The Quatre being shown in Kuro also has a lot of similarities (including the same name) as the Quatre from Star Door 15 from Trails in the Sky the 3rd. If they are indeed the same person, I think that would open the door for some potentially very interesting story directions.
Some new info. Source: https://twitter.com/Hansuke21/status/1392599317937016832
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"More detailed info on Long-Port.
The town of Long-port is divided into three main districts: the first being the New Town in the west of its modern buildings; the Eastern Quarter, which spreads out to the east; and the harbor area, where a number of boats/yachts can be seen."
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"A unique feature in Long-port is that the East and West parts of the city each have a dramatic different atmosphere.
The theatre in the Eastern Quarter is famous for its entertainment, and Aaron sometimes performs sword dances(regarding to the lady description) there."
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"This is also the home of Heiyue, and there are many people there who has a connection to the place, including some characters who have appeared in previous games, that will be involved in the story."
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Also, there is another Tweet with an imagine, though this image contains spoilers for up to Hajimari, so look at the Tweet below at your own discretion:
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"All factions and forces in play for Kuro No Kiseki in Calvard.
Credit to those from Falcord.
To be specific: Thanks Latte (Falcord) for putting it all together."
Spoilers: https://twitter.com/Hansuke21/status/1392596234611929088
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Here are some comments from Kondo translated by Hansuke on the falcord. Also, thanks to Florac on the Falcom subreddit for compiling Hansuke's translations.
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"Last time we talked about Kuro, only small amount of information has been made public about the Verne Company , in Kuro, the important technology manufacturer of the Republic will be fully unveiled.
After Dr. Hamilton resigned as a consultant, what is the situation at the top branch of the company? What is the current research and development? And so on we will be going in depth of the Verne company in Kuro. The development process of Xipha's Hollow Core, the FIO and XEROS used by Quatre will all be explained in Kuro."
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"Quatre, who has a deep connection with the mega manufacturing company Verne, is one of the most important characters to appear in this work, also he is associated with Van and others through the most advanced orbal technology "Xipha" or specification of the AI.
He operates two drones, FIO and XEROS, with a pulse gun as his main weapon, and can launch a variety of battle techniques through the drones in battle, whether attacking, etc.
Dr. LaToya Hamilton, one of three disciples of the great Professor Epstein, he admired her as a Grandmother figure and the relationship between the doctor and him will also be clearly explained in Kuro No Kiseki."
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"Risette gives an impression of a "competent receptionist", and gives an air of mystery about her. She is usually in contact with Van, a contracted customer, through a power terminal. "Why is she in front of Van?" "Why does she have superhuman abilities when she is supposed to be a concierge?" Such interactions/queries will be an important part for this character.
Basically, she can handle anything with ease, and from a point of view, she is indeed suitable for the profession as a maid. But her ability may be more than of "super maid" Sharon. In addition, Van's exclusive weapon Stun Caliber is provided by the Marduk group and the name of the society engraved on the weapon can be viewed in the game."
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Man, I drop off the internet for a week and all hell breaks loose in the Kisekiverse. xD Since just about everything that's been said about the actual content has been said, I'll just chime in with my impressions:
- While I'm almost certain that Quatre is the same individual from Star Door 15, there are two things that make me hesitate a bit. First, Renne was supposed to be the only survivor so how is he alive? Second, he doesn't have the 'Gnosis Eyes' that the other victims possess, though I suppose he could be wearing contacts. In any case, he seems like he's going to be interesting to play with and important from a story perspective.
- We've gotten the first names of two of Epstein's disciples now, amusingly getting Hamilton's given name before she's even appeared in person. Now we need Schmidt's name retroactively, my money is that G is short for 'Grumpy'. Oh, and Epstein's own name of course...
Also, props to Falcom for disguising the gender of a character through language use again. I mean, I know we could figure it out from Hajimari but now that it's been super-confirmed it's become one of those 'obvious in retrospect' things. And means that various bits of localized dialogue in The 3rd and CS3 are now retroactively incorrect.
- I wasn't expecting to learn about MTSC so soon, even if we're just scratching the surface. The fact that they're such a new group is interesting, considering what Hajimari revealed about their resources. Dunno about Risette having a maid motif and a similar weapon setup to Sharon to boot (or to Sara) but eh, if it means we learn more about the company I'm fine with that.
