Part 51: Towards a New Future Part II

Last time, the party fell to their deaths.

...Okay, not really. But there was a massive earthquake, and it seemed like the structure fell out from under us.

Divided



: “...Yes, I think so. What about the others?”

: “We got separated. I hope they're all right...”

: “The one I'd be most worried about is safe. I'm sure the rest are fine.”

: “Hey...”

: “Heh heh... sorry. Oh...”



: “You're bleeding.”

: “Tear's right! We have to do something!”

: “Hold on. I'll heal you-”

: “I-It's no big deal! It'll heal on its own!”

: “What are you so mad about?”

: “I'm not mad! A-anyway, let's keep going. Maybe we can join up with the others.”

: ? “R-right. Okay.”

Just kiss her already, you dork.

Dungeon Video Part 2

So if you couldn't guess, the party's been split up as of now. Tear and Luke are in our current party.



Well, that's only half true. We have another party member: Mieu. That means Tear and Luke are the only ones who can light up these bridges. I make sure to start up any I pass by, even if they're on paths I can't get to.



The tuning forks are back as well. If you couldn't guess, the Absorption Gate is basically a mash up of every passage ring to date, taking puzzles from each one.

Also note the blue circle in the bottom center of the above shot. We can step into those to change which party we want to control. We'll have to coordinate everybody to get through.

A Matter of Trust



_{They would be if I hadn't been avoiding them all.}

: “Yes... but things are much different than they were back then.”

: “Back when?”

: “When we were thrown into Tataroo Valley.”

: “Oh yeah, that was just the two of us, too, wasn't it?”

: “To be honest, at the time I couldn't trust you at all on the battlefield.”

: “...W-well, excuse me.”

: “But now I feel different. You've grown.”

We also have the most powerful weapons in the game, Tear. That probably helps a bit too.

: “Th-thanks... but I still have a long way to go.”

: “What?”

: “None of that growth will matter if I don't stop Master Van and his replica scheme.”
'
: “Yes... you're right.”

: “Tear...”





: “Tear...”

: “Let's go, Luke.”

: “Right!”



More puzzle work. Luke needs to hit these forks to open up some passages for the rest of our party.



Down below the path onward is blocked by blue flames. We can't continue as Luke, so let's switch gears.



We'll start with Guy and Natalia. Notice that they needed Luke's bridge work to move ahead.



Also if you're watching the dungeon video, you can see me playing a bit as Guy and just smoking everything. Once Guy gets a decent repertoire of artes he's a complete DPS monster. There's a reason why he's generally a more popular choice than Luke to control.



Here's the Absorption Gate's specific addition to the puzzle formula: warp puzzles. Nothing as infuriating as Symphonia's Remote Island Human Ranch warp puzzle by far, so I don't mind it at all.

Guy and Natalia



: “I can't make any guarantees, but we don't have much choice.”

: “True... I hope we can rejoin everyone soon.”

: “Are you worried?”

: “...No. I have you at my side, and I've seen everyone's strength in our travels together.”

: “Yeah. And we've gotten Asch's seal of approval, too.”

: “Asch?”

: “You know how he is. If he didn't think we could do this, he'd be here taking care of Van himself. The fact that he hasn't shown himself means he trusts us.”



: “And the first step to doing that is to rejoin everyone else.”

: “Right!”



: “What's wrong?”

: “...You really are, very nice. Thank you.”

: “You're welcome.”





Mt. Zaleho's puzzle of enemies turning into blocks also makes it's return. I believe that's every passage ring puzzle gimmick, except for the windmills I guess.



Also see-saw puzzles. I'm getting Half Life 2 flashbacks here.

Skit: The Battle Nears

: “It seems we will have to fight Van after all...”

: “Probably. He was never one to bend to someone else's will. No matter how we argue, he won't listen.”

: “I suppose this will be another fight to the death for us.”

: “It'll be the last one. If we take care of Van, the Outer Lands will be saved, right?”

: “Right. The arrow of Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear shall strike him down... for the world.”

I'm not even bringing you in my party, Natalia.



The see-saw lets us open one of two gates. However, it isn't Guy and Natalia's gate.



Jade and Anise make up our final team. I'd just like to point out that if you're watching the dungeon video, I'm terrible as Anise. Sorry!

At any rate, Jade and Anise's route is pretty boring, mostly a slog from beginning to end to solve one puzzle. Oh well.

Jade and Anise



: “There's Tokunaga as well. It doesn't feel like the two of us to me.”

: “I guess you're right. Well, I lucked out and got you, but do you think Luke and the others are okay?”

: “Well, Tear and Guy are both reasonably experienced fighters...”

: “Colonel! What about Luke and Natalia?”

: “Oh... they'll be fine. They've managed to survive this long.”



: “...Now I get it. It's not that you don't care. It's that you really believe in them. Right?”



: “Wh-what? What is it, Colonel?”

: “Yes, I suppose one could view it that way... she's right. I wouldn't have stayed with them this far if I didn't.”

: “Colonel! What are you standing there agreeing with yourself about?”

