Part 31: Update -XXVII- Mistakes were made

Update 27 Highlights - World of Final Fantasy


So things didn't quite go according to plan last update. Reynn and Lann got punked by the bad guys, some kind of invasive machine race got released into the world and started wrecking shit, and what we were led to believe was Lann and Reynn's mother in fact turned out to be their friend-sister. Also, friend-sister hinted that the twins may have fucked up royally sometime in the past.



Anyway, what's done is done. At least we escaped that clusterfuck thanks to the League of S.

I hate gravity...

It's a good thing I actually caught you.

Whoa! The lass in glasses!

Hey! We meet aga-- Wait, what did you call me?

Oh, uh... Captain Faris called you that once. I think he's just mimicking her.

Yup!



...Uh... is there some history here that we should be aware of? You seemed pretty cordial with each other back on the ship.

Anyway, we never did get to thank you. You were so helpful when... we...

Hm?

Well, I don't want to sound ungrateful. Your fastcraft did get us to the Low Seas, but... Now, whenever I hear rushing water I remember what it was like almost dying and... Yeah, you really scarred me for life.

Reynn says this 100% serious, by the way. It's a little bit off-putting if I'm being honest, especially considering how goofy the Low Seas scene was portrayed.





Oh, looks like we've arrived at the League of S base.

Final Fantasy VIII Music: Balamb Garden (The League Melody plays here although Balamb Garden is part of the WoFF OST. I guess the League Melody sounds more grand/serious?)




Whoa, check it out! Does the whole building float? This place is chocobaceous!

Lann, of course the whole building floats. We rode an airship to get here! We're high enough in the air to be in the clouds!

Amazed me the first time I saw it too.

This is it. Home base for the League of S.

Balamb Garden.



Balamb Garden is the home base of SeeD in FFVIII. It's an academy that Cid founded to train an anti-Sorceress strike force after Squall and Ultimecia briefly appeared from the future in front of Edea and Squall told her that SeeD was originally her idea and...

Final Fantasy VIII got weird.



Anyway, the important bit here is that it's the place Squall and the cast of VIII operate out of. It used to be a shelter from an ancient civilization, but was rebuilt with help from Esthar to serve as SeeD's home. There is a flight mechanism which allows the building to lift off and escape from a rocket attack later in the game, after which it becomes the "Stage-1 Airship" (which is to say that it just kind of hovers over the ground slightly and can't quite go anywhere on the map.





There's actually a statue of the true FFVIII airship up on this pedestal. The Ragnarok replaces Balamb Garden as the party's airship later in the game (once Squall and Rinoa happen upon it while free-floating through space. Yes, that actually happens). It's a badass looking airship, but it's obtained in quite possibly the dumbest manner possible. Two people free-floating through space cross paths with an abandoned fully-functional and fully-fueled advanced spaceship/airship that is also free-floating through space. Then Squall and Rinoa have to clear out some kind of monster infestation by killing them in color-coded pairs (otherwise they respawn... somehow).

Anyway, if we take three steps forward a scene will trigger.



Everyone's on deck, except the injured. This way.



Oh, yeah! Do you know how Hauyn is doing?

She's sound asleep, down in the infirmary. I talked to Dr. Kadowaki. Her diagnosis is that Hauyn is suffering from severe exhaustion.

Dr. Kadowaki is a reference to the doctor of the same name in FFVIII. She's seen at the beginning of the game telling Squall not to be such a dumb ass after she had to treat the massive face wound he got while training against Seifer.

That's... too bad...

What about Yuna, and the summoners?

And Terra (who is not a summoner)?

Same thing. They were forced to use their powers against their will. It took a lot out of them.

Same goes for Tidus. He won't wake up.

Tidus... Is he okay?



In fact, Tidus might be the only reason we were able to get to the summoners in time. You know that winged knight?

Define "in time". Not going to say you guys didn't stop a bad situation from getting worse, but you also showed up well after all of the Cogna had escaped.

I found Tidus fighting her. He told me about the summoners, so we went to go save them.

Right. And once me and Squall got word--

You all showed up to bail us out, huh? It's a really good thing you did.

Now you can help us fill in the blanks. Bahamut-- did you figure out who they really are?

And those weird Mirages he called "Cogna"?

What did you two kids do back there?

Oh! Uh, it's funny you should ask...

We don't know what happened either. But what little we do know, we'll tell you.

*A brief "We screwed up" explanation later*



Excuse the interruption. I have new intel from our liaisons across Grymoire.

Oh!

Shelke.

What's the story?

You should have a look at this.





Well, those new Mirages called Cogna have been taking over wherever they show up. For the most part, at least.

For the most part? What do you mean?

Our reports say that towns belonging to the Federation were assimilated right away. But the places that have been resisting Federation rule have managed to keep the Cogna out so far.

