MARREND'S PROFILE

If this is referencing what I think it is...

...no, that went down in a fashion as any thread/status they've ever made. I find it maddening that this...

https://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/27024/?post=945005#post945005
If you actually took time to think things over, you might not even have "needed" to post this topic in the first place. You'd come up with a solution yourself, if you bothered to give yourself the time to do so. Yet, either because of some kind of compulsion, or whatever, I dunno, you still felt it necessary to drop in, full-on stream of consciousness, giving this breakdown/backstory concerning the development of two games.

...is still very much in effect.

Xenosaga Episode 2 - Completed!

I keep double-taking at the time elapsed, and if I really only spent 14-ish hours in that game. It felt longer. Well, replaying sections for the purposes of the LP may be one factor. Still, I'm glad this is out of my way.

Last time, the party went to Old Miltia, but, they didn't even get a stupid t-shirt. They certainly didn't get the original Zohar, which is now basically in the hands of U-TIC, and is used as a power source for Proto Omega. As for Miltia, itself, as if being between two black holes wasn't enough, it's basically gone now. What's in it's place is some form of structure with giant wings.

Before continuing, I'm going to take an aside, concerning a certain reveal from last session. I'll stash it under a hide-tag, as it's also a bit of a rant.



Anyway, on to Scene 24, a smashing scene with lovely acting. Or, at least making a feeble attempt to get back on track with this game. The chapter opens with a communications between an official-looking guy and Pellegri. That official might be wearing a Federation outfit, which just goes to show how U-TIC really does have their fingers absolutely everywhere.

Anyway, the official reiterates that Proto Omega has awakened, then observes that they can proceed with the next level of their plans. He then gets shot, and who appears before Pellegi's screen but Dimitri Yuriev? Yuriev has somehow already taken control of the Federation Parliament, and I feel like this is a pretty big thing to just skip over. How did he even accomplish that? Was the Fedeartion in such a chaotic mess of an organization that he could just do that uncontested? Did he mount a successful coup-de-dat? I dunno if the game ever really explains this in details. I also really feel something like whatever Yuriev did to take control of the Federation Parliament wouldn't have gone unnoticed by an organization like U-TIC.

However he managed it, he proclaims he won't allow U-TIC to do as they please. Yuriev's consciousness/existence may have been sleeping inside Gaignun for a while, only to awaken now, but, given everybody's reaction to his presence so far, he represents a new faction in the galactic tug-of-war for power.

Next up is everybody's favorite, and still very much unnamed, Immigrant Fleet Patriarch. Screens pop up before him, and wonders aloud if the Federation really wants to destroy them that badly. What forces the Federation have in the sector likely can't go all out against the Immigrant Fleet, due to various factors, but, might still be enough to at least be considered a threat that should be removed. He orders Marguils to take care of them for him, and expects obedience from him, just like always.

Marguils doesn't respond, remaining in his kneeling position, but then something the Patriarch didn't expect happens. Marguils finally responds, but only by laughing to himself. The exchange here is kinda interesting.

Patriarch: What is it? Marguils, did you not hear me?
Margulis: I think, perhaps, it would be better if you went yourself, Holiness.
Patriarch: What? Have you lost your senses, Marguils? I am your master! Now, do as I say!
Marguils: You appear to misunderstand the situation. We Inquisitors serve but one master. Surely, Your Holiness is aware of that. Everything has transpired exactly as we planned. All that's left now, is for you to die a martyr, Holiness.
Patriarch: Damn you! You can't mean Heinlein!?
Margulis: I bid you farewell, Holiness.

As a point of clarification, the name of Heinlein was dropped during the blat with Jin at Labyrinthos as the head of the company that was providing funds to U-TIC, and also an Immigrant Fleet cardinal. The more important takeaway from this exchange is the Patriarch was expecting reinforcements, but is getting none. He still has access to Proto Omega, and the original Zohar that the thing is using as a Futch-and-Bright power source, so, he's got those aces up his sleeve yet.

