#I like Bastorias but the ending with Eligor needed more time to cook or more development

[randomnameless]

More artbook stuff!!

Dev notes about the remaining Bastorias cast (without Reimann, he'll be tackled in the traitors update)!

How is that angel vs human composition in Albion?

Bryce was ultimately reworked to be some sort of Robin Hood unit - we meet him first in Cornia unpromoted, then we recruit (or kill) him in Bastorias as a Hoplite, aka, a promoted unit!

Granted, his group of "thieves", the Rock Rats, are periodically heard about by several NPC (iirc in Drakengard too even if we don't meet them?) so yep, he's still around, stealing from Zenoira and trying to find a place to call home for his fellow thieves, after kicking out Nina from the gang when he learnt she still had a place to go (but then they make up, and in the cover of this artbook, she and her sister Mille are sitting on Bryce's shoulders!).

Bar that, Bryce apparently comes from Drakengard (was he a desert dweller?) and has an interesting recruitment dialogue, and even rapport conversation with Alain that totally does not hint at the final boss of this arc's identity nor his motivations at all - about how the ones who started from scratch and rose to a position of power are the most dangerous of them all, since they will do anything to conserve/keep the power they've reached, even if it means pissing on the person they used to be, or forgetting why they wanted that power in the first place.

Unit wise, he's a Hoplite, like Hodrick. Great physical tank who can protect allies but he dies to mages and breakers.

The only named playable bear in the game, Bertrand!

IDK about the "mafia/yakuza" boss, but the other bear units sort of smile, when Bertrand never does so maybe it was to highlight his taciturn disposition : when we meet him, he and Govil - a young and hotheaded werewolf - are arguing about what to do against Zenoira, Betrand doesn't want to mount another attack/counterinvasion because last time they failed, and iirc, it was during that last time that they had a lot of casualties, including his own son.

Govil apparently dgaf and wants to take a shot at Zenoira - in what seems to be a suicide mission with half of his people in shambles - and they argue, Alain can either decide to help Bertrand (thus making an enemy of Govil), Govil (so you don't recruit Bertrand), or to take them both on (and recruit the two!).

They agree to join, and ultimately make up, Bertrand will totes not become the guard of Govil's new tavern, and in the epilogue, they're bathing in a Bastorias hot spring together.

Maybe VW didn't want to have some "depression, the rapport convo" between him and Fodoquia talking about their respective dead sons, but I liked how Bertrand is still clearly in mourning and how the loss of his son and his forced "pacifism" are really at the core of his character, and not a thrown away line : war takes away people you hold dear, even if you're fighting for a cause, and it's a real toll that sucks, even (or rather, especially) when you're just someone who never asked for any of this shit to happen.

Imagine someone mourning for his dead family member in a game where some fraud tells you that "no biggie, we're all risking our lives out there, mine as I invade you, or you as you try to fend off my invasion!" - that game would suck, right?

Unit wise, Werebears are... a nightmare to face, especially if you don't have breakers, or magic users.

They are even more bulky than Hoplites (tfw higher HP even if their guard rate can be lower) and can actually hit and at times kill enemies (unlike Hoplites save for magic!Hodrick shenanigans). Tradeoff is that they cannot guard allies with their base skill set (unlike Hoplites) but their end of battle skill - a hit propotional to the amount of HP they have left - is completely stupid, since it doesn't take into account the enemy's def stat.

Alain by the end of Bastorias, even without his grandpa's shiny sword, should be a force to be reckoned with who only dies to magic or to RNG, well, mine died to a fucking bear who hammered him to oblivion with Life Blow. And they look cute as fuck, with their tiny shoes, huge chest armor and blood-stained hammers!

Sure they don't do that "tank" thing very reliably, but they're cute.

Govil, the unexpected popular maiden picked by the players!

I got the 80s' punk vibe lol, and where Bertrand became a forced pacifist after losing his son, Govil, character wise, is the hot headed youth who wants to attack/kill/get rid of Zenoirans in Bastorias... because they killed his grandparents and are still killing various people everyday, he wants revenge.

Fitting with the 80s' punk idea the devs had, after seeing reason y joining Alain and co, Govil, in his rapport convo, reveals that he isn't someone who loves to fight or who enjoys brawls, he wants to re-open the tavern his grandparents (not his bio ones, but randos who adopted him!!!) had, is quite self-conscious about his appearance but really doesn't want people to know that he cares about how he looks, and is a bit curious about humans, since Bastorias doesn't see a lot of them.

Unit wise...

Werebears are really units, after two runs, I can safely say I didnt' understand how they were supposed to be played, or what they were supposed to do.

They are good at finishing already damaged units, and have an AoE, but they don't hit quite hard and aren't very bulky so... I'd like to try using or building some unit composition around him one day, but I haven't really found a "way" to make him work :(

Eligor, the twist!

