Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Doctor Tot, Beatrix, Steiner and Dagger arrive to Alexandria Castle.
The crowning of the new Queen will happen in 3 days.
Meanwhile Zidane gives the silent treatment to his former partners.
The idea of not seeing Dagger as much as before leaves him speechless.
D: As usual, background sound here is louder than it should be due to an emulation error.
And... Vivi trips again...
How about seeing Ruby play a little ?
Dagger would like to talk to Zidane, but she's reminded that she has more important things to do now. Like trying a new dress.
Recieved Opal, Topaz and Amethyst.
D: You have to get out now, Steiner.
In the same time, Eiko is trying to find a way to tell her feelings to Zidane.
She's gonna write him a love letter with the help of Doctor Tot.
But seeing Eiko's horn triggers Tot some memories.
Dagger's fashion show is over. This is what she's going to wear.
Meanwhile the love letter is done.
Oh no she's lost the letter, please give it to Zidane.
And so... the letter stays here for whoever wants to pick it up.
Meanwhile Zidane is still whining...
He needs to change his mind. So he asks Baku if he can rejoin the Tantalus.
But the rule is pretty clear. Once you leave there's no comeback.
D: Even though he already left once before.
The first meeting between Freya and Amarant turns close to a fight.
Recieved 3927 Gils.
Calm down Steiner we're here to see Dagger.
Zidane is speechless again.
Eiko and Dagger trade jewels as the symbol of their friendship.
The night has fallen. Will Zidane be there at the Rendez-vous of the love letter ?
Ohoh. It's Marcus who got the letter.
D: Baku ruins the scene.
There's a Tetra Master tournament in Treno. That would change Zidane's mind. Let's go !
D: Our heroes have arrived in Treno.
D: This is the only time we'll play Tetra Master in the game.
There's a lot of luck manipulation going on there in order to have the fastest match possible.
A fight between 2 cards is extremely time consuming so none of that should happen.
Flipping an opponent's card costs time too, so it happens only once per game to win it.
D: All things considered, this is not very representative of what Tetra Master looks like when you're normally playing.
Also having only one card of your opponent's desk flipped avoid to choose which card you want to win at the end and saves time.
Wining the last game is not mandatory but it rewards you with a Rebirth Ring which will be needed later on.
Recieved Rebirth Ring.
Hurry up ! Something horrible happens to Alexandria !!!
D: Bahamut is attacking Alexandria.
D: Clearly, this calls for a summoner.
Giving the correct orders rewards you with...
Recieved Angel Earings. (Good to sell for 10000 Gils)
This Mistodon has a really large trigger zone, but it's possible to lure him there to avoid the first fight.
There's a mandatory fight in this place. However, the trigger zone of the fight is one pixel away from the exit zone.
D: One of the more famous parts of the FFIX soundtrack, and the only time in the game where you hear it: Protecting My Devotion.
Mistodon : 1473 HP.
D: Trance here is storyline-based, so it always occurs no matter what the meter status is.
Meanwhile Dagger hears a music coming from above.
She discovered a secret place of the castle.
And as our heroes are flying back to Alexandria...
Eiko's jewel starts to shine and she's hearing Dagger's voice in her head.
Together they'll summon Alexander.
Alexander can protect the city from Bahamut it seems...
But there's a greater power over their heads.
Seems like everybody is looking for Dagger.
I'll go alone. Don't worry about me.
D: Alexander is disintegrating.
Let's get out of here, quick...
A little bit later, in Lindblum...
Zidane is finally awake.
Choosing "How did I get there ?" allows you to go directly to Cid's room and saves time.
Dagger is still not there so Eiko will look for her.
Meanwhile Dagger is blaming herself for everything.
Cid says he saw Kuja leaves taking Black Mages with him, which put Vivi in a deep anger.
But he's not the only one angry...
Our heroes are now calling for the help of Doctor Tot, to change Cid back to human.
Oh no ! Dagger has lost her voice !!! Let's postpone the meeting.
Doctor Tot has an idea to change Cid back. We need to find 3 specific potions.
D: Meanwhile, Lindblum is still in the middle of reconstruction.
Bought a Coral Sword and a Mantra Band.
Recieved Beautiful Potion.
Looks like the Burmecian we saved are still alive and well ^^
D: Tantalus is also still rebuilding.
Recieved Unusual Potion.
Found Strange Potion.
That's it. Back to the Castle.
Well. The effect is not what it was supposed to be !
