Question about a possible bug in an episodeSpoilerI don't think this is really a spoiler but just in case
In Freddie's episode you run around hunting monsters and picking up food off the ground (oy) and there's a prompt to investigate a mossy wall. When you click on it nothing happens. Is this something Falcom forgot to implement or remove or a bug?
Thank you
Question about a possible bug in an episodeSpoilerI don't think this is really a spoiler but just in case
In Freddie's episode you run around hunting monsters and picking up food off the ground (oy) and there's a prompt to investigate a mossy wall. When you click on it nothing happens. Is this something Falcom forgot to implement or remove or a bug?
Thank you
Ummm, when I checked that there was a bit of dialogue. As long as you can still advance the Episode it should be fine, but you may have found a text bug. If you get stuck at the end of that sequence and can't progress... I dunno. I guess reload the Episode and see if it works properly?
SpoilerEpisodes and final chapterI appreciated Lapis saying Lloyd was the only one who'd be able to get to the bottom of this case. Between Rean's gravity-defying antics in Nord and Rufus destroying his robot-self, it felt like our ace detective had a bit of a poor showing in this game, but he'll show 'em that Bannings spirit yet!
Oh and how about the super badasses deflecting a giant laser with the power of swordsmanship? Top that, Calvard folks!
I'd somehow gotten it into my head that the device Schmidt gave to Tita was some sort of anti-grav artifact (which helped the Orbal Gear fly) that was recovered from the Black Workshop, which in turn ended up being part of the Emperor's set of artifacts and he was retrieving it. Was that not the case?
Speaking of artifacts, if Elysium/Elysion (seriously, which is it?!), could replicate them, did it do that for Olivier's one? If so, was it mentioned where the original ended up? Was it the one in the giant terminal they find, or was that the replica? Aaaaghhh so many duplicates and replicants and fakers running around this game!
I have no clue how Calvard's gonna top that but I'm sure Falcom will find a way. xD
I just stopped when I reached the core, after those two fights. Oh boy, you can imagine how thrilled I was to see the d6 of Doom again. No meteor attack but it's still just as trolly in another way.
On the Artifact question, close. Schmidt says that while the device itself wasn't an Artifact it contained one inside it. Despite the similarity of powers I don't think it has anything to do with the Monarch's Regalia since the device is far too small to fit any of its pieces. I'd have to go back and check the descriptions to figure out exactly when the first Orbal Gear Episode (and Jingo's) takes place relative to Claire's, because in the latter he's clearly using the complete set. We know of at least one other Artifact that was apparently designed to allow flight (the 'Original Merkabah' that was the basis for the Gralsritter's airships) and the Chronos Rod's paralyzing effect is similar in result if not operation to the Emperor's favorite trick, so whatever was inside that device is probably just another Artifact that has a similar effect to another existing one.
Oh, and the Artifact that was retrieved from the Mirror Castle is the original, presumably Elysion's copy is built into some terminal in Babel. And yeah, the name is... funky. If you go by the katakana and the text seen in Ian's flashback it's Elysion (the Greek) while if you go by the repeated screenshots of that glyph with the (bad) Greek text it's Elysium but for some reason written with Greek letters. Since they're the exact same thing, just the latter is the Latinized form of the former, I could see the localization going either way with it. Elysion would be my pick since that's where you get the obvious callback to Gagharv and the Divine Sword of Bardus. Even if Bandai's bad translation rendered it as 'Elucion' so most people wouldn't recognize it.
Question about a possible bug in an episodeSpoilerI don't think this is really a spoiler but just in case
In Freddie's episode you run around hunting monsters and picking up food off the ground (oy) and there's a prompt to investigate a mossy wall. When you click on it nothing happens. Is this something Falcom forgot to implement or remove or a bug?
Thank youUmmm, when I checked that there was a bit of dialogue. As long as you can still advance the Episode it should be fine, but you may have found a text bug. If you get stuck at the end of that sequence and can't progress... I dunno. I guess reload the Episode and see if it works properly?
SpoilerGeneral remarks up to last chapter, including some episode contentThat bothered me a bit and I feel like it's part of the er new and unimproved attitude to girls as of Sen. I don't think another female lead can happen at this rate and that's sad.
