Fabula Nova Crystallis

I wrote this post earlier, but when I tried to schedule it it disappeared miraculously. So I had to write the entire post again... sorry for the delay... anyways.

To wrap up the Final Fantasy posts for now since I think I write too much about that I am going to check out with a post on what Fabula Nova Crystallis actually is. The title that wraps up 4 Final Fantasy games (for now).

As the Title might suggest these games are build around Crystals, which is VERY original for Final Fantasy. Rougly translated it means, the new tale of the crystals. Although the games in this genre are not from the same world (such as Ivalice etc) it revolves around the fact that each world has its own crystals that fit into the same universe. This universe has the seen world ( the world of the living) and the unseen world ( the world of the deceased).  All of this was created by a single god, Bhunivelze. And his story goes a bit like this.

In the beginning there were 2 gods, Bhunivelze and Mwynn. Mwynn being the mother of Bhunivelze (ok... who was the father? Darth Vader?) Bhunivelze was scared of his mother who knew much more then him. Thus he decided to defeat her in battle so he could rule the universe alone. But when he did his mother went into the unseen world. Bhuni, being the scaredy cat that he is, knew that he would have to go to that world one day too.
In order to escape that fate he created 3 new gods, or fal'Cie, named Etro, Lindzei and Pulse. Pulse, was given the order to terraform the world to make a place where you eventually could simply find the gate to the unseen world where presumably his mother was waiting. Knowing that he had to wait till that time he ordered Linzei to protect him while he was asleep. Etro however closely resembled his mother Mwynn and he was afraid she might follow in his mothers footsteps so he gave her no power. After that he fell asleep till his time would come.

The 3 gods did their job but noticed that they couldn't do it alone and thus they did the same as Bhunivelze. Pulse created other weaker fal'Cie to help him govern his own planet named Pulse, after himself (real original). Linzei made his own continent which he named Cocoon which should be a paradise for all fal'Cie who properly did their job. Etro weeped, powerless, but unknowingly created human from her bloody tears. They inhabited Cocoon and Pulse and worked under the order of the fal'Cie. In order the help even more some humans were given power and a brand by the fal'Cie, making them a new subspecies called 'Lcie. Etro was still sad though, and unknowingly faded into the unseen world where she met Mwynn who was slowly absorbed by a power called Chaos. This power was created when Bhunivelze made the first 3 fal'Cie. Etro didn't understand the meaning of this power at first and thought to give these pieced of chaos to mankind, this would give them their hearts and take their immortality so they would eventually join Etro in the unseen world. Over time, humanity would start to worship these 3 gods. Pulse the creator, Lindzei the protector and Etro, goddes of death.

You can see where this fit's in in Final Fantasy XIII 1 and 2. We don't know how this goes together with Final Fantasy Type-0 and Versus however, since they are still being developed. This myth are never told in the games so far however so when you learn this a lot of information is becoming clear when you replay the games that are out now.

If you think this is TL;DR or you simply like pictures more there is also a small youtube video about this mythology. I am curious what this myth will do to the coming franchise. How about you?

Lightning, Soldier and Guardian of Time

Name: Lightning, Claire Farron
Game: Final Fantasy XIII 1&2
First appeared: Final Fantasy XIII
Alignment: Chaotic good
Powers: Gun-blade proficiency, anti-gravity, magic and summoning.
Age: 21

Intro: Since this week I will post a lot about Final Fantasy, lets start out with character that's real important in this universe. Actually, it is a main character, something I rather not post about since there is usually already a alot of info on these characters. However, Lightning is quite new and thus I can tell a lot.

Background: Lightning is an orphan, having no parents, but only a sister called Serah. Not a lot is know about her childhood. The only thing know at this point of time is that she joined the army at a young age. Psicom wasn't her place though so she became part of the Bodhum's protection force under Amodar. She also takes care of her younger sister. Due to the combination of these things she becomes very strict and almost doesn't show any emotion. She is however very caring and opposes everyone who stands in her way of protecting people. When Serah turns out to be a L'Cie she gets very angry at first since she got to know this on her birthday. "Worst birthday EVER," she said. When Serah gets captured though she immediately follows to rescue her. Due to this even Lightning becomes a L'Cie as well. In Final Fantasy XIII-2 she also plays a main character. There she is the guardian of the goddess Etro and the protector of time.

