FFXII - Can you defy the Gods?

Last time I was very close to being totally fucked deep inside a tough dungeon up against disease with only two remedies left in my inventory. Luckily I ran into no more malboros, and was able to continue on without much difficulty. My party continued it's trek DEEP underground where we could finally get a view of the biggest damn chunk of nethicite ever. It's like the size of a stadium, it's called the great crystal.

We keep on going, further and further until we finally reach another summon battle. After she went down, I had my third summon. I like how all the empire capital ships are named after old school FF summons, and I like that the resistance capital ship is named Garland. But I feel like the summons should be named as they've always been: what are the roots of Belias, Mateus, Zodiark. Why these names, why change it up like this? Is it because they're more akin to threats to my party rather than helpful gods in this game?

Anyway, after this I was in a crazy ass maze of platforms, teleports, magick locks and floors that would come up to meet your feet as you stepped into thin air. All cool stuff but complicated. After so many locks I had to pull up a map online to see where the fuck was going on. On a side note, I'm officially sure I've never been this far in the game, never seen this place, I continued on. This maze goes on for days and the locks are the 12 signs of the Zodiac. I believe I only have access to unlock the locks of the designated summons. So I could only unlock 3 and get so far since I only have 3 summons. I'll have to find out what's down there when I have them all.

After the small part of the maze I could navigate we came to a final teleport. We hit the trigger and the party is teleported ... somewhere. It looks like... heaven? A place of Gods.

But only Ashe arrives. She lands on a platform in a saturated white background and before her materialize beings out of three statues around her. They call themselves Occuria, the Gods of Ivalice (I like that it's called Ivalice, it's a common name in several FF games for the world, along with Gaia). The Gods speak.

Here's the gist. One of the four Gods has sorta gone rogue, the God Venat. For some reason or other, Venat has decided to help man put their fate back in their own hands by giving them the power of the Gods. Venat has been helping Cid and Vayne to create manufacted nethicite. The Gods are not pleased.

Long ago, Ivalice was in trouble, and rather than let it die the Gods decided to step in and give one man the power to bring things back to rights. That man was Raithwall, he visited them here in Giruvegan. And they bestowed upon him the Sword of Kings with which to cut three pieces of nethicite from the Sun-Cryst. A fraction of power from the great crystal. With this power he was able to bring peace back to the world and save it. He was chosen by the Gods to do just this.

Now the time has come once more when Ivalice is in trouble and the Gods have chosen Ashe to be their hand and execute their will on Ivalice. They gift her with a Treaty Blade with which to go cut from the Sun-Cryst once more some stones of power with which to defeat Vayne and Venat. Such power they are willing to give her. But, they want the entire empire of Archadia to be destroyed as well. They are vengeful Gods, they want blood. Ashe hesitates. She wants the empire out of Dalmasca and she knows that Vayne is a threat that must be put down. But to destroy an entire empire of people?

The Gods convince her to take up their charge and she finally takes the Treaty Blade. Afterward the rest of the party appears and the Gods are gone. The others heard the whole conversation. They ask her if she will really do as they ask.

Back in Archades we see a conversation with Vayne and Cid. Venat tells Cid that they've taken the bait. That the party now has the Treaty Blade. Sneaky bastard setting us up like that to get something he couldn't get himself. That's only been done in eleven other FFs... Anyway, there's some further discussion about the war and the nethicite and the Gods. They have some plan though. Venat speaks to Vayne about his 'ascension'. It seems Vayne is to become something else. God-like. Another FF staple. The main villain always attains some level of godhood.

The party heads back to the pirate port town where Reddas is. He talks to us about this place called Ridorana Cataract. A place of great Mist power, it's destroyed all his ships that try to approach. It happens to be where my party believes the Pharoh Tower is, the resting place of the Sun-Cryst. We decide we're to head out to this place. We take the Strahl, retrofitted to fly where the Mist would usually not let it.

We're heading there but our intentions are still unclear. Are we going to destroy the Sun-Cryst with the Sword of Kings rendering all nethicite in the world dead, or use the Treaty Blade to cut from it and use it against Vayne and the empire. Does Ashe want the power or a straight up fight?

Before we set out, we also buy buy buy. This is the last town on the map, and I spent gobbles of money getting the latest gear, magick, techniks, and gambits. I also stocked up on Remedies =P. Now before the LAST dungeon in the game, I'm finally given access to the entire world map. My airship can go anywhere I want. I can't just fly around the world but a map comes up and I simply pick a location I'd like to be in. Just like FFXIII by the sound of it.

I headed to a couple of other places to pick things like float and cleanse. I want Bubble but can't find it. Hope I won't need it for this final dungeon...

I hopped into the Strahl and headed over to this crazy ass tower at the edge of a water fall. Pretty stuff.

My guys are ready, it's time to tear this bitch down.