Official GAII:EKnK Super Spoiler Filled Topic, I think you know what this means

[Likkun]

So since I feel guilty about blindly starting to post everything in the other topic, I'll move any hardcore discussion of the third game here. More or less since I'll avoid any real spoilers yet, I just wanted to give my overall impression after finishing Nano's route today.

As for my overall thought on the game, it was by far a defining game of the series itself. Not as awesome as it could have been but I've only played one route. Not to mention, I also feel like there might be something more after playing more routes. But I definitely believed they played to their strengths which is the best part of it.

First of all, I'll judge about after Chapter 9 since that's where the main story starts and somewhat your individual girl's route. From Nano-Nano's side, Chapter 9 was amazing. They downright nailed the exact points on what to do and at the same time screwed up for one sole reason. They jump way back into the main story way too fast. I know this is easily because they couldn't span all the girl's routes in two chapters but seriously Nano-Nano's route could have been even more of a powerhouse then what it was in ZRnT. Mostly I have an issue that after all the events in Chapter 9, that Kazuya doesn't go completely insane. Because he seems forgetful or heartless to some extent otherwise.

As for the final events, it feels close but so far. It was incredibly predictable but on the other hand it was predictable events done really really well. As odd as that sounds, I feel like they did what they needed to do but still wish that could have tried something different. Otherwise it feels very much like the end of EL which is probably a good thing to most people.

But a great albeit originally confusing ending for me. I think it did reinforce liking Nano-Nano especially with the end result of everything. Sorry Rico, you probably can't win me over after that.

Oh, and I'm good with whatever other plot points need to be discussed but I felt this was a safe way to start the topic.

[uragayduck]

*whew*, safe way to start indeed. i just finished episode 6 right now (Kahlua's episode) so i was a bit worried you'd spill the beans about everything afterwards. i'm still going to be wary of this thread though just in case because i'm sure the others want to hear what happened....and i'm still not there yet so i'll refrain for now. buuut, i will go on with what's happened already and confirm if what i understood was correct for now.

probably the most technical talk is when Noa's talking so i'll just leave that be since there's so much to take in with her research, but aside from her the other tech heavy talk would probably be Kahlua and Lily's story for now.

*here we go, 1st spoiler to be revealed so be cautious*
the most obvious and easily understandable thing was Lily's revelation of that darn eye that has been hidden from the beginning. to be honest i did not see that coming. who would have thought that she would be wearing a contact to cover up her red eye. speaking of which, were both her eyes like that or just her left one hence why she's half? and to think her mom would be that badass with just one grasp of a sword. Anise truly is the entertainer of the whole game though with her reactions and whatnot.

*spoiler 2 dealing with Kahlua*
so i just finished her chapter with a few misses here and there. when she claimed that she wasn't the real Kahlua, were they referring to because her memories were distorted or are they referring to she's not her real self because she split her soul into two? and the real Kahlua is the one when Caraway (forgive my spelling) merged Kahlua and Tequila into one? as a side note.....damn she's hot, the true Kahlua. makes me want to play her route even more to find out what happens.

and just for the heck of it, i'll reveal my hints that i dropped earlier in the other thread for those dying to know what i was talking about (spoilers obviously, duh):

1) remember i said there were many deaths in the other thread? i was referring to the Elsior and the Moon Angel-tai's Emblem frames. they're bye bye now.

2) the return of something/someone that was suppoused to be dead = the black moon. who saw that coming?

[Likkun]

No, I'm well aware that I'm rushing way ahead, so I'm trying to say the bare minimum about what I do know.

I honestly believe it will take me a few plays before I grasp all the technical aspects of what's going on. But I've gotten enough to completely understand the main story but probably not all the minor details.

*spoiler 1*
A small detail but I took it that it was only one eye. I'm not sure if that was the right way to interpret the "half" comment, but that's how I took it. On that note though, I would take Aira ANY DAY. Seriously, yet another parent in this game that is a nice package, Vanilla being the other obviously. Oh and I have to mention that I was completely shocked about the news of Lily's mother. I didn't carefully read the profile page and missed the "Caramel" part of her name otherwise I probably would have seen that one coming. But one of the few times I was literally shocked by that turn out.

*spoiler 2*
Kahlua/Tequila's was the one story I kind of missed a few points on. Go figure since it happened in ZRnT as well. But I thought it was referring to the split that happened when she was younger. Since they revealed the "true her" as the fused personalities, I figured it was just that she didn't consider herself real since she wasn't that form. Oh and yeah, true Kahlua is pretty much the best of both worlds. But the after effect isn't bad either since the two switch so freely.

A note of my own just on some minor stupid events.

If I'm not mistaken, the battle in Chapter 6 was probably the best thing ever, right? I recall that it was where even Tapio and Sorbet got riled in. If so then I was literally dying laughing during that segment. I'm tempted to record it just because it was a total charisma break for everyone. And speaking of charisma breaks...

Pell (spelling? I don't know how to romanize his name any other way) being an ドM was completely the best thing in Chapter 2. After all the events in that it was great to see that little scene between him and Noah. Probably the last thing I expected to see in his character which was some pure joy.

Oh some other minor details...

All of the game is in fact on disc one. 11 chapters + the epilogue. But nonetheless I'm sure you realize they didn't sacrifice length at all.

The second disc I'm pretty sure is Natsume's missing route from MKnK since it uses the first disc of that to boot. I'll probably not bother with it, since there's some post unlock benefits I'm exploiting instead.

[uragayduck]

yeah, sometimes my mind floats around during the technical talk. mostly i think of "huh, i wonder what will happen after (insert previous seen scene here)". basically i'm recapping what went on before during these "float periods". it's sad especially when it's Noa's part which i try to devote 100% of my concentration for translation.