One thing they've been smart about for most of the game is splitting the characters into small groups so each one gets a spotlight instead of having the Class VII blob speak as one or breaking lines into pieces to share between the cast. Although original Class VII is still mostly not relevant. 🙃 The most important are Jusis, Millium, Gaius, Emma, and Alisa.I mean McBurn actually turns out to have a surprisingly strong moral code for a guy who is introduced as a pyromaniac lunatic, since he won't get into fights with people who can't keep up with him and even avoids getting into major fights when civilians might be hurt.It's cathartic to see characters actually participating in the battles and to see ideas that were raised and never dealt with in Sen (like Gaius and Emma vs tanks, or to see Randy act as the Red Angel of Death.) But at the same time it's really hilarious that the battles in this weird gaiden incident are more visceral than anything in the World War in Sen IV with its exploding Lego tanks.Also I said this before but Falcom badly needs to discipline their staff. Not only is the "Sieg fuhrer" idiocy during Rufus' coup a PR nightmare that the localization staff doesn't need - honestly, having your characters doing anything that could be interpreted as Sieg heiling is an act of marketing malpractice - the camera angles when they introduce Rixia's battle outfit are just embarassing. Respect yourselves better Falcom. Please. Same with Rean and his female students.
If unimproved attitude since Sen means Rean's harem and the way romance was handled through the bonding point mechanic, then we are in agreement. Compared to that, the thing about Schera's pregnancy is small change, although it doesn't help matters.
Splitting the cast is a mechanic that I hope to see in future titles. One of the main strength of the Kiseki series is the continuity, but with each additional game the risk of cast size growing to unmanagable proportions becomes bigger. This cross story mechanic can alleviate the issue to a certain degree.
I'm not sure what's so surprising about McBurns moral code. Even in Sen 2, one of the lines he drops during his very first combat encounter is that he hates to fight in settlements due to the risk of burning it down and by implication harming civilians. When Laura breaks down during Sen 3 because of the Courageous bombing, he immediately stops fighting instead of exploiting her weakness. And when he regains his memory in CS4, it's pretty clear that he'll become even more of a 'good' guy.
At least Ao gave us a taste of Randy's Rampage. The stakes in Sen were probably not quite high enough for him to become really serious. As for ideas that were never probably dealt with in Sen, I want to mention how it took this gaiden game to give Laura and Fie Soldats, which is too little too late. The first Laura bonding event in Sen 2 is about her voicing her doubts about how a single sword can make a difference on a modern battlefield with tanks, artillery and aircrafts. During my second playthrough, I was tempted to bang the screen, because the answer was right in front of her. Fie grew up with Zephyr and should've adopted the attitude of always watching out for cutting edge weaponry. Besides, the first time she saw Xeno and Leo since her corps disbandment was during the Heimdallr coup when both former comrades were inside their customized Soldats. (And it's extra hiliarious that after the siege of Trista, we never see them inside Soldats again). The moment Fie saw the Valimar fight between Scarlet and Rean, she should've been raring to get a Kestrel herself. What we got instead with the Rivalry in CS4 is Fie stepping aside once the Rutger fight involved mechs and let's not even talk about the travesty that Laura was an optional party member during the final Lianne fight. And thinking about it, it's not even that unrealistic for Jusis to pilot a Soldat as he's one of the few people with enough money and influence to privately own a model or two. Having him wreck Rufus inside El Prado followed by punching him once outside would have been far more carthatic.
I just got to the 'sieg heil' scene yesterday and it's pretty cringeworthy. I think the Japanese generally have less compunction about depicting Nazi Germany. Persona 2 had a Hitler likelihood as the final boss and then there's the Hellsing manga and its second anime version with Nazi-SS Vampires.
Plus because the girls in the party have their relationship development so tied to player choice they don't get to do much of consequence in the story. Alisa dealing with infiltrators from Black Workshop in Reinford is a major plot element and yet it's relegated to a bond event in IV (which is why I was really happy to see her involved in that plotline in Hajimari.)
Honestly I think they should have cut the Zephyr plot entirely as it's basically a retake of Randy's in Zero/Ao and given the Violet armor to Jusis so we would have had three on our side compared to four on the enemy side. This would have also given more time for Jusis and Rufus to interact and given Jusis the opportunity to use Millium's sword. I think they must have considered this option because Jusis is a knight in Magical Alisa.
