#Zenos is limited to certain classes? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

worldformula · 1 year ago

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How would you describe utushamas relationships with the scions (or any major characters like zenos)

Oh that’s a fun question! Here are my short and sweet answers. Spoilers for everything, of course!

Minfilia - I take his relationship with her at face value as what is given in game! He appreciated her and her support during his early days as an adventurer because the consistency and kindness was really valuable to him during ARR when he was feeling extremely out of place, disoriented, and slightly paranoid. But his relationship with her wasn’t very deep, something he comes to regret when he later hears of Ryne’s dilemmas, because he didn’t know her well enough to understand what either she or Ryne might’ve really wanted.

Alphinaud - Another relationship that doesn’t deviate that greatly from what was given in game. He did think of him as a bit of a know-it-all kid in ARR but the problem is that he was also that way to Inanna when they were younger so he didn’t mind. To be honest, I think Utushama feels more strongly and has a more complicated opinion of his parents than Alphinaud himself.

Alisaie - Same as Alphinaud, their relationship isn’t all that complicated or different from what’s presented in game. He’s very fond of her because she reminds him a lot of Inanna. He respects her as a red mage because it’s one of the few magic-based classes that he’s not very good with (he has trouble with limiting his aether to himself as a source because he started with the styles of whm / blm). Once again, his opinion of her parents are more complicated than how he feels about her. The twins are his little buddies and accidentally foils to himself and Inanna.

Y’shtola - They are deceptively close friends. During ARR, Utushama came to her often because he had trouble finding resources and reading at a certain level in general (he was “homeschooled”) and Y’shtola immediately identified the things he was looking for to be related to black magic (very illegal). And being the sort of person she is, she immediately wanted in on whatever he was up to. Their studies together lead to Utushama’s success in black magic and her reclassification into her unique Sorceress job later on. When Urianger apologized to Utushama for “deceiving” him by withholding information regarding to the Exarch’s plans in Shadowbringers, he was actually more betrayed by Y’shtola than Urianger, because he had overheard them talking about the light aether that was overtaking him and had trusted her to tell him if she thought something was really that concerning. She is likely the first to understand his actual character rather than what he presents, based on the sort of things he is interested and his reasoning for said interest. You wouldn’t be able to tell that they were friends at first glance, because they talk to each other in a way that appears curt and disinterested, but is actually filled with their own meaning.

Thancred - They had an amicable relationship in ARR, wherein Thancred was his usual flirty self and Utushama was flattered by the attention (but by then knew better than to get carried away). The incident with Lahabrea unfortunately made Utushama very wary of him in a way where he knew it hadn’t been Thancred’s fault, but he also couldn’t help his reaction. They never really talked about this and he came off as kind of judgmental, so Thancred was always under the assumption that Utushama disliked him. Come Shadowbringers, their relationship implodes for a variety of reasons. He has many difficult feelings with regards to Ryne and Minfilia, Utushama had made him feel as though Lahabrea’s possession of his body had been a matter of weakness, and Utushama himself had been rather blasé about Minfilia’s death. These resentments pile and overflow when he appears and creates circumstances that result in the need for the Oracle’s power, although Thancred knows it is not logically his fault. They reconcile by the end of Shadowbringers, especially after Utushama experiences the horrors of having one’s body used for a means of destruction. Thancred now has an infinite pass to poke fun at him.

Urianger - Another relationship that is pretty much what is given in canon. Utushama went to Urianger as well when he was learning black magic, but Urianger simply didn’t think very hard about the sort of things Utushama was asking for, gave him exactly what he could offer, and moved on while Y’shtola was nosy enough that they fostered a good relationship as a result. Despite his holier-than-thou attitude regarding lying and deception, he is never really mad at Urianger for “deceiving” everyone because it often appears to be for a greater good.

Lyse / Yda - Same as canon. Though this is more of my fault than his; I don’t think very much about her because I didn’t consider her writing in Stormblood to be very interesting. There are some interesting overlaps but any spark I had for exploring what kind of relationship they might have had quickly died so my brain turned off.

Papalymo - Same as canon. And this is because I often forget Papalymo was even a Scion. Sorry.

Estinien - They are like two guys sitting silently on a porch drinking beers for two hours. They have a lot of interesting similarities (vengeance as a destructive motivator, draconic natures, their respective complicated relationships with Aymeric, etc) but they hardly actually talk about it. Estinien comes off to me as someone who you can only be friends with if you are persistent and Utushama has a lot on his plate so he doesn’t interact much with him outside of official duties. Estinien doesn’t take it personally and Utushama isn’t purposefully avoiding him so it’s all very neutral. The two times they really have time together is the Heavensward road trip and the Endwalker Thavnair Boy’s Trip, so Estinien has a very clear view of Utushama’s “before” and “after”, so he recognizes that he’s gotten worse but beyond giving him the ominous warning about the importance of improving as a person, he doesn’t interfere greatly. Despite the fact that they don’t interact deeply, they have a strangely significant understanding of one another.

G’raha - Ok this one was a mess I can’t even lie. Very long story short, they had something quite nice while G’raha was the Exarch but Utushama couldn’t overcome the hurdle of having seen the Exarch “die” and therefore couldn’t accept G’raha to be the same person as the Exarch. Alongside that, Utushama behaved as if whatever relationship they had on the First didn’t exist on the Source. All of this was obviously very hurtful to G’raha and it contributed greatly to his identity issues. After one too many disappointments, G’raha eventually became disillusioned with him and fell out of love. However, he still regards him positively as a fellow Scion and is comfortable calling for Utushama’s aid because he decided to move on and enjoy his life outside of the Warrior of Light. It’s honestly better for them both if they weren’t a thing. I will say though, I do enjoy my running joke that any time G’raha is mentioned in MSQ, Utushama thinks he’s mad at him.

Zenos - Ok you can’t get mad at me because you asked for this guy specifically. They are doing this social-role themed nightmare dance about righteousness and violence and gender and heroism. Zenos fixates on Utushama for what he identifies as a natural talent for destruction (something Utushama is deeply unhappy about having), sees in him a penchant for cruelty and rage (something he has been trying very hard to suppress), and is immediately able to look past his phony prince act (a skill he finds deeply unsettling). Zenos keeps trying to cultivate this in him during Stormblood for the purpose of having his grand perfect battle, and the attention on him is something Utushama is both furious and freaked out by. Later in Endwalker, Zenos is doing his thing of constantly chasing the WoL down, but Utushama is so disinterested in what he wants that the tables finally turn and Zenos is the one who is left constantly confused and upset. He is desperate for Utushama’s attention and Utushama, while mostly ignoring him because Endwalker is happening, quietly and coldly revels in his ability to disorient the man who tortured him so badly during Stormblood. They’re essentially constantly going back and forth hitting each other with sticks and power playing by demoralizing / condescending each other until Utushama finally accepts that he might actually be somewhat of a bad person and they throw each other off the edge of the universe.

#ask #anonymous #ffxiv #here are my short and sweet answers (posts the Iliad)#there’s a lot of characters so I tried to be concise </3 #I get indulgent with my wol relationships but what can I say I love to play toys #thank u for indulging me further :D

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aeide-thea · 3 years ago

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i adore and value fanfiction enormously, but i do wish we could strike a balance in our discussions of it between [μέν] sneering at it and [δέ] claiming there are no downsides whatsoever to having it comprise the entirety of one’s reading (ey says, as someone whose reading it has lately comprised the vast majority of)?

like, there’s that post that’s all, ‘classic literature is inherently difficult to read unless you have the vocabulary and pop culture knowledge of an 18th century nobleman’ (which i’ve done my best to avoid engaging with, because while i think the post’s validation of pleasure as the primary driver of reading is net good, its anti-intellectualism drives me batty), but anyway i saw a longer, more nuanced iteration of that thread and it got me thinking: one downside of an exclusive, or at any rate chauvinist, focus on fanfic, it seems to me, is the risk of forgetting how to acquaint oneself with new universes through immersion, and how to derive stimulation (rather than discomfort) from the suspended uncertainty that is part and parcel of immersive learning...

like, a subsequent post in that same thread observes: ‘when you read Classic Literature™ in [the] context of academia? We’d always get at least a week-long crash-course on the relevant historical context, social tensions, religious understandings, pop-science misconceptions, common literary tropes — And we’d get handed a selection of short stories and poems from other contemporary authors for a sense of the General Cultural Vibe — THEN we would finally read the book.’ which like. fine! but what was the crash course for those short stories and poems? (zeno’s paradox as applied to background reading, anyone?) you always have to start somewhere, and at the start you aren’t going to have context for it, and you’ll feel a little as though you’re groping around in the dark and probably stumbling a little—that’s normal. that’s how it feels to start something new.

it’s like showing up in a language class the first day and not understanding half of what the teacher says to you. imagine if the discourse around language learning was ‘it’s perfectly fine if you’d rather use your precious free time and limited energy to engage with a language that’s Relevant To You instead’—like, of course it would be fine in a certain sense; but equally of course a stubborn universal adherence to that attitude, and in particular the decision to go around vocally patting yourself on the back about it instead of just, you know, quietly engaging with your own language, would be (rightly) seen as weirdly insular and anti-intellectual of you!

anyway i love fanfic and it’s honestly most of what i read these days but like. it doesn’t exercise certain parts of my reading brain that do, actually, feel good and serve me well to exercise, and like. not everyone can exercise! i’m very bad about exercising lately! but it’s good and healthy and rewarding to move your body a little if you can, and the same is true of your reading brain, and i wish the culture on here weren’t so firmly divided into the two weirdly binary camps of (1) ‘sneering at fanfic’ or (2) ‘denying that anything whatsoever could be missing from yr reading practice if fanfic is all you’re reading.’

