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Dubious Drive
-Ardyn drives off to the Disc and I follow. End of chapter 3.
-Chapter 4: “Living Legend.” I wonder if that refers to Ardyn or Titan?
-A giant title appears, “The Blessing of the Gods.” Not sure what that means, since the chapter is something different.
-We park at a rest stop for the night.
PROMPTO: “So… we make camp. With Ardyn.”
Nobody’s that enthusiastic about the prospect, but we go for it anyway.
-It’s intensely unsettling and surreal to suddenly have Ardyn involved in party stuff. Like, to have a photo of him in the album, or camp with him.
“Oh, I don’t mind at all! Snap away. For his Highness’ collection.” YOU ARE CREEPY BUSINESS
-New mechanic, a “beast whistle.” Is this like the bookshelf in “Lightning Returns” where you can practice fighting enemies?
-A radio show about Lunafreya’s life makes her seem saint-like. Helping unceasingly.
-Flashback or scene change, showing her helping a sick man. She bends down to him, grasps his hands. Her hands glow as she prays:
“Blessed Stars of life and light, deliver us from darkness’ blight.”
-She’s a literal miracle worker. The man walks off, and an old woman takes her place. Next up.
I especially like how the light filter in this whole scene is saturated, dreamlike.
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Onward to the Disc
-Back our party, driving behind Ardyn.
-It sounds like Titan caught the Meteor, and he’s still holding it up. Surely if he dropped it now it wouldn’t matter, since it lost its impact velocity.
-I wonder why Titan is called the Archaean. I googled the term, and it looks like it’s a term for a geologic era. Maybe just a general earthy term in this context.
-Everyone is still super sus of Ardyn as we arrive at the gate. At least their eyes are sorta open.
-Ardyn basically yells for the gate guards to open up, and they do. He admits to having influence.
PARTY DUDES. DO YOU NOT REMEMBER THAT THE EMPIRE CONTROLS THIS GATE? WE FOUGHT THERE PRETTY RECENTLY. Ardyn’s definitely some higher-up in the Empire.
-He delivered us here but won’t follow us into the Disc.
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The Archaean
-I follow the road a bit further and… huh. There’s a royal tomb just along the way. How have the imperials not seen this before and plundered it?
-Got the Blade of the Mystic.
[Later edit/non-rhetorical question: I didn’t even check what it does yet. It’s so rare for me to use royal arms as weapons since they don’t seem to ever hit an enemy weakness, and me taking damage from using them is such a huge downside.
Do y’all use them a lot? Am I severely overestimating how big a downside the damage you take from swinging royals is?]
-Another earthquake hits. The ground gives way, and Noctis nearly falls through.
-HOLY SHIT TITAN IS HUUUUGE!! Closer to XIII Titan than XIV Titan.
-I love his design. It’s like the crystals have eaten into him from the Meteor, melded with him.
-He’s trying to speak. Some language that doesn’t translate.
-Gladiolus and Noctis are alone here with Prompto and Ignis stuck up top. The two of us will press on.
-Tremors keep hitting, along with more Noctis headaches. This has to be Titan trying to communicate telepathically. Maybe it’s something to do with Noctis’ royal blood?
-JESUS HIS GIANT HAND RIPS OUT FROM THE METEOR TOWARDS NOCTIS.
This is some terrifying shit. But I don’t think he has malicious intent. A whale, not a shark.
-Noctis starts complaining about the walk when Gladiolus smacks him down (verbally). Normally I’m not a fan of “stop complaining because others have it worse,” but Gladiolus is his bodyguard. Here to lay down his life for Noctis. Some perspective doesn’t hurt.
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The Trial of Titan
-We get as close as we can to the big guy, taking out some Imperials in the process.
-Never mind on that whole whale/shark thing. He goes full attack-mode against us.
-It’s kind of hilarious how Noctis and Gladiolus “parry” and block” Titan’s arms. Just in terms of sheer scale, this seems hard to believe.
(But it’s a fantasy setting and they’re basically anime protags, so it’s easy to suspend disbelief.)
-As the fight progresses, the imperials join… against Titan, which doesn’t feel great. They’re launching some electric laser spear things his way.
-Destroyed his arm! But he’s even now trying to communicate something. Flashback.
-To Lady Lunafreya. We saw her standing in front of him, spectral. Maybe that was when the meteor hit.
-Titan lets forth another energy burst, dropping lots of the Imperial dropships in the area.
-Then in the least surprising twist possible, an Imperial dropship appears nearby and Ardyn waves hello from inside.
He’s Imperial Chancellor Ardyn Izunia. Maybe it’s a secretive position, otherwise the party would’ve recognized him.
-No boss fight just yet though. He offers us a ride out of the exploding meteor, and we don’t really have a choice.
-Noctis acquired the Mark of the Archaean, symbol of Titan’s favor. Will I be able to summon him? Or, Titan-Egi or something like that?
-That’s the end of chapter 4! Wow. That was fast. Or maybe I’ve just been spending a ridiculous amount of time on hunts and side stuff, and this was the only chapter where I’ve just done the main plot.
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Side Stuff
-EEEE CACTUAR HUNT! Three gigantuars.
-They use the 1,000 Needles attack somehow. It drops mines I can avoid, but it also seems to blast out a ranged needle attack I don’t quite know how to deal with beyond healing through.
-I love the colors in XV’s version of Karlabos.
-Note to self: once I hit rank 6, pick up hunts in Hammerhead, Wiz Chocobo Post, Taelpar Rest Area, Cauthess Rest Area, Old Lestallum, Verinas Mart – Ravatogh.
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Next time: Chapter 5.