You have a good point about giving them Soldats; I don't think they would necessarily own one because Fie is a Bracer and Laura is a swordsmanship teacher, but it would have been logical for them to train in them and get to know their strengths/weaknesses. The use of swords in the modern era is another question that gets left behind (or judging by Hajimari, the answer is 'train enough that you have superpowers.')
Laura also gets so little time (I put her in my party for the martial arts tourney in Hajimari just because she was a spectator for some weird reason.) What's worse is that Arianrhod herself barely gets any meaningful screentime and her entire story is crammed into a half-hour flashback before Rufus ruins everyone's day. I wish they would have done something like they did with Vita in Sen 1 and given her a civilian identity so we could have gotten to know her as a kind person who loves children instead of just 'the strongest member of Ouroboros'. If she had volunteered at an orphanage then it would have actually been shocking when we fought her instead of just checking off a list.
I hope that the next arc goes back to at least the FC formula where the lead and heroine are permanent and other characters rotate in and out of the spotlight...
I used to be sympathetic to localization teams toning down the fanservice in small quantities if it meant getting a 'T' instead of an 'M' or something for better sales because I'd rather the core game get exposed more than have 'anime tiddies' as people like to call it. But I'm kinda done with them at this point with how much gets censored by Sony in particular, but 'western' games seem to get away with straight up porn in their games, and if you complain about that, you're somehow a bigot.
I realize the above is more an argument for being believable and 'spoiling immersion', but I've seen those used as arguments before too just to ask for an inch then take a mile. I'm not saying anyone is attempting that right now, but merely to communicate that even if that is your end intent, it's definitely something people like myself have taken as a red flag at this point. Also, expecting Japan to censor its own product in advance for the benefit of the west is scary too. Nobody is going to play thru 4 trails of cold steel games, see that one scene and hit the desk going THATS IT THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, I QUIT. I wont get into it though on this forum since it's pretty chill here.
For what it's worth I don't like Alisa's outfit after CS2 myself (I did like cs2's). Not because it was too revealing or something.. I dunno, I just didn't like it.
My problem with fanservice (as far as the horny type goes), is less with how creepy it can be (which it can be a lot of times), but more with how out of place it can be and throw you out of moments. It hasn't been the worst in Cold Steel, most of the time it's more during the calm moments where the camera really likes to ogle on the chests and make comments about bust size. That said, I have seen stuff from manga where it gets bad enough that those type of shots are being made during really serious scenes and that easily takes me out of it. I personally don't think any type of "censorship" when bringing to the west has ruined things, however, the games that require that type of stuff will only cover so much up. I know playing Cold Steel even with whatever supposedly has been censored there is a lot that goes on that I can feel that it would be awkward if someone came in to see me playing the game depending on certain scenes.
On a different note, a lot of the designs, less male and more female, I generally dislike less because of how much exposure is given but it's just outright ugly. Fie is still my favorite character but each game the outfit just looks worse. CS II was ok but III the design was just baffling. The only outfit of the old class VII I really liked was Laura's, the rest were either terrible or unmemorable.
More on topic, not sure how people here feel but there's been a few places while they like Hajimari overall, seems like the least favorite route has been the Lloyd route. My understanding is that it feels like it was stuff more that should've been included in CS IV instead of being put in a different game. I can't say why since outside of promotional material I am avoiding spoilers for this particular game. People seem to be enjoying the route with the new characters, which I can see part of that being the fact that it deals with all new characters. When 2/3rds of the game involves characters we've had more than enough time with, focusing on a new group will provide some fresh air.
I know new content is supposed to come out soon and who knows how much extra play time that will add, but curious to know how much playtime those who have finished the game put in. Sounds like while being a Sky 3rd esque game with wrapping up small storylines and setting up for the next arc, they still went with the style of the other games in being able to go to towns and talk to NPCs. I know with CS IV coming out seen and having got burned out from talking to NPCs in the Crossbell games, I'm not sure if I will want to bother with that.
