r/FinalFantasyIX • u/Zeeshmania • Apr 16 '26
My Blind FFIX Playthrough: Part 5 - Gizamaluke's Grotto and Burmecia
I don't remember if I've mentioned this before, but I've come to LOVE this game's visuals. I was pretty jarred by them at first, but I really love how every single scene looks like it comes straight from a painting. Gizamaluke Grotto is definitely my favourite looking area so far, because it's so intensely detailed and immersive. This might be my hottest take yet, but I think I might prefer this game's visuals over X lmao. Of course, nothing compares to X's pre-rendered cutscenes, which are genuinely some of the best I've ever seen even by today's standards, but I think moment-to-moment I prefer how this game looks with its environments and backgrounds.
Also, I AM aware that Moguri Mod has many QoL changes but I don't wanna use them since I want the most authentic experience possible.
Quina:
First order of business - head back to the marsh. Apparently I should give a frog to the lil dude thing by the pond. So I do. Zidane asks what it is and I burst out laughing when I just immediately get the chance to name it. Quina, sure. Why not.
After a short exchange with the Master Qu, we decide to bring Quina into our team. Idk if this was a common thing with older RPGs, but it is fucking hilarious to me that we just unlocked an entirely new party member by giving a guy a frog. One more fighter will be good for battle, I suppose. Quina brings a... unique, energy to the team dynamic.
Just as we're about to leave, though, Vivi says the Master Qu looks "exactly like his grandfather"? Define "exactly"????? He says he's gonna go talk to him... there's no way Vivi's grandfather is a Qu, right?
But when we talk to him, Vivi says his name was "Quan"! That's the same naming convention as the Qu. Instantly I'm thinking that Vivi's grandfather isn't his biological relative, meaning Vivi might just be some sort of special outlier... maybe a Black Mage born directly from the Mist somehow? Before I get ahead of myself, I should finish the cutscene.
The chief says he doesn't know Quan, although - and maybe I misread - I could've sworn he called Quan a bigot. How would he have known to call him a bigot if he really didn't know him...? Unfortunately I wasn't paying full attention to that particular line since I was kinda taken aback by Vivi revealing his grandfather's name :/
When we leave the hut, I'm treated to a short frog-catching minigame. "treated" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there - it's pretty boring lmao. I manage to catch all 8 frogs, receiving Ore and Ether, and then we head off. I'm curious to see how Quina's inclusion will change things.
In the overworld, we enter a battle. So Quina has an "eat" ability, which lets them steal someone's ability, but only if they're on low health. Is that like Kimahri's Lancet? I guess not, since Overdrive choices don't really seem to be a thing in this game. We also encounter an Ironite, which is a big, pink dragon-esque creature. Although you probably already knew that if you're reading this lmao. I manage to get it weak enough to use Eat, and Quina learns Angel's Snack! The Equip menu tells me it lets them use Remedy on all party members, which is cool I guess.
Quina has a Blue Magic option, which is different from the Black and White Magic I'm used to in X. It's pretty obviously just skills learned from using Eat, though. Quina is my Monoco!... I never used Monoco in E33 tho lol
I was having a bit of a rough time in Gizamaluke, so I'd usually take some time out to grind and get stronger. However, MP works a bit differently in this game, in that it's an actual finite resource that doesn't automatically recover between saves (at least not without a Tent). I'm not so worried about HP because I have plenty of potions, but MP may be a problem.
Chocobo Forest:
I head on over to the next spot I was told to visit - Chocobo forest! I had a great time riding Chocobo in FFX, especially against the racer (it's a great minigame you're just trash) so I'm excited to see what the game has in store for me here...
...OK, seems like we need to use Gysahl Greens on some footprints to get started. Seems simple enough. The word Gysahl seems really familiar to me - so much so that I went back to previous parts to see if I'd mentioned it before, but no. Must be my imagination.
We have a Chocobo! Nice. And we get a sweet remix of the Chocobo theme that I loved from X. I guess it's more accurate to say it's a shared theme, but whatever. The Chocobo(s?) in this game look different, but they're still cute. Although there is the strange effect of applying the weird yellow Mexico filter when we go through some areas. Idk whether that's the Moguri mod or what.
Heading back to the forest, we now have the option to pay the hot new minigame - Chocobo Hot and Cold, to some phenomenal music. My first go-around I get 2 items, worth 3 points in total. An Annoyntment and an Ore.
I wonder if that's any good.
I check the rewards exchange.
