#also thank you Tidus for hasting her

[lureofthesea]

Source: tampire

Yuna finishes off Seymour and his minions by learning the Ga spells a bit too early

#how did i do that well I am an expert at the sphere grid#it's a gamechanger pun intended#ffgraphics#ffedit#Final Fantasy X#Final Fantasy#FFX hd remaster#Yuna#Tidus#Kimahri Ronso#Seymour Guado#Guado Guardians#Anima#Macalania Temple#My Gif#Macarena Temple#gaming#gamingedit#dailygaming#gamingladies#Firaga#Thundaga#Blizzaga#Waterga#She is an icon and she is the moment#also thank you Tidus for hasting her

Yuna finishes off Seymour and his minions by learning the Ga spells a bit too early

[cygnahime]

FFX Reliveblogging Part...4?

I'm grinding in the Omega Ruins in my other save, and mildly frustrated because Tidus has the highest strength in the party but......chocobo racing sucks, so he's capped at 9999 damage. Meanwhile Auron in yellow HP is doing 50k and hit 99,999 with a crit. Just the once, but it got me that trophy. I'm pretty sure Auronlu has already talked a lot about the Luca/Bevelle Crusaders/Warrior Monks conflict taking place in the background of the game. It first really comes up in Maechen's little discourse about the history of Lord Mi'ihen. Notable is that the Crusaders, originally founded as the Crimson Blades, were not originally part of the Yevonite power structure, but were subsumed presumably as an alternative to holy war. (Which is kind of hilarious, considering the our-world history of "Crusaders".) Ahhhh it's my favorite lesbians! And Clasko. I could say a lot of unkind things about the Battle Thongs, but the narrative at least never treats Lucil (and Elma) with less than total respect. Which I guess just shows how...gratuitous the clothing is. It's completely inconsistent with the characters. Bad design. Speaking of outfits, I looooove Belgemine's dress. It's so elegant! I'm pretty fond of her as a person, as well. And not just because she heals our aeons for us. She is a lady. I mean, also an undead, but it's rude to comment on these things. I usually lose this first aeon duel, but I'll give it my all anyway. Yes! I got off two Energy Blasts with a whole 37 HP to spare! Is Belgemine looking for Yuna specifically? Did she maybe meet Braska, either while alive or after death? Or is she just meeting up with all the promising summoners to see if one of them will prove worthy of her sisters? She's so mysterious and cool, I love her. Everyone has to practice their smiling faces when little kids cheer for Yuna bringing the Calm. It's very awkward, especially for Callie's mom, who does know. Now I'm talking to Luzzu and Gatta again, which of course leads me to the eternal question: who shall live and who shall die, who by fire and who by drowning, who by sword and who by beast. It's like the one branching-paths decision we make in this game, which means I think about it a lot. Additionally, when I first played this game I was deep in my Achilles/Patroclus phase and these two gave me feelings. They still do, but now the feelings contain a strong element of nostalgia. This area is just full of NPCs I love. Shelinda is a doormat, but I am fond of her. Even if it a bit rich of her to say, "It's not about defeating Sin!" to a summoner. Defeating Sin is everything to Yuna. And she still goes out of her way to make Shelinda feel better. Yuna is so kind. Auron does not have time for your racist bullshit, Wakka. Also we're all low on MP, especially you, and MP is life. We are not doing the other half of the Highroad like this. Continued adventures of endeavoring not to boost Lulu's affection through the roof. Lu, I love you, and I love talking to you, but please, let me get cutscenes with Yuna. I firmly believe that Yuna asked her guardians not to tell Tidus the full truth, after this scene if not before. She doesn't want him to change how he treats her. (How he treats her: giving her minor crises of faith every time they talk, but in a good way.) She's in a particularly yearning mood here, not least because she's just been recording her will. And here comes Tidus, acting like she has a future... (And all her other guardians pretending not to be eavesdropping.) (Up until Auron can't take it anymore, anyway.) Enter Rin, Al Bhed ambassador (unofficial). At least, he's the one out there taking up space and being Highly Visible, suggesting strangers learn the language, doing all that stuff. He is, however, definitely wearing a kink collar. No, I do not know why. I knocked the Chocobo Eater off the cliff for the very first time! Usually I kill it before pushing it that far back, but with Lulu, Auron, and Tidus all hasted, it didn't get enough turns to push back. This is usually the part of the game where I save the chocobo ride for later and grind for Ability Spheres. With Extract Ability, this will probably take less time than usual, though I also appreciate the extra AP. Plus I want to get Kimahri 'round to Steal ASAP. [Some time later] I wonder what Dona does between getting turned away at the gate and meeting us in Djose. Is there another way around, or does she just wait until Operation Mi'ihen explodes and take the main road? She's quite close behind us. I wonder if she stays to help with the aftermath as well, or if she just heads onward. She definitely got ahead of us at some point (Guadosalam if not before). I find her blend of selfishness and