You know, I really, really enjoy the art and design in this game. The designs (thankfully) does not subscribe to the usual gacha design conventions. I cannot put my appreciation into words, really, as I am quite poor at putting mind to paper, so instead, I (someone with no real insight to give) will just go through the EGO's and ID's (SuperEGO when?) that have mentioned so far and rate them on an arbitrary scale! Let's start with the EGO's, and then move towards the ID's. Except Base stuff. I will not talk about base stuff.
This EGO will introduce a major gripe that I will have with most of the EGO's in this first post: namely the fact that the LCB uniform is clear and visible beneath the EGO. To me, this doesn't seem to be someone cloaking themselves in the monstrous power of the abnormalities, but rather someone slightly influenced. The corrosion fixes this somewhat simply by hiding the uniform better, covering it up in an innumerable amount of maggots. I do like how this mirrors both golden apple and the false apple so I cannot dislike it too much. Completely middle of the road, 5/10.
This, however, is great. The awakening is a clear blend of Outis and the abnormality, yet the Corrosion doesn't change very much at all. To me, this is how it should be. There should be just a thin line between corrosion and awakening, between cooperating and being overtaken. I fancy the crown of roots that Outis wears, but the dress made out of roots could be better, in my opinion. 8/10.
Yaawn. The major gripe returns, and this time they didn't even make the corrosion interesting. Woow, some more red veins, the burning version of the calender and some sharp teeth. A complete bore of a design. 1/10.
Meh. Same complaint as always. The corrosion has something going for it, at least, with the ice chunks resembling a chicken, but I would've really wanted to see Rodya standing on a singular chiken leg, or something like that, maybe? Oh well. In the end, it's not much different from Legerdemain. 4/10.
Despite being one of those LCB Uniform EGO's, Screwloose Wallop manages to be somewhat charming, with splotches of colourful plastic and paint covering it up. However, the corrosion cannot look anything other than silly with a head like that. 6/10
I have a hard time deciding whether this or Impending Day is the more dull EGO. This might take the cake, if only because it had 2 chances to be interesting. Long hair getting coloured highlights of a relevant colour is neat, at least. Not much more to say, other then to note just how big Hong Lu's Gauntlets get between Awakening and Corrosion. Hong Lu gets a 2/10, Ishmael gets 1/10
ID Time!
Bloodcovered, depressed, buggy, there are lots of things to like here. G Corp. uniforms, are not among those things. I believe it functions well as visual storytelling, but in terms of drip, it falls flat. 5/10
Same problems as Gregor, but I enjoy Outis' bug traits more, so I'll give her an extra point. 6/10.
One could not claim that Yuri did not dress well. The bright red colour, matching her weapon, and a blue band around her leg, nicely contrasting it. It just looks good. 8/10.
Tingtang Hong Lu just works. It's such a simple design, screaming laidback yet dangerous. I think the shirt depicting a lotus blooms is neat. Haev another 8/10.
Unfortunately, this doesn't work as well for Sinclair as it does Aida. I think it's the straw that does it, but I can't be sure. Either way, this is a silly ID, and having Sinclair seem serious doesn't fit it at all. It does still glow in the dark, so I'll bump it up a point for that, at least. 4/10.
I'd give them some slack on EGO resonance because it seems to be something unique. In Lobcorp we had the EGO gear, and in Library we had pages where we got the ability or enhancement.
Given none of our Sinner's have are EGO users proper nor active distortions it makes sense that Resonance is much less dramatic. They are making the most tenuous connection possible to use an EGO. Even their own base EGO are just a glimpse at what they might get if they awaken properly.
Here we are, Canto 3 already! I'm sure some of you have just been champing at the bit waiting for me to get here, and I'd say there's plenty to be excited about. Out of the three launch-day cantos I'd certainly say 3 is the most meaty, which unfortunately for those cursed to be playing at launch means it's also significantly harder than the previous two in every way. But we'll have the chance to talk about all these difficulty spikes very soon.
We open with the bus at dusk, driving to its newest destination, and Charon is humming Silent Night. Dante finds the melody familiar, singing along in their head. Vergilius, noticing that Dante is looking over at her, speaks up.
Vergilius: "Alas, they have not the privilege to fully appreciate the glee of their own music... Oh, how unjust that is." Vergilius: "Charon, you look like you're in a good mood today."
Vergilius: "I see. Although..." Vergilius: "As far as I remember, you would often hum that song when you felt down." Charon: "Charon has no such memories. Charon sings when she's happy."
Dante watches a profound, unspeakable feeling of sadness and loneliness darken Vergilius's eyes for a moment. But it is only for a moment, and so they decide to ascribe it to a trick of the sunset.
Vergilius: "... The world Charon hums now is one that lacks sound and colour. She's going through a long tunnel with no exit in sight." Narration: I'm sure that, just like the history of my own life that I've forgotten... Charon and Vergilius must have their own threads of cruel reminders.
Vergilius: "Your work is to manage your crew, not befriend this old guide." Narration: When I looked at his gface again, that momentary hint of sadness had fleeted, replaced with a faint smile.
Man.
Vergilius is going through it, isn't he?
Like, he's very condescending and acerbic to the Sinners based on their competence or lack thereof, and when asked about his involvement in things he brushes it off like he's goldbricking or otherwise just plainly unwilling to put in overtime beyond the strict boundaries of his job description, but going through the early cantos for a closer reading these small moments of personal connection with specifically Dante really paint a different picture than my first impression. Something I think gets lost in the truism of "just read Leviathan lol" because like, sure, but also based solely on the evidence presented to us in Limbus Company itself there's just obviously more to Vergilius than meets the eye. He knows Charon from before the formation of LCB, intimately enough to know her moods and habits which have now changed drastically enough that an offhand comment from her brings the Struggle fully to the fore for him. He cares about her deeply enough that he's always gentle with her and shows her infinite patience where the Sinners themselves would kill to receive even a tenth of that.
More to the point, why is Charon even here? She's driving the bus, sure, but as shown to us directly in Canto 1 and a little at the start of Canto 2 she's just plain bad at it. Some random LCCB redshirt doing her job probably wouldn't slam the brakes so hard it gives everyone in the bus save Vergilius a concussion. She drives purely on vibes, can't read a map, and generally shows no particular qualifications for the job that would exceed any random rotation of the Sinners (excluding the few that probably straight-up don't know how to drive like Heathcliff or Hong Lu). But she's here and that means every time the Sinners disembark for a mission it leaves Charon and Vergilius with all the time in the world to just hang out in relative quiet offscreen. Is that a coincidence, or is that the point?
