Episode 4 Story Discussion [Archive] - Page 5

loafhero

Aug 10, 2016, 09:54 PM

In other words, Earth Guides are in particularly useless against the Mother Cluster Apostles and needs ARKS(particularly the stronger ones such as ex council of six, P-chan and Matoi) involvement to stop them. I doubt they themselves could even handle Yamato lol. ARKS did it with only supply of 1 ARKS Ship and a couple of AIS beamraeps to finish it off.

Well, naturally. Earth's communication technology may be on par with Oracle but the rest of their technology is still low tech so you can't expect them to have something akin to an ARKS ship and AISs. Earth Guide also doesn't seem to have a super-intelligent being leading them like what Mother Cluster has so their Ether creations and agents aren't as powerful as the Apostles. Unlike Mother Cluster, Earth Guide doesn't resort to behind-the-scenes manipulation to slip their way into a position of power on Earth. Earth Guide seems to have willingly denied themselves of extra power because they respect humanity enough to not put themselves above them.

Its like Assassins Creed's Assassin vs Templar situation. The good guys (Assassins) are the low-tech, non-controlling group who resort to stealth tactics while being as ethical as possible to achieve their objective. The bad guys (Templars) have nearly complete control of the world, vast resources and connections, more firepower and numbers, and could care less about ethics. Both groups have existed since their planet's historical times.

Icis

Aug 10, 2016, 09:56 PM

Phaleg also has Weak Bullet resistance. That's not something every average enemy can just have.

Didn't the cutscenes say Phaleg was using something besides Aether to fight? Wouldn't that explain why her energy was red? Unless she's just changing her Aether's color since she's the Apostle of 火, I guess.

Or is she one of those "Witches" that Ardem mentioned?

loafhero

Aug 10, 2016, 10:42 PM

Phaleg also has Weak Bullet resistance. That's not something every average enemy can just have.

But its good that she has that resistance to make her more of a challenging fight.

Altiea

Aug 10, 2016, 10:59 PM

NephyrisX

Aug 10, 2016, 11:33 PM

Considering that her Apostle powers are red in colour, it is possible she's using Negative Photons to bolster her powers.

The resemblanceto Hunar's attacks also didn't go unnoticed.

loafhero

Aug 11, 2016, 12:12 AM

I've mentioned before that I want to challenge Phaleg at her full power, but then I realized that since it's Story Quest, they'll either super-nerf her damage resistance via power of plot, cripple her in some other fashion through power of plot, or off her in-story. Frankly, even at a fraction of her power she's a little tough to handle.

I see no reason to be skeptical about how the Story handles Phaleg being defeated by Playa-chan seeing as how previous Episodes have delivered when it comes to strong Story bosses being beaten through reasonable means such as Persona, Falz Hunar, Theodore, Falz Angel, Falz Dourumble, Matoi Viel, and Viel Hunar. Plus, Playa-chan has been acknowledged as a worthy adversary to Phaleg so it would seem believable for Playa-chan to be able to defeat Phaleg at full power. What would actually be total bullshit is if Hitsugi somehow manages to beat Phaleg despite being completely outmatched by her.

So far, the way the story hypes up Phaleg's power has been done well especially when compared to how Gettemhart was "hyped up" back in EP1. In EP1, you only have Gettemhart and other NPCs words telling you how dangerous he is yet you never really see any actual physical displays of his abilities in cutscenes. It doesn't help that the Gettemhart boss fight was laughably easy even if your lower levelled (not helped by the fact that you fight him with a group instead of a one-on-one as what EP1 implied would have been the case). While Gettemhart tried to be scary with his taunts and redundant speeches, Phaleg is more of an "action speaks louder than words" type of person which is SO much better.

Personally, I just hope we get to go one-on-one with her. Most of Playa-chan's Story related battles and accomplishments are done with a few companions at his/her side and rarely ever gets any decent one-on-one fights.

Altiea

Aug 11, 2016, 12:49 AM

It has to do with the player being a conduit for progressing the plot (again). They seem to run into this problem rather often; they only managed to break out of it with the whole Persona revelation, but then they went back to "you make the plot move for other characters" for EP4.

I mean, challenging Phaleg gameplay-wise. Her sky-high defense would make a full-blown fight a drag, and she hits hard enough that an extended duel might spell trouble for classes that don't have access to infinite and/or easy healing.

Icis

Aug 11, 2016, 01:42 AM

By the way, loafhero, I'm 95% sure Hitsugi wasn't shaken by how easily Phaleg could have killed her. It seemed to be because Phaleg asked if Hitsugi had the resolve to actually kill a person.

loafhero

Aug 11, 2016, 02:33 AM

By the way, loafhero, I'm 95% sure Hitsugi wasn't shaken by how easily Phaleg could have killed her. It seemed to be because Phaleg asked if Hitsugi had the resolve to actually kill a person.

Oh, okay.

yoshiblue

Aug 11, 2016, 04:33 AM

Dang, she super mario'ed the barrier. Not sure if i'm mad or impressed.

Zeroem

Aug 11, 2016, 07:16 AM

I guess I'll just add things that are not mentioned yet.

- Enga stick in the bridge as a liaison from Earth Guide, anti-Mother Cluster group. He's already on Mother's bad list from some time, and also thanked you for saving Hitsugi.

- Saga is being a troll by saying that you AND Saga is the founding member of Bouncer Class (IIRC, Katori lied to Hitsugi and Aru saying that you and her are the founding member of bouncer class)

- Quna apparently are not immune to deskwork, and something about perhaps Mai made her forget about her Zelsius self (story way to explaining why Zelsius Quna has different voice? I dunno)

- Io and Hitsugi discussing about honorifics they used on you. And yeah, senpai is also one of the choice you can take when Hitsugi asked what honorifics should she use to you.

- Aru asking about Xierra (or Sierra)'s job.

- Risa 'found' her kind inside Enga, based from the way Enga keeping distance from her and the feel of his hand. Risa's talking about being sniper, by the way.

- Enga already met Aika prior to their reunion inside ARKS ship. If I'm reading (and translating) it right, Enga already act as Aika's liaison on Earth. Also why Aika choose Seiga Academy for infiltration.

- Enga forbid Hitsugi to follow him to the conference with his superior because she is unrelated (Mother's target is Aru, Hitsugi is just extra), and Enga won't allow her to go with half-baked resolution.
"Why do you fight?"
Hitsugi's answer is.....because she wanted to know the truth. Enga attack her argument with questioning what she would do once she knew the truth. Hitsugi counter his argument with asking what he's fighting for. Enga refuse to tell her. After Aru stepped in to cool down the situation, Xierra (or Sierra) acted as a middleman and ask Enga. He wanted to protect someone, and will do anything. Hitsugi said she wanted to do it as well, but Enga reprimand her to think carefully.
"Do not agree with me because of your emotions. Just agreeing on words, on surface alone."
After that, Hitsugi left the bridge to cool off her head, Enga asked Aru to console her. Then Hitsugi talked about how he became that way after he lose his parents and he admitted that he's crossing the line with his words. But his reason to fight is always the same, to keep Hitsugi out from the fight.

- Enga watched Aru and Hitsugi from distance. He talked that he and Hitsugi survived from a horrible incident that cost them their parents' lives. He made promise to their parennts in their last moments to always protect Hitsugi. Shortly after that, he was contacted by the Earth Guides. It's also the reason why he enroll at Tensei high School.

- Matoi meet Hitsugi (yelling how idiot her brother is) and Aru(want to get bigger) in the shopping area by coincidence; just because because she was following a 'familiar photon' (most likely us in above, listening to Enga)

- Hitsugi wondered why she felt Matoi like someone where you could speak your mind easily, and Matoi told Hitsugi that Hitsugi reminded Matoi of her old self (prolly referring to that one story mission resolution from EP3), and told her that she should decide what she want to do, not what others want you to do.

- Yeah, both Aru and Matoi felt familiar with each other (Aru wondered if he met her before, and Matoi wondered why it felt nostalgic)

- Patty and Tea reported that the imposter ARKS is 'indistinguishable' from the real ARKS, almost like a perfect disguise.

Also, that story mission has a lot of info dump, geesus. Will add that later.

NephyrisX

Aug 11, 2016, 09:07 AM

- Patty and Tea reported that the imposter ARKS is 'indistinguishable' from the real ARKS, almost like a perfect disguise.

Both are equally hilariously eccentric, so that's no surprise.

loafhero

Aug 11, 2016, 10:39 AM

- Matoi told Hitsugi that Hitsugi reminded Matoi of her old self (prolly referring to that one from EP3), and told her that decide what you want to do, not what others want you to do.

Its more likely that Matoi is referring to her time as Claris Claes II, specifically that little crisis she had where she questioned herself over her true reasons for fighting. Matoi did regain her memories late in EP3 so it would make sense that she'd remember her time as Claris Claes II. Plus, Hitsugi's situation is pretty much the same; saying she has a good reason for fighting and sees no reason to think more on it but when pushed to a corner, suddenly realizes that her heart was never truly committed to that reason.

The only difference is that Hitsugi's natural teenager instinct to be rebellious and really whiny is clouding her thoughts while Matoi found her resolve much faster. Somewhat justified considering that Hitsugi lived a normal life while Matoi was born and bred to be the ultimate Darker killing machine.

Meteor Weapon

Aug 11, 2016, 11:09 AM

Patty and Tea reported that the imposter ARKS is 'indistinguishable' from the real ARKS, almost like a perfect disguise.

What? They can't even do a background check? ID number check to see if they are fake or something or...Mother already planned that way back?

AutumnChronicle

Aug 11, 2016, 11:25 AM

Matoi sounding softer can probably be justified by her having just awoken from cryosleep or something.

Also, inb4 battle with Phaleg/Ice Girl/Kohri/DF Aru/Mother becomes super anti-climatic and ends in another mindless EQ because most players have been stuck in endgame for too long.

If you're salty/bummed by Phaleg being obnoxious in this update, just wait till she starts getting melted by storms of 13*s in the rest of the game.

Poyonche

Aug 11, 2016, 04:45 PM

New stuff that Chikinface found while datamining. Potential spoilers about the upcoming enemies and the story.

PtmToyBoxMissile
enemy/en_ptm_toy_box_missile.ice
One of those darker toy box name in the data is toy_box_missile, pretty sure it is.

PtmBugLegion
enemy/en_ptm_ins_legion.ice
Damoth name in the data is ins_lgeion

PtmToyCrazyBear
enemy/en_ptm_toy_bear_a.ice
Bonta Bearadda is named toy_crazybear_a in the data

There is also ptm_ins_roach, Goldrahda is ins_roach.

And this one is pretty much a big spoiler :

[SPOILER]DPP1
enemy/en_dpp1.ice, dp is usually used for dark falzes
But it could be for a collab boss, just as Chikinface said, just like Odin is called DK in the data. Should keep in mind that we may get a PSU collab soon[/SPOILER-BOX]

Meteor Weapon

Aug 11, 2016, 04:57 PM

plz be Dark Falz Dios

Zeroem

Aug 11, 2016, 09:51 PM

What? They can't even do a background check? ID number check to see if they are fake or something or...Mother already planned that way back?

Actually, background check(perhaps) is the only way to spot these imposters. I forgot to mention this, but according to Patty and Tea, these imposter ARKS has the same photon structure as actual ARKS.

You can thank Mother for that.

loafhero

Aug 11, 2016, 10:39 PM

Zysets

Aug 11, 2016, 10:47 PM

Now that I think about it, how were Itsuki and Rina blocked from directly entering PSO2 at the end of the anime?... probably doesn't matter anyway since they've both regained direct entry again (as in, no longer just playing PSO2 from a screen).

Were they entirely blocked? Maybe I don't remember correctly, but I felt like it was just a "end of story" moment, as in their story was over. Aika did say they'd still be able to meet through PSO2 anyways.

Altiea

Aug 11, 2016, 10:51 PM

Their appearance in the game directly retraces their progression in the anime. It's probably not canon.

Zeroem

Aug 11, 2016, 10:52 PM

Even if they did a background check to determine who is and who isn't an Unregistered ARKS, it would probably be difficult to determine which among them specifically is affiliated with Mother Cluster. Best method would have to be to round up every Unregistered ARKS they can find and kick them out, assuming ARKS has a means of blocking them from accessing PSO2 afterwards similar to that code Olympia thing by Hagito that forced Hitsugi and Aru out of PSO2.

Now that I think about it, how were Itsuki and Rina blocked from directly entering PSO2 at the end of the anime?... probably doesn't matter anyway since they've both regained direct entry again (as in, no longer just playing PSO2 from a screen).

Story Board 43-C is where Hitsugi confirmed that the 4 Unregistered ARKS she was hiding from were members of her student council and each student council member is a Mother Cluster member. ARKS should probably start with them... or give an anonymous tip to Lisa.

I don't think rounding up all unregistered ARKS and banish them would work, since the only thing ARKS would banish are the avatars. As long as Mother exist, she can easily provide another avatar for the 'banned' players via 'free character slot' and 'real-money shop items'.

As for Rina and Itsuki's case........well, just a hypothesis, but it's possible that Mother banned their access via off-screen Code Olympia, and the one we met for limited time is both of them without any Level priviledges. After all, Itsuki and Rina managed to reach Level 2 without being a member of Mother Cluster. Just like Enga and Earth Guide members (though we might question whether the Earth Guide members can jump to Oracle or not).

Hitsugi is a different case, since she used to be a member of Mother Cluster organization, yet reached Level 2 thanks to her interaction with us back in 4-1.

Tymek

Aug 11, 2016, 10:53 PM

I like how one of the honorifics you could choose during the Honorifics Story Board cutscene was "King".
Were those datamined Story Board icons all that was found? Or was not everything posted?

Altiea

Aug 11, 2016, 10:54 PM

Itsuki and Rina are in a weird spot because they summoned their avatar forms on Earth, using photons, presumably, as opposed to using Ether or Ether constructs. Ether wasn't even a plot point in the anime; they only brought it up to tell you about the Ethernet.

Poyonche

Aug 12, 2016, 03:17 AM

Were those datamined Story Board icons all that was found? Or was not everything posted?

All that was found.

loafhero

Aug 12, 2016, 03:26 AM

Credits to Kazanboshi (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAx8N8-oeCkQzAZoW2Ll0-Q/videos), who has now translated some of the cutscenes of the current Story update, a better understanding of the current cutscenes themselves;

- While most of us already have a good idea about the scene of Enga's introduction at the Bridge area, Enga has one short line of him hitting on Xierra. This gives the impression that besides being a bit of a troll, he's also a bit of a womanizer.

- Katori was attempting to promote the Bouncer class to Hitsugi (who can't change classes) while offering an easy to use pair of Dual Blades. Katori resorts to bullshitting about how Playa-chan is a founder of the Bouncer class but Saga quickly dismisses it as a lie. A dialogue option of three choices arrives where you can a) Help Katori by supporting her bullshit, b) Tell the truth that Katori and Saga are the only founders, c) Troll Katori by saying only Playa-chan and Saga are the only founders. Regardless of choice, Hitsugi sees through Katori's exaggeration anyway.

