Part 21: The Finale - Sympathy for the Douchebag

The Finale – Sympathy for the Douchebag

The final confrontation with Xelpherpolis starts now.


Click here to see Xelpherpolis’ end.





To fight Xelpherpolis, you’ve got to stand on this circle in the middle of the room where we fought the Dragonixi last time. It wouldn’t be too hard to imagine someone going around it to take the stairs that go up to where Jawarro was, perhaps thinking that’s the way forward, as there’s no indication that this thing would teleport you to Xelpherpolis.


Now Playing – Evil





Why is Xel in this wacky pocket dimension, you ask? Hell if I know.



”Yeah, dumbass, I only fought my way through your stupid palace multiple times to get her.”




“but by stopping time instead of having it simply loop, the island has been forced into a new eternity.”



“….Mouse...”




“I wasn’t lying about why I invited you to the island. I really did like the melodies of your compositions. I wanted you to stay here on the island forever.”



”Considering you knew this was the ancestral home of the KANON to which they were all drawn, like Gallhint, don’t you think you should have anticipated this outcome ages ago? Hell, if you’d just been a little bit more subtle with your villainy, you could have kept me in the dark for a long time. Not like Loreille ever told me outright what was going on…”




“I cannot excuse you, Mouse. Your very existence is intolerable to me!”

”Then maybe you should have taken any of many opportunities you had to wipe me out or capture me early on rather than sitting with your thumb up your ass!”






Now Playing – Xelpherpolis Battle

Alright, time for the epic final conclusion! We’ll have to pull out all the stops to take down the great and mighty Xelpherpolis…



…Oh.



Oooooh.

That’s right, this here is an unwinnable fight. Rather than letting you just get right into it, the game decides to waste your time by having Xel cream you once again.

Incidentally, if you thought to bring a Death Hiyoko in hopes of having some extra firepower against the final boss, this unwinnable battle will kill it, and it won’t come back for the next. A final nail in the coffin of the usefulness of Death Hiyokos.

This fight is also obnoxious because rather than just attacking quickly, Xel will often waste your time by using moves that decrease your speed and stuff.





For the most part, your characters will have the same generic grunts and exclamations to make here. The only difference is Lloyd will of course go “Klack” instead.











Suddenly, a guitar note is heard.



“Loreille!”


Now Playing – Last Battle



And just how did he to teach her that?

“I never wanted this….But as the Queen of Pandule….”









And now the fight begins for real. Despite her claim to “destroy Xelpherpolis”, Loreille doesn’t do anything other than enable us to fight and hurt him.

Jawarro was our last boss fight, and she was a push over. Final Xelpherpolis is so wildly beyond her capabilities that if you came this far without expecting a challenge, you’ll be in for one hell of a rude awakening.



This is the result of Mouse’s Grand Cross. Using it on Jawarro would have (or come close to) killed her in one hit. Xelpherpolis has around 30000 HP. Grand Cross helps cut down on the length of this battle something fierce, but it’s not a bunker buster.



One of Xelpherpolis’ attacks includes this single-hit electrical one. As you can see, this is something like a third of most of my characters’ health in one go, and that’s after a whole heap of grinding.



This one, where he shoots some magic missiles at us, does even more damage. More like half of Grantus’ health.




This attack, some fireball/meteor storm thing, causes a good bit of damage to everyone. PyroFalkon’s walkthrough heavily recommended using Fire Charms (which you can acquire from a Celestial) to mitigate the damage it does.



Xelpherpolis can also heal himself, but never for too much at once. This is less than I do with a Grand Cross, and even using lesser attacks between Grantus and Mouse can chew off at least as much as he heals for.



This is where Xelpherpolis reduces your speed. It doesn’t matter much at all at this point.



Here’s another attack where he rams you at high speeds. Another solid hit.



Xelpherpolis can also cause status effects. Here he “Silences” Grantus, meaning he can’t use spells, not that I ever even used them. He can also cause Confusion, which can be pretty bad during this fight.

He’s also meant to have an attack where he produces a shadow copy of one of your characters and has it attack the real one, but he didn’t end up using it on me here.



Eventually, Xel goes down. A decently challenging boss, if not necessarily hard, Xel provides a brief glimpse of what this game could have been in terms of challenge. Unfortunately, it’s too little too late, and certainly doesn’t cure any of this game’s other problems.


Now Playing – King’s Sadness




“Nothing can be done. Regardless, my body would have only survived for 7 days. Ha. Ha. Reminds me of a cicada.”



