#the second ascension does not fit with sabers design at all but it’s not the worst | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

emperorbubblegum · 2 years

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Alright so I just finished Shimousa in preparation for Heian-Kyo, so here's a longer-than-usual post about my thoughts on it. I think I'm gonna do this everytime I beat a story chapter actually.

Oh and, obligitory spoiler warning. Go play Shimousa if you don't want to be spoiled, especially if you've finished Olympus and are waiting patiently for LB5.5 like me.

First off is the story itself, which I actually liked a lot. I haven't finished Shinjuku or Agartha so take this with a grain of salt, but I think this is the second best Epic of Remnant chapter. Or at the very least my second favorite. It felt very anime-cliche, with the basic summary being "Main character gets transported to another world and has to defeat the guy commanding all the evil demons" but I like that sort of stuff so it doesn't bother me. The twist that Yagyu was the Saber of Empiero was a genuine shock to me, or it would of been if I hadn't been spoiled. Oh yeah, speaking of shocks, I lost my shit when it revealed that Amakusa was the Sorcerer. I know the shaded out sprites has been criticized as stupid, but I'm used to his Apocrypha design. So the entire time I thought he was a new NPC and not just an ascension I didn't recognize. I was so hyped for seeing who this new, unknown figure was than when he turned out to be someone I already knew I flipped.

The bossfights were kind of... eh. They weren't too difficult, and I liked the challenge of being forced to use Musashi. I think it worked for this chapter better than it did for, say, LB5.2 (go fuck yourself Demeter). Once I beat Solomon I focused on this chapter so I could get the True Name of Paraiso, since she was my first non-tutorial 4*. I didn't play it again until after Olympus so Orion made a lot of the bossfights really trival (as he does for everything pre-lostbelt). The final fight being a 1v1 between Kojirou and Musashi was really hype though. I think that was my favorite fight.

I've already talked about how Vegas caused me to heavily dislike Musashi, and she did grow on me during Olympus, but this chapter made me really like her. Which is good, because Miyamoto Musashi is one of my favorite historical figures and it'd be a shame if the version we see of him in Fate was unlikeable, even if it's not our Musashi. Everything that I found obnoxious about her in Summer 4 was somehow likeable in Shimousa, and I don't know if that because of writers or the fact that this was a serious chapter and not a gag event, but it makes Musashi one of my favorite Sabers (that list isn't very long though tbf).

Unlike Musashi, I loved Kotarou in Summer 4, so seeing him have actual story significance was really exciting for me. I knew where his arc with Danzo was headed, but it was still sad for me to watch him struggle with it. I'm definitely going to put some levels into him once I have exp to spare.

Paraiso didn't have too big of a part to play, but this is probably one of the only times I'll get to talk about her, so whatever. I really like Paraiso. Partly because I've had her since I started playing, and partly because I feel like she's the only one of the Heroic Spirit Swordmasters whose lore fit the themes of the Heroic Spirit Swordmasters. Inshun, Raikou, and Shuten all hd their spirit origins tampered with, Yagyu's a dick, and I honestly don't remember Tomoe's arc. But Paraiso, to me, embodied the idea of a Heroic Spirit who's been cursed with evil blood. And I like that. Her design's also really cool but if I went off about her anymore this post would devolve from my thoughts organized into text to just insane ramblings about my first true Servant.

Danzo's also worth noting because I feel like her character arc is very similar to Altera's, seeing as they both struggle between doing what's right and doing what they're made to do. Obviously, since Altera got her own game I feel like her's was done better, but Danzo's still spoke to me the same way Altera's did. Plus how can you go wrong with a robot waifu? It's too bad I already have Paraiso, otherwise I'd roll for her on her next banner.

Muramasa's up next on the list of things I want to talk about. I feel like most people either love or hate Pseudo-servants, but I'm kind of ambivalent towards them. I like Muramasa as a historical figure so it was really cool seeing him in Fate. I thought it was cool how they paired a renowned swordmaker of history with a renowned swordmaker of Fate lore. Actually I think he'd actually be worse off as a character if he wasn't a Shirouface (even though I hate that term) especially with Rasputin possessing Kirei and them working together in Part 2, but that's a topic for another day. My only problem with him is that whenever he popped on screen it distracted me from the dialogue because Shirou is fucking ripped. I can't wait for him to come to NA.

Amakusa's the final thing I have thoughts on regarding this chapter, even though it's mostly because I'm an idiot. Seeing this version of Amakusa, who survived Shimabara and was driven to hatred and madness as a result, really sent home the parallels between him and Jeanne, which is something that flew over my head during Apocrypha becuase I didn't know who Amakusa really was. I have a personnal connection to villains whose motive is that the being they had a stronger-than-average belief in something (be it a god, king, or system) that ended up failing them. It's why I like Jalter and Gilles as much as I do. So seeing another one of those in this already amazing chapter made me like it even more.

In short, Salem will always be my favorite chapter from Part 1.5, but Shimousa is definitely a close second. It's such a shame that such a great and important chapter is just made optional, even though I get why they did it. The characters were great, the story was right up my alley, and the boss fights were really fun.

#fgo #fate grand order

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