- In the Quna cutscene, upon arrival, she jokingly brags about her popularity because Playa-chan came to see her personally. The dialogue choices are basically agreeing with her or dismissing the meeting as a coincidence. Funny enough, responding with the "That's exactly right" option is apparently a sarcastic response as Quna notes how annoyingly calm and half-hearted the response was. After changing to Zelsius mode, Quna talks about her position as Vice Commander of the Intelligence Unit. As it turns out, Quna's work as VC has been mostly paperwork with almost no field work at all. This could possibly be Casra's way of reducing Quna's use of her Mai Blades which are a danger to her health. Quna then goes on to say that when she first heard that Playa-chan was coming back, she was scared that Playa-chan would not remember her (her Mai Blades apparently have a side effect of making people forget about her) but feels relief because Playa-chan has not forgotten her. At the end, Quna says she's fine with her current status as she loves being an Idol more than anything... I can't help but feel that this might be raising death flags for Quna.

- In the Lisa cutscene, while Enga being weirded out by Lisa is obvious, the scene shows that Lisa is surprisingly good at making deductions. With only just shaking Enga's hands did Lisa correctly guess that Enga is a Sniper user based on how he tried to gain his distance from her and how the lack of movement of his hands suggested that he conjures weapons into his hands rather than keeping it holstered in plain sight. This is due to Lisa's naturally honed perception as a Ranger. At the end, Enga asks Playa-chan if weirdos in ARKS like Lisa are stronger.

mickbis

Aug 12, 2016, 03:43 AM

So according to Kazanboshi translation
Mother true goal is "revenge"
so that mean the theory how [Mother] is the failed Xion imitation create by Photoner is most likely to be true

edit : Now that I think about it Mother want Aru which is heavy imply to have connection with Darkness....

Icis

Aug 12, 2016, 07:07 AM

40050

That's pretty much all they gave us. I've thought it was weird from the moment I saw it. Part of me hopes that doesn't mean we won't get to see Itsuki in Ep4's story...maybe since a large part of it is on Earth, we will? But then again, we're outside of Japan now.

As for Rina and Itsuki's case........well, just a hypothesis, but it's possible that Mother banned their access via off-screen Code Olympia, and the one we met for limited time is both of them without any Level priviledges. After all, Itsuki and Rina managed to reach Level 2 without being a member of Mother Cluster. Just like Enga and Earth Guide members (though we might question whether the Earth Guide members can jump to Oracle or not).

That's a really interesting idea, and I guess the anime would omit that since Aether/Mother Cluster had nothing to do with the anime, but were Itsuki and Rina really Lv.2? They had nothing to do with Aether, just Photons, which is honestly really weird now that I think about it.

Zeroem

Aug 12, 2016, 07:23 AM

That's a really interesting idea, and I guess the anime would omit that since Aether/Mother Cluster had nothing to do with the anime, but were Itsuki and Rina really Lv.2? They had nothing to do with Aether, just Photons, which is honestly really weird now that I think about it.

Well, everyone who played PSO2 will have contact with Ether/Aether. If I read that picture from Earth Guide leader correctly, everyone on Earth have contact with Ether/Aether; especially since Earthlings already discover Ether/Aether 10+ years before anime timeline kicked in.

A classification of Level 2 (from Ardem) is that.....
- They already 'merged' with their avatars (in a sense) from PSO2
- They can 'jump' directly into Oracle
- They can materialize weapons with Ether/Aether.

With that classification; Itsuki and Rina are, indeed, Level 2. Or at least used to.

Meteor Weapon

Aug 12, 2016, 07:24 AM

Well....they did kinda excalbured the hell out of apprentice(oh god i still hate that scene)

Zeroem

Aug 12, 2016, 08:07 AM

Also, finally get most of the story mission dialogues (the 2 videos showed by Ardem are really hard to extract, since the word not popped up in the dialogue box). Anyway.......rough translations go!

- The new apostle lady, Phaleg, loves to fight. She have no interest toward Enga and Hitsugi, but we gained her attention (rule 63 Gettemhart everyone?)

- Phaleg praised our capability to fight back. Xierra commented that her strength is beyond human. Enga commented that both him and her are monsters, in a sense. Phaleg hated the remark and how we put barrier so that no one would witness what happened. She believed that people hate what they can't understand, and people should be proud of their power.

- After that, Phaleg fling Hitsugi after praised her reaction to her attack, and put the good 'ole "Come now, kill me. I won't resist" taunt to Hitsugi. As expected, she still haven't got the resolve to do whatever needed for her goal (which is, still to find out what happened). Enga (and us) butted in, and she lamented how overprotective he is. She commended us for being a good opponent, and tell us to not die until we fight her again.
Hitsugi remembered the word Phaleg said to her.
"The blade are not even trying to kill me."

- Earth Guide headquarters are located underground, beneath Las Vegas Casino.

- Explanation about Mother Cluster, PSO2, and Aether/Ether from Ardem:

Aether(or Ether)'s exposure to human made them capable to create avatars (a.k.a. fake ARKS) in Oracle via application named 'PSO2'.
The one who uploaded these avatars to Oracle are Mother a.k.a. the one who created 'PSO2' in the first place.
From these avatars, Mother gained the information about Oracle from the data players gained.
Between those who 'played' PSO2, sometimes there is someone who have higher Aether sensitivity than others.
These people are scouted by Mother and dubbed as 'Level 1'. All Level 1 scouted this way become members of Mother Cluster.
People who are Level 1 can 'synchronize' themselves with their avatars, make them capable to enter PSO2 (and subsequently, access Oracle) and 'wear' their avatar VR-style, instead of using third-party methods (PC or the NotVita)
With enough experience and interaction inside PSO2, Level 1 players can advance to Level 2, where they are fully merged with their avatars (in a sense, the player and the avatar are now a single entity), and can enter Oracle directly.
These Level 2 can utilize the Aether to materialize weapons.

- Aether(or Ether) is already used since ancient times, dubbed as 'magic'. It used to be a hush-hush, until 12 years ago. The year when Aether(or Ether) was discovered, ESCA become popular, and the birth of Mother Cluster.

- Earth Guide also already exist since ancient times, as old as Aether(or Ether)'s existence.

- Earth Guide are currently fighting a losing battle, and hoping to contact ARKS to help them restore Earth to the way it was.

- Apostle are not picked by random, Mother pick well-known people to increase Mother Cluster's influence on Earth.

I'm going to SS the two videos later to be deciphered.

KazukiQZ

Aug 12, 2016, 08:20 AM

^ What do u mean by 'both him and her are monsters, in a way'? The player and Phaleg?

Also, nice post owo)b

yoshiblue

Aug 12, 2016, 08:21 AM

So does that make Harry Potter canon? :wacko:

loafhero

Aug 12, 2016, 09:08 AM

Chances are, Hitsugi does what Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood did and say that it isn't that her unwillingness to kill is showing a lack of resolve but that her desire to seek the truth without resorting to murder IS her resolve.

I think I've already mentioned the similarities Phaleg shares with Gettemhart. The difference is that Phaleg cuts straight to the action, showing off her power with only short amounts of trash talk, while Gettemhart spent several chapters in EP1 going "Blah, blah, blah, I'm strong! Blah, Blah, Blah, weak is bad! Blah, blah, blah, fighting is fun! Blah, blah, blah, you're not ready yet! Blah, blah, blah, I'm an edgy asshole!" before we finally get to fight him only for the boss fight (not referring to Falz Hunar, btw) to be rather disappointing and yet EP1 had the gall to show that we didn't canonically beat Gettemhart who was still standing ready for another round.

I really do hope Hitsugi gets a new outfit that looks more appropriate for combat. Her current outfit looks too casual and civilian-like that it makes it awkward to watch her fight, just like PSU's Ethan Waber's outfit. Maybe as part of Hitsugi's growth in resolve, just as she conjures Ame no Habakiri (her Katana) with Ether, she conjures a brand new outfit for herself with Ether.

Zeroem

Aug 12, 2016, 09:20 AM

^ What do u mean by 'both him and her are monsters, in a way'? The player and Phaleg?

Enga's referring Phaleg and himself as monsters, in a sense.

So does that make Harry Potter canon? :wacko:

Well, the video played when Ardem explained about the origins of Earth Guide has the depictions of Moses, so.........
:wacko:

Also, a food of thought. Looking at the elements of Apostle presented to us (and how things proceed) so far kinda reminded me of the Five Elements philosophy. For reminder, Hagito is Apostle of Metal; Bethor is Apostle of Wood, and Phaleg is Apostle of Fire.

Wood feeds Fire
Fire creates Earth
Earth bears Metal
Metal enriches Water
Water nourishes Wood
also....
Wood parts Earth
Earth dams Water
Water extinguishes Fire
Fire melts Metal
Metal chops Wood

Well, Bethor (Wood) died from a rain of surgeon blades (Metal), then Phaleg (Fire) rises to the job.

.....Still too early to say, but could this be the way of things will proceed in the future?

Eternal255

Aug 12, 2016, 04:46 PM

can't help but feel that this might be raising death flags for Quna.

I don't think they're gonna kill off Quna. The PSO2 Deluxe DX Limited Edition Ep 4 game for PS4 (maybe pc & vita too) came with a Quna wall scroll. They clearly love the character haha

People who are Level 1 can 'synchronize' themselves with their avatars, make them capable to enter PSO2 (and subsequently, access Oracle) and 'wear' their avatar VR-style, instead of using third-party methods (PC or the NotVita)............Level 2, where they are fully merged with their avatars (in a sense, the player and the avatar are now a single entity), and can enter Oracle directly.

Whats the difference between "accessing Oracle" and "entering Oracle" ?

Zeroem

Aug 12, 2016, 06:47 PM

Whats the difference between "accessing Oracle" and "entering Oracle" ?

Maybe I use wrong wording for those, but to keep it simple....it's about how they enter Oracle.
- Accessing = the player not truly exist in Oracle, but their avatars did. When they enter Oracle, they occupy a blank body called their avatars (Hitsugi used to do this).

- Entering = since the player and avatar are now one and the same, they exist in both Oracle and Earth. When they enter Oracle, they just.......enter. No occupying avatars, and using their real appearance. (Like Hitsugi with her casual clothes that should not exist in PSO2 universe; and Enga with his Tensei uniform)

One major difference between Level 1 and Level 2 is how they see PSO2. Level 1 still see PSO2 as a game, then often acting within PSO2 boundaries and limitations. Level 2 aware that Oracle do exist, PSO2 is not a game, and has more liberties to act beyond the boundaries (added with Aether manipulation).

loafhero

Aug 12, 2016, 10:33 PM

Interesting thing about the Patty and Tia cutscene. Patty and Tia seem to have been talking about their encounter with Itsuki in the anime as they said that they had this meeting with a suspicious ARKS while Playa-chan was still in cold sleep, mentioning how said suspicious didn't even talk back and remained dumbfounded as Patty kept blabbering on. While this matches how the Patty and Tia anime scene happened, Tia retorts by pointing out how even regular ARKS like Playa-chan normally don't talk back when Patty talks because Patty talks too much.

They then reveal that as a result of the discovery of the Unregistered ARKS, ARKS has made sure that every new recruit undergoes a screening process to make sure their real or not. Tia says that while its true that Unregistered ARKS are indistinguishable from real ARKS, when directly confronted in a sudden manner (like what Patty did with the suspicious ARKS they mentioned) they do begin to show traits that expose their nature as Unregistered ARKS.

mickbis

Aug 13, 2016, 12:17 AM

I can imagine someone bought the game and then got ban immediately due to their origin as an Earthing lol

loafhero

Aug 13, 2016, 09:12 AM

Additional details regarding the Phaleg scene:

- Phaleg's arrival was completely of her own desire, meaning that she wasn't ordered by Mother. Her reason being that she was seeking a worthy opponent and that she came there having sensed the presence of a worthy opponent (Playa-chan).

- Despite being technically a Mother Cluster member, Phaleg does not care for Mother's plans nor does she care that Earth Guide opposes Mother Cluster. Both sides can wipe each other out for all she cares. Her only desire is to seek out strong opponents... so yes, I think its safe to say that she really is a female version of Gettemhart but more classy than edgy.

- This lack of loyalty to Mother and the lack of fear from being such a loose cannon suggests that Phaleg is so powerful that Mother cannot not hold power over Phaleg to control her nor is there anything Mother and Mother Cluster can do to punish Phaleg.

- Xierra's shocked reaction is more towards how Phaleg is strong enough to fight on par with Playa-chan which is a pretty nice way of establishing a proper power scale for Playa-chan in the grand scheme of the story.

- Xierra's analysis confirms that Phaleg isn't using Ether. Though, Xierra, Enga and Hitsugi doubt that she's even human, Phaleg assures them that she really is human and that her abilities have always been humanly possible.

Poyonche

Aug 13, 2016, 09:34 AM

PHALEG I LOVE YOU YOU'RE THE BEST !
Still it is interesting if she is on par with Playa-chan. I look forward "fighting" her again. Tho Kohri and Och might be center of the next story chapter.

Also, I just thought about something. In the story, Dark Falzes are usually born of negative emotions right ? ([Loser] and [Persona] for example)

Then if Aru turns into a Ether Dark Falz, I think we can assume that Hitsugi is going to get her ass kicked badly. :wacko:

However don't hope to fight "enemy/en_dpp1.ice" anytime soon, its .lua file is almost empty.

loafhero

Aug 13, 2016, 09:53 AM

In the 45° live broadcast, when Phaleg's character model appeared, the crowd was actually cheering. I guess Phaleg has become quite popular with JP players pretty quickly. Wouldn't be far fetched to think that Phaleg will be in Top 3 in the next popularity poll ranking for female characters.

Meteor Weapon

Aug 13, 2016, 10:22 AM

Gonna assume that EP4's EX story quest and final chapter takes place in Amduscia or something, with possibly PD buffing up Apprentice attempt to consume both Kamitsu/Kashina being there or why else Ult Amduscia popped out now after 2 year gap?

Poyonche

Aug 13, 2016, 10:37 AM

It could also relate about what is going on on Earth with the potential awakening of Ether Falz.

mickbis

Aug 13, 2016, 11:46 AM

The thing interest me is what connection Aru have with Matoi...
It heavily imply that he might be someone we know so well ... someone like Xion
or just a fragment of soul/photon that turn dark wandering around that place ( Ruin on Naberius )
until it found and possessed Hitsugi avatar resulted in "Aru"

[Mother] clearly a bring from Arks universe
She ask her cluster to gather info particularly on [Photoner]
The scene after the final battle in Tokyo also heavily imply that the shadow at the end is [Mother] who state her goal clearly that it for "Revenge"
so I think she is indeed the Photoner's "Xion imitation" that got thrown away

Tymek

Aug 13, 2016, 04:14 PM

Sirius-91

Aug 13, 2016, 07:02 PM

Zyrusticae

Aug 13, 2016, 07:53 PM

Phaleg wasn't using Ether?
Well well well, the plot thickens.
I guess she underwent Saitama Training, minus the balding? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

her hair could be a wig tho
I hope they have a good explanation for this. Is she using photons instead? Is ki/chi going to be a thing in PSO2? Or is it just some anime bullshit asspull with no explanation?

