Part 11: Update 11
Update 11Skit Video: Chosen of Tethe'alla
: Nope. Both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla each have their own Chosen. But only Colette is called the Chosen of Regeneration.
: I wonder what sort of person the Chosen from Tethe'alla is.: From what I heard, he's good looking and has red hair. The guy we just met could have fit the description, if he hadn't opened his mouth.: I don't know. As far as redheads go, I'd say Richter is about a hundred times cooler.
: Emil, Richter is our enemy.: Oh, I mean, I know, but--
: I suppose I shouldn't ask this, but at this point I'm wondering if Emil is in love with Richter.
: No, but it wouldn't have surprised me if he was.: And anyway, you're a thousand times cooler than Richter.<3: Um... Thanks.: Love is truly as blind as they say.Skit Video: Father's Love
: What? You want me to eat this?: You're so mean! I poured my heart into this! : Oh, I'm sorry.: It might not look like much, but it tastes great! Try it!: Okay. Here goes.: Well? Daddy always said he loved my cooking.: Eh... : Emil?: He appears to have fainted.: Man, I hate it when women perpetuate that dumb stereotype.: Yeah. I- Martel Yggdrassil could cook fine. Certainly better than my companions, anyway.: I gotta ask, what was Mithos's cooking like?: No idea. Nobody ever made him do it. Martel did it twice as often to make up.: Yuan?: About the same as Kratos - decent.I was going to show off the Treasure Hunter quest, but it was more pointless and stupid than I thought. This game. Instead I'll give you the dialog for another quest I did, because it is so horrible.
Subject: Meow. A request from a monster. Four of our monster friends are sick and can't move. Someone needs to deliver medicine to them!
: It's just a simple delivery, so this job should be a cinch!: I wonder. In the grips of a fever, a sick monster may lash out at anyone nearby.: It sounds dangerous.: Right, let's hurry up and deliver these herbs!: We've brought the herbs! Here, use these to--Monster: Graaah!
: Oh no! This monster has "bad boy disease." It will pick a fight with any male that comes too near to it! We'll haveto try and subdue it!
: That's sort of an inconvenient illness.: So, all we have to do is subdue it, right?: Do try to show a little restraint.: I know.Monster: Aroooo...
: There, he's calmed down. Now, use the herbs.: Right.: His illness appears to have been healed!: It worked, Emil.: Yeah! Let's help out the other monsters!: We've brought some herbs. We aren't here to hurt you.Monster: Kuuu...
: This monster doesn't seem violent at all.Monster: KUUUUU!
: Aaah!: Oh no! This monster has "good girl disease"! He's desperate to get the attention of any female that approaches!: What should we do?: We must treat him like a spoiled child! The only cure is stern discipline!: If you say so! Let's give it a try, Marta!: Yeah! Emil's the only one I'll let beg for my attention!Monster: Purrr...
: Our discipline appears to have had the desired effect. He's ashamed of his behavior. Now, use the herbs.: Right.: The herbs seem to have worked.: You did it, Marta.: Yeah! Let's move on to the next one!: What is it, Tenebrae?: This monster is speaking to me, but it's actually asleep. This monster is suffering from "napper's lament," a disease that can make it fall asleep at any time or place.: So we need to wake it up?: Yes. Please go all out.: Okay, ready? RISE AND SHINE!: It seems to have awakened, at last. Now, use the herbs.: Got it.: There, that should do it.: Great. Just one left.: All right, let's finish this!: Your friend hired us to bring you these herbs.Monster: Grrrrr!
: Oh no! This is--: The monster split four ways!: This monster has "shock splitosis," a disease that causes it to break apart when taken by surprise!: What are we supposed to do?: You must first defeat all four of its parts, then apply the herbs when it has calmed down!: What is with these weird diseases?!: I guess monsters are really sensitive.Monster: Frooo...
: There, that's calmed it down. Now, use the herbs.: Okay, relax. I won't hurt you.: Excellent! Now all of the monsters have been cured of their diseases!: It makes you realize how important a doctor's work really is.: If you want to be the doctor, Emil, I'll be the nurse.: Not this again.: Emil, Lady Marta is lovesick, after all. You must administer the proper treatment.Ok now there's a sidequest here that you can only pick up if you know what to do, since there's no in-game indication to do this. Right after talking to Zelos, you have to go to Luin. There's no apparent reason to, it's just one of those dick move sidequests Tales Studio is soooo fond of.
Video Record
: It's the Vanguard! Hide!
: I've sent Hawkie out to get one, but it seems Zelos won't give him a chance to swipe it. As for little Colettie, she's got some kind of crazy luck. We haven't been able to get the jump on her.
