[EN] Lostbelt 5.2: Olympus: The Day to Bring Down Gods

[Red Dingo]

I loved Adele and Macarios and I can only wish there was some way to replace the Dioscuri I summoned with them. I know there are lore reasons for it not to but I hope we can upgrade Mash's Ortinax NP into using the Black Barrel at some point in the future. I expect Kadoc to regain consciousness and use his Sirius Light to save Chaldea.

Kirsch's plan was almost perfect. Too bad the Foreign God outwitted his plan with Muramasa but there only so far you can outwit a nascent intelligence born from Chaldeas. If it didn't involve sacrificing Proper Human History, I might have been on board with it. However until all Seven Evils are overcome, I doubt it would be the right path for achieving the Age of Will.

[sentence]

And I disliked Adele and Macarios the most out of Lostbelt NPCs.

City is burning and people dying and crying for Gods, and they are rejoicing because this day isn't like the previous.

If they were bored of their world, they could ask the Gods to kill them, but taking everyone with them was selfish and wrong. Did they think about asking these people of Olympus?

[Kirishima]

Wow, I'm genuinely impressed with how hard you missed the point. Props.

[OnesFleetingGlory]

And I disliked Adele and Macarios the most out of Lostbelt NPCs.

City is burning and people dying and crying for Gods, and they are rejoicing because this day isn't like the previous.

If they were bored of their world, they could ask the Gods to kill them, but taking everyone with them was selfish and wrong. Did they think about asking these people of Olympus?

They already crossed that bridge long ago, when they missed out the very last of transports that could get them to Atlantis, separating themselves from the gods' so-called grace and improve on their own. They're not suicidal, they just wanted to leave, but they knew the gods wouldn't grant their wishes and would smite, or even execute them if they so much ask. Now they have no choice but to live in Olympus, where everyday's life is the same. During their last scene, they were aware and admitted it outright about them being in the wrong among the Lostbelt's resident, but by that point they're just beyond caring.

Plotwise, they're Chaldea's only chance to destroy the Lostbelt where everyone knows and band together to fight Chaldea to protect their world, otherwise Chaldea's odds would've been even worse than in Atlantis. Would've preferred for them to have different goal myself, but it's just realistically impossible to have them fully committed on helping Chaldea unless they're aware about the whole story behind Chaldea's arrival and what it means for their world.

[eddyak]

Section 22 (Musashi's big scene)

I think I basically agree with all the criticisms of the Chaos segment I've seen over the last 2 years. It came out of nowhere and was resolved almost as quickly, it felt hastily added on instead of dramatic. One thing that bugged me that I don't think I've seen brought up is the sheer power scaling going on there. Chaos seems so absurd, he's like a threat out of Gurren Lagann instead of Type-Moon, even accounting for TM's increasing power scale since GO launched. The Alien God wiping Earth's texture, or Goetia burning history, or LB6's final boss, don't seem as big compared to this multi-inter-dimensional promordial dyson sphere faster-than-light eyeball god that's about to atomize the planet. It's just really out of place in the setting.

Yeah, this chapter had some really high highs and some really low lows.

Spoiler:

I loved the fleshing out of the mecha gods. Now I finally get what they were going for with the machine gods from across the stars, and I can appreciate what they did with it, especially compared to the JP release, where the spoilers were "ZOMG GREEK PANTHEON ROBOTS Y'ALL". I still think they should've picked a pantheon that wasn't the Greek one to do it with, though. Even with the (pretty fucking weak, tbh) reason that Atlantis was supposed to be super advanced in the allegory, I stand by my earlier position that it really doesn't fit the Greek gods.

Pick literally any other pantheon, not the one that consists of 50% "No Zeus, don't fuck that!" *Zeus gets his dick out* and 50% Guy somehow insults/annoys god, has worst day in history.

Meanwhile the power scaling was the worst thing about this LB.

Beginning: "oh no there's a laser satellite god that can kill islands"
The next day: "haha you thought that was a threat? every fart out of zeus's crack can kill islands"
The next day: "haha you thought that was a threat? zeus can now kill the planet aaand also he's anti concept so you can't even Mash bullshit out of it"
Five minutes later: "haha you thought that was a threat? chaos is gonna eat the planet, not even hit it to hurt us, he's just gonna eat it as fuel to go home and we'll be dead as a side effect".

There's only so much you can escalate before the reader is pushed into apathy. Like, past getting vaporised, does it really matter whether this guy's attack is anti country, anti planet or anti galaxy? It might have had a point if Chaos had shown up while we were fighting Zeus and gone "bingeley bingeley beep, time to go home", and then he and Zeus were escalating against each other, trying to one-up each other, Zeus trying to protect the planet whilst Chaos tried to eat it, but this got pointless in the way Bleach's power scaling became pointless, or the way DBZ power scaling became pointless. Give Freezy pop the ability to hand-laser Namek out of existence, and you're stretching believability by having him not just do the same thing to Earth.

