Alastor plays and ranks the whole series! Mission Complete! ...For now.

[Jotari]

 

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

I don't know if this changes should you have done this before finishing Celica's part, but nothing happens at the Dragon's Maw. It's straight to Rigel Falls with us.

I just checked online, and yes, if I hadn't finished Celica's route yet, Alm would have faced a necrodragon fight here, but just one, which he would have then easily gotten out from.

Now, I totally get that this was almost assuredly done for gameplay purposes, because perpetually fighting for your life every other step Celica takes while working through possibly the entirety of Celica's Act 4 could be annoying, especially since, as I remember, it keeps getting harder in the original game the longer you take.

But removing this plot point entirely, rather than having the same thing happen storywise but have the fights maaaaaaybe take place offscreen eventually... essentially undermines Celica's character while removing an instance of Alm genuinely needing to be saved by her. This was the moment where Celica, desperate to save Alm from a certain slow and painful death, made a deal with the bad guy because it was literally the only option available to her, getting double-crossed and captured as she knew she might, but then doing her best to fight her way out while waiting for Alm's reinforcements to arrive.

 

I think they also could have had at least one mandatory fight while passing thorough there. Feels like you're just outright skipping a chapter you really shouldn't by doing all of Celica's route first. Even the original idea could have been kept in if it only started continoius spawning after you left the sage's forest and had just two battles to get through before reaching the tower.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Oh great, another witch-summoning witch. Well, that'll just take a hunter's volley eventually, but for now, gotta deal with that constant threat. Glad I only brought my best units.

 

Not just any Witch summoning Witch, that's Sonya's other sister, Hestia.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Ooooh, cool! Zeke's stats are different when you get him! His level is lower, for one thing, so he's got more room to level up, and he'll do it faster!

 

I don't find that cool. I find it annoyingly inconsistent -_- Fire Emblem is one of the only games out there with a system that largely allows enemy characters to join the player with stats and abilities identical to what they have as an enemy, and it's one of the things I like about it.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

He's bragging about having become captain of this fortress thanks to all the intelligence he gave Rigel about Zofia due to his former position, but from everything we know about this opportunistic weasel, shouldn't this be the moment where he's finally sweating bullets? We've seen this guy scared shitless in the face of genuine mortal peril, like when he spoke to Desaix in that memory prism flashback. He's scared shitless of Desaix, but not the guy who killed him?

Think about his situation. He jumped ship and sold out Zofia with all the info he had, and as a reward he was made captain of the “Last Bastion”. A fort that, he must have assumed, would never actually see military conflict because he never imagined Rigel would lose. But Rigel is losing, and how he has to actually do his job, and defend Rigel against an enemy that by this point he must realize is nearly unstoppable. He should be scared shitless. He should be terrified. He should be squirming like a goddamned worm. And even if he has more balls than that, surely his response to seeing an enemy that wiped the floor with the whole damned country's army march up to his doorstep shouldn't be to cockily ride out of the castle's protective walls to talk shit at these guys all alone with absolutely no indication he can even conceive of losing.

I'm also questioning why Rigel would give him this fortress. Their whole philosophy is meant to be based on strength and competence, and Slayde is a failed to hold on to Zofia castle against a bunch of rebels and then sold out his country to Rigel. Seems much more like they'd have the whole "we know how to deal with traitors" attitude rather than sincerely rewarding him. Maybe there's an offscreen bromance between him and the boss of this chapter that mirrors Fernand and Berkut.

 

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

For some reason the sorcerers aren't using fortify to heal the wounded bow knights... which is just making this draw out longer. Ugh.

 

Enemies not healing is making it last longer?

 

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Alright, I'm back.

Let's finish up today by... well, definitely by beating Rudolf, but maybe also I'll take care of all the story stuff before we can go underground.

Let's go.

Buckle up.

 

You missed the Secret Shrine. Do you not know about it?

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

...Huh. So Alm is Alm's middle name? That's... amusing.

 

And Rudolf is his last name, which begs the question, what's Rudolf's first name? Is it Emperor? XD

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

So, Rudolf, in his dying moments, begs Alm to take the Falchion that he killed Mila with, and use it to kill Duma.

I am dearly awaiting the game's explanation for why he didn't do this himself, or why he thinks Alm would have a better chance.

 

Mila has sealed it meaning he can't use it...though if he knows that it doesn't make much sense that he'd be telling Alm to do it...*muble* *mumble* prohecy *mumble* *mumble*

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Okay, Alm's voice actor does a great job with the material, but I just can't feel the moment because it makes no sense at all.

And now we get a cut back to Jedah and Celica... where... it sounds like... the fuck? Jedah and Celica are acting like Celica hadn't already agreed to give Duma her soul, and that realizing Alm is about to venture into Duma's lair is the breaking point that convinces her.

Also, Jedah doesn't remotely act surprised at the revelation that just happened. Did he know Rudolf was trying to sabotage him? If so, what the fuck was the point of any of this roundabout subterfuge!? Also, when was it ever Alm's plan to kill Duma!? Jedah just takes it as a given that Alm's gonna do what Rudolf asks!

 

Imagine how surprised everyone involved would be if Alm was a big believer in religious tolerance and marched in only to tell the Duma Faithful they can continue doing the soul eating they were doing before, just so long as they acknowledge him as Emperor, Mongol style.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

...A prophecy made by nobody they bothered to name, and a prophecy that never, ever, ever once reached either Alm's ears.

 

I think it's only mentioned in extra materials, but Halcyon made the prophecy. Which makes it far less ancient than prochecies tend to be in these kind of stories.

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

 

The fuck did he do!? Go “Whoops! False alarm, everyone, turns out the queen's just put on some weight!” and then make her pad her gown for a few months!?

 

Still birth?

 

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

If he believed in that prophecy, why didn't he have Alm raised in secret in Rigel, and aware of who he was, training him for the day he would kill Duma?

 

Well  presumably the Duma Faithful would have been able to get to him more easily in Rigel. Though it does beg the question why Mycen never told him any of this before. It's not like the prophecy requires it to be a secret as it's only really becoming relevant after this point.

2 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

If I may, to give some semblance of actual interpretation, "conceal news of your birth" could instead mean the moment Alm's mother began to go into labor, it either happened in a private enough place for Rudolf to arrange for the birth to happen in secret, in order to check in peace if Alm or not would have a brand, or in the aftermath managed to make people think it was a false alarm and his wife wasn't actually going into labor. Pretend the moment of birth had yet to happen, not that the entire pregnancy was false to begin with.

Think like in One Piece, how Ace's mother managed to keep her baby in for far longer than nine months, in order to throw off the idea that she was going to give birth to Gol D. Roger's son.

Rudolf had reason to prepare to keep the moment of Alm's birth to be a private/concealed matter. Since he knew of the prophecy. It talked about brand-bearers being born. So he had to make sure. Berkut is older than Alm, no? It's likely he did a similar thing with Berkut's birth. Hide when it happened, check for brand, then announce it publicly the day had finally arrived when Berkut was born brand-less. For Alm he even had the benefit of having heard of Celica's birth, since they had no reason to hide the moment the event itself happened, not aware or caring of the prophecy. So Rudolf knew a child of Lima's was soon to be born when his own wife was also gonna do the same.

