#sochen cave palace

[gamesandglassroses]

S O C H E N C A V E P A L A C E - Final Fantasy XII

[styrmwb]

Favorite Final Fantasy Music (FFXII)

I'm finally out of the XI hole and it feels strange: where's my tambourine and synth I need them

XII, commonly known as "Star Wars", is a very good game; however, I initially was absolutely not feeling its soundtrack. It felt too generic and orchestral. Of course, past Styrm is a Fucking Moron who did not realize what the soundtrack is, and that is Good. Sure, it's not as in your face different as some previous games are, but it is still uniquely itself, and not at all a generic orchestra soundtrack. Hitoshi Sakimoto was the main composer here, which is cool cause he also did Tactics, set in the same world as XII! (also Ogre Battle for you Ogre Battle enjoyers out there I see you) Anyways, list time.

5. The Sochen Cave Palace I love how mystical this song feels. The whole area it plays in is a damp, underground palace/cave combo (I know, it's in the name), so that initial choir really gives you that ancient deep feel, and then the horns come in for that grandiose nature befitting the actual palace part. The horns are also my favorite part of the song, I love that melody. Bonus points to this song playing in the area with the Mandragoras hunt (I like Mandragoras)

4. Chocobo Theme - FFXII Version Not gonna lie, it did feel a little dirty putting this song here rather than one of the game's unique compositions, but I gotta say: this is my favorite version of the chocobo theme. If I wasn't gonna put a variation of this song on this list, it wasn't going on any list. I love the ratchet usage, and the really cool wind instrument used for the main melody sounding almost distant in a way? the plucking bum bum bum is incredibly fun and sounds like I'm bouncing along on my horse bird and that makes me smile. Also, shoutouts to the wood block absolutely going ham. This song is like if you took all of the cool instruments in music class that all the kids wanted to play with and you put them together.

3. Discord - Imperial Version There are several songs titled "Imperial Version", and they all tend to share the same motif (there are other empire themed songs that have that motif as well), but this version is my favorite. The loud, threatening nature of the song perfectly in my mind pictures the judges, who are essentially the biggest antagonistic force in the entire game (and also this is their boss theme so it better fit them). I love the bass drum accenting the notes perfectly in the start; and that sort of horror-like string segment to start off the song, filling you with terror. The deeper horns throughout are absolutely incredible, and I love how that main empire motif sounds with this instrumentation.

2. The Dalmasca Estersand This is like, the first open world area in the game. And I think this song really prepares you for how the world is going to feel. This song is GRAND. This song is EPIC and BIG. Pretty much every overworld song is! And I think that's really cool and part of XII's soundtrack's charm. I think this song is a pretty good summary of the sounds that this game uses; a lot of heavy horns, big strings and drums, but with that slight bit of light nature in the little flute. As usual, I love the melody; there's not a single song on here I don't love the melody of; but my absolute favorite part of the song is the I wanna say third section of it, before it loops; right after the song plays a little flute trilling, the melody gets longer and drawn out, and it really feels like an adventure. The chimes bring a whimsical vibe to it too; which I think is perfect for the first zone in the game.

1. Battle with an Esper Yessssssssssssss this song is so cool. This is the song that plays as you're battling the espers (the summons). The whole song has a very heavy beat constantly playing in the back, like a heartbeat, which is so fun to listen to. The choir builds up the start, perfect for these weird, ancient monstrosities you're fighting, but instead of just being buildup, it's there throughout the entire song. It's in the melody, it takes a back seat, but it is always there, it is always menacing, and it's always awesome. I love when the choir matches with the heartbeat too. As usual, the XII brass squadron makes an appearance, although a more minor one compared to some songs, and as usual, they're amazing; but the string section is really the other main highlight of this song. The Dissidia version proves that this song is already perfect by just adding extra percussion and calling it a fucking day. We're also cheating and throwing a mention to The Esper, which is technically a different song, being where you actually summon the thing and control it instead, but it uses a lot of the same sounds, the same choir, and the same melody. This version is a lot more fast paced, has the percussion mainly replaced with a shaker and some big beats instead of the heartbeat, and has this really cool string section where they just go fucking HAM. I didn't want to give this it's own place, because it is essentially a byproduct of Battle with an Esper, but I couldn't just throw it in honorable mentions either.

