Xenothoughts
Sep. 14th, 2006 04:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crienseltBig, huge, ginormous post of doom, which is probably still missing loads of things I meant to mention and will go back and add in at a later date.
Spoilers like whoa...and long rambling thoughts bellow the cut...
There are so many thoughts swimming through my head that I don't even know where to starts and so this will probably be very stream of consciousness and jumpy but whatever. Also, I know I need to go back and rewatch things and reread parts of the database, but I haven't had a chance yet and need to go ahead and get these thoughts out.
I loved this game from beginning to end. Though, I always like the beginning of games better, but that’s mainly b/c I hate for anything I enjoy to end, which is maybe why I’ve developed such a bad habit of not finishing games. That and I actually like the slow moving parts of games the best some times. I’ve always just enjoyed seeing characters simply interact with each other and their world… And I do love both the Xeno characters and their universe. Also, I loved that this game felt, to me, like Xenosaga right from the get go. Episode two never managed to feel right to me… But, okay, let’s go, I’ve got A LOT to say, so…
First, I have to start with my beloved favorite character, Wilhelm, who still exists dammit! He has to...if only b/c if he DID die, his death was far too anti-climatic for it to be real... And let's make one thing clear, as far as I'm concerned, Kevin did NOT kill him, he dissipated of his own volition. Kevin's his bitch. He's not cool enough to kill him. I'll allow that he was able to like negate Wilhelm's powers (speaking of which, what *are* Wilhelm's powers exactly? Yeshua is anima and Mary is Animus but Willy?)/prevent him from interfering with the group's fighting of Zarathustra, but doesn’t possess the power to destroy his existence.
Also, Wilhelm didn't really seem all that concerned about the having Kevin's hand in his chest/loosing his arm, which leads me to believe his physical body isn't all that important to him. So Wilhelm still exists. Perhaps he's returned to whence he came or gone to another dimension, but he's still out there, you hear me! He's still out there being manipulative and awesome! (And listening to Wagner and maintaining his foppish hair and dressing in swanking suits... Y'know, I do regret we never actually got hear any Wagner playing in his office. I guess copy write and legal stuff would have had to have gotten involved. Pity.) Because he is manipulative and awesome. At first I was a little disappointed with the whole Zarathustra thing b/c it was just like, “Oh, so of course he knows how everything is going to go; he’s done it before…” But then it hit me that he had to do it all on his own that first time, so that just makes him even cooler!
Wilhelm really needs more exposition, and not just because I'm a fangirl (I did flail a little each time he had a scene). He really is still an enigma. I mean what the hell is he? I know he's the one in charge of operating Zarathustra and keeping the recurrence going; I know he’s like the guardian of the lower-realm, but what *is* he and where did he come from and how did he come to be? They've always made it seem like he was some sort of equal but opposite of chaos and he obviously had some control of Mary; and he's obviously been around at least as long them, so...what the hell? How, exactly, does he relate to them? What's his back story? I need to knoooow!
Y'know, I'm also kinda confused as to how exactly the whole recurrence thing works. That is, is everything supposed to repeat the same way over and over again, and if so does this apply to chaos and Wilhelm too? It can't, right? Because chaos started to change up what he was doing...right? Or was his change just part of the variations that started to occur b/c of the eternal recurrence? I kind of gathered it came about by hanging out with our gang of protagonists, but that means that everything isn't always the same... But maybe I'm going down a wrong line of thought b/c the events that happened in this cycle weren't the same as the things that have happened in the past and therefore useless as a basis for the events of the previous cycles.
And here's a question: Okay, so it seems that the main difference this time was Mary awakening as someone else as well as chaos starting to interfere. Is it possible for Wilhelm to be doing things differently as well? And this leads up to the question, is it possible that Wilhelm was actually happy to have humanity reject him, their guardian--in a sense? I mean, I know he didn't exactly sound pleased; he was more shocked than anything else, but he was always going admiring Wills and expressing a sort of desire for humans to get more will power and what not... And then there's apparently a scene in DS, and this is 2nd hand info here, where he expresses frustration at chaos for not doing anything and leaving him with all the work...or something. And he said he was happy for Yeshua to be joining the stage.
But here's the thing that makes me wonder if Wilhelm himself is doing something differently: in the scene after the group steals back the E.S.es, chaos wonders what it is Wilhelm is planning. Shouldn't he already know? ...Or am I totally off on the whole how Zarathustra works? I feel I must be missing something...
I'm also a little confused as to where the past lives things comes in. Now do they mean lives from a different cycle (though I think this would mean that time is being reset at different stages of time, which doesn't fit the idea of eternal recurrence...or does it?) or do they just meaning the recycling of souls in the normal linear way (until of course, Wilhelm sets of Zarathustra...)
And who the hell was Shion's past life? Okay, someone close to Mary who helped her separate the Anima from Yesh, but who and what and why and huh? Must have more info!
Now, onto Kevin, who I don't like and never will. The whole thing with him really loving Shion at the end didn't work for me at all. (Though I adore Wilhelm's reaction to it. "For love? How pathetic.") I mean, we know that all that stuff about doing what he was doing for Shion is BS b/c he was already working toward his goal before he even met the chick, and even if the desire to help/save Shion was added later on, he pretty much seemed to be saying these things only to get her to go along with him, especially b/c his reaction to her not going along with him (both times) was more akin to an evil dude upset at having his plans thwarted than someone whose heart is breaking. I mean, his reaction to Allen (more on this awesomeness later) was more sadistic than anything else. He acted just like the same arrogant jackass Kevin we saw in the flashbacks, not like someone who doesn’t want to loose the woman he loves. Though I guess that was one of the points of the scene, to juxtapose their love for Shion. Whereas Allen’s is selfless, Kevin was selfish. He wanted Shion to make himself happy while Allen wanted to make Shion happy…
And here's another question, if they needed to send Shion to the past to accomplish something they were unable to do in the real past and that thing was summoning Abel's Ark, does that mean that (aside from maybe getting Ormus/U-TIC where Wilhelm wanted it) the purpose of the Miltian Conflict (as orchestrated by Willy) was to have Shion call the Ark? In that case, does that mean that Kevin intentionally killed her parents, or what exactly was going on there?
And when did he put those flower petals in the necklace? I was half expecting him to be touched/feel some sadness when little Shion’s flower bed was ruined, but instead he just destroyed the last flower and made some bleak remark, if I’m remembering correctly. Are we supposed to believe these are the flower petals in the necklace or did he just put some other random petals in after actually developing feelings for her? I’m going to have to go with the later. (And, hey, ODM says the object in the necklace is black…)
Also, his actions as Roth didn’t exactly mesh with him being deeply in love, either…
I’m going to presume that Kevin pursued a romance with Shion for his ulterior motives (perhaps at Wilhelm’s directive; I really loved that scene where we see Wilhelm “seducing” the little Kevin, btw; the kid never had a chance…) but eventually he did wind up feeling affection for her, especially since they did share that connection of loss. (Somehow, connections based on loss don’t ever seem healthy…of course, this is one of the reasons I like Ziggy/Juli, though they’re different in that they can understand each other but come together for the sake of life and the happiness of Momo and the future she symbolizes, in a sense, whereas Shion and Kevin would only want to dwell in the past.) Of course, Kevin, in many ways, engineered Shion’s loss and I almost wonder if that wouldn’t have been an attractant for him—the fact that he’d made Shion/created her, albeit possibly unintentionally, to be his match. …But still his aspirations and own desires trumped any feelings he had for her up until the end when he saw her suffering and remembered how she loved him and how he’d hurt her and felt bad and realized, okay, “I do love her… I think I’ll judo chop Wilhelm’s arm! Hi-yaaaa!” I also wonder if Allen’s words could have had some effect on him in this respect as well. (**am aware this doesn’t fit the flower petal fact**)
And with that, I’m on to Allen! He had so many amazing scenes, and I do tip my non-existent hat to Dave Wittenberg—especially for his big speech scene. I really like his delievery of the “her”s. (More of the VO later). I loved seeing him as Chief Ridgeley, if only b/c it’s nice to see him in situations where he actually is competent and capable and in control (just as he was at the beginning of Episode I). And I loved seeing him interact with Jin and yay for having him interact with Juli Mizrahi too! That was unexpected and just…nice. And he’s Assistant #2 and friends with Scott! Hehe! Playable Allen was a tad disappointing, but I kept him in my party, damn it, even through the Pellegri fight and even though his “whoa!” every time he attacked annoyed me. I have plans to go back to my save there and make him uber, if only because he deserves it. Also, I’d kind hoped that his joining the party to help rescue Shion would have been more of his doing as in, “I’m coming with you!” rather than Jin kind of ordering him to… I still wonder why they never just went for it and made him a full time party member, other than maybe the fact it would have been out of character…
Moving on to the awesomeness that his speech to Kevin and Shion. Dude, he (verbally) owned Kevin! It was just flawless and I wanted to give him a hug. I was a little disappointed at first that we never actually got a declarative “I love you” statement. (Though he got close, didn’t he? All he needed was the “ve” and it’d have been out. Of course, Jin kinda let the cat out of the bag almost immediately after that… And what’s up w/ Shion’s total lack of reaction to this statement?) However, once everything settled in, I realized how much better having everything go as it did really was. Because Allen’s speech was beautiful. I’ll admit it. I teared up. When Kevin was all “You think you can take her away from me,” all I could think was “Damn straight he will!” And then when KOS-MOS backed him and they started walking to Shion…gah! It was classic. …Though not as classic as the look on Kevin’s face when Shion does leave him. Cracked me the hell up. Allen wiped that smug expression right off his arrogant face!
