Part 36: XXIX: Pages of a Journey's End

Chapter XXIX: Pages of a Journey's End

Thirty updates to end the story, eh? Not too bad, not too bad. I'm just reminded of my Agarest War 2 thread and how that also took 30 updates to finish all the of the "regular" game. Well, 30 "official" updates, that is. Time to get started. Alt Lulua's waiting for us. Changing the past


(Alt) T-Thanks! This... This is the Restore Core?
Yep! With this, you should be able to restore Stia's memories!
(Alt) I see! Hehehe! Thanks, Lulua!
You two just call each other by name... Like it's the most natural thing in the world... Well, I guess that's just how Lulua is...
Alright! Let's go, Lulua! To save your Stia!
(Alt) Yeah, let's do this!! I'm counting on you, Lulua!


It's prudent, if nothing else. Fellsgalaxen is the only place you can go, but let's check other notable places on the map.





Well, from what we see, there actually shouldn't be any problem, since it's not like there isn't A Lulua in Arklys all these people know, but it's just because we can't see Alt Lulua tagging along behind us. She's meant to be there the whole time, but the game doesn't show it. Similar to how Stia is always shown tagging along but is not technically in the party.



When you're ready to continue the plot, Fellsgalaxen is tinted red instead of blue. Kind of an inverse of Alt Lulua's colors (blue and white) against Our Lulua's (pink and white), but I kinda doubt they were thinking of that. Regardless, upon entering you get a message that you can fast-travel from the atelier portal to Alt Fellsgalaxen, the only place with actual gameplay in the parallel universe. This message is a little confusing, but I *think* what it means is that you can use the warp to also travel to each layer of Alt Fellsgalaxen you reach. Otherwise, progression and floor layout is just about identical to the normal one.

Oh yeah, did you remember all those oblique references to the final location I made earlier? You're looking at it. Fellsgalaxen and Alt Fellsgalaxen are counted as separate locations, and while you could unlock certain areas, like Rolling Hill, after reaching here, this is most appropriate as the game's final location. Well, that is, if you don't have the Machina Domain DLC.


Music: Kalma

The most important difference is the enemies. They've been significantly jacked up and are much more dangerous. The bats and ghosts are immune to insta-death, and foolishly, I did not bring along a copy of The Craft. So I quickly peaced out and went back to the normal Atelier, which, as it turns out, is unnecessary. You can equip and de-equip items from Alt Arklys as you could in normal Arklys. But it does give me the chance to show off some interesting dialogue.




Important to keep in mind that, just because it's the same name and face in this world, doesn't mean they're the same as the ones we know. For the dialogue that is different, it's basically the opposite of the Arklys we know. For example, there's a boy buying flowers in town square in Our Arklys, but in this Arklys, the girl says nobody is interested in flowers with all the adventurers around. A dire world, indeed.



But I consider this an appropriate shot to being our final plunge into the depths of Fellsgalaxen.



With how annoying wolves can be in this game, I would advise terminating with extreme prejudice.



Wow, an enemy who can withstand a use. Eternal Darkness Demons in the third level, to be exact. This is why you have to bring along extreme firepower, since these fights would drag on waaaaay too long attacking normally.



In the fourth layer, we have these demonic bears. These enemies also show up in the Large Conifer Forest as only one enemy group, so it's meant to be a pretty rare encounter. For a reason, since these things are mountains of HP as you can see. For my own part, these can survive two usages of The Craft, but these things do have a strength against Earth, so that's part of it. Immune to insta-kill, too.



One thing that is subtley changed from regular Fellsgalaxen is that enemies on these small platforms are sitting there placidly, but here, they make a beeline immediately for you once you warp to their platform. Jerks. Luckily, being level 100, I can just run away from fights that have basically no value to me, no matter the caliber of enemy. The demons in particular are difficult to dodge because you pretty much have to move immediately once you teleport or they'll get you.



The final guardian before you get to the core is the Ancient Draco, but in spite of what you may think, you don't have to fight it, as proved here. You can just squeeze around, but we're not doing that. Killing this thing puts my Exploration percentage of Alt Fellsgalaxen to 100%, so of course we're going to vaporize it.



Highest-tier enemy outside of bosses and the special request enemies. Doesn't mean it'll be lasting very long against me, though. Should note, however, this thing is *very* powerful on CHARISMA and can do tons of damage to the party regardless of equipment builds.



Good Encyclopedia entry, too.