selflessness very intriguing. Seymour's moving on Yuna even here. I wonder if he picked her over Dona and Isaaru because she was the one he happened to encounter, or if it was deliberate: she's younger, more naive certainly than Dona, and certainly seems very devout (liable to be dazzled by a maester's attention), less experienced...younger. But I expect Seymour would have gotten quite a long way with Isaaru, who is after all the most devout of the three - and besides, if Seymour told him what becomes of a chosen guardian, Isaaru might do a lot to keep his brothers from that fate. Seymour says all the right things to and about the Crusaders, even things Tidus thinks (and we are likely to think) are true, but he doesn't mean any of them. He just wants the operation to occur as part of his power struggle with Kinoc, with a bonus of having an effect on Yuna, making her more urgently want to complete the pilgrimage before more people die. I doubt Auron's 100% got Seymour's specific number yet, but he does know he's a maester, and Auron is the founder of Team Fuck Yevon. He knows you don't move up in the ranks without stepping on the people below you. (I mean, also Seymour advocates blatant hypocrisy, which is just the Yevon leadership trademark.) Being asked to perform the sending before people die may be more of a burden than being asked after. That's a heavy emotional burden to place on a teenager. (Although I do think legal/cultural adulthood in Spira is younger than it is for us - life is short no time for childhood.) Fact: the first time I played, I didn't even notice Luzzu and Gatta standing over there and missed the scene entirely. It's a good scene, and really highlights how much Tidus still doesn't understand on a gut level. He sees Gatta wanting to fight, and doesn't think that he could die, and of course there're warring impulses there. God though, the HD remaster takes all the character out of Wakka's face, and I hate it. You know, some people might see saying, "I'll propose when we win the cup," as meaning, "when pigs fly". But I guess that doesn't make sense considering Lulu's behavior. "Being with your girl is good, but keeping Sin far away from her is better." God. Men. I mean, in Spira it's not just men - Lulu went on two pilgrimages to try to keep Yuna alive - but she's also not someone who appreciates being protected. Yeah, Tidus doesn't understand yet why Yuna let Luzzu go, because he doesn't know that she's going to her death, too. And if she feels it right to ignore all the people she loves and who love her telling her not to go, then it's right for Luzzu to do the same. They both think saving the world is more important. Wakka, Wakka no, Wakka don't - see? Racism and religious fundamentalism leads to hurting yourself by kicking a cannon when you're wearing sandals. (I do appreciate the realism though.) I flipped a coin, and it looks like this run, Gatta lives and Luzzu dies. I don't really have an opinion on which is best; it's tragic either way. Though I guess it feels a little more narratively awful to have Tidus naively suggesting Gatta go to the front lines where he gets killed...But the coin has spoken. I appreciate how they give Kinoc character and relationships in so little time. Just his intro - he walks up and hugs Auron, not a huggable person - says something. Auron is still stiff and cagey with him, but that he allowed himself to be embraced says there's more there. Of course, he's also plotting Operation Mi'ihen to break the Crusaders (and, if X-2 is taken into account, setting up the deaths of the Crimson Squad - I think to take out potential rivals), so it's not like he's a good person or anything. But he's less flat. Got the overkill on Gui with ease, thanks to Energy Blast. (And got everyone AP.) Man, Sin's arrival is Lovecraftian as fuck. I like it. The black tendrils snaking through the bay... top creepiness. How Lucil, Elma, and Clasko - how anyone - survived Sin's blast I'll never know. People were disintegrated where they stood! I also don't know how Seymour, a full caster, has the Strength to physically hold off Gui2. It's been weakened, sure, but come the heck on. (His Summon command, which he must have, is also not there. I guess we're not allowed to get a sneak peek of Anima yet.) I appreciate the extra touch of giving Seymour AP, to trick you into thinking he's going to join the party long-term. :C They almost got a shot off on Sin, but unfortunately, horseshoes and hand grenades. Also heartrending: the messages that come up when you check the corpses. Shut up, Seymour, I have another Energy Blast in me. Besides, he could go for Sin at any time; he has his Final Aeon, after all. But he won't. He'd rather destroy the world than save it with his death. And he wants Yuna to feel helpless, so she'll feel like she needs him. Oh no the dead kid who we saw practicing to avenge his sister...no...stop it... Before Jecht came to Spira, his drinking didn't have real consequences to him. He was "still the best", after all. He still had a wife who wouldn't leave him. He hurt other people, but they didn't confront him about it. It took Spira to make him see that it was a problem. Hell of a thing to put on your kid, like, "Hey, son, can I get a mercy kill? Thanks." Though I guess that is...I mean, end-of-life care is a traditional part of a child's duties. Just...not usually in your teens.

