Part 38: Return to Tataroo Valley
Last time, Guy's backstory was awkwardly delivered, and we found ourselves on the way to Sheridan to pick up the frequency counter.
: “Y-you! The Dark Wings!”
: “Well, I guess as long as we're helping Asch, we're bound to run into you all, too.”
: “Just what is your relationship to Asch?”
: “He hired us.”
: “Don't get jealous now, little lady.”: “We just finished bringing a couple of researchers from Belkend.”: “Try not to irritate Asch, would you? He always takes it out on us.”
: “But they're working for Asch. They're probably the circus people who roused the citizens of Baticul to let Natalia escape.”They are indeed! The anime outright confirms this. They also help Asch get out of Baticul, since they apparently have The Batmobile.
Awesome.
: “The old lady has been helping us out.”
: “I suppose we'll have to let them go again for now.”Skit: The Dark Wings...
: “We keep running into those Dark Wings, don't we?”
: “Yeah, in the beginning, they always got in our way, but now they're helping us out... it's weird.”
: “At the moment, though, they're the only connection we have to Asch, so they may be useful in keeping track of what he's doing.”
: “Maybe, but I don't like them.”
: “True, they aren't very likable... but it would be nice to know about Asch.”: “The Dark Wings could turn out to be our next adversary, of course.”: “Yeah, those money-grubbing fiends! They'll do anything for the stuff!”
: “Sounds like you, Anise.”
: “Booo. Money-grubbing? Cute little me? No, no no. I don't 'grub' money, I love it. Love love love!”
: “Love! How sweet.”
: “Yeah, isn't it?”
: “...Something sounds really wrong here.”
: “I think we're better off not asking...”Are you ready for a lot of old people?
I and M
: “Did you hear? Thanks to Spinoza...”
: “Yeah, we heard.”: “I'm glad to see you weren't hurt, Cathy.”: “Oh, my! I've got a handsome young man like this worried about me.”
: “Honestly, Cathy, I take my eyes off you for one minute and you're already charming the boys...”
: “By the way, what are you two doing here?”: “Ah... we're getting a little sick of the Class I vs Class M rivalry.”: “You'll see if you go inside.”...Inside?
: “Shut up! You're the one whose friend betrayed him. If you're going to whine, then get out!”
: “Yeah, yeah!”
: “With my help, I might add.”
: “All you did was lend me some tools.”: “They're sure lively for their age...”
: “Please, stop fighting.”: “I'll take the frequency counter.”
: “You're going to apply the same frequency to cancel the shaking, right?”: “It'll be hard to make a device that can stand the pressure of the core and produce enough of a vibration.”: “Heh heh heh. Let Sheridan's Class M handle that. We'll build you something strong.”: “Only Belkend's Class I could make the calculation device capable of emitting the vibrations in all directions.”: “Are you scheming to get the 100th win first?”
: “Auldrant is in danger! 'Class I' and 'Class M' are completely unimportant!”
: “She's right. This project would be easy if you worked together.”: “You're old enough to know better. Show some maturity, would you?”: “...We'll build the outer shell from the device to stop the core from shaking...”: “Leave the calculation device to us!”
: “Class I, Class M, we're counting on you.”: “We should head for the Tataroo Valley.”
Don't you love mediating conflict between 70 year olds?
Skit: Class I and Class M
: “It looks like the construction of the device to neutralize the core vibration is in good hands.”: “In the meantime, we need to visit Tataroo Valley to measure the vibration frequency.”: “With Class I and Class M working together, they may actually finish before we get back.”: “Yes, they certainly are very skilled.”: “But they're always fighting...”: “Oh, I'm sure that's only because they like each other.”
: “Do you think so...?”
: “Yeah, just like you and Luke.”
: ….: “Sorry! Sorry!”Guy can never be the troll Jade is. He's too nice. And he lacks the balls.
