Tales of Symphonia Part #33

Part 33: Update 30

Update 30

: It's dead.

: ...Lloyd. Let's go back to Professor Nova and confirm the information we have.

: Yeah, we've forgotten a lot of it already. I wonder where he is right now?

: All we can do is gather information in the cities and search for him.

: Okay. Let's go.

It took me over 5 minutes to find the stupid caravan despite the simplicity of the overworked map and the rapid speed of the Rheairds just because they're located a randomly selected spot on the map.

: We've found the Linkite Tree, but we'd like to reconfirm the information we heard before.

: I see. Then take a look at the memo.

: To find the Linkite Tree. The Linkite Tree is thought to be somewhere that cannot be reached by foot. If the Linkite Tree is dead, we must strengthen the healing arts, call forth the tree's will to live, and nourish the ground.

: ...Just as we remembered it. Then, to sum it all up, looking at our current status...

: We need to revive the Linkite Tree and carry the sound on the wind! As for the wind to carry the sound...

: Leave it to me! We have Sylph, the Summon Spirit of Wind, on our side!

: How are we going to revive the Linkite Tree?

: ...We have the Linkite Nut we received from that child. If we accelerate its growth with an Exsphere and strengthen my healing arts with the Unicorn Horn, then maybe we can manage something... We may need the power of the Summon Spirit of Earth as well, since we need to nourish the ground.

: The Summon Spirit of Earth is my job! Just leave it to me! What about the Exsphere?

: No problem! We've got one!

: Then the only thing left is the melody. I wonder if it will make a pretty sound...

: That's the one thing we don't know...

: No problem! I can't do anything with this little nut, but as long as the revived Linkite Tree has big nuts on it, I can make a flute. We just need one like the one Mithos had, right?

: Lloyd! You can make that?

: I'll show you the skills my dad taught me! And we have Presea, too!

: Yes. I will help.

: Okay, then let's go find a Linkite Tree!

: Fascinating...

: Whoa!

: I see now...That's impressive the way you've found the rules of how it works. Would you mind taking us with you when you called forth Aska?

: But you won't all fit on the Rheairds...

: Ah, don't worry about that. If that glowing bird is Aska and I make a pact with him, then I can call him forth anytime. I'll show Aska to you myself.

: I see! Haha! That would be great. Please, show him to me sometime. I've made note of the information you've assembled. If you want to hear it, come talk to me anytime.

: Okay, let's go!

: Yes, I'm ready.

: Yeah, anytime.

: Okay, Professor, Sheena! Go for it!

: Right. Stand back.

: Here I go! I call upon the servant of Mother Earth!

: What is it?

: Gnome! Please make this ground healthy again!

: Hmmm...okay.

: Okay, Raine.

: Right. Unicorn Horn...lend me your power! Resurrection!

: Raine is impressive. I haven't seen anybody that good since Boltzman.

: Whoa! Raine, you're fantastic!

: Lloyd, Presea, the rest is up to you.

: I understand. Lloyd...

: Yeah...how about these? It'll take about one night, so just wait for a little bit.

: Right.

: Genis. Here...

: Lloyd, Presea, it's perfect!

: Time for the last step! Genis! Sheena!

: Yeah!

: You got it!

: So this...is Aska...

: Who calls me?

: Aska! We need your power! Please form a pact with me!

: Pact...Where is Luna?

: We haven't made a pact with Luna yet, but we need you.

: I do not want to form a pact...unless Luna is with me.

: Then, let's form a pact with Luna.

: Then I shall go to Luna. Farewell...

: Yeah! That's fine. Thanks, Aska.

: ...Then until that time...

: Sheena, was that okay?

: He said he'll make a pact. There's no reason to do it right now, right?

: Indeed. Luna and Aska are both Summon Spirits of Light. If Luna is performing the role as the mana link, then there is no need to attempt to force a pact with Aska here.

: The only thing left is to go to Luna and officially make the pact.

: We'll be tested by both of them at the same time... I guess it's unavoidable...

: If I've got any luck at all left, they'll beat you.

