Excerpts from the Parallel - Safehouse

I am sequestered in the safehouse of the Holy Empire of Europe's main base in Venice, up in the top floor's front window. From here, I can see Venice, sprawled out with all its brown canals and waterways, the house faces crumbled and roofs caved in. Some of their boats have been drifting across the waterways, and those that did not drift were sticking out of the muddied waters like impromptu graves and memorials. Rodents sped across the bridges and streets, and crows festered on every rooftop. I can distantly hear Father Ceiar call; he is finishing up his duties, and will be with me shortly.

Father Ceiar brought me here; he has been my sponsor in the Holy Empire, and I owe a great debt to him. There could be no kinder soul in such a situation as the Holy Empire finds itself in, and when I came here from what my people call the Country of Ancient Blood, it was he who chose to step in and save me, when I was under question from the Inquisitors. Despite their belief of my heresy, he saw differently; that I had come to learn, not to teach, and thus under the Savior's word should be accepted.

The truth, of course, is somewhere in between; I hold little interest in accepting the faith, as I have my own, but the Holy Empire... is my ancestry, my blood. I feel called to record these wars as they happen. Is it the work of God? I confess, I do not know. But I am here, with this diary; I will record this war, as close to the front lines as I can.

Father Ceiar... before he comes, let me describe him. A thin, gravely cheerful man clad in a traditional gray monk's robe and bound with a gold-threaded tonsure, with a brutally efficient sense of humor and a far kinder disposition than his stony face appears. He wears four crosses on his right chest - the Red Blessing of the Savior in War, the Spiritual Hammer of the Cross, the Holy Spirit's Waking, and the Honor of the Trial. He does not speak of what these crosses mean, small and made with careful elegance by the craftsmen in the Empire. It was his superior officer, Bishop Ricardio, who explained how he earned these.

Father Ceiar was a lead juggernaught; a holy warrior, talented with both the arts of prayer and battle. It was in the battle to reclaim the Notre Dame, in a battle amongst multiple narrow webs of streets that he managed to break the enemy ranks by himself in a holy fury, shattering the enemy ranks. As he was swarmed, the rest of the Holy Army took advantage of the shift in ranks and pressed the advantage, managing to crack and push back the enemy fully in a rout that cost the Hellenic Theocracy. However, this came at a cost; Father Ceiar was captured and held imprisoned somewhere in the hands of the Hellenic Theocracy. 

It was in his ordeal there that Father Ceiar was brutally tortured. He has stayed silent on the details of what happened there, but what he has said is this; at some point, he heard the word of his God through the Spirit. This word filled him with strength and broke his bonds, undoing the trauma of what happened in their cells. He broke free, and made his way back to the Holy Empire.

Since then, he has become a priest, claiming that it was his God's voice that illuminated this choice of paths. He has risen far, and now is the leader of the juggernaught units he was once serving in, a position equal to many generals in all but name. The Savior in War and Spiritual Hammer of the Cross are for his acts in breaking through the enemy ranks and turning the tide of the battle. The Honor of the Trial commemorates his torture, and the Holy Spirit's Waking celebrates his newfound road and capability as a priest.

He comes up the stairs now - I will resume this later.

-Marcus Brokenwing, of the Kizes Nomadics, recorded in his journal 

After the Awakening 218, Sun's Dream, Full Moon

In The Year Of The Lord 1990, 21 August 

Excerpts from the Parallel - Establishment

...After the schism in the Great Council of the Tribal Nations, multiple splinter groups took up what they called "the traditional nomadic lifestyle". Of these splinter groups, three bear immediate attention:

1) The Bloodhands are a group that seek to use the technology of the United States and the shamans of the New Magic to purge the land of "the intruders", namely the United States, the People's Dominion of Eniyan, New Avalon, and Rising Moon in the west. They are actively considered a threat to all four countries, as well as to the Tribal Nations. Their symbol is a hand pierced by an arrowhead.

They have attempted to break the barrier set by the Founding Fathers three times as of this publishing; the third time was successful but quickly repulsed by General Carroway, who anticipated the threat. Their current location and plans remain unknown.

Magic use: high.
Mechanical use: high.

2) The Kizes Nomadics are a group that seek to record history and stories of all peoples; their calling has lead to a few branches being established in various places around the world, though Europe is still too hazardous to risk, according to their current reports. This group has been labeled safe by the United States and the People's Dominion; Rising Moon has yet to allow them entrance, though negotiations are underway. Of the nomadic groups now present, the Kizes Nomadics are the only ones to hold a seat on the Council, and one of six tribes to use solely Westspeak as their language, as their group is formed from former members of over three hundred tribes. Their religion has been recognized by the United States.