We'll leave it there for now and move on, as Dante turns to check on the Sinners. They're doing pretty well for the time being, especially since they actually managed to secure a Golden Bough this time (Sonya absolutely throwing aside), and Dante tunes in on the conversation just in time to overhear Greg getting sick of Rodion giving him the play-by-play on the high-stakes poker game for the seventh time and instead asks Vergilius where their next stop is.
Heathcliff: "District 11, eh? Job's taking me to all sorts of places I'd never have thought to visit." Don Quixote (sparkle eyes): " 'Tis home to another great individual! And you are certain to find a souvenir shop there! I've always yearned for a limited-edition figurine set!" Rodion: "Ooo~ Didn't it also have a restaurant chain famous for its hamburg steak?" Outis: "Huff... Life has gotten much easier these days, hasn't it? Back in my marching days, all I had was a pinch of salt in my mouth." Ishmael: "I know, right? The only food I could swallow during my voyage was canned soup that tasted like iron."
Ryoshu: "Well, imagining the variances in blood-colour by region does make me salivate."
But Sinclair is in no fit state to respond. Or do much of anything, really. Alarmed, Rodion asks him what's wrong.
Meursault: "He's turned pale. He's also suffering from hyperventilation and tremors." Dante: <H-How long has he been like this?> Meursault: "Ever since Mister Vergilius mentioned K Corp." Dante: <Why didn't you tell me earlier?> Meursault: "... because you did not order me to do so."
Meursault simply stares at Dante "like [they were] at fault for not doing the obvious", and that seems to give Sinclair just enough recovery time to become verbal again.
Rodion: "Really sure you're okay...?" Dante: <Now that I think about it... Faust, I'm noticing a trend where one of us has visceral reactions to the destinations that Vergilius reveals. Additionally, when we arrive, it turns out that the place does have a history with the person in question. Does it have something to do with the reason we joined the company?>
You love to see characters in a story displaying basic pattern recognition. Granted Dante is being a little bit forward here with their theorising considering the location had nothing to do with Gregor's tie to his canto and Rodion's canto cheated a little bit by establishing her connection as being with the Yurodiviye of District 25 who were coincidentally also there in District 10, hence my headcanon that District 10 just happened to be where she ended up after the Middle's purge to try and numb the pain (and perhaps where Sonya went on purpose trying to pick up her trail, especially with intel from Hermann herself about the functionality of the Golden Boughs).
Faust, for her part, is more concerned with the fact that Dante referred to the Sinners as 'we'.
homegirl really said "" because Dante started unconsciously thinking of themself as part of the group
Faust: "As for your question, while I can't tell you the reasons for recruiting the Sinners in detail..." Faust: "There'd be no point in denying that our destinations and the backgrounds of each Sinner are indeed related to a degree." Heathcliff: "Do all uppish snobs have some condition that makes them yap on and on about things that can be answered with a plain yes or no?" Faust: "Hysteron proteron isn't always correct. Faust simply adopts the most effective mode of communication for the given situation."
Hysteron proteron (Greek, lit. "later earlier"), according to wikipedia, is a rhetorical device where a key word or subject that comes temporally later is placed first in a statement to give it greater primacy to the recipient. Basically Faust is saying that she believed it was more prudent to elaborate on the subject fully while Dante was still paying attention rather than giving a response to the tune of "yes, and [insert elaboration here]".
Again Hong Seung-hyo gives an adorably earnest performance as Heathcliff stumbles over the term trying to sound out what the fuck Faust just said.
Faust: "It means that you're struggling to understand Faust because you're too uneducated, not that Faust is overeducated." Heathcliff: "Why you...!"
Faust casually stamping her heel on Heathcliff's trigger on purpose because she can't be assed to explain herself, truly iconic behaviour. Heathcliff advances on her, bat in hand, with malicious intent.
Narration: The bus finally quieted down after that.
The only thing more darkly comic than the fact Sinclair stress-vomiting all over Heathcliff's shoes saved Faust's life is the fact that it's only been a month since the start of the game (Prologue/Canto I/Canto II all listed as being in January, Canto III in February), which means the four Sinners involved in the Teamkilling Incident of Canto I are still on cleaning duty, which means Heathcliff had to stop and clean it up on pain of getting his balls crushed by Vergilius.
It's the little things that keep me coming back to this project, I tell you.
Eager to move on from All Of That, Gregor picks up his train of thought and asks Vergilius if he meant the Backstreets of District 11, to which Vergilius bluntly states that he knows what he said and he said what he meant. Their next destination is not just District 11, it's within the Nest itself. This both proves that the talk of 'J Corp's Nest' in the previous Canto was more of a colloquial term, and the events of that Canto did in fact take place exclusively in its Backstreets, and provides an on-ramp to the subject of the immigration process that highlights even for a new player the harsh divide between a Nest and Everything That Is Not A Nest in The City. We may all live in the country called Capitalism, but the City is effectively the entire world of Project Moon (it even has a population of over 6 billion going by the ticker at the end of the intro movie) and each Wing's Nest is akin to its own city-state with its own laws and borders. We're about to get an up-close look at one, and then the other not long after.
Rodion, ever practical, points out she doesn't have a visa for K Corp and doubts she's the odd one out on the matter.
Ryoshu: "The solution is simple: C.I." Ryoshu: "And keep on D.E.R. 'til we've breached the defence."
Ryoshu's amusement at her own weird bullshit is endlessly funny.
Unfortunately we don't have Sinclair operational to translate for her. I have to assume that's Cut In, and then keep on Destroying Every Reinforcement? I can't come up with anything that better suits what is obviously a plan for a frontal assault on the Wing because "do it or no balls". Ishmael points out that they do work for a Wing in their own right and that comes with its own privileges, right of free movement in certain circumstances being one of them. For another she grouses about just how long it would take to follow Ryoshu's 'plan' and how badly she must be underestimating a fucking Nest garrisoned by a Wing's forces to say that.
Dante: <Oh, I see, no one's gonna take into account how much I'll suffer for that CIDER, huh?> Narration: Sadly, none of our Sinners bothered to respond to me in any capacity.
Being Durante is suffering.
Vergilius: "As Ishmael said, we'll pass the immigration without needing a visa. Limbus Company has backing from the shareholders of a wide array of fields." Hong Lu: "Oh, do you happen to know the shareholder of H Corp, then?"
Vergilius: "Couldn't say, I'm merely a humble guide who wouldn't be in the position to know such a thing. Otherwise, the question doesn't seem like one that's really worth answering." Hong Lu: "How harsh..."
lmao, Vergilius is such an expert vibe-killer that even Hong Lu can tell when he's being told to shut the fuck up for once.