[mezzopurrloin]

Mezzo Plays Final Fantasy X: Part 16

This is it. It's time for the true final confrontation.

Tidus approaches the tower, and the emblem on its entrance draws him in.

Welcome to The Nucleus.

This area has another annoying gimmick. You want to pick up the little gold spheres, while avoiding the crystals. The spheres are items and equipment that may come in handy for the final battle. One interesting thing I picked up was a weapon for Rikku that reduces all MP costs to one, which would have been great for anyone other than Rikku. Oh well, it's not like you can keep this stuff after the battle anyway.

If you touch the crystals, you have to fight a fiend. This demonic-looking thing opens the fight by casting Haste on itself, and has many more nasty spells to throw at you.

After collecting 10 items, Tidus is knocked to the ground.

And sent flying into the distance...

He arrives here, at Dream's End.

Jecht is waiting.

A dad joke, Jecht? Really?

He always was bad at making conversation. Yuna's group knows what they have to do.

Tidus: "Dad?"

Jecht can only respond by solemnly saying "I know, I know."

He's glad they're here now, though.

And the time for talk has ended.

Cue the music.

"I promise this will be quick! Hit me with all you got, Dad!"

Heavy metal for a Final Fantasy final boss seems a bit of an odd choice, but it fits this battle well.

Jecht Beam is a laser from his eye that deals minor damage and petrifies. Having ways to cure it is very necessary.

The two stone slabs floating beside him are Yu Pagodas. They use Power Wave to power him up. This heals 1500 HP, removes negative conditions, and most importantly, charges his Overdrive bar.

Yep, we've got to deal with this too.

His first Overdrive is Triumphant Grasp.

This grabs a party member, crushes them in his grip, and throws them back to the ground for a two-hit attack. It deals a lot of damage, and causes zombification if the target lives, so healing from it isn't easy.

Thankfully, he's not the only aeon with an Overdrive around.

This brought his HP down to nothing easily.

But that's just the beginning...

Against aeons, he uses the much weaker Jecht Bomber Overdrive.

Between that and his standard attacks, Thanatos didn't last long.

Now he's got twice as much HP, and some new tricks.

Tidus' Talk command can be used to depower him, reducing his Overdrive bar. However, it only works twice. After that, his words no longer have any effect.

He can also swipe at the whole party with his sword, dealing heavy damage and delaying everyone's next turn. There's a nasty combination if ever there was one.

When he gets down to his last 60,000 HP, he unleashes his final Overdrive.

Yuna and Auron somehow managed to live through this, thankfully.

And Yuna was able to perform another Grand Summon.

Delta Attack took care of him quite nicely.