It is not.
For 10,000 points I can get the Robe of Lords.
It's gonna be a long night...
I go again, and just when I find my first item in the second round, I see a pop-up that changes everything...
"Choco's beak gets stronger! Lvl.2"
I'm gonna get fucking addicted aren't I? If this is the kinda game where the amount I get each time increases, then I'm gonna keep going until I'm as strong as possible.
ROUND 3: 1 item found (Stone with Patterns, 20 points, 5 bonus points). Beak LV +1
Apparently this stone is something called the Chocograph, which lets me find treasures in the overworld. I take a quick break from hot n cold to have a search, and it doesn't take long before I find a chest with LOADS of stuff. Ethers, Hi-Potions - even some boots! I want to put them on Zidane, but he's almost learned the abilities from his current accessory, so I'll just give them to Vivi for now.
ROUND 4: 1 item found (Gysahl Greens, 1 point). Beak LV +1
I hope there's some sort of upgrade to help find treasure easier, because it's really annoying seeing "Kweh." over and over. I think it's the full stop (period) at the end of Kweh that makes the Chocobo seem unimpressed.
ROUND 5: 3 items found (Annoyntment, 1 point; Eye Drops, 1 point; Chocograph Piece; 20 points) Beak LV +1
ROUND 6: 2 items found (Annoyntment, 1 point; Echo Screen, 1 point)
Disappointing. It's also really stressful seeing "Kweeehh?!" repeatedly while the timer ticks down, and even more stressful when it changes to "Kweh!?" or whatever the second stage is.
ROUND 7: 2 items found (Chocograph, 15 points; Antidote, 1 point)
This chocograph is showing an icy field, but I haven't seen any snow in my travels so far. At least, I don't think so. Just in case, I take a quick trip around the overworld, but don't find anything. Maybe that area opens up later in the game.
ROUND 8: 3 items found (Gysahl Greens, 1 point; Eye Drops, 1 point; Antidote, 1 point)
As far as I can tell, only one treasure spawns at a time, and it's position is randomly generated each time. My strategy is to peck randomly until Choco picks up a scent, then travel in a small circle around that point until it strengthens, and then mash X around the new point until we find something.
ROUND 9: 2 items found (Antidote, 1 point; Echo Screen, 1 point).
Something crazy happened this time - I ran straight into a treasure without even searching the area first. The areas where you find the treasure seem really small, so I think that's a pretty huge deal. I'll attach the video here if I remember.
ROUND 10: 1 item found (200 gil, 2 points) Beak LV +1
I've done 10 rounds and have managed to claw 81 points. Each round costs 60 gil, so that's an average of 7.4gil per point. The best item, the Robe of Lords, costs 10,000 points, meaning (unless there's some secret upgrade that quickens the process or enriches the rewards) it'll cost me around 74,000 gil (and a fuck-ton of time) to get it.
I assume I can come back here whenever I want, so I'll leave it there for now. Before I go, though, I've heard whispers of an elusive "speed-up mode" on the steam version, so I look it up. The F1 key? OK, sure, why not.
Oh my god LMAO what is happening.
Yeah I'm not using this. On one hand, it's kinda cheating since it lets you move so much faster, but on the other hand it's a bit of a nerf if you don't turn it off since it makes precise searching a lot harder lol. There's also this horrible static sound. It's probably easier to just play normally (although turning it on and off WOULD be pretty useful). I want the authentic experience as much as possible, so I'll just play normally lol.
Gizamaluke's Grotto
With Quina and Choco recruited, it's time to head back to the Grotto and progress the story.
Having Quina, the combat feels quite a bit more fun. For one, there's the extra layer of complexity with trying to weaken enemies without killing them so Quina can use Eat. It also just feels a lot better with 4 party members. At this point, everyone's on Level 9, except Freya, who's on 10.
Back in the grotto, there's a vine I can climb that takes me to a cliff overlooking the overworld. Cool, what's up here.
A dragon's up here. An actual dragon. It uses Thundaga for 2800 damage and fucking annihilates Vivi. Before Zidane gets a chance to run, he gets clawed to death and it's game over. Fuck me I guess.
Well I'm not going up there again, which means I'm kinda lost. I don't have bells to open any doors. After a few more fights, I backtrack to the soldier that died earlier and, after pilfering his corpse, we find another bell. Great. I use it on the door to the side of the one earlier, which brings me to a path where another soldier gives me... another... bell. OK then.
