Part 108: Beyond Acceptable
Entry 100: Beyond AcceptableIn the third world, the first version of the party broke a crystal and vanquished Airy, saving the day (for now??????) and retiring back to the worlds of their choice to live in peace.
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The second version of the party was not so hasty, despite growing awareness of the dangers and destruction involved.
D's Journal: The Sinking State, Grandship posted:
Lights and Wreckage:
That flash of light Tiz saw when the Great Chasm opened... And the eddy of light that enveloped us when we plunged into the Holy Pillar... What was it about the light from them both? And then there was that wreckage and mechanical fragments scattered about the Great Chasm... We were all thinking the same thing, and for the same reason, we all wanted to banish the thought.
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As mentioned in the comments, the party responds the same at the end of Chapter 6 regardless of whether or not the player's completed the Finale. Which makes sense: either way, this version of the party has no way of knowing about Ouroboros' existence.
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But despite the party's lack of knowledge, something tells them it's too early to show their hand to Airy. They're going along with her plan until they can learn more...
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...or until they reach the end.
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Airy's 'sadness' is now transparently slipping into 'overjoyed'. Ringabel maintains his cool.
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In the end, what did it mean to disobey?
Was breaking the crystal disobeying since it was going against Airy and Crystalism? Was not breaking the crystal disobeying because we were resisting the urge to stop the repetition of Airy's evil plan and the game itself? Maybe both are true. Maybe the real lesson is how contextually complex the act of disobeying is and how attempting to simplify any instance of it down to a single black vs. white issue is misguided at best, destructive at worst.
Whatever the case, the party's takeaway is that this is a game about having fun bashing heads, not philosophizing.
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Datz appears with our Grandship, so we're all set for another round!
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In past chapters, there were some plot/character inconsistencies, such as Ringabel's status re:being a sexist moron or Heinkel being admired for being denser than a neutron star. Prepare yourself, because from here, these inconsistencies are only going to get worse.
Take now: During the Holy Pillar, the party knew about their journey causing the Great Chasm. A short time later, they appear to be oblivious. Did they lose part of their memory? If so, why only that? If this is just a ruse they're putting on for Airy, they're doing an uncommonly fine acting job.
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The good news is, as the plot loses focus and goes off the rails, it's going to lead us to some very odd places usually found only in outtakes or fan fiction.
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To prepare, during this chapter each member of the party is going to wear their own exclusive, special costume. In the original Japanese version these costumes could only be obtained from sources outside the game, but for the Western release they added all four to Norende's shop.
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First, Tiz has the Onion Shirt. In the original Japanese release, this costume was given out as part of a Facebook promotion. It's based off the Onion Knight job from Final Fantasy 3. The Onion Knight is essentially useless until leveled to max, at which point it becomes the most powerful job in the game -- a good choice for a farm boy turned demon slayer.
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Agnès's Knight Tunic was a bonus for signing up on Square Enix's site. It was designed by Tomonori Fukada, an artist connected to Japanese company 5pb./Mages (Steins;Gate, Chaos;Head). This isn't the only connection to 5pb., as Bravely Default's script was written by one of the writers for Steins;Gate.
Just a reminder the plot is going to continue to be completely normal.
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Ringabel's Melodist's Shirt was originally available if you bought a certain Bravely Default music single. This outfit is based on stage costumes worn by Revo, the composer of Bravely Default's soundtrack.
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Finally, Edea's Garb was obtained by playing off-shoot sequel game Bravely Default: Praying Brage. No details since it is a sequel.
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Norende also sells the Plain Tunic, which replicates the look of the Freelancer job so you can have the character's default outfit while playing another job. Ringabel was wearing it during the Finale while he was a Spiritmaster.
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Before starting in on side quests, the party visits the Great Chasm.
It's still there, all right.
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The Great Chasm has a way of bringing out the nihilism in people, doesn't it?
Ganbare, Tiz-kun, Agnès-chan! With the power of love and forgetting vital depressing plot points, we'll bludgeon our way to some sort of ending yet!
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For their first side quest marker, the party visits the sage. He might have further advice regarding Airy being a multidimension-ending Evil One serving a malevolent, eternal godlike entity.
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The sage is more candid in every world. Here he not only acknowledges meeting Agnès as a vestaling, but also letting Edea stay as a baby/toddler (along with Mahzer) during Braev's war campaign in Eternia.
