Part 64: The Tower of Light

Last time, we were finally set to begin the summit on the Score, when Asch got the bright idea to off himself to stop the miasma. Idiocy must run in the Fabre line. Let's go stop him.

Skit: ...Stop Asch!

: “Looks like there's one more idiot.”

: “What could Asch possibly be thinking?! Sacrificing himself to eliminate the miasma... I won't accept this!”

: “Having this many suicidal people around really gets on my nerves.”

: “Killing himself and ten thousand replicas... and after saying he didn't want to die!”

: “It's hard to figure out what he's thinking... it's all so twisted up inside there.”

: “But if he really is planning to eliminate the miasma, he should be in the Tower of Rem. Let's hurry!”



That's not the Tower suddenly turning transparent: it's supposed to be it going up so high into the clouds that even the Albiore can't fly straight to the top. A shame too, though you'll see why soon enough.



Music: Sheaf of the Soul

I really like the music here. It gives a great feeling of both urgency and despair. Also yes, that is the actual spelling of the song, not a typo.

Downward Spiral



: “What the...?!”



: “Do you see the look in their eyes?”

: “Yeah... there's no life in them.”

: “Luke, I can't believe that these people are the same as you.”



: “It's forced programming. Replicas come into the word like babies. They don't even know how to walk. If you implant that basic degree of knowledge, this is what you get.”

: “I think I'm going to be sick... what the hell are replicas, anyway?!”



: “You! The Dark Wings... what are you doing here?!”

: “Asch hired us, dear. Remember?”

: “So Asch really is here!”

: “Yeah! He's planning on some kind of mass suicide with the replicas to erase the miasma. My partners are going after Asch now. You kids go look for him, too. Tell him not to do anything stupid.”

: “Got it. Let's take the elevator up...”





: “Oh, no! It's closed!”

: “This isn't good. Is there another way to get up there...?”



: “...Well, should we see how far we can get on those stairs?”



: “Waiting here will get us nowhere.”

: “She's right. There may be other entrances to the elevator higher up.”

: “...Fine. If the girls are all for it, I guess I can't complain.”



: “Some soldier you are...”

: “Anyway...”



: “I don't know what he thinks he's doing.”

: “Seriously. Let's hurry, Luke.”





Insert Benny Hill music here. It's nothing but a spiral of stairs for a solid minute or so.



Broken up by some of the oddest enemies in the game. Yeah, those are giant sentient “Y”'s. I don't know either. I thought at first it was another sound pun since they kind of look like tuning forks, but there are also “W” and “X” enemies, so you got me.

Dark Wing Insistence



: “Where's Asch?!”

: “So, you all came here to look for him, too.”

: “We ain't seen him.”



: “Well, Princess, I'd think that would be you.”

: “What?”

: “Asch doesn't want you and your kingdom to sink into the miasma.”

: “And he doesn't think that his death will make Natalia suffer, too? What an idiot.”

: “Yeah, about that... he keeps talking about how there's no time. He was saying that he was gonna die anyway, so he may as well take the miasma with him.

Wait, what?

: “I don't know what he's getting at, but I can't just sit by and watch it happen.”

: “All this after saying he wasn't ready to die... he really is an idiot!”

: “He must already be higher up.”

: “You're right. Let's hurry!”

Skit: Always Charging

: “This tower is too tall! We'll never make it to the top this way.”

: “Yeah, we'll have to find some way onto that elevator.”

: “Maybe he already reached the top...”

: “I don't know. Maybe if he caught the elevator, but if he's taking the stairs like us, he should still be around here.”

: “Asch could probably just run to the top without even breaking a sweat.”

: “Anise, just what kind of person do you think Asch is...?”

: “Always charging into things.”

: “...Good description. Let's find a way onto that elevator so we can stop that charge of his.”

Freighter Up



: “Hey! The stairs just end here!”

: “It looks as if this tower was still under construction.”

: “So it was abandoned partway through? If we weren't in such a hurry, I'd love to stick around and investigate the place...”



: “All right. Let's use it.”

: “I wonder how far it will take us. I'm ready for a break.”

: “You look the least tired of all of us.”





If you're not watching the videos, Jade delivers this in the most deadpan sarcastic way, with the worst fake coughs ever.



All aboard.



This leads us to the only real puzzle in the tower. This room is a circular corridor, blocked off by locked shutters.



With a few ladders leading up to an outer area with some loot or alternate paths.



