Curse

shinja · May 30, 2006, 02:44 AM // 02:44

I just finished Factions for the first time half an hour or so ago, and I was very pleased with the end sequence.

I thought the Raisu battle mission was far more difficult, but I had to do it ...and most of the rest of the game...with henchies because people dont group assassins.

What is cool about the Shiro fight is people actually group assassins...it was kinda easy with real people fighting him, but thats ok...it was not easy getting to him.

So yeah, good job devs

Esprit · May 30, 2006, 02:57 AM // 02:57

I liked the ending too, neat fireworks. Plus, if you ever need a pick me up, just beat Shiro and let the NPCs tell you how super you are.

MoldyRiceFrenzy · May 30, 2006, 03:23 AM // 03:23

i liked the end thing, but i dont understand the story line... i mean Shiro died... ya... but WHY WAS HE EVIL. I mean all it says was he killed the emperor because he thought the emperor was gonna kill him i mean thats not exactly a good reason why it made him evil. It never said, unless i skipped a cutscene. Anyone know why he really became evil?

floppinghog · May 30, 2006, 04:02 AM // 04:02

hes the one that believed the fortune teller after clearly telling her she was speaking nonesense, he became greedy, a power luster, someone who wanted to protect only himself, and slayed the emperor from the back. he was a FOOL in short.
then what did he do when he was dying he consumed the emperor's soul, and caused the jade wind. he becomes an aperition (how do you spell it again?) like the other spirits of great -turned fools people who now guide souls to their destinations. he abused his power, and wanted revenge and wanted to become mortal again - having all that power now what else would he want but to take over the world with his minions of souls bound to his will.

evil enough for you?

so, on topic:
i LOVED the ending, it was A GREAT touch, i can't believe how entertaining it was when i first saw the emperor start dancing, and then the guard captains all laughed at him, and after awhile danced themselves too. fireworks used everything from random colors and light shines, to BEE's yes the BEE's that was only used in pre-searing LOL.... crazy.
no one can say it wasn't cool, because they had every single NPC congratuating you, and they saluted you as you walked by, kneeled to you, bow'ed to you, cheered for you! constantly. i guess no one else say Nika ? she waved and or claped for you i think, but the Guildmaster Luan said "/no" and showed her, he kneeled down to me, and then she did the same. it was interactive. you can't say the ending boring, it was AWESOME!!!!

the credits were a nice touch to set the mood in that you beat the game, that its time to show you who made what you beat. even picked out Alex from the credits, and Gaile, and my fav voice actor - which most of my chars actually use: Steve Blum (you RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing own)

hows that?

VGJustice · May 30, 2006, 05:25 AM // 05:25

After I beat it, I kinda sat back and idled for a bit, talking via whisper to random people, so I got to see the credits when I was all alone. Then, I walked through the palace at my own pace, talking to each of the henchies with my brand spanking new Canthan 15k armor (which is ever so awesome looking) and just basically basking in the praise I was getting from the random passers by. And, I made sure to check up with the heads of both factions, and found that they were already planning at going back to each other's throats, so the story just goes on. And even the emperor was awesome, dancing the night away.

The ending to Prophecies doesn't even hold a candle. Most awesome ending I've seen in a long while. It actually made me feel like I had accomplished something REALLY great, unlike the Prophecies ending.

gg, A.Net.

V-Dragon · May 30, 2006, 05:35 AM // 05:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phoenix Avenger

I like the ending of Factions better than Prophesies as well. My only problem is that the last mission (killing shiro) is so easy :-/ I would have preferred more of a challenge on the last mission.

I agree. I thought the ending was great but defeating Shiro is WAY TOO EASY. I was in a team that was able to beat him under 1min. on my first try.

I wish they had made Shiro as challenging as fighting Kanaxai or Urgoz.

MoldyRiceFrenzy · May 30, 2006, 06:42 AM // 06:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by floppinghog

hes the one that believed the fortune teller after clearly telling her she was speaking nonesense, he became greedy, a power luster, someone who wanted to protect only himself, and slayed the emperor from the back. he was a FOOL in short.
then what did he do when he was dying he consumed the emperor's soul, and caused the jade wind. he becomes an aperition (how do you spell it again?) like the other spirits of great -turned fools people who now guide souls to their destinations. he abused his power, and wanted revenge and wanted to become mortal again - having all that power now what else would he want but to take over the world with his minions of souls bound to his will.

evil enough for you?

wait... where did u find this informaiton out? is it part of the reading section? or in a cutscene or what?

Avarre · May 30, 2006, 07:02 AM // 07:02

It's in the readings, and from what NPCs say/cutscenes.

You're not hunting him on behalf of Cantha for the betrayal, you're hunting him under geas for the Envoys who have you under, basically, unyielding aura the entire time, holding your returned soul as price for your victory.

Also because as an Envoy he stole souls and used them to power the Shiro'ken, interacted beyond rules with the world of the living and '[shirked] his responsibilities as an Envoy'.

I liked the Finale... as for why all the NPCs didn't do anything, you were the only one who could fight his spirit, and when he became mortal you were the only ones around. The NPCs didn't get there until later to hold a celebration

Lexar · May 30, 2006, 09:56 AM // 09:56

I thought it was cheesy. This sort of ending is what you should get after a big challenge, but the campaign was just 13 missions or so, and an easy end-boss, so it's a little over the top compared to the effort it takes to get there.

Guildmaster Cain · May 30, 2006, 10:59 AM // 10:59

Spoiler alert:

I personally found it not surprising at all that Shiro used the emperors half-borther to return, because it had been sais SO MANY times that he was his half-brother. I like it more when I get surprised by storylines. Legacy of Cain anyone?

