Part 53: Episode XLII: Chrono Break

......
......
...Is it OK if I fight with them?
*cocks eyebrow* If you must. No holding any grudges the next cycle if this goes poorly.


Music: Out of Time (This only plays here and it’s a pretty rad boss battle theme.)



Time to take on The Time Judge. She’s been waiting 1000 years plus however many mulligans there have been of Setsuna’s journey for this fight. Let’s put on a good show. 5275 HP is the order of the day against this boss.

Now, you might be worried this very clear Yunalesca from Final Fantasy X analog might be as big of a roadblock as the one she’s copying. She’s got a unique boss theme and everything! And I’m here to tell you that is... absolutely not the case... The Time Judge is way more manageable than the Reaper boss rush earlier in this dungeon.



The Time Judge’s main gimmick, true to her namesake, is time manipulation. Most troublingly, she has Haste that she will constantly buff herself with in battle. And unfortunately the only person with the ability to dispel an enemy buff like this is Kir. So we’re just going to have to deal with a Hasted boss because pfft... I’m never using Kir.



TJ also access to Slow and Stop. Thankfully, she’s way more likely to cast the former. Stop is indistinguishable from death in this game insofar in if the only remaining character is Stopped and the rest are KOed, it is a Game Over. That could go badly. Slow, on the hand, is just a minor inconvenience at best. Endir’s Momentum buffed Aura can sort out Slow or we can use a Panacea. There’s no distinction between magic and physical debuffs in this game. Status curative items work on both.



The thing that makes Not-Yunalesca a fairly easy to deal with boss battle comes in two forms. First off is that she just... doesn’t really have a tremendous amount of damage output. She has two single target physical attacks: Sweeping Slash and Stab. They both only do 200+ HP of damage. And she seems to rarely target the same character twice in a row. So no big deal.



Spinning Slash is a full party physical damage attack but it’s still in the 150-175 HP of damage range and again, Time Judge both doesn’t target the same character twice and doesn’t usually use the same attack twice in a row.



Comet is Time Judge’s most dangerous attack as it does 75-100 HP of damage x 4 hits. Which could be trouble, but I feel like there’s some sort of percentage damage modifier on it since Comet seems to hit characters with less HP for a less damage than those with higher total health (i.e. it hits Aeterna for around 75 x 4 but Endir gets beaned from 95 x 4.) But still, it’s only a single character targeting attack.





Later on in the fight, Time Judge begins employing Meteo regularly. This will do a good 200+ HP of damage to everyone. It’s best just to have Setsuna on stand-by building Momentum for a Cure II to deal with Meteo and the like. Cure II with Momentum will refill Setsuna’s AP gauge about 75% instantly on cast. So she’s basically always ready for a full party heal as long as her MP stays topped off.





Lastly, Dark Samsara’s keeper has Shooting Star which is... well... just Meteo but not as damaging. Not really sure of the point of this attack. But here it is for completion’s sake! It’s just there to add spice for when she starts spamming Meteo, I think.



I haven’t talked about what to do about actually attacking The Time Judge. Aeterna’s mom is incredibly resilient to magical attacks. Kir and most of Setsuna’s offensive Tech arsenal are complete useless. Time Judge will entirely no-sell any direct magic attacks. Physical attacks, on the other hand, Time Judge has NOT been putting the work into buffing her defense against. Indeed, she is incredibly weak to any physical attacks. Just normal physical attacks like Endir’s Cyclone or Aeterna’s charge do 250+ HP of damage against her. So let’s take that to the next level! This fight can be completed in about two minutes if you’re feeling motivated!

Endir’s Battle Cry tech boosts Speed, Defense, and most importantly Attack. Just the normal version of it. We don’t need to get fancy with Momentum. We want everyone to have one Momentum stock. Setsuna and Aeterna can just hang out and make sure they’re ready to cast.



Now, with triple the attack power against an enemy already weak to physical strikes, let’s see what our baby Grand Cross can do with the kid’s gloves taken off of it, eh?



Yeah, that did around 3887 HP of damage in a single turn or ‘round 75% of her total HP. That’s not too shabby. Especially since I’d already done about 2000 HP of damage against her before trying this.







Like I said, the Time Judge wasn’t too bad of a boss encounter for something that... well... didn’t actually have any build up beyond a vague “there’s probably something to fight at the end of the pilgrimage” part.


Music: A Hidden Force



Ain’t you gonna help us out in the final battle, then?
That would be difficult, since the only way to reach Dark Samsara is past the barrier my magical energy is sustaining.
Oh...
Why did you think I was testing you? I was bored? Well... I suppose that partly WAS an element, but... Besides that...
I have entrusted my life force and magical energy unto him...
Him...?

The Time Judge rises to her feet.



*turns away from party and nods* Your strength shall also be needed...
I don’t like where this is going...
Same.






Music: The Lone Reaper



Oh for FUCK SAKE! No! We killed this guy... He evaporated into pyreflies magical energy dust. That’s been the universal symbol for magic dude death in this game. C’mon!



UGH! Hey... can we go hit up that save point around the corner before we whomp this guy for the SIXTH time...? I think that’s only fair...
*turns to Nidr* Wait...
*turns to Reaper* Are you here as our enemy? Or are you...



