MAGE |
FOR |
HIRE |
A Place of No Return
Part Seventeen: Lunacy All-Round
When we left off last time, I was talking about the monsters
that you encounter on the roads of Esthar when you return to the world map. On
that subject, I think this is the most fighting you’ll have done for a while –
even more than in Galbadia Garden! Unless something went wonky when I played it
for this article, the encounter rate was inordinately high around this part of
the world map, which was even worse outside of the city limits, where about
ninety-five percent of fights were against the same angry horned llama monster.
The other five percent were against Malboros, and unless you
have Limit Breaks and full immunities ready to go, I recommend just running for
it. Armed with one of the most brutal debuff-spamming Bad Breaths in the Final Fantasy series, those guys are
harder than almost all the game’s bosses.
Before you head over to the Lunar Gate, there are a few
locations you can drop by on the way. One of them is the facility where Laguna
was temporarily working, another is a so-called Sorceress Memorial, and the
last is this rather ominous place called Tears’ Point. I commented a while ago
on the imagery and symbolism in FFVIII,
so let me bring it up again. Disc 3 has some of the most impressive and
unsettling sights in the game, and this location sums it up. There’s a creepy
mix of uniform technology and intimidating architecture, with these strange
blocks surrounding a gathering of sinister statues at the centre. No real
relevance is given to this location at this stage, aside from it having a draw
point and a strange ring, but it’s a memorable place to visit.
Over at the Lunar Gate, a staff member preps Squall for
launch. Squall asks where they’re going, and the staff member explains
basically every part of the process except for their destination. I’m really
not kidding – he tells Squall all about them boarding pods, being put into
“cold sleep”, and handled by staff once they get “there”, but never states the
location. He’s sending you to the Moon Base, Squall!
Squall’s asked to decide who’s going, and Edea insists on
staying behind to sort out her business with Dr. Odine. Zell, who hasn’t really
done anything plot-relevant since asking Squall for his ring a few hours ago,
offers to serve as her bodyguard. Squall agrees, his enthusiasm chosen by the
player, and then picks another party member to go to the Moon Base with him.
That sorted, the launch is carried out, and Squall heads into space.
The game’s certainly come a long way since we were
travelling around by train.
Anyhow, as Squall heads off to speak to Ellone, the rest of
the party heads back into the Lunar Gate lobby, where Rinoa’s dog meets up with
them. I don’t know where this dog spends most of its time, or if anyone’s
looking after it at all, but given that it can fly through space and
energy-blast gods, I suppose this is the last thing I should be worrying about.
The dog’s upset about something, and the group checks
outside to see something bad’s coming their way. I don’t like putting
screenshots close together, but Lunatic Pandora deserves it.
The mysterious object Laguna saw in the distance during the
earlier dream, and also at that facility in the more recent one, is now flying
over Esthar City!! Except it’s not, according to a later cutscene, which
displays Lunatic Pandora as still over the sea. Speaking of quibbling, I’m not
entirely sure about the geography in this section overall, since it looks like
Esthar City is behind the protagonists when they’re looking over at Lunatic
Pandora, but perhaps there are other inhabited parts of Esthar that just don’t
show on the world map (unthinkable!).
But yes, Lunatic Pandora’s coming this way, so the group
hightails it back to the city. Dr. Odine’s excited to see Lunatic Pandora again
– he’s first and foremost a scientist, and very rarely seems concerned about
concepts of good or bad. He obviously wasn’t concerned by Adel’s ethics during
her reign, but also wasn’t hard to convince to turn against her either. Even
now, he’s mostly interested in observing what’s going on, without any
particular concern about the threats involved.
His assistant is recommending that they warn the city as
Zell and the others arrive, but Dr. Odine dismisses this – Galbadia’s target,
he says, is not the city. True as that may be, the Galbadians do actually send
troops and monsters into the streets, so Odine’s snootiness is somewhat
misplaced here. Zell demands to know what’s going on and what to do, getting
impatient with Dr. Odine when he doesn’t get to the point fast enough, and
we’re then presented with our next briefing.
According to Dr. Odine, that bright dot is Lunatic Pandora’s
current location, which doesn’t quite tally with the earlier cutscene – he
might want to get his radar checked. In any case, this coming section is a
twenty-minute set piece where Lunatic Pandora slowly flies from the west side
of the city over to the east. Odine estimates that Lunatic Pandora will pass by
three specific locations on its way, where Zell and the others will be able to
board it. You have to find your way to one of them within the specific
timeframes, before it “escapes”.
