Lyric

Vocals: Emiko Shiratori

Alone for a while I’ve been searching through the dark
For traces of the love you left inside my lonely heart
To weave by picking up the pieces that remain
Melodies of life–love’s lost refrain

Our paths they did cross, though I cannot say just why
We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye
And who’ll hear the echoes of stories never told?
Let them ring out loud till they unfold
In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me
Though you’re gone, I still believe that you can call out my name

* A voice from the past, joining yours and mine
Adding up the layers of harmony
And so it goes, on and on
Melodies of life,
To the sky beyond the flying birds–forever and beyond

So far and away, see the bird as it flies by
Gliding through the shadows of the clouds up in the sky
I’ve laid my memories and dreams upon those wings
Leave them now and see what tomorrow brings

In your dearest memories, do you remember loving me?
Was it fate that brought us close and now leaves me behind?

* Repeat

If I should leave this lonely world behind
Your voice will still remember our melody
Now I know we’ll carry on
Melodies of life
Come circle round and grow deep in our hearts
As long as we remember LANJUTGAN..

Final Fantasy Tactics (ファイナルファンタジータクティクス?)

Final Fantasy Tactics (ファイナルファンタジータクティクス?) is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Sony PlayStation video game console. It was released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998. The game combines thematic elements of the Final Fantasy video game series with a game engine and battle system unlike those previously seen in the franchise. In contrast to other 32-bit era Final Fantasy titles, Final Fantasy Tactics uses a 3D, isometric, rotatable playing field, with bitmap sprite characters.[1]

The game is set in a fictional kingdom called Ivalice, which has just ended its war with the neighboring kingdom of Ordalia. The story follows Ramza Beoulve, a young cadet who finds himself thrust into the middle of a conflict, where two noble factions are coveting the throne of the kingdom.[2] While the war was caused by a conflict of succession, Ramza was exposed to a plot that involved the kingdom's dominant religious organization.

A spin-off was created in 2003, called Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance (itself having a sequel called Final Fantasy Tactics A2), and in 2006, a stand-alone title called Final Fantasy XII was released for the Sony PlayStation 2. All three games take place in the fictional land of Ivalice. An enhanced remake of Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, was also released in 2007 as part of Square Enix's new Ivalice Alliance project.[3] Overall, the game received positive reviews from gaming magazines and websites.
Story

Final Fantasy Tactics begins with Ivalice just recovering from the Fifty Year War against Ordalia.[20] The power vacuum caused by the death of its ruler, King Omdoria, soon sparked another conflict. Princess Ovelia and the younger Prince Orinas are both candidates to the throne, with the former supported by Prince Goltana of the Black Lion,[21] and the latter by Queen Ruvelia and her brother, Prince Larg of the White Lion.[22] This erupted into a full-scale war known as the "Lion War", with either side using whatever means possible to secure their place in the throne. This included bearing an illegitimate child,[23] killing other possible heirs,[24] betrayal,[25] assassination[26] and false identities.[27]

Throughout the game, nobles regard commoners and peasants as animals,[28] and many commoners try to take revenge on the nobles, who abandoned them after the war.[29] Most joined the so-called Death Corps to fight against the nobles' soldiers, and many died in vain.[30] Ramza, part of the noble Beoulve family of knights, and Delita, his childhood friend who was an ordinary commoner, were witnesses to this phenomenon. Events such as meeting an arrogant noble named Algus, as well as the negligent killing of Delita's sister Teta during an uprising, caused Delita and Ramza to abandon the nobility, both going separate ways.[31]

Ramza joins a mercenary group,[32] led by Gafgarion, who protects Princess Ovelia from being hunted by both sides. Delita has joined Prince Goltana's forces to rise up through the ranks and gain control over his own destiny.[33] Ramza and Delita are reunited when Gafgarion attempts to take Ovelia to Prince Larg, though this was futile. Agrias suggests visiting Cardinal Draclau of the Glabados Church to protect Ovelia, while Delita continues to work in the shadows, working with multiple sides to realize his ambition.[34] Along the way to Lionel Castle, Ramza meets Mustadio, a machinist in possession of a holy relic called the Zodiac Stone. Hunted by a trading company for the power it contains,[35] Mustadio also seeks Draclau's intervention.

However, soon after the encounter with Cardinal Draclau, Ramza discovers that an elaborate plot was set by the Murond Glabados Church. In their desire to control Ivalice, the Church, particularly the High Priest Marge Funeral, uses the legend of the so-called holy Zodiac Braves to gather the Zodiac Stones,[36] and fuels the Lion War between Larg and Goltana.[37] To stave off Ramza's interference, Draclau uses the stone to transform into a legendary Lucavi demon,[38] and Ramza has no choice but to slay him/it. As a result, Ramza is regarded a heretic of the Church, and he is approached by the Heretic Examiner Zalmo at Lesalia Imperial Capital.[39]

While noble in name, the Beoulve family is susceptible to corruption, due to ambition. Dycedarg, the eldest sibling, conspires with Larg and the Church to ensure that the Beoulve family remains in power. However, his younger brother Zalbag is unaware of his dealings.[40] Alma, Ramza's younger sister, remains in church, unaffected by the situation until Ramza is branded a heretic in front of her.[41] Ramza seeks to rescue her after her capture while helping him escape the Heresy Examiners. Only Ramza and Alma share their father's sense of justice.

