LogFAQs > #962170425

It wouldn't be a Tales game if there weren't egregiously out-of-the-way sidequests, would it?

This feels like it should've been part of the main game more. Velvet says Laphicet is young enough to still believe in hope, but... hope springs eternal. There is ALWAYS hope. You just have to think positively but soundly. All Velvet can do is think negatively because of how much she's lost, and she says she doesn't want to sit around doing nothing, so exacting revenge is it (hmmm... did that bastard possibly even kill her parents? Can't say for certain, but it wouldn't surprise me if Velvet's dad thought Artorius was a dirtbag and, y'know... Artorius arranged an "unfortunate accident" to remove the obstruction to his marriage). Rokurou comments that Phi is the same way - he can't just sit there and let his friend die - and a light bulb goes off in Velvet's head. Nice.

While I'm here, I check out the unexplored places near Stonebury to see if either of them is that Davahl Forest the Code Red is in. One is, but the miasma won't let me get far so I can't do anything there now. Gotta wait for whatever plot excuse to come here. But it's kinda late in the game for "We interrupt this program..." episodes. Like the game should be a thrill ride by this point but it just isn't. Like when was the last time I had a fight with one of the main bad guys? Oscar in Vortigern? That was like 30 hours of playtime ago! Seriously, fuck equipment management - it hurts the storytelling because it takes so much time that it makes the game feel like it has pacing issues that it doesn't really have.

At Reneed, it's pouring rain, so I go inside to see if Videl's there. The receptionist says they're leaving to take him to a doctor. By picking up the sheep-whatever's egg for him, I triggered this (and probably the weather?). It's not like his 12th birthday has a fixed date, because coding+playtesting is too complex for a long game with lots of playtime-based deadlines and that would be bad with the equipment system anyway. Since there's no sign of Videl, I finally set upon the Wright path and chart a course to Taliesin.

On the way, Velvet has another nightmare, possibly induced by this ghastly fog, where she can taste and Seres is egging her on... and Velvet wakes up in rage. She regrets devouring Seres, even though she really had no choice given the circumstance. Still sour, Velvet tells Eleanor to not refer to Laphicet as her "little Malak" like she would a pet. Eleanor recognizes that verbiage was indicative that she'd forgotten that malaks weren't just tools. I would never refer to another person as "my little __" except for my sister, who's younger than me. With siblings, that kind of thing never goes away. Magilou also reminds Velvet (and us) about the 100-gald bet about Velvet breaking. I forgot what it was about exactly because it was a measly 100 gald and I was more fixated on that. Suddenly I get to Taliesin and all the fog has vanished. Benwick finds this odd, but the locals sure don't.

This place is epic, and I can see some of the Frank Lloyd Wright inspirations in its dwellings (for those unaware, I'm from Wisconsin, an hour away from where Wright's estate Taliesin is, so knowing the Wright Stuff is important here). The REALLY cool part is that it's built like a cliffside fortress. It feels like a castle meets a desert bazaar meets a cat breeder, since Rollo and every single cat that followed him through Xillia 2 seems to be here. Great place to get fit. Townspeople say there are no daemon attacks here in Eastgand... and it seems like everybody loves Artorius for "saving" them (when he sacrificed Laphi). If only they knew the truth! We seem to think that the therion is devouring malevolence and preventing it from spreading, but something tells me there's more than just that.

And then I get the PLOT TWIST: Niko is, in fact, alive, doing the same things she was three years before. She's waiting for Velvet to return... and Velvet can't process this while I am relishing. So my ridiculous theory about Eleanor being a brainwashed and mana-infused Niko is obviously wrong (that was an outlandish theory, but thought I'd throw it out there), but this isn't unsurprising. It felt like she was discarded without a second thought, which made me think there was something that would bring closure. I am eagerly anticipating the reunion! Like... how's Velvet going to explain where she was for over three years? Is she going to rat on Artorius? Will Niko believe her? Awesome to think about.

As for what the hell is happening... current theories are (it's probably not #3):
1. Velvet, as a therion, didn't actually devour the humans... but instead devoured their malevolence. She saved those people, and Artorius being the famewhore that he is, took credit for it.
2. There's a town in Vesperia called Yormgen that's, in fact, a distortion from many years past, that turns out to be nothing but an ages-old ruin when Yuri returns there. This would be that kind of thing, but caused by malevolence.
3. It's commentary on Flat Earthers thinking Australia is a mythological land and that "Australians" are really Brazilian actors. Apparently that is a thing, but *shrug*
4. Melchior's conjuring magic. Not sure WHY such a thing was needed, mind you, but...
5. Who's still reading this?

This one NPC says there's "no way" they'd move the capital to Eastgand, so I presume that yes, there is a way, and it's in Zestiria. He also says that if daemons were gone that the Abbey would be the one to fear. I like this guy. He did tell me that the exorcists only stop by on patrols, since their dedicated ones get sent elsewhere. Apparently they had to go clean up our mess in Hellawes. I also meet Niko's fiance, who references Xillia 2 with that absurd cat name. LOL.

The party correctly theorizes that Velvet used to be more positive, plain, and hardworking... and there are questions of whether she's actually lost anything. We'll see what going home does for her. On the way, I get a skit about Artorius putting Velvet at Titania to test therions' powers... but does he want to save this world or simply rule it? There's talk of flying temples... but I'd think the earthpulse point only just LOOKS like it since it's on a cliff. It's clearly the place where the game started, after all.

The enemies here are wimpy, so I finally change out Velvet's Cast Heels and their +2 BG... suddenly I'm not using Annihilating Crash every single battle. I immediately run into a Dire Foe after, and run like the wind once it's apparent that I'm not ready to fight it. I run into this skunk-like thing that's a Code Red that gives me all kinds of problems, but I kill it and still have enough Life Bottles to get through Morgana Woods... well didn't this game come out around the same time as Persona 5? They had no way to know we'd associate that name with cats, but for all I know the ones in Taliesin could hunt here.

I have a rematch with the Dire Foe, which I win, and then a rerematch not too long after where I wipe the floor with him. I think the realizations that 1) Rokurou actually isn't that great in battle and 2) that I can do massive damage by being ultra-aggressive with the Break Souls and weakness-exploiting attacks helped quite a bit. My first strategy in the second fight was to run in circles to distract it but that didn't quite work so well. That's what I often do for heavy-hitters. (I also wonder why the loot I find in chests is often way weaker than what I find in shops...)

At any rate, I've had enough, so I stop at a save point I find in the middle of the woods.