RPG Review: Tales Of Symphonia, Part 4: The Dawn Of The New World... NOT THAT ONE!!

Last time, our heroes left Sylvarant and headed off towards a new world, and their journey continues... by crash landing because they ran out of fuel.

Hey, they couldn't have seen that coming.

Mind you Sheena could just Summon Volt and refuel them... but she kinda doesn't have Volt so that's out of the question. Also, apparently the two worlds share the same ancient history and a Tower Of Salvation. Wonder what that's all about...

Anyhow, after leaving the mountain, now the question becomes where to go. Sheena says to go to the Imperial Capital, Meltokio, which seems like their best bet for now. That said as soon as they get there, Sheena admits she's gonna have to leave. She is part of a group of Ninjas after all, so she has to admit that she has failed to her chief, though she does give the group a letter they should give to the king.

Oh, and on the way there, they come across one of the Evil Desian generals who basically comes in to say hi before leaving.

But whatever, they make their way up the stairs... and come across the best character in the game.

Indeed, such amount of swag could not be contained. So after flirting with Raine for a bit, he leaves with all his other hunnies, but not before she notices he has an Exsphere. Now, this guy may seem like an arrogant jerk... because he is, but hey, anyone who shares a voice with this idiot can't be too bad.

Anyhow, back to the plot. We are currently banned from seeing the King as apparently he's ill, so he's not seeing anyone. Stupid Nobles with too much free time... anyhow, we head to the Church... where we see some little girl calmly carrying some big lump of wood. Genis' reaction?

This is actually a running gag, so get used to it.

As Genis is off on wonderland, we find out  that this girl, Presea, has an Exsphere, and also that the wood she's carrying is going to be used to do some prayers for the king. So naturally the gang decides to just ask Presea for help, a plan Genis is all too okay with...

As they get out she's talking to someone, but after that's done with, our heroes ask for her help... and surprisingly she agrees. And even the guards are easily fooled. Man, Tethe'alla's security really sucks, huh?

Oh come on, this is an JRPG, of course children are doing all the work!

But whatever, they're inside now. And since they can't really do anything else now, Presea is tagging along with them. Speaking of her...

Presea Combatir:

CV: Kuwashima Houko/Tara Strong

Presea is a freaking tank. She moves slowly for sure, but if she lands a hit, it'll hit like a goddamn truck. She wasn't part of my Endgame Party, but she was part of a sort of Side Party alongside another Party Member I'll be talking about later on. As for general Type Recommendations, I'd say T for everything but the Devastation line, as its final evolution, Eternal Devastation, is locked to the S Type for some reason.

Her Limit Breaks are ridiculous though, in both the best and worst ways you could imagine. Infernal Ruin is pretty normal by the standards of the PS2 Exclusive Limit Breaks, all you need to do is to have used Beast 100 Times, be in Over Limit, have the P Charge EX Skill and that's it, but then there is the almighty mess that is Crimson Devastation. Get ready folks this is gonna be a doozy. Not only do you need to have used Beast 200 Times, have the Overcharge EX Skill (Basically P Charge but stronger and doesn't work half the time), be in Over Limit and must have 10% or less health but she must also be the last Party Member standing!

I mean, to be fair it can probably one-shot the Final Boss and do some massive damage to the Secret Bosses but... Jesus Christ, talk about overkill! Although it must be said, in order for her to actually be able to use either of her Limit Breaks, a certain story event must happen first. I'll point it out when we get there.

Anyhow, we get into the King's chamber... and Zelos is there. Why? He's the Chosen of Tethe'Alla of course!

Oh I wish I was kidding. Thankfully the moment the king learns they have a letter from Sheena he agrees to listen in spite of his less than stellar health right now. The Pope does try to have Colette killed but he's not exactly successful. Thus Raine strikes a deal:  They want to turn Colette back into a human. The Pope wants Tethe'Alla to remain flourishing. The two goals actually go together to and alliance is simply logical.

So the Pope agrees, though under the condition Zelos must watch over the group 24/7, which they agree with.

Although he is a massive asshole. Anyways, we have to leave Presea in her hometown, but since the Imperial Research Academy is around the same place anyways, they might as well go there first. And thus, Best Boy joins the Party.