- One thing that the article mentions but I don't think anyone has mentioned yet that I've seen online is the margin note about the goddess that Feri mentions. There's not much there but it confirms that Arusa (my guess is that Falcom's going for the Avestan/Persian angle here) is worshipped specifically by the Kurgha. The way it's written also tells us that the group isn't just the name of the jaegers but is a culture/ethnic group unto itself which... is pretty in keeping with the Gurkhas that they're so obviously named after.
- I'm really really looking forward to playing around with the Xipha. While Arts seem to be learned more like the ARCUS model, the elemental points from the previous generations are returning as a means to unlock Shard Skills and splitting the Quartz from the Arts means less need to compromise your setups, so I'm all for it. That also means more potential fiddly bits with combining different Hollow Core and Arts Driver setups.
Oh, and the way the description of Nebulous reads, it seems like we can expect Arts to come in broad tiers and for various preset combinations of elements to be the norm. I also find it amusing that the EP series of Quartz is now Earth-based, the least caster-y of elements.
Given the high EP cost, I wonder if the returning Shadow Spear is going to retain its chance of inflicting Deathblow.
So uh...how about that Bergard is Barkhorn stuff that's flying around? Lion in one of his crafts, the eyepatch covering the eye that was seemingly injured in that art from his "death." And now apparently he was thought to have died in the Empire? Crazy, if true!
Oh yeah, he's totally Barkhorn no questions asked. I'm feeling especially vindicated this morning since I've been saying since CS3 came out that Gaius' story is full of more holes than Swiss cheese. xD
And Judith is equally certain to be the person the character of Nike was based on in Gambler Jack II. The physical descriptions don't match but then, the Rocksmith Agency isn't quite as secret as the Gralsritter and nobody can get away with being as brazen as Ein Selnate but Ein Selnate.
Other details to come out with some clearer looks at the scans:
- Orbal cinema started in 1180 though it's only recently eclipsed traditional theatre in popularity. I wouldn't be surprised if it had an equivalent to the silent film era and the popularity boom hit when 'talkies' became a thing.
- The 'Resort City' Tharbad is located next to an oasis in southeast Calvard and has a population of around 100,000. Due to increased ability to get at water the city has undergone a focused redevelopment into a major entertainment hub, so there's a sharp contrast between the old city with Middle East-styled bazaars and the high tech new city.
- Example Crafts for everyone, though the details are still too blurry to comfortably read in Japanese there's a Chinese translation that with a bit of fiddling can get the relevant details.
Van's previously seen Coin Bullet has low Delay and can inflict STR Down
Feri's Rapid Burst appears to have the same effect and is fan-targeting
Agnes' Glow Hammer restores EP based on the damage dealt
Aaron's Eagle Claw Kick is single-targeting, can inflict Seal and does high damage
Risette's Sonic Cleaver is also a high-power single-targeting skill and gives her a buff to SPD
Quatre's Laplace Code uses one of his drones to raise his STR and provides a shield with unsubscribed effects. From this we can also confirm that FIO is the floating silver drone and XEROS is the robo-pupper.
Judith's Criminal Bute has a suction effect followed by a massive AoE attack.
Bergard's Howling Boost (I see what you did there Falcom...) is a loud roar that damages and has a lot of secondary effects, but it's not clear exactly how the Chinese description matches to the Japanese terms. My guess is that it's trying to say that it Impedes, wipes enemy buffs and provides some sort of stat boost which, if true, would make it ridiculously powerful.
Power-wise this team is looking pretty stacked for the first game of a new arc: we've got two masters of martial arts, one of whom is potentially a Dominion, a jaeger-tot, a super strong MTSC robo-maid (100% she's going to be a robot, just you wait!) and judging by the key visual, Van may get his very own chuuni power at some point. The non Society bad guys better bring their A game, I tell you what.
A crack brain thing you missed Yotaka. MTSC has a diamond on its logo which is associated with merchants in the minor arcana. It's possible that they are the pentacles wing of <A> like how the Assassins are swords.