I am still disappointed we never got to hear Allen call Shion “Shion” when speaking directly to her.
Oh, and randomly, I kind of love how Allen owned Kevin in relation to KOS-MOS, in a sense, what with her “I am sorry, Kevin Winnitcott, but I am not programmed to obey your orders. The KOS-MOS you built was destroyed by T-elos ...blahblah… I obey Shion Uzuki and also Allen Ridgeley” or something like that. (I loved that scene.) I was just like, “Ha! Take that! You’ve got nothing!”
Oh, and back to Allen and Jin… for some reason Jin’s “Allen, my friend,” amused but I can’t say exactly why. I guess Allen took the words to heart, though, b/c man, he took on the Gnosis. His bum rushing and hacking away at the thing was both incredibly awesome and incredibly hilarious. …Made even more so by Shion’s subsequent, “Oh, Allen.”
Anyway, I’m happy for the guy and that final scene of he and Shion (with the hand holding and her resting her head on his shoulder) was just sweet. I trust he will be more than man enough to close whatever space is left between his and Shion’s hearts, as the database says.
Also, real quick, one quibble that I have with Allen is the fact that he disappears when he goes into NPC mode. That is, I could never find him anywhere on the Elsa. Where the hell he’d go? Did I miss him or was he simply not there? Maybe they were just having him do the invisible Allen move where nobody, including the player, ever notices he’s there.
At any rate, all the Allen haters have to eat their words now, and seriously, I can’t imagine anyone not liking him after this.
So, moving on…Jin Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy?
I teared up at everyone’s death save Yuriev (though I was in mourning for Gaignun) and Kevin, but Jin actually made me freaking cry—weep. What the hell, Jin? You didn’t have to die? Why’d they kill you? You were one of my favorite characters! Why??? **sobs** His death is actually the main reason I haven’t rewatched the ending. I just don’t want to have to see it again. And after that convo with Shion…It was just…oh. Jin. How I love thee. …Though I guess, you know, maybe what Margulis said was true and he had just killed the woman he loved, but… I just… Jin…
I’m, of course, pleased to have it officially stated that he and Pellegri did have a little something-something going on, but I really wish we could have gotten some more details. I imagine for most people, the whole Jin/Pellegri thing must have seemed to come out of nowhere and I was waiting for the characters to react and be like, “Er, Jin, you know this crazy chick?” But no, though I liked that Shion mentioned her later in that it makes me wonder how much about her Shion knew. I gather she knew what went on there for her to make the sort of comment she did. (And, dude, what a bitchy comment it was. At the time I though, “Oh, snap! That’s harsh!”) And I liked that Shion called out to Jin when he went running toward Pellegri’s ES.
Speaking of bitchiness, Pellegri really did have it going on in the Miltian scenes. What happened to the “They’re innocents!” Pellegri from Episode I? …I guess real world Pellegri was a little nice and more instep with her Episode I persona, but still…yikes! She was ready to kill her ex-lover’s father. (I wonder what they’re relationship was like…) At any rate, her death scene was beautiful and I loved it (and hated it) and wanted to give Jin a hug.
Then there’s Margulis. His death was amazing too. Wilhelm broke the poor guy’s spirit, didn’t he? The scene, by-the-way, where Wilhelm reveals himself was amazing. I do wonder, though, what was the choice/decision Margulis had to make in relation to it. Still, I think I like Margulis when he’s being a bit more badass, even if I do like the beaten puppy thing that happened to him too.
At any rate, I’ve decided that Jin needs his own game set back when everyone was in the Federation military. We can see how Jin and Pellegri got together and how they part and how Margulis factors into their dynamic. Helmer’d be involved too. It’d be fun. I imagine it’d be Jin going on various missions leading up to his discovery of Margulis’ treachery and Pellegri’s defection. It’d be good stuff. I almost wonder if maybe one of the patents Monolith/Namco hold could have been meant to be such a game. Exceed, maybe? Frontier sounds like it’d be a good post III game, but I don’t know… I doubt we’ll ever get to see any of them anyway. **sigh**
So, okay, where am I? Let’s talk URTVs and the Kukai crew. Citrine needed more screen time. Though, I did enjoy what we got and her death did pull at my heart strings. I’d have liked to have seen a meeting between her and Gaignun in the present, I think, somewhere during Episode II b/c I really did enjoy the idea of the relationship between the two siblings/the bond they shared and it would have been a nice segway into Yuriev totally stealing 699’s body.
I enjoy Yuriev. Something about his back story really intrigues me. I like the idea of him being the only one to survive contacting U-DO and the fear that god (or should it be God?) inspired in him and his never-ending quest to conquer that fear either by destroying god or becoming a god himself. Good stuff.
Albedo needed more screen time too. (Really, so did Nigredo, but I understand why he, er, couldn’t get it.) I do, however, really like the way his story turned out. He got to be with his Rubedo. (I like how Wilhelm actually followed through with some of his promises and seemed to be genuinely pleased with Albedo being genuinely pleased.) And eeee! A glimpse of adult Jr.! **wonders if he’ll start to age now that Albedo’s back with him**
Gaignun went the way I guess he had to go, but I do mourn for him. And I really wish he didn’t have to die. That scene with Mary and Shelly really got me too. (So glad they both survived.) They really were a cannon OT3, weren’t they? I love it. So sad it had to end. (Though, now they’re free to double date with Tony and Hammer, the thought of which amuses me greatly. But, nah, why go for those clowns when Matthews and the Professor are around? And let’s not forget Assistant Scott!)
I feel bad that I don’t have more to say about Jr. himself, but I liked everything with him and well… Nothing is standing out other the scenes I’ve already mentioned...
The Durandal! I almost forgot about the Durandal! I got misty when the group arrived in the Durandal and I saw what it looked like. It broke my heart to remember how it used to be and to think of all those fun hours I’d spent playing poker in the Casino. And now it’s fused with Abel’s Ark… What’s the Foundation (if it still exists) going to do? It made me kinda really sad to see its “wings” just hanging in the Ark like that…
I guess I should say something about Momo even if she was pretty much just “there” the entire time. The scene with her and Mizrahi was nice. I’m a tad bit disappointed we didn’t get any more info as to what exactly’s going on with her and Jr. Nothing, I suppose. After all, Jr. said he’d watch over as he would his own sister, (Of course, Citrine WAS his own sister and we all know what happened there.) but the whole thing about Momo being able to age makes me wonder… (Hurray for Transgenic types!)
One thing that bothered me about Momo, though: What the hell is up with her telling Jr. to say hello to Albedo for her? I mean, okay, I get that Albedo wasn’t really that bad and she’s trying to be supportive of Jr. maybe, but dude, the guy freaking raped your mind! After the events of Episode I, I’d be a little weary of the guy if I was her, but, then again, maybe that’s just me…
At any rate, I’m afraid Momo’s gonna be waiting for everyone to come back for a while. A long while. But at least she has her Mommy and pseudo-daddy, Ziggy to keep her company.
Speaking of Ziggy, he needed more screen time. After playing this game, I am really upset NA didn’t get Pied Piper/it wasn’t actually put in one of the main games. After all, reading the script is fine and well but doesn’t have as big an impact as actually playing it. And I have a feeling the Lactis-Canaan thing would have meant more if I’d played the game. Of course, it was plenty moving as it was, but still… And I just would have liked to see more of both of them. (Ziggy and Canaan that is.)
I’m glad, though, Voyager referenced Ziggy’s possible Testamentation. I wonder what color he’d have been. The database kinda made it sound like there could only be four Testaments…or at least only four were needed. I wonder if Ziggy would have been blue, for some reason… Or maybe he was meant to be white as the antithesis to Voyager… Or maybe he’d have been some totally different color. (Yellow? For his hair?) I also wonder what would have happened if Ziggy had died back in PP if chaos hadn’t interfered. (And how does his interfering fit in with Zarathustra? Was that the beginning of his actions to thwart Wilhelm?) Was that Wilhelm trying to get him to be a Testament then, or what?
Oh, and speaking of Canaan, isn’t he not supposed to be able to feel emotion? Or are we meant to believe that by remembering being Lactis, he was able to release those programs that restrained her personality layer? At any rate, I really enjoyed hearing him call Ziggy “Captain.” And it is sad that he died, but he took down, Voyager, so…
Voyager! He really is an evil little monkey, isn’t? (or Sith Lord, whatever…) I did enjoy his parts though. He has a presence and I can def. understand his being the “Net Preacher;” his scenes with Ziggy were gold as was his fight with KOS-MOS. But, eee! He was just creepy! No Zarathustra for him!
