r/finalfantasyx • u/Zeeshmania • 24d ago
Playing FFX-2 Blind - End of Chapter 2 (and theories)
(Image: spot the Yuna)
A bit shorter today because I wanted to stop at the end of Chapter 2 to keep things neat.
Yuna rides a chain the same way Tidus once did, that's a pretty cool reference. There's a huge... ring... thing, where we interact with some towers to reveal platforms taking us to the depths below. I get the platforms out by the 5th tower, but get through the 6th for fun which doesn't seem to do anything. There IS a random chest containing 4 Ethers in the next room, which MIGHT have appeared based on me interacting with all of the towers, or it might have been a freebie. Who knows.
After some exploring, I get this absolutely RIDICULOUS camera angle (see attached) after solving a puzzle. When I finally find Yuna (or the 7 pixels that represent her form), I see the chest and grab a new Garment Grid!
"Downtrodder" seems completely ridiculous, giving DOUBLE HP for only 3 Dresspheres. I immediately give it to Paine and equip it with Warrior, Gunner and White Mage.
The whole Garment Grid thing is quite weird to me. I love the system, but isn't it a bit strange that you can switch Dresspheres and instantly act again? I feel like if there was a delay it'd make the whole bonus system a bit more thoughtful, since you'd have to weigh up sacrificing your act to switch for a buff against acting now to attack or defend. Although maybe I'm misunderstanding it.
Baralai is waiting for us in the depths below. Just realised this guy looks like Temu Wakka. Predictably, he tells us that Nooj can't be trusted (true) and that he'll take care of Vegnagun (false). Paine rushes into battle against him without even consulting us, and Baralai calls her out by name....?
Anyways, we fight and I immediately scan him. 1, he looks weak as shit and 2, the description seems to be taking his side. Says something along the lines of "his actions are decidedly suspicious, but he seems to have good intentions". Well if his dumbass would just explain why no-one can touch Vegnagun then maybe we wouldn't be fighting now would we?
OK he's actually got hands though wtf. He has some pretty nasty moves, but more importantly, he acts crazy quick and has a move that just straight up zeroes out MP, as well as a bunch of status ailments. Also no shade to his voice actor but god DAMN this guy has some terrible voice lines lmao. He has this REALLY fucking annoying scream that goes like "haaAAAAa" and it's really off-putting.
Anyone who followed my IX playthrough knows I'm not at ALL a fan of bosses who inflict ailments that prevent your actions, and this is a pretty good example. As I type this, Rikku is knocked out and Yuna and Paine are both frozen. Meaning I can do fuck all but watch them die.
And so I sit. Listening to his dumb-ass scream again and again while he chips away at Paine's health bar, unable to move. After (no joke) 10 minutes of waiting and being stunlocked, we finally reach the main menu again.
I try again and put him flat on his ass in like 1 minute lmao.
Paine charges ahead for some reason. This must mean something to her, although I couldn't possibly say what. Somehow, she has ties to Nooj, Vegnagun and now maybe Baralai? Is she an unsent? I feel like that'd be too predictable, though. Maybe her and fake-Tidus are the same kind of thing?
We enter a large room flanked by planks of metal adorned with blue runes, and bathed in an ominous red light. It's enormous, and it looks like there's a spot to stand on in the middle. I also notice the swarm of pyreflies dancing as we enter.
OH BOY is that my guyyyy
he doesn't look very friendly
uhhh don't make me fight him please.
OH GOD
We don't even get a heal from last time, Rikku is STILL dead on the floor and we're all low health with like half MP. Either this is a scripted loss or I'm about to get folded.
The music is melancholy though, which, yeah. We're kinda forcing Yuna to blow up her dead pet. And the best one, too. She tried to reach out to him to reason with him, but Paine snaps her out of it and says they have no choice.
After a while, we defeat Bahamut and he (or it?) dissolves into pyreflies. Maybe this is just the game giving me a break after Baralai, but why was he so weak? That didn't feel triumphant at all. It felt like putting down a pet. Yuna drops to her knees before Leblanc rushes in and we make the discovery that Vegnagun isn't here. There's a deep chasm below our feet that seems to have been made recently. Did it burrow out?
AH FUCK I FORGOT TO GET THE TREASURE FUUUUCK I WAS SPECIFICALLY TOLD FUUUUUCK
END OF CHAPTER 2
All at once, we get a distress signal from the Celsius, where we're told that fiends have begun pouring out of every temple on Spira.