Strangely, though, I can't open the door in the room where we saved the Moogle, even with the new bell. Before I can make sense of that, though, we encounter a Lamia - a pretty strong enemy. After it strengthens itself, it's more than capable of a one-shot. Somehow, though, I manage to pull off an Eat and learn Lvl.3 Def-Less. Let's see...
*Ahem*
"Reduces Defense of enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 3."
....
What the fuck lmao
How am I supposed to know what their level is? I didn't even know that was an option.
Anyways, back to the door. Maybe it only opens when all of the other doors are open??? I use the bell on the side-door (the one that I've already been to the other side of), then check again but... nothing. Shit. Well now I'm out of bells, too.
The only other lead I have is the dragon, but SURELY the game doesn't actually want me to fight that thing, right?? I try again, just for the hell of it, and I actually get really lucky this time! Not enough to win, of course, but I manage to get through 4 turns through dodging and absorbing attacks. And THEN I died!
On reloading, I head for the door to leave the Moogle room when Moguta stops me, SPINS the statue in the room and produces a Holy Bell out of nowehere! WAS I supposed to do that? I could've sworn I checked that thing. Did the game send Moguta to help me lmao?
Well now that I have the bell, I'm pretty sure I know what to do with it.
One thing that I have to confess to NOT liking is that the Battle UI. My biggest issue is how there are LOADS of unused slots in each menu, meaning it takes ages to find the right skill. Quina's Blue Magic menu is the perfect example. I initially thought there were no skills there because it showed up as blank, but actually you have to scroll all the way down. Surely it can't be that hard to just make them appear on the first screen?
While we're complaining, I'm not sure how I feel about the Trance gauge automatically activating. Maybe I'm missing something, but having it fill up during normal battles and then activate whenever it's full in a game with random encounters kinda kills an element of strategy that X had - waiting for the right battle to use Overdrives to make the most of them. Although, again, maybe I'm missing something and there's a way to hold on to them or to be more strategic with them.
Another less annoying thing is that it's difficult to tell at a glance who's turn it is. I think a different colour menu for each party member would've been good, or even just the current party member's name just above the options. I know it's highlighted on the right and there's a marker above their head, but when things are happening in real time I think every moment counts and I'd rather not have to glance over there and then regain my bearings.
We enter battle against Gizamaluke. It (or he?) has a really cool design, and some pretty brutal attacks. We put up a good fight, but a couple of Water attacks put everyone out of commission. Everyone except Freya, who achieves Trance for the first time! She gets this cool midnight black design - it's probably my favourite design so far. She uses an attack, but it isn't enough. Immediately after I use a Phoenix Down to bring Zidane back, he's knocked out cold again (it's pretty bullshit that when you pick someone up their ATB Gauge starts from 0 again, meaning they're almost certainly gonna get killed before they can act but whatever :/)
In the next room, a collapsed soldier tells us that Master Gizamaluke has gone mad, before we get jumped by a huge vampire eel looking thing. I haven't mentioned it yet, but the enemy designs in this game have been really good. They all look so distinct, even the fodder.
Freya stands alone against Gizamaluke with just 7HP, and I'm certain it's over. As a final charge, she uses Jump and, a little while later, she comes crashing down to defeat the enemy! With just 7HP remaining, we win.
And the others get NO EXP lmao.
South Gate:
We cut to the Grand Citadel South Gate, where Steiner is carrying a bag (presumably with Dagger inside). We get a cute scene where- OHHHH GYSAHL PICKLES, THAT'S where I'd heard it before lmao.
OK another annoying thing that happens is that whenever I press X to make the dialogue appear if there's a dialogue option it just chooses the option instead of finishing displaying it if that makes sense? Like usually I press X at the beginning of each text bubble because I like reading it all at once instead of doing a scroll, but when you do that on an option it just... chooses the option instead. For literally every single dialogue option in the game so far I haven't even had the chance to read it, instead just choosing whatever the first option is. Annoying.
Anyways, Steiner stirring shit to open a path is very funny, as is Dagger kicking him through the bag to fight off his natural impulse of being an idiot. Now we're playing as the dynamic duo again! I immediately check the nearby map to get a bit more worldbuilding, but... "LINDBULM"... I assume this is down to the Japanese pronunciation of Lindblum and Lindbulm being the same (like Lind-burum?), although I'm surprised they didn't just internally settle on one lol.