Zelos Wilder:

CV: Onosaka Masaya/Shiloh Strong

Zelos is functionally identical to Kratos and that's not an exaggeration. He learns many of the same Skills, has similar stats, hell, they even share a Limit Break. He does however have one Limit Break Kratos doesn't have (Divine Judgement) so technically speaking he's the better of the two. Naturally, he was part of my Endgame Party. Oh and he too can learn Judgement.

Otherwise, same type recommendation as Kratos.

As said before, he shares a Limit Break with Kratos, Shinning Bind (I refuse to call it Holy Binds) and it has much less lax activation conditions, as not only must you be in Over Limit, but you must have used Demon Thrust (A pretty high Level Arte for him) at least 100 times. Thankfully his second Limit Break, Divine Judgement, onl-

... Okay, I had that one coming. Anyhow, all you need is to be in Over Limit and have used the Arte That Shall Not Be Named 20 times. I guess the low number is because you only get it once you use Shinning Bind for the first time, and you can't use Shinning Bind until right after one of the last dungeons.

Also, his Personal EX Skill makes it so whenever he talks to a woman for the first time, he gets an Item.

Whatever the case may be, we need to cross a long, long bridge first. Like... really long. Like... MGS3 Stairs Long!

As we arrive in Sybak however, Presea makes it clear she doesn't like this place, but I'm sure that won't be in any way relevant... Anyhow, over at a lab, we find out exactly what's happening. Basically Exspheres and Cruxis Crystals are basically parasytes; if you don't contain them, their energy will go out of control and affect one's body, which is basically what's happening to Colette. Thankfully the actual process of fixing this is just getting a Key Crest.

And wouldn't you know, a junk dealer has one! And Zelos nabs it for free. There's just one problem: It doesn't work. So yeah, to Sylvarant it is, and while Zelos protests against it, they then point out he can just come with them, so he relents. Unfortunately the Papal Knights then kidnap the gang.

Yeah, the pope is an asshole, in case you couldn't tell. That said, due to some technology stuff Tethe'Alla has, Genis and Raine being Half-Elves is exposed. Lloyd doesn't seem to really care, but the problem is that over in this world, Half-Elves are treated as the lowest of the low, and if guilty of crime are immediately executed.

The Human Members of the party are taken to some random lab, and we also learn that Half-Elves that work here aren't even allowed to leave. No wonder the atmosphere is so damn moody! That said, one of the researchers, Katem does recognize Presea as... well... she kinda was the subject for an experiment to fuse a Cruxis Crystal into a human body.

Said scientist is intially perplexed by his behavior, but Best Girl has come to the rescue. How did she get there? 'Cause Ninja Magic, shut up!

Still more of a ninja than these idiots...

Whatever the case may be, they escape and are able to figure out that the Pope was behind the experiments on Presea. Unfortunately, after crossing the long ass bridge, they are too late...

Then again when you can Summon a Water Elemental, that does take care of most of the issues.

So yeah, our heroes beat the guards up and save the day. Quite the happy ending huh? And hey! Lloyd and the rest admit they don't really care whether or not Genis and Raine were Half-Elves anyways!

Although Presea does know how to ruin the mood...

Anyhow, we need to fix Rheairds, so Sheena has to make a pact with Volt... which she doesn't seem to happy about. Still though, Zelos does point out that they need to get them first, and he has just enough resources for that, so off to the mountains it is! That said, on the way there, he does say this:

Needless to say, there's more to him that meets the eye...

But yeah, time to make our way up the mountain... and... well...

Yeah, the Renegades saw this coming. So naturally they prepared themselves for this situation.

Presea is in charge of most of the game's snark, by the way.

However, things go from bad to worse, as Pronyma (One of Yggdrasil's generals) pops up... and it turns out she and Yuan are working together. She says she's been sent her for Colette, something Yuan doesn't mind because, well, he's more interested in Lloyd right now. Nontheless she goes for her... and suddenly the Key Crest starts working and Colette's back to normal!

She thus saves the rest of the gang by being clumsy as usual, thus it's time to settle the score.

Pronyma:

CV: Makishima Yuki/Masasa Moyo

She would be a threat... except she's weak to light, so as long as Raine or Colette are in your party, it's not gonna be too hard. Needless to say, spamming Photon Tempest will be useful for this fight.