So, we now have a boat from Alexandria. Let's use it to go to the Black Mage Village and find why Black Mages are with Kuja.
D: Finally, we'll have some freedom of movement again.
En route, for the Black Mage Village !
D: The village is nearly empty.
Kuja told the Black Mages he can expand their lifetimes. That's why they went with him.
D: However, a few stayed behind...
D: They looked after this chocobo egg that just hatched.
D: They don't know why, but they felt obligated to stay behind and look after it, and they feel good for having done it.
And we learn where Kuja Secret Palace is.
But we fall into a trap.
D: Thankfully, they can just walk out.
Cid is left behind to help the others escape.
Kuja said that if we want to keep everybody alive we need to get him the Gulug Stone from Oeilvert.
Steiner is choosen because he'll be needed for a quick upcoming fight. Eiko and Amarant are just choosen because they're faster to go out of their cell.
This is Hilda Garde 2.
Our new locomotion to Oeilvert.
This is the longest distance we have to go on foot from all the game.
D: Manipulation to avoid battle really comes in handy here.
As distance plays a part in the Random Encounter formula, the odds of a fight are now more than 50% every 9 steps, and a lot of Stop and Go is needed.
D: Finally, we've arrived at Oeilvert.
Bought a Trident.
Equiping Mantra Band + HP+20% on Zidane. Coral Sword and Bronze Armor + Bird Killer and Devil Killer on Steiner.
Surprisingly Zidane can read all the strange inscriptions.
All is about the story of Gaia and a planet called Terra.
Ark : 20002 HP.
Equiping Plate Mail and desequiping Cross Helm on Steiner.
Recieved Gulug Stone.
Meanwhile...
The monster's movement are RNG dependant. This is the fastest I could get without losing more time manipulating RNG than it saves.
And the cells open themselves !
This is the only Bloodstone we need to take. Without it active, the Boss' Defense Enhancement will fail and Freya will be able to deal a lot of damage.
Recieved Shield Armor.
Equiping Trident, Cross Helm, Bronze Armor and Power Belt + MP Attack, Bird Killer, Devil Killer and Counter on Freya. Rebirth Ring + Auto Life on Quina.
Valia Pira : 12120 HP.
Meanwhile our heroes come back from Oeilvert.
D: This could have all gone a lot easier if Cid had decided to open up the jail cells sooner.
The party is reunited... But not for long...
Eiko wasn't fast enough.
D: Kuja took the Gulug stone.
Kuja is fleeing with Hilde Garde, so, quick we follow him with the Blue Narcisse.
We reached Esto Gaza !
It appears that Kuja retreat himself in the Mont Gulug.
Bought a Flame Saber, a Scissor Fang, 2 Venetia Shield and a Cross Helm.
D: The background music for this location is a remake of the old theme from FF1.
Equiping Scissor Fang and Coral Ring + Devil Killer, Man Eater, Add Status and Counter on Amarant. Cross Helm, Mythril Gloves and Shield Armor + Man Eater on Steiner.
Red Dragon : 8000 HP.
Red Dragon are vulnerable to Stop so Vivi takes care of the first one, but also to Venom which is the added effect of Amarant's Scissor Fang. When both of them are stopped the battle end.
This is the last time Vivi's gonna be useful.
Desequiping the Adaman Vest on Zidane to equip it on Amarant + Bird Killer ability.
A familiar scene is happening...
D: The last time this happened, it nearly killed Garnet.
But the extraction failed. How come ?
Because of Mog ^^
Nothing to do in this fight... Just wait and see...
The Trance of Mog is pretty impressive.
Recieved Ribbon.
D: Looks like they're not ready to kick the bucket yet.
Meltigemini : 24348 HP.
Eiko attacking herself is to boost the RNG in the proper position for Lucky Seven.
Turns out Lady Hilda was held captive by Kuja.
She accepts to turn Cid back to human as long as he doesn't cheat on her anymore.
Et voilĂ !
D: Once again, we're back in Lindblum.
Lady Hilda called a meeting to tell everybody what she learned from Kuja during her captivity.
Meanwhile, Steiner is looking for Dagger.
As he can't find her, the Tantalus offer their help.
From what Lady Hilda heard, Kuja seems to be headed to Ipsen's Castle.
Still looking for Dagger...
D: Alexandria is in shambles too, after Garland's attack.
D: The sound effect of the water is a lot less loud on a real PSX. This is due to an emulation error.
Recieved Garnet.
Then we finally found her.
