Lia's BK tweets archive - 2023-02-11: Final bosses, Tarazed escape drama

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:07 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Okay! I’m done! That only took two years. Gonna split it into two threads again because it got long, of course.
First off: the Verus fight!

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:11 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Yes I’m late I had so much Gathering to do!
He’s still in Glowing Red Eyes mode, surrounded by a bunch of new machina, plus afterlings that I’m sure won’t serve as a deus-ex-magna (not machina obviously).
“So much easier to manipulate than people”, there’d be a lot to unpack here

Verus: “You’re too late. I just finished my adjustements to the machina.”

Verus: “Look! Aren’t they wonderful? So much easier to manipulate than people.”

Guillo: “Save your monologue for the next world. Sagi, let’s finish him.”

Verus: “Hah! You think it’ll be that simple?”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:25 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

This is REALLY GOOD. Earnest and in-character, more than justified, in line with the game’s themes and thesis, and as always delivered really well

Sagi: “Something in my heart is telling me to destroy you!”

Sagi: “That’s all I need to hear! Now die, Verus! They’re waiting for you in hell!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:28 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

We get an overview of the battle - which is especially interesting, more on that in a sec - and… Verus casts off his cane to fight.
I don’t think this necessarily implies his limp was faked, adrenaline’s a hell of a drug, but it’s easy to read that way, as another lie.

The party facing off against Verus, surrounded by four tall machina.

Verus readying for a fight. He has pulled out a sword and his cane is behind him, discarded.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:31 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

The fight is multi-stage, just like the Coliseum, and the party advances with every round. It’s two times two grey-blue machinas then Verus surrounded by four purple ones. He can’t be hurt if even one of them is standing, since they guard him…

The party facing off against two tall machina, early in the room.

The party running towards Verus and four tall machina.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:33 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

… which makes for a really spectacular (by BK standards), dynamic fight, but needed to be used a lot more a lot earlier! Target selection has rarely mattered and no other boss had the party move like that? It’s neat! Do it more!
Eventually he goes splat, thanks ice deck AOEs

Verus: “It’s… not over yet. The machina are still functional. I won’t die… that easily!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:36 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

For a second it looks like the robot snakes might eat us, but the afterlings pull a light show and Verus gets eaten instead. Called it!

Verus: “Yes! Oh, yes! NOW! Devour them!”

Verus, as the afterlings’ isolation chambers glow bright blue: “What? Huh? What’s happening?”

Verus, as the machina turn against him: “Aaack!!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:38 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Guillo always gets the best lines.
It’s over, right? JRPG final bosses are definitely always just the one human, never cosmic horrors in outer planes

Sagi: “That’s right. It’s over. Come on, let’s head back. Everyone will want to hear the news.”

The party, standing in the same room as earlier, in front of Verus’ corpse.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:39 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Uh oh I know that voice

Guillo, as Verus is enveloped by a dark mist: “Wait, Sagi! Something tells me we’re not finished here!”

White text over the scene: “Mmmm… The scent of human hearts…”

White text over the scene: “Power… Hearts brimming with it…”

Verus’ corpse rising in the air as if held up by puppet strings.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:45 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

It’s Wiseman! It’s Verus! It’s a genuinely well-designed fusion of Wiseman and Verus and also we’re in space now. Okay, that’s more like it

White text over the scene, where a hologram(?) of Wiseman has appeared over Verus: “Mayhap our thousand years of wandering were not entirely wasted.”

A large, ominous flying creature slowly being revealed by a large dark sphere.

The creature, now fully visible. Its head vaguely resembles Wiseman’s helmet, and its proportions make it look somewhat insectoid.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:47 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Wiseman is really into negging

Verus-Wiseman: “Hm hm hm hm… Your hearts are as twisted as the next.”

Verus-Wiseman: “A foolish boy who shares his heart with a deficient god;”

Verus-Wiseman: “A pair of wretches who bound their hearts to a murderous weapon;”

Verus-Wiseman: “A sad girl, hardly human, who owes her existence to machina.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:49 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

We start the fight, then it stops, we get blasted with magic, our friends go down, the usual

Verus-Wiseman: “All shall be one with us!”

Verus-Wiseman casting an orb of bright purple light.

Milly, falling on the non-ground: “Yeagh!”