Naturally Lloyd then moves in to finish Yuan afterwards, but a new challanger appears!

Not a fan of this outfit, I must say.

Yeah, Kratos is here too. And Yuan's working for Cruxis as well. He leaves with his shiny angel wings, and Kratos then tells the group to stop wasting their time, because Yggdrasil's fine with the way the world is so they should stop bothering to change it. Thus Lloyd makes a statement: If Yggdrasil doesn't change the world, he will.

Kratos leaves alongside the chick we just beat up, and we cut to Colette, who's better than ever! All of the effects of Angel Toxiocis are gone, and she gets to keep her Angel powers! Mind you, they still need to take Presea home, but they kinda can't cross the bridge. But it's okay, Sheena has some contacts in Meltokio that could help them out, and Zelos has a secret entrance there!

Thus leading to... the second worst dungeon in the game.

Meltokio Sewers:

Because every videogame needs a sewer level!

Ugh, this place sucks. Dull environments,  bad music (Which is weird because most of the music in this game is really great), and boring, time consuming puzzles, not helped at all by an annoying shrinking gimmick. It's not even a hard dungeon, just an annoying one.

Anyhow, plotwise, someone has been here before, so they need to open doors that were previously opened up. In the end it turns out it was a bunch of prisioners nabbed by the pope, who promised them their freedom if they killed the party. They fail, obviously... and then some new guy knocks Zelos out.

Needless to say, this blue haired master of Tactical Espionage Action kicks Zelos' ass, although he does fall back when he sees Presea, the rest the retreating. And thankfully with that we're out of that nightmare, and we even unlock a fast travel option so we never have to go through that nightmare of a dungeon ever again.

Over at the research facility (In which there's also some dude named Kuchinawa) the gang finds out they'll have to use an Elemental Cargo (EC for short) to pass, basically being treated as package, and the scientist want to use that for some Mana experiment or something like that. Not too big a deal but a bit cumbersome, especially for Raine.

Oh and from now on Zelos will sometimes introduce Lloyd as his Bud. Which as I now know from some research, in the original Japanese Version it was "Hunnie" instead.

Bu yeah, the next morning they set off, though Colette's shoulder is feeling a bit stiff but it's probably not that big a deal. So they go to the bridge and Kuchinawa shows them what we're stuck with for now, as well as seeing the country bumpkins who are those Sylvarant Brats messing around with Tethe'alla's amazing shrinking technology, so it's time to go!

Did I mention Sheena is Best Girl?

Yeah, the guy gives her a charm or something before leaving but whatever. Sadly the EC is a pain to control, with its strange, momentum based physics and awkward acceleration. Although sadly in Sybak they come across Kratos (In his old outfit, thankfully) although he's not here to fight. He does however warn Colette to remove that Key Crest if she wants to live.

Anyhow, Kate confirms, what happened to Presea was part of the Angelus Project, and explains that should something not be done soon, she'll flat out die. Thus they need to go to a dwarf named Atlessa so that he can make a special Key Crest for her. Oh and for some reason she tells the Party not to insult the Pope. Weird... anyhow, onto the next Dungeon!

Gaoracchia Forest:

Because of course there's a forrest level.

Well, I call it a dungeon, but that's technically a lie. It's more like one really big passageway. It's honestly not too bad and even somewhat enjoyable, all things considered. Whatever the case may be, the moment you get there, you face off against some of the Pope's Knights, who aren't too much of a biggie.

However, as we reach the end, Solid Snake appears once more. He claims he's just here to talk to Presea and that he doesn't mean to kill anyone, but they don't buy it and thus a fight ensues. He's not too hard, but be careful when he attacks, as often he'll just chain his Artes together. Thankfully he'll eventually fall.

Shut up Campbell! But yeah, that happened. Anyhow, unfortunately more Papal Knights are coming, so Sheena's taking us to her village. And no, it's not Konohagakure, it's Mizuho (And by extension, no, it's not Kirigakure). Anyhow, our dear prisoner wakes up, and has enough common sense to not start a fight given his condition.

The Vice Chief then confronts our heroes (The actual Chief is in a coma, as we later learn), and while initially pessimistic, Lloyd's idealism ultimately wins him over, agreeing to help so long as they help to move the people of Mizuho to Sylvarant, with Sheena having her profession changed from being an observer to a representative of the village.