: They're all useless.: So what are you going to use the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal for? Isn't it just a symbol to prove a Chosen was selected by the Cruxis angels?: Even if I told you, I doubt you'd understand.: Well, that's insulting. Oh, well, I forgive you. You and I are comrades in more ways than one, after all.: You don't curse that fact?: Not at all. It's my policy to make use of anything I can. I'd expect you to be the one cursing. Humans, that is, not yourself.: Huh, she's a Half Elf? I knew he was one since he used Sorcery.: Yes.: All that "Half Elf solidarity" stuff seems pretty silly to me. Why would I interact with Alice, other than to Big Bang her face off, just because she's a Half Elf?: Back then, things were... worse. 
You have no idea how good you have it!: Whoa, where'd that come from?: Sorry.: Temper, temper! Looks like I hit a nerve!<3 
: Richter, wait!: I wonder if they're going after Colette.: Most likely, but if what Alice said is true, it sounds like she's holding her own.Video Record
: So these are the Dynasty Ruins?: Yes. They say that this was one of the palaces of the Sylvarant Dynasty 800 years ago.: That place is pretty cool. Did you ever go there?: Well, it was built during Sylvarant's last Prosperous phase, completed in -970AY. So neither I nor Martel Yggdrassil could visit it. One of my component souls did visit it in its heyday, and I gotta say it was pretty terrible to actually work there, what with all the water and humidity. Oh, and the various chemicals that were stored improperly.: Marta, I've been thinking about something Richter said to me. He said the Vanguard wanted to use Ratatosk's core to revive the Sylvarant Dynasty. Before all of this happened, I used to agree a little with what the Vanguard stood for. That they were fighting to save the Sylvaranti from the Tethe'allans. And that Lloyd was their sworn enemy. But what does reviving an 800-year old dynasty have to do with saving the people of Sylvarant?: The Vanguard's commander, Brute, thinks that the people need strong leadership in order to live in peace. He wants to be crowned King of Sylvarant. It's so stupid. : So you left the Vanguard because you didn't want to be part of their ridiculous plan.: Y-Yeah. That's right.: Good. I was worried that maybe you felt the same way as the rest of them.: Of course not.: Right. But where are they planning on doing with Ratatosk's core?: I remember them saying something about a mana cannon.: Mana cannon? MANA CANNON?! MANA CANNON?!?!!?: Yeah. Mana cannons have a 1-3 save vs doom the world record, so you'd think people would be a little more cautious.: Maybe if you told people "hey the reason the World Regeneration had to happen in the first place was goddamn Mana Cannons".: Nobody listens to me. Besides, I really, really, really don't like to talk about it.: What's that?: It seems to be some type of ancient weapon, but that's all I really know. Anyway, shouldn't we be looking for Thomas?: Oh, that's right. Sorry for getting us off track.Skit Video: Reunited World
: Yes. They say that the Tethe'allans treat Sylvaranti poorly because we lack a unified government.: Considering the two sides' common human heritage, why is it that Sylvarant is without a more central leadership?: Keep in mind, the last thing Tenebrae remembers about the political situation is Tethe'alla and Sylvarant having an 800-year on and off war with each other that was fairly evenly matched.: Before the Regeneration, Sylvarant was ravaged by the evil Desians. All the main centers of power were destroyed. After that, everyone lived in smaller towns and villages.: And did Tethe'alla suffer a similar fate?: Their king apparently succeeded in keeping the country united.: And the Church of Martel has favored Tethe'alla ever since the two worlds became one. Sylvarant has always ended up with the short end of the stick, both before the regeneration, and after.: Are the people of the Church really that bad?: They are if you ask me. You'll see for yourself soon enough. They've got a pretty twisted dedication to their religion.
In case someone in the audience hasn't figured it out (Emil?), this is the water dungeon. Thankfully we won't revisit Undine's dungeon from the first game for no good reason.
Video Record
: Hey, that man! Is that him?
: Thomas! You're Thomas, aren't you?Thomas: Uhhh... Yeah I'm Thomas. Who are you?
: I'm Emil, Reysol's son. We used to live next door to you! Are you all right? Are you hurt?Thomas: You're Reysol's son? Really? That can't be right.
: Has it really been that long?: Thomas, tell us why you came here.Thomas: I found that. I found it in the ocean. I think it's the reason for the storm.
: Thomas! : Unh... It's okay. I think he just passed out.
: Remoras are not actually sea monsters. They live in freshwater around this area.: So what does that mean?: First things first. Let's get Thomas back to town.
: And since Hawkie's away today, it'll be a special treat. I'll handle you myself. 
This fight is actually kind of good. Alice there is a healer and will heal her allies.
Unfortunately they don't really have enough HP to make healing (which works off a percentage of your max health) work. Alice healing these guys for 845 or 1313 after a fairly lengthy cast time that might not even go off is kind of lame. Also Taunt is back. I wonder if enemies who have Mystic Artes (super attacks) can use Taunt to recharge them faster? We certainly don't need to worry about that now though.
