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[personal profile] kradeelav

i started ff9 last night!!!! it is adorable!!  :D
 


  • for some reason it feels weirdly zelda-y in its relatively light JRPG-y ness, so of course all the swear words throw me for a loop every time because I keep expecting a game with its tone to be super tame lmao # best problems
    • that alleyway in Alexandria gives me major Hyrule Castle town feels so much that I automatically assume something’s bad going to happen there at some point.
    • ngl it also feels MM-y in the vibe in I can just tell it’s going to get very surreal, very fast.  Since the airship just crashed in the forest (under the clouds?), it’s probably happening
  • lol y’all are not kidding when you said zidane is a hilariously cute womanizer, but it’s a wholesome kind.  when garnet was all “okay FINE stop trying to kidnap/rescue me on your own terms, ……….. can you kidnap me *for* me instead? he was all ‘….SURE! :DD” it was comical.
  • magic-as-a-bomb and vivi and the general aesthetic taste is something that could never be dreamed up these days holy jesus - it’s one of those worlds that’s so enticingly put together and sincere but also batshit insane when you describe it.
  • god those backgrounds are pretty

 

 

  • gameplay-wise starting to get the hang of it; Black Waltz #1 is the only boss that’s given me any real rough time where I had to look up a guide briefly to see if I had missed something (i did, lol, what even were dynes); #2 + #3 got pleasantly smashed to bits.  I am … surprised I haven’t seen Black Waltz #3 cosplays because holy shit that’s a cool design
  • aesthetically i’m starting to see some reoccurring trends just in FF in general - “just add wings” to critters, gorgeous backdrops and ENTIRELY EXTRA castle-cities that maybe don’t make quite as much sense realistically as you think, most scenes and even battles staged like a theatre play, etc. It’s actually quite funny to in-hindsight, guess who was a FF fan in the long term, because it absolutely shows in their art/fics.
    • actually my only real critique of this game at this point is that it’s hard to read the facial expressions of the main dears when they’re in any setting outside of a cutscene; FE had the excellent workaround of sprites that switched up the expressions, and they still had body language in the overland sprites.  It’s a small thing, but taking most of the emotional cues from the written words definitely feels like another “yes it’s intentionally meant to evoke a play+script-as-a-game” more than other series, if that makes sense.
  • oh my god vivi’s “doll” scene was fucked up.
  • i am kind of digging this trend where it’s all roses and adventure hijinks for a bit then a “WHAT THE SHIT” your-adorable-comrade-is-a-soulless-mass-produced-war-machine fridge horror reveal, more adventures, then “WHAT THE FUCKKKKK” (aka the regent being transformed into a bug(?) that easily and the existential crisis that goes along with it). 
    • relatedly I have the vague knowledge-shape of spoilers that it’s definitely going to get worse and Kuja’s there somewhere re: the Queen, but otherwise going into this unspoiled, and old games don’t disappoint with their twists.  :P
  • re: characters, I don’t think I have a favorite yet - I kept thinking it would be Steiner and while he’s hilarious and I love how he worships Vivi’s feet, I’m more enjoying them as a gang, if that makes sense?  Freya has a good chance of becoming it, tho - she’s giving me serious Jill vibes.

 

 

  • extremely here for this italian water/shadow temple vibe of Burmecia + the grotto
    • honestly dig the settings that go extra metal about whatever element/biome they’re set in; it’s one of the things i missed keenly about BoTW (no a single town in the middle of nowhere does not count) and this is filling my parched soul
    • got an abhorsen vibe too what with the bells and the vaguely undead vibe, mmmmmyas
    • (listen i love well designed environments that give a single shit about AESTHETIC. like i know the trendy thing to talk about is ‘narrative storytelling’ which you should be doing anyway if you give half a shit about stories i haz some salt about this, but there’s a difference between hand-holding players in such a pathetically demeaning way versus going whole-ass about the color, mood, architecture, how the shape language relates to the inhabitants and plot, etc etc)
  • d e s t r o y e d gizmaluke without a single phoenix down needed which i hear is basically the hardest boss for your level, so yeah, would say that i am officially Decent at this game. :3
  • gay 4 BEATRIX
    • oh my god step on me
    • kuja gtfo with yo skinny ass thong bitch self, me here for ladies with eyepatches and shitty morals (asdfghj i just realized this could go for integra too IM WHEEZING THAT THIS IS A TYPE)
  • tbh quina’s character design wigs me out D:  there is definitely a spectrum here of ‘slightly on the uncanny valley but still cute’ to oh god ACK NOPE’.  blue magic is rad tho, and I’m not going to say no to bait
  • uuh what else
  • the hunt
  • oh yeah i forgot about the hunt; honestly i was too stressed out about gaming the ever living shit out of things to make Freya win for that coral ring to really enjoy that sequence (it went fine lol)
    • jesus FUCK Lindblum is gorgeous though why is it so hard to find background stills of the non-important places?? sob
  • if i’m being brutally honest this section didn’t quite pull at my heartstrings like it could’ve; ( could very well be because i level-grinded by an insane amount to make sure i got enough abilities), and tbh i think they could’ve actually done more with Freya beforehand - like how did she know Zidane before, what does she feel about the new gang members, would she ask him ‘yo what do you think about these little punks’, is she old enough that they’re officially Kids to her or what. (like … we know Dagger’s a teen as she acts like it too, but it is fucking impossible to place what Zidane’s general age is given he acts like a wise sage a fourth of the time but a dumbass the rest - it’s part of the charm, sure, but I WANT TO KNOW LOL)
  • i think another thing is i’m slightly amused at the tendency of ‘oh shit we need a plot twist… hey let’s have x character get lost/stolen/separated from the group’ for five times in a row when Ziddy in all of his knowledge could go HEY MAYBE FOR ONCE LET’S STICK TOGETHER PROBLEM SOLVED :DDD
    • which is not to say i’m not enjoying it LOL i wouldn’t be sprinting through the game as fast as I am otherwise.  if i had to say, these are very FF-specific things because I’ve seen it in FF7 playthroughs, and lord knows FE had a number of adorably derpy tropes.  : P
  • freya grabbing that spear in the one room before Beatrix, tho *chef kiss*

