Quesada's Swan

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Now another flashback, where Velvet wakes a young child called Laphi. He doesn't like being called Laphi. He has a bit of a fever, and because of that, he can't go to the cape.

There's Arthur, addressing the child by his full name: Laphicet. Is he the one she's seeking revenge against in the opening?

He's done with the firewood.

Velvet recites her teacher's lessons: "Arthur's first maxim: Plans must be solid and reactions flexible."

I'm now at Aball, the Village of Longing.

I'm betting the developers were trying to block me from getting screenshots, probably to prevent me from either violating copyright rules or revealing any spoilers.

I'm now in control of Velvet, and wander around the cabin, where I get a Silver Coin, and some rock salt...

I have Velvet talk to Laphicet again, who reminds us to take some gels, the trademark recovery item of the Tales games.

The game now goes through the basic pointers: the map and the objective HUD.

I'm supposed to get medicine for Laphicet, and the first thing to do to get it is to hunt for Prickleboars in the Tranquil Woods.

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I check Velvet's stats before getting a move on...

The menu's UI's a bit basic looking...

I also take a look at the Fashion menu, it mentions that Velvet's comb broke...

Two sub menus are unknown...

I read the synopsis, which mentions a crimson moon...and a daemonblight, along with many other in-universe terms. The backstory mentions that Velvet's sister was taken from her seven years ago, and now she's living with her brother Laphicet, and her mentor Arthur.

After looking at the artes and equipment (even Velvet has a gauntlet blade, sort of like the Assassins!), I head to the woods. The Blood Blade's feature is that Velvet can heal after defeating monsters!

I have Velvet look at a pair of graves. One of them must be her sister's...

I check the first skit of the game, Velvet's thinking of what to feed Arthur, who's been hunting for the village.

Now we're in Aball proper...

Seres? So Seres must be someone only Laphicet, Velvet, and Arthur can see...

The cutscene in the beginning must have showed that crimson moon disaster seven years ago.

So when they turn into daemons, or when they get affected with daemonblight, they're incurable at that point?

The shop owner indirectly insults the memory of Velvet's sister...his wife makes him apologize for that remark.

Laphicet's friend's worried about him.

So Celica raised Velvet on her own before Arthur came along, huh?

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Velvet: (reciting one of Arthur's maxims) "Battles are won and lost by the preparations made by the first strike."

I check the shop's wares: only Apple Gels.

I open the first chest in-game, which has a Resist Ring!

Each kind of chest, I'm told, has its own type of item.

I talk to more people. Rumors are spreading that there are "exorcists" tricking villagers out of their money.

Beasts falling into daemonblight and becoming daemons themselves...

The elder thinks it's the Empyreans cursing the people with daemonblight for not praying enough.

She warns Velvet not to go to the Shrine of Tranquility, or the shrine near the cape.

They try to help each other and they tell each other they're not children as a response...hee...

Velvet's sixteen, the elder thinks she's thirteen.

Elder: "The shrine on the cape has no name. It is a silent shrine of tranquility. Something nameless sleeps there. Daemons and Empyreans slumber within. Into the deepest depths. In perfect silence. Sleep. Fade."

Aside: The term Empyrean, iirc, was used in Dante's Divine Comedy, in the part where Dante goes to Heaven where he meets Beatrice.

Scarlet Night, I also learn, was the night when the red moon appeared...gur erq zbba erzvaqf zr fb zhpu bs Oerngu bs gur Jvyq. Ohg guvf tnzr jnf eryrnfrq gjb zbaguf orsber gung bar, V guvax?

And I find my first save point in the game!

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I also have Velvet talk to a young mother, who teases Velvet a bit about her future, and a chief carpenter, who's aware of the people living in Morgana Woods are afflicted with daemonblight. The younger carpenter thinks the walls aren't strong enough to prevent a daemon attack...

There's rappigs in this game too! Yesssss!

They're the only hybrid animal that the Avatar crew did not mention or include...I wonder why...

I speak to the owner again, he prefers a quick and painless death.

I save at this point again, since my phone's running out of battery.

Whoo, that was a lot of stuff to write in this session!