#thief rikku

[zeldamomoe]

"You don't mind if I go a little WILD do yah?!" Happy Final Fantasy Friday!🥳

[devileaterjaek]

Rikku

[laika648]

Kingdom Hearts: A World Without Sky Secret Encounter

Artist commissioned: Ai-noHikari https://www.deviantart.com/ai-nohikari

Story by: laika6

After Sora's disappearance at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, Kairi (feeling responsible for Sora's fate & driven by her love for him) sets out on a journey to - hopefully - bring him home.

The events of this comic occur between the Ending and Secret Ending of Kingdom Hearts 3.

Kairi's Skills: Blizzaga, Waterga, Firaga, Thundaga, Reflega, Curaga, Sparkga, Pearl, Faith, Ninja Class Yuna, Rikku & Paine skills/dresspheres: Gunner, Thief, Warrior, Songstress, Black Mage, White Mage, Gun Mage, Alchemist, Dark Knight, Samurai, Lady Luck, Berserker, Trainer, Mascot, Festivalist, Psychic, Floral Fallal, Machina Maw, Full Throttle

(Music: Ducktales Opening Theme - Ducktales Real Emotion - Final Fantasy X-2)

[thorns-and-rosewings]

Christmas in Seraphim AU🔥

Just a few points of interest, not a particularly long post. Just something cute to write after a long day :)

-First and foremost the entire Pizzaplex is closed and all human employees are given the day off with pay. Seraphim Eclipse is quite the generous guy when it comes to the holidays.

-Leading up to Christmas the whole Pizzaplex has been decorated, the whole place looking incredibly festive. Attractions like Monty's Gator Golf, Fazer Blast, Mazercise, or Roxanne Raceway are decorated how their respective animatronics would like them to be. The only stipulation Seraphim Eclipse set was nothing that was a health hazard. Here's looking at you Chica...

-Likewise the Daycare is decorated by Seraphim Eclipse, Arc Bloodmoon and Cherubim Lunar. They were even able to come up with unique special games and events for the kids made especially for this time of year.

-On Christmas day there's a huge party for the animatronics. But also invited are some select humans.

-There's Gregory, granted he actually lives in the Pizzaplex in an apartment for him and Freddy who's his adoptive father. (Courtesy of Seraphims hacking and creating fake identities.)

-Vanessa is there and actually enjoys where she works nowadays, let alone how she has grown to care about this crazy group.

-Cassie of course attends, much to the delight of Roxanne.

-Cassie's dad is also there and while he's still a little weirded out by the fact that the animatronics are sentient (Let alone how he's the only human aware of how Seraphim Eclipse is technically the owner and boss of the place) he is just happy to see his daughter having such a good time.

-Twila, Cassie's aunt is also invited. As she is very close with the Angelic family, as well as delivering something that Seraphim Eclipse commissioned of her... That... And bringing a special gift for Arc Bloodmoon.

-For Bloodmoon, she gives him a silver medal on a durable chain. The medal bares the depiction of Archangel Michael. As not only is Arc Bloodmoon modeled after an Archangel, but also given how Bloodmoon loves the DOOM games so much... She thought it would be appropriate if she gave him a medal of 'The Original Doomguy'

-He frickin loves it. While he doesn't wear it around his neck, he loops it around the upper part of his left arm. Where it stays permanently.

-As they are talking, Cherubim Lunar flys overhead holding mistletoe and yelling "Will you two KISS already?!"

-Unfortunately Bloody got extremely skittish and walked away before anything... As he's still coming to terms with his ever-increasing feelings towards Twila. As he's not dumb and realizes exactly how having feelings for a human just... isn't a good idea.

-Twila feels very awkward... Genuinely not sure how she should be feeling about this. Especially because she's trying very hard NOT to have feelings about... Whatever...

-Cassies Dad, Twila's brother, is oblivious to this entire thing. 😅

-Another individual who is invited to attend is the good friend of the Angelic family, Forkface/Frank. Seraphim Eclipse is happy to see that Frank arrived as he has a Christmas gift for him.

-The item that Twila delivered was ordered by Seraphim Eclipse. A pair of custom daggers, specifically modeled after 'Rikku's Thief's Daggers' from Final Fantasy. Only made in a blue and silver coloration. Seraphim presents these gifts to Frank along with one other thing...

