We got a nice big update today, some of it's got some Crossbell spoilers so I've hidden those under a tag for people currently going through those games. Everything else is still fair game.
- Crow returns to Jurai after CS4 and learns about the new 'Imperial Liberation Front'. The fact that he is not the new C is made plain because the two are seen fighting one another. Crow seems to be acting independently.
- Sara and Fie continue their work as bracers and are active throughout Erebonia and Crossbell. There's a group shot of bracers which includes the two of them, Michael, Aeolia and (I think) Scott.
- Claire is seen in Rean's company at Ymir's onsen. She's working every day to atone for her actions during Operation Jormungandr.
- Duvalie appears and is speaking with C in one scene in the company of Arios. She is at least temporarily working as part of Ouroboros once again and is paying back the debt she feels she owes Crossbell from her role in Phantasmal Blaze by helping confront Rufus' garrison forces. Her general attitude is alive and well.
- Ennea and Ines also appear and are getting a role in the Magical Alisa game as well, though the context for their roles isn't provided. One assumes they're associated with 'JK Duvalie' somehow.
- The Scramble Raid system got some more details. They're special treasure chests that trigger battles (a nice return of something lacking in the last couple of CS games, aside from the CS4 Trial Chests) and draw on your standby party members rather than your active ones.
- The Phantasmal Hill(s) is a region within the True Reverie Corridor where enemies and field objects can drop rare items. It also looks gorgeous and kind of reminds me of one scene from Tokyo Xanadu. Another region of the Corridor is mentioned in the screenshots as the Wedge of Nothingness, where one of the Scramble Raid chests can be found.
- Like the original one the True Reverie Corridor can be reset and thus cleared over and over and the rewards accumulated.
- Another pair of Episodes have been revealed: 'Reunion ~ A Maiden's Melancholy' and 'A New Life of Light'. The latter's a play on Olivier's group in CS4 and uses the same phrasing, kinda awkward to translate though. Anyhow, the former Episode sees Claire, Sara and Sharon investigating an incident in Heimdallr between CS4 and Hajimari and looks like it will involve Claire's past, while the latter depicts preparations for Olivier and Schera's wedding, with the former talking with Mueller and Zechs and the latter looking at wedding dresses with Priscilla. No word on whether or not Olivier and Zechs get into an argument over who rocks that eyepatch better.
- The Magical Alisa minigame is officially called 'Mahou Shoujo Magical Alisa RS' with the letters being short for Returns Shooting. The 'Returns' bit was already in use in the spinoff material to designate the second 'season' which added CS3/4 characters. There's story elements to it, as can be seen from the menu screen where 'Event Viewer' is one of the options. Apparently Rean the Prince of Hades is back invading the human realm and it's up to the magical girls to stop things, for Justice! Have I mentioned yet how hilarious the whole spinoff is?
EDIT: Related to the above, the Dengeki shop preorder bonuses includes a DLC outfit for Lapis, so we know she's got a role as 'Fairy Doll Magical Lapis'. I think someone at Falcom is having entirely too much fun coming up with magical girl names for their characters.
- Wald returns and is said to be a Squire in the Gralsritter. His mind and body have recovered from his use of Gnosis thanks to therapy in Arteria but it left him badly weakened and he's taken up intellectual study in the meantime. He now wears glasses because of weakening eyesight. He's seen in the company of Wazy (we already knew from Ao's ending screenshots that he'd become Wazy's squire) and Scarlet (confirmed to have become another of Wazy's squires in CS4).
- Garcia was just released from prison prior to the start of Hajimari.
My head canon for the magical Alisa game is the Prince of Hades is head patting everyone and that must be put to a stop 🤣
I'm really hoping with the Olivier episode Alfin is there helping Schera for a bit. I just imagine those two getting along well, occasionally talking smack about our dear Olivier and his antics.
Good grief, that new trailer...so much to pour over, where to even begin?
11th Dominion? What on earth could be going on that would require 5 flippin' Dominion to spring into action? Also gotta wonder what number is way in the back of that group shot of the Merkabah (edit: oh duh, Gaius).
