owlmoose | X-2 gameblogging: Chapter 2 and the start of Chapter 3

So actually I played most of Chapter 2 awhile ago, but then I came up against that battle with Baralai near the end of the chapter, and for some reason I couldn't beat him. And then I didn't have time to play again for a few weeks, so the project feel away for a bit. But tonight I was spacing out online and couldn't focus enough to write, so I decided to play a bit. Now, I don't know why Baralai gave me so much trouble before, because this evening I wiped the floor with him. Then I went on to beat Bahamut, and then the battles at Besaid Temple and Kilika Temple. Of course, I forgot that Kilika is the battle that triggers your being forced to Djose, so I ended up wiping out most of that battle and going back to an older save. But beating those demon things was a lot easier with Alchemist (somehow I never found Alchemist the first time I played the game), so I don't anticipate having any trouble when I go back.

Thoughts on Chapter 2: Wow, I had forgotten just what an annoying, imperious ass Beclem is. Since I've been writing him lately, I've been tending to think of him as more sympathetic, but it was good to remind myself what he looks like to an outsider. Still baffled by Cid's dramatic reaction to being dressed down by Yuna -- the turnaround is so sudden, and so complete. Weird. Nooj and Paine outside the Den of Woe: oh yeah. All the tension I remembered and more, not to mention how quickly Rikku and Yuna pick up on it. I also watched Nooj and Leblanc's interaction in the chateau quite carefully, and I have to say, he seems pretty dismissive of her. The tone in which he says "You take care" as he takes his leave? It's polite, but not particularly warm. If there's anything going on there, it can't mean much to him. The interaction between Paine and Baralai beneath Bevelle is also more telling than I remembered: when he brings up Nooj, Paine turns to look straight at him and looks flabbergasted. "You talked to Nooj?" It's as though she's dropped all pretense of not knowing them in that moment, because that possibility is just so shocking to her.

Sphere Break is next, and the rest of Chapter 3. Hopefully this time it won't be months before I can pick it up again!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wow, I’ve forgotten a lot. I’m steeling myself to replay this game, despite all my IRATE ASSERTIONS otherwise, if for nothing else than to get my money’s worth out of it.

But Sphere Break—it burns! To be fair, I totally skipped that mofo. I think I ended up completing with 83% or something along those lines, and it appears I’ve entirely missed Paine’s backstory with the Crimson Squad. FAIL.

Get a guide and follow the guide so you miss nothing. XD

For me, the Crimson Squad bits were the most fleshed out parts of what little plot FFX-2 had. It really helps explain a lot about Shuyin's very nature as well. I too suggest you go back and replay with a guide so you can find all the spheres. Good luck! :D

Shuyin’s one of the few things I remember finding interesting about the story. I think I recall

hinikuish had a theory about him that surprised me, because I always thought he had a true connection to Tidus (as in Tidus was somehow the Fayth’s idealized version of Shuyin). I could be misrepresenting her, though! It’s been a while since we had that conversation.

Also, CLIFF. Hearts and things—but srsly.

She shared the same theory with me as well...interesting stuff. Like the fayth remembered Shuyin. That actually forms a plotbunny in my mind about there possibly being a version of Lenne in the fayth's dream somewhere, and Tidus meeting her at some point...

CLIFF! *fangirls* I usually don't go for the muscular, beefcake types, but DAMN XD ♥ ♥ ♥

God, I love SO3 (and SO2, but the situation’s even more dire with that fandom). I mean, WHERE IS IT? The torrent of fic? And don’t tell me at the Pit because, good gravy, it’s like a minefield of crap over there. UNLESS YOU KNOW SOMETHING I DON’T, in which case I’m entreating you to spit it out!

Also, Luther. I love him. I DON’T KNOW WHY.

As for theories: if I’m remembering right, she doesn’t think there’s a substantial connection between Shuyin and Tidus. She knows way more about the canon than I do, so to hear that filled me with woe. I’ll have to ask her! I’ve been known to have STRANGE IDEAS about what people have said in the past.