-He asks if Frank would like to move into the Seraphim universe permanently... As he's aware how Forkface isn't always appreciated in his own universe. Seraphim Eclipse also deeply worries about Frank getting hurt or worse... (Hence his gift of weaponry) He offers him a new home where he will be loved and appreciated.

-Frank doesn't accept, but he doesn't exactly decline either... Only indicates he will think about it.

-But he is extremely grateful for the offer and to know that he has such good friends here and he gives Seraphim a very tight hug. Wordlessly conveying this fact to his six-winged friend.

-Throughout the party there are multiple large monitors set up. The only purpose being that it allows MXES and Solar Flare to interact with the party as much as possible.

-Cassie has definitely tried to apologize to MXES over the whole Mimic thing... However the digital rabbit is still carrying a grudge.

-Solar Flare has pointed out that he's gradually getting less angry at her... Maybe someday he'll let the grudge go. But it will probably not be for a long time...

-Still, the one person who genuinely isn't happy about the Christmas party... Or about the holidays at all, is Canon Eclipse. He was given plenty of opportunities to NOT be an asshole and try to enjoy the activities. He was invited to the party... But all he did was stare and glower at everyone and everything.

-Watching Arc Bloodmoon interact with Twila got him to roll his eyes and mutter "Wonder how he's going to kill her..." he was then swatted with a broom by Cherubim Lunar.

-He watched Solar Flare interact with some of the other guests and... It absolutely infuriated him that his frickin creation was, in his own way, enjoying the party and having a good time with actual FRIENDS. He went to storm away from the scene, only he failed to notice he'd gotten his leg tangled in some lights and he sent the monitors crashing to the floor... So MXES and Solar Flare could no longer enjoy the party.

-Everyone stared; honestly Bloodmoon was ready to bounce Canon Eclipse out of the party. Thinking it was intentional... However Seraphim countered that due to his collar, he couldn't delibrately break things... In spite of this Canon Eclipse felt even more out of place and just left the party to return to his room.

-To his surprise, on his bed was a present wrapped in orange paper and decorated with a black bow. There was a card, baring Seraphim Eclipse's logo on it that read 'Merry Christmas, whether you like it or not asshole.' More curious than annoyed, Eclipse opened the box...

-It was a custom tailored Aviator Jacket. It was literally made just for him... Made to be everything he would like. There was also a 3D puzzle of a human skull in the box, most likely from Cherubim Lunar.

-Eclipse wants to hate it. He wants to burn the stupid jacket and throw the ashes in Seraphims face... But he doesn't... He just quietly puts it back in the box and puts it underneath his bed and then starts working on the 3D puzzle.

-He's even more conflicted about his situation now than he was before...

[jessjustplay]

Final Fantasy X-2 Game Review

March 30, 2024

I know this game gets a lot of hate and even when it's not "hate", I still find the comments to be generally harsh. I promise, it's okay to say something nice about X-2. No one is going to hurt you!

Battle System

I love the battle system in this game, it's fun and fast-paced. Final Fantasy X-2 relies on Garment Grids and Dresspheres for battles. Dresspheres are the names of the class jobs (Black Mage, Thief, etc.) and they each have a unique look for each girl. Most of them have the same abilities for all 3 characters, but a few of them (like the Festivalist and Mascot) have unique abilities for each character.

Garment Grids are a game screen with nodes where you equip the dresspheres onto, then you equip each character with a Garment Grid. Whatever dresspheres are on their equipped Garment Grid are the jobs they are able to use and master. Mastering a dressphere means that you learned all of the abilities and skills on that specific dressphere.

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine make up your 3-person party. The HD Remaster version has something called "Creature Creator", and from what I understand, you're able to have non-playable characters and fiends in your party. I've never used it though, so I have no idea what it's like. I couldn't imagine playing this game without YRP as my party.

Characters

The Gullwings is a sphere-hunting group comprised of Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Brother, Buddy, and Shinra. They are a silly bunch, each adding their unique flairs to make a well-rounded character group.

We meet many NPCs throughout our journey, many who will be remembered from from Final Fantasy X. The game adds a lot of new characters too, including leaders of groups and factions that have sprung up around Spira.

When played to completion, you are able to see how the threads of each person connect to one another. Even if you don't get 100%, you still see the bonds between them all. Granted, you really need to do a lot more than just the initial Hot Spots! That's the thing about this game, you can miss so much if you don't know where to look.

