(Image source: Square Enix.)
I had a long dungeon run in Final Fantasy XII today. This one saw the party seeking a mystical device in a king’s tomb. Ostensibly meant to determine royal heritage, the device’s true purpose is to facilitate an overblown cinematic sequence, the kind Square Enix is inordinately fond of.
I was once again left resentful of the save system. The end of the dungeon was a good two hours away from the start and there were no Save Crystals to be found in-between. The dungeon run began with a tough boss fight and ended with a tougher one but it was otherwise unchallenging. The prospect of replaying those two hours because I failed at the final hurdle left me wondering about the designers and the actual nature of their relationship with their mothers.
Thankfully, I managed to beat the final boss, a fiery esper, by the skin of my teeth. Five of the party were KO’d and the last was blissfully asleep so victory had to come courtesy of an AI-controlled ally down to his last sliver of his health bar. He struck down the boss just as the boss himself was about to deliver the killing blow.
Square Enix congratulated me on my narrow victory with an overblown cinematic sequence, which was awfully nice. Their mothers must have raised them right.