Ramza is chased throughout the story by the Shrine Knights, the soldiers of the Church who are hunting the Zodiac Stones, although he gains allies, either by saving their lives,[42] or by showing them the truth.[43] Some individuals with knowledge of the Zodiac Stones attempt to conspire with the Shrine Knights for its power, though most fail.[44][45] Ramza also acquires proof of the Church's lies about Saint Ajora, a central figure in the religion,[46] and attempts to use it along with the Zodiac Stone to reveal the organization's plot.[47]

In the course of the story, the two sides face off in a major battle that sees the deaths of many soldiers, including their leaders Larg and Goltana. Delita, being used by the church, betrays and assassinates Goltana, meanwhile on the other side, Dycedarg assassinates Larg. Ramza manages to stop the bloodshed from continuing and rescues the general Cidolfas Orlandu, though the Church succeeds in eliminating the two Lions to secure its power over Ivalice. Deeper into the story, Ramza discovers that the Shrine Knights are in reality Lucavi, and the real conspirators behind the Church's plot.[48] The Lucavi are seeking to resurrect their leader Altima, who in the past was Saint Ajora, and they need much bloodshed and a suitable body to complete the resurrection. Alma is to serve as the host for Altima's incarnation.[49][50] Ramza races off to rescue her, witnesses Zalbag confronting Dycedarg about his crimes to their family, and both encounter Dycedarg's evil side. Zalbag apologizes to Ramza for mistrusting him, but it is too late. Dycedarg transforms into a Lucavi demon, and Ramza witnesses Zalbag's death.

At the end of the story, though Altima is successfully resurrected, Ramza and his allies succeed in destroying her. Their final fates are unknown. Delita marries Ovelia and becomes the King of Ivalice.[51] However, he fails to find true satisfaction as even Ovelia distrusts him, leading her to stab Delita, apparently resulting in Delita's death shortly after the end of the story. Ovelia in turn is stabbed by Delita and dies.[52] Olan Durai, a witness who had many encounters with Ramza (and is unsure as to whether his glimpse of a living and well Ramza and Alma after the game's final battle is a hallucination or not), attempts to reveal the Church's evil plot with the "Durai Report." However, his papers are confiscated and he is burned at the stake for heresy.[53] The story ends many years later with the historian Alazlam J. Durai intent on revealing the truth of the Lion War and the Durai Report. LANJUTGAN..

Final Fantasy XII (ファイナルファンタジーXII)

Final Fantasy XII (ファイナルファンタジーXII?) is a single-player console role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. Released in 2006, it is the twelfth title in the Final Fantasy series. The game introduced several innovations to the series: battles occur without a transition to a separate screen; a customizable "gambit" system automatically controls the actions of characters; and a "license" system determines which abilities and equipment are used by characters. Final Fantasy XII also includes elements from previous games in the series, such as summoned monsters, Chocobos, and airships.

The game takes place in the fictional location of Ivalice, where the empires of Archadia and Rozarria are waging an endless war. Dalmasca, a small kingdom, is caught between the warring nations. When Archadia invades and occupies Dalmasca, its princess, Ashe, creates a resistance movement. During the struggle, she meets Vaan, a young adventurer who dreams of commanding an airship. They are quickly joined by a band of allies; together, they rally against the tyranny of the Archadian Empire.

Final Fantasy XII received universally high scores, and earned numerous "Game of the Year" awards in various categories from noted video game publications. Selling more than two million copies in Japan, it became the fourth best-selling PlayStation 2 game of 2006 worldwide. As of March 2007, the game has shipped over 5.2 million copies worldwide.[1] A sequel, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, was released for the Nintendo DS in 2007.Story

Final Fantasy XII begins in Dalmasca's capital city of Rabanastre, where the happiness from the union of Princess Ashe of Dalmasca and Prince Rasler of Nabradia is interrupted by the Archadian Empire's invasion of Nabradia. In the subsequent war, Nabradia and Dalmasca are subjugated by Archadia; Prince Rasler is killed, and the Dalmascan king Raminas, after signing treaty of surrender, is apparently assassinated by the Dalmascan captain Basch. Reks, a young knight under Basch's command, bears witness to the assassination, but later dies of his injuries. Marquis Ondore announces that Basch has been executed and Princess Ashe has committed suicide.[34]

