![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
indigozealAll right, let's wrap up plot stuff.
Jorgo's "Project Ultima" ends up being an all-out offensive on the rifts through which the Thanatos were coming, as opposed to everyone's previous strategy of taking out the Thanatos piecemeal. The Aube Hunters are nervous about how the Thanatos will retaliate when the fight is moved to their own den, but a more pressing problem soon rears its head: Artefact has predicted that the next rift will appear smack in the middle of Walden.
Ange & cohort travel to Walden to stage a protest against the Jinx incursion but arrive too late; the city's in ruins by the time they get there. Which actually was a shock; I almost wish the anime had done something similar in its own Jinx plotline. They do learn, though, that Jorgo's next target is Reese. Ries? Anyhow, they run back, this time backed up by Knights of the Silver Tree (unseen)and angry townsfolk.
Before the confrontation, Rayne gives Ange a device he developed that'll shut down the Jinx en masse, directing her to activate it while the others distract Jorgo. They do, she does, and it works - momentarily. The Jinx are quickly back online, though, and Jorgo villain-monologues that the upgraded Jinx are wise to Rayne's tricks. Soon, though...a rift appears right in the middle of town. So I guess his calculations or sensors or whatever were correct after all, and there was indeed major stuff going down where he said there would be. While he's still in the overall moral wrong, this makes the situation a bit more complex than the game really wants to acknowledge, but no matter: Jorgo orders another super Jinx attack, but the Thanatos are too strong for it too work. The Aube Hunters and Knights ready to battle the menace, there's a splash image of the four fellas readying their weapons...
...And then nothing happens. Well, the wrong thing happens: Erebus decides to come out of Nyx. (Hyuga initially guesses that he's been possessed by a Thanatos; Nyx confirms that "it's much worse.") The Big Twist is almost treated like nonnews in the game, though. For one, there's not a direct confrontation with Erebus Nyx, he never speaks through Nyx - there's not even a costume change. Nyx just gets the marks on his face and his hair mussed up a little. (He doesn't even lose the monocle.) Another point is that Nyx is still himself and conscious all throughout this bit; he hurls himself into the rift to seal it and curtail Erebus's activity. There's no exchange of shocked reactions after this cutscene - no resentment or confusion over the not-perceived deception, no amazement at the I'm-200-years-old revelation, nothing. There is concern for Nyx, but of the "we have to get him back!" variety; the whole thing's treated more as a hostage situation than full-fledged to-kill-Erebus-Nyx-must-die-too possession.
Also, Reese gets trashed like Walden, so Nyx was too late, I guess.
Anyhow, the ending proceeds like the anime, with everyone boarding the Ship of Stars to head for Erebus's lair. Rayne and Jorgo have words here (Jorgo having come around during the failed assault on Reese), but, to be honest, I was fast-forwarding through all of Rayne's dialogue at that point. If, like me, you didn't befriend Rene, Dion will show up instead, telling Hyuga to take care of Ange and promising him that they'll have to eat together at their "usual place" when Hyuga gets back. That was better than Rene, for my money.
The ship lifts off. There's a bit of turbulence on the voyage, during which Ange'll be held by the Aube Hunter with whom she has the highest compatibility (I don't know what happens if that's Nyx). Everyone sees the true, flat form of Arcadia,and J.D. has a trite but affecting poet's moment where he notes that it's so beautiful but so fragile. Everyone lands; J.D. scouts around to make sure there's breathable air etc., and the final battle begins.
The other two hunters hold off the small frys while Ange and her chosen partner take on Erebus-Nyx, who, in monster form, is just a giant blue-black rose with wings and an unconscious Nyx bound up on the side. I actually died here the first time (or, rather, reset before I died), since Erebus-Nyx has a power-down status-effect attack that'll make the fight drag on for too long if you can't negate it. Nyx is painlessly freed once Erebus's first form is beaten, whereupon you just fight a larger version of the blue rose with more HP. This one is easier, though, because it has a poison attack instead of the power-down one, and even though the poison smarts (and can't be cleared through status-nullification, apparently), healing is easy and you can end the fight quickly.
After winning, Ange'll be spirited away to meet the voice in her dreams, who is Ervin and not Rene. He is also the Will of the Universe (as in the anime) and the soul of the Silver Tree (as not in the anime, I think). Then he asks Ange to become Queen. I was fed up with things and hadn't gotten J.D. yet and thought that this was actually an opportunity to make an ending to an Angelique game where the people relied on the Power of Humanity (tm Lunar) rather than a Queen, so I said "Hell with that." Ervin was disappointed but said he'd just wait for the next Unhatched Queen to come along, though he'd never forget "the one little girl who saved the universe."
Ange comes back, and her comrades (including a recovered Nyx) express surprise that she hasn't become Queen. Ange responds merrily that "there's too much left to do on Arcadia!", and J.D. laughs in approval. (I imagine that they might be inwardly ticked that Ange isn't magically bringing them their new heaven on earth, but I recall during a Bingo Talk discussion about "paradise" a troubled J.D. asking if a perfect paradise would welcome only perfect people, so perhaps he has a different perspective on this issue than the others.) The Hunters head back to Reese, which has been miraculously rebuilt in a span of mere days, and vow to lead Arcadia to a bright new future together. An aurora shines over the skies as the Aube Hunters head home to Hidamari, where Ange and J.D. presumably continue their romance free of poorly-designed game mechanics.
