The route split is later on after the ESS Zenethra.
EDIT: Should I spoiler that?
edited 21st Aug '13 3:50:02 AM by asterism
Bewitching EyesHeh, fast response. Argh! Then Milla isn't really Maxwell or is she? Let's make it clear! Well, seems like Xillia's Maxwell is in the same league as Seyfert, Nerifes, Lorelei and such. Then she would fall into the 'god' class if true. Sirs, looks like we have a new Number 1 (Reid, get out!) But has she always been like that or 'becomes' it during the game? (As I said, Earlygame Reid is 'muggle' tier)
edited 21st Aug '13 3:54:39 AM by FlightMaster
Copying from one place is plagiarism. If its from several, its 'research'.She loses the four great spirits early on, but she's still more than the average muggle. Like Clarste said, when she's trying to learn the basics of combat, she accidentally achieves mastery.
Bewitching EyesWell, playing as Milla in Fort Gandala seemed a tad more interesting. Driselle called her out on her nonchalance when she said "even if you blow us up, I don't care because missionyadayada". Jude generally gets all the Elize stuff, though, like recruiting her or searching for her parents in Xian Du, while Milla chats with Alvin. Incidentally, slamming Alvin against the wall was funny. When Teepo is right, you know we have a problem. Even the doll knows you're a liar! Not very professional.
"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - FighteerSo, Exodues wants Teepo? These bastards! They kidnapped my stuffed doll! Must go rescue him! Wait, what happened? Why isn't Teepo talking? WHAT HAPPENED TO TEEPO?
I'm depressed now.
T__T
PS: Leia the Slayer is the best post-battle banter.
edited 22nd Aug '13 2:58:41 AM by lu127
"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - FighteerI've seen that! First banter I got when I linked them. I am totes shipping them, by the way. But Teepo's puns are just cuter!
Poor Elly.
And wow, Isla is not only a horrible person, she's also got nerve. "Yeah, I screwed you all over, sorryboutthat. Now I have a husband. Oh, and Alvin, despite my assholishness, I want you to take Exodus off my back. You'll do that, right?" I was soooooo glad Alvin told her off instead of the usual Easily Forgiven crap.
I want my Teepo back.
PS: Do you have to go through Xagut Floodmeadow as part of the story at any point, or is it entirely optional?
"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - FighteerIt's optional. It leads back to Nia Khera, but it's a good place for grinding and Elize's Devil's Arm can be found there.
The Isla subplot gets resolved later on in the game in an optional sub event. It... doesn't end happily.
edited 22nd Aug '13 4:53:50 AM by asterism
Bewitching EyesRandom thing that bothers me: No one ever mentions ever that Presa has a tail. A prehensile tail.
Bewitching Eyes...Ew.
So I went to Xagut because of a sidequest, and the enemies give pretty good EXP, until I ran into a pair of...Gentlemen? Are those guys supposed to be there, or are they a rare encounter? Anyway, I beat them and got some awesome stuff. Then, being stupidly involved in sidequests, I decided to go into that one mine in Leronde and the enemies are apparently 10+ levels above me. Since I've gotten the hang of the combat, I did well against them, but now I'm stupidly overpowered. Tch.
Anyway, Kanbalar! Something tells me I won't like the king. Why are Rowen's Link Artes so limited? Grrr.
"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - FighteerRowen's full list of Link Artes!
With Jude: Igneous Crush: Rock Trine + Cerberus Strike
Ground Breaker: Air Pressure + Beast
Frigid Blast: Freeze Lancer + Raging Blast
Splash Beam: Splash + Demon Fist
Serpent Knuckle: Blue Sphere + Dragon Shot
With Milla: Staccato Blast: Spectral Purge + Condemnation
Fatal Detonation: Severed Fate + Fireball
Raging Mist: Diffusional Drive + Sunburst
Rock Hexad: Rock Trine x 2
Air Thrust: Wind Lance x2
With Alvin: Hell Pyre: Fireball + Tiger Blade
Guardian Frost: Glacial Core + Guardian Field
Fatal Circle: Severed Fate + Squall Shot
With Elize: Pow Pow Waltz: Marche Waltz + Pow Hammer
Gravity Well: Roche Waltz + Negative Gate
Azalea Blade: Diffusional Drive + Dark Visitor
With Leia: Blue Moon Burst: Splash + Rabid Lunge
Brutal Torrent: Blue Sphere + Soaring Blast
Stop Flow: Tightening Chains + Quickness
Have fun!
Bewitching EyesOK, I have a question about evil counterparts.
I think the game tries to set up Gaius as Jude's counterpart and Muzet as Milla's. But am I the only one who thinks it's the other way around? As in, Gaius is actually Milla's counterpart, and Muzet is Jude's.
edited 22nd Aug '13 10:37:59 AM by asterism
Bewitching Eyes![]()
He only has one of those for each character, and none for Leia! And since Leia is my favourite character in combat hands down, that's a big disappointment!