You know, I could see Rudolf pulling a Star Wars. When Padme was buried with a fake bloated belly to make people think she was still pregnant when she died, in order to hide the fact her children had actually already been born. Just because Mycen only said about the concealing the birth thing, doesn't mean Rudolf didn't made an announcement about Alm dying as well, to explain his absence. Or maybe it was some other explanation not involving death we just don't get to hear about.

Imagine if he just claimed Berkut was his son instead of his nephew to conceal Alm's existence, when really he's an absolute no one they found on the street as a baby. That would have turned Berkut's whole life upside down even more than what happens anyway. It'd also be monumentally more shitty of Rudolf. But I think it would work better with the classist theming of the story to show how it doesn't really matter where you're come from. Berkut would still be an ass even if he's technically a commoner.

[Alastor15243]

3 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Enemies not healing is making it last longer?

Ironically? Yes. If they were fortified they would have attacked me and been finished off, but instead they retreated to heal.

 

4 minutes ago, Jotari said:

You missed the Secret Shrine. Do you not know about it?

Apparently I do not.

6 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Imagine if he just claimed Berkut was his son instead of his nephew to conceal Alm's existence, when really he's an absolute no one they found on the street as a baby. That would have turned Berkut's whole life upside down even more than what happens anyway. It'd also be monumentally more shitty of Rudolf. But I think it would work better with the classist theming of the story to show how it doesn't really matter where you're come from. Berkut would still be an ass even if he's technically a commoner.

Personally I would love this twist. True, it would make Rudolf even worse, but he's unsalvageable at this point.

[Jotari]

1 minute ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Apparently I do not.

 

There's a secret dungeon east of Rigel Falls. It was in Gaiden too. Just move right on the map. Disappointingly there's not a massive amount in it.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

Imagine if he just claimed Berkut was his son instead of his nephew to conceal Alm's existence, when really he's an absolute no one they found on the street as a baby. That would have turned Berkut's whole life upside down even more than what happens anyway. It'd also be monumentally more shitty of Rudolf. But I think it would work better with the classist theming of the story to show how it doesn't really matter where you're come from. Berkut would still be an ass even if he's technically a commoner.

Wouldn't that reinforce the "nobility > commoners" point that the game is ostensibly against? Since the common-born Berkut keeps getting his ass kicked by the noble-born Alm? Seems like it's just breaking its own aesop further open.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

Mila has sealed it meaning he can't use it...though if he knows that it doesn't make much sense that he'd be telling Alm to do it...*muble* *mumble* prohecy *mumble* *mumble*

You can use Falchion, until you can't, until you can again.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

I'm also questioning why Rigel would give him this fortress. Their whole philosophy is meant to be based on strength and competence, and Slayde is a failed to hold on to Zofia castle against a bunch of rebels and then sold out his country to Rigel. Seems much more like they'd have the whole "we know how to deal with traitors" attitude rather than sincerely rewarding him. Maybe there's an offscreen bromance between him and the boss of this chapter that mirrors Fernand and Berkut.

Gonna guess Rigel's hold on "strength" as a philosophy is about as slippery as the Klingons' sense of "honor". Namely, they have a firm moral code, which they're totally willing to bend when the opportunity arises. Slayde could be interpreted as a tool to further Rigel's own strength, even if he's gutless himself.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

Not just any Witch summoning Witch, that's Sonya's other sister, Hestia.

Yo dawg, I heard you like Witches. So I let this Witch summon Witches, so you can get ambushed while you're getting ambushed.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

I don't find that cool. I find it annoyingly inconsistent -_- Fire Emblem is one of the only games out there with a system that largely allows enemy characters to join the player with stats and abilities identical to what they have as an enemy, and it's one of the things I like about it.

Laughs in re-recruited out-of-house Ashe or Lorenz

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

Apparently I do not.

It's worth checking out. They've got a couple fountains and a gold piece.

[Anathaco]

On 7/17/2021 at 1:51 AM, Alastor15243 said:

Wait... are victory poses customized to characters, and not classes? I just realized that Kamui's holding his lance like he's re-sheathing a sword. That's... that's fucking badass, man. I can't believe that hadn't sunk in until now! Everyone has a personalized victory animation that applies to every damned class?

 

I think, like unique spell lists, it’s something that only happens for the villagers and mercenaries, because they can feasibly get into those other classes without pitchforks. Forsyth for example, uses the generic DF animation.

[Jotari]

6 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Wouldn't that reinforce the "nobility > commoners" point that the game is ostensibly against? Since the common-born Berkut keeps getting his ass kicked by the noble-born Alm? Seems like it's just breaking its own aesop further open.

Well the aesop has some issues by making Alm royal in the first place (which was why this game was not the best testing ground for adding such a theme, they definitely should have leant more into Rigel as a meritocracy imo). But the logic would be that it doesn't matter where you come from. Berkut wasn't an asshole because he was a noble. He was an asshole because he was an asshole.

Quote

Laughs in re-recruited out-of-house Ashe or Lorenz

Yeah, I knew that 70+ HP on a unit I never trained was too good to be true -_-

5 hours ago, Anathaco said:

I think, like unique spell lists, it’s something that only happens for the villagers and mercenaries, because they can feasibly get into those other classes without pitchforks. Forsyth for example, uses the generic DF animation.

I think this is (disappointingly) true. Which makes sense consider Pitchforks are a DLC item, so they had no real intention of making any (non lord) unit any class. Honestly I wish Pitchforks had been designed as part of the game, only with a different promotion system to not break them. I think a Genealogy style promotion system of not resetting levels would have worked far better than a traditional Fire Embelm leveling system for Shadows of Valentia. That would allow units to change classes without them hyper levelling through the early tiers. Of course using a Pitch fork to go villager would still be pretty busted as it could give units the bases of two different advanced classes pretty quickly, but that's why it works as a limited use resource.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Jotari

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

Well the aesop has some issues by making Alm royal in the first place (which was why this game was not the best testing ground for adding such a theme, they definitely should have leant more into Rigel as a meritocracy imo). But the logic would be that it doesn't matter where you come from. Berkut wasn't an asshole because he was a noble. He was an asshole because he was an asshole.

You already get nobles who aren't assholes, though, such as Lukas and Clive. I don't think "Berkut is an asshole because he's a noble" is the message that comes across.

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

think this is (disappointingly) true. Which makes sense consider Pitchforks are a DLC item, so they had no real intention of making any (non lord) unit any class. Honestly I wish Pitchforks had been designed as part of the game, only with a different promotion system to not break them. I think a Genealogy style promotion system of not resetting levels would have worked far better than a traditional Fire Embelm leveling system for Shadows of Valentia. That would allow units to change classes without them hyper levelling through the early tiers. Of course using a Pitch fork to go villager would still be pretty busted as it could give units the bases of two different advanced classes pretty quickly, but that's why it works as a limited use resource.

I've been thinking about a future game that leans on an Echoes-style system. In my vision, you can go to level 30, and don't reset level upon promotion. Villagers promote at level 3, First-tiers (i.e. Mage, Cavalier) at level 10, then Secon-tiers (i.e. Sage, Paladin) at level 20, into Third-tiers (Archsage, Gold Knight). Using a pitchfork retains level - an overleveled Villager (say, 15) just has to level up once before promoting again (at 16). Same for whatever it promotes into (can promote at 17).

Also, each spell comes at a specific level (except for those that are class-linked), as do combat arts (which are now character-specific, rather than weapon-linked). So there's a lot that goes into this, ahah.

[Jotari]

1 minute ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

You already get nobles who aren't assholes, though, such as Lukas and Clive. I don't think "Berkut is an asshole because he's a noble" is the message that comes across.