I can only wait and wonder.

Meteor Weapon

Aug 13, 2016, 09:40 PM

What people don't realize is that Xiera tells you right after you awake is that PD escaped.

Escape as in....PD got out of the time loop and went AWOL? I thought she only told us that ARKS is still at warring against PD.

Sirius-91

Aug 13, 2016, 11:37 PM

Escape as in....PD got out of the time loop and went AWOL? I thought she only told us that ARKS is still at warring against PD.
Yep, Escaped the loop and went AWOL. It's why our character went into shock about it and why Ulc went to help Xiao do simulations on how.

CrossOmega

Aug 14, 2016, 01:28 AM

- This lack of loyalty to Mother and the lack of fear from being such a loose cannon suggests that Phaleg is so powerful that Mother cannot not hold power over Phaleg to control her nor is there anything Mother and Mother Cluster can do to punish Phaleg.

So all in all, without Phaleg, Mother Cluster is seriously weak. And even with her, they cant control her.

Yep, Escaped the loop and went AWOL. It's why our character went into shock about it and why Ulc went to help Xiao do simulations on how.

At least we know why, PD is simply sick of getting beat up by ARKs.

mickbis

Aug 14, 2016, 01:58 AM

Yep, Escaped the loop and went AWOL. It's why our character went into shock about it and why Ulc went to help Xiao do simulations on how.

I really need to go back and check now....

edit

We shock because it been 2 year already since we sleep ( without our knowledge )
and Xierra said Arks still combat against PD during the time we sleep so we can rest assure

loafhero

Aug 14, 2016, 05:55 AM

So all in all, without Phaleg, Mother Cluster is seriously weak. And even with her, they cant control her.

I don't think Mother Cluster is necessarily dependent on Phaleg's power. They already control most of the world through its members who hold important and influential positions in the world along with having monopolised Ether which is the most important energy source on Earth.

But yes, they can't control her and the only reason they were able even able to get her on their side is probably because their wealth and influence is more convenient for Phaleg.

Speaking of positions, Phaleg's occupation hasn't been revealed yet. I'm sure they didn't need her for just her fighting prowess. Maybe she's the owner of the best casino in Las Vegas? She certainly looks the part of a classy gambler.

Tymek

Aug 17, 2016, 08:00 PM

So basically, Hitsugi turns out to be a crybaby incapable of performing even the simplest task, to noone's surprise.

loafhero

Aug 17, 2016, 08:21 PM

So basically, Hitsugi turns out to be a crybaby incapable of performing even the simplest task, to noone's surprise.

Well, its more like she's a normal girl with a mostly rational mindset suddenly realizing that trying to kill someone isn't a psychologically easy task. Not really sure where the story will go with this especially with how the Phaleg battle scene gets an immediate awkward mood shift in the cutscene that follows afterwards, completely ignoring HItsugi's personal crisis from before.

Enga notes that Hitsugi has a bad habit of confusing what is her "will" with what is convenient for her in the short term. Granted, that's a common habit for a lot of people who live comfortable lives/preferring their safe zones.

... she is boring as hell as though. Her character is clearly more suited to being in a supporting role as she is:

a) Very dull and unremarkable;
b) Very good at doing the "tsukkomi (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine)" role aka being really snarky.

Icis

Aug 18, 2016, 12:31 AM

I like Hitsugi more than Matoi. Matoi should have died.

Altiea

Aug 18, 2016, 12:54 AM

I like Hitsugi more than Matoi. Matoi should have died.

It would have been more impactful than what we got, but since saving Matoi is literally the entire focus of the plot (at least, it was at the end of EP3, anyway), it would probably have only made things that much worse for Player-chan. This is, of course, assuming that Matoi killed herself via suicide by cop and wasn't saved by Persona and didn't die in a way that sustained the time loop.

Traumin

Aug 18, 2016, 01:18 AM

I like Hitsugi more than Matoi. Matoi should have died.
You have no idea how much I agree with this. As much as I hate Hitsugi's highschool girl-ness, Matoi's entire existence infuriates me.

Zysets

Aug 18, 2016, 01:52 AM

I think I would of liked Matoi much more if they had involved her more throughout Episodes 1 and 2, and toned down the shyness, I get she's an amnesiac but come on she doesn't have to be so boring.

Altiea

Aug 18, 2016, 01:57 AM

Matoi Viel was cool, at least. AGRISSA AND PHANTASMA CAMOS WHEN SEGA

Sirius-91

Aug 18, 2016, 02:53 AM

Matoi Viel was cool, at least. AGRISSA AND PHANTASMA CAMOS WHEN SEGA
Mod site has them already, somewhat.

loafhero

Aug 18, 2016, 05:26 AM

I won't argue over who's better than who; Matoi or Hitsugi. Even though in terms of design, backstory, and relationship with Playa-chan, Matoi completely has Hitsugi beaten.

Regardless, I think most can't deny that Playa-chan's involvement with these two girls are vastly different in quality. While Playa-chan is a forgettable accessory to Hitsugi's character and the justification for Playa-chan's involvement with Hitsugi is almost non-existent, with Matoi, Playa-chan actually feels like a friggin main character.

Sure, the "protect the girl" premise is rather overdone but at least its executed better with Matoi than with Hitsugi.

It would have been more impactful than what we got, but since saving Matoi is literally the entire focus of the plot (at least, it was at the end of EP3, anyway), it would probably have only made things that much worse for Player-chan. This is, of course, assuming that Matoi killed herself via suicide by cop and wasn't saved by Persona and didn't die in a way that sustained the time loop.

I think the better way to describe the plot of EP1 to 3 is that its entire theme is to defy fate. That is pretty much Playa-chan's goal for all 3 Episodes. To undo horrible outcomes and change it to better outcomes for everyone. To that extent, saving Matoi from her fate is merely the plot staying consistent with its theme of defying fate. All the more fitting that Persona was the recurring antagonist of all 3 Episodes, being an adversary that attempts to force Playa-chan to accept fate no matter how horrible it is.

Its as Xion said, an unpredictable future is far more fun.

Golgotha

Aug 18, 2016, 08:12 AM

Phaleg escaped because Mother's tolerance for unregulated actions was about to run out, so she says.
Phaleg's occupation is apostle, a title given to seven exceptional mother cluster members. Her level, according to Sierra, is on par with MC (which is story wise strongest dude out there)

Apostles still have to follow Mother's orders, and so far the only "conventional" goal was to give warning to Arks. The following goal is "revenge".

Zyrusticae

Aug 18, 2016, 11:02 AM

I imagine the former council members are all roughly equal in strength to Playa-chan, so we could have a 7-way melee between the ARKS elite and Mother Cluster someday. That'd be fun, I think.

Chalun-k_x_light

Aug 18, 2016, 12:11 PM

So Player-chan has already met the eight apostle.And one of them has already been killed(Bethor) not by Player-chan but by a fellow apostle(Dr.DIO I already forgot his name).This just remind me of something,Starting from Ep.1 to Ep.4 Player-chan hasn't killed anyone yet.Elder just fleed after defeated.Loser escaped from Player-chan just to get killed by Regius.Double transferred their photon to Matoi to resurrect PD.Persona sacrificed him/herself to become PD instead of Matoi and just keep coming back all two years of Player-chan's absence.If you count Hadred in then that's one that killed by Player-chan.
So I've been thinking all this time.If Player-chan has defeated the apostles,will they get killed by Mother or Earth Guide?

Tymek

Aug 18, 2016, 02:57 PM

Matoi Viel was cool, at least. AGRISSA AND PHANTASMA CAMOS WHEN SEGA

Agrissa and Phantasma...?

Massaki

Aug 18, 2016, 03:17 PM

My guess is that those are the names of the two weapons that Matoi Viel wielded in that Story Quest boss fight.

loafhero

Aug 18, 2016, 08:31 PM

It is true that Playa-chan has never killed a Human/Newman/Dewman/CAST before. Hadred probably doesn't count due to him being technically a Dragonkin and it can be said that Quna was the one that dealt the final blow. Playa-chan might actually have a no-kill rule specifically towards Oracle races. Would be pretty cool if at some point in the story we get a decision moment where we can choose to either spare or kill a character. While "Kill or Spare" decision moments are very common in most video games nowadays, its never been done in PSO2.

I imagine the former council members are all roughly equal in strength to Playa-chan, so we could have a 7-way melee between the ARKS elite and Mother Cluster someday. That'd be fun, I think.

Assuming the other Apostles are more like Phaleg and less like Hagito and Bethor.

Altiea

Aug 18, 2016, 08:33 PM

My guess is that those are the names of the two weapons that Matoi Viel wielded in that Story Quest boss fight.

Yup. The names are only mentioned in the data and in the Materials Collection.

Tymek

Aug 18, 2016, 08:36 PM

Yup. The names are only mentioned in the data and in the Materials Collection.

I see.
What kind of weapons are they? I know one of them is a Rod, but...

Traumin

Aug 18, 2016, 08:37 PM

Yup. The names are only mentioned in the data and in the Materials Collection.
Modder here, can confirm this

Chalun-k_x_light

Aug 18, 2016, 08:39 PM

It is true that Playa-chan has never killed a Human/Newman/Dewman/CAST before. Hadred probably doesn't count due to him being technically a Dragonkin and it can be said that Quna was the one that dealt the final blow. Playa-chan might actually have a no-kill rule specifically towards Oracle races. Would be pretty cool if at some point in the story we get a decision moment where we can choose to either spare or kill a character. While "Kill or Spare" decision moments are very common in most video games nowadays, its never been done in PSO2.

Well,most of the choice we can choose so far(except final chapter from EP.3)they just change NPC'S dialogue depend on our choice.But it'll still on the main plot that lead to the same ending.

Altiea

Aug 18, 2016, 08:40 PM

I see.
What kind of weapons are they? I know one of them is a Rod, but...

Corrupted Rod: Agrissa
[SPOILER-BOX]http://i.imgur.com/GtJQNXR.jpg[/SPOILER-BOX]

Corrupted Wand: Phantasma
[SPOILER-BOX]http://i.imgur.com/MMPMhBG.jpg[/SPOILER-BOX]

EDIT: Concept art.

ratatosk

Aug 18, 2016, 10:38 PM

Does matoi not count because technically we did reluctantly kill her in a timeline split

Tymek

Aug 18, 2016, 10:44 PM

EDIT: Concept art.

Oh. Huh. I thought then Phantasma was Dual Blades, haha.
Interesting! Thank you all for the info!

loafhero

Aug 18, 2016, 10:47 PM

Does matoi not count because technically we did reluctantly kill her in a timeline split

I don't think alternate timelines count. The Playa-chan that the story follows is the one that saved Matoi and didn't become Persona.

Chalun-k_x_light

Aug 18, 2016, 10:48 PM

Does matoi not count because technically we did reluctantly kill her in a timeline split

If count on main timeline only the probably not,the timeline that persona kill Matoi is the looped one it just keep repeating until it comes to the current Player-chan's timeline.

Traumin

Aug 18, 2016, 10:49 PM

I don't think alternate timelines count. The Playa-chan that the story follows is the one that saved Matoi and didn't become Persona.
Precisely this. The alternate timeline is only to show us how Persona came to be- and what happens if we fail to save Matoi.

AutumnChronicle

Aug 18, 2016, 11:06 PM

The PC has enough blood on his/her hands, pretty sure we massacre way more random monsters than any other ARKS member. :/

ratatosk

Aug 18, 2016, 11:07 PM

We're quite the workaholic apparently

loafhero

Aug 18, 2016, 11:20 PM

The PC has enough blood on his/her hands, pretty sure we massacre way more random monsters than any other ARKS member. :/

Yeah, but its easy to disconnect yourself with random monsters and not feel a thing when killing them. The Dragonkin are intelligent but the ones we kill are apparently either corrupted by Darkers beyond saving or are part of the asshole clans who refuse to make peace with ARKS. Its probably an entirely different dilemma for Playa-chan if faced with killing a Human/Newman/Dewman/CAST.

We're quite the workaholic apparently

Kinda makes sense for that to be an established trait of Playa-chan considering how normally addictive PSO2 is.

From NPC perspective, Playa-chan is a severe workaholic. From our perspective... we really need to get outside more.

Another characteristic associated with Playa-chan in EP4 (again, based on Kazanboshi's translation), from Io and Quna's words, Playa-chan has a tendency of getting involved in weird problems yet always managing to solve them. That and they say that Playa-chan has a bad habit of doing everything themselves and not often seeking help from their fellow ARKS (considering how useless most Partners are in combat, its justified). Also, Playa-chan canonically does attend Quna concerts... occasionally but never has a solid opinion on Quna's performance much to Quna's annoyance.

AutumnChronicle

Aug 18, 2016, 11:35 PM

Yeah, but its easy to disconnect yourself with random monsters and not feel a thing when killing them. The Dragonkin are intelligent but the ones we kill are apparently either corrupted by Darkers beyond saving or are part of the asshole clans who refuse to make peace with ARKS. Its probably an entirely different dilemma for Playa-chan if faced with killing a Human/Newman/Dewman/CAST.

ALL LIFE IS EQUAL Who's to say we didn't kill anyone when all of Oracle was witch-hunting us on the Mothership during EP2? ;)

Chalun-k_x_light

Aug 18, 2016, 11:38 PM

ALL LIFE IS EQUAL Who's to say we didn't kill anyone when all of Oracle was witch-hunting us on the Mothership during EP2? ;)

Story-wise,Player-chan just knock them out by his/her bare hands.

loafhero

Aug 18, 2016, 11:46 PM

Story-wise,Player-chan just knock them out by his/her bare hands.

Pretty much confirmed since all Avis ARKS we beat were teleported away upon defeat which is the animation played to confirm that it was non-lethal. Similar to when Persona (in Playa-chan's form) non-lethally subdued the Apprentice-controlled ARKS with the Stun Concido Sword PA, the teleport animation triggered.

With Nab Rappies and normal Rappies, their "death" animation has them burying away to safety or just running away far enough to disappear into thin air so we can definitely feel safe knowing that we have no Rappy blood on our hands.

... then again, I just recalled that we definitely killed the Claris Claes III clones. Not only did no teleport animation trigger when we killed them, Matoi's cut-in dialogue during this gameplay section has her expressing shock and horror at Playa-chan for killing them before her next cut-in dialogue has her reluctantly accept that its a kill or be killed situation and she proceeds to assist in killing some of the clones too but with obvious guilt. The clones were rather zombie-like (completely emotionless and speechless), though. You could argue that Playa-chan just saw this as an opportunity for payback at Claris Claes III for being such a brat in the past Episodes without any serious consequences. I certainly thought that the clone fight was extremely cathartic :D

Altiea

Aug 19, 2016, 12:11 AM

Clones are disposable apparently?

If you want to get super technical, you could say that Player-chan killed by proxy, since Persona is the player (although that's just an absurd stretch).

Zysets

Aug 19, 2016, 12:17 AM

Clones are disposable apparently?

If you want to get super technical, you could say that Player-chan killed by proxy, since Persona is the player (although that's just an absurd stretch).

That works depending on what you mean by "Did Player-chan kill anybody?". Are we talking strictly by events that we as players of the game are involved in, or our characters themselves?