As for our beloved prisoner, whose name is actually Regal, well, they realize they need all the help they can get so they're gonna have him stick around. And besides, so long as Presea is around, he won't try anything fishy.

Thankfully, he is a man of honor.

And thus this is when we're gonna take a break for now. A new world has opened up to us, and our search for a way to solve this conflict has finally begun. But for now, the conclusion to this will be a story for another day...

RPG Review: Tales Of Symphonia, Part 1: The Journey Begins

I guess this one needs a bit of an introduction. The Tales Series is a Long Running Action RPG Franchise by Bandai Namco, and it's basically their equivalent of Final Fantasy. That's admittedly a bit of an overstatement, but it's as simply as I can put it. It's actually on its 25th Anniversary at the time of writing, and the series has seen overall worldwide success.

Things you'll have to get used to in this Series: 1) Being the Chosen One Sucks. 2) Racism Everywhere. 3) One of your Party Members will be a terrible, terrible cook. 3) Magitek. 4) Religion is Evil. 5) The villains often have a deeper reason for doing the stuff they do. And finally 6) Get used to look up translation guides!

Seriously the Amount of Unlocalized Games is ridiculous: Tales Of Rebirth, Tales Of Destiny's PS2 Version (Which is the currently canonical one), Tales Of Destiny 2, Tales Of Innocence, and a few others. Hell, even the original Tales Of Phantasia counts as this, as the only version that has been localized is the absolute worst one of them all!

But that's besides the point. I should mention that my experience with the series is... limited at best. I have only played 3 games total: Phantasia, Symphonia, and Symphonia's sequel, Dawn Of The New World. I played Phantasia first, but honestly it's been a while so I'll need to replay it before I review it. Thus my first Tales Review will be of the first game that most people played: Tales Of Symphonia.

I should mention something important when it comes to this game: Versions. There are 4 Versions of Note that are available: The original Gamecube Version, the PS2 Version, the PS3 Version included in Tales Of Symphonia Chronicles and the Steam Version. The PS2 Version was a port that, due to the PS2's hardware, ran at 30 Frames Per Second in contrast to the Gamecube's 60. To make up for it, it added some new content. At the time, this was acceptable, Unfortunately the latter two Releases are direct Ports of the PS2 Version including being locked at 30 FPS.

So then, are there any benefits to buying these versions over the original Gamecube Release? Well, it depends. The PS3 Version has no fix for the 30 FPS issue, but to be fair it does come with  Dawn Of The New World, so technically you're getting to games in one. Steam doesn't have Dawn Of The New World, but to be fair there is a Mod somewhere that does restore the game to 60 FPS. Truth be told though, this is mostly an issue if you played the Gamecube Version first. I myself didn't know about this issue until about I was halfway through the game and it never really bothered me.

Ideally I'd say get the PS3 Version, but the Steam Version is an acceptable substitute, and the Gamecube Version is a fair buy too. I can't recommend the PS2 Version though... namely because it's Japan Only. For the sake of this Review, however, I played the Steam Version as any non-Steam game is hideously overpriced in my country.

Anyhow, the  game begins with what all RPGs start with: Narration! Well, okay, not all of them, but at least a surprising lot of them. Anyways, as Ikari Gendo or Liquid Snake (It depends on the language) tells us, many years ago, there was a tree that granted Mana to the world. But like always, there was a war and it withered away, which required the sacrifice of a hero. A Goddess was so distraught by this that she disappeared leaving a message to her angels: That she must awaken, or else the world will fall into ruin. And thus began the Journey Of Regeneration:

Gee where have I heard this plot before...

Yeah, that's the other thing the Tales series is known for. The plots start out really cliche before getting really, really dark and deconstructive with the many tropes it initially played straight.

Anyhow, we then cut to our hero being asleep in class while holding water. Said hero is Lloyd Irving, and since he pretty much has "IDIOT HERO" written in his forehead it's up to the resident Shota in the room, Genis (Known in Japan as Genius) Sage, to answer the teacher's questions. This basically evolves into an exposition dump that the ancient hero, Mithos, ended a war in a holy place called Kharlan, afterwards making a pact with the Goddess Martel to seal away the evil Desians. And yet they're back now.