I've read some people's thoughts about how that twist revealing him to be a bestral under his mask was totes foreshadowed since he's the only one crouching - granted Belisarius does the same and after meeting Baltro in the previous arc I can't really be sure what a "humanoid" looks like - and he called Conrad, a minor boss, a "human" earlier in a map.

That was a lolcalisation goof, Eligor never calls anyone "human" before the reveal : aka when he backstabs Reimann.

Let it be in FE or in UO, no one really gives a fuck about magic and science discoveries when it involves brainwashing animal people :(

Now, Eligor's backstory and motivations are really one of the worst points of the Bastorias arc for me, to the point where I would have wondered if he didn't cook the entire thing, if not for the Encyclopedia revealing us that yep, rat bestrals exist (but not rabbit bestrals... despite them being our item shopkeepers...) and lived in hiding.

Through the campaign, we learned that Bastorias was always ruled by the Lion Clan/Tribe, and how it had a rigid hierarchy/structure : Lions were the rulers, Owls are the mayors/lorekeepers, Cats are fishers, Goats are innkeepers/merchants, etc etc. Per Eligor, the rats were shunned by the rest of Bastorias and lived in hiding.

However, what we see through the various quests is... well, Ramona, sheltering a young human (?) girl and an amnesiac lion on top of organising a resistance with NPC of different tribes, Goats, Owls and Wolves worrying about a young cat, an orphanage organised by a human who takes care of lost children, the Rock Rats (Bryce'n'pals) being welcomed in a city of bestrals and being able to settle in said city, Yunifi, a human (?) who manages to talk to every bestral out there, Ramona and Morard more than once saying Bastorias needs to stand united against Zenoira : but we see it united, or at least, tribes accepting to work with each other.

Is it something that only happened """thanks""" to Zenoira's invasion? Or because back when the Lion tribe was still around, they pissed on everyone who wasn't them (especially rats)? And yet, Morard's backstory revelas that the Lion King was so grateful that Morard tried to save his daughter that he saved his life with the Bastorais Blue, aka the mc guffin that turns humans in Bestrals (or Bestrals in humans!).

Eligor speaks of an oppression we don't see in-game, but I'll chalk it up to doylsit reasons here : lack of budget to properly cook Bastorias, even if it's still one of my favourite arcs.

Now, as for his motivations properly... being shunned for being a rat, he was captured by Gharn- I mean, Baltro, who killed all of his kin in gruesome experiments, leaving only him as the only survivor, with now, superpowers and a nice armor.

(Uh. That totes doesn't remind me of something.)

Then, grateful for finally having a chance to be something else than a mere "rat" with his new body, Eligor sides with the ones who experimented on him

(...at least Eligor isnt' calling himself the flame emperor?)

To reach his goal, become the King of Bastorias and leader of all bestrals, he, a mere rat.

To do so, Eligor works with Reimann (under, presumably, Baltro's orders) and IDK if he participated in the "kill every lion by taking their baby hostage" operation, but given how he gleefully mocks Morard who, berserked, turns his axe on his daughter-sister Yunifi and Ramona, the woman who sheltered them both by saying something like "not so proud anymore Lion!" I wouldn't put it behind him.

(which has all kinds of dark implications, because if you don't go to Bastorias, in the final Map, Reimann brings his enslaved Bestral army with him, including Morard and Ramona but not Yunifi, are we supposed to guess that a berserk!Morard or a berserk!Ramona killed her? :'( )

Much like Bryce teased, Eligor who, I suppose, at first wanted a place to live/exist in Bastorias, despite being a rat, now became someone obsessed with enslaving/berserking every other bestral to make sure he will become the leader of Bastorias - denying everyone else their place to live/exist.

No sad uwus for him, merely Morard calling him a moron because he is no lion, and they all wanted to make Bastorias a place where everyone could live, despite their race/tribe, but Eligor's dream became warped, he just wanted, even if it only lasted an instant, to be at the top, he a measly rat, no matter the cost.

In an era where AOT's ending exist, I'm glad UO didn't pull any punches by showing us what Eligor's dream meant for the entire Bastorian population that wasn't him, and unlike Alcina before him, there's no pity party for the dude, because saving the rest of the country and making sure their minds will never be enslaved/controlled/berserked again takes the priority.

Unit-wise, I found it very fitting how Eligor is supposed to be a dodge tank who sort of protects his allies but actually costs them points of action (or passive points), so he protects them or is their leader... by actively crippling them!

It fits with his arc, he wants to be come the King, even if it means enslaving his people, because what is important is not them, but him becoming king.

(which is why, as a post game playable unit, Eligor is a bit... uh... well.)

Next : la perfide Albion!