Episode 4 Story Discussion

[Golgotha]

You can see wall paintings of the tree in Adam's office.

[Zeroem]

I was busy with work and pretty much late to the bandwagon (almost a week is ancient by Internet standard, right?).

I must say, it ended with a happy, somber note. It's not really a bad thing, since -most- people who did bad things get their just desserts. Not to add the subtle callbacks to previous episodes.

Love how Mother's theme evolved to become almost similar to Shion's theme, but at the same time it is her own; compared to her initial theme which is just a distorted Shion's theme. Also for Aratron to stick with his words.

That scene with Enga, Och, and Phul are a definite doujin-bait. I guess we can expect EngaxOchxPhul doujins in future.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Quna's new song is really good, since it contain emotions on it, but still below Eien no Encore.

Gonna give a proper thoughts when I got back from work today.

[Renvalt]

lol i just noticed about Qliphad Weapon series.

Qliphad= Qliphoth, the Tree of Death.

Zephyros is obviously Sephiroth, the Tree of Life.

As Ardem said, the Phantom God that was supposed the Sephiroth in resetting the world and bringing new life, attained Ardem's long life suffering experience will end up being the Qliphoth who seek nothing but destruction of everything.

Come to think of it... given that we got a Persona 5 collab with this game, and given what I know of that game's plot/ending... you think that maybe them doing this was deliberate? Adding a fight with "God", I mean.

Especially since Persona 5 has you beating up another Abrahamic deity called Yaldabaoth who is also seen as "God" in some of those cultures, and how close HIS arena looks to the one that Zephyros has.

Also, about Zephyros being "Sephiroth"... I totally said that earlier, but not a one of you believed me. Why is it that when you guys say it, it's all cool and awesome, but when I say it it's basically treated as me just saying baseless bullshit? I mean, I don't WANT to pretend that you guys just hate any ideas/suggestions/theories that I come up with simply because I'm the one who came up with them... but when shit like this happens it's kinda hard for me not to.

PSO2 Earth God is definitely based on the abrahamic lore with Adam and Ives being a presence and Adam calling God his Father, while Mother....i'm guessing she's the Mother Goddess/Earth Mother equivelant?



The story of Earth for the player character has ended, but the threat remains. What's left is a colossal phenomenon that humans will have to overcome it with the aid of ARKS, with the Mother Clusters/Earth Guide probably work together trying to stop Esca Deus from materializing continuously. Even if this whole thing had nothing to do with the Oracle from another point of view, this shit wouldn't have started if Photoners get their shit together and not throwing dangerous stuff randomly into another dimension. The current Oracle, originated from their creators who started this mess have this sense of responsibility to deal with whatever their creators started.

I'm wondering what's the next horrifying Photoner trash we'd discover in the next Episode.

My wording on that comment (specifically, "tank the story harder") was more in line with how Episode 4's story made people quit, and turned loafhero into a constantly ranting pessimistic droll that gives off an aura that makes me more and more depressed every time he ends up being cynical.

I mean, he's not ENTIRELY wrong... but he DOES come off as a bit of a jaded asshole with regards to his critique. Granted, he's allowed that luxury (since denying him that would also mean I could be denied that luxury as well), but I'm wary is all. And if Episode 5 doesn't make him quit, I'll be genuinely surprised - because SEGA seems to come off like they can only continue to piss people off in regards to their mainline IPs (inb4 they become a second Aksys and are reduced to the feeble status of 'publisher').

Aww~ You noticed.

See, loaf, this shit right here is why nobody likes you. Or at least, why I don't.

But then again, you probably knew that and didn't give a shit either way.

[loafhero]

In a way, the ending isn't all that happy because Earth Guide, the group that was actively trying to save Earth from total control, was completely screwed over by their asshole leader and are left in eternal suffering as Phantom Angels until ARKS mercy kills them while Mother Cluster, the ones that tried to control Earth and actively did harm to cities, are rewarded with being able to continue functioning until Aratron dies from old age.

Honestly, I just don't see the point in Ardem turning his people into abominations for the sake of "evolution" if his end game was to make someone else do all the "evolution" work for him.

It's not really a bad thing, since -most- people who did bad things get their just desserts.

Except for Och who, more or less, committed terrorism with her Maxwells suicide bombing buildings in Vegas.... but that's okay because she's a cute anime girl with bright coloured hair so therefore, she deserves "redemption" and to be potentially shipped with a dude that tried to shoot her to death. Dirty old men not named Aratron? They either live long enough to be reincarnated as Drago Deadlion or becoming Phaleg's slave (which, depending on how you see it, might not be a terribly bad thing).

Hagito? Well, his Yamato almost levelled Tokyo and he did bitch slap Kohri... wait, what am I saying? The guy should be rewarded for all of that!

See, loaf, this shit right here is why nobody likes you. Or at least, why I don't.

Its, okay. The feeling is mutual

[Altiea]

Man, is everyone going to attack each other over this whole EP4 debacle? Seriously, we all know the story is pretty bad, but it's not worth fighting over.