See, the thing holding them back is a seal, and every so often the seal is weakened so they come back. Today however, is the day in which the Chosen One will receive an Oracle from the Goddess. In this case, it's the group's resident blonde, Colette Brunel. She then explains that she has to go on a journey to reawaken a bunch of Summon Spirits and pass the Trials of a Goddess, restoring the world's Mana (Hence the name of the Journey of Regeneration).

Oh and lack of Mana also means droughts and lack of food. 'Cause why not by this point.

Anyhow, after that convenient exposition dump, a light shines down, and so the teacher (Genis' older sister Raine/Refill Sage) goes to check what's up. You can then walk around, but before that, let's discuss something: The menu's options.

Three things must be taken into account, bar the usual stuff like Items, there's also the matter of Artes... well, okay, they're called Techs here, but every other game calls them Artes, thus I shall refer to them as such here. Anyhow, they're your Special Skills. Everything, from a beam of energy to a really strong slash to a volcano is treated as an Arte, and naturally they consume TP. How do you get TP Back? Well, the first answer is obviously Items, but that's to easy. No, the main way you'll be getting it back during dungeons is with cooking.

Yes, the series has a dedicated cooking mechanic,and it's also accessed through the menu. Get the ingredients and pray it turns out fine. Now for the most part most of your Teammates are Competent Cooks so it'll work, but then there's a white haired devil we'll be getting later.... but that's besides the point. They restore a certain percentage of TP and HP depending on the food, and by finding a mysterious gourmet hidden in a bunch of places, you unlock more recipes.

The third is the Status Screen. For the most part it's the usual fair, but then there's the matter of Titles. Your character will have a title assigned to them, however as the game goes on you'll get other ones that you can swap around. And these are actually important, by the way, as they modify your stats.
Bar that it's the usual though. I just had to get that out of the way so when I get into the individual characters you get what I'm saying. Speaking of which...

Lloyd Irving:

CV: Konishi Katsuyuki/Scott Menville

Lloyd is your run of the mill warrior in RPGs. Bar a few exceptions, all of his Artes are based on Physical Strikes, and in turn has higher than average HP as he'll often have to get close and personal. His damage output is also decently high, and overall, there'd rarely be a time in which he won't be a valuable Party Member. He was pretty much the one character that, unless the plot demanded it, was always a part of my Party.

Anyhow, you can talk to everyone, but really you just need to head out. The previously mentioned Genis and Colette try to stop him... but in the long run they decide to tag along. On that note:

Genis/Genius Sage:

CV: Orikasa Ai/Colleen Villiard

Genis is a straight up Black Mage. His physical stats suck but he has a decently high amount of TP and he'll be using them a lot, to put it bluntly. Sadly due to the way you get Artes and the fact that his Casting time is just a tad too slow for my taste, I quickly discarded him.

Colette Brunel:

CV: Mizuki Nana/Heather Hogan-Watson

I don't really know how to classify Colette. Her physical ones tend to alternate between what they can do and her Magic Artes are all Light Based and they alternate between stuff like Status Buffs to getting the almighty Judgement.

Not that one!

Anyhow, she wasn't too useful once I got to a certain point, but I did go back to her eventually to farm some money, as she has a trick that will make getting it a joke.

So... remember what I said about getting Artes? Generally speaking, the basic ones you get by simply leveling up. Wanna get past the basic ones? Well, get ready to use those basic ones upwards of 50 TIMES to do so!

Now, this is mostly not too bad, but this those cause that, even though all your Party Members Level up even when not battling, they'll still be rather far behind. This isn't so much a complaint though, as it is more of a warning: Decide on a Main Party as soon as possible.

Setting that aside, however, we run into another series tradition: Skits. While you wander around you'll come across some little prompts that tell you to Press Select or something like that. Do so, and you'll be treated to a little scene with some portraits of the characters talking it out. This is also from where some of the funniest moments in the game come...

... Sadly that leaves to my first of two big issues with the Dub. I should mention that for the most part it's really solid overall, and as you can tell from Scott Menville of all people being here they got some actors that don't really appear in JRPGs too often, but for whatever reason they didn't Dub the Skits because... because I have no idea. And apparently this isn't the only game in which that's the case.