“Thanks to her, the power I obtained exceeded even my own expectations, but the price was enormous as well. Especially for someone with only the body of a Master---the burden was too much.”



“on the 6th day I would have been reduced to this form, and on the 7th day I would have burst into flames and burned into oblivion.”

“So that’s why you were having time repeat. You didn’t want the 6th day to arrive.”




“Please. Grant me this last wish.”

”Didn’t plan on hanging around for you to explode anyway. Let’s bounce, everyone!”





And the douchebag’s dead.

The game introduces more misaimed sympathy by playing the sad music for Xel’s death and introducing this last minute tragic reason for looping time. Just like Jawarro, there’s nothing tragic or redeemable about him. He chose to steal power from Loreille purely because he knew he could, and when it didn’t work out perfectly, he chose to make everyone else suffer so he wouldn’t have to. His cruelty was completely unnecessary to the purpose of keeping himself alive, and he did it anyway.

In Legaia 2, Avalon witnessed the extermination of his people, went on a mad quest for vengeance, and was written off as a power drunk asshole. Xelpherpolis actually is a power drunk asshole, and because there are consequences for it, we’re supposed to feel bad for him? Bugger that. The man was hoist with his own petard and got his just desserts.

We now cut to the entrance to Sol Tower, where everyone, including the people right beside us just before, has escaped.









“He’s not such a romantic fellow, you know.”








Now Playing – Last Magic




The happy moment is suddenly interrupted by a rumbling sound.




“Xelpherpolis and I shall cast a final magic spell.”

”Xelpherpolis!? He’s still alive!?”

”No.”

”But you just said-!”

“The magic that will turn Pandule back to its original state has started to take effect.”



Everything is gradually restored to normal.



“Frozen time will revert back to normal.”

“I took a look at the town. If everything continues this way, it should be all right.”


“I understand Xelpherpolis froze time on the island because he could only survive for 7 days. But why did he choose the 5 days leading up to the wedding? I mean, he could have just repeated any 5 days couldn’t he?”

“Come on. Don’t you get it? It’s so obvious!”




“That’s ridiculous!”

“No, I don’t think it’s so far from the truth.”



“Don’t you think that’s why he had the weddings occur over and over again. While on the one hand that was her punishment, it was also a reflection of his love for her.”



I have no doubt that between this and the game trying to make Xel’s death sad, this is another attempt to make Xel seem “sympathetic” or “redeemable”. It may well be true that Xel “loved” Loreille, but only in the sickest and hollowest sense of the word. Some people may tell you that an abusive partner still “loves” their spouse, or that abusive parents still “love” their children. But what good is “love” if it guarantees no basic treatment and is accompanied by nothing but cruelty? Ephemeral Fantasia can take its stupid “love” and shove it back up its putrid asshole.




And then we have this question hot on the heels of discussing Xel’s “love”. The game treats this question like a yes/no about whether you love Loreille, but you could very easily think it’s a question of whether you want to be a big fucking douchebag like Xelpherpolis was.

“YES”



As you can see, Rummy overhears and turns away.



“It’s so unusual that this guy would say how he truly feels in front of all these people. That took a lot of courage. Eh? Mouse!”




Now Playing – Theme of Love






An implied kiss marks the climax of Mouse and Loreille’s bland and unearned romance.

“NO”



“Ha. Ha. I’m different from you.”

Claire’s words could be interpreted in some really weird ways here.

“I thought you’d say that. My heart is my own. It doesn’t belong to anyone but me.”




“You are there, in great abundance!”



And it zooms in on Loreille and Mouse’s hand holding and that’s that.

Whatever choice you make, the ending sequence plays….


Click here to see how Ephemeral Fantaisa ends.


Now Playing – Epilogue





“Boy! Daddy, you’re so inconsiderate! You have no idea what crazy things have been happening on this island, you’re so absorbed in your own little world!”



“Go ahead and sleep in today. I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”



But Mouse isn’t actually in his room.



“Wow, that’s amazing. I mean, for you to take the initiative and start a painting on your own…”



I’ll say one thing, it’s definitely better than the trash he presented during his recruitment scene. Something about the princess’ face still bothers me though.

“Yeah….”



No. No you are not.

“I’ve got to get going. I need to get a celebratory gift.”

Ano and Plosi admire the portrait a bit more, and then we move on.



“I wonder if it’s too gaudy for the kid? Oh well. It doesn’t matter. He is the hero who saved the island after all, so having it this showy means it’s probably just about right.”



“Right, Lloyd.”



Naturally, if you never recruited Lloyd, Claire will just exposit to herself.



“Oh, come on. Don’t misunderstand and get all jealous. This is for today’s major star.”