There's an interlude here as some Rats attack the bus, as they can tell merely by the specific path the bus is taking that the occupants must have some means to pass K Corp immigration and they're willing to kill to get their hands on a prize like that. The fight is a completely standard one against the same kinds of Hooligan enemies we've already fought in in every previous Canto, so we skip past it to the point where they disembark as planned to begin the immigration process.
Vergilius: "Ah, and let me add this just in case you're feeling inclined to your usual antics." Vergilius: "Don't go around making a scene expecting things to go your way..." Vergilius: "Because that will not be how it works in this particular place."
The Sinners presumably all give the "that sign can't stop me because I can't read" response (except for Sinclair who is still projectile-vomiting) and head inside.
The aesthetic contrast couldn't be more apparent. After two Cantos of running around in abandoned run-down Backstreets regions and the cheap glitz and glamour of an underground casino, the entrance to K Corp's Nest comes in looking like a cross between airport customs and the lobby of a hospital. Everything clean and bright and blindingly white save bold green accents, even the yellow guide lines on the floor muted and dark to give primacy to the green. This is actually a snippet of a particularly wide landscape CG that the game pans across to give a wider view of the environs, so you're about to see the armed guards standing by in case of trouble too.
There ya go, don't worry about the cordoned-off area behind him and the bodies on the floor it's fine.
Amusingly, Ishmael and Dante are just flabbergasted that Vergilius actually got off the bus and came with them instead of waiting. Even more amusingly it's specifically Dante that Vergilius chooses to respond to, instead of Ishmael who expressed the same sentiment much more audibly because Fraudgilius can hear them dammit he thinks he's slick but he's so bad at hiding it
Vergilius: "Because this is a Nest, Dante. If one of you were to get into unexpected trouble here..." Vergilius: "Well, Dante, the responsibility will be a bit too heavy for you to bear alone." Narration: When Vergilius put it like that... it sounded as if he were saying 'you're not reliable enough to be sent without supervision'.
yeah and is he fucking wrong, Dante?
Further along the line, Dante notices Ishmael starting to ask more questions more rapidly the closer it gets to their turn - the OCD Girlies and My Dad it seems having a lot in common when it comes to tackling customs, but perhaps I repeat myself. Vergilius slowly explains that the K Corp officials only ask very simple questions to people in this line (and it is clearly some kind of VIP or otherwise expedited line as we'll soon see) and that all they must do is say that they're here on behalf of Limbus Company and present their company ID badges.
Vergilius: "I'll take care of the rest, so you just have to prove that you aren't here to cause trouble." Faust: "If even memorising that is too much of a burden for you, I suggest that you keep your mouth shut. You can present your employee card instead." Dante: <Keep quiet and don't cause trouble. Easiest tasks in the world.>
Dante lets slip with a sarcastic remark and is immediately Shook worried that Faust will rat them out to Vergilius, but to their relief the guide is busy staring into space. He instead opens the floor to questions from raised hands, every bit the kindergarten teacher he swore he would not be back in Canto I.
Rodion: "Since this trip is for business, we can carry our weapons, yeah~?" Vergilius: "Correct. Next." Rodion: "Then, Greg's creepy-crawly arm and Dante's chichi clockhead're getting a pass too?"
girl is yapping at hitherto unseen speeds
Narration: Ishmael took the role of the model student and answered in Vergilius' stead. Narration: It feels like something changed about Ishmael's attitude since the casino job... Narration: She seems to have decided to take matters into her own hands after I betrayed her expectations of my capabilities as a leader.
lmao, get fucked Dante. Very mean of her, especially when technically the wishpower plan was never going to work and it was in fact cosmically lucky that Dante wasted it on the slot machine, but in her defence Dante is also a massive slacker and has made very little effort beyond the reviving and the chaining funny matched colours together parts.
Vergilius: "And Ryoshu. Put out your cigarette before you speak." Ryoshu: "... I didn't raise my hand."
Vergilius just straight up being petty because Ryoshu is a freak and steps on his aesthetic, you love to see it.
La Creatura
Vergilius does his level best to ignore her raised hand, but ultimately caves to La Creatura's pressuring.
Look at him, his eyes are already glowing, he knows this can't be anything good.
Don draws our attention to the half of the background CG that was initially hidden offscreen, walled off from the VIP section by a series of translucent glass panels. That line is slowed to a crawl, people sitting on the floor waiting for it to move - if they aren't outright prone after having provoked the guards by some means or another - and Meursault observes that there are triple the guards on that side as there are on theirs.
Rodion: "Well~ Simply put, that line's for Backstreets folks. Each Nest handles immigration differently, but wherever it may be, it's super-duper hard to get into another Nest without a proper visa." Vergilius: "... a problem we are not in our power to resolve."
Another flash of empathy from him. Vergilius may be a Colour Fixer but that doesn't make him some Chadstriding Ubermensch who gets to ignore the law. Even he can't simply step in and fix all the problems of the world. Unfortunately, such an answer is nowhere near satisfactory for Don Quixote, but the line moves fast enough that it's Limbus Company's turn at the desk before they can try to talk Don down any further.
Ishmael: "Remember: When you're asked about the purpose of your visit..."
If we're powerscaling the things that actually bother Ryoshu it appears 'going through customs' rates at least equal to 'having to fight a whole bunch of lame mooks'.
It's interesting that even in the VIP line with much lighter security, the official is still a fully suited and booted SWAT looking motherfucker. You don't have to get ready if you stay ready I guess.
All goes perfectly smoothly, each Sinner offering their ID card and moving on. Dante even notices that the official is barely actually inspecting anything, merely glancing at each card and then waving them through. Unfortunately things are not going quite so smoothly on the other side of the glass, and while it's too thick to block out sound... they can see through it just fine.
Narration: And a small child was crying next to them, clearly scared and confused. Ishmael: "... We shouldn't bother. I don't know what happened, but I guess someone broke a taboo." Heathcliff: "Yeah, sure. Those impoverished vandals and their audacity to break the taboo of not stuffing enough cash in the right people's pockets, am I right?"
sis is FLABBERGASTED that he actually got one over on her
Heathcliff: "Huh. What, I thought you didn't care? Guess someone's knickers are in a twist."
Unfortunately, Dante gets distracted by Heathcliff and Ishmael pulling each other's pigtails and calling each other gay right as Don's turn in the queue came.
Checkpoint Official: "Please state your affiliation and purpose of visit." Don Quixote: "....."
The official expresses emotion for the first time since the Sinners got there, and bro is well and truly flabbergasted. Don demands that the suffering Backstreets hopefuls be released at once. The official, of course, ignores her yapping and asks for her ID and purpose of visit again. Don only grows more and more upset at the stonewall treatment, when beyond the wall...
