Prima Vista



The M.S. Prima Vista is a luxury liner with theater used by the Tantalus Theater Troupe in Final Fantasy IX. It measures 8,235 tons and has a guest capacity of 288. It runs off a veil energy propulsion system and was built in Zebolt Shipyards. The Prima Vista is registered in Lindblum and acts as Tantalus's mobile base of operations. The theater ship's stage is used to perform I Want to Be Your Canary.

Story
Zidane meets up with Marcus, Cinna, and Blank in the Prima Vista cargo room, and is attacked by Baku wearing a dragon mask. After the sparring match the thieves of Tantalus gather in the meeting hall and review their plan to kidnap Princess Garnet of Alexandria. After the ship docks the play begins, with Baku playing the role of King Leo, Marcus playing the lead role, and Cinna, Blank, and Zidane playing the roles of supporting characters, the latter two slipping into Alexandria Castle as part of the play to kidnap the princess.

Despite events not going as planned, Zidane gets the princess onto the theater ship, where she requests that Zidane kidnap her. Accepting, Zidane, Cinna, and a disguised Blank evade a persistent Steiner making their way onto the stage, where Garnet improvises for Princess Cornelia, and a clueless Steiner inadvertently plays Prince Schneider. When Vivi is chased onto the stage by guards and accidentally burns Garnet's cloak in an attempt to ward them off, the ruse is revealed, and Queen Brahne reacts furiously.

When Steiner's assault fails, the ship pulls out of dock as Alexandria Castle fires weapons to keep it from leaving. A bomb explodes onboard, and the ship pulls out of harbor but not without taking significant damage. Unable to stay airborne, it crash lands in the Evil Forest.

Tantalus puts out the fire and removes anything they can use from the ship. After being sprayed by the seeds of the Prison Cage, Steiner and Vivi rest and recover in the ship before attempting to rescue Princess Garnet. When the Plant Brain is defeated, the ship is presumably petrified along with the rest of the forest.

Location
The Prima Vista has a number of in-game locations; some are only explored before the crash, some are only explored after the crash, and some cannot be explored, only appearing in cutscenes.

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Before Crash

 * Cargo Room
 * Music Room
 * Hallway
 * Engine Room
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After Crash

 * Crash Site
 * Bridge
 * Hallway
 * Cabin
 * Cargo Room
 * Meeting Room
 * Storage
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Treasure
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Before Crash

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After Crash

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Enemy Formations

 * Masked Man (Boss)
 * King Leo, Zenero, Benero (Boss)
 * Steiner (Boss)
 * Steiner, Weimar, Haagen (Boss)
 * Steiner, Bomb (Boss)
 * Baku (Boss)

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
The central stage of the Prima Vista is one of several new arenas. Cloud speaks here to Kuja about keeping his memories safe and their mutual reluctance to fight, and in another scene, Firion speaks to Lightning about his rose, which she says holds significance to her as well.

The arena consists of a main stage area with a flat castle prop in the background. The trap doors used to ascend to the stage in Final Fantasy IX can be seen on the floor, but are mere aesthetic features. Fighters can climb up the walls and battle on and behind the prop as well as on the stage. The edge of the stage marks the arena's borders, an invisible wall keeping characters over the ground. The North Gate and Alexandria Castle look over the stage, indicating the Prima Vista is floating somewhere near the village of Dali.

The Mallet, a reference to Cinna's hammer, is the battlegen item obtained through stage destruction in this area. It was previously the second battlegen item in Ultimecia's Castle in Dissidia.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call
The Prima Vista appears as the Battle Music Sequence for "Swords of Fury" and "Battle 1" arrange from Dissidia Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Our story begins with a performance in celebration of Princess Garnet's birthday that brings Zidane, Vivi, and the princess together.

Etymology
Given that Prima Vista uses Mist as its fuel source, it could also stand for "Mist Ship". Its Japanese prefix, Gekijō-tei, means "Theater Ship".

The airship Prima Vista appears at the game's opening, perhaps having inspired the name.

Trivia

 * In Aleport, Western La Noscea in Final Fantasy XIV, there is a winged mermaid statue nearly identical to the one serving as the figurehead of the Prima Vista.
 * The Prima Vista stage has 'trap doors' used to raise or lower actors on the stage. In Japanese theater stage 'traps', known as seri, have been commonly employed since the middle of the 18th century.