SSA #6 Story Discussion ** SPOILERS **
By
15bribri15,
Posted on: 2012-02-21 05:43 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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Red side SSA much more story.|
Originally Posted by Energizing_Ion
Okay so I just did the villain side version of WWD # 6.
Nothing spectacular but there is a bit more story to the villain side of things. Supposedly Sister Psy. kicked Aurora out of her mind into an Urn (that wasn't there in the hero side version) at the last second before she died. So as a villain you take down Tystra (? whoever that EB was...) and Aurora takes over that EB's body and is now fully functional and says the above (that before Sis Psy died she kicked AB out of her mind/body to save her (AB)). So "evil AB" is alive...and is a friend to your villain.... |
Yeah, this is where I need help to. I can accept that Aurora is powerful enough after I beatdown Tyrka (?) so that she's a vessle for her... fine. What happened to her blue side? We have twin Aurora's now? More to the parrallel existance thing? I did the blue side mission again to see if I missed anything and TTBOMK no such mention of Aurora unless she is subsumed in Wade as well so he has access to two big players powers and houses a second concouseness?!?! Sounds less like he's overthrowing Rularuu and more like becoming Rularuu. Or an alternate version anyway.
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The Midnighters must keep lousy records if they didn't know that was missing or just a bunch of jerks if they knew that and didn't send someone along who could deal with things of theirs that Wade stole and might be useful in booby trapping a ritual.
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Originally Posted by TheDeepBlue
Wade planted the Power Intensifier that the Rulu-Shin stole at the beginning of WWD2 at the ritual site. That, in addition to the empowerment ritual, created a multiplier effect that completely overloaded Sister Psyche's powers.
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They do make it clear from the very beginning of the arc that time is running out, ("Hey, Jen Sunlight, glad to see you're here. We've got a major situation that we need your help in handling. Sister Psyche's condition is getting worse by the minute...."), so I assumed that whole arc took place in a very short span of game time and the Midnighters weren't able to get there until after it was all over.
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Originally Posted by Ogi
The Midnighters must keep lousy records if they didn't know that was missing or just a bunch of jerks if they knew that and didn't send someone along who could deal with things of theirs that Wade stole and might be useful in booby trapping a ritual.
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In Camazotz all are equal. Everybody is the same as everybody else.
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That is exactly what he's doing, and it's stated as such directly in the SSA, in one of the clues. I'm very surprised that so many people have missed this. One of his notes basically details that he plans to use his aquired power along with several spells and rituals that he's been collecting over the years to basically tear a tiny little hole between Primal Earth and the Shadow Shard, not big enough for anything to really come through that he couldn't handle, and then progressively pick apart Rularuu, piece by piece, absorbing tiny bits of his power at a time and making it his own, until he completely absorbs Rularuu and gains all of his powers, in essence becoming the new Rularuu so that he can rule the world/multiverse.|
Originally Posted by Kractis_Sky
Sounds less like he's overthrowing Rularuu and more like becoming Rularuu. Or an alternate version anyway.
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Also on the subject of "too many rituals", I'll agree, it does seem a bit excessive, but this is Darrin Wade we're talking about. He's an ex-Midnighter, a sorceror of ridiculous intellect, and a schemer, of course he's going to fall back on magic spells and ancient rituals. I honestly find it a bit refreshing after the almost never-ending onslaught of high technology and robots that we got from the Praetorian content. It's a balance.
I'm also disappointed that Psyche wasn't just knocked out to stop the psychic surge, but I also fully expected the ending the second I saw the "cover art" I didn't read it as "Dead Manticore" but rather as "Manticore is Death", which, considering the mission to save Psyche, was easy enough to put together and come to a conclusion.
The second mission with Akarist was complete crap and nothing but filler. Nemesis had nothing to do with the plot (Which isn't to say that it wasn't his own Plot though, heheh), and the generals were shouting "We're gonna kill everyone!" basically, which... doesn't sound like something Nemesis would do without reason. So why were they there? Was it a distraction to keep us from noticing their theft of something? To draw eyes away from a crime on the other side of town? It makes no sense for Nemesis to just show up for a killing spree without any reason. He doesn't do ANYTHING without a reason. Also, we were already in Peregrine Island, if we needed to talk to Akarist in Portal Corp they should have just added him as an NPC inside the building for us to go talk to and cut out the filler combat crap.
