Part 1: Update 1

Update 1



: Hello? Uh, ... Goddess Mar--
: Don't call me that.
: Whoa! I'm, uh, sorry about that, but there was something I couldn't ask anyone else.
: You don't need to be nervous about talking to me. We've worked together, after all.
: Uh...
: Yes, I know about the end of your quest. As a World Tree Guardian Spirit, I have some rather neat tricks.
: Nothing that really helped you stop him, though.
: Not directly, at least. But we were discussing you, not me.
: Well you already know what I'm waiting for I suppose. I've taken up some interests to pass the time. For one, history.
: Hmm.
: I got the Elves' Storyteller guy to let me look at Raine the Sage's secret history of the World Regeneration.
: Raine Sage. Sage was her name.
: Anyway, it was rather surprisingly different than what most historians believe.
: She decided that ultimately, the truth was less important than healing. But that's not what you're asking about.
: Yeah. What's most surprising is what's not in it. There's a note at the back that she decided to omit the events of Anno Yggdrassil 2 from even that record. It said that only Martel could decide whether to pass on that knowledge or not.
: And you want to know what happened.
: Yeah, that's about the size of it.
: This is my most embarrassing secret. You'll understand if I say no.
: Booooo!
: ...
: OK, OK. Let's play a game of chance. If I lose I'll tell you my most embarrassing secret, and if I win, you'll tell me about AY2.
: Deal. I must confess, I was... I mean, Martel Yggdrassil was a young lady like yourself once, and could work up some girlish glee when called for.





: I've always known I was the unluckiest person.
: Royal Straight Flush beats Straight Flush.
: What a hand to lose on! Well, I won't hold back on honoring my end of the bargain. Rather than just tell you, I'll let you hear and see it too! Get ready for a vision of pure forehead-slappingness.
: That's not a word.





Video Record


: By the will of the heavens, the world was cleaved in two.
: Who's this voice?
: Some guy who likes to talk.




: The two words were now reborn as one. The world was at the dawn of a bright new era. Or so it seemed...











???: There she is!




: With their high level of technological prowess, the Tethe'allan civilization looked down upon the people of Sylvarant as barbarians. The Sylvaranti blamed the Chosen of Regeneration for bringing this world into being, as they turned their backs on the Church of Martel that supported her. Amidst all of this chaos, the world itself began to cry out.








: These phenomena fanned the flames of dissatisfaction within the hearts of the people, leading to the birth of a monster. A resistance organization was formed by the oppressed people of Sylvarant to defend themselves.


: This is some of the very few things I actually know about this era! Get to the good stuff!
: Patience.





Woman: Yes.
Man: Emil, hurry! We must get away or we'll all be killed by Lloyd.
???: Who did you say is going to kill you?


Man: Lloyd Irving!
The people of Palmacosta have aided the Vanguard and undermined the authority of the Church of Martel and the Chosen. The punishment for this crime is death.


???: Mom!
Man: Emil, run! Get away from here!
: No way!
: You'll see.





: Help me. Help me, Ratatosk!




???: Are you all right?




???: Arroo...
: That's Tenebrae's howl.
: I have to go.
: Wait! What's your name?





Woman: Emil, you came back. Oh, dear. I can't even see your face. I'm not going to last much longer. But you, you have to live. You have to run before Lloyd comes back. Go to Luin. To your Aunt Flora. Hurry.
: Mom... Mom!
: Ok, so explain what...
: No, I'm showing rather than telling.
: Ugh. I bet you just want to tell a story.
: Ok, a little.





Unlike the original Symphonia, Dawn of the New World is divided into distinct chapters.





: That howl... _{I feel like I've heard it before. Maybe it's just my imagination.}


That weird-ass pen thing floating and sparkling is the Wiimote cursor. What's weird is how it's so prominent but you don't actually use it much.


: That howl...
Flora: Monsters have been going down into the lakebed since dawn!
: I'm sorry.
Flora: Why are you apologizing?
: I wonder the same thing.
: ...
Flora: Despicable child. Always so indecisive. You're hardly like Lana at all. You must take after Reysol.
: I'm sorry.




You might notice a slight difference between my level and the level of my party. This is an unfortunate fact of inheriting monsters, they make you vastly overpowered until you can switch them out. Fortunately the few fights that occur between now and when you actually can switch them out are ultra-trivial.





