As expected, Balamb was the place Galbadians hit next.
I like the looks of this location, but I also kind of liked the way this part of the game was handled. There was very little fighting involved. Mostly, it was a search puzzle. I usually don’t like those very much, but this one wasn’t too difficult and didn’t use the whole “just talk to everyone” approach JRPGs often use. The place was also very lighthearted, as was FH, so it serves as a relaxing period after the whole Galbadian missile crisis.
First, I had to get access to the city. Squall handled this by himself by some creative lying. Once I was in, I had to go find the commander of the squad. I was immediately told the base of operations was at the hotel, so I went there. Unfortunately, the commander wouldn’t see me, so I had to find the captain. Unfortunately, he was on patrol.
Most people I talked to would hint it wasn’t really a patrol. Apparently, the captain is lazy and loves to take his breaks. Right now, I can’t remember who pointed me there, but I went to the docks, because someone said the captain loves to fish. A soldier there told me the captain was fishing, caught something and decided to go and cook it.
The first fight in Balamb Town was easy.
Next up, I went to Zell’s place and sure enough, his mom said the captain used her kitchen. Apparently, the fish stunk really badly, so she was worried about the soldiers the captain told he would share the fish with. The soldiers were found sick, at the train station. They didn’t know where the captain was though. I talked to a few people and some of them hinted I reek real badly, due to the fish.
I remembered there was a dog at the docks, so I went there next and sure enough, the dog sniffed me and started running towards somewhere. I followed him back to the train station and watched him enter the train and chase Raijin out of one of the cars. It turns out Raijin is the captain, meaning Fujin is the commander. He ran back towards the hotel.
I got there, and it was finally time for a fight. Raijin attacked with a couple of soldiers. Both of them fell in a single hit, while Raijin took a few, but he was still easy to handle. I entered the hotel, where Fujin was waiting. Before I could attack, Raijin got in to rejoin the battle, meaning I had to fight both of them.
This fight was a bit harder, but still quite easy. Before I did anything, I used Draw on Fujin to get a new GF, Pandemona. After that, I used Shell to protect myself against Fujin’s spells and them simply attacked Raijin and her until they were done.
The second fight was only marginally harder.
Squall decided to let them go. They really did what they did for just one reason. They are Seifer’s friends and they will remain loyal to him no matter what. They don’t like what he’s doing, and they will do what they can to change him, but they will still remain loyal.
Balamb was now free, so it was time to choose the Garden’s next destination. Selphie asked the group to visit Trabia Garden. This third Garden suffered a direct hit from the missiles, so she was very worried, since that’s where she’s from.