And I guess that means I’m up to Shion. Could she have been any more of a bitch to poor Miyuki in the beginning? Seriously. I enjoyed her immensely once she got to Fifth Jerusalem, though, and it was a pleasant change to see her actually being nice to Allen. Of course, she was destined to get even worse as the game wore on. Good lord was her “I’m all alone! Nobody understands me but Kevin!” wangst annoying!
Bear in mind, I don’t mean this in an “I dislike her,” or “OMGZ!!! Shion needs to die!” sort of way b/c it was all part of her character development and she has suffered some trauma. …But the entire group has suffered trauma. (Shall I go down the check list? Not necessary you say? Good, b/c it would take a while to type.) Every last freaking one of them is dripping with angst! And, seriously, Allen has done nothing but follow her around for three whole games and the rest of the crew has been nothing but supportive. I know the Database attributes this to Kevin and image he crafted for Shion, but…let’s get real. The girl need some sense slapped into her. And you know what I find awesome? The fact that we literally get to do just that. Take that, Red Testament’s Ally! (And I just suddenly remembered the awesomeness of Jin slapping her in a Missing Year.)
That said, I think her final scene with Jin was beautiful and did a good job of proving just how far she’s come and her taking Allen’s hand @ the end there (or well, he took hers but she reached out first, which is a def. change in their relationship…Shion reaching out for Allen…) was just sweet. Also, I loved the cheese of her “I stand with them” bit.
As I said earlier, I wish they’d have given us some more info on who she used to be and why she is the Maiden of Mary or whatever. Also, I think this is partially due to the fact that I’m still working out how the Gnosis stuff works (I know it was explained and I get the explanation, it’s just still settling in.) but do we know why she didn’t turn into a Gnosis? I guess it’s just b/c she’s so super and special that she’s above Gnosification. But if that’s the case, why was the Whitening starting back on the Woglinde? And if it’s just b/c she wasn’t rejecting humanity/afraid, wouldn’t she transform as soon as Kevin came back on the stage? Or am I really off?
Also, isn’t she still sick? Isn’t she still destined to succumb to her illness or has something changed in that respect? I never really thought Kevin’s claim of “I can save you and I’m the only one who can!” was legitimate (I mean, he was just going to switch back time and replay everything…right?) but I trust the words about her illness were true. Or maybe U-DO’s presence is so lessened now that it isn’t an issue? Maybe? Something like that?
And, woah, I just realized I haven’t mentioned the fact that Shion’s the one who freaking summoned the Gnosis! (As in the large scale epidemic that engulfed the Universe.) Didn’t see that coming, and that scene was amazing. I really wish the music from it was on the OSBT. I’ve a thing for the chants.
Anyway, I found Shion’s trying to save her mom to actually be rather touching, even if her running all around past Miltia was ridiculous and impulsive and asking for trouble. (And even if Jin was right and she should have listened to him.) It’s nice to know Daddy Uzuki wasn’t really evil (as in a bad guy; again, I am aware there is no good v. evil in Xeno). I do wonder, though, what his relationship with Margulis was like seeing as how the guy learned under his father and had a strong rivalry with his son… Makes you wonder. Ooo! Also, I like that he was doing spy stuff with Jin. Good stuff!
Shion and Feb were sweet together and Virgil liked her too. He saved her. Gah! Virgil and Feb were so sweet. Their sense really got to me and Feb’s death… It was definitely a tear-jerking series of scenes. I take it Realians do have souls, then, judging by Feb’s walking off into the “glow” with Virgil. Also, while I’m on Virgil, I adore the way he constantly called Kevin a bastard. I found it endearing.
One note, and this has more to do with Jin than Shion, but I really loved seeing Jin be protective of her and the scene of him picking up little Shion really got to me—just the way he picked her up… I wish we could have seen more of his reaction to finding his parents slaughtered and his little sister under severe emotional stress. Jin. I just love the guy so much. He’s got that deep sadness thing going on and I dig it. I dig it a lot.
Aaand so, now Shion’s heading for LJ, huh? Here’s hoping she finds it…in her lifetime…
And this brings me to the man himself—chaos! I really do adore him and discovering the truth about him (being Anima) and the cause of his angst and lack of action henceforth has really made me appreciate his character and led him to capture my imagination like whoa. I really wish he’d gotten more screen time, though. I know that he’s supposed to be mostly a spectator but, c’mon, I’d even take just a shot of him watching or another “…” from him. That said, I love how he just disappears in some scenes, and I maintain it is intentional, especially since the database even references this. Also, I love how he turned to look at KOS-MOS when Momo was reading that Bible quote.
But now…he’s Jesus…but not Jesus…? He’s Yeshua, which is an early name for Jesus. They mention him dying. (Right?) They mention that Lemegeton are the words of God and also chaos. Ormus is around to protect these words…the words of the man they worship as the Messiah. But then Wilhelm says that this man (Ormus’ Messiah) couldn’t understand the words of Lemegeton, which was to be expected b/c they were the words of Yeshua. And Yeshua is chaos. So he is Jesus but not Jesus. Can I get a wtf? I’m going to assume this has something to do with the Gnostic idea of the two Christs, but I don’t know enough about this to fully understand or theorize about it. **sigh** I guess that would explain why we see Yeshua and Mary watching a Jesus type preacher…
I’m glad chaos is still in existence, at any rate, and I so do need the next games. Like I said, in terms of this game we needed some more shots of him. I’d have been happy with just some meaningful staring. I’d also have liked to have seen more of a reaction from the gang. Specifically one that conveyed “OH, snap! You’re some super powerful ultra being! (And so is the CEO of Vector and said CEO knows you and is calling you some [from our perspective] random ass weird name!!)” Shion’s “chaos, what are you?” didn’t really make it for me. She could have at least called him out on appearing in her visions and what not. I just felt like both his (and Wilhelm’s) revelation of being beings of a higher power needed a bit more of a reaction from the others.
I’m proud of him, though, for finally stepping up. And did he give his power to Abel? Was that a good idea? If Abel is U-DO, then… I don’t know. Speaking of Abel, I think we really needed to see some more between he and Nephilim. I’d have liked to learn more about their relationship and the nature there of. As in, why’d he randomly walk into the room and draw her? I still really don’t quite understand Nephilim. I mean, I do…but I don’t. Neat she grew up, though.
Lastly, as far as character specific discussion goes, KOS-MOS. Mary’s will trumps Mary’s body! Woot! It was sad seeing T-elos take down V. 3 (as seeing her get beat up by Omega) but V. 4 owned her ass. (Though, you must let my roll my eyes at her chest opening up.)
And yay for KOS-MOS, seemingly, having a will of her own. “I am not Mary. I am KOS-MOS.” And she doesn’t give a damn about what you want, Wilhelm. And I love how she supported Allen.
Also, that first scene where she defied Kevin was awesome as was her subsequent absconding with Shion. Really, all of her scenes with Shion were beautifully executed. And KOS-MOS’ response to Jin’s “Pathetic” line! She was trying to comfort him. How sweet.
The last image of her floating by Lost Jerusalem was beautiful. And I really do need another game. As I’ve said, I still want to see how things get cleaned up back in space at large and the how everyone on the Elsa does getting to LJ. And, of course, all those future games with chaos and KOS-MOS in them…
As chaos says, "I guess both you and I still exist in this world, after all. As long as people... as long as the universe desires it, we will continue to exist. We haven't finished what we have to do yet. So, until then, sleep well, KOS-MOS."
Must have more.
Note on the voice acting: Overall, I thought it was very well done. There were some lines in the voice boxes that sounded out of context, but I’ll blame that on direction and the manner in which dubs are recorded.
I miss Wilhelm’s old VA, but I got used to him. Same thing with Canaan. I’d have appreciated them keeping the same guy as Ep. II, if only for purposes of continuity (which we all know Namco NA could care less about), but by the end of the game, I was used to hearing Steve Blum do him.
I guess I could deal with Josh Seth’s chaos for cutscenes and what not, but he just sounded odd to me in battle. Of course, a lot of the battle quotes sounded odd to me. “I’M HERE!” …Okay, Jin, glad to hear it. “ATTACKING!” …So I see…
I could not love the VAs that stayed the same the entire series any more than I already do. I bow to all of you.
And I really was glad to have Lia Sargent and Ruby Marlow back for Shion and KOS-MOS. Not only do I prefer their performances to the Ep. II people, but I think it also added to “Xeno” feel of the game to me. No longer did I have to hear a character speaking in one voice while imagining another in my head.
I was surprised that Virgil was still being played by Lex Lang. I mean, there were some parts that sounded like his Ep. I voice, sure, but he was doing something different.