Gameplay

The game is built with a completion system. While the battle system gives you a lot of freedom, the narration of this game is greatly dependent on doing things in an exact order. This is not the kind of game you play on a whim. You need a strategy guide or at least a 100% completion checklist. It is so easy to miss completion points, and when you are only using Buddy's location list as a guide, you will miss a lot of things!

You are also given a lot of on-screen options which will greatly affect future events, to the point of blocking off complete locations. Nothing is necessarily a wrong choice, but if you want "100% Complete" in one playthrough, there are definitely wrong choices!

While I can see how needing a checklist can make the game feel like a "chore", since you're looking at a to-do list, I think the reward is worth it. (I also just really like lists. *shrug*) My point is, using a guide guarantees you won't miss anything!

And I suppose I'm stressing this so much because I watched a gamer play Final Fantasy X-2 for the first time on Twitch. She did not follow a guide and, not surprisingly, she was unhappy with the game and admitted to not understanding the story.

I used the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster strategy guide by Brady Games and I used this 100% completion guide on GameFAQs as well as this one by KG21.

Graphics/Art

The game looks great and has one of the nicest menus I have ever seen in a video game! I think the menu is clearly defined and organized well. The outfits in this game are top tier and I always love seeing the transformation scenes (but only once, because we have battles to win!). I made a video just talking about the looks of Final Fantasy X-2, you can watch it here: Dresspheres Critique [video].

Music/Sound

One of the best soundtracks in the Final Fantasy series, and hands down the prettiest main menu/title menu theme. Yuna's Ballad is also very beautiful, the battle themes are fun, and I actually prefer the Besaid Island theme in this game than in Final Fantasy X.

There are two vocal songs: Real Emotion (the upbeat intro song) and 1,000 Words (the beautiful, melancholic song played later in the game). I think the movies that play with these songs are some of the prettiest scenes in the game! The music also helps highlight the Songstress dressphere.

Also, at the start and end of each battle, the girls have one-liners either pumping each other up or congratulating their win. They will also say something when a new event happens, such as when they acknowledge their first time wearing a dressphere. Paine in particular is quite funny when she first dons the Tonberry Mascot dressphere. 🤭

Overall

I love this game. I think it's adventurous, sad, mysterious, reflective, and inspiring. Yes, there are silly moments sprinkled in, but it's fine. This is a different time than Final Fantasy X! After all, Sin is gone.

While Sin may no longer attack, in his wake he left behind a haunting in the hearts of Spira. Individuals and communities are no longer connected from the universal fear they once felt, the glue that tied them together as one.

In Final Fantasy X-2, we see the people of Spira dealing with this new freedom from fear, joining groups to find identity and life purpose. From The Gullwings' perspective, specifically playing as Yuna, we witness Spira's grief, hatred, confusion, friendship, and healing, not just from those in the present but from the past, too.

As mentioned above, it's a story that plays out best when as much of the completion points can be achieved.

[olenoname]

Amethyst in Rikku's thief outfit

[aberooski]

Because I think about this far too much:

Yu-Gi-Oh GX characters as Final Fantasy classes in the context of my fic Sons of The Stars.

With explanations that might only actually make sense to me unless you've read the fic and played the FF games akaksk

Jaden - Thief

Fights with daggers/other short swords ninja sword if ur playing FFXII 👀 he doesn't ever actually steal anything except Jesse's heart 😏 but otherwise aligns well with the class imo. He's got the energy yet seriousness a lot of Thief characters in FF have Locke, Yuffie, Rikku, Zidane, etc, he's clever and agile, and he fights mainly for self defense and only if he has to. He tends to try a lot of stealth to get out of having to fight. Sneaky little man.

Alexis - Knight

Standard sword class, similar to Warrior. Fights with a two handed greatsword, and she chose to train herself to fight so that she could defend. That way she would be able to protect Atticus even though she'd left her station as princess of their dimension and was living in hiding on her own. She still cared about her people and wanted her brother to be safe, knowing there were people who wanted the royal family dead and gone. She'd rather protect the crown than be the crown in that sense.

Chazz - Warrior

Standard sword class similar to Knight. Fights with a one handed sword, but he didn't choose. He's been trained to fight to be a soldier for many years because of his family, and is being trained to fight to fight. Unlike Alexis, it was all about the glory for him because there was no other choice. He gained favor with Crowler, chancellor of their dimension, being so young and yet so highly skilled, which only ultimately put more pressure on him by his family to be the greatest warrior in their entire dimension. A feat which he attained by the time of the fic, when the J-Squad was only 17 years old.