Two years later, Vaan, the younger brother of Reks, is living a life of a street urchin in Rabanastre. Despite his friend Penelo's objections, he infiltrates the Rabanastre palace during a dinner celebrating the appointment of Vayne Solidor as consul. During the infiltration, Vaan encounters Balthier and Fran, a pair of sky pirates who are after the magicite that Vaan took. Their escape attempt fails when a battle breaks out between Imperial troops and Dalmascan Resistance forces, and they end up in the sewers where they stumble upon the Resistance leader, Amalia. Vaan, Balthier, and Fran are captured by the Archadians and detained at the Nalbina Dungeons. In Nalbina, the three encounter Basch, imprisoned but alive, and they escape with him; Basch pleads that his twin brother, Gabranth, had posed as him on the night of the treaty and was the true assassin. While skeptical at first, Vaan eventually believes him.[35] With the help of Balthier and Fran, the party then travels to Bhujerba, where Penelo is kidnapped by Ba'Gamnan, a headhunter trying to catch Balthier. While rescuing Penelo, the party meets Lamont, a curious boy who is in truth Vayne's younger brother, Larsa.[36] Basch is also able to confront the Marquis, who captures the party and detains them onboard the Archadian airship Leviathan, headed by Judge Ghis.

On the Leviathan, the party is reunited with Amalia, revealed to be Princess Ashe.[37] Ghis takes Vaan's magicite, a symbol of royal Dalmascan lineage, and sends it to Archadia. The company escapes from the airship after defeating Ghis and returns to Bhujerba; however, lacking the magicite, Ashe has no proof of her identity and Ondore suggests that Ashe remain hidden in Bhujerba.[38] Instead, Ashe escapes and attempts to collect the treasures of Dynast-King Raithwall, which would prove her royal blood.[39] The party acquires the Dawn Shard, a piece of "deifacted Nethicite", from Raithwall's Tomb, but Ghis seizes it. The small piece of magicite destroys the Leviathan, Ghis, and his fleet. The party later encounters Larsa, who wants to make a peace treaty between Dalmasca and the empire; Ashe initially objects, but Larsa convinces her to seek a treaty in order to protect Dalmasca. She goes to Mt. Bur-Omisace to seek Gran Kiltias Anastasis' approval of her as queen of Dalmasca.[40]

The party learns in Mt. Bur-Omisace that many other influential people also hope to avert war.[41] Larsa, who had been investigating Vayne's connection with the manufacted Nethicite,[42] had made contact with Al-Cid Margrace, a member of the Rozarrian Empire ruling family, to convince the two Empires to cease their war. They plan to announce Ashe's status as Dalmascan Queen and to persuade the Archadian emperor Gramis not to go to war, but the plan is thwarted when the Emperor is killed, supposedly by Archadian Senate Chairman Gregoroth.[43][44] With Anastasis' aid, Ashe retrieves the Sword of Kings, which can destroy Nethicite. While she obtains the sword, Anastasis is killed by Judge Bergan and Larsa is brought back to Archadia. After defeating Judge Bergan, Ashe's party travels to Archades and the Draklor Laboratory, Doctor Cid's base of operations. Cid escapes and leaves clues that lead them to Giruvegan,[45] the supposed location of the Sun-cryst, the source of deifacted Nethicite.[46] While the whole party is able able to enter Giruvegan, only Ashe encounters the makers of the Sun-cryst, the immortal Occuria, who pull the strings of history; they give her the Treaty Blade to cut pieces of her own.[47]

In a cutscene, it is revealed that Doctor Cid's Nethicite research was augmented by knowledge from the Occurian heretic, Venat, who had allied with Cid and Vayne in order to put the "reins of History back in the hands of Man".[48] Vayne aims to become the new Dynast-King by using manufacted Nethicite to conquer all of Ivalice.[49] Cid, revealed to be Balthier's father, was obsessed with researching the Nethicite's power after his own visit to Giruvegan and initial encounter with Venat.[50] Their expansion campaign—which led to the Dalmasca's occupation and the destruction of the city of Nabudis—was made to obtain and study deifacted Nethicite.[51]

Ashe is faced with the choice to heed the Occuria and take pieces of the Sun-cryst for her revenge or to destroy it and end the Occurian control over history. Still undecided, Ashe and the party travel to the Pharos at Ridorana Cataract, where the Sun-cryst is located, accompanied by the pirate Reddas. At the top of the tower they face Gabranth,[52] who admits to killing her father in an attempt to force her to give in to her hate.[53] After they overpower him, Cid arrives and fights the party; they defeat him, but before he dies he uses Nethicite shards to harness the full power of the Sun-cryst. Reddas sacrifices himself to destroy it.[54]

Ashe learns from Al-Cid that a war between Archadia and the Resistance group led by Marquis Ondore is about to take place in Rabanastre. The Sky Fortress Bahamut, an enormous, Nethicite-fueled airship armed with incredibly powerful weapons, had absorbed the incredible amount of Mist released by the destruction of the Sun-cryst and now hovers above Rabanastre. Infiltrating the sky fortress with the aid of the Resistance, Basch confronts Gabranth, who is is impressed by Basch's loyalty.[55] The party encounters Vayne and Larsa in the midst of an argument over Vayne's plot for power, to which Larsa objects strongly;[56] Larsa and Gabranth ally with the party to destroy Vayne and Venat. After Vayne's defeat, Ashe announces the end of the war,[57] and Larsa takes over the Imperial Army.[58] The party escapes Bahamut, now out of fuel after the final battle, with Gabranth's body and Larsa. Balthier and Fran remain onboard the Bahamut, steering it away from Rabanastre to prevent a collision, though contact with them is lost.

In the following year, Ashe becomes Queen of Dalmasca, and Basch replaces Gabranth as Judge Magister, serving as guardian to Larsa, now Emperor of Archadia. Vaan acquires his own airship, which he operates with Penelo. Balthier and Fran escape from Bahamut and survive to recover the Strahl and go to Bervenia. The game ends with Vaan and Penelo setting out to visit them, having no idea that they are embarking on another adventure.[59] LANJUTGAN..

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII​ ( ダージュ オブ ケルベロス -ファイナルファンタジーVII

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII​ ( ダージュ オブ ケルベロス -ファイナルファンタジーVII, -Dāju obu Keruberosu -Fainaru Fantajī Sebun-? ) is a third person shooter game developed and published by Square Enix in 2006. It is part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII metaseries, a multimedia collection set within the universe of the popular 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII.

he game begins with a flashback to the ending of Final Fantasy VII. As Meteor looms overhead, Yuffie and Vincent are in Midgar helping with the evacuation. Vincent tells Yuffie to check the Mako Cannon. She does so, and the device she is using finds a single person still alive there. Despite Yuffie's protests, Vincent ascends the Cannon to the firing controls to find the slumped body of Hojo. Vincent trains his triple-barreled handgun, Cerberus, on him but, just as he is about to fire, an explosion blows Hojo's body away and causes the tower to start crumbling. Vincent is narrowly rescued by Yuffie on a hovercraft, after which they rendez-vous with Cloud and the others.

Three years later, in the Waterfall Cavern,
Vincent sits with his lost love Lucrecia Crescent, her body encased in Mako Crystal. She speaks to him telepathically, apologizing, though Vincent doesn't know why, claiming he is the one who should apologize. This exchange is revealed to be a brief flashback, and Vincent is actually sitting alone in a hotel room in Kalm, where a celebration is taking place to commemorate the three-year anniversary of Meteorfall. A nearby television shows a news report about a recently uncovered entrance to an unknown part of the Shinra complex deep underground, where it is rumored a force of soldiers more powerful than SOLDIER were created.

Suddenly, an explosion in a nearby building heralds the appearance of multiple airships in the sky, each one containing a number of mysterious soldiers who drop to the ground and open fire on the civilians. Not all are killed however: people free of Geostigma are herded into carriers; those infected are attacked on sight. Vincent springs into action, making his way through the town, dispatching the mysterious soldiers and aiding civilians, to meet with Reeve Tuesti. Along the way he helps members of the World Regenesis Organization (WRO), an organization created by Reeve to help heal Gaia and protect it from further damage. At one point, Vincent is met by a small girl and a hulking man who demand of him the "Protomateria", of which Vincent knows nothing. After sending a wave of soldiers at him, the man accepts Vincent's "challenge", gives his name, Azul the Cerulean, and says that "[they] will meet again" before leaving with the girl. After this, Vincent meets up with Reeve, who asks Vincent to help the WRO in their cause, though Vincent is reluctant. Reeve gets shot from behind by one of the soldiers, but he is revealed to be a costume of sorts for Cait Sith, who plans with Vincent to launch an offensive against the attack.

After clearing out the town and forcing the soldiers to retreat with the help of the "real" Reeve and fresh WRO reinforcements, Vincent travels to Edge with Reeve, who reveals the collective name of the soldiers: Deepground. A new breed of supersoldiers even more powerful than SOLDIER, the project was initially ordered by President Shinra and very few others knew about it. What little information the WRO have on them was gleaned from Scarlet's files. Suddenly a transmission comes in, where a seated man with long, messy white hair claims that "the time has come to cleanse this world". Suddenly the vehicle is attacked by a pack of Deepground wolves that, despite Vincent's efforts to vanquish them, still cause the vehicle to crash. Vincent continues the journey to Edge on foot, battling more Deepground soldiers and wolves along the way.

Reaching Edge, Vincent meets Shalua Rui, a WRO scientist, who tells Vincent that the city is deserted before leaving, saying that she is searching for "[her] reason to live". Meanwhile a red-headed woman sits surrounded by countless corpses of WRO soldiers, lauding "Weiss" on his earlier speech. Making his way through the abandoned city, Vincent comes across a young boy who helps him get a keycard to access a warehouse where he meets the woman from before, who introduces herself as Rosso the Crimson before throwing Vincent into a wall. Chaos emerges from the rubble and launches an energy attack of such power that Rosso is forced to flee.

Having lost consciousness, Vincent awakens in a tube in the WRO headquarters being watched over by Shalua, who Vincent briefly mistakes for Lucrecia. After recovering fully, Vincent is given a new task by Reeve: go to the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim to find as much of Lucrecia's thesis on Chaos as possible. As well as the possibility of Vincent's Chaos form giving the WRO a fighting chance against Deepground, Shalua has a suspicion of Deepground's ultimate goal having something to do with the final WEAPON, Omega. Suddenly, WRO security is breached by Deepground soldiers led by Azul. Fighting his way through the complex and aiding WRO soldiers, Vincent finds Shalua, who sees that Vincent has been followed by the girl who was accompanying Azul earlier. After shedding her camouflage, the girl is revealed to be Shelke, Shalua's long-lost younger sister and the "reason to live" she had told Vincent of during their first meeting. Shelke reveals that she remembers being captured by Deepground, and that the Mako infusions they used to keep her in a 10-year old body (she is actually 19) are now required to keep her alive. Despite this, she still tries to complete her objective, and tries to attack Shalua. Fortunately, Reeve intervenes. Using special tranquilizer bullets, Vincent is able to best Shelke in battle and sedate her. However, upon leaving, Azul ambushes Vincent, showing that Shelke's attack was merely a foil for his own. By using nearby explosive barrels, Vincent is able to defeat Azul despite his shielding. After dealing with the problem, Vincent makes for Nibelheim to find Lucrecia's reports on Omega WEAPON and Chaos. Reeve advises him to go through the sewers, as the path above ground is crawling with Deepground soldiers.

Reaching the mansion through the sewers, Vincent is surprised to find a hologram of Lucrecia waiting for him, apologizing again. After finding the remaining data, Vincent runs into Rosso again. Preparing to battle her, Rosso instead flees and sends a spider-like mecha, the Black Widow, after him, which Vincent destroys in the mansion foyer. Preparing to leave, Rosso ambushes Vincent and plunges her hand into his chest, retrieving the Protomateria, which is revealed to be what allows Vincent to control Chaos. Without it, it is possible for Chaos to overwhelm him. Finally, Rosso makes to kill Vincent, but a sudden flash covers Vincent's rescue by a mysterious figure.

Vincent awakens in a WRO vehicle en-route to the WRO headquarters, being watched over by the person who saved him, who reveals herself to be none other than Yuffie Kisaragi. The truck crashes, forcing Vincent to make his way back on foot. On the way, Vincent finds a Deepground camp close by, and, sure enough, when he reaches the headquarters, it is under another attack by Deepground, this one even grander in scale. After dispatching the heavily fortified attack force outside the building, the entrance opens, revealing the inner building to be practically in ruins.

Once again, Vincent fights his way though the remains and helps the few remaining WRO soldiers before finding Shalua and Shelke under attack by a huge blue behemoth. Fending it off, Shelke pulls out a shield materia to reveal the creature as a transformed Azul, whose body had been held at the WRO before reviving. Asking Shelke why she stopped him, she replies that he had attacked her too. With this Azul attacks her again, saying that the Tsviets had only been using her because of her Synaptic Net Dive (SND) ability (creating a residual image of herself in the worldwide network to obtain information), and that Azul had never considered her a true member of the Tsviets. Reactivating the shield materia to hold him off while Shalua opens an escape route, Shelke is unable to do so long enough to stop the door from automatically closing. Holding a small space open with her mechanical arm, which begins to malfunction under the pressure from the door, Shalua ushers Shelke through it into Vincent's care. Shalua expresses regret that she couldn't rescue her younger sister from Deepground's clutches just before the door closes, crushing Shalua's mechanical arm and leaving her defenceless to an (unseen) attack by Azul, which renders her comatose.

Vincent, Yuffie, Reeve and Shelke manage to escape from the complex just in time for Cid to arrive with the Shera. With help from Cloud and co., the remnants of the WRO plan to lauch a simultaneous land-air attack on the remains of Midgar and the home of Deepground. What they don't know is that the Tsviets are waiting for them with an army of their own. On the Shera, Shelke struggles to deal with her sister's sacrifice and her abandonment by Deepground, and Vincent is seen to be gradually losing control over Chaos (though Lucrecia appears to help him regain composure). Eventually, Shelke decides to help Vincent and the WRO, though she insists that it is in her own best interests: while in Deepground, her main mission was to collect the fragments of Lucrecia's research on Omega and Chaos from the worldwide computer network and arrange them in her own mind to help find the Protomateria. However, this had an unintended side-effect: Lucrecia's thoughts and emotions began to mix with her own. On the WRO's side, as well as providing them with detailed information on Deepground, she can use the data collected by Vincent to complete the collection, remove it from her mind, and regain control of herself.

Using an SND, Shelke explains Lucrecia's findings on Omega WEAPON and Chaos:

Soul wrought of terra corrupt
Quelling impurity, purging the stream
To beckon forth an ultimate fate

Behold mighty Chaos, Omega's squire to the lofty heavens.

Omega WEAPON activates when Gaia senses that it is in fatal peril, gathers the entirety of the Lifestream using itself as the container, and ascends into space to find a new planet on which to deposit it and begin life anew. Without the Lifestream, the remains of Gaia would wither and die, crumbling into dust. As found by Cait Sith earlier, Deepground have been collecting people with pure Lifestream currents (i.e. not infected with Geostigma) to slaughter them en masse and dupe Gaia into activating Omega WEAPON early. The appearance of Chaos heralds that of Omega.

The attack soon begins with Vincent as part of the ground squad, but a stray bullet hitting his hoverboard lands him far from the others. Vincent fights through the Depground hordes, eventually reaching the remains of the Shinra building where, after fighting Rosso and Azul each for the last time, he reaches Mako Reactor 0, the home of Deepground. Meanwhile, on the Shera, Nero the Sable,another Tsviet and second-in-command, sabotages the engine and kills the engine room crew. Shelke tries to defeat him, but fails, falling into his darkness. Vincent travels deeper into Mako Reactor 0, successfully fighting off Nero, after which Yuffie appears again and accompanies Vincent to the throne of Weiss the Immaculate, the highest member of the Tsviets and leader of Deepground. In the meantime, Shelke, surviving in Nero's darkness using her shield materia, has a final conversation with the spirit of her sister, who asks if it would be alright for her to enter the Lifestream, reminding Shelke of the time their mother died.

Nero makes one final attempt to stop Vincent from approaching Weiss, who is revealed to be Nero's older brother, absorbing Vincent into his darkness, but Vincent is able to escape, with Shelke in tow, because his own darkness (Chaos) is much deeper. Despite Nero's best attempts, Vincent defeats him. After getting Shelke to a Mako tank, Vincent and Yuffie approach Weiss' throne, only to find him slumped on his throne, lifeless. Nero appears and tells them of Weiss' resurrection through absorbing the powers of Omega. Suddenly the Lifestream around the room surges and Weiss rises, reborn. Nero attempts to embrace his brother, but Weiss impales him and throws his body across the room. After a monologue referring to the events of Final Fantasy VII, Weiss is revealed to be possessed by the spirit of Hojo, who had used his remaining strength after being defeated at the Mako Cannon to upload his consciousness into the worldwide network. Hojo was able to usurp Weiss' body because of Weiss being in the middle of an SND to find a cure for a virus he was infected with by the Restrictors, leaving his mind wide open. Vincent attempts to defeat Weiss, but with the power of Omega he is practically invincible and Vincent is easily defeated. In his weakened state, Vincent starts losing control of Chaos again, but Lucrecia appears again and pleads for Vincent not to let Chaos control him. Weiss attempts to finish Vincent off, but Vincent deflects his attack, "utilizing the Protomateria to call forth Chaos while retaining [his] human form", as Hojo puts it. Enhanced by the powers of Chaos, Vincent is able to fight Weiss to a standstill. At this point, the spirit of Nero appears, silences Hojo's flaunts about the power of Omega, and finally embraces his brother, infusing him with his spirit and exorcising Hojo's spirit from Weiss' body. Finally, Weiss enters the surrounding Lifestream, which activates the appearance of Omega.

Omega WEAPON begins forming over the remains of Midgar by drawing Mako directly from the Reactors. Vincent is swept up in one of the currents, and loses control over Chaos in the process, transforming into the demon to escape from inside Omega. Shelke senses what's happening, and enters SND, which also allows her to communicate with living beings on the subconscious level. Entering Omega, Shelke finds the spirit of Lucrecia with the Protomateria, and evades Omega's attacks to return it to Vincent, allowing him complete control over Chaos' form.

At this point, a series of flashbacks expand upon the backstories of Vincent and, to a greater degree, Lucrecia. Lucrecia was a Shinra scientist and assistant to Professor Grimoire Valentine, Vincent's father. Studying Chaos and Omega WEAPON with only an ancient Cetra text to go on, Lucrecia completes a thesis on the subject which is heavily mocked. However, rather than dampening her spirits, their criticism just drives her to prove them wrong. Later, Lucrecia and Grimoire find the Waterfall Cavern which, according to the Cetra text, is the place where Chaos will appear on Gaia. Finding a dark, mist-like substance, they take it back to the Shinra Mansion where a violent reaction when studying it almost claims Lucrecia's life, with Grimoire pushing her out of harm's way at the last second, sacrificing himself instead. This tragedy strikes Lucrecia hard, affecting her future actions. Shortly afterward, Vincent is assigned her protection. Flustered that she would have to interact with the son of her deceased mentor, and worried that he would find out the truth, Lucrecia hides these feelings and introduces herself.