Narration: I saw the desperate child mouth a scream at the man dragged away in handcuffs.
BODYSACK MENTION?!?!?! it's his base ego we'll talk about it later
Ishmael: "I doubt that would've made much of a difference." Yi Sang: "Thrombo, leuko... I believe they refer to platelets and white blood cells respectively." Faust: "It must be them. Fitting for K corp, I'd say." Dante: <I've gotten used to this sort of situation, but it looks pretty serious.> Faust: "Indeed. We've violated a taboo of the Wing, after all." Dante: <It's not like anyone was hurt - can't we just talk this through?>
when the clockhead says something so wingphobic you just gotta hit 'em with the INTJ stare
Narration: For Faust to face someone directly when she usually stares into empty space as she speaks can only indicate one thing: I must have said something incredibly frustrating. Faust: "No matter the Wing, infringement of a taboo means-"
Don Quixote is gibbed by an explosion mid-sentence.
Faust: "-that lethal measures can be taken against the violator without warning."
Can you fucking imagine how this feels for Vergilius. He handed these people a fastpass to the Magic Kingdom on a SILVER PLATTER and they managed to GET IN A FIGHT WITH MICKEY AT THE GATE
Vergilius: "You managed to wring out the last drop of expectation I had left for you. I'm keeping out. Pin the whole thing on her, or take repsonsibility, or whatever."
Vergilius: "I came with you to take care of inevitable problems, not have a pissing session in the wind."
And then to emphasise his point Vergilius simply walks away, straight through the cordon of completely unresisting K Corp guards, and leans against a wall with his arms crossed to watch the Sinners get kettled.
Here are K Corp Checkpoint Security. They are the next major wall of the release-day cantos, the moment where the game really says "oh you think we're fucking around? train for 100 years". I very distinctly recall that this was where I stalled out hard in my early days, which coming directly on the heels of Baba Yaga was a really not fun time. What makes them so rough? Well for starters, from a purely numerical standpoint Canto II ended with a recommended level of 15 and the very second encounter of Canto III is reccomended level 20 (but the subsequent fights are 18 and 19 for some reason). This means that if you thought you could get by with natural xp from clearing missions, haha, no you fucking can't. This also marks the point at which my overlevelled Sinners catch up with the intended level range of the Canto, as I have carefully selected a team of base IDs to level to/keep at 30 for the duration of this Canto.
Now, to the opposition themselves. The baton officers come in two flavours, Calm and Quiet, while the riot shield men are Stern or Reliable. Calm and Quiet officers appear to be literally identical, mono-Sloth and mono-Blunt with a small amount of Tremor application, but also some pretty solid coin counts and power ceilings. Reliable officers have fewer offensive skills, focused solely on bursting the Tremor that the baton officers inflict, while Stern officers are mono-Gluttony and inflict some extremely powerful defensive buffs on Clash Win in the form of Defence Power Up and Protection to two random allies next turn. Why is this so bad? Well uh...
For starters every K Corp Checkpoint Security officer has the guard skill Activate HP Bullet, which rolls a colossal 10+10, and also heals 10 HP on use. For another they all share the passive HP Bullets, which... heals 15 HP every turn. And another 15 HP if they're under 50% HP.
Yeah so this means the K Corp security officers can effectively heal half their max hp every turn if they feel like it, and only overwhelming firepower can actually take them down before they have a chance to heal, but you don't have overwhelming firepower because it's a normal encounter and everyone targets like Brown's cows, so it's more an exercise in holding out until you can gain enough bonus action slots to overwhelm the cops and/or build up enough sin resources to land some AoE damage.
Ishmael is unironically the MVP this Canto so far because practically every normal enemy is Blunt Fatal which means she just shatters all their bones with her skill 3, not to mention Snagharpoon which also deals Blunt damage. Faust to a lesser extent is also a great boon - her s3 is pants at clashing and she's slow as hell, but she's still dealing mostly blunt damage and her skill 2 is highly valuable both for its clashing power and the Offence Level Down it inflicts, not to mention Representation Emitter being Blunt AoE damage with teamwide SP heal but that part will come into play later.
A quick snapshot of how chaotic normal battles can get as everyone resolves all their attacks at once - initiative permitting, though the action does stop if someone whips out their skill 3. Skill 3s are even legal now, as the Sinners have reached Uptie 3 with the completion of Canto II!
Ryoshu's skill 3, Brushstroke, may roll low but it's a 3-coin skill that applies 2 stacks of Slash Damage Up at [Combat Start], and if she gets multiple action slots 20% damage on top of the 30% damage conditionals her skill 2 Splatter gets is nothing to sneeze at. The K Corp goons are thankfully only Slash neutral, but she's going to be struggling a bit once we're past them.
Here are Sinclair and Faust simultaneously eviscerating a pair of cops with their skill 1s. Oomfies on the attack.
During a break in the fighting Dante throws a helpless plea to Vergilius where he waits on the sidelines.
Vergilius: "You won't sway me with that look, Manager. I'm nothing more than a guide that none pay heed tol it would be impertinent of me to brandish my weapon." Vergilius: "Well, to meddle one final time; K Corp's Singularity takes the form of healing bullets that restore most wounds in the blink of an eye. I suppose it could be compared to that ability of yours." Dante: <Hey, wait...!>
But there's nothing for it, more K Corp guards descend for another two nodes of gruelling endurance matches with the endlessly regenerating riot cops. Having already explained the issues and hurdles with them I'll instead switch to talk about base Outis, who you might notice I swapped onto the team in place of Gregor for this Canto. She is once again a Slash/Pierce ID which gives her damage disadvantage against the rank and file enemies I'll be encountering but let me cook, I promise I put this team together for a reason - a reason the vets in the audience may be able to piece together but I implore them not to get too specific on the why until the time comes. Base Outis is actually quite unique among the LCB IDs in that all of her skills are good. Her skill 1 is wholly unique among all base IDs in that it is not a one-coin but a three-coin, losing a little in clash power (as she must effectively get lucky three times instead of one to have roughly the same final power as the others) but gaining majorly in damage output. Her skill 2, fittingly titled Backslash, on top of standard final power numbers has a 20% damage conditional if she outspeeds her target, which at 3-7 speed range isn't that uncommon and really helps shore up her damage output. Finally her skill 3, Piercing Thrust, flips a whopping 20 (beating even Ishmael's Shield Bash) with a bonus 20% damage if the target is above half health. Add in her passive of dealing a further 10% damage to foes below 0 SP and it all comes together to give her a cohesive identity (LIMBUS MENTION!!!) as a kind of rogue/assassin archetype who excels at piling on the pain and executing those too slow or weakened to fight back effectively. Her base EGO is another vital piece in the utility she brings to the team, but I'll tell you all about it once it becomes relevant.