Alice herself compares rather unfavorably to some of the quest bosses.
There's a lot of special moves in this battle, but I'm not sure what half of them do.
Blood Clock is kind of cool looking though.
Doesn't do a good job of saving the runt though.
I don't recall sleep effects in Symphonia, but there were some in Abyss.
I use the "stab it to death" school of spell interruption. Note how low my party members have gotten Alice.
While I'm here I should explain Synch effects. Basically each monster has a probability to provide some benefit when you execute a Unison Attack with them. Exactly benefit you get is randomly determined when the monster joins you, and I think there's a list of the possibilities. Here Solid Body is triggering.
: Gyah!!!
: Oh no! Look what you've done. You broke Hypnos!: Fitting punishment for enslaving a once proud monster with a machine.
: No. Stop it! Stop it I say!
: Who... Who are you?
: Well hey there cutie-pie! I'll let this misunderstanding slide, if you just run along.: Aren't you Tethe'alla's Chosen?!: That's right. And the Chosen is saying he'll let you off this time. So take your cute face and scoot on back to the Vanguard, Alice.: Well, since you put it that way guess I'll leave this to you.
: That was really dumb on Zelos's part.: So, you must be Marta. The beautiful widow Dorr sent me here to save you my dear. She also said you had a fisherman and some kid tagging along.: I'm Emil, sir.: Uh, Yeah right! Whatever kid. So Marta darling, you're not hurt are you?: You're Tethe'alla's Chosen and one of Lloyd's friends.: Where's Lloyd?! Please tell us if you know!: Why are you two looking for him?: Because, he-- that bastard killed my parents!: So it's about revenge huh?: Lloyd is nothing more than a thief! He stole a very important jewel from us!
: Sorry but I have nothing to say to people who swear revenge on my "bastard" friends. If you'll excuse me, I have to go.: I'm afraid that he trusts Lloyd, too. Just like Colette.: But he's different from Colette. I saw it. I saw it in his eyes. He doesn't believe us at all. If Lloyd were to slaughter someone right in front of his face he'd still worship the ground he walks on!: Emil, I understand how you must feel, but please try to calm yourself. Don't forget about the storm in the ocean. If what Thomas said is correct, then the remoras living around here are to blame.: Oh. That's right. So what do we do now?: Well we've already made it this far. Let's explore some more and see what we find. Or do you wanna go back?: No. We need to find out what's going on with the storm. Let's go.: Okay! Thanks so much Emil! (Grabs his arm) You're the best, you know that? Come on!Skit Video: Alice
: Alice kind of acts like a child. How old is she, anyway?: Eighteen.: She's that old?: And that's just what she says. She could be even older. When is she gonna grow up and ditch that creepy baby talk?: Sounds like it really bothers you.: You're a bit short on experience, so you may not know, but young ladies like Alice who flaunt their cuteness aren't generally well-liked by their female peers.: Oh, I see.: Be that as it may, there isn't a young lady alive who hasn't reveled in her own cuteness from time to time.: I'll never understand women.: Marta doesn't really know Half-Elves too well, or she'd know that they enjoy some fairly powerful natural advantages in the area of looking cute.: Oh?: Not all of them, but you for example won't look that much different from now into your late 200's.: WHAAA?: You'll see.Now the dungeon actually begins in earnest.
Reminder that this is the "water" dungeon. I don't know what the fuck, usually dungeon guys are good about sticking to a theme.
There are switches and you shoot them, basic stuff.
Video Record
: The sound of water in a dark place in really creepy.: Really? I think it's rather romantic, myself?: You do?: Emil. What do you think of me?: W-What do you mean?: A lot of people tell me I'm too stubborn. They say I come across as too serious, too much. What do you think? Do you think I'm too much?: Um... I think you're on the skinny side, so I don't think you're too much.: Th-That's not what I meant. Well, whatever. I'm going to work hard to make you like me. If there's anything I should do better, just say the word!: Must be exhausting being such a heartbreaker.: You can't be serious. Marta's obviously built up this image of me in her mind as some sort of ideal man.: Oh, you're smarter than you look.: What are you two talking about?: Nothing at all.: Nothing at all, Lady Marta.Skit Video: Love, the Tender Trap" Appears
: Why is this so hard?: What seems to be the trouble, Emil?: Oh, it's Marta. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do.: Ah, Love, the tender trap.: Don't tease me! No girl's ever been interested in me before. I don't know the first thing about "going out" with someone. : When dating a young lady, the greatest hurdle is choosing the perfect moment to first hold hands with her. And I'd say you passed that test with flying colors.: Huh? No, I'm talking more about--: My goodness! How bold! So, you wish to take the relationship to the next level.: Th-That's now what I said! Just forget it! I'll figure it out on my own! : Not to worry. I highly doubt Lady Marta's wishes will come true. : Something's up.: Not telling you ahead of time, sorry.