I'll just echo the sentiment of "You seriously gave us a DOUBLE ESCORT MISSION plus a glowie hunt IN ORANBEGA?!" Seriously devs, do you hate us all THAT much? Because that was ridiculous. If I didn't lose Psyche, I lost Penny, and if I didn't lose either of them I lost Penny's pet. Those wooden footbridges must be cursed to make people get lost or something. And yeah, why didn't Manticore just knock Psyche out? It would have made more sense. Also I dont' understand AT ALL how you come to the conclusion that Wade now has Psyche's powers. There is no indication of such, and no way that we would know this. Sure, we know he has Statesman's powers because he was present at the death and we saw it, but for all we know, it was something to do with the ritual used to kill him. The player characters don't know that there are other Obelisks. Only Wade and Malaise knew that, and it's never been said to the hero characters. THAT'S a big plot hole for me.
Of course, I'm still trying to figure out why Mu'Drakahn, Shadow Spider and Viridian were defending Wade's lair in part 5, and why Indigo and Crimson tagged along. That was the biggest Big Lipped Alligator Moment I've seen so far. Anyone got an answer for that one? Wade is an independent player, so unless Arachnos struck a deal with him to help off Statesman, then there's no reason for them to be there.
As for my other thoughts: I'm really waiting with bated breath now to see if we get a few new power sets to match Penny's. We already have Mind Control, but perhaps we've got an alternate "Psionic Control" set in the works? Because those powers she used I've never seen before and they looked amazing and fun to play, plus a Psionic controller pet, yes please! Also really impressed by her psionic attack effects, plus PSIONIC MELEE ATTACKS. If the devs don't plan to give any of these to the players then it's just cruel on their part to even have them in the game. I'd love to see those ported to players in the forseeable future.
And now that my novel is complete, I'll shut up. Haha.
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I hate you for making me do this stupid arc again, but I was so intrigued by your theory that I felt compelled to do it. |
Originally Posted by Redlynne
Here's a wrinkle to the Mind Riding angle for getting OUT of this situation.
This is very much open to interpretation. Analyze the cutscene in SSA 6 Mission 3 very carefully and you'll notice something very interesting. As Samuraiko pointed out, the Word Balloons are color coded "correctly" to indicate exactly *WHO* is talking at all times. But here's the key thing everyone might be missing. AT NO POINT after Sister Psyche *screams* out JUSTIN! does Manticore say a single word. And Manticore had just been very emphatically saying (people's opinions in this thread to the contrary) that *HE* would not KILL her. And if you closely watch his body language (great job on the emoting here, Devs!), it is *possible* that it wasn't Manticore at all who "shot" Sister Psyche ... but rather Sister Psyche herself, Mind Riding Manticore, who "did the deed" to pull the bow and shoot the arrow. |
And watching it again, I think you're on to something...
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Originally Posted by Redlynne
You're told by your mission contact that Darrin Wade "now has Sister Psyche's powers" ... without even giving the slightest indication of HOW this was accomplished or even that this has in some way been DEMONSTRATED AND PROVEN by events elsewhere (in the less than a minute it takes you to travel back to your contact after exiting the mission).
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In Camazotz all are equal. Everybody is the same as everybody else.
Yeah, color me unimpressed with SSA #6. Plot holes and Manticore could have used a knockout arrow to subdue Sister Psyche. I'll send my SSA alts through this once to get the align merit but I'll keep using SSA 5 for the weekly rerun to get more Align merits.
Also on a personal note: I'm going to really enjoy defeating Darrin Wade.
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Minor quip but...or it's because the game is rated for Teens. Putting arrows in people's heads is kind of a no-no for games not rated Mature. I don't think the devs could get away with it.
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Originally Posted by Redlynne
Manticore doesn't shoot Sister Psyche in the HEAD, he shoots her in the thorax/abdomen.