No, but conversely, we don't have any villains who are commoners. At least that we know of (maybe some of the duma faithful are commoners, hell maybe every Rigellian general is a commoner, it would make sense for the setting given Zeke's existence, but they give us no indication at all of the background of anyone not named Fernand, Berkut or Rudolf. This is why it was a particularly bad game to retroactively add this theme to).

1 minute ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I've been thinking about a future game that leans on an Echoes-style system. In my vision, you can go to level 30, and don't reset level upon promotion. Villagers promote at level 3, First-tiers (i.e. Mage, Cavalier) at level 10, then Secon-tiers (i.e. Sage, Paladin) at level 20, into Third-tiers (Archsage, Gold Knight). Using a pitchfork retains level - an overleveled Villager (say, 15) just has to level up once before promoting again (at 16). Same for whatever it promotes into (can promote at 17).

Also, each spell comes at a specific level (except for those that are class-linked), as do combat arts (which are now character-specific, rather than weapon-linked). So there's a lot that goes into this, ahah.

Yeah that's pretty much exactly what I was imagining. As far as I'm aware the game already does retain an internal level for learning spells, so having a system like this would work much better for making it easy to remember (I'm getting Ragnarok at level 20 no matter how early or late I choose to promote). Said internal level also makes the advance magic classes work kind of weird as characters who learn spells super late like Sonya actually forget the spells when promoting into their overclass for some reason, and need to level up back to when they learn it naturally to learn it again. Not sure exactly what's going on under the hood to cause that, but it's weird.

Putting my tinfoil hat on I can speculate that they did consider this when making Echoes, which is why they decided not to reset levels in Three Houses, but their loyalty to Gaiden's system made them decide to retrain the resetting levels.

[Alastor15243]

Shadows of Valentia Day 40: Duma Temple

Oop! Looks like we get... the scene... with Berkut. The big climax of his “tragic villain” arc.

That said, while I think they utterly failed to make his relationship with Rinea compelling, I do find this an entirely believable reaction to his situation, and honestly in a sense I feel for him, given that he's just found out that a good portion of his life has been revealed as a massive joke at the hands of a manipulative lunatic. Everything he grew up thinking was both his right and his duty turned out to be an elaborate fraud by a guy who had decidedly different plans.

Ah yes, the “Lies, lies, lies, lies, LIES!” line. It's been memed to death, and for fucking good reason, but damn if Ian Sinclair can't scream. He did a great job with what he was given.

So Berkut started wandering around the underground temple and... got teleported, judging by his “how did I get here” reaction and the sound effect... straight to an altar of Duma. Either that or it was just a sound the altar usually makes and he just completely lost track of where he was wandering.

...And then Rinea instantly finds him.

If Duma didn't have a hand in that as well, this is comically contrived.

So... Rinea says she's been “looking all over” for Berkut, and that this is “The last place [she] expected to find [him]”. No mention of randomly getting teleported here or having any reason to search here at this specific time other than just being in the area and passing through. But yeah, looks like it was just sheer dumb luck that she found him at this exact moment.

…

...Is it acceptable to use “sooner” as a raw replacement for “prefer”?

Berkut: I would sooner an honorable death at the executioner's blade!

Shouldn't there be a “die” between “sooner” and “an”?

So yeah, this is where Rinea says that she was never interested in being empress, she just wanted Berkut. I... I remember this speech of hers being longer than three sentences though. And I was all but certain that it had her saying some fucking thing about what she does like about Berkut, but it seems like my memory just kinda assumed that must have been there because the alternative would be madness. But it seems madness wins the day, and that now the only remaining chance for Rinea to explain why the fuck she loves Berkut... will be after she's fucking dead.

But anyway, Berkut, in his state of psychotic rage, somehow interprets Rinea's “I didn't want to be empress, I just wanted you” as “I knew you would never be emperor and just wanted to watch you fail”. He then kills Rinea.

...While Rinea does a pretty terrible scream. Though maybe it just pales in comparison to Berkut's, but... no, it feels like it was just bad.

On the subject of empresses though, if you might permit me a small tangent...

...You know what I think would occur to me to ask if, like Alm, I were supposedly an orphan who never had a proper conventional family like all of my friends did, and who only found out the truth of my parentage after I just killed the man who turned out to be my father?

I'd ask Massena if my mother was still alive.

The whole “non-factor mother” thing only “works” in these sorts of games when you don't bring up scenarios that would cause said mother to be a relevant subject. If mommy dearest died of illness ages ago and the hero's already come to terms with the grief? Sure. But if you never fucking knew her and just gained substantial evidence that she might still be alive?

Aaaaaaaanyway...

Fernand comes in just in time to see Berkut yeet Rinea into the fucking altar flames, then Berkut sics flame-ghost-witch Rinea on Fernand like a fucking attack dog while she screams in fear and pain the whole while and Fernand runs away and the cutscene ends.

The very idea that this character actually gets redemption after this boggles my mind.

...Okay, so, we get a memory prism with Rudolf. Let's hope this sheds some light on some stuff.

Okay, first off, if this is the moment Rudolf hands Alm to Mycen, it's kind of ridiculous that they use the same voices and portraits for characters who are at this point seventeen odd years younger.

Rudolf tells Mycen that Alm's name is... Alm. Not Albein. Alm. So what, is this a setting where... the middle name... comes first?

Also, who else is here? Does the game expect me to believe that Rudolf went all the way to the Zofian border alone with an infant in his arms without anyone getting suspicious?

Yeah, so, it doesn't sound like Rudolf actually took any precaution to keep his wife's pregnancy a secret just in case his child turned out to bear the brand. If he did, there's no way this conversation would be entirely consistent with him not doing that.

So, Rudolf says he needs to “stop [the people] from leaning so hard on the blessings and precepts of gods”. But... isn't the philosophy of Duma... not relying on the blessings of gods?

So the scene reinforces what was said before about Rudolf feeling he has a part to play that he knows people will try to kill him for, and that he hopes the person to succeed will be Alm. But... that's not what he does, or why he dies. All of Rigel's army is undyingly loyal to him, and none of the people who rise up against him do so because of any “antitheist militant” actions on his part. In fact, whenever we see the people of Rigel who have an issue with him, the only time religion's come up is with regards to him allying himself with the Duma Faithful and its most shitty, corrupt members.

And as for Zofia, nobody rose up to declare war on him because of any anti-god actions on his part. They might have, if anyone of a warlike nature ever heard about it, but word of the fact that Rudolf killed Mila never reached the Deliverance at all.

Somehow.

Two fucking years later.

The only reason the Deliverance rose up against him was because he invaded Zofia. Which shouldn't have been of any practical benefit to his plan at all. His goal was to make sure Alm grew up into a brave and strong young man who could slay Duma. What the fuck did invading Zofia and thereby endangering his life innumerable fucking times, knowing full well his son was leading the resistance, do to further that goal? And again, he killed Mila well before properly declaring war on Zofia! Two fucking years before, as a matter of fact!

Also, if he was actively and openly trying to get his people to reject the gods, then why were the Duma Faithful okay with this!? And if Rudolf fully intended to oppose the Duma Faithful from the very beginning and felt confident he could succeed, then why did he feel he couldn't protect Alm from them, and why were they militarily supporting him every step of the way during the war!?

But yeah, absolutely nothing further of value is said in this conversation apart from what Mycen summarized earlier.