#i wrote this post in about two minutes and i'm not deluding myself it's well-crafted #but #bookblogging #fannish things #i read SO much Classic Literature I Didn't Have Context For as a wee K and like. it's the same way you learn abt the contemporary world #you experience a bunch of things you don't understand and yr brain starts to work out how to slot them into the framework it builds for them

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rasoir-national · 5 years ago

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5 male characters I love

So I got tagged by @antirococoreaction to name 5 male characters I love, and as always I asked myself the immortal question : do I pick characters I love as characters, as in, characters I love for how interesting they are, or do I pick characters I love as people ? And for once, I decided to go with the narrowest of the two, the second one, for two reasons.

First, because there’s this latent belief in media that bad is more interesting than good, leading to the pernicious trope that characters who are “good people” are boring. That’s patently false : just as it’s difficult to be a good person, and I think we should highlight characters who demonstrate that.

Second, because there’s this tendency, in tumblr culture, from which I am not at all exempt, to avoid giving focus to masculinity in a positive manner, because mainstream media would do that already. But you could argue that mainstream media is much more focused on toxic masculinity and masculinity as a “default” than on exploring masculinity in its richness and uniqueness. So I want to do that too : to highlight characters whose masculinity is a inherent and essential part of who they are and why I love them. Let’s roll.

Dionysus/Umar from The Wicked+The Divine (Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie)

He is such a good person. That’s what you think the first time you meet him, and that’s what you’ll continue to think, even as the comic goes on and adds nuance upon nuance on every character. The god of wine and parties reincarnated as a young man with rave/hivemind and ecstasy-like powers. And also a kind friend, a sensitive listener, someone who is keenly aware of the limits of what you can do for other people yet will give all he has so people can have at least that, be it one good night amidst sorrow and depression, or a shoulder to cry on. Dio is good to a fault, as in, his goodness is arguably his flaw. He gives himself so completely, to everyone, that it endangers his own sanity, and make other people’s selfishness and entitlement come out. He is a perfect illustration of why putting yourself first is not just a flaw when done in excess, it is at its core a survival skill : if you do not put barriers between you and the others, you will crumble. Dio is a study in true altruism that not many stories have the courage to make. He is also canonically asexual, and strongly implied to be biromantic, although that’s almost incidental in Wicdiv, in which almost every single character is lgbtqia+ and treated with respect. Seriously, read Wicdiv guys.

Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho (Yoshihiro Togashi)

YYH is one of the most insidious yet brilliant deconstructions of the shoûnen tropes out there. While some of its material, while groundbreaking at the time (starting with a fleshed-out, sympathetic gay character coming with a critique of japanese homophobia), has aged with the strides made in matters of representation, its commentary on masculinity and especially how it’s usually handled in the typical shoûnen holds up extremely well in my opinion. And one of its centers is Kurama. Created to be a riff on the classic “bishounen” character (to the point that one of the running gags of the manga is Kurama getting increasingly annoyed with the attitude of female side characters around him), Kurama is my favourite kind of good person, the one who is deeply aware that he is capable of horrible things. He is the rare character who begins the story at the tail end of his redemption arc, having already decided to change ; his arc in the manga is about trying to figure out what that means. And the manga does not pull punches with him : he has to reckon with what he’s done, to try and navigate his new moral compass in a world that’s just waiting to use it against him. And it gets... cruel. Kurama is a perfect example of how quickly and often certain traits can toe the line between making you a terrible person or a good one. Everytime he fights, Kurama has to make the choice to do good, over and over. And it’s not easy. It’s not supposed to be easy. And if YYH has one message, it’s that everyone who tells you otherwise is lying.

Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels) from The Exorcist series

Memory functions best by association, so reading @antirococoreaction‘s list immediately got me thinking about The Exorcist and Father Marcus. Just like Cardinal Gutierrez, he is both a man of faith and a mlm. And while his orientation is not the focus of the show, it’s present, layered and realistic in all of it - credit to openly gay actor Ben Daniels who portrays him. It’s especially present in his relationship with the other lead, portrayed by Alfonso Herrera as a young, charismatic priest whom the Church sees as a political pawn, whom I could also have chosen for this list. Just like I could have chosen John Cho as the single foster father of adopted “problem” children who has to cope with the death of his wife. See, what’s extraordinary about The Exorcist series is exactly what I was talking about in the intro : whatever masculinity means, it doesn’t take it for granted. Which is why the second season manages to have three male leads that are all incredible characters, incredibly good people, while vastly different from one another. Marcus is probably the most “morally grey” of the three, but in what that term sholuld mean rather than what mainstream media tends to make of it. Marcus in an unquestionably good person in a world where doing good often means making excrutiating choices. Marcus is someone devastated by these choices, who has to try and find hope again, guided in part by the young Father Tomas. While Marcus roughly fits the “jadded brooding lead” archetype, but in every detail of his character and portrayal he is imbued by a depth that’s rare in the horror genre. I will never forgive Fox for cancelling this gem of a series right as both the plot and the main characters were coming at a turning point. My advice if you want to watch it : don’t read anything, just go in blind.

Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg from the Adamsberg novels (Fred Vargas)

Adamsberg is a cop. I know that’s a dealbreaker for some people, and I respect that. But his profession seems almost incidental to the character. Adamsberg shouldn’t be a cop, Adamsberg is that guy you see in the street who stops all of the sudden, fascinated by something, and it drives you crazy that you don’t see what. Adamsberg is a dreamer, he feels things rather that he knows them, and yet somehow is always right in the end. He’s like a magician. He’s not always kind. He can be violent. He’s not always clever. In fact, sometimes he acts downright stupid. Yet there is always this kindness, this intelligence around him, about the way people are and the way people should be. When I was a kid, the Adamsberg series was the first I read in which, hearing another man using a degrading language to talk about women, the main character immediately shut him down. As I grew up, I came to think of Adamsberg as the way women wished men were, though they weren’t. In reality, there is a lot in Adamsberg that’s exactly how men are, both good and bad. He’s a character who shouldn’t feel real yet does in the strange, poetic world created by Fred Vargas for what is one of the strangest crime series I’ve ever read. If the Doctor was the protagonist of a crime series, they would be Adamsberg. Growing up afab, Adamsberg was one of the few male protagonists I didn’t feel actively disrespected by as I was reading. The first four books of the series, The Chalk Circle Man, Seeking whom he may devour, Have mercy on us all and Wash this blood clean from my hand, are absolute classics I heartily recommend. It’s some of the smartest, weirdest crime novels out there.

Zeno Ligre from The Abyss (Marguerite Yourcenar)

I... God, what do you even say about what may well be your favourite character in all of literature, in what may well be your favourite book ? I fell in love in Zeno when I was fifteen, fell as hard as you could for someone who didn’t exist. Zeno starts the story as a young adult and ends it as an old man. You follow his entire life, from his childhood as the bastard child in a rich belgian family in the 16th Century, to becoming a respected yet feared and misunderstood alchemist, all through the turmoil of religious and political wars and plagues. Zeno is the best representation of what it was truly like to be a man ahead of his time in a time of intolerance and obscurantism. As an isolated high schooler who felt like I had nothing in common with my peers, you can imagine how I could relate. The Abyss is a strange, dense book which I probably read too soon, but which absolutely enthralled me to the point that I refused to even open another book weeks after finishing it because I simply couldn’t bear the thought not to be still reading The Abyss. It made History and Philosophy realer than any of my classes. And front and center of it is Zeno, Zeno you see grow and age, with whom you discover and fear, who utterly captures you with how grand a man can truly be, how extraordinary life itself, from beginning to end, is. Zeno is a man trying to shine a light on the world, trying to live by the precepts of philosophers, and once again is faced by what being a good man means, and whether it even matters to be one in a world such as the Middle Ages. I don’t know what to say except read it, and you’ll see why I’m at such a loss for words. Oh, and you might cry a lot. I know I did, not necessarily because it was sad, but simply because it was over, and I couldn’t read it for the first time again.

