Part 140: Clint and the Team Melee

Today, we're going to check out the PS3 version's additions to the Coliseum. Before we can do that, though, we have to collect another thing.



By visiting Caer Bocram in the late game, we can run into the Hunting Blades again.



...It's the Hunting Blades.
What are they up to now?
How could you let it get away?! We had it trapped!
B-but, it was all beat up! Just looking at it made me feel terrible!
Tell me our law.
Monsters are evil. This evil must be punished...
So you broke our law fully aware of what you were doing.



Y-you can't be serious!
One arm.



W-wait a second!
You!



Y-you're going too far! He just let one monster go!
That one monster could one day end up hurting someone. What then? Are you going to take responsibility?
I, uh... But what you're doing is even worse! You're hurting someone right now!
Shut it, punk! You ain't one of us anymore! You ain't got no place questioning our laws!
Wait, Tison.
Huh? But...
This is the second time you've spoken out against us.



But if you really want to get your message across, you're going to have to do it with strength, not words.
Well, since you asked so politely...
Watch out. The boss is-- Clint is strong.
Yeah, we know. I still remember him taking out that monster in one hit way back then...
It's not like we haven't gotten stronger ourselves since then. We can take him.
Ha! No mere human can stand in my way!


Watch the battle! / Baldurdash





This is a fun fight, despite (or maybe because?) Clint having a fairly low HP total for a boss at this point in the game. These are his Hard mode stats.





Clint has a bunch of quite brutal attacks, and is faster than you might expect from a character like him.













Clint also does a very cool thing no other enemy in the game does:











He can fucking Fatal Strike you! Makes sense, he's the only other character in the game who you see using it, but still neat to have in an actual battle.













Other than that, he's not too special, but a very fun fight nonetheless.








*Pant* We... we won...
You were right... He was pretty tough...
I... told you...



Ah!
W-what, you want some more?
Heheheh... Hahahahaha!!
B-boss...
W-what's going on? I've never seen the boss laugh like that before.







Don't mention it. But what are you gonna do now? You can't just go back to the Hunting Blades.
Well, for now, I'll go back home to the country. I can work in the fields while I think about what I want to do next.

He looks offscreen towards where Clint went.

A-Ah!



What's that?





"I'm waiting at the Coliseum."
Huh? I thought he wasn't interested in fightin' anything but monsters.
Perhaps he feels we're just as strong as monsters now.
Maybe he just wants...to fight? Like, for sport?
Maybe. Well, it beats fighting over some pent-up grudge, doesn't it?
...Yeah, I guess you're right.


Alright! Now it's actually time for the Coliseum!

At some point late in the game, the left counter at the Coliseum opens up.




Starting today, we're holding a new event at the coliseum!
A new event?



The Team Melee?
We can all fight together!
Indeed. In the Hundred Man Melee, your only companion is solitude. We understand some contestants found the loneliness quite... affecting. So we made an event just for them! In the Team Melee, you can fight alongside all your trustworthy companions!
I don't mind fighting alone every once in awhile.
I kind of like fighting with friends better. We're all in this together, right?
Feel free to challenge the Team Melee any time!




Ah, the Team Melee. A very neat addition to the game. Structured similarly to the Hundred Man Melee, the later challenges just extend the previous one, so we're only going to look at Merciless. To unlock Merciless, you need to beat the two previous levels, and also need a couple of the Letter of Challenges, though I'm not entirely sure which ones can be skipped.


It's Pallestrale's latest specialty, the Team Melee, Merciless Level! Merciless! You do understand what that word means, right?! It's the ultimate challenge befitting only the mightiest warriors! I commend our contenders for their bravery. We'll be sure to collect their bones afterwards!



The rising light of hope, shining bright in the night sky! Allow me to introduce the star guild, Brave Vesperia! Now! Let the festivities begin!


Watch the Team Melee! / Baldurdash

Do note that his video is edited together from several different recordings. This was necessary since, like the Hundred Man Melee, the difficulty of this thing is extremely poorly balanced: Either you have a good fight with the early enemies and then hit a brick wall later, or the early enemies are super boring and can only deal 1 damage but at least the end is fun. And in every case, it feels like the enemies have a bit too much HP.

Do also note that the recordings used have been made a various points in time. Some of the Arte names that appear on the top of the screen in the English footage may be hilariously out of date.

Since this is the Team Melee, enemies spawn in teams. The Coliseum announcer has a line or two for each.



All six stars, together at last! Whose light will shine the strongest? Ready, fight!



Starting off fairly simple, a team of all the colored Superstars you can find in the game. They can still fuck you up though! One thing about the Team Melee is that it's easy for enemies to team up and stunlock you to death, especially on higher difficulties.






Gentlemen gather in Palestralle! Prepare for a lesson in etiquette! Ready, fight!



After that is a team of various Gentlemen. They're not really exciting, but very silly.






You bested them on their own, but these treacherous three have teamed up for vengeance! Here they come! Ready, fight!



You probably don't remember, but these three guys are from way back, when we had to go into the Coliseum for story reasons. They're just as boring as they were back then.






That armor doesn't suit a guild! But that doesn't matter here! Strength is justice! Show us your knightly spirit! Ready, fight!



Now we're getting somewhere! Schwann only shows up if Raven is not in the party. I think this is also the only fight where you get to battle Leblanc.



As far as I can tell, Schwann fights pretty much the same as in the regular battle against him. He even gets his Mystic Arte!



Apart from the novelty value, though, this isn't too interesting.





No mercy for monsters! Even less mercy for humans! You better watch out for that Fatal Strike! It's time to settle the score! Ready, fight!



Like before, Karol is only with them if he's not in your party. He has all his regular Artes and will even attack you with both of his Mystic Artes if you let him!









I'm not sure if he had this in his normal battle, but here at least Clint gets a Mystic Arte, which is really just a glorified Fatal Strike.











Instantly kills whoever he hits, no matter the HP.



Also, this happened when only Nan was still alive, leading me to believe that all the Hunting Blade members can Fatal Strike in this battle. Not entirely sure though.



Anyway, moving on.



Transcending space and time, the ultimate dream team is made reality at long last! Each one is a legend in their own right! There's no telling what'll happen next! Ready, fight!



This, unfortunately, is rather disappointing. With maxed levels, they're way too easy on Hard but impossibly strong on Unknown, so there's no good way to properly fight them.



The thing that makes this so hard on Unknown is Barbatos' Mystic Arte, No Items Ever.



It becomes really hard to heal up or revive, since he will most likely outdamage the item effects on Unknown.



Proper damage not shown here.



And finally...





(Look at this amazing shot!)

What's this?! Internal conflict? No, that's not it! "We want to get stronger! Let's work together to reach new heights!" Nobody's pulling any punches here! Ready, fight!



This, though, is fantastic. Most likely the best fight in the game.



All five inactive party members fight against your four active ones, with all their stuff they'd usually have. It's so good!



















Congratulations! Brave Vesperia, the brightest star in the sky! The light of hope that conquers the deepest darkness! The reward's all yours! No more enemies stand in your way, but never forget! The true enemy lies within! Never neglect your search for strength! Shine on, Brave Vesperia!

For beating this the first time, you get the Limit Octet, which doubles your maximum Over Limit gauge to 8. Would be much more useful if you could actually get it earlier, but still kinda neat.

And that's all for today! Next time, we'll check out the new bonus dungeon. That's gonna be a fun one...