Bastion - Black Mage

Not a dedicated Black Mage since he uses spells like Protect and Shell during the fic and even a standard Cure spell, but his main source of defense is his magic. His main elemental type would be water cuz water dragon ofc but he's only seen casting Thundara, Blizzara, and Thundaga during the events of the fic. And obviously as a Black Mage, he carries around a cool wizard staff 😌

Jesse - Summoner

Fairly straightforward, his main source of combat is summoning his Crystal Beasts and providing support to the others on the field.

Hassleberry - Berserker

Again. It's Hassleberry so pretty straightforward. He manages to never lose control in SoTS he loses it in OUAD though but very much has the capacity to. Having suffered for 2 years pre-fic as a military experiment in his and Jim's dimension after the accident with his leg left him with his animalistic side due to the dinosaur bone in his leg, and their scientists attempting to strip him of his humanity in order to weaponize him because they're fucking terrible people. Thx for breaking him outta there Jim 😭 Though he also aligns a little with the Monk class as well since like characters like Yang, Sabin, Tifa, Zell, and Snow, who in tradition FF job systems would fall under that class, his weapon is his fists 😌

Jim - Beastmaster

He'd also potentially fall under FFV's Chemist class since he's a scientist of sorts in the fic, or maybe even Geomancer dipping into his archeology and paleontology guy stuff. But factoring in Shirley, I'd sooner class him as a Beastmaster/Tamer.

Axel - Freelancer

Guy's a mercenary, he can do anything. If he had a weapons specialty, he'd be a Gunner/Machinist he literally gives Jim a gun before the final battle with Yubel, but he's a jack of all trades. He just kinda does whatever he feels like it or whatever is best to get the job done.

Bonus since he's extremely important to the fic but isn't actually a party member:

Syrus - White Mage

Sy actually was originally supposed to be an actual party member since he's my favorite character oh wow, I wonder why he's so important to the plot, like the fate of the entire universe hinges upon his safety 🤔 but it just didn't really end up happening, and considering his position in the fic it unfortunately makes sense to me that he isn't. But whether in the context of this fic or in canon, or literally any context, Sy is the team White Mage. Stereotypically a very weak and squishy, low defense/low attack class which I mean... yeah. But I've always thought he'd have a very strong magic stat which most White Mage's do Rosa, Porom, Aerith, Garnet, Eiko, Yuna (literally the strongest magic stat in FFX), Vanille and if he was able to be a party member he'd the team healer. Who can also tear holes in the space time continuum to open portals to travel through dimensions 😌

[meatymidnightmultiverse]

Rikku trying to be romantic for Claire but just getting stuck in the vat of cake batter she was guzzling from to bulk up for her.

Claire snickers a bit upon seeing her stuck in there, but her heart skips several beats and her face is glowing hot. Give her a few moments as she admired how much the thief did just to wow her when her just being herself is plenty... Then she's going to help get her free.

[the-seraphim-weep]

I ended up doing a redesign of Yuna’s Thief dressphere too

I really like Rikku’s original design tho

Not a big fan of Paine’s thief dressphere so I did a messy redesign sketch

[zeldamomoe]

Happy anniversary to Final Fantasy X-2! 🥰

[devileaterjaek]

Rikku

[hubmuses]

rikku could feel a bit like she should've maybe made the time to introduce herself better. maybe as a gullwing , or maybe as a thief. though the latter was easily explained already in itself.

"No doubt you know this, girl, but that bracelet hiding behind your back is worth more than what I could reasonably fetch from selling you."

" uh huh. . . " she retorted. her eyes squinting as she thought of exactly what her next move would be, " you mean this bracelet ?? " she slipped the bracelet in the space between them. dangling it from her fingers. looking from the jewelry to his eyes for any sign that she was getting under his skin. her tongue sticking out when he mentioned he could get a higher price for selling her, " it doesn't look that expensive. " she proclaimed , lying through her teeth.

" but if you think I'd get alot from it . . . " she smiled. pulling the bracelet back behind her back. gleefully rocking back on her shoes , pulling up her own ideas that maybe if he said something nice to her she'd give it back. wearing that sortve expression on her face. not quite feeling like making it any less difficult for @xkuja that day.

continued.