[Red Dingo]

And I disliked Adele and Macarios the most out of Lostbelt NPCs.

City is burning and people dying and crying for Gods, and they are rejoicing because this day isn't like the previous.

If they were bored of their world, they could ask the Gods to kill them, but taking everyone with them was selfish and wrong. Did they think about asking these people of Olympus?

They didn't want to be killed, they just wanted to be able to grow and die. No one asked them whether or not they wanted to live forever as mid-pubescent teens.

[Sesto]

Spoiler:

marie's love surpasses even that of the gods (please ignore ui haha i'm totally EN)

[Mattias]

Finally finished the chapter. I should not have popped my CE's on Zeus just because I was feeling lazy, because Kirtch was a huge asshole to fight. At least every NP after the fist can be blocked. I routinely got him down to the last 150k but then my last servant gave out, while Zeus only wiped my party because I forgot not every Ares MC took off NP so rather than finish off his last 10k, I tried to play it safe and give myself some extra turns but ended up just killing his toe and getting wiped next turn.

I think the hardest fight was probably the mid chapter Vitch. Probably because this chapter was full of Bosses that were weak against the Servants I've been building up the hardest over the years.

I do think Mushashi's big moment was missing something. It would have been great to have a Shimousa style duel (with intro) for a time based fight where the goal was just to build up to her NP before the Boss.

My only real outstanding question was "Is that kid in Kirtsch's flashback Beryl?"

[Reign]

I think the hardest fight was probably the mid chapter Vitch. Probably because this chapter was full of Bosses that were weak against the Servants I've been building up the hardest over the years.

Really? I found her or Aphrodite the easiest. Kirsch was definitely my biggest hurdle.

My only real outstanding question was "Is that kid in Kirtsch's flashback Beryl?

Nasu said on his blog that the kid's name was Pino. I also thought he was Beryl though, especially after Beryl was able to sneak up on Kirsch in the climax, I attributed it to the stealth pendant. But it seems the only connection between Pino and Beryl is witches; Beryl's mom is one, and Pino's pendant was made by them.

[OnesFleetingGlory]

Kirschtaria is meant to be stalled, and the only thing to watch out for is his meteor, so Servants with party-wide Evade/Invul are crucial.

About Pino, didn't he die while treating Kirschtaria? That should rule out the Beryl theory.

[Synaptic Star]

Also, Pino's behavior is completely at odds with Beryl's behavior.

[Red Dingo]

Yeah, I think the pendant was just a tidbit that illustrates how much hax witches are in the Nasuverse.

[Tamamo-no-Mae Goshujin-sama]

Kirschtaria Wodime probably took my the longest to figure out. Guts CEs and Archer Nightingale were a big help in the end. I also did not use Enkidu as much as I thought I would.

[Tobias]

I will say I didn’t buy into the machine god thing, at all. That entire premise was a chapter wide low, but some of the side plots got me in the feels.

[Reign]

I think I would have been more sold on it if the pantheon they chose to do it with wasn't the Greek, the ones who act the most human in their myths.

I can't say it came out of nowhere though, if you look at Artemis's ascensions she has mechanical bits on her, and Altera's sci-fi sword was said to have been stolen from Ares since Extella.

[Tobias]

I’m not saying it wasn’t always the plan, I am just saying it was always a stupid plan

[Reign]

Oh yeah I was just commenting.

[Mattias]

I think I would have been more sold on it if the pantheon they chose to do it with wasn't the Greek, the ones who act the most human in their myths.

Wasn't that the point though? That the Greek gods were so human because humanity made them that way over time, and that not happening creates a dead end?

[Altima of the Gates]

I think I would have been more sold on it if the pantheon they chose to do it with wasn't the Greek, the ones who act the most human in their myths.

I can't say it came out of nowhere though, if you look at Artemis's ascensions she has mechanical bits on her, and Altera's sci-fi sword was said to have been stolen from Ares since Extella.

Isn't it more like they are facilitating a function and so they are emphasizing the fact that they are made to pursue a directive, unlike humans who although have base instincts, aren't programmed to follow one particular facet?
Nature spirits have a bit of that too with how they are written sometimes as well.

[DreamsRequiem]

I usually don't get teary eyed but that Musashi scene really got to me. She was my best saber for a long time and she got me through so many challenges, so seeing that last scene with her really tug at my heartstrings.