Let's Play the BEST GAME EVER!!! (FFIX)

[Pumpkin]

I apologize in advance because this is going to be a massive update. It's a pretty climactic point in the story though so I guess it is what it is! Hopefully you can still enjoy it~
(SPOILER)
First we arrive in Cleyra

And have to climb aaaalll the way up that trunk to get to the settlement up top. Quina can learn Auto-Life and White Wind, both of which I would recommend snatching up while you're here. This area is also a prime example of how FFIX expects you to walk up against walls, because not all treasures can be seen. Also, make absolutely sure you do everything you want to do while you're here.

We get a mognet delivered:

And then we eventually make our way up to Cleyra settlement

It's actually super pretty up here. Two Oracles were awaiting our arrival.

I gathered. With that, we're offered a tour, which you can accept or decline. If this is your first time, I would highly recommend taking note of the path you follow during the tour. It might come in handy in a little bit.

After the tour of the pretty town, we're dropped back off where we started and we can begin exploring at our leisure. Visiting the Inn gets us this nifty letter from our friend Ruby!

This also brings a few ATE's out.

Quina, it seems, is not having a good time.

S/e starts harassing the locals

Vivi, meanwhile, is being harassed

They bully and chase poor Vivi in to the Inn

Thankfully the situation gets resolved and they see that Vivi is not their enemy. But at this point you can go check up at him in the Inn and he's still not feeling great, understandably.

Quina seems to be doing a bit better

And we learn a bit more about the town

I dare you to just go out and say this to someone in public. This is the most fantasy nonsense ever.

We go to meet up with Freya who asks us to head back to the Inn because she'll be a while. But on the way there we seem to find out about some kind of an emergency.

Well that doesn't seem like a good thing

So while the oracle goes and does... uh... that, we rush off to rescue the kid. We run in to our other party members there because they wouldn't want us to do another boss fight solo right now.

Oh look, it's our old friend Puck!

That whole scene was just magical btw

So we fight the Antlion. It's pretty simple, just Focus with Vivi while you Steal with Zidane and a few good Blizzara's should do the trick depending on how long stealing takes. I wouldn't worry about keeping your health at max because he'll just lower it with his sandstorm attack.

So we rescued Puck, who turns out to be a missing brat Prince

After Freya tells Puck that they should go check in with his father, the King, Puck decides to bolt it

He enslaved me and then ditched me when we got caught doing the illegal thing he put me up to doing and laughed at me when I almost fell to my death.

Good times.

Freya reports to the king that she found his son, who is still as mischievous as ever

And he looks like he's 5 so I mean, good on him for leaving and adventuring from that young age.

That's right. It's dance party time.

And thus the dancetastic ritual begins

One of these dancers is not like the others~

Unfortunately, a bad omen comes to be during the ceremonial dance

What does that mean?

It means this giant blue light appears and removes the protective sandstorm

Which is, you know, not good.

MEANWHILE

Heh heh

Garnet is also at the castle, being upset about general goings on

That's also around the time Kuja started showing up, if you can believe it.

Zorn and Thorn show up and order the Princess to go see the Queen

When that doesn't work to stop them, she tries another tactic

Unfortunately, her newly acquired slang simply confuses them and they drag her off

Whether you choose to believe her obvious lie or not, Kuja decides to step in and be a creeper

And so he magic drugs her and puts her in a coma or something

So Zorn and Thorn drag her off to the basement

And so they too start performing a ritualistic dance because that's apparently what the creators were in to at the time

Back in Cleyra

But hey, at least you can see the sky now? And you won't get sand in your eyes as often?

No?

We also find out that some Alexandrian soldiers are headed up the trunk, as this mognet puts it.

You get to control Freya for a little bit, so make sure you check the mognet moogle in the Inn during this time and buy some goods from Stiltzkin. Head to the town entrance when you're prepared

The group meets up at the entrance

Er... yeah.

And they start heading down while fighting off Alexandrian soldiers. That's when Freya notices that something is wrong right as Puck shows up

And so we rush back to town to find it in chaos and being attacked by Black Mages

At this point, you'll have to guide survivors to the cathedral by giving them directions. They risk dying if you do it wrong and you'll get less goodies from them later. How do you know which way to go? It's the same way you went on your tour! Hope you were paying attention~

Also the moogle is off to the side where the Antlion was if you want to save and rest up.

Once we reach the top we find ourselves surrounded

And all of that rescue work went to waste!





Is what you might think, but an unlikely hero saves the day!

...rather poetically, for some reason?

Yup! It's Freya's long lost lover, Sir Fratley!

...........................ouch

Turns out poor Sir Fratley has amnesia. Puck found him and he had no memory of anything, but still felt patriotic towards his duty as a dragon knight, so Puck brought him back to Cleyra

Vivi tries to check on Freya, who isn't the happiest at the moment

As sad as that is though, we don't have much time to focus on it, because Beatrix decides to show up and steal the precious jewel!

And so we chase her outside, but not before talking to the survivors and getting goodies and stuff. Also this would be a great time to remove equipment on Quina that you might want to have access to after Cleyra

Once outside, she kicks my butt again.

And they do withdraw using the magical floating, shimmering balls of plot coupon

So Zidane, Freya, and Vivi all decide to use the magical plot coupon and end up on Queen Brahne's airship

Quina decides not to come along

The Queen is rather enjoying herself

And she uses this opportunity to summon the Odin she stole from Garnet in that earlier scene

And Odin decides to throw his lance right at Cleyra, causing a few problems

Those problems being the complete and utter decimation of Cleyra.

And the Queen is absolutely giddy about it

Our heroes witnessed all of this and are understandably not coping well

At that moment, Beatrix can be heard. She talks to one of her soldiers and shoots down the ass kissing she finds herself on the receiving end of

After sending the soldier away, she wonders about why Brahne would use the Eidolons and the Black Mages when he forces should have been enough

A few Black Mages go past, being told they're getting in the plot coupon pods to warp to Alexandria

Beatrix goes to report to the Queen, who snatches the jewel out of her hand without a word of gratitude

She states that Garnet will be executed when she gets back to Alexandria. Beatrix is visibly disturbed by this, and Zidane takes a fit from his eavesdropping spot

Vivi has a plan and takes them down to the pods.

Once you head downstairs, head back up and to the door where you were eavesdropping and you'll find a moogle friend there with another letter:

And that is where we will end things for now! Stay tuned for next time~