[ofmoonlily]

Yunie!! - sprinting towards Yuna with guards yelling angrily behind. clearly they are yelling that she is a ' thief ' and stole something;

FREE ASK | Always accepting | @spherethief

"A- What? Oh!" Had she been prepared for the sudden frenzy of angry yevonite monks riding the blonde's rear, Yuna would have had secured an exit to get both of them out of harms way. It was just like Rikku to turn a quiet moment of respite into a loud, obnoxious display. She just couldn't help herself when it came to something shiny to swipe. Or so it appeared.

Well! Had Yuna retained any of her mannerisms as a summoner, she would have implored Rikku to return what she swiped.

However...

"Rikku! I'm open!" Yuna bolts in front of an exit and holds up her hands in an attempt to have Rikku toss the stolen item to her and shake off the monk's favorable attention they held firm on the thief. They were getting out of this one way or another.

No one messes with the Gullwings!

[thecodeveronica]

I think Dissidia is kinda dead as a FF spin-off (Opera Omnia on mobile notwithstanding) after NT was so bad, but ugghghgghgh I want a new Dissidia game SO MUCH in the style of the PSP ones, with a heavy emphasis on singleplayer content again while also having online multiplayer like NT did.

SO I'm gonna wishlist what I'd want to cope with my sadness that it'll never happen (and spoilers for maybe multiple FF games are to follow, maybe, idk, I'm typing this off the top of my head):

STORY: Just reboot the whole thing. Nobody cared about the new gods they added in the Arcade and NT games, but the story of Chaos and Cosmos was kinda done, so just start the whole thing over fresh like the others never happened. Be freed of the shackles of the convoluted plot of the past, and create a new convoluted story lol.

Now, what I think would be cool would be some kind of partner system in the story. Two characters having to fight together and if one got defeated the other goes too. Would make for interesting interactions between characters from different games, both as partners and as having to outlast the other groups? I'm not sure what the end goal would be, but picking off characters pair-by-pair would be kinda fun IMO, even more so if some heroes had to be paired with villains. Maybe each pair that gets eliminated in some form (not "killing" per se, but you know) feeds the crystals energy for... something... that the gods want... yeah, I dunno.

Also, the pair thing would be more of a story thing than for gameplay. Keep the assist system from Dissidia 012 and have where the partners are assists in the story, but in other modes you could just pick whoever as an assist. And have some bonus, assist-only character like Aerith was in 012. I always found it wild that she was literally the ONLY assist-only character in that game and that they didn't do more as DLC. Surprising level of restraint from SQEX.

-----------

ROSTER: Keep MOSTLY everyone who was in past games, including NT. I say "mostly" because I would trash Onion Knight and replace him with Luneth from the DS remake of FFIII. Sorry, I just have always hated Onion Knight's design and smarmy voice when FFIIIDS had better protag designs right there for the taking.

Some additions (in a reasonable number) for already-represented titles I'd add are:

Nothing for Final Fantasy I, II, III, V, or VI, sorry lol. The latter two already had 3 fighters anyway so they're fine. Also nothing for XI (never played it), XII (don't care about it and Vayne is already in from NT and he's the only one really worth it anyway), or XIV (never played it, though I am kind of fond of Alphinaud just because I had all his gear in FFRK and Opera Omnia so I guess him if anyone haha)

Final Fantasy IV Rydia -would be similar-ish in concept to 012's Yuna playstyle, but with different summons obviously and more regular magic spells interspersed in the moveset. I dunno, I just felt like one of the older games needed something and IV is my favorite of the pre-PS1 games. After Years outfit would be an alt ------

Final Fantasy VII Vincent Valentine -mostly ranged fighter with his guns and shotgun, though honestly I put him here just because I think it'd be cool fighting as him lol. His EX Mode would be when he turns into those monsters like in his Limit Break in VII. Also I'd love for him to have his Turk suit as an alt ------

Final Fantasy IX Beatrix -I actually kind of wanted Eiko or Garnet here but I'm not sure how they'd be different from all the other summoners either already in the games or that I want, so oof. Beatrix is cool and memorable and I think they could come up with something for her abilities in IX like Shock and all. Not sure what alt outfit she'd get since I don't remember her wearing anything else in IX? ------

Final Fantasy X Rikku -more of a X-2 rep in my mind since her thief dressphere would be her default IMO, but since she's in X as well I'll count her as both. Speedy melee attacker who would maybe swap to one or two other dresspheres for different attacks. Alt would obviously be her X outfit, though I'd also like her Songstress dressphere because I always though hers was cute. ------

