u/TLSpark

I have a LOT of opinions about the Ordeal Calls that I could easily rant about for several paragraphs, but because this is a comment about one in particular, I'll just boil it down to-

I love every single one of them and don't really get the hate surrounding them all that much, but also I kind of do?

I've always looked at them as an examination of the Extra classes, of what they are and why they're (Potentially) dangerous to rely on as servants, which is the ENTIRE reason for the OCs being needed at all, but most people look at them and think "These aren't advancing the plot in any meaningful way. War crimes? World Building? Who fucking cares about this filler shit" and call it a day without even bothering to read into the deeper meaning of anything beyond the boobs bouncing boobily in their faces.

But the concepts explored in each one of these are just so GOD DAMN COOL that I just can't get over how people just... keep ignoring them all outside of the one so far (Being OC2 because of, IMO, Jalter being in it... and that Avengers are cool as shit).

Like OC1 doesn't feel like it has much impact on anything, I get that, but come on! An AI that wants to save humanity by putting servants in a GIANT CENTRIFUGE to MASS PRODUCE ALTER EGOS for an UNSTOPPABLE ARMY is just such a fucked up thing to even think about, but why NOT do it if Chaldea needs the fire power? The answer, of course, is that it's FUCKED UP, but any Alter Egos that already exist... well, they didn't ask to be made, you know? So it's fine to let them live and yet live, so long as it's their own choice to do so. Oh but hey, they all forgot so I guess it DOESN'T MATTER WHOOPSIE.

No, fuck you. That's not the point. The people who need to remember still do, and because they do they can use what they learned to help them once they get to Finis Chaldea. The Master doesn't because they're a "good person" who doesn't need to justify anything, especially because they've always loved Alter Egos in the first place and doesn't quite get why they could be dangerous. But Sion does... for some reason. And also Kama, I guess

And OC2... everyone loves OC2, but the deeper themes it asks of how far a person could go, or even should go, for the people they love... even if it's to get revenge for their murder... A berserker destroys everything around them because they're mad and aren't in control of their bodies, usually... but an Avenger destroys everything by choice. They want to help the Master, but they don't want to hurt them either... god, I could gush, but I don't want to rant longer than I already have about a chapter people already like.

With that said, OC3... good lord I had fun with it.

OC3, or the Moon Cancer chapter, was, by far, the most ambitious, and most fun, chapter of the bunch thus far... at the complete cost of Summer 9. This is a valid critique honestly and I'd be remiss to just hand wave it away just because I liked how it led into the OC itself.

I enjoy world building, a LOT, and Summer 9 did a fantastic job of setting things up with introducing characters so they wouldn't just spontaneously "Show up, so a few lines, and vanish" like they'd do in early Year 1, as well as explaining the different districts of Dubai which helped to skip past such world building in the OC itself... but yeah it could've done it so much better as well.

A common notion is that they could've done this better if there was, you know, an actual story centered in the event as opposed to just general touristy things, but unfortunately we know why they didn't do exactly that... and it's simply because, as admitted by the devs themselves (supposedly, I don't have a link to the articles) they didn't have time. They put ALL of their eggs into writing the OC itself that the summer event kind of... fell to the way side at some point, which is unfortunate...

WHICH is why I just rolled with OC3 being an extension of Summer 9 AND the Ordeal Call at the same time instead of whining that Summer 9 wasn't entertaining enough. I ended up having a LOT more fun with that mentality instead of bemoaning not getting enough swimsuit action, which is a stupid reason to hate the chapter in general anyway.

The chapter itself was fun too as it went absolutely ham with the nonsense at every god damn turn. Mad AIs worshipping an even madder Astolfo simply because he's cute, and then getting stomped to pieces, several times, by a giant, Edison getting a ridiculous costume on top of being an Alter who had even LESS qualms about abusing labor laws somehow, a GIANT CAKE SHOP, and all of the GOD damn bunny motifs that were NEVER EXPLAINED simply because they're on the moon. Not to mention a freaking amusement park run by a vampire princess.

ALL of this is just... classic summer event nonsense. How do people NOT see that?

And fuck man, the themes explored about Moon Cancers too.