: There's that howl again. It sounds like it's coming from the fountain plaza.

Video Record




???: Hey, Emil, we saw that!


: I already did.
Dida & Moll: No you didn't!
Dida: You don't like Lloyd the Great, do you?
Moll: That's why you're trying to destroy our city! Because Lloyd restored it to its former beauty!
: What are you talking about?
Dida & Moll: Don't act dumb!
Dida: Ever since you came here, Lake Sinoa's dried up and there're more monsters!
Moll: You're planning on getting your monster friends to attack the town, aren't you?!
: Of course not!
Dida: Okay, then prove it!
: What?
Moll: Swear your allegiance to Lloyd the Great right now!
Dida: If you do that, then we'll believe you!
Dida & Moll: Come on, let's hear it!
You're given the choice to swear an oath to Lloyd or not. This actually helps determine your ending. You can't get the "best" ending with too many points. Choosing to swear brings you over halfway to that total IIRC.
Dida: What's the matter?
Moll: Swear it!
: No, I won't! Lloyd killed my parents and I'll never swear allegiance to that murderer!
Dida: We heard that!
Moll: So that's how you really feel?!
: No. That's not what I meant to say.
Dida: Shut up, you monster!




???: Get lost.
Dida: Who the hell are you?!
???: I said go!
You. You are...
: Yes? _{What is it?}
Never mind. You know, you should stand up for yourself.
: I was too scared to even thank him for that. Maybe that's why I haven't been able to make any friends. _{I wish I had friends. But I guess, I guess that'll never happen.}


I'm burning precious kilobytes to prove that they just flashbacked to something that happened literally thirty seconds ago. This scene was at 16:24 and the previous scene was at 15:54.
: "Stand up for myself." He's right.I should thank him for helping me out the way he did. That's what I'll do!





: Is it just me, or does this guy look like Kratos a bit?
: He has similar clothing and hair color, and he has a fighting style that incorporates swordplay, magic, and healing like Kratos did.
What is it?
: _{Maybe this was a bad idea.}
If you've got nothing to say, then I've got something to ask you.
: Okay.
So they said that your name is Emil. Well, Emil, have you seen a girl around here with a red jewel on her forehead?
: This guy really doesn't know how to make a dramatic introduction.
: What? I --no, sir.
What are you so nervous about?
: I --
Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality.
: This phrase will be baked into your head for the rest of your life.
: I don't like the way you said that.


To be fair, this line feels like it shows up a lot more than it actually does.
They're words a human with a few screws loose said long ago. When you refused to swear allegiance to Lloyd, didn't you feel courage welling up inside of you? Those who would grovel and beg, or run away at the first sight of another's anger are dogs. Or even worse. Are you a dog? Or are you really a man?
: I'm--
Just try to do your best to be a man, Emil.
: Courage. The magic that turns dreams into reality. _{I'm not a monster. I need to stand up like a human being!}



Skit Video: Angry
: That guy was really amazing. "Are you a dog, or are you really a man?" I could never say anything like that to someone. They'd only get angry at me. Wait. Maybe I should have gotten angry at him.



???: Arroo...
: It sounds like it's coming from the lakebed. _{What should I do? I want to know what it is, but I'd be leaving town to go down there. Aunt Flora will get mad if I leave without permission.}
???: Arroo...
: What could it be?



Skit Video: Howl in the Distance
: Why do I feel like monsters are calling me? It's because of stuff like this that make people say it's my fault that
monsters keep appearing. I've got to ignore it! It's just my imagination! But it's so hard to ignore.



Skit Video: Lake Sinoa
: If I want to go to the Sinoa lakebed I need to leave town. I've never gone outside town on my own. [W-]Wonder if I'll be all right. Mom, please make sure I don't run into any monsters.



Video Record. This one goes all the way through the first few battles!