Guillo, flat on the non-ground: “Unngh!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:52 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Then so does Sagi. Is it the end? He gets up, visibly struggling…
*checks JRPG Tropes List* I believe that’s “Power of friends made along the way saves the party from wiping on the final boss” time

Verus-Wiseman readying another spell to hit Sagi with.

Sagi, rising slightly: “Dammit… I have to get up. If I don’t get up, he’ll kill us!”

Sagi, up but visibly struggling to stand.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:55 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Except this is a genuinely great take on that trope. Those aren’t “friends made along the way” and they certainly have a very, very personal reason to be pissed at Wiseman

Seph: “Listen to me. Don’t let his heart seduce you.”

Verus-Wiseman: “Hmph. Another heart on our plate? Hm hm hm hm… Splendid. We’ll devour you with the rest!!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:58 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Really good music, too, and those lines… They hit so well. They show such deep kinship between those siblings.

Pieda: “Nngh… Watch the enemy’s movements. I know I taught you that much. Don’t tell me you […]”

Thoran: “Your grip needs some work, too. With a blade like that, you need both hands. What did I tell you […]”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 06:59 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Everybody’s here!

Ven: “Hey, good news! These two are going to be OK!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 07:01 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Nope there’s just a thing in my eye it’s okay

Seph: “We’ve always been watching. Nothing you’ve ever done has been a mistake.”

Thoran: “Right. So be proud! As long as you’re confident, he can’t touch you.”

Pieda: “Uh-huh. And if your confidence starts to fail you, just remember whomever you love most.”

Ven: “Never let go of yourself! I know I have a long ways to go…”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 07:02 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Then they all say / wave goodbye and vanish

Seph turning away and raising his fist in greeting: “So long.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 07:04 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Milly and Guillo come back up, emphasizing that the Malpercio siblings were only visible to (a part of) Sagi.
And the fight resumes!

Milly: “Sagi, are you OK? You were talking to someone.”

Sagi: “This time he’s going down! It all ends here!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 07:05 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Ice deck keeps being best deck, and Verus-Wiseman disappears in a cloud of special effects, leaving the cane behind (see what I meant about the emphasis?)

Verus-Wiseman dissolving into bright purple light.

A few glints, all that is left of Verus-Wiseman.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:14 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Back to the real world! The afterling chambers broke when Wiseman took over so it’s weird that they’re whole again. And we should free those too.
No time for that, we need to hammer in the core het ship!

Milly: “He was ready to devour us if our hearts showed even the slightest weakness…”

Milly: “But every time it got close to that, I’d see your face, Sagi. And I kept fighting.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:17 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Though we also get some very good bickering, and then LOTS OF DIALOG OPTIONS for Sagi
(So of course I save state’d my way into trying them all)

Milly: “I even thought of you, dingbat. Waaaay back in some forsaken corner of my heart.”

Guillo: “Oh, you did? What a coincidence. I thought of you, too.”

Guillo: “You had this demonic look on your face, and I thought, “The weak and abusive need my help yet again.””

Milly: “Hee hee. Hey, Sagi, what about you? Who did you think of?”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:19 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Option one: us / the spirit / Malpercio

Sagi: “Me? I, um…”
Dialog choices: “It was me, wasn’t it?”, “Oh-ho, it was Milly!”, “Guillo, perhaps?”, “Maybe it was Lolo”, “It was Gena”, “Didn’t think of anyone”.
The cursor is on “It was me, wasn’t it?”

Sagi: “Yeah, that’s right, Lia. I thought of you.”

Sagi: “Like the first time you ever spoke to me.”

Sagi: “Or the first time we joined our hearts as one.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:21 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Option two: Milly. Sagi’s so embarrassed, it’s adorable

Sagi: “Me? I, um…”
Dialog choices: “It was me, wasn’t it?”, “Oh-ho, it was Milly!”, “Guillo, perhaps?”, “Maybe it was Lolo”, “It was Gena”, “Didn’t think of anyone”.
The cursor is on “Oh-ho, it was Milly!”

Sagi: “Shh, quiet! Don’t you say a word!”

Milly: “What? Whoa, wait a second, say a word about what?”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:22 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Option three: … new canon ship just dropped? Now THAT is a problematic age gap (1000 years)

Sagi: “Me? I, um…”
Dialog choices: “It was me, wasn’t it?”, “Oh-ho, it was Milly!”, “Guillo, perhaps?”, “Maybe it was Lolo”, “It was Gena”, “Didn’t think of anyone”.
The cursor is on “Guillo, perhaps?”