So in other words, nobody we care about got hurt or exploded.

However, other threats have arisen.

What?

There have also been multiple sightings of the Dyad's Servants.

Sorry, who are the "Dyad's Servants"?

A century ago, the Demon Dyad plunged Grymoire into an era of chaos. The Dyad's Servants were Mirages that carried out most of the Dyad's dirty work. Right?

.....

So you're saying the Servants are back after a hundred years?

Oooohhhh....

That appears to be the case. The Cogna have given them a chance to begin their reign of terror all over again.



One came out of the crater where we fought the bomb. Another flew out from underneath Figaro Castle.

Huh? Wh-what exactly are you getting at? Are you saying we caused that too?

We might have set them loose by accident.

Dude, no...

Yeah, so remember those weird shots of crazy monsters appearing in places where we got the keys from? Turns out they are ancient demons that went on a warpath a hundred years ago. Now Reynn and Lann have inadvertently released them from whatever cells they were locked up in.

That means we've got Leviathan (sealed in Valley Seven), Bahamut (sealed under Figaro), Odin (sealed in the Train Graveyard), and Diablos (sealed in the Underwater Temple. You may have recognized his hand when it reached out of the ground) roaming around the world somewhere.

Could we maybe get some good news, please?

I'll say this. We need to take action now. The League will get to work with our agents on the ground.

At any rate, it might be a while before Hauyn wakes up. Why don't you guys get some rest.

If she's really your sister, make sure you talk things out.



So Squall, Cloud, and Lightning basically just told Lann and Reynn to stay put and not fuck anything else up beyond repair. There's a side-quest to pick up nearby before we talk to Quistis. The lady just wants some eye-drops, which shouldn't be any problem.

Sorry, guys. I need to get back to the control room and handle this mess. Look, I realize that you two are probably trustworthy. But the League does have its rules. Until you get clearance, restricted areas like the infirmary are off-limits. If you want to explore, keep it to here and the lobby. Okay? Catch up later.

*And Quistis takes her leave*

So basically, she doesn't trust us at all.

Well, you can't blame her.

Okay, so, what do we do now?

Hmm... I'm worried about all our friends. We really do need to talk to Tama.



We now have an objective... sort of. At least it's something, I suppose. Better than standing around in Balamb Garden while all the interesting places are locked off.

Plus, we do kind of need to check on Tama. She was definitely not okay with what happened back there at the Ultima Gate.

Before going through the gate, make sure to grab the sidequest just to the left of it. The lady wants some bomb fragments and she'll cough up a fire spellstone in return.



There's also a chest to the right of the door. It has the second Herald Report.





How could you possibly tell that? They all wear armor and masks.



Lastly, the final cat with a personal posting is hanging out way back on the left side.



If you haven't been able to piece it together, the personal postings are referencing Y'shtola from FFXIV.



Y'shtola is a Conjurer that meets the Warrior of Light shortly into XIV if they start in Limsa Lominsa.

And that's pretty much all I can say about her due to the XIV spoiler policy.



She's one of the new Champions for the Maxima add-on. FFXIV originally had no representative in WoFF.



Of course, because Maxima kind of cheaped out on these additions, Y'shtola only appears in Jewel form. She gives HP++ and has the Ethereal Pulse ability, which grants shell and protect.



Y'shtola is voiced by Robyn Addison in English and Ai Kayano in Japanese. According to her "Who's Who" entry, she's part of the same resistance movement that Firion is. That just further raises the question of why there wasn't a full quest line for this add-on, because it sounds like there was going to be.



Oh well. Back in Nine Woods, we can see one of the few times in the game (possibly the only time) when Anamika isn't in the Tea Room. Gotta take a bathroom break at some point I guess, especially when drinking that much tea.



Going to Plaza 99 is how we trigger the next story scene.

Update 27 Highlights - Tama and Serafie explain how everything is even worse than we thought somehow
Oh! I'm glad you're here. Serafie, could you go get Tama for us?

You want Tama? Funny you ask. She's been floating around like a terrified marshmallow ever since she got back. Let the pretty pixie handle this. Heeey. Taaamaaa.



Rrrgh! How dare you ignore me, you puny fluff-butt!





Ah-- Aaah!



Oooogh... Serafie, one the-day, I will destroy you...

Tama, can we talk?

We just really, really need to know what happened.

Ah! Thanks for the-reminding me! This is no time to go the-gaga! Those Cogna the knights summoned are seriously bad the-news!



Yes the-way, and we have to the-stop them!

Uh, time out. Before we go any further-- Tama, what's a Cogna?

They're horrible bad things completely beyond the-description!

Well, uh, maybe you should try anyway?