Here you have it. Wow, that was way too long.

And of course there’s almost no one left for me to tag, because we’re like 15 people talking in a circle.

#tag game

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zerolympiustrife · 5 years ago

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ZOS’ short stories 50

Title: The Irrelevancy of Time (Various)

What’s this? I’ve made 50 short stories? What a shocker!

————————————————————

*On the outskirts of Midgar*

Cloud (fighting against three enemies): This won’t take long. *Checks his time, and it says 11:50 am*

*Cloud kills the enemies with Meteorain*

Cloud (sheathing his blade): Heh. See? Told ya it wouldn’t take lo- *Check his time, and it says 12:00 pm, much to his surprise* Wait, what the hell?

*At Neo Arcadia*

Zero: Alright, this mission should take oughta take five minutes to finish. Depending on how much security there is... *Checks a big clock, and it says 10:00 pm*

Ciel: Good luck, Zero!

*Zero, slowly but surely, tears his way through the hoard of enemies, and kills the boss of said area he’s in*

Zero: Oy...that took much longer than it needed to.

Ciel: What are you talking about, Zero? That was quick!

Zero (confused): Huh? *Checks the big clock, and it says 10:01, much to his shock* What in the world...?

*In the skies, Zizou is looking down upon the planet*

Zizou (crossing her arms): Hmph. It seems there’s another war going on down there. I better resolve this, but this won’t take long~. *Looks at a clock tower, and it says 10:00 am*

*Some time later...*

Zizou (back in the skies): Hagh...it took longer than I thought, but- *Looks at the tower, and it says 11:00 am, much to her bafflement* Huh?!? I was down there much longer than that!

*At Beacon Academy, Zero, Zizou, and Cloud are in a room together*

Cloud (towards Glynda): Thanks for letting us borrow a room here. I promise it won’t take long.

*Glynda nods, then leaves the room*

Zizou: Alright...so, it would seem that the three of us went through the same situation.

Zero: Time being irrelevant?

Cloud: Time being an illusion?

Zizou: Correct. Time seems to function in the most confusing ways.

*Goku teleports into the room with Joker, aka Ren Amamiya, holding his shoulder, via Instant Transmission*

Goku (cheerfully): You bet it does!

Cloud (shocked, falls off his seat): MOTHERF- *Thud!*

*Zizou fires a blast at Goku from being jumpscared, but this doesn’t pierce him*

*Zero leaps off his chair and backs away, readying his weapon*

Zero (realization): ...Huh? Oh, wait...it’s just you...

Zizou (calming down): Hm? Oh...it’s Goku. And Joker.

Cloud (getting up): Agh...don’t scare us like that.

Ren (helping Cloud up): Sorry, it’s just that Goku overheard you three talking about time being incredibly irrelevant.

Goku: Time doesn’t seem to matter in my world!

Zizou: How so?

Goku: Well...

*Flash cut! to a couple of flashbacks*

Frieza: Namek will explode in five minutes, stupid monkey!

*Eight episodes pass*

*Flash cut!*

Piccolo: The fused being summoned from the fusion dance should last for about thirty minutes.

*Six episodes pass*

*Flash cut!*

Zeno: The Tournament of Power’s time limit is forty-eight minutes! Good luck!

*Thirty-four episodes pass*

*Flash cut! back to Beacon*

Goku (chuckling): It’s almost as if time itself doesn’t exist!

Zero (weirded out): That’s...weird.

Cloud: What about you, Ren? What’s time like in Mementos, or hanging out with your friends?

Ren: Well, Cloud...

*Flash cut! to a couple more flashbacks*

Ren: Alright, team. We’re going to have a longer afternoon than usual in Mementos. Hope you’re prepared.

Makoto (nodding): Roger. *Checks the time, and it says 3:00 pm*

*In Mementos, the Morgana Bus is just driving around in Mementos*

Yusuke: ...How long have we been down here?

Haru: We must be down here at least until midnight.

Ryuji: For real?!

Makoto: Wrong. *Shows off the time, and it says 4:00 pm*

Ryuji (confused): What the fu-

*Flash cut! to another scenario in Mementos*

Ren: Alright, for this trip through Mementos, it shouldn’t take long.

Ann: I hope so... *Checks the time, and it says 3:00 pm*

*After a short trip in Mementos, the group exit*

Morgana: See? It didn’t take that long.

Futaba: Are you sure about that? *Shows off the time, and it says 8:00 pm*

Ryuji (even MORE confused): WHAT THE FU-

*Flash cut! back to Beacon*

Cloud (shaking his head): I feel like time would only be relevant in certain situations, such as the Smash Tournaments.

*Ren nods*

Glynda (entering the room): Are you three- *Sees Ren and Goku in the room* What in the world?

Cloud: Sorry, longer discussion than usual. Besides, they’re friends with us.

Glynda (sternly, but nods): ...Noted.

*The groups exits the room, then come across Ruby and Jaune*

Ruby (stretching): AGH! Class took WAY too longer than it should!

Jaune (healing himself): An hour and a half...

Cloud (internally): An hour and a half...? *Speaks up, turns to Glynda* When did these two enter their class?

Glynda: At the same time as I allowed you and your friends to use this room.

Cloud (eyes widened): ...And...how long were we in there?

Glynda: Five minutes.

*Cloud, Zizou, Zero, Ren, Goku, Jaune, AND Ruby all look to each other weirdly, look in the room, look back at the hallway Jaune and Ruby came from in MASS confusion*

Zizou (baffled): What...

Zero (baffled): ...the...

Cloud (baffled): ...fuck?

Glynda (squinting at the trio): Language!

Cloud: Sorry...

Jaune (internally, shocked): An hour and a half back there...

Ruby (internally, also shocked): Five minutes in there... *Looks at the room Cloud and friends exited from*

Goku: Are we secretly in the Room of Spirit and Time?!

Ren: I thought that room was called the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Goku: It has various names...speaking of which, I wonder if it’s been repaired already...?

*Meanwhile, on Kami’s Dende’s Lookout...*

Vegeta (in the room, with bloodshot eyes): What is time to the Saiyan Prince such as myself?!? *Eyes twitches* Does five minutes out there mean five hours elsewhere?!? Does an entire day out there mean a whole decade somewhere else?!? No, wait, I DON’T F*** CARE!!!

Mr. Popo (checking on Vegeta): ...Are you done yet?

*Vegeta screams as loud as possible due to the concept of time being completely confusing to him, and in his rage, he blows up the Hyperbolic Time Chamber/Room of Spirit and Time AGAIN*

Goku (shrugging): Mmm, I’m sure it’s fine! *Looks around, and he’s all alone* Huh?!? Hey! Where did everybody go? *Uses Instant Transmission, and teleports to where Cloud and Ruby is*

Cloud (startled): Ah! Oh, it’s you again. You took longer in there pondering about what was going on in your world.

Goku: Really? How long was I still in there?

Ruby: Three hours.

*Goku raises an eyebrow hearing this, COMPLETELY baffled that he was in there for that long*

ZOS (shrugging): Ain’t time a mindfucker?

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largepotato · 8 years ago

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Stormblood thoughts

There’s current 1,064 players in queue.

I tweeted doing tthis earlier so I figured I’d write it while i wait to log in. I figured it’d be nice to give one coherent summary of my thoughts i guess, because i feel like talking to friends makes us kind of piecemeal our opinions together and are something imprecise or vague about what specifically we enjoyed or not, so organizing my thoughts on the game so far might be nice.

First, i guess, aesthetic. I think it did great, i think it made zones that are interesting, easily navigated and most of all coherent. So many of Heavensward zones just had this slight incoherence to them that doesn’t make sense to me, as a natural or even semi-seamless part of a broader geographical area. Obviously the limitations of the game make it such that we only see a small part of these regions, but stormblood managed to make it feel like the zones captured a part of a broader picture that feels natural intertwined with the areas that aren’t shown as well as its neighboring regions. It takes care to be mindful of its geography, the paths and routes feel detailed enough to be realistic, but not so mcuh that they’re a chore to navigate. It deos a better job than heavensward in encouraging you to explore the regions, but it also has lots of areas to explore with nothing significant there. Little nooks and crannies with a suprising amount of detail put into them, but nothing of actual substance. EAch zone feels different and captures its feeling very well, so overall i love the experience it has, but not w/o some issue.

The new gear provided is a mixed bag. The new gear introduced is all gorgeous and detailed in subtle simple ways that doesn’t make it feel overly wrought or cluttered for the most part. The recycled models are unique ones that I enjoy seeing again, but some were used too much or without sufficient changes to the model or the class it was on. I think the 67 dungeon is the worst offender of this, bc it is slight recolors of doman gear without any departures from the blue gear models or associated classes. The first dungeon being dyeable, the i270 and i300 green weapons being the same model, as well as several grey gear repeated from HW grey gear is also a bit bland. That some of the high end glamor gear is also now gatherer/crafter gear feels weird, but not being able to glamor that unto combat gear changes that. Most of this is outweighed by the new gear looking absolutely gorgeous, but it feel like lost potential in some ways.

