I’ve actually done a few more quests since, but this one is why I have questions.
One of the things I like most about RPGs is that I get to explore a new world. Of course I crave action and want that sweet EXP, and I’ll shoot/stab/cast spells all day. But I also like talking to characters, learning about the places I visit, absorbing bits about the history and culture and whatnot. And if there’s a chance that someone I encounter may not be 100% bad, I often try to hear them out. Take the beast tribe quests from this game. Yes, I want to help these guys over here get home; yes, I want to help that family over there not die out. There will be plenty of other scumbags for me to enjoy impaling and looting.
The point of all that is that Midgardsormr has lost soft privileges. I HAD been curious about his side of the story, but now, whatever sob story he was going to tell me, however many offspring he’s lost (probably a good thing if they were all like Nidhogg), since my WoL can be tempered and is likely to fall to a primal or ancient superweapon, and the Ascians can get in and attack my comrades whenever they please, it‘s stopped mattering. And THIS is why my hat is off to Square-Enix today: it’s not playing with the “invincible heroine” trope, or being unafraid to kill off cool characters. It’s the fact that they have gotten someone whose play style has had her mom making Daniel Jackson jokes to throw up her hands, say “screw this”, and commit to killing so many wyrms that Estinien will feel obsolete. Father of Dragons wants to go to war? I’ll take his wretched buddies to war. Not every story can get this reaction from me, so bravo, Square! (I guess if I come across the Dravanian equivalent of a beast tribe, I’ll let them be. But everyone else dies.)
Right. Now the questions.
1. After I survive Ifrit and return to headquarters (I THINK this is when), Minfilia talks a little about the Echo, and she says “it’s like WE are protected by a higher power.” Livia snatches her because she can’t get the WoL, and Minfilia reacts the same as WoL during the Sahagin priest‘s shenanigans. Midgardsormr took my blessing, but not hers. Why wasn’t hers sufficient to keep Nabriales out?
2. The description in the minion list says the little Midgardsormr that follows you around (or would, if I let him out) is a temporary form until he gets a new body. Is the little dragon a projection of his blackened soul that only WoL can see? Or is that actually a tangible body, vulnerable to stabbing? I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it...
(Before I get on with the extermination, I’ve been invited to feast with the Sultana, and while my WoL could use the free food, before I go see Her Grace, I have to do some Crystal Tower stuff. And before I do THAT, I have some real-life holiday business to handle. So I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask, since this is an RPG and I don’t know how long these questions will be gnawing at me before they’re answered.)
Continue reading...
One of the things I like most about RPGs is that I get to explore a new world. Of course I crave action and want that sweet EXP, and I’ll shoot/stab/cast spells all day. But I also like talking to characters, learning about the places I visit, absorbing bits about the history and culture and whatnot. And if there’s a chance that someone I encounter may not be 100% bad, I often try to hear them out. Take the beast tribe quests from this game. Yes, I want to help these guys over here get home; yes, I want to help that family over there not die out. There will be plenty of other scumbags for me to enjoy impaling and looting.
The point of all that is that Midgardsormr has lost soft privileges. I HAD been curious about his side of the story, but now, whatever sob story he was going to tell me, however many offspring he’s lost (probably a good thing if they were all like Nidhogg), since my WoL can be tempered and is likely to fall to a primal or ancient superweapon, and the Ascians can get in and attack my comrades whenever they please, it‘s stopped mattering. And THIS is why my hat is off to Square-Enix today: it’s not playing with the “invincible heroine” trope, or being unafraid to kill off cool characters. It’s the fact that they have gotten someone whose play style has had her mom making Daniel Jackson jokes to throw up her hands, say “screw this”, and commit to killing so many wyrms that Estinien will feel obsolete. Father of Dragons wants to go to war? I’ll take his wretched buddies to war. Not every story can get this reaction from me, so bravo, Square! (I guess if I come across the Dravanian equivalent of a beast tribe, I’ll let them be. But everyone else dies.)
Right. Now the questions.
1. After I survive Ifrit and return to headquarters (I THINK this is when), Minfilia talks a little about the Echo, and she says “it’s like WE are protected by a higher power.” Livia snatches her because she can’t get the WoL, and Minfilia reacts the same as WoL during the Sahagin priest‘s shenanigans. Midgardsormr took my blessing, but not hers. Why wasn’t hers sufficient to keep Nabriales out?
2. The description in the minion list says the little Midgardsormr that follows you around (or would, if I let him out) is a temporary form until he gets a new body. Is the little dragon a projection of his blackened soul that only WoL can see? Or is that actually a tangible body, vulnerable to stabbing? I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it...
(Before I get on with the extermination, I’ve been invited to feast with the Sultana, and while my WoL could use the free food, before I go see Her Grace, I have to do some Crystal Tower stuff. And before I do THAT, I have some real-life holiday business to handle. So I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask, since this is an RPG and I don’t know how long these questions will be gnawing at me before they’re answered.)
Continue reading...