10 Hour Mark

So Squall, Zell, Selphie and Random Fourth Guy (RFG) are granted the rank of SeeD, while Seifer is denied. Sewing the SeeDs of discontent, no doubt for a future confrontation. Perhaps the twist is that RFG turns out to be last boss… he was rather conspicuous there in Cid’s office.

And now it’s off on our first real mission. Zell and Selphie have traded in their dorky uniforms for even more dorky outfits. Low and behold, on the way to Timber, the party passes out and now appears to be disembodied observers of a man named Laguna and his cohorts. Given their conversation, they seem to be Galbadian soldiers, and Laguna sounds like a bit of a loser. What could this possibly mean? Is the game going to draw a comparison between rival factions by letting the player experience the conflict from both points of view? Let us develop some sympathy for Galbadia, which up until now has seemed like a den of troublemakers (they devastated Timber too!). Do Squall’s and Laguna’s timelines overlap? It’s interesting that in this “otherworld” Selphie’s gear went to Ward (a burly sunuvabitch) and Zell’s gear went to Kiros. What is the meaning of these pairings?

Probably the most exciting moment in the first 10 hours was fighting Lucifer in the Magic Lamp. That was a nail-biter, and he killed me more than once. Otherwise, the game is really taking it’s time getting interesting. Rinoa was introduced and quickly disappeared. Quistis was fired and also disappeared. We’ll have to see where this Laguna thing leads. Even my card game has been taken from me: everyone I play now uses the Direct Trade Rule, which basically means I will be losing at least one card every game. I don’t like those odds, so I’ll have to wait until it passes.

Finally, there is something about those Garden faculty members… they are just a little too sinister in their faceless uniforms. Sort of like, kinder, gentler Pyramidheads.