KEVIN'S BACK, PRESUMABLY!!!! (here's hoping he doesn't just swoop in on his Merkabah, then fly off to his home planet without getting out)
Beryl's back! With some kind of gameplay function?
Rean has a geass????? Sort of funny how he gets a new super power. I was rather looking forward to him having to rely merely on his own strength, but we'll see how it shakes out.
A mysterious new super Divine Knight? Schwarzreaner's messed up Valimar? The Great One?
What's got Lloyd and friends in such a bad spot?
Why's my boy McBurn missing an arm? Scared to meet the monster that could do that to him.
I'm still kind of amazed at how much the animation has improved since 4. It's night and day! Finally, fight scenes won't just be two character models doing their crafts at each other!
Why is Rufus free? Lock that d-bag up and toss the key right into Gehenna.
There's more I'm forgetting, but this'll do for now. They hype is killing me...
Oh god yes, that trailer was something insane. I'd post a link but I wanna wait for Falcom's own version to drop so they get the hits. And yeah, unpacking that's gonna take a good while. I was geeking out with floofy and guan earlier and we were playing a game of who could spot something the others didn't.
- That scene in monochrome with Rean at the beginning looks like it's the reaction shots from the Normal Ending, with Rean watching his friends seeing Valimar blow up.
- I wanna know who let the asshole out of prison. Because someone released Rufus from prison and they're gonna pay for it. I suppose this means we also get to enjoy the added pleasure of kicking Rufus' ass again, so I can get behind that. Once was not enough for what he did.
- Yeah, that thing with Rean's eye is creepy, especially since it's what Ash had. My money's on some weird cross-timeline connection to Schwarzreaner/Ishmelga.
- Seeing Wazy and Arios' S-Crafts in 3d is amazing. The latter is in what must be the most overpowered party ever assembled in-game so far. It's the Salt Pale E group from CS4, plus Arios and Roselia. Something is about to be very very dead. I also noticed that his S-Craft line has changed very slightly, not sure if that means something or not.
- Oh, and that shot with Wazy and team facing off against Demon McBurn? Tita's there too. Time to find out if being a Dominion can save you from the unholy wrath of Erika because she is going to be so unamused...
- There's so many little things hidden in the screen of small images. A quiz minigame with Beryl (she's in Campanella's role, how fitting), Aurelia and Orie facing off against Rean, Laura, Fie and Duvalie, Millium borrowing Naglfar to fight with (but George also appears playable so I have no idea how that works long-term), Cedric on the Glorious, a not-so-happy meeting between Renne and her parents (with confirmation that Harold survived)...
- Elm Beach has minigames again, or at least one. Rean looks like he's splitting a watermelon, very traditional.
- Also in that motage is Kurt, in a St. Astraia uniform. I can already hear Dorothee needing a change of panties and scribbling furiously in her notebook...
- Whoever C is, they definitely are part of the 'Die Rufus Die!' club, since they've got a nice duel scene going on. The animation has come so far from Laura and Fie fighting it out in Heimdallr, or Rean versus Victor both back in CS1.
- RIP Juno, I have no idea what just hit you but it doesn't look good.
- Five Merkabah in one place is Not A Good Sign. Also, there's at least one new Dominion getting involved (or they're confirming our suspicions that Gaius was never really the Eighth Dominion) and Kevin's showing up too.
- For the mecha-thing that shows up really quickly at the end, my money's on 'the Great One at full power' since it kinda looks like a fusion of elements from the seven Knights. You can see bits of Ishmelga in the shoulders and Argreion in the wings.
- Schwarzreaner with Normal Ending 'Ishmelga Face' confirmed.
Why's my boy McBurn missing an arm? Scared to meet the monster that could do that to him.
I had to go back because I missed this and wow, they hid that neatly in a transition. I'm not sure if his arm's actually missing or if his hand is just hidden by the camera angle; The sleeve is positioned in a way that doesn't really mesh with the idea that he's got no arm inside it. I'd expect it to be hanging limp by his side if that were the case but it seems to be spread wide like he's getting ready to summon Angbar.