Anyhoo, we return to the thick of things as Dante's narration glumly exposits about the HP Bullets erasing the Sinners' hard work on the bodies of K Corp's enforcers in the blink of an eye. To further hammer home just how little we're accomplishing, the K Corp Checkpoint Security officers have the 'dash offscreen' defeat animation instead of exploding like fun gore balloons. The Sinners themselves, predictably, are starting to get sick and tired of the combat treadmill too.
Faust: "I told you. Entering into conflict with a Wing is an exercise in futility." Rodion: "Just didn't know the futility would hit us right away~" Meursault: "The flesh regrows as soon as it's removed. It is difficult to continue on with combat."
Meanwhile Ryoshu is genuinely so upset that the goons are healing too fast to spill any blood from them that she looks and sounds nauseous, Dante even describing her movements as 'begrudging' in the narration and that "there couldn't be a worse battle for Ryoshu to fight". At long last we have found something Ryoshu hates worse than fighting lame mooks or submitting to customs checkpoints - fighting without gore. If you showed her, like, an M-rated action game where enemies just make laser beam noises and fall down after being slashed with a sword I think she might kill herself.
Dante: <Isn't there anything we can do...?> Faust: "HP, or Helapoiesis, is a bioengineered technology that allows for the continuous repair of damaged or lost cells. One dose already lasts considerably long, so imagine what that means for those in the Nest who receive constant supplies..."
'Helapoiesis' is a made-up term that only returns Limbus-related results but it appears to be a corruption of the real term 'haematopoiesis' (haima='blood', poiein='to make'), which in short is the process your body uses to generate new blood in your bone marrow. I don't know if there's any kind of real-world etymology behind this version but one can imagine the 'hela' is intended to mean that HP bullets regenerate every kind of cell as much as it takes to completely restore the body to prior functioning order.
Faust: "To put it simply, you can't reasonably defeat them in combat."
But then, suddenly, there is a new voice!
???: "Mwahahahahaha!!! In the height of chaos, I have arrived at last!!" Narration: A figure approached us with terrifying force, reminiscent of a frenzied beast.
Meursault: "ETA is three seconds. Manager, your judgement?"
Dante is like 50% flopsweat by volume which is impressive when they don't have pores from the neck up.
Vergilius is the only one who shows no surprise at the new arrival - if anything, only displeased by it.
Vergilius: "Ah, there you are. K Corp's superstar."
Look, it's All-Might by way of a pro wrestler by way of a Left 4 Dead 2 Charger.
???: "Alas, I must attend a magazine interview in half an hour, so I cannot overlinger. I pray you to understand!" Vergilius: "Was wondering when you'd come. I heard you became a wagie serving a Wing, Siegfried."
Literal 'wagecuck behaviour' accusation from Verg, astounding.
Siegfried: "Ahaha! I see your tongue is as sharp as ever, dear fellow! I rushed here at once in response to code purple, and methinks your friends were the perpetrators!" Vergilius: "Not exactly friends. I hope you understand that I have nothing to do with the commotion." Siegfried: "In that case..." Vergilius: "Yup, I'm counting on you to give them a spicy lesson."
Ryoshu: "Agreed. From under what stone did he come out?" Siegfried: "Hahaha! Well well, it appears some of you come from faraway lands. Right then, I shall grant you all the privilege of photography for this special occasion!"
I think this is one of the few times we've seen Outis pressed about something that isn't specifically related to someone slandering Dante, she really does not like Siegfried's heat. But where most of the Sinners have no interested in that smoke...
Don blows her fucking top as she realises her favourite Fixer (they're all her favourite Fixer) is here to personally thrash her ass.
Vergilius: "We're in a hurry, so get this done within one minute if possible. And keep that clockhead out of this." Siegfried: "Hmm... A prosthetic, is it? Right then, make it 50 seconds!!!"
He proceeds to mulch the entire party in seconds, one-handed, while posing for selfies. Despite his big ugly roided-out punchyfist he never actually uses it, his colour commentary of the beatdown instead punctuated solely by bzap type noises from the beam-weapon in his left arm.
Heathcliff: "Khgh!" Siegfried: "Now, look here once more! I'm sure our fans will love it!" Ryoshu: "This blighter... is too damn strong." Siegfried: "Hm? What did you do just now? Hahahaha! Well, isn't that cute!" Ryoshu: "Gah...!"
Narration: Vergilius watched the carnage with a pleased expression. Vergilius: "About time they learned what happens if they kick up a ruckus in a Nest thinking they can get away with it."
Dante: <I... I was?> Narration: I just couldn't picture it. Narration: Right now I'm just a powerless leader who fumbles in any emergency - constantly being chewed up, spat out, and ignored in the trash by my Sinners. Narration: They've even started treating me as the team's field medic; to think that this miserable manager used to be the respected leader of many sometime in the past. I felt a genuine desire to ask Faust for another way to recover my memories. Vergilius: "However, your memory loss does not wholly excuse all the faults in your performance as the manager. I'm certain you understand what I mean."
And this gives Dante pause.
Narration: I thought of the staff at the K Corp checkpoint. They showed no pity for the family they were about to tear apart, treating it all as nothing more than part of the due procedure. Narration: Although Don Quixote got us into trouble when she sprang forth to rectify the injustice... Narration: I just know it would've haunted my sleep for days if we turned a blind eye. Narration: And seeing Heathcliff tighten the grip on his weapon to veins as he witnessed the disturbance... If not for Don Quixote, I feel at least one of us would have intervened. Narration: Truth be told, I didn't do everything in my power to keep Don Quixote down. Vergilius isn't necessarily wrong when he says the blame rests on me for causing this.
Two big turns for the Sinners here in a small exchange - Heathcliff was only slower than Don to act on the injustice he saw, not fully enamoured in using it to get one over on Ishmael, and upon reflection Dante is willing to admit to themself that their inaction was born of tacit approval of Don's intervention. They do care.
They care enough that suddenly the thought of regaining their lost self doesn't seem such an unvarnished good.
Vergilius: "Ah, dear... I've got to tell them to put a microphone in next time." Vergilius: "... I'll take it that you've gotten my point."
Fraudgilius once again backs out of the conversation by pretending he can't understand Dante (in fairness that response was deniable I just like calling him a fraud again after all this time), just in time for Siegfried to step away from the bloodbath proudly declaring that he managed to slip in under par time with a score of 46.5 seconds. "Another day, another heroic tale of justice written!!"
