The show begins!
Where did all these people come from? Surely not Jidoor!
The boys get to their seats.
I equip LOCKE with Sprint Shoes, which allow him to run instead of walking. We're going to need that speed in near-future. With emulators, I don't usually waste Relic space with them, since I can just use turbo instead.
Ah, SABIN, you meat head.
Oh, who is this lady in white?
Real subtle, LOCKE. Now, save your face by complimenting her nicely or saying something-
:facepalm:
Truly, LOCKE is a smooth operator!
But CELES is more interested in exploring LOCKE's motivations and psyche.
Yes, Rachel. Remember we found out about her some time ago.
CELES is surprisingly astute.
LOCKE just snaps his fingers. Sassy man.
Smooooooooth change of topic.
Now, this isn't just window dressing. In the following scene, you are prompted three times for the next line and given two options. If you fail, well...
You're thrown out of the opera. You can re-enter, beg Impresario for another attempt. Fail four times and then it's GAME OVER screen.
But enough of that, onwards with the story:
CELES is ready to rock some snobs.
Deep breath and let's do this.
Now that's not me but I figured that the video is so much better than fifty screenshots, trying to catch all the poses, plus you'd lose out on the beautiful music. I swear, as a kid I thought Square had done some magic and "it's almost like voices". Seriously.
After this haunting performance, it's Scene 2 - The Ball.
Drama both on stage and off stage!
Yes, it's a dance battle. They just sort of bump against each other.
You know he's THE HERO when he gallivates on stage riding a chocobo.
DRAMATIC!
This is, again, really well done, as Ralse, the East Prince starts this line and then Draco, the West Prince, joins in. Even though their voices are just synth-bops on SNES.
Every girl's dream - having two men fight over her!
And trannies too, I guess.
With the dramatic entry concluded, camera switches back to the boys:
That's the cue for heroes if I've ever seen one.
We rush to the right, to find this man who can help us.
Now, there are four switches. The correct is even placed slightly apart from the three wrong ones. But for lulz, what do the other switches do?
Yeah, one turns off the lights.
And one drops you on the stage, where the heroes escape by crowd-surfing back to the lobby. But enough, thanks to the magic of save states, that was all just a bad dream and we didn't waste almost a minute:
Rushing to the left side.
What the switch does, is unlock this door to the rafters. What's there? Well, Vermin and Sewer Rats, of course!
Sometimes in big groups as well.
Ah, Flash is quite nice. This place could really use the services of a proper exterminator.
ULTROS! Prepare to meet your DOOM! We bumrush him-
ULTROS counters with a somersault and-
we all lose balance-
and come crashing down.
Dynamic entry, for sure.
LOCKE, what are you doing?
Dem's fightan words, boya.
SHOW MUST GO ON!
ULTROS is my favourite boss in this game, hands down, no contest.
Too bad he's such a pushover, when Maduin makes his appearance.
Well, AuraBolt and Drill help out quite a bit, too.
While LOCKE is laughing his ass off, a CHALLENGER APPEARS!
Yes folks, in mere seconds, SETZER undressed CELES, dressed her in her regular uniform, tied her down and snatched her up. And I still have trouble with bras.
Are you impressed, CELES?
I bet she is.
Aaaaaaaaaaand that's the end of the famous FF6 Opera Scene. If you go to Youtube, there are literally dozens of different renditions of it, some with actual orchestras and opera singers and what not. Definitely beats Leliana's song from Dragon Age, if you even have to ask.
Wonder whether the opera critics approved of this version over the more traditional one?
In any case, the saga continues:
CELES rushes to the door but it's locked:
But this opening on the floor sure looks like it'll come handy, right about now:
Disappointment, thy face is SETZER.
Ah, classics - little flattery never hurt anyone's cause.
Or outright bribery, I guess.
But he let's them out of this room, so we enter the gambling salon.
Uh-oh.
Oh, beating the man in his own game?
Come on LOCKE, it's obvious she has a plan!
Yes, of course. If you remember from the beginning, Figaro coins have the face of EDGAR on one side, and the face of SABIN on the other. There's no "tails" side to the coins. CELES actually walks up to EDGAR in this cut scene but I must have missed taking a screenshot there.
Hey, at least he has a sense of humour.
Ante up indeed. LOCKE, you have a rival suitor in the game of "Getting inside CELES's leotard" now.
VECTOR - HERE WE COME!
Thus we find our heroes on the southern continent. SETZER stays behind to guard the airship, which we also cannot use for transportation at the moment.
But new towns, new monsters, a whole new continent to explore! Quite a drastic difference to later era Final Fantasies.
TUNE IN NEXT TIME! ACTION! DRAMA! LOVE! IT'S ALL HERE!