This isn't meant to be a substitute for the game, or as a transcript of the entire script/plot, but rather a way to understand, read-up-on, speculate, analyze & get a really good idea of what's going on in the game.
Planets/Areas Guide
Special Quest Mission Write Ups
Green Text: Speculation
What You Do/The official "Party Line" appears in RED TEXT
Bold Text: Important information
Choice Options: Blue Text
Dates & Times (Story is time travel related) Purple Text
Chapter 9 The First Farewell
This chapter takes place on an attacked ARKS city ship. (So, ruined city area) The start isn't explained at all, like there's no lead-up where someone was telling you/ARKS had to go there to defend it, so it's just some assumption that you'd go there because anyone who knows Hadred would suspect him of showing up due to the darker abundance. No reason for this attack is given either...like the first time you encounter this field, it was Persona triggering it to cover up the robbery of Zeig's house to get the Clarissa pieces he was fixing.
238 4/15 at 1000
Quna says you came as expected, surprising you by stepping out from her hexagon teleport, asking if it’s unusual for her to be there. She says the only reason she’s here is because where there’s lots of darkers, there’s Hadred. She says he’s likely to be here, so let’s end it all here.
At 1030
After fighting alongside Ohza and Marlu vs darkers, you run into Casra, who asks why you’re here. Quna asks him right back why he’s there. He says ‘just like you’, a mission. But, it’s a rare sight to find her partied with anyone…not to mention it’s ‘you’ also, an act of fate?
You know her?
Why are you here?
If you ask “You Know Her?” he says not formally, but we see each other on work related incidents…but to jump to the point, you 2 are here to confront the rampaging dragon. There’s a suspicious parameter in the “Sphere Arena” in the city center. (That ball shaped sports dome) Quna asks why it would be there, and Casra doesn’t know, saying it seems odd. He remembers that the arena was used as a promotional stage for a certain idol, so it’s not a darker spot which is why its so baffling. You share a knowing glance at Quna, she asks could it be that…
This question is the Split Path Trigger for this chapter. Depending how you answer, a different plot will appear.
It wants to hear you sing?
Let’s Hurry
If you ask It Wants To Hear You Sing? She’ll say it’s a possibility because that’s what she was doing when it appeared before. If we play a song in the Sphere Arena, it could stop for a time. Casra questions this a bit, saying it sounds poetic, but if it’s your idea it could have merit. He’ll follow your lead. He says it’s time to go there quickly, so let’s hurry. Quna (surprisingly) says she owes him one. He says that will come in handy some time, and watches you 2 run off toward the dome.
Chapter 9 The First Divide
Fight some darkers with patty & Tea, use catapult jumps to pass by turrets as you hurry toward the dome. There's nothing too remarkable, but the area is a little different because the city has been actively setting up anti-darker stuff like spikes & barricades.
1100
Casra calls you, informing that the Dragon is confirmed to be in the arena. Quna closes her eyes at this. He doesn’t know how long it’ll stay, but she says he’ll remain as long as there’s music. Other dragons are also going berserk, it may have something to do with Hadred. She tells him he doesn’t have to explain, she knows the real reason, and has heard it before. She walks forward slowly, lamenting the destruction of the research facility, Hadred going berserk and inhumane experiments, none of it matters because to protect her, he laid down his own life. Casra says he understands and looks forward to a harsh battle.
In the next area is a code: destroy Darchymes.
After that, there’s nothing else to do but enter the sports arena.
At 1120
Quna runs up to Hadred who is still there. He roars and screeches, so she says it’s a painful voice she can’t stand to hear. But please tell her in the end, what happened in the facility? That day she was in death squad, what was the mission she was going to be assigned? That wasn’t it? If that were all you wouldn’t rampage...That’s what you need to tell me. What was going to happen to me? He bangs and roars the ground and pitches a huge fit. How far will he go to protect a secret? He’s really an idiot, she tells him.
Hadred doesn’t/can’t speak like a human, and also, not like a psychic-ish dragonkin normal person. Only Quna seems to be able to understand his roarings.
Now you have to fight the Chrome Dragon Hadred.
At 1200 If you can beat him…
He falls, and roars out a red ball of darker energy and leaps into it. This is his typical manner of portaling away.
He got away?