: Well, whatever will be, will be.

: Okay, let's go!

: No...

Skit #320: For Lazy People

: We opened them all the last time we were here.

: But it's still a pain to walk all the way up again.

: What did you have in mind? We can't fly to the roof with the Rheairds.

: But couldn't they at least give us a "Quick Jump" option?

: Quick Jump?

: What's that?

: Ah, nothing...

: I have no idea what he's talking about.

Hi there!
Youtube

: Kratos! Don't get in our way!

: Hear me out! The Derris-Kharlan core-system just finished calculating its answer. If you form the pact with the Summon Spirit, the protection around the Great Seed will be completely lost!

: Come on, I calculated the answer in my head faster than that. Anyway, don't hold back on them! They're trying to mess it all up!

: And that's exactly what we desire!

: Don't you understand?! What you're hoping for will not happen!

: Silence! Do you think we'll pass up this opportunity?! Lloyd! Leave him to me! Go, now! Form the pact with the Summon Spirit of Light!

: YUAN YOU IDIOT!

: we're counting on you, Sheena.

: You got it!

: I am Sheena! I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos and establish a new pact with me.

: Where is Aska?

: He'll come. He promised.

: I see...Then all is well. I shall test thy worthiness to wieldst my power.

Boss Fight! Watch me blow a shit ton of Life Bottles!
Youtube
Part 2

Aska is incredibly hard to kill and is strongly resistant to every type of damage except dark (and Physical of course). I didn't pay any attention to that and paid the price.

Luna uses Photon, just like Raine. About halfway through the fight I started kicking myself for focusing Aska first.

Notice the green numbers? I didn't realize at the time that my weapon had an elemental property, and Aska was absorbing it. Elemental attributes aren't always indicated clearly.

He doesn't absorb Prism Stars though (thank fuck).

This is the point where I realized I needed to swap Lloyd's weapon.

Honestly I could have probably turned off all Genis's spells except Meteor Storm and rode that to victory, but that'd be rather non-interactive.

Limited Ray is another one of Luna's attacks. It's a bit more powerful than the traditional weakass light spell "Limited".

Sunshine Nova is Aska's only special (unless he has another one that I missed because he only uses it when Luna goes down). It's possible to run under it to escape most/all of the hits and attack him from behind. It ends with a knockback.

That was a bit narrow but it was pretty much all downhill from there.

At this point Luna started using Ray.

Prism Stars has absolutely no effect on Luna.

Meteor Storm is awesome and seals the deal.

Oh shut up GRADE.

No More Mutants^H^H Seals
Youtube

: No.... No....

: Thou art powerful. Now state thy vow upon which thou wilt base our pact.

: I vow to germinate the Great Seed in order to realize the true regeneration of both worlds.

: We accept thy vow. Our power is thine.

: ...You did it!

: No!

: I feel...
: ...its twisted growth...

WATCH THIS MOVIE!!
Youtube

: That root... Palmacosta... No...

: So much for the Tower of Mana.

: Maybe it'll consume me before I have to watch everyone die.

: Oh my g...

: It that...the Giant Kharlan Tree?

: ...That person...I feel like I've met her somewhere before.

: ...Martel!

: Martel? That woman about to be consumed by the tree is Martel?

: She reminds me of someone. She reminds me of...

: Why would Martel reappear with that giant, grotesque tree?

: I was afraid this would happen...

: What do you mean?

: Having lost the stability afforded by the protection of the Summon Spirits, the Great Seed has gone out of control.

: No! The purpose of the Summon Spirits was to isolate the Great Seed from the outside world and prevent it from growing!

: That was only half of it. The two worlds were forced out of phase by Yggdrasill. They should have drifted apart from each other and have been consumed by the void. But this was prevented from happening because the Great Seed was placed in the center between the two worlds.

: Typical. He keeps information from even his closest allies.

: I don't need a lecture from you to know that!

: The Great Seed is constantly being pulled upon from both worlds as they try to separate from one another. It's a miracle that this delicate balance held up for even this long.