Cut to the Elsa, Shion is crying her head off, and, frankly, I can't really blame her? Like, I might not entirely understand Shion's relationship between Febronia, Cecily and Kathe, and maybe that's another problem to add to this game's list of issues. However, it doesn't seem particularly deniable that she really cared for those realians, and seeing them in the condition they were in took a toll on her. Then, to step aside to allow KOS-MOS to fire upon them, well, maybe she thinks that's the same as murdering them herself. Perhaps Jin senses this conundrum, and does his best to do his job as an older brother, and cheer her up. It's not 100% successful, but, given their rocky relationship in the first place, how can you expect a rate so high? Of course, when you say stuff like...

Shion: It's just like it was fourteen years ago. It was exactly the same. Feb was... she was killed right in front of me. I was all alone. I couldn't do anything myself, so I just ran! And again, I still couldn't do anything.

...this, well, what can you say? Jin tries his best...

Jin: Shion, did you not understand what Febronia wanted? I think there was another whom she loved just as much as her sisters.
Shion: Another? Who?
Jin: Another sister, bound by the chains of her past. I think she probably wanted to save that sister just as much as her real sisters.

...though, perhaps some perspective is in order. According to the manual, Shion is only supposed to be around 18 years old when we meet her during Xenosaga Episode 1. This makes her about 4, maybe 5 years old tops, during the infamous Militan Conflict. How old that makes Jin now, well, I have no idea. That information is not in the manual, and there's no database function in the context of this game as there was in the previous. However, if I had to make an educated guess, we know he was at least old enough to be in active military duty during the Miltian Conflict. That could make him 18 years old then (making him 32 now), but, it might be possible to enlist at a younger age in this setting.

Either way, Shion may, or may not be in a better mood, but, the negativity and feelings of uselessness has affected Jin. They really are alike in a lot of ways, huh? Cut to the bridge of the Durandal. A private message arrives, and it has encoding. With no idea who it's from, Jr decides to let it through, perhaps out of curiosity. The person that appears on the screen? Yuriev. Jr joins the list or people that are both surprised and disgusted by seeing his face. Though, maybe Jr has more reason than anybody else. Still, even he's thinking Albedo is going to try re-linking with U-DO, and that the infected URTV should be eliminated. Jr will no doubt confront Albedo again, but, he's going to stop Albedo from his madness his own way. Or maybe not, who really knows at this point?

Attempting to track the source of the message is fruitless, but, as mentioned, tracking down Albedo was a thing Jr would probably do eventually anyway. I don't know how high a priority it should be, considering everything else, but, it's on the list. Cut to Yuriev, changing back to Gaignun. I'm certainly no expert, but, the transition feels kinda similar to Fei switching to Id and visa-versa in Xenogears?

The deluge of cutscenes over (for now), the party is set on the bridge of the Durandal. I make towards the handy-dandy save point on the Elsa and use it. Now, perhaps, if I had any interest in doing so, this might be a good time to take a break from the plot, and do some GSC quests. However, since my position on the GSC is quite well known at this point, shall we continue?

Our dungeon today is the thing that sprouted out of Miltia. The game calls it the Omega System, and has...



...this relaxing track, and among my favorites in the game. As with the more recent dungeons, we start our delve mounted on ES. There's a Segment Address fairly early in the dungeon, if I was more active in that hunt. An elevator takes the party down until we come across a bridge that would be better crossed on foot. On a lower floor is our access point, but you know what? We never cross that bridge I saw earlier. What we do end up doing is opening a couple doors to continue with the ES portion of the dungeon. Or at least, for a little while. The ES are on an elevator that has locks in various places, so, it's up to the on-foot crew to release those locks. It's a bit of a timing mini-game, but, I don't run across any issues.

After this is a cutscene introducing the next boss fight. Nothing too fancy here. More puzzles ahead, though. The first involves blocks that can only be destroyed from one side. The other involves making a bridge of colored blocks that, when destroyed, trigger blocks of the same color that are adjacent to it also be destroyed. A bit further in is a handy-dandy save point that we can use to take a small breather.

A lift takes us forward to a boss arena. This time, it's...



