Author Topic: Your own X-3 story...  (Read 2653 times)

CrystalOfLies

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Re: Your own X-3 story...
« on: April 23, 2014, 10:37:37 am »
By the way, I found two more interesting concept arts about FFX. You may want to go over to the FFX Concept Art board and check them out.

Since I'm here I might as well continue with my story. Right, let's see what I can remember at the moment...

(Keep in mind, this next part might be a little bit strange to you if you've ever played FFX-2. I'm reminding you all, this is alternate universe, so it's not going to be completely consistent with the canon X-2. There will be changes here and there to fit the story. We good? Okay. Let's move on.)

So after Tidus passes out again, he wakes up in a bed in a dimly lit room after having a bizarre dream sequence which, if this was a game, would probably be the trippy intro FMV a la Kingdom Hearts, complete with a Japanese song and a title-drop and everything. He mainly wakes up because of the mixture of horrible smells coming from the room next door. He goes to check it out, and is baffled by what he sees. It seemed to be some sort of alchemy or chemical laboratory. He also notices some wispy balls of light trapped in multiple jars depending on their colour and size, labelled by a strange language that he had never seen before. From the corner of his eye, he saw Cirrus staring at him blankly, before chirping and setting off at a blinding speed before he could approach it. He decides to follow it through the tunnel, climbing and rolling out of an angled tree trunk planted in a hill.

Cue the end of the prologue, and the beginning of Chapter 1. Following Cirrus through the forest is the first mission, and also acts as a tutorial for navigating and interacting with the 'Overworld Mode' section of the game. Such as jumping, balancing, looking for secrets, solving puzzles, pretty much like the 3D Legend of Zelda games, only with more freedom and control. As you go deeper into the forest, you would notice that the scenery changes from a lush green and yellow-ish sky to more autumn-y with a radiant blue sky, and leave piles which you can destroy.

Eventually, Tidus catches up to Cirrus, but only because she stopped suddenly. Suddenly, she sticks her head into a pile of bushes, and drags out another man wearing a cloak. She sheds one of her feathers and rubs it on him, which seems to bring him back to consciousness. Tidus is a little put-off by the man, since his voice sounded pretty similar to his. However, when the man turns around and sees him, he freezes. Then he pulls his hood and reveals his face.

...He looks almost exactly like Tidus.

The two understandably freak out, the man moreso since he thinks that Tidus is a fiend using 'doppelgänger powers' to cause chaos around Equinox, which is the forest's name. Now we know why part of the forest inherited a different season. After they calm down, the man suddenly gets angry at him. Apparently, he was scavenging the forest for ingredients and harvesting 'bulk' from the fiends' pyreflies, when Tidus' crash landing sent shock waves across Equinox and caused the man to fall off the trees. He sends Cirrus into the bushes to look for his staff, which looks like an overly decorated dream-catcher attached to a webbed stick. They then take off, the man not saying another word to Tidus, and Cirrus looking back at them curiously. He then decides to follow them, not having anywhere else to go.

It eventually ends up with Tidus and the man, known as Shuyin, introducing themselves, though they got off on the wrong foot. Cut to the next day after a somewhat lengthy cutscene detailing Shuyin and Cirrus' lifestyle and what they do. Cirrus has been Shuyin's partner for centuries, and she acts as his ride, extra storage, and backup support. (her feathers have healing properties thanks to her breed)

Shuyin is a 'pyremancer,' an occupation which is only known to exist in the Farplane, and not in very plentiful quantities. What they do is collect waste material that grows in pyreflies ('Bulk' is their local nickname. 'Ethereal Powder' is their scientific one.) and, using all sorts of methods like fusing them with magic or with other types of ethereal powder, create special concoctions that can be used in the world, or in battle, if stored in a container. Things like instantly growing plants, shrinking down objects, morphing into food and even shaping the land if the concoctions get really advanced. Some of them can even shape the bodies of a person. That's why over the years, Shuyin developed a partly fiendish body thanks to accidents and failed experiments. (Longer fingers, slightly bent legs, scales on parts of the skin and unnatural movements)

He's implemented a special kind of ethereal powder into his dream-catcher staff, which allows it to record and copy enemy spells that it recognises and allows Shuyin to use that certain spell. So gameplay-wise, his Tier 1 classes would be Pyremancer (OM) and Blue Mage (AM).

