Part 56: Debrief

Chapter 8 debrief

Anyone remember the black paint monsters from the C Rank exam? Or the prospect of unveiling Alt’s past? Well uh, neither will the game for a good while since the main plot got really heavy really fast. And a lot to digest near the end. And it looks like Roger’s finally back in town, and he’s got a score to settle. But we’ll get to that at the end of this write-up.

But first off, since Chapter 8 begins with the reinstitution of the Atelier Ranking System, that means we’ve got ambitions again!




Consult this screen on how to make a symmetrical Lightning Bomb.” Having the (green) effect “Slightly Slow Movement” also unlocks Lightning Crystal, so you can go straight to making the most broken bomb in the game right after.

Lightning Flash and Lightning Strike are just the Extra Mixes for Lightning Bomb and Lightning Crystal respectively, so just have your anima ready. And a good bit of cash on hand, since Corneria will burn a hole in your wallet for expending an entire bomb therein.


Dwarf’s Rage being Alt’s first follow-up attack (called Dwarf Star’s Ferocity everywhere else in the game), triggered by having his frontline partner use an offensive skill.



Moving on, lots of memory fragments means lots of CGs! So, in the order the party witnessed them (and also, with Hagel and Pamela's concert)…

CGs
The Nun's Passionate Affection
The Crybaby and the Twins
A Past to Forget
The Apprenticeship Begins
Proposal
Tell Me Your Dreams
Promise for the Future
Parting
Lamentation

1.03 Scene:
Veterans of the Mysterious Journey
Herein, Firis and Ilmeria chat about the ultimate outcomes for the rest of the party in Atelier Firis so, yeah, obligatory Atelier Firis spoiler warning.

Location Notes and Memos:
Outskirts:

These grasslands are beautiful at night. They say the gods live here, so many people bring gifts for them every morning.


This snowy mountain is the tallest mountain near Merveille. Many people die here each year, so you need to make sure you’re well-prepared.

Mysterious Painting:

This amazing painting world can show you the past! It’s also known as a “Time of Uncertainty.” I’m always so excited to walk through it and see what past events await me.

Music:
Fragments of that Day -Lydie-
I felt that a certain feeling of speed would be needed to suggest fighting against the flow of time. I hope that you can sense their anticipation at being able to see their parents’ past in the music. (Yanagawa)

Fragments of that Day -Suelle-
No one likes the thought of having someone else see your own past. No one wants that humiliation. (Yanagawa)

Twin Birds Dancing in the Snow -Day-
For me, snow always brings to mind skiing. Around thirty years ago, skiing enjoyed a real boom in popularity here in Japan. I was still at junior high myself, but my adult sister used to get up early with her friends, pile into a four-wheel-drive and travel miles to the nearest ski field. I sometimes went with her… (continues) (Achiwa)

Twin Birds Dancing in the Snow -Night-
(Continued from previous) I got my first job about eight years later, and although the boom had subsided somewhat since then, skiing was still popular. The fact that I had all my own gear, despite my lack of sporting skill, is evidence of that. I only ever went a handful of times, and I can’t ski all that well now, but looking back it makes you realize the power of a social craze. (Achiwa)

disorder in order
This track is for the battle against the Remplir. It’s an instrumental arrangement of the track for the final boss. I tried to remain aware of the fact that this battle is against something of an “outsider” even in the world of the paintings, and deliberately chose an ostentatious rhythm track with sound effects and electric guitars to function at the composition’s core, and added more typical Atelier-style live instruments to play the melody. (Yano)
Black barred text has information you’re not quite supposed to be privy to just yet, so mouse over at your own risk. All you need to know is that this track plays for boss battles against Groblairs—the giant black monsters.

DEBRIEF debrief:
With their brief forced vacation over, the twins get back to the grind. So other beats return from before as well: the ranking system, ambitions, exams, and… Lydie hearing voices from paintings. From there, we get the painting for this chapter: an especially fantastical world where the twins can see memories from the past… setting up the opportunity for them to see their parents’ past. And what a past they saw! That their fuckup of a dummy-daddy is actually a certified alchemist (who got passed over for ownership of a certain other atelier in Merveille), that he and their mother traveled the Mysterious Paintings, and that dummy-daddy wasn’t just proficient enough to become a certified alchemist, but also highly motivated in making all these promises to their mother, including the very one that’s their raison d’être: to run the greatest atelier in the kingdom.

So this makes the twins wonder, what happened to make Roger the way he is now? It’s something which the game has hinted at, and now made explicit: he’s never been able to forgive himself for failing to save Honnete. But all isn’t lost, since it turns out that the twins saw these memories because Honnete’s soul happened to be in Etel Nepica. They realize that all this time, she’s been in the painting in the basement… but they can’t break in because Roger twin-proofed it.

Speaking of Roger, he’s finally back in town! But he didn’t return to his own atelier, but rather to Atelier Borthayre, declaring he’s coming in. To his older brother. Speaking of which, if you watched the first clip in 8-8, you might have noticed Lucia calling Roger and Honnete “ojii-sama” and “obaa-sama”—uncle and auntie. So uh… this is gonna go well for everyone involved!

Next chapter.

Oh right, since someone asked for Mathias to try his magical sparkle without the mask on…




Finally, you know how Sue throws a fit when you have her catching bugs? Now, what about when she has to use them in synthesis?
BONUS: Sye synthesizes with bugs