Oh and the second of those complaints is the way they pronounce some names, by the way (Seriously, why did they use the Japanese pronunciation of Yggdrasil instead of the English one!?)

Anyhow, we can finally leave the schools, but the evil Desians have made their way towards the temple. And unfortunately, the city we're in, Iselia, has a non-Aggression Agreement with them, so technically they can't do anything. However as our heroes head out they're attacked by... a giant floating skull...

What am I even...

Err, never mind, apparently it's the overworld avatar of a Zombie... look, this game is from 2003.

However this does bring us to the Combat System. 

A rough idea of how battles will look like.

As said before, this is an Action RPG, with your Party Members being AI Controlled, though you can set general strategies for them. Besides that, you can attack, block, jump, backstep and so on. Artes are used by pressing O or B and then a certain direction with the analog stick. It's simple, but ultimately it works. As a bonus, you can even switch the character you control mid-battle with the push of a button.

That said, I do have an issue with it: Over Limit. Over Limit is basically a super mode your characters will get into if they're hit enough. In it Artes cost less TP and you don't stagger when hit. The problem is that the indicator for this isn't too big until you're close to activating it, and given how many high level stuff is tied to it, that's a big problem. Technically speaking the character's portrait does get brighter, but frankly I wasn't really able to tell too much of a difference myself.. Combined with the fact it doesn't last too long, it's kind of a bitch to know when it'll trigger or not.

Anyhow, once our heroes win, you'll be able to head off into the world map... and really there aren't too many places to go, so just go to the temple. In it, the light continues to shine down, but there's some commotion going on and the Grand Priest comes down the stairs... only to die as soon as he explains that the evil Desians broke their own rules... yeah, I can see why Lloyd hates them.

As they go up the stairs, they find the evil Desians, led by a man named Botta, threatening an old lady... but then this happens.

Keep this in mind, it'll become important later.

Anyhow, feel free to beat them down, but after you do so they'll retreat, bringing in their big guy, who is just too strong, even for our heroes. So of course, it's time for a heroic second wind!

Hello, I'm the one character from this game everyone remembers,
I'm stealing your screentime.

Yes, a mysterious stranger has come to the rescue. And with him, the other dude ends up being a joke. The bad guys retreat, and this mysterious redhead acts like your standard mysterious Anti-Hero. Even having an item known as an Exsphere (More on them later). The trials seem to be nothing out of the ordinary though, just a bunch of monsters.

Still though, the priests that would've helped are now dead, so Lloyd proposes to help. Sadly, the old lady doesn't trust him too much, but the other guy instead just says that so long as he's paid, he'll protect the Chosen One. Oh and his name is Kratos, by the way.

This one?

NOT THAT ONE! This is a character that is actually well written. Hell, their names aren't even pronounced the same (This one is pronounced KRA-tos instead of KRAY-tos). Anyhow, the old lady (Who is actually Colette's grandmother) agrees, but  Lloyd insists on coming, and after a while even the withered mercenary is like "Fuck it" and lets him go along. Which also means he's joined the party:

Kratos Aurion:

CV: Tachiki Fumihiko/Cam Clarke

Kratos is a jack of all trades. Dude can do anything: White Magic? Check. Black Magic? Check. Sword Skills? Check! Dude can do anything, which combined with his high stats makes him a powerhouse in the early game. Hell, eventually he too learns Judgement!... Though for reasons that will become apparent later chances are you won't actually be able to use it.

Anyhow, we're also now inside the dungeon!

Martel Temple:

Sadly, I wasn't able to find any interior shots.

One thing need to be mentioned before we continue. Firstly, all enemies actually appear onscreen so there are no random encounters. Which, yeah is really nice. But then again I'm one of those people who never truly minded Random Encounters, so it isn't that big a deal for me.

Anyhow, the main door is locked, so we have to go and get a Sorcerer's Ring. And while it's easy to find, you'll have to complete a block puzzle to get it. It's no biggie though, and hey, it lets you beat up a Golem for some easy EXP!

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, Colette is a bit of a Klutz. Get used to it.