Yeah speaking of revealing outfits. I don't like Alisa's in cs3+, nor do I really like Sara's. CS2 Fie is all kinds of silly. CS3 is not as bad IMO. CS2 Altina is silly again, 3/4 is nice, I don't even mind the bodysuit thing she wears during her S-attack, kinda suits her in a way IMO. Alas, I do admit I'm a sucker for the most ecchi outfit I can think of, which actually seems well done. I've only seen it once or twice, so maybe not. I don't even know how to find it actually for reference wut.. I think it was called 'princess knight' or something for Laura.. Magical princess knight? I dunno. obviously fan-service oriented but I liked that one, shoot me =P.
In regards to games being ruined by censorship. I personally am fortunate in that none of the games I care about got nailed by it. But being a JRPG fan I obviously am aware of the weeb community, and have heard of things happening to games that were kind of raised from nothing FROM the ecchi-desiring fanbase. I don't wanna derail the topic though I guess.
Speaking of outfits in Hajimari though. Does it have the same outfit dlcs as cs4? Such as princess knight laura or whatever it's called =P
'western' games seem to get away with straight up porn in their games, and if you complain about that, you're somehow a bigot.
I realize the above is more an argument for being believable and 'spoiling immersion', but I've seen those used as arguments before too just to ask for an inch then take a mile. I'm not saying anyone is attempting that right now, but merely to communicate that even if that is your end intent, it's definitely something people like myself have taken as a red flag at this point. Also, expecting Japan to censor its own product in advance for the benefit of the west is scary too. Nobody is going to play thru 4 trails of cold steel games, see that one scene and hit the desk going THATS IT THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, I QUIT. I wont get into it though on this forum since it's pretty chill here.
I'm not sure why you're bringing up Western games when I was talking specifically about how Falcom's portrayal of women has changed since FC. I am also not sure why you brought up censorship or why you find my post scary. I am not starting any hashtag campaigns, tweet under a locked account, and barely participate in the wider fandom as it is except for occasionally posting fic on Ao3. Respectfully, your post appears to be responding to wider concerns, while I was discussing my impressions of Hajimari.
Also, I came quite close to just turning off the game during that scene, just so you know. Setting aside my personal feelings, it is not unreasonable to expect a game developer that is actively seeking to increase the foreign share of its game sales to be aware of the consequences such a significant misstep. If Falcom worked with English localization staff during development instead of afterwards I have no doubt it would have come up. I know that in Asia flirting with the Nazi aesthetic isn't viewed in the same way as the West. But Falcom should at least be aware that several other Japanese and Korean entertainment products have made that error and paid for it.
Finally, one thing I have always liked with the Kiseki series is the naturalistic writing approach. People, as a general rule, behave as you would expect them to and do things that are reasonable for them to do. Major events have far-reaching consequences. On the other hand, the fanservice lens distorts this and makes writers have characters say what they want them to say or do instead of what they would naturally say and do (of course women talk about each others' breasts every time they hang out! Of course having fifteen women all interested in the same man does not cause any interpersonal conflict whatsoever! Of course a school principal views the possibility of underage students being involved with their teacher with amusement instead of concern! Of course a rookie manager in a macho department wears an outfit that will make the staff she's trying to discipline take her less seriously! And so on.)
It's not exclusive to fanservice, incidentally. There's an increasing trend for Falcom to take the easy way out and have the natural consequences of certain events just... Not happen.
The difference in seriousness from Sora and Ao's approach to military conflict is, well, it's not flattering.
There are still a lot of things I like about the series and I think Hajimari is much better than IV. But when writing about my impressions, my negative impressions are also going to come up. That's just how it is.
Editing this post so as to avoid double posting:
Just finished the game and all of the currently available content, save for trophies that I see no reason to grind for. As with everything else this is gonna take some time to sort out in my head, but oh boy was that an ending...
Then there's Ishmelga-Rean, just when you thought that Rean's life couldn't get any worse, it turns out that Normal Ending Rean's... did. Ouch. And while Zoa-Guilstein wasn't the Great One exactly, it's what it would have been so I'm giving myself brownie points for predicting it anyways. That thing cheated like a bastard... and I'm not at all bitter that I died when it was down to a couple thousand HP after he set my last character on fire, I was out of items and I was just short of being able to use Spirit... After beating that, the final phase of the battle was a relaxing victory lap by comparison. Actually, I'd love to try that fight on Nightmare or even Abyss, but the thought of tackling the second/third phases of that fight on the higher difficulties is giving me the willies.
