Part 55: Part Fifty-Five: Dollet Dog

Part Fifty-Five: Dollet Dog


Welcome to another exciting episode of Final Fantasy VIII. Today, we're still exploring.


I'm headed over to Dollet, but you can't get in by sea. Instead you have to go up on land and run into town. Being an asshole, I parked in the middle of the road.


Welcome to Dollet. There's a lot less going on than the last time we were here.


One thing that is going on is that we could rent a car. Absolutely no reason to, but I mean, we could.



We can also find out some guy's getting stood up.



And get told to fuck off 'cuz we're creepy.


Or draw some spells. Like I said, there's not much going on here.


We can't even go to the comms tower for old times' sake. Do you think the Galbadians know about Seifer's background?


This guy is a pro.



...Or maybe he's Laguna in disguise.


So, now that the guard has a cramp, we have a chance to run through.


But I mean, whoa, you can't just do shit like that.


...And then he fucks off anyway.



Huh. Well, I'm just gonna stand here and watch you get eaten. Hope that's cool with you.


...Guess I can go to the tower now.



...Or not.


But, let's say we did force our way in.


Now we're back in this part of town.


Since this area is still under Galbadian control, there are G-Soldiers around.


For example.


I...didn't know?



Huh, would you look at that. It worked.


Now, let's be a good boy and tell the truth.


This guy doesn't know who we are.


RoboVite?


Oh, it's one of these things again.



...The old model was better.





I hope this one works for ya.



...Guess not.



You know what? Okay.


Well, that was an adventure.



No harm, no foul.


While we're in the square, let's talk politics with the locals.



After we quit repelling the invasion halfway, Galbadia took over. I think we knew this already, but now we really know it.



Good luck with that. I'm 80% sure SeeD's services are off the market at the moment.


There's never any number attached to it, but SeeD's expensive.


They're still better than pretty much another force, as far as killing Galbadians.



I guess Edea's at least helping keep taxes down, in a roundabout sort of way.


Well, see ya.


Congrats, man.



This guy's car apparently got destroyed by X-ATM092, even though I busted it up on the bridge as far as the game is concerned. It's supposed to be the same blue car you can see here:


But it's not.

Note: I was informed by Vil that the wiki where I got this information was in fact wrong, and while the game recognises I destroyed X-ATM092, it is not granular enough about that to recognise that I did so before I hit this screen, hence the car being replaced.



Down by the pub is a woman waiting for a man, probably that guy in the square.



Well, I got some stuff to take care of. You have fun with that.


Now, let's hit the bar. At least one of the people here is 18.








Sucks to suck.


Talking to her again...



If there's one thing I know about communicating with people, it's that if they ask you how they look, you should say "very attractive" and trail off.



Too bad, Squall, she's just not that into you.


Or there's this one, which I imagine to be said in a way that implies a breathless wonder at talking to a real woman.


Nah, I mean, Squall's kinda got a thing goin' on, but I'll get my boy Irvine in here.



Oh.





That probably is true.


Or we can just agree with him.


And get some real advice.



There's also a second possible exchange with the other drunk. No idea why.


Let's head upstairs.


Man, what the hell is with this place and questions like this?


Wow, cool.


I always think before I play cards. I am not an irresponsible card player.



Or, we can say we do know, and learn that the owner is apparently pretty good at cards. I'm going to beat him at cards at least twice.



Also, for some reason, the game was really fussy about me talking to this guy.



Of course, I pissed away my first chance.


But, let's play!


...I just said yes.


YES LET'S PLAY.


And here's our introduction to a shitty rule: Random. Random picks your cards randomly, which you probably don't. Theoretically, the best defence against this is to only have good cards. It probably won't happen.


That's what everyone says after I beat them at cards.



Squall is 17 and he is irresponsible.


Nice place you got. Real cool table that says "card game" on it.


There's some stuff in these magazines.


I didn't know they made alcohol by fermenting snakes. Meat wine sounds bad to me.


Shit, what do I know, though?


I do enjoy reading.


Haha, congratulations.



That other guy seems to have been ill-informed.


The pub's owner apparently lost at cards so badly he got married.


Dude, just don't play cards.


Wouldn't leave it out if he didn't want it read.



That's nice. Idyllic.



...Oh. Well.





There's a lighter read on the other side of the room.


Important Laguna fact: he's bad at cards. Write that down.



Important Dollet fact: don't eat there.



Important Occult Fan fact: used to be called BOO! Monthly.


It's probably in one of these stacks of magazines.


