First session of The Abyss: Getting started.
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So I finally get to start the game. First, the opening. Very stylish, very anime-esque. It presents the characters that will join your party during your journey, and shows the possible dangers the team might face (the protagonist ends up in jail and explodes, he fights an evil doppleganger of himself?...). I suppose I shouldn't think too much about it to avoid spoiling the game to myself.
Anyway, we start with some deep and mysterious narration, a prophecy of sorts. A red-haired boy will be born, will have the power of Lorelei and bring prosperity to the lands. After that, the same narrator tells us that "the one who would seize glory" is going to destroy the land of Hod, and then Kimlaska and Malkuth will wage war against each other for a whole year. A mysterious lady appears, says "the time has come" and dissapears in some sort of teleportation rune. End of the first big cutscene. To be fair, this prophecy is way more specific than other ones in most JRPGs, at least it includes concrete names and dates.
We start the game in Baticul, the capital of the kingdom of Kinlanska. The protagonist is Luke, the prince of Kimlaska, a young red haired guy that seems really bored with his life. Years ago, he was kidnapped, and the event was so shocking that apparently he lost most (if not all) of his childhood memories. After that, the king ordered him to not abandon the castle, and has been recluded ever since. He has friends in a guy named Guy, his fencing teacher Van Grants, and some voices that speak to him. Wait...
Well, he has a mysterious voice that speaks to him. And it seems that it has been happening for a while now. I love that scene, by the way. He has a headache, he hears the voice, his friend Guy asks Luke if he's allright, and Luke says that the voice is "so annoying", like if it was like a mosquito that doesn't let him sleep. Luke, you are hearing voices! It's not annoying, it's terrifying! Go to a doctor or an exorcist! But anyway...
Van Grants is part of the Order of Lorelei, and he has to go find Fon Master Ion, who has gone missing. Luke is annoyed by this, and after the reunion is over, he goes to practise his swordsmanship. Time to learn how to fight. It is way more action oriented than I thought. The battles occur in a 2D plain, you make a physical attack with A, block with Y and make a special move with B. It's refreshing, I like it, I thought it would be more turn-based, but It's been a while since I played an Action RPG, so I enjoy the fight.
After the tutorial, the mysterious lady from the teleportation runes appears, starts singing, and suddenly every guard falls down, either weakened or asleep (jigglypuff lady?). She appears, tries to fight Van Grants and Luke. When Luke fights her, the voice appears again, and they both teleport oustide of the castle. Luke wakes up some time later, with the lady, called Tear, tries to help him because he is a "Seventh Fonist" too. I have no idea what is that, I hope they explain everything later down the line. They seem to be in the coast, and have to fight monsters until they come across a coachman. The coachman says he can take them to the capital, and they accept. But instead of bringing them to the capital of Kimlaska, he goes to the capital of Malkuth. Once they realize that, they stop and try to back on foot. They went through a bridge, now destroyed by the Darkwings, a group of bandits. Without the bridge, they need to find an alternative route.
They arrive to the town of Engeve. Here, Luke eats an apple from the market. He didn't know how a market works (more specifficaly, the part where you have to PAY for the things you take) and creates a ruckus. After that, he gets accused of stealing other things (which is true, I found a way to enter a house and steal a bottle), food in particular. He gets dragged to a house where a militar guy and a lady solve the problem for him. Then, Fon MAster Ion appears! Wasn't he missing? The plot thickens...
And after that, I went to the hostel and I saved the game. More game another time.