 



‘oh it’s feels you want I’LL GIVE YOU YOUR GODDAMN FEELS bitch’

  • steiner and dagger on the boat right around that thieves city level both in their heads suddenly wondering why they’re doing what they’re doing especially after being understandably semi-spiteful about being dragged to the arse-ends of the land and the palpable /doubt/ in that quiet moment …… oh jesus
  • my heart, baby
image
  • freya reuniting with fratley….
    • with that FUCKING plot twist….
image
  • like that was THE KIND OF SHIT THAT IS GOING TO HAUNT ME YOU FEEL
  • ahem
  • IN HAPPIER NEWS
  • the lines have really been on point lately - love that exchange with Cinna and the whole: 'bla bla bla, this doctor ted’
    • 'it’s  t o t’ THE WEARY SASS WAS PALPABLE
  • oh and i forgot this gem of one back in North Gate: 
    • Guard:  “…You’re really confusing, you know that?“
    • Guard #2: "I know… Why do you think I ended up here?”
    • (one of the rare lines out of any game that got a HYENA CACKLE)
  • also i have an insta headcanon Freya is bi as fuck and had a mini crush on one of those Moon Priestesses because uh, that sandstorm dance was something
    • (and they’re kind of hot)
    • (please tell me there’s a fic about this)
    • (i swear to god i will write this goddamn fic so help me)
    • (actually that odin summon was kind of hot too, please tell me there’s lemon-rated fucky summon fics)
  • HOW THE FUCK IS ZIDANE STILL FUNCTIONING WITH LIKE THREE GROUP MURDERS THAT HAVE HAPPENED ON SCREEN
  • HOW IS ANYONE
  • [ inarticulate wails ]

 


goddamn
, the last few scenes would be the climax in any other game and I can appreciate the interesting ways it plays with general plot tropes of its genre even if I can’t fully articulate why right now.)
  • AMARANT
    • FINALLY
    • A HUNKY BEEFCAKE WITH SOME GODDAMN BRAINS SO I DON’T FEEL LIKE I’M BABYSITTING A DAYCARE
    • (sorry lovelies but it’s true lol)
    • more than once i had been *literally* mouthing along a smart-aleck response to one of those idiots and it ends up exactly the same thing as he says
    • (god @rottenappleheart called me the eff out as always about my tastes :D )
  • kuja is a creep and needs to go down aND WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT EYEBALL
    • literally everything about it screams ‘big bad cosmic final boss’ oh boi
    • veeeerry interesting revelation about the Mist-as-dead-souls used to power weapons, def my kind of fridge horror
  • bahamut is hot and apparently i would bang a summon
    • y’all are lucky that the eyeball isn’t exactly my flavor of monsterfucking cough
  • -literally- was in a fit of giggles when half the crew were were spying on Steiner and Beatrix and matchmaking them up,
    • ship it HARD too.  <3
  • i actually like uhhhh, Eiko better than i thought? at least once when she’s in the castle - and it doesn’t hurt she’s got some sass for a kid and takes negative levels of shit from anyone which, okay, valid, i can respect that.
  • i forgot to mention it last time with doctor tot but the globe-as-a-astronomy deck is such a bad ass awesome concept on so many metaphorical levels I’m always endeared to see it pop back up <3   god that town is such a pretty one too - probably my favorite flavor of ‘remarkably gorgeous and COLORFUL seedy thieves town’ (skyrim, take note)
  • uh wow this wasn’t short at all lol

 

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