Also, Valimar out of nowhere! Hello, Ashen Bro (and Azure and Gold), I wasn't expecting to see you again but nice to have you back, if only in spirit. It also occurred to me that with 'Rufus Albarea' so prominently in the game's promo material, nobody is going to think twice about DC Douglas announcing he's doing voice work for the game so people won't immediately jump to him being C or Valimar returning. Well, as long as NISA does a good job on the voice modulation in promo material.
And then we have that ending, where Rufus channels the smug bastard who's been occasionally shining through his more genuine attitude throughout the game in one hell of a speech and it works. Rufus Albarea, so punchable that the entire world managed to convince Babel to destroy him (and thus itself) first. Also note to any Mad Scientists, Evil Emperors and the like: When you build your superweapon, you should probably design it so it can't target itself. xD Anyways, Falcom did what I would have sworn was impossible just a month ago: They made me like Rufus to the point that I was actually torn up when it looked like he was dead.
The ending presented as Lapis' photo album (with utterly adorable doodles accompanying the pictures) hit me in all the feels. Especially Randy proposing to Mireille. And then we get that very last shot in what's obviously the new engine Falcom is going to be using in future games to wrap things up with a lovely bow. That was quite a game.
Splitting off one thing for Reasons:
About the only thing we didn't get out of that was confirmation that the Grandmaster is the one who's been running the Corridor.
More on topic, not sure how people here feel but there's been a few places while they like Hajimari overall, seems like the least favorite route has been the Lloyd route. My understanding is that it feels like it was stuff more that should've been included in CS IV instead of being put in a different game. I can't say why since outside of promotional material I am avoiding spoilers for this particular game. People seem to be enjoying the route with the new characters, which I can see part of that being the fact that it deals with all new characters. When 2/3rds of the game involves characters we've had more than enough time with, focusing on a new group will provide some fresh air.
C's cast is really fun. Part of it is probably that they're new so it's a refreshing change, part of it is that they're a small group that's there from the start so they have the entire game to play off each other and everyone gets time to shine (like Zero with the SSS) and part of it is what they go through that's really interesting to see unfold. I'd probably rank the routes as C>Lloyd>Rean personally.
I know new content is supposed to come out soon and who knows how much extra play time that will add, but curious to know how much playtime those who have finished the game put in. Sounds like while being a Sky 3rd esque game with wrapping up small storylines and setting up for the next arc, they still went with the style of the other games in being able to go to towns and talk to NPCs. I know with CS IV coming out seen and having got burned out from talking to NPCs in the Crossbell games, I'm not sure if I will want to bother with that.
I'll have to check my file to be sure but I think I'm at about 110 hours for a (more or less) complete playthrough on Hard. Based on what I've seen of the expansion in terms of the level cap and how long certain things have taken me, another 20+ hours worth of gameplay to finish everything they're adding doesn't seem unreasonable.
If you want a minor gameplay spoiler:
Speaking of outfits in Hajimari though. Does it have the same outfit dlcs as cs4? Such as princess knight laura or whatever it's called =P
Yes, most of them are unlocked through the random inventory and/or gacha pulls in the True Reverie Corridor, though stuff like Princess Knight Laura and Kunoichi Fie get unlocked as rewards for clearing the stages of the Magical Alisa shooter game. Sadly this does not include Rean's Unspeakable costume, so if you want his most chuuni of outfits you have to wait for random chance to favor you. I've got the main outfit but not the accessories for it, while I know floofy's in the reverse situation where she has the accessories but not the outfit.
Editing this post so as to avoid double posting:
SpoilerHajimari last dungeon spoilerOkay I know I'm a Nayuta nut and keep seeing connections where they don't necessarily exist but Elysion's goal was 再創世 regenesis like Zext/the mission of the Mythos??? I'm dying please announce Nayuta Kai Falcom
I'm glad I'm not the only person who noticed that expression!
Splitting off one thing for Reasons:
SpoilerPostgame contentThat Episode. Sweet Aidios that Episode. McBurn becoming the new Seventh Anguis? Some group we haven't heard of that the Grandmaster thinks is Ouroboros' biggest rival? ORED?! Oh, and then Roy Gramheart just casually calls up the Grandmaster and is all 'I have a proposition for you, and by the way I know something big's coming in less than three years'. Damn, that is one hell of a stinger to all of this and is making me want the Calvard arc right now.About the only thing we didn't get out of that was confirmation that the Grandmaster is the one who's been running the Corridor.
