Episode
In order to save civilization from their neverending threat,
the demigods who governed the world created an ultimate
weapon that would wipe the Gohma off the face of the
planet once and for all.
Their legions were led by eight elite demigods - the Eight
Guardian Generals. One of them, General Asura, was in the
thick of battle.
With that introductory text, we are thrown headfirst into an epic battle in the depths of space that will determine the outcome of the milennia-spanning War of Creation. The game introduces us to our main protagonist, Asura of the Eight Guardian Generals, as he leaps into action from the bridge of a ship, slaughtering hordes of Gohma as he descends in an effort to defend the Generals' ultimate weapon, the Karma Fortress. On the battlefield, he is aided by three of his fellow Generals: The large and boisterous Wyzen, his former mentor Augus, and his rival and brother-in-law Yasha. He and everyone else in battle are empowered by prayers offered by the mortal citizens of Gaea and the Priestess of the Shinkoku Trastrium, his daughter Mithra.
Leading the charge behind the front lines are the other four Guardian Generals: Tactitian Kalrow, the carnage-loving Sergei, the stern Olga, and their Commander Deus, who all answer to Emperor Strada.
As the battle rages on, Deus, dissatisfied with the results, orders the firing of the Karma Fortress' weapon - the Brahmastra, which is currently still undergoing charging. With little objection, Olga gives the go-ahead and the Brahmastra is fired, wiping out multitudes of Gohma in space and on the surface.
However, the resulting blast results in the awakening of Gohma Vlitra, the source of all Gohma on the planet, who tears itself out from Gaea's crust. Without hesitation, Asura rushes towards the beast and is (unwillingly) assisted by Yasha. However, Vlitra swiftly overwhelms them, rendering them unconscious. Terrified for her father and uncle, Mithra prays for them, revitalizing the two and empowering Asura, allowing him to transform into the powerful, six-armed Vajra Asura. Now surging with power, Asura engages in combat with Vlitra, delivering three powerful blows that send it back into dormancy, alongside the rest of the Gohma.
With this, Strada declares victory over the Gohma, albeit temporarily, and marking the end of the War of Creation. Meanwhile, Asura contemplates his bittersweet victory, upset at the fact that he wasn't able to kill Vlitra for good.
Interlude
After the smoke clears, Deus, also bitter over the results of the battle, converses with Kalrow. The two discuss Mithra's affinity for amplifying Mantra as well as her connection to Asura. Deciding that she could be of use to them, Deus decides to put his own plans into action, plans that will never leave Gaea the same...TO BE CONTINUED...
Tropes:
- Eldritch Abomination: When Deus uses the Brahmastra prematurely, it lures out Gohma Vlitra, source of the Gohma and the (alleged) Anthropomorphic Personification of Gaia's Vengeance.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- The civilization of Shinkoku are established as an entire race of Badasses, battling monsters in-space with their high-calibur weapons and space-ships. Their designs are all based off of Hindu and Buddhist imagery, and their vocabulary has religious undertones — "impure", "purify", "mantra", "exorcism" — while the rest of humanity are seen praying to them from the Earth, establishing how "godlike" the demigods are.
- While the army is fighting them in their space-armada, half of the Eight Guardian Generals are fighting them bare-handed without space-suits while the other half provide tactical support from their ships, establishing them as a Badass Crew of Four Star Badasses who you could very easily presume were actual gods.
- Wyzen takes out a Gohma Lasher with a single punch with his Right Hand of Doom, all the while proclaiming that he shall "root out all evil with these great fists!"
- Augus beats various Gohma, using his still-sheathed sword to smack them around and calling it "fun."
- Unlike the others, Yasha is cool and collected as he effortlessly slices through Gohma like hot butter, his only words instructing his allies to drive a wedge between the enemy, clearly the kind of guy puts business over pleasure.
- While Wyzen and Augus take pleasure in the battle and Yasha treats the battle as Serious Business, Asura mindlessly punches through the beasts and nothing more desires to destroy them. When Yasha saves him, he angrily tells him to "mind your own business," establishing that he is not much of a team-player.
- Sergei is seen in one of the ships, waxing poetic about how wonderful he thinks the battle is as Gohma are mowed down by the hundreds.
- Kalrow is in one of the ships, lamenting how exhausting he finds the whole affair.
- Olga scolds Sergei and Kalrow for not taking the battle seriously, only for Sergei and Kalrow to scold her for overlooking their strengths and motivations (Sergei only interested in carnage, Kalrow being more of a strategist). Olga laments how they became generals, establishing her as The Killjoy who has only a surface level understanding of others.
- Deus complains how large-scale battles such as the one going on is nothing more than a waste of his time and he fires the Brahmastra early, exposing Gohma Vlitra prematurely in a fruitless attempt at a "bigger picture" plan to end the war, establishing him as a Well-Intentioned Extremist who is not above making massive sacrifices if it means winning the war.
- Establishing Series Moment: The entire episode is used to establish the game's tone. The episode begins with the technologically advanced demigods fighting Animalistic Abominations in outer-space, the Generals fighting them by-themselves to establish the sheer continent-shattering scale the battles in this series takes.
- Super-Empowering: When Gohma Vlitra wipes out the armada and the four generals in the front lines, Mithra uses her power to boost mantra to give them their Heroic Second Wind, Asura taking on his Super Mode "Six-Armed Vajra Asura."
- Top God: As of now, Emperor Strada is the 128th Emperor of the Demigods of Shinkoku. Given how near-immortal the demigods are, this can only give us a hint of just how old Shinkoku and its civilization is. Mithra (who's position is High Priestess) even proclaims that those who fall in battle will be reincarnated by the Emperor himself as a morale booster (though considering the technological nature of the Demigods this is unlikely to be true).