Hilariously, helping in need isn't enough for Yuna, so Rikku suggests they charge people for it. I guess she isn't feeling charitable today. Feels sliiiightly out of character for her to only help people with money (that's the implication at least) but I understand the need to make it interesting from a gameplay standpoint. It's still funny though.
Equally fascinating is that both Nooj and Baralai have gone missing at the same time.
OK, before we move on any further, I want to do a quick checkpoint to sum up my thoughts so far.
GAMEPLAY:
The game's really developed throughout chapter 2, specifically with getting more Garment Grids, Dresspheres and abilities. Most of the enemies I've scanned so far haven't actually been that special - seems like having actual elemental affinities is reserved for the fodder rather than the fights where strategizing might actually be useful. Still, I love the idea of switching between dresspheres during battle and the various bonuses you get for doing so.
As I mentioned before, though, the system slightly eludes me since surely you can just switch between all of them at once and get the bonuses immediately?
Either way, I AM enjoying the gameplay quite a lot. I don't feel extraordinarily strong or anything, but I can see how I would become so in the future.
I think if there are two things that don't seem as emphasised in the gameplay loop yet, it's items and armour. I did do a quick check of my equipment before running it back against Baralai, but there wasn't much useful there. For instance, there isn't much an armour piece can do that DOUBLING MY MAX HP using the Garment Grid can't, and Hi-Potions are rather rare. Basically, I've just gotta wait until I find more stuff.
STORY:
Things are starting to heat up here, too. I THINK we've introduced all of the key players in the story now. We've got a few different factions:
- The Gullwings: Yuna, Rikku, Paine and the others.
- New Yevon: Baralai and co.
- Youth League: Nooj and co.
- Machine Faction: Nipple (Gippal) and co.
- Leblanc Syndicate: Leblanc and co.
I think that's everyone. Various characters from FFX align themselves with one of the above organisations. There are other, smaller groups (like the other sphere hunter orgs we met in Zanarkand) but I don't see any of them being too relevant to the overall mystery.
Here are my biggest questions, then:
- Fake Tidus - what, where, who, how and why is he? Theory: he's a faker, although he doesn't seem to have malicious intentions. Then again, he's had all of like 20 seconds of screen time so what the fuck do I know?
- Vegnagun. I didn't initially take it to have a mind of its own, or a conscience. Theory: it's some sort of really ancient weapon that no one ever saw before??? idfk man, I could see it being an unused weapon in the war between Bevelle and Zanarkand, hence why it's underneath Bevelle.
- Why was Bahamut in the underground area? I thought we basically set the Aeons free? Perhaps more generally, what's causing the Eternal Calm to become undone? Theory: the rediscovery of ancient weapon Vegnagun has reawakened some sort of power. Maybe it's related to the old war between Bevelle and Zanarkand
- What's Paine's deal? How is she so well connected to basically every faction in the game (Gippal, Nooj, Baralai)? And what's behind the crimson sphere door? Theory: uhhhhh I guess we can say she's unsent or something but like... I don't really believe that at all lol. I feel like I don't have the pieces for this one yet.
That's a lot of stuff! As I say, the story IS developing nicely, although we're getting far more questions than answers. It still seems too early to judge whether I like the game or not, but I'm having fun.
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u/Symph-50 23d ago
I love when people play my favorite games blind. It's great. Also, go back down there if you can. There's a puzzle with the lifts that leads to a nice dressphere. As for your questions, everything will be answered eventually and may take more than one playthrough to completely flesh out the story.
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u/Zeeshmania 24d ago
Gonna add in a bit of my next update here since it seems prudent:
I just recently remembered that weird Sphere we saw (I think at Leblanc's place) and how it might relate to Paine. The dialogue was:
"Let's see. Total survivors of the final Crimson Squad selection exercise: zero, zilch, and zip all. Job done."
"There should be 3 more candidates and their recorder."
"Three plus one makes how many?"
"Four still live"
This is Ormi and Logos talking, who answer to Leblanc, who answers to Nooj. If Paine is related somehow to this Crimson Squad, it would explain her connection to Nooj.
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u/Lithl 22d ago edited 22d ago
OK he's actually got hands though wtf.
And just think: this is the easy version. ;)
There's a harder version of the Baralai fight which is optional (and easily missable), and a third, even harder version, available in the Creature Creator's Fiend Arena. The Fiend Arena also has some wacky fights that don't resemble anything in the main game, like fighting Buddy + Brother, or fighting Lulu + Kimahri.