The Cogna are living machines that thrive on destruction. They have laid more worlds to waste than there are stars in the sky. And that's not a poetic exaggeration.

Eh, I still highly doubt they've destroyed that many. Have you looked up and seen how many stars are in the sky?

What? But that's nuts!

They're almost the-like a disease. It's not that they're all strong-- it's that they never the-stop growing in number.

Oh, wonderful. So they can self-replicate or reproduce somehow. The bad news keeps rolling in.



Then what about the knights? Are they, like, Cogna masters or something?

Something the-else: they call themselves the Exnine Knights. They're a horrible order who the-wander from the-world to world and leave chaos in their wake! Which the-leads to the question, "Why?" I suppose.

Some people just want to watch the world burn, Tama.

But, if they were the Order of the Circle, then I think I know the-why.

Whoa... Did you say the Order of the Circle?

I'm afraid the-so.

Bad news?

Me and the-Serafie have a history with them that goes back more years than I know how to the-count. They're our arch-arch-arch-arch nemeses, to put it the-lightly!

Bummer. So that's who was pulling the strings. But, that means they won't rest until--

Until the-every last world is destroyed. They're filled to the gills with ill the-will!

I'm still not sure I get it... But basically, you're saying Grymoire's in hot water. Is that the idea?

We passed the point of "hot water" when Omega Weapon appeared and started fantasy nuking towns.

The water's so hot it's almost the-steaming! And if you think it will end with just the-Grymoire, then you've got another thing the-coming!

Is Nine Wood Hills in danger too?

That wouldn't even be the tip of the iceberg. Ohhh no.



We're not talking just one or two the-worlds. You see, we're the-part of a whole googolplex of worlds.

A goggleplex?! What is that, like a thousand? Dude!

Actually, a googolplex is ten, to the tenth, to the hundredth power.

Yeah, I'm gonna call horseshit on that. A googoplex is an absolutely ridiculous number. It's larger than the number of elementary particles in the universe.. If there were a googoplex of worlds, then there would either be: A googolplex of universes, or the universe would have to be large enough to accommodate a googolplex of worlds.

A million worlds?!

We can work on your math skills some other time.

I guess in multi-verse theory it would be possible, but then how would Tama even verify it?

I need to get one thing straight. The reason those things got into Grymoire... It's our fault. Isn't it?

Huh?

Oh, right. We were discussing how terribly fucked everything is.

Umm... The-maybe... I think... yes.

So, basically... we've put Grymoire, and other worlds, in terrible danger.

No... No. That can't be true.

It is. We messed up. Those guys in the armor-- they used us. They invented a false prophecy and tricked us into opening the Ultima Gate. Mom was just the bait.

Would you cut it out? No way, dude. Hey, hang on! Enna Kros is the one who said to collect Mirages to find out family! If she hadn't led us on, then...

Kind of deflecting the blame a bit there, Lann. Although you do raise a very good point. She's the one that kickstarted this little adventure and then just pissed off somewhere.

Maybe... she's one of them.

No way! Abso-the-posi-the-lutely no way!

Heh? Oh, well, yeah. After all, Enna Kros would never ever lie.

All right then. I guess I'll let it go.

Oh, okay. I guess that just settles that then. No need to suspect Enna Kros at all despite the part she played in all of this and the fact that she's been suspiciously absent ever since. Serafie said she wouldn't lie. That's all the reassurance we need.

.....

So like, why'd they pick us? How come we were even able to do something like that?

I was the-hoping you would know! Um, if you're going to ask the-someone, you should ask your big sister.

You might be right. Let's return to Balamb Garden and go talk to Hauyn.

.....

Lann?

Huh? Oh! Yeah, I guess she might be awake.

Alright then, back to Balamb Garden to wait for Hauyn to wake up.

Update 27 Highlights - Seriously, what the hell did these two do?


Who's apparently standing on the deck now? Um... how? We were told that time moves differently while in Nine Wood Hills. We only spent like 5-10 minutes talking with Tama and Serafie, which would amount to what in Grymoire? A few seconds? A minute at best? Was Hauyn hiding in a bush waiting for us to leave and then booked it to the deck when we were heading for the gate?



Ugh, whatever. Hauyn is voiced by Eden Riegel in English and Maaya Uchida in Japanese.

If you read my Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars LP, Eden Riegel voiced Ellie Troit in that game. She also did the English voice for Chuami in the god-awful audio drama, Final Fantasy X -Will-.

Hey there, Hauyn.

Tell me one thing. Your past-- do you remember any of it?

No... Not really.

'Fraid not.

Right. Of course. If you did remember, there's no way you would be talking to me.

But, I do remember you're my sister, Wyn.

She does. But I don't.





Do to you? But Wyn, those knights were holding you prisoner.

Stop.

Huh?