So now we have to go to Tataroo Valley, where it all began. This is actually kind of a dick move, because most players probably don't remember where it is, and if they're like me they also didn't remember to look on the map until they'd sailed aimlessly for 15 minutes. It doesn't help that the Albiore can't fly...
I don't even want to talk about the physics of this.
The other dick move is that there's no ports or docks on the continent that the valley is located, which means the Albiore can only get on it by gliding over a beach onto land. There's only a single beach and it's not shown on the map, so you'll circle this thing once or twice unless you get lucky.
The Albiore actually can't go over bridges, but that's not a problem. See that second bridge in the background? That's our destination.
Return to the Past
: “It was at night. We may have missed something.”Or perhaps a path has miraculously appeared where none existed before!
...Nah.
: “Luke! You never told me you and Tear had that sort of relationship!”
: “W-wait a minute! What are you talking about?! It wasn't like that! We got blown out of the manor in Baticul and--”
: “...Now I'm mad.”: “Damn, that was cold.”: “Yes, it was.”: “You sound like you're having fun, Colonel.”
: “...You're horrible.”You're amazing.
Skit: Where it All Began
: “It all started right here, didn't it...”: “Yes... I felt sorry at the time for accidentally involving you.”: “At the time...? How about now?”: “If you had stayed like you were then, I probably wouldn't have felt that way for long.”
: “Yeah... I really was a stupid, spoiled brat back then.”
: “And you aren't now?”
: “A-am I?”
: “I wonder...”: “Heh... I remember how much I hated it all back then. Thrown out into the middle of nowhere, this annoying girl telling me what to do, but now... I'm glad it happened. If it hadn't been for coming here, I probably would've lived the rest of my life as an idiot.”: “Indeed.”: “Hey, you don't have to agree with me!”: “Heh hee.”
Looks a little different in the day, huh? Though the lighting is all the same, since night was just the daytime map with a filter stuck over it.
This is what I get for not looking at my menu before fighting: Guy and Jade actually left my part during the last update until we picked them back up in the chapel, so they're in the last slots. Whatever.
The game takes control for a second to point out the new path, but let's ignore it for now. There's an event here that I bet most people end up missing.
So we head back to the place we landed, first.
: “Right. Selenia flowers bloom at night.”: “...The view here kind of reminds me of myself. I'm standing in the same place as before, but I'm not the same as I was then.”: “You've grown?”: “Do you think I have?”
: “Really?!”: “Of course. Human being grow new cells in their body every day.”
: “You know, you're starting to sound like Jade.”It's such a little thing. Just a single word, but...
Nice view, though I think the game fails to really get across just how massive this valley is supposed to be. Oh well.
Okay, we cross the new path now. Take a look at the screen shot above. Notice anything out of place? Anything at all?
This. This right here is the grand mother of bullshit this game has to offer. This boulder is completely camouflaged. New players wouldn't look twice at it. Not to mention that nobody, and I mean nobody in this game, will tell you anything is here. Yet this is probably one of the most important sidequests in the game. And it is 100% optional... well, as long you don't want to get locked out of tons of future sidequests!
Inside are some ruins, but that's not the interesting part...
That is.
Mieu Wing
: “Hey, isn't that...”: “Like the place in Zao Ruins. What was it, a fon slot? Where fonos gather...”
: “There's one here too!”
: “Around here, I suppose it would be the Third Fonon?”: “Yes, probably.”
: “The fonons carved a new fon verse in the ring, right?”Those of you with razor sharp memories may remember that Jade mentioned during our first visit to the Zao Ruins that the ring had room for another verse, even after getting Mieu Attack. This is the only hint that Mieu has another power, but good luck remembering that by this point.
: “Mieuuuu... Heeeere iiiiiiiit cooooomes!”
: “Whoa!”
: “How cute...”: “Master! I'm flying! I did it!”: “Hey, let me grab on to-!”
: “Oh my...”: “Hah hah, that's quite the picture.”
: “I-I'm sorry... but this is so fun...”
: “Aww, me too! Me too!”