: Uncle Alba...
Alba: What do you want? Get the hell out of here, you little nuisance!
: I'm sorry.
Alba: Always getting in the way! Just go home and stay out of trouble! Just the sight of you puts the whole town in distress!
Town Watchman: Forget about the Vanguard-loving brat, Alba. Did something happen?
Alba: Monsters I've never seen before showed up in Lake Sinoa's lakebed! Several members of the city watch are down!
Town Watchman: What?!
Alba: I'm going to gather reinforcements. Go tell the mayor what happened!
Town Watchman: Right!
???: Arroo...
: _{That howl again.} If I go now, I could make it down to the lakebed. _{But everyone will get mad at me.}
: Is this guy going to alternate talking to himself out loud and thinking like some kind of toggle?
Those who would grovel and beg, or run away at the first sight of another's anger are dogs. Or even worse.
That flashback was five minutes, which I guess is acceptable. Maybe.
: I'll go. I'm not a dog. I'm a human being.





Note that instead of an overworld, we have a list of destinations. I miss overworlds, games don't seem to have them much anymore






And welcome to our first battle! It is TOTALLY RIGGED.


Notice how his HP bar isn't fucking moving? Yeah, rigged. This is the first battle. It's not possible to get into any battles prior to this. What a way to start the game eh? Also you'll note that I have really powerful monsters as I mentioned earlier, I would replay this section to get screenshots of this without the overpowered monsters that aren't supposed to be there at all since Emil doesn't technically have the ability to use monsters yet, but this battle is incredibly non-interesting.




Yeah, the battle just fades out and Emil is assumed to have lost.






At least they're using something other than just a screen flash to indicate something was hit. That pissed me off massively while getting the screenshots for ToS.




: Hey! It's the girl from earlier.


: It's not over yet! Are you gonna fight with me or run? Come on. You're a man! Speak up!
Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality. They're words a human with a few screws loose said long ago. When you refused to swear allegiance to Lloyd, didn't you feel courage welling up inside of you?
: I'll fight!
: Okay. Then I'll leave the frontline to you!
Marta is our heal-chick, although she can also be a competent melee attacker.





We're actually allowed to defeat it this time.


It would be easy even if we didn't have ultra-overpowered monsters in a place we're supposed to have no monsters.





Note that we can't actually gain experience here. As a matter of fact, Emil is incapable of gaining levels right now, even if we could get him some experience - his next level exp is "----" because he is too big a wimp to be a JRPG protagonist.





: There, good work. It's pretty dangerous here, so you should probably get going. She pauses for a second. Hey, it's you!
: What do you mean?
: You don't-- you don't remember me, do you? Maybe I'm wrong? But you look just like him.
: What are you talking about?
: It's nothing, never mind. I'm sorry. Anyway, you should leave here as soon as you can, okay?
: Wait a minute!
: Yes, what is it? I'm in a hurry.
: I wanted to thank you for saving me. My name's Emil. So, um, what's your name?
: I'm Marta. Is that it?
: If it's dangerous here then maybe you should leave too.
: If things get dangerous will you save me again?
: But you were the one who was kind enough to save me.
: You don't remember, do you? I'm sorry to confuse you. But I really have to get going. Take care of yourself Emil!


In high school, I learned lighting from my TV production teacher. He taught us about raising the backlight behind someone and softening the light on them to highlight them as a romantic interest. This is a bit much though. Oh, and this would be a spoiler if it wasn't blindingly obvious. Also note that their filter doesn't quite go to the edges of the screen. OOPS.


: Bum bum bum!
: A red jewel on her forehead.
So they said that your name is Emil. Well, Emil, have you seen a girl around here with a red jewel on her forehead?
: _{Maybe Marta is the girl with the jewel that that man was looking for. I should probably let him know.}



Skit Video: Strange Girl
: I wonder if that guy is still in town. He'll probably be happy if I tell
him about that girl, Marta. It's strange, though. She seemed like she knew me. Have I met her before? I think I'd remember a cute girl like her. She must be confusing me with someone else. Yeah, must be.





: I'm sorry.
Alba: You just have to go out of your way to cause trouble. Thanks to your little grudge against Lloyd the Great, there are rumors that our family's secretly supporting the Vanguard. Go home and keep your mouth shut! When I get home, so help me...



Skit Video: Lloyd's Fault
: What should I do? Uncle Alba was really angry. I wonder if he'll hit me again. What should I do? I'm scared. I really should have just ignored that monster's howl. If only Lloyd hadn't attacked Palmacosta, I wouldn't be going through all of this!



Next time: tutorials, rigged fights, actually being able to gain xp, and the only new characters I actually liked.