What’s that mean!?
When his physical body was destroyed, the Dark Samsara’s control over him disappeared... I then channeled magical energy into his residual life force, thus resurrecting him...
Okay... WHY?!
But he’s our enemy!
If he did become our ally, he’d definitely make a powerful one...
W-well, yeah... but...
We are NOT entertaining the idea of this guy joining us at the last minute? He turned into a frikkin’ DRAGON and tried to kill us just like... 45 minutes ago...
I did not know if he, who cared not for his own life, would wish to be granted life again. I took a gamble on whether or not to resurrect him...
You busted out big, lady. Sheesh. Why didn’t you just pop out another Aeterna?
It doesn’t work like that.
This is all DUMB.
Even if he has been freed from the thrall of the Dark Samsara, we must still remain vigilant. We cannot disregard the possibility that he is still our enemy, and that he shall yet attack us.
Even without the Dark Samsara’s influence the black clad rogue may still yet be a knave at heart.
...What?
This dude could still just be a dick.
Ah.
......



Remember the part of Chrono Trigger where Magus could join the party but you were still given the option of going “Man, FUCK THAT GUY!” and fighting him to the death. Or having a sweet one on one duel to the death between Frog and Magus to settle their score? Yeah... They’re not actually giving us that option...



He’s our enemy! Fight him!
*shakes head* I am no longer bound by another... My will is my own. If you wish to fight, then I shall fight you.
Now you’re talkin’... I still wanna see how deep that hole outside the Last Lands is if I punt your head into it.
*nods* I trust him...
...What? NO! Geez... You stupid IDIOT.
Hey!
Secret dad, you’ve got a moron legacy in your family.
*sweats* Hush!
I’ve all but directly stated what we both know here and even now she’s too oblivious to connect the dots. Calm down...
*blankly smiles at Reaper*
If he is truly our ally, then a strong one he shall undoubtedly be...
Oh, not you too!
You all... never informed me what your quarrel was with this man. He was possessed by an evil entity and now he is not. If he can be used to our ends, I see no harm.
*makes fart noise with mouth*
What should we call you?
The Reaper isn’t the... best title to refer to an ally...
*looks away and shakes head* I have no name... You may call me by whatever one you wish.



So much like Trebuchet and its original terrible name, The Reaper’s default name is... Fides? Normally, I am against renaming main playable characters but... normally the final party member in a RPG isn’t given literally outside the final boss door. So fuck it! I’m making an executive decision here.

Reaper... you are hereby dubbed...



...Endir. Really?
Look, this is the only way this is happening... He’s Dingus. We’re calling him Dingus.
......



And so we gain our actual final party member in the form of Reaper Fides Dingus. You didn’t think we were going to get through this without the scythe wielding goth character switching sides towards the end, now did you? Never mind he was the only other character with a portrait in the same style as the rest of the playable party.

I hate they make Reaper playable here. As hacky as a lot of this game was writing wise, I would commend it for making all the playable characters stay active in interjecting in the plot and participating in events the entire way. Most JRPGs COMPLETELY fuck that up and utterly forget about a couple characters by the third act. Hell, even Chrono Trigger is guilty of this. Ayla becomes and Frog both become mostly non-entities beyond generic lines after the Middle Ages and Prehistoric wraps up until end game sidequests. But then they even fuck that up with Reaper, who has one sidequest and is just here for the final boss. And spoilers, he will absolutely not have any crucial role for the final battle and ending sequence. He's just kinda there as an extra body.

It's bad. It's all bad. They shouldn't have done this! There's no reason for this to happen besides being a shitty Magus analog.



Thank you... All of you... Please put an end to this long battle, and bring this world into the future...
Aeterna... Before long, you too shall no doubt disappear... Please... watch over them as long as there is life in you...
*nods*

The Time Judge falls to her knees.



Before you do... will you tell us your name...?





Oh... OK.
...Should we know that name? Is that significant?
I... don’t think so...
*nods* Eutess... Thank you...
You’ve more than played your part... Have a good rest...





...What’s this shakin’? What the hell’s goin’ on?
For once it’s justified someone was a load bearing boss...



With the Time Judge Eutess’ death, the barrier holding back Dark Samsara weakens enough for the party to enter. She was also kind enough to form a pathway into the Dark Samsara’s realm before croaking. It would have been funny if there was another gap over a pit dilemma presented itself. One that actually reasonably could require a catapult to solve. But alas...



All we can do now is fight...
So our enemy’s this vastly powerful creature... that’s been storing up its energy for a thousand years...
This is no time for hesitation. We are this world’s last hope, are we not?
Yeah, I know...
You’re not the one who was told he died a bunch of times in this journey.
Actually, Julienne died MOST of the time. She usually wandered off at the top of Fridging Heights and we just shrugged and went on without her. Or she turned into an armored mutant boss, depending on the loop.
Oh... That... doesn’t actually make me feel any better.
My resolve to end this is somewhat bolstered...
I still cannot believe I am getting F’d out of my paycheck by time shenanigans and this goth dingus is joining us. Worst job ever...



In any case, that concludes Chapter 12 of I am Setsuna. One chapter remains! Technically, there’s only maybe 2-3 main plot updates left. But defeating the Time Judge and gaining Reaper as a party member has unlocked all of the character sidequests, which we’ll be tackling next. One for each character. Even the ones that only joined five minutes ago.

I don’t think I’m finishing this LP by 2017’s start...







Time Judge Concept Art – In case you wanted to know what Eutess’ butt looked like.