
Otherwise, terrible things may happen.
Terrible, terrible things.
Characters
Indy Cole
Age: 25
Height: 175cm/5'9
Weight: 67kg/147lb
Loves:
Hates: Goodbyes, Mushrooms
Hobby: