Alright, now that I have what I wanted (MW's comment), I'll respond here, too. First of all, thanks for reading and commenting, you guys.
This ending was epic!
At first, the long explanation seemed a little jarring. I don't think you've tried anything quite like that in this SM before, but it fits, with it being an epilogue and all. You've answered any questions that may have been raised, and I feel you did it well. To be honest, I didn't really follow the story particularly well, but I respect it for being conservative and compact enough - epicness not withstanding - to be able to finish in a neat amount of time. In that and basically every other area, this SM feels complete, like no other.
No I didn't, but I thought I should give the answers to everything which didn't seem clear - which was quite a lot: Why the Demon King and the Time Reaper were there, why Lyon was the main villain through the story, and why Esheris was the real one at the end.
Onto the bosses, they were all very good, as usual. Your boss ideas have been sublime throughout, they may just be the highlight of this SM, moreso in the later chapters. I think you sacrificed that togetherness feeling of the group near the end for the constant battles, though - I'm sure it became too big a hassle eventually, and every character pretty much had their moment, so I can forgive that and don't perceive it as a fault. Still, a post-SM catch-up on every character would have, and would always be the best way to end it, for every SM I read / have read.
I know. I just wanted to give every group something better than just some random stage(s), so I made a boss battle for every of the character groups.
Maaaaaaybe, but only maybe, I'll do an Epilogue.
The gameplay sections throughout haven't been the highlight - you had some interesting ones with Mach Rider and, well, quite a bunch of characters taking you through a characterised SM, but it did feel a little iffy with the elemental dungeons and such at times. However, you succeeded elsewhere and I doubt the gameplay of all the sections were what mattered to you, or anyone else, really. We're all here for the story and, with your story mode, encounters [bosses], anyways.
IF I do an SM next time, I'll make it game universe oriented. Since I've already started out without a game to base on, I wasn't able to take everything directly. I did it with the Kirby and the FF6-sections, but the rest was basically just all made up. But I'm glad you liked the characterized bits.
This is an absolutely solid story mode. I can't put it any better than that - it's just out there, completed, remarkably so. As well as that, it has a great personality endowed by its author, which seeps through the leaves, to the roots of the story and influences everything, with a little seriousness and heaps of humour. Definitely getting a vote from me, a favourite.
Well done.
Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. =)
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An excellent ending to a great Story Mode.
Your bosses were spectacular as always, and I'm amazed at the depth of Esheris.
I would have preferred that you make an epilogue chapter as well.. but thats just me.
Did you have to go and use so many things I had already planned for my SM though... (boss battle in hell, multi endings... etc.)
Well, I think making Esheris deep was a given. He needed to be good, since he is
a.) an OC and
b.) wasn't personality-wise included.
The alt. ending was a thought I had rather late - I think when writing up Chapter 11 or 12. So ya.
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I liked the explanation of how everything happened considerably. Your plot was far from the most complicated out there, but it was still interesting to see the actual explanations behind everything, seeing the roles of Esheris, Aeon, the Demon King and the Time Reaper. You did a good job of explaining it all, and the reference to the top 3 MYM 3 movesets was brilliant.
I wanted to make the references earlier, throghout the story (Dracula in the very first part of the Prologue), but I thought doing it in this way would be far more interesting. =P
. . .Not really a complaint of mine, but wasn't the final level essentially a great maze what with having to collect the souls? It was optional to go through it, but you'd still need the majority of them if you wanted to beat Esheris, no? I was just confused at HR praising you for not having a great maze.
It's not really a maze. It was rather supposed to be a rather big stage you can explore, like the Ice Palace one. A lot of side-routes and all.
Moving on, the boss battle was gold. Esheris' first form and the final form with the split version of him are easily the best bosses you've done what with their massive amount of cool attacks. Gotta love eclipse and sniper shot from Hexagon and Esyn in the last battle. I found it a daring move to not make the OMG BIG MONSTER the last of the bosses, but like HR I agree it was a good one, as I felt the monster version of Esheris was the least interesting by a considerable amount. Excellent job with the boss. If it wasn't obvious enough, that thing made this chapter and made the awkward chapter 12 worth it.
Was Chapter 12 really THAT bad? =|
Glad you liked the final boss, as well... I know, the second form is bland in comparison to the other two, but y'know, the mechanic makes up a bit, and the fact that he's the second one - not the first encounter and not the final battle either. It's more like... "Ah, beat the big guy, now on to the ending... Wait.. WHAT? There's another one? =O!"
The only thing I don't particularly like in this chapter is the ending. It's far from something to cancel out Esheris' epicness, but it seems like more of an after thought after that grand boss battle. Ayn's role being essentially non existant before this made him destroying the "fourth form" of Esheris somewhat random. I feel the SM could've been more complete if you actually described what all the characters did in the ending to take the focus off this character we barely know.
It wasn't an after thought. It was supposed to end like that. Ayn's role was tied to Esheris' from the beginning, that is, indeed, true. He was existant, though, as he appeared now and then, helping out Isaac's group in finding the right way, Rosalina's group with the underwater thingies, and spying on Lyon for Rosalina. He had a role, it just wasn't really big.
This was Esheris' chapter without a doubt. You need to make him a moveset in MYM 5 using that head switching mechanic of his. Perhaps the three split versions of him could be the final smash? That would leave out the giant version of Esheris, but that was the least interesting phase of the guy anyway. I just know Esheris would make an excellent top contender in MYM 5 after his role here.
Glad you enjoyed the cerberus as much as I did, in the end. I
might be doing him as a moveset in MYM5. It's not sure yet, but it's rather likely. And IF I do him, he would have the head switching, don't worry.
All in all, I'm also glad you enjoyed this thing as much, as you are the second one whose comments kept me going (hence I waited for you to comment). So, thank you for reading since the very beginning and sticking with me.
Now Aeon will finally get his chance to shine and we'll figure out just what the whole point of this thing was. . .