She says ‘so it seems’ or really that we let him. She has no intention of letting him escape for real. If someone from the death squad lets a target escape the scene, they’d never live it down.
END The First Divide
Chapter 9 Path 2 The Uncontrollable Beast
This one operates exactly as the first run did until you get to Casra.
If you ask him "Why are you here" He says its nothing out of the ordinary, just an ARKS assignment. But to jump to the point, you 2 are after the rampaging dragon, right? If you say "Let's Hurry" (in an effort to conceal her secret identity--even though it isn't needed, she seems to know Casra knows Quna is who she really is) she says we can't allow him to get away this time. Casra will now ask if he can accompany you. She accuses him of doing it to keep tabs on her. He says it's a misjudgement, that's not what he's really after so she just goes 'fine'.
Chapther 9 The Uncontrollable Beast
Casra is now in the party. As you go forward you’ll get to a ‘code find the keys to open the gate’, with an instance of ‘infinite appearing enemies’. You can kill the darker needed to spawn the final key, but there’s a spot in the street that 1 small darker at a time will appear from…probably forever. It’s odd because almost nowhere else in the game has something that will just spawn forever.
Next area you help Theodore with darkers. After that, an odd area packed with Bulfs between white gates makes it difficult to get through. Another odd bit, no-where else in anything are there this many Bulfs all at once. Next area, if you can jump on a car to hit a button you can release a yellow gate around a turret to help with the enemies. However, if you’re leveled ok, you may not even need to take the time to do it.
4/15 at 1100
Casra wants to ask Quna a question. The fact that she's with you…means she must have already explained the situation, right? She just says that if a problem arises, she'll deal with it. (Typical non-answer) He goes further, saying, and your definition of 'deal with' means 'kill' that's not an option. Then, he turns to you & says going on the assumption that you know the basics, let me tell you what I know..." Casra feels that you have a right to know, so Quna is immediately on the offensive, asking 'what are you talking about' and glaring him down. (Why though? Who cares? It's CASRA his nose is in everything, why grudge at him when he's clearly going to spill the relevent beans?)
He says he conducted his own investigation on a research facility. It pertains to a certain subject...a certain rampaging dragon...so does he have her attention now? She gasps, (oh as if she would be shocked that Casra has information--that's basically all he does & she knows it because he's snitching to Luther, and has been covertly spying on everything since forever) so he starts in, saying that he found evidence of extremely inhumane experiments. They experimented on a certain dragon' but couldn't stabilize it so it began a rampage. So, they turned their focus to experimenting on humans, which is also pretty grave. As they continued on both humans & dragons, they got even less humane. The details were lost (in the rampage?) but the outline provides enough information. It was a failure, dragons went berserk, and humans cannot exceed their limits. (What does this MEAN? What were they trying to ACTUALLY DO? But an incident occurred. An experiment that was supposed to be for a human was done on a dragon Hadred instead. The result was they "unlocked a hidden power" and he went berserk and destroyed the facility. The 'hidden power' is likely to be his darker-related portaling ability.
Quna asks if it was really supposed to be on people? Casra admits he never found out why the incident occurred. Was it a researcher error or something to do with Hadred himself? (Remember: it's hinted that he's some unique thing or something, a 1-off) Quna asks him how he knows so much, so he logically says it's because of his place on the council, he has authority over others so he is responsible for looking into incidents. Quna stares at him for a while, then turns to you to let's go so we can end this. As you run off, Casra shakes his head and looks sad a lot before following.
at 1130
You get into the sports dome and Hadred is there. Everyone goes running up to him so Hadred roars out his portal and she asks him not to go, in that place at that time, what happened, what you were you trying to do? But despite her asking, he portals away. A Zeshryda however, comes flying in through the hole in the top of the arena. Casra says a darker attack like this could be expected.
at 1200
If you can defeat the Zeshryda and the kradah, Quna is sad and Casra gets a call that all the Darkers in the city have been destroyed so a return order has been issued. He says cleanup is someone else’s' job so we should also return. Quna is obviously angry and frustrated and sad. She says to don't worry about her, let's head back. We need to discover more, and knowing that, has made this venture worthwhile. As she closes her eyes, the chapter ends.
So which one happened?
Could be either, as the outcome is the same: Hadred escapes, Quna is sad & only a little more information is aquired.
