Back online! There's a new post over at the Reyvablog, too; don't miss it, as Important Things are beginning to go down.
Around 9 hours into AT2, here's a quick analysis of Notable Things So Far, in plus-and-minus format:
+ Red curled-up flower buds and red birds in the intro. Symbolic of Jakuri, given that red, flowers and birds are the central motifs of her songs? I thought that was a nice touch: she's too spoilery to show explicitly, but she's important enough to the plot that she needs to be symbolically included....
+ Jakuri is, incidentally, being translated as Jacqli, not Jaclyn. We can all put that terrible, traumatic moment behind us. HUZZAH. Not that I'm hugely big on its being translated as Jacqli, but out of anything they could have rendered it as short of, well, Jakuri, it's the least uncomfortable to my mind.
+ Musume Power(ed) is being translated as Girl Power, which... makes perfect sense. It's not "Hymn Code". DOUBLE HUZZAH.
- The dialogue is full of horrible, horrible grammar errors. It's really not that different from the first game's in that respect, but still.
+ The innuendo is... present, and I guess you could say there's more of it? But it doesn't feel like it's distracting from the story, or actually mangling the characters. There were points in AT1 when I thought "that character wouldn't speak so bluntly"; I'm not getting that feel from AT2, partly because Chroche is the tsundere to sunder all tsundere and Luca is pretty cheerfully open. So that may be a facet more of the fact that no one's really much of a wallflower than of good translation, but still, I felt what's been there so far has been reasonably within the parameters of what the characters would say.
+ Croix is MATURE. Thank Deity. Okay, so I already kind of knew that, but I'm still pleased with how they've pulled it off.
+ The use of Hymmnos writing everywhere? Simply adorable, and makes the game feel appropriately otherworldly.
+ (Mild setting spoilers) I was really pleasantly surprised at how many of the ideas I'd come up with for the Reyvablog were echoed in this game's setting. I never expected to see the series portray actual Reyvateil slums; I've always thought the ideas I was playing with in that regard were just a little bit darker than the series' scope would normally take in, but no, there are slums filled with dying, cynical, confused Reyvateils. I'm... impressed by how right I actually got it.
Letra - Eldharia ~Inori Saku Mori~
3 months ago
19 comments:
Plus, the mind ho thing. I bet you didn't guess there were going to be actual hos in AT2, albeit mind hos. =D
...yes.
One who has to walk both ways to work uphill in the snow, at that.
I don't think it snows in Metafalss. Didn't they say as much?
Not that that negates your overall point, but still. /picky
I really actually wanted to strike out the "uphill in the snow" bit to make it evident I was being hyperbolic, but... Blogger doesn't allow for strikethroughs in comments. ARGHFAIL.
Hehe. Glad to know that Metafalss actually surprised you reflecting some of the concepts you thought of, even if they are somewhat different. And how about that the Reyvateils get a bigger dose of respect here (when not IPD infected) than in Sol Ciel?
I've also noticed an odd thing... When I run into an IPD with only one Reyvateil in party, there's a message that has a Japanese character at the end. There's also a Japanese message somewhere else that I assume isn't a bug, but I wonder what it says...
For that matter, I wonder what the stuff that's said in hymno means. Why no subtitles? ;.;
(Ayulsa)
Chroche is the tsundere to sunder all tsundere
Heh. A lot of characters who get called "tsundere", I don't really see it... But with Chroche, it fits perfectly.
There are some interesting differences in the social situation. Diquility seems to be treated rather casually so far. Limited sample size, but I get the feeling the supply situation is a lot better.
For that matter, the slums give a different feel from what's in the Reyvablog universe. From the conversation there, it looks like they're forming a pretty good support system for keeping each other from going berserk. (Probably their greatest danger, really.)
(haounomiko)
Plus, the mind ho thing.
What's kind of interesting about that so far is that everyone seems to find it... kind of funny, really. It doesn't seem to have a stigma beyond what dive therapy in general has... and so far I haven't seen anyone other than Chroche express that. (And she's... got an ulterior motive.)
(The "What should I do?" thing in dive therapy bothered me for a while, but I've decided to interpret it as Luca thinking to herself. Because anything else would make no sense whatsoever.)
(aquagon)
And how about that the Reyvateils get a bigger dose of respect here (when not IPD infected) than in Sol Ciel?
That's what I was thinking. The overall situation there looks to be a lot better than *my* interpretation of AT1, which is already a lot more optimistic than the Reyvablog universe...
On a completely unrelated note, I think I'm in love with Skycat.
There's also a Japanese message somewhere else that I assume isn't a bug, but I wonder what it says...
Actually, it likely is a bug/untranslated bit of dialogue. Seriously, I haven't seen a game this bad on leaving bits of unfinished stuff and general grammatical badness floating around since Suikoden II. In a way, it's almost nostalgic....
or that matter, I wonder what the stuff that's said in hymno means. Why no subtitles? ;.;
Because they want you to become a Hymmnos Master and appreciate the game as it was meant to be! ^__^
For that matter, the slums give a different feel from what's in the Reyvablog universe.