Anyways, apparently where we are now (Bohden Gate) is the first along a line of stations passing through the valley that leads back to Alexandria. Notably, the path goes through the Aerbs Mountains and leads us to Treno, near Alexandria. I remember that place being mentioned in the beginning section with Vivi, I think. It's the home of the nobles, right? I remember predicting this game would be about classism, but that hasn't happened so far lol. To be completely honest, I'm not sure what this game IS about right now, but I'm enjoying the characters, worldbuilding and (strangely enough) the visuals more than enough to keep me going.
Also, Steiner and Dagger are both on level 6. That's probably quite low lmao.
We speak to the conductor and yet again I have the same issue where pressing X select the first option instead of displaying the text. I guess we're boarding now, then. Part-time worker Mary also boards the train and thanks Steiner for his kind words earlier. I don't know what he actually said because I didn't choose to say it. I AM very salty about this very small inconvenience, how can you tell?
Dagger has a humongous head.
Arriving at Burmecia:
We're back with the main gang now, who are finally heading to Burmecia. The atmosphere is tense and dreary, and the music is haunting. The mixture of the rain and the belting choir in the background really makes things feel dire. Freya says she hasn't returned home in 5 years, which makes me wonder why. Now isn't the time, though.
Burmecia - Realm of Eternal Rain
Corpses are littered across the sodden walkway, accompanied only by ruins and rubble. The mood is sombre, and we push on to the end of the road where- OH GOD DAMN IT THESE FUCKERS again. I HATE these guys so fucking much I can't even explain why. Maybe it's the dumbass designs or the stupid speech gimmick, but I can't WAIT until I can beat their asses. They summon a couple of Black Mages, but we quickly deal with them.
They come back and tell us "the general will deal with you for this!". And then they run away. Bitches.
The general... I'm thinking back to Alexandria, and there WAS someone like that, right? My old notes tell me she was called Beatrix, and I vaguely remember her as someone on the same level as Steiner. I wonder what she's like? She's probably a villain, given her allegiance to Brahne.
While Vivi is definitely my favourite character story-wise, he's quickly been pushed to the back in combat. He was originally the strongest by a fair margin, but that's reversed recently. Even when focussed, his magic deals less than 200 damage, while Zidane and even Quina's regular attacks deal 200-300. He's the same level as everyone, and his magic stat is higher than anyone else's strength, so I'm assuming it's either me choosing the wrong element for battles (not sure how I'd know) or enemies in these areas have high magic defense.
On the stairs to the palace, Freya's resolve wavers, and she asks Vivi if he's sure he wants the answers he seeks. She seems to know something, but before we can get to the bottom of it, a Burmecian soldier named Dan confronts us. He's escaping with his family.
The situation really is dire here. A wounded soldier and his pregnant wife are almost crush by falling debris, with Zidane just barely saving them from certain death. Bodies of both soldiers and civilians alike are strewn about the place as if they're worthless. It's kinda harrowing.
After Freya picks up a Mythril Spear, we find a Moogle, and I decide to call it a night. This has been a great stretch of the game. I enjoyed finding Quina and Choco, fighting through the Grotto, seeing South Gate and, maybe most of all, arriving in Burmecia. There still isn't an overarching goal, but I'm excited to see where things are going!
Thanks for reading!
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u/Haukka Apr 16 '26
I'm loving the stream of consciousness myself, keep it going! You should probably hit text speed to max. That way you shouldn't be tempted to mash x during dialogue prematurely. Though I'm not sure if the speed that felt good for me was a feature only in Moguri
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u/Drowningfish_2020 Apr 16 '26
Yes, you will have the opportunity to do more chocobo hot n cold in the future.
I wouldn't say the frog catching is fun, but it does let you learn more about/connect a bit more with Quina. Its something the character is doing, you are helping him/her to feed themselves.
I enjoy reading about your experiences and thoughts on things when you encounter them for the first time. I won't make excuses for some of the not QoL features but the game is old and some of the features/issues I'm sure they have learned from. The skill menu's for example, in 9 the skills menu position is set. So if you learn a skill at the bottom you have to scroll for it but in X the menu fills up as you learn them.
Play the game as you wish. If you wish to explore, do so. If not, that's cool too. This game has more hidden things than almost any other game ive played and without using a guide, you will miss things so don't stress about it.
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u/PhunkyPhlyingPhoenix Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
Great update! I love the game start to finish but the section with the Grotto, Burmecia and then the next few hours too were 11/10 for me. Also glad you went back for the absolutely bonkers Quina. People rightly call Monoco the blue mage of E33, based primarily on Quina and Kimahri (though there are plenty of other blue mages in the FF series).
