RAAAAH UPDATE TIME !! so this one won't be as detailed because i stayed up late (i was also chatting with some friends on call) and slept on it and then also went out and did stuff all day so this is like a full 24 hours later. i will try to the best of my ability to remember things !!

so i checked out some shops in kalm, and figured the move would be grinding for some upgraded weapons - so i did! it wasn't the worst, tbh. i think this is where the way that battles work sort of serves the game. i didn't need to wait for the enemies to finish their turn to attack, i just had to wait for my cooldown. as i gained levels this went quicker, of course. i did a little grinding later on but most of it was here (i did make sure to have everyone get leveled as equally as possible)!! i also went through and scoured the town for any items that i might need. got a weapon called the peacemaker. this was also the point where i pulled up a guide to reference if need be moving forward. this was at the recommendation of my coworker & friend who's been invested in this playthrough as well. he has told me about a secret party member that i'll want in the future, but nothing further than that.

i also bought some materia while i had the extra dabloons to spare. figured it would be nice to give everyone some more magic abilities.

after that i started to head off to the chocobo ranch to catch me a chocobo!! my very first!! it was like catching a pokémon in a double battle in the safari zone but more frustrating. riding the chocobo was fun, though!

i entered into the cave that showed the huge serpent skewered on that tree by sephiroth (allegedly). semi unrelated, i stopped here for a while to explain sephiroth's lore to my friends that i was chatting with. after my tangent, i exited that area and went back out onto the world map. somehow, i encountered the nefarious serpent thing. i thought to myself "oh, maybe i can beat this,". used sense, realized i could not beat this, and frantically tried to figure out how to run from battles. i almost died, but i now know how to flee battles.

went back to chocobo ranch, took nap, did some grinding, got a new chocobo, went back through the cave proper. i think i'm doing the correct things with tifa by giving her the enemy skill and steal materia. she seems to do really well with them! i also items from the cave as well, a tent and some materia and also an ether i think? i also got a weapon for tifa and i cannot for the life of me remember the name of it. i definitely stole it off an enemy.

where i left off was on the world map having made it through the cave. i will try to play more on my days off that are coming up, i think !!

It's hard to believe that you're in Chocobo country already

good stuff i was gonna recommend you do this b/c that weapon is very good IIRC.

Also did you remember to get the enemy skill from these guys you encounter around the Midgar dirt area?

i did i did!! it's a very nifty ability to have :]

I just read The New York Times dropped a huge spoiler from the original game, watch out op.

small update!!

so starting from the cave, i decided i would travel to the nearest indicated point on the world map - which happened to be a cute little port town. i wondered if i was at all on track, but i just sort of assumed i was. looked around a bit, then went to the beach and found myself in a miniboss battle !! the fish critter put a bubble around aeris and then cloud at some points, and i didn't know how to stop it. it didn't kill either of them, but it was still strange and worrisome. after the fight i was anxious about not being able to revive priscilla - but i did, so it's okay :]

then i got the shinra soldier experience, needless to say i would not be a good soldier. i definitely messed up the parade segment because i couldn't get the timing quite right. not like i particularly cared to, also i feel like it probably would be more in character for cloud to fuck it up on purpose. though who am i to say, i don't know the guy That well yet.

looking around the city, i found a little place out of the way that explains things to you like effects and elements and whatnot. actually really helpful, did not know you could get turned into a frog until right now. it also explained how materia works! which was super duper helpful. i didn't think i'd actually get a proper explanation for using it. i also found so many trinkets hidden around!

almost messed up the little simon says section in front of rufus, but we salvaged it. got the force stealer, a welcome weapon upgrade. i definitely made a face when i equipped it cus it gave a nice attack boost.

now it's boat time!! i love boats. seeing red xiii in disguise was super cute to me. did a quick run around and chatted with everyone on the boat as well and saved. my guide says that after talking to everyone the story should progress, but it didn't? so maybe next time i'll talk to everyone again and see if that fixes itself.

WE ARE SO BACK so this time i decided to do a couple smaller sessions instead of one big long one. hopefully this means i have more to talk about!!

on the boat, i didn't realize you had to talk to barret twice in a row. which is why i stopped at the boat on my previous update. i also got the wind slash weapon which seems to be for a character that i do not have at the moment. after the surprise appearance from pookie (sephiroth), i chose aeris and barret to fight jenova. honestly, she didn't freak me out that bad and i went through with it with a pretty level head imo. i also got the ifrit summon materia before i left, and the boat finally arrived at it's destination - costa de sol.

costa de sol is a pretty chill little place. i wouldn't mind living there tbh. i like sunny warm weather, i like the beach, the town seems pretty chill like that. unforchies i have a pookie to hunt down so i could not stay there. though i did pick up some things i needed, and did some grinding. it was also pretty funny to see hojo just chillin at the beach and not really giving a shit that me and my guys were just standing over him. it was giving "i'm not being paid right now so i'm not going to deal with you" which is honestly pretty based and a totally understandable thing.

so yeah after i left costa de sol i made sure that everyone was around the same level (except cloud, i guess 'cus he's a special boy and will always be higher level than everyone else) and headed up through the mountain and around the reactor. the bit with the railroad track falling away i actually reset a couple times just to be sure i could get all of the trinkets but it was pretty forgiving of them tbh. the save point with the 3 areas that break away on top of the fact that there were only 2 trinkets. anyways, i kept going and i saw the baby birds and they were really cute. i did, in fact, take the treasure because i take what i can get. and i finally came upon north corel. bought some items and trinkets and started off to the gold saucer. i really love how this game shows you how corrupt shinra has been and how people were so manipulated by them that it eventually and inevitably led to the total annihilation of a more rural and 'less profitable' town, only for it to have a full amusement park built just a short ride away. it reminded me of this series of photos specifically. another w metaphor from final fantasy 7. i also feel bad that barret (along with the entire town) blames himself for the reactor being there when like,, it's literally not his fault. everyone else except for one guy wanted the reactor, and they had no real way of knowing what would happen (except for that one guy who basically knew what would happen).

but yeah the gold saucer gives me a huge ick and i hope i don't have to go back there. it's giving disney world but like in a very negative way. i do think it's comical that a guy named dio owns the gold saucer, mostly because jojo reference but i also like the idea that such a self-absorbed guy, named after the italian word for god owns a place like the gold saucer. like it makes so much sense. also met cait sith, he seems like a silly little guy and while i feel like his intended affect is to be annoying, i think he is very whimsical. my last save was just after i got thrown into the desert jail.

she's an optional character that you could have gotten by now, but you can get in any forest. Next time you're in the overworld, look for a bit of forest then do some enemy encounters until you run into her, battle her, then talk her into joining your squad. I won't reveal any more than that