And I KNEW Jin and Yuriev were the same in spite of the rumors right before release. And I love both of them.
OH! I am infatuated with U-DO’s voice. It was perfect. I especially like it when he was first trying to figure out Shion’s name. “Shion? Shi-on?” And I liked Abel’s voice too. His “Sad being. This way,” gave me chills. It was perfect and oh so appropriately creepy.
Voyager’s VA pwns all. “Jan Sauer!” And Doctus’ was amazing too!
So, some remaining questions:
Has Zarathustra always been on Michtam? I gather that it has, which means that Ancient Race was most certainly not human. I am going to go out on a limb and say that the events of Zarathustra’s construction would be related to the attempted coup Lucifer tried to wage on heaven…or at least the Xeno equivalent to this story.
Kevin’s parents must have been important, no? We need more on them and what’s up with the crystal core (or wherever Zarathustra was) of the planet?
Do we know what caused the darkness in Canaan’s memories? (This is an Ep. II thing.)
So whose wings were those who saved the Elsa at end of Ep. I? Hmm? Hmm?
What's up Virgil calling chaos, "Boss"? Are we just supposed to believe it has something to do with recognizing chaos as a higher power, or does it relate to his connection to Wilhelm, or what?
So...was Mizrahi murdered...or did he commit suicide? What was with his "Who is it?" Right before he fell? (Or was pushed?)
How did Sakura die? I expected the database to say, but noooooo! If you don't speak Japanese and buy XenoDS, aparently, you'll never get to know...
Random things I loved
Ziggy and Jin have a conversation together on the Elsa. Pure love. Cause I don’t think we ever really saw them interact in any cut scenes… And they kind of are the adults of the group. That is Jin’s pushing 40 and Ziggy, well, he’s pretty old. It was just brilliant seeing them there talking in the gun room.
“Is it necessary for me to do this?” HaKox wins at life, not b/c it’s exceptionally fun to play (and it’s not) but b/c of the characters. It’s hilarious! Someone needs to transcribe the things they say…even if it isn’t nearly as funny as hearing it. “My, my, how embarassiiiiiiiing!” “My existence is infinaaaaaaate!” hehe! And so many playable characters, though I, naturally, want more. The other testaments and Wilhelm should have been in there, though I guess they didn’t want to impinge too much on Wilhelm’s dignity, but I can just image how amusing he could have been. He’d have to be all unemotional/never surprised and it would be great. Or what about Juli and Pellegri? Or Helmer! (“U-DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”) And Margulis! (“UZUKIIII!” or something disdainful of the “ignoble” game) Ah well, it’s golden even without them. “I’ll put on a show for yah!” “I seem to have reached the end.”
I really enjoyed some of the little touches found in the cut scenes. For example, when Voyager invades the Elsa, Allen and Momo are standing in the background and Allen has his hands on Momo’s shoulders. I think there’s one point where Momo kind of cowers up against him b/c I remember thinking “Momo, you’re looking to Allen for protection…? Um…” Or when chaos flinches as T-elos crushes KOS-MOS. Good stuff.
I loved the “Shion!” “Chief!” thing Jin and Allen did every time Shion collapsed.
We get to find out why Sellers is in a wheelchair! Woot! You go, Mizrahi! **snaps fingers** ...Speaking of Sellers, what happened to him after he hovered off in the Merkabah?
I loved how characters would randomly appear on the screen during those text box scenes and you’d think they were going to say or do something but then they never did.
How cheesy was Heinlein’s voice? It cracks me up that it was Wilhelm. Couldn’t he have come up with something better? I especially love the “Urggh” groan thing he does before revealing himself, if only b/c I find it hilarious imagining Willy boy doing it.
Seeing 699 on Yuriev’s hand in that one shot. That really hit me for some reason. It just really made the fact that was Gaignun strike home.
The Professor and Scott actually had an important role to play and were in real cut scenes! I’d never have imagined, in episode I, that they’d become part of the main plot. I loved that a side quest like that was able to move to the big kids table.
Togashi! I was so glad to have him back! I missed him in Episode II. Feel bad for him ‘bout Miyuki, but they were together at the end, so maybe they’ll get together yet…
Some of those database entries were just love. Albedo, the “cunning linguist”!
The fact Shion goes to Ziggy for comfort too in the scene where she freaks out about the Gnosis and summons the Ark.
Voyager’s comment about the gang all possessing the qualities necessary to become Testaments. I wonder what color everyone would be…
Shion mentions the visions she had in Episode I! And we get to find out where they are! (Rennes le Chateau…wow spelling…)
I love that they actually explained some of the more ridiculous aspects of the game that seemed really weird when taken realistically such as why the 100 Series are all little girls and why KOS-MOS has boobs. Well, I suppose the reason for KOS-MOS was more of a cover for the real reason, but that’s still no excuse for the skimpy outfit…
Seeing everyone fight T-elos! Joy! The Uzukis double-team it!
Jin’s swimsuit is found in Margulis’ room. Enough said.
chaos’ swimsuit is found in the Arcadian Resource dungeon thing on Rennes le Chateau. Awesomeness.
Do I need to even mention the mankinis? (Or that the eternal question of existence of Ziggy’s manbits is now answered?)
In KOS-MOS’ last tech she says “Relinquish your pain unto me.” Squee!
Jr. yelling at chaos to think about what’s bellow when he’s fighting. chaos: “Sorry…”
The Elsa’s wings ftw!
I really appreciated the personal touches in the Elsa’s rooms. Of course, I’m still curious as to where the Professor and Scott sleep (in the robot Academy?) as well as Allen (with Professor and Scott?) and chaos (does he need to?)
Reference to Scott’s alcoholism in the database! Yee! (I think there may have been refs to Xenofreaks as well, but I’m not sure as any info I have on that are second hand and vague.)
I love that Jin and Kevin didn’t get along. I wonder if Jin knew of Kevin when he was alive (he’d have to, right?) and didn’t like him even then…
Random things that I regret :
Hammer needed to have mentioned his "Mad Skillz!"
We never got to fight ES Judah or Joshua! Or the new Simeon! What's up with that? It would have been fun! (Speaking of Joshua, I'd have liked to have seen more of it/know some more about it...even though I don't know what else there is to tell...)
We never got to fight Wilhelm! That would have been really fun. I guess he wasn't really that sort of "villain," but I still would have liked to have given it a go. You know he's got some killer moves... Even if “fighting” would seem out of character…
We need a nice solid Ziggy/Juli scene. It just didn't feel right without getting to hear her call him "Jan Sauer" in that almost teasing, pseudo-seductive way as was her want. Actually, I hoped we might get to hear her call him just "Jan." I mean, everyone's always using his full name. And it'd be nice to see that she's now officially on a first name basis with him. I'll admit, I've always been a bit of a sap for their relationship. Cause they both loved and lost both spouse and child and you definitely know that Juli is Ziggy's type b/c, let's face it, both she and Sharon were smart scientist (well, Sharon was a doctor, but…) women with secret pain and issues and all that good stuff. Ah, well, at least he and Juli and Momo are all a happy little "family" at the end of the game complete with a dog. (Alby!)
Speaking of Alby, I wish we'd gotten to see him in action a tad bit more. IE, see him like attack poor Gainun or something.
We never got to see that chaos/Red Testament convo. I really wonder what they would have had to say to each other.
We never got a solid group Testament scene where they all interacted with each other. All jokes aside, I really do wonder what they do with themselves in their spare time. (Seriously, what was Voyager doing for the past 100 years?) I don’t suppose they’d ever have showed us a scene of them doing this, but even just another full council of Zarathustra scene would have been good so long as they all had at least one or two lines. I’d just have liked to have seen how they interacted with one another. And each of them with Wilhelm.
No solid solo chaos/Wilhelm scene aside from the ending of Episode II. Seriously, we needed at least one more good scene between just the two of them. (I really do want to know what they’re past/initial relationship was like.)
I missed the constant quoting and allusions that were used in the first game and had database entries. I guess this could be blamed on the lack of Albedo, as a lot of that stuff came from him (I still can’t get over the idea of Albedo listening to the Beatles)…
I am forever in mourning that we never got a Jin and Allen meeting scene. I did, however, enjoy the glimpses of their relationship we were given. Incidentally, I would have loved to know exactly what Ziggy thought of Allen, but I don’t suppose I ever will…
We never did find out exactly what Allen’s background was or why he doesn’t like to talk about. (Though I guess that bit about not liking to rely on his family’s wealth does suffice.)
I wish Wilhelm would have had a little one on one time with all of the playables (plus Allen). That is, I wish he’d at least have directed a comment at them specifically. It’d have been interesting. (Especially given Voyager’s comment about them all being Testament-able.)
We never got to see in-game chaos with wings. We know he’s got ‘em, so why can’t we see them?
No KOS-MOS wings either!
No full version of KOS-MOS v. U-DO. I guess that lame scene in Ep. II was it.
Tear that they only had 2 end o’ battle quotes. And no more unique ether quotes.