This entire twist makes the entire plot nonsense and I can't fucking believe this is happening.

Alright, let's check out the secret shrine.

While the game doesn't explicitly say, I have to assume this is one of those “cave behind the waterfall” things.

Anyway, in this random skirmish I hear the Act 5 battle theme for the first time, and I'm... not a fan, shall we say. It's inferior to the battle theme used before. Less intense, somehow. The higher-pitched instruments isn't enough to add intensity when they reduced the powerful drumbeat of the original.

So in the shrine, along with a few skirmishes, was a defense fountain, a revival fountain, a luck booster, and a gold mark. I wonder if I can do anything with my gold marks and the amount of silver I have...?

...In going back to check, I found a memory prism I some how missed last time! In fact I'm so shocked I missed it that I wonder if it's something I couldn't have found before...?

Well it's about Tatiana and Zeke.

...Apparently amnesia is a... common occurrence in these times? According to Tatiana at least. ...Am I blanking on something obvious, or is this not a callback to anything previously established?

But yeah, not much to comment on. It's cute enough.

...Alright, so, I max-forged the royal sword and +2'd the brave sword. That should do it for forging.

Let's go.

Massena says that Rudolf felt guilty about lying to Berkut, but had to let him think he was the next in line or else admit Alm existed. I could buy that if literally anything about Rudolf's behavior made sense, but that shit has sailed.

That was a typo, and I am choosing not to correct it.

Saber: Blast it all! This place is crawling with Terrors. So much for “begone to wherever you will”, you damn useless priest!

Well at least the game recognizes it.

Anyway, we go through the dungeon entrance... into... a second... dungeon... entrance... where we run into Fernand.

Clive says they plan to slay Duma because “it was Emperor Rudolf's dying request”.

...Fuck this.

Seriously.

But apparently Clive...

...didn't know Duma was insane...?

Why did he think Duma needed to die, then? Was he literally planning to kill Duma just because the psycho who invaded his country asked him to, without any justification or reason?

Okay, so, Fernand actually comes to realize what a piece of shit he was being in his final moments, at least, and sums up basically everything wrong with him pretty succinctly.

...So, everyone's miserable at Fernand's death, and I have to ask... does it ever, anywhere, explain why the fountains that are acknowledged in-fucking universe as being able to revive the dead... can't revive these people?

...That would actually be a cool mod idea, just adding Berkut, Fernand and Rudolf to the list of people you can resurrect after they die, given that Berkut and Fernand at least have voice lines that could be used to make them full characters in a mod.

We get a memory prism, but given we're trapped here, we can't view it right now.

Okay, we're venturing down. I remember this place being an absolute maze of random battles and obnoxious puzzles, so I imagine even doing this normally I'll have plenty of time to put Gray through a dread fighter loop. No way we're finishing the game today.

The Duma Temple enemy phase music is... super lame. I'm kind of amazed they found this appropriate.

Alright, Zeke and Tatiana have a support.

It's mostly just cute fluff. Damn, I'm really gonna have to come up with more shit to say about these conversations once I get to Three Houses, huh?

Alright, Gray's level 10. Time to do the loop once we find the shrine in here.

Okay, so, I've decided I need to crank up my schedule a bit, and devote a few more hours of my free time to this despite having less free time than usual, if I want to get updates of any real substance out this summer. Tomorrow's update will probably be as short as usual due to other obligations, but I expect to put enough work in to get this game done by Thursday at the latest, and then have my ranking released Friday.

...Oh yes. So this is where Alm sees Mila, dead, with the Falchion through her head, behind the bars through which he's about to talk to Celica.

...Yep, right on cue. And now for another frustrating scene from her.

Alm asks her where the others are, and she has a pained look on her face like she's fully aware they're all probably going to die because she decided to be a martyr.

Funny that Jedah says “Alm and Anthiese”, not “Alm and Celica” or “Albein and Anthiese”.

And then Jedah openly admits to planning to use Celica's sacrifice to bring about “the dawn of an age of fear and chaos, cradled in Duma's shadow”, right in front of Celica, and Celica still thinks sacrificing her soul to Duma is a good idea.

How the fuck can she be this dense!?

I get that she personally doesn't believe humanity can function without the gods, but there are so many goddamned red flags here that she can't possibly think this guy can be trusted to fix it, if it can even be fixed.

So yeah, Jedah tells Alm and Celica that they have time to say goodbye to each other through the bars, which it's pretty damned amusing to think we can't get through despite having teleportation magic both ways, and...

...Celica reveals that the main reason she wanted to see Mila wasn't to solve the mystery of what happened to the crops, but to seek out divine intervention to protect Alm from the bad dream she had, and she blames herself for everything bad that happened to him.

Christ.

I'm sorry, I'm just so pissed off at this idiot. She's recklessly endangered the lives of the people who trust her and thrown herself blindly at the promise of a madman because she “[doesn't] want anyone to be hurt or killed”.

This is what infuriates me. In the end, her entire philosophy is blatantly wrong, and it's blindingly obvious that it's wrong by, at the latest, the beginning of Act 4. There is nothing to learn from it. Nothing to admire in it. She's the deuteragonist of this game, Alm's supposed narrative equal, and yet by the end of the game, her primary story role is to make the jaw-dropping mistakes that Alm has to fight tooth and nail to fix.

While I like Alm's impassioned speech to reject the defeatist idea that humanity can't live without the gods, it feels kinda ridiculous that anyone even believes that when they know about continents where people function without draconic intervention just fine.

Also, I wish, like... any of this philosophy had any buildup. Seriously, I don't think Alm's mentioned a single thing about his belief about gods and men until after Rudolf asked him to kill Duma, so this all feels... amazingly forced.

But after all of this passionate speech, Mila starts glowing, which tells Alm he has to get there in order to make things right.

Alright, let's se how much more we can do before we hit my extended time limit...

Alright, I found a brave sword, but I have no one to use it since I have a better one for Gray and the royal sword for Alm.

...A few more battles later...

And Celica is suddenly outrageously shocked to learn that Jedah lied to her about being able to release Mila. The voice acting makes it sound like it's the last thing she possibly believed could happen, and... oh fuck this entire story arc...

And then Jedah destroys nearly all of Mila's corpse right in front of Celica, and I just have no sympathy for Celica here. This is what she gets for mindlessly trusting the guy who's constantly tried to kill her friends even while trying to parley with her.

And then her struggles of pain start echoing like a witch's... Duma's eye comes out... and he feasts on the golden mist of her soul.

...Oh boy, I can't wait to remember how they explain her return from that.

...So... Jedah... moves Mila's head... somewhere else?

I hope they address this, since that's where we get Falchion.

...Found the Mila shrine, made Gray a villager again.

And also, the decapitated Mila shrine statue here also has nothing of value to say besides “may you always walk in the light of Mila's blessing”. Is that some kind of stealth dig at religion, that that religious platitude is the only thing she doesn't need a brain to say to us?

...Oh my god this place is a fucking maze. How long is this going to take me?

Well, might as well get Gray some progress in the dread fighter loop before finishing up.

One fight later, and Gray's already ready to become a mercenary again, and finally is getting enough speed to be a proper speed demon.

If I'm being perfectly honest, dungeons are probably my least favorite part of the game. The battles are repetitive, the dungeons themselves get needlessly long, and they're confusing as hell to navigate. Not to mention if you lose, it's either use the turnwheel and remove all stakes, or repeat all that nonsense again.