No wonder Don is Like That.
Vergilius drily notes that the curtains have closed on this fucking debacle of a day, and gives Dante the go-ahead to revive the Sinners. The shitstomping they received from Siegfried turns out to have been so severe that all twelve of them are appropriately quiet and cowed, to Dante's awe.
Siegfried: "Were you unable to read the dozens of invitations I sent you?" Vergilius: "Changed addresses. And I don't have the time to lick top-brass boots like you're doing."
All seems quiet for the time being, the clamour of combat instead reduced to some workplace sniping between Vergilius and Siegfried. Dante wonders aloud at hostility radiating from Vergilius, prompting Faust to explain the essential difference between them; Siegfried is a pro-Wing Fixer, living in the lap of luxury as a hypercompetent giga-lethal contractor for K Corp, whereas Vergilius is a freelancer who believes Fixers who sell out to a particular influential group or entity betray their core principles. "He is someone who is strict towards those with power, after all."
Vergilius may be habitually cold, sarcastic, biting and unpleasant, but he believes people who work at Raytheon are cucks without opinions worth listening to, so maybe we should hear him out.
And then, because she has not learned her lesson and by god she never will, Don approaches Siegfried.
Siegfried: "Aha! An aspiring Fixer! I have little time to spare, but more than enough for an autograph!" Don Quixote: "I... is that true? Then would you sign... an autograph... here... Ehehe..." Gregor: "Slow breaths, Don Quixote..."
The PA system subsequently announces that the Code Purple has been dismissed, and Siegfried delights in a job well done. And then just fucking leaps through the ceiling to exit the scene.
Seriously look at this background CG the checkpoint is fully indoors like an airport Siegfried either punched his way into the active combat scene through the ceiling and left through the existing hole or actively chose to leap through the perfectly intact ceiling fist extended like Mario for the sake of a dramatic exit. Either way, peak.
K Corp seems to have legitimately forgiven and forgotten the incident at the checkpoint now that Siegfried went around collecting everyone's spines one by one, and the Sinners are able to pass through exactly as originally intended. Vergilius returns to the bus, Dante wondering if maybe he only got off in the first place expecting the gang to run into Siegfried here, but more important is just how upset he looks as he leaves.
Not that Don, Oblivious She Wrote, can even conceive of there being consequences to her actions at present.
Don Quixote: "I must be caught in a dream! Manager Esquire! Will you pinch my cheek just once?"
Sure Dante, you were totally gonna give her what-for
Narration: An armoured vehicle stopped before us.
Check out the Nest! It's only a single small viewpoint for what live is like in the proverbial 'first-world' of the City but it sure makes for a striking contrast with the run-down hovels of District 4's Backstreets and the Syndicate-controlled slums of District 10 huh?
Faust observes that the vehicle belongs to LCC, their sibling subsidiary, seconds before the doors open to reveal familiar occupants.
Effie and Saude, at last dressed for their real jobs!
Gregor: "Oh, people from the Before Team, eh? Something about you looks different, I've gotta say." Saude: "That was a disguise we had in order to infiltrate the casino. It was ultimately useless, though." Dante: <...> Gregor: "... still got that sharp tongue too, huh."
Dante literally gets chest pains thinking about the rolling fumbling fuckthrough that was the events of Canto II.
Effie: "Pfft... Saude, you see that hand on the clock trembling? You'll make them cry." Saude: "I was just being playful. While you had much room for improvement in regard to skill, I've made up my mind to admit that the LCB department has its own character."
Faust: "The Before Team was supposed to be on site at this hour, wasn't it?"
It's tough to tell from here with the textbox in the way but Effie is armed with a heavy-duty stun baton of some kind, while Saude of course is packing heat. There are actually IDs based on these two however loosely, which we'll be taking a gander at in the postscript as per usual.
Rodion: "Pfhu, do we have a couple of new fans knee-deem in our charm?" Rodion: "Y'know~ Something like - the sorta food that's cooked from ghastly ingredients, but the end result's a pleasant surprise." Gregor: "Yep, had a lot of that on the battlefield. Miserable to swallow, but somehow memorable..."
Acceptance will not make Saude stop edging her aneurysm in the Sinners' company.
As to the intel in question, Effie relays that another faction has occupied the target location already. Even more LCCB personnel are being deployed as a countermeasure, as this time the opposition the Sinners will face won't be some dregs of the Backstreets or even organised Syndicates - they're the forces of a Wing. N Corp.
Effie: "Though this wasn't an officially disclosed activity, seeing that K Corp has let them pass means they might have made a deal under the table." Saude: "Which... if it's true that N Corp has sent staff in advance, then the journey won't be a smooth one."
There's some nervous chatter about whether the company intends to have the LCB division make enemies of multiple Wings on its journey for the Golden Boughs, while Faust suggests the possibility that N Corp aren't even after the Bough. Gregor mutters that it changes nothing about Limbus Company throwing them around like convenient pawns.
And speaking of convenient pawns causing more trouble than they're worth with the other Wings-
Narration: Don Quixote hung her head, possibly in embarrassment. Perhaps she's finally starting to learn that her reckless actions have repercussions. Narration: ... that, or I'm mistaken and she's glad that more people know what she's done.
Ishmael, eager to escape this fucking embarrassment of a company, urges the others to get going. Effie notes that Vergilius has once again made himself scarce, already back on the bus and waiting for the Sinners to rejoin on the other side of customs. The two lament missing another chance to speak with the Red Gaze himself, having had every intention to ask for a transfer to LCB, though they refuse to elaborate and depart with a quick 'see you at the jobsite'.
By the way, in case you didn't get the pun yet - Effie and Saude for Episode. Why the pun? Don't ask me, I guess they just felt like it.
But a reckoning awaits back on the bus.
Charon: "You're late. Charon counted to one hundred and you still didn't come." Vergilius: "Charon."
He places a hand on her shoulder, stilling the cold invectives she still had left to toss out.
Charon: "Verg, Charon will remember this." Vergilius: "Sorry about that. I'll buy you something sweet later."
Vergilius turns to the Sinners, the group dispersing in a flash to take their assigned seats, leaving Don high and dry in the aisle.
Vergilius: "Let's hear your excuse, Don Quixote."
Dante literally has no eyes with which to blink, and yet Vergilius is too fast for them to perceive what happens next. They only hear Don cry out in pain, and when they can focus again...
Vergilius: "I asked for an excuse, not a justification of your views." Don Quixote: "Gnnnrgh...!" Vergilius: "This isn't the first time either, Don Quixote. You're responsible for three separate incidents already."