Chalun-k_x_light

Aug 19, 2016, 12:39 AM

Pretty much confirmed since all Avis ARKS we beat were teleported away upon defeat which is the animation played to confirm that it was non-lethal. Similar to when Persona (in Playa-chan's form) non-lethally subdued the Apprentice-controlled ARKS with the Stun Concido Sword PA, the teleport animation triggered.

With Nab Rappies and normal Rappies, their "death" animation has them burying away to safety or just running away far enough to disappear into thin air so we can definitely feel safe knowing that we have no Rappy blood on our hands.

... then again, I just recalled that we definitely killed the Claris Claes III clones. Not only did no teleport animation trigger when we killed them, Matoi's cut-in dialogue during this gameplay section has her expressing shock and horror at Playa-chan for killing them before her next cut-in dialogue has her reluctantly accept that its a kill or be killed situation and she proceeds to assist in killing some of the clones too but with obvious guilt. The clones were rather zombie-like (completely emotionless and speechless), though. You could argue that Playa-chan just saw this as an opportunity for payback at Claris Claes III for being such a brat in the past Episodes without any serious consequences. I certainly thought that the clone fight was extremely cathartic :D

Now that you mentioned it.I totally forgot about those clones.Maybe because in my perspective,they are not human but a doll that don't have ability to think by themselves.

AnikaSteinberg

Aug 19, 2016, 12:46 AM

Golgotha

Aug 19, 2016, 03:16 AM

Earth Guide = Illuminati confirmed.

Joking aside, from what I have seen in the latest developments in the story so far, I'm not inclined to totally believe that Earth Guide is a completely benevolent organization. There's... just something behind that feels fishy, at least from my perspective. The arrival of Mother Cluster 12 years ago seems to have been more than just a moral threat to them, based on how they introduced it (them?) as some evil Neo Illuminati having the entire world at its grasp (all the while trying to request for ARKS help). Ardem's super honorable aura doesn't help at all either, and kinda fuels my paranoia for their organization all the more.

Then again, I suppose they did accomplish many great feats in service to humanity over the course of centuries using Ether, so maybe I'm just thinking too much.

The main problem with acclaim of their service is that most of the common people never get to see phantoms. Earth Guide form of benefit to its members is some form of a title system, so I guess they're more like Tampliers than Illuminati. I didn't get what specific goal of Mother was there, EG just claims that they want total world domination. And since Mother already strictly controls ether infrastructure, you're inclined to believe at this point that they're victims.
12 year ago wasn't just a moral threat, they're being beaten on all fronts since Esca emerged – lots of talented ether users started to pop up (Enga claims to be one of them), and due to cluster system, most of them can train their abilities inside PSO2. Mother completely tramples EG, that's why they beg you for help.

So I've been thinking all this time.If Player-chan has defeated the apostles,will they get killed by Mother or Earth Guide?

They're probably get "killed" by an upcoming disaster that ought to happen with Ether or network exploiting it. Maybe a few characters turn coats before that happens and stay as an ally in EG.
And then the remaining villains get stuck being perpetual bosses in day to day content.

PS:
Well, there is also the fact that 7 apostle positions are fixed and issued to exceptional ether users. So with Bethor being dead (IF he is dead enough) someone else will take his place, and its the same for other seats. I'm ready to hear Koori call herself Bethor or something.

Poyonche

Aug 19, 2016, 04:00 AM

I'm ready to hear Koori call herself Bethor or something.

"I am the famous movie realisator, Kohritor Zelazny, AAAAND Mother Cluster apostle of wood ! *not swaggy swag pose*"

loafhero

Aug 19, 2016, 05:20 AM

Now that you mentioned it.I totally forgot about those clones.Maybe because in my perspective,they are not human but a doll that don't have ability to think by themselves.

That's actually pretty accurate. The clones really are more like dolls than humans because of how mindless they are.

"I am the famous movie realisator, Kohritor Zelazny, AAAAND Mother Cluster apostle of wood ! *not swaggy swag pose*"

You know, I just realize that Bethor is quite similar to Michael Bay. Its confirmed that Bethor's success as a director is solely because of his focus on special effects and nothing else.

Like Michael Bay; a hard-on for explosions, their movies revolve around transforming vehicles, their movies probably don't get favourable reviews but make a shit ton of money anyway, a very questionable personality, and the main heroine of his film doesn't like him at all. I wouldn't be surprised if Michael Bay really was the inspiration for Bethor's character.

Altiea

Aug 19, 2016, 10:50 AM

You know, Hagito never actually got finished off. He kinda just summoned Yamato and called it a day.

Chalun-k_x_light

Aug 19, 2016, 11:02 AM

You know, Hagito never actually got finished off. He kinda just summoned Yamato and called it a day.
And after that he never show himself to Player-chan until now.Worse case is that he already got killed by Dr.DIO like Bethor.If i recall,Dr. said that Hagito summoning Yamato is too much.

loafhero

Aug 19, 2016, 10:31 PM

Tymek

Aug 19, 2016, 10:35 PM

Hagito most likely got killed off-screen. Not only did Ophiel, in a phone call, complained about how difficult it would be to cover up a Phantom Battleship but in the 2nd phase of the Yamato fight, the Yamato was said to have gone out of control and was heading towards the city to destroy it.

Considering that Bethor was killed off for making too much of a scene and failing to defeat ARKS, its likely that Hagito faced the same punishment. Then again, Hagito's company is rather crucial in creating the super convenient apps that made it easy for Mother Cluster to secretly control Earth. Assuming that they actually need Hagito alive to run his YMT company, Hagito might not have been killed off.

Ah, he was speaking with Ophiel? I must've overlooked that, haha. Really, Ophiel seems to be the "leader" of The Apostles.
And huh, you're right! I didn't even think of it like that. I really hope to see more of Hagito though, since an off-screen death would just be lazy. (even though it's very possible based on what you've mentioned)

Tymek

Aug 19, 2016, 11:18 PM

After watching some of the translated cutscenes from Kazanboshi, it's 100% confirmed that Hagito is the total coward we see him as, that would rather let pawns take care of his job.
When the Campship containing Playa-chan arrived, he remarked on how he "wasn't supposed to fight" and that he was just there to "retrieve the kid".

Also, Mother Cluster members seem to be using Automatic Translators of sorts.
Bethor uses one, at least.

loafhero

Aug 20, 2016, 03:02 AM

Also, Mother Cluster members seem to be using Automatic Translators of sorts.
Bethor uses one, at least.

Apparently, the automatic translator he had allowed him to both understand and speak Japanese. What I don't understand is how the other non-Japanese Apostles, assuming their using translators too, are able to speak fluent Japanese while Bethor sounds so heavily foreign.

Zeroem

Aug 20, 2016, 11:05 AM

Considering that Bethor was killed off for making too much of a scene and failing to defeat ARKS, its likely that Hagito faced the same punishment. Then again, Hagito's company is rather crucial in creating the super convenient apps that made it easy for Mother Cluster to secretly control Earth. Assuming that they actually need Hagito alive to run his YMT company, Hagito might not have been killed off.

I.........don't think Hagito is offed just yet. On the scale of mass-mayhem, he did less than Bethor (that guy caused explosion and wrecking places), and while the Emerald Tablet did intended to wreck Tokyo, we stopped him. While Bethor just going ballistic with his powers.

..........I just got this feeling that Hagito will come out again.

ratatosk

Aug 20, 2016, 11:07 AM

Apparently, the automatic translator he had allowed him to both understand and speak Japanese. What I don't understand is how the other non-Japanese Apostles, assuming their using translators too, are able to speak fluent Japanese while Bethor sounds so heavily foreign.

Maybe they learned in their spare time? Plus i dont think they are as eccentric and expressive as Bethor is which could give the illusion of it being fluent

loafhero

Aug 21, 2016, 07:13 AM

I just feel that the writers are completely capable of doing something as lazy and anti-climactic as off-screen deaths. One example being Ulc in EP1. Of course, she turned out to be alive in EP2 (thanks to Playa-chan's upgraded time-travelling power) but that still doesn't change the fact that most who have played through EP1' story first would easily forget or not notice at all that Ulc died because of how little attention was given to that little info at the time.

I.........don't think Hagito is offed just yet. On the scale of mass-mayhem, he did less than Bethor (that guy caused explosion and wrecking places), and while the Emerald Tablet did intended to wreck Tokyo, we stopped him. While Bethor just going ballistic with his powers.

If its just a matter of hard-to-cover collateral damage and failure to achieve their objective, then while its true that Hagito didn't do as much collateral damage as Bethor I don't see how that would stop Mother from terminating Hagito. If Mother already goes so far as to order the murder of an Apostle, then that already suggests that Mother is ruthless enough to kill off another Apostle for making the same mistake even if its on a lesser scale.

Take into consideration that Hagito's extreme actions exposed more of Mother Cluster's presence to ARKS and the failure to retrieve Hitsugi and Aru gave ARKS some valuable intel on Mother Cluster.

By the way, just something I wanted to point out to everyone here. On the day Hitsugi lost her parents (or probably on the day of the funeral) was the day Hitsugi heard Mother's voice and was invited into Mother Cluster... pretty convenient timing there, eh?

gabor100

Aug 23, 2016, 02:38 PM

Why aren't we seeing Kohri? Nobody miss her?

Stormwalker

Aug 23, 2016, 03:08 PM

Why aren't we seeing Kohri? Nobody miss her?

Because SEGA seems to want to leave the player hanging in every possible way. It's the same reason they didn't actually tell us where Matoi was until Chapter 3 (when the player character should have been told this right away), and the same reason they teased us with a Matoi/Hitsugi/Aru cutscene but still haven't actually had the player character and Matoi meet again.

This kind of garbage is half the reason I hate Episode 4. The player being treated as a walking plot device rather than an actual character in the story is the other half.

Well, reserve a small space in there for exceptionally lame villains (Bethor was worse than Hagito, which I didn't think was possible, and don't get me started on Xellos-tan), and for the constant reminder of the fact that this is a video game ("Player-chan" being the latest offender in this department) leaving the fourth wall in rubble.

Zysets

Aug 23, 2016, 03:13 PM

("Player-chan" being the latest offender in this department) leaving the fourth wall in rubble. I was pretty sure that's just a generic name people use for the player character, in game the character is real person and not being controlled by anyone, the whole point of Ep4 is that "PSO2" in their universe is NOT a video game. The songs in the Earth free fields even directly reference that with all the talk about "Fantasy and Reality", because their "Fantasy" turned out to be real the whole time, and is now affecting Earth.

And they haven't really brought up the "game" thing all that much recently, it was really just a set up for what was to come.

Stormwalker

Aug 23, 2016, 03:21 PM

I was pretty sure that's just a generic name people use for the player character, in game the character is real person and not being controlled by anyone, the whole point of Ep4 is that "PSO2" in their universe is NOT a video game. The songs in the Earth free fields even directly reference that with all the talk about "Fantasy and Reality", because their "Fantasy" turned out to be real the whole time, and is now affecting Earth.

And they haven't really brought up the "game" thing all that much recently, it was really just a set up for what was to come.

"Player-chan" is Bethor's pet name for the player character.

And what I meant about the video game thing is that the underlying theme and all the ways it is referenced indirectly reminds the player that this is all a game, even though in-story for ARKS it is not, and thus rips massive chunks out of the fourth wall.

The extremely fake look and feel of Tokyo, especially by day, and doubly especially with the intentionally glitchy sound of the Tokyo day music, reinforces this.

Some players probably tune all that out. I can't. It drives me insane.

Zysets

Aug 23, 2016, 03:26 PM

"Player-chan" is Bethor's pet name for the player character.

Ah I must have missed that then, that's actually kind of funny in a dumb way.

Stormwalker

Aug 23, 2016, 03:32 PM

Ah I must have missed that then, that's actually kind of funny in a dumb way.

I'm glad someone is amused by it. It really grated on me.

The only good thing about that whole story quest was that Alessandra's neutral expression has a slight smirk to it, and with the look the player character gives Bethor during those cutscenes, it really gave her a "Can we just skip to the fight? You're boring me," vibe through his whole rambling bit.

I really wanted to kill him, though.

Zysets

Aug 23, 2016, 03:43 PM

I'm glad someone is amused by it. It really grated on me.

The only good thing about that whole story quest was that Alessandra's neutral expression has a slight smirk to it, and with the look the player character gives Bethor during those cutscenes, it really gave her a "Can we just skip to the fight? You're boring me," vibe through his whole rambling bit.

I really wanted to kill him, though.
I wouldn't doubt that they wanted you to hate Bethor and find him obnoxious, because I really hated him too, he got my nerves in just the right way to make beating him somewhat enjoyable.

Sirius-91

Aug 23, 2016, 04:05 PM

Because SEGA seems to want to leave the player hanging in every possible way. It's the same reason they didn't actually tell us where Matoi was until Chapter 3 (when the player character should have been told this right away), and the same reason they teased us with a Matoi/Hitsugi/Aru cutscene but still haven't actually had the player character and Matoi meet again.

This kind of garbage is half the reason I hate Episode 4. The player being treated as a walking plot device rather than an actual character in the story is the other half.

Well, reserve a small space in there for exceptionally lame villains (Bethor was worse than Hagito, which I didn't think was possible, and don't get me started on Xellos-tan), and for the constant reminder of the fact that this is a video game ("Player-chan" being the latest offender in this department) leaving the fourth wall in rubble.

Being called Player-chan is a reference in many levels, a joke on the nature of the player character, a reference to the fact Bethor sees us as pawns to a greater scheme in all things Mother Cluster, and finally, a reference to our world being treated as a game to majority of the earthlings.

The fact we're on Earth and started with Tokyo, the direction of EP4 is based of your typical Evil Organization sending its goons to handle the dirty work, with us killing/defeating them in the end. We're pretty much playing a tokusatsu plot (monster of the week shenanigans, reusing same familiar places of interest over and over again). The entire Seiga line of weapons have puns in their description about this as well.

This entire Episode so far has been comical, both story development and its nature in general, but also very predicable.

Stormwalker

Aug 23, 2016, 05:07 PM

Being called Player-chan is a reference in many levels, a joke on the nature of the player character, a reference to the fact Bethor sees us as pawns to a greater scheme in all things Mother Cluster, and finally, a reference to our world being treated as a game to majority of the earthlings.

I'm aware.

When taken on its own, it would merely annoy me because of the condescension involved - but that's to be expected of someone like Bethor. He's a crappy villain, even by villain-of-the-week standards (I was just telling one of my friends last night that I will never denigrate the villains of Sailor Moon again, because the PSO2 Ep. 4 villains are far worse), but a lame minor villain by himself is a forgettable flaw.

However, there are many aspects of Episode 4 and the Tokyo field which feel less-than-real. And others which are very gimmicky.

Fake-looking blue-tinged enemies
Music which calls attention to itself by being intentionally glitchy, leading to the subconscious sense that the game is breaking down
gimmicky mechanics like speed rings and time capsules
A plot that sometimes fails at plausibility.
Continual references to online gaming, doubly so when the name of yhe game is the same as the name of the game I am playing...

...and then you add "Player-chan" to that...