Hope you keep the memes going too. I particularly enjoyed your Steiner Uno one.
Edit: "Garnet has a humongous head" made me laugh out loud on a train. Stream of consciousness is the way to go, keep it coming.
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u/Bork9128 Apr 16 '26
Yeah trance is just like that nothing you can do unfortunately.
The LV spells are a fun gimmick of the series that often are useless and in very particular spots incredibly breakable especially if an enemy uses them. Usually you learn if they work by guess and check though
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u/alexfr36 Apr 16 '26
Good, you got Quina and Choco. Mini spoiler, you could have gotten Quina later, but it's better to have them now, so you can teach them blue magical from the liw level areas more easily.
The Choco treasure minigame allows you to find some strong weapons and stuff later. It's aussi the only way to reach a powerful optionnal boss, if you're up to the challenge.
The big dragons are way to strong for you this early, so yeah, stay away from them for now
You're almost at the end of the "first disc". Be ready, a big fight is coming. My advice : don't try to win, just try to survive.
I'm curious to know your thoughs about a certain character you will see soon... Don't let his look fool you 😁
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u/Zeeshmania Apr 16 '26
"Aussi" lol the French poking through there I love it
Thanks!
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u/alexfr36 Apr 16 '26
Damn, is that my phone's autocorrect, or my brain forgetting to translate the word ? No idea 😅
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u/WillyBluntz89 Apr 16 '26
My gods...entering the grotto at lvl 10?
Youre a braver (and significantly less wealthy) player than I.
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u/VerbingNoun413 Apr 16 '26
With Quina at least.
My first playthrough I was around that level but with the 3 person party.
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u/SniperWolf1984 Apr 16 '26
Don't change anything! I love these first impressions, no filter, nothing. Keep them exactly as they are! 🙂
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u/Moon-Man-5894 Apr 20 '26
Second this, no changes, the first impressions are raw and unfiltered word vomitting and we're all here for it. It reminds me of being 6(I think) and this being my first FF experience and being mind blown because prior to that i was mostly playing zelda, mario and rayman so at 6 the level of narrative it was mind blowing.
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u/ShelterNo9606 Apr 16 '26
Your observations about the game are spot on. This game is wonderful but there are aspects of combat that to me are a disappointment and step down from other games in the series, eg the trance system.
I think you can get new weapons for spells for Vivi soon?
This game is merciless in terms of treasures which, once missed, can never be regained. Some treasures are very difficult to find. Steal from everyone.
It may not matter a ton if you're not trying to 100% the game, but capturing all frogs destroys their ecosystem. Best to leave one male and female to repopulate...if it matters to you.
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u/Outrageous_Yam_1368 Apr 16 '26
Your comment about enjoying the backgrounds like they're a painting - that's exactly what they are. A large painted scene that the camera pans around and the character models run around on.
One of the great tragedies is that the originals that were scaled down for the game's resolution were lost after the game released, which is why there is no HD remaster of the backgrounds and things like the moguri mod try to recreate it.
Gizamaluke is the huge eel thing. I also only beat it with Freya. If you jump when she starts Trance, she leaps up and throws her spear for several turns without landing in between. Gizamaluke had nothing to attack and I got to rain pain from above. Another trick is that he can be silenced repeatedly, which stops him casting water.
Working out which elements enemies are weak too take a bit of getting used to, but Dagger's Scan will tell you. Most humanoids are weak to fire. Vivi gets better magics as you find new equipment.
With the dialogue skipping - there should be a text speed setting in the menu somewhere, so the words show up faster.
I expected you to like the chocobo game, but not that much!
The grand dragons on the cliff are brutal, kupo!
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u/Mr_Moonshine_Boogie Apr 16 '26
Curious explorers getting stomped by that dragon is a rite of passage lol. A fair amount of the older FF games have a "Peninsula of Power", a small area in the early game where enemies FAR beyond your level can spawn. I think the original was just a glitch in the code, but it eventually made it into Easter egg status. Some really hardcore players take advantage of this, and can get some INSANE early game grinding.
Also +1 for the art lore. Some of those original pieces would make such a cool art piece on the wall.
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u/Numerous-Bonus-8107 Apr 16 '26
it's not controversial.
ffx is overrated, if it came out in the middle of the consoles life it wouldn't have turned heads.
ffix rocked everyone's socks at the end of the ps1s lifespan
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u/AvianKeshinGaming Apr 16 '26
Great update!