Milla's costume bugs me. The design annoys the hell out of me, even though pink and purple are totally my colours. Lessee, any good DLC costumes?
"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - FighteerDhaos. Dat cape.
Also, I'm pretty sure Splash is one of the artes Rowen starts with.
edited 22nd Aug '13 10:48:39 AM by asterism
Bewitching EyesAh, the Dhaos cape does look genuinely good. I'd better check if it's on the PSN, since it's about the only costume I've liked so far. The Idolmaster, maid and swimsuit costumes don't look very good to me. Also, totally digging Kratos-Alvin.
Xillia costumes will work on Symphonia Chronicles, wooo~
@Asterism: I think you're wrong in that the game never tries to set up the counterparts you thought it was trying to. But you're right in what the counterparts actually are.
Anyway, I just finally played Jude's route to the point of the major difference, and I'm not really sure what I was expecting but it wasn't that. The cutscene fight between Leia and Alvin was actually pretty awesome, but other than that it felt really really rushed. Just hopping from one climactic bossfight to the next with no time to let anything sink in. Not to mention most of the plot in told through little flashbacks in the middle of Jude's depression. By contrast, Milla's version of it was extremely laid-back and almost boring.
I think the point I draw from seeing both sides of it is that they really shouldn't have have had a Milla route. The story wasn't really designed for it. I mean, Milla is the traditional hero figure, not just in the Tales sense but much more generally, but the story is basically about her dying and everyone else having to deal with that. That's literally what the story is about from beginning to end. The theme "strong leader that everyone relies on too much" consistently recurs in different places and the messages she preaches is "think for yourself" but no one ever listens. Until she dies. Dying forces Jude, who was not a hero for most of the game, to suddenly grow up. Jude isn't a hero, and he still isn't one at the end of the game, but the moral of the story is that you don't even need to be a hero to do what you have to do.
The problem with this is that by making Milla playable they were forced to rush through the most important part of the game in order to "balance" things for both sides, and then bring her back anyway as if her being dead wasn't actually the most important part of the story. I guess what I'm saying is that she should have stayed dead, or at least stayed dead for much much longer. Both Jude and Milla's sections there were hurt by the need to regroup them before the climax.
I mean, I guess the "game was rushed to meet an anniversary" bit probably contributed, but honestly I'm not sure how the "two paths" thing would have been salvageable anyway. Unless you made them even more different and had like the Four become actual party members for Milla's route. Which they totally should have.
edited 22nd Aug '13 11:56:00 AM by Clarste
Presea in ELIZE'S costume? NNGH!!! *Cuteness Overload* I WANT ONE DAMMIT! I MUST KIDNAP A LITTLE GIRL AND FORCE HER TO DRESS AS ELIZE! *tranquilizer shot* Ack!
Okay, calmer now. Seriously. Elize is going to be featured on the Loli Pantheon any day now... right next to Sakura Kinomoto, Rin Kokonoe and Ika-Musume.
Man, I haven't needed a shot since the Symphonia HD PS 3 only so fuck you Nintendrones announcement. Because the Symphonia 2 board is unbearable right now. 'Ditch the monster system!' No, they won't. 'Lift the old Symphonians level cap!' No, they won't. But they surely like to cram an already loved game full of shiny new stuff. What about the sequel? It's the one that Needs More Love!
edited 22nd Aug '13 12:56:01 PM by FlightMaster
Copying from one place is plagiarism. If its from several, its 'research'.Teepo and Elly have gotten mean! But they're even better now. Anyway, time to meet the king aaaaaaaaaaaand SHIT HITS THE FAN. Anyone surprised?
But, Gaius is cool. Wonder who's voicing him. That Wingul dude sounds asleep though-wait, why did his hair turn white? And why is he speaking gibberish? And why is that chick in the string outfit back? And GASP! Alvin is a big fat lying traitorous traitor. Teepo was right all along!
BTW, Flight Master, do you need another summary or have you gotten the diary entries?
edited 22nd Aug '13 1:26:15 PM by lu127
"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - FighteerGaius is voiced by Travis Willingham.
Also, meet the Chimeriad! This season's quirky miniboss squad.
edited 22nd Aug '13 1:30:43 PM by asterism
Bewitching Eyes

Flight: Ah, have you found the diary entries?
Moving!
Alvin gets more carrier pidgeons, and after I've crossed Lakutam, Ivar shows up again! This guy is annoying. So he got a fake letter saying Milla's in danger and almost got knocked over by the giant boar monster. So now he should st-did he just believe another obviously fake letter from the very same pidgeon? Dude's dumber than a rock.
Xian Du! Alvin is all mean to poor Teepo. Wyverns are scary and stuff. We need to learn more about Elize and stuff, but at least we get Alvin's mum.
Hey, Asterism, is the route split you were talking about Fort Gandala?
"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer