Chapter One: The Place I'll Return to Someday
Estimated Time to complete Event: 10 minutes
Bosses: Masked Assailant
Cards: None
Items: 47 gil, Potion
Key Items: None
Monsters: None
Moogles: None
Notes: None
Side Quests: None
Shops: None
After the credits and some gorgeous opening FMVs, you'll find yourself in a dark room controlling a boy with a tail. He's holding a light, and you are supposed to light a lamp in the middle of the room. Before you do this, open your menu with the triangle button and go to 'config'. Change your Movement to 'run' as opposed to walk, so that you don't have to hold down the 'o' button to run. Move your battle speed and field message all the way up to fast, and if you'd like, change your window color to Classic (it's a blue color).
Don't light the lamp just yet. Walk past the lamp to the back of the room and turn to the left to receive 47 gil, then move over to the right to get a Potion. Now you may light the lamp. Once you do this, you will have to name your character. Throughout this walkthrough, I'll be calling him by his default name, Zidane. If you do rename him, try not to get confused.
After this, your friends will arrive and you'll have your very first boss fight.
Boss Fight: Masked Assailant
Items to Steal: Wrist, Potion, Mage MasherIt only comes natural for me to tell you this first, since I am both smart and greedy. Whenever there is a thief in your party, the first thing you do in a boss battle is Steal. Bosses have rare items and sometimes you won't be able to find them anywhere else for a long time, if at all. In this situation, you have four thieves. Lucky you.
When you're done robbing this guy of his goods, have everyone attack him and if necessary, have Cinna cure with potions (I say this because he is sort of a weak attacker). If, Eidolons forbid, one of your characters die, go into items and use a Phoenix Down on them.
Once you're finished with your battle, pay very close attention to what Baku and the rest of the group has to say. After that, watch the rest of the credits with the pretty title and move on to the next section.
Bosses: None
Cards: Fang x2, Lizard Man, Zombie, Sahagin, Goblin x2, Skeleton, Flan x2
Items: Potion x5, 9 gil, 33 gil, 27 gil, 38 gil, Tent, 3 gil, 29 gil, 63 gil, 92 gil,
Eye Drops
Key Items: Ticket, King of Skipping Title
Monsters: None
Moogles: Kupo, Stilzkin
Notes: None
Side Quests: Jump Rope Mini-Game
Shops: Not open
You start off controlling the Black Mage, Vivi. Isn't he cute? Of course, you'll get to name him something else if you'd like, but I will be calling him Vivi.
Enter the first house on the right and you'll see an old woman with a spindle. Run over to her bed and find her savings of 9 gil. Then run over to the table in the right corner to get a potion. Climb up the ladder and go straight forward to receive a Fang Card. After this, you may talk to the older woman. Her husband walks in and you find out that she's making a dress for her grandchild, and apparently spoiling her. After the conversation (or when you're done robbing her), you may leave.
Across from the house you just left, check the barrels on the left to find a Potion. Now that you're back on the street, you may start walking. A Rat Kid will run into you, knock you over and tell you to watch where you're going. Rats are so rude. Keep to the left side of the screen and you'll find a Potion in one of the carts. Head back south and inspect the buildings around the palace entrance. You'll find a Lizard Man Card, a Zombie Card, and a Sahagin Card.
Go back to the screen you started at, and from there head north. Have Vivi run towards you and you'll find 33 gil. Then run left towards the little fat hippo to receive a Goblin Card. Enter the Tavern and run to the bottom right corner to find a potion, then run left to the storage closet to find 27 gil on the floor. Run around that table and to the barrel to find a Flan Card. It's amazing what people leave laying around, isn't it?
Leave the tavern and run left to the next screen, then from there enter the Items Shop. You will find 38 gil on the floor. Leave the Items Shop and head north to enter the Town Square, which ironically is quite circular. Go into the Weapons Shop on the right and head to the far right to receive an Ether. From there, you can run through either exit-the one nearest the counter will take you to the Armor Shop, which leads back out into the Town Square, and the other just leads straight to the Town Square.
Go to the Ticket Booth from there, and you will find out the the ticket you have for the show is a fake. Since Vivi is feeling a little down, the Ticket master will give you a Goblin Card, a Fang Card, and a Skeleton Card.
You can play rope with the girls jumping rope and receive prizes at 20 jumps, 50 jumps, 100 jumps, 200 jumps, and 1000 jumps.
Once you're finished fooling around in the square, run into the alley and a sign maker will just be finishing up. After he leaves, you'll meet the Rat Kid that ran into you on the first screen. He'll ask you to become his slave and if you want the story to go any further, you have to agree. He'll then ask you to watch to see if anyone is coming. Once the coast is clear, the Rat Kid will steal the sign maker's ladder and run off. Follow him, or if you'd like to learn more about cards, wait for Alleyway Jack to come into the alley. Don't just stand there, though. Either talk to him immediately or run away, because if you don't, he'll rob you (I know because he robbed me -__-; ).
Follow Puck (the Rat Kid, which I am officially tired of calling him) into a building. He'll tell you to go up a ladder but before you do that, check around the walls to receive a tent and a potion. When you're ready to go up the ladder, head over there and a moogle will fall on top of you. Puck will laugh because he's ignorant and doesn't care about your well-being (or so it seems). As for the Moogle, say hello to your permanent method of saving your game. This Moogle's name is Kupo. Moogles keep your records in their diaries. Isn't that so freakin cute?
A little later on, Stilzken will arrive. Whenever he sticks around, no matter how stupid the deal may sound, always buy items from him. You wouldn't want him to be without gil in such a big world, would you?
Before continuing on, go back to the Item Shop and stock up on Potions. Try to have at least 20 in your inventory. You'll need them for the journey ahead, especially if this is your first time playing a game in this series. Again, make sure not to run into Alleyway Jack or else he'll steal you blind. Before going back into the steeple, head into the house just before it and look around to find Eye Drops and 3 gil. The 3 gil is upstairs, so you can only get it when the little girl, Ilia is out of the house. (She's the same little girl that spoke to you in the beginning, and is also the grandchild of the older woman that you robbed. Have you no shame? ...I don't.)
From here, you can go back in the steeple and save your game again. Don't forget to ask Kupo about Mognet, so that you can help Mognet Central and know what the Moogles' takes are on situations.
When you're finished, climb up the ladder and talk to Puck. He'll tell you that the show will start soon if you don't hurry. You'll find out on the next screen that Vivi is afraid of heights, so this won't be too easy for him. Of course, the controller's in your hand so he'll do it whether he wants to or not.
After he's walked to the first house, from there head left and across the second bridge, which will fall after you cross it. Head left then down, and left again towards the bowl looking thing. Examine it to receive 29 gil. Follow after Puck and he'll ask for your name. Once you give it to him, he'll tell you it sounds funny no matter what you say. He'll tell you his name is Puck and from there you can continue. Before following him, go down the set of steps ahead of you and across the bridge to get 63 gil. Head back up the steps, then north away from Puck. All the way at the end of of the roof, you will receive 92 gil from the pot.
Head back now and right across the set of bridges, then north to meet Puck. He'll set the ladder down finally so that you both can cross and sneak your way inside Alexandria Castle.
After this, you'll view an FMV and finally get to view Vivi and Puck up close. Isn't Vivi cute?...Isn't Puck not? You'll also see the ugly, blue-green fat queen, that hot chick in you saw in the opening, and a knight that needs to lay off the mascara. Who told Queen Brahne she could dance?
Bosses: Zenero, Benero and King Leo; Steiner; Haagan, Weimar and Steiner; Steiner
Cards: None
Items: Phoenix Down, Phoenix Pinion
Key Items: None
Monsters: None
Moogles: None
Notes: Items can be received from the crowd during the fight with Blank, but items
vary depending on how many nobles are impressed.
Side Quests: None
Shops: None
After the FMV, the scenes will switch to the hit play, 'I Want To Be Your Canary'. Watch the drama unfold, and enjoy the plot line, wondering why you couldn't make money off of a play like this.
Boss Fight: Zenero, Benero and King Leo
This really isn't much of a fight. Don't bother using the 'SFX' (Special Effects, really), since it doesn't work half of the time, so it's pretty much a waste. Just attack Zenero and Benero once and they'll die (depending of course, on who attacks). After about one or two rounds from each character, the battle will be over.Blank and Zidane get into a fight (don't worry, it's part of the play) and you'll have to follow Blank's lead in pressing buttons. Take your time, but don't wait too long to press each button. It's really all a matter of hand-eye coordination. If you get it all right the first time, you should get at least 800 gil. If you're greedy like me, you can do it again and get even more money, and maybe a couple of items too. I don't think you can impress more than 87 nobles out of the 100, and Queen Brahne, but you're welcome to try it.
A couple of suggestions: during this scene, mute the music (even though it's awesome) so that it doesn't distract you. Not a lot of people can dance in their seat and press buttons at the same time. Also, only look at what Blank is saying to you, and not the actual action of what you're doing. Don't look down at the controller, because this is time consuming too (unless you're a beginner when it comes to using the PSX controller).
You'll next find yourself inside the castle, where Blank and Zidane beat up two nameless Knights of Pluto, robbing them of their dignity and their clothes. After listening to Blank's graphic description of his less than clean outfit, Zidane will automatically head out of the door. Once in the main hallway, don't go left or right. Guards will come out, forcing you to hide and this will just delay you, not to mention waste your time. Head straight up the steps and you'll run into a girl. If you ask to examine her face, Zidane will flirt with her for a moment, then Blank will come up the steps soon after and she'll run away. If you let her go, Zidane will stop her anyway, so you'd might as well just examine her face from the get go.