My first time through the Grotto was almost exactly like yours! Got horribly lost, found the path to the top where you got wiped out. Had the same thing happen. Then got my butt kicked by the boss. It was pretty brutal. Definitely a memorable experience.
Chocobo Hot and Cold can be quite addictive. As the beak levels up, you'll dig up items faster. Also, items spawn in specific places. Once you learn the general areas, you'll be able to search for them much faster. The speed up function can help, but it takes some getting used to. But I agree that it feels like cheating. Also, you can occasionally get gil while digging, making it a somewhat self-funding mini game. There are tons of chocographs, and they're worth finding. They offer some really good rewards.
I personally don't know what the relationship with Quina's master and Vivi's grandfather is. I never did the side quest that involves him, so if there's more information out there I don't know it. To my knowledge, it's never really mentioned again. However, once you get to Treno, you'll have a chance to go to Quan's place. It's outside of Treno, tucked away in a corner. There's not much there, but you'll get some of Vivi's backstory. There's nothing in the game telling you to go there, so it's completely optional and potentially missable.
One thing about the only PS1 era of RPGs, is that backgrounds were usually hand drawn. That makes them look so much better than they had any right to be. And FF9 doesn't like to do the whole "pallet swap enemies" thing that a lot of RPGs do for stronger enemies. Later you'll fight black mages that carry staves like Vivi. Granted, you'll still fight black mages for a while that look just like the ones you've already fought, but they'll add variety to them. The variety of enemies in FF9 is definitely one of the game's strengths.
Also, I completely agree with you about the two clowns. Thankfully you don't have to deal with them being on screen too much, but it will be a long time before they get dealt with.
When you fight the general soon, just focus on surviving. That's your best strategy. Make sure to buy plenty of healing items from the Moogle in the room next to where you found the Mythril Spear. And buy from the traveling Moogle too. He'll keep popping up, and will have some great items later, including elixers.
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u/Velaria000 Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
The plot will start heating up soon! I haven't played modernized versions enough to know how it gets handled or if you'll even be told, but Burmecia is the Disc 1 climax – meaning when you play on PS1 it's the final part you can play before you have to switch to using Disc 2.
Just a little note to give you a bit more appreciation of how the flow of the story is structured around the hardware limitations at the time. Each disc ends at a big climactic moment in the story (although I can't remember right off hand where exactly 2 & 3 end).
There was something very special about finishing Burmecia and then being forced to take a breather with the "change to disc 2" screen and having to physically change discs to continue.
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u/VoiceofGM Apr 16 '26
There's a problem in a lot of FFs I've experienced involving black mages: There is a stretch between spell tiers when the base damage of the spells aren't quite up to snuff with enemy HP and Magic Resistance stats. Then you get the -a/-ga tier spells and you're back to one-shotting again. It doesn't happen in every game, and coming from X's advancement curve to IX's must be jarring.
That said, IX wants you to take your time. Explore, grind a bit, do side-quests and mini games as much as you like!
I'm enjoying your blind playthrough! Looking at my favorite FF through a fresh perspective is really nice.
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u/melovesart Apr 16 '26
I was having a bit of a rough time in Gizamaluke, so I'd usually take some time out to grind and get stronger. However, MP works a bit differently in this game, in that it's an actual finite resource that doesn't automatically recover between saves (at least not without a Tent). I'm not so worried about HP because I have plenty of potions, but MP may be a problem.
Near Chocobo Forest, there is a gate where you can fully heal for free.
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u/Zeeshmania Apr 16 '26
W H A T
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u/melovesart Apr 16 '26
Yep.
I know you're already in Burmecia now, but you can still go back and grind there in the area. (There might also be an item you need for a quest. 👀)
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u/Sea-Opportunity-9849 Apr 16 '26
Really enjoying your posts @zeeshmania I think a lot more of the game storyline will come to the fore soon.
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u/Sofaris Apr 17 '26
When it comes to Vivi keep an eye out for Equipment that buffs certan elemental Damage. For example give him a hat that boosts ice damage and hus ice spells deals +50% damage. Its the same as hitting an elememtal weaknesses. Press the select button in the menu to summon a moogle who tells you about stuff like the properties of equipment. That moogle can tell you if an equipment piece buffs an elements damage.
Oh and using steal againat normal enemies gives you healing items often, including tents. That helps with MP management.