I wish we could have gotten one more U-DO out of Helmer. (Speaking of Helmer, how the hell is he still alive?)
Spoilers like whoa...and long rambling thoughts bellow the cut...
There are so many thoughts swimming through my head that I don't even know where to starts and so this will probably be very stream of consciousness and jumpy but whatever. Also, I know I need to go back and rewatch things and reread parts of the database, but I haven't had a chance yet and need to go ahead and get these thoughts out.
I loved this game from beginning to end. Though, I always like the beginning of games better, but that’s mainly b/c I hate for anything I enjoy to end, which is maybe why I’ve developed such a bad habit of not finishing games. That and I actually like the slow moving parts of games the best some times. I’ve always just enjoyed seeing characters simply interact with each other and their world… And I do love both the Xeno characters and their universe. Also, I loved that this game felt, to me, like Xenosaga right from the get go. Episode two never managed to feel right to me… But, okay, let’s go, I’ve got A LOT to say, so…
First, I have to start with my beloved favorite character, Wilhelm, who still exists dammit! He has to...if only b/c if he DID die, his death was far too anti-climatic for it to be real... And let's make one thing clear, as far as I'm concerned, Kevin did NOT kill him, he dissipated of his own volition. Kevin's his bitch. He's not cool enough to kill him. I'll allow that he was able to like negate Wilhelm's powers (speaking of which, what *are* Wilhelm's powers exactly? Yeshua is anima and Mary is Animus but Willy?)/prevent him from interfering with the group's fighting of Zarathustra, but doesn’t possess the power to destroy his existence.
Also, Wilhelm didn't really seem all that concerned about the having Kevin's hand in his chest/loosing his arm, which leads me to believe his physical body isn't all that important to him. So Wilhelm still exists. Perhaps he's returned to whence he came or gone to another dimension, but he's still out there, you hear me! He's still out there being manipulative and awesome! (And listening to Wagner and maintaining his foppish hair and dressing in swanking suits... Y'know, I do regret we never actually got hear any Wagner playing in his office. I guess copy write and legal stuff would have had to have gotten involved. Pity.) Because he is manipulative and awesome. At first I was a little disappointed with the whole Zarathustra thing b/c it was just like, “Oh, so of course he knows how everything is going to go; he’s done it before…” But then it hit me that he had to do it all on his own that first time, so that just makes him even cooler!
Wilhelm really needs more exposition, and not just because I'm a fangirl (I did flail a little each time he had a scene). He really is still an enigma. I mean what the hell is he? I know he's the one in charge of operating Zarathustra and keeping the recurrence going; I know he’s like the guardian of the lower-realm, but what *is* he and where did he come from and how did he come to be? They've always made it seem like he was some sort of equal but opposite of chaos and he obviously had some control of Mary; and he's obviously been around at least as long them, so...what the hell? How, exactly, does he relate to them? What's his back story? I need to knoooow!
Y'know, I'm also kinda confused as to how exactly the whole recurrence thing works. That is, is everything supposed to repeat the same way over and over again, and if so does this apply to chaos and Wilhelm too? It can't, right? Because chaos started to change up what he was doing...right? Or was his change just part of the variations that started to occur b/c of the eternal recurrence? I kind of gathered it came about by hanging out with our gang of protagonists, but that means that everything isn't always the same... But maybe I'm going down a wrong line of thought b/c the events that happened in this cycle weren't the same as the things that have happened in the past and therefore useless as a basis for the events of the previous cycles.
And here's a question: Okay, so it seems that the main difference this time was Mary awakening as someone else as well as chaos starting to interfere. Is it possible for Wilhelm to be doing things differently as well? And this leads up to the question, is it possible that Wilhelm was actually happy to have humanity reject him, their guardian--in a sense? I mean, I know he didn't exactly sound pleased; he was more shocked than anything else, but he was always going admiring Wills and expressing a sort of desire for humans to get more will power and what not... And then there's apparently a scene in DS, and this is 2nd hand info here, where he expresses frustration at chaos for not doing anything and leaving him with all the work...or something. And he said he was happy for Yeshua to be joining the stage.
But here's the thing that makes me wonder if Wilhelm himself is doing something differently: in the scene after the group steals back the E.S.es, chaos wonders what it is Wilhelm is planning. Shouldn't he already know? ...Or am I totally off on the whole how Zarathustra works? I feel I must be missing something...
I'm also a little confused as to where the past lives things comes in. Now do they mean lives from a different cycle (though I think this would mean that time is being reset at different stages of time, which doesn't fit the idea of eternal recurrence...or does it?) or do they just meaning the recycling of souls in the normal linear way (until of course, Wilhelm sets of Zarathustra...)
And who the hell was Shion's past life? Okay, someone close to Mary who helped her separate the Anima from Yesh, but who and what and why and huh? Must have more info!
Now, onto Kevin, who I don't like and never will. The whole thing with him really loving Shion at the end didn't work for me at all. (Though I adore Wilhelm's reaction to it. "For love? How pathetic.") I mean, we know that all that stuff about doing what he was doing for Shion is BS b/c he was already working toward his goal before he even met the chick, and even if the desire to help/save Shion was added later on, he pretty much seemed to be saying these things only to get her to go along with him, especially b/c his reaction to her not going along with him (both times) was more akin to an evil dude upset at having his plans thwarted than someone whose heart is breaking. I mean, his reaction to Allen (more on this awesomeness later) was more sadistic than anything else. He acted just like the same arrogant jackass Kevin we saw in the flashbacks, not like someone who doesn’t want to loose the woman he loves. Though I guess that was one of the points of the scene, to juxtapose their love for Shion. Whereas Allen’s is selfless, Kevin was selfish. He wanted Shion to make himself happy while Allen wanted to make Shion happy…
And here's another question, if they needed to send Shion to the past to accomplish something they were unable to do in the real past and that thing was summoning Abel's Ark, does that mean that (aside from maybe getting Ormus/U-TIC where Wilhelm wanted it) the purpose of the Miltian Conflict (as orchestrated by Willy) was to have Shion call the Ark? In that case, does that mean that Kevin intentionally killed her parents, or what exactly was going on there?
And when did he put those flower petals in the necklace? I was half expecting him to be touched/feel some sadness when little Shion’s flower bed was ruined, but instead he just destroyed the last flower and made some bleak remark, if I’m remembering correctly. Are we supposed to believe these are the flower petals in the necklace or did he just put some other random petals in after actually developing feelings for her? I’m going to have to go with the later. (And, hey, ODM says the object in the necklace is black…)
Also, his actions as Roth didn’t exactly mesh with him being deeply in love, either…
I’m going to presume that Kevin pursued a romance with Shion for his ulterior motives (perhaps at Wilhelm’s directive; I really loved that scene where we see Wilhelm “seducing” the little Kevin, btw; the kid never had a chance…) but eventually he did wind up feeling affection for her, especially since they did share that connection of loss. (Somehow, connections based on loss don’t ever seem healthy…of course, this is one of the reasons I like Ziggy/Juli, though they’re different in that they can understand each other but come together for the sake of life and the happiness of Momo and the future she symbolizes, in a sense, whereas Shion and Kevin would only want to dwell in the past.) Of course, Kevin, in many ways, engineered Shion’s loss and I almost wonder if that wouldn’t have been an attractant for him—the fact that he’d made Shion/created her, albeit possibly unintentionally, to be his match. …But still his aspirations and own desires trumped any feelings he had for her up until the end when he saw her suffering and remembered how she loved him and how he’d hurt her and felt bad and realized, okay, “I do love her… I think I’ll judo chop Wilhelm’s arm! Hi-yaaaa!” I also wonder if Allen’s words could have had some effect on him in this respect as well. (**am aware this doesn’t fit the flower petal fact**)
And with that, I’m on to Allen! He had so many amazing scenes, and I do tip my non-existent hat to Dave Wittenberg—especially for his big speech scene. I really like his delievery of the “her”s. (More of the VO later). I loved seeing him as Chief Ridgeley, if only b/c it’s nice to see him in situations where he actually is competent and capable and in control (just as he was at the beginning of Episode I). And I loved seeing him interact with Jin and yay for having him interact with Juli Mizrahi too! That was unexpected and just…nice. And he’s Assistant #2 and friends with Scott! Hehe! Playable Allen was a tad disappointing, but I kept him in my party, damn it, even through the Pellegri fight and even though his “whoa!” every time he attacked annoyed me. I have plans to go back to my save there and make him uber, if only because he deserves it. Also, I’d kind hoped that his joining the party to help rescue Shion would have been more of his doing as in, “I’m coming with you!” rather than Jin kind of ordering him to… I still wonder why they never just went for it and made him a full time party member, other than maybe the fact it would have been out of character…
Moving on to the awesomeness that his speech to Kevin and Shion. Dude, he (verbally) owned Kevin! It was just flawless and I wanted to give him a hug. I was a little disappointed at first that we never actually got a declarative “I love you” statement. (Though he got close, didn’t he? All he needed was the “ve” and it’d have been out. Of course, Jin kinda let the cat out of the bag almost immediately after that… And what’s up w/ Shion’s total lack of reaction to this statement?) However, once everything settled in, I realized how much better having everything go as it did really was. Because Allen’s speech was beautiful. I’ll admit it. I teared up. When Kevin was all “You think you can take her away from me,” all I could think was “Damn straight he will!” And then when KOS-MOS backed him and they started walking to Shion…gah! It was classic. …Though not as classic as the look on Kevin’s face when Shion does leave him. Cracked me the hell up. Allen wiped that smug expression right off his arrogant face!