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The above line only triggers if you did the conjurer side quest in chapter 6. Otherwise it's replaced by:
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The dialogue tree merges at Edea's line.
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So hey, if you want the conjurer job but don't want to waste time on the whole conjurer Alternate Selves storyline, all you need to do is wait a chapter and he basically hands it to you! (for your own health, please don't play this game if you don't want to waste time)
If you choose to battle there's another extra line for non-asterisk holders:
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Either way, the sage interrupts himself.
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We know the Sage's apprentice was Mephilia the Summoner, whose notes we used to track down the summons. In other worlds, we've also seen Mephilia insane with grief and the use of mind-altering drugs...
Within moments, she arrives.
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The party is on edge-- But Mephilia sounds different.
She seems...normal. Calm and friendly, even.
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This is an unexpected pairing until you remember these two share a person in common.
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Given what we've learned of Mephilia and Barbarossa's backgrounds, it's a safe guess Suleiman is at the heart of this.
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Last chapter hinted at the Venus sisters being decent people in a bad job, but this confirms the Mephilia we met in the first couple of worlds was less evil and more completely mentally gone thanks to Fiore DeRosa's schemes.
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Einheria is the lynchpin for the sisters. When we've encountered an Einheria who placed the Duchy above her and her sisters' wellbeing, her sisters went insane. When Einheria placed her and her sisters' own wellbeing first, all three retained their sanity.
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Oh, no no, don't let us disturb the heart-warming reunion.
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Uh-oh.
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You may have noticed earlier that our world map had less blue side quest markers this chapter.
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The good news is that this is because there are fewer boss battles. The bad news for those unprepared is why: more Eternians have learned to team up.
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It wasn't that long ago the game pitted us against Yulyana alone, though this time the Eternians have slightly lower health.
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Mephilia will show off her shiny new ultimate summon, but aside from that the boss tactics this chapter are largely the same as earlier, just combined.
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Barbarossa gives a winners gift to the party:
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This is the final helm in D's Journal. Yulyana also hands over this companion piece:
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Crystal gear is top defensive armor and can only be gotten as drops from the Chapter 7 Eternians. There's one last piece we'll get soon.
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After Mephilia and Barbarossa leave, the party stays with the sage a short while.
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That's what you get for insisting on outdated gender biases, sage! I wager Tiz is actually the best cook in the party.
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This version of Yulyana appears to be completely uninterested in the Evil One prophecy.
The party decides to head back to Caldisla and systematically clear out the Eternians, since apparently they're our enemies. Again.
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No idea! Ha ha
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This grave has belonged to Owen, Til, and Tiz in turn. How about this time?
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Every iteration of Tiz does a massive gamble when Airy travels through worlds. Some, like our Tiz, win. Others aren't so lucky.
Caldisla's king is his normal self, and the conversation with him is the usual formalities, ending with one new line:
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The duchy? Say no more. There's only one blue marker in Caldisla, in the ruins of Centro Keep.
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Ominas is lurking around there, alone as usual.
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Geez, Bahamut? I thought Mephilia was the summoner!
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What's a top-notch (except FFXV, screw him) Final Fantasy summon doing in this world of demonic trains and washing machines, anyway?
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...Hmm... Bahamut. A lot rounder than I expected. True to its shape, this version of the legendary dragon-god uses a level of the Flare spell unforseen in Final Fantasy: Pico Flare. In mathematical terms, pico means one-trillionth of a unit. In gameplay terms, this means instead of having a world-ending Megaflare, we get a tiny little fireball that goes pew.
Ominas is his normal paranoid self here and repeats lines from earlier worlds.
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He takes breaks from fighting to heal up his buddy. Turns out it's less a real Bahamut and more that Ominas is a fanboy who named his pet after Bahamut.
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Once you down Ominas, the fight ends. If you knock out Bahamut first, Ominas becomes very sad.
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This game is an odyssey, all right, but not that systematic.
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Ominas goes down easily on his own, but there is no victory screen...
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Because more Sky Knights appear before the party can celebrate.
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This is more like it.
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We're getting all the Sky Knight officers out of the way at once, sans Holly.
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The only trick here is Heinkel taking any single-target hits intended for his companions. Afterwards:
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So far, the theme for Eternians in this world seems to be 'has more redeeming qualities'. Good for Heinkel, not throwing himself on his sword at the closest opportunity.
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Hell, even Ominas has a tender spot named Bahamut this time around.