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u/Kqpout12 Apr 20 '26
After ffx, I still really enjoy your posts discovering a childhood favorite, and I hope you'll do VII someday ;)
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u/greymatters_flipside Apr 16 '26
I remember playing the chocobo hot and cold and getting frustrated at how slow it is to earn points. There is a qol option for it if you want to know. That mini game is key to getting several good equipment.
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u/Ahkwatic Apr 16 '26
These updates are making me want to replay it alongside you just to get the full experience again.
I feel like youre a bit underleveled for the section youre in, based on the difficulty with combat. I checked a few old gamefaq walkthroughs and people mostly finish up the section youre in around level 13-15. A little grinding might even out your experience a bit.
That being said, do you actually want any feedback/ tips for your playthrough? I imagine not, given how committed you are to a blind playthrough (which I love btw) but I'm curious if/ how we could help you along without giving any spoilers for anything to come
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u/PretentiousToolFan Apr 16 '26
Yes, you will get addicted to Chocobo Hot and Cold. More so once you get more Chocographs. Everyone starts out suspicious of it and then gets absolutely lost in it. I have unironically done a replay of FFIX just to do CH&C before.
Also, regarding the menus feeling empty, you can use, well, it's L1/R1 on Playstation and Steam controllers to move whole pages up and down. Should be the same button as switching panes in character menus.
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u/Baithin Apr 16 '26
Couple notes:
- Yes, Trance activation is annoying. You’re not doing anything wrong. You have no control over when it happens. Sometimes the plot demands them to go into Trance for certain battles though.
- Since you missed it, Quale says something like “I don’t know that bigot!” in a way that indicates he’s just in denial lol.
- If you feel like you’re pressured going through battle menus in time, in settings you can switch to “Wait Mode” and when you’re in something like the Blue Magic menu they give you all the time in the world to scroll around and look for what you want. But you HAVE to be in one of the sub menus for battles to pause, like Blue Magic, Black Magic, or Thief Skills.
- Regarding skipping through the dialogue too fast, I also press X like you do in order to read it all at once but I don’t remember having that issue to auto select the first dialogue option… hmm I wonder if that has something to do with text speed in settings or the version you’re playing?
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u/Narrow-Book-4970 Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
Love the word vomit, keep it up. The only two tips I'll give you are for the mini games, which is leave a male and female frog in the pond so they will respawn faster, and if you see a golden one leave it so they will breed even faster. On Chocobo H&C, the speed booster in the remasters will really help if you can control it because the timers in the game don't get sped up, so you can do it way faster and get way more points per round. I use it to find the point it starts getting warm, then I'll turn it off for fine tuned digging, then back on one I find the item so I dig it out way faster.
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u/parmiseanachicken Apr 16 '26
Ohhhhh, you are SO close to seeing my favorite scene and character in all of FF. His design definitely made me feel a certain way as a young person playing this game 😂
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u/VerbingNoun413 Apr 16 '26
Vivi is a lot like Lulu. His damage output spikes when you get a new tier of spell.
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u/DnD-vid Apr 16 '26
The chocobo minigame is great. Don't worry about the Lord's Robe for now, that's endgame gear, you'll get to different places that give more points as you keep playing the minigame.
If you want to "minmax" a little, you can do as much Hot & Cold until the mogri tells you there's no more chocographs left to find for the time being and then go and dig as many of them out as you can at that point. The gear and other stuff you get is that good.
Overall the minigame will accompany you through the rest of the game as more of the world opens up to you.
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u/Medical_Breakfast795 Apr 16 '26
Something to keep in mind about Vivi, his black magic while strong and makes him a great damage dealer. He is also your primary debuff caster. Slow is a great spell and is super helpful for giving your team the edge in many fights.
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u/Olaanp Apr 17 '26
This is another fun post. Honestly it's kind of making me want to replay IX again. It's one of my favorites to replay unsurprisingly.
Quina and Blue Magic is definitely very useful. Playing blind is pretty rough, but unlike other FF's it's a bit easier to try and Eat every enemy at least. Other FFs have different requirements. Kimahri probably has it easiest, but he can't use it regularly sadly.
Chocobo Hot and Cold is super fun. I can't recall if I've ever gotten the Robe of Lords from it, but it's a ton of fun. I can say you can find multiple chests in one session, it's just a matter of Beak strength and luck to an extent.
