Central Fiction Arcade Plot Discussion (spoilers)

[Steve-Fiction]

2 hours ago, Ogiga99 said:

No, duplicates are not created by the time loops. The loops are caused by Phenomenon Intervention which is basically a retcon. It takes events that have happened and make it so that they "never happened," essentially wiping the slate clean. The reason people like Rachel and Terumi can remember is because they are Immune to Intervention. A natural result of making an event never have happened is that no one will remember it but because that Intervention doesn't effect those characters, their memories remain intact. In Slight Hope it is the same Hazama (at an earlier point in the timeline than Makoto is since he is still in CT), which is the only reason he could know who Noel at all since in that timeline she died in Ibukido. It is very important to note that the only exceptions to characters simply bejng reset to an earlier time period are people who fall into the Boundary like the Jin who became Hakumen. The Boundary connects all of time and space so it can do a lot of weird shenanigans, so when Jin fell into the Boundary he popped out on December 31, 2099, the day before the time loops actually began. While the time reset made it so that the events that led to Jin falling into the Cauldron (Wheel of Fortune) were undone, resetting Jin to his default position, the second Jin was outside of the range of Intervention, so his existance as a seperate character became fact. Therefore there are exactly two Jin's, the Jin from CT's True Ending timeline and Hakumen. The same applies to Ragna since there are main timeline Ragna and the Ragna that fused with Nu to become the Black Beast which also arrived before the start of the time loop. Even when we see version's of Ragna and Jin fall into the Cauldron in CT endings they get killed by Take-Mikazuchi before the Black Beast is formed. Long story short, everyone just gets reset to an earlier version, erasing the events that happen to them later. It's basically like reloading a save file.

I have one question left: how exactly is the Continuum Shift different from the timeloops in CT?

[Luminos564]

20 minutes ago, Steve-Fiction said:

I have one question left: how exactly is the Continuum Shift different from the timeloops in CT?

CT are your regular Groundhog Day loops "past events repeat themselves" albeit with varying degrees of change between each one. IIRC, Noel managing to survive the blast is what catapulted the idea that the world could break out of them. Continuum Shift has the cast peering into multiple timelines (or rather, multiple possibilities) from the CT True End starting point. Once more, Noel is the one that plays center stage since she can choose which timeline will be the "canon" one.

[Ogiga99]

3 hours ago, Luminos564 said:

CT are your regular Groundhog Day loops "past events repeat themselves" albeit with varying degrees of change between each one. IIRC, Noel managing to survive the blast is what catapulted the idea that the world could break out of them. Continuum Shift has the cast peering into multiple timelines (or rather, multiple possibilities) from the CT True End starting point. Once more, Noel is the one that plays center stage since she can choose which timeline will be the "canon" one.

Pretty much this except it wasn't Noel surviving that caused the idea (since she did that in the majority of the timelines). What caused the break was her saving Ragna in the True Ending, which averted the previously thought unavoidable idea of "if Ragna goes to the Cauldron, he dies." And even then the true significance of that was it caused Rachel to finally act, and in doing so, end the event that truelly caused the reset and happened in every single timeline (Ragna isn't always the one to make it to Nu and even walks away from the fight in one ending), which is the firing of Take-Mikazuchi. Even though Noel existed hundreds of times, Rachel still believed the loop was sealed by fate. She was still a piece stuck in the loop until she awakened as the Eye in the true ending.

Going back to my save point analogy. Perhaps it might be better to explain like this. CT is a linear game like a classic sidescroller.  You continue along until you reach a boss you can't defeat. Since the game has no way to grind, you can't do anything to improve your chances except reset and try again. There are differences in each playthrough (how many hits you take, where you die, what items/weapons you use and when etc.) but no matter what happens the boss will kill you in the end. CT's true ending would thus be the equivalent of finslly beating that boss and being able to play the rest of the game. On the other hand, CS would be like a Bioware RPG. It has hundreds if not thousands of dialogue options  and choices you can make that change either major or minor events. CT was Amaterasu reloading the one save file and trying again, while CS is Takamagahara (and Terumi) making saves after each and every possible choice the player has and seeing what the outcome is, then deciding whether they like the outcome and either continue on or reset to the previous save. The possibilities based on all the factors and character decisions are almost infinite and CS is showing many of those versions of events that were not desirable until the true ending when Terumi found his ideal route and hijacked Takamagahara, which if you stretch it would be like erasing every other save file except that one. I hope this makes sense.