Or maybe I personally just don't think it's worth fighting over. In that case, you can have at it, I guess.

[Vatallus]

Eh, we know the story sucked but I guess just let them do it.


I honestly just ignore the wall of text because most of the time it is misguided and wrong anyway.

[Renvalt]

Its, okay. The feeling is mutual

Even if you dislike me, I still think what you're saying is correct. Really, this whole Episode has a whole host of things I DIDN'T like about it - namely how they continue to trash the formula for fields while ignoring all prior content and never really streamlining it (which would make progression a lot smoother).

In a way, it kinda reminds me of Mabinogi in some regards - particularly the Shakespeare Generations (most notably the last one) and Saga II, both due to how "anime as fuck" they both were. Heck, I don't believe even THAT franchise ever truly escaped its anime tropefest bug, and that one used to be loved for having something of a good story (in addition to other things).

PSO2 is going down a similar path, so it makes me wonder if EP5 is when they finally get their shit together and revamp all the stuff from prior episodes, or if we're on board for one more Episode of drollish bullcrap.

P.S. If they truly are doing Medieval Fantasy next Episode, we'd best pray that it doesn't hit the level of Danmachi/Re:Zero/SAO bullshit - because at that point I'll just be playing for the sake of seeing what they add (and how low I sink) before I do end up quitting.

Man, is everyone going to attack each other over this whole EP4 debacle? Seriously, we all know the story is pretty bad, but it's not worth fighting over.

Or maybe I personally just don't think it's worth fighting over. In that case, you can have at it, I guess.

It's not the fact that the Episode is bad. It's just that the haters of it have just been permeating this aura of "PSO2 is doomed, it has fallen to the anime bug, yadda yadda yadda" and said aura's pessimistic vibe just brings everyone down - myself most of all, as I'm probably the most sensitive to it.

I just dislike the cynical way loafhero came about in addressing his issues with the story in this one (even though I'm most likely a hypocrite in saying this, because I both agree with what he said and believe I would've done something similar were this an Episode with a story that ground my gears - which EP4 didn't fully succeed at doing).

[Zeroem]

In a way, the ending isn't all that happy because Earth Guide, the group that was actively trying to save Earth from total control, was completely screwed over by their asshole leader and are left in eternal suffering as Phantom Angels until ARKS mercy kills them while Mother Cluster, the ones that tried to control Earth and actively did harm to cities, are rewarded with being able to continue functioning until Aratron dies from old age.

Honestly, I just don't see the point in Ardem turning his people into abominations for the sake of "evolution" if his end game was to make someone else do all the "evolution" work for him.

On the contrary, it is a happy ending. While Earth Guide shambles, Aratron did takeover Earth Guide's role and reforming Mother Cluster at the same time. Also, it should be clear that someone would do Ardem's work of giving Earth "Paradigm Shift". Isn't it aether's M.O since day one? Turning someone's imagination into reality?

If you imagine a god, then a god should appeared. Whether it was corrupted or not is another issue.

Except for Och who, more or less, committed terrorism with her Maxwells suicide bombing buildings in Vegas.... but that's okay because she's a cute anime girl with bright coloured hair so therefore, she deserves "redemption" and to be potentially shipped with a dude that tried to shoot her to death. Dirty old men not named Aratron? They either live long enough to be reincarnated as Drago Deadlion or becoming Phaleg's slave (which, depending on how you see it, might not be a terribly bad thing).

Hagito? Well, his Yamato almost levelled Tokyo and he did bitch slap Kohri... wait, what am I saying? The guy should be rewarded for all of that!

- Aratron is by far the only one from Mother Cluster that did not directly harm Earthlings. From the start, he's working for Earth's best interest. He stick with his ideals, and stick with it to the end. He even reform Mother Cluster and take over Earth Guide's role as his part to 'see Mother's action to the very end'.
- If.you pay attention, Hagito do a lot of charity after a sudden change of heart.(and the reason why Kohri need to re-do her financial report)
- No rebuttal to Och. she did went scott-free.

[Altiea]

Someone suggested on the es thread that they should get the es writers on the main game. Like, really, es actually cares about its characters and spends a good chunk of time giving them actual character development and stuff while interweaving an actually interesting plot into it. Hell, there's a Side Story mode dedicated to developing characters. Why can't we have that?

[yoshiblue]

Someone suggested on the es thread that they should get the es writers on the main game. Like, really, es actually cares about its characters and spends a good chunk of time giving them actual character development and stuff while interweaving an actually interesting plot into it. Hell, there's a Side Story mode dedicated to developing characters. Why can't we have that?

Es, from what little I know of it, seems more like a fun little side project and takes up fewer resources. I doubt there is a lot of pressure being pressed down on it. So I would guess they have a bit more freedom in what they want to do with it. Maybe less executive meddling too, or maybe since they only have chip creation to worry about, there are more people that can focus on the story in general.