Honorable mentions!: Giza Plains, Flash of Steel, Giving Chase, Battle on the Big Bridge (heh), Realm of Memory, and The Battle for Freedom

[telemist]

Honestly, as much as I'd love for something like a general level-up for monsters after, for example, beating the game (aka defeating Vayne and taking down the Alexandria), it would certainly be a bit of a toll if you were to try to really complete the game with all the grinding that it might take. It's theoretically good for leveling up but if you up the ante too much then moving through places can become very tiresome and boring even.

I think FFXII does this thing really well where instead of upping the level cap of everything they sort of unlock areas from already known locations and gives them new rooms with harder enemies, bosses, espers and items. This happens in areas like the Garamsythe Waterducts (sorry if I write the names wrong, I only played the game in Spanish) on your quest to defeat Cuchulainn, the seasons changing in the Giza Plains, the new zones in the Lhusu Mines where you can fight Gilgamesh, the bottom floors of the Ridorana Lighthouse where you can defeat the Shadow Man hunt... The game baiting you into thinking you'll enter a new area of the Henne mines from the Feywood, but then you discover you have to have 10 espers and talk to the Garif geomancer to unlock that new area of the mines, which turns out to be huge, filled with new monsters and a secret esper... Sometimes these areas are mandatory for progression and the way it's done they feel fresh and new but also kind of familiar.

The only gripes I may have with how FFXII's map is built from the perspective of post-game completing is:

1. when they introduce that kind of content in an area that doesn't expand like that or that works just as a nexus between bigger or more story-wise important locations. I love the Hell Wyrm fight but I hate that it had to happen in the Sochen Cave Palace. It could have been the secret boss in the Ridorana Lighthouse's bottom floor instead (though I admit that seeing two boss rooms in the Palace after finding the map and only having fought Mateus up until that point did make me curious).

2. There's some huge areas of the game that don't have enough map connections to justify their size, or, if this makes sense, they're too open. I'm mostly talking about Phon Coast and Cerobi Steppe. In the case of the first one, it's absolutely HUGE. Like, MASSIVE in size. And it's maybe not a very interesting place to go through or explore (still amazing though imo), the only relevance it has is that the hunter's camp is there. The thing that I'd mostly criticize its design for is, well, it's vast. Like, really vast. It feels too open somehow to only connect the Salikawood to the Tchita Uplands. Cerobi Steppe is like 3 massive open fields in one as well. There's the windmills thing but that's that. Giruvegan's too unnecessarily zigzaggy but I understand what the map designers wanted to convey with it (and I love the view). Which leads to the Crystal. I'd need a huge new comment to talk about the Crystal.

This Enemy Is Too Strong

So like, I've been playing Final Fantasy XII again, and I've been thinking about in comparison to that other single-player MMO, Xenoblade Chronicles. There's a lot I can talk about there, and I probably will later, but the thing I wanna talk about is level scaling.

The thing is, right, both of these games let you fight enemies that are far above your current level. They just go about it in very different ways.

Xenoblade Chronicles is largely a linear game. You will go to Colony 9, then Gaur Plain, etc. It's a chapter structure, the Switch version literally has chapter markers.

But these areas are massive, you can spend several hours in one just exploring the place. And from the very first area you can venture off and find monsters way above your level. They're just scattered around the place, Xenoblade has some of the most level diversity you'll ever see in an RPG.

And since a lot of them attack on sight, or on hearing your footsteps, or detecting the game's magic equivalent, it means you genuinely have to watch out when you're exploring. Like, this is an ecosystem that you have to keep in mind, and it's honestly pretty damn lifelike in a lot of ways.

FF12, on the other hand, is different. Let's start out with the major difference in terms of structure. Yes, this game does have a linear story, but you have a fair bit more freedom in what areas you can access and when.

From the beginning, you can go to the Estersand, the Westersand, or Giza Plains branching off from the hub city of Rabanastre. You'll have to go through all of these branches at some point, but the freedom is pretty nice for an open world feeling. If you visit the Salikawood early, and get past a boss, you can visit Nabreus and Nabudis, optional lategame areas that will almost certainly kill you if you try to go through them too early. It's a lot of freedom for a game like this, and I appreciate it for that open feeling.

