The final dungeon is not something to take lightly.
Most Japanese RPGs become like a pig in a slaughterhouse when you increase the difficulty, and turn-based games feel that even more severely than action games.
There’s a set time to wait after hitting once, and when I hit once, the enemy definitely gets to hit me back once too.
Of course, if I’ve leveled up a speed-focused character or an evasion-focused character, that’s not much of a problem.
Besides, I’ve been playing this game for a ridiculously long time. Just by looking at an enemy’s appearance, I can roughly tell what kind of attributes work well against them.
As the series goes on, balancing patches make it impossible to achieve 100% evasion, but hey, just because 100% isn’t possible doesn’t mean 80% isn’t either.
“Wow!”
She’s like her own inspiration… Well, calling it inspiration might be a stretch. It’s more like a completely separate entity, honestly.
Anyway, Claire was amazed seeing ‘Claire,’ who looks just like her, dodging practically all the magic up front.
Some say balanced characters are mediocre on all fronts, but to put it another way, if you set them up right, they can step up in any situation.
Honestly, getting a 70% evasion rate was a bit tight, yet somehow, I was managing it with a stroke of luck.
[Ha! Dodging this one? LOL]
[Just crossing the halfway mark counts as high! LOL]
[Do these probabilities look like a joke?]
In the chat, they were also admiring Claire dodging consecutive spells.
Even if we died, it wouldn’t be a big deal. After all, Charlotte, who I had put in the party, was also a balanced character.
Just because both are magic-physical balance type characters doesn’t mean they’re completely the same. Claire’s skills are all attack types. So, she can completely cope with situations where both magic and physical attacks from the enemy are present. Plus, she has useful self-buff skills.
Charlotte was basically an attack character too, but one of her skills was a group heal. It’s definitely weaker than Mia’s heal, but it can still be quite useful in emergencies.
Moreover, one of the equipped Marmaros turns items into area effects.
So, if either Charlotte or Mia doesn’t fall in this party, the remaining characters can revive and keep fighting like zombies.
This chapter’s final dungeon is the Imperial Capital itself.
As we got closer to the Imperial Palace from the Imperial Capital where civilians had vanished, enemies were pouring out.
“Hey, don’t those enemies kind of resemble what we saw in the royal capital’s underground?”
“Really. They all look like beasts possessed by something. I guess the Papal State is behind this?”
“I think so too.”
“But then, what happened to Sylvia?”
Exactly.
Since this situation arose after Sylvia vanished, I couldn’t think of anything other than that she must have gone over to the Papal State.
But why would she do that?
Is it that the Sylvia from that world decided to somehow align with the Goddess?
“You’ll find out by continuing to play.”
That was my response for now.
*
And—
[Hahaha!]
“……”
The others looked at the character on the monitor, who was swinging her sword and laughing maniacally, with bewildered expressions, aside from me.
Yeah, well.
I already knew what she looked like from the previous game, but I could understand this reaction from those who remembered Sophia’s usual demeanor.
“Um… So, Sophia?”
“At least, that voice is definitely Sophia,” Alice calmly replied to Claire’s murmur.
“…… I’m getting a sense of déjà vu.”
Claire muttered.
Indeed.
If one were to suddenly see a friend depicted as a total psycho in some media they hadn’t seen before, such a reaction would make perfect sense.
Especially since the voice sounds the same. Sure, the game’s dubbing is in Japanese, but it translates to our ears.
[With the power granted by the Prophet, I will stop the unbelievers like you!]
“……”
I was thankful that Sophia wasn’t here.
Or maybe I should be wishing she was.
A blue light was emanating from behind Sophia’s head like a halo.
[That person is……]
Leo looked a bit flustered at seeing Sophia’s appearance.
[Why does she seem so familiar, even though I’m sure I’ve never seen her before?]
And those thoughts drifted out loud.
Looks like this world is tightly woven into the previous game’s backstory.
[Who the heck is this Prophet?]
Alice stepped forward, fuming with her question, but—
[I have nothing to share with unbelievers and heretics like you.]
Sophia said with a smug smile and jumped down from the platform.
[If you came from that world, you must have met Sophia too.]
“Yes, of course.”
I responded to the question that popped up in the chat.
They probably wouldn’t take it seriously, but at least it was proof that our ‘concept’ was getting through.
“She was just a normal girl with a boy she liked, after all.”
“Right? I was really curious if things would turn out alright after the final battle,” Claire muttered.
“Didn’t she get really mad back then?”
“Yeah, I thought Leo might connect with her, that’s why. I wouldn’t mind if Leo were dating someone else, but she’d better be decent.”
“So, you’re saying Sophia was decent?”
Alice questioned with a smile.
“Eh? Of course! If Sophia had that crazy personality, I wouldn’t have approved!”
[What the heck happened? LMAO]
[Sophia without Chuunibyou…]
[I can’t even imagine it!]
I hated Sophia as a character originally, but you know…
“In the end, she even fought alongside us.”
“She was a kind, good person…”
Charlotte and Mia chimed in, each sharing a word about Sophia.
Well, thinking back, she had grown a personality like that because she believed in her own skills, especially since a ‘Prophet’ chose her.
…Still, I can’t help but think that this game’s ‘Prophet’ might be Sylvia, but I quietly kept playing the game.
*
[Even if I fall…… that person……]
Sophia left those words behind before collapsing.
Thankfully, this game isn’t a series known for offing characters without care. Otherwise, Sophia would have died, and the story’s tragedy would have felt more intense.
If I never met Sophia in Azernar, I might have felt relieved, but there’s always an odd discomfort about killing someone you know, even in a virtual world.
The friends I was playing with were growing silent one by one.
While the graphics hadn’t significantly improved, the music was still top-notch for this series. The ominous, melancholic background music gave off a vibe that something very important was about to happen soon.
And then—
[Sylvia!]
Alice in the game shouted.
[Sister!?]
And Claire too.
On the high platform the protagonist’s party was looking up at, there was Sylvia.
However, her outfit was completely different from usual.
She wore a long-sleeved, flowing robe, the sort you’d expect a religious figure to wear in such games.
Of course, underneath it was a skirt, and the side slits revealed her legs, but still.
[Welcome.]
[Sylvia, what the heck happened? Why are you here dressed like that—]
Leo stepped forward and asked, but then he shut his mouth.
Behind Sylvia’s head floated a completed gear.
One gigantic gear.
Soon, the gear started to float, shining behind Sylvia.
The radiating light split like the beams of light from a night photograph, resembling the halos seen in religious paintings.
A blue halo.
Divine yet simultaneously ominous.
“Wow.”
I couldn’t help but be amazed after a long time.
“Looks like they spent a lot of money on this chapter.”
[You had to suffer so much in the motion department, LOL]
[But the graphics are still……]
I had felt that the effects had improved and that the movements had been slightly better, but I never expected they’d use motion capture for every character’s movements in such an important cutscene.
This series typically has characters sliding up steps as if riding a transparent slope. Yet, naturally, one can’t help but be impressed when a character is seen stepping down the stairs properly.
“It would have been nice if they had included more scenes like this in the previous ones.”
[For real, LOL]
[Is this the limit because they are low on budget?]
[It’s improving bit by bit, so maybe the next installment will be even better.]
“Will the series keep coming out until then?”
I thought it would likely keep going even as I answered.
Otherwise, I’d be disappointed if it didn’t.
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