Something flies out of Jecht's body as he collapses.

Tidus runs to his father's side.

Jecht reminds him that this isn't the time for tears.

"You know, for the first time, I'm glad..."

Jecht: "The aeons..."

Jecht: "Call them!"

They're taken to another place, where Jecht's sword floats through nothingness.

We must now summon each and every one of our aeons...

Watch them be possessed by Yu Yevon...

And kill them. This clearly takes an emotional toll on Yuna, but she's standing strong.

When possessed the aeons take on a color scheme similar to the Dark Aeons.

These fights might be easy in gameplay, but it's difficult to have to do this.

The flavor text isn't helping.

If you die, an angel comes down to revive you. This is definitely a good thing, because otherwise Nogard would have wiped the party with Impulse.

Even the optional aeons have to be killed too.

Perhaps she considers this a fitting punishment for what she has done.

Da Vinci: "Don't cry."

Skadi: "End the suffering."

Once all the aeons are dead...

Yu Yevon reveals himself.

He may have once been human, but all that's left of him now is this black heart.

"What I'm trying to say is... after we beat Yu Yevon, I'll disappear. I know it's selfish..."

Yu Yevon responds to all actions by casting Curaga on himself, healing him for 9999 HP. We still can't actually lose, so this fight is more about figuring out a way to actually deal damage to him.

He'll cast spells on us and can cast Gravija much like Sin's cores, only he doesn't need a turn to charge it. Reflect on him works to bounce the heals back to us, but the Yu Pagodas can remove it with Power Wave.

Hilariously, though, he's vulnerable to Doom. A few more turns idling, and he's done for.

Back on Besaid, the people cheer as they see the lights in the sky.

And inside the temples, the fayth are fading away to nothing...

They're becoming just normal stone.

At Dream's End, Yuna performs the sending for Jecht, then notices some pyreflies emitting from Auron.

"It's all right. It's been long enough."

He takes one last walk, looking at each party member in turn as he says goodbye.

And then he fades away.

On the airship, Yuna performs the sending again, this time for the fallen aeons.

And for Sin itself.

On Mt. Gagazet, the collection of fayth is also turned back into normal stone.

And with it, the dream disappears...

"I'm sorry I couldn't show you Zanarkand."

Yuna tries to run for Tidus, but passes straight through him and lands on the floor.

Note: this isn't the models clipping into each other. Well it is, but it's intentional, since Tidus is fading away.

Jecht gives Tidus a high-five as he arrives.

Some time later, Yuna is practicing her whistle at the Luca docks. Lulu gathers her to deliver a speech in the blitzball stadium.

"Now, Sin is finally dead. Now, Spira is ours again. Working together... Now we can make new homes for ourselves, and new dreams. Although I know the journey will be hard, we have lots of time. Together, we will rebuild Spira. The road is ahead of us, so let's start out today. Just, one more thing..."

Roll credits.

The song Suteki Da Ne plays during the credits, and it's quite nice. Afterward, there's one last scene.

Tidus awakens, and swims toward the surface. Where is he going? Who can say.

And that was Final Fantasy X. Thank you for reading, and I hope I can do more of these in the future.

[mezzopurrloin]

Mezzo Plays Final Fantasy X: Part 11

Yuna and her guardians have managed to escape pursuit, but they'll have to stay away from Bevelle in the future.

They camp in Macalania Woods for the night. Yuna seems to have gone off on her own, though.

Tidus finds her wading in a nearby pond.

He takes the time to apologize to her for everything he cluelessly said, about what she'd do after defeating Sin. Yuna accepts it gracefully, saying that it made her happy, not said.

She thinks that maybe she should just give it all up. Tidus agrees, and says that maybe she could go to Zanarkand with him, enjoy a blitzball game, and party all night long.

But she can't. She can't give it up, not while Sin is still alive.

Romance between the male and female leads of a Final Fantasy is pretty common, but to my knowledge this is the only one with an onscreen kiss.

The lovebirds dive into the pool together, sharing an underwater kiss too.

Yuna's resolve is a bit better after that. She requests that Tidus stay with her until the end, and he agrees. He is her guardian, after all.