The first part of the puzzle is simple. There's another freight elevator that will take us further up, but it's behind closed shutters. We simply have to navigate to each control module and open all the shutters so we can run to the opposite side of the room and catch our new elevator.



Simple enough.

Guy and the Fonmachines Part II



: “Damn! After we've come so far...”



: “Wouldn't we destroy the whole elevator in the process?”

: “That's why we break only the glass covering it. A piece of cake, right Guy?”

: “Putting it like that, makes it awfully tough to say no... well, from the look of it, this device should work, but it'll need a power source...”



: “What's wrong?”

: “It's just like in the Meggiora Highlands.”

: “So we need to take the power source from something else again.”

: “Exactly. We just need to find a way to charge this power unit.”

: “How about the golems we passed down below?”

: “That sounds like a safe bet. We can charge it with the cores from the golems.”

: “So we'll need to take this with us.”

: “Guy, carry that...”

: “Natalia!”

: “Oh, oh my, I'm sorry! You're not a servant any more. How rude of me...”



: “He's used to being treated as a servant by His Majesty, as well.”

: “Don't remind me... even I realize how pathetic I am.”



This is the second part of the puzzle. The game tells you that you need to use the Rem Capacitor to gather energy from the golems. It does not however tell you how to do that. Simply fighting them is not enough.



It's actually an item you use in battle, after which it charges. However, regular golems only give 20% and there aren't enough to push it up to full. So how do we do it?



You see him? That red light? That's a special golem that will, by itself, fully charge the capacitor. The problem is that he shadows your movement, always staying on the opposite side of the room to you.



The third and final puzzle is closing certain shutters yet again, so you can run the bastard into a corner.





Got you.

"Just the Glass"









: “You're so amazing, Professor Fon Machine.”

: “Compliments from you don't really sound like compliments...”

: “Whoa, look down!”

: “The elevator is coming up!”

: “Let's hurry and jump on it!”

Yeah, let's hurry! ...Actually, we have time for a skit. Right?

Skit: Why is Asch Rushing?

: “What is Asch thinking? Is he satisfied with dying to get rid of the miasma?”

: “Not as much satisfied as forced into the choice, I'd say.”

: “In order to eliminate the miasma?”

: “Well, no... not so much that, but more as though he's being rushed by something...”

: “Even more reason to convince him to stop!”

: “You can try, but...”

: “But? What are you talking about?”

: “If we don't know what's pushing him, I doubt we can stop him.”

: “...You think Asch might be hiding something from us, don't you?”

: “Why does he not trust us more?”

Ascension of the Replicas



: “M-Mary?!”

: “...I am not Mary. I am 8-027.”

: “Why are you here? Are you waiting for Mohs to come save you?”

: “Yes. There is no place for replicas in this land. We cannot survive outside the cities, but the cities are the domain of the originals.”

: “The originals despise us. We have no refuge in this world. And now the originals ask us to offer our lives to save them?”

: “Mohs will guide those who wait atop the Tower of Rem to a life upon the new Hod. Such was his promise.”

: “And there, we shall create our own nation.”

: “W-wait!”





: “A man with your face. He said that if we gave our lives to rid the world of the miasma, that he would guarantee a safe haven for the many replicas who have yet to reach this tower.”

: “If he wants to die, let him die alone. We have a life awaiting us on Hod.”











: “Stop!”



Oh boy. If you can't tell, Dist has also received an outfit change. He's got a pretty snazzy suit, though unfortunately he still hasn't ditched that collar.

: “Until then, I can't get back to my plan to resurrect Professor Nebilim, you see.”

: “...Hardly a day since you escaped and already you're back to your foolish games. Stop this at once!”

: “Never! Once Professor Nebilim is revived, you'll go back to your old self, as well.”





: “...So you would really abandon me?! Then... then I'll fight in earnest as well!”



Boss Battle: Kaizer Dist XX



Kaizer Dist is back, no as the newly remodeled Kaizer Dist XX. He's bigger, badder, and also roided out from Very Hard difficulty. He's a much bigger challenge than previous incarnations, but he's still miles behind the Arietta fight.



Much like with the Arietta fight playing Anise, I'm playing Jade in this fight since it feels appropriate. In the style of Jade, I also waste no time showing Dist just how absolutely fucked he is.



Like so.







: “I, who stand in the full light of the heavens, command thee: who opens the gates of Hell. Come forth Divine Lightning!”



: “This ends now: Indignation!”