The Moon Cancer class has always been weird, even by normal Extra Class standards. It's connected to Rulers, mediators of Order in times of potential disaster, and Avengers, arbiters of Chaos who burn the unjust to ash to reclaim the status quo. Moon Cancers, though... are something else... but being connected to Order and Chaos like this... they must be something between... or something else altogether.

The chapter explores this nebulous class by summoning several of them and pitting them against each other, along with them trying to justify a means for the extinction of humanity. This marks them as villains from the get go... and yet, one of them is, literally, our very own Jinako who thoroughly opposes the entire debate. simply by Jinako existing as a participant, it throws into question the point of the entire election, which is the point of course.

We have mad bunnies going mad simply because they can, Robots embracing their inhumanity and becoming a military complex, an amusement park that's completely abandoned, save for hundreds of copies of the same person. They're all unique and interesting, but each of them fall one by one... simply because they're obstacles to be beaten and left behind. This is because of gameplay naturally, and they have to be beaten anyway, but it's also more given the final boss...

And it's not because Moon Cancers are weird... it's because Moon Cancers ARE MEANT TO BE OBSTACLES.

The Final Boss, the "True" Moon Cancer, is exactly that. It is an entity that is meant to be an obstacle for Humanity to overcome. More specifically, it is an obstacles CREATED by humanity BECAUSE it CAN'T, humanity REFUSING to go beyond what they've accomplished. This humanity created god damn LIFE, an Archetype of a newer, more advanced species, and REFUSED to acknowledge it had done that, and thus the Moon Cancer was born.

The idea that humanity is the most superior beings in the universe has always been arrogant. If we keep believing that, then if we DO meet alien life then that arrogance will be a fast track to inevitable war and our potential extinction as a species. This thought process is, in itself, a CANCER that will eat away at our collective psychs and diminish our understanding about our place in the universe. This cancer extends to how we dream of traveling the stars beyond our own world, which would be an impressive feat for any civilization, but how arrogant do you think it is that we dream of space travel... when we haven't even colonized our nearest neighbor, the moon?

The idea that we think ourselves the most superior beings in the galaxy while not having conquered our moon... THAT is the true nature of the Moon Cancer. The AIs of this chapter already conquered the moon... but their refusal to acknowledge that humanity maybe aren't the most important special boys in the universe even after having created GOD DAMN LIFE is what set the Moon Cancer off on them in the end.

On top of the fact that the damn thing manifested as a positively gigantic being with a shattered halo and what appears to be wings in it's Noble Phantasm (That you're forced to see several times in it's battle mind you) is fascinating... it's almost like an angel...

Slightly related note, Anyone remember what happened to Daybit?

If angels in this universe are manifestations of other species desires to be the superior race and were merely mistaken as "Angels" here on Earth then... god, that's some potentially fire world building if it is at all relevant to Finis Chaldea... but that's just pure speculation right there as someone who never follows JP news.

I've ranted long enough. All of this is to say that I love this OC and the previous ones way too much to just... hand wave them as "useless filler". Not to mention it's incredibly rude to the writers.

Many of the critiques are valid though, I'll give you that.

The Fae, in general, are... interesting, to say the least, and Fate's depiction of them makes that far more apparent than I was willing to admit until long after I finished LB6.

I think the core idea of a fae, in Fate anyway, and loosely the real world stories too, depending on the story, is that they "Believe everything told to them", IE: They can't lie because everything they believe is the "Truth".

Meaning, if someone tells them "X is a good thing, Y is a bad thing" they'll believe it to the point of actively attacking Y and loving X as if it were perfect. BUT, if someone, anyone really, especially if it was a person they respect, told them the opposite suddenly... that "X is actually bad, and Y is actually good"...

Not only would they not even question this new "Truth" they'd then have all the incentive they need to attack the person who "Lied" to them in the first place.

Ironically, it's the one true "Truth" of Fae creatures. They are truly innocent in the sense that they see no wrong in anything they do, but are also capable of monstrous things all the same.

At least, that's how I see LB6.

Long story short, it has to do with why Novum Chaldea can't go back to Antarctica. The barrier wall there is created by the vestiges of Humanity on the Bleached Earth as a direct consequence to Chaldea using Extra classes so brazenly across the Lostbelts.