They walk back to camp hand in hand, and inform the other guardians that they leave at dawn.

This is their next destination. The Calm Lands are a great plain that lies between Bevelle and the Zanarkand ruins. This is traditionally where summoners defeat Sin and bring the Calm, hence the name.

Yuna lies on her back and looks up at the sky a moment, and then they proceed onward. Unlike most areas in the game, this is one wide open plain rather than a narrow linear path. The encounter rate is pretty high too.

We run into Maechen yet again, and he provides some backstory on the place. This was a battlefield in the great machina war, and was abandoned after the rise of Sin. Summoners found it the best place to fight Sin, as there is no inhabited territory nearby.

Belgemine is here too, and she challenges Yuna to another aeon duel. She isn't really bothered by Yuna being branded a traitor to Yevon, since summoners' true duty is to defeat Sin.

Yep, it's this again.

Nogard barely scraped out a victory. Belgemine is impressed, and thinks Yuna has the potential to defeat Sin.

And she leaves with a hint.

She also gives us the ability to boost aeons' stats using items. This honestly isn't that useful, since the aeons' stats are boosted along with Yuna's anyway.

When they stop at a campsite, an old friend of Lulu's shows up to tell the group what's going on with Yevon. Mika has framed them for Kinoc's murder, and Kelk has left Yevon. Seymour's still at large too, but he and Mika don't seem to be getting along. He says it's best for them to avoid any temples for now, and thankfully there aren't any on the path to Zanarkand.

The chimeras are back, and they've got an edgy recolor now. They're still pretty difficult to deal with.

Stone Breath works like a charm, though.

In an alcove on the eastern side of the field, there's a guy setting up a monster arena. He needs captured fiends to fix it up, and sells weapons with the Capture property, allowing you to catch them. We're not really gonna do much with him now, but it's good to know about as this is important for postgame stuff.

North of the plain lies a small valley, and there a pair of Guado guards request Yuna's presence. She has nothing to discuss with Seymour, naturally.

So they bring in a robot.

This thing is basically just a punch bot, but it punches really hard and has lots of HP. It occasionally retaliates with a rocket punch that delays the target's next turn.

Grand Summon saves the day again. Also, check it out. Nogard is not actually bound by the 9999 damage limit, and with enough power can reach the secondary cap of 99999. This can be unlocked for other characters too, but that's mostly a postgame thing.

After the robot was junked, I decided not to head forward just yet. There's an alternate path here that leads to something good.

At the bottom of the gorge lies the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. Lulu knows the place well, as a summoner she guarded once lost her life here.

The cave, as its name suggests, holds a fayth stolen from a temple. There are some new fiend types in here too.

These guys are gimmicky and annoying. There are five targetable eyes on their pot and you have to pick the right one. If you do, you get an item. If you guess wrong, it explodes.

Wakka and Lulu explain that the fayth was likely stolen to prevent summoners from using it to train, and thus, prevent them from sacrificing themselves.

Hey, we finally found one of these, and now we can activate a Luck Sphere! I decided to place it on Rikku's path, since she seems to be the lucky one.

These purple things are dark elementals. They're similar to the other elemental-based fiends we've seen, but have no weakness. They can also cast a lot of nasty spells like Bio and Osmose, which drains MP (luckily, Kimahri's Lancet can drain it back). They cast Reflect on themselves too, and will then reflect spells off of themselves onto you.

Yuna got a new trick to help deal with them. Her Dispel magic removes all buff effects from an enemy, and ignores reflection. Then Lulu and Kimahri can use their spells to finish it off.

We've picked up a couple of these spheres for the Sphere Grid, and they're quite handy. They let one character immediately learn an ability of the specified type, provided an ally has already acquired it. I used the Special Sphere to teach Steal to Kimahri, as it's always good to have more people who can snatch items.

Lulu learned the spell Demi, and thanks to a black magic sphere Kimahri got it too. If you remember the tutorial boss, this spell deals damage equal to 1/4 of the enemy's current HP. It's really good to use on high HP enemies, and Lulu can cast it with her Overdrive to dish out some fast-paced whittling down. Bosses are often immune, unfortunately.

