Minor Update

I got a real late start, so I only really managed to get to the first Seymour fight (1/4) and I saved afterwards because I remember this Cloister Trial being quite the doozy, so I figured I should tackle it when it's not 3am.

Pros:
  • Easily my favorite incarnation of Shiva in the FF series, I think only FFXV might come close. I really love the Hindu goddess aesthetic with the dreadlocks, and this is one of her strongest incarnations that I've played next to FFXV.
  • I never noticed that Seymour's entourage were partying in the other room, and I got a bit more lore about him. I knew he was a summoner, but not a monk. Though it was a bit weird the order of explaining his life makes it sound like he was a summoner before becoming a Maester, when we learn later he did the Pilgrimage when he was still a child.
  • Despite being sort of designed to be annoying, I really like Brother for some reason. Like I never thought much of him in this entry, but he's one of the few returning characters in X-2 who managed to worm his way into my heart, the dopey glam rock buffoon. It was nice seeing him when he tries to kidnap Yuna using the anti-magic Mana Cannon Machina.
  • I found one more Jecht Sphere I almost missed. Kind of scary to think Braska likely started his Pilgrimage with Bahamut. Like once again, it would be interesting to see the three of them in action.
  • Hey, Ixion actually proved useful in the Mana Cannon fight. You're not useless after all.
  • Got to tell Clasko to go follow his dreams.
  • You know, the fact Seymour only seems to be able to summon Anima despite making it all the way to Zanarkand on his pilgrimage makes me wonder if he actually bothered visiting the other temples? His dialogue when Yuna summons Shiva makes it sound like he can't summon her and we only ever seem to see him summon Anima. I wonder if he made it there by just bee lining to it, and perhaps this explains why Anima is not a true Final Aeon since he skipped most of the ritual?


Cons:
  • I absolutely hate the Seymour side plot. Like this is just Yuna grabbing the idiot ball and running with it, and while I don't think it's out of character for her to want to set right a wrong, there is a part of me that feels like this whole situation would have been made more interesting had Tidus been the one to find the Jyscal Sphere instead of Yuna, because this level of stupidity is a bit more on brand for him seeing how he doesn't quite grasp nor care of the gravitas of the situation the party fell into. But Yuna, what the hell? Why were you hiding this from your Guardians? You know, the people who swore to protect you? Even if you managed to kill Seymour on your own, all of them would have been likely branded traitors and hunted regardless due to their association with you. And if she failed? Same thing. Or assuming she didn't get killed, Seymour would have just held them hostage to make her go through with the wedding. Like there was no real scenario here where justice was going to be served and everyone was not going to get involved and branded a traitor, so it was foolish of her to hide this bombshell information and play along with Seymour's demands from the get go. Like how can you be so stupid?
  • I've been kind of holding back on this, but today is where we have to address the fact Wakka is your token racist coworker. It's a good thing they spend the first third of the game building goodwill with him, but he's finally becoming the insufferable teammate with the racist views and the weird fundamentalist religious bent. While I feel it's fine that all of this stems from his trauma of losing Chappu, and like I get he turned to Yevon and the bigotry it teaches to find someplace to channel all that grief, but it doesn't really change the fact his arc makes him a bit insufferable at times. It does make me wonder if he was this religious before Chappu died? Because Lulu, and even Chappu from what we know, seem fairly progressive by Spira standards considering they both seem chill about the Al Bhed.