Second, i guess should be plot. I’ll do things I liked, then disliked, then things i’m optimistic and looking forward to.

I’ll begin by saying I loved the plot as a whole. It delivered more than i was expecting in being this exciting journey to the east kind of quest. It managed to tie this kind of fantasy theme with something more earthly by having the back drop being a campaign to liberate nations long occupied, and it managed to do it in a way that was reasonably well nuanced. I wasn’t expecting much in terms of how it talked about ideas like occupation, and liberty, and rule, and cooperation with one’s occupiers, but I think it mostly managed to delivery in these regards. I think the dialogue was mostly really good at a mix of banter and serious deliveries, and I think it did good at using both ends of conversation to give characterization to people in the quests as well as your own character. Its overall quality made me realize the chaff that heavensward still had, despite that itself being a great improvement over ARR. For the most part, it had likeable protagonists who showed human flaws, villains who played specific roles as villains and served that ends well, and companions who grew and explored the same world and struggles as you did as a player character.

The things i didn’t like were mostly in a lack of conclusion, or willingness to come to certain conclusions and closure with the narrative and characterization given to the characters. Primarily, this is in characters like Yotsuyu and Zenos, but kinda sprinkled through out. The game is uncertain what it wants from these characters or what role they should play in the narrative, and sometimes feels like the ending is overly flattening or just a dramatic shift that weakens the impact of the personality cultivated over the course of the plot.

In Yotsuyu’s case, she’s presented as this self-determined and violent pragmatist who begins to be given a sympathetic background, that’s ignored for a dramatic one-dimensional ending (yes, i know i know). That it fails to give her opportunity to explore and understand her in a way that makes her and her collaboration with the empire more sympathetic is a huge short coming, and makes it feel wasted as a time to develop as a character.

Zenos is what i might see as a quinessential JRPG villain, with morbid and truly baseless, and irrational ideas of human violence and instinct, and in most cases this would just be boring, but his position and role makes this more interesting because of the power he commands and the influence he offers. How he manipulates and affects someone like Fordola and how he perceives his conflict with you is so out of touch with the reality of the rest of the narrative that it almost works because that divide is so clearly shown.... until the end, and you go to the menagerie, and he’s just... He monologues and becomes a dragon and you fight and none of what he did before make sense. His imperial position and rule and authority to command armies at his call are irrelevant, and his brutally primitive world view isn’t given a context except its own word. It becomes uninteresting to me, and never really gives a closure on why his view is wrong, only that in some ways he validates himself and dies.

In a similar vein, the game wants to make a parallel between Lyse and Fordola, as a characters who mirror each other, and all of the pieces are there, but the game doesn’t or isn’t interested in making something from it, but that may be somethin to be developed as more patches are released. But its also indicative as a whole where the game almost wants to say something or provide this kind of insight or even the vaguest of messages, and shirks away and fails to do so in any way, or with any substance. (This also brings up my disappointment in the Lakshmi detour, in that it is a regression in where the plot has gone with discussing the nature of primals and primal summoning, and the vaguest of messages that can be gleaned from the arc falls unto deaf ears of the main cast, and leaves a bad taste in my mouth, especially in the context of Lakshmi being a real hindu goddess that’s depicted with an all too similar appearance. Even with that issue aside, it fails to do anything interesting or substantive, even though every piece is supplied and presented within the game).

For all those grievances, this also means i have a lot that I want out of the game and that I think it has the potential to deliver on. The end of the quest begins to raise more and more questions on the nature of leadership, or rule and authority, and what it takes to provide these things. They’re situated there both at the beginning and the ending, and I think it has a lot of promise both for an overarching story and post-game , as well as exploration through side quests and so on.

I’m kinda running out of things to say that don’t feel like repetition, but thats that I guess. I could talk about mechanical things another time, but I wanted to put this down I guess. enjoy.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Final Fantasy 14

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10oclockdot · 8 years ago

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10 Ideas That Other People Probably Had A Long Time Ago

1. Why does the ruling class construe personal responsibility as the exclusive province of the poor? What I mean is that people with very little are held to a high standard concerning how they spend or manage what little they have, while people with great wealth are not held to a proportionate standard. As the value of what you own approaches zero, your personal responsibility ought also to approach zero (since you have little over which to be responsible). Inversely, as the value of what you own approaches the gross national product, you ought to be held increasingly personally responsible for the well-being of that nation. How can conservatives blame poverty on the poor? The poor have little to mismanage, and therefore they (often) have little share of the blame for being in poverty. The wealthy, by contrast, own almost everything, which means that if they wished to eradicate poverty, they could do so without much effort. Shouldn't the wealthy, therefore, be blamed for the fact that poverty persists, according to the rubric of personal responsibility? The wealthy despise the poor for their poverty. But if the wealthy hate poverty, isn't it their personal responsibility to electively redistribute their own wealth to the poor and end it? The whole logic of trickle-down economics insists that if we give money to the rich, they'll give it to the poor. And yet, under trickle-down economics, the poor remained poor. Why weren't the wealthy blamed for failing their duty to make sure that money trickled down? If the wealthy would like the doctrine of personal responsibility to be morally consistent, they ought to back the concept of basic income. Because if you want the poor to be responsible, you must give them something to be responsible for. The wealthy have argued that they're the ones responsible for prosperity this whole time, and so it's time to hold them to task for it.

2. California has nearly the lowest elector-to-person ratio of any state in the country. This means that by living in California, your vote for president has less of an effect on the outcome of the election than if you lived anywhere else. If as few as a couple hundred thousand Californians' votes had been applied to the vote tallies of other states, Clinton would have won the election. People's votes in the national presidential election count differently based on which state they live in. Might this violate the Equal Protection Clause? Might the voters of California bring a class action case to the Supreme Court which could rule the Electoral College unconstitutional? I have no idea (since I'm clueless on Constitutional Law), but we need our best ideas on this one. (By the way, as best I can tell, Texas is the state currently most disenfranchised by the electoral college system; I don’t know why they’re not up in arms about it.)

3. We need to add a corollary to Wittgenstein. If a HuffPo reader could speak, a Breitbart reader wouldn't be able to understand her. And vice-versa.

4. If we accept my previous premise that every paradox results from a mistaken assumption (here), then paradoxes reveal sites where our language (and therefore our thought) inadequately perceives or models the world. Paradoxes do not really exist. They're just artifacts and signs of imperfect systems of language (and thought). As the material conditions of our life change in history, so also does our language (even if we don't invent new words, words take on new epistemic meanings and combine into new webs) and therefore the thoughts available to think. Consequently, as new material conditions force our language to grapple (imperfectly) with new epistemes, new paradoxes arise historically. I'm amazed that I'd never considered this before. Paradoxes don't just "exist." They emerge, historically, in response to new conditions. The Grandfather Paradox didn't exist (and couldn't exist) before we had a concept of time travel. Fenno's Paradox couldn't exist before good opinion polling. Oblers' Paradox didn't exist before we'd reached a certain level of development in astronomy. And then there are plenty of paradoxes of topology, set theory, thermodynamics, relativity, and quantum mechanics that are all fairly new historically. Even very old paradoxes, like Zeno's paradoxes or Sorites paradox, rely on a fairly advanced understanding of quantity and divisibility and couldn't have emerged all that much earlier than they did. What new paradoxes will this new century produce?

5. "Good taste" has little to do with intelligence or some natural facility for "discernment." Rather, "good taste" is generally a function of disposable time, income, interest, and effort. Therefore, "good taste" correlates (loosely, at least) with class. Because what really is "good taste"? People with "good taste" don't invent what they like off the tops of their heads. They invest the time to read catalogs, specialized websites, and taste-making magazines full of obscure recommendations; they invest the interest to listen and watch more omnivorously; they invest the energy to force themselves to appreciate more difficult work; and, of course, they invest the income to buy art, records, films, furniture, fashions through which to display their "good taste." By contrast, if someone does not have the time or the disposable income or the interest or the energy to pursue art for the sake of its long-term enrichment value (that is, difficult art), they'll simply listen to whatever's convenient on the dial and whatever they like without having to think about it too much. To judge someone for taking the path of least resistance when it comes to the art/media they enjoy is to (at least in some cases) judge them for their lack of time, money, or energy to invest in more difficult art, which is classist. (By the way, this even assumes that taste-makers gravitate toward more difficult art, which is not necessarily the case. Quite a lot of "good taste" is, from a perspective of several decades on, fairly arbitrary and myopic.)