I don't know you anymore, so don't call me that.

But Wyn--

Enough.

Oh... kay.



Well, who then?

You ought to know. And why should I bother to help you figure out the obvious. You have to remember. For Lady Lusse.

Our mom? Is she here? Is she still alive?



Rorrik? Our dad?! Then Mom and Dad are both okay? Where are they?

This is the first we've heard of the twins' dad. Good to know they have one, that's better than most JRPG protagonists.

But you know that, too. Where they are. What they're doing.

We do? Are you sure?

It's starting to sound like we haven't quite scraped the bottom of the "Reynn and Lann fucked up majorly" barrel.

Hauyn... are you one of the bad guys?

Me? One of them? You must be joking!

But, you went around in a mask tricking us!

Enough. Say no more. I just don't want to hear it.

If you didn't quite catch on to what was happening, Masked Woman was an illusion created by Ywain (the Carbuncle we saw tagging along with Masked Woman all the time). Ywain copied Hauyn's appearance to give the twins one last push towards opening the gate. The twins should have picked up on this when they saw the very same Carbuncle dispel the illusion around the Ultima Gate, but I'm willing to give them a pass considering all the shit that went down immediately after that moment.



Siren!





Hey! You can't do that! Hauyn is an L-size and so is Siren! You can't stack them!



You bring nothing to this world but pain and chaos! Leave now! Go back home, and never wake from your sleep again! Your mother and father... I'll save them.

Damn, that was harsh. The fuck did you two do to her?

Gosh-bomb it... What the honk is her problem? She didn't tell us anything!

No... but you heard what she said about Mom and Dad. They need to be saved.

Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess she did. Okay, but what do they need saving from?

I don't know.



*And then the twins had to explain that Hauyn took off to go almost certainly get her ass kicked by the Order of the Circle*

That explains what happened. But then, what are you two going to do now?

I'm not sure.

I know this may sound a little selfish, but... If you don't mind, maybe you could help us fight off the Cogna that've appeared across Grymoire. We need more manpower. As much as we can get.

Sure.

Huh?

Whether we were tricked or not, we're still the ones who brought them here. We have to fix this. As long as we have the power to do it.

Yeah, you're right. Besides...

.....?

Helping the League out with operations means gathering Mirages and getting stronger.



then we ought to keep going. Let's collect Mirages, and find our family.

Yeah.



Airship!

The skies are yours! Go on out there and help wherever you can!

After this we get a notification that Yuna and Terra's Champion stuff has opened up. This is the last of the Champion Medals. There are some more Champion Jewels available, but this is it for the Medals/Character Summons. We'll have a look at them to wrap up the update, but there's a little more dialogue first.



Like Mirages, some the-Cogna are strong, and some not so the-much. Then again, the tough ones are really, the-really the-tough. In fact, some of the Cogna have such powerful defenses that regular attacks the-won't even leave a scratch on them.



We're all gonna have to learn to help each other out.

Right. Good point!

And that's the end of the chapter. Before we stop, let's see the last of the Champion Summons.

Champion Summon: Terra
Final Fantasy VI Music: The Decisive Battle


First is Terra.















I'm a little disappointed that Terra's summon has nothing to do with her Esper powers. I realise the Magitek Armor and snowy landscape is iconic, but come on.







Her Champion Jewel abilities are Riot Blade and SOS Magic Boost (boosts magic in a pinch).

Riot Blade is Terra's Desperation attack in VI.

Champion Summon: Yuna
Final Fantasy X Music: The Sending


Next is Yuna.















Yuna's Champion Summon is a healing type. It's basically a Mega Phoenix, so it will revive all KO'ed allies with full HP. It doesn't restore HP to anyone still standing though, so there's not much reason to use it. You would be better off just using a Mega Phoenix and saving the summon.



Yuna's Champion Jewel abilities are Cheer and Enhanced Cure (increases healing ability effectiveness).



Cheer bestows Strength and Defense Up.

And here's a bonus Medal that cannot be obtained anymore because Square and/or Disney are bastards.

Champion Summon: Sora














Sora was briefly a DLC Champion given out for free to commemorate the release of Kingdom Hearts 2.8. However, the DLC was a limited-time only deal. He was released on January 25th in 2017 and was only available until March 31st of that same year. After this period passed, he was removed from the PSN Store completely and hasn't been made available at any point after that.

He was voiced by Miyu Irino in the Japanese sequence, but the English version of the summon removed the voice work and just had him be silent.

And that's it! No more summon sequences (that I'm aware of). I'm almost positive that the Maxima DLC didn't add any new ones (only Jewels).

In the next update, we finally get access to the airship and can start tooling around the map without a care in the world. Also, we might spare a second to help out the Final Fantasy people with the whole Cogna problem... if there's time.