I am still disappointed we never got to hear Allen call Shion “Shion” when speaking directly to her.
Oh, and randomly, I kind of love how Allen owned Kevin in relation to KOS-MOS, in a sense, what with her “I am sorry, Kevin Winnitcott, but I am not programmed to obey your orders. The KOS-MOS you built was destroyed by T-elos ...blahblah… I obey Shion Uzuki and also Allen Ridgeley” or something like that. (I loved that scene.) I was just like, “Ha! Take that! You’ve got nothing!”
Oh, and back to Allen and Jin… for some reason Jin’s “Allen, my friend,” amused but I can’t say exactly why. I guess Allen took the words to heart, though, b/c man, he took on the Gnosis. His bum rushing and hacking away at the thing was both incredibly awesome and incredibly hilarious. …Made even more so by Shion’s subsequent, “Oh, Allen.”
Anyway, I’m happy for the guy and that final scene of he and Shion (with the hand holding and her resting her head on his shoulder) was just sweet. I trust he will be more than man enough to close whatever space is left between his and Shion’s hearts, as the database says.
Also, real quick, one quibble that I have with Allen is the fact that he disappears when he goes into NPC mode. That is, I could never find him anywhere on the Elsa. Where the hell he’d go? Did I miss him or was he simply not there? Maybe they were just having him do the invisible Allen move where nobody, including the player, ever notices he’s there.
At any rate, all the Allen haters have to eat their words now, and seriously, I can’t imagine anyone not liking him after this.
So, moving on…Jin Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy?
I teared up at everyone’s death save Yuriev (though I was in mourning for Gaignun) and Kevin, but Jin actually made me freaking cry—weep. What the hell, Jin? You didn’t have to die? Why’d they kill you? You were one of my favorite characters! Why??? **sobs** His death is actually the main reason I haven’t rewatched the ending. I just don’t want to have to see it again. And after that convo with Shion…It was just…oh. Jin. How I love thee. …Though I guess, you know, maybe what Margulis said was true and he had just killed the woman he loved, but… I just… Jin…
I’m, of course, pleased to have it officially stated that he and Pellegri did have a little something-something going on, but I really wish we could have gotten some more details. I imagine for most people, the whole Jin/Pellegri thing must have seemed to come out of nowhere and I was waiting for the characters to react and be like, “Er, Jin, you know this crazy chick?” But no, though I liked that Shion mentioned her later in that it makes me wonder how much about her Shion knew. I gather she knew what went on there for her to make the sort of comment she did. (And, dude, what a bitchy comment it was. At the time I though, “Oh, snap! That’s harsh!”) And I liked that Shion called out to Jin when he went running toward Pellegri’s ES.
Speaking of bitchiness, Pellegri really did have it going on in the Miltian scenes. What happened to the “They’re innocents!” Pellegri from Episode I? …I guess real world Pellegri was a little nice and more instep with her Episode I persona, but still…yikes! She was ready to kill her ex-lover’s father. (I wonder what they’re relationship was like…) At any rate, her death scene was beautiful and I loved it (and hated it) and wanted to give Jin a hug.
Then there’s Margulis. His death was amazing too. Wilhelm broke the poor guy’s spirit, didn’t he? The scene, by-the-way, where Wilhelm reveals himself was amazing. I do wonder, though, what was the choice/decision Margulis had to make in relation to it. Still, I think I like Margulis when he’s being a bit more badass, even if I do like the beaten puppy thing that happened to him too.
At any rate, I’ve decided that Jin needs his own game set back when everyone was in the Federation military. We can see how Jin and Pellegri got together and how they part and how Margulis factors into their dynamic. Helmer’d be involved too. It’d be fun. I imagine it’d be Jin going on various missions leading up to his discovery of Margulis’ treachery and Pellegri’s defection. It’d be good stuff. I almost wonder if maybe one of the patents Monolith/Namco hold could have been meant to be such a game. Exceed, maybe? Frontier sounds like it’d be a good post III game, but I don’t know… I doubt we’ll ever get to see any of them anyway. **sigh**
So, okay, where am I? Let’s talk URTVs and the Kukai crew. Citrine needed more screen time. Though, I did enjoy what we got and her death did pull at my heart strings. I’d have liked to have seen a meeting between her and Gaignun in the present, I think, somewhere during Episode II b/c I really did enjoy the idea of the relationship between the two siblings/the bond they shared and it would have been a nice segway into Yuriev totally stealing 699’s body.
I enjoy Yuriev. Something about his back story really intrigues me. I like the idea of him being the only one to survive contacting U-DO and the fear that god (or should it be God?) inspired in him and his never-ending quest to conquer that fear either by destroying god or becoming a god himself. Good stuff.
Albedo needed more screen time too. (Really, so did Nigredo, but I understand why he, er, couldn’t get it.) I do, however, really like the way his story turned out. He got to be with his Rubedo. (I like how Wilhelm actually followed through with some of his promises and seemed to be genuinely pleased with Albedo being genuinely pleased.) And eeee! A glimpse of adult Jr.! **wonders if he’ll start to age now that Albedo’s back with him**
Gaignun went the way I guess he had to go, but I do mourn for him. And I really wish he didn’t have to die. That scene with Mary and Shelly really got me too. (So glad they both survived.) They really were a cannon OT3, weren’t they? I love it. So sad it had to end. (Though, now they’re free to double date with Tony and Hammer, the thought of which amuses me greatly. But, nah, why go for those clowns when Matthews and the Professor are around? And let’s not forget Assistant Scott!)
I feel bad that I don’t have more to say about Jr. himself, but I liked everything with him and well… Nothing is standing out other the scenes I’ve already mentioned...
The Durandal! I almost forgot about the Durandal! I got misty when the group arrived in the Durandal and I saw what it looked like. It broke my heart to remember how it used to be and to think of all those fun hours I’d spent playing poker in the Casino. And now it’s fused with Abel’s Ark… What’s the Foundation (if it still exists) going to do? It made me kinda really sad to see its “wings” just hanging in the Ark like that…
I guess I should say something about Momo even if she was pretty much just “there” the entire time. The scene with her and Mizrahi was nice. I’m a tad bit disappointed we didn’t get any more info as to what exactly’s going on with her and Jr. Nothing, I suppose. After all, Jr. said he’d watch over as he would his own sister, (Of course, Citrine WAS his own sister and we all know what happened there.) but the whole thing about Momo being able to age makes me wonder… (Hurray for Transgenic types!)
One thing that bothered me about Momo, though: What the hell is up with her telling Jr. to say hello to Albedo for her? I mean, okay, I get that Albedo wasn’t really that bad and she’s trying to be supportive of Jr. maybe, but dude, the guy freaking raped your mind! After the events of Episode I, I’d be a little weary of the guy if I was her, but, then again, maybe that’s just me…
At any rate, I’m afraid Momo’s gonna be waiting for everyone to come back for a while. A long while. But at least she has her Mommy and pseudo-daddy, Ziggy to keep her company.
Speaking of Ziggy, he needed more screen time. After playing this game, I am really upset NA didn’t get Pied Piper/it wasn’t actually put in one of the main games. After all, reading the script is fine and well but doesn’t have as big an impact as actually playing it. And I have a feeling the Lactis-Canaan thing would have meant more if I’d played the game. Of course, it was plenty moving as it was, but still… And I just would have liked to see more of both of them. (Ziggy and Canaan that is.)
I’m glad, though, Voyager referenced Ziggy’s possible Testamentation. I wonder what color he’d have been. The database kinda made it sound like there could only be four Testaments…or at least only four were needed. I wonder if Ziggy would have been blue, for some reason… Or maybe he was meant to be white as the antithesis to Voyager… Or maybe he’d have been some totally different color. (Yellow? For his hair?) I also wonder what would have happened if Ziggy had died back in PP if chaos hadn’t interfered. (And how does his interfering fit in with Zarathustra? Was that the beginning of his actions to thwart Wilhelm?) Was that Wilhelm trying to get him to be a Testament then, or what?
Oh, and speaking of Canaan, isn’t he not supposed to be able to feel emotion? Or are we meant to believe that by remembering being Lactis, he was able to release those programs that restrained her personality layer? At any rate, I really enjoyed hearing him call Ziggy “Captain.” And it is sad that he died, but he took down, Voyager, so…
Voyager! He really is an evil little monkey, isn’t? (or Sith Lord, whatever…) I did enjoy his parts though. He has a presence and I can def. understand his being the “Net Preacher;” his scenes with Ziggy were gold as was his fight with KOS-MOS. But, eee! He was just creepy! No Zarathustra for him!