...it is a pile of straws that ultimately breaks the back of verisimilitude.

And once verisimilitude goes, the story rapidly starts to lose any meaning at all.

Zysets

Aug 23, 2016, 05:52 PM

The fact we're on Earth and started with Tokyo, the direction of EP4 is based of your typical Evil Organization sending its goons to handle the dirty work, with us killing/defeating them in the end. We're pretty much playing a tokusatsu plot (monster of the week shenanigans, reusing same familiar places of interest over and over again).
Now that you mention it, you're right about the whole tokusatsu set up, and personally, I kind of like to think of it that way. It's what I expected of the PSO2 anime around the time he first transformed, I figured Itsuki would have been like a transforming tokusatsu hero for the rest of the show.

That actually brings a new view for me on Episode 4, and I kind of like it.

Stormwalker

Aug 23, 2016, 05:55 PM

I wouldn't doubt that they wanted you to hate Bethor and find him obnoxious, because I really hated him too, he got my nerves in just the right way to make beating him somewhat enjoyable.

I didn't get any enjoyment out of it. The fight was unsatifying, and being robbed of the privilege of ridding the world of him only made it more so.

Also, I don't really get anything out of hating a villain for being annoying. I'd much rather hate a villain for being implacable, or diabolical. I... never perceived Bethor as a threat.

Altiea

Aug 23, 2016, 06:05 PM

I liked fighting Bethor, from a gameplay standpoint. It wasn't the most engaging fight, but it was actually a boss fight. The way it was themed around him felt pretty nice.

Kondibon

Aug 23, 2016, 06:13 PM

I... never perceived Bethor as a threat.Based on the direction the story went, you weren't supposed to. Same with Hagito. I definitely preferred Hagito being an ineffectual idiot putting on an act of being in control compared to... whatever Bethor was doing.

loafhero

Aug 23, 2016, 10:12 PM

Can't we all at least agree that Phaleg is a huge improvement when it comes to EP4's Mother Cluster bosses? Phaleg isn't as gimmicky as Hagito and Bethor was. She cuts straight through the bullshit and actually fights you directly with some badass-looking movements. She actually feels like a proper boss.

That she treats Hitsugi and Enga, and Mother Cluster to an extent, like a joke while acknowledging Player-chan (I'm the one who started the trend of using that name after hearing Bethor using it in the Story) as a worthy opponent made me a fan of hers.

Its like the story directors are aware of how much of a joke Mother Cluster has been so far so they created a villain whose entire character is a complete mockery of Mother Cluster, from Phaleg's IDGAF attitude towards Mother Cluster, to her powers being unrelated to Ether, to the point that she doesn't even wear their uniforms opting to wear a full black attire (the exact opposite color of Mother Cluster).

Why aren't we seeing Kohri? Nobody miss her?

I certainly don't care about Kohri. Her voice is very grating. Watching the clip of Hagito slapping her and watching it repeatedly was extremely cathartic for me.

Meteor Weapon

Aug 23, 2016, 10:43 PM

Considering the explaination about Earth Guides how they themselves existed since ancient times, Phaleg might probably be a witch of the old era before the whole ether thing and mother cluster even started, and she just joined in for lulz, DGAF whatever they're doing and just observe. She might be an ally or an enemy, but who knows. Someone did say that she isn't even using ether, so....might be the rarely used term known as magic?

Chalun-k_x_light

Aug 23, 2016, 11:09 PM

Why aren't we seeing Kohri? Nobody miss her?

Really no,her personality is quite annoying me.Seeing all that Hagito's doing and she still believe in Mother Cluster is a little bit annoying.
Beside,the hood one that appeared with Dr.DIO(Ophiel) before Dr. killed Bethor is probably Kohri.(Well,Judging from her hairstyle and past event of course)

yoshiblue

Aug 23, 2016, 11:13 PM

Kondibon

Aug 23, 2016, 11:54 PM

Can't we all at least agree that Phaleg is a huge improvement when it comes to EP4's Mother Cluster bosses? Phaleg isn't as gimmicky as Hagito and Bethor was. She cuts straight through the bullshit and actually fights you directly with some badass-looking movements. She actually feels like a proper boss.

That she treats Hitsugi and Enga, and Mother Cluster to an extent, like a joke while acknowledging Player-chan (I'm the one who started the trend of using that name after hearing Bethor using it in the Story) as a worthy opponent made me a fan of hers.

Its like the story directors are aware of how much of a joke Mother Cluster has been so far so they created a villain whose entire character is a complete mockery of Mother Cluster, from Phaleg's IDGAF attitude towards Mother Cluster, to her powers being unrelated to Ether, to the point that she doesn't even wear their uniforms opting to wear a full black attire (the exact opposite color of Mother Cluster).I'm pretty sure it was intentional from the start, as it actually sets up the the idea that mother cluster would think of us as a threat in the first place. Think about it, sure Hagito and Bethor are weak compared to us, but they've been, at worst dealing with the earth guides, who seem to have been established as outmatched by them as of now. Then crazy space photon people (who they've probably been stealing tech from in the first place) come and suddenly they aren't the big fish in a small pond anymore.

That said, I'm pretty sure Hagito and Belthor are the only mother cluster members we're going to see who are outright pushovers. Sorting algorithm of evil and all that.

Sirius-91

Aug 24, 2016, 12:16 AM

I'm aware.

When taken on its own, it would merely annoy me because of the condescension involved - but that's to be expected of someone like Bethor. He's a crappy villain, even by villain-of-the-week standards (I was just telling one of my friends last night that I will never denigrate the villains of Sailor Moon again, because the PSO2 Ep. 4 villains are far worse), but a lame minor villain by himself is a forgettable flaw.

However, there are many aspects of Episode 4 and the Tokyo field which feel less-than-real. And others which are very gimmicky.

Fake-looking blue-tinged enemies
Music which calls attention to itself by being intentionally glitchy, leading to the subconscious sense that the game is breaking down
gimmicky mechanics like speed rings and time capsules
A plot that sometimes fails at plausibility.
Continual references to online gaming, doubly so when the name of yhe game is the same as the name of the game I am playing...

...and then you add "Player-chan" to that...

...it is a pile of straws that ultimately breaks the back of verisimilitude.

And once verisimilitude goes, the story rapidly starts to lose any meaning at all.

Welcome to japanese tokusatsu. Watch Super Sentai and/or Kamen Rider and notice the familiar scenes and battle locations while claiming to be somewhere else, along with, but not limited to, cheesy but semi-believable plot, explosions, giant monsters, gimmicky villains and the power of friendship trumps all.

gabor100

Aug 24, 2016, 02:34 AM

Beside,the hood one that appeared with Dr.DIO(Ophiel) before Dr. killed Bethor is probably Kohri.(Well,Judging from her hairstyle and past event of course)

Probably NSFW
[SPOILER-BOX]http://i.imgur.com/EQKtqy4.jpg[/SPOILER-BOX]

Maulcun

Aug 24, 2016, 06:46 PM

I finished Storyboard ... OMG. Phaleg is very strong and Fast o.o

[SPOILER-BOX]
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Bcm22st2s_qWvgwSm6Jqxadeql70Z-hLJAB4w3cAwmXnmGbIyyTJSghm16jrl9syo8uMD416TyL9DWeK NpDuGifc0pkXbsfHn_iGl4Lfl8AI1qg83yPVK3SzYLiiLr4yz0 Su4m_vflsioHHTIbt95M40EgZNEU6mw6rAlN14FDPDQOFWtHGr El4Tudcwr3L_aQUgwtSz0ug_3npb2la2YMDGvCg6-d5J9xHvoyh_eWV71QJ2lnvsjiTF9OZewSBC6i3SID_I9jf7Dof gDZnYiDGBrIfAbZKp0y_GNp110XMgrpCPxN0Yjc0NbLV4oooAh S72REtzlBSiiOGm0YtRutX-esqg1CWcEJZE6aWvumuO0MZ1QgqcNFltyNEW2xY2KlCN3-XQdZHcukTY5k0adFTfpsnWh3eES4gxtIgcW_FIEVI4Pxono7Mc WxcsFVooFTsKe4QTQ3W2g8bh-34ZoLwXbRYilwDkLwGY2DNwYOZ_u3Bsf_KEYtwS_CEzhfzLAzV moIkv_jsBBaufapovcLV9z-T3NB-3FlGHrl806EhOHYJnMYXLs67LTpRRi0na-JSLtv37cQ4baLAfy2gLZ78EjzDIiSnGf8mFQTK8riFEbkTU=w6 56-h369-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hdVgdFZ_zrrYtqPbNVB_fQm3mZehUIFRp6stwafhjnoFoVIG9J RkM0kpw7GGMO1lgdkfJeslxrsJBGOf6GQ8TQADWGUMwJS0NraJ DO3YtSKoD1YtT3tlqYzUQ3aiX9CpsVHeKJ5f1Ve0UGuDDcXMdM wEy0R95g-9LSblya0pH2LcOMcdXx1mBHgu7YbgpDIe5sfTTWCSEnLcuX1nd 4GOjneQ6l5kD3kkPykqW2M4Lfe1OIm8f02nLRKlc8VLza3DRTF GZwNY7CGnhbJnrdImiwAsX5OLXuo0dd29XJbkrV1XWEmjSxMgf W2NPPdIQfCiEuplWH4L7l0VuTbnb5LjHuLdntdV3j82745x6Cx ZHIiNjZYL_9VXryK6anrE5NK_kX4iuAOfSR_yb1TVb-nsu40Gkh5t1cRuV7P0a9WzsSttWazTF0I0O6QVqTnGoms3qrCH KuhLplYZvElUM1-BszZvlOWTTiFDkx9GdcNKrxnZuVHXgH4gsrzsX4RfNdJ51KwBM CVxmfTblgn2QFYJcqQArcGV3v4D4VTe7A7nFzqBT4QRvdwDoUL WlQsgWUMPzaexRkP2mKSVdUEHF7XUXwH0Mm3IIITh9rMRMLVYA c_smZbf=w1280-h720-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bPeAC4_1IIpfcngSRPbBC7wJTXAFU9JvbJKKpv5cDOrLpXgPYJ qi44xlbNcudygeBICNvgWNodXODNylHWXsY19PrF67LnETRRLy 5ox3DknSQlRLkuNuku-p2jp--_U-wVhoXrKtccIbHoVp450v_Sw_U4fymtFZCFKBYGYUKOKQ8Z6N4t i4X59DrepHj0IJcjdu_JOtvPWi5uf8y25s3rpKn4JNTlijVBQs o5PtSco7j9jb2QloeHwPDLSaIRnHU4SBkq7yrTuCDioZIjoDqp-Vzc7_7BtMdPPD9B8X_FxuJORQjIcMCMqaS_KPYW_87Zq_bSXI-wFJ0UEJ3VDBD3bmMOumxD_EeopXz1ir1NE5GwhhwvyVtMf4hJ4 EL2LDq4T6YdtHimkaI3dJZQ50RIgRfWxsftbT0V3rsrdn-IodwTArSdQhvRiHE1j2IlNSNciItFyOcd8jV8R2r6r88O9s3mt DcmVQJNi7mDkycHB1MTkIu1yXQT9a63ZEOWnY9JBzRFjdoXFK2 BopTb2W5srFIcL6NWqx9czBaOsmdmvluRRgyZR9TTnf928JRgB Km-X9Ry7ggd1eaovY0cvB4aK4F7mVu6nKSHIVVZS-cYmz4Tcn=w1280-h720-no[/SPOILER-BOX]

loafhero

Aug 24, 2016, 07:36 PM

I originally thought Phaleg was teleporting. Turns out, she's actually DBZ fast.

Not too shocking since our characters can already go that fast as a Braver.

CrossOmega

Aug 24, 2016, 08:12 PM

I thought she was using somewhat of a Braver/Hunar hybrid skillset.

Meteor Weapon

Aug 24, 2016, 09:03 PM

Hunar can speed blitz and omnislash the hell out of you lol. Phaleg isn't any much special than Falzes

Altiea

Aug 24, 2016, 10:23 PM

Hunar can speed blitz and omnislash the hell out of you lol. Phaleg isn't any much special than Falzes

I'd say that an Apostle that can match a Falz a pretty good record.

Also mind that Phaleg's actual top speed is several times higher than any Falz.

loafhero

Aug 24, 2016, 10:30 PM

Thank goodness her health is pretty low.

Would be pretty awesome if, like Falz Hunar, she has a hidden weapon that she unleashes when getting serious.

AutumnChronicle

Aug 24, 2016, 10:59 PM

Welcome to japanese tokusatsu. Watch Super Sentai and/or Kamen Rider and notice the familiar scenes and battle locations while claiming to be somewhere else, along with, but not limited to, cheesy but semi-believable plot, explosions, giant monsters, gimmicky villains and the power of friendship trumps all.

I would actually enjoy having a 6th Ranger/Giant Mech/Plot Device Upgrade, since we have all the perks of being a Red Ranger already anyway. :P
SPACE SENTAI ARKS RANGER!

Thank goodness her health is pretty low.

Would be pretty awesome if, like Falz Hunar, she has a hidden weapon that she unleashes when getting serious.

And just like the other Falzes, she will ironically still end up an underwhelming boss.

Altiea

Aug 24, 2016, 11:08 PM

The Falzes being pushovers is more the game's fault than the story.

Flaoc

Aug 24, 2016, 11:16 PM

apparently ep2 dark falz angel even in story was a deadly enemy and far from a pushover but thats only what i heard

Chalun-k_x_light

Aug 24, 2016, 11:37 PM

I'd say that an Apostle that can match a Falz a pretty good record.

Also mind that Phaleg's actual top speed is several times higher than any Falz.

I agree with you about her speed.But I can't say about her over-all power if she's stronger than Falz or not since she went easy on Player-chan at the first fight.And to top it off,her defense is higher than any story boss.

Meteor Weapon

Aug 24, 2016, 11:45 PM

Falz Angel was a total bitch hard when he first came out, being a real threat against players and is still a jackass to deal with. In Odin Limited Quest, he's still taking kills with his tuhu lazer beam Big Crunch Project.

Altiea

Aug 24, 2016, 11:50 PM

Phaleg is also the only enemy in any Story Quest that Jams Weak Bullet.

Stormwalker

Aug 24, 2016, 11:57 PM

Based on the direction the story went, you weren't supposed to. Same with Hagito. I definitely preferred Hagito being an ineffectual idiot putting on an act of being in control compared to... whatever Bethor was doing.

The problem there is that his entire chapter ended up feeling like an enormous waste of time. To an extent for Alessandra (my character), and much more so for me.

At least Hagito throwing a temper tantrum when he started losing was mildly entertaining. Bethor was never entertaining at all.

red1228

Aug 25, 2016, 12:01 AM

Stormwalker

Aug 25, 2016, 12:04 AM

Welcome to japanese tokusatsu. Watch Super Sentai and/or Kamen Rider and notice the familiar scenes and battle locations while claiming to be somewhere else, along with, but not limited to, cheesy but semi-believable plot, explosions, giant monsters, gimmicky villains and the power of friendship trumps all.

There's a reason... well, there are several reasons I don't watch such things. Some of them included in your list.