Final Fantasy XIII Serah Farron -like Rikku, Serah is more of a stealth FFXIII-2 rep, but she was in XIII regardless so yeah. She'd obviously be able to switch between the bow and sword form of her weapon, and have some magic, probably Saboteur stuff because that's what I associate with her. XIII outfit as an alt for sure, though she also had some cute DLC outfits in XIII-2 that'd be cool

also in regard to XIII-2, I think it's kind of whack that Caius didn't get in as the XIII villain slot and they went with LR!Snow instead in NT, but I don't know that I'd replace Snow since I love his Lightning Returns design and he has that sick ice scythe, so RIP Caius, you deserved better.... ------

Final Fantasy XV Ardyn Izunia -super obvious choice, to give XV an antagonist. Also because I think we all pretty much like Ardyn, right? He's cool, and I think he'd be great to see in cutscenes in a new Dissidia. Not really much to say here since I think it's pretty easy to imagine how he'd play. Alt outfit would be his white robes look from how he was before the time of XV's story

Ignis Scientia -if I'm giving some games that already had 3 characters an extra one, then XV gets 4, too. Ignis deserves it most because he's my favorite of the non-Noctis Chocobros :) Could do his magic-infused daggers and all that, which is kind of untapped potential for Dissidia. Alt is obviously his timeskip look ------

Final Fantasy Type-0 Machina Kunagiri -the only realistic option for an "antagonist" from Type-0 IMO. EX Mode would be his White Tiger l'Cie appearance. Also, his dual-wielded drill sword... things... are pretty cool and I think would be fun in battle. Alt outfit of the summer Akademia uniform

Kurasame Susaya -LISTEN I love Type-0 and I'll do what I want here and add a 4th character. And I love Kurasame SO MUCH and so he's here because I say so. Plus, Ice Reaper? Ice magic and an ice blade and his Absolute Zero attack? HELLO? He would be so cool to fight as in Dissidia. Alt outfit would be his past look when he was an Akademia student

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NEW GAMES NOT ALREADY REPRESENTED IN THE SERIES:

World of Final Fantasy Lann & Reynn (yes, together) -I also LOVE WoFF so I have to give it respect here. I'd have where you swap between Lann and Reynn (think Sheik/Zelda in the older Smash games), each with their own little monsters that they send out to fight. And Lann would have maybe a claw attack while Reynn uses her dagger. Not sure on alt outfits though

Final Fantasy XVI Clive Rosfield -duh, the main character has to be here, but also I like Clive a lot so that's A-OK with me :) He'd be in his appearance from when he is 33, because frankly he's hot there and it is his best look by far. Would play taking advantage of his multiple Eikon abilities, like having an attack from each one since his big defining trait as a Dominant was being able to use all the other Eikons' powers. EX Mode would be when he is semi-primed, then the burst would be Ifrit attacking. Alt would be his outfit that got added in the update (the black one), or maybe his 15-year-old outfit but like... refitted for his older self? That might be kind of cool

Barnabas Tharmr -between him and Ultima for the XVI villain slot, but Dissidia seems to like to err on the side of the more "human" looking characters, so Barnabas it is. Odin is SUPER COOL in XVI so I think he'd be a great fit honestly! His EX Mode would be when is semi-primed with Odin obviously. I dunno what alt outfit he'd have though? I thought his knight looking outfit, but that's kind of already being used for the EX Mode, so uhh... huh

Joshua Rosfield -3rd slot for XVI. This is totally favoritism to take him over Jill, but to be fair, Joshua is like, a LOT more actually important to the plot and practically the deuteragonist of the game IMO. And I can't separate my Rosfields man, you just don't do that. Since Clive would be focused on all the Eikons, Joshua would instead be the main "Warden of Fire" rep here and use Phoenix-related powers. Phoenix Shift maybe could just be his (though I know that power is very Noctis warpstrike-y, but they'd play different enough otherwise I think), some kind of Flames of Rebirth attack, and overall be more magic-oriented than his brother. EX Mode is, again, semi-priming with Phoenix, with the burst being legit Phoenix attacking. Alt as his extra outfit from that recent update, though I think giving him a modified version of his prologue outfit (just, ya know, redesigned to not look stupid on an adult) would be cute. Or a riff on Elwin's outfit since Joshua was to be the next leader of Rosaria