: ...Wait! So the mana links served as a cage to contain the Great Seed in the space between the two worlds? Is that what you're saying?

: Exactly. And because you provided the unstable Great Seed with mana, germinated in a twisted form and has gone out of control. It's even engulfed Martel.

: Who cares why this happened! I wanna know what's gonna happen if we can't stop this thing!

: ...If what Kratos says is true, then Sylvarant will be consumed and destroyed by the Great Seed. And if Sylvarant is destroyed, Tethe'alla will be destroyed as well, as it is linked by the Holy Ground of Kharlan and the Otherworldly Gate.

: Then...everyone will die.

:Yup!

: Everyone except that twisted tree and the angels that live on Derris-Kharlan.

: We have to do something!

: But what can we do?!

: Yuan. How do you plan to rectify this situation?

: We can cut off the mana flow and stop the seed from receiving any more mana.

: But that won't subdue the Giant Tree. The process has already begun.

: Is the Giant Tree going crazy like that in Tethe'alla, too?

: Highly unlikely. Although I imagine they are feeling some effects, such as earthquakes.

: ...That makes sense. Because Colette activated the process of world regeneration, the Summon Spirits of Sylvarant are now active. Therefore, the Giant Tree was drawn over here by Sylvarant's Summon Spirits.

: Correct. The Summon Spirits exchange their respective roles of yin and yang each time a Chosen's quest for world regeneration succeeds. Currently, the Summon Spirits of Sylvarant are carrying out the role of yang by providing the mana. But because the Giant Tree has over-absorbed Sylvarant's mana, it has gone out of control.

: ...If that's the case, couldn't we neutralize it by blasting it with the power of the opposing Summon Spirits?

: ...I don't dare hope that actually works

: ...Whoa, Lloyd!! You actually understood what we were talking about?

: Shut it, Genis! Professor once said that the negative and positive of a magnet neutralize each other. This is kind of the same thing, right?

: That's not quite right, Lloyd, but nonetheless it's a clever idea coming from you.

: Even if we did decide to try and set the Summon Spirits of Tethe'alla against it, how are we gonna go about doing that? We can't get close to that crazy thing the way it is now.

: ...The Mana Cannon.

: Mana Cannon? That machine Rodyle was building?

: We were actually manipulating Rodyle into building that. Before the mana links started to disappear, we planned to have Rodyle destroy the Tower of Salvation.

: Wow, that's actually a worse plan than this one.

: So you're suggesting we feed the mana of Tethe'alla's Summon Spirits into the Mana Cannon and fire it at the Giant Tree. Hmm...I suppose there's no better option right now.

: First, we need to shut off the current flow of mana to the tree. It'll be too late if the tree grows any larger.

: Then here's the plan. Yuan, I'm going to pretend I don't know who you've been working with or what you've been doing. In exchange, you're going to order the Renegades to stop firing mana at the tree immediately. Meanwhile, Lloyd's group will head for the Mana Cannon.

: ...All right.

: It's not possible, sir! Forcystus has executed our Iselia ranch infiltration team!

: What does that mean?

: ...The Iselia ranch is still operational. We had people working undercover switch over the mana flow.

: In other words, we have to infiltrate the place right now and stop the flow.

: ...Then I shall go.

: You? Are you suggesting we should send you, our enemy, to do this by yourself?

: I'll send some of my men.

: Preparations for the Mana Cannon, the shutdown of the mana reactors throughout the world—there are too many things we need the Renegades to do. You don't have enough troops to do everything.

: ...I'll go.

: What are you saying?! We have to head for the Mana Cannon!

: You and the Renegades can take care of the Mana Cannon. Kratos and the rest of us will infiltrate the Iselia ranch. Fire the Mana Cannon when we give you the word. You wouldn't be able to trust the signal if it came from Kratos alone, right?

: Well, that's true, but...

: ...Is it about Chocolat?

: That's right. Chocolat is held at the Iselia ranch. Lloyd, you remembered your promise.

: All right. We'll leave it to you then. Don't let us down.

: ...Let's go, guys!

: IS SOMETHING WRONG, MITHOS?

