So I did finish Nayuta (except the new game plus additional content I just don’t feel the drive to do right now; I need a break) and while my last follow-along thoughts on it were wrapped into Cold Steel… Well, there’s enough to warrant its own. And since I’m almost finished with CS II by this point, I’m going to do a big, dumb wrap-up of both I and II soon. It’s better this way, trust me.
Hmm. I really, really feel like Creha is pulling a Feena. I just don’t believe she actually has amnesia.
Also, somewhat curious that Eartha succumbs to advanced anime mom syndrome — I mean Abyss Disease the instant Creha wakes up. It seems like a coincidence, but… I mean…
Hmm. So Master Orbus can also teach us Radiant Skills, huh? I guess he was the first Arseid.
Yep, yep. Schwarzritter let’s you go after hearing about Eartha because he’s Cygna. Makes sense to me.
Selam el ‘Ordine’? He’s a Divine Knight (I’d promise I won’t keep refer to other Falcom games, but…)?
‘Restore the world to its true form.’ Elde-Terra [Footnote 1], obviously.
‘Tear onion’.
Is clearly an eggplant.
I can’t with this.
Which, actually, also: why is the Huge Potato a carrot?
Well. That mural looks Eldeen.
‘The middle is Star Energy [read: magic] and the two people use it to guide the world.’
Oh. So Feena and Reah with the Black Pearl.
I mean, they’re probably actually Selam (or Cygna) and Creha, but let me have this.
Hey! Cravaltarf is just Druegar from Ys 2!
Ah! Creha’s a Dominion! She has a Stigma!
‘Wing of Waterlight’
…
So not a Dominion; she’s a Winged One, huh?
Oh man. I thought Eris would be my favorite character because… Uh… Reasons, but Argol is so cool. Just look at that lad.
Gotta love the game acknowledging that the blacksmith has a client base of two.
Huh… I know I’m not supposed to know what the Grandmaster looks like yet, but I do own Reverie and have seen the cover. And I saw someone point out that there’s something of a resemblance to Creha. And Creha did say she wanted to try forging a sword… Kernviter-shadowing?
Nayuta, no! Don’t call Creha a normal girl! Then she’ll ask you to remember her as a normal girl and not a goddess. Silver hair’s kind of like blue.
Ouch. This is an unfortunate turn of events and I’m sure ‘definitely not Selam’ Cygna will definitely not betray us [Footnote 2].
Huh. Maybe Cygna isn’t Selam. But, I mean, he has to be, right? That’s gotta be the twist.
Oh no. The People of Mythos are Eldeen that decided to take revenge on the Darklings.
I mean, I thought the ‘key’ would be something like Almarion, but… The homunculus fairies filled the same purpose. And if Ash Emelas could make a living weapon like Galbalan, then what could White Emelas do [Footnote 3]?
And Cygna must be Selam. Right? Or vice versa. Or they, like, split in half or something.
And, and the Wing of Weatherlight as Stigma makes a whole lot more sense now. Zechst really be out here Weissmanning.
I guess Creha wasn’t pulling a Feena after all.
Nevermind. Nemeas is the best. They really killed on the Administrator designs.
Rollin’ around at the speed of sound!
Moon Rosso… Isn’t that one of Renne’s scythes [Footnote 4]?
Heh. I’m so good at this. ‘We have Leonhardt at home’ can’t fool me.
Also… The Crimson Sword doesn’t look exactly like the Crimson Lotusblade, but it doesn’t not. And it was ‘made with the secret arts’. But Orbus called it a demonic blade, so…
Oh, Livadriggar is awesome! Best fight!
Ooh. Priestess-y outfit Creha looks slick.
‘To all of my children, in whom life flows abundant…” [Footnote 5].
And yeah. The People of Mythos are so Eldeen, the Calamity so Surge of Napishtim… And the Re-genesis so Orpheus Final Plan [Footnote 6].
‘Lexendria’ and ‘ancient continent’… Hmm… I don’t recognize the name, but… It really feels like it’s referring to something.
You know, Lexendria does give me some Ruined City of Kishgal vibes.
…
I should play Ark of Napishtim again.
And, I mean, Liber Ark vibes too, to an extent. Falcom knows their ancient, abandoned cities.
Words cannot express how much I like the glowy veins / circuits of magic energy they use. Like that one part in Ark of Napishtim’s opening where they glowy things whoosh alight and the things wake up. So good. It’s the diagonals that really make ’em.
Mmm. But the floaty blocks in the pillars remind me of the final area from Ys 9.
…
I should play Monstum Nox again.
Oh. Oh wow. That Calamity is far more calamitous than I expected.
The People of Mythos turn into statues, huh?
Side-eyes the statue of Alma in Zemes.
If you’re going to make the Constellation Core look so much like the Black Pearl, I’m going to make comparisons.
Gasp.
Noi was a Divine Knight all along!
So yeah. Thus endeth the trick [Footnote 7]. I do have a lot of thoughts about Boundless Trails as a game and a story — mostly good. Like, 90% good probably. But that’ll take more explaining. And I do have thoughts about its relationship to both Ys and Trails proper which skirt a little bit close to theorizing — which I am uncomfortable with — but I think it’s an important enough perspective to express that it’s worth a write up. So I’ll probably try and shoot those down the line some time soon.
…
Which means I really need to kick my Ramblings back into gear since the A N G S T led me to leave those to languish. What can you do, eh?
Footnote 1: Speaking of; now there’s an off-the-cuff nickname that aged liked curdled milk. Like, it really just doesn’t work to distinguish it from regular Earth now that Nayuta threw Earth and Terra into the mix on top of Adol’s Earth. Whoops.
Footnote 2: This made a lot more sense when I wrote it. Now, I realize I have no idea what was actually happening here. That’s the vibe of a lot of these tidbits, really. But the central theme is expressed and the lack of context makes it better, in my opinion. Less potential for spoilage while preserving a representation of my thought processes.
Footnote 2A: ‘Whatever helps you sleep at night. Obvious justification is still obvious.’ — the Twisted Jerk
Footnote 2B: Rude.
Footnote 3: This is the approximate point that I realized half of what I have to say about Nayuta makes no sense if you don’t know anything about Ys. Oh well.
Footnote 4: Upon further review, doesn’t look like it but she has a few in 3rd that dance around a similar naming scheme.
Footnote 5: ‘Another one that made sense at the time?’ — the Twisted Jerk
Footnote 5A: Quiet you. I like that song, I like that cinematic, and I’ll refer to it whenever orbital bombardment happens.
Footnote 6: At this point it’s getting too close to theorizing for my comfort. I mostly said this stuff as a joke before, but now… I have thoughts, I’ll post them in a full article, it won’t be theorizing, just summation.
Footnote 7: ‘Really? You’re referencing old commercials now?’ — the Twisted Jerk
Footnote 7A: Is that where that came from? Wow. My family’s been using it while playing board games and such for so long, I forgot. But now that you mention it, I know the exact commercial you’re talking about. Huh.
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