If you’re not familiar with this city, it can be a bit of a
confusing sequence, since some of the twists and turns of the city don’t seem
to quite lead where you expect. It’s even worse on the unmodded PC version,
where the hint pictures are extremely pixellated and blurry. All the same, it
shouldn’t be too much trouble to find your way, fights notwithstanding, and you
can always load an earlier save and find an efficient route if it’s proving
troublesome. Not that I’ve ever done that.
On a random side note, the map makes Esthar City look like a
big bloated spider.
If you talk to Odine before leaving, he’ll tell you that
Lunatic Pandora is the crystal pillar from one of Laguna’s dream sequences, and
that it can affect the process of monsters falling from the moon. Combined with
that creepy location we visited earlier, Tears’ Point, Lunatic Pandora’s
influence on the Lunar Cry is maximised.
Once you’ve caught up with Lunatic Pandora and hopped
aboard, you can go on a fun exploration trip if you feel like it. I’ll talk a
bit more about the location when we’re properly invading it later, but for now,
if you run into the correct corridor, a robot drops in and punts the party back
down to the surface, rendering the entire sequence pointless. This is also the
end of Edea’s time in the party. She doesn’t die, but she does stop
accompanying you. Make sure to reclaim all her magic before she gets removed
from the menu a bit later!
As for Lunatic Pandora, it continues its trip to Tears’
Point, and once it gets there, the mysterious units light up, and the statues
begin to crack. It seems that the dreaded Lunar Cry is about to take place.
At this point, the perspective shifts to outer space, where
the three capsules with Squall, Rinoa, and the other party member you chose are
making their way to Moon Base. A rather playful theme accompanies the sequence
as the capsules arrive at the base, and the staff aboard meet up with them at
the airlock.
While this happens, an official speaks to some of the crew
about the new arrivals, and decides they probably don’t need to step up
security. The staff take this as a sign that they absolutely should increase
it, which is more amusing when you later realise this is Laguna (maybe you
worked it out already – I’m not as smart as you guys).
The official heads out to inspect Adel’s Tomb, while Squall
and the others meet an official called Piet, who gets steadily more exasperated
with our protagonists the longer he spends with them. I’m going to point out
this sequence as another that I really like, and that’s fairly odd given that
I’ve always thought of Disc 3 as a heavy decline in quality. I’m not sure
that’s true on reflection, though there are a lot of little flaws that aren’t
immediately apparent (and plenty that are).
The Moon Base is a fun but brief location, and most of what
happens here is entertaining. The entry’s good, and provides an interesting
contrast to the impending doom on the surface. Esthar was always presented as
frightening before, whereas this is quite a cosy place. The brief time you
spend with the crew gives it a comfortable atmosphere, and the views are
impressive too. I imagine that, were I ever to find myself on a base in space,
I’d feel quite isolated with all that empty space around me, but it’s nice to
enjoy it from afar here.
I’m also quite partial to how little the crew are moved by
Squall’s antagonistic attitude when he keeps warning them to treat Rinoa well.
Rinoa gets deposited in the med bay, and some of the crew
show you Adel’s Tomb, floating ominously out in space. Apparently Esthar
decided that, rather than catapult Adel into the sun, which I feel would have
been a reasonable and simple task, they’d prefer to keep their former dictator
in orbit, and expend endless man hours watching over her. It’s probably just an
excuse to stay there for six months and play cards and video games together.
They also explain that the jamming system they use to
suppress Adel’s powers is what causes the radio interference down on the
planet. See? Pop her in the sun, much more convenient for everyone involved.
In the control room, the crew calmly show you the moon’s
surface, and point out that there’s an enormous gathering of monsters. They’re
aware that the Lunar Cry is coming, but they really don’t seem all that
bothered by it. Bear in mind that the Lunar Cry’s course is straight through
the Moon Base, and it later blows the entire station up, not to mention that,
historically, the Lunar Cry destroyed the powerful Centra civilisation. While
Tears’ Point (and Lunatic Pandora) mean that the Cry won’t hit Esthar City
directly, it does promise a lot of deadly and annoying monsters for them in the
near future.
Squall isn’t there to discuss world-destroying events,
though. He heads on over to chat with Ellone, who apologises for using Squall
and the others. While she wasn’t able to change the past as she’d planned, she
was able to see how much she was loved. Squall quickly changes the subject back
to Rinoa, and viewing the past.
Ellone explains that her power allows her to see things that
they never knew, and while the past may not change, you do. Squall doesn’t really
care about any profound concepts, and demands to give it a try. However, Ellone
reminds him that she needs to know Rinoa to be able to send him to her past. No problem, says Squall – I’ve brought her with me.
There’s just one minor issue, and that’s that Ultimecia can possess Rinoa. Which she does right afterwards.