1.) Kuhn: I thought this guy was meant to die, or at least end up comatose, in Vol. 1. It’s not that I don’t like him- In fact, I find that he’s a thoroughly interesting character. However, his battle against Haseo is so emotionally resonant, and seemingly so final, that his revival (”Hey, I used Magus to copy my data! I’m fine!”) seems like something of a cop-out. I mean, he just…Fades into the background…In the later volumes. He plays a minor role in Vol. 2, but it’s one that could be done by any other Epitah User, and he’s barely present in Vol. 3

2.) The AIDA. We never quite understood what this was. In fact, in the 3rd Volume, it’s severely underutilized, and apparently purged when Ovan activates the Rebirth…Kind of a letdown, as we were chasing it non-stop for two Volumes. After the awesome scene with Sakaki and Atoli in Volume 2, this ending is a bit…Anti-climatic.

3.) Ovan & Eina. Don’t get me wrong, I love these characters. But really, Ovan’s plan, revealed as a Xanatos gambit to save his little sister, seems a bit…Well, limited. I mean, he manipulated the entire game, set into motion cataclysmatic events, all for one girl? While it’s touching, it’s a bit…Well, unexpected.

You see, I thought Ovan was Amagi, the game designer who went insane- In my opinion, his insanity was explained by the fact that his ’sentience’ was trapped in his character, Ovan, which explained why he didn’t just ‘log out’ when he was being ‘examined’ by the Mods in ROOTS.

Eina? I thought she was the goal of the ‘Recover Aura’ project. That, y’know, she was Amagi’s AI replacement for Aura. Instead of using the Phases to gather data for her transformation, she’s using the AIDA (Which are attracted to human emotions, just like the Phases) to gather data. So, the 3rd volume would have her Awaken as the New God of the World, triggered by the activation of Ovan’s Rebirth- The logic here is that, while the AIDA gather data, all Eight Phases still have to be activated, for the final transformation to take place. So, that creates Cuba, and leads to the final battle.

Again, while this is a stretch, I think it makes more sense than Aura’s 3-second cameo in the game. It also explains why Ovan can’t log out, and makes him a lot more consistent; He’s so willing to save his sister from a coma that he’s willing to…Infect more people? Turn control of the World over to Sakaki? That just doesn’t make sense. In contrast, Amagi was already an obsessive bastard, so this would fit him perfectly.

4.) Sakai & Bordeaux:

Oh, man. These two…What I can’t understand is why they weren’t ‘killed off’. Bordeaux has been a thorn in Haseo’s side since ROOTS; After the battle in the 2nd Volume, isn’t that enough to send her into a coma? Why, then, does she turn up to help him in the 3rd Volume, and even join the party? That’s not a very satisfying conclusion to her psychotic obsession, and implied rivalry, with Haseo throughout all three games. Really, they just should’ve left her in her comatose state.

Or dead. Really, considering how hideously she’s been infected by AIDA, it might really, really be a battle to the death.

Sakaki: Again, I found his fate to be a ‘cop out’. For all he’s done, he just…forgets everything? Hell, even his plans become increasingly unstable from the 2nd to the 3rd games. And why would CC Corp. even turn control over to him? It’s utterly insane. I’d thought that he would be a more credible threat in Vol. 3- Maybe he’d continue his plan to infect the entire World, so he could control them…But instead, he simply decides to hold a tournament (A nice touch), that accomplishes- Absolutely nothing.

Also, I was quite sure that he’d be killed by an AIDA-infected Haseo, not ‘erased’ by the Azure Knights. Even the trailer sets this up, with Haseo looking all evil and possessed- Unfortunately, it becomes a throwaway scene.

The Azure Knights: Really, too little screentime. Yes, I know that they’re not exactly ‘The Enemy’ any longer, but their role in this game is just sloppy. The Cathedral fight is nice, but after that…They simply don’t do anything. And what’s up with them joining your party at the end? In fact, the entire battle just reeks of a rush to the deadline- You realise that Balmung and Orca use the exact same mechanics as they did in Vol. 2, right? That’s barely a proper boss battle.

It’s frustrating, really, the lack of resolution. Yes, the Tri-Defense is mentioned, but we never get anything more than that. It also doesn’t explain why they aren’t present at the final battles. (Hah, for a cameo, you could have the original players take control of the Azure Knights, at the end of the game, when they ‘return to the World’- Remember, Kite and Balmung are *both* employed by CC corp- to help fight Cubia again.)

Possessed Haseo: Oh, boy. Another scene with a *lot* of potential, wasted. Again, this is heavily foreshadowed in the tournament, where Haseo becomes increasingly evil- Remember, he wanted to carve the ‘Terror Of Death’ into the PK’ers, after that little speech, and Sakaki is doing everything he can to increase Haseo’s hate…But in the end, nothing happens. You’re telling me that Haseo just shakes off the AIDA’s possession? Where no-one else has *ever* done it before being defeated? You have *got* to be kidding.

I thought that he’d be possessed…And utterly out of Sakaki’s control, engaging Sakaki in an Avatar Battle to the death, before raging through the netscape to confront Ovan. Having to solo Ovan would make the boss battle against him actually interesting, instead of again being a Vol. 2 rehash (Yes, Ovan is actually *weaker* than his Vol. 2 boss form.) *Then* you could have Haseo purged when the Rebirth triggers. It’d also make his ‘X-Form’ scene more resonant, as he reflects and comes to terms with himself, and communes with Skeith.

As it is, the framework of the story is there, but it does seem as though it was severely compromised. Personally, I detect the hand of an Excecutibe Producer in it, but you have to agree that the *mood* of this game is very different from the previous two- And that a lot of situations were completely bypassed.