: “I'd like to fly, too!”
: “Mieuuuu.....”: “Hey, don't be mean to the little guy.”
: “Oh man...”
Mieu Wings is Mieu's third and final new power. It lets you hover slightly no matter where you are, which makes monsters disenage from chasing you and also allows you to avoid some later environmental hazards. In addition, when used in specific places it allows you to float up and grab on to ledges, ladders and so on to grab hidden goodies. It's also an absolute requirement if you're planning on doing a handful of late game sidequests. Fortunately this sidquest never expires, but on the other hand good luck finding it if you're a new player or are otherwise unaware of it!
I love this game to death, but the Da Vinci Code shit can seriously take a hike.
Oh, and you can use it to hit certain buttons. These open the doors here.
Most of the treasure is irrelevant, but you can never have enough Wing Bottles!
Anyway, back to the surface, we continue our hike to the Sephiroth.
To Conquer Fear
: “What's wrong, Anise?”
: “They're worth four million gald a piece!”: “Hey, Anise, you're going to trip.”: “Please! Stop treating me like a child!”At that exact point, a violent earthquake hits
: “Anise!”
: “Guy?!”
: “...Rrr!”
: “Tear, Guy... thanks.”: “I didn't really... but, Guy, you...”
: “Congratulations, Guy!”: “That's great!”: “I”m proud of you. Even with your past, if you hadn't saved Anise just then, I'd have lost all respect for you.”: “...Yeah. I'm really glad you weren't hurt because of me, Anise.”
: “Heh heh, I'm a little moved.”
: “Guy was a Malkuth aristocrat. He probably has a fortune set aside in the imperial treasury.”
: “...I think I'll pass.”Man, Jade is on the ball today.
So yeah, good thing Guy had that flashback last update, otherwise Anise would have been toast. I guess. Because it was totally impossible for Jade or Luke to run the five feet and help Tear out. Okay game.
Skit: The Cured Guy is a Nice Guy
: “That was surprising. One would never think he was afraid of female contact.”: “I never imagined he would change so much with his memory back.”: “Perhaps his fear was so hard for him because he didn't know what caused it.”
: “Yeah, I really need to thank him...”: “Hopefully he'll be able to slowly get over it.”
: “Yes, I hope so.”: “He might even be a lot closer after that little event.”: “Hmm, let's see... Oh, Guyyy?”: “Hmm? What is it?”I'm going to break my rule here and show a screenshot for a skit. It's kind of hard to convey, but basically Tear, Natalia, and Anise's boxes all start sliding closer to Guy all at once, and...
: “Nope.”: “I guess not.”
If you squint, you can see the entrance across this lake. Almost there!
Here's an example of Mieu Wing's use. We can fly up into this branch and grab some otherwise inaccessible loot. I guess this might be the devs trying to drop the hint that this power is here, but it's a pretty lame one.
At any rate, we're finally here.
Boss Battle: Uniceros
: “Mieuu! Mieu mieu!”A piercing cry is heard.
: “That cry...”: “It's a uniceros!”
: “The sacred animal that appears in Ancient Ispanian myth?”
Hey look, the first major typo I've seen so far! I'd know too, considering I'm transcribing this beast.
: “Uniceros like clean air. If you take one to the city, it may die.”: “Ohh...”: “He sounds like he's suffering.”: “Suffering, why?”
: “Something's coming!”
: “It's behind us!”
: “Uah! Are uniceros violent?!”: “Not at all. They're supposedly really gentle. They never attack people!”: “Here it comes again!”: “Let's knock it unconscious and take a look at it.”Because it's killing until we say so.
The uniceros may seem like a filler boss, but he'll fuck you up if you're not careful. First of all, he has magic. Strong magic. Like, some of the strongest light magic in the game, magic.
Because of this he throws down a lot of light FoF's, which his AI is programed to exploit. That's an entirely new spell called Flame Circle, and it hurts.