Three separate instances? Attacking the Tingtang Gang enforcer in the pawnshop was certainly one, but the mystery third incident which must have taken place before the bus even found Dante goes unspecified.
Vergilius: "That's three separate times you've jeopardised our work with your deranged behaviour." Vergilius: "What do you think? Speak." Don Quixote: "Wh... while mine on actions did inconvenience my colleagues..."
Don cuts herself off with a howl of agony, the sound effects making it seem like Vergilius is slowly pulping her shoulder bone and all simply by putting his weight on it. The rest of the Sinners wisely stay quiet and in their own lanes, knowing that nothing they could do is gonna make this situation any better.
Vergilius: "I was asking for your thoughts. Why do you not understand this?" Don Quixote: "I-I was speaking only to be interrupted!" Vergilius: "What you should've said to me at the get-go was an apology, Don Quixote. Anything you'd add should be an elaboration on how you plan to improve your conduct." Don Quixote: "What unjust... Agh! Thou'rt demanding a specific answer out of me...!" Vergilius: "Don't you know? A company already has the 'correct' answers for its employees. The questions are only asked to see if you can get it right." Vergilius: "You're sorely mistaken if you believe the company is sincerely curious about your input." Don Quixote: "Kagh... If- if the company insists so, then I-!"
Narration: Then, gripping her fall by the collar...
Don Quixote: "...!" Vergilius: "I hope you haven't forgotten the deal we struck that day... Miss. Don. Quixote." Narration: Vergilius' eyes glistened with a much brighter hue of red than usual. Staring directly into them, Don Quixote soon gave back a nod without another word. Vergilius: "... that's all. Back to your seat."
Dante is disturbed by the sight of Don so completely cowed, given her usual overwhelming pride and confidence. The tantalising tidbit about a 'deal' that shut her up at its mere mention piques their curiosity, but Vergilius swiftly disperses any notion of further discussion by extending the lesson to the rest of the Sinners; they'd best think twice about going against the terms of their contracts for the sake of egocentric dreams and big ideas, or they will suffer a fate from which neither death nor severance will free them.
Gregor, being himself, thinks having to interact with 'Mister Zack Friture' just got his panties in a bunch. Don, despite the thorough dressing-down she just received in front of everyone, still interjects (however subdued compared to her usual self) to remind Gregor that it's 'Siegfried'.
Rodion: "Sheesh, the mission hasn't even started and we already got a scolding~ Have some tact before you act, 'kay?" Ishmael: "Phew... I knew this day would come sooner or later. We should all be careful from now on."
Fucking hysterical. Vergilius ain't even got it in him any more after the day he's had, he just hits Heathcliff with that fluoride stare.
Lot to unpack there, isn't there? It's interesting that they go out of their way to introduce Siegfried and have Faust exposit the difference in philosophy between him and Vergilius two scenes before his big outburst to Don about how a company is not your friend and doesn't care what you think, which to me definitely solidly reframes it from him sincerely believing that as a party line and more him going "let me explain this in no uncertain terms before your bullshit goes to someone higher up than me who will do much worse than slap you around a little".
And like, check out how Don is drawn in those CGs. Under Vergilius' heel she's not terrfied, she's angry. She's backsassing him at every opportunity even as he seems to be ready to pop her whole arm off her torso like an unfortunate Barbie caught underfoot, defying his increasingly thinly-veiled inferences that she should just shut the fuck up and say sorry. But then, far worse than simply hurting her more, he reminds her of their deal. This mysterious deal, struck between the two of them specifically on the day that she became a Sinner, is what gets her to shut up like it's a magic spell. Complete loss of defiance and pride, complete loss of the energy so characteristic of her. Staring into Vergilius' bright red eyes almost as if hypnotised, or perhaps snapped out of the madness that is Don Quixote, and forced to acknowledge the truth if only for a moment.
As of writing, her canto is just around the corner, slated for mid-October. Scenes like this are one of many reasons I am very excited.
The bus lapses into silence, the Sinners remaining in their seats to people-watch as the streets of K Corp's Nest pass by.
Rodion: "Check out those people, they look like they haven't a care in the world..." Dante: <This is way diffrerent from the roads we've been through.> Gregor: "Aha, I guess this is our manager bud's first time travelling in the middle of a Nest." Ishmael: "There's a world of difference between the Nests and the Backstreets. Besides, each Nest has its own cultural heritage."
Vergilius cuts the chatter to make an announcement; their destination, and the site of the next Lobotomy Corp branch facility, is the town of Calw.
Narration: As soon as the name 'Calw' was mentioned, Sinclair lapsed into fear once again and started trembling. Narration: As if something were coming after him...
LCCB are onsite to try and gather more intelligence about whatever is unfolding in Calw thanks to N Corp's presence, Faust noting that Effie and Saude have probably already beaten them there by now, but some things they don't need to wait for the Before Team's report for. The bus rolls down a quiet woodland path, surrounded by lush green trees as they drive deeper into some kind of nature preserve in the heart of K Corp's Nest, and on the horizon they see it.
The bus swerves hard just as a colossal nail flies through the windshield, down the length of the bus, and embeds itself in the rear window. Heathcliff exclaims in alarm as the nail barely grazes his head, while Faust cooly observes that she probably should have reinforced the window.
Charon: "Verg, Mephi got hurt. Charon's sad." Vergilius: "Doesn't look like they'll stop anytime soon. Off the bus, all."
Behold, a quaint snowy German forest in the mountains, Sinclair's hometown burning in the distance. I love this background, the sunset colours desaturated just enough to give it a kind of sickly, 'tainted' look, and the skyline of the City in its true form looming just beyond and even taller than the very mountains.
???: "Halt. You may not use this road." Gregor: "You should've said so in the first place, 'cause what about our windshield? Ah, bugger..." Outis: "You're rather rude for someone who attacked iwthout warning. Isn't it at least common courtesy to state your affiliations?"
How, in a City with no textual evidence of discrimination based on ethnic group, do they have racists to fight? Easy, they import some dudes from Warhammer 40K.
Ishmael: "So, N Corp... That's one convoluted way to tell someone that you're an employee of Nagel und Hammer."
Amusingly Faust chimes in here to clarify that this means "Nail and Hammer". I'm sure that's far more helpful in its native Korean because like, yeah sis, I think we can hazard an guess about what that translates into when everyone's speaking English, two of the words are practically homophones, and the dude literally has a crossed nail and hammer on his breastplate.
Inquisitor: "You shall not proceed as we are in the midst of cleansing heretical dissidents." Gregor: "Heretics? Hey now, we just want to pass through, not looking for any trouble. We're on the, uh..."