--------

STAGES

Just a short run-through, since most would just be returning from before

FFI - Castle Cornelia FFII - Pandaemonium FFIII - Crystal Tower FFIV - Lunar Subterrane (this is one of my fave Dissidia stages btw) FFV - Interdimensional Rift FFVI - Narshe Outskirts FFVII - Planet's Core (Midgar was too confusing in NT, hated it) FFVIII - Promised Meadow FFIX - Alexandria FFX - Dream's End (I liked Besaid in NT too, but I think I liked the PSP stage more) FFXI - Empyreal Paradox (never played XI but this place is SO PRETTY) FFXII - Rabanastre FFXIII - Sunleth Waterscape (Orphan's Cradle in 012 and Eden in NT both kinda sucked and I think this is more visually distinctive) FFXIV - Porta Decumana FFXV - Insomnia (I would make this stage set at night this time tho) FFT - Orbonne Monastery FFType-0 - Akademeia Courtyard (with the Tempus Finis background) New Stages:

World of Final Fantasy - Nine Woods Hill FFXVI - Twinside (this is a tough choice; I think Twinside is associated with one of the best segments of the game and visually pretty, though I considered Rosalith or that Interdimensional Rift where Ultima starts lore dumping on Clive and Joshua)

-------

SHOOT I meant to mention maybe Zack as a Crisis Core rep, but honestly I guess VII has plenty and I don't know how much different he'd play than Cloud, so never mind. I feel like Zack deserves a slot, though, you know what I mean?

On a related note, I also think Marche Radiuju from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (FFTA my beloved) would be nice, but I have no delusions that he'd ever have a shot, and to be fair, even in my own fantasy roster, I feel like he'd be kinda weird to have in-game from a story perspective when he was from a "real world" type situation. If you played that game, you get it

[jessjustplay]

How To Beat the Via Infinito Bosses in Final Fantasy X-2

March 28, 2024

I have played Final Fantasy X-2 since I was a kid, but I have never made it through all 100 levels of the Via Infinito dungeon. I have always stopped at Cloister 20 because this dungeon is tough!

However, this time around I decided I would actually attempt to beat all the bosses, including the scary Paragon and super scary Trema. (999,999 HP!?!)

Younger Me would be ecstatic to know that I actually did it! And while it was hard, it wasn't THAT bad. It just takes patience and strategy. Here's what I did for each boss fight.

Cloister 20 - Aranea (18,280 HP/178 MP)

Yuna: Berserker, Rikku: Psychic, Paine: Festivalist Character levels: in the 50's to 60's range This is just a typical boss fight. I attacked and healed as necessary.

Cloister 40 - Black Elemental (9,999 HP/2,380 MP)

Yuna: Berserker, Rikku: Songstress, Paine: Festivalist Character levels: mid to high 70's This one was super hard until I switched Rikku to a Songstress. I had her "dance" the ability "Magical Masque" which nullifies all magical attacks while she's dancing. This stopped Black Elemental from causing any damage. While Rikku danced, I had Yuna and Paine quickly attacking until it died.

Cloister 60 - Concherer (343,280 HP/170 MP)

Yuna: Thief, Rikku: Dark Knight, Paine: Dark Knight Character levels: in the 80's range I equipped Thief Yuna with Cat Nip (causes 9,999 damage when HP is low) and a Haste Bangle (Auto-Haste when HP is low). I put Rikku and Paine as Dark Knights because I needed them to have high defense. I was also using Rikku and Paine as my item healers whenever necessary. Thief is very fast and with their 2 daggers, they are hitting 9,999 twice each turn.

Cloister 80 - Chac (437,850 HP/820 MP)

Yuna (Lvl 87): Thief, Rikku (Lvl 89): Mascot, Paine (Lvl 92): Mascot SOUL SPRINGS or MANA SPRINGS are a must! Thief Yuna has Cat Nip and Haste Bangle (see above), and Rikku and Paine are both wearing the Mascot dressphere. They were equipped with HP+ accessories and Speed Bracers which casts Auto-Haste. Chac is super fast so having Auto-Haste helps! I didn't have any Soul Springs but I did have 7 Mana Springs. They both take MP away from the enemy. I tossed 4 Mana Springs and depleted Chac's MP enough to where she could not cast Heaven's Cataract anymore. This is a game-changer because it deals so much damage to all 3 characters. You still have to be fast enough to cure Petrification (because the Ribbon is useless, unfortunately) but besides that, having Heaven's Cataract gone makes this battle a lot easier. You also have to get lucky that she doesn't Petrify your Cat Nip + Haste Thief! (Or at least be fast enough to heal them!) The first time I beat Chac, Rikku was obliterated and Paine died, Yuna survived and she was able to evade all of Chac's attacks and eventually took her down alone. But I wasn't happy with that, so I played it again and successfully kept all 3 girls alive!! (That's why I say you have get lucky, but it IS possible to keep all 3 girls alive.)