6. Another note on taste: Hume believed in the subjectivism of taste but not absolute relativism -- that is, that bad taste is characterized by how personal and erratic ("capricious") of a judgment it is, whereas good taste is characterized by more stable judgments. And since good taste is more stable, that means that the taste of people with aesthetic education tends to converge as aesthetic education increases. But what does that mean? Isn't that just a form of groupthink? Take a look at music criticism or film criticism or art criticism, and you'll find that it's not a bunch of people laboring in isolation. The canons of music, art, film, and the rest are generated by consensus, through the work of thousands upon thousands of contributors, all pointing each other incrementally toward what they value. And that's why "good taste" cannot help but converge: it is constructed collaboratively, by many people continually reinforcing each other's taste. From the elit(e/i)st Pitchfork writer all the way down, none of us would have any idea what's "good" if we were not listening to all sorts of other outlets of taste informing us as to what we should think is "good." Thus, aesthetic education and the formation of "good taste" transpire through the same intersubjective process. And this is why "good taste" tends to converge, and why the points of divergence always fall within acceptable limits. (You know, in hindsight this should've been obvious a long time ago.)

7. I was dissecting one of Louis CK's most famous bits the other day -- "Everything is amazing and nobody's happy" -- when I ran across something I hadn't noticed before. He's talking about how entitled people act around technology, and how this entitlement leads them to exaggerate the slightest inconveniences. Here's a clip of him performing this bit on Conan (start around 4:50), where he says, "People come back from flights and they tell you their story, and it's like a horror story. They act like their flight was like a cattle car in the 40's in Germany. That's how bad they make it sound." Did you notice how casually and flippantly he included a reference to the holocaust in this joke? Now, lest I miscommunicate here, I know very well that Louis is not targeting the holocaust in this joke. The target of the joke is clear: people who blow minor inconveniences way out of proportion. He merely uses the holocaust to comically exaggerate the scope of the whining and expose it as ridiculous. Also, lest I miscommunicate, I think it's perfectly fine to use humor to address any subject. But again, look at what Louis did: he didn't make a joke about some aspect of the holocaust; he lackadaisically tossed a reference to the holocaust into the middle of a joke about something else, like it was nothing. Once upon a time you couldn't just mention the holocaust in a comic context without a damn good reason. Same thing goes for other shocking and tragic stuff, like childhood cancer, slavery, AIDS, rape, or blackface (for instance). But nowadays, it's acceptable and mainstream to casually mention such things in passing as a way to amplify some other aspect of a joke. I propose that we ought to be somewhat more concerned about this. On the one hand, it might be slowly wearing down our ability to take serious things seriously. But on the other hand, we need to recognize that our ability to be flippant about something horrible or tragic expresses a form of privilege. (Louis CK is, of course, far from the only comedian to do it. Many comedians do it, and many people who aren't comedians do it, too. I've done it.)

8. Every time there's another slavery movie, people come out of the woodwork online to gripe, "Oh god, this is ancient history. Won't black people just give it a REST?" And every time there's another holocaust movie, the same people say the same thing: "Oh god, this is ancient history. Won't the Jews just give it a REST?" It's time to flip the script on this. "Oh god, another History channel documentary on World War II? Won't white people ever get enough of how much they love Hitler???"

9a. Capitalists argue that competition leads to maximization of benefit. They argue that the best innovations, the best quality products, and the lowest prices result from competition. How plausible is this game-theory premise? Let's apply this logic to another game. In the game of Scrabble, what is the highest possible score for a single word? I don't know, but I assume that there's a 15-letter word that can bridge three triple word scores. How often has this word been played in a Scrabble game? Has it ever been played? Also, what is the highest possible total score of all plays in a given game? And how close have we ever come to such a score, even in games played by World Scrabble Championship players? Probably not all that close. Why is this? Because the rules of Scrabble are not designed to maximize score. They're designed to maximize one's own score while minimizing the other person's score. If you play Scrabble a lot, you probably pounce on double and triple word scores the moment they're in reach, just to prevent someone else from playing there, even if you can't play a particularly high-scoring word on them. And while you probably exchange your tiles on occasion, you probably don't do it multiple turns in a row, because doing so allows the other player an advantage. In Scrabble (and many many other games), actions to benefit oneself are always constrained by the necessity of actions to deny benefit to the other player(s). Hence, every game of Scrabble is seriously suboptimal, by design.

9b. But imagine if Scrabble could be played collaboratively-- not to win, but to maximize scores for all players. Even if the rules were not rewritten, we would play the game very differently. For one thing, we would show our tiles to each other. We would talk about upcoming plays. We would propose high-scoring plays and try to trade in tiles to get them. In fact, we'd trade in tiles SO frequently, that it would almost be as if we were just picking the tiles we wanted, face-up, out of the box. We would never block each others' plays. Instead, we would set up really good plays with multiple moves. We'd leave the Scrabble dictionary out and open, or we would openly use computer programs to show us better plays than we could think of ourselves (because it's very possible that the human mind, having little evolutionary training in maximizing common benefit, might not be very good at it). And at the end of the game, working collaboratively like this, not only would the total score be MUCH higher than the normal way of playing, individual scores would be markedly greater as well. Collaboration, not competition, would produce greater common benefit.

9c. I have to think that this information could be applicable to the world economy as well. Companies under capitalism do not work to maximize the utility and durability of products in the marketplace, but rather to minimize each others' profits while maximizing their own. Hence, oodles of inefficiency: companies trying to destroy the work of other companies, drive them out of business, products designed to break or to render other products obsolete, advertisements fighting against each other, research and development efforts needlessly duplicated, overproduction and overstocking of goods that must be thrown away, environmental ruination, etc. It's incredibly inefficient. (To pre-emptively address a counterargument: Are there even less efficient economies? Of course, history furnishes many examples of them. Likewise, there are many lower-scoring ways of putting tiles on a Scrabble board. Finding a worse way of doing something doesn't mean that you've found the best way.)

10. Most of the universe is empty space, but we're in a galaxy. Weird. Most of the matter in a galaxy is gas in stars, like hydrogen or helium, but we live on a planet on which like ninety of the heavier elements naturally occur. Weird. And on that planet, in the habitable zone of its star, we're living matter -- and what's more, the building blocks of life aren't even the most common elements. Weird. And not only are we alive, we're intelligent, conscious life. Weird. We're weird as hell, universe-wise. And some of us are saying that being gay or genderqueer or trans is weird? Lack of perspective.

#10 new

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wikimakemoney · 5 years ago

Text

Phantasy Star Online 2

This article is about the 2012 video game. For Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 and Episode II, see Phantasy Star Online.

Phantasy Star Online 2[8] is a free-to-play online action role-playing game in the Phantasy Star series developed and published by Sega. Created as a successor to Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe, Phantasy Star Online 2 features gameplay elements and aesthetics reminiscent of previous Phantasy Star games while incorporating unique twists on the formula. The initial version was released for Windows in Japan in July 2012.[9][10]

A PlayStation Vita version was released in February 2013, while a PlayStation 4 version was released in April 2016. A spin-off/companion game, Phantasy Star Online 2es, was released for Android and iOS in 2014.[11][12] A Nintendo Switch cloud version, entitled Phantasy Star Online 2 Cloud was released in April 2018. At E3 2019, it was announced that the game would be releasing outside of Asia for the first time on the Xbox One and Microsoft Windows in early 2020.[3][13][14]

Contents

1 Gameplay

1.1 Characters

1.2 Interface

1.2.1 Gameplay

2 Plot

2.1 Setting

2.2 Story

2.2.1 EPISODE 1

2.2.2 EPISODE 2

2.2.3 EPISODE 3

2.2.4 EPISODE 4

2.2.5 EPISODE 5

2.2.6 EPISODE 6

3 Development

4 Release

4.1 Southeast Asia release

4.2 Western release

5 Anime adaptation

5.1 Phantasy Star Online 2 The Animation (2016)

6 Reception

7 References

8 External links

Gameplay[edit]

Characters[edit]

Upon starting the game, the player can select one of several servers, known as “Ships,” to play. Players create and customize their characters to be used in the game. The name, gender, race, character class, body and facial features are available for customization during the character creation process, and later, the player can acquire a number of accessories and aesthetic goods to further customize their characters. There are various races available to the players in the game, which include Human, Newman (bio-engineered humanoid elves), CAST (manmade androids), and Deuman (species that contains recessive Darker genes in them).

At the start of the game, players may select from one of nine starting classes, each with unique stat spreads and weapon specialties. Three more “Successor Classes” can also be unlocked when the player meets certain requirements. Classes can be changed at will in the game’s lobby; levels and statistics earned with a specific Class are independent of progress made with other Classes on the same character. Classes can also be customized with Skill Points earned from leveling up, which can be spent on a Skill Tree to learn Skills unique to the Class; Skill abilities can range from passive effects such as boosting stats to toggle abilities that power up your character temporarily. After a certain level, players can also assign a Subclass, a secondary Class that augments the player’s Main Class by granting access to most of its Skills, Photon Arts, and Techniques.