[Steve-Fiction]

On 5.7.2016 at 3:47 AM, Ogiga99 said:

I hope this makes sense.

It was perfect, thank you. The Groundhog Day loop comparison by Luminos wasn't bad, either.

 

I was just thinking about the gag reels and I hope that this time around, Azrael Es will be the victim of Litchi's cosplay fetish. The other thing I would love to see make a return is the contest about who is the manliest man.

[Zeldasmash]

50 minutes ago, Steve-Fiction said:

I was just thinking about the gag reels and I hope that this time around, Azrael Es will be the victim of Litchi's cosplay fetish. The other thing I would love to see make a return is the contest about who is the manliest man.

I'd like to see a sequel to the Evil Boing Queen gag, especially now that we have characters like Bullet, Nine & Es. I just thought it was hilarious the first time around seeing Litchi act as the big evil villain (she pulls a sweet laugh by the way, almost to the point to where i think Terumi would be like "not bad") and i think i'd be awesome to have a sequel to it.

Relius' gag reel in Chrono Phantasma also would be cool to see a sequel (seeing Hazama as a nice guy was odd, but also rather genuine from him).

[JustaMaskedFreak]

2 hours ago, Zeldasmash said:

I'd like to see a sequel to the Evil Boing Queen gag, especially now that we have characters like Bullet, Nine & Es. I just thought it was hilarious the first time around seeing Litchi act as the big evil villain (she pulls a sweet laugh by the way, almost to the point to where i think Terumi would be like "not bad") and i think i'd be awesome to have a sequel to it.

Relius' gag reel in Chrono Phantasma also would be cool to see a sequel (seeing Hazama as a nice guy was odd, but also rather genuine from him).

Every game needs to have Litchi Dress-up, she got Noel, Tsubaki and Bullet, I guess Makoto will be the next one, or even Celica (because, why not? She get lost everytime).

About Relius gag reel in Chronophantasma... Extend already has a sequel.

[IsItWitty]

No idea where this is from.

"I shall show you the path to the [Gate]. That is the will of the Azure."
"Commencing elimination of the target."
"I am Es--[Embryo Storage]. I have been assigned to be the Gatekeeper of the Gate of Azure, as well as the Mediator."
"This place is both the interstice, as well as the end, the Boundary Line."
"I shall not allow any distasteful actions from anyone."
"Who is that who exists beyond the bounds of Logic?"
"I have great expectations of you, Ragna the Bloodedge."
"Whether he will save this world, or embrace its illusions... I must ascertain, just what it is that the Azure desires of me."
"Everything is as the Azure foretold."

[FA-ST]

>Saberface

>No wish of her own

>Mediator

Wow, Es really is the Ruler of Blazblue

[kylehyde]

4 hours ago, IsItWitty said:

No idea where this is from.

"I shall show you the path to the [Gate]. That is the will of the Azure."
"Commencing elimination of the target."
"I am Es--[Embryo Storage]. I have been assigned to be the Gatekeeper of the Gate of Azure, as well as the Mediator."
"This place is both the interstice, as well as the end, the Boundary Line."
"I shall not allow any distasteful actions from anyone."
"Who is that who exists beyond the bounds of Logic?"
"I have great expectations of you, Ragna the Bloodedge."
"Whether he will save this world, or embrace its illusions... I must ascertain, just what it is that the Azure desires of me."
"Everything is as the Azure foretold."

I was about to ask about this lol, thanks.

[Luminos564]

4 hours ago, IsItWitty said:

No idea where this is from.

"I shall show you the path to the [Gate]. That is the will of the Azure."
"Commencing elimination of the target."
"I am Es--[Embryo Storage]. I have been assigned to be the Gatekeeper of the Gate of Azure, as well as the Mediator."
"This place is both the interstice, as well as the end, the Boundary Line."
"I shall not allow any distasteful actions from anyone."
"Who is that who exists beyond the bounds of Logic?"
"I have great expectations of you, Ragna the Bloodedge."
"Whether he will save this world, or embrace its illusions... I must ascertain, just what it is that the Azure desires of me."
"Everything is as the Azure foretold."