And I guess that means I’m up to Shion. Could she have been any more of a bitch to poor Miyuki in the beginning? Seriously. I enjoyed her immensely once she got to Fifth Jerusalem, though, and it was a pleasant change to see her actually being nice to Allen. Of course, she was destined to get even worse as the game wore on. Good lord was her “I’m all alone! Nobody understands me but Kevin!” wangst annoying!
Bear in mind, I don’t mean this in an “I dislike her,” or “OMGZ!!! Shion needs to die!” sort of way b/c it was all part of her character development and she has suffered some trauma. …But the entire group has suffered trauma. (Shall I go down the check list? Not necessary you say? Good, b/c it would take a while to type.) Every last freaking one of them is dripping with angst! And, seriously, Allen has done nothing but follow her around for three whole games and the rest of the crew has been nothing but supportive. I know the Database attributes this to Kevin and image he crafted for Shion, but…let’s get real. The girl need some sense slapped into her. And you know what I find awesome? The fact that we literally get to do just that. Take that, Red Testament’s Ally! (And I just suddenly remembered the awesomeness of Jin slapping her in a Missing Year.)
That said, I think her final scene with Jin was beautiful and did a good job of proving just how far she’s come and her taking Allen’s hand @ the end there (or well, he took hers but she reached out first, which is a def. change in their relationship…Shion reaching out for Allen…) was just sweet. Also, I loved the cheese of her “I stand with them” bit.
As I said earlier, I wish they’d have given us some more info on who she used to be and why she is the Maiden of Mary or whatever. Also, I think this is partially due to the fact that I’m still working out how the Gnosis stuff works (I know it was explained and I get the explanation, it’s just still settling in.) but do we know why she didn’t turn into a Gnosis? I guess it’s just b/c she’s so super and special that she’s above Gnosification. But if that’s the case, why was the Whitening starting back on the Woglinde? And if it’s just b/c she wasn’t rejecting humanity/afraid, wouldn’t she transform as soon as Kevin came back on the stage? Or am I really off?
Also, isn’t she still sick? Isn’t she still destined to succumb to her illness or has something changed in that respect? I never really thought Kevin’s claim of “I can save you and I’m the only one who can!” was legitimate (I mean, he was just going to switch back time and replay everything…right?) but I trust the words about her illness were true. Or maybe U-DO’s presence is so lessened now that it isn’t an issue? Maybe? Something like that?
And, woah, I just realized I haven’t mentioned the fact that Shion’s the one who freaking summoned the Gnosis! (As in the large scale epidemic that engulfed the Universe.) Didn’t see that coming, and that scene was amazing. I really wish the music from it was on the OSBT. I’ve a thing for the chants.
Anyway, I found Shion’s trying to save her mom to actually be rather touching, even if her running all around past Miltia was ridiculous and impulsive and asking for trouble. (And even if Jin was right and she should have listened to him.) It’s nice to know Daddy Uzuki wasn’t really evil (as in a bad guy; again, I am aware there is no good v. evil in Xeno). I do wonder, though, what his relationship with Margulis was like seeing as how the guy learned under his father and had a strong rivalry with his son… Makes you wonder. Ooo! Also, I like that he was doing spy stuff with Jin. Good stuff!
Shion and Feb were sweet together and Virgil liked her too. He saved her. Gah! Virgil and Feb were so sweet. Their sense really got to me and Feb’s death… It was definitely a tear-jerking series of scenes. I take it Realians do have souls, then, judging by Feb’s walking off into the “glow” with Virgil. Also, while I’m on Virgil, I adore the way he constantly called Kevin a bastard. I found it endearing.
One note, and this has more to do with Jin than Shion, but I really loved seeing Jin be protective of her and the scene of him picking up little Shion really got to me—just the way he picked her up… I wish we could have seen more of his reaction to finding his parents slaughtered and his little sister under severe emotional stress. Jin. I just love the guy so much. He’s got that deep sadness thing going on and I dig it. I dig it a lot.
Aaand so, now Shion’s heading for LJ, huh? Here’s hoping she finds it…in her lifetime…
And this brings me to the man himself—chaos! I really do adore him and discovering the truth about him (being Anima) and the cause of his angst and lack of action henceforth has really made me appreciate his character and led him to capture my imagination like whoa. I really wish he’d gotten more screen time, though. I know that he’s supposed to be mostly a spectator but, c’mon, I’d even take just a shot of him watching or another “…” from him. That said, I love how he just disappears in some scenes, and I maintain it is intentional, especially since the database even references this. Also, I love how he turned to look at KOS-MOS when Momo was reading that Bible quote.
But now…he’s Jesus…but not Jesus…? He’s Yeshua, which is an early name for Jesus. They mention him dying. (Right?) They mention that Lemegeton are the words of God and also chaos. Ormus is around to protect these words…the words of the man they worship as the Messiah. But then Wilhelm says that this man (Ormus’ Messiah) couldn’t understand the words of Lemegeton, which was to be expected b/c they were the words of Yeshua. And Yeshua is chaos. So he is Jesus but not Jesus. Can I get a wtf? I’m going to assume this has something to do with the Gnostic idea of the two Christs, but I don’t know enough about this to fully understand or theorize about it. **sigh** I guess that would explain why we see Yeshua and Mary watching a Jesus type preacher…
I’m glad chaos is still in existence, at any rate, and I so do need the next games. Like I said, in terms of this game we needed some more shots of him. I’d have been happy with just some meaningful staring. I’d also have liked to have seen more of a reaction from the gang. Specifically one that conveyed “OH, snap! You’re some super powerful ultra being! (And so is the CEO of Vector and said CEO knows you and is calling you some [from our perspective] random ass weird name!!)” Shion’s “chaos, what are you?” didn’t really make it for me. She could have at least called him out on appearing in her visions and what not. I just felt like both his (and Wilhelm’s) revelation of being beings of a higher power needed a bit more of a reaction from the others.
I’m proud of him, though, for finally stepping up. And did he give his power to Abel? Was that a good idea? If Abel is U-DO, then… I don’t know. Speaking of Abel, I think we really needed to see some more between he and Nephilim. I’d have liked to learn more about their relationship and the nature there of. As in, why’d he randomly walk into the room and draw her? I still really don’t quite understand Nephilim. I mean, I do…but I don’t. Neat she grew up, though.
Lastly, as far as character specific discussion goes, KOS-MOS. Mary’s will trumps Mary’s body! Woot! It was sad seeing T-elos take down V. 3 (as seeing her get beat up by Omega) but V. 4 owned her ass. (Though, you must let my roll my eyes at her chest opening up.)
And yay for KOS-MOS, seemingly, having a will of her own. “I am not Mary. I am KOS-MOS.” And she doesn’t give a damn about what you want, Wilhelm. And I love how she supported Allen.
Also, that first scene where she defied Kevin was awesome as was her subsequent absconding with Shion. Really, all of her scenes with Shion were beautifully executed. And KOS-MOS’ response to Jin’s “Pathetic” line! She was trying to comfort him. How sweet.
The last image of her floating by Lost Jerusalem was beautiful. And I really do need another game. As I’ve said, I still want to see how things get cleaned up back in space at large and the how everyone on the Elsa does getting to LJ. And, of course, all those future games with chaos and KOS-MOS in them…
As chaos says, "I guess both you and I still exist in this world, after all. As long as people... as long as the universe desires it, we will continue to exist. We haven't finished what we have to do yet. So, until then, sleep well, KOS-MOS."
Must have more.
Note on the voice acting: Overall, I thought it was very well done. There were some lines in the voice boxes that sounded out of context, but I’ll blame that on direction and the manner in which dubs are recorded.
I miss Wilhelm’s old VA, but I got used to him. Same thing with Canaan. I’d have appreciated them keeping the same guy as Ep. II, if only for purposes of continuity (which we all know Namco NA could care less about), but by the end of the game, I was used to hearing Steve Blum do him.
I guess I could deal with Josh Seth’s chaos for cutscenes and what not, but he just sounded odd to me in battle. Of course, a lot of the battle quotes sounded odd to me. “I’M HERE!” …Okay, Jin, glad to hear it. “ATTACKING!” …So I see…
I could not love the VAs that stayed the same the entire series any more than I already do. I bow to all of you.
And I really was glad to have Lia Sargent and Ruby Marlow back for Shion and KOS-MOS. Not only do I prefer their performances to the Ep. II people, but I think it also added to “Xeno” feel of the game to me. No longer did I have to hear a character speaking in one voice while imagining another in my head.
I was surprised that Virgil was still being played by Lex Lang. I mean, there were some parts that sounded like his Ep. I voice, sure, but he was doing something different.
And I KNEW Jin and Yuriev were the same in spite of the rumors right before release. And I love both of them.