Hmm, I thought they were surprisingly similar in some ways, actually. Certainly there's a good support network, but then the Reyvablog slums have that too, to the extent that they can; they definitely band together to help each other as well as simply for closeness and warmth....
I've heard a few people say that the Reyvablog is harsh compared to their perception of AT1; I always rather intended to show that a world like AT1's, with those restrictions, would have had a lot of problems that the game never followed through in calling out. So I think it's less that AT1's world was less harsh and more that the game sugarcoated the inevitable consequences of, say, restricting Diquility.
Skycat meows. That's enough for her to be cool in my book. (Yes, I have a giant weakness for neko.)
I also thought the behaviour in the slums, the way they seem to keep tabs on one another, did reflect the Reyvablog. It's true that the Reyvablog is, in general, harsher than either of the games-- but AT1 didn't show us the slums at all, and Sol Ciel is obviously harder on Reyvateils than Metafalss because they neither give out Diquility nor have the kind of respect for Reyvateils that Metafalss does, with the obvious exception of Platina, so of course Metafalss's slums actually aren't going to be as bad as Sol Ciel's. So I think it makes perfect sense.
I was surprised when Luca said that dive therapy paid well, though. I thought she was too broke to ride the train home sometimes.
I really do agree, yes. I hadn't thought about the "Metafalss' slums wouldn't be nearly as bad, and proportionately it works out" thing, but you're really right.
And, hmm. She doesn't have to pay for Diquility, so... maybe public transport is just really, really expensive? XD I'd say maybe she doesn't get that many customers, but she obviously does....
(Ayulsa)
Actually, it likely is a bug/untranslated bit of dialogue.
It's awfully weird to have an entire line that gets displayed often like that though. I have a hard time believing that in whatever testing they did, no one ever got someone to join the fan club...
Certainly there's a good support network, but then the Reyvablog slums have that too, to the extent that they can
Hmmm. I can't really put my finger on what feels different about it. Maybe I'll think of something later.
I always rather intended to show that a world like AT1's, with those restrictions, would have had a lot of problems that the game never followed through in calling out. So I think it's less that AT1's world was less harsh and more that the game sugarcoated the inevitable consequences of, say, restricting Diquility.
I think part of it is that some of the ground rules in use, I'm not sure what their derived from. Diquility never appeared to me to be a restricted substance in canon, just one that was fairly expensive. Plus, there's other things like whether being a Reyvateil requires a direct line of descent, which probably has it's good and bad side. And probably other factors too.
Well, it's not that unusual for people to have a lot of different interpretations of things. (I like the theory that WALL-E is a prequel to Transformers...)
(haounomiko)
I was surprised when Luca said that dive therapy paid well, though. I thought she was too broke to ride the train home sometimes.
I can't remember the exact wording from that scene, but it could be that she's talking about from before she started doing well in that job. (Also, there's a period of time after things started going well where she had something else she was saving money for...)
(Ayulsa again...)
She doesn't have to pay for Diquility
Is this stated somewhere? `.` I never got the impression it was free. Just that it was probably fairly inexpensive. Something on the order of the less opressive types of prescription drugs in RL, maybe.
Is this stated somewhere? `.` I never got the impression it was free. Just that it was probably fairly inexpensive. Something on the order of the less opressive types of prescription drugs in RL, maybe.
Ah, blame my Brit perspective, then. "The government provides it" generally equals "free", where I'm from.
And the other things are mostly just personal interpretations, yes... I think somehow I managed to derive Diquility's being expensive and a substance that only certain people are licensed to make as its being restricted; that isn't technically accurate, but it's provided some good in-game tension, and I wouldn't exactly put it past Tenba to do, in general.
Croix: "It talked!"
Yes, the Jakuri Pod talks. SHOCK. There might even be a person in there. =D
Poor Jakuri, basically being reduced to an it by the first protagonist she runs into. "Omg, Jakuri can communicate with intelligent life?"
Didn't that kind of happen in the last game, too? (Unless you count Shurelia and/or Ayatane as having run into her before Lyner did.)
...it's kind of true. Ignored for a good chunk of the game (at least we see her before the end of Phase 1 this time), treated as an unfeeling entity incapable of processing morals... I detect a theme here.
I'm not sure she was precisely "ignored"... more like "the entire plot of the game was to destroy her and all her works"...
(Ayulsa)
Ah, blame my Brit perspective, then. "The government provides it" generally equals "free", where I'm from.
The government provides it? `.`
I think the main thing that seems off to me about diquility restriction is that the artbook gave me the impression that the Church produced it's own diquility. And, as the Church and Tenba are depicted as being fairly hostile at the beginning of the game... well, it seems odd. Also, I'm not sure restricting it would really be the path that allows Tenba to make the most money...
Poor Jakuri, basically being reduced to an it by the first protagonist she runs into.
Given that there are other non-intelligent robots of similar appearance floating around, I'm not sure you can blame him for not realizing that the larger, fancier looking robot had a person inside...
As for the first game, it wasn't until fairly late that they really knew enough to judge her any other way. I'm not sure even Misha knew that much more...
The government provides it? `.`
Yup. That's said in one of the World Info snippets-- can't remember which one. It talks about how Reyvateils are pretty respected in Metafalss.
lol
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