Speculation:
Hadred rampaged because the experiement they did on him WAS to be 'on humans', specifically on Quna and he did it to wreck the lab and save her, even though it meant he'd be hunted down forever. He's "sort of a person" so he probably knew this as well & went in knowing he'd die for her. That line about them "being from the same mother" is STILL TOO OBTUSE, because you can only guess it means she was out of some vat & so was he...since he's what, 2-story high skeleton dragon? What did he even start out as? Were they trying to make her able to go portaling too? This also NEVER GETS CLARIFIED , the plot just moves on and you never find out. It's bad story writing.
Matoi in: Wonder About Rampage
Matoi is glad to see you're safe because she's heard of a big dragon that can come out of nowhere. You clarify that it splits space and comes out. She's quite impressed, and thinks its awesome that it could even appear inside this very ship. She asks if it's strange that if he can go anywhere, why wouldn't he go somehwere with no people? And what does he really want? Maybe she's thinking too far into it... (Yeah too bad nobody else thinks into it)
Chapter EX (10) The Arks Battle Festa
Takes place at this point. It was published after Episode 2 started (I think) but this is where it belongs. Read it at the link before going onto this next section below.
Episode 2:
Xion starts this one off a month after the previous one. It’s now AP 238 at 5/1.
When you go to talk to her, she said there’s some ‘shifts on the axis’ she wants to talk to you about, but for the first time ever, she’s interrupted. A mystery newman man appears in a white formal looking coat. He has white hair, blue eyes, and a teardrop tattoo with 2 tears vertically above the eye, and one below the eye. He comes walking up literally out of thin air and starts talking to Xion. However, he clearly can’t see her, and it’s unclear if he can see you. He breezes past the both of you and talks sort of at the sky, looking around occasionally as if Xion will appear to him.
He introduces himself as Luther, head of the Space-Time Researchers.
Throughout his conversation, he emphasizes he doesn’t want to make Xion mad. He thanks you for helping ‘reveal a little more of her’, but he’s still curious why she does some things, and not others. He’s just about as vague as she is though. He wants to meet again, and vanishes.
Once he’s gone, Xion finally explains a bit. This Luther person is why she wants you to help her. She doesn’t want to “entrust fate to him”, but admits some of her actions are “why he became twisted”, so she’s regretful. She recognizes he can’t see her or hear her, but seems somewhat bothered (she’s very hard to read) that he can know she’s there, and that you were there talking to her.
This whole scene was spied upon by:
Quna & Casra. They’re both aggravated by Luther’s appearance, however they’re more aggravated by each other. Casra explains that Luther is the only “PHOTONER” (instead of leader of the photoners, as Quna thought) because everyone else is a wanna-be photoner. He also states that your character is the key to some event, and that when the Falz seal on Naberius was broken, ‘he’ was the first to touch the Chrome Dragon. (What does this mean?) Quna hates Casra. She just wants revenge upon “who messed up our lives”. (And by “our” she means hers & Hadred’s) Casra is cryptic about why he’s “helping” or coercing Quna. She gets mad and vanishes into her knife symbols. Casra shrugs it off and intends to lay low.
5/2
If you go to Vopar, you meet Echo. But now, she’s dressed as a Hunter & carrying a sword. You’re surprised to see her new class, so she explains in Zeno’s absence she’s got to try to fill in. She promised to ‘better herself’ down on Vopar by investigating a distress signal, however, she’s found no one yet. She seems chipper & determined. She mentioned that “Time doesn’t seem to flow right on this planet”, but will continue investigating.
*It does not seem to ‘flow right’, because the planet rotates quite quickly accelerating its day and night cycle. A day there lasts perhaps only for a few hours. If most planets rotate at about a 24 or so hour rate, this one IS going to seem “strange” The gimmick is to change how the enemies attack while you play so it has to go 'fast enough' that it will cycle before the party leaves an area. It is a gameplay gimmick with in-game logical explanation.
5/6
See Theodore.
You can find Theodore on Vopar too. He’s lost his tall hat and seems a little in a daze. He walks half leaning forward. He greets you fairly normally, but says the darker presence seems strong here even though the darkers are fewer and weak. He looks sad as he remembers fighting stronger ones elsewhere, then leaves.