Interface[edit]

The user interface and controls are similar between the PC and the PS Vita. By default, players can play the PC version using a mouse and a keyboard, but may also play the game using an Xbox 360 Controller, which the game supports natively. The player’s Character ID, Health (HP) and Photon Points (PP) are displayed at the bottom left corner of the screen. At the bottom of the screen, the sub-palette may contain consumable items, class active skills, Techniques and Photon Blast skills. The mini-map is located at the top-right corner of the screen. When a target is acquired, the top-left corner of the screen displays the information and status of the target.[citation needed]

The chat log displays messages left by players and NPCs, as well as system messages. Chat commands can customize text in many ways, such as changing the colors of the text or using special speech bubbles and animations. The player can also create and display Symbol Arts, images made within the game out of various symbolic objects. Autowords can also be created for a character to react to certain events in battle automatically, such as dying or successfully completing a mission.[citation needed]

Gameplay[edit]

Gameplay in Phantasy Star Online 2 is action-oriented, and features a diverse selection of weapon types and playstyles for the player to choose from.[citation needed]

In combat, players engage enemies in real-time with various attacks; attacks can be chained for additional damage. In addition to standard attacks, combos can be augmented with powerful attacks called Photon Arts that use a resource called Photon Points (PP). Certain Classes have the ability to use Techniques, attacks similar to magic, that also use PP. PP is consumed whenever the player uses these attacks; the player cannot attack with Photon Arts or Techniques if they do not have sufficient PP, but PP naturally restores on its own or can be recovered manually by attacking enemies with standard attacks.

In some areas of the game, Photons can be generated by defeating enemies to fill up the Photon level in the environment. In return, Photon-sensitive effects (PSE) can provide bonuses to the players in that area. When one of these effects reaches the maximum level of 8, an event known as PSE Burst can occur where many enemies will rapidly spawn for a limited time. This can be further extended by causing a different PSE Burst to form a Cross Burst.[citation needed]

Upon reaching a certain level, each player will be granted a Mag, a small droid that hovers around the owner. Mags can be fed a variety of items in order to strengthen and eventually evolve them. In addition to enhancing the player’s stats, a mag will support the player with abilities such as healing or buffing under certain circumstances. Mags also enable the Photon Blast ability, in which the player and mag summon a Photon-based avatar for a brief time to attack enemies or support party members, depending on the type of mag. Photon Blasts can only be used after defeating a certain number of enemies and generating enough Photon energy to fill up its gauge.[citation needed]

Plot[edit]

Setting[edit]

The game’s story primarily focuses on the exploits of the space-faring organization known as Oracle, who uses Photons to traverse the universe and seek new planets for potential colonization while simultaneously suppressing the threat of the Falspawn, alien beings created by evil entities known as Dark Falz that only exist to destroy the universe. Oracle is split between a Mothership, housing the fleet’s central core, and a massive fleet of spaceships that contains all civilian entities and the fleet’s prime military and exploration department known as ARKS (Artificial Relicit to Keep Species).

Initially, ARKS is sent to investigate activity on three planets: Naverius, a planet whose ecosystem was primarily forest before much of the planet became locked in eternal winter, Lillipa, a desert planet inhabited by rabbit-like natives known as “Lillipans”, and Amduscia, a bifurcated planet with a volcanic core surrounded by a mass of floating islands inhabited by humanoid dragonfolk. Later story arcs feature the planet Wopal, an ocean planet, and Harukotan, a planet in the shape of a taijitu inhabited by two opposing races. In EPISODE 4, exploration expands to encompass a fictional counterpart of Earth located in an alternate dimension, and in EPISODE 5, an alternate dimension known as “Omega” located within a black hole becomes the focal point of the story.

Story[edit]

EPISODE 1[edit]

The story follows the player character, a graduating member of the ARKS Cadet program. During their graduation exercise on Naverius, the Cadets are attacked by the Falspawn, forcing ARKS veterans Zeno and Echo to arrive and rescue the player. Upon arriving on the ARKS Ship, the player encounters a woman named Xion, who grants the player a Matter Board, an artifact with the ability to alter fate. Using the Matter Board to return to the graduation exercise, the player rescues a girl named Matoi, who has apparent amnesia, and sends her to the ARKS Ship to recover.

During an expedition to Naverius’ Tundra area, the player obtains a fragment of a mysterious weapon named Clarissa, and is urged by Xion to find the remaining pieces hidden on Amduskia and Lillipa. Upon doing so, the player takes the pieces to master weaponsmith Jig, who agrees to repair the weapon, but during a Falspawn assault on Jig’s ship, Themis 128, the completed weapon is stolen by ARKS members Gettemhult and Melfonseana.

Zeno, Echo, and the player are accompanied by Council of Six members Casra and Maria to pursue the two rogue members to a shrine within Naverius’ Ruins area. Gettemhult gravely wounds Melfonseana and uses the Clarissa to break the seal on Dark Falz [Elder], a Dark Falz fought by ARKS 40 years in the past. After [Elder] possesses Gettemhult, the player and Echo escape with Melfonseana while Zeno, Casra, and Maria lure [Elder] away. Zeno is presumed dead after the incident. ARKS proceeds to wage war on [Elder] once more, and are successful in defeating him. During a post-battle scene, [Elder] meets other Dark Falzes: [Apprentice], [Gemini], and [Persona].

After the battle, the player discovers that a mysterious girl that they have repeatedly encountered over the course of the story is actually a famous pop idol named Quna who lives a double life as an assassin. Quna reveals to the player that she is chasing a dragon named Haddred, her childhood friend who was created by ARKS to be used as a living weapon but escaped from captivity. Quna and the player corner Haddred at Amduscia, where they ultimately decide to kill him as an act of mercy. Haddred shares parting words with Quna prior to his death.

EPISODE 2[edit]

The player and Xion are approached by Luther, the founder of ARKS and the last remaining Photoner, who desires to gain omniscience by absorbing Xion. Following a preliminary expedition to the planet Wopal, the player meets Xiao, a version of Xion from an alternate universe. Xiao bestows the power of time travel to the player and sends them back in time to rescue Zeno and ARKS operative Uruk to thwart Luther’s plans.

Xion reveals that she is the Mothership’s core and sends the player and Matoi to rescue her from Luther. During the expedition, Matoi is revealed to be the true wielder of the Clarissa. Luther successfully absorbs Xion and gains omniscience, but is defeated by the heroes. Luther’s anger over his defeat causes him to transform into Dark Falz [Luther] and take over the Mothership, but Xiao intervenes and summons his own Mothership, saving ARKS from imminent peril. Xion helps the heroes escape from [Luther], but perishes.

Xiao sends the player ten years into the past to meet Klariskrays II, a member of the Council of Six and Matoi’s former identity. Seeking to provoke Klariskrays II to further his schemes, Luther helps an older version of Dark Falz [Apprentice] attack an ARKS Ship. During the attack, Klariskrays II confronts [Apprentice], but is deterred by [Apprentice]’s powers. [Persona] comes to Klariskrays II’s aid but impales her shortly after, causing Klariskrays II to transform into a Dark Falz. The player intervenes and repels [Persona], who is revealed to be the player from an alternate timeline. The Clarissa partially purifies Klariskrays II, but Klariskrays II loses her memories and is sent ten years into the future as a result.

EPISODE 3[edit]

Xiao sends the player and Matoi to the planet Harukotan to stop the efforts of Dark Falz [Gemini], who are consuming planets for an unknown reason. [Gemini] reveals that the true purpose of the Dark Falzes is to revive the [Profound Darkness], a failed clone of Xion corrupted by the Photoners that had to be sealed away; the fight between the Photoners and the [Profound Darkness] caused the Photoners to lose their ability to use Photons, prompting them to create ARKS in their place.

After escaping a trap laid by [Gemini], the player and Matoi confront them in the Black Territory’s throne room at Harukotan and defeat them, but [Gemini] retaliates by attacking them with highly-concentrated F-Factor in a last ditch effort. The player attempts to sacrifice themselves to save Matoi, but Matoi, unwilling to see the player become the [Profound Darkness], absorbs the F-Factor, becoming the [Profound Darkness]. [Persona] appears and steals the Clarissa that was left behind.

[Persona] confronts the player and offers to join forces to kill Matoi, thereby destroying the [Profound Darkness] and saving the universe. The player agrees to help [Persona], and together they confront Matoi at the heart of Naverius’ Corrupted Area. [Persona] sacrifices itself to allow the player to kill Matoi, but Matoi’s death causes the player to transform into a new [Persona], creating a time loop.