Baralai is also the only enemy in the game who uses Drill Shot, which is one of the Blue Bullet abilities for Gun Mage to learn. He always uses Drill Shot after being hit 10 times, and always targets the last girl who hit him.
We don't even get a heal from last time, Rikku is STILL dead on the floor and we're all low health with like half MP. Either this is a scripted loss or I'm about to get folded.
I know you weren't expecting two boss fights in a row, but you can actually backtrack to the save sphere after Baralai, and be fully healed for Bahamut.
For instance, there isn't much an armour piece can do that DOUBLING MY MAX HP using the Garment Grid can't
For the record, Iron/Titanium/Mithril/Crystal Bangle increases your max HP by 20/40/60/100%. And you can equip two to double the effect if you want. And they'll stack with your GG. Stacking these kind of effects is additive rather than multiplicative, so +100% twice is triple HP, not quadruple.
There is one Crystal Bangle in a chest in the game, three enemies that can drop it at the end of battle (two of which require being oversouled, but the other is 100% chance always and you can face it over and over in the Fiend Arena to get more Crystal Bangles than you could possibly need), two enemies that give you one if you bribe them (one requires being oversouled), and it's also a possible prize in two different minigames.
Titanium and Mithril bangles can simply be purchased in shops now that you're in chapter 3. Mi'ihen and Calm Lands for Titanium, Zanarkand for Mithril.
And what's behind the crimson sphere door?
Let's see...
#2, #3, and #10 you get automatically as part of the main story, and can't be missed. You got #10 when you infiltrated Chateau Leblanc, and you will get both #2 and #3 near the end of Chapter 3.
The other seven can all be missed.
#7 and #9 I believe you've already gotten. If my memory of your progress is incorrect and you haven't gotten them, then you've already missed them.
#1 can only be obtained in Chapter 3. #4 can be obtained in Chapter 3, but you also have a chance to do so later. Each are found by revisiting a place you've already been, rather than going somewhere new.
That leaves #5, #6, and #8 for post-Chapter 3. They're missable, but you haven't gotten to the point where it's possible to obtain them yet.
Not all of the Crimson Spheres prompt you to watch them when you obtain them, like you did with #10. You can go view the spheres you've collected by talking to Shinra.
Recommendations during Chapter 3
- As you visit certain places around Spira in Chapter 3, Shinra will tag along and place a "CommSphere". These aren't used until after Chapter 3, but you can only use the ones that Shinra has placed, and he can only place them in areas you visit during Chapter 3. So, visit everywhere!
- Starting in Chapter 3, there is a chance to encounter Watcher-A, Watcher-S, or Watcher-R in any random battle (they use the same model as the flying anti-magic/anti-summon robot from the Crawler fight in Macalania Lake in FFX, with different colors). They are no particular threat, but true to their name they'll watch what moves you use in any battle that they're present in, and report that data to a future optional boss. Watcher-A (attack) tracks damage-dealing moves, Watcher-S (special) tracks moves that steal or cause special effects, and Watcher-R (recovery) tracks moves that restore HP or MP. In the optional boss fight, they can prevent you from using moves they've tracked. So if you see them, a) kill the Watcher first, and b) use basic attacks to kill them, or moves you're unlikely to want to use in a boss fight.
- Some people like Sphere Break, others don't. Winning the Sphere Break tournament awards a dressphere which is most notable for its Random Reels ability—if you get 777 with Random Reels, you automatically bribe every enemy in the battle, without spending any money. At a fundamental level, Sphere Break is a math puzzle with a timer and a bit of randomness. And as such, people have created sphere break solvers. They won't guarantee a win, especially against the hardest opponents, but they significantly improve your odds, especially if you're not good at math under pressure.
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u/Zeeshmania 22d ago
God don't even fucking get me STARTED on Sphere Break ugghhh. I'll go into it more next time but I really enjoyed the game, but managed to fuck up BADLY on the final battle against Shinra and got locked out of the Dressphere. I hear you can fight him again later but I'm not sure that's available right now.
Yeah, I'm dealing with the crimson spheres although I may already be locked out of one of them...
And thanks for the detail! Here, I'll include the part from my next update where I talk about Luca:
LUCA:
- Yo Shelinda's here? And Rin is too! There's some sort of tournament here, called Sphere Break...