Powers: Lightning starts out as a soldier, wielding a gun-blade. She is proficient with any kind of gun and blade though, showing to be easily wielding the weapons of Odin and other sorts of guns. Next to that, she also has a shoulder pad which she can use to defy gravity for a short period of time.
When Lightning becomes a L'Cie she is able to use a bit of healing magic and augment her sword strikes with magic such as Thunder, Blizzard and Fire. Her main focus lies around the Thunder magic though. Later on she learns to summon Odin. She can use him as an ally to attack together or she can mount Odin in his Gestalt form while she wields his 2 massive blades. This combination leads to the ultimate attack called Zantetsuken.
Her standalone ultimate is called Army of One. With this attack she unleashes a furry of blows at high speed, greatly boosting the chain gauge and doing mediocre damage.
When Lightning becomes the guardian of the Goddess she gained even more power. She gets to keep all of her previous abilities but augmented at great strength. She also seems to be able to fly, summon meteors and control the flow of time in some way. As a guardian Lightning also possesses a shield.

Personality: Like said before, Lightning is an orphan and due to the responsibility she needed to carry at an early age she is stubborn, strict and easily to anger. She has a narrowed view on things, thinking that her way around things are the most practical, even sacrificing other things because of it. She hardly bonds, and if someone disagrees or can't keep up, she leaves, thinking she can manage alone. Although she is sturdy, she gives up quickly, easily accepting defeat.
After certain event's she tries to understand people more and sacrifice more of her own effort to help others. She still has trouble bonding to people though.
Although she doesn't seem like the most lovable person in the game she truly has compassion, although hardly noticeable

Fun Facts: Lightning...
... I said this before, but Lightning was supposed to be a man until they changed this late into the
    devolopment.
... 's real name is Claire, but she discarded this name and became Lightning to become an adult faster.
... 's brand of a L'Cie is never seen since it somewhere on her breasts.
... resembles the classic red mage, capable of attacking, white and black magic.
... 's Crystal looks like a rose, when she shatters it so summon Odin, rose petals are seen.
... officially became the strongest protagonist of the FF series, even before she became the guardian of
    Etro.
... has been know the the most proficient with her summon Odin.

Final Fantasy XIII Fabula Nova Crystallis

Name:  Final Fantasy XIII

Developer: Square Enix

Year: 2010

Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation3

Genre: Role Playing Game

Time Spent: 40-50 Hours main Game, 80+ for every content + trophies

Intro: Like I said I would, I was going to go into Fabula Nova Crystallis, the story that revolves around Final Fantasy, XIII-1/2, Type-0 and Versus XIII. Since we should probably start with what we have lets begin with XIII-1. The first game released for this story. Although it doesn't tell much about the story of Fabula Nova Crystallis it is a great game to kick off. 

Story: The Story begins somewhat abrubt. After a scene where 1 woman kicks ass and doesn't chew bubblegum you are thrown into battle. It seems the character you control is someone named Lightning, and aloth with that, Sazh, the guy with the afro hair with a chocobo chick in it. Along in this area you get to know Snow, the leader of the rebellion called Nora. Vanille, a very optimistic girl, seeing the situation they are in. And Hope, a child that can't take all this violance anymore and whines quite a lot.

After some playtime with all of them you meet Serah, Lightning's sister and apparently the fiancée of Snow. She turns to Crystal just when you meet though. Turns out there are Semi Gods in this world called Fall Cie.

They have the power to turn human's into L'cie. Fullfill your task and you turn to Crystal forever. Fail? You are turned into a horrible monster called a Cieth'. Needless to say, if you are branded you are out of luck, and as it turns out every partymember gets branded as a L'Cie by a Fal Cie of an opposing planet called Pulse. Now branded traitors by the government you have to save yourself and try to break this cursed system of the Fall Cie on the planet Pulse and your own planet called Cocoon.