Some more stuff that jumped out to me.
There's a burst rush of all four Proto Class VII members. Unbelievable that it took this long to have these four as player characters at once.
Madame Hayworth draws a knife on Renne and the father mimics her motion. Here's to hope that this isn't what really happens.
Rean, Duvalie, Laura and Fie have a duel with Aurelia and Aurier Vander. Olivert officiates... let's see if that fight ends up harder than the 4 vs 2 with Aurelia and Victor in CS3.
Wazy and Arios' S-Craft pictures are absolutely badass. But Garcia's S-Craft picture tops them all. The man rocks that Mafia-Don suit.
The tanks we see in Nord are Calvardian ones I think. Those rocket launchers on the side are pretty distinct.
The mech (Probably Rean's new machine) blocks something with Gaius' village entrance in the background. That video shot has been shown in a previous trailer, but now I can see what exactly it's blocking and it looks like a big-ass projectile. My best guess is that it's shot from a Dragunov Railway cannon.
We finally see Speaker McDowell in 3D.
Have I ever said that I absolutely adore Zeit? Seeing him in 3D and accompanied by all 3 Hexenbreed ladies catapults my hype beyond the stratosphere.
Madame Hayworth draws a knife on Renne and the father mimics her motion. Here's to hope that this isn't what really happens.
Yeah, I have a hard time working out what would cause Sophia to pull a knife on her daughter like that. The only thing that really springs to mind is if she thought Colin was in danger but after Zero she'd know that Renne wouldn't do a thing to harm him. And Harold clearly survived X-Day so it's not that. Crack theory would be that she's somehow flipped from thinking that 'the purple-haired girl' who saved Colin was an angel sent by Aidios to some sort of demon sent to trick them, but that doesn't fit with their interactions in CS4 so... I dunno. Maybe it's an Episode story and Renne's just having a vivid nightmare?
Wazy and Arios' S-Craft pictures are absolutely badass. But Garcia's S-Craft picture tops them all. The man rocks that Mafia-Don suit.
What we really need now is a faceoff between Dudley and Garcia to see who can kick more ass while rocking a nice suit. Though Dudley might lose by default since he takes off his jacket before really going to town on his opponents.
Have I ever said that I absolutely adore Zeit? Seeing him in 3D and accompanied by all 3 Hexenbreed ladies catapults my hype beyond the stratosphere.
Yeah, I wanna see what those two have to say to each other onscreen. I'm sure they'll get along like cats and dogs...
EDIT: Oh, with the site update there are a few new things as well. First, somehow I'd overlooked in the Episode description from the magazine scans that Bleublanc seems to be sending a wedding gift to his beloved rival in all things pertaining to Beauty. That's gonna be interesting.
Also, there's a page for the Magical Alisa RS minigame which adds some new details to what the magazine scans had. There's a plot summary of why Alisa and Rean are fighting one another again and why the New Class VII cast has joined the ranks of the magical girls and they're not kidding about the game having its own decent plot, which looks like it's gonna be told VN-style. It's also got more on the basic gameplay and a shot of Ennea and Ines and a horrible pun (鉄鬼隊, which is a homophone to the Japanese for the Eisenritter/Stahlritter inserting the character for 'ogre' or 'demon') which begs the question of how they and Duvalie are connected in this universe. There's also shots of what look to be the game's equivalent of S-Crafts but they're too small to completely make out. Anyhow, we've got:
Rapid-fire Shot: Looks to be different for each character based on the teaser clip showing Altina versus Alisa.
Charged Shot: Disrupts enemy shields.
Special Shot: Does massive damage and destroys enemy projectiles, presumably the S-Craft-ish skills seen in the trailer and screenshots.
Assist Skills: The ones that summon other characters to help out with varying effects.
With all that, I find myself wondering if the minigame is going to be like Sun Door 4 where you can only progress so far at a time and then have to unlock the next segment via an item. I mean, we're already blatantly taking cues from The 3rd in everything else and it looks like there's a pretty substantial amount of content in this minigame.