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I have a theory, based only on hunches and no real evidence (therefore, this is Internet Fact). WE ARE BEING MESSED WITH. We're in a dream. Seriously, Akarist working with Portal Corp scientists? And for that matter, Malta attacking the Carnival of Shadows? Something or someone is messing with our perceptions this issue, making us see things and take actions we wouldn't normally do otherwise. None of these missions make much sense, and I present this theory as an explanation. Issue 7 will bring illumination ... I hope.| The second mission with Akarist was complete crap and nothing but filler. Nemesis had nothing to do with the plot (Which isn't to say that it wasn't his own Plot though, heheh), and the generals were shouting "We're gonna kill everyone!" basically, which... doesn't sound like something Nemesis would do without reason. So why were they there? Was it a distraction to keep us from noticing their theft of something? To draw eyes away from a crime on the other side of town? It makes no sense for Nemesis to just show up for a killing spree without any reason. |
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| And yeah, why didn't Manticore just knock Psyche out? |
I explained it away in my little brain this way (though I shouldn't have had to): Her powers were operating in super-charged overdrive. Consciousness allowed her to contain them. If she'd been rendered unconscious, her control would be gone, and her powers, now uncontrolled, would kill everyone on Earth. Besides death, there was no other way to turn them off. Sister Psyche knew this and that's why she potentially mind-controlled (or mind-ridden, as mentioned above) Manticore into shooting her.
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Wade was the one who actually designed SP's costume for the sole purpose of having an unprotected "safe" area to shoot. </nemesis plot, err, /wade plot>
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Originally Posted by ChaosAngelGeno
Minor quip but...or it's because the game is rated for Teens. Putting arrows in people's heads is kind of a no-no for games not rated Mature. I don't think the devs could get away with it.
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Ok I will ask this here since it didn't get answered in the other thread.
I know there was a "part of Aurora" in Psyche's head, but what happened to the real Aurora? Why wouldn't they just try to put that part of Aurora that was inside Psyche back inside Aurora? Did Aurora die and I missed it somewhere? Also if Aurora is still alive and kicking somewhere what is gonna happen to her? I know she is not part of the Freedom Phalanx but considering it was a part of her messing with Psyche wouldn't they put the real Aurora in there somewhere? It also sucks that they are having Yin take Psyche's place, at least that is what it looks like to me and probably alot of people, why wouldn't Aurora just take Psyche's place??? I really hope I am not the only one who has all these questions.
Cancel the kitchen scraps for widows and lepers, no more merciful beheadings and call off christmas!
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What is/was stuck inside of SP was an echo of Aurora.
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Originally Posted by 2short2care
I know there was a "part of Aurora" in Psyche's head, but what happened to the real Aurora? Why wouldn't they just try to put that part of Aurora that was inside Psyche back inside Aurora?
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It's called Diabolus ex Machina. It means "Demon from the machine."
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Originally Posted by Melancton
It is sort of a Deus Ex Machina in reverse.
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After doing the red side SSA6, color me confused.
It seems that some part of 'Aurora Borealis' psyche was hidden (locked?) away in Sister Psyche's mind, got tossed into a previously unseen urn deep in a ritual spot deep down in Orange Bagel Land, and after being told by her/it to weaken some unknown EB so that this AB psyche/fragment or whatever it is can take over the menacing EB's body, bailing, and then calling me, a villain, her friend...
Ya.
Ummm.
What the hell just happened?
I thought AB was a live, breathing hero? Since when did Sister Psyche have any fragments of AB hanging in her mind and why did SP deem it necessary to pop her/it into an urn while she was losing control/killing half the planet with her mind? Why would this AB psyche/fragment that shouldacoulda been from AB, the hero, call 'me', a villain, a friend? ARGH.
I know the Paragonwiki story of AB and SP, but nowhere have I read anything about some anomalous evil/twisted/whatever AB fragment residing in SP's head, especially with AB supposedly alive and well as is...
Can any of you scholars of the Paragon branch of a CoH Lore University (CLU) shed light upon the whatwhywtfomghuh of all of this? What am I missing here?
Calgon take me away!
EDIT: looks like some posts on this matter just formed while I was writing this. I see I'm not the only one asking these questions! Good!
EDIT 2: Why does P. Yin need to be the next Freedom Phalanx resident replacement psychic for Sister Psyche when Aurora B is, I'm guessing, still alive and, well...being a psychic?
If you play the hero side SSA, I think part 4 explains what's going on with the splinter of Aurora Borealis.
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No, it only explains how it gets exploited. It doesn't explain where this weird little fragment of Aurora came from, nor how it came to develop an entire brain, mind, and personality of its own such that it required that said personality be locked in the equivalent of a psychic solitary confinement in a maximum security prison.