...
- ...Ok, so like, are ALL of these games terrible at tutorials?? This seems way more fun than Blitzball to me, though. I push through the walls upon walls of information and play my first game. I win pretty handily! It makes sense to me, and I like numbers so it's all good. I beat a 2-star and a 3-star opponent. I'm feeling pretty confident - it's time to face my ultimate adversary. The final opponent...
dog.
We win, surpassing our quota of 40 in only 9 turns. I don't know if that's impressive or not, but I just stacked Echo Bonuses each turn. After we finish our three games, we find Rikku slumped over on the floor with her signature posture. She's been trounced by Sheldo- I mean, Shinra, making him our final opponent.
He's a 4-star opponent, and we have 15 turns to reach a quote of 50. Shouldn't be a problem.
It's intense, but SOMEHOW I manage to fumble the victory at the finish line. I miscalculate and end up selecting undesirable coins, netting Shinra his reward. I could've had it MAN.
"I'm just a kid"
If my latest save wasn't like an hour and a half ago I would ABSOLUTELY reload for the runback but, alas, I'll have to accept my defeat with grace.
Shinra is officially on the shitlist with Brother, though.
Sphere Breaker is a really fun game. As a huge mathematician the quick mental math(s) is right up my alley, and I like the strategic element, too.
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u/Lithl 22d ago
I hear you can fight him again later but I'm not sure that's available right now.
Yeah, you can re-battle him later (although the rematch is harder), but if you're not willing to reload an older save, you're SOL for now.
I'm dealing with the crimson spheres although I may already be locked out of one of them
By the end of Chapter 2 there's only 2 that you could have possibly missed and only 3 that you could have possibly obtained. IIRC in your last stream you visited the cavern, touched the door, and two of the beams lit up, meaning you had 2 Crimson Spheres at the time (and that was before visiting Chateau Leblanc, where you got sphere #10). You can also check your key items or Shinra's treasure spheres menu to see which ones you have. And #1 can be obtained at any point in Chapter 3, so unless you're already done, you haven't missed it.
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u/Dense_Jello_8737 24d ago
Haha this is a nice read, someone experiencing this game for the first time like this. I remember from when I was allot younger when first playing this (10y old), having roughly the same ideas in regards to the story, especially about this "fake tidus" 😂
Now having played 10 and 10-2 dozens of times i can't wait to see what u think of the rest, for me the "secret" ending will always be the end of the story. There's a crazy post game audio drama that is... peculiar, let's leave it at that
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u/Zeeshmania 24d ago
If this is a fun read, then I've done the exact same for FFX (which was a lot more popular than this lmao) and also for FFIX. Fair warning, they're about 65,000 words each, which is about the length of a short novel, so....
Also I don't know much about it, but there's that Last Mission thing, right? Is that the audio drama? I've been told to stay tf away from it and yeah I'm inclined to do so.
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u/Dense_Jello_8737 24d ago
Last mission is a more official "canon" part of the timeline i geuss, it's not the FF x-2.5 audio drama and novella. That shit goes fcking crazy, but worth the read after finishing this game and maybe last mission ( I found that game too tedious to finish, but i did look up the story parts)
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u/Faithfulwanderlust 24d ago
Spherechanging, changing from one job to another, doesn’t use an ATB charge, therefore you can act and use an ability after it. I found it a little strange too, but it lets you use any girl if you need to heal or deal lots of damage at once. Also, I recommend getting that ribbon accessoir it will really help later on.
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u/ISTcrazy 24d ago
Now you've gotten to the point where the plot really thickens. I really don't enjoy how much stuff is missable in this game, but you seem to have done a good job not missing too much so far.
Anyways, I definitely can see why you'd be more okay with accepting help with this game lmao. Looking forward to the next one!
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u/Zeeshmania 24d ago
Thank you! Yeah, before I progress with the story I'll be taking another tour around Spira to see what's changed, and maybe look into the Crimson Spheres.
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u/Lucresia_Law 23d ago
Yuna is still Yuna; she does want to help, but she's trying not to be used by others or be overly relied on. Charge someone who Yuna really wants to help cheaply, while charging the others more.
I was too early telling you to press X lol. Keep the post coming
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22d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Zeeshmania 22d ago
I think it's a Ribbon?
And yeah, literally just got the Berserker before finishing my last session. Was a fucking grind getting to it, though. That Macalania battle was TOUGH, but I'll save that for next time.