OH! I am infatuated with U-DO’s voice. It was perfect. I especially like it when he was first trying to figure out Shion’s name. “Shion? Shi-on?” And I liked Abel’s voice too. His “Sad being. This way,” gave me chills. It was perfect and oh so appropriately creepy.
Voyager’s VA pwns all. “Jan Sauer!” And Doctus’ was amazing too!
So, some remaining questions:
Has Zarathustra always been on Michtam? I gather that it has, which means that Ancient Race was most certainly not human. I am going to go out on a limb and say that the events of Zarathustra’s construction would be related to the attempted coup Lucifer tried to wage on heaven…or at least the Xeno equivalent to this story.
Kevin’s parents must have been important, no? We need more on them and what’s up with the crystal core (or wherever Zarathustra was) of the planet?
Do we know what caused the darkness in Canaan’s memories? (This is an Ep. II thing.)
So whose wings were those who saved the Elsa at end of Ep. I? Hmm? Hmm?
What's up Virgil calling chaos, "Boss"? Are we just supposed to believe it has something to do with recognizing chaos as a higher power, or does it relate to his connection to Wilhelm, or what?
So...was Mizrahi murdered...or did he commit suicide? What was with his "Who is it?" Right before he fell? (Or was pushed?)
How did Sakura die? I expected the database to say, but noooooo! If you don't speak Japanese and buy XenoDS, aparently, you'll never get to know...
Random things I loved
Ziggy and Jin have a conversation together on the Elsa. Pure love. Cause I don’t think we ever really saw them interact in any cut scenes… And they kind of are the adults of the group. That is Jin’s pushing 40 and Ziggy, well, he’s pretty old. It was just brilliant seeing them there talking in the gun room.
“Is it necessary for me to do this?” HaKox wins at life, not b/c it’s exceptionally fun to play (and it’s not) but b/c of the characters. It’s hilarious! Someone needs to transcribe the things they say…even if it isn’t nearly as funny as hearing it. “My, my, how embarassiiiiiiiing!” “My existence is infinaaaaaaate!” hehe! And so many playable characters, though I, naturally, want more. The other testaments and Wilhelm should have been in there, though I guess they didn’t want to impinge too much on Wilhelm’s dignity, but I can just image how amusing he could have been. He’d have to be all unemotional/never surprised and it would be great. Or what about Juli and Pellegri? Or Helmer! (“U-DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”) And Margulis! (“UZUKIIII!” or something disdainful of the “ignoble” game) Ah well, it’s golden even without them. “I’ll put on a show for yah!” “I seem to have reached the end.”
I really enjoyed some of the little touches found in the cut scenes. For example, when Voyager invades the Elsa, Allen and Momo are standing in the background and Allen has his hands on Momo’s shoulders. I think there’s one point where Momo kind of cowers up against him b/c I remember thinking “Momo, you’re looking to Allen for protection…? Um…” Or when chaos flinches as T-elos crushes KOS-MOS. Good stuff.
I loved the “Shion!” “Chief!” thing Jin and Allen did every time Shion collapsed.
We get to find out why Sellers is in a wheelchair! Woot! You go, Mizrahi! **snaps fingers** ...Speaking of Sellers, what happened to him after he hovered off in the Merkabah?
I loved how characters would randomly appear on the screen during those text box scenes and you’d think they were going to say or do something but then they never did.
How cheesy was Heinlein’s voice? It cracks me up that it was Wilhelm. Couldn’t he have come up with something better? I especially love the “Urggh” groan thing he does before revealing himself, if only b/c I find it hilarious imagining Willy boy doing it.
Seeing 699 on Yuriev’s hand in that one shot. That really hit me for some reason. It just really made the fact that was Gaignun strike home.
The Professor and Scott actually had an important role to play and were in real cut scenes! I’d never have imagined, in episode I, that they’d become part of the main plot. I loved that a side quest like that was able to move to the big kids table.
Togashi! I was so glad to have him back! I missed him in Episode II. Feel bad for him ‘bout Miyuki, but they were together at the end, so maybe they’ll get together yet…
Some of those database entries were just love. Albedo, the “cunning linguist”!
The fact Shion goes to Ziggy for comfort too in the scene where she freaks out about the Gnosis and summons the Ark.
Voyager’s comment about the gang all possessing the qualities necessary to become Testaments. I wonder what color everyone would be…
Shion mentions the visions she had in Episode I! And we get to find out where they are! (Rennes le Chateau…wow spelling…)
I love that they actually explained some of the more ridiculous aspects of the game that seemed really weird when taken realistically such as why the 100 Series are all little girls and why KOS-MOS has boobs. Well, I suppose the reason for KOS-MOS was more of a cover for the real reason, but that’s still no excuse for the skimpy outfit…
Seeing everyone fight T-elos! Joy! The Uzukis double-team it!
Jin’s swimsuit is found in Margulis’ room. Enough said.
chaos’ swimsuit is found in the Arcadian Resource dungeon thing on Rennes le Chateau. Awesomeness.
Do I need to even mention the mankinis? (Or that the eternal question of existence of Ziggy’s manbits is now answered?)
In KOS-MOS’ last tech she says “Relinquish your pain unto me.” Squee!
Jr. yelling at chaos to think about what’s bellow when he’s fighting. chaos: “Sorry…”
The Elsa’s wings ftw!
I really appreciated the personal touches in the Elsa’s rooms. Of course, I’m still curious as to where the Professor and Scott sleep (in the robot Academy?) as well as Allen (with Professor and Scott?) and chaos (does he need to?)
Reference to Scott’s alcoholism in the database! Yee! (I think there may have been refs to Xenofreaks as well, but I’m not sure as any info I have on that are second hand and vague.)
I love that Jin and Kevin didn’t get along. I wonder if Jin knew of Kevin when he was alive (he’d have to, right?) and didn’t like him even then…
Random things that I regret :
Hammer needed to have mentioned his "Mad Skillz!"
We never got to fight ES Judah or Joshua! Or the new Simeon! What's up with that? It would have been fun! (Speaking of Joshua, I'd have liked to have seen more of it/know some more about it...even though I don't know what else there is to tell...)
We never got to fight Wilhelm! That would have been really fun. I guess he wasn't really that sort of "villain," but I still would have liked to have given it a go. You know he's got some killer moves... Even if “fighting” would seem out of character…
We need a nice solid Ziggy/Juli scene. It just didn't feel right without getting to hear her call him "Jan Sauer" in that almost teasing, pseudo-seductive way as was her want. Actually, I hoped we might get to hear her call him just "Jan." I mean, everyone's always using his full name. And it'd be nice to see that she's now officially on a first name basis with him. I'll admit, I've always been a bit of a sap for their relationship. Cause they both loved and lost both spouse and child and you definitely know that Juli is Ziggy's type b/c, let's face it, both she and Sharon were smart scientist (well, Sharon was a doctor, but…) women with secret pain and issues and all that good stuff. Ah, well, at least he and Juli and Momo are all a happy little "family" at the end of the game complete with a dog. (Alby!)
Speaking of Alby, I wish we'd gotten to see him in action a tad bit more. IE, see him like attack poor Gainun or something.
We never got to see that chaos/Red Testament convo. I really wonder what they would have had to say to each other.
We never got a solid group Testament scene where they all interacted with each other. All jokes aside, I really do wonder what they do with themselves in their spare time. (Seriously, what was Voyager doing for the past 100 years?) I don’t suppose they’d ever have showed us a scene of them doing this, but even just another full council of Zarathustra scene would have been good so long as they all had at least one or two lines. I’d just have liked to have seen how they interacted with one another. And each of them with Wilhelm.
No solid solo chaos/Wilhelm scene aside from the ending of Episode II. Seriously, we needed at least one more good scene between just the two of them. (I really do want to know what they’re past/initial relationship was like.)
I missed the constant quoting and allusions that were used in the first game and had database entries. I guess this could be blamed on the lack of Albedo, as a lot of that stuff came from him (I still can’t get over the idea of Albedo listening to the Beatles)…
I am forever in mourning that we never got a Jin and Allen meeting scene. I did, however, enjoy the glimpses of their relationship we were given. Incidentally, I would have loved to know exactly what Ziggy thought of Allen, but I don’t suppose I ever will…
We never did find out exactly what Allen’s background was or why he doesn’t like to talk about. (Though I guess that bit about not liking to rely on his family’s wealth does suffice.)
I wish Wilhelm would have had a little one on one time with all of the playables (plus Allen). That is, I wish he’d at least have directed a comment at them specifically. It’d have been interesting. (Especially given Voyager’s comment about them all being Testament-able.)
We never got to see in-game chaos with wings. We know he’s got ‘em, so why can’t we see them?
No KOS-MOS wings either!
No full version of KOS-MOS v. U-DO. I guess that lame scene in Ep. II was it.
Tear that they only had 2 end o’ battle quotes. And no more unique ether quotes.
I wish we could have gotten one more U-DO out of Helmer. (Speaking of Helmer, how the hell is he still alive?)