Tatiana got invoke, and apparently she'll summon pegasi. Next level's when she gets warp. But Faye doesn't get... anew, sorry, not again, anew, until level 14. Shit, I remembered it being more realistic to get by this stage! It's three levels away, and both healing and combat exp only give her a pittance now!

After a single battle, Gray's already ready to become a myrmidon, and he's fast enough to double those fucking eyeball monsters.

...And with that... yeah, now I'm reaching the proper end of what I can do today.

Tomorrow I'll set out to explore this damned cave and see how close I can get to finding the end of it.

Stay safe, everyone.

[Acacia Sgt]

I'm pretty sure the person who explains the revival springs to you says it doesn't work on everyone. This is the Wattsonian explanation as to why only the party gets to use them.

As for Celica... same principle. Mila brings her back to life using the last of her power. You could say it also works since Celica carries her blood. It's contrived, yes, but it works as an explanation. Execution is another subject.

[Jotari]

 

16 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

...You know what I think would occur to me to ask if, like Alm, I were supposedly an orphan who never had a proper conventional family like all of my friends did, and who only found out the truth of my parentage after I just killed the man who turned out to be my father?

I'd ask Massena if my mother was still alive.

The whole “non-factor mother” thing only “works” in these sorts of games when you don't bring up scenarios that would cause said mother to be a relevant subject. If mommy dearest died of illness ages ago and the hero's already come to terms with the grief? Sure. But if you never fucking knew her and just gained substantial evidence that she might still be alive?

 

Yeah, even a hand wave would be ncie there. Alm's mom doesn't have to be an important character, but him asking about her seems like it'd be a really natural response in this moment. Plus if they just handwave by saying she died years ago, then the timing of that info would help strengthen the plot point that Berkut is the last blood relative Alm has left (well at least assuming Berkut's almost entirely not mentioned parents are dead, which I guess is kinda sorta implied with the memento ring).

16 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Fernand comes in just in time to see Berkut yeet Rinea into the fucking altar flames, then Berkut sics flame-ghost-witch Rinea on Fernand like a fucking attack dog while she screams in fear and pain the whole while and Fernand runs away and the cutscene ends.

Any idea why Berkut saw fit to randomly kill his friend like that? Did Fernand's look of horror really warrant killing a soldier who has been loyally fighting for you? Of course I know the answer is "Berkut is crazy now so he doesn't have to make sense".

16 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

The very idea that this character actually gets redemption after this boggles my mind.

...Okay, so, we get a memory prism with Rudolf. Let's hope this sheds some light on some stuff.

Okay, first off, if this is the moment Rudolf hands Alm to Mycen, it's kind of ridiculous that they use the same voices and portraits for characters who are at this point seventeen odd years younger.

 

Other portraits would be nice, but it's pretty understandable they didn't want to bother for this one singular scene. Making portraits for Mila and Duma was more of a priority, and they didn't bother to give Duma a face (though maybe that was an intentional design choice).

16 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Rudolf tells Mycen that Alm's name is... Alm. Not Albein. Alm. So what, is this a setting where... the middle name... comes first?

Also, who else is here? Does the game expect me to believe that Rudolf went all the way to the Zofian border alone with an infant in his arms without anyone getting suspicious?

 

Why do you assume Rudolf went to the Zofian border? I always assumed Mycen travelled deep into Rigel. He talks about him never thinking he'd step foot in Rigel again. Does the background resemble the sluive or something? If so I think one could chalk that up to reused assets since Mycen's comment confirms this takes place at least someone within Rigelian territory.

16 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

So, Rudolf says he needs to “stop [the people] from leaning so hard on the blessings and precepts of gods”. But... isn't the philosophy of Duma... not relying on the blessings of gods?

Maybe blessings for Mila and precepts for Duma.

16 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

The only reason the Deliverance rose up against him was because he invaded Zofia. Which shouldn't have been of any practical benefit to his plan at all. His goal was to make sure Alm grew up into a brave and strong young man who could slay Duma. What the fuck did invading Zofia and thereby endangering his life innumerable fucking times, knowing full well his son was leading the resistance, do to further that goal? And again, he killed Mila well before properly declaring war on Zofia! Two fucking years before, as a matter of fact!

 

Well it made Alm stronger. Rudolf was, in a sense, still following the philosoph of Duma.

 

16 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

...That would actually be a cool mod idea, just adding Berkut, Fernand and Rudolf to the list of people you can resurrect after they die, given that Berkut and Fernand at least have voice lines that could be used to make them full characters in a mod.

 

Someone make it happen plase, and let me pitchfork Rudolf into a Dread Fighter that can weild Falchion!

16 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Okay, we're venturing down. I remember this place being an absolute maze of random battles and obnoxious puzzles,

On ething that really confuses me about the remake is that they didn't maintain the same battles in Duma's Shrine from Gaiden. For those not in the know, Gaiden had battles in the shrine that had these gimmicky traps like lave floors opening up. And it also featured the named enemies from the final battle attack you earlier. With all their dedication to Gaiden and remaining loyal to the source materail, it's just sort of weird they removed these battles and just featured random encounters on generic maps.

 

16 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

...Celica reveals that the main reason she wanted to see Mila wasn't to solve the mystery of what happened to the crops, but to seek out divine intervention to protect Alm from the bad dream she had, and she blames herself for everything bad that happened to him.

Christ.

 

To be fair to them this was her motivation in Gaiden too.

16 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

And Celica is suddenly outrageously shocked to learn that Jedah lied to her about being able to release Mila. The voice acting makes it sound like it's the last thing she possibly believed could happen, and... oh fuck this entire story arc...

And then Jedah destroys nearly all of Mila's corpse right in front of Celica, and I just have no sympathy for Celica here. This is what she gets for mindlessly trusting the guy who's constantly tried to kill her friends even while trying to parley with her.

And then her struggles of pain start echoing like a witch's... Duma's eye comes out... and he feasts on the golden mist of her soul.

 

And Jedah manages to turn Celica into a witch even though she's now unwilling. While before all mentions of Witches were that there souls were surrendered freely. Well all except just five minutes earlier when Berkut could apperantly give consent for sacrifice on Rinea's behalf. So yeah, it seems consent just isn't part of what's needed to make a witch. Which makes me wonder why Jedah thought it necessary to go through all this song and dance to begin with.

 

[Alastor15243]

9 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Why do you assume Rudolf went to the Zofian border? I always assumed Mycen travelled deep into Rigel. He talks about him never thinking he'd step foot in Rigel again. Does the background resemble the sluive or something? If so I think one could chalk that up to reused assets since Mycen's comment confirms this takes place at least someone within Rigelian territory.

I am 99% positive the backdrop they use here is that of the sluice, but I guess they could just be recycling it without it actually being the place. Or I could just be wrong.

[Jotari]

26 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I am 99% positive the backdrop they use here is that of the sluice, but I guess they could just be recycling it without it actually being the place. Or I could just be wrong.

Yeah I'm willing to give the game the benefit of the doubt here and assume that's a reused asset. The massive sluice that acts as a border doesn't make the most sensible choice for a clandestined adoption.

[Alastor15243]

17 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Yeah I'm willing to give the game the benefit of the doubt here and assume that's a reused asset. The massive sluice that acts as a border doesn't make the most sensible choice for a clandestined adoption.

Does beg the question though: if not there, where? Cuz it certainly isn't the castle, and the structures in Rigel that backdrop could be used for are kinda scarce.