Using the Matter Board, the player discovers a new fate, and declines the offer to help [Persona]. With the assistance of the Council of Six, the player seals Matoi’s power and defeats her in a bid to purify her. Matoi, unwilling to allow the [Profound Darkness] to be fully reborn, attempts to kill herself with a large amount of F-Factor. The player again attempts to sacrifice themselves for Matoi, but [Persona], inspired by the player’s ability to defy fate, uses the Clarissa to absorb the F-Factor from both the player and Matoi, causing them to become the [Profound Darkness] in Matoi’s place. ARKS successfully repels the [Profound Darkness], but Xiao warns that given the power of its host, it may return.

EPISODE 4[edit]

Four years after the events of EPISODE 3 and one year after the events of Phantasy Star Online 2 The Animation, the player is revived from stasis by the operator Xiera to accompany a new recruit named Hitsugi, a young boy, who is suspected to have ties to an internal invasion of fake ARKS members. During the mission, Hitsugi is attacked by a mysterious black mass; the player attempts to purify Hitsugi, but Hitsugi disappears prematurely. “Hitsugi” is revealed to be a high school girl from Earth playing the video game Phantasy Star Online 2, who finds a strange boy with her avatar’s appearance in her room after the fiasco. Hitsugi names the boy “Aru”.

The player is subsequently sent to investigate Earth. Through trans-dimensional video feeds, it is discovered that Earth uses a parallel mutation of Photons called Ether that is primarily used as a method of high-speed data transmission, but also resonates with the emotions and fears of the general public to create monsters called Phantoms. The company ESC-A, who created Phantasy Star Online 2, is actually a front for a mysterious organization of Ether-sensitives known as Mother Cluster. Opposing them are the Earth Guides, Ether-sensitives lead by Ardem S. Sacred who fight back against Mother Cluster’s Phantoms.

The player, Hitsugi, and Hitsugi’s brother Enga travel around the world to suppress Mother Cluster’s efforts. During an attack on Las Vegas, Hitsgui is killed; this triggers Aru’s Dark Falz powers to awaken, and he revives Hitsugi, who is captured and taken to Mother Cluster’s home base on the Moon. Enga and the player rescue Hitsugi, but discover that Hitsugi was a ploy to allow Mother Cluster to attack the ARKS Ship. The player and Hitsugi return to the ARKS Ship and fend off Mother Cluster, but Mother, the leader of Mother Cluster, absorbs Aru and escapes.

The heroes pursue Mother back to the Moon base, where she reveals that she is a failed Xion clone discarded by the Photoners and seeks vengeance against them. The heroes defeat Mother, causing her and Aru to separate, and she is redeemed by the heroes. However, Ardem appears and kills and absorbs Mother, revealing his true plan to usher in the next stage of humanity’s evolution with Ether. The heroes travel to Yggdrasil and confront Ardem, who banishes the player back to the Oracle dimension and strips the heroes of their Ether abilities. Back on the ARKS Ship, Aru is revealed to have a fragment of Mother’s consciousness remaining with him. Mother possesses Aru and returns to Earth with the player, restoring the heroes’ powers in the process, and they defeat Ardem with their combined power.

EPISODE 5[edit]

The player and Matoi are sent to destroy the [Profound Darkness] permanently by absorbing its host, [Persona]. During the attempt, the player utilizes Ether against the [Profound Darkness], prompting it to capture the player and transport them to an alternate dimension. After rescuing a young girl, the player returns to Oracle and is approached by Alma, the human host for the first Klariskrays, who informs them of a strange black hole containing an alternate dimension known as “Omega”. Alma uses her ability to stop time to send the player back to Omega.

In Omega, the player reunites with the girl, who introduces herself as Harriet. Omega has become overrun with a substance called Ephemera, which is discovered to be a form of the [Profound Darkness]’s corruption. The player, assumed to be the chosen one from an ancient prophecy, agrees to help Harriet free Omega from the power of Ephemera.

The player and Harriet travel across Omega, putting a stop to Ephemera-based schemes. In each of Omega’s four countries, the heroes encounter a host of a Dark Falz and defeat them, with the player absorbing the host’s consciousness and some of their powers. They are also repeatedly accosted by Elmir, who appears to be forcing the hosts to become Dark Falz. After all four Falzes are defeated, Elmir is revealed to be the successor of [Persona] and tricked the heroes into defeating the Falzes so their essences could be absorbed by Omega, revealed to be an incarnation of the [Profound Darkness]. Elmir kidnaps Harriet and intends to use her to destroy the outside dimensions, sealing her in a giant flower. Advancing to the flower’s interior, the player confronts and defeat Elmir once and for all. Harriet is saved and is deemed the new goddess of Omega.

After the black hole closes, the heroes are intercepted by Shiva, a Photoner imbued with the power of the [Profound Darkness] who used the black hole’s power to return to life. Shiva defeats the player and other powerful ARKS members in battle, but is interrupted by Harriet, who has been reincarnated in the form of a weapon. Shiva vows to return and escapes.

EPISODE 6[edit]

Shiva and her cohorts, Varuna and Mithra, begin their assault on ARKS’ forces, starting with an attack on Mothership Xiao. During the raid, Shiva successfully takes over the Mothership and gravely wounds Xiao, forcing ARKS to retreat. To save Xiao, the heroes travel to Amduskia, where Sarah merges a fragment of Xiao’s consciousness with the body of a dormant Xion clone named Kashina to grant Xiao a new body.

The player and Matoi are sent to Harukotan to thwart a Luminmech invasion and ally with Sukunahime to ensnare Shiva in a trap, but are tricked into fighting Mithra. Mithra is fatally wounded in battle and dies due to the trap, but Shiva regains the upper hand and defeats the heroes. Phaleg, a member of Mother Cluster, intervenes and rescues the heroes.

Phaleg and ARKS are alerted to a Luminmech attack on Earth, and the player returns to the Earth dimension to assist in the counterattack. The player travels across Tokyo, teaming up with allied forces on the planet as well as ARKS member Aika to repel the Photoners. Following the assault, Xiao reveals to the heroes a plan to use Omega to seal Shiva’s abilities on a universal scale.

Development[edit]

According to Sega COO Naoya Tsurumi, Phantasy Star Online 2 took over five years to develop. Sega “pulled out all the stops”, believing the game to be a crucial entry point into the growing free-to-play market on multiple devices. A cross-platform strategy involving PC, handhelds, and smartphones was made possible by the sharing of cloud data. Moreover, Tsurumi stated that the game would serve as a model for other intellectual properties as part of Sega’s broader strategy “to further develop the whole of Asia as a single market.”[15]

On February 5, 2011, at the Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity Nationwide Fan Thanks Festival 2011 in Japan, Sega announced that the alpha test for Phantasy Star Online 2 would begin in the summer. They stated “Entry into the test will not be open; instead, all participants will be selected by lottery. And your first chance at putting your name into the drawing will be by purchasing Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity.”[16] On February 7, Sega listed alternate ways for users to enter into the lottery on the PSO2 website.[17] On March 9, 2012, Sony announced that Phantasy Star Online 2 would also be released on the PS Vita. On March 26, it was announced that the game would also appear on iOS and Android as Phantasy Star Online 2 es.[18]

Open beta began on June 21, 2012, as free-to-play. Open beta ended on July 2, 2012, in preparation for release on July 4, 2012. Characters created by players during open beta were carried over to the live servers.

EPISODE2 of Phantasy Star Online 2 launched on July 17, 2013, which introduced the new Dewman race and the Braver class.[19] EPISODE3 launched on August 27, 2014, which introduced the new Bouncer class and Casino, new skills for every class, new items, a new planet, and new quests.[20] Reborn:EPISODE4 was released on January 27, 2016, and the main theme was revealed to be ‘new experience’. It introduced even more advanced customization features, a new planet (Earth), and the brand-new Summoner class.[citation needed]

Release[edit]

Promotion at TGS 2012

The game was launched in Japan on July 4, 2012. The game was free to download and free-to-play, with an optional real money to in-game currency feature known as the “ARKS Cash” system. Sega also has released a retail version of the game on September 13, 2012 along with an installation disc bundled with extra bonuses and in-game items.