Editing this post so as to avoid double posting:
SpoilerHajimari last dungeon spoilerOkay I know I'm a Nayuta nut and keep seeing connections where they don't necessarily exist but Elysion's goal was 再創世 regenesis like Zext/the mission of the Mythos??? I'm dying please announce Nayuta Kai FalcomI'm glad I'm not the only person who noticed that expression!
Speaking of McBurn, I don't know if you read my ridiculous theory that he's actually Nayuta and Grandmaster is a Mythos, but McBurn saying he probably wouldn't be able to maintain his current form if he understood her nature makes me think that human McBurn has opinions regarding Grandmaster that would be in opposition to his current stance. Also made me think about him saying that Zemuria isn't a totally unrelated world to him after all.
Grandmaster's statement that McBurn can serve as I, neither apostle nor 0, as the guiding fire.. well, it's very interesting. Apparently kagaribi can be translated as fishing fire; I didn't know you could fish with fire, but it appears to be a real thing! https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/jinshan-sulphuric-fire-fishing-festival
Is Grandmaster planning on using McBurn as bait to hook a really big fish? Truly Kiseki is a fishing RPG! Other meanings of 1.. there's the magician Tarot, and also on as opposed to off... I'm assuming she's expecting McBurn to veer off plan as is his right as an Executor.
A few other things I noticed while rereading stuff like the Zero Special Collection Book (I've been trying to find my copy of Crossbell Archive but it's lost in a closet somewhere.) Plus other Nayuta-y things.
When Renne created a system that copied the Astral Code, she named it the Zodiac Code. Incidentally, all the bosses in Nayuta symbolize a constellation from the Zodiac, with Zext being Ophiuchus, the Snake (iirc)
The stars are the symbol of Aidios' mercy
The D G cult had one lodge that focused on the use of ancient machines (this one stuck out to me because of the comment that things like the Reverie were excavated in Calvard. Considering that both McBurn and people like Ernest get referred to as 魔人, I think the Cult and Gnosis are going to show up again. Plus mecha.
Oh by the way before Ishmelga Rean had his temper tantrum and decided to let humanity blow itself up, he kind of sounded like he wanted to create superhumans... Like Weissman...
So I need some things cleared up regarding the ending
Similar question for Ishy-Rean. If he was just a robot, then how was he resonating with flesh and blood Rean? And for that matter, what was the deal with the one Lloyd's rescue team bumped into? He just seemed to phase out of existence as if he actually was from another timeline.
The more I think about what Elysion did over the course of the game, the more questions I have and I'm not entirely sure there was a whole lot of exposition given to the hows of everything. It just seems a little ill-defined in what it can do and how. I get that, at a point, asking how magic works is kinda silly, but unless this was magi-tech, I need some clarification, dang it!
Also, I'm guessing the Corridor still remains a massive question mark? With the expansion to it coming in a few days, I'm hoping they'll at least clear that up, and maybe tie the GM into it somehow, because right now I'm rather baffled as to why she's on the cover with the three threads, when she had (seemingly) nothing to do with any of it.
I'm assuming your last point will get exposition in the update this week, especially since the the normal ending credits say "Hajimari no Kiseki is completed for the present"
SpoilerAbout thatHonestly, I think this is Falcom cheating/they meant to have it be the actual Ishmelga Rean from the other timeline but backed off, given the resonance phenomenon doesn't occur with the copies of Rufus or Arios. Plus the copies are supposed to be explicitly limited in not being able to handle Divergent Laws, but somehow the power of two Treasures is ok?
I'm assuming your last point will get exposition in the update this week, especially since the the normal ending credits say "Hajimari no Kiseki is completed for the present"
So someone used a save editor and found a bunch of content (gameplay only, no story details) in the game planned for the October 1st update.
Most importantly is McBurn is already in the game. His MQ is a fire version of Victor's with S rank STR and ATS. His slots are Double Fire/Single Space. Double Fire was obvious, but single space instead of single time is interesting. My guess is that it's meant to reflect his character change after regaining his memories and becoming the Torchbearer of Ouroboros.