A better look at that Merkabah shot shows that 3 and 11 are present... That either means we're getting two new Dominion reveals, or a certain someone'll be re-introducing themselves.
I don't even know where to start, seeing that I don't have most of the context of CS IV, and I keep seeing certain things in this thread that make it seem like some wild stuff happens in that game. Though after having watched the Japanese trailers of even past games, they seem to be a fan of throwing in lots of random clips with no context so obviously things aren't nearly as insane once everything has played out.
Don't know why but seeing a scene with both Erica and Estelle there together has me beyond hyped. I think it has to do with how in SC in a letter Tita got from her mom she was hoping to meet Estelle. Estelle being Estelle, I imagine she's on pretty friendly terms with Erika. I really just want a small side story where Erika first meets Estelle, and Renne. Cracked a smile just seeing Erika being a doting mother.
Speaking of Renne, I am assuming that the knife thing has to be some kind of nightmare, but at least from what I saw it almost looks too comical? It's a really small screen but the knife seems to come out of nowhere after Renne says something, so not sure what to think. I am looking forward to her seeing her parents face to face, but if that somehow ends up being their actual reaction to her unless a very specific context makes it even remotely work, I will have to say **** em. Still going with it's her thinking how her meeting would go, since despite improving leaps and bounds emotionally, there's a trauma that she will be carrying with her the rest of her life, and meeting her parents will carry even more emotional weight.
Throw in Wazy looking great as usual I am looking forward to this game, once it hopefully gets announced after I beat CS IV. Dangit Falcom I may dunk on your games from time to time but I am the true fool at the end of the day, I am still addicted to these games.
Someone pointed this out in the Falcord. The nuking of Juno looks suspiciously like the Stigma canon from a Merkebah.
A better look at that Merkabah shot shows that 3 and 11 are present... That either means we're getting two new Dominion reveals, or a certain someone'll be re-introducing themselves.
I don't think that's 03 there; it's really hard to make out with the resolution we have to work with but Gu4n thinks it's 09 and we already know they're involved. The only one that's really a mystery is the one in back because of the angle. Whether or not we get the reveal I'm expecting, 08 seems most likely to be the remaining one but Kondo did say that people should reread Carnelia before playing Hajimari so...
they seem to be a fan of throwing in lots of random clips with no context so obviously things aren't nearly as insane once everything has played out.
Yeah, that or images that are deliberately edited to show things that don't actually happen (Sara stalking Lechter and McBurn amid a bunch of red pleromas back in CS3 being obvious examples) just to keep us on our toes.
I imagine she's on pretty friendly terms with Erika. I really just want a small side story where Erika first meets Estelle, and Renne. Cracked a smile just seeing Erika being a doting mother.
Consider that Estelle also took her precious little Tita into how many dangerous situations back in FC and SC and how she reacted to Albert and especially Agate... but they actually do meet semi-regularly, per some of the drama cds. There's probably not going to be an Episode focused on it, simply because that ground has already been covered to an extent elsewhere.
Speaking of Renne, I am assuming that the knife thing has to be some kind of nightmare, but at least from what I saw it almost looks too comical? It's a really small screen but the knife seems to come out of nowhere after Renne says something, so not sure what to think. I am looking forward to her seeing her parents face to face, but if that somehow ends up being their actual reaction to her unless a very specific context makes it even remotely work, I will have to say **** em. Still going with it's her thinking how her meeting would go, since despite improving leaps and bounds emotionally, there's a trauma that she will be carrying with her the rest of her life, and meeting her parents will carry even more emotional weight.
The really weird thing about that is that this is going to be the second time they've met in person and the third time the Hayworths have heard about Renne (not counting a fourth encounter from Star Door 15 where Renne watches them but they don't notice her) and there's literally nothing in any of those previous meetings that would give us any reason to expect a shot like the one in the trailer. The last time they encountered each other it was pretty obvious that Harold and Sophia are starting to put the pieces together that the mysterious girl who's been helping them out is their long-lost daughter and setting up a reunion after the events of CS4. So yeah, unless that's a nightmare something very wrong is going on.