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The party watches the men of the Sky Knights honorably stumble away.
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Heinkel drops the third type of crystal gear, which is our final enemy steal/drop/treasure-sourced item entry in D's Journal.
How about we celebrate freeing Caldisla from the Sky Knights by looking at some Norende shop items?
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Norende got hold of a rich person's BDSM toy, yet somehow it still cuts better than almost every sword in the game. Okay!
Tiz has this equipped this chapter; you can see it in use during the two earlier battles.
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The final piece of the Heike set. We are now missing only one item in D's Journal, which we won't get for some time.
Norende does, however, have more weapons not listed in the journal. Without the journal there isn't much to show aside from the weapons themselves, so here are the best looking ones:
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Fox Tail, said to be the weapon of a fox god.
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Labrys, an "axe of beast-slaying".
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And the useful Falcon Knife, which raises the wielder's agility.
The other weapons are the Magic Knife, which greatly increases magic attack, and the spears Donnerschlag and Silver Glaive.
Next: Unexpected friendships among the Eternians.
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Event Viewer
Main Scenario:
Morning All Over Again
A World of Endless Echoes
Sub-Scenario:
Yulyana's Test of Skill
When the Time is Ripe
Norende Village Memorial
Another King of Caldisla
Bahamut, King of Dragons
Such Insolence
A Crisp Retreat
Party Chat:
Get This Over With
A Never-Ending Cycle
The Great Brussels Sprouts Giveaway
D's Journal: Airy posted:
In the fourth world, we entered the Holy Pillar a third time, but the Great Chasm remained. Airy yet again said she had no memory of what had happened...
D's Journal: Barras the Monk posted:
In the fourth world, while battling the black mage Ominas Crowe at the ruins of Centro Keep, he began to falter. Just then, the monk Barras and the knight Heinkel ran to his side. Taking heart at the brute force they provided, Ominas regained his composure. Though the three of them together made it a tough battle, we prevailed, and they withdrew.
D's Journal: Ominas the Black Mage posted:
In the fourth world, the black mage Ominas Crowe once again lurked in the ruins of Centro Keep. He thought us to be intruders, and summoned Bahamut to incinerate us. However, all that appeared was a regular fire dragon with an appetite. (It looked a little overfed, to be honest). We defeated them both handily.
With Bahamut defeated, Ominas fell to his knees. Just then, Heinkel and Barras of the Sky Knights came to his aid. With their encouragement, Ominas returned to the fray, and we fought the three of them together. Protected by a wall of steel and muscle, the black mage was free to unleash his brutal magic, but we managed to best them. The trio made a brisk retreat.
D's Journal: Heinkel the Knight posted:
In the fourth world, the knight Heinkel and the monk Barras came to the aid of the black mage Ominas at the ruins of Centro Keep. We fought again, with Heinkel shielding Ominas so he could cast his powerful magic, while Barras pelted us with blows. This nasty combination made for a tough fight, but we prevailed, and Heinkel covered the others as they withdrew.
D's Journal: Sage Yulyana posted:
In the fourth world, we visited the sage and asked him to test our ability. Just then, his disciple the summoner Mephilia arrived with Barbarossa of the Black Blades to report she had mastered Susano-o. The sage was pleased to see her recovered, and asked them to join the battle. After the fight, the sage mused over the concerns that Mephilia spoke of.
D's Journal: Mephilia the Summoner posted:
In the fourth world, we had visited the sage to have him test our mettle, when the summoner Mephilia arrived with Captain Barbarossa in tow. She seemed to have regained her equilibrium, after a breakdown caused by teh death of her loved one and the rigor of her duties. She had apparently mastered Susano-o with the help of her loved one's friend, Barbarossa.
Delighted to see his disciple recovering, the sage asked Mephilia and Barbarossa to join him in battle against us. Though merely a test, the fight was so intense we feared for our lives. When the battle was over, Mephilia told the sage she had something on her mind, and left. The sage watched her go with a conflicted look of hope and worry on his face.
D's Journal: Captain Barbarossa posted:
As we asked the sage to test our ability in the fourth world, the sage's disciple Mephilia and Captain Barbarossa came by. It seems the captain had learned the whereabouts of the Susano-o that his late friend had sought, and knowing his friend's loved one sought it, he offered to lend her a hand. The sage was delighted, and asked them to join the fray to up the challenge.
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