I'm all for in for a more experienced party from the beginning. This way, I can actually see the Calvard arc being dealt with in two games. No need to include a timeskip to have unexperienced protags level up to the power level required to actually make a difference in Zemuria... then again, considering the 'Nothingness of all' is soon approaching there isn't any room for timeskips anyway.
Well, I always liked the Barkhorn-didn't-really-die theory. I think I'll have a blast playing this ripped old dude. The letter he left for Class VII in CS2 paints him as a pretty interesting guy.
And I heard something about a Kunlun style? Are there perhaps Kanjis for that? Would like to see whether it has anything to do with Kunlun mountains...
and judging by the key visual, Van may get his very own chuuni power at some point.
Seeing how Ono Daisuke is voicing Van, I will be most upset if we don't get at least one JoJo reference out of him before the arc is done. And that's assuming the whatever-it-is in the key visual isn't something similar to a Stand... since I've been hoping for ages to see Falcom bring back Gagharv-style Spirit Magic, if that happens to be the case I will be a very happy camper indeed. xD
A crack brain thing you missed Yotaka. MTSC has a diamond on its logo which is associated with merchants in the minor arcana. It's possible that they are the pentacles wing of <A> like how the Assassins are swords.
Hmmmm, on the one hand delicious crack and the consolidation of multiple groups into one. On the other, it would seem almost too neat for MTSC and 'A' to be wings of the same group.
Oh yes, that reminds me that I need to finish up that cracklet about A so I can post it I have this very strong supposition that it's meant to be short for Alamut.
And I heard something about a Kunlun style? Are there perhaps Kanjis for that? Would like to see whether it has anything to do with Kunlun mountains...
Yeah, same kanji (崑崙流). Falcom also mentioned that name in Beyond the Beginning so we know it's an in-universe mountain range.
Speaking of references, Judith's 'Stella Bute' weapon seems to have been created by combining a couple wushu weapons into one name. The underlying kanji is 流星鞭, which divides up into the 'Meteor Hammer' and whip.
EDIT: Now that Falcom's site is updated I can actually read the descriptions clearly, so there's a few new tidbits to come out of it. First and related to the above about Kunlun, it's noted to be one of the 'three great Eastern styles', as distinct from Calvard's three famous styles. His descriptions uses yojijukugo that implies he's a master of many martial arts, with Kunlun being the most significant of them. The text makes it even more clear who he is by stating that in the past he had a job that took him around Zemuria but he left that behind along with his real name and is currently traveling around at leisure. He taught Van how to fight 'properly', acted as a benefactor to him and didn't object when he became a Spriggan. So Barkhorn, what's your game?
For Judith, it mentions that the blonde tips are her natural hair color and the pink is dyed. She has an amiable personality but when she's on the job she's a consummate professional and gives it her all. She really hates seeing people picking on the vulnerable and will oppose anyone she sees doing it strongly. In her hidden work that she does out of the media spotlight, she sometimes can slip up due to something lacking in her nature and expose herself to trouble. I do wonder who the 'Mamas' she mentions in the screenshot are.
While the Craft descriptions are a bit more detailed there aren't too many fundamental differences from what I was able to get from the Chinese, with the exception that Bergard's wipes enemy stat-ups but not all buffs (it uses 能力上昇) so it doesn't sound like it has the All-Cancel property. Still pretty insane but not quite as brokenly so as before.
@yotaka So I was reading your old crack entry from 2015(!) about Barkhorn being an Anguis, and with how the Hakai title ended up switching to the 4th due to a retcon or error in the old Sept Archive book, do you still stand by your old theory?
@yotaka So I was reading your old crack entry from 2015(!) about Barkhorn being an Anguis, and with how the Hakai title ended up switching to the 4th due to a retcon or error in the old Sept Archive book, do you still stand by your old theory?
I think it still has a very good chance of being the case despite that change (that was more an added bonus than a key part of the theory) but I'm also still trying to find the exact quote from Kondo where he says we've already met or at least heard of some of the Anguis. I actually wrote up a summary of why I don't believe Gaius' story in my CS4 predictions here, which covers a lot of this ground.