...literally a cathedral in most qualities that matter. Cathedral smashed, a console lies before the party, and the platform takes them even deeper. On the other end is, finally, our friendly neighborhood Immigrant Fleet Patriarch, with Proto Omega standing silently behind him. A short exchange of words before Albedo makes an entrance. Which is something of a surprise. Those two exchange a few words before Albedo launches an attack against the Patriarch, without too much success. A counter attack lands, with Albedo spouting some parting words before he phases out to goodness knows where. Jr isn't exactly happy, saying that the only person allowed to take out Albedo is him, and the boss battle against the Patriarch begins. Geeze, even in combat, they use his title.

Priest beaten, he attempts to use his trump card, a phase transfer cannon that's equipped on Proto Omega. The beam powers up, and things aren't looking too good, except... it doesn't fire. Hell, the thing seems to stop altogether. Reasonably frustrated, the Patriarch yells at the machine, to no avail. Then, men in colored cloaks arrive on the scene. The Patriarch calls this group the Testaments, and we've met the blue one and red one before. However, as if one wasn't enough, here's three of 'em. With their combined powers, they erase the Patriarch from existence, with Proto Omega strangely missing from the scene. Only the original Zohar is left.

Sooooo, wait. Is that it for the Immigrant Fleet? The two characters that had any amount of screen time and relevance in that faction is now dead. Hell, you could argue that there was only one character from the Immigrant Fleet that had any relevance to the story, and he didn't even get a name. I mean, I guess how much relevance the Immigrant Fleet has going forward we'll see, but, I don't have too many hopes, here.

In any event, the black-robed one seems to recognize somebody in our hardy party, and Ziggy, of all people, gets emotional and attacks. To no avail, of course. In fact, the rockets he sends off is warped right into his back. Ouch.

But, wait, there's more. They transfer in Albedo, and the corrupted U-DO waves he emanates makes the party reel. Only KOS-MOS holds her ground, even going so far as to take a step forward, her Tertiary Weapons System transferring in. She's able to hold back the waves, and says she will be able to hold for another three minutes. Rendezvous with the Elsa is preferable, and should be possible by destroying a nearby wall. Ziggy, while not exactly in the best of shape, is nonetheless the most suited for this task, and complies. He looses his left arm in the process, making MOMO horrified, with Jr and the others probably just plain dumbfounded.

Out in space, a red sphere grows, consuming the structure of the Omega System, the Elsa running away at top speed. Albedo sends another mental message to Jr, emanating from this new space-time anomaly. On the bridge of the Durandal, is the good news that the anomaly isn't expanding anymore. Or, at least it's expansion is halted for now. The anomaly will eventually start growing again, and consume this entire region of space. Jin figures the only way to stop it will be to go in there, and attack the source directly, but, makes it sound like this plan has it's own set of issues.

The party now reduced to just Jr, and no access to any save points, we have him visit the park, where he gets visited by Shion. Albedo is calling for him, and seems to want to settle their score. He asks about Ziggy, and, to the surprise of nobody, MOMO has not left his side. Speaking of, we switch context to Ziggy speaking to Juli Mizrahi. Sounds like she had a hell of a time getting replacement parts for him, but, can't help but to mention his previous denials of life extension. She's actually asking him to live a little longer for MOMO's sake, and MOMO sure does lighten up at this suggestion.

Jr comes in a bit later, and converses with the cyborg about controlling anger, or the lack thereof. A bit later, Jr walks along a corridor, heading toward an ES hanger. MOMO is there, but, she's not going to stop him. Back on the bridge, an alarm sounds, detecting activity from the Asher. Attempts are made to contact the pilot, but, it's no use. Comms are off. MOMO says Jr wanted to test his craft, but, it's such an obvious lie, it's not even funny. They know what he's about to do.

This dungeon is an on-foot dungeon, and uses...



...this track. I would have preferred a save point earlier, but, I'll certainly take the one at the beginning of this dungeon. There's about one cutscene with each map transition, but, this is a very straight-forward dungeon, and the boss at the end of it comes to no surprise.



Most of this fight, Albedo taunts Jr. Which, I get, that's what he does best. He uses a self-regeneration skill maybe about three times before finally kicking the bucket, and the game sure does make it sound like he'll be gone for good. Like, they even send seraphs that look like the 100 series precursors (Kirshwassers) to deliver him to the heavens. No, seriously...