And her voice is back !
But her hair is gone...
Now that Cid is back to human we have a better way of travelling.
Headed to Ipsen's Castle to catch Kuja !
D: This airship is a great deal faster than the other ones.
Amarant decides to split up from the party and go by himself.
Equiping Flame Saber and Thunder Gloves + Add Status on Steiner.
Recieved Earth Mirror, Wind Mirror, Fire Mirror and Water Mirror.
Taharka : 29186 HP.
Taharka is vulnerable to Heat which is the added effect of Steiner's Flame Saber.
Once inflicted with Heat, every single move kills yourself.
That's it for a quick death !
Apparently, Amarant didn't make it back. Zidane and his big heart will go back inside for him.
Surprisingly here, using a trap to fall down or using the pole takes the exact same amount of time down to the frame.
D: A quick overview of what we just pilfered.
We'll split up in 4 teams. One team for each shrine.
Eiko and Dagger for the first one.
Freya and Amarant for the second one.
Vivi and Steiner for the third one.
And... We're stuck with Quina...
Delaying a little bit the frame on which I close the dialogue box here will shorten the boss animation later on.
Earth Guardian : 20756 HP.
If I get the Earth Guardian HP below 25% (5189 HP), Quina will be able to eat him. So it takes 2 Lucky Seven and 13HP damage to do that.
It's obviously way faster than a Limit Glove.
Surprisingly nobody seems to have encounter a big problem defeating their own Guardian.
Off to the Shimmering Islands to reach Terra.
We finally meet Garland in person.
Hey ! She has a tail like Zidane ! Stop running away !
Found Demon's Vest.
Desequiping Rebirth Ring on Quina. Equiping Coral Sword, Venetia Shield and Ribbon + Ability Up on Steiner. Orichalcon, Demon Vest, Rebirth Ring + Auto-Life, Bird Killer - HP+20%, Counter on Zidane.
Welcome to Bran Bal, Zidane's home, the place he was looking for for so long.
D: It's sort of unsurprising he wasn't able to find his home even after searching for it for so long, though, given that it's on another planet.
Meanwhile Eiko is looking for some medicine to wake up Dagger.
But she wakes up by herself.
Zidane is learning a little bit more about himself, his purpose...
He's supposed to help Garland make Terra absorb Gaia.
You're supposed to visit every outside places before moving on. So going back and forth there avoid taking the grand detour.
Let's go see Garland.
Meanwhile Kuja is preparing his revenge...
Time for the famous "You're not alone" !
D: Zidane's not very pleased to hear that he was designed to harvest the souls of Gaia for use on Terra, and temporarily goes into shock.
Amdusias (1st phase) : Starts with Bio then take off. Thanks to Auto-Life, I can survive this phase.
Amdusias (2nd phase) : End after a 5463 HP loss.
Amdusias (3rd phase) : 5463 HP.
Abadon (1st phase) : Attack twice.
Abadon (2nd phase) : 10926 HP.
Even if it takes one more turn, physically attacking Abadon is faster than a Limit Glove.
Shell Dragon (1st phase) : Ends when Zidane is in Critical HP.
Shell Dragon (2nd phase) : 10921 HP.
It takes 3 battles for Zidane to finally understand he's not alone !
Last time we go shopping.
Bought a Defender, a Holy Lance, an Avenger, a Coronet and some Phoenix Down.
Those Phoenix Down are actually not "needed" to revive characters as I have just the right amount of it, but to save almost a second of lag during Kuja's monolog.
Going near a blue light is supposed to trigger a fight, but there's a few pixels were you can go to avoid the trigger zone and not waste time waiting.
Equiping Power Belt + Counter on Zidane. Avenger, Coronet and Power Belt + MP Attack on Amarant. Defender, Linen Cuirass and Power Belt on Steiner. Holy Lance, Venetia Shield and Rebirth Ring + Auto-Life - Counter on Freya.
Silver Dragon : 24056 HP.
D: Time to settle the score with Garland...
Garland : 40729 HP.
Charge ! makes all the characters in Critical HP attack. In addition, the ennemy doesn't counter when attack by it.
Kuja : 42383 HP.
D: But, Kuja's intention was to get himself beat up a little so he could activate... Trance.
And as Kuja is growing stronger and stronger, he learned that he is mortal like everybody else.
And if is going to die... the world should die too...
Hurry up, we must save everybody !
and I mean... everybody.
D: And with that, we've reached the end of disc 3.