But now, the curtain is about to fall on the final act. As you get closer to it, you'll notice that electricity is crackling on it. For You


(Alt) ...
She is merged with the unit, looks like she's in sleep mode. What should we do?
(Alt) You know already, don't you?
We have to wake her up! And then... Separate her from the unit! Simple as that!

This does raise the question of whether the Bad End choice didn't really matter, since it could have been reversed after Stia!Bot's operations were complete. Personally I chalk it up as if you choose the Bad End option, Lulua encounters a mental block she can't get past. The keys were always there, the Lulua who chose that option just couldn't think of a better plan in the moment and henceforth had that block that prevented her from reversing things.

There's also the possibility that if Stia's in the giant robot too long, restoration becomes more and more difficult. Just speculation on my part, though, since we don't know how long ago Alt Lulua and Stia split from each other.

Hehe, got it. OK, here I go! OPERATION ... Force Reboot! Code ... "Stia Fellsgalaxia"!
(ALt) Reboot Process. Sequence 1. 1, 2... Complete.
Alright, Lulua? We need to do what you did for me before. Come at her with everything. Enough to wake her up, OK?

Kind of an awkward request coming from HER of all people but hey, we did it once already.

OK!
(Alt) *gulp*
Sequence 2. 1, 2... Complete. Final Sequence. 1, 2...


There's an alarm going off, hence the red.

(Alt) Critical Error Detected. Repeat, Critical Error Detected. Duplicate Code Confirmed. Duplicate Code... "Stia Fellsgalaxia". Duplicate Code Identity Hostile ... Eliminate. OPERATION ... Mode Change ... Eliminate.

Oh, huh. That's a new message.


(Alt) Stia?!
Oh no! Because there are two of "me" here, the control unit considers it a malfunction!
Huh, what do you mean?! What should we do?!
Our mission remains the same! The other Stia should be released if we defeat the control unit!


Now that's a much more natural line from Stia than the last time she said it.

Of course! Alright, here we go!




And now for the "final boss" of Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland: GX3-FS2. As opposed to the robot Lulua fought earlier, which was GX3-FS. Either this robot has been stewing for considerably longer than the previous one or the malfunction operation makes it go ape, this boss has noticeably higher parameters than the previous one, even ignoring the bump in difficulty level since.

Aside from the increased, parameters, though, it basically fights in the same way, which makes sense, since it's *technically* the same machine. That is, Mode Shifts, status effects, formidable parameters. Do note that Fire weakness, though.



Here's Aurel. Here's Aurel under the influence of the Drachen Elixir and the buffing Healing Bell + Resting Spirit Stance + Lulua's single buffing skill. Oh, what, did you think the Drachen Elixir was AoE? Nope, would make it way too overpowered.



You know what Aurel did with those stats? A critical hit that did 1911 damage with top of the line equipment. And this is after Lulua used The Craft. See why I said the loadout of the non-Interruptors basically didn't matter?
For everyone's sake, though, and simply because I can't with the items and equipment I have, I won't be turning this thing to scrap metal in seconds.



Yeah...Ficus' uh...enthusiastic supports really more trouble than they're worth. Just do yourself a favor and always have him in the frontline if you're using him.



Tri-Element is a pretty cool-looking attack, but definitely not very powerful.



Buffed by a Drachen Elixir, let's see if Aurel can really throw some smoke with his Ultimate Attack...



Not...quite what I meant...




I'm guessing when Stia builds up enough Mana Charges, she'll unleash her ultimate attack, Executioner. Looks pretty cool, and definitely devastating, but it absolutely murders her place in the turn order, so you should probably KO her as fast possible.



You can probably guess what happens next...






From this point forward



Difficult to see here, but Alt Stia's dress is green where Our Stia's dress is blue. Basically only difference between the two.

Lulua!
Right, I know! Time for the Restore Core!

(Alt) Huh, L-Lulua...? Why am I...

(Alt) I thought I will never be able to speak with you again... Stia, thank goodness!
(Alt) Lulua! Oh...Lulua!
Hehe. So, we did it? It's over?

Yeah, normally you'd excuse yourself from such a scene, but there's just one more detail...

It is for this world. Now we have to... Lock this reality in across all other dimensions using the Time Brooch!


...All right. And now it really is over!
Hehe. Great job, Lulua.
(Alt) Eh? What did you do?
Ahaha!... We protected them. The ones who are most precious to us...
(Alt) Most precious?


