Lightning, the savior, has barely escaped death at the hands of the Shadow Hunter. Thankfully, Noel defied the prophecy he saw within the oracle drive, and has let Lightning live on. Lumina appeared once more to Light. She revealed, that the drive and prophecy were created by her, to create mischief. It was not true after all. It was a dangerous game she played, toying with the savior.
Lacking direction for the moment after her battle with the Shadow Hunter, Lightning spent some more time exploring the streets of Luxerion. A young woman, dressed in the uniform of the Order of Salvation, hailed her. The Order was based in the cathedral of Luxerion, they were the soldiers in the fight to bring souls to their lord god, Bhunivelze. Their foes in the battle for salvation were those few who held on to worship of the fallen goddess Etro, and those who paid no service to the gods at all.
The young woman told Lightning that her patron "the saint", was aware of her, and wished to see her. However, she was missing a multi-colored, iridescent stone, and was quite distressed over it. The young girl was surprised that Light was unaware of who the saint was, and also unaware that the saint could not leave the cathedral. "So she's locked up like a criminal or animal?" Light asked.
"Y-You say too much!" said the girl.
Light retrieved the stone, and in return, was given a key that would allow her to enter the cathedral after public hours. The saint was only allowed to wander the cathedral after hours, so as not to cause a stir. Perhaps also, so as not to escape. Lightning found that the saint, was her old friend, Vanille. She been lifted from crystal stasis by God. Beside her, who apparently also appeared at the same time, was... Lumina.
Upon awakening, Vanille found she had gained a new power, one that earned her her new title. She could hear the voices of the dead, she took Lightning into the church's inner sanctum. Within, a shadowy cloud surrounded the saint. Lightning could feel immense pain and sadness, and crushing feelings of regret emanating from the cloud. Vanille believed she had the power to save them, to release them from their pain and suffering. The Order told her it was necessary, or else the new world God was to create would be torn apart by their cries of suffering. If Lightning was to be the savior of the living, Vanille was to be the savior of the dead. Her role would be fulfilled at the final hour of the thirteenth day, the end of the world.
Her heart heavy from her encounter with the restless dead, Lightning was relieved that this world still had some time left, and that she might put the worries of the dead behind her.
There are loads of details, people to meet, and quests to take on in this game. Although it puts a time limit over your head, the game can be completed, for the most part, in whatever order the player chooses.
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| I found it neat that wandering NPCs stop to use the phone booth. |
Speaking of phone booths, one of the quests involves them. Lightning must pick up the phones around Luxerion, following the trail of a little girl who is being chased. In the end, it turns out she had herself kidnapped by the Children of Etro cultists on purpose. She simply wanted to see if anyone decent was left in the world who would come to her rescue. Lightning obliges.
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| "Disillusioned," is the key here. Disillusionment, cynicism: key themes in the game. |
She also encounters, Gem, a talking cat. It turns out the cat has been reanimated by the soul of a young boy. He took a potion to make his beloved cat live again, but it was a bit of a trick. The cat was reanimated with his own soul. The one he bought the potion from? Lumina.
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| Aw... A talking kitty! |
Lightning collects the ingredients for "starlight spice", which when waved under the nose of the boy's body, will return his soul. The boy was in a zombie like state, surrounded by stray cats. The spice seller warned that the spice would send cats into a "murderous rage." Unfortunately, this wasn't quite accurate. I expected to have to fight them, but instead, they ran up to me and stole the spice! A klepto-rage, and they were quite quick as well! I had to make more of the spice twice before I figured out how to avoid them.
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| Lightning aint about that bullshit. |
This is just a small sample of the side quests. They all have interesting characters, and great atmosphere. It's a bit of a departure from previous Final Fantasy games, but the transition is smooth, it doesn't feel forced.
That's all for tonight, join me again my friends, here at This Bard's Tales!
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