Guillo: “What’s wrong? You could at least tell us who it was.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:25 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Option four: I LOVE that Milly starts shit for this. Almost makes the obnoxious plotline pay off.
Also I definitely did not goof between Load and Save at that point and had to redo the fights. Nuh uh. You can’t tell from screenshots anyway.

Sagi: “Me? I, um…”
Dialog choices: “It was me, wasn’t it?”, “Oh-ho, it was Milly!”, “Guillo, perhaps?”, “Maybe it was Lolo”, “It was Gena”, “Didn’t think of anyone”.
The cursor is on “Maybe it was Lolo”

Milly: “Wait… Don’t tell me it was that loony inventor girl!”

Sagi: “W-what?! No, no! Of course it wasn’t… NOT her… not, um…”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:26 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Option five: Gena and the wings thing again. Guess that never gets explained after all.

Sagi: “Every time it felt like his consciousness would take over, I’d remember Mom’s wings.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:27 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Option six: no one.
I canonically went with Milly, that seems right.

Sagi: “Me? I, um…”
Dialog choices: “It was me, wasn’t it?”, “Oh-ho, it was Milly!”, “Guillo, perhaps?”, “Maybe it was Lolo”, “It was Gena”, “Didn’t think of anyone”.
The cursor is on “Didn’t think of anyone”

Sagi: “I didn’t think of anybody. I just cleared my heart and mind so he couldn’t get to me.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:29 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

All of the options converge back to screenshake kicking in, because Tarazed is collapsing. Time to go!

Sagi: “…Urgh! It must be the shock from before!”

Guillo: “This craft won’t hold together much longer. We’d better escape before it takes us with it.”

Sagi: “Back to the Sfida! Hurry! We don’t have much time!”

Tarazed, with explosions blooming on it and large plumes of smoke coming out.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:32 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Scene change: Mintaka docks (?) where we find Ladekahn (??) and Gibari (???).
This makes no sense! Why are they talking to each other like nothing happened and WHY ARE THEY HERE and not in Elnath!

Ladekahn: “Explosions… Did Sagi and the others do it?”

Gibari: “Of course they did, Kahn. I told you they could pull it off.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:33 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Not helping and also definitely should not be there

Corellia: “That’s right. The boy and his friends have succeeded where we failed.”

Ladekahn: “Queen Corellia! What are you doing in Alfard?!”

Corellia: “Heh heh. The same thing as you, King Ladekahn.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:35 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Stop trying to make Good Guy Rodolfo happen, I am not falling for your nonsense, BKO.
And world leaders should DEFINITELY care about the bigger picture more than a pair of teenagers! Even reluctantly!

Rodolfo: “Will they make it out of there?”

Rodolfo: “It’s all well and good they stopped Tarazed, but not if they get blown up in the process.”

Palolo: “Pops, are you trying to jinx them or something?”

Palolo: “Sagi and the others’ll make it. I bet they’re already on their way back.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 08:38 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

You weren’t POWERLESS, Corellia, you explicitly told us to fuck off because neutrality.
This whole thing is weird, moving on

Ladekahn: “Palolo… Master Rodolfo knows that. He’s just… worried, that’s all.”

Corellia: “That’s right. We placed a terrible burden on their shoulders.”

Corellia: “And yet they carried it through, even when we were powerless to help.”

Rodolfo: “They’re a brave bunch, all right. I just hope they come back alive.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:09 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Back to escaping Tarazed! The convenient elevator is of course busted so we need to jump back up the pipes. Sure.

Sagi: “It’s no use, Lia! The blasts must have taken out the panel!”

Sagi: “We don’t have time to sit around and see if it still works! Let’s find another way out!”

Sagi standing on a giant pipe, a wing icon over his head.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:11 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

You may now tick off Unnecessary Tentacle Drama on your JRPG bingo

Sagi, grabbed by random mechanical arms that came out of the wall: “Aah!”

Sagi: “I’m… all right… but I can’t… My heart…”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:14 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

This is neat however: clicking the answer makes a UI error noise and neither Guillo nor Milly can hear us. Also note the total absence of bickering, it’s serious time

Milly: “Sagi! Lia! Can you hear me?”
Dialog choice: “I can hear you” vs “Help!”

