Why isn’t Shion a gnosis?
The question that became so irrelevant, even the LP forgot about it.
In Episode 1, it was established that everyone who is touched by a gnosis becomes a gnosis. Also, we got to see Cherenkov, ya know, become a gnosis. Logically, it must only be a matter of time before Shion herself becomes a gnosis, as she was nearly saltified back on the Woglinde before KOS-MOS’s rescue.
And then… it’s never mentioned again.
Previously on Xenosaga: Yuriev played The Brews again, and the Durandal and nearly everyone on it was destroyed in an attempt to infiltrate Abel’s Ark, a gigantic gnosis that is the current home of The Zohar. Yuriev grabbed that Zohar and began to ascend to godhood, and Junior and pals got… I think they rescued a dog at some point?
Here we are, Bridge of the Elsa, same as it ever was. After everything that happened last time, we once again have a moment to breathe before heading into the latest danger zone. Breathing is overrated, let’s get out of here.
Upon starting this mission, a brief scene between chaos and Canaan plays. I guess we have to get into some character development for other characters, and we’re doing it alphabetically (Allen is, naturally, skipped).
Canaan is having an existential crisis, so why not talk to a buddy. Fun fact: Canaan and chaos have known each other for fifteen years… but I think this is the first they’re talking one-on-one in the present.
I can never tell if Canaan is supposed to be stoic or mopey, but I guess this clinches it. Canaan is a sad Realian.
Previously on Xenosaga: Orgulla’s long, sad story came to a close as she fell in battle attempting to repel invaders on behalf of her beloved Patriarch. Orgulla may no longer be with us, but The Brews ventured on to Old Miltia, each party member doing their best to deal with the blood now on their collective hands.
Ziggy is here because he’s never been to Old Miltia before, and thought it might be neat.
Alright, so this is the big lie everyone is going to tell over and over again this update. If you recall, the introductory dungeon of Xenosaga Episode 2 took place during the Miltian Conflict, at the capital, roughly hours before Old Miltia plinked out of existence. Remember what that looked like.
Super duper wrong.
chaos hasn’t said… anything… in a while, so he decides to wax philosophical about the mythical land of Mu, an area best known for appearing in the prequel to Xenosaga, Ducktales 2.
This is a lot more accurate than this whole “it looks exactly the same” thing.
chaos makes reference to Mu being “sacrificed”, and Shion agrees that that’s the general gist of this area. She’s more right than she knows…
Previously on Xenosaga: Turns out there’s a dungeon in MOMO’s head! We went through it, and…
Hey! This dungeon looks a lot like the last one! Meet the other chief reason the “Subconscious Domain” is the worst dungeon in Xenosaga Episode 2: you have to run through it twice. Welcome to Subconscious Domain (Winter).
6:13, for posterity.
So not only is this dungeon exactly the same as the “previous” dungeon, it also offers monsters that are just palette swaps of the previous dungeon’s monsters. This, seriously, is a special kind of lazy. Incidentally, aside from color changes, the only indicator I noticed that these were “different” monsters was that they had to be rescanned. Aside from that? They seem exactly the same, though there are likely subtle differences.
One change from the Summer version: most of the “dead ends” now contain treasure. Not any useful treasure, but at least it feels like there’s some reason to go down random paths. I have to wonder if the annoying sidequest I mentioned last update was added later in production to do something with Summer’s redundant dead ends. Not that it helps your first trip through the area…
Ya know, this is usually the kind of dungeon/area I love in video games. In no other medium is there that “joy” of revisiting old areas under different circumstances. For instance, I love comparing the maps of 600 AD and 1000 AD in Chrono Trigger and noting the subtle and dramatic differences. I love the crashed research satellite/ship in Metroid Prime. Here? This is the exact same dungeon with a different coat of paint, and some of the more interesting areas, like the hidden shed/teleporter in the Summer domain, are simply blocked off or eliminated. This is just a lazy, completely unnecessary area.
Can we use the shortcut we opened up in the Summer version? Nope! This might take a while…