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Originally Posted by BellaStrega
If you play the hero side SSA, I think part 4 explains what's going on with the splinter of Aurora Borealis.
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I did play the hero one first, but since I was on a team, I'm clueless as to what that was all about (no access to all the cool texties other than the super quick pop-up-for-a-second external comms/mindtalk text boxes).
*hangs head in confusion*
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This plot element comes from the Top Cow comics -- where it should have stayed.
| No, it only explains how it gets exploited. It doesn't explain where this weird little fragment of Aurora came from, nor how it came to develop an entire brain, mind, and personality of its own such that it required that said personality be locked in the equivalent of a psychic solitary confinement in a maximum security prison. |
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Have played the arc now a couple times (both hero and villain side). As with all things, my first thought was "How would I re-do the cutscene?" (Especially to help the story make more sense...)
My hero version is this, with a couple slight changes to mission 3. (Villain version still needs work...)
a) Numina is there to conduct the ritual, as the magical member of the Freedom Phalanx (and a member of the Midnight Squad). Manticore is there because Psyche's his wife, Penny is there just in case "Aurora" tries any shenanigans at the last second, the hero is there in case Wade pulls some stunt.
b) The urn is already there, and a clue found indicates it's meant as a psychic repository.
[NUMINA BEGINS THE RITUAL, PSYCHE IS ON THE ALTAR, MANTICORE, PENNY, AND THE HERO ARE NEARBY. THEN...]
[PSYCHE ON THE ALTAR] Psyche: My powers... no... NO-!
[NUMINA REACTS AS PSYCHE THROWS HER HEAD BACK AND SCREAMS] Numina: What the...?
[MANTICORE LOOKS AT HER] Manticore: What's wrong?
[NUMINA LOOKING UP AT PSYCHE] Numina: The ritual... it's... it's pushing her powers out of control!
[HERO REACTS] Hero: What?!
[NUMINA, MANTICORE, PENNY, AND THE HERO ALL GRAB THEIR HEADS] Everyone: AAGGHH!
[SHOT CHANGES TO PARAGON CITY EXTERIOR - CIVILIANS EVERYWHERE ARE IN AGONY]
[ANOTHER SHOT OF PARAGON - MS LIBERTY IN AGONY]
[ANOTHER SHOT OF PARAGON - INSIDE PHALANX HEADQUARTERS, SYNAPSE, POSITRON, BAB, ARE DOUBLED OVER WHILE CITADEL LOOKS ON HELPLESSLY]
[PENNY YIN CONCENTRATES (TWO-HANDED CASTING/HEALING MOVE)] Penny: I can... do this!
[NUMINA, MANTICORE, PENNY, AND THE HERO ARE GASPING FOR BREATH, BUT PSYCHE IS STILL SCREAMING] Psyche and Aurora both: AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!
[PENNY GASPING] Penny: I did it! I'm shielding us!
[MANTICORE LOOKS AT NUMINA] Manticore: Stop the ritual!
[NUMINA SHAKES HER HEAD] Numina: I can't...
[CUT TO SHOT OF AN ARTIFACT SOMEWHERE DEEP IN ORANBEGA - IT'S SURROUNDED BY THE BODIES OF THORNS - AS WELL AS TYRKA'S BODY] Numina: It's being empowered by something here in Oranbega...
[HERO LOOKS AROUND] Hero: Oh, no...
[SHOT OF PARAGON, CIVILIANS STILL IN AGONY]
[PENNY STOMPS HER FOOT] Penny: There's gotta be SOMETHING we can do!
[CUT TO PSYCHE ON THE ALTAR] Psyche: Justin...
[MANTICORE SHAKES HIS HEAD BUT IS SILENT]
[HERO LOOKS AT MANTICORE] Hero: What if we knock her out?
[PENNY SHAKES HER HEAD] Penny: Then Wade will take over her mind completely!
[NUMINA LOOKS UP AT PSYCHE] Numina: Shalice, mind-ride out of there... use Penny... HERONAME... Justin... but GET OUT OF THERE!
[PSYCHE STILL SCREAMING] Psyche: I can't... Aurora... I'm... sorry...
[DIFFERENT CLOSEUP OF PSYCHE] Aurora: NO-!
[THE URN GLOWS BRIEFLY THEN BACK TO PSYCHE] Psyche: Justin... please...
[MANTICORE REACTS] Manticore: No!