No, sadly I fear the SO section of the Pit is just as bad as the Final Fantasy sections ;_; SO3 is plagued by HS!AUs, something I've ranted about at

fanficrants before because of the drastic age differences in the cast; the fantwits tend to put Fayt, Cliff, and Albel in the same grade *slaps forehead* Cliff's like what? 36? And I think Albel's about 24. And Fayt's 19, and in college. And as far as I can tell, the fandoms kinda dead on LJ, I was a member of

so_watch for a while and nothing interesting ever cropped up.

Luther is rather...pretty. Batshit, but pretty and silver-haired, like all good SquareEnix villains XD

With any luck she'll be back online tonite, if the UPS guy would come with her modem before she leaves for work -_-

YES. That’s what took me aback at the Pit: the preponderance of high-school AUs in a fandom in which a good portion of the cast is significantly older than high-school-age kids. WHUTEVER, FANDOM. Is that even the best crack a totally meta game like SO3 can offer? I don’t think so.

Though I did once find a really interesting post-game fic with Luther and Fayt, the author of which was a shipper, but not the piece itself. So, yeah, basically: my score in the SO3 fandom is 32904290 to 1 at this point. sobs!

I’ll check out

so_watch; I’m as surprised as you it’s all of a sudden active, even if it is Albel/Fayt. Ugh!

ETA: Ooh, seems the mod at

so_watch has gotten their act together and actually updated. Still not a lot of Cliff-centric fic, lots of Fayt/Luther and Fayt/Albel though *boring*

Not to pile on ;) but I have to agree -- use a walkthrough, at least to get all the Crimson Spheres and Paine's backstory. Now, one might argue that if the game requires a walkthrough to get all the important story, it's a poorly designed game, and I might not argue. It's one of the downsides of non-linear game. A trade-off, I guess, since the non-linearity of X-2 is one of the things I liked about it.

I am a freak because I actually like Sphere Break. But then, I have been known to do math puzzles for fun. ;) I may be the only person on the planet who prefers Sphere Break to blitzball -- when we played FFX, I made T do all the blitz stuff.

That’s the thing! I’m one of those players who don’t use strategy guides; I find the challenge a lot of fun. So I basically end up ranting and raving and abusing my controller a lot, but then I finish up the game and think, Bwah!

Is Sphere Break anything like the card game in FFVIII? I got so addicted to that it wasn’t even funny. I was just burnt out on minigames by the time Sphere Break was an option, probably.

X-2 is heavy on the mini-games, and some are definitely better than others. Sphere Break is a pure math game. I don't remember much about the FFVIII card game because I was really bad at it, so I've blocked it all out. :P I did a lot better in FFIX in that respect.

I like some challenge in a game, too (that was my problem with KH2 -- way too easy), and never use walkthroughs the first time through. I don't think you lose the challenge of X-2 with a walkthrough, though; it'll just help you find some of the fussy things that can get you into trouble with it, like the aforementioned issue with losing almost all of the plot and sidequests in Chapter 3 if you go to Kilika too soon.

Triple Triad’s the shiz, AND I WON’T HEAR ONE WORD OTHERWISE. Exclamation mark!

My dirty sekrit? I’ve never played FFIX. Please don’t tell anybody! And I hear you about KH2. For all its majorly awesome button-pressing and clothes-changing, I finished that game in an absurd amount of time. When I buy a game, I want to be able to sink a solid fifty hours into it, at the least.

And FFX-2 can doubtless offer that. I think I did go to Kilika too soon. It’s just one of the myriad ways in which I fail, really!

I remember Baralai being pretty hard the first time I fought him. I didn't think he was going to be all that difficult ("girly man" FTW), but that bastard's fast.

Alchemist is the best dressphere ever, once I learned Mega-Potion I never used White Mage again.

I think if Nooj were truly a Deathseeker, he'd go ahead and date LeBlanc. Five minutes alone with her and he's have a gun pointed to his head for sure.

I love Alchemist. I found it on my first New Game Plus and I hardly ever swapped Rikku out of it. Find the Mug garment grid and you're set.

Yeah, Baralai is fast, and (as Paine suggests in an aside) tougher than he looks. One of the things I love about him. :) My mistake the first time was trying to use dresspheres that I wanted to level up rather than just whacking him with magic. ;)

X-2 gameblogging: Chapter 2 and the start of Chapter 3

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