: “Oh, nothing. Let's hurry up and rejoin the others.”

: “Okay!”

: “I'm counting on you, Anise.”



Right.



More block pushing. Naturally, Jade does so with one hand, the other still in his pocket.

Skit: Van's Strength

: “At last, we fight the Commandant... do you think we have a chance, Colonel?”

: “Hmm... Van is quite skilled with both strike and fonic artes, but his mind is particularly strong. That's why we can't convince him to stop. He's likely to continue fighting as long as he can.”

: “Yeah, he seems really stubborn...”

: “But we can't afford a drawn-out battle. The Outer Lands may collapse at any moment.”

: “Oh, man... but... but we'll get him anyway! We have to!”



With Jade and Anise's help, we unlock the other door.



Just in the nick of time.



And now, the four fight a group of giant sentient W's.

...Nope, not kidding.



On top of being big buckets of HP, these guys love to surround you constantly. Guy is crazy good at combos, but he lacks the crowd control ability that Luke has, and can get swamped fairly easily.



Pictured, what happens when Guy gets surrounded.



Once they're gone, the blue fire blocking Tear and Luke's path is put out.

Before the End



: “Of course we are! What about you? You took so long, we were starting to get worried.”

: “I'm sorry.”

: “We've been waiting for you. We have something important to talk about.”

: “What's up? You sound serious.”

: “The passage ring is up ahead.”

: “That means Master Van is there, too...”

: “The Colonel says we lower the Outer Lands as soon as we defeat the Commandant.”



: “There's not enough time, huh?”

: “Even in the Albiore, it would take too long to get to the Radiation Gate from here. The Outer Lands would probably fall while we were in transit.”

: “But how do we lower the Outer Lands without activating the Radiation Gate?”

: “We write 'Redirect the Radiation Gate commands to the Absorption Gate.' It should be possible in theory since the passage rings are connected. Though it is a rather clumsy method.”

I remember those talks. “Look Sydin, you only got a B. Yes your code works, but it isn't elegant.”

: “Yes, we haven't activated the Gate.”

: “What about after that. Is that it?”

: “We'll send Seventh Fonons into the Absorption Gate Sephiroth. That's the sign to begin the descent. But the Seventh Fonons must come from the one who issued the command – you, Luke.”

: “...Got it. I'll do it. I can't fail after coming this far.”

: “Well then, shall we be going? Is everyone ready?”

: “I am. How about you all?”

: “Of course. I'm going to stop my b... Van.”

: “I was originally Van's lord, after all. The master has to clean up after his servant's mistakes.”

: “I'll stop Van's scheme. I'll save the world no matter what.”

: “I have to get the Commandant under control, or I'll never get to marry a rich husband.”

Right, Anise.





: “You're the same as always.”

: “Indeed. I'm afraid those sort of lines don't fit me.”

: “True enough.”





Down we go.

Van

Music: The Farthest Place (Threat)











I see Van's channeling Gannondorf.



: “It was Asch – the original – who was meant to come, to build a new order together with me.”





: “Can you not live unless you were born for some purpose? That's why you're nothing more than a replica. Well then, you poor, pitiful replica. You were born as a throwaway pawn, a substitute to overturn Yulia's Score.”



: “Master... is that really all I am? My existence caused the Score to go off track, didn't it?”

: “An insignificant deviation like you is as nothing before Yulia's Score. Though It's leaves may change, the true essence of the tree does not.”





: “If that reading came true, you would want to believe the next as well. Over the course of 2000 years, Yulia has caused mankind to become addicted to the Score.”







: “And your replica world is that medicine? You have quite the imagination.”

: “Heh... imagination... yes, perhaps we can call it that.”

: “It's true that this world is twisted, ruled by the Score. But a replica world is a pretty twisted idea, too.”

: “Exactly. If you don't cease this terrible undertaking, you'll force Tear to suffer...”

: “She's your sister! Are you really going to fight her?!”



: “If only you'd stayed in Yulia City... I could have at least spared you.”

: “You're trying to make a world of replicas, aren't you? Then just kill me and make a replica!”

: “...You insist on fighting me?”



: “Master...”



: “Even if you refuse to acknowledge me... I...”









So here we are, the fight with Van. The first thing you'll note is that fitting for a final boss, Van gets an incredibly pimp battle arena. It doesn't translate to screenshots, but all of those white dots in the background are flowing downward, while we fight on a giant glass platform that leads down to the center of the world. Hardcore.

Second, you'll notice the music.

Music: At the Time of Farewell

I'll just come out and say it: At the Time of Farewell is my favorite piece in the entire Abyss soundtrack. It's just got that perfect grand feeling to it. When it kicks up, you feel pumped.

: “Van, isn't there any other way?!”

: “Yeah, what you're doing is crazy!”

: “Fools! Yulia's Score controls the world! If humanity does not create a new world, free of the Score, it will perish!”

: “Then how do you explain me? Yulia didn't say a thing about me!”

: “The Score is not an absolute future.”

: “The Score is just one of an infinite number of choices.”

