PART TWO: Headed to Hawel's
Before I set off, I figure I might as well show you guys the profile shot of the protagonist. Oh, and his default name is Bowie. He isn't a Goblin King, though.
The second the party sets foot outside of Granseal, a pack of blobs and rats are ready to pounce! BATTLE TIME!!
Oh, sure. Get the one woman all messy and wet. Never change, Japan!
After making short work of the odd wildlife, we have to pass through the town of Yeel in order to get to Hawel's.
Thanks for bringing the enthusiasm to the table, bro. I know that you're a typical NPC, but you don't have to deflate all sense of adventure out of us! Doesn't anybody have anything interesting to say?
Is...is that a brand or something? I'm all for safe sex, but I don't think anyone is excited about wearing a raincoat. AND CUTE IS ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING ITS SMALL!! (SPOILER)You guessed it. That's another character I'll get waaaaaaaay down the line.
We run into this bored looking man who offers to guide us to Hawel, who he is studying under.
The first word I thought of when he came up to be named was, "Whatever..." Look at that face! He was asking for it. Him and the real Squall should get in a shrug off.
More blobs, rats, and a single bat decide that they want to end my journey. I'll spare the battle screen shots for now, as there isn't anything real different to show.
Oh, really? The lone house in the middle of nowhere where everyone said to go is where he lives? Whatever...
After barging in, our heroes discover that Hawel was being AXED a few questions from some soldiers! They quickly flee the scene.
...which is exactly what many FFVIII players said when it took Squall forever to share his feelings with Rinoa, even after she was sitting in his lap.
HEY! You're the protagonist in an JRPG! You're not allowed to talk, even if you are just whispering!
Galam is the kingdom to the north of Granseal. Like, seriously, it's just across a short field. And they wanted to know about something called Ground Seal. HEY, I WONDER IF IT IS RELATED TO THE KINGDOM OF GRANSEAL?!
Come on, no one in Granseal could figure out what the name of their kingdom was inferring?
Hey man, if you knew the seal was so important, why wouldn't you take the 10 minute walk to let the kingdom know that perhaps they should be wary of the obviously super important jewels on their land? You can't cry about it now! Look at all those books! You didn't just discover this!
Hahaha, I like how direct he is about it. Squall is totally aware he's in a cliche' scene. If this was a TV show or something, he would have quickly eyeballed the camera and winked.
Hawel pleads with Squall to set things right and he officially joins the party. Well, as tragic as Hawel's death is, at least he lived a happy, peaceful, fulfilling life and--
Oh my god.
PART THREE: Free Trip to Galam!
As per usual, the second we set foot outside, the party sights potential enemies.
That would be Mr. Condom and a gang of Galam soliders. I don't think I have to explain this name.
Oh, come on, man! You are begging for the whole group of soldiers to laugh their asses off. Then Condom will make a bad pun or deliver a nasty taunt.
"Sick burn. Total devastation of feelings. Mission accomplished." Deep Impact/Armageddon~IGN
Just to let you guys know, Squall's whole deal is attack magic. This may look like a weak fire spell, but before you know it, he's literally raining hell on enemies. Love it.
Oh, and the soldiers have growing red eyes? I am sure they're just wearing contacts or something...
From my memory, this is the only battle that you can lose and the game will still continue. I did indeed win, which is why Condom is praising me for my hardline tactics.
Condom knocks Sephex out. Well, he is indeed the leader, but what prevents everyone else from continuing to battle?
Well, the golden rule to any Shining Force game is that if the leader is defeated, the battle is won. That goes for the good guys or bad guys. I just think it's amusing that Condom seems to be reading straight out of the instruction booklet and the rest of my party is all like, "Damn. He got us! It's in the rules! Curse it all!"
What is with everyone in this game greeting everyone in the game as rudely as possible after they wake up? Dude, I was knocked the f*** out by a solider with possible decades of experience ahead of me! What did you expect?!
Hey, look who is in the slammer with us!
The party gets in a discussion with other inmates about the sudden hostility of Galam, and what exactly happened to the jewels.
Okay, rat. Play it cool. There is no way they can connect you to the crime!
Well played. Just help them, and they'll be on their way. No questions asked!
Oh, I see this inmate has a copy of the instruction booklet, as well!
Look, I was thinking about "Of Mice and Men." Yes, I know it's supposed to be "Lennie." The 'Y' makes it more amusing to me and I love anticlimactic RPG names.
Oh sure, cast suspicion on the rat thief!
That was an awfully quick trial, Mankey. As you can see by Lenny sitting in the corner, Mankey knocked him over in anger.
The party decides to stupidly go up the stairs to the left. Lenny, still feeling bad about all the chaos he caused, shows the party a secret passage he knows about so they won't be caught.
Lenny fesses up fully to what he did, and decided to follow the party out to escape with them.
Boy if I had a nickel for every time I faced this dilemma...
As the party crosses the path above King Galam's throne room, they eavesdrop on his speech to his soldiers...
That's the reason you're giving your army to attack your neighbor across the yard? Were there reports of weapons of mass destruction in Granseal?<--ORIGINAL JOKE DO NOT STEAL
Seeing how you have been JAILING people who do (an inmate in the jail said he was in there because he disagreed with the idea of attacking Granseal), I don't think you're going to meet much resistance, jarhead. The King, Condom, and the army leave to attack Granseal.
...said no man ever.
BUSTED. Our escape is cut short. The enemy I highlighted was bragging about being gifted a certain Jewel of Light by King Galam for capturing a rat...hmmmm...
The party easily squashes the Galam soldiers in a quick battle. Lenny confirms the obvious. We also learn that King Galam took the Jewel of Evil with him to Granseal.
What the...? Well, that's certainly strange!
Well now Lenny HAS to officially join the party! He was so close to getting his jewel back! Actually he feels guilty about the mess he created, still. He joins to hopefully set things right.
And off to Granseal we go! Will we stop the incoming war between Galam and Granseal? Why is King Galam acting strangely so suddenly? Stay tuned for the next part to find out!