There she is, the unsent soul of the summoner Lulu failed to protect. Yuna attempts a sending, but is blocked by an unknown force.

Lulu: "Allow me to perform my last duty to you. My last as your guardian."

She summons an aeon we haven't seen before.

Yuna's Grand Summon is ready to go.

A devastating blow, but not quite enough to finish him off.

Everyone else had to step in, including Lulu of course.

After the aeon dies, her soul is sent.

They can now proceed to the chamber of the fayth.

This fayth asks to be paid before he will join us. His offer: 250,000 gil. Unfortunately, I can't afford that right now, so it's back off to grinding a bit and selling things off. Getting everyone further along the Sphere Grid will help with those late game bosses anyway.

The nice thing about this being a screenshot LP is that I can skip over a lot of that. But I will take the time to point out a few new fiend types that show up, like this ghost here.

Its Doom special places a countdown over a character that decreases every turn. When it runs out, they will die.

Kimahri can learn this as an Overdrive too. Once the ghost was doomed, I had Tidus cast Haste on it, ensuring its counter would count down faster than mine.

Boom.

I also went back up to the Calm Lands and did some grinding there. This guy has "bad news" written all over him.

Its Bad Breath deals out pretty much every negative status of the game, save death and petrification. Still, I had to fight it because yes, Kimahri learns that as an Overdrive too.

The basilisks from Djose Highroad got an edgy color upgrade too. Rikku (and Kimahri, now that he knows Steal too) can steal petrification grenades from them, a very useful tool.

I also got the chance to try out a new spell for Lulu. Death summons the grim reaper to take an enemy's soul, ending its life instantly. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it ends the fight in a snap.

I managed to negotiate the price down to 208,000 gil, and the fayth was satisfied.

His canon name is Yojimbo, and I got three different people saying I should call him Greg. It's apparently a XIV joke, but I haven't played far enough in XIV to see it. Whatever, his name is Greg now.

On the way back, I ran across a mysterious apparition.

Hoo boy, we do not need to be dealing with you right now. This is one of the Dark Aeons, the postgame superbosses. Each one mimics the appearance of an aeon we have. I didn't even realize this thing could show up at this point in the game, and challenging it would be suicide, so I didn't come any closer. Thankfully, there's a nearby warp to go back to the entrance.

Greg is unlike any other aeon we've obtained. To use him, you must pay gil for his services, and then he'll randomly use one of his four special attacks. He doesn't have an Overdrive, but filling the bar makes it more likely for him to use his strongest move. Daigoro is an attack from his dog, Kotetsu is a set of throwing knives, and Wakizashi is a slash with the blade at his hip. If you pay him nothing, he leaves.

And the last one... somehow I was lucky enough to get this on the second try, even though I only paid 200 gil.

This blade deals death, and absolutely nothing can avoid or resist it. Even bosses are slain in a single stroke. If that sounds game breaking, well, it is, but it's balanced out by its extreme rarity. You have to be really lucky for him to use this move.

With that out of the way, we are ready to resume Yuna's pilgrimage, but the next step on the path won't be easy...

[mezzopurrloin]

Mezzo Plays Final Fantasy X: Part 12

"Sometimes Yuna would just stare off into the distance. I finally understood why. She was saying goodbye to the places she'd never see again."

There's one last landmark to cross before reaching Zanarkand: The sacred mountain, Mt. Gagazet.

This harsh, unforgiving place is home to the Ronso people.

Maester Kelk tries to bar Yuna's path, saying that no traitor to Yevon should be allowed to cross. Yuna stands firm, and Lulu asks of Kelk, did he not also abandon Yevon?

Kelk is impressed by her resolve, and orders the Ronso to let them pass.

The sacred heights of Gagazet will offer her passage.

However, these two guys won't let Kimahri get away.

Kimahri fights both alone. Their stats are based on his, so it's impossible to get stuck on this fight if you haven't used Kimahri much. Neither deals all that much damage on his own, but they can wear him down pretty quick-like.