...But this runs into a problem when you get down to the realities of each area. Because FF12 doesn't really have level diversity in its areas. If you're encountering a high-level enemy, that's because you're in a high-level area. If you can't fight one enemy in Nabudis, you're probably not going to have a good time in Nabudis. And, conversely, going back to an old area kinda sucks, because every enemy is a pushover.

If you want to actually play at the right difficulty level and have a good time, you basically have no reason not to just play the story normally. And it honestly makes the game feel more gamey. FF12 just doesn't have the kind of unique enemy behaviors that XC does, and it makes each enemy feel like, well, mobs in an MMO. I can appreciate in some sense, like FF12 is not trying to hide the fact that it's a video game, and in a lot of ways that's really good. But it kind of makes the game feel more lifeless, you know?

In a post-BotW world, it can be kind of trite to think about these kinds of semi-open-world games. Like yeah, it's the Switch era, everything is open-world now. Fucking Sonic and MegaTen have these massive areas, you can't escape it. But there's a lot of room to talk about how to do these things well.

If anybody sees this, which I fuckin hope people do, tell me what you think about this! How do you like these kinds of games to be structured, and how much do you care about stronger enemies?

[xaphrin]

Okay. But hear me out. 

Beauty and the Beast, but like in an opulent, sandy cave palace?????????????????????????

[nightzap]

Was the game made easier in Zodiac Age, or did I just suck as a kid?

[ff12-ultimania]

FAQ

- What is this blog? a blog dedicated to translate the ff12 ultimania, from JP to ENG. penned by @halmarut​ who is a heritage speaker, @b101-doctor​, and bartholomog the moogle.

- What do you do in here? we share our translations of the ultimania. note that, the translators are not native english speakers, so words and sentences might be a little awkward, still, the best is done to spot mistakes!

- Can i ask you to translate a page? of course! head to the Ask or Submit a page.

- You're doing a great job! How can we support you, translators? edit 9/2: as of now, there is a patreon at https://www.patreon.com/ultimani_TL! by becoming a patron you will receive blurbs and interesting facts of sections that are not yet covered on this blog; named 100 secrets only for 1$ or 3$ per month. 

- What is your favorite area in ff12?

the sochen cave palace is a nice place to roam about, and cerobi steppe is great to lay down on grass to watch the clouds pass by. as for which city-state, archades’ tsenoble is preferred :)

- Can i use your translations? sure! ☆ credit this blog, so we can see what you make of the stuff! the translator wishes to see how the fandom reacts :) 

[spinsterwolf]

THERE’S NO BACKGROUND MUSIC THIS IS UNSETTLING

[chiripepe]

Fighting Hell Wyrm in Sochen Cave Palace

This guy wasn’t hard at all, it just took like 20 minutes to beat him. I tried fighting Yiazmat after and I got him down past half his life bar before I ran out of phoenix downs and ethers but he wasn’t that hard. The only problem is just how fucking massive that life bar is and that one hit kill move. But that’s all fine, I just have to fine tune my strategy to take it out. I really thought Yiazmat would be difficult to the degree Penance was but it actually wasn’t that bad. I have the Zodiac Spear and Excalibur but there’s a few other ultimate weapons I’m missing which will make the fight smoother but I have to think on and do all of that first before I try again.

I love love love gambits in this game. To the discerning eye it might look like the game plays itself but I simply programmed the characters to do the things I want them to do rather than having to manually do everything like in every other final fantasy.

I also beat the game after I lost the Yiazmat fight and had all the feels :3

[gamergirlboy21]

Final Fantasy Blue Save Crystal Necklace

Final Fantasy Blue Save Crystal Necklace

Show your love and support for the Sochen Cave Palace with this Final Fantasy Blue Save Crystal Necklace replica pendant from the Final Fantasy game series.  The blue pendant is about 2-inches long. It is wrapped in a silver-color frame for added style. The chain is approx 19-inches.

Check it out here - http://www.gamergirlgamerboy.com/gaming-jewelry/final-fantasy-blue-save-crystal-necklace/

[hey-rogby]

The Sochen Cave Palace

[gamesandglassroses]

@4th-make-quail wanted to see a picture of my Sochen Cave Palace post in its original context. I'm afraid it's probably not as interesting as expected.

It was part of a larger project I did for uni (I'll show the rest of it some other day). Each booklet is a different location in Final Fantasy XII, and before going there to take screenshots I drew an abstract image based on my memory of the location. I thought it might be fun to put all those images here:

Can you guess what each of these locations are?

