livvyplaysfinalfantasy:

In recent years, I’ve become much more passionate about the accessibility of narratives and about ensuring that stories are kept available for those who want them. The more time I spend playing Final Fantasy games – especially XIV – the more I realize that so many of the jokes and memes I take for granted are in danger of being completely forgotten if there’s no one able or willing to explain them.

With that said, it’s time to explain “YOU SAVED IN THE CASTLE.”

Final Fantasy Tactics is not an easy game, particularly for first-time players. It also suffers from a few pretty serious missteps of game design. The third chapter of Tactics introduces castle fights, or multiple battles taking place in succession without allowing the player to return to the map. This is all well and good, except for the fact that the player is prompted to save their game after each battle.

If one saves over their only data slot after one castle battle and finds themselves unable to clear the next, they are essentially stuck “in the castle” without any means of returning to the world map to grind out levels or obtain new items. Wiegraf Folles, one of the more notable antagonists of Final Fantasy Tactics, is infamous for this: his boss battle takes place smack dab in the middle of a castle fight and is easily among the hardest fights in the game if one isn’t prepared for him. I know of a good many players who have been stuck on Wiegraf for a long time, if not permanently.

Hence, those with an unhealthy knowledge of Ivalice games joke about this warning being offered when entering the Rabanastran palace. Save your data to a new file, or else you might get TRAPPED FOREVER with no hope of escaping the eldritch sheep demon that is Wiegraf Folles.