5/7
Echo meets Cabracan
Echo’s still not having any luck with her distress signal investigation. She explains that it did get turned off though, so the quest seems to be cancelled. However, she’s interrupted by another voice asking about looking for people. Worried, she turns around and you look around too, but don’t see anyone. Suddenly, up from the sand there digs…a small alien person.
This is a short (probably half a meter?) little guy with a conical swirled shell for a head. It has 2 holes in it which look like eyes or eyespots, the ‘arms’ are little floppy fin things, the legs are little flipper stubs & the torso/thighs have a few blunt looking spikes/flaps.
Echo shrieks that “the enemy can talk!” and right away starts trying to murder him with her sword. You block her off because he says he’s just a person who lives on the planet. She tries to get you out of the way to kill him while he tells her to calm down. She demands to know what he is, telling him how disgusting he is all the while. Sensibly, he retorts she looks worse to him & she argues he’s slimy and better not get close. He tells her not to make fun of people’s differences, and that she could learn a lot from him. She looks to you, and (reasonably for pretty much any character) you nod. He mentions he’s looking for someone and can’t believe having to put up with ‘such rudeness’.
This gets her attention.
Now she’s into asking him who, but when he says ‘another like me’ she says nothing so revolting as him has ever appeared before her. Successfully driving him off, he says “smell you later” and leaves. Only now does she manage to rub together 2 brain cells and ask the question “How does he know our language both to listen and to speak…if nobody’s contacted them before?”
They have no visible mouth.
Remember what ARKS is: Interplanetary exploration. Was she…NOT expecting to EVER see an actual you know…alien? On all these…alien planets? And if it says “oh help I’m looking for someone” maybe DON’T murder people who ask for help randomly while not attacking or even coming close? She’s worse than incompetent as an ARKS member, she’s a downright detriment to the organization. (Wow, a sentient being on this mysterious planet we are required to investigate to save lives—it might know what’s going on here…better kill it because ‘its slimy eew’)
5/8
Casual Concern
If you go to Vopar again, you can find Echo & Cabracan. Surprisingly, they’re working together. Echo is helping him find the lost shell-person. He doesn’t seem to want her help though…so she says ‘he came running to her for help after an enemy chased him’ to which he comes back that she was running from it too. Cabracan doesn’t seem to lie, and they never mask the truth. They’re always super direct even if it’s impolite. She told him to keep it a secret. *It SEEMS like Echo is forcing her help on Cabracan because she feels guilty for attacking him while he was doing what SHE wants to be doing: finding a lost friend. She would never apologize or admit she was wrong for attacking, but she does feel guilty. Finally, she asks the question:
“Why can you communicate with us?”
He says well how should he know. He’s “been able to talk for a long time” and the “planet has been this way for a long time”. Which explains just about nothing. Grams & Gramps might know something because they’ve lived so long but (of course) he hasn’t seen them in a long time, and people who “stay in one place get taken out”. This probably means dead. Is it that way with ‘you’? (meaning arks) Echo says no…it’s those who put others before themselves that are ‘the first to go’, but ‘they don’t consider the feelings of those they leave behind’ when they do this. (Meaning Zeno) She’s sad at this, and Cabracan is actually making her think.
Cabracan says it’s time to keep searching, and since she volunteered to help, she’d best follow him along. They leave.
5/9
We’re trying to understand each other
Echo & Cabracan are still wandering the endless beaches of Vopar. This time, they’re running from something because Echo stepped on it whilst it was sleeping. (An Org Blan, perhaps?) He explains that she’s clumsy for doing this, which annoys her. They bicker, but he concludes that ‘coming from another planet doesn’t make too much difference’, while the real difference is that ‘really scary guys appear out of no-where’ (probably darkers) and that ‘enemies weren’t so violent or strong here’ and that also sometimes they used to understand words, but now they don’t. Cabracan is glad you can understand him, but bickers with Echo more.
5/9
A Strange Sign
Theodore is holding a card and closing his eyes, he seems to be mentally concentrating or looking for something. When you arrive behind him, he knows something’s there and its not an enemy. He turns around saying oh its you…but in a sort of dreamy way. He clasps his hands and fidgets the whole time. He says the planet is ‘off’ in a lot of ways, he gets bad feelings here from darkers and arks and other things as well as small native creatures. He felt he was about to get ‘caught up in something’ so he ran away because it wasn’t a darker, while wondering what it could have been.