'Is this a bit?' genuinely one of the most savage, life-ruining questions you can ask a friend after they fumble something hard or otherwise act insane, try it for yourself!
Lucky for Gregor, the Inquisitor proceeds to make it far weirder by declaring that the Sinners can "prove themselves to be untainted" if they "behead the blasphemous traveler".
Namely, Dante.
Dante: <Heathcliff... You didn't have to...> Heathcliff: "Proper trifling twitchs, tch. Who are you telling me to kneel?"
They really thought Heathcliff was being nice and defending their honour, they mad as hell!
With that, the Inquisitor calmly declares that Sinners to be heretics one and all, and the battle to reach Calw to uncover the mystery of N Corp's arrival begins!
I don't know if there's any kind of real-world etymology behind this version but one can imagine the 'hela' is intended to mean that HP bullets regenerate every kind of cell as much as it takes to completely restore the body to prior functioning order.
The only thing more darkly comic than the fact Sinclair stress-vomiting all over Heathcliff's shoes saved Faust's life is the fact that it's only been a month since the start of the game (Prologue/Canto I/Canto II all listed as being in January, Canto III in February), which means the four Sinners involved in the Teamkilling Incident of Canto I are still on cleaning duty, which means Heathcliff had to stop and clean it up on pain of getting his balls crushed by Vergilius.
For Faust to face someone directly when she usually stares into empty space as she speaks can only indicate one thing: I must have said something incredibly frustrating.
Vergilius may be habitually cold, sarcastic, biting and unpleasant, but he believes people who work at Raytheon are cucks without opinions worth listening to, so maybe we should hear him out.
And on another note, wow Don Canto soon.... goodness gracious. I definitely noticed a few things were up, but I'm really enjoying getting a second (third?) pass at them here. Canto II was a fun romp but Canto III definitely has an equally yet oppositely intense opening to it. I was flabbergasted the first time I got to that scene of the N-Corp Goons. For one thing, seeing actual armor in the City instead of salaryman suits.
Three separate instances? Attacking the Tingtang Gang enforcer in the pawnshop was certainly one, but the mystery third incident which must have taken place before the bus even found Dante goes unspecified.
Ishmael is unironically the MVP this Canto so far because practically every normal enemy is Blunt Fatal which means she just shatters all their bones with her skill 3, not to mention Snagharpoon which also deals Blunt damage.
If you look at Don's employee ID in the theatre, it looks like she was wearing some sort of armor on top of her suit (and with her tie over it?) Still I do agree it was rather jarring to see them in armor that looks like its from the middle ages, the K corp guys just before them were in very modern looking riot gear.
I benched him on purpose because my LCB Heathcliff is level 45 and Uptie 4, making him insanely overpowered and disqualifying him from use in this LP for the time being.
I benched him on purpose because my LCB Heathcliff is level 45 and Uptie 4, making him insanely overpowered and disqualifying him from use in this LP for the time being.
I would love to take this opportunity to remind everyone that Limbus Company was meant to launch on December 25th, and was originally intended for the game and our world to be progressing side by side. So when it was Christmas here, it'd be Christmas in the City.
Neither of these facts stayed true, but it's important to remember that they once were, and thus the fact that this game was delayed from December 25th to February 27th, meant the universe was delayed to February too. This may lead to some odd moments.
I would love to take this opportunity to remind everyone that Limbus Company was meant to launch on December 25th, and was originally intended for the game and our world to be progressing side by side. So when it was Christmas here, it'd be Christmas in the City.
Neither of these facts stayed true, but it's important to remember that they once were, and thus the fact that this game was delayed from December 25th to February 27th, meant the universe was delayed to February too. This may lead to some odd moments.
Besides the original intended launch date, there is nothing indicating that the story was supposed to go along side by side, in fact, evidence exists to contradict it entirely. Consequently, the assumption that the universe was delayed doesn't hold water. Those 'odd' moments you're talking about are intended to be odd in story as well.
Besides the original intended launch date, there is nothing indicating that the story was supposed to go along side by side, in fact, evidence exists to contradict it entirely. Consequently, the assumption that the universe was delayed doesn't hold water. Those 'odd' moments you're talking about are intended to be odd in story as well.
K Corp seems to have legitimately forgiven and forgotten the incident at the checkpoint now that Siegfried went around collecting everyone's spines one by one, and the Sinners are able to pass through exactly as originally intended.
Well yeah, the penalty for breaking the taboo was death, and they where all killed so the sentence has been carried out. That the sinners all came back to life is not something that the guards are being paid to care about.
Oh my God, Dante has pattern recognition over the narrative relevance of each Canto expedition to the Sinners. That is sooner than I expected, to be honest. Sinclair is really not having a good time, and I can only imagine that the lack of him saying anything significant during the entire checkpoint section just means he was vomiting and having his stomach turning the whole time. I don't imagine the inquisitors in armor apparently torching his hometown are going to make it any better. But is Sinclair closely familiar with them, or was his original trepidation just based on having to come back to his home...?
I'm already feeling bad for how nasty this is evidently going to go for Sinclair, but this update is very interesting for Don and Vergilius. Don looked so hilariously proud of herself when she intervened in the messed up immigration queue from the Backstreets, I didn't expect that to loop around so seriously and curiously with Vergilius's reproach and reminder to her. Don's response to the subject is as sobering as it is interesting, and between that scene and other details, like the emphasis on how he treats Charon, it looks increasingly clear that Vergilius is deeply haunted, but not fully worn down by it.
It also feels very pertinent that Dante's moment of self-awareness prompted them to comment they might not want to recover their memory and past volition, because of the implication they did not give injustices and sorrows such as this one a second thought.
And on another note, wow Don Canto soon.... goodness gracious. I definitely noticed a few things were up, but I'm really enjoying getting a second (third?) pass at them here. Canto II was a fun romp but Canto III definitely has an equally yet oppositely intense opening to it. I was flabbergasted the first time I got to that scene of the N-Corp Goons. For one thing, seeing actual armor in the City instead of salaryman suits.
If we know anything about the city, a number of them are probably wearing suits underneath. No one can escape the crushing hell that is the City's blood-capitalism. Not even if you are really, really discriminatory and zealous.
It also feels very pertinent that Dante's moment of self-awareness prompted them to comment they might not want to recover their memory and past volition, because of the implication they did not give injustices and sorrows such as this one a second thought.
You can neither sell empathy nor market kindness. The further up someone is on the totem pole, the more people they trample behind them. It's just how it works.
Tbf that's just him being a normal brand asshole. There are much worse, much stranger, and much crueler things you can do to someone, and "leaving some losers to die from poisonous gases while you abscond with the loot" is actually pretty mundane.