Teaching him Steal was a good call, since I could grab some high level key spheres for the Sphere Grid.

You can also learn new Ronso Rages from them if you've missed any. Mighty Guard is a defensive Overdrive that casts Protect, Shell, and NulAll on the party. It was extremely helpful for dealing with their attacks.

Once Biran was taken down, Yenke cast Haste on himself.

Kimahri has proven their worth to them, and they say they will make Yuna's statue shine the brightest. Yuna says that a traitor probably won't get a statue, so the Ronso say they'll build one themselves.

This statue apparently gets built in X-2. And yes, it includes a horn on her head. This is actually a reference to the traditional attire of summoners in other Final Fantasy games.

As they step onto the mountain trail, the Ronso warriors sing the Hymn of the Fayth for Yuna and her guardians.

Now the true trial begins. The mountain path is long and narrow, and the fiends are numerous and deadly. This is a test of endurance just as much as it is one of combat capability.

Many summoners don't make it through, and there are memorials to the fallen along the path.

Near one of these can be found another of Jecht's spheres.

This one is a message to Yuna from her father. He hopes she is well and encourages her to find her own path through life.

The trail is long, and can get confusing, especially when the paths cross over each other.

Along the way, we meet a shopkeeper named Wantz. He's O'aka's brother, and even though O'aka has been imprisoned, he strives to continue the business.

We're getting close to the end of everyone's individual Sphere Grid paths, and got some new abilities. Lulu learned the third tier of black magic, and I used a black magic sphere to teach Blizzaga to Kimahri so he wouldn't fall behind. Yuna likewise learned the third tier healing spell, Curaga. She also learned Regen, which restores HP every turn. Wakka learned Drain and Osmose to drain HP and MP respectively. Why Wakka, and not anyone else? I have no idea.

I also haven't really mentioned Auron's Break abilities. They come in four flavors: Power Break, Magic Break, Armor Break, and Mental Break. These are attacks that reduce attack, magic, defense, and magic defense respectively. They can come in pretty handy at times.

Tidus and Rikku are trying to think of a way to save Yuna from her impending sacrifice, but nothing's coming to mind. And then...

You again, huh.

Thankfully, Tidus won't be fighting him alone.

Rikku grabs Yuna and the other guardians real quick-like. Seymour takes the time to address Kimahri as 'the last Ronso', then laughs as he explains he killed all the Ronso defenders at the entrance. As we'll learn later, this didn't take out every single Ronso (for example, the Blitzball team is still fine), but it's safe to assume Biran, Yenke, and Kelk are all dead. He then speaks of Spira...

And he asks Yuna, once again, to allow him to become Sin, free Jecht, and save Spira from its own sorrow. He gets a predictable response.

Hoo boy. No matter how many times I play this game, meeting this boss always feels like running straight into a brick wall. Seymour Flux has a lot of new tricks, and he's quite vicious.

His Lance of Atrophy causes zombification. Much like with Evrae, this means that healing effects are reversed and deal damage to you.

Then his Moritorchis will follow up by casting Full-Life, normally a very helpful spell as it revives with full HP. To a zombie, though, it's instant death.

He's got some other combos too, like this Cross-Cleave that seared my party.

Another lance hit and I was doomed. Seems I can't get away from this fight without losing at least once.

Second round, I went straight for the Grand Summon.

He still has Banish, so after taking this hit Nogard was instantly unsummoned. Like before, the Mortiorchis can take damage but not die, as it will absorb HP from Seymour.

He knows Dispel now, and can cast it on the whole party at once, so no more Reflect shenanigans. Rather, he'll try to use these on you by casting Reflect on himself, followed by Flares reflected off him into you. If you dispel it, he ends up blowing himself up again.

His ultimate move is Total Annihilation. This multi-hit attack does exactly what it sounds like. Only Auron was able to survive, and with a measly 66 HP at that. Thankfully he was able to use a Mega Phoenix to revive the others.

Lulu blasted him with a Thundaga to deal the final blow.

Good riddance.

Yuna noticed that Seymour spoke of Jecht in his rant regarding Sin, and asks Auron about it.

