I finished 5 and 6 today, wasn't expecting 6 to be so short.
5 impressed from beginning to end. Getting to the great sword base, hearing Sword Valley's theme, getting to the only real town in the game, the boat and the sea, the prison break, and the whole ending with Mio being forced to wait out the last month imprisoned, the switch between Mio and M, followed by N's breakdown and Noah getting faux Monado Arts.
Having the Monado like talent art that swaps your arts out with a new set with kanji was pretty cool and a great callback. Both 1 and 2 gave the protagonist a unique gimmick (monado arts, Pyra/Mythra/Pneuma switching) and I thought Infinity Blade didn't compare to those, but it turns out that wasn't the unique gimmick. I know some in the prerelease thread don't like the hero having a big unique advantage and were hoping this wouldn't happen, but I think it's a little better this time with having all members active in battle.
I think I'm a little confused about what Noah and Mio are. N and M becoming ouroboros, should've removed them from the cycle of rebirth, but Noah and Mio are like a miracle or did M do something to bring them about? I was hazy on that, either I missed it or it'll be explained later.
Then I did the Colony Omega side story for chapter 6. This felt kind of cheap to me, bringing several characters back as they were and not having to re-grow. The Mwamba return didn't hit any emotional note nor did it feel like they were even trying to. He doesn't even say anything when you go back and talk to him later. Maybe there's a sidequest later back in the city, but the Mwamba return felt unearned and unsatisfying.
I knew Cammuravi was coming back because of the hero roster silhouettes, but this just makes his death feel pointless when he's back exactly how he was. I'm surprised how little Camuravi has to do with anything and he has no connection to anyone like Ethel did with the Keves trio. The tweets and prerelease stuff just made it seem like he would have a larger presence. I initiated his hero quest but didn't continue with it. I was too excited to get to Cloudkeep,
I'm still waiting for the silver haired High Entia boy from their childhood to pop up again. The one who berated Joran, and later Joran saved along with Lanz. We know he survived that attack, he got out with Lanz and is shown sitting the rest when Ethel checks on them and compliments Noah's sword. We've seen the others from his group in the present, Kite's gotten a lot of screen time in the Zeon quests, but the entia boy himself hasn't shown up or even been mentioned. He's so prominent in the flashbacks, I'd be surprised if they don't do anything more with him.
Getting to Cloudkeep, hearing a choir version of Drifting Soul and seeing Nia awake from a KOS-MOS pod was magical. I felt Joran's conclusion was satisfying. I like how D's human form was basically Mumkhar 2.0. I could've lived without knowing Wild Ride was named Dirk.
Then Nia gets to be this game's Klaus. The new arrangement of Eryth Sea's theme at the beginning of chapter 7 was nice. They found the right balance of re-using tracks just enough without going overboard with old stuff. Interesting that Tora and three figures in dark robes were standing next to Nia while building Origin. There was a lot to process there. The 'language of light' sounded way too goofy, but it doesn't really matter.
The Agnus castle day theme is gorgeous!
; i really missed that felling on a awesome game.