So yeah. Another Tales Of mainstay, Jade carries the good old Indignation as his second mystic arte. Jade opens up a gate to Hell and drops a fucking lightning storm on your head. The move is pretty serious, usually ballparking around 15k damage minimum on normal, though I'm on VH right now, hence the lower numbers. Indignation synergises really well with Mystic Cage, where the former is a good single target nuke with hilarious damage, the latter hits all enemies for less damage.

Indignation is used simply by going into Overlimit as Jade and holding the R2 button until he fires it off. However, Jade needs to have used Thunder Blade 200 times, and you need to be on a second playthrough. Worth it, though.



There's not much else to say about this fight. Kaizer Dist XX is a big HP sponge sure, but he just doesn't put up big numbers of have enough range to hit a good chunk of the party. Not to mention he doesn't even get a mystic arte.



So yeah, I spend most of the fight showing how not to use Jade by casting almost nothing and just poking at it with my spear.



Then I get bored and start dropping Blessed Drop on him. Yeah, the robot is still weak to water. You'd think Dist would have patched that.





Dist, I love you man, but you need to work on your boss fights.

Bloody Pact



: “...Once Eldrant's anti-air system is activated... this whole tower will be reduced to ashes... heh heh... hah hah hah hah.”





: “We won't let that happen!”



Godspeed, Dist. You were the best goddamn character.

: “So, there really is no place for us.”



: “No, you're wrong! You're here now, living and breathing! If the world won't accept you, the fault lies with it, not you!”

: “But, some people have died because the replicas were born. People aren't so simple that they can accept anything and everything...”



: “So what's it going to be? You have nowhere else to go.”

: “I want to speak with the self-aware replicas to reach a decision.”

: “Asch! This is insane! You were the one who said you didn't want to die!”

: “Then how the hell do you propose we stop the miasma?! Are you saying you'll die in my place?”

: “I... well...”

: “I have somewhere I need to go. Have your people's decision ready by the time I return.”

: “Please wait! Where are you going?!”

: ….



: “Luke! We have to stop him!”

: “You're right. Let's follow him!”

Luckily this time, we get the elevator.

Skit: Farewell Dist

: “So Dist is dead now...”

: “...He was a fool, chasing an impossible dream to the end.”

: “A dream?”

: “A promise made by two foolish children long ago. A foolish dream of overcoming death.”

: “Jade... do you mean-”

: “Luke, I believe you promised not to talk about that.”

: “...Are you okay with that?”

: “Yes. I will accept Dist's – Saphir's – death.”

: “As an old friend?”

: “No, as his owner. He was a charming pet.”

: …

A fine Eulogy.

Inferiority Insistence



: “The Dark Wings!”

: “We're taking Asch back to Daath.”

: “We can't stop him by ourselves. You've got to help dissuade him.”

: “We're leaving you behind.”

: “I guess for now all we can do is chase him down and try to reason with him. Even if we get rid of the miasma, we still need to free Lorelei. I think we'll need the original's power for that. We'll need Asch.”



: “Huh? Yeah, of course.”

: “Is that so...?”

: “Colonel? Is there something wrong?”



: “Anyway, we're chasing after Asch now, right? Let's get going!”

Normally I'd keep going, but the next section really deserves an update unto itself. So we're going to stop early today.

Next Time: The Only Alternative

Synopsis:

The Tower of Rem was filled with countless replicas. We also saw Noir,
from the Dark Wings--which means Asch must be here too!

Noir asked us to stop Asch. Of course we will. We won't let him die!

But the door to the elevator leading to the top of the tower closed on us.
We'll have to climb the stairs instead.

We managed to use energy from golems and make it onto the elevator. There
we found the replica of Mary, Guy's sister, who said that the replicas were
waiting at the top of the tower for Mohs to save them. And we found out that
Asch had asked them to sacrifice themselves. He really is serious about
this...

Just then, Dist flew in and attacked, saying he had come to destroy the
replicas at Mohs' order. We fought Dist to protect the replicas, and defeated
him. Dist's last words before his machine exploded were that Mohs had
forsaken the replicas.

The replicas seemed to fall into despair at learning that they no longer
had a place on Eldrant.

Then Asch arrived, to prod the replicas into making a decision. We tried
to stop him, but he wouldn't listen, and he descended in the elevator, saying
he would wait for the replicas to make their choice.

We can't let him go like this. Let's go after Asch and convince him to
stop!

The Dark Wings were waiting for us at the entrance of the Tower of Rem,
and they told us that Asch had gone to Daath. Then we'll just have to follow
him there.