Bad writing and poor production values are not the ingredients of quality entertainment.

Stormwalker

Aug 25, 2016, 12:13 AM

Altiea

Aug 25, 2016, 12:44 AM

There's a reason... well, there are several reasons I don't watch such things. Some of them included in your list.

Bad writing and poor production values are not the ingredients of quality entertainment.

I mean, there's a subculture that would disagree with you. But hey, opinions.

Stormwalker

Aug 25, 2016, 01:01 AM

I mean, there's a subculture that would disagree with you. But hey, opinions.

And if PSO2 had been in that genre, targeted at that audience, from the beginning, I'd have never played it, and I wouldn't be complaining. Now, though, I'm heavily invested in the game, so seeing it take a sharp turn down a road I don't care for is frustrating.

The radical shift in story tone (and the apparent disregard for maintaining any real sense of continuity) between Episode 3 and Episode 4 is the root of my discontent.

I liked Episode 1 and 2, and really liked Episode 3. But I loathe Episode 4 so far.

Chalun-k_x_light

Aug 25, 2016, 01:04 AM

Unfortunately, no, but I think with her it's an uncanny valley thing for me. Her face just... looks really wrong (disproportionate) with her eyes closed all the time like that. It creeps me out. It bugs me so much I can't see past it to notice anything else about her.. The fact that her voice grates on me as well does not help.

If it weren't for those superficial problems, it's possible I might have a different opinion.

Well,she remind me with Hazama from Blazblue.Eyes always closed and always smile.And when opened they are just creepy than usual.

AutumnChronicle

Aug 25, 2016, 01:32 AM

The Falzes being pushovers is more the game's fault than the story.

The salt-posts aside, I guess we could say the gameplay is accurate when it comes to the PC being written (or headcanon-ed) as virtually invincible.

Now that I think of it, we're pretty similar to OPM since we've been stuck at endgame for so long. What with all the relative strength and semi-permanent passive expressions... and also the disappointment during supposedly hard fights.

http://img13.deviantart.net/e119/i/2015/354/5/d/average_saitama_wallpaper_by_dopplerdefekt-d9ku4uc.png

"Not again... all it took was one punch 20 seconds. Damn it!!!"

Altiea

Aug 25, 2016, 02:09 AM

AutumnChronicle

Aug 25, 2016, 02:34 AM

I mean, this technically counts as fanfic material, but I wouldn't headcanon the player as basically unstoppable. I imagine him/her as a regular ARKS with regular abilities that just so happens to get swept up in a universe-ending plot.

It is fanfic material written by the gameplay itself ; ;

I'm not so sure about that when the player can do things like time-travel/detect Quna/have everyone praise them for being strong #plotarmor

Altiea

Aug 25, 2016, 02:36 AM

It is fanfic material written by the gameplay itself ; ;

I'm not so sure about that when the player can do things like time-travel/detect Quna/have everyone praise them for being strong #plotarmor

Okay, so maybe a little stronger than your average joe. The time travel thing is Xiao's doing, though. I want to believe Player-chan is much weaker than what the story says he/she is! Is that so hard?

AutumnChronicle

Aug 25, 2016, 02:39 AM

Okay, so maybe a little stronger than your average joe. The time travel thing is Xiao's doing, though. I want to believe Player-chan is much weaker than what the story says he/she is! Is that so hard?

I'm just secretly salty at how they let me down with every storyboard update.

loafhero

Aug 25, 2016, 02:57 AM

I'd say that the Saitama descriptions tied to Playa-chan is kinda accurate:

- Normal, average person background with no special powers yet still managed to become absurdly strong through a series of repetitive yet questionably effective training method.

- Often treated like a side/background character due to more charismatic or just more talkative characters hogging the screen time.

- Has at least one companion who treats them with full attention, adoration and respect as well understanding them better than anyone else (Genos = Matoi).

- Said companion happens to be incredibly famous and is quite good-looking (Although, Matoi has never had her looks commented on by other characters so its hard to tell if she's considered pretty within PSO2's Story).

- Has at least one archnemesis who wears dark clothing constantly trying to kill them (Persona = Sonic)

- Only very few people know of their real power.

- Gets involved in weird problems but solves them in the end, earning the gratitude and friendship of the people involved.

Tymek

Aug 25, 2016, 06:41 AM

Her face just... looks really wrong (disproportionate) with her eyes closed all the time like that. It creeps me out.

I think her face looking creepy was the whole point of the eyes.

I'd say that the Saitama descriptions tied to Playa-chan is kinda accurate:

- Normal, average person background with no special powers yet still managed to become absurdly strong through a series of repetitive yet questionably effective training method.

- Often treated like a side/background character due to more charismatic or just more talkative characters hogging the screen time.

- Has at least one companion who treats them with full attention, adoration and respect as well understanding them better than anyone else (Genos = Matoi).

- Said companion happens to be incredibly famous and is quite good-looking (Although, Matoi has never had her looks commented on by other characters so its hard to tell if she's considered pretty within PSO2's Story).

- Has at least one archnemesis who wears dark clothing constantly trying to kill them (Persona = Sonic)

- Only very few people know of their real power.

- Gets involved in weird problems but solves them in the end, earning the gratitude and friendship of the people involved.
Haha, holy crap.

Kondibon

Aug 25, 2016, 07:08 AM

Don't forget Playa-chan can absorb negative photons like matoi, but... we never actually got an explanation of why. In Matoi's case she was specifically made for it... but what about us? Did we always have that ability? Did Xion give it to us?

And speaking of that. It's actually... kinda... why we can fight the falz... It's not because we're stronger, but because we made them WEAKER (elder even comments on it the first time you fight him, wondering what's going on). I'd say by the end of episode 3 we're about as strong in terms of raw power as the 6 pillars or whatever they're called, who are for all intents and purposes normal ARKS too.

Personally I like how the first two members of the Mother Cluster we fought were pushovers. It's kinda boring just having every enemy be stronger than the last. Having some weaker guys show up, even for a little while, kinda shows how far we've come. That said, I'm glad they're actually getting to characters who could actually pose a threat to us and would have been disappointed if that hadn't happened when it did.

I also think they're setting up the idea that mother cluster might come in contact with PD at some point. I thought they already had, but the source of their tech was actually accidentally discovering Oracle and reverse engineering ARKS tech. It's possible that those potential phantom darkers, and dark falz Al that were data-mined might become involved with them.

AutumnChronicle

Aug 25, 2016, 07:49 AM

loafhero

Aug 25, 2016, 08:00 AM

There's nothing inherently wrong with weak and cowardly villains. Its only when their taken too seriously that it becomes really groan-inducing. Example being Hitsugi and Bethor's drawn out moral/philosophical debate.

I'd say by the end of episode 3 we're about as strong in terms of raw power as the 6 pillars or whatever they're called, who are for all intents and purposes normal ARKS too.

Well to be fair, Regius and Maria have decades of experience, Huey is a natural talent who trains hard, Claris Claes III was genetically made to be absurdly powerful, and Zeno is... okay, I guess? However, Quna and Casra are not that special in combat (they even admit this). The proof being that Casra's inclusion in the fight against Gettemhart in EP1 (before Elder hijacked his body) didn't really help much as Gettemhart wasn't beaten. For Quna, she couldn't beat Hadred on her own until she acquired Playa-chan's help.

I think her face looking creepy was the whole point of the eyes.

Agreed. Phaleg's the "Blood Knight" character archetype. Creepy faces and eyes are the norm for these types of characters.

Kondibon

Aug 25, 2016, 08:04 AM

Well our ability to purify it was given by Xiao during our cryo-sleep... but our ability to steal their power is innate, not given by Xion or Xiao, which makes us even more of a walking plot device.I wish they'd explain why we can do it in the first place then. >_>

Huey is a natural talent who trains hardDosn't playa-chan fall into that category? Or are you guys saying you don't want playa-chan to be special at all in any way, and just be a rank and file ARKS mook like those dorks we beat up in the mothership?

I mean, isn't the idea that Playa-chan has basically be busting their ass pushing themselves more than the average ARKS member? The workaholic thing people keep talking about is canon isn't it?

Chalun-k_x_light

Aug 25, 2016, 08:14 AM

Well to be fair, Regius and Maria have decades of experience, Huey is a natural talent who trains hard, Claris Claes III was genetically made to be absurdly powerful, and Zeno is... okay, I guess? However, Quna and Casra are not that special in combat (they even admit this). The proof being that Casra's inclusion in the fight against Gettemhart in EP1 (before Elder hijacked his body) didn't really help much as Gettemhart wasn't beaten. For Quna, she couldn't beat Hadred on her own until she acquired Playa-chan's help.

Well,Casra one stated that he's information gathering type more than combat type.And Quna is assassination type(Zero Squad's main duty of course).So,i'm not surprise that these two are not strong in combat like the others.But i think Zeno still has a lot to improve his skills,who knows if he makes his debut in Ep.4(or 5) he may be stronger than before.As for Regius,he might not be able to fully utilizing his Genesis Weapon power due to his age.As for Maria,i guess she's still kicking Zeno's ass as always.

I wish they'd explain why we can do it in the first place then. >_>

Dosn't playa-chan fall into that category? Or are you guys saying you don't want playa-chan to be special at all in any way, and just be a rank and file ARKS mook like those dorks we beat up in the mothership?

I mean, isn't the idea that Playa-chan has basically be busting their ass pushing themselves more than the average ARKS member? The workaholic thing people keep talking about is canon isn't it?
As i recall,they stated once that if Player-chan was donimated to the six pillars he/she'd be able to replace Regius's position.

Sirius-91

Aug 25, 2016, 08:20 AM

Don't forget to add that we're granted authority over the rest of the old 6 and only need to refer to Ulc and Xiao directly.

Kondibon

Aug 25, 2016, 08:38 AM

As i recall,they stated once that if Player-chan was donimated to the six pillars he/she'd be able to replace Regius's position.That still falls into the relm of like normal for me though. We're not some sort of crazy god being or something compared the rest of the arks, we're just up there with the best of them was kind of my point.
EDIT: What I mean by that is I feel like we have peers and equals, at least approximately among the ARKs. We aren't some sort of outlier anymore than Matoi is (who's also considered stupid strong I should add).

Either way I think that has more to do with our involvement with stopping the corruption of the ARKS more than our power.

Don't forget to add that we're granted authority over the rest of the old 6 and only need to refer to Ulc and Xiao directly.again I think that has more to do with our involvement with everything and the fact that Xiao trusts us (or did lol) more than raw power.

loafhero

Aug 25, 2016, 08:48 AM

Don't forget to add that we're granted authority over the rest of the old 6 and only need to refer to Ulc and Xiao directly.

I don't think Playa-chan has authority over the 6 Council members (their no longer called that any more, though). Being a Guardian means never having to answer anyone but the head of the organization. We don't exactly get to order anyone around but no one (except for Ulc and Xiao) can order us around either.

Dosn't playa-chan fall into that category? Or are you guys saying you don't want playa-chan to be special at all in any way, and just be a rank and file ARKS mook like those dorks we beat up in the mothership?

I mean, isn't the idea that Playa-chan has basically be busting their ass pushing themselves more than the average ARKS member? The workaholic thing people keep talking about is canon isn't it?

Huey enrolled into the ARKS academy long before Playa-chan did and got special permission to graduate faster thanks to his naturally strong Photon levels (just like how Matoi did in-between EP2 and 3). Huey obviously had a huge headstart over Playa-chan.

I definitely prefer Playa-chan to be the kind of special that involves becoming strong through mostly hard work over natural talent. Its more inspiring and relatable that way.

Workaholic is the logical trait to be associated with Playa-chan as it reflects how most actual players take on Quests at frequent rates and how most are never satisfied with maxing out just one Class. Azanami in EP3 comments on how despite all 3rd Gen Arks are capable of swapping classes without any crippling limitations, Playa-chan was the only notable 3rd Gen ARKS that actually bothered to go out of their comfort zone and experiment with different classes. By EP4, as revealed by Saga and Katori, Playa-chan had inspired several ARKS to start trying out different classes more often.

Kondibon

Aug 25, 2016, 08:56 AM

Workaholic is the logical trait to be associated with Playa-chan as it reflects how most actual players take on Quests at frequent rates and how most are never satisfied with maxing out just one Class. Azanami in EP3 comments on how despite all 3rd Gen Arks are capable of swapping classes without any crippling limitations, Playa-chan was the only notable 3rd Gen ARKS that actually bothered to go out of their comfort zone and experiment with different classes. By EP4, as revealed by Saga and Katori, Playa-chan had inspired several ARKS to start trying out different classes more often.I'd actually argue that this might be why we're able to progress so fast compared to other people.

Honestly, this whole thing is reminding me of the Milletian stuff from Mabi. I admit I have a soft spot for when a game mechanic people usually take for granted is explained in lore and used for plot stuff, even if it's just something small.

loafhero

Aug 25, 2016, 09:22 AM

I'd actually argue that this might be why we're able to progress so fast compared to other people.

I think we just figured out the secret to Playa-chan's power:

100 Free Fields! 100 XQs! 100 AQs! and 100 EQs! Every. Single. Day!

ratatosk

Aug 25, 2016, 09:45 AM

loafhero

Aug 25, 2016, 09:54 AM

Is it ever explained why Playa-chan can see through the Mai daggers cloak? Is it related to our ability of absorbing dark falz energy? I also hope they have good explanation for phalegs power and what it is later on

For Quna, its probably because of Playa-chan's connection with Xion (and later, Xiao) who was connected to the Genesis Weapons. Quna's daggers being a Genesis Weapon too.

Playa-chan is a pretty good seeker, though. Zeno and Sara, who tried to hide from Playa-chan with regular stealth, were easily caught by Playa-chan... but it is worth noting that Zeno was training to improve his hiding skills and Sara's idea of remaining undetected (back in EP1) was to stand a few feets away while creeping up behind Playa-chan (I'm pretty sure anyone wouldn't have trouble sensing her if that was her idea of being stealthy).

Altiea

Aug 25, 2016, 11:30 AM

Zeno did train offscreen, though. I think he one-shot a Fang Banther in Side Stories (although I can't read, so no precise clue, that's what the illustration showed).

Meteor Weapon

Aug 25, 2016, 11:41 AM

Easy Modo Fang Banther

Tymek

Aug 26, 2016, 01:49 PM

When is the Early September update happening?
I want to see Kohri.

Poyonche

Aug 26, 2016, 02:46 PM

On the 7th

loafhero

Aug 28, 2016, 09:18 PM

So, to sum up Playa-chan's source of power:

- Is a 3rd Gen ARKS that actually takes full advantage of its nearly limitless possibilities.

- Probably used Xion's gift of time travel to redo an entire event until they get stronger (i.e. Playa-chan redid the ARKS Tournament in EP1 repeatedly)

- Is a known workaholic, meaning he/she gained experience at a faster rate than anyone else. Was regarded as the "Super Rookie" in EP1 because of this.

- Is willing to take up even the weirdest of Client Orders.

- Trains closely with the respective ARKS Trainers.

- Surviving Persona's repeated attempts to kill her/him probably helped.