[Venger_06]

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

...Celica reveals that the main reason she wanted to see Mila wasn't to solve the mystery of what happened to the crops, but to seek out divine intervention to protect Alm from the bad dream she had, and she blames herself for everything bad that happened to him.

Christ.

I'm sorry, I'm just so pissed off at this idiot. She's recklessly endangered the lives of the people who trust her and thrown herself blindly at the promise of a madman because she “[doesn't] want anyone to be hurt or killed”.

This is what infuriates me. In the end, her entire philosophy is blatantly wrong, and it's blindingly obvious that it's wrong by, at the latest, the beginning of Act 4. There is nothing to learn from it. Nothing to admire in it. She's the deuteragonist of this game, Alm's supposed narrative equal, and yet by the end of the game, her primary story role is to make the jaw-dropping mistakes that Alm has to fight tooth and nail to fix.

Copypasting a reddit comment, all credits to IAmBLD:

Quote

The idea that Alm and Celica aren't so much foils, and instead Alm embodies both Duma and Mila himself - it does make sense, both in the fact that he clearly doesn't act like he needs Celica, and that his birth makes him the middle ground representation between both countries - a lot like Corrin in Revelation, actually.

But while the comments largely talk about how it makes Celica useless if Alm doesn't need her, my take is ... a bit more cynical, maybe. Celica DOES have a purpose in this reading of SoV's themes. It's just that her purpose literally IS to suck and be useless. We have so many cruel Rigelian villains, major and minor, that showcase why Rigel's/Duma's outlook can suck. Maybe it's not a coincidence, then, that docile, self-sacrificing, Celica (who does little aside from opening a gate, as one snarky comment puts it) is from the lazy nation of Zofia.

In that light, then, the fact that Celica's route accomplishes nothing (according to the interpretations of people in those comments) isn't a flaw, but a *feature*. SoV and Gaiden aren't trying to show a story about 2 sides coming together to form a greater whole, it's SUPPOSED to be a story about gigachad Alm being the solution to all the problems, while also highlighting how Celica's approach is dumb and useless.

I don't LIKE that theme necessarily ... but I have to confess the game makes a much stronger argument for it than it does for what are traditionally accepted to be the game's themes.

It actually made me rethink a lot about the game when I replayed it. Maybe it was all about ENLIGHTENED CENTRISM.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Maof06

[Alastor15243]

10 minutes ago, Maof06 said:

Copypasting a reddit comment, all credits to IAmBLD:

It actually made me rethink a lot about the game when I replayed it. Maybe it was all about ENLIGHTENED CENTRISM.

This is an interesting point, but I agree with the linked comment that if this is intentional, it's intentional for the remake alone, and at the expense of a character who once was Alm's narrative equal.

[Jotari]

15 minutes ago, Maof06 said:

Copypasting a reddit comment, all credits to IAmBLD:

It actually made me rethink a lot about the game when I replayed it.

It is possible that was their intention, but then you get quotes like the upcoming Alm and Celica fight where Jeddah directly draws a parallel between the two of them and Mil and Duma. And just after that Mila speaks to both of them calling them children of fate that both showed her the glorious truth of moderate politics. Or just the whole imagery of deciding to give Celica a brand too, deciding to make Alm left handed. There's just a tonne of coding, not just from the original game where they literally take parallel paths, but actually added to Shadows of Valentia, that presents them as parallel characters. Even the box art itself.

Note the tag line on the back with images of them opposite each other on both sides of the box.

They didn't need to give Celica a brand, if they wanted this to be a story where Alm is the superior of the two then it could have just been the Child of Fate and not the Children. Making Celica intentionally flawed and Alm intentionally virtuous could have been achieved in ways that are much more on the nose. Maybe that is what they were going for though, but if it is I think I have to admit that they failed to do that just as much as they failed to actually make them genuine parallels too. Like if Alm was meant to be perfect without Celica, then they shouldn't have given him a line where he outright says he requires her to be balanced.

Quote

Alm: Don’t apologize. Just know that I need you, all right? Without your wisdom, all I know how to do is fight whatever’s in front of me. So please… Will you fight with me? Believe in me. Believe in US. Believe in our combined strength!

Celica: I do. It’s as Mila said… We’ve had the strength to live and fight for our world this whole time. I lost faith in that somewhere along the way… But right now, it seems the most obvious thing in the world. I trust in mankind like I trust in you, Alm. Absolutely, and without hesitation.

Alm: I feel the same, Celica. This isn’t where things end for us. Even without gods, this world has a long and prosperous future ahead of it. Now let’s go claim that future together!

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Jotari

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

And then Jedah openly admits to planning to use Celica's sacrifice to bring about “the dawn of an age of fear and chaos, cradled in Duma's shadow”, right in front of Celica, and Celica still thinks sacrificing her soul to Duma is a good idea.

What an atrocious line. Jedah literally desires "an age of fear and chaos". He's not even saying "we need a strong Duma to maintain order, lest the continent fall into chaos". No, he's literally advocating for things that are inescapably bad.

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also, I wish, like... any of this philosophy had any buildup. Seriously, I don't think Alm's mentioned a single thing about his belief about gods and men until after Rudolf asked him to kill Duma, so this all feels... amazingly forced.

Obviously, Alm received a copy of the script from Massena.

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Saber: Blast it all! This place is crawling with Terrors. So much for “begone to wherever you will”, you damn useless priest!

Well at least the game recognizes it.

It's rather disappointing that we only got dialogue here, rather than an actual battle. It could've served as a neat bookend, having Celica's allies fight at the start of Act V, and then at the end as well. Of course, that runs into the inevitable "what happens if all of Team Celica is dead?"

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

The whole “non-factor mother” thing only “works” in these sorts of games when you don't bring up scenarios that would cause said mother to be a relevant subject. If mommy dearest died of illness ages ago and the hero's already come to terms with the grief? Sure. But if you never fucking knew her and just gained substantial evidence that she might still be alive?

Wild how much she's a non-entity. Both of Celica's parents at least got a name and a face. Uh... maybe Alm is genre-savvy enough to assume his mom is dead?

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Ah yes, the “Lies, lies, lies, lies, LIES!” line. It's been memed to death, and for fucking good reason, but damn if Ian Sinclair can't scream. He did a great job with what he was given.

I'd love to see him come back for a future game. Maybe let him play a character who's not a total punk-ass bitch.

3 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

So, Rudolf says he needs to “stop [the people] from leaning so hard on the blessings and precepts of gods”. But... isn't the philosophy of Duma... not relying on the blessings of gods?

"Duma says he doesn't want people relying on the gods. And yet, he grants power to those who surrender their souls to him. Curious."

- Emperor Rudolf, founder of Turning Point Rigel

[Acacia Sgt]

I'm pretty sure it's stated Witches don't all give up their souls willingly. I think it was in the Accordion... or somewhere in the actual game script. Anyway...

39 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

What an atrocious line. Jedah literally desires "an age of fear and chaos". He's not even saying "we need a strong Duma to maintain order, lest the continent fall into chaos". No, he's literally advocating for things that are inescapably bad.