Second, he flies. There're two primary attacks: A small energy blast and a dive. Both hurt.
Oh, and like that giant circle on the ground? Tear has just recently hit high enough level to unlock the Fourth Hymn, Revitalize With this, Tear has gone from sub-par healer to best healer in the game. Revitalize has a huge range and has five ticks, and as long as Tear's fonic attack is fairly high it'll fully heal you in 2-3 ticks, max, for the whole game. This is an amazing heal, and Tear's best.
Third, uniceros is very thin. This makes his hitbox kind of janky, so it can be hard to line up a shot coming out of Free Run.
Finally, uniceros is fast. This isn't much of a problem in and of itself, but once his health is low he'll break away and charge the shit out of your casters for massive damage. Reminds me a lot of the Boar from Graces, minus the burrowing bullshit.
Oh, and this really doesn't make him hard, but fuck this guy's buckaroo kick. It comes out of nowhere and sends everybody flying.
Still, I beat the Behemoth, I can sure as hell beat this guy. Though that was a pretty fierce battle to 'knock it out.'
The Uniceros's Revelation
: “But what do we do now? It may attack us again once it wakes up.”It doesn't, but the devs missed a great opportunity here to just have the thing spring right back up and attack you for another go. It would have been funny, if nothing else.
: “Let's have Mieu talk to it.”: “Yes, Master! I'll try.”
: “...He doesn't like the miasma. Some got close to him, so he got irritated and attacked without thinking.”: “But there's no miasma around here.”: “He says Tear has miasma inside her body.”
: “Do you know what he means?”: “No...”: …: “I don't get it. Maybe it has to do with Tear being born in the Qliphoth?”
: “Oh, there it goes.”: “He was thanking Tear just now, for healing him.”: “Oh...”: “The uniceros must have made a mistake. Once it realized that, it thanked her and left.”: “I bet you're happy you didn't get kicked, huh, Tear?”: …: “D-don't look at me like that. It was a joke.”
: “...Yes, I'm just a little tired.”: “Tear gets the same way when she activates the passage rings. Perhaps it's a side effect of Dawn Age fon machines and fonic artes.”: “I don't think so...”: “Ion, shall we rest over here?”: “No, let's go.”: “Don't force yourself, Ion. If you're not feeling good, say something.”: “Thank you, Luke.”
Dungeon Video
Another day, another dungeon. This one isn't quite as impressive as Shurrey Hill in terms of aesthetic – it's a little too blue in my opinion – but I still like it.
The gimmick in this dungeon is Mieu attacking these tuning fork looking things. Doing so activates or deactivates nearby switches, which you use to open doors. Pretty basic. Watch the dungeon video if you're really curious for some reason.
Sealed Ring
: “It's not reacting when Tear gets close. That must mean...”: “It's the same as Shurrey Hill. The Yulian Seal hasn't been unlocked.”: “I guess we'll have to go look for it. It's kind of a pain...”
One of the seals is already broken due to the ruins having been caved in, so only one to do. This dungeon is much more simplistic than Shurrey Hill, and you can blow through it in like 10 minutes.
None of the fork puzzles are interesting, except for this tower one that is only mildly irritating due to the floor being the same color as the wave that comes out of the forks when you hit them.
Anyway, we hit some forks and it stops wind from blowing into this turbine, which breaks the seal. How overly complicated.
That's the end of the dungeon, but if you do that aforementioned tower puzzle, and you have Mieu Wings, you can manipulate the wind to fly across this gap and get some minor loot.
Anyway.
Setting Into Motion
: “If this happens again, we should probably check the devices in the area.”
It's working all right...
: “My brother hasn't been here yet...”: “Does this mean anyone who can use the Seventh Fonon can control it?”: “No, the control panel is dormant. Probably because we ignored Van's code when we used the passage rings at Shurrey Hill and the Zao Ruins. The passage rings in other lands, connected in parallel, consider Luke an intruder. So they executed an emergency shutdown.”It took two root level brute force attacks for the system to finally recognize there was an intruder? And the only thing it did was shut itself down? What are these things running, Mcafee?
