天下制覇

REPLICA!!!!!!!!!!

Impressions:

Well, on one hand, for an important part of the plot, the Akzeriuth stuff literally takes about 10 minutes and we got to see all of it but the short and nonsensical little dungeon crawl. I did like that they actually added in what happened when Tear went to check out the supposed 7th Fonstone, as she just sort of shows up with Asch in tow in the game. They also did a pretty decent job on the Luke vs Asch fight, but real men know that the fight’s winnable. I also like that they made Luke go a bit more crazy instead of just excessively whiny. Words cannot express how happy I am that they cut out all the silly perfectly symmetrical cutscenes from that part. I did think the giant pillar of light and explosion was very silly and misleading though. Nothing exploded. The whole thing just collapsed downward.

All that said, I really didn’t like this segment much in the game either. Yes, Luke was naive and a bit of a jerkoff leading up to this, but Ion’s equally culpable here, perhaps even moreso. Without Ion, Luke and Van weren’t getting past that door. Luke, meanwhile, had a subconscious suggestion placed on him to force him to do what Van wanted whether he felt like it or not. I guess when Ion said "oops guys, my bad," he was instantly forgiven, but Luke just kept on whining and whining that it wasn’t his fault, even though technically… he was right. He wouldn’t have been able to take out the passage ring without Van taking control of his body, and the person voicing dissent is someone that you know is trying to kill you. Asch should have really had a better plan to convince Luke than "I know we’re enemies and you’re total drek… but YOU’VE TOTALLY GOT TO BELIEVE ME NOW."

At least now we can move out of spoiled brat Luke, give him his hair cut, and go into "Please Let Me Die For My Sins" mode, in between his demands for Asch to accept him. I’m glad it looks like we’re cruising right through Ortion and Luke’s haircut next episode because I really can’t stand Asch. He’s really a bit too hung up on calling Luke a replica and reminding him that he’s a replica every 15 seconds for him to really develop any kind of personality. Plus, he’s quite an ass to Natalia, which should be a mortal sin anyway.

Ultra-brief Summary:

The party reaches the miasma-ravaged Akzeriuth and Luke immediately makes friends for calling a sick miner a disease ridden tramp. Tear gets called away because they think they’ve found the Great Seventh Fonstone, but Jade’s suspicious because of the total lack of troops in Akzeriuth. The party heads deep into the mine to provide assistance while Tear confirms the Fonstone to be fake, but is then surrounded by soldiers. Asch comes to her rescue.

Around the same time, Luke wanders further into the mine with Ion following. Asch tries to yell at him to stop, but Luke shakes him off. The two find Van, who asks Ion to open the Sephiroth door. Ion hesitates, but Luke begs him and Ion acquiesces. They proceed inside and Van tells Luke to concentrate his hyper resonance on a machine in order to dispel the miasma. Ion asks if it can really be done, but Van ignores him. Tear catches up with the others and tells them that they’ve got to hurry or her brother will… whisper in Luke’s ear "Foolish Replica Luke" which is a hypnotic suggestion he put into Luke way back on the boat that’ll cause him to release all his power at once. Luke goes out of control and the big thingy in front of him is destroyed. He collapses, and the party plus Asch runs in. Van takes a couple griffons and flies off with Asch. Tear casts a barrier on the party while Akzeriuth collapses around them.

The party wakes up deep underground. They reclaim the Tartarus from the ruins and we get a history lesson about how the world is really a shell supported by pillars of energy. Van made Luke break one, causing Akzeriuth to fall and everybody in it but them to die. Luke protests that it’s not his fault, but everybody aside from Mieu (no stranger to genocide himself) is pissed off and leaves him behind. They make their way to Tear’s home city where Asch confronts Luke and reveals that Asch is the true Luke, while Luke is just a replica made from fomicry seven years ago when he was kidnapped. Luke goes berserk and attacks Asch, but Asch effortlessly dodges. He knocks Luke down and prepares to kill him.

Preview:

Fomicry labs and hair cuts.