Sirius-91

Aug 28, 2016, 09:23 PM

loafhero

Aug 28, 2016, 09:53 PM

Don't forget that we passively absorb photons. That's how we killed Loser so easily, Elder's photons beefed us up.

But Playa-chan is still considered powerful in EP4 where all their Darker energy has been purged.

Zysets

Aug 28, 2016, 09:54 PM

loafhero

Aug 28, 2016, 09:58 PM

You know, in the original PSO, I never felt like the main hero, but this time around, Sega has really made the Player character feel special, and that's ignoring the really special moments, like when you fight Persona in the PD EQ.

Although there are times where I feel my character doesn't feel like the main hero, I personally like that they avoided the "Chosen One" cliche and instead, opted for the underdog climbing up the ranks archetype.

Zysets

Aug 28, 2016, 10:02 PM

Although there are times where I feel my character doesn't feel like the main hero, I personally like that they avoided the "Chosen One" cliche and instead, opted for the underdog climbing up the ranks archetype.

Yeah I enjoy that a lot, we are picked by Xion at the start, but it just turns out that we set that all up on our own with Xiao letting us time travel, so it's not necessarily destiny or being the chosen one, it's just that our character is a hard worker and ended up being the hero by our own actions.

Sirius-91

Aug 28, 2016, 10:06 PM

But Playa-chan is still considered powerful in EP4 where all their Darker energy has been purged.
Not really purged, purified. Same way we do with Invade -> Austere.

The Torana fragments have cleansing powers, as their description states.

Zyrusticae

Aug 29, 2016, 12:17 AM

Not really purged, purified. Same way we do with Invade -> Austere.

The Torana fragments have cleansing powers, as their description states.
Wait, so the more we fight Profound Darkness, the stronger we get from absorbing its photons?

Hmmmm....

Gestriden

Aug 29, 2016, 07:31 PM

Zysets

Aug 29, 2016, 08:08 PM

I was actually enjoying Episode 4 until I saw that video clip.

yoshiblue

Aug 29, 2016, 08:14 PM

Wait, so the more we fight Profound Darkness, the stronger we get from absorbing its photons?

Hmmmm....

But if PD is us, wouldn't it become this cycle of feeding off each other? With double acting as a jump starter.

Vatallus

Aug 29, 2016, 08:16 PM

Suddenly Super Saiyan Rose!

Whoops, wrong story.

loafhero

Aug 30, 2016, 07:43 AM

I'm just gonna say it now, I was wondering why Episode 4's story seemed so familiar to me, and as much as I want this to be a joke post, I'm unfortunately very serious at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-svSw54QFgM

*mindblown*

Suddenly Super Saiyan Rose!

Whoops, wrong story.

Would be pretty epic if we get to transform into a non-evil version of Dio Hunar.

Poyonche

Aug 30, 2016, 08:37 AM

Like we summon Julius or Illios PB (because both of them are S, R and T-ATK) and we do just like Matoi (and Persona) did with Anga Fundarge.

I actually hoped we would do that in the final of Episode 3.

loafhero

Aug 30, 2016, 09:05 AM

Like we summon Julius or Illios PB (because both of them are S, R and T-ATK) and we do just like Matoi (and Persona) did with Anga Fundarge.

Except instead of Anga Fundarge, we acquire this form through everyone raising their hands to give us their Ki Photons!... I know that sounded cheesy but it does seem like the most likely way to become a not-evil Dio Hunar. I mean, considering how transforming into a Dark Falz/fusing with Anga Fundarge required a crap ton of Darker energy than likewise, transforming into a super powered pure Photon being would require a crap ton of regular Photons.

Xaeris

Sep 2, 2016, 03:25 PM

Guess we know what Bethor's niche was.
[spoiler-box]
http://i.imgur.com/ondMvqa.jpg
[/spoiler-box]

Punisher106

Sep 2, 2016, 06:24 PM

I don't knwo about you guys, but Bethor's speech mannerisms sounds fairly familiar...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWreHiN_E-Q

Zysets

Sep 2, 2016, 06:28 PM

Guess we know what Bethor's niche was.
[spoiler-box]
http://i.imgur.com/ondMvqa.jpg
[/spoiler-box]

Was that why he was in japan in the first place?

Sirius-91

Sep 2, 2016, 06:43 PM

Was that why he was in japan in the first place?
He was assigned there by Mother, plus he also happened to film, "The Liner",

Zysets

Sep 2, 2016, 07:26 PM

He was assigned there by Mother, plus he also happened to film, "The Liner",

I was joking, but yeah I know he was told to be there.

Mattykins

Sep 2, 2016, 08:23 PM

Zysets

Sep 2, 2016, 08:48 PM

So, if Bethor is dead, does that mean the others took control of his Phantoms? In Vegas, we have the jellyfish dudes and I'm assuming the Independence Day E.Code is his doing, except, y'know, he's apparently toast

I just figured the Phantoms were "designed" by the person who came up with each type, but they were always usable by the other members of Mother Cluster. I mean I may be wrong, but since it seems like they just take the form that's wanted by each person, I don't see why other members couldn't "copy" a look. Maybe I misunderstood something about the Phantoms, I don't know.

Xaeris

Sep 2, 2016, 09:52 PM

This is just my interpretation of the latest story chapter, so I don't know how correct I am, but the understanding I have is that apostles don't have their own cadre of phantoms like the Falzes did. Rather, ether coalesces into phantoms, and the forms that ether coalesces into is guided by the fears of the people. If anyone here has played a Persona game or two, that's the general idea I'm getting. Most of the phantoms we've seen so far can be linked to a pretty obvious fear: dogs, ufos, bikers, etc. Some require a little more reaching, like the tanks representing war, or Vegas Illusia representing...um, American imperialism? Like I said, reaching. For a few days there, the squids had me scratching my head, but then I came across that poster and it made sense: if this was recent film in the story's world, then it's fresh in people's minds and capable of manipulating the ether. In a way, Bethor could potentially have been one of the most powerful apostles with his movie making: he would have been able to guide the creation of phantoms more precisely than any of his cohorts, but oh well, he ded.

I took a better pic: [spoiler-box]http://i.imgur.com/M6dIP0f.jpg[/spoiler-box]

Sirius-91

Sep 2, 2016, 09:55 PM

I just figured the Phantoms were "designed" by the person who came up with each type, but they were always usable by the other members of Mother Cluster. I mean I may be wrong, but since it seems like they just take the form that's wanted by each person, I don't see why other members couldn't "copy" a look. Maybe I misunderstood something about the Phantoms, I don't know.
Phantoms work differently than Darkers. All Phantoms are born from Ether, which the ESC-A Towers spread, by using the fears of earth's citizens.

As an Apostle of Mother Cluster, all Bethor needed to do was create horror movies which would cause people to have nightmares, thus the fear of certain fictional monsters would produce them from the subconscious mind.

yoshiblue

Sep 2, 2016, 10:10 PM

Could be making this deeper than it really is, but if drone strikes are any consideration, the laser strikes illusia does could be the fear of the country turning on it's people.

loafhero

Sep 3, 2016, 12:12 AM

[/spoiler]

I took a better pic: [spoiler-box]http://i.imgur.com/M6dIP0f.jpg[/spoiler-box]

Nice find! :-D

I think its worth noting that Hagito's Yamato was created from his fanboyism over battleships together with his desire to defeat ARKS. He was certainly not scared of battleships. Then there's Hitsugi who manifested her Ether Katana from her fangirlism over history and folklore together with her desire to protect Aru. Fear is probably not the exclusive emotion for Ether. Just like Photons, a wide range of emotions can do almost anything with Ether.

I don't knwo about you guys, but Bethor's speech mannerisms sounds fairly familiar...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWreHiN_E-Q

Engrish anime characters have existed for a long time. Old Joseph Joestar just so happens to be the most well-known for his Engrish lines thanks to the "power" behind the VA's voice.

silo1991

Sep 3, 2016, 12:22 AM

there was a scene which xiera explain the diference of photons and ether https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_RVBySo7-g

and for some reason i thought in the PSO1 EP3 card revolution for a moment :P

P.S this guy have the whole ep4 history subtitled if you guy want to undersatnd whts going on by yourself

loafhero

Sep 3, 2016, 02:14 AM

P.S this guy have the whole ep4 history subtitled if you guy want to undersatnd whts going on by yourself

I've already credited Kazanboshi several times already. Most of us here already refer to Kazanboshi's videos for EP4 story content already.

silo1991

Sep 3, 2016, 03:00 AM

really, well i dont pay attention to this thread often :P

Touka

Sep 7, 2016, 03:49 AM

They had some nice camera angles to make Kouri appear to have a crazed look in her eyes.Last bit was a bit confusing,Al is in Hitsugi now?Or was it vice versa.

Also the sword Kouri used was Gram,another legendary sword.

Chalun-k_x_light

Sep 7, 2016, 03:53 AM

They had some nice camera angles to make Kouri appear to have a crazed look in her eyes.Last bit was a bit confusing,Al is in Hitsugi now?Or was it vice versa.

Well,He lost his concious after healing Hitsugi.He maybe thought that Hitsugi's body's still staying at his side.

But seriously,i start to get pissed at Kohri more as the story progress.Hitsugi also make things worse too.

Vatallus

Sep 7, 2016, 04:23 AM

stares at Aru

Are you doing this or not?

That said I'm fine with Hitsugi getting wrecked.

Took a few screenshots. I missed the noisy pink haired girl but meh.
[SPOILER-BOX]http://imgur.com/a/qMFou[/SPOILER-BOX]

Touka

Sep 7, 2016, 04:29 AM

Well Kouri has completely lost her mind so that's to be expected.Hitsugi is still wishy washy about killing people even though she claims she wants to stop Mother Cluster.

Meteor Weapon

Sep 7, 2016, 04:31 AM

So...did Al went Falz or something? Havent really played yet.

Xaeris

Sep 7, 2016, 04:40 AM

Oh, bringing an untrained novice to a battlefield turned out to be a terrible idea. Who could have known. I'll wait for subtitles to be bestowed upon us by our benevolent lord Kazanboshi to speculate, but for now, I suspect a particularly virulent case of the yanderes.

I'm quite happy we took out the Coat Doublis again. And even did something with it! I mean, not much, but baby steps.

Chalun-k_x_light

Sep 7, 2016, 04:47 AM

So...did Al went Falz or something? Havent really played yet.
Well,probably from the effect at the 1st chapter where Hitsugi(using avatar at that time) got engulfed by the unknown darkness.

Well Kouri has completely lost her mind so that's to be expected.Hitsugi is still wishy washy about killing people even though she claims she wants to stop Mother Cluster.
That's why i'm pissed about her.After seeing all those that Hagito's doing and she's still believe in Mother enough to become like that.At least Enka's right about one thing,that Hitsugi shouldn't come with them.Now, she's just giving more trouble to Player-Chan.

That aside,i guess that the apostles still didn't know that Phalegs had already met and become interested in Player-Chan.If they knew about this and told her that Player-Chan is in their way,she'd probably come and give Player-Chan more trouble.

Poyonche

Sep 7, 2016, 04:47 AM

I wanted Playa-Chan to fucking Illusion Rave Kohri's face but nope, Aru came in (fuck that boy) and knocked out Kohri for us.
But... did they kidnapp Hitsugi because she has photon in her body now ?

I'm immediately going to check in the data if there are other icons for STORY BOARDO;

Vatallus

Sep 7, 2016, 04:49 AM

I'm more interested in the lady that was speaking when Aru was healing Hitsugi, and then after the event was over.

Sounded pretty familiar.

Chalun-k_x_light

Sep 7, 2016, 04:51 AM

I'm more interested in the lady that was speaking when Aru was healing Hitsugi, and then after the event was over.

Sounded pretty familiar.

Well,the same one who spoke with Kohri after Hitsugi left with Player-Chan.She may be at the higher rank than the apostles or the head of Mother Cluster.

I wanted Playa-Chan to fucking Illusion Rave Kohri's face but nope, Aru came in (fuck that boy) and knocked out Kohri for us.
Well,i want to Symphonic Drive into her face so much.Gotta make sure that i will if i have a chance to fight her.

黒雪Yacchi

Sep 7, 2016, 04:52 AM

Or "Mother" herself, she did sorta look like Shion as well.

Xaeris

Sep 7, 2016, 04:55 AM

She's likely the same lady as the one who spoke of revenge after Bethor filmed his final take. That gives me the feeling that she's Mother, though it seems kinda early in the story to see her...then again, Episode 4 probably ends with the big boss EQ in December, so we're further along than I'm thinking.

mickbis

Sep 7, 2016, 05:20 AM

I wanna tear grid the hell out of Kohri that bitch aside from bring stupid she just went totally insane
well that matter aside
Aru cloth has the very same icon as Dark Falz but his cloth and hair got blue strip rather than purple
I guess he might be something like Ether Falz or purified Dark Falz

Poyonche

Sep 7, 2016, 05:37 AM

No new story icons in data but if it can make you happy, we will fight against Kohri as she has her file "char23_kr" with bunch of Rising Edge, Over End and Sabarta and the famous "Anger" state that all (mini)bosses have got.

Now that I am thinking about it, what will be the cause of "Phantom Darkers" ? Will it be that ton of photon Aru used to heal Hitsugi ?
Is it because now Mother Cluster (and by extent, Mother) has a person full of photon and thus will create artificial darkers ?

EP4 is really interesting me now.

mickbis

Sep 7, 2016, 05:56 AM

Phantom Darker?
hmm maybe that Mother real goal regard "Aru"
Imagine the horror if mother can sent a ton of this purple ether particle Phantom into Arks directly from game....

Kondibon

Sep 7, 2016, 06:13 AM

I'm more interested in the potential for phantom darkers and getting Khori's yandere hair than anything else.

Chalun-k_x_light

Sep 7, 2016, 06:24 AM

I'm more interested in the potential for phantom darkers and getting Khori's yandere hair than anything else.

I'm pretty sure that the hairstyle will come in future patches.May have to wait a little bit though.
Phantom Darkers huh?I bet they'll just make their appearance too OP and get overwhelmed by Player-Chan like it was nothing.

loafhero

Sep 7, 2016, 07:11 AM

No one talking about Huey's epic return? Well, I for one am glad to see him return again. Not too fond of his new bulkier-looking outfit, though.

Och turned out to be a total brat and her high-pitched nasally voice was annoying. Like Hagito, all bark and no bite throwing a childish temper tantrum upon defeat. That said, I'd really like to see Claris Claes III fight Och sometime in the future just for the laughs of seeing two brats yelling at each other :D

Kohri's "dramatic" reveal ended up being rather silly due to her character model still having that same stupid face. However, Kohri's stupid face actually fits well with her new hairstyle as it creates that effective Yandere look. Her Sword is really ugly to look at, though. I mean, it is very detailed but GAH is it an eyesore! I needed to look at pictures of the better designed Coat Doublis and Coat Edge just to wash out the image of Kohri's ugly Sword.

I was pretty impressed with that Danganronpa-style bleeding effect when Kohri slashed and stabbed Hitsugi. A good improvement compared to how Matoi looked whenever she gets stabbed in the gut back in EP2 and 3.