Magic use: high.
Mechanical use: medium.

3) The Seacalmers are a group that have settled in the Gulf of the Sun's Mirror, south of the People's Dominion. Little is known of them, as they only trade with the People's Dominion, the Kizes Nomadics, and a few small tribes, and do not discuss their own culture. They allow free traversal of their seas, though it is custom to leave a small float with gold coins once you enter the Gulf. It is unknown how they receive such gifts.

Magic use: unknown, believed medium.
Mechanical use: unknown, believed low.

The Kizes Nomadics deserve special attention, as they have been one of the key factors in spreading Westspeak across the Americas, and, indeed, the creator of Westspeak, Wishing Star, was also the founder of the Kizes Nomadics. This language has greatly supplemented and, in some isolated cases, supplanted, the native languages, and is a second language of both the United States and the People's Dominion.

The principle of Westspeak is simple, but elegant; adapting multiple major tribal languages, English, the collective tongue of the People's Dominion and some parts of Rising Moon to the shared land we live in, and further aiding the spread of the language by one of the largest rituals ever performed in the Tribal Nations. The magic affected the entirety of this land, and was fueled by Wishing Star's desire to ensure peace amongst the people of this land. Indeed, the gift seems to have worked; with the advent of this shared tongue, the strife between the countries of this land have slowly begun to fade into a mutual alliance...

- Excerpt from John Blackwood's Of The Tribal Nations, published in 1988.

===

God's soldiers, welcome; spiritual guardians of the Truth and the Light, we bid thee, come. Our doors are open to all who preach the Way of the Spirit and the Way of the Savior.

Today -

- the war efforts in reclaiming the Holy Vatican is progressing slowly. Ten brave men were slain in the defense of our current stronghold in Northern Venice's water mazes. However, we are planning a elimination of all the heretics and pagans within the city by an active show of Our Lord's grace, so that our march may gloriously advance.

- No more attempts by the armies of the dead in the Eastern Wastes have been made. The priest-generals at the front lines report an additional drop in the Corruption, but we are always ever-vigilant in our defenses.

- The rebellion by the Sangue Debito is under control. There are isolated pockets of resistance in Vieux Paris and Lisbon that are under siege as this report goes out. With God on our side, victory shall be assured.

Holy God, whose words granted us vindication in our greatest time of trial; Grant us the strength to stride forth with power, and the will to drive out all wickedness in your holy name. Bless us with the perseverance to fulfill your duty, and in the final days, open the gates of your holy city to us, we pray to thee, through the Spirit's Way and the Savior's Way, oh Lord our God. Amen.

-Priest Francesca Marino of the Order of St. Thierry, in the Year of the Lord 1990, 4 April
-Recovered from the Three Crosses Monastery Library in St. Gallen by Kizes Nomadics member and trader Allen Mercutio Warsch

===

The chaos of this world is but an ancient memory given life forever. A resurrection of ancient stories, ancient lies, ancient destinies.

It is said that our world is but a reflection of a world which did not 'awaken'. How could such a miracle have been possible? Such a world must truly have been free of bloodshed.

All I know is this.
Change is the only constant.
Change is the only right.
Change is the only destiny.
Change is the fixture of man, the lone, bitter star which all life is focused upon.

And change is our promise and our doom. The final toll of man's soul; our summoning onto this earth; our life's blood, gathered and spilled.

Great daughter of the Raven, watch over us; Father Moon, Sister Sun, Mother Stars, I beg your blessing for the days and years ahead.

-Rushing Eagle, After the Awakening 216/1988 AD, Moon's Frost, Second Waning, spoken into the Conscious Wisdom
-Recorded by the Kizes Nomadics member Nina Westwind

Game Structure practice: Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

Game: Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

Players: 1 vs. Game

Objective: Capture/Exploration: To find the Joker and catch him; to determine the root behind the chaos plaguing the city.

Procedures: In battle, use your weapons and Persona to eliminate opponents; out of battle, search for a way to track down and determine the problems in the city and how they can be remedied.

Rules: Follow the path defined by the story, using Persona at the appropriate level limit or lower, answering dialogue choices to influence events as the story goes on,

Resources: Your Persona, weapons, the rumors of the city, the townspeople, the Rumormongers, various shops.

Conflict: To survive encounters with the villains of the story as you seek out the force moving the events in the city.