Hmm, so basically what we've heard/speculated before is more or less correct: Es is acting as the gatekeeper for the Azure as well as Ragna's potential "guide". Her role as some sort of "Mediator" intrigues me though. Perhaps she's going to be a much more neutral character as opposed to siding with any one faction?

[Toxin45]

Well maybe but i am not too sure if that is the Es we know I mean it could be here prime field body now animated by the azure.

[kylehyde]

14 hours ago, Toxin45 said:

Well maybe but i am not too sure if that is the Es we know I mean it could be here prime field body now animated by the azure.

I wouldn't put it passed the realm of possibility.

[Toxin45]

I mean she sounds more robotic and she seems to be more like her code embryo self then her lost memories. 

[IsItWitty]

So Es' crest has her murakumo in it. It's in the center.

[GunBlazer]

9 hours ago, IsItWitty said:

So Es' crest has her murakumo in it. It's in the center.

Where did you see it?

[DiegoSandres]

In Es's PV, probably... appears a lot in the video

[JRH]

I hope that Nine will start to have faith in Ragna because after what she said in the PV and judging by the tone in her voice, she will fight him again not to kill but to test his strength to see if he can really change the world like he did before. I am looking forward to how they bring closure to Nine and Ragna.

P.S. Terumi and Ragna appear to be seen fighting in a black void where the Azure exists, which is probably where the final battle will take place.

[ImmaYuukiTerumi]

Let's see if I got this straight.

After getting sealed in the boundary and freed, Terumi has to self observe to take action like when he attacked the church. At the end of Calamity Trigger, Noel observed him and created a life link between Hazama and Noel. After Ragna returns Noel to normal, Saya observes Terumi. After getting time killered, Terumi self observed and needs a need host, which is likely going to be the Susano'o Unit.

[GunBlazer]

22 hours ago, ImmaYuukiTerumi said:

Let's see if I got this straight.

After getting sealed in the boundary and freed, Terumi has to self observe to take action like when he attacked the church. At the end of Calamity Trigger, Noel observed him and created a life link between Hazama and Noel. After Ragna returns Noel to normal, Saya observes Terumi. After getting time killered, Terumi self observed and needs a need host, which is likely going to be the Susano'o Unit.

Nailed it.

[BlackJustin13]

On 7/7/2016 at 8:16 PM, JustaMaskedFreak said:

Every game needs to have Litchi Dress-up, she got Noel, Tsubaki and Bullet, I guess Makoto will be the next one, or even Celica (because, why not? She get lost everytime).

About Relius gag reel in Chronophantasma... Extend already has a sequel.

You really want to go for laughs? Have Nine or Izanami be Litchi's next target :p

[ImmaYuukiTerumi]

4 hours ago, BlackJustin13 said:

You really want to go for laughs? Have Nine or Izanami be Litchi's next target :p

I'm waiting for the Azrael dress up. Well, we kinda have that. Where's that art of Azrael in Platinum's clothes. All I can find is Azrael in Bullet's shorts.

I'm also waiting for the Spectacle of Eros Ragna gag reel, men only edition.

 

 

[Steve-Fiction]

1 hour ago, ImmaYuukiTerumi said:

Where's that art of Azrael in Platinum's clothes.

I'd say Azrael with Bullet's shorts is even better, though.

Sadly, I think that Litchi's victims were always new characters, so I think Nine/Izanami/Es have the highest chances. The best we could get in that case is them wearing Azrael's outfit, which isn't all that satisfying. Azrael wearing Mai's new clothes though, that's where it's at.

[ImmaYuukiTerumi]

Thank you.

 

This image is also pretty good.

 

 

[ImmaYuukiTerumi]

Got to watch the Jin Arcade videos. Jin sounds so damn serious now, it's scary. He really is going full Hakumen now.

[Toxin45]

Famitsu story updates we see battle spirites of he five newcomers and some preview of story mode. Also Jin and saya look like twins