[BACK TO PSYCHE] Psyche: You must!
[MANTICORE REACTS] Manticore: I'm not killing you!
[CLOSEUP OF PSYCHE] Psyche: PLEASE!
[HERO LOOKS AT MANTICORE]
[PENNY LOOKS AT MANTICORE]
[NUMINA LOOKS AT MANTICORE]
[MANTICORE LOOKS DOWN AT HIS HANDS, THEN DRAWS THE BOW AND NOCKS IT]
[CLOSE UP OF HIS FACE] Manticore: Shalice...
[MANTICORE FIRES]
[LIGHT FLARES OVER THE ALTAR, THEN THE WHOLE SCENE GOES BLACK FOR A MOMENT, THEN...]
[IN PARAGON CITY, PEOPLE ARE RECOVERING]
[INSIDE PHALANX HEADQUARTERS, THE PHALANX RECOVERS] Synapse: It's stopped...
[ANOTHER ANGLE OF THE HEROES] Positron: But at what cost?
[BACK IN ORANBEGA, LOOKING DOWN FROM ABOVE, MANTICORE AND THE REST ARE KNEELING AROUND PSYCHE'S BODY] Manticore: Shalice...
[FADE TO BLACK]
It's longer, I admit... but I think it'd tie up a lot of loose ends, and give it a bit more resonance.
*shrugs*
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So your entire defense of the story to date is that in your reasoning Statesman has been inconsistently characterised, this is entirely reasonable and logical to have happen? That's incredibly weak as an argument. It wouldn't be hard to go to the Top Cow comics, the novels, the other canon sources of Statesman and find signs of his intelligence and experience. And you're assuming (without any evidence, I note) that Statesman doesn't know who Wade is when he calls him by name before the trap is sprung. |
Originally Posted by Doctor_Minerva
I don't believe it is. I think the salient point is not that he's encountered magical means to end his life more than once, but that he's survived them.
Statesman's characterization has been all over the place in the eight years of the franchise, and I don't think he's ever been portrayed as a particularly subtle thinker. (Wasn't he the guy who knocked down two Rikti dropships over residential zones before he figured out he wanted to do it over the river?) It seems unlikely that he would have been aware of the events of WWD#4, since he was probably off looking for the punk who killed his daughter. There's not a lot to tie the events of the arc together at this point and it's not unreasonable to assume that it looked like an isolated incident. I would think that he would have expected a trap, just not a trap capable of killing him from some punk he'd never heard of prior to a week ago. |
Again, this is retroactive reasoning to try and make the story work. The story doesn't fit the facts. I'm looking at what we see on the screen, and it runs contrary to even the most basic facts we know consistently about Statesman. The very fact that you say he survived magical attempts on his life speaks of experience with that very phenomenon! Or are we going to devolve into an argument because of prior characterisation that suggests that he might not be that smart, he hasn't remembered and learned? Seriously. I said before even the most neophyte hero could see that trap a mile away, so unless Statesman has a death wish and walks into the trap knowingly and willingly, or is so incapable of seeing that Wade has actual power at this point, it beggars common sense that Statesman can't work out something is up, even if he doesn't know the details.
Arguing mischaracterisation yet then saying 'according to this characterisation...' is defeating your own argument. That's a selective cherry picking of the character to try and argue the point...or guess what...? Fill in the gaps of the story that the story fails to do. I'm staggered you're trying to argue that.
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Originally Posted by Doctor_Minerva
I don't think we've been given enough consistent characterization about Statesman to infer what he'd do in a given situation. I think if someone tried to sum him up in a single phrase like you did with Batman and Superman above, someone else would be able to to refute with evidence from within the game alone, to say nothing of the stuff in the comics and the novels.
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I'm sorry to say this to you in this thread, and I apologise as it's not personally directed at you, but I am sick and tired of either a biased view towards the character that deems Statesman incapable of even the most basic common sense or experience, and more importantly one that deems Darren Wade to be a genius planner and schemer when time and again (and this must be the sixth or seventh time I've said it) the scheme is unrealistically perfect by any reasonable standard. It's frankly ridiculous to laud his planning for contingencies and utter understanding of his opponents when even as people are playing it, they are (for the sake of advancing the story only) forgoing their characters and their own basic common sense to enable yet another cutscene event that ever-so-conveniently prevents them being able to do anything about it.