: Ah, no. Just now...I thought I heard Genis' voice...

: AHH!

: Ahh!

: L...look out!

: Ma...r...

: You don't need me in order to stop the mana reactor.

: Because I don't trust Cruxis. It just happens that this time, our goals, your goals, and those of the Renegades coincide, but we don't know what's going to happen next. It's easier to keep an eye on you if you're close by.

: I see. A wise decision.

: How are we going to get in? The gate's closed.

: I'll jump down inside from the cliff and open the door.

: No, let me go. I can simply fly over a gate like this.

Skit #037: Enemies

: ...Heh. Does it displease you?

: Oh, please...

: Of course I'm not happy about it. And I don't trust you, either.

: Good. That's how you should be. Because you and I...are enemies.

: Whoa! A kinda warm light came out of it.

: It's the light of mana.

: This is mana?

: Be careful. If you release too much of your body's mana, you will exhaust it.

: O...okay...

: Can't we just destroy the ranch?

: If we're going to do that, we have to rescue the captives.

: We don't have time this time around. Let's destroy or stop just the mana reactor while rescuing Chocolat and the others.

: Where are the captives held?

: ...Around here, I think.

: That's on the way to the mana reactor. We may be able to rescue them at the same time.

: There is insufficient time. It would be a seventy percent loss.

: It's the same as in Kvar's ranch. We will have to divide into teams.

: What should we do, Lloyd?

: I'll go to the mana reactor. Chocolat hates me, anyway.

: Okay. Then, pick the members for your team, Lloyd.
I'm pretty sure your team gets bonuses to their affection for Lloyd. I chose Zelos on that basis (and to a lesser extent Regal). Kratos is there because in theory if he ever bothered to use his authority as a Seraphim he could just ask the Desians to stop attacking us. He won't, because he's a bloodthirsty mofo with a harden for secrecy or something.

: I place my strength at your disposal.

: Be part of the reactor team.

: I understand.

: I want to be where the most girls are.

: Be part of the reactor team.

: Ahh, yeah, I'm so loved.

: ...Choose as you will.

: Be part of the reactor team.

: ...Hmm.

: I'll have these three come with me.

: You know, I'd really prefer to avoid danger if I could...

: I shall follow any order you give.

: I will observe how far your skills with the blade have progressed.

: Let's stay together until we reach Chocolat's location. That will be faster.

: Gotcha.

: Also, it looks like we can use these facilities. We should prepare ourselves before going into battle.

This is a rather short and pleasant dungeon.
It even fits on Youtube.
If you don't want to see the dungeon, this is just subplot.
Youtube
I messed with this sequence a bit because it makes no goddamn sense. I had to add some sort of explanation of why these bums would provide any measure of danger at all.

: Chosen One!

: Chocolat!

: Don't move! So you're the intruders!

: The host bodies made a break for it when they heard you were here! You'll pay for this!

: YEEEAaaaaaRRrrGggH

: Colette!

: Ugh!

: Ahh!

: Uahhh!!

: Y...you!

: Thank you so much!

: ...Thank you.

: Are there any others here?

: I think the people in the other rooms managed to get away already.

: Well then, we'll take the captives just as planned.

: Right. Good luck.

: Come everyone, this way.

: I...

: If you don't want to be saved by me, just consider yourself rescued by the Chosen. Now hurry and go!

Hello angry Desian.
Youtube

: ...You're...Forcystus!

: Well, well. So you remember me. It looks like it was a mistake to have let you live. I guess I'll have to take care of you personally.

: ...So you're Forcystus. If death is what you seek, you shall have it.

: Tough talk from a human. You're the one who's going to die, along with this tainted world.

: ...Even if the world is lost, you can escape to Derris-Kharlan... Is that what you're thinking? ...How naive.

: ...What did you say?

: Desians are nothing but expendable pawns to Yggdrasill. He'd never bother to save you.

: You should listen, you muscle-brained asshole.

: Silence! How dare you speak ill of Lord Yggdrasill! We have Derris-Kharlan! It is a world of mana, the very source of life! The destruction of this tainted world is of no concern to us.