Aru's Ether Falz outfit looked really fucking stupid. They really don't want to give up the shota look for Aru, huh? I had also hoped that Aru's voice would suddenly sound deeper and scarier upon transformation but nope. He still keeps the same annoying voice. Other than that, I do like the new "blue" color effect of Aru's Falz powers even if it is just a recoloured version of the old Falz animations.

mickbis

Sep 7, 2016, 07:32 AM

Actually Claris3 become much more mature now
compare to Och.... I can imagine Claris easily pawn Och phantoms and scold her in the future

loafhero

Sep 7, 2016, 07:51 AM

Actually Claris3 become much more mature now

She's still in the process of maturing (psychologically) as admitted by herself.

Massaki

Sep 7, 2016, 07:57 AM

Aru's Ether Falz look reminds me of the Schrödinger's cat problem. Both alive and dead.

Nyansan

Sep 7, 2016, 08:05 AM

Posting to rant about how Kohri's ether weapon is named Gram :T Sega, I forgave you with Sierra/Siera, but then this...
Stahp copying my character names DX

loafhero

Sep 7, 2016, 08:12 AM

I was expecting to see Matoi again at the Bridge in the cutscenes because she was last seen saying that she'd escort Aru there. They are really teasing the eventual reunion. Well, I hope the reunion turns out to be a good pay off instead of getting cut short to focus on Aru and Hitsugi's predicament.

mickbis

Sep 7, 2016, 08:21 AM

Maybe she got sent to somewhere else?

loafhero

Sep 7, 2016, 08:35 AM

Maybe she got sent to somewhere else?

Maybe. Chances are, Matoi probably went to see Aika to check on how she's doing since Aika was also put into cryo sleep after the events of the anime.

Poyonche

Sep 7, 2016, 08:44 AM

"Matoi, I know you really want to meet Player-Chan but we've discovered eggs on Amduscia, go collect these please."

oratank

Sep 7, 2016, 08:54 AM

is al short on negative photon or something even double don't wear is shota shit
[SPOILER-BOX]http://i.imgur.com/SidNe6N.png[/SPOILER-BOX]

loafhero

Sep 7, 2016, 09:10 AM

is al short on negative photon or something even double don't wear is shota shit
[SPOILER-BOX]http://i.imgur.com/SidNe6N.png[/SPOILER-BOX]

Those cat ears don't even make sense. They should've made Aru cool and frightening when he turned into a Falz instead of staying annoyingly cute. Imagine Aru donning the Persona mask instead of a pair of cat ears (and a decent pair of long pants) and then bitch-slapping Kohri away like a boss (effectively making Kohri getting slapped into a funny gag). Now that would've been awesome.

"Matoi, I know you really want to meet Player-Chan but we've discovered eggs on Amduscia, go collect these please."

"Also, you need to go back into cryo sleep again because you touched hands with Dark Falz Shota"

Raujinn

Sep 7, 2016, 09:21 AM

Aru was created by Hitsugi. In Falz form he's just embodying her fetishes obviously.

loafhero

Sep 7, 2016, 09:24 AM

Aru was created by Hitsugi. In Falz form he's just embodying her fetishes obviously.

... Shit, that makes sense.

Zanverse

Sep 7, 2016, 09:28 AM

Zysets

Sep 7, 2016, 09:32 AM

I have a strong feeling that Aru's cat-like appearance may be important to what his Darker spawns will be.

EDIT: OH SHIT. Remember the Wolfcat Anga from the Ultimate Amduscia trailer??? There you go. We're getting feline Darkers soon.

Nice catch, Ult Amduscia might be relevant to all this! So are we gonna eventually get into the Profound Darkness again if Anga might be involved?

(More importantly, are we gonna hang out with Xiao all the time again?)

NephyrisX

Sep 7, 2016, 09:32 AM

Anyone knows what kind of injuries Hitsugi gotten from Kohri? It has those symbols and is purple in colour for some reason.

Aru seems to be a purified Dark Falz of sorts. Does that mean there's more of his type in the future? At the very least he didn't get captured thanks to Playa-chan's innate abilities.

Zanverse

Sep 7, 2016, 09:36 AM

Nice catch, Ult Amduscia might be relevant to all this! So are we gonna eventually get into the Profound Darkness again if Anga might be involved?

(More importantly, are we gonna hang out with Xiao all the time again?)

IIRC, the Profound Darkness that we fought wasn't at full potential or something along those lines.

Also, why do I have a such a crazy feeling that there might be Ether energy on Amduscia...

loafhero

Sep 7, 2016, 09:41 AM

Yeah, nice catch on the Aru and new Anga Fundarge connections.

Also, why do I have a such a crazy feeling that there might be Ether energy on Amduscia...
I hope not. Leave all that Ether stuff on Earth and just focus on expanding Amduscia's lore.

Zysets

Sep 7, 2016, 09:41 AM

Ether might be related to their little crystal deal. Like the Lightning Rods and floating lazer blocks, as well as the new Ult area.
Speculation of course.

oratank

Sep 7, 2016, 09:43 AM

All is revealed

D-Inferno

Sep 7, 2016, 09:47 AM

Hitsugi got Rina'd. If she has Falz energy, we might get a Phantom Darker quest soon. Perhaps phase one of December EQ? Or while rescuing her; Aru could have his d-photons drained, and Mother just absorbs it all and becomes DF Mother Brain or something.

Hard to tell if the new Anga is related. It may just be more of "take a break from Earth, see what's happening back in the PSO2 world". Remember that Ult Amdu was intended for Episode 3 (was mined as far back as Feb 2015, before Ult Lillipa was even revealed officially). The Ult Nab "update" was probably when Ult Amdu was supposed to originally release.

Zysets

Sep 7, 2016, 09:55 AM

I wouldn't doubt that after all this time they could have decided to incorporate it into the story.

Mother Brain would be a cool reveal though, it's always exciting to see so many familiar names from past games.

Zanverse

Sep 7, 2016, 10:51 AM

I actually gasped very loudly when Kohri stabbed Hitsugi...

Cyber Meteor

Sep 7, 2016, 11:09 AM

I actually gasped very loudly when Kohri stabbed Hitsugi...

hehe! same here, it surprised the heck out of me tbh, even though i had seen the datamined pics before doing that new SB. Still, the most interesting things out of it were the Ether-Falz Aru and this "dark Ether" pouring out of Kohri weapon and Hitsugi's wounds, also i like Kohri's sword tbh but it's mostly due to that "dark Ether" ^^. I was a bit disappointed by Och childish traits (copy of Hagito's case after encountering Phaleg feels like they didn't have an idea of what to do with her lol) and the shield of Laplace breaks in few hits only so it doesn't even get to do his job properly xD, could have been an interesting mechanics for mobs, at least Maxwell demon's self destruction is defintly something to be careful of as it can inflict Bind or Panic status (idk if it inflict other SE)

Zeroem

Sep 7, 2016, 11:10 AM

Welp, gonna roughly translate the dialogues tomorrow. Not really in the mood today.

Reaction time.
- Goddammit, I'm slowly going to hate Hitsugi and her dumbness. For the love of Photons, why did you use talk-no-jutsu? .........Uuuuuuuugh, you're reading Naruto aren't you Hitsugi?
- Kohri joined Mother Cluster? What a tweeeeest *sarcasm* Also, I'm going enjoy the moment I smack Kohri's face.
- Purple blood? Are you watching Danganronpa, SEGA?
- Please give us Kohri's dom costume.
- Not going to comment on Aru's costume upgrade.
- I'm genuinely surprised how Hitsugi is the one ultimately taken by Mother Cluster......instead of Aru.

That aside, I wonder what's the possible way to go after this.
- Will Hitsugi got brainwashed and going to fight Enga? And Enga gonna talk-no-jutsu Hitsugi? Or.....
- Will Hitsugi got brainwashed and fight Aru? And Aru made the ultimate sacrifice?
- Will Mother's face gonna be similar to Shion's face?
- Will we gonna visit the Middle East in future?
- Will we have new denizens in the bridge?

Great Pan

Sep 7, 2016, 11:13 AM

Okay, I can kill that bitch Kohri without remorse. So as the other Maza Klastas. Enemies are enemies, be it your friend, beloved ones, humans, darkers or anything else.

Golgotha

Sep 7, 2016, 12:38 PM

Aru is resting in medibay, despite everything happening to him. His outfit has a differently colored inlay, maybe it has some meaning.
However, Mother seemed to be waiting for a long time just for his awakening anyway.

Also, why do I have a such a crazy feeling that there might be Ether energy on Amduscia...
There is no reason for this feeling, ether is just a photon alternative in Earth dimension. Arks dimension still has their hands full with actual darkers to have something else there.
I mean, there was a lot of speculation on what could go wrong with Lilipa, and it was just a side story in the end with no actual extension for the planet lore.

In datamining there is a bunch of phantom darkers of all kinds however, be it for December quest or something at a later date.

- Will Hitsugi got brainwashed and going to fight Enga? And Enga gonna talk-no-jutsu Hitsugi? Or.....

Enga doesn't have problems with shooting before talking.
However Sierra says that Hitsugi's mind might be shaken, since manifested weapon represents her mind/heart state and it just broke.

Koori probably wasn't actually brainwashed, she already believed Mother way too much at the start, and Mother just convinced her that Hitsugi on a stage is a fake placed by Arks, and she should save the actual one held hostage.

Zorak000

Sep 7, 2016, 12:42 PM

I thought Eather was just earth's form of Refined Photons, hence why they are compatible but still different

I laughed when I realized Aru was Catboy Falz.

and yeah they tried to take Aru first but the player said "no", but I guess doctorman realized he had to try again and just act fast. they settled for Hitsugi since aru just used a bunch of energy to heal her

so now I guess the phantom darkers will get brought in from them doing Mad Science on Hitsugi, so I kinda wonder what we are going to do with Aru; like since he actually friendly to us and there isnt any other falzes around to lead him astray I guess we will let him hang around. him "turning" felt more like he has always been able to do this, just he didn't really feel like it.

黒雪Yacchi

Sep 7, 2016, 01:03 PM

so now I guess the phantom darkers will get brought in from them doing Mad Science on Hitsugi,.

So Hitsugi is gonna get Emilia'd?
If I remember correctly, in PSP2 before the story began Emilia was the subject of experimentation when she was younger.

mickbis

Sep 7, 2016, 01:33 PM

Two scenario
- Hitsugi got brainwashed or use as an experiment subject
- Hitsugi only use as a bait... for Aru their main target

Zysets

Sep 7, 2016, 03:23 PM

Hitsugi is totally just bait. They weren't able to get a hold of Aru, so in the rush of escaping they took Hitsugi instead to use as a tool to get closer to Aru.
At least that's how i saw it.

gabor100

Sep 7, 2016, 04:15 PM

Are Itsuki/Rina non-canon characters?

Would like to see Aika in action, but probably she doing some undercover stuff like Quna.

This is how I feel after the new story. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSBDSNRt4AQ)

[SPOILER-BOX]http://www.pso2-uploader.info/uploda/src/up195504.jpg[/SPOILER-BOX]

Zysets

Sep 7, 2016, 04:30 PM

Are Itsuki/Rina non-canon characters?

No, they're canon, just their story is over, so I doubt we'll see them again anytime soon. The anime is a canonical prequel to Episode 4.

loafhero

Sep 7, 2016, 07:39 PM

From a story direction standpoint, I have to wonder why they went in the direction of having Hitsugi kidnapped. It just seems like bad writing to have Hitsugi undergo possible character development after surviving a harrowing experience only for her to be reduced into a damsel-in-distress (again) at the end. It would have made more sense to have Aru kidnapped instead to serve as Hitsugi's drive to overcome her fears. At least Aru has a better excuse to be a damsel-in-distress.

As for Aru, it wouldn't be the first time ARKS has shown mercy and patience when dealing with a Dark Falz. Eucrita being an example. That said, it would probably be best to have Aru in containment at Earth Guide's base since Aru's powers are probably more Ether-focused than Photons (though their basically the same) and Earth Guide has tons of experience with Ether. That, and it would probably be way to awkward to have a Dark Falz within Oracle (again).

It could also be the Story's excuse to prolong Playa-chan and Matoi's reunion by possibly having Playa-chan (canonically) remain on Earth a little longer. As much as I want their reunion to happen, I'd rather have it happen without the distraction of the whole Earth problem especially since Hitsugi and Aru's current predicament have made it difficult for the Story to shift into a happy mood afterwards.

Meteor Weapon

Sep 7, 2016, 09:07 PM

Ultimate Amduscia coming soon, and I bet storywise MC wouldn't have the time to do it.

Raujinn

Sep 7, 2016, 09:14 PM

Aru doesnt seem to be a bad Falz, though it still presents an issue with Arks protocol (though I'm sure this will just be handwaved)

Kondibon

Sep 7, 2016, 09:27 PM

Aru doesnt seem to be a bad Falz, though it still presents an issue with Arks protocol (though I'm sure this will just be handwaved)Pretty sure ARKS protocol changed after the whole apprentice thing.

loafhero

Sep 7, 2016, 09:51 PM

Even though Och was just a brattier Hagito, at least she wasn't given an entire chapter focused on her as the villain like Hagito and Bethor... though, I'd rather have more Och screen time than any more screen time focused on stupid Kohri.

I hope Phaleg comes back soon for a rematch. Either its Playa-chan vs Phaleg or maybe Matoi vs Phaleg because there can only be ONE girl allowed to be obsessed over Playa-chan.

Zeroem

Sep 7, 2016, 10:24 PM

I hope Phaleg comes back soon for a rematch. Either its Playa-chan vs Phaleg or maybe Matoi vs Phaleg because there can only be ONE girl allowed to be obsessed over Playa-chan.

Why aim for one when you can settle for a harem? :wacko:

Xaeris

Sep 7, 2016, 10:53 PM

Hell, why not. This whole episode already feels enough like a light novel, why hold back?

mickbis

Sep 7, 2016, 11:32 PM

Are Itsuki/Rina non-canon characters?

Both of them and now their anime friend as well know the existence of ARKS
I use google translate during their CO and all of them said they heard a lot about Player chan (from Aika) and hope they can assisted us in our mission
Itsuki seem interest in a lot of thing in Arks ship... he even ask us for a permission to visit bridge ( Sierra denied his request tho )

loafhero

Sep 7, 2016, 11:43 PM

Our savior Kazanboshi (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAx8N8-oeCkQzAZoW2Ll0-Q/videos) has graced us with translations!

Darkers are still a problem back in ARKS dimension hence why Huey is back to doing what he's always been good at before; patrolling as loudly as possible, coming in to help others who never asked for his help while making dramatic entrances and exits!

Och is now even more annoying knowing that her dialogue is filled with her constantly comparing everything with percentages. Also, Och and Phul (the monocle wearing Apostle) are apparently besties and normally, Och would team up with Phul but not this time.

Kohri's broken logic is made more apparent now. To sum up her motivations: "I will kill Hitsugi to save Hitsugi and if she resists, I'll kill her! Then we can be friends again, yay!".

As suspected before, Hitsugi's weakened resolve and willpower is the reason why her Katana broke.

Also, I can't believe I only noticed now that Ophiel wears a stethoscope around his neck.