Extra classes shouldn't exist by normal means, and using them at all as weapons is seen as a sin. Chaldea did, after all, wipe out the 7 Lostbelts, 7 different versions of humanity, using them along with Proper servants. To Humanity, Proper servants are heroes and anti-heroes meant to protect the world... but an Extra class, save maybe for the Ruler class specifically, are twisted versions of those same heroes.

In practice, it makes no sense really, why would using Extra classes be a sin? Well, that's what the Ordeal Calls are meant to explore.

Ordeal Call 1 showed and explained that Alter Egos are similar to Alters in the sense that they're alternate personalities of existing people and servants, but unlike Alters, who are like dark reflections of a person, but with all their memories in tact, an Alter Ego is a person who's, effectively, been lobotomized and transformed into a completely new person, which is frankly awful to think about out of context. The story asked us if we're willing to use a means to Mass Produce Alter Egos of servants to create an army of servants to take back our world, even at the cost of creating dozens of innocent people just to throw into the meat grinder that is war.

The Master of Chaldea said no, but that any Alter Egos created shouldn't be blamed for their birth, and so Humanity agreed and allowed the Extra Classes to stay at Novum Chaldea.

Ordeal Call 2, on the other hand, deals with Avengers, and thoroughly explains just what they are. They are vengeance and fire and death incarnate. They are a danger to all who they deem enemies, and are worse than even Berserkers, for while a Berserker loses their mind and have no control against the objects of their hatred, Avengers willingly choose to go mad in an effort to destroy their foes.

Or that's what they are in concept. As the chapter then showed, Avengers are also multi-faceted individuals who can love just as much as hate. They are just as much a person as an Alter Ego from OC1... but again, there in lies the difference.

Alter Egos are victims of circumstance.

Avengers... always choose to become who and what they are.

And so, rather than let Novum Chaldea, and more importantly their Master, choose to bring them or not to the final battle, regardless of the risks (Slim as they are), they have seemingly chosen to leave of their own accord to spare them the decision. And Humanity is fine to let them do that.

It's bullshit.

But it was their own choice.

And this entire comment is too damn long for what was meant to be a short explanation. Sorry about that. I guess I got opinions of my own.

(Oh right, and Pretenders aren't getting their own chapter as they're an unlock from the second presidential quest. I think it's because Pretenders are considered to be Proper servants because they're only pretending to be different servants instead. Maybe. Make of that what you will I suppose)

Christ it's only been a few days and there's already so much fan art and comics like this.

I love it XD

Just as a note, you should probably mention that the Path of Life event rather explicitly spoils elements from Lone Trail and Chapter 14. The In-Game timeline points this out too, but I completely misunderstood what the connections meant until it was far too late.

Great guide otherwise though! It's been a big help!

Gotta love my boy Coustwell. He was my first mecha that I played with in this franchise.

Moondwellers did him dirty though. If there IS another game in the OG saga, then I really hope he gets more of the limelight.

I know what you're asking here, but to be fair she's still the first "Proper" boss fight in the game considering she has the first Milli song given to us. If the devs wanted to "Re-balance" her fight for modern IDs then they'd probably only up her resistances somewhat/improve her healing.

Also, the battle itself is designed for IDs who are, at max, Lvl 30, which I'm pretty sure is the level cap before finishing Canto 3, so that's another thing to keep in mind for balancing reasons.

Not that this game is incredibly balanced, I know, but even so.

They got no Bones

STRIKE OUT THE SUN!

Personally I'd like to try to save for Haru and... probably only for her if I'm gonna be honest. I already played hard into the meta of two other gacha games and I've long dropped one of them. Rolling while the game is in a state of controversy is also probably not a good idea.

Does this mean I'm going to be passing up a good chunk of good/great characters?

Obviously yes

Will I keep playing until Haru even releases?

Probably not

I think the game is fun in itself, but until the gacha situation is resolved somehow, I think I'll hold onto my mats.

Or I'll break immediately and roll for Queen/Fox. Who knows.

That sounds like a good plan.

Thanks for the advice!

On this sub-reddit's recommendation I got Ann as my free 5*, and then I rolled in the golden ticket banner and got her again.

Once I finish Plan 1, should I get a third copy of Ann for A2, or go for someone else? I'm thinking on getting Skull personally.

Metaphor would be peak. Hell there's a P5 reference as a low key important plot device in it!

Even if it's only Will, I would love that. Metaphor is one of my recent faves. It's Archetype system of advancement is really interesting and has a foundation that can easily be expanded on if they make more.