The only way I can see this working is if Celica clings to some belief that once restored to sanity, Duma will go hard on Jedah for wanting this. I mean, she just learned Duma and Mila are going bonkers. In her mind, she now has an answer as to why Rigel is invading, why Mila got attacked, why Terrors are showing up, why Lima became what he became... and perhaps, why Jedah is so openly evil since he's running rampart without Duma to call out on him. She has reason to think everything wrong so far is because the gods are going mad, and thus, everything will be fine if they can be restored. The final blow to any reason against it was likely learning Mila basically (unwittingly due to her own slipping sanity) peace out on the whole thing and retreated within the Falchion's seal. Celica no doubt felt abandoned by the very deity she serves. So if Mila was doing jack squat about it... it was up to her. And Duma is still around. Sure, Jedah doesn't give the confidence his plan to restore Duma's sanity will work... but at this point, better try and fail than not try at all. But yeah... this just shakily holds out.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Acacia Sgt

[Venger_06]

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

This is an interesting point, but I agree with the linked comment that if this is intentional, it's intentional for the remake alone, and at the expense of a character who once was Alm's narrative equal.

Well, there are also some people in the comments saying that Alm was always supposed to be right in the original Gaiden. So there is no consensus?

2 hours ago, Jotari said:

Even the box art itself.

Note the tag line on the back with images of them opposite each other on both sides of the box.

Misleading advertising? /s

[Jotari]

7 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I'm pretty sure it's stated Witches don't all give up their souls willingly. I think it was in the Accordion... or somewhere in the actual game script. Anyway...

The only way I can see this working is if Celica clings to some belief that once restored to sanity, Duma will go hard on Jedah for wanting this. I mean, she just learned Duma and Mila are going bonkers. In her mind, she now has an answer as to why Rigel is invading, why Mila got attacked, why Terrors are showing up, why Lima became what he became... and perhaps, why Jedah is so openly evil since he's running rampart without Duma to call out on him. She has reason to think everything wrong so far is because the gods are going mad, and thus, everything will be fine if they can be restored. The final blow to any reason against it was likely learning Mila basically (unwittingly due to her own slipping sanity) peace out on the whole thing and retreated within the Falchion's seal. Celica no doubt felt abandoned by the very deity she serves. So if Mila was doing jack squat about it... it was up to her. And Duma is still around. Sure, Jedah doesn't give the confidence his plan to restore Duma's sanity will work... but at this point, better try and fail than not try at all. But yeah... this just shakily holds out.

At that point though, if I were Celica, I'd be seriously be questioning whether offering up my soul would actually do anything to help Duma's sanity. Jedah's motives are entirely suspect when he spouts nonsense like that (I mean his trustworthyness was super suspect from the beginning, but when he openly says he wants something different to you and will obtain it by doing what he'd previously said was something you wanted, then one should definitely question whether what he said had any merit whatsoever).

6 hours ago, Maof06 said:

Misleading advertising? /s

Well that was just part of my overall post. I think the most damning thing against the idea that they're unbalanced on purpose is Alm outright saying he requires Celica's compasion to do more than just fight what's in front of him. That's a pretty direct and open statement of the theme that they are two halves of a whole.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Jotari

[Alastor15243]

Shadows of Valentia Day 41: Exploring Duma Temple

Interestingly, quick observation before I start: I re-read a little of my Gaiden playthrough yesterday and noticed two things: 1, holy shit was I progressing through that game at a breakneck pace compared to now, and 2...

...For some reason the famine was changed in SoV to have happened two years before the game started instead of three.

I'm curious why, and what exactly that accomplished. Because from my perspective it seems like the answer is “nothing”.

So I'm exploring the space down the staircase south of the Mila shrine. Let's see...

...Ah yes, this is where you show up whenever you screw up with teleportation. Nothing to see here. Alright, on to explore the rest...

...And then on the Mila shrine floor there's a door I can't open from this side... so that's it for the basement for now.

...No, wait, there's a bit more that I haven't investigated!

...It's kind of amazing how many hits enemies take in this game. I don't think I've ever seen a game where securing kills against single opponents is this tedious without abusing every game-breaking mechanic on offer.

Oh thank goodness, that explains it.

Water of experience!

Yep, that's going to Faye!

Now she's only 35 exp away from getting anew! So that explains why I managed to get it in time for the Berkut fight!

There's also fatigue curing water, which is good, since we can't leave. Though the drop rates for food from pots probably mean we'd be able to manage with just shrine offerings, but still, good to have.

And after a quick witch battle, Tatiana got warp, and Faye is just 6 exp away from anew! Awesome!

...Fuck.

I just ran into Berkut.

I was hoping to get a little more experience before that happened. I'm so close to anew.

Oh well.

I mean it's not like it's a class change, I can just get anew mid battle.

Alright.

So, considering how completely straightforward the path is to get here, it's kind of no wonder Rinea found him. However... did the Terrors (I hate that I now know that has to be capitalized) just... leave her alone? She did confirm this wasn't the first place she looked, and this place is crawling with monsters.

So Alm's been called “Rudolf II” (as in, “the second”), and... aren't rulers... usually not referred to by their last name, and are only called “the second” if they have the same first name? I mean, I could be completely off base here, but without googling anything... Harold, Arthur, Elizabeth and Marie... all sound like first names. Then again, it's “President Obama” and “President Bush” and the like, so I guess it varies by type of ruler. Maybe emperors are a last name thing?

Yeah, uh, Alm has been alarmingly quick to accept his duty as the ruler of Rigel. It's... I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: it's really fucking jarring.

So Alm tries to extend the hand of friendship to Berkut... even after he killed Fernand, and even after Fernand warned him that he's completely gone off the deep end.

Yeah, and the fact that Alm's saying he's happy to know he has a cousin because he “didn't think [he] had any family in this world”... okay, first of all, I'm assuming he's talking about how he felt growing up, in which case, don't grandfathers count? And second of all, this is all the more reason why Alm should have asked about his mother.

So then Berkut goes all glowy aura and the music escalates. And Clive apparently knows what “[taking] in Duma's power” looks like.

Also, I just noticed that weird half-tiara thing Berkut's wearing, with the black pointy metal behind his ears. Weird.

…

Alm: You offered the woman you love up to Duma!?

Has Alm even heard of Rinea before now? How does he know about her? Granted, there are conversations you can see where she's briefly mentioned, but I'm pretty sure, correct me if I'm wrong, that Alm hearing about Rinea is entirely optional.

And then Berkut gives this rant about how power won't betray him that reminds me vividly of Two-Face's “chance” rant at the end of The Dark Knight, and then mentions “blood ties” disparagingly, resulting in...

Alm: Are you accusing my own father of betraying you? You're wrong! He loved you! He worried about you to the last! You knew him so much better than I did. How can you not see that?

JESUS CHRIST, ARE THEY ACTUALLY TRYING TO SUGGEST ALM IS RIGHT HERE!?

“You knew him so much better than I did!”... he says, in the process of assuming he knows Rudolf better than Berkut does.

Anyway, fight time. Main concern is that Rinea has entrap and can summon. But I can deal with this.

SHE SUMMONS WITCHES. FUCK.

...Thankfully they're really weak and only know fire. Whew, that was a scare. Still, they're bound to be annoying. Better cull the rest of these enemies quickly.

Alright. That was nerve-wracking, but with some invocations and luck I managed to keep everyone safe long enough to take out most of the really dangerous enemies. The dread fighter ghosts in particular were nice because they made a beeline for the witches and can take them out in one hit.

Berkut: You... You took... everything from me. You will SUFFER for what you've done!

...He said.

To a summon.

Anyway, now everyone but Berkut and Rinea is dead.

...It is soooooooooo fucking gross that Berkut and Rinea have a support boost in this context.