: “The fact that Luke exists shows that there are deviations from the Score.”

: “No, you don't know the true essence of the Score. Even if it is not read, the Score persists nevertheless, leading us to certain destruction!”

: “People aren't that foolish! People have their own wills to avoid destruction!”

: “Such impudence. From a replica!”

: “Yeah? Well you're too stubborn to listen to anybody, so our only choice is to crush you!”

: “You will be the ones crushed. You who are ruled by the Score, die!”



Things start off on a good foot. Luke and Jade lay into Van pretty hard.



And Guy turns up the heat.



Of course, Van isn't going to take any of it lying down. He's got plenty of tricks up his sleeve. Like fucking laser beams.



Still, I'm hitting him hard with not too much trouble... damn he has a lot of health. This only on hard, too.



He also has a lot of defense. Even my mystic artes are only doing a couple thousand.



SHIT.









So yeah. Imperial Slaughter is Van's one and only mystic arte, but it does the job. Anything caught in it is dead, no questions asked. If we were positioned poorly, it could drop everybody in my party in one go. Better watch that.



One thing that's kind of hard to get across since she's rarely on screen is that Van keeps constantly throwing artes at Tear. Yes, Van's AI is programmed to focus fire your healer if he has the chance.



Also here's Van busting out Lightning Tiger Blade. Van can use every one of Luke's FoF altered artes without the required circles. He's that awesome.



How's this for an altered arte, asshole!



Van's response is to nuke Guy and Luke again.



I'm up for two seconds before he drops raging blast on me, which seriously looks like Van just choke-slammed Luke.



Almost...!



And Guy literally bolts from offscreen up to deliver the final blow.



It's over.

To a New Future





: “I never thought I'd be defeated by such a failure... hahahaha!”





: “Hahaha... oh, how utterly ironic!”











: “Tear...”











Never let it be said that this game doesn't go out of it's way to show you how hard it is to fight your own family.

One last thing to do: lower the land.











Luke begins the procedure, and it seems to work... but then the power begins to putter out.



: “Dammit... I don't have enough power!”





: “This hyperresonance...! It's him!”



Notice that the energy is coming from both north and south now: so that means Asch went to the Radiation Gate and is powering the process from there.





: “It appears that the miasma is adhearing to the dividing line just as we had expected.”

All seemed to be going well. Then, a familiar mysterious voice...



: “Asch... Luke, I will send you the key. Use it to set me free. The one who would seize glory... is trying to capture me.”









: “Lorelei... no, it's not important right now. We have to tell everyone it worked.”

: “Yes. Ion and Noelle and Father... I'm sure they're all worried about us.”

: “Van...”

: “Tear...”

: “I'm sorry, Luke...”



: “Okay. Let's go home, guys! To our world!”







And that's it! We've beaten Van, saved the world, and everything is right as rain. Yeah I think Lorelei wanted us to do a little favor for him, but whatever, I'm sure that'll get wrapped up in the epilogue. That was totally the final dungeon, Van was totally the final boss, and the game is over now, right?

….Right?

You're not buying any of this, are you?

Next Time: A World Without the Score

Synopsis:

Thanks to the earthquake, our party got split up...but I believe
in everyone. If we keep going forward, we should be able to rejoin them.

When Tear and I reached the deepest part of the Absorption Gate, we found
everyone else there, waiting for us. Then Jade told us that we're out of
time, and we'll have to start the process of lowering the Outer Lands without
using the Radiation Gate's passage ring, though it's a rather clumsy method.
He says he doesn't know whether it will work, but in any case we don't have
enough time to make it to the Radiation Gate. And he says I'm the only one
that can do it.

Then I will. I'll make it work. That's the least I can do for Akzeriuth,
for all the people I've killed.

Now we just have to defeat Master Van. There's no turning back now. I'll
win! I swear it!

We found Master Van on the lowest level of the Absorption Gate.

Master Van says that humanity is addicted to Yulia's Score. That a
powerful medicine, a replica world, is the only way to remedy that addiction.

But I know, from my own existence, that the Score has gone off track. The
future can be changed. Mankind can choose to discard the Score.

And after a terrific battle, we succeeded in defeating Master Van. Even to
the last, he never once accepted me... But there's no time to wallow in grief
right now. And besides, I'm not the only one who's got it tough... Tear had
to watch her own brother die.

I followed Jade's instructions, and tried to start lowering the Outer
Lands. But without the Radiation Gate active, the other passage rings
wouldn't respond to my hyperresonance.

Just when I thought that it was hopeless, the Radiation Gate suddenly
started up, and I felt a hyperresonance different from mine come from there.
There's only one person besides me who can cause a hyperresonance... He
must have helped me.

There's just one thing that bothers me. I heard Lorelei's voice as I was
lowering the Outer Lands.

"Luke! I will send you the key! Use it to set me free! ...One who would
seize glory...is trying to capture me..."

I didn't understand what Lorelei was trying to say, but at least we've
succeeded in preserving the original world, and returned Auldrant to its
original form. Surely that's enough.