Cloister ∞ - Paragon (200,000 HP/9,999 MP)

Yuna (Lvl 96): Mascot, Rikku (Lvl 98): Thief, Paine (Lvl 99): Mascot I switched Rikku to a Thief because I wanted to use the Moogle Mascot's white magic. I kept Paine as a Mascot and had her using the Cactling Gun ability (causes 9,999 damage each time).

Yuna and Paine were equipped with an Oath Veil (Magic Defense +60) and a Ribbon. I also equipped the Higher Power Garment Grid because it allowed them to break the HP limit. Immediately at the start of the fight, I used a Chocobo Wing (casts Haste on the party) and a Stamina Tonic (doubles the party's HP). Then I used X-potions to raise their HP to around 12,000. Yuna focuses on healing with Moogle Cure, and they both throw Phoenix Downs at Rikku whenever necessary.

Rikku had Cat Nip and a Haste Bangle equipped as well as the Highroad Winds Garment Grid (First Strike). She was hitting 9,999 attacks twice each turn.

Cloister ∞ - Trema (999,999 HP/999 MP)

Yuna (Lvl 96): Mascot, Rikku (Lvl 98): Thief, Paine (Lvl 99): Mascot Immediately after defeating Paragon, you are thrown into a fight with Trema. Yuna died in the previous fight so I had to QUICKLY use a Phoenix Down, then Chocobo Feather and Stamina Tonic + X-Potion. I also used Elixers and Turbo Ethers because Paine's Cactling Gun uses up a lot of MP. Rikku was doing the same as before, she was just attacking each turn. Yuna's focus was ONLY to cure this time. Whenever she or Paine were around 6,000 HP I would use an X-Potion or Elixir. Around 9,000 I would use Moogle Cure to bump them back to around 12,000. Thankfully the Mascot dresspheres have incredible defense and magic defense (plus the added Oath Veils +60 magic defense helped a ton.) This was very much a slow and steady match, but very possible!

[starvingtongue]

i'm not giving you shit 'til you give me some answers. [ for paine. ♥ ]

'and I'm not giving you answers until you give me my shit back'. the retort was on the tip of her tongue and almost spilled out of her lips, but Paine held it back. if it had been Rikku, she might have let the words tumble out of her mouth in a quip the blonde thief deserved. but she wasn't dealing with Rikku here, it was Yuna. one of the last people Paine thought would stand in front of her and demand answers.

an almost frustrated sigh escaped her lips, though she managed to reign in the frustration so it sound more exasperated, as she turned away from her companion. lips pressed together, almost forming a thin line, as her eyes downcast themselves, head tilting to one side. gloved fingers clasped and unclasped, then rose so that her fingers could thread together. as much as she hated to admit it, Yuna was right. it wasn't fair to keep all the answers to herself. not after all they'd been through.

Yuna deserved better. they were supposed to be friends, right?

she turned, hands still threaded together. a sign of worry, of exploring emotions and feelings that she was accustomed to keeping silent, only occasionally letting slip via a sarcastic or blunt remark. Yuna didn't deserve those remarks either. countless times she had shown compassion to the warrior, respecting the secrets Paine badly wanted to keep close to her chest, not wanting to show weakness or allow others to see the past she'd been desperately chasing. now it was the warrior's turn to show the same kindness, letting Yuna a little closer to her true thoughts and feelings. it had been worth it during their time together as the Gullwings, it would be worth it now. it had been a hard lesson to learn then, but one that she was inevitably grateful for.

"It's a memento." the words left her mouth. they had danced on her tongue before, but not she finally let them loose. crimson eyes danced downward to Yuna's hands. "From the Crimson Squad." she'd kept it hidden for this long. managed to sneak it aboard the airship and kept it from prying fingers. it had been her one reminder, sans the scar, that it had happened. that it hadn't been a bad dream, a waking nightmare, or something she'd imagined. that she'd made those connections in the first place. that she'd gotten something good out of it all. something good instead of bad memories and a nostalgic sense of the person she'd lost.

"It was the first thing I made without Gippal's help."