Right, time to WDLR this girl out of her badly-written misery.

“Lord... Berkut...”

Bite me, game.

And Berkut follows swiftly.

...He looks hilarious still wreathed in demon fire while in a collapsed heap on the floor.

And then Berkut, mortally wounded on the ground, yells at Alm to end this while Alm's still saying he's tired of being alone in the world and wanted more than anything for them to get along. And then...

Rinea shows up in a shimmer of heavenly light.

Rinea: Dear, proud Berkut... even without crown or throne or castle... You were ever my emperor. A just, right and noble man... You were born to lead... This just wasn't your empire. So come with me now. Let us find our empire together. If you'll still take me for your empress?

I want to fucking vomit.

I'm choosing to believe that this is a near-death hallucination on Berkut's part, and that this is his mental image of Rinea, which explains why this is so out-of-character for her, talking about empires and how he was meant to be an emperor when she made it clear she never cared about that when she was alive. This is also helped by the fact that nobody else acknowledges that Rinea is there.

...Except that the Valentian Accordion, according to a quick google search... says this is real. That somehow Rinea's soul also came back from being turned into a horrific monster, and instantly forgave him, and he's apparently actually, genuinely, unironically going to the same afterlife as Rinea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fuck you, game.

Fuck you.

This is not a remotely redeemable character. You have not shown a single shred of decency inside of this guy.

I... god, this is... what!?

How...?

WHY...?

I'm speechless. The fuck is wrong with this game!? How can this arrogant, classist, violent, domestically abusive, short-tempered, partner-murdering asshat... how can this character with literally no evident redeeming qualities... how can this fucker be treated by the narrative like this!? With everyone forgiving him!?

I don't want to insult the moral character of the people writing the script for a fucking video game... because I know full well it's possible, even easy, to accidentally narratively endorse morally despicable shit without yourself being morally despicable... but let's just say this is making it very hard to remind myself of that.

...But with that, the fight is over. Thankfully, the game has the decency to give me a post-battle save despite being in the middle of a dungeon far from the shrine. Okay, let's keep moving. I... I don't want to insult the intelligence of my readerbase by continuing to rant about the shit that just happened. I trust everyone reading is on the same page here, or at bare minimum that my opinion of it does not require further elaboration.

And oh look, another memory prism I can't watch and which I'll probably forget to check out before finishing the SoV playlog.

And facing a ton of mages reminds me that Gray is eligible for dread fighter again, and I should totally go back and do that.

So, I found Gradivus in the warp gate next to the brand symbol, and while it would be great to put it on Zeke, his speed's pretty subpar, so it's going on Mathilda... for now. I plan on putting it on paladin Kamui once we actually get to the final battle, since he has the speed to really use this fucker properly.

...But apparently there's another correct route through those symbols, given that it sent me back to the basement, so I'm gonna look at the symbols again.

It's interesting the sorts of habits you get into with repeated random battles. With the gargoyles above the shrine, for instance, I find myself hunter's volleying the gargoyle on the northern symbol from the southern one, so I can then warp Gray in to enemy-phase the rest of these meleelocked units from that northern symbol.

Ah, another support between Zeke and Tatiana.

So, when Zeke further alludes to his blurry memories of Archanea, I can't help but realize that he must've had a damned good tailor do some work on that outfit of his, because it seems to be the exact same one he always wore in Archanea. If he washed up on the shore, it must've been ruined. Guess that was a perk of knowing the emperor?

...Alas, that's where I'm gonna have to end it. Today's too busy even to go into overtime, unfortunately.

Stay safe, everyone.

[Interdimensional Observer]

38 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

so I guess it varies by type of ruler. Maybe emperors are a last name thing?

Kings usually are known in the historical record by their first name, as are emperors, being nothing more than a king by another name or a king with greater real power or pretensions to power.

It is the case that sometimes, monarchs take names other than their birth ones.:

• Popes, starting with John II in 533 -birth name Mercurius- often took a new papal name, which over centuries gradually became the absolute norm.
• In China and Japan, the Emperor's actual name was verboten and they used "era names" instead.
  • So the Kangxi Emperor, looking it up, was the "Emperor of the Era of Health and Glory", Kangxi wasn't his actual name.
  • In Japan at least, changing the era name during the life of an emperor was not uncommon before Emperor Meiji, usually done for auspicious reasons. Historians stick to just one name in these cases.
• For another example, Chinggis (Genghis) Khan's birth name was Temujin. Chinggis Khan is a title that translates as "Universal Ruler".

Ultimately, it comes down to the culture, and sometimes the individual. I can't say I know every culture's preferences and the intricacies therein.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Interdimensional Observer

[Alastor15243]

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Kings usually are known in the historical record by their first name, as are emperors, being nothing more than a king by another name or a king with greater real power or pretensions to power.

It is the case that sometimes, monarchs take names other than their birth ones.:

• Popes, starting with John II in 533 -birth name Mercurius- often took a new papal name, which over centuries gradually became the absolute norm.
• In China and Japan, the Emperor's actual name was verboten and they used "era names" instead.
  • So the Kangxi Emperor, looking it up, was the "Emperor of the Era of Health and Glory", Kangxi wasn't his actual name.
  • In Japan at least, changing the era name during the life of an emperor was not uncommon before Emperor Meiji, usually done for auspicious reasons. Historians stick to just one name in these cases.
• For another example, Chinggis (Genghis) Khan's birth name was Temujin. Chinggis Khan is a title that translates as "Universal Ruler".

Ultimately, it comes down to the culture, and sometimes the individual. I can't say I know every culture's preferences and the intricacies therein.

I can always count on you to provide context like this!

[Jotari]

 

Quote

Yeah, uh, Alm has been alarmingly quick to accept his duty as the ruler of Rigel. It's... I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: it's really fucking jarring.

Yeah, I find that jarring too, given how he rejected the idea of becoming King of Zofia at every turn.Just one of the reasons I think they should have suggested he was Lima's bastard to red herring the foreshadowing dumped down the player's throat at the start of Chapter 3. It give Alm some time to get used to the idea of a secret heritage and a responsibility to rule while still serving to make the twist work by turning expectations on their head.

Quote

 

So Alm tries to extend the hand of friendship to Berkut... even after he killed Fernand, and even after Fernand warned him that he's completely gone off the deep end.

Yeah, and the fact that Alm's saying he's happy to know he has a cousin because he “didn't think [he] had any family in this world”... okay, first of all, I'm assuming he's talking about how he felt growing up, in which case, don't grandfathers count? And second of all, this is all the more reason why Alm should have asked about his mother.

 

Did Alm know Mycen wasn't his grandfather by blood? I'm not sure.

Quote

Berkut: You... You took... everything from me. You will SUFFER for what you've done!

...He said.

To a summon.

That Dread Fighter Ghost must be Seazas, whom Berkut was feuding with for entirely unrelated reasons and eventually killed so he could take the role as boss of the border!

Man this game really needed more unique battle convos.

Quote

So, when Zeke further alludes to his blurry memories of Archanea, I can't help but realize that he must've had a damned good tailor do some work on that outfit of his, because it seems to be the exact same one he always wore in Archanea. If he washed up on the shore, it must've been ruined. Guess that was a perk of knowing the emperor?

Or perhaps in addition to not requiring sustenance and being eimmune to exposure, Camus's clothes are immune to wear and tear merely by being in the vicinity of Camus.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Jotari