Past Post
***** SPOILERS THROUGHOUT POST *****
Class System
As mentioned last post there are three roles: Attacker, Defender, and Healer. Each role has several classes. All six heroes start with their own class and you quickly get the ability to switch them to the others. Then you get access to Hero Quests where at the end you get a new character’s class. Here are some of the most notable for me:
Attackers: Noah’s Swordfighter is a lot like Shulk from XC1: focus on positioning and can do the Break part of Break-Topple combos. Ethel’s Flash Fencer is a duel-sword-wielding class that inflicts a ton of pain. It can make enemies Bleed (damage over time) and Power Charge its next Art for extra damage. Full Metal Jaguar duel-wields pistols that can turn into automated laser cannons.
Defenders: This role only has the initial two classes and one extra so far. Mio’s Zephyr is a dodge tank and Lanz’s Heavy Guard is a conventional tank. Guardian Commander looks like a knight with a sword and shield. Besides drawing aggro its Talent Art causes Awakening (stat and Arts are buffed) so it gets better in long fights.
Healers: Probably the most creativity in these so far. Thaumaturge wields a lance that can turn into a whip. Feel like I’ve seen “turns into a whip” weapons a lot recently. Its healing isn’t as great but it has good offense for a healer. It can bestow Armor Veil which is like temporary HP. Strategos has a bunch of buffs and debuffs like Regenerate and Defense Down. Its weapon shoots energy discs.
Even More Power
Somehow, the game gave even more power to the player. You unlock the ability to use Ourboros in Chain Attacks. Doing so does even more damage and for that round all your spent members are reactivated. This helps build bigger combos.
Regular leveling builds more power too. You unlock more skill and accessory slots. And like XC1, doing sidequests makes you quickly outpace the main story for levels. I wish they put in what they did from XC1 Definitive Edition where you can set your levels back down. I heard it’s unlocked with New Game Plus; if so curious why they would make it an unlock.
Liberating Colonies
After liberating Colony 4 from their Flame Clock you get several sidequests to liberate other colonies. These quests are significant for both gameplay and plot. This is how you unlock many of the classes.
One of the first available was Colony 9, the old colony of the Keves heroes. Seeing their former friends regard them with distrust made for some interesting scenes. I wasn’t yet sky high in levels so the boss fight against Consul B and then Moebius B was a great fight. I think it took me about 30 minutes and like 4 Chain Attacks. This was also before the Chain Attack upgrade. Moebius B can inflict Blaze (damage over time) and Shackle Healing (block healers from healing). He can also just pick someone up and throw them.
A common theme after liberating a colony is what they do afterwards. Liberating a colony cuts them off from Castle resources. Many in Colony 9 resent Ouroboros for breaking the Flame Clock as they are under constant shortages afterwards. Leon talks about planting fields to grow their own food. In war-torn Aionios the idea of growing food is foreign for many.
Liberating Colony Gamma is a similar experience for the Agnus three. Humorously, Commander Teach of the colony says they need to talk so he invites them to a place they can talk in private. Said place requires a grueling mountain climb that leaves the heroes winded. Apparently, that’s part of his usual training regimen.
Chapter 3 and 4 Gameplay
Chapter 3 had a lot of gameplay that I liked. The Battle of Colony Lambda was good for plot and gameplay (plot is below). Gameplay wise you start by going through a mine in the Urayan Tunnels. While I like the wide open world of XC3 it was nice to have a more constrained, more traditional dungeon space. It includes a retreat jumping into a stream at one point.
The boss fight includes a fight against the giant, turtle-like Ferronis. Then you go against Consul J. Consul and Moebius fights are always a lot of fun in no small part because of their awesome theme.
Afterwards, it’s back to open world gameplay. The area around Colony Lambda, the Great Cotte Falls, has a lot of rivers, lakes, and cliffs.
Then comes the High Maktha Wildwood. It’s a scenic area of forests, jungle, and cliffs. It also has strange rooms and structures reminiscent of XC1’s Fallen Arm. There are environmental hints and references to the first two XC’s. It seems like XC1’s Fallen Arm has ended up here. It even has a fingertip you can climb to the top of, just like XC1. You also finally get the ability to ride on the wires that you’ve seen around, allowing you to cross large gaps.
I took a trip back to the Fronis Region’s desert. There are areas locked both by movement abilities and high level monsters. I had only explored probably about a third of it before. There were still caves, cliffs, quicksand pits, and Ferronis Hulks. Also a lot of sidequests.
This post ends with a string of great boss fights. Plot described below. First you go against the Peerless Pair: Silvercoat Ethel and Smoldering Cammuravi in brand new Ferronises. Ethel and her duel blades deal a bunch of hits. Cammuravi and his flaming spear can inflict Blaze and Launch.
After that you fight against your first Interlinked Moebius, O and P. Their combined form reminds me of a giant, grotesque coeurl like from Final Fantasy: a panther monster with two large tendrils. And in O and P’s case, two heads. It’ll use those whips and its fists to pummel, Launch, and Smash you. Combined with the cutscenes this is an awesome segment and I was surprised it was only the Chapter 4 halfway point, not the finale.
***** PLOT SECTION *****
Memories of the Fallen
The Keves three are haunted by memories of a fallen friend. Joran was a kind but hapless lad who didn’t fit on the battlefield. But he was a skilled healer who helped them out. He died pushing Lanz away from a falling building, getting crushed by it. Joran’s death weighs on all three, particularly Lanz.