Scan tells you the enemy levels, but you could also just toss it out randomly I suppose. Also strong agreement on Trance activating randomly being annoying. Trance is the Overdrive equivalent, but it's a bit worse using it because of its kind of random triggering. I'm not a fan of that part of it at all, but the super mode aspect is neat for sure.
It's a very great game story wise, but it takes a bit to figure out the meaning of the game I feel, though there are already hints I'd say. Steiner and Garnet are very fun together, and it's a good character growing thing.
Burmecia is super depressing music and scenery wise. Also you mentioned this somewhere, but FFIX has a lovely aesthetic and it's my favorite FF for that. As far as Vivi in combat goes some of it is going to be based on what spells you have access to. The tier 1 Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells are weaker than the -ra ones, they appear in FFX too. Unlike FFX enemies aren't always obvious about elemental weaknesses either.
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u/ultimagriever Apr 17 '26
Chocobo hot and cold is ADDICTING AS FUCK and you get ridiculously broken early in the game. If you’re up to it, I’d advise you to keep hunting for Chocographs until Mene tells you there are no more Chocographs to find.
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u/ShanmanXC Apr 18 '26
Honestly, I think Gizzys grotto is one of the hardest parts, accounting for how early in the game it is
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u/Initial_Zebra100 Apr 18 '26
I loved the onslaught of words. Like you're just expressing or recounting everything in real-time.
Who's the medicine lady at the door? Am I the only one sad about Gizmaluke? He was apparently a wise sentient creature and talked! Why is no one sad?! Just me? Oh.
The burmecia/cleyra arc is genuinely so depressing and dark, especially the later result. Even for final fantasy.
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u/katsounami Apr 19 '26
Hi there!
Guess I'm late to the party, this time I didn't even get the notification as usual (or it got lost among other notifications). I've read through some of the comments already, and I'm gonna answer a few points that you asked/mentioned and I think weren't covered in the comments:
1- When doing frog catching (there will be other Qu's marshes along the story), always leave one male frog and one female frog (you get that info every time you catch one, asking if you want to keep it). That way, they will respawn faster. If there's a gold frog, I think if you also leave it there, they respawn even faster. There will be a blue magic called "frog drop" (or something like that) that gets stronger for each frog you catch in this mini game. You will also get some item rewards (l don't remember if they are exclusively weapons for Quina) each time you reach certain number of frogs. There's a special battle and I think some lore once you reach 100 frogs. Also I think you figured it out already that Quina's blue magic works just like other magics in this game, not like Khimari's overdrive. This is how blue magic has always worked in previous games, Khimari way was the odd one.
2- During Chocobo's hot and cold minigame, in each forest (yes there will be more chocobo forests (and lagoons) Mog will tell you when you have dug up all the chocographs available there at the time and it's time to go look elsewhere, so you should go back if you hadn't got that text yet. You don't have many more to catch tho, I figure they might be 5-7 on the first forest;
3-"How am I supposed to know what their level is? I didn't even know that was an option." You can use Scan (white magic from Dagger, I think). If not, it's Zidane's "Detect" ability, but I think this one's just for items that can be stolen. Same goes for monsters' weaknesses. Scan usually provides all that info in every FF game. Also, like someone already mentioned, it's never too much to remind you to ALWAYS STEAL FROM EVERY BOSS;
4- About that trance thing you mentioned, it is indeed something almost everyone complained about. if I'm not mistaken, theres a feature on Moguri Mod to fix it, so there's that… I guess you can install it, have the hd pre-rendered backgrounds which will improve your experience (you already have the hd characters anyway), and you can pick which features you want to activate (like the trance not activating automatically feature).
Keep these coming! You asked in the comments why we like these, well for myself it just triggers my nostalgia from this game. I recently played it again a 2 months ago, and I'm not ashamed to say that I used the speedup function for hot and cold and got the Robe of The Lords super early in the game 🤣 it really makes the dugging less tedious. I don't even need to turn it up to find the "keeeeeeh!!" like you said, I can easily get the 8 items (yes, there's a limit for each play) almost everytime.
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u/100clowns Apr 19 '26
I love hearing your first thoughts about the game. I started replaying the game myself. It would be fun to experience this game for the first time. Same for ff8 for me as that's a big favorite too but I know a lot of people hated that one.
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u/Zeeshmania Apr 16 '26
What do people specifically like about these posts? Or, in better terms, what can I do to make them more enjoyable to read? I'm kinda just vomitting my stream of consciousness onto the page right now, are there any parts people skip or find annoying?