Anyways, still questions remain:

1) What idiotic demigod decided to go Shiro so much power and make him an envoy, after killing an emperor and destroying half of the known Canthan world?

2) Who is the blind Seeress in Bukdek Byway? I personally think she is some kind of evil being, not unlike Glint, Gwen and Gaile. Probably has a name that starts with G as well. And it is her that made Shiro go evil in the first place. It seems that he always has been a protector of the people before he met her.

3) Will Shiro be back and fight on the side of good next time? He said: I'll be back in a very Arny kind of way during the last cutscene i think.

Denny Pace · May 30, 2006, 11:12 AM // 11:12

I thought that beating Shiro was much easier than some of the missions leading up to this 'climax'. The items available, especially for casters, were nothing special. In fact, they were of such a quality that one might expect to get the wand *and* the off-hand at the same time.

That being said, the town-wide celebration was ok. I especially enjoyed the 'bees'.

floppinghog · May 30, 2006, 06:14 PM // 18:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoldyRiceFrenzy

wait... where did u find this informaiton out? is it part of the reading section? or in a cutscene or what?

uh its in my own words, i actually like the cutscenes of GW's (even ppl that are new don't even watch the story half the time). there were some flashbacks of the fortune teller and Shiro, later on you even watch Shiro kill the emperor or at least everything prior in-game. pretty sweet scene that was. But keep in mind like in the handbook and the book story - no one really does know why Shiro turned evil, or if he went insane.

its also generally known that if you live your life to a fortune teller that you didn't even pay for your fortune the first time, go back for more see if thats true, come again, get angry and kill the son of a B and expect to be sane? lol

When they say evil has returned - they MEAN the evil has showed itself once again, it has come again -> within someone able to do something horrible -kill the emperor cause plague and abuse all the powers he gains.

even if this isn't the place-
someone should pass it on though: faction's cutscenes all have alot of bugs that sometimes cause voice acting to start later than its supposed to, and the action sometimes has bugged, even the camera angle and motion has bugged for me

(most notable: sometimes bugs >> shiro fights Vizu and then chases her)

another is: when i finished rasiu palace my end cutscene bugged, and RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing togo ran onto the throne and just stood there

(i didnt get to watch him die or get stabbed or...whatever actually happened

(this pisses me off ultra big cause you can't watch ending scenes over again unless you beat the mission again </AGGRAVATED>)

floppinghog · May 30, 2006, 06:21 PM // 18:21

did i mention how many times a cutscene became a job to listen to, when there were monsters left alive? FIX THIS

first time i beat shiro i left some shiroken alive and their damn blades totally screwed over any voices to be heard... so lame

Yanman.be · May 30, 2006, 06:47 PM // 18:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guildmaster Cain

I personally think she is some kind of evil being, not unlike Glint, Gwen and Gaile. Probably has a name that starts with G as well.

Oh yeah, Gaile is an NPC!

Markaedw · May 30, 2006, 06:59 PM // 18:59

Factions does have more of a sense of closure, even afterer the 4 titan quests from glint and sorrows furnace golem, there still is no sense of finishing.

In prophecies the king should knight you, honor you, offer the kindom as an heir, some thing that says I beat it, at least give me a freaking medal.

My warrior went straight from the last ring of fire to factions, didn't even finish it.

nohooiam · May 30, 2006, 08:33 PM // 20:33

the factions plot put me into a coma.

only thing i recall from finishing the game are the names toga and shiro.

generik · May 31, 2006, 04:46 AM // 04:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guildmaster Cain

Spoiler alert:

I personally found it not surprising at all that Shiro used the emperors half-borther to return, because it had been sais SO MANY times that he was his half-brother. I like it more when I get surprised by storylines. Legacy of Cain anyone?

It is precisely this bit that I don't understand. Since Togo and Raisu are related only by their mother, it is NOT true that Togo is of the royal line. Absolutely not. FAR FAR from it.

The plot holes in this already pathetic weak story are shocking

VGJustice · May 31, 2006, 06:44 AM // 06:44

***SPOILER ALERT (generik, read this)***

Master Togo was accepted into the royal family, and as such was concidered to be of royal blood. After that, he may as well be royal, despite the fact that he doesn't have any coresponding genes. And, besides, magic spells always have backdoors like that, and magic always translates literally. If, by law, Togo was of the royal line, then it doesn't matter if his parents were from Venus, he's royal blood.

Zorian Direspell · May 31, 2006, 09:53 AM // 09:53

Straight from the manual that came with the game:

"Master Togo: Son of the previous Canthan emporer and his beloved concubine, Yuki ..."

Master Togo is the emporer's son. Kisu and Togo have the same father, different mothers.

Back on topic: I found the ending to be the best part of the game's storyline. Looking back on the storyline, I realized that Factions was more like Final Fantasy than Prophecy ... there was no dark betrayal, no hidden evil or moral grey areas. Instead, it was a straight up GvE fight, with a villain who became such through a conflict of conscience. Very FF, really, right down to the comically inept government figures (the ministry).

Unfortunately, I still feel that the quality of the whole storyline was a bit rushed. There really is no reason that Shiro should have either become an Envoy or as evil as he appeared in present day Cantha. Nor is the motivation of the fortune teller, or of the ancient emporer, really ever revealed. So many threads are left dangling, even at the end, that while the artistry of the finale makes it worthwhile, the plot of the storyline fails.

Kern Wolf · May 31, 2006, 01:30 PM // 13:30

The ending...not bad, not bad....
But a req. 15 sword?!? yuck! I got the aegis, though, but I gues I have to go through the game again, and hope to get one of the better green swords, or get into the elite missons and try my luck there...