NCS Game Notes & Spoilers
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In the
CG intro to the
game, Vaan and Penelo are in an small airship winging
their way towards Rabanastre. They're joined by
another airship that pulls up beside them. Inside, Balthier and Fran may be spied.
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The game begins in the Glabados Ruins where Vaan
comes face to face with a crimson slime creature. A
very short tutorial teaches how to move and attack
by using just the stylus on the touch screen. Smack
the jelly a few times by tapping on it with the
stylus and its life bar deteriorates with each blow
until dead.
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The music in the game is very energetic and would
serve well as marching music if a percussion
instruction was brought in.
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To select Vaan for movement, tap on him and he'll be
at attention. Tap on a location on the touch screen
and he'll walk over. If a creature is in the
vicinity, tap on the beast and a "crossed swords"
icon will appear above it. Vaan will then mosey over
and attack it in a hack 'n slash attack. When you
reach the corner of the Glabados Ruins pathway, a
girl named Penelo will join your party who's a
healer of sorts. When you fight the next two slimes,
she'll stand in the background and heal you with
eldritch magic that streams from her hands. To
select both party members and command them at once,
tap and hold one corner of the screen above them.
Next, drag a rectangle over the two characters and
they'll be selected for your control. At the end of
the first level, Vaan meets two friends - Fran and Balthier - and they head off to their next location.
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After the first mission, the game prompts the player
to save. The four friends then head on to a
new area where they battle a red monster and its
minions. After the battle, the party explores the
ruins further which eventually causes a crumbling
quake and they beat
a hasty retreat out of there which is shown as a CG
animation cinema.
Scenario 1-2 Royal City of Rabanastre
The party returns to Rabanastre and experience a
Night in Rabanastre where Vaan reunites with two
orphans from FFXII - Kytes and Filo. Tomaj also
joins the crew of Vaan's airship.
Scenario 1-3 The Ghost Airship
Monsters and familiars may be generated from a
magic square located on the top of the level. Three
types of creatures may be manifested to help battle
two cadres of enemies that appear later. Vaan takes
control of the ghost airship after defeating the
manifesting monsters within.
Scenario 2-1 The Sky Continent of Lumeres
Vaan and friends fly to the Sky
Continent of Lumeres which opens chapter 2. The crew
at the outset is made up of Filo, Kytes, Penelo,
Tomaj, and Vaan. There's one point on the airship
where Vaan gives Penelo a kiss but she appears to
get angry at him. The team eventually reaches
Zephyr, the Windward Isles where they witness three
insects assaulting and knocking out a person. After
defeating the insects, Vaan and Penelo run over to
the collapsed victim and Penelo casts a healing
spell on him which isn't enough. Penelo then spies a
special type of healing berry nearby and uses it to
get the wounded person back to full health. His name
is Llyud and he's an Aegyl with red wings who can
take flight and hover over the ground. Soon after
the healing and a short conversation, Llyud spies a
pink-haired Aegyl girl in the distance being
attacked by insects as well. She collapses and the
entire crew heads on over to provide assistance.
Scenario 2-2 Fane of Gucuma Qul
Defeat groups of monsters and pick up treasures. Berries on the
levels may be used to heal characters. Simply move
the character to the berry and he/she'll partake of
the fruit until 100% again.
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The missions in the game consist of simple movement and attack
scenarios where the party travels the length of the
level and defeats monsters that are encountered.
Each mission is preceded by a bit of storyline which
moves the game along as the party progresses
throughout the world.
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Only two save slots are available to store your
progress.
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After you tap on the target location on the screen
to move a character and his walk is done, the
character is no longer actively selected and you'll
have to tap on him/her again to move to another
space if desired. The d-pad may also be used to move
Vaan around the world and the B-button used to
interact with NPCs.
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An enjoyable game with affable characters and
simple, uncomplicated tactical action. The AI of
the characters when moving is pretty stupid
however. If a character is made to move to a
location but his way is blocked by two or three
other characters, it will pace back and forth
behind the characters in perpetuity until you
change its course to take. Battles that are packed
with bodies are also difficult to manage.
For example, if you have an army of familiars
standing around and attacking an enemy contingent,
trying to move a power-hitter like Vaan from the
background into the thick of the action is a
lesson in futility.
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