This is not planning, this is railroad scriptwriting. Please, please show me how our fighting impossible to account for variables like the minions in Cimerora that prevent us getting to Statesman on time, the exact timing of being present just to see Miss Liberty die, the complete defiance of reason that makes us desert an obvious target in Sister Psyche so Manticore can be so 'expertly' manipulated to kill her (not to mention forgoing any thought of a non-lethal solution) and so much more is some kind of genius planning. Not even Nemesis gets it this good this often. The implausibility just mounts up beyond reasonable standards.
And I'd briefly respond to the suggestion that Sister Psyche mind-controls Manticore to shoot the arrow and free Aurora...are we having another character tire of their life and end it because they're guilt or angst ridden? Honestly, it flabbergasts me that we seem to be thinking so little of the NPC's we claimed to think at least something decently of.
At the moment, I'm wondering if there's not a wave of self-entitlement going on that demands we be just so much better than the NPC's....
S.
Part of Sister Flame's Clickey-Clack Posse
Well, it... wasn't as stupid as I was expecting from the loading screens. The trap by Wade made sense in context. The whole "Manticore has to shoot Psyche to stop everyone from being killed-!" felt a bit like a retread of the comics, but I guess not everyone has read those.
After the brief "actual emotional reaction" of SSA5, my interest has fallen back to "not painful to read" levels.
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Just to pick a nit - the cut scene at the end of blueside episode one, where Wade says he has another obelisk hidden from Alastor, is a "vision of a distant land" forced into the PCs mind by the explosion of the obelisk.
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Originally Posted by JKPhage
The player characters don't know that there are other Obelisks. Only Wade and Malaise knew that, and it's never been said to the hero characters. THAT'S a big plot hole for me.
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"Trust me, it worked in the Simpsons." - Calash
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It is longer and a bit more satisfying....but I honestly can't find a point of reconciliation in Manticore killing Psyche. I've never personally seen a single instance in the game where knocking someone out doesn't turn off their powers, and we're still left with a Psyche who, apparently like Statesman before her, is angst-ridden to the point of death. |
Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
Have played the arc now a couple times (both hero and villain side). As with all things, my first thought was "How would I re-do the cutscene?" (Especially to help the story make more sense...)
My hero version is this, with a couple slight changes to mission 3. (Villain version still needs work...) a) Numina is there to conduct the ritual, as the magical member of the Freedom Phalanx (and a member of the Midnight Squad). Manticore is there because Psyche's his wife, Penny is there just in case "Aurora" tries any shenanigans at the last second, the hero is there in case Wade pulls some stunt. b) The urn is already there, and a clue found indicates it's meant as a psychic repository. [NUMINA BEGINS THE RITUAL, PSYCHE IS ON THE ALTAR, MANTICORE, PENNY, AND THE HERO ARE NEARBY. THEN...] [PSYCHE ON THE ALTAR] Psyche: My powers... no... NO-! [NUMINA REACTS AS PSYCHE THROWS HER HEAD BACK AND SCREAMS] Numina: What the...? [MANTICORE LOOKS AT HER] Manticore: What's wrong? [NUMINA LOOKING UP AT PSYCHE] Numina: The ritual... it's... it's pushing her powers out of control! [HERO REACTS] Hero: What?! [NUMINA, MANTICORE, PENNY, AND THE HERO ALL GRAB THEIR HEADS] Everyone: AAGGHH! [SHOT CHANGES TO PARAGON CITY EXTERIOR - CIVILIANS EVERYWHERE ARE IN AGONY] [ANOTHER SHOT OF PARAGON - MS LIBERTY IN AGONY] [ANOTHER SHOT OF PARAGON - INSIDE PHALANX HEADQUARTERS, SYNAPSE, POSITRON, BAB, ARE DOUBLED OVER WHILE CITADEL LOOKS ON HELPLESSLY] [PENNY YIN CONCENTRATES (TWO-HANDED CASTING/HEALING MOVE)] Penny: I can... do