I'll post a wrap-up of all this tomorrow.
Jorgo's "Project Ultima" ends up being an all-out offensive on the rifts through which the Thanatos were coming, as opposed to everyone's previous strategy of taking out the Thanatos piecemeal. The Aube Hunters are nervous about how the Thanatos will retaliate when the fight is moved to their own den, but a more pressing problem soon rears its head: Artefact has predicted that the next rift will appear smack in the middle of Walden.
Ange & cohort travel to Walden to stage a protest against the Jinx incursion but arrive too late; the city's in ruins by the time they get there. Which actually was a shock; I almost wish the anime had done something similar in its own Jinx plotline. They do learn, though, that Jorgo's next target is Reese. Ries? Anyhow, they run back, this time backed up by Knights of the Silver Tree (unseen)and angry townsfolk.
Before the confrontation, Rayne gives Ange a device he developed that'll shut down the Jinx en masse, directing her to activate it while the others distract Jorgo. They do, she does, and it works - momentarily. The Jinx are quickly back online, though, and Jorgo villain-monologues that the upgraded Jinx are wise to Rayne's tricks. Soon, though...a rift appears right in the middle of town. So I guess his calculations or sensors or whatever were correct after all, and there was indeed major stuff going down where he said there would be. While he's still in the overall moral wrong, this makes the situation a bit more complex than the game really wants to acknowledge, but no matter: Jorgo orders another super Jinx attack, but the Thanatos are too strong for it too work. The Aube Hunters and Knights ready to battle the menace, there's a splash image of the four fellas readying their weapons...
...And then nothing happens. Well, the wrong thing happens: Erebus decides to come out of Nyx. (Hyuga initially guesses that he's been possessed by a Thanatos; Nyx confirms that "it's much worse.") The Big Twist is almost treated like nonnews in the game, though. For one, there's not a direct confrontation with Erebus Nyx, he never speaks through Nyx - there's not even a costume change. Nyx just gets the marks on his face and his hair mussed up a little. (He doesn't even lose the monocle.) Another point is that Nyx is still himself and conscious all throughout this bit; he hurls himself into the rift to seal it and curtail Erebus's activity. There's no exchange of shocked reactions after this cutscene - no resentment or confusion over the not-perceived deception, no amazement at the I'm-200-years-old revelation, nothing. There is concern for Nyx, but of the "we have to get him back!" variety; the whole thing's treated more as a hostage situation than full-fledged to-kill-Erebus-Nyx-must-die-too possession.
Also, Reese gets trashed like Walden, so Nyx was too late, I guess.
Anyhow, the ending proceeds like the anime, with everyone boarding the Ship of Stars to head for Erebus's lair. Rayne and Jorgo have words here (Jorgo having come around during the failed assault on Reese), but, to be honest, I was fast-forwarding through all of Rayne's dialogue at that point. If, like me, you didn't befriend Rene, Dion will show up instead, telling Hyuga to take care of Ange and promising him that they'll have to eat together at their "usual place" when Hyuga gets back. That was better than Rene, for my money.
The ship lifts off. There's a bit of turbulence on the voyage, during which Ange'll be held by the Aube Hunter with whom she has the highest compatibility (I don't know what happens if that's Nyx). Everyone sees the true, flat form of Arcadia,and J.D. has a trite but affecting poet's moment where he notes that it's so beautiful but so fragile. Everyone lands; J.D. scouts around to make sure there's breathable air etc., and the final battle begins.
The other two hunters hold off the small frys while Ange and her chosen partner take on Erebus-Nyx, who, in monster form, is just a giant blue-black rose with wings and an unconscious Nyx bound up on the side. I actually died here the first time (or, rather, reset before I died), since Erebus-Nyx has a power-down status-effect attack that'll make the fight drag on for too long if you can't negate it. Nyx is painlessly freed once Erebus's first form is beaten, whereupon you just fight a larger version of the blue rose with more HP. This one is easier, though, because it has a poison attack instead of the power-down one, and even though the poison smarts (and can't be cleared through status-nullification, apparently), healing is easy and you can end the fight quickly.
After winning, Ange'll be spirited away to meet the voice in her dreams, who is Ervin and not Rene. He is also the Will of the Universe (as in the anime) and the soul of the Silver Tree (as not in the anime, I think). Then he asks Ange to become Queen. I was fed up with things and hadn't gotten J.D. yet and thought that this was actually an opportunity to make an ending to an Angelique game where the people relied on the Power of Humanity (tm Lunar) rather than a Queen, so I said "Hell with that." Ervin was disappointed but said he'd just wait for the next Unhatched Queen to come along, though he'd never forget "the one little girl who saved the universe."
Ange comes back, and her comrades (including a recovered Nyx) express surprise that she hasn't become Queen. Ange responds merrily that "there's too much left to do on Arcadia!", and J.D. laughs in approval. (I imagine that they might be inwardly ticked that Ange isn't magically bringing them their new heaven on earth, but I recall during a Bingo Talk discussion about "paradise" a troubled J.D. asking if a perfect paradise would welcome only perfect people, so perhaps he has a different perspective on this issue than the others.) The Hunters head back to Reese, which has been miraculously rebuilt in a span of mere days, and vow to lead Arcadia to a bright new future together. An aurora shines over the skies as the Aube Hunters head home to Hidamari, where Ange and J.D. presumably continue their romance free of poorly-designed game mechanics.
I'll post a wrap-up of all this tomorrow.