[abyssalmermaiden]

I’m reading about Buddhist cave temples for class and I keep getting distracted thinking about the Sochen Cave Palace from FFXII

[ipsens-castle]

Nowadays I start out my de-stressing cruise every night with Sochen Cave Palace, the Zodiac Age version.

[farfromdaylight]

@ruinandcreationspassage said: Where is this?!

the feywood!

in order to spawn the behemoth king, you have to clear out all 29 enemies in the ice field of clearsight area, including those that respawn. it’s one of the two areas with the shrines/glyphs so it’s already a pain to navigate, not to mention the hassle of making sure you get all the enemies you're supposed to.

however, while this is what you have to do to spawn the behemoth king (as well as kill the giruveganus in the edge of reason area since that's where the behemoth king spawns), the five mandragora bosses from the sochen cave palace also spawn if you kill every enemy in the ice field of clearsight, exit the area and then return.

BUT, UH, GUESS WHAT (picked this one at random but they're all the same):

The mandragoras will run away constantly: in Sochen Cave Palace they run to the corners of the area, and in Feywood they will run to different Shrines of the Lost. The player must be more careful in Feywood and pursue them faster, as the Mandragora Prince is one of the few enemies that can reach a level of up to 99. At this level, all physical attacks will be nullified except that of guns, as well as magick attacks. They change level when they spend too much time away from the party, when they use the technick Mystery Waltz. One can see from afar a blue aura surrounding the enemies, and it increases about ten levels every time they use it.

YEAH. YEAH. SO GUESS WHO NEARLY GOT A FUCKING GAME OVER FROM FUCKING LEVEL 99 MANDRAGORA. seriously i managed to kill two of them by fucking spamming scathe (and ardor, on the one that's weak to fire) but when i realized the rest were taking no damage from weapons i just went lol no i'm out. jesus fucking christ.

[endeavorsreward]

Excerpt (Epilogue One)

Emperor Larsa Ferrinas Solidor's rule began with subtlety that even his late older brother Vayne would have admired; in between working with Queen Ashelia on the treaty and their plans for Nabradia's reclamation, while even aiding the Queen with the rescue of the Purvama from Feolthanos, he quietly signed an order that went unopposed in the Archadean senate, charging veterans of the Dalmascan war with clearing the Sochen Cave Palace of fiends and monsters.

With the great Wyrm that slept beneath the palace slain at the hands of that war's greatest heroes, the Mist that had lingered within the palace's walls had begun to disperse, a process that could be exacerbated by Draklor's magicite pumps—a mere variation of processes which the also-late Doctor Cidolfus Bunansa had developed to work in concert with an airship's glossair rings in flight—and so the cavern's ecology was no longer indefinitely sustainable. And as the creatures were removed and the traps disarmed, workers followed soldiers, rebuilding the ancient palace one cleared room at a time.

Larsa's case for the work in Nabradia became less controversial with such public works also available at home, and employment rates rose even in the slums of Old Archades, for those still able to lift a hammer or a brush. At home and abroad, Larsa challenged his people to prove that Archades had craftsmen to rival any other nation, and many rose to that challenge.

And when at last Sochen Cave Palace was re-opened, and to Judge Magister Gabranth's exacting approval, Larsa placed the Senate in check by appearing before his people and proclaiming that he'd be moving in. A piece of great Archadean history restored, and the Emperor himself wanted to reside in the home his people had built—a palace yet open to the people, a massive complex that was to be as well a center of trade and diplomacy in Ivalice.

And in the process, the Emperor quite literally turned the many tiers of Archades upside down, because the Emperor now lived beneath his poorest citizens, a fact which he was quick to affirm—for what leader was worth more than his own people?

His speech was long, eloquent, and quite shocking to many. He was fifteen years old, and arguably the finest mind in three kingdoms.

The ceremony also featured a further overture to peace in celebrating the Dalmascan heroes who had slain the Wyrm of Sochen themselves. At least, some of them. Queen Ashelia toured the rooms at Larsa's arm as the first guest, but it was two sky pirates who received the honors, under the Judge Magister's watchful eye. Led in by representatives from Balfonheim, the two fair-haired young adults awkwardly accepted accolades and the cheers of the crowd for completing a hunt—Vaan, at least, may not have been willing to appear if not for Montblanc gently suggesting his attendance.

And if the young emperor might also have had ulterior motives for getting all of his empire to cheer for Vaan's partner, he never mentioned them aloud.

Being next to the seat of power, suddenly Old Archades was the most valuable real estate in Valendia. Keeping gentrification from unseating the city's poorest residents was a challenge, but Larsa largely managed it by turning the system's elaborate bureaucracy against itself; An elaborate network of zoning laws, legal protections, and payment structures kept much of Old Archades in its original hands for a number of years. Businesses above constantly probed for new loopholes, and many lobbied the senate quite openly, but Larsa had the advantage, as he needn't win the chess game—merely prolong it as his citizens found the benefits of employment opportunities he offered, received subsidies he authorized from budgets previously earmarked for plans of his elder brother, and otherwise found ladders and ropes out of the holes that his father had dug for them. With tensions cooling in Rozarria, trade offered an influx in wealth to all strata of the economy, and Larsa needed to keep only one eye on the board as his empire flourished as it hadn't in many years.

So it was, that when Balthier returned for the first time to the Bunansa estate, he found that it now resided in the closest Archades had any longer to “the bad part of town.” Which was to say, gorgeous, well-maintained, crime-free... and abandoned. He stepped off the aircab and watched a discarded broadside whip through the air down an empty street. It danced and whirled until it was carried right off the road’s edge, past the rail and out into traffic. The manor was on one of the highest levels, and the view beyond that rail was pure vertigo. It was a long way down from here. He had learned that the hard way at seventeen.

It was the shortest of walks to the manor’s gates, and he looked through them at the sprawling grounds, the giant home. The bars of the gate still looked like those of a cell, all these years later. The gate was locked with a biometric reader that Cid had knocked off while bored during a shareholder’s meeting. He could pick the lock easily enough; he considered if that would be less wearying than placing his palm against the glass to learn whether or not it would open for him.

Even if it did, it would hardly mean anything. His father had been so far gone, with Venat whispering in his ear, that he could scarcely be trusted to remember even a simple spiteful maneuver.

“The mighty who have fallen, and the fallen who would be mighty,” said an all-too-familiar voice just out of his periphery. “Someone I knew all too well said that.”

He considered not turning, just opening the gate any damned way and marching inside; but he didn’t, and he did, and there Jules was, seated upon an empty crate, leaning against the fence, a wad of brown paper in his hand atop which lay slices of fruit. He stuffed one messily into his mouth, let his tongue slid out to lap up the juice. It was a rare fruit, from deep in the Golmore. Fran’s favorite, and Jules damned well knew it. He held up a slice in offering, but at Balthier’s tired expression, he shrugged and popped that one into his mouth as well.

“It seems it shall always be my place,” he sucked on his wet fingers, “To welcome you home again, Master Ffamran.”

“An outside observer might be easily mistaken into assuming that for reason enough, that I never return.” He placed his hand on the scanning device and the lock disengaged—and despite himself, his heart skipped a beat. “This must serve as great novelty for you, who has so rarely ascended to such heights.”

His eye twinkled. “Your young lord shook the bag quite vigorously, and with the best of Archades having settled at the bottom, I’ve had little use for ladders of late.”

“He isn’t my young lord, he’s yours.” He swung the gate open. Jules hopped to his feet with one thrust of his hips, and it was then that Balthier saw them, the few white hairs in that terrible moustache of his. For all he looked healthier and better fed, the years were beginning to show. Jules had been twenty-five when he’d found the young runaway for the first time. He hadn’t renounced it all yet, that would come in a few months’ time, after planning, after things grew even worse, but he hadn’t been wearing the Judicer’s plate when he’d wandered lost down a blind alley in Old Archades. Followed from the moment he’d descended the stairs.

“Oh, he offers a fine stipend.” Vaan, damn him. “But I daresay you’re deceiving me, or yourself, as you go to meet with him on the morrow.”

“It’s oft better to be good than be right, Jules.” He waited, to let the damned streetear through the gate. When Jules stepped through, he did so facing Balthier, close enough that he could smell the spices, the offal, the sweat, and something else, something old and familiar.

“You’ve never been good, Master Ffamran.”

Balthier followed behind him and slammed the gate closed, caging them both inside.