Boundaries: Sumaru City, the main area, is split into six different sections, each with their own predefined shops/people/locations to visit. In dungeon areas, obstacles provide a limit to your exploration and levels are a limit to your power.

Outcome: The final opponent is defeated and the conflicts set during the story, resolved.

Video Game Commentary: Persona 3/The World Ends With You

The World Ends With You (TWEWY) [DS]: The basic premise of this game is simple. You can choose between different attack methods (called "pins" in game) that allow different methods of drawing on the bottom touchpad to work. Example: Main character gets three pins early on. One allows him to create fire by dragging a line across empty space on the battlefield into the opponent, one allows the main to shoot bullets of force by tapping empty space, and one attacks when you effectively "scratch" on the enemy. While this sounds basic, there's a fair few more complex ones (tap multiple different enemies, then draw a line between them; also a few that apparently use the microphone).

Plotwise, you're in Tokyo's Shibuya district, amnesiac (though you not only regain your memory, it's fairly early in the game that it happens), and living graffiti, called Noise, is attacking you. You and the friends you meet essentially need to survive seven days. Oddly enough, the translation's quite good, and the storyline is actually one of the more interesting ones I've run into, which is... pretty high praise, considering my usual disinclination to like video game plot.

It could be better options-wise; you get pin points (PP) from battle, as well as two other methods:

1. Leaving the game on in "Mingle" mode; you slowly gain PP at random from this, but gain more PP if you're near other DSes that are currently on;
2. When you take a break and turn the game off, once you turn it on you get a small amount of what's called "Shutdown PP".

Sounds convenient, but... there's a catch. Some pins only improve IF the PP on them is, by majority, of a certain type. Example: Pin "Tom Is Giving An Example" requires majority Mingle PP to upgrade to "Tom Has Finished Giving The Example". If, out of 100 PP max on the pin, the pin has 51 Mingle PP, 25 Battle PP, and 24 Shutdown PP, the pin will upgrade. However, if the pin has 49 Mingle and 26 Shutdown, it won't upgrade.

Now, even this wouldn't be terrible.

Except they don't tell you which pins need what PP to upgrade.

It's a somewhat bizarre and rather frustrating flaw in the setup; while it's not terribly difficult to get more copies of the same pin, it's annoying to level them up with a completely different PP the next time around. (This is glaringly annoying for Shutdown, which is very slow to accumulate.)

Granted, there is one advantage here that Square-Enix put in: Mingle and Shutdown PP, the two more annoying PP types to get, are worth 9 times Battle PP when it comes to upgrading. So, for a more accurate example, if, on a pin with 90 PP to upgrade, you have 10 Shutdown and 80 Battle PP, it will upgrade if it's Shutdown based: 10*9=90 Shutdown PP>80 Battle PP. It doesn't help how -fast- your pin upgrades, mind: the 9x modifier is only calculated in when you're figuring out what PP type is in the majority.

Rant on TWEWY over. I'm about halfway done, I'll make more notes as I go along (probably going to address food/equips next post). Oh, one other thing: the music/voice acting is actually rather impressive, especially for a DS game.

-----------

Persona 3: FES.

As an avid fan of Persona 2, I had high hopes when I heard this was coming out (I had thought the series dead in the water).

For the most part, I'm not disappointed. The characters are pretty awesome and with some good lines, the voice acting is not half bad (Atlus has issues sometimes with voice actors), the battles are pretty good, if definitely Shin Megami Tensei-style battles (harsh/unforgiving at its best of moments) and the story is actually far crisper and involving than I expected.

This having been said, it really does feel like two games in one.

The first section of the game is the dungeon crawling up the Random Tower Tartarus, and the random side events about once a month. This is fun, though frustrating at first and somewhat pointless, since you can't go far without your teammates getting tired and unwilling to go any further. (This improves as they level up, so.)

The second section is the effective dating sim section, though only a few options are along those lines; it's the socialize and improve your links with people section, which can take up an astonishing amount of time.

The way these two interact: as you get to know people in the second part better, the Persona (an equipment type, effectively) you use are improved, and better ones are slowly unlocked. And what you find in the random dungeon Tartarus can help you improve relationships with the people in the outside world.

Still, the complete gameplay shift when you go from one to the other is honestly disorienting a bit, and it's slowed me down in playing the game. I'm about a month in: for reference, I think the game is a little under 12 months long. Remember, you play most all the days, although irrelevant stuff is skipped, as would be expected. (This has some issues as well; some activities seem to take a full day but in description only sound like they should take a few hours. It's annoying, a bit.)