...I can't make this stuff up. Anyway, chaos gets Jr outta there, and after a brief reunion on the Durandal, the scanners pick up the original Zohar. The Durandal moves to pick it up, but, did you really think it would be that easy? Hell no. An immeasurable mass gates out, creating a shock wave in it's wake. A brief cut to Wilhelm's quarters gives us an ID for this thing, Abel's Ark. This thing dwarfs even the Dammurung in it's sheer size. On one end, it appears as though it's containing a black hole, and that end gobbles up the Zohar. On the other end, it looks like it contains a planet. Yeah, this thing is bonkers big. An external shot with choas, as Abel's Ark gates out to goodness knows where. The exchange here is weird, but, interesting.

Wilhelm: It's been a long time, Yeshua. I'm pleased that you have come, but, didn't you say you weren't going to intervene?
chaos: I've made up my mind. I won't hold back anymore.
Wilhlem: That's wonderful. I'm thrilled that you'll finally be entering the stage.

Oh boy. That Wilhelm is unphased by anything that happens isn't necessarily anything new, but, hearing that chaos has been holding back is more than a little concerning. However, it is at this point, the credits roll, and, like last game, there are a medley of scenes to watch as they do.

First is Jr adopting a dog. I dunno if this is some kind of cruel joke, or if Jr actually misses his other half already, but, the dog is an albino, and calls him Alby. Next is the Second Militia port, with MOMO and Ziggy. Ziggy's arm has been repaired/replaced, so that's definitely a plus. Juli greets them, and says she's planning on living with MOMO for a while, but wants Ziggy to be bodyguard, should the need arise. Ziggy's response is kinda interesting.

Ziggy: Through the kindness of the representative trustee, I've been assigned to the Kukai Foundation. I am to be stationed on the Durandal, and, if MOMO requests, I will be loaned out to her as a matter of priority. For that purpose, I will also be undergoing life extension.
Juli: Really?
MOMO: Which representative trustee made the request?
Ziggy: The little one, of course.
MOMO: You mean little Jr, right?

Never change, MOMO. Never change. No, he's clearly talking about you specifically, MOMO. Though, perhaps, in a more general sense, Juli, and almost everyone that's been on his bloody case about this, which, yeah, would include Jr. Is Jr even on the Contact Subcommittee? Like, I'm assuming that's the organization they're referring to here in regards to the "representative trustee", but, I suppose I cannot entirely rule out the Kukai Foundation either.

Cut to a dock where the Elsa is on standby. Looks like Jin is going off to do more investigations, and Shion's here to see him off. Of course, she digs into him a bit, saying his book store idea didn't last six months. Jin will do what he can to make this job last, but, also suspects that something else will pop up in that time-frame. After he boards, the Elsa, and it's crew waves goodbye, and leaves. Behind her, Shion hears a familiar voice. Miyuki? She pushes Allen aside (poor guy), and welcomes Shion back. Allen gets up, using Miyuki as support, and complains that the events of late is too much for him, and just needs a quiet vacation. However, as Allen is Allen, he can't do that. According to Miyuki, he's got mountains of reports to fill out! The guy gives out again, because he really does need a break. Shion looks over at KOS-MOS, and basically says something to the effect of, "Welp, let's go home!"

After the credits are over, there is one final scene of Wilhlem talking among the Testaments. Most of what they say is junk, but, there is one tidbit that is of interest. First, there is a fourth Testament, this one cloaked in white. Wilhelm calls him the weaver of the eternal circle Zarathustra. Which is definitely someone of some importance later, no doubt. We are then hit with a "To be Continued" screen, and a prompt to save clear game data. My total run for this save is recorded as 14 hours, 6 minutes.



Now, I will absolutely admit that I did the bare minimum of gameplay with this LP. Still, this was shorter than the first episode by a good 7-ish hours. Episode 3 will allow us to transfer clear game data, and I will speak of the benefits thereof when I get there. Which, I must admit, might take some time. With the holidays coming up, there is a non-zero possibility that I'll get something under the tree (virtual or otherwise) I'll want to LP before polishing off this series.