*continued spoiler 1*
also about that her being "half" part. that half their talking about is the race of her mother right (i guess we can call it race)? basically it's those with the red eyes. i'm trying to recall anything during that chapter, but what was it that made them so special aside from pulling the.....what was the sword called? the crimson fang or something? anwyways, that sword which made her look so badass when she pulled it out (i wasn't expecting that either). you know i had suspicion about Aira about her relation with Lily. at first i thought she was going to be the bad guy in her route especially when looking at her eyes. and then for a brief moment i thought "huh, they have the same hair color. can they be related somehow?". of course i brushed that off thinking coming to that conclusion based on that assumption was stupid. boy was i fooled (and everyone else) when her physical features did not match with her personality. and then another minor detail that i thought i heard wrong but just was curious, when they were talking about the person that would take over lily's position as captain, she chose Forte as her replacement but she had to be pulled out because of the events in ZRnT?

*continued spoiler 2*
yeah i started thinking about the answer after i posted that question. it makes sense now when you think about it. i even absent mindedly answered my own question when i mentioned true Kahlua many times over. another thing i still didn't get was the reason why Tequila transferred out of Kahlua into Mimorett (not her summon for those not playing but her childhood friend...you guys remember her right?). yes true Kahlua is the best of both worlds indeed. Tequila's hairstyle with Kahlua's haircolor mixed in with Tequila's 2 cm difference of bust size compared to Kahlua's (yes, they are truly different in size. it's mentioned in one of Tequila's events in your wandering of the ship event). need to find a picture of her now....

episode 6's battle was indeed hillarious. i was totally not expecting Tapio to get involved as well. the instant he changed his pose after the Angel-tai left the briefing room was one of those gut bursting moments of laughter. to top it off was Noa getting pulled into it as well....even if she did brush it off saying it was a joke. man the writers to the story must have had fun during this time.

oh my gosh, Pell was a total surprise. you really wouldn't expect him to be like that when you first see him. i'll have to admit though, without him there we would not have seen the adorableness of Noa when she gets pissed off. those two's scenes together are one of the ones i'm hoping to see on and off....unfortunately Noa's not on Luxior (forgot the spellin) anymore.

yeah i noticed that all the game is in one disc a while back as well. what made me really curious was why they didn't dual layer the game. i mean, i'm actually really surprised they haven't thrown in as much CG let alone cutscenes so far in the game. in fact, there hasn't been one movie cutscene whatsoever. i'm guessing they really did sacrifice the visual goodies in favor of quality stories which i'm really happy they did.

i'll go through the second disc and let everyone know what's up on that since i'm sure you won't have time in the near future for that.

and as a last note, i'm surprised we haven't mentioned this yet. how well was Natsume integrated into the Angel-tai? to me, i think it was well done. she's not just the extra character like some unfortunate character from past games. so far she's been used really well (loved the part where she pops in from the side to correct Anise and then pops out to leave). she's part of the gang now so hooray

[uragayduck]

WOAH.....that last episode was crazy. the last battle with Sorbet.....wow....just wow. i never felt so pumped up during the huge ship battles in any of the GA games as much as this one. got to give props to Coco's CV for doing a great job. and oh my gosh, that freaking cliffhanger they put at the end after the battle. i REALLY want to play the next episode to find out what happened, but i have to stop my GA adventure this weekend until/unless i finish my project/report due this coming Wednesday.

*spoilers to follow*
no seriously, they jam pack sooo many things into this game that it's crazy. although that's a good thing and not just some throw in plot device that won't matter much. the green moon?? what?!? Mimolett being the other gatekeeper??? what?!?!? that freaking cliffhanger ending where Tapio suppousedly blown to smithereens??? MOE~!! yes, as you can see i got really excited with this episode. and then the decision to finally reveal Rosel at the end. i really can't guess what's happening anymore. not to mention this episode felt like the final battle the way it was set up.

*more spoilers*
not sure if this was caught or not by anyone who's played it, but was Natsume a descendant of the fairies? i think there was something mentioned about a knight from Seldor who mingled with the fairies which was then traced down to Natsume? since Natsume and her sister have the same shielding power as the fairies, it's safe to assume they have a relation with each other. but then i got really thrown off when they brought in the whole knight from Seldor topic. only reason i see this to be true was the joke that Lily said that she and Natsume may be related which was to Natsume's dislike...i think...

[Yami]

I have finally got my hands on EKnK, played thru Apricot's storyline and finished it. And while it is still early to make a judgement, I have a few things to say:

The plot was nothing out of this world and somewhat predictable yet very nice in the end. Seeing Kazuya finally getting out from under her teammate's skirts and going head on to the battle was inspiring. On the other hand, I feel that the screentime given to some of the elements everybody was expecting was a bit "small", like the presence of the Moon Angels and the casual clothes of the Rune Angels.

The battle against the Divine Sorbet was brilliant and they even used one of my favourite BGMs from Project GA. Sadly enough, I can't say the same for the final battle. I remember my first reaction being "Cool" only to immediately change to "What the Hell were they thinking?" when it came to an end.

Personally, I believe it was ludicrous and based solely on the "rule of cool" and "bigger is better" concepts. The Chrono Break Cannon went from "last resort" to "that weapon everybody should have" and even the enemy vessels had their own weaker version of the Celestial Cannon. The main enemy ship sucked as it took me only one try to figure how to get past the shield and the "Quadruple High Output Cannon of Death" did not hit my units a single time.

It's a pity that they couldn't come up with something like the battle against the Hell Hounds in Project GA.

Rants aside, I'm trying to figure out the purpose of the first and last options of the extra contents menu. While we're on that topic I would like to say the battle against the Luxioles was a surprise and I can't wait to see who's next (the Elsioles and the Moon Angels for sure though).