Alisha's Story
Blog Entry: Alisha's Story
Blog Entry: Alisha's Story
Initially, I thought Alisha's story was about what happened to her during the game, rather than after. I always thought it was odd that there were weapons for Alisha in several towns after she leaves the party. She does temporarily join later, but running all over the world during that time isn't exactly what the game encourages you to do. You can also use those items in her story, but still, this all hints at what people had been saying: that Alisha was at some stage planned to be playable through most of the game. It would have been nice to keep her as an option. For the protagonist to have to be in the party at all times is understandable, though not required in all Tales games, yet it fits the plot, but it would make sense to have more squires. It could have even served to show Sorey's growth as a shepherd if he could have more squires. That aside, on to my thoughts on the actual story, spoilers lay ahead.
Alisha's Story is rather short, it limits the areas that can be visited to those that need to be visited, save for some minimal optional stuff, and takes away several features from the game, such as the seraphim's elemental powers that could be used outside of battle and save point teleportation. It's a bit disappointing, but there is an in game reason for this, I did say that there would be spoilers. Since Sorey is sleeping to purify the land, Rose is the new shepherd and doesn't have the same powers as Sorey. They don't say if she can obtain them, the game doesn't last that long. Alisha gets a new outfit with the poor excuse that she is to act as bait, but really, she dresses as a knight more often, so wouldn't the princess outfit make her less recognizable? None the less, there's also an in game explanation for this, the dress was Rose's idea and she's assuming Alisha is more princessy than she is.
Before I go into why Alisha is awesome, I'm going to addresses the shocking fact that the story lessened my dislike for Rose, which I did not expect. My main critique to her character in the main game was the contradictions that seemed to surround her and how she wasn't called out on them. The icing on the cake was a scene where she said something about killing being wrong, about a character who didn't turn into a hellion despite the shady business because he thought he was justified, thus it was about taking justice into his own hands rather than malevolence... like a certain Scattered Bones assassin. While Rose is pickier with her targets and a better strategist when it comes to discerning the greater good, that is nothing but a point of view that holds only as much value as the point of view she criticized. The fact that I think she's better at discerning the greater good doesn't make her point of view any more valuable either, because that's just my point of view, not a justification in the world of the story.
I thought I would dislike Rose more, since she was mean Alisha, not because Alisha is one of my favorites, but because she was mean. She refused to tell Alisha of Sorey's fate, leaving her to wonder if he was dead, in a way that seemed almost resentful. Alisha insisted on getting some answers and tried to make peace way more than I would have in her shoes, to the point where I was starting to wonder if she was being diplomatic or wimpy. Then when Alisha finally figures things out, it all comes out in the open. How Rose simply doesn't know Alisha, they never traveled together up until that point, and Rose admits to not considering her a comrade for being all that she's not, a high society girl and all that. Yet we know Alisha is so much more. When Alisha called her out for being "cruel," Rose finally admitted it, like it was all rooted in prejudice against a princess, just for being a princess.
Yes, this did introduce more flaws to Rose's character, or rather bring out what wasn't explored much before, but the part that made me dislike her less was the fact that she was called out on it and came to terms with it. It made her less of a walking contradiction of serious and carefree, and rationalized her changes in behavior according to the situation by pointing out how inadequate she feels in certain situations and elaborating on what she does to handle that. This story took off her mask so to speak and I have to say, she was better off not wearing it. I still don't like her, but I have a far better understanding on where she's coming from why she acts the way she does. It took Alisha figuring that out to make me figure it out.
Now for the main girl of the tale, Ali-chan! We got more of Alisha being stubborn, the princess knight just doesn't give up and remains loyal to her friends through the story. She learns from her frustrations at the beginning quickly and changes tactics accordingly, though not before some hilarious antics. We also see more of her accumulating stress and her character arc leads her to overcome the overwhelming situations and find her determination to do her part in helping Sorey purify the world. I still like the blue knight outfit best, so I had her wear that instead of the new dress.
I got lots of screenshots, though none of my OTP since Sorey is in a coma and all. Ali-chan also had some adorable moments that are so cliche yet so hilarious. My favorite 'Ali learns about the world' moment were the ones with Etna, such as when Etna summarizes what has been going on and my number one scene from the whole story, Etna telling Alisha about slumber parties (and the dreaded Pi-Loh monster battles!)