Guillo: “No response. This device, does it do something to people’s hearts?”

Milly: “I think so… If we don’t intervene, Sagi’s heart will be destroyed.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:17 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Even now it overexplains as Chekhov’s door switch with many buttons finally comes in . The scene feels extraneous and like it got put in there just to complete character arcs…

Milly: “There! That must be the control system for this device.”

Milly: “I can use this! Even I know a little bit about machina.”

Milly: “This is the engine that controls Tarazed. Basically, it’s the fortress’s nerve center.”

Milly: “If we can get inside and halt its functions, the trap holding Sagi and Lia should release!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:18 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

… as Milly proceeds to do immediately of course

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:21 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

I don’t hate that they drop the snark and have this talk, it just probably should have happened much earlier and not like this

Milly: “We’ve been taking digs at each other constantly since the day we met.”

Guillo: “Where did that come from? Move your fingers, not your mouth.”

Milly: “Hee hee. I was jealous of you. You’ve always been by Sagi’s side.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:22 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Writers, subtext, cowards, etc

Milly: “I envied you, because you never had to think about protecting Sagi. You just did.”

Guillo: “What are you doing, Milliarde?!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:26 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

It’s not even badly written, clarifying their dynamic like this is logical, digging into Milly’s self-worth issues could be interesting.
But it’s got no finesse whatsoever and really comes in at a weird time?

Milly: “There’s not enough machina in this engine to lock it down.”

Milly: “For the first time, I’m happy my body’s the way it is.”

Milly: “Finally, I can be the one to protect Sagi.”

Milly: “Isn’t this the part where you say, “Not even a fluffpup would go sniffing in there!””

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:28 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Heart-wrenching goodbyes with a last dig happen, and… Guillo rushes into the mechanism because of course

Milly: “Bye, Guillo. You don’t have any tact—but I always loved that about you.”

Milly, as Guillo is locked into the small room by blue energy beams: “Guillo!!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:30 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

This doesn’t even count as technobabble, it’s just handwaving all the way and that is for the best

Guillo: “I’LL make up the difference. If it’s machina you need, I should work just as well.”

Milly: “Let me! I can synchronize with Tarazed!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:32 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

There’s been a marked trend of making Guillo the adult of the group, and this is the logical conclusion of that

Guillo: “You can try. But there’s no guarantee it will work, is there?”

Guillo: “And even if it does, you’ll become a part of Tarazed. You’ll die, Milliarde.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:37 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

No discussion. I appreciate that part of Guillo’s character, this inflexibility brought on by immense skill and purpose literally infused into every fiber.
And still cracking one of those dry jokes, because Milly explicitly asked for one! And ouch that last line.

Guillo: “Sagi needs you more than me now. And you need him. That’s why.”

Guillo: “Don’t look so sad. Not even an olifant with a trampled trunk would make a face like that.”

Guillo: “Our bickering had to come to an end sometime.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:38 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

The doors close, Sagi is freed, everyone’s sad, woo!

Guillo: “I didn’t find you so offensive, either. Just so you know.”

Guillo: “So long, Milliarde. Take care of Sagi.”

Milly, crying, on her knees banging the now-closed door with her fists: “NOOO! NOO! GUILLOOO!!”

Sagi, laying a hand on Milly’s shoulder: “Milly.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:42 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

It’d be in line with the themes of this game for sheer stubbornness to be what keeps Guillo alive. Plus it’s pretty literal, as the… you could call them lingering wills I suppose… of the two wizards are what keeps Guillo moving and talking.

Sagi: “I know. I was conscious the whole time. I saw.”

Sagi: “Don’t cry, Milly. Guillo’s still alive. I’m sure of it.”

Sagi: “You know how stubborn that puppet can get.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:45 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

The first textbox here auto-skips before the sentence completes, probably to indicate that we / Sagi refuse to even think that far. Neat touch.

Inspection text: “Behind this cold, heavy door, Guillo”

Inspection text: “The door isn’t responding to any of these buttons.”

Inspection text: “It’s as if Guillo were telling you to hurry up and get out.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:47 PM · Feb 11, 2023 Permalink

Chekhov’s tentacles do not get an updated description, which is a shame.
From there, escaping Tarazed resumes, and that’ll be the second thread!

Inspection text: “Nondescript machina have been installed on this well. What could they be for?”