Oh great. I was hoping they wouldn't accelerate events to play "Catch up with the main server". Accelerated release schedules tend to burn people out real fast, I prefer FGO's style of keeping the global EN server perpetually 2 years out from the JP server so avoid exactly that, but eh what do I know.

Maybe it won't be too bad. I've managed to play pretty consistently so far at least.

I'm only hoping to get Haru eventually anyway.

Haru. Basically only her XD

Honestly, ever since I played through V and got my first impressions of the HD animations... followed up by playing through 30, It makes sense (To me) that reusing older animations in favor of making new ones every single time just makes sense.

If you don't like that though, then think of it this way:

1. Having more stock animations just means they'll further improve them more and more over time, making every subsequent game now and in the future of much higher quality (Probably)

OR

1. Not everyone is going to be as interested in playing the older games as those of us who've gone out of our way to emulate them/getting an over seas English copy. This means that Y just might be someone's first SRW game... like, ever.

So yeah, they're reusing animation bases from other games. Makes sense budget-wise and the animations are still kick ass anyway, so no complaints from me.

With that said, you can't tell me that they didn't use 30 as an excuse to make as many base animation assets as they could for future titles. Some of the enemies only have one attack for crying out loud!. Fingers crossed that there's some more variety in Y in spite of the above XD

It's entirely possible we'll get more units. I mean, 30 has a TON of shows, which makes sense because it's a celebration of all things mecha, but with the benefit of already having animations for the units we DID get in 30 (As well as a smaller roster) we could see at least a few more. Hell, they could even bring back some older units from the series too just because they can, like some of the other Knight units for example. Been way too long since I've seen anything Code Geass to name anything except the Lancelot though.

Only enough to get pity once, so a whopping 200 and done. I'm gonna save until the crossover event, just in case, especially as I have enough crates to shard the IDs I want/new IDs that come out later.

Still though, the temptation to roll for the new IDs for the current event... can I really wait a week? I hope FOMO doesn't hurt me too bad here XD

I have yet to get Lunar Memory ONCE since I started playing this game. I have managed to get all of the tier 4 Burn gifts in one run once though, so that was fun.

I have backstories for like... five of mine so far and I'm not willing to make more... but somehow I will I just know it.

One of them I've nicknamed "Sweet Baby Ray" as she was my first nugget I turned into a Captain when I didn't even know what that was. She's been a staple in my facilities ever since. Knowing my luck, she'll be the first to die during the final days.

I got Nelly with a 1000 flat burn trigger and frankly haven't managed anything higher than that yet.

Watching Full stop Heath casually get 300 or so crit damage on hit though... it's a beautiful thing I swear.

GOD these are amazing

Holy crap Geronimo getting a Rank up at last.

It's only been 7 years since-

Oh wait this is from JP side... er...

9 years since launch.

(For Real though, if they're finally working on his skills then he'll be seeing at LEAST 2-3 more rank ups, depending on what they decide to do with him. Having skill cooldown on him as a three star is still cool given that such a thing only exists on a mystic code and 5* servants to varying degrees. It can open him up to becoming a rather versatile support servant for the future... if they keep up the trend anyway)

EDIT: For the record I think I figured it out. I'm pretty sure it's Nox's Ads that end up creating a bunch of data in the backend of an instance. Over time it collects and eventually fills up all the instance's artificial storage. And you can't delete it for SOME REASON.

I ended up just transferring my data to my phone. It's much better than my previous phone and the game runs MUCH smoothly now, so this ended up being a good thing. I'm so glad I set up a transfer code and saved it in a separate place before this... otherwise I would have lost everything...

I use Nox Player to emulate the game on my laptop. Somehow I've run out of internal storage space in Nox and the game will not update, let alone launch.

Does anyone know how to increase Nox Internal Storage space? FGO and FGA are the only other apps I run in this thing.

EDIT: Right, so I looked at my instance's internal storage again and found that the "Other" file is COMPLETELY FULL and is what's EATEN MOST OF THE STORAGE. But when I open it to try to remove whatever the fuck has filled it up, IT CLAIMS THERE IS NOTHING THERE Except for the FGA stuff, which I doubt is what's causing this nonsense. I am LIVID and CONFUSED.