Overall, the story was short, the areas were places I've seen before, save for the last dungeon, and a lot of time was spent in a cave. Neither the cave nor the final dungeon had a particularly interesting design, but I did like the scene with Ali and Simone, dare I say those two might become friends if given the opportunity. Simone seemed shocked at how friendly Ali was willing to be to her, despite the illusion she initially sends to Ali. The only other thing that stood out was the music in the final dungeon, it wasn't particularly fitting, but that's a good thing, because the dungeon was plain and gray, but the music was so catchy and... sparkly. Just listen to it and you'll hear what I mean.
Alisha's Story is rather short, it limits the areas that can be visited to those that need to be visited, save for some minimal optional stuff, and takes away several features from the game, such as the seraphim's elemental powers that could be used outside of battle and save point teleportation. It's a bit disappointing, but there is an in game reason for this, I did say that there would be spoilers. Since Sorey is sleeping to purify the land, Rose is the new shepherd and doesn't have the same powers as Sorey. They don't say if she can obtain them, the game doesn't last that long. Alisha gets a new outfit with the poor excuse that she is to act as bait, but really, she dresses as a knight more often, so wouldn't the princess outfit make her less recognizable? None the less, there's also an in game explanation for this, the dress was Rose's idea and she's assuming Alisha is more princessy than she is.
Before I go into why Alisha is awesome, I'm going to addresses the shocking fact that the story lessened my dislike for Rose, which I did not expect. My main critique to her character in the main game was the contradictions that seemed to surround her and how she wasn't called out on them. The icing on the cake was a scene where she said something about killing being wrong, about a character who didn't turn into a hellion despite the shady business because he thought he was justified, thus it was about taking justice into his own hands rather than malevolence... like a certain Scattered Bones assassin. While Rose is pickier with her targets and a better strategist when it comes to discerning the greater good, that is nothing but a point of view that holds only as much value as the point of view she criticized. The fact that I think she's better at discerning the greater good doesn't make her point of view any more valuable either, because that's just my point of view, not a justification in the world of the story.
I thought I would dislike Rose more, since she was mean Alisha, not because Alisha is one of my favorites, but because she was mean. She refused to tell Alisha of Sorey's fate, leaving her to wonder if he was dead, in a way that seemed almost resentful. Alisha insisted on getting some answers and tried to make peace way more than I would have in her shoes, to the point where I was starting to wonder if she was being diplomatic or wimpy. Then when Alisha finally figures things out, it all comes out in the open. How Rose simply doesn't know Alisha, they never traveled together up until that point, and Rose admits to not considering her a comrade for being all that she's not, a high society girl and all that. Yet we know Alisha is so much more. When Alisha called her out for being "cruel," Rose finally admitted it, like it was all rooted in prejudice against a princess, just for being a princess.
Yes, this did introduce more flaws to Rose's character, or rather bring out what wasn't explored much before, but the part that made me dislike her less was the fact that she was called out on it and came to terms with it. It made her less of a walking contradiction of serious and carefree, and rationalized her changes in behavior according to the situation by pointing out how inadequate she feels in certain situations and elaborating on what she does to handle that. This story took off her mask so to speak and I have to say, she was better off not wearing it. I still don't like her, but I have a far better understanding on where she's coming from why she acts the way she does. It took Alisha figuring that out to make me figure it out.
Now for the main girl of the tale, Ali-chan! We got more of Alisha being stubborn, the princess knight just doesn't give up and remains loyal to her friends through the story. She learns from her frustrations at the beginning quickly and changes tactics accordingly, though not before some hilarious antics. We also see more of her accumulating stress and her character arc leads her to overcome the overwhelming situations and find her determination to do her part in helping Sorey purify the world. I still like the blue knight outfit best, so I had her wear that instead of the new dress.
I got lots of screenshots, though none of my OTP since Sorey is in a coma and all. Ali-chan also had some adorable moments that are so cliche yet so hilarious. My favorite 'Ali learns about the world' moment were the ones with Etna, such as when Etna summarizes what has been going on and my number one scene from the whole story, Etna telling Alisha about slumber parties (and the dreaded Pi-Loh monster battles!)
Overall, the story was short, the areas were places I've seen before, save for the last dungeon, and a lot of time was spent in a cave. Neither the cave nor the final dungeon had a particularly interesting design, but I did like the scene with Ali and Simone, dare I say those two might become friends if given the opportunity. Simone seemed shocked at how friendly Ali was willing to be to her, despite the illusion she initially sends to Ali. The only other thing that stood out was the music in the final dungeon, it wasn't particularly fitting, but that's a good thing, because the dungeon was plain and gray, but the music was so catchy and... sparkly. Just listen to it and you'll hear what I mean.