The next segment is basically all about the 'Anarchy Mode' section of the game, Tidus getting a makeshift wooden sword (or a bokken, seeing how this is an Asian-oriented Final Fantasy game and all, plus it would pay homage to his Kingdom Hearts persona) and Shuyin with his empty (at the moment) dream-catcher staff. Basically it goes through the mechanics of manoeuvring and abilities and how everybody (or Tidus and Shuyin) plays differently. Tidus is faster and stronger, while Shuyin has more defensive capabilities. Eventually, we get into our first boss fight, against a giant white-yellow furred behemoth covered in vines, dubbed 'The Dumb Beast' by Shuyin. This is where he gets his first Blue Mage ability: Vine Snare. (Low nature damage and a chance of paralysis.) Also, some things about assistance (like using Cirrus to heal) and interacting with the battleground to get the advantage.

The next day, a storm pours upon Equinox. However, Shuyin is concerned, claiming that storm clouds aren't normally that dense. However, lightning flashes from a rift that opens in the sky, and weird fiends suddenly fly out of them and surge towards Equinox. They brandish their weapons and a fight occurs, only it's scripted to where it's impossible to win. Weakened, they get the mindset to retreat. Fiends and plants are getting vaporised by these strange monsters as purple gas leaks from the rifts. Turns out the gas is poisonous and reacts strongly to pyreflies. Let's keep this short: Shuyin finds out Cirrus is missing, he gets hit by the poison, falls unconscious, Tidus finds Cirrus and puts Shuyin's body on her, they run to the edge of Equinox, which turns to be a secluded island in the sky, having no choice they jump off without knowing how high up they are, a lightning bolt strikes them both and they fly in opposite directions towards the mainland.

(Edit: I forgot about the metal component that Tidus was struck with, lul. After their introduction, Shuyin treats his wounds and quite painfully rips out the metal from his body. He doesn't seem to care that Tidus was in a great deal of pain. They take a closer look at it: it was made out of multiple metal compounds compressed together to make an incredibly sturdy and sharp material. Tidus is reminded of the monster that attacked him and Jecht, and asks Shuyin how to get off Equinox. He laughs and says that he better be prepared for a long drop, but should probably wait until he's fully recovered. He gives the metal to Tidus, which he puts in his magic backpack. (Come on, you need an explanation for your seemingly bottomless inventory.) This will come into play later.

Later that night, Shuyin makes sure Tidus isn't awake, and decides to experiment with Tidus' plasma that he extracted from the wound. Since he's a creation of the fayth, his plasma has confusing and bizarre properties, including having traces of an unknown pathogen in them. Shuyin once again freaks out, and encapsulates the plasma into the container again.)

Now, more about the gameplay.

As I said, Overworld Mode is almost a completely different game from Anarchy Mode. That being said, the stats, such as Attack, Magic and Defence, all take on a new role in Overworld Mode. The higher the stats, the more effective the characters are in that particular field.

Hitpoints stays the same.
Attack turns into Dexterity. Allows members to do tasks with their hands. (lockpicking, balancing, juggling, etc.)
Vigor turns into Strength. Allows members to pick up heavy objects and destroy large obstacles.
Defence turns into Endurance. Allows members to take less damage from physical causes. (fall damage, setting off traps, crashing into walls, etc.)
Magic stays the same, but you can't use offensive spells.
Magic Defence turns into Resistance. Allows members to take less damage from natural causes. (weather, temperature, poison, etc.)
Speed (how many attacks you can deal in a combo with one person) turns into Agility. Measures how fast somebody can run. (Agility is measured in levels. Tidus could be Fast, but Auron could be Slow.)
Luck turns into Charisma. Can unlock special options while talking to NPCs. (Negotiating with shopkeepers, persuading people to give special information, etc.)
« Last Edit: April 27, 2014, 04:23:26 am by CrystalOfLies »
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