Gameplay: This game uses the familiar ATB bar again just like in older Final Fantasies like 8 and 12. However, it has segments this time. You start up with 2 segment but you can end up with a total of 6. You can fill every segments with an action such as attack or fire or cure. Stronger attack's such as blitz, Blizzaga and Haste fill up more bars because they are stronger. This way you can fill the gauge with a combination of attacks to defeat your enemy. 

However, you mainly use auto attack in this game. If you scan your opponent trough the use of libra or a librascope you learn the weaknesses of your enemy yourself. Auto batlle automatically chooses the right option for you. Due to the low amount of skills you sttart out with you are sadly beginning the first 1/4 of the game only pressing X/A to auto battle which might be quite boring.

You control only 1 Character in game. To at least have some control over battle this game introduces paradigm shift. Every character isn't stuck to 1 roll although they usually excell in something. You have Commander(physical attack), Ravanger (magic), Medic (heals), Saboteur (debuff), Synergist (buffs), Sentinel (defense). In a paradigm deck you can make 6 combinations of these. You can make medic medic medic for quick heals, Commander Ravanger Ravanger for fast damage. Every time you shift in battle you switch to a deck that you need at the moment, instead of choosing what actions you make, instead you are mainly choosing what roles you need at a certain point in battle, making it really fast paced.

Outside of battle is a bit boring I have to say. The main problem with this game is that it is VERY linear. Chapter 11/12 is the first one where you can explore, the rest of the game you are spent following a certain path. Combined with the easy early auto battle this game starts of slowly.

Audio/Visual: With this game being the first on the next gen console the graphics really jump out of your screen. The opening video takes you away and the good part is. IT DOESN'T END. The graphics stay the same, in battle or viewing a scene, it doesn't matter at all. Even the texture of the clothes the people are wearing is made in great detail. Every area you visit has some remarkable contents. Varying from a dark dump to a vast green field with lots of animals flying or walking around. Graphics wise this game set a new tone for a Final Fantasy Game.

The soundtrack this time isn't made by Nobuo Uematsu, and you can notice it. This game has lots of orchestral music, even in the battle theme. There are also lots of soundtrack's with vocal's this time, even during gameplay. Luckily they don't have the overtone so there is quite a balance between gameplay, graphics and music here.  Too bad I can't forgive them for not having the classical victory tune though. 

Verdict: I really enjoyed this game, even though it was quite linear. I like going to places I shouldn't be and getting stronger items before fighting the main boss. Being stuck with sucky characters sometimes made it even harder but the story, the music and graphics all made it good for me. To be honest I even replayed it once more.

Gameplay:

Story:

Audio/Visuals:

Fun Facts: Final Fantasy XIII...

...'s character Lightning was supposed to be a man? They changed it late into the process

... is the first game not to have a victory fanfare or a prelude.

... is the first part in Fabula Nova Crystallis? More on this later

... was supposed to have DLC but they skipped this. Also more on this later.

... Nora, the resistance group, is also the name of Hope's mom who died in the beginning of the game

... Mom's are though.

Warrior of Chaos, Garland

Name: Garland
Game: Final Fantasy
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Power: Brute Strenght
Age: Unknown

From the World famous RPG I bring you, the first endboss of the series, Garland. A dark knight of sorts with brute strengt and a simple plan to take over the world. Although not the most strong of all endbosses he gains godlike power. A force to be reckoned with or something to put on your bread.

Like I said before, Garland is the main antagonist from the first Final Fantasy. Originally he is a knight from the land of Cornelia. He was a much respected knight till he kidnapped princess Sarah. His demands? Becoming the king in exchange for life of the princess. The warrior's of light rescued her thought and defeated our villain. Though presumed dead, it seems that he instead was sent to the past. Due to this timetravel he created a time loop around himself, thus making him immortal. With this power he turned himself in the god Chaos. The warrior's, again, battled him and prevailed, ending his life. This is not the last time he will be seen though.

Garland returns in the Dissindia series as one of the main antagonist. Although not in god form anymore Garland is surprisingly strong and gained some new abilities.

He can be seen as a berserker, having almost no magical abilities or ranged attacks, and thus, he only uses his "sword" in battle. Although his weapon looks like a greatsword, it is actually a shapeshifting weapon with bad cutting capabilities. Besides the standart greatsword form it can change into an axe, a spear, 2 shortswords or a flail. Garland is able to change his weapon in mere seconds, changing styles during battle to adept to the situation. This makes him a capable opponent. Garlands is, however, still slow as hell and thus easy to evade.