: “Then we can't control it?”: “I think it will work if Luke carves the commands into it with his hyperresonance.”: “Brute Force, huh? So, what should I do?”: “For measuring the vibration frequency, nothing. But considering the future, we should probably set things up to lower the land.”: “Should I write something?”
: “Bypass the fifth Sephiroth. That's Akzeriuth. There's no point in connecting it. Also connect the first and third Sephiroth. Beside the sixth Sephiroth, write, 'Tree descent. Normal speed.' and then 'Activate simultaneously with the first Sephiroth descent.'” 
: “When we lower the first Sephiroth – the Radiation Gate – that orders this passage ring to activate and lower this land as well.”: “We'll inscribe that same order on every passage ring in the Outer Lands. Then, we'll give the descent command to the Radiation Gate.”: “I see. Then all of the Outer Lands will descend at once.”: “All right. Now all that's left is the vibration frequency of the core.”: “How do we measure it, Colonel?”: “It's simple. Touch the counter to the center fonstone.”: “I'll do it.”
: “Is that all?”: “Yes.”: “Boooring. I got all worked up for nothing.”: “I'm afraid it wasn't designed for entertainment.”: “Let's return to Sheridan.”
We're done here.
Next Time: The plot continues to pick up steam, and a lot of things happen very quickly. Exciting!
Synopsis:
The Dark Wings were waiting for us in Sheridan, and said that they'd
brought Hencken and Cathy with them. I have no clue why we're getting along
with those guys, but now's not the time to be thinking about that. Let's go
see Hencken and Cathy.
We found Cathy and Tamara outside the meeting all. Apparently Hencken and
Iemon are fighting inside. Can't they at least show a little maturity at that
age?
It wasn't easy, but the two finally agreed to work with each other.
They've certainly got plenty of energy for their age.
In any case, we got the measuring device. While we measure the core's
vibration frequency in Tataroo Valley, they'll build us a device to stop the
vibration. Okay, let's get going to Tataroo Valley!
When we reached Tataroo Valley, I made a comment about the last time I was
here that had the girls making fun of me. ...And Tear was cold to me. That
kind of hurt. Why is she always so cold to me...? I guess I'm still a loser.
As we went farther into the valley, we came across a rare butterfly that
can be sold for a lot of money. Anise left us and ran after it... She's just
as bad as always when it comes to money. I'm hardly one to comment, but how
is she going to manage when she grows up?
Just then, an earthquake occurred, and Anise almost fell off the edge of
the cliff she was running along. And Guy saved her! The same Guy who couldn't
stand even the lightest touch of a woman...that's a huge step for him. I hope
the pain in his heart heals quickly.
We found a path we had missed at night, and followed it to find a doorway
with a Daathic seal. This must be where the passage ring is.
As we were going to enter, a monster called a uniceros appeared. Uniceros
don't normally attack people, but this one suddenly charged us. We managed to
knock it unconscious, then had Mieu talk to it. It said that it didn't like
miasma, and since Tear had miasma in her, it had attacked us unthinkingly.
Tear has miasma in her? What's that supposed to mean?
The uniceros eventually left, but I wonder if Tear's okay...
Ion opened the door for us. It seemed hard on him... I wonder if it's just
because his body is weak. Come to think of it, Tear always seems to get tired
when she approaches a passage ring. I hope she'll be okay... Not that I have
any idea what to do about it, so we might as well head inside.
We measured the core's vibration frequency, and made preparations for
lowering the Outer Lands while we were at it. According to Jade, the plan is
to link all the remaining passage rings together, and have them lower the
Outer Lands all at once. Well, if Jade says so... Oops, I was trying not to
just blindly rely on people like that. I wonder why I keep trying to do
that... I guess I'd better be careful.
Anyway, we did what we came for. Let's head back to Sheridan and report
the results.