Mio used to have a friend named Miyabi, a fellow off-seer. Miyabi sacrificed her life to save Mio’s. Mio is broken up by this not just because Miyabi was her friend but because Miyabi was younger; when everyone only gets 10 years at the most it seems unthinkable for a younger person to sacrifice for an older.
Further, Mio is beginning to feel the effects of the end of her life. She only has three months left when the story begins. She has two by the time of Chapters 3 and 4. There are times where her limbs freeze up. She’s come to fear the end of her life. The others try to comfort her.
Taion was not always part of Colony Gamma with Mio and Sena. He grew up in Colony Lambda. He was close with the colony’s commander, Nimue. Nimue was his mentor and believed in him. Taion made a strategy for a battle against a Keves colony but it didn’t work. Nimue sacrificed herself to save Taion and others.
A cool point is made with keepsakes. Taion got a pocket watch from Nimue. He points out the watch is older than any of them will ever be. Mio’s flute came from Miyabi. She says she wanted to give the flute more time as thanks to Miyabi.
Machinations of the Consuls
We see scenes of the Consuls plotting against Ouroboros. One Consul, N, gets the spotlight as time goes on. The camera comes to love him and as it closes in… N looks a lot like Noah. He wears a mask but the hair, eyes, and voice are all pretty close. N talks often about how one cannot resist fate. His talking about fate and wearing armor makes him seem like a young, gold Darth Vader.
The six come across the ruins of a colony. But the ruins don’t make sense. It was a Kevesi colony but there is no Agnus debris or signs of a fight with Agnus. The colony was gold rank: the highest rank. A gold colony is difficult to defeat.
Eunie looks at the dog tags on a husk. It has her name on it. Seeing her name brings memories to mind: Colony 18 was fighting Moebius, not Agnus. Moebius wiped them out, Eunie sees Moebius’s claw killing her as she fought as part of Colony 18. She is very shaken and confused by these visions. Specifically, it was Moebius D, the same Moebius that the group first encountered.
Battle of Colony Lambda
The Ouroboros six are ambushed by Colony Lambda, Taion’s previous colony. It’s led by Isurd, a former friend of Taion’s. He uses the strategy from Taion’s failure and taunts Taion. He attacks using Lamda’s Ferronis.
Taion learns to Interlink with Eunie in a new form, one Taion leads on. The other Agnus members see this and also Interlink into new forms. Isurd’s attack is foiled.
Consul J is the consul on hand. He takes off his helmet… and it’s Joran! Somehow back from the dead and now with Moebius. He taunts his former friends. They have a brief fight and Joran retreats. Before doing so he reveals the Isurd the group fought was a mudpuppet of his. The other soldiers were mudpuppets too.
After the fight Noah sends the mudpuppets. The others wonder why he’d send base puppets. Noah notes that lights come from the puppets like sending actual people. Considering what we know about the actual people this makes me wonder if the people are close to puppets.
Silvercoat Ethel and Smoldering Cammuravi
Smoldering Cammuravi is the rival that Ethel used to fight that she spared to have a fair fight against. Ethel and Cammuravi are both brought before the Kevesi Queen. Ethel is amazed that Cammuravi, an Agnusi, is present. They are both ordered to hunt down Ouroboros. They’re given new Ferronises customized for them.
It gets worse. Keves Castle debuts a new weapon: the Annihilator. It feeds off the thick black fog of the area to fire a powerful beam. They mean to use it against Ethel’s colony, Colony 4, for having its Flame Clock destroyed. Ethel’s lieutenant finds the six heroes and warns them. They resolve to go to Keves Castle and destroy the Annihilator.
It’s not long until the team runs into Ethel, Cammuravi, and Consuls O and P. First they fight Ethel and Cammuravi. As the heroes gain the upper hand the Consuls believe Ethel and Cammuravi are holding back. Ethel has been freed from their direct control but Cammuravi has not. They activate Cammuravi’s Iris so he sees the group as monsters as Ethel once did. But Cammuravi resists and tears his own eye out, freeing himself from their control.
Realizing they’re free Ethel and Cammuravi decide to do something they’ve always wanted to together: have a kickass final duel. They start fighting each other and the two stoic soldiers are having the time of their lives. The heroes and Consuls are both flabbergasted by their behavior. The Consuls activate a trap in their Ferronises that starts draining their life. Ethel and Cammuravi don’t care and strike each other down simultaneously as the last of their life force is drained. They are killed.
The Ouroboros six attack the Consuls in a rage over how they toy with people’s lives. O and P reveal that Moebius can Interlink as well, as they transform into a grotesque, merged form. However, Ouroboros still emerges victorious. O and P begin talking about doing a “Full Interlink,” though they speak as though it is a measure of last resort. There’s also been hints that Interlinking for too long, whether it be Ouroboros or Moebius, is dangerous.
But in this case the black fog begins gathering around O and P, signaling the arrival of an Annihilation Event. With some quick thinking and an awesome action scene, the team is just barely able to get away in time. O and P are destroyed. This leaves the six heroes to move on to Keves Castle.
What Comes Next
We’ve halfway through Chapter 4 in the game. The assault on Keves Castle is being built up as a major event. I haven’t been as careful about spoilers as I should but I think I’ve avoided being spoiled by anything major. However, I keep seeing posts that the end of Chapter 5 is “emotionally devastating.” It’s “that moment” and a moment that wrecks the player. I don’t know what happens and I’ve been wondering what could possibly result in such a strong reaction. Does Mio die? Does Consul N control Noah and make him do something terrible? Is there some sort of massacre? Do characters from XC1 or XC2 get introduced and something bad happens to them? We’ll find out next time!
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