this! [NUMINA, MANTICORE, PENNY, AND THE HERO ARE GASPING FOR BREATH, BUT PSYCHE IS STILL SCREAMING] Psyche and Aurora both: AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!! [PENNY GASPING] Penny: I did it! I'm shielding us! [MANTICORE LOOKS AT NUMINA] Manticore: Stop the ritual! [NUMINA SHAKES HER HEAD] Numina: I can't... [CUT TO SHOT OF AN ARTIFACT SOMEWHERE DEEP IN ORANBEGA - IT'S SURROUNDED BY THE BODIES OF THORNS - AS WELL AS TYRKA'S BODY] Numina: It's being empowered by something here in Oranbega... [HERO LOOKS AROUND] Hero: Oh, no... [SHOT OF PARAGON, CIVILIANS STILL IN AGONY] [PENNY STOMPS HER FOOT] Penny: There's gotta be SOMETHING we can do! [CUT TO PSYCHE ON THE ALTAR] Psyche: Justin... [MANTICORE SHAKES HIS HEAD BUT IS SILENT] [HERO LOOKS AT MANTICORE] Hero: What if we knock her out? [PENNY SHAKES HER HEAD] Penny: Then Wade will take over her mind completely! [NUMINA LOOKS UP AT PSYCHE] Numina: Shalice, mind-ride out of there... use Penny... HERONAME... Justin... but GET OUT OF THERE! [PSYCHE STILL SCREAMING] Psyche: I can't... Aurora... I'm... sorry... [DIFFERENT CLOSEUP OF PSYCHE] Aurora: NO-! [THE URN GLOWS BRIEFLY THEN BACK TO PSYCHE] Psyche: Justin... please... [MANTICORE REACTS] Manticore: No! [BACK TO PSYCHE] Psyche: You must! [MANTICORE REACTS] Manticore: I'm not killing you! [CLOSEUP OF PSYCHE] Psyche: PLEASE! [HERO LOOKS AT MANTICORE] [PENNY LOOKS AT MANTICORE] [NUMINA LOOKS AT MANTICORE] [MANTICORE LOOKS DOWN AT HIS HANDS, THEN DRAWS THE BOW AND NOCKS IT] [CLOSE UP OF HIS FACE] Manticore: Shalice... [MANTICORE FIRES] [LIGHT FLARES OVER THE ALTAR, THEN THE WHOLE SCENE GOES BLACK FOR A MOMENT, THEN...] [IN PARAGON CITY, PEOPLE ARE RECOVERING] [INSIDE PHALANX HEADQUARTERS, THE PHALANX RECOVERS] Synapse: It's stopped... [ANOTHER ANGLE OF THE HEROES] Positron: But at what cost? [BACK IN ORANBEGA, LOOKING DOWN FROM ABOVE, MANTICORE AND THE REST ARE KNEELING AROUND PSYCHE'S BODY] Manticore: Shalice... [FADE TO BLACK] It's longer, I admit... but I think it'd tie up a lot of loose ends, and give it a bit more resonance. *shrugs* Michelle aka Samuraiko/Dark_Respite |
It paints the worst image of her I can imagine and never once suggests (and consistently with the character, even though she's able to put Aurora in an urn) that she's heroically capable of saving her own life or overcoming the obstacle that is Wade's ritual. She's left looking weak and incapable, and that seems to be a constant them of this story which has continued to diminish my faith in the writing of this arc and of the game generally.
S.
Part of Sister Flame's Clickey-Clack Posse
Quote:
The Self Destruct power from the Cyborg pack goes off even if the user gets knocked out before the countdown finishes.|
Originally Posted by SuperOz
I've never personally seen a single instance in the game where knocking someone out doesn't turn off their powers, and we're still left with a Psyche who, apparently like Statesman before her, is angst-ridden to the point of death.
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Besides, the plot writers have never been concerned with in-game power mechanics before; I don't think that can be used as a justification for what can and can't happen.
Quote:
I've seen several people ask this one, but I think the answer is quite obvious. Aurora doesn't want to take Psyche's place.|
Originally Posted by 2short2care
It also sucks that they are having Yin take Psyche's place, at least that is what it looks like to me and probably alot of people, why wouldn't Aurora just take Psyche's place??? I really hope I am not the only one who has all these questions.
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The Phalanx may get all the press, but they aren't the only game in town. Aurora is already a Vindicator, likely has friends in that group she doesn't want to leave, and is part of a team that works well together. I doubt that the Vindicators consider themselves a "lesser" group than the Phalanx, so she wouldn't see it as a promotion.
Plus, Ms. Liberty created Longbow to hold the idiot ball for them, so the Vindicators don't have to do it themselves.
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