Beryl's back = Maximum yes.
Renne meeting her family again ditto... The knife thing... Maybe I'm looking at it too hard but it seems to be weird the way they pull them out. They don't seem to be pulling them out in a threatening way, or a defensive way, or a 'imma be sly and stab her in the back, it'll all be over soon while smiling' way. But kind of a ritualistic I was told to pull out a knife so I'm pulling it out way IMO.
It might be a coincidence but it still strikes me as slightly odd that new C's gang are all youth, I suspect that may be something to do with their identity. I don't think new C is young necessarily, but maybe they are connected to mentoring youth or something in some way. I mean it's possible it's just a coincidence since 2 are a pair so it's more of a coincidental 2 rather than 3 but the imagery still is noticeable to me. Also Swin kinda dresses like lloyd =P.
Oh, I'm also wondering what Kea's English voice actor will be like (more for cs4 than hajimari but still). Hearing her voice at the start of the trailer, sounds just like zero/AO and makes me happy. It'll be weird hearing her different suddenly.
Maybe it's obvious for people who played cs4, but I find it weird how the scene in crossbell where the SSS (and Rixia? I guess she's an official team member now?) are struggling against something, and you see all those civilians in the back clapping and cheering like it's a party. It's evident they aren't cheering cuz it's a friendly duel either CUZ THERE IS EFFING SMOKE IN THE CROWD. Seriously, what the heck?
Also the girl on the right clapping looks familiar, but not stock generic npc familiar. I THINK she is just a general npc model but.. I dunno. I thought that character was SOMEONE in CS3 or 2. Maybe it was intended to be a stock/generic npc that just wasn't re-used all that often and was one that hit a note with me for some reason (kinda like the family you help adopt a cat for in zero/azure to me).
Also there is that scene where the SSS are sitting on a mech as it shoots a window with its tonfa gun. Does lloyd get a tonfagun later on too or is it still just Juna? I noticed Juna isn't in that 8-team assault thing afterwards though.. Maybe she can't in a mech? Anyway I'm kinda glad that there seems to be friendly interaction between the groups like Lapis hanging out with Class7 group, Juna possibly teaming up with SSS, etc
A better look at that Merkabah shot shows that 3 and 11 are present... That either means we're getting two new Dominion reveals, or a certain someone'll be re-introducing themselves.
I don't think that's 03 there; it's really hard to make out with the resolution we have to work with but Gu4n thinks it's 09 and we already know they're involved. The only one that's really a mystery is the one in back because of the angle. Whether or not we get the reveal I'm expecting, 08 seems most likely to be the remaining one but Kondo did say that people should reread Carnelia before playing Hajimari so...
they seem to be a fan of throwing in lots of random clips with no context so obviously things aren't nearly as insane once everything has played out.
Yeah, that or images that are deliberately edited to show things that don't actually happen (Sara stalking Lechter and McBurn amid a bunch of red pleromas back in CS3 being obvious examples) just to keep us on our toes.
I imagine she's on pretty friendly terms with Erika. I really just want a small side story where Erika first meets Estelle, and Renne. Cracked a smile just seeing Erika being a doting mother.
Consider that Estelle also took her precious little Tita into how many dangerous situations back in FC and SC and how she reacted to Albert and especially Agate... but they actually do meet semi-regularly, per some of the drama cds. There's probably not going to be an Episode focused on it, simply because that ground has already been covered to an extent elsewhere.
Speaking of Renne, I am assuming that the knife thing has to be some kind of nightmare, but at least from what I saw it almost looks too comical? It's a really small screen but the knife seems to come out of nowhere after Renne says something, so not sure what to think. I am looking forward to her seeing her parents face to face, but if that somehow ends up being their actual reaction to her unless a very specific context makes it even remotely work, I will have to say **** em. Still going with it's her thinking how her meeting would go, since despite improving leaps and bounds emotionally, there's a trauma that she will be carrying with her the rest of her life, and meeting her parents will carry even more emotional weight.