In time, Vincent and Lucrecia form an informal friendship where Vincent's feelings begin to grow, until Vincent happens upon a confidential file Lucrecia left unattended and finds out about what happened to his father. When he asks Lucrecia about it, she assumes he will react harshly and, after apologizing to Vincent, flees the situation and enters a relationship with Hojo, which would lead her into the Jenova Project, and bring Sephiroth into the world. Rather than trying to stop things, Vincent merely stands back, believing that whatever makes Lucrecia happy is best. However, upon seeing her continued and increasingly severe suffering, Vincent confronts Hojo, who shoots him in the stomach. Lucrecia enters at this point and what she sees only makes her already fragile mental state even worse. Not wanting a repeat of what happened with Grimoire, Lucrecia resolves to save Vincent no matter what the cost. Unable to stop tissue decay, a mocking remark from Hojo gives her the idea to use her research on Chaos to find a solution. By injecting Vincent with G Substance (the dark substance that killed Grimoire), Lucrecia stabilizes Vincent's body, but at a cost: Vincent becomes Chaos. Crying out in despair at her repeated failures, the Protomateria appears before Lucrecia, which she uses to calm the beast and return Vincent to human form. With her mind practically broken as a result of all that has happened, Lucrecia tries to commit suicide, but the Jenova cells inside her thwart her attempts. Consequently, she seals herself away from the world inside the Waterfall Cavern. In the meantime, Hojo takes Vincent's body and uses it in his experiments where it turns out that, with the power of Chaos inside him, Vincent has become immortal, which enables him to survive Hojo's tests. After regaining consciousness and reacting in horror at his new form (the Galiant Beast), he is sealed in a coffin in the basement of the Shinra Mansion, where he would sleep for 30 years before meeting Cloud and his party.

Finally, Lucrecia appears to Vincent in a dream sequence where she laments how much she hurt him and makes one last plea for his forgiveness, but is "happy that [he] survived". With this, Vincent activates his Chaos form, takes Shelke to safety, materializes the Death Penalty and faces down Omega WEAPON, obliterating its defenses in order to get close enough to find that it is protected from direct assault by a barrier. Fortunately, the WRO, together with Cloud and co., work on taking down the remains of Deepground and cheer Vincent on as he charges straight through the barrier and enters the inside of Omega, where he takes down more of the WEAPON's defenses before coming face-to-face with it. Vincent enters a portal in Omega's head into an ethereal-looking white space. After taking out some Crystal Feelers, Omega's Cocoon is forced to the surface and quickly destroyed. Afterwards Vincent encounters Weiss, now fully integrated with the powers of Omega, and he and Vincent promptly fight to a standstill. Weiss summons a biomechanical creature similar to Omega WEAPON but smaller in stature and connects himself to it, forming the final boss: Omega Weiss. Vincent defeats Weiss and escapes Omega who, rather than deactivating, actually sprouts wings and prepares to ascend into space. Seeing this, Vincent amasses all the power Chaos can afford him and charges headlong into Omega WEAPON, destroying it, and supposedly Vincent as well. As the credits roll the camera pans deep into an abyss, where Shalua's life support tank is embedded in the ground, heavily damaged. Shalua lies there, lifeless, as wisps of Lifestream begin to emanate from her body.

In the epilogue, Shelke, sitting inside Seventh Heaven, narrates that life has begun to return to normal, and that she seems to be beginning to age again. Yuffie bursts in, asking Tifa if she's heard from Cloud regarding "him"; Tifa replies that she hasn't. Shelke is seen to be speaking into a cassette recorder. Meanwhile, Vincent is inside the Waterfall Cavern speaking to Lucrecia. He tells her that both Omega and Chaos have returned to the Lifestream until they are actually needed. Before leaving, he thanks her, saying that "[she was] the reason [he] survived". Unseen by Vincent, a tear rolls down Lucrecia's cheek. Exiting the cavern, Vincent is surprised to find Shelke looking in the distance. Without looking round, she tells him that everyone is waiting for him, and that they made her come and get him, "not that [she minds], though". They look to the sky together, where fragments of Omega remain, floating in space.

If the player collected all three G Reports, a secret ending sequence shows the emergence of Genesis Rhapsodos in a cave where he finds the body of Weiss, carries it into his arms and, saying that "it is not yet time for slumber" and that "[they] still have much work to do", as well as calling Weiss "[his] brother", unfurls his lone black wing and flies away. LANJUTGAN..

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, known in Japan as Persona 3 (ペルソナ3, Perusona 3?), is the the fourth video game in the Persona series of console role-playing games developed by Atlus. The game is also a part of the larger Megami Tensei series of video games. Persona 3 was originally published in 2007 on the PlayStation 2 by Atlus in Japan; the North American release of the game was delayed due to issues with the publication of the official art book. An add-on disc entitled Persona 3 FES, containing a "director's cut" of the original game, as well as a new epilogue, was released alongside Persona 3 in Japan, and in 2008 in other territories. A PlayStation Portable remake of Persona 3, titled Persona 3 Portable will be released in Japan on November 1, 2009.

