WK Plays FFXII

[Wolf Kanno]

Tonight we delved into Fran's past and went to the Viera village while trying to go to Mt. Bur-Omisca. We had to take a slight detour to Henne Mines to rescue Fran's younger sister and we got our second hint of Venat and their first physical appearance. Not to mention we got Vaan's cringiest scene which is still hilarious and now has him in the proverbial dog house with the female members of the party.

I honestly love Fran's story bit and I feel its criminal how underrated she often is among the cast when I talk to some fans. Granted, she's fighting Basch over who is the most stoic member of the team, but no one complains about Lulu doing the same thing. The Viera are weird, at first, you think they're like a Tolkein-esque High Elf type deal, but really, they feel more like some weird Amish type group. Gated community, ignoring the outside world, adhere to a strict code of ethics, live within a more simple life style than the rest of the world. Not to mention the tendency to treat those who leave the co0mmunity as though they are dead. The heartbreaking part is watching Fran tell her little sister to follow the rules of the Wood and consider her dead even after her sister was trying to defend Fran from their older sibling. I also noticed that Fran's ears have a black fringe to them but neither of her sisters do, or anyone in the village. I wonder if the hair changes the longer she's away from the Wood, and if the color change symbolizes her inability to hear the Wood?

I also liked the conversation she has with Balthier before going to the village where she calls out his interest in the Nethicite being part of his past as well. The other cool exchange is one between Ashe and Basch as they leave the Golmore Plains (a nice reference to FFTA) and discuss how they may not be able to forgive the imperials but Basch seeing hope in how well Vaan, Penelo, and Larsa are getting along. FFXII always gets slandered for not having a strong story or characters, but I honestly can't agree. Of anything, it's ability to juggle personal stories while staying focused on the grander narrative puts it above a lot of other FFs. But I may save this rant for my final thoughts segment.

I did take down one MNark Hunt for the Garif, being a Ghost haunting the mines that was created from the Garif that fought the imperials when they tried to make the mines. I also tackled a Rare Monster in the Golmore Jungle that requires a 21+ Chain to even appear. I also got a few upgrades to equipment and unlocked Thundara and Bubble. I even got Haste! Except no one in my party can use it...ever. I also explored the Zertinia Caverns and managed to take down Adrammelach. Vaan ended up acquiring him so he could get access to another Battle Lore and the Souleater ability. The two most important items I acquired was the Thief's Cuffs and the Diamond Armlet. The Thief's Cuff are a bit underrated if you ask me. Not only does it raise the Steal Probability, but it also allows the wearer to steal more than one of an enemies items. If Zidane had access to that, I feel most fans would stop slandering his thieving skills.

I think once we hit the halfway mark (probably after the battle with Judge Bergen) I'm going to do a real assessment of all the classes I'm using.