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Chapter 5: There Was Difficulty... It's Gone Now
Spiffy outfit, bro.
Don't make me hate you like I do Nanami.
Final Fantasy VIII Tunes ~ Waltz for the Moon
Squall is that guy at a dance.
That really is the best name choice.
They really went the extra mile with a lot of the motions in this game ? the one that was talked about most coming up really soon.
Rejected.
: Sorry, I... ah... just remembered something! Gotta go! See ya!
No, no, god no get it away from me.
If I'm going to be the loner who doesn't say shit at the dance party, I'm going the extra mile with it.
At least she gets the point quicker than Zell.
Just one dance?
Dance with me? Let me guess... you'll only dance with someone you like. Ok then... look into my eyes... you're-going-to-like-me, you're-going-to-like-me... did it work?
You'll be fine. Come on.
Save the Last Dance: Squall's Electric Boogaloo 2
The last dance with Squall and mysterious black-haired woman was the talked-about movie sequence before FFVIII came out, and it's still one of the best-choreographed sequences Square has put out for games. It's short, sweet, and gets across their personalities pretty well. It's also where you can see the Hollywood-esque approach of FF8 really start to show.
: Thank you. ? Yes?
: So you'll dance with someone you don't even know, but can't stand being around me?
: ? Whatever. You're an instructor, and I'm your student. It's kind of awkward when you don't say anything.
: That's true. I was like that myself. Oh, I completely forgot. I wonder what's to become of me? I've come to give you an order. You and I are to go to the 'secret area.' It's where students secretly meet up and talk after curfew. It's inside the training center.
Make out/have sex, which is what she's totally not subtly implying at all.
: Are we going to tell everyone they're violating curfew? If that's the case, forget it. Leave that to the disciplinary committee.
: Go get changed and meet me at the training center, this is my last order.
Quistis teaches us about Status junctioning here, and tells us that the T-Rexaur is vulnerable to sleep. Not that I've fucking encountered one in an hour spent in the training center, but that's good information.
You can only junction status magic here, and you can either stack resistance to one effect in your two armor slots, or split it evenly, the top one adding the status effect to your attack every time you strike.
Esuna however, covers the whole gamut of status effects but can never fully block all of them.
Final Fantasy VIII Tunes ? Fear ~ Training Center Theme
So we're back in the training center again. I always liked the music track here, reminded me of Sector 5 slums.
T-Rexaurs are tough, but I'm tougher. They drop 10 AP per kill, and have a few thousand HP. They're hellaciously weak to Ice, though, so Shiva will tear through them. It is, however, good to get T-Rexaur cards as you can refine them into Dino Bones. If you're playing the game normally, it'd be best to run from these enemies, as they are physically stronger than most any other enemy on the first disc.
Final Fantasy VIII Tunes ? Tell Me ~ Quistis' Theme
Ever since like two years ago...
: It's after midnight.
: Oh well... I, Quistis Trepe, am no longer an instructor as of now!
: ? Oh really?
: Is that all you're going to say?
: If that's how it was decided, you have to abide by it.
: They told me that I failed as an instructor, that I lacked leadership qualities. I was a SeeD by the age of 15, instructor by the age of 17... it's only been a year.
: Are you done yet... ? I don't want to talk about it.
A lot of the issues with Squall is that he comes off as a complete fucking asshole most of the game. He's cold, impersonal, and douchebaggy, and even though he does grow a little out of it, the amount that you're subjected to leaves a permanent stain on his character. And when you don't like the main character, what's the point?
: I'm not asking you to say anything. I just want you to listen.
: Then go talk to a wall.
: Everyone has to take care of themselves. I don't want to carry anyone's burden.
In the end, you're the only one left giving a shit about this woman, because no one in the game seems to.
On our way out of the training center, though, someone cries out for help.
The gift that keeps on giving.
The Granaldo and three Raldo's fight is really easy. The Raldos have Protect, if you wanted that spell, and the Granaldo has Shell. However, what we really want here is Blind. Let's get a ton of Blind.
The Granaldo mainly attacks by picking up its Raldos and throwing them at you, until you kill them. Once they're gone, it'll stick to physically attacking you and doing jack shit.
'
and then I killed the boss for 8 times its health.
: Who was that... ?
The Granaldo fight gives us Wizard Stones, which we can craft into Thundaga, Firaga, or Blizzaga. All great spells for Junctioning.
: ? Says who?
: We're both members of SeeD now, and guess what, we get our own rooms, baby!! Your new room's right across the hall from your old one.
That's not as huge of a change as I figured it would be, given Zell's reaction. Oh, you're a mercenary now? Your new room's just five feet from your old one.
Our first mission as SeeD is going to Timber, but we've got some stuff to do beforehand.
So you go up in SeeD levels due to doing various things. Each time, you're paid money. This is the primary source of gil in the game. Each time your characters kill an enemy, you get 1 SeeD exp (100 for levelup); although alternative sources of kills (like most GFs, aside from two special ones) do not count. You lose 10 SeeD exp every time you are paid. Each time you take a SeeD exam, your level is rounded up to the next rank. Fixed events raise or lower your SeeD rank, usually by 100 exp or so.
First we pick this up, which we're going to sell.
There are mysterious foes in FF8 that lead you on a sidequest, the PuPu sidequest. We'll get into that later.
Zell, always ready for the mission.
And then Zell lost his super-cool hovering skateboard.
I sure do love resistance factions! Do we get to blow up a nuclear reactor? We learn the code phrase is, ?The forests of Timber sure have changed.? And we reply, ?But the owls are still around.?
Before we leave, we pick up the Magic Lamp. An item that scares most first-time players.
Using the Magic Lamp,
Diablos is scary because his physical attack is strong, but he's weak to Blind. Use Blind on him and there's little chance he can kill you.
He's also affected by his own gravity magic.
He uses Demi back, but can also use Gravija; a party-wide Demi that takes off 3/4ths of your health.
Afterward, we get his Card and him as a GF.
Diablos is great for two reasons: One, Time Magic Refinement, which includes... Triple! And Enc-Half/Enc-None (Enc- stands for Encounter, nixing random battles), the savior of low-level players who want to never have to worry about anything again.
Then we make sure Ifrit has this ready to learn, because Str Bonus is fantastic on your strength-based fighters like Squall.
Ah ha. Ahahahahahhahahahha....
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...
Overkill? What's that?
Not done yet.
Everyone, with the exception of Zell for just a short while, has mega HP. Still not done...
This isn't breaking the game, just cheating. If you have a walkthrough for all the SeeD tests, you can raise your own rank to the max, level 30, and reap the gil rewards.
So these tests ask you basic to difficult questions about the game, but you can find a FAQ about it and not have to really worry about it. Also, you can't abuse the test levels until your own level is the same as the test level. Since Squall is at level 12 at the moment, we can only take up to the level 12 test of 30, so right now we'll have to be content with a SeeD rank of 19.
Next, we go and get another of Squall's weapons since we can.
Good to see you Zell, you look stronger every time I see you.
: Well yeah, I guess so. Been ragin' up a storm all over the place.
That's.. very good, but... here, in Balamb... my boy's doing the same. Trying to be just like you.
: Yo, so are you sayin' it's my fault?
Anyway, who said we were stopping there with weapon upgrades? We can't get this yet, but now I have the materials for yet another Squall weapon.
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This is a whole 'nother world of complexity.