In Persona 3, the player takes the role of a male high-school student who joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), a group of students investigating the "Dark Hour," a time period between one day and the next that few people are aware of. During the Dark Hour, the player enters Tartarus, a large tower containing Shadows, creatures that feed on the minds of humans.To fight the Shadows, each member of SEES is able to summon a Persona, a manifestation of a person's inner self. The game's most iconic feature is the method by which the members of SEES release their Personas: by firing a gun-like object called an Evoker at their head. In addition to the standard elements of role-playing games, Persona 3 includes elements of simulation games, as the game's protagonist progresses day by day through a school year, making friends and forming relationships that improve the strength of his Personas in battle. The North American release of Persona 3 includes the aforementioned art book, along with a selection of music from the official soundtrack.

Setting

The story of Persona 3 takes place in a modern Japanese city, built and funded by the Kirijo Corporation. Experiments carried out ten years ago created the "Dark Hour", a period of time that exists between one day and the next.[4] Most people are enclosed inside coffins and are not aware of the Dark Hour; however, there is a select group of people who are.[4] The Dark Hour bends reality; Gekkoukan High School,where most of the characters attend school during the day, becomes a huge labyrinthine tower called Tartarus, and beasts known as Shadows roam the area, preying on the minds of those still conscious.[5] The Shadows leave their victims in near-catatonic states outside of the Dark Hour.[6] To investigate and learn about the Dark Hour, Shadows, and Tartarus, a group called the "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad," or SEES, was created. SEES is a group of high-schoolers capable of summoning beings known as Personas to combat Shadows.[5] Persona-users summon their Persona by firing a gun-like object called an Evoker at their head.[7]

Characters

The main character of Persona 3 is a silent protagonist, named by the player at the start of the game.[8] He is a teenage boy, orphaned as a child, returning to the city he grew up in ten years prior to attend Gekkoukan High School.[4] After learning of his ability to summon a Persona, he joins SEES, which is comprised of students at his school: Yukari Takeba, a popular, cheerful girl, Akihiko Sanada, a calm and collected senior who leads the school's boxing team, and Mitsuru Kirijo, daughter of the head of the Kirijo Group, who provides backup during battle.[9] As the game progresses, SEES gains several new members: Junpei Iori, a class clown and the Protagonist's best friend[9], Fuuka Yamagishi, a shy girl who replaces Mitsuru as a support character, Aigis, a female android designed by the Kirijo Group to fight Shadows[10], Ken Amada, a middle schooler whose mother was killed by a Persona-user[11], Shinjiro Aragaki, a former member of SEES who quit due to past events[12], and Koromaru, a dog capable of summoning a Person

Story

Persona 3 begins with the main character transferring to Gekkoukan High School, and moving into a dorm in the city.[4] After learning of his ability to summon a Persona, he is asked to join SEES, and is eventually elected its leader in combat.[13] As the group continues to gain new members and explore Tartarus further, they discover that one of twelve powerful Shadows, represented by a major arcanum, appears in the city during a full moon. In addition, by destroying all of these Shadows, Tartarus and the Dark Hour would disappear forever.[14] Ten years prior to the events of Persona 3, a series of experiments were performed in an attempt to harness the power of Shadows; however, the experiment went awry, creating the Dark Hour and Tartarus, and leading to the escape of the twelve greater Shadows.[15] After defeating the twelfth and final Shadow, SEES learns that they had been mislead by Shuji Ikutsuki, the team's lead advisor. By destroying the greater Shadows, they have freed parts of a being known as Nyx, which will bring about the end of the world if it is fully restored.[16]

Nyx, or the "maternal being," is the creator of Shadows;[17] she is drawn to Earth by The Appriser, or "Death", a Shadow of the Death arcanum. SEES encounters The Appriser disguised as Ryoji Mochizuki, a recent transfer student to Gekkoukan High School.[18] The Shadow experiments performed ten years earlier created the Death Shadow, albeit in an incomplete state.[19] Aigis, unable to defeat the Shadow, sealed it inside the Protagonist, who was still a child at the time, in an act of desperation.[20] By defeating the twelve greater Shadows, the Death Shadow was recreated.[21] Its purpose is to usher Nyx into the world, who would bring about the extinction of the human race.[22] Ryoji insists that Nyx cannot be defeated;[23] however, he offers SEES an alternative. If they were to kill him, their memories of the Dark Hour and Tartarus would vanish, allowing them to leave in peace before the world ends.[24] On December 31, the player is given the option to kill Ryoji or let him live. If Ryoji is spared, then the game continues, and on January 31, SEES climbs to the roof of Tartarus to face Ryoji, who is now the Nyx Avatar.[25] While they are able to defeat the Avatar, Nyx continues to descend to Earth. The Protagonist is able to use the power of his Social Links to seal away Nyx from the world.[26][27] The world returns to normal, though the memories of the past year are lost to the members of SEES.[28] As they finish school, they come to realize that they each promised to gather on the school's roof should they make it to Graduation Day. LANJUTGAN..