This leads to Tidus spitting it out. Auron says they'll learn when they arrive.

Across the next bend, the group finds a wondrous sight.

Hundreds of fayth, laid out side by side, all embedded into the mountain.

Someone is using them for a summoning, but it's not at all clear who, or what.

Tidus approaches the wall, and finds himself in a familiar place.

The fayth child is here to welcome him back to Zanarkand. He hears the voices of his companions urging him to wake up, and realizes this must be a dream.

And it is, sort of.

The fayth child explains about the great war between Bevelle and Zanarkand.

The survivors of the war all entombed themselves as fayth, ensuring the city would never die.

A Zanarkand that never sleeps, as they say. Tidus, Jecht, and all their friends and family are just part of the dream.

But Jecht and Tidus may be more than just dreams now. They may be able to free the fayth from this dream, and let them find true rest.

Tidus wakes up, and decides not to tell anyone else what he saw.

The road goes ever onward, and the pilgrimage must continue.

The next step is through this cavern.

These things are supremely annoying. They're like the blob enemies we've seen before, but they resist all elements.

Demi can slowly chip away their massive HP, and Mental Break can increase their magic vulnerability a bit, but apart from that there's no reliable way to damage them. Oh, and they can heal themselves with their White Wind special too. Kimahri can learn this as an Overdrive. It's not that great, but might come in handy in a pinch.

The cavern features some underwater sections, and you're limited to only Tidus, Wakka, and Rikku during them as the other four can't swim.

Thankfully, the aquatic fiends aren't as vicious as the land-bound ones.

This is just a timing puzzle, and once it's complete it opens another path in the ground section.

These machina might look menacing, but you can dismantle them with Steal, junking them instantly and picking up a few more grenades or Al Bhed potions too.

There's a second swimming section, leading to...

This puzzle is confusing. You want to have Rikku go for the green one, Tidus for the blue, and Wakka for the red and it should open the path to the exit.

The 'she' that Auron speaks of is Lady Yunalesca. Yes, she is alive, or at least as 'alive' as Mika and Seymour are. They'll meet their first test soon.

The Sanctuary Keeper is quite dangerous. It can fire photon blasts from its wings that deal out a number of different status conditions, including the new curse effect that prevents Overdrives from being used. It doesn't have as much HP as some of the prior bosses, but it has strong defenses.

Its most powerful ability is that it can use a lot of high-powered white magic including Curaga, Haste, and Esuna among others. How are we supposed to beat a fiend that can heal itself for 9999 HP at will?

Casting Reflect on it bounces the healing right back to us, but also prevents us from attacking with magic.

It was even nice enough to cast Haste on the party. I had Auron rend its shield with Armor Break, and used the physical attackers to finish the fight.

Test passed.

Auron muses on how he, too, was once just a boy protecting a summoner on his pilgrimage, and his will started to falter here. He wanted to change the world, but he ended up changing nothing.

They head further up the hill, and now they can see it for the first time.

There it is, the final destination.

Rikku isn't going to give up on saving Yuna, though.

Yuna embraces her cousin, thanking her for everything she's helped with. As she does so, she drops a sphere. Tidus picks it up and watches it.

It's a recording meant for all the guardians once Yuna has defeated Sin and died. She thanks each in turn, reminiscing on how they first met. The first message is to Auron, telling him that she is honored for him to be her guardian.

The second is for Kimahri, talking about how they met in Bevelle the day that Braska defeated Sin, and he's been with her ever since. She likes his broken horn, too.

Wakka and Lulu get a speech together, saying that even though they tried to prevent her from becoming a summoner, she is still grateful to them for it. And that they are essentially her older siblings.

And the last one, which would probably have more dramatic impact if she could speak his name.

She talks about her feelings for him, and how being with him makes her very happy, but also sad, because she knows they can't be together forever.

Just a little farther now, and they'll have reached the Zanarkand Ruins.

Remember this shot from the opening? Yeah, technically the whole story's been told in flashback from this point. To Zanarkand plays again here, as the party camps under the setting sun.

"Listen to my story. This may be our last chance."