: How can you so easily cast away the world? Is it not the source of all life?

: Mana is the source of life. And the very source of mana, Derris-Kharlan, will be our new world thanks to Lord Yggdrasill.

: ...Because Martel is fused with the Great Seed... Are you saying that fool would go this far just to protect her?!

: It's not a very good method of protecting me, I'll be consumed soon.

: ...You speak as if you know him. Who are you?

: Ugh, your babbling is driving me nuts! Let's just ignore this idiot. We don't have the time to be dealing with the Desian's victim complex.

: I know!

: You will not get past me!

Boss Fight! Adventures in poor target prioritization and AI setup!
Youtube
Part 2

Forcystus starts out with 2 "Exbone" ads that cast light wind spells on us. They also have about 1/3 the HP he does. Naturally I decide to save them for last, because I'm out of my goddamn mind.

Forcystus himself likes to use Air Blade, which is one of Genis's air-elemental spells.

Another dumb as fuck thing I did was not setting up really great unison attack combos.

Air Thrust is another of Genis's Air spells.

Wind Blade is visible at the bottom of the screen, it's hard to see as it's the most basic wind spell.

One advantage of this configuration is that every party member except Lloyd can heal. One disadvantage is that they'll spend all their damn time healing, and even then if you fuck up you can still die.

In addition to his specials and spells, and his normal melee combo, Forcystus will fire his arm-cannon at you.

Here I misclick and blow an Hourglass on the boss. An Hourglass causes enemies to be frozen in time. I don't think I've seen one from anything other than Zelos's gifts.

This time I use the right item. The "Strong to Wind" bit shouldn't really surprise you.

At this point (possibly half health, I'm not 100% on that though) he starts getting serious and pulls out Cyclone (Genis's top-level Wind spell).

He also starts using Down Burst, which is similar to Kratos/Zelos's Light Spear tech line, but (surprise) wind-based.

At this point I realized I hadn't actually set Regal's techs up properly, so he really couldn't do anything except heal. This was actually the first time I'd used him seriously this playthrough. I probably should have stopped recording out of embarrassment but I won anyway so feh.

Why yes I did save the Exbones for last.

: Ugh...im...possible...

: Ughhhh!

: Now we can stop the mana reactor!

: I'll handle this.

: ...You sure are handy with everything--swordsmanship, magic, even operating machines.

: I've lived a little longer than most humans.

: Lived longer? So you're a half-elf, too? But then again, he called you human, earlier...

: Focus on what's important. We must stop the Giant Tree.

: Y...yeah.

Important Plot Stuffs!
Youtube

: Yeah! All we need to do now is contact Sheena and...

: Ughhh!

: ...No!

: I am one of the Five Grand Cardinals...I won't die so easily! I'm taking all of you inferior beings with me!

: So this is how the great Desian hero, Forcystus, meets his end. I'm disappointed.

: ...I see...I get it now. I wondered how a mere human could exude the smell of mana. You're Kratos...

: What of it?

: Lord Yggdrasill trusted you... Yet in the end, you betray us! This is why humans can never be trusted!

: No! You bastard!

: Nice! Frontal kidney hit! I never thought I'd say this, but hurry that mana cannon up!

: Colette, are you okay?!

: No...don't look! Don't look at me!

: Lloyd! Send the message, quickly!

: But Colette...

: The Chosen won't die yet, but if you don't hurry, this world will! Now do it.

: A...all right!

: That's the signal! Disciple of everlasting ice!

: Hammer of godly thunder!

: Servant of Mother Earth!

: Envoy from the dark abyss!

: I command thee! Gatherest before me and unleash thine power! Okay, guys! I'm counting on you!

: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

: ...

: You mustn't get up!

: ...!!

: What was that cry?

: Martel, I would assume. The out-of-control Great Seed is Martel herself.

: I wonder...

: The Great Seed is once again bound in the Holy Ground of Kharlan. For that, I owe you my gratitude. Thank you. It seems that you have managed to save the Great Seed as well as this world.