Anyhow, once finished you can go get the Sorcerer's Ring. With it you can do some slight interactions with the environment and, more importantly, stun enemies so you don't have to go into battles if you're low on health. Anyways, make your way back to open a gate with the ring to then go to the altar. At the bottom of which is a Cruxis Crystal (More on then when they become relevant).

However from the top, in the form of a shining light an Assho-I mean Angel appears. Also, due to the fact Colette is the Chosen One, said Angel is considered her real father. She then tells her her mission: To unleash all the Seals and then make her way to the Tower Of Salvation. And indeed, after that he just... leaves. Man, talk about a literal exposition fairy...

Anyhow, it's time to make our way back, but I dunno guys, it feels as if we're forgetting something...

Oh yeah, that....

Anyhow, after that, our heroes leave... but not before hearing Raine laughing like a madwoman. Yeah, girl's got some screws loose to say the least. Oh and in a Skit Lloyd decides to keep the Sorcerer's Ring because why not? Anyhow, over at Colette's house preparations  to leave, and Lloyd once again insists to go too. Kratos however just tells him he'd be in the way.

To be fair, it's hard to say he doesn't have a point. This is a journey to save the world and Lloyd is but an amateur. Though as they leave Colette tries to apologize for that man's rudeness, but they don't really blame her for that or anything. On that note, it's Colette's Birthday today! As such it's time for presents, with Genis giving her some cookies, and Lloyd... forgot about it.

Dammit Lloyd, you're just proving Kratos' point...

Still though, he does promise to have it done by tomorrow. Either way, it's time to swing by Genis' house, in which he gives us a small tutorial on cooking, which I have already explained. Over at the exit, Lloyd's pet thing Noishe is causing a bit of a ruckus. Noishe will be very useful, as we'll see later. Oh and speaking of ruckus, one of the guards ask Lloyd if he's making one in one of the Evil Desian's human ranches, which he denies, and does seem pretty sincere about it.

Who isn't so sincere as we find out on the way to Lloyd's house is Genis. Mind you, from his point of view the Evil Desians already broke the treaty, so this should be fair game. And in turn Lloyd decides to tag around too just in case. In it we see standard activity in the ranches, namely humans being forced to work like slaves. Beutiful, I know.

The reason Genis is here, however is because of an old woman he befriended, Marble. She hopes the Journey of Regeneration will be successful this time, as the previous Chosen One kinda died. She also has an Exsphere in her hand as well, one without a Key Crest. To give an explanation quickly, Exspheres are basically Spheres that grant their users power boosts, and its later revealed Lloyd's is one of few perfected Exspheres... except not really but more on that later. Even then, he still needs a Key Crest as attaching an Exsphere directly onto one's body can make you sick.

Well... kinda. More on that later.

Anyhow, they decide to ask Lloyd's father for help as, well he's a dwarf (Yeah, Lloyd's adopted), and dwarfs are expert craftsmen.. Sadly before they can go there, the Evil Desians spot her, and while the other two go into hiding, she herself starts getting whipped. Thus they decide to help out, with Lloyd being a decoy all the while Genis uses his magic. It works... until Genis stumbles over,  thus forcing Lloyd to actually fight the guards.

Still though they do manage to escape, though barely. As such they finally go to Lloyd's father, Dirk. He in turn is able to see through his son's lies rather easily.

Get used to hearing these, by the way.

We're also told that Lloyd's Exsphere is actually his mother's... and that she was killed because of it. Yeah, Lloyd isn't too happy he wasn't told this until just now. Dirk tells Lloyd to not get involved with the Evil Desians, but this being Lloyd, he's not one to listen... and right outside, everyone came along and heard everything.

Oh and Kratos is by Anna's (Lloyd's mother) grave, by the way. Sure hope that never matters...

Over at the roof, Lloyd apologizes for forgetting Colette's present, but being Colette she's fine with it. Even so, Lloyd once again says he'll go with her, not only to stop the Evil Desians, but also because, well, he really wants to see her turn into an Angel. And while she does express some concern over Ramiel (The Angel from earlier) being her Father, Lloyd just tells her to not worry about it. After all, that means she has two fathers! And thus, they agree they'll meet tomorrow.

The following day Genis and Lloyd find out Colette, Kratos and Raine left without telling them.

Gotta say, this was a very successful escape plan.