“Oops. No. The Princess has a few words first…! You know, being an announcer is harder than it looks.”




We then cut to Rummy in her house…





We then cut to the docks…



“How could you just let Mouse go and not say a word!?”




As Kyte is optional, this scene is too.

We cut to Grantus, staring out from a cliff.



Who could possibly be on that boat?



Who else but Mouse?



”Yeah, kind of had to end it this way.”




“But that’s because a truly nasty enemy appeared. We were just lucky that it was more evil than us. Under usual circumstances, we are the evil that enters their otherwise peaceful lives. We can’t stay here on the island any longer.”

“Exactly!!”




“Everyday was like a dream.”

“Maybe it really was a dream. Maybe Pandule was just an island paradise dream up by Xelpherpolis, a descendant of the KANON.”



We then cut to Loreille.






Just so it’s absolutely clear, I am aware of no variation of the ending where you actually shack up with Loreille. No, not even if you answer positively to that last question. Makes you wonder why they pushed the romance angle so hard to have no ending where you are with the designated love interest?




“That’s a good idea. Besides, it’s been awhile since we had the chance to get together like this.”







Now Playing – “Epilogue 2”
(Zakkio lists an Epilogue A and B, but there’s all of one note’s difference at the very start, I believe)

And so the Golden Three play one final song for Pandule on their way out. The credits play after this.

But this isn’t the only way the game can end. Beak and Fang are both optional characters. Fang moreso than Beak, as it were. Remember I mentioned that you can defeat Twinboom before Fang shows up, and thus he’ll never join you? If you manage that, and then beat the game…



Beak delivers a modified version of Fang’s spiel.

The game cuts to Loreille the same as before, but after that…




“I’ve never understood it.”

”Hey man, the little girl Rinna liked you. That’s something, eh?”

”…thank you so much for the reminder.”




“Just as I thought. You ran off without saying a word!”

Whenever Rummy appears in an ending, you won’t see her dress scene during the ending. Also, she shows up here regardless of your answer to Loreille, despite the game explicitly showing you her turning away like it meant something.







“Make sure it’s a place where there will be tons of girls who will fall for ME this time instead of you, OK?”

And the game ends with them sailing out to sea like before.

But Beak is an optional character too. What if we complete the game without any of the Golden Three?




When Gallhint joins you for this ending, you don’t see him with flowers at Zenne’s grave.

“Gallhint!”

“Well, I got a little bored on the island so…Besides, that place is full of bad memories.”

The Loreille scene plays out like usual.



“We no longer know what’s going to happen next. But I can tell you one thing about the future.”




Rummy’s part plays out just as with Beak.



“Don’t bother waking me up until the ship has docked. Have fun, Boss!”

And that’s it.

I must admit I vastly prefer the vanilla ending. Rummy goes from royal guard to thief, and Gallhint moves past his experiences and finds a fresh life (even if he’s an asshole). Its character development, something this game sorely lacked. With the Golden Three, Mouse returns to the status quo and nothing really changes on the island either. It could even be said to be contrary to the whole point of the game, with us fighting so hard to make it so time wasn’t frozen in place.

After this, the credits play, displaying a series of shots of important moments. Funnily enough, even if you play through the game without recruiting Beak and Fang, you’ll still see the shots of their moments in the game.



I presume this man is to blame for how the translation turned out. The only Scott Dolph of note was apparently Hideo Kojima’s “interpreter and bodyguard”, as well as the namesake of that commandant who dies in the opening sequence of Metal Gear Solid 2.



One random note is that they credited the Shakespeare quote from the start. Because that was necessary. Still don’t know why they had that silly Hamlet quote. Best explanation I can think of is it related to Mouse just wandering around as a bard/thief.

After the credits, the game goes back to the title screen, and that’s it. Ephemeral Fantasia is over. And thank fuck for that.

-----

What can I possibly say? I said it would be bad going into it, but I honestly surprised myself with how much worse it was when I properly explored the game’s eccentricities.

This LP was technically shorter than my Legaia 2 one, but I would chalk that up more to my inexperience during Legaia 2 and the overwhelming amount of side content that game had. Ephemeral Fantasia had more plot and more but the abject lack of interesting things to do outside of advancing the plot made it a much leaner experience (not that all the side content in Legaia 2 was that interesting, mind you). On one hand, I’d say any game would benefit from putting more effort into developing their characters outside of being your personal soldiers, but on the other, Ephemeral Fantasia would have just fucked it up.

This LP is effectively over. But stay tuned, because I have one last update planned.