Southeast Asia release[edit]

Asiasoft, an MMORPG publisher released Phantasy Star Online 2 in Southeast Asia. The game was fully translated to English with huge changes to its menu, items and classes name. This is mainly to make the game much easier to understand for newcomers to the series. They also released a Thai language version of the game for Thailand players only. The closed beta for it began on April 10, 2014,[21] with the official launch on May 29, 2014.[22] Asiasoft announced they would also distribute Episode 2, which was released on March 5, 2015.[citation needed]

However On April 5, 2017, Asiasoft announced they would end servicing Phantasy Star Online 2 to Southeast Asia countries, including Thailand, on May 26, 2017.[23]

There’s also a Traditional Chinese version released in Taiwan and Hong Kong, which has been translated to Traditional Chinese, which also lasted 3 years before the server closed in early 2017.[citation needed]

Western release[edit]

On July 9, 2012, 5 days after the original Japanese release, SEGA announced plans to release the game in the west as early as 2013, and English players were given a teaser of an English version of the game during the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington on August 31, 2012. However, the game was delayed until further notice.[citation needed]

The western release may have been cancelled in the later half of 2013.[24] In November 2017, the English website for the game was taken down.[25]

On June 9, 2019, a North American release was announced at Microsoft’s E3 press conference[13][14], launching in the Spring of 2020, with no current plans for a release in Europe, Middle East and Africa.[3][4] The game will feature cross-play between Xbox One and PC.[14] On February 7 to 9, 2020, a three day closed beta test phase was only playable on Xbox One.

The game’s four week open beta test phase began on March 17, 2020 and concluded on April 14, 2020 to concede the official launch. The PC version launched on May 27, 2020.

The Western release features dual audio support with English and Japanese voiceovers, along with brand new English versions of the tracks that are sung by Quna (voiced in English by Kayli Mills[26] and in Japanese by Eri Kitamura[26]). The western release also supports Japanese UI text and subtitles.

Anime adaptation[edit]

An anime television series adaptation based on the game aired on TBS from January to March 2016.[27] The adaptation was directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi at Telecom Animation Film, with scripts written by Mitsutaka Hirota and music composed by Takashi Ōmama. The story is set one year prior to the events of EPISODE 4 and five years after the events of Phantasy Star Online 2 On Stage.

The opening theme is “Zessei Stargate” (絶世スターゲイト; Matchless Stargate) by Shouta Aoi, and the ending theme is performed by Rina Izumi (Ayaka Suwa) and Aika Suzuki (M.A.O).[citation needed]

The anime was licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll.[28]

A new anime television series titled Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle premiered on October 7, 2019 on Tokyo MX and BS11. The series recompiled the story of “Episodes 1-3” of the original game, and also included an original story.[29] The 25-episode television series was directed by Masaki Tachibana at Gonzo, with scripts written by Hiroshi Ōnogi, Shigeru Morita, and Bunsei Asanuma, and characters designed by Shinpei Koikawa.[30]

The Episode Oracle opening theme is “Destiny” by Aimee Blackschleger, and the ending theme is “Timeless Fortune” by Mika Arisaka.[31]

Phantasy Star Online 2 The Animation (2016)[edit]

Reception[edit]

Registered users for the game exceeded 2.5 million in March 2013.[32] By August 2015, the game had over 3.5 million registered users.[33] As of September 2016, the game has over 4.5 million users.[34] Sega confirmed in 2018 that the PlayStation Vita version had 1.5 million downloads.[35]

Famitsu gave the game a score of 33 out of 40.[citation needed] The game won the Rookie of the Year 2012 WebMoney Award.[36]

Sega released Phantasy Star Nova in 2014. The game shares similar elements to and is set in the same world as Phantasy Star Online 2, and is also part of the Online series.[37] A novelisation, Phantasy Star Online 2 Side Story, began on June 15, 2014.[38]

The North American release received mixed to positive reviews. IGN gave the game a score of a 7/10, praising the visuals, story, online capabilities, and gameplay, while criticizing the implementation of micro transactions.

References[edit]

^ “What is the goal of the online entertainment research and development department newly established in Sega? We spoke to two central members”. 4Gamer.net. January 27, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2018..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:”””””””‘””‘”}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background-image:url(“//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png”);background-image:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url(“//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg”);background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:9px;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background-image:url(“//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png”);background-image:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url(“//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg”);background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:9px;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background-image:url(“//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png”);background-image:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url(“//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg”);background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:9px;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-image:url(“//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png”);background-image:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url(“//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg”);background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:12px;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}

^ “Annual Report 2015” (PDF). Sega Sammy Holdings. April 2015. p. 31. Retrieved November 17, 2015.

^ a b c @SEGA_Europe (June 9, 2019). “PSO2 is finally making its western debut in North America on Xbox One in Spring 2020. Regarding an EMEA release, there’s nothing to confirm right now. We understand it’s frustrating, but when we have more news to share, we will. Stay tuned to pso2.com for updates” (Tweet). Retrieved June 9, 2019 – via Twitter.

^ a b Reynolds, Matthew (June 9, 2019). “Phantasy Star Online 2 is finally, finally coming to the West”. Eurogamer. Retrieved June 9, 2019.

^ Ryna (July 2, 2012). “Phantasy Star Online 2 to Officially Launch in Japan on July 4th”. Retrieved December 9, 2012.

^ Evangelho, Jason (March 9, 2012). “‘Phantasy Star Online 2’ hits Vita in 2013, supports cross-platform play”. VideoGameWriters. Archived from the original on April 16, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2012.

^ “‘PSO2 PS4 is carried out in April 20, 2016!”. August 16, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.

^ ファンタシースターオンライン２ Fantashī Sutā Onrain Tsū

^ “Phantasy Star Online 2”. DotMMO. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2012.

^ Fletcher, JC (September 15, 2010). “Phantasy Star Online 2 spotted on Sega TGS video stream”. Joystiq. Retrieved December 9, 2012.

^ “Phantasy Star Online 2 Es Open Beta Is On Android Now”. Siliconera.

^ “PSO2es Now Available on Google Play!”. 2p.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2014.

^ a b “Everything We Announced at the Xbox E3 2019 Briefing”. Xbox Wire. June 9, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.

^ a b c McWhertor, Michael (June 9, 2019). “Sega’s finally bringing Phantasy Star Online 2 to the West in 2020”. Polygon. Retrieved June 10, 2019.

^ “Annual Report 2013” (PDF). Sega Sammy Holdings. 2013. pp. 18–19.

^ EspioKaos (February 5, 2011). “Phantasy Star Online 2 Alpha Test This Summer! – PSO-World.com”. Retrieved December 9, 2012.

^ “Archived copy”. Archived from the original on April 13, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

^ Lada, Jenni. “Phantasy Star Online 2 will appear on iOS and Android”. Technologytell. https://bit.ly/2XKGECP. Retrieved March 26, 2012.

^ 2013-07-21, Phantasy Star Online 2 launches Episode 2, adds new race and class Archived August 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Joystiq

^ “Phantasy Star Online 2’s Episode 3 Major Update Launches This August”. Siliconera.

^ 2014-04-01, Phantasy Star Online 2 Closed Beta Coming Next Week From Asiasoft, Siliconera

^ PlayParkSEA. “Phantasy Star Online 2 is recruiting ARKS member!- PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2”. playpark.com.

^ PlayParkSEA. “Phantasy Star Online 2 Announces Service Closure – PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2”. playpark.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.

^ “Phantasy Star Online 2 Cancelled”. MMOGames. October 21, 2013.

^ Wong, Alistar (November 19, 2017). “Phantasy Star Online 2 English Website Now Shows DNS Error”. Siliconera.

^ a b Online R&D. Phantasy Star Online 2. Scene: Episode 1 credits, 2 minutes 45 seconds.

^ “Phantasy Star Online 2 Game Gets TV Anime on January 2016”. Anime News Network. July 12, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2015.

^ “Sentai Filmworks Adds Phantasy Star Online 2 The Animation”. Anime News Network. December 29, 2015.

^ “Sega Reveals Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle TV Anime for This Year”. Anime News Network. March 10, 2019.

^ “Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle Anime Reveals Cast, Staff, 25-Episode Length, October Premiere”. Anime News Network. July 14, 2019.

^ “Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle Anime Reveals October 7 Premiere, Theme Songs”. Anime News Network. August 19, 2019.

^ Purchese, Robert (May 10, 2013). “Aliens: Colonial Marines managed 1.31 million sales”. Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved May 10, 2013.

^ “Phantasy Star Online 2 Heads to PS4 in 2016”. Anime News Network. August 16, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.

^ https://bit.ly/3dhCXes

^ Romano, Sal (January 9, 2018). “Phantasy Star Online 2 for PS Vita tops 1.5 million downloads”. Gematsu. Retrieved January 9, 2018.

^ WebMoney. “WebMoney Award 2012”. https://bit.ly/2TTZiHf.

^ “Phantasy Star Nova Borrows Elements from Phantasy Star Online”. Siliconera. Sato. Retrieved June 3, 2014.

^ “PSO2 Novelisation’s First Appearance”. Twitter (in Japanese). Sega_pso2. Retrieved June 3, 2014.

External links[edit]

Official website (in Japanese)

Official US website

Anime official website (in Japanese)

Phantasy Star Online 2 (anime) at Anime News Network’s encyclopedia

source http://wikimakemoney.com/2020/05/31/phantasy-star-online-2/

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