The really weird thing about that is that this is going to be the second time they've met in person and the third time the Hayworths have heard about Renne (not counting a fourth encounter from Star Door 15 where Renne watches them but they don't notice her) and there's literally nothing in any of those previous meetings that would give us any reason to expect a shot like the one in the trailer. The last time they encountered each other it was pretty obvious that Harold and Sophia are starting to put the pieces together that the mysterious girl who's been helping them out is their long-lost daughter and setting up a reunion after the events of CS4. So yeah, unless that's a nightmare something very wrong is going on.
Any idea if those drama CDs with their interactions have been translated? If not would just like an idea what their interactions are like. Yeah, her reaction to Agate and Albert would make it seem like she would be angry as well, but Agate early on didn't have the best personality, and Erika has her rivalry with Albert. Estelle's personality I could see Erika perhaps not liking the fact that Estelle taking her daughter into these situations, but warming up pretty quickly.
Yeah, having played the Crossbell games it would be extremely weird for that to be their reaction. Also, something more to look forward to in CS IV. Like Estelle, I'm always down for more story stuff involving Renne.
In regard to whether it’s Dominion 3 or 9, the 720p version of the video posted by Hansuke is a little bit clearer and it looks more like a 3.
Regarding Merkabah #3, I was referring to this pic that guan posted. That seems, to me, undeniably a 3.
edit: ninja'd
Maybe it's obvious for people who played cs4, but I find it weird how the scene in crossbell where the SSS (and Rixia? I guess she's an official team member now?) are struggling against something, and you see all those civilians in the back clapping and cheering like it's a party. It's evident they aren't cheering cuz it's a friendly duel either CUZ THERE IS EFFING SMOKE IN THE CROWD. Seriously, what the heck?
If you look closely, Falcom seems to have dropped a hint why some people are clapping while the rest aren't: They've got the whole 'curse aura' thing going on around them. Which is very VERY worrying.
Also the girl on the right clapping looks familiar, but not stock generic npc familiar. I THINK she is just a general npc model but.. I dunno. I thought that character was SOMEONE in CS3 or 2. Maybe it was intended to be a stock/generic npc that just wasn't re-used all that often and was one that hit a note with me for some reason (kinda like the family you help adopt a cat for in zero/azure to me).
I'd have to go back and check but that might be one of Elliot's friends from Heimdallr, maybe? The outfit looks similar to what I remember at any rate.
Also there is that scene where the SSS are sitting on a mech as it shoots a window with its tonfa gun. Does lloyd get a tonfagun later on too or is it still just Juna?
Just Juna, who's piloting the thing. Oh, and another thing that we've known for a good while know but it bears repeating: Zaubersoldats are still working and someone thought they'd be safe enough to use that Juna willingly hopped into the cockpit of one despite what the things did to everyone else we've seen pilot one. It was clearly a planned action and not a spur of the moment Gundamjack using whatever they could get their hands on, since they've got a weapon custom-designed for Juna.
Any idea if those drama CDs with their interactions have been translated? If not would just like an idea what their interactions are like. Yeah, her reaction to Agate and Albert would make it seem like she would be angry as well, but Agate early on didn't have the best personality, and Erika has her rivalry with Albert. Estelle's personality I could see Erika perhaps not liking the fact that Estelle taking her daughter into these situations, but warming up pretty quickly.
I've gotta go back and listen to those again some time because the specifics have gotten a bit fuzzy for me. They haven't been translated yet by anyone, that I'm aware of. They're very light-hearted stories.
In regard to whether it’s Dominion 3 or 9, the 720p version of the video posted by Hansuke is a little bit clearer and it looks more like a 3.
Regarding Merkabah #3, I was referring to this pic that guan posted. That seems, to me, undeniably a 3.
edit: ninja'd
Okay, that's way better resolution than I've seen before. Huh...
I mean, I guess Falcom could have decided that they need to speed up the rate of Dominion reveals if they want us to meet all twelve (assuming maximum membership) by the time the series is done? xD