And now, back to where the wheels were put in motion. Our Parting


Ahaha, thanks, but... We don't want to intrude, so we'll be on our way.

Yeah, much as a nice sit-down across dimensions sounds, would be uh...awkward explaining things if anyone Alt Lulua knows barges in.

Yeah. And I'm sure you guys have a lot to catch up on!
(Alt) Well. Hehe, that's very gracious.
(Alt) Hey...Lulua. Thank you for saving Stia!
No-no, I'm the one who should be thanking you! You see... You're the one who made "Alchemyriddle". That's how I can be here now.
(Alt) Right... Well then, let's say it one more time to each other!
Alright! Hehe.


(Alt) Um, I don't really understand what's going on but... Who WAS that other Lulua?
(Alt) Huh? Um, that Lulua is... Oh, wait a minute, Stia!


(Alt) ...?
(Alt) Hehe. Thanks again, Lulua.

Yeah, let's let these lovebirds be, in their world. As well as Stias and Luluas in any other...



So believe it or not, Alternate Lulua has the last important dialogue in the story before ending choice is made. What happens after that above scene with Alt Stia and Lulua is that you return to normal gameplay in the atelier with this objective. What could Stia possibly add at this point, when all the lingering plot threads have been neatly tied up and there's no plot? Well, welcome to free roam. From this point, there are no constraints on what you want to do, which means building up equipment / items to your leisure and most important, qualifying for the different endings.

Now, there's a big catch here. Once you talk to Stia and make a decision what ending you want, YOU CANNOT CHOOSE ANY OTHER ENDINGS AFTER THE CREDITS. Once the credits roll and you load a Clear Game save, you get dumped back into the world. There are some...bonuses to roaming around the world in this state, but the big catch is, as I mentioned, YOU CAN'T MAKE ANY NEW ENDING CHOICES. If you don't wanna replay the game to see all the endings, MAKE A SAVE BEFORE TALKING TO STIA. Next, SAVE THE CLEAR GAME DATA IN A NEW SAVE SLOT. You have no business with her other than making an ending choice, so tell you what I'm gonna do.

I'm going to choose one of the endings I have unlocked as of right this very moment, then go into the post-game free roam where we can get to those bonuses. As of this recording, I had the Eva, Ficus, Aurel, Curry, and Normal Endings unlocked. If you remember how I handled my Xillia 2 LP, where I presented everything up to the last inputs before the end of the game, before immediately going into the post-game, similar thing here. See you next update when we get to the post-game stuff. Where everything begins



How little they know.

Mix it like this, and reduce the heat just so. OK, I've checked it all!

The portal to the Parallel Universe is in the background there... Though that may just be visual shorthand for the fact that in the story Lulua still has the True Dragon Hourglass. Let's just hope it's used responsibly.

Lulua, I brought the ingredients. Are these OK?
Yep! They're fine. It all worked out...somehow! Now. I'm going to start the synthesis!

*knock on door*

Huh, a customer...?
Looks like it! Who could it be?


*clears throat* You see that last choice? That's the True Ending choice, which is obviously the last update for this thread. From what I was led to believe early on in my Atelier Lulua story, I was under the impression that to unlock a character's ending, you had to finish up all their events like normal, and get them to 100% friendship level. I think a patch changed this at one point, because I think only Ficus and Eva are at 100% right now.

Regardless, like with every Atelier since Ayesha (and retroactively added to Rorona+, but absent in Totori and Meruru+), if you qualify for multiple endings, you can choose which one you want. No more fussing with invisible ending priority systems. As with many of the previous games, in addition, the True Ending is unlocked by completing all other ending flags. The choice I make in this video is purely for illustrative purposes. The endings will all be the last things covered in this thread.

Yes! Coming! Better put "Alchemyriddle" away. *goes over to the desk, puts Alchemyriddle on table* Who is it? (My journey with "Alchemyriddle" was over, for now. I met so many different people and experienced all kinds of things... And I did a lot of growing up! But... Looking at the long, long road called life that lies ahead of me, I realize that my journey has only just begun. I'll find loads of "purposes in life", and work hard to reach my goals... And of course, I'll continue, to walk the path of alchemy. That's why... So marks the "Chapter of Blank Pages". Where my life is full of possibilities, leading to all kinds of possible futures.)







Music: Tale of Our Journey
Music: Tale of Our Journey (Instrumental)