Part 43: Wutai

Chapter 43 - Wutai

It's time for some FF7 LP!



Last time we were convinced by Yuffie to go West instead of looking for the fabled Temple of the Ancients. So, here we go.



While we're looking for a beach to exit the "boat", let's take a look at the map.

As you can see there are three continents (or two and a half) we haven't visited, plus some islands.

The Western Continent (which we're going to), the Northmost Continent and the huge islands to the southeast with two points we haven't visited.



The northmost continent has two points, and the western continent has a point. So there are five potential locations for us to go.

Although we can only float on rivers and shallow areas there's actually a fairly vast network of shallow water covering the world, so we have pretty much access to all the previous places.

We don't have access to all of the new places though. We'll take a look at them after we're done with this place here.



Well, let's see what this is all about. We've got a long run to that location up there.



Of course, as soon as we start walking up that mountain on the world map, the screen fades to this location, and Yuffie stops us. HERE WE GO.





Thanks for the memo. Bye.




Let's be honest, we all knew something was gonna happen.





We kill dragons and eldritch horrors for a living. I think we can handle this.



Wait what



OH GOD YUFFIE IS THE SPY I THOUGHT IT WAS RED XIII



Wait what again? Who are you expecting? What the Christ is going on?





YUFFIE



JUST WHAT DID YOU DO?



WHAT DID YOU DO YUFFIE??





And of course she runs away. Sigh.



Alright guys this is gonna be a piece of cake.



We just need to cast Beta a few times and





Wait a bit



Where is Beta?

Where is Magic?

Where is everything?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO



After a painfully painful battle that was considerably harder than the past two bosses, let's think things through.



Yes, Yuffie stole our materia. All of it. Well, kinda.




In truth, she can only carry so much. Usually, that much equals all of your materia, but sometimes you're left with some.



Of course she gives priority to the best materia that you have, so don't expect to have any [Enemy Skill] left (it ranks pretty high in her chart).



That is absolutely true, and she was barely capable of hiding it.



In our case, we're left with a Level 2 Fire Materia. Not bad. Not great, but not bad at all.



The town she ran too is pretty intentionally situated as far as humanly possible.



And it's NOT a straight path. For example, you have to get down here (back to the south) from the end of this bridge to cross the valley underneath.



It's a tour-de-force designed to punish you hard if you're unlucky. Some of the random encounters can be brutal, casting party-wide spells that deal massive damage to everyone. They all have much more HP and Defense you'd want to.



And of course, there's no way to retrieve the materias other than to keep going this side-quest. So let's see what's in it for us.



Oh wow, that's something.

Yuffie immediately runs off screen. This is gonna be good.



Talking about good this is the Asian town of the game, as you may have noticed. It's a gorgeously rendered place. It also features very good music. How can this game have so many good town themes?



Well, I'll be damned.



No shit, Sherlock! We finally found you.





What kind of contest is that, really? Spend an obscene amount of money to travel all over the world to see our ads. PS: You're only eligible if you're a filthy rich, in which case you don't need the prize.



How will they know we have read it? Do we have to memorize it? What if people take pics of them and post on the Interweb?

Sadly enough we haven't found all six yet. We're at five.



Oh look, the Turks, staying classy.





We crossed the ocean on a taken down airplane we've been using as a boat.




I'd say it actually is their taste in frequenting the same pubs. You know, the ones that make them feel like gangstas.





As much as the Turks offer some comic relief, I do find them to be some of the most interesting characters in the game.







Cmon that's a little too extreme, we didn't even fight yet.





Hahahahahaha.



Well, it seems we won't be fighting here, for a change.







Turks of course love us. We give them purpose.



Weeee.





I smell a useless Summon Materia. Do you?

Well talking about materia, let's get back to our main mission here - to actually get our materias back.



Let's start looking at the store north to the Turtle's Paradise. Oh look, a chest!



Oh thank the lord, a materia.

[MP Absorb] is a more advanced materia. It returns 1/100th of the damage of the skill you used as MP. Which is more or less like halving the MP cost of the magic we have available right now. This surely will make our [Fire] leftover much more valuable.



Wait, no.



NOOOOOOOOOOOOO ARGHHHH



Thematically and for the convenient price of very expensive, we have access to some good damage items here.



We also have this. Which I want because I like accessories, but can't buy because I'm poor as hell because I run from all fights.



Right now all I can think is that Yuffie is singing "One Jump Ahead" while running away. Let's check this store.



Look at dat arsenal.



Seriously look at the swords they're like four times the size of the characters.



We're not welcome.



Yes, we're definitely being played.



Let's check that pagoda to the northwest.



I want to show you a piece of dialogue not many people know. It can only be triggered in this very early chain of events in Wutai and since you're looking for Yuffie on the main town, it's easy to miss.

Let's enter that house to the right.



We find this man sleeping. He disappears from here the moment we find Yuffie again on the town, so this is our only chance to talk to him.



Well someone's been drinking.





God we're annoying.



We have pretty good evidence this is not the case good sir.



Cloud really should stop wearing these SOLDIER clothes and get back to his true self.







But it does seem like the opposite is even worse for him.







Shit got real.





We're really flattered Yuffie SO GET OUR MATERIAS BACK.



By now you should be putting 2 and 2 together, so let me guide you through this.



All over the game a "war" has been mentioned. Sephiroth was one of the famous war heroes. When Cloud made to SOLDIER, he even told Sephiroth in the truck he was afraid now that the war was over, he wouldn't be able to be famous.



As you might have guessed, the other end of the war was Wutai, the town we're in right now.

And what happened since Wutai's lost the war?



It became a touristic spot.



That guy is Wutai's leader, and I don't think it's needed to tell much about the relation between those two.





Yes, Godo is Yuffie's father, Yuffie is pretty much a princess (it wouldn't be a JRPG without someone from a royal family in our group now, would it?) and Yuffie blames her father for turning Wutai into a touristic resort since the war ended.



More mindblowingly, there's a character in a JRPG WHOSE FATHER IS ALIVE. I don't remember the last time I saw that, but I don't play many JRPGs so I'm sure there's plenty of cases I don't care about.



Oh well, there she goes.



It was fun meeting you Mr. Godo.



Awesome. Bye.


Next time!

More chasing! More chasing! A PLOT TWIST!


Awesome music we've listened to in this chapter:

Wutai Theme - Another great town theme in a game full of great town themes.
Sweet Transvestite - Yes, that is Tim Curry.