Before that, I should mention Dirk did finish the Key Crest, telling his son to do whatever he wants with it. And also some Items because why not? And really only Lloyd didn't know. Genis did get to see them off at least. Either way, Colette did leave a letter apologizing, but no time for that, as the Evil Desians attack the town! Why? Because Lloyd. As Forcystus, their general, explains, Lloyd broke the Non-Agression treaty, so for them this is just the just desserts for such inferior humans.

Yeah, forgot to mention that. Most if not all Desians are Half-Elves, who in the Tales Series have a long history of being discriminated against. The Desians basically show what happens if they gained too much power after too much abuse. Also, the way they act seems to imply they weren't actually the ones after Colette, or at least not this group.

The Mayor isn't happy, to say the least. And thus the General brings out an appropiate opponent.

Exbula:

WHAT UNHOLY SPAWN OF SILENT HILL IS THAT THING!? Err... anyhow, it's a bit of a pussy, but it sure hits hard so be careful.

Once it's done, the General demands for Lloyd's Exsphere, but he naturally refuses. Yet surprisingly enough, that thing holds back the General... and then speaks in Marble's voice. Either way, after saying her goodbyes, she disappears, leaving behind an Exsphere as the others retreat. Yeah, as we later find out, this is what happens to humans who have an Exsphere inserted into them without a Key Crest, and as we later find out, what happened to Anna.

Afterwards, the Mayor, in a semi reasonable move, decides to exile Lloyd. With Genis being more than a bit distraught over these humans' behavior... oh yeah, he and Raine are Elves, forgot to mention that. Oh and then he exiles Genis too, because why not by this point. Look, even as a firm believer that sacrifices must be made, this guy's just an asshole.

Colette's family recommends they go to her, in hopes that making the world's regeneration succeed will help in some way. And indeed, it's time to leave Iselia. And thus begins a semi-long travel to the desert city of Triet. I should mention that in the overworld, there are a few Monument-Things that will let you ride Noshie to decrease travel time. Either way, over in Triet, it turns out they're already being searched, which leads to us seeing this hilariously drawn Wanted Poster.

Were they even trying?

You should probably also buy some weapons and armor by the way, things are gonna get hectic. For as the moment our heroes try to leave the town, the Evil Desians catch up to them! And while they put up a good fight, Lloyd is ultimately captured by them. Genis is let go as a courtesy.

Indeed, Lloyd is gonna be straight up executed. Still though, Checkov's Ring prooves its purpose by scaring the guard away so Lloyd can open the gate. Soon afterwards we see the first of many ring changers, which will change your Sorcerer's Ring's element, in this case to electricity, which helps open some doors.

Feel free to make your way out, but on said way, you run into some dude whose sprite makes him look like he has a mustache.

What? Don't believe me? Here's his Game Sprite:

Here's his design in the Anime:

See? No mustache! Oh and yes, I will be looking at the Anime once I finish Reviewing the game proper.

Anyhow, the man recognizes Lloyd (Well, moreso his name), however Botta reappears, saying that Colette and the others have come. Blue-Hair leaves, just in time for the cavalry to arrive. Leading us to:

Botta:

CV: Kuroda Takaya/Robin Atkin Downes

Botta isn't too fast, but the fact that he has two soldiers working with him does hinder things. Thankfully, besides that he's not too hard to take down so long as Stalagmite doesn't hit you.

Once defeated he leaves, with Raine then coming in, having opened up the escape Route. They thus escape, making their way back to Triet, in which Kratos gives some exposition on Exspheres to Raine. We also find out Raine brought some stuff from home.

Have I mentioned this woman is kinda insane?

However she did bring something useful: A Half Torn Crest that Lloyd can fix up so she can use an Exsphere. Hell, it's actually finished before the night ends. Before that however Lloyd goes out for a bit... only to also find Kratos there. The latter is in front of Noishe, though he admits to Lloyd he isn't the biggest fan of animals. Animals do seem to like him though as Noishe isn't usually keen to strangers. As for why Kratos is there, well, turns out he himself had a pet some time ago. He also gives Lloyd some advice.

And thus the morning comes and the Party sets off to more adventures, with their vigor reignited and their resolve strengthened... all the while Raine is still giving them homework. But that, my friends, is for next time.