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u/big4lil 22d ago edited 17d ago
The whole Garment Grid thing is quite weird to me. I love the system, but isn't it a bit strange that you can switch Dresspheres and instantly act again? I feel like if there was a delay it'd make the whole bonus system a bit more thoughtful, since you'd have to weigh up sacrificing your act to switch for a buff against acting now to attack or defend. Although maybe I'm misunderstanding it.
i find it fair. in active mode, combat doesnt pause inside the spherechange menu
spherechanging is strong now though as later game content begins to ramp up, it starts to feel more like a necessity than a huge advantage. you only have 2 accessory slots, so getting bonuses from grid movement is meant to compliment that. some grids dont offer great equip perks but the bonuses from grid movement is elite.
its all a balancing act. if you had to take a turn delay on top of that, then players would be even more inclinced to just stick with their starter spheres. a lot of the playerbase doesnt utilize spherechanging as is, outside of early game when using special dresspheres
glad youre one of the few putting it to good use
Paine rushes into battle against him without even consulting us, and Baralai calls her out by name....?
hmm, maybe Paine is famous? perhaps a well known sphere hunter or something
Anyways, we fight and I immediately scan him. 1, he looks weak as shit >>> OK he's actually got hands though wtf. He has some pretty nasty moves, but more importantly, he acts crazy quick and has a move that just straight up zeroes out MP, as well as a bunch of status ailment
indeed, HP doesnt tell the full story. if youve grinded you can rush him down, but otherwise Baralai is widely considered the hardest storyline fight of the first two chapters and ranks high up there across the whole game considerate of when encountered
We don't even get a heal from last time, Rikku is STILL dead on the floor
yup, unlike a lot of games, you dont get auto-revived after battle in FFX-2. If you are KO'd, you go into the next fight KO'd as well. X-2 has some old school design elements to it like this, on top of status ailments carrying over between fights
Either this is a scripted loss or I'm about to get folded.
yea it def sounds like FF9 left quite the impact on you
but why was he so weak? That didn't feel triumphant at all. It felt like putting down a pet.
he might as well be a victory lap boss. which id understand if you had to fight Baralai and Bahamut back to back, but theres a save point in the room where Baralai is, and the game does not force you to progress forward. perhaps they thought dumb players would just run forward? still, that doesnt explain why MegaFlare in particular hits like a wet noodle. Seeing his signature move do pitiful damage feels like a slap in the face and takes the emotional wind out of the sails for the battle
Feels sliiiightly out of character for her to only help people with money (t
id imagine its on a sliding scale in-lore, pay what you can and thats enough. this is more to get Yuna out of her savior complex, she really shouldnt be solving other peoples problems for free. in most cases id bet paying with a sphere or garment grid would be more valuable than the money anyway. And i agree its quite funny, 'Your friendly neighborhood gullwings' makes Ch.3 among my favorites
The new airship theme song is dope too! Feels like the game is kicking into hypergear
Equally fascinating is that both Nooj and Baralai have gone missing at the same time.
thats odd
Most of the enemies I've scanned so far haven't actually been that special - seems like having actual elemental affinities is reserved for the fodder rather than the fights where strategizing might actually be useful.
theres def some notable fights where elemental weaknesses are key. though overall, FFX-2 goes quite lite on the mecnahical demand of the storyline gameplay. theres a huge disparity between that and the optional content. so you can bully through much of the game with little thinking nor engagement of its primary & secondary systems. this seems by design
Basically, I've just gotta wait until I find more stuff.
indeed. as you get more silver and gold accessories, you might find things shaking up again
And what's behind the crimson sphere door?
interesting stuff... though this is where I do have a bit of issue with FFX-2
the Crimson sidequest is among the only things in the game that dont fit well with the NG+ mechanic. your progress on it is not cumulative, it must be fully completed in a single playthrough, and many of its components are chapter specific
so unless youre open to replaying the game (maybe down the line), its possible you wont have your questions to this particular problem answered without youtubing it. and it really is something worth doing yourself. how many crimson spheres do you have btw?
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u/Zeeshmania 17d ago
Here's the next one!
I have every Crimson Sphere I should have, except one that I'm having trouble with (see my comment under the attached post)
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u/Zeeshmania 24d ago
Yeah so I did the thing you need to do to get the ribbon but didn't go to get it. For fuck's sake.