EP4 Materials Collection Images (Art + Interview)

[Altiea]

Decided to just make a whole new thread instead of using the old EP4 story thread for this cause I'm probably going to be image dumping quite a bit. Could also use a translator for the interview that I'll post later on.

Weapons/Units

Ray Twin Machineguns (As the book reveals, Ray weapons are literally just upscale models of common gear; this is marked by their artwork, which identifies them as "Super Common Series")

Spoiler!

Valkyrie R25S (Note the usage of Gratuitous German, which cannot be seen on the weapon in-game)

Spoiler!

Quna's TMGs

Spoiler!

Gix Double Saber (The Gix series weapons are the most curious in the book; they're noted in the concept art as "Dark Hero Series" weapons, and every single Gix weapon is emblazoned with the words "Dark Weapon" and a unique phrase; for example, the Double Saber is marked with the words "BRUTAL TWO HEARTS", while the Bullet Bow has "THE LOOMING HOLLOW".)

Spoiler!

Jupiter Tullus

Spoiler!

Gix TMG/Quelle Windea

Spoiler!

Battle Rifle (The Battle Rifle is emblazoned with a number of stickers, which have print in text too small to read)

Spoiler!

Rear/Weila Board

Spoiler!

Badge Shop Units/Izane Units (The Badge Shop Units are emblazoned with the Sympathy logo seen on the Pet Sympathy Skill and on the Pets themselves, and have a matching color scheme with the Summoner outfit)

Spoiler!

Maron

Spoiler!

Rideroid

Spoiler!

Enemies

Empe Rappy

Spoiler!

Devil's Trailer (Trailer attack)

Spoiler!

Mothership (The thing from Riding Quest)

Spoiler!

Dullahan Rider

Spoiler!

Sir Ardem Sacred (All of his attacks are accompanied by glyphs, which have actual writing in them)

Spoiler!

Deus ESC-A Zephyros

Spoiler!

ESC-A Falz Mother/Mother

Spoiler!

[Kondibon]

"As the book reveals, Ray weapons are literally just upscale models of common gear"

Did people not know this? = w=

[sonisei]

oversized toy weapons

[Sirius-91]

"As the book reveals, Ray weapons are literally just upscale models of common gear"

Did people not know this? = w=

I guess not ._.

[Altiea]

I guess not ._.

Apparently, I didn't. Anyways...

Characters

Quna

Spoiler!

Kohri (Brainwashed)

Spoiler!

Hagito Phemut

Spoiler!

Matoi (EP4)

Spoiler!

Mother

Spoiler!

ETC.

Quna's Stage

Spoiler!

Cosmic twinkle star Setpieces

Spoiler!

Shampoo Style (PSNova)

Spoiler!

Bethor's Weapon

Spoiler!

Moon Base

Spoiler!

PSO2: The Animation Endslates

Spoiler!

[loafhero]

Ray weapons definitely look like toy guys.

[Golgotha]

You only get this feeling because of the orange trigger and contrast colors.
Ray critique always looks adorable in the light of people endlessly demanding "simple and futuristic looking" 1-6 star series to be perpetuated further.

[Tymek]

Did you find anything Story?

[Altiea]

Did you find anything Story?

There is an updated timeline that also puts the Earth AD timeline in parallel to the PSO2 timeline to give you an idea of the timeframes involved, but I haven't gotten around to taking pictures of it. I'm also kinda slacking off on the interview since Dragon, but from what I can tell, they talk about the anime and stuff.

[Altiea]

Hey look, story content! Time to use my MASTER GOOGLE-FU SKILLS to translate a bunch of stuff!

The Earth & The Moon

Spoiler!

ESC-A Towers

ESC-A Towers are large towers on Earth, seen in the Tokyo, Las Vegas, and London fields, whose purpose is to disperse Ether to sustain the Ether infrastructure. While ESC-A Towers are most prominently seen in major cities, ESC-A Towers were also built in local cities. As the result of rapid construction 12 years ago, many problems arose concerning land acquisition. One particular incident involved the collapse of a major department store, a tragedy which was the result of overzealous Mother Cluster members prioritizing the creation of the Ether infrastructure over the well-being of civilians. Mother and Aratron were injured as a result, and thus forbade Mother Cluster from the unnecessary destruction of property going forward; the truth of the incident was hidden from the public eye, but the victims were handsomely compensated. Mother Cluster even helped pay off Hitsugi and Enga's entrance into a private school.

Earth Guide

Earth Guide branches exist all over the globe, but are based in a basement far beneath the earth in Las Vegas. Access to the headquarters is enabled via multiple connecting elevators, although escape routes were designed in case of an emergency. When construction on the Ether infrastructure started 12 years ago, numerous paranormal phenomenon arose at roughly the same time that were difficult for the local police in each country to handle; Earth Guide was created as the solution. The Las Vegas headquarters constantly gathers and receives information all across the globe in real time, and when an outbreak occurs, a 24-hour quick response system is deployed.

Moon Base

With the Earth Guides opposing Mother Cluster on Earth, Mother Cluster sought refuge on the moon, where their moon base is located. It's explained in-game that the facilities on the Moon are designed to disperse Ether in a method similar to ESC-A Towers, but the actual number of facilities is sparse; this is because Mother's presence on the Moon constantly emits Ether, allowing them to disperse Ether across the moon without the use of ESC-A Towers. The method of Ether distribution is otherwise similar to how it is performed on Earth with ESC-A Towers. The core of the moon base is a large, glass-domed facility on the top floor of the central tower, and is home to various types of facilities, including research, residential, command and communication facilities. Ether technology based on that used by the Photoners also allows the moon base to sustain a gravitational force of 1G.

The Moon

The Moon is a copy of Xion and the shell that was given to her by the Photoners; as a result, the facility recreates that of the Oracle Mothership by using Ether, and displays similar properties and functions to that of the Mothership itself. However, unlike the Mothership, where Xion in its entirety was contained within its core, the Moon's core is one with Mother herself, as when Mother originally collided with the Earth in the distant past, fragments of the Earth combined with Mother's fractured form and came to form the nucleus of the Moon, and later the Moon itself. During the final fight with Deus Hunar, it is explained that some fragments of Mother also fused with the Earth during the impact, and it is speculated that this was the driving force for promoting the evolution of the human race.

Box 1: Train Ghidoran

The arena where Train Ghidoran is fought is based on Tokyo Station! This was designed to emphasize Train Ghidoran's immense size.

Box 3: Mother Cluster Central Tower

During the "Racing the Phantom Mother" Emergency Quest, the Mother Cluster Central Tower can be seen in the background. The domed top floor is the location of Mother's throne room, and is the setting for the scene where Hitsugi is kidnapped by Mother Cluster.

Box 4: Earth Guide Control Room

The control room is where the bulk of Earth Guide operations take place, and is kept watch by the careful eye of Ardem, who explained the Earth Guides to the player when they visited for the first time. Unlike the ARKS Ship, the control room could be replicated even with existing technology, but it's certainly impressive.

Box 5: Moon Core Gate

The gate preceding the Moon's core. Similar to Mother's costume color, the gate is similar in design to the Core Gate on the Oracle Mothership, except that the base color is light blue and it's trimmed with various fine decorations.

Box 6: Easter Island

Many were surprised when the Moai statues appeared after defeating Deus ESC-A in the "The Creator Phantom" Emergency Quest. The reason this happens is because Easter Island is (in the story, anyway) the remnant of the lost continent of Mu, which sank to the ocean floor. It can be said that this is where EP4 sets the stage on Earth.