The two will chase after her, and you'll see a cutscene of my favorite clowns, Zorn and Thorn (or Scorn and Zorn, which I prefer). If you can't tell the difference between them, here it is. Zorn is in blue and Thorn is in...pink? That's not manly. Nevertheless, they'll start talking about how much trouble they'll be in because something terrible has happened. One repeats everything the other one has to say, only worded differently. This leads me to believe that neither of them have a unique thought in their head at the same time, the poor dears.
During the next cutscene, you'll find out that Steiner is jealous of Beatrix. Maybe it's her chest, her brains, her sword, her whole outfit, or just the fact that she's cool and he's not. You'll get to name your knight. I'm sticking with the default name, Steiner, for the walkthrough.
Once you have control of Steiner, head right and into the room that Blank and Zidane came out of. There is a Moogle waiting there for you by the name of Mosh. He will save your game. When you're finished here you may talk to the Pluto Knights if you'd like, then head back out of the room.
Once you're in the hallway again, head up the steps just as before and go into the entrance that isn't being blocked by guards. Talk to Queen Brahne and she will give you a Silk Shirt, then instruct you to go find Garnet. Leave and go back down the steps, then head towards the ugly painting you see on the wall (from the steps, it's to the left). If you go into the room on the right, you'll see a Qu that looks amazingly like a future character Quina. In the room to the right, you'll find another Pluto Knight that has something so disinteresting to say, I don't even remember what it was. When you're finished fooling around, head down the main steps. Go into the room to the left to find yet another Pluto Knight in the Library. He'll tell you that all he ever wanted was to be a scholar, and will ask your permission to let him leave the military. No matter what you say, Steiner will instruct him to find Princess Garnet and he'll run off crying. In the Library to the right, you'll find out that Queen Brahne is up to something suspicious. There's nothing else to do, so come out into the main hall and run outside.
You're now in the garden. There's no point heading right because there's nothing that way but a Knight of Pluto that will tell you no one has come his way. So head to the left and you'll see more display of Steiner's jealousy of Beatrix. Head into the doorway, down the hallway and up the long stairway. On the way, you'll find yet another one of your knights, telling you that he can't reach the top of the steps because he's old. Whiner. Once you finally do reach the top, Steiner will see Zidane chasing Garnet and this will lead to an FMV.
Aw aren't they so freakin cute? Chase the Princess into the room that Ruby is in, and watch the short cutscene. Ruby lets Garnet escape, and you're forced to chase after her yet again. You'll find out that she actually wants to be kidnapped, which is a little different than what we're all used to. But Zidane promises to do his best to kidnap her, and so it begins.
Follow the path;-when Garnet stops, turn the engine wheel to the left and a box will fall on the level below. Open it for a Phoenix Down. Now turn the engine wheel to the right and another box will fall behind the engine. Open it for a Phoenix Pinion, which normally wouldn't be received until Disk 3! Go into the room Cinna is standing by and you'll run into Steiner. It turns out that the Knight he was with is actually Blank, and he's on your side.
Boss Fight: Steiner
Items to Steal: Leather Hat, Silk ShirtThis isn't an actual boss fight, because it doesn't have that cool background music..But what the hey. Start off the battle by robbing Steiner of all his possessions, then attack like crazy. It should take about two to four rounds from each character to finish him off. In the unlikely event that he actually wounds someone in your party severely, don't sweat it. Just use a potion. Don't let anyone in your party get below 50 HP. At the end of the battle, Steiner will use an attack on Blank and wind up releasing Oglops, which strangely resemble a hybrid of roaches.
The play will continue, even though there have been some slight changes. Watch carefully, then prepare for more battles as the story heats up-literally.
Boss Fight: Haagan, Weimar, and Steiner
Items To Steal: NoneYou're not allowed to steal in this battle, so hit the knights of Pluto once each and they'll run away. Have Vivi focus his magic for about three turns then hit Steiner with everything he's got-if Marcus and Zidane haven't taken him out yet. You have a White Mage in the party right now, so if you need healing, have Garnet do it. Press R1 if you want to heal all of the party members at once. Garnet doesn't have the ability to summon yet, so if no one needs to be healed then just have her attack. And again, don't bother using the SFX.
Boss Fight: Steiner
Items to Steal: NoneSince you can't attack the bomb, this boss fight is basically another fight with Steiner. Use the same strategy that you did in the last fight, and you'll be done in a few minutes. After the FMV, you will have officially finished Chapter One of Disk One.
On to Disk One, Chapter Two