This is the "main" area of the dungeon, at least in terms of puzzles. You have to push some blocks in the water and flip the current around so they end up in the right areas. With the main path you can't fail, since there are grates preventing the blocks from being pushed out of where they're supposed to be, so you can just push in the blocks and toggle the water flow until it works. There's an optional block you can fuck up (and I did because the guide I was using has an error here).
When you change the flow of water, some of those depressions like the one to the left of Emil fill with water and you have to use ladders to get around them.
This is what Martel meant by "chemicals". Some of these are green liquid too. Anyway after a lot of fucking up I made it to the next room.
Video Record
: Maybe it's an underground water vein?: Interesting. I know why the ocean has been stormy.: Really?!: Yes. I believe the cause is a territorial between monsters.: That can cause storms all the way out in the ocean?: Indeed. Thomas said he'd found remoras in the ocean. Remoras are freshwater monsters, so that is unnatural. Monsters hardly ever change their habitats, so an underground lake here and the surrounding ocean must be linked somehow. : What?!: Tenebrae, can freshwater monsters live in the ocean, too?: I believe the family of monsters that the remora belongs to can tolerate saltwater. The ocean is the domain of Centurion Aqua. Centurions must form connections with monsters of their own element in order to maintain balance in the world. However, Aqua is infatuated with that man, Richter, and is neglecting her duties. So all the water-elemental monsters are left to their own devices. It's absolutely reprehensible.: He's like an angry old lady, isn't he?: Uh-huh. Yeah.: What was that?!: Hey, even old ladies know how to take jokes!: This is a little off topic but why did the Sylvarant Dynasty fall?: When Sylvarant switched over to being the declining world for the last time, the Desians unleashed upon it were a little too aggressive.: Oh.: I ended up having to butcher those dumbasses myself.: Wait, what?: I misspoke. Mithos Yggdrassil butchered them.Skit Video: Love and Hate
: So, Tenebrae, you and Aqua don't get along?: That is a difficult question.: It is?: It's true that we are currently in opposition. But I must not allow personal feelings to dissuade me from my task of reawakening Lord Ratatosk.: She didn't seem to like you all that much, considering she called you "spiteful" and everything.: You humans have an old saying: Love and hate are two sides of the same coin.: Don't think I've heard that one.: It is quite true. Being popular with the ladies is rough, let me tell you.Video Record
: It's an underground lake.: I wonder it's connected to the sea.
: Aah!: Tha..That's a manitou!: That monster is the most territorial of all underwater creatures. I wouldn't be surprised if it's been clashing with the other ocean species.: You mean that's been causing all the storms in the ocean?: It would seem so.
I had a lot of trouble with this guy my first playthrough, probably because I was fairly underleveled.
Visually interesting special abilities on bosses are back!
Have I mentioned I love Unison Attacks?
This thing certainly isn't as fragile as Alice and her pets were.
If this thing wants to move, it has to dive into the platform and resurface.
Negative Gate is a midlevel darkness-elemental spell, I taught it to the Imp via a Grimoire to give him some magic offense and a good source of dark symbols on the elemental grid.
That's a pretty good combo - this guy is easy to combo on because he can't move and is big. I've managed bigger combos than this though.
This guy actually feels like a good boss, but this is the last fight of the second chapter. It took too long.
Oh hey, you know what we haven't done in a while? Fights where you still lose when you win.
: Ahh!: So they got eaten by a whale-monster thing and died? I don't get it.: Actually...
: OK, how the fuck did they survive that.: Ratatosk did manage to protect them. I'll give him credit for that.: Are you okay?: I'm still alive. What about you? Are you hurt?: I'm fine. Thanks for worrying about me. But where are we?: Someone's coming. I will conceal myself. 
: Excuse me! Do you mind if we ask you a question????: What is it?
: He's not human. He's not a half-elf either. What is he? And he's even got a monster with him. Really weird.: Umm... We seem to have gotten lost. Could you tell us where we are????: You're just north of Iselia. You want me to take you to the village?
: No, that's all right. Thank you very much.???: Sure. Well then, take care.
: So, that would mean...: We crossed the ocean?!: That would appear to be the case.: Well, at least we saved on the boat fare.: Indeed. And we gained some valuable experience no amount of money could buy.: You two sure are optimistic.: It's just we've already come this far. Might as well make the best of it.: Yeah, you're right.: Now that we've had a chance to recover our senses, shall we continue on to Iselia?: Yeah!Next time: Chapter 3 begins, and the next Original Symphonia character to join us.