Specifically, this one.






You just have to check a bunch of times, collecting a bunch of semi-random junk.


But, if you persist...


I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for that.


Your dead wife? Dude, clean up if you don't want people finding out.



Awesome! I love to get cards!


...Fuck you.





These are all pretty shit, but you take what you can get.



Ah, sure. Why not?


I might have one or two.


For a guy with zero plot importance, this dude has a lot to say.




That's still mostly the way.


Well, I am an avid player.



And there's my rare card! See ya never!



What's up with this place and cards?


If you look at the pool table in the foreground of the last shot, you can see this magazine. Like talking to the manager, the game didn't want me to do this and it was a hassle.


Anyway, that's enough of the pub.



The child will not talk to Squall, which is honestly probably a good call. Squall is a professional murderer.


And here's something interesting. Remember how I said it was weird the guy had a new car earlier? Well, if you don't bust up X-ATM092 before that screen, it stomps on his car:


Like so. And if it gets shot up by Quistis, its remains are here on the beach. They're not here, because I blew it up on the bridge:


Like so. So, my question to you is: why the fuck is the car green?

Note: See above.


Anyway, we can worry about cars later. For now, let's hassle a child.


This is the pub owner's daughter.


I played a game of cards with the kid, because I'm not a monster. I won, though, because I'm not a loser.



I'm not ready!

Kid: Wait...? Huh...? C'mon mister! We're playing here!
: Mister...? I'm only 17...

Another classic prank.


I'm ready now.


Well, have fun, kid.


I mean, it looks better than the last time we were here, sure.


I wonder if this guy just hangs out here all day, waiting to tell someone he fixed stuff up.



But, even though it's been fixed up, the design hasn't changed.


Giant robot? Nah, I wouldn't know anything about that.



I don't think that's really how this works, pal, but good luck collecting.



These are nice screens, but largely pointless.


Now, let's talk to a dog.


That makes a cat fall down, and run off.


The dog will be important later.


There's a quest to do in Dollet, see. It involves entering this house and seeing the old guy yell at the painting.


It also involves tanking my framerate. No clue why, but when the old guy is in the room, the emulator just fucking crawls.

Old Guy: Forget it! I'm going to the beach to let off some steam...!


Is it weird that we're here for this? It feels weird.



That's not true. Lots of people are hacks.


And, if we look at the painting (it's the square with the fountain)...


I told you the dog would be important.

: Where did it go?

Our new mission: find the dog.


The dog is not on the beach.


But there is IMPORTANT OLD MAN LORE.



Everyone has problems in their life.



But sometimes, your problems can illuminate a secret stash of dogs.



Good to see something work out for someone.




When you have a mission, it's important to gather intelligence from the locals.


Well, we found the dog.



I'm not an idiot. Look under that bone.


If you come back on disc 3, this is an X-Potion, but I could not give a fuck, so we're doing this now.


Now that we've found the dog, I've got some frames to get rid of.


Up to your hips?


...We should probably just wait for the old guy to leave next time.



I wonder what Squall thinks about artistic freedom &c. Probably that it doesn't get him paid.


I think you could see this place from here if you opened the door.


It is not the beach.







This is kind of sweet.


Do you think all SeeDs do shit like this, or is it just Squall?



Let's see what the dog has for us this time.


It's a Mega-Potion on disc 3, by the way.


And once more back to the artist's place.


You gotta give the old guy credit, he paints fast.


The fact that this scene is even here makes me think that kid's getting in trouble again...


Good for you. A couple weeks ago, one of Squall's old comrades ran ten thousand volts through him.


Squall also fights oppression. Historically, it's not gone well.


This is literally a painting of what's outside the door.


But of course, there's another chat to be had on the beach.










And we have one last gift to pick up from the dog.


Elixir on disc 3. This is the only one that might possibly be waiting for.


Once we're done talking to the dog, the old man shows up.



Well, there he goes, I guess.


I sort of wonder if that's what the original line was.




Do you think all SeeDs do shit like this, or is it just Squall?



I have never heard a clearer invitation in in my life.



That's nice.


Oh, and in case you were wondering.



Yes, like everyone else in this town, become a weird card guy.



And the pub owner's daughter is left alone with her ennui again! Happy endings all around!



I'm so happy, I'm gonna stay at the inn where everyone has southern accents for some reason.



Apparently, in Final Fantasy VIII's world, you find Timber Maniacs in hotel room nightstands instead of bibles.


Oh, for sure.


Next time: sidequests!