One thing I never settled on: If Barkhorn is wearing two hats, which side is playing which in this situation? Seeing how the Grandmaster and Ein both seem to enjoy 4d chessmastery, I figure it could easily be both of them trying to play the other. Or it could be that they both approve of the idea of someone belonging to both groups for reasons we can only guess at right now, and there isn't really a conflict. I am however pretty sure that the Church is in on whatever it is (as opposed to Barkhorn trying to pull one over on them by faking his death) because of all the red flags raised by the story Gaius tells Class VII. See that prediction post for those details.
First and related to the above about Kunlun, it's noted to be one of the 'three great Eastern styles', as distinct from Calvard's three famous styles. His descriptions uses yojijukugo that implies he's a master of many martial arts, with Kunlun being the most significant of them.
Huuh, I guess the yojijukugo is 武芸百般? Seems to be a Japanese exclusive construct for once. Didn't found it in my Chinese dictionary though the meaning is easy enough to derive.
The text makes it even more clear who he is by stating that in the past he had a job that took him around Zemuria but he left that behind along with his real name and is currently traveling around at leisure. He taught Van how to fight 'properly', acted as a benefactor to him and didn't object when he became a Spriggan. So Barkhorn, what's your game?
Okay, at this point I can't help but see the similarities between Berga...*cough* I mean Barkhorn and Yun-Ka Fai. Travels around the continent a lot? Check. Has the habit of singling out disciples (Gaius, Bardias and now Van) and teaching them proper fighting to turn them into real badasses... check. Always manage to slip just out of the focus of the camera, therefore only existing in either letters left behind for protags or sepia colored flashback pictures? Check, at least until Kuro comes out. Proficient in many different martial art styles? Double and triple check.
Thinking about it, Berga...*cough* Barkhorn is the first major character of his age bracket (60+ years) who we get to play and who is a serious fighter even at his advanced age. And I'm not counting supernatural entities who don't age properly (Roselia, Lianne...)
And about that 5th Anguis discussion. While Barkhorn fits better, I think that Yun Ka-fai is also a contender. That female Eight Leaves practitioner we were introduced to in Rean's fragment of Beyond the Beginning and her Zeroth From hints at a much darker side of the ELOB. And as it so happens, Hime expresses an interest toward Rean while finding the other 'senpais' boring - the guy who once housed a major darkness inside him. As for why someone like Master Yun could be considered a Sinner... well, if Falcom really intend to push the Musashi parallels, then he might have killed a lot of people in his past to arrive at the peak of martial arts he now resides on. If it weren't for that Zeroeth Form, I wouldn't entertain this possibility, but just wanted to throw out my own two cents.
Oh yeah, Hime raised just a few red flags for me vis a vis Yun. The similarity between ELOB and the 'Black God One Blade' style that the nameless Ikaruga mooks use is probably just an example of one of the styles that Yun synthesized into ELOB, but when you get the reveal that ELOB itself has a 'secret' Form taught to an equally secret disciple then things are starting to look suspicious, and when Yun is suggested to have some influence over Ikaruga, well...
Now, the 'Sinner' thing was based on the notion that the Anguis referred to indirectly as 破戒 in Azure was the Fifth, which is what Sept Archive said was the case. Since we now know that the title belongs to the Fourth Anguis (presumably the book entry was a typo) it doesn't really work. For one thing, we know their background and it doesn't fit with Yun or the previously most-popular guess, Lechter. For another, the Fourth's speech pattern is totally unlike Yun's; the reason Lechter was such a popular candidate is because he talks the exact same way in Japanese that the Fourth Anguis does in Star Door 14.
Amusingly, Yun was seriously considered as a candidate for the Seventh Anguis before Azure was announced, because until we actually saw Arianrhod all we had to work with was their speech pattern (polite and gender-neutral) and the fact that they were more skilled than Loewe. Since at the time Yun was the one person we knew who could reasonably fit the latter criteria (save maybe Cassius, who was obviously not in the running) that left him the obvious option by default.
Just asking for clarification's sake, but this merely means that the title of 'Sinner' isn't applicable to the Fifth Anguis but instead belongs to the Fourth? But the Fifth Anguis still has the speech patterns of an old man, making Barkhorn a possible candidate? Is that Heretic title still applicable to the Fifth? Because that is the one point I see that makes Barkhorn a clearly better candidate for badass old man Anguis than Master Yun.
