Thursday, September 25, 2014

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy VIII (SquareSoft, 1999; Playstation): Issue #012: o/~ Winhill, Winhill/No one should... o/~


Yeah, I'm still around, still doing this. It's been kind of a weird, and actually kind of sad, month for me. I hadn't intended to let this game go for as long as I have, but time and circumstances had other plans, it would seem.

At any rate, when we left off last time, it seemed as though Squall had pretty much gotten himself and his team killed when they tried to kill the Sorceress. They're not actually dead, of course, as we'll be getting back to them in a bit. For now, though, we get a bit of screen time with Laguna and Kiros. Their timeline has advanced about a year, more or less, since their near-fatal escape from Eshtar. A little girl named Ellone has come to tell Laguna that he has a visitor at the bar next door. Laguna gets upset with her because the town's been infested by monsters and he doesn't want her to get hurt by them.

At the bar, run by a lady named Raine, who's Ellone's mom, Laguna and Kiros catch up on old times, talking about what they've been up to since they and Ward quit the military after their escape from Eshtar a year or so before. Considering how badly they'd been busted up, I would have thought a medical discharge or something would have been in order, but I guess they actually had to resign their commissions. Then again, I guess I'm just as surprised that they didn't get some sort of dishonorable discharge for all the screwing around they did the last couple times we saw them.

Laguna first sees that Ellone gets to the bar safely and then goes after her on his own. Kinda weird, considering how concerned he was before, but then again, I guess he didn't want to have her in battle with him, either. All that's there to fight are Catterchipillers and Bite Bugs.

Once Laguna and Kiros catch up on what happened to Julia and Ward, there's a third option about “Where am I?” that's supposed to be from Squall or whoever keeps getting replaced by Laguna, who says that “the fairies are here again.” Julia, it turns out, got married to that General Caraway guy Squall and the others were working with to do the hit on the Sorceress. The implication is that Rinoa is, therefore, the product of that union. Ward, meanwhile, had also quit the military and is mopping floors in someplace called the D-District Prison. We'll be headed there in a bit with the main party.

In the course of their patrol, there are a few Galbadian soldiers around Winhill who say they're worried about troops from Eshtar invading while all the able-bodied adults are fighting in the war. There's one guy who says he thinks that Laguna and Kiros should go back to the military. As it turns out, the few townsfolk still in Winhill all seem to want Laguna to get his ass out of town, too. On the way back to the bar, Kiros asks Laguna why he's still there instead of pursuing his dream of being a travel journalist. Kiros has even spoken to the chief editor at Timber Maniacs Magazine, which Squall and the others visited on their way to the television studio.

Back at the bar, Raine and Ellone have gone to their living quarters above the main serving area. They talk about how they want Laguna to stay with them even though he's a goofball and a roamer as he and Kiros listen in. After the guys reveal themselves to give their report, it's decided that they'll stay in Winhill for at least a little while longer.

Raine then tells Laguna that he should go take a nap before dinner and she'll come get him when it's ready. Fortunately, there's a save point here that I'm making use of, because if memory serves, once we use the bed, we'll be back with Squall and the main party, and it'll be awhile until we can save again.

One of the things that happened along the way is that Quetzacotl got an ability that allows for the upgrading of weak magic into the next level up. There's not much to be done with it now, but that'll come in handy in a bit, too. I also finished off Diablos's mug command, which comes in handy, too.

I had said I was thinking about doing a video update at the end of the last issue, but between things getting a little crazy on me and taking a little time to think about it, I decided that perhaps I'd be better off waiting until I get closer to the point where I usually wind up giving up on the game to do that. I'm not sure if I'll continue after that point, but I'll likely leave it at least partly up to the audience if I continue.

For now, though, we've got something of a prison break to orchestrate for Squall and the others. See you then folks.

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