Garland's personality doesn't show itself much during Final Fantasy 1. The only this you get to know there is that he craves power more then anything is is quite fond of battles and war. Due to the time loop he got to see lots of battles and thus he understands his role in a war very well, and enjoys every bit of it.

It is also noted that Garland is quite arrogant and he thinks he superior in every way, although he gets defeated every time, even as a god.

Fun Facts! Garland...

... transformed in the god called Chaos in the end of FF. In Dissindia he works for another god called 

    Chaos.

... 's weapon transforms in the forms of the 4 fiends from FF, each form represents 1 Fiend.

... has knowledge of fate of other people. When he battles Tidus or Jecht he knows what happened, 

    perhaps due to his time in the time loop

... voice actor is the same as louis Armstrong from Full-metal Alchemist.

... is also the name of an airship of the Resistance in Final Fantasy XII

Summoner against Sin, Yuna

Name: Yuna

Game: Final Fantasy X (-2)

First Appeared: Final Fantasy X

Alignment: Devoted

Powers: Summoning, Dress sphere

Age: 17 (in FFX), 19 (in FFX-2)

THE Protagonist from FF X, some would say. Although you mainly play as Tidus in this game, summoner Yuna has a big impact on the story. She is, after all, the one to defeat Sin and save Spira! She is very devoted to her summoner role and is willing to sacrifice everything for her world. You could even call her naive at some times.

Yuna is first seen in FF X when you arrive in Besaid. Here she soon gets her first summon called Valefor.

Throughout the game Yuna is mainly used as a healer. She starts in that part of the sphere grid. Here she learns spells such as cure, dispel, esuna and holy. After this it is recommended to send her down the other mage path and let her learn other spells such Fira, Blizzard, Thundaga and Flare.

For her to utilize these spells she carries a staff with her. She can equip all kinds of staves, mostly equipped with magic boosting capabilities. Her Ultimate weapon is called Nirvana, which puts her into overdrive faster and make all her magic abilities cost only 1 MP!

Yuna's overdrive in this game is called Grand Summon. As a summoner Yuna can summon magical creatures, each one having their own overdrive gauge as well. Grand Summon lets a summon start with a full gauge, releasing a devasting attack on enemies.

Besides being a good addition to your party with her abilities. Yuna is also capable of sending the dead to the realm of the farplane, where they belong.

After the events of FF X, Yuna becomes a sphere hunter. She wears different clothing and is no longer a summoner. Instead, she can take on all kinds of roles with the use of a dress sphere. She starts out as a gunner. Over the course of the game she gains all sorts of dress sphere, changing from a white mage (again) to even a berserker! Her ultimate dress sphere is Floral Fallal. The other 2 party members are replaced by a huge flower that engulfs her. Once the flower opens Yuna is dressed in white and her hair also turned white. This mode is a spellcaster mode, being able to inflict status ailments, heal, and cast offensive magic.

Yuna's secret dressphere, the mascot, is a Moogle. It carries 3 dresspheres in 1 mode. She can use all here warrior and darkknight abilities in mascot mode. She can also use several moogle attack, mostly curing and buffing the party. The mascot dress sphere also has the Ribbon ability. It costs a whopping 999 AP though, so save up!.

Although Yuna can be described as naive sometimes, she always wants to learn and search for the ultimate solution. Rather sacrificing none in the process. She is quite emotional which may increase her will to fight drastically, or take away her will due to grief or something similar.

Fun Facts! Yuna...

... has Heterochromia. It means that her eyes have different colours.Her left eye is Blue, her right eye is     green.

... is half Al-bhed. To much dismay of Wakka once he finds out.

... and Tidus were the game couple of the year 2009. This is futher empowered by their names. Yuna         means Moon whereas Tidus means Sun in Okinawan

... grows a HUGE ponytail in 2 years. Which is not humanly possible.

... can hold her breath just long enough to play a blitzball match of 5 minutes

... has 8 summon in total.

... almost married to that bastard called Seymour!