Cris Tales - Part 34 - Revised Ardo Battle, Better Ending, & Credits

Defeating Alexandre in Kestora actually slightly changes the ending, but I also wanted to showcase how the final boss fights differently after the DLC. If you're not interested in the final boss battle, you can skip to the ending at 16:54. Or, if you've already seen the ending and want to skip to where it's different, it begins at 24:49.

One of the changes done to the DLC was a series of buffs and nerfs, which might sound strange for a single-player game inspired by JRPGs of the PS1 and PS2 eras, but that's what they did! Crisbell received a slight buff by allowing her to learn Heal at Level 2, which helps you get through the admittedly very tough stretch between Narim and St. Clarity. I can't showcase that anymore though--nor can I showcase the nerf given to the Time Empress, in which Perfect Healing will eventually wear off rather than her healing huge amounts of HP every turn permanently.

However, one thing I CAN show is that Ardo was buffed. You might have seen in the previous video's Colosseum battles, how we ended with Ardo and I, unfortunately, fell right at that battle due to him spamming a new move, Time Break Synchro, in which he freezes time, throws 3 to 5 random high-level elemental attacks at your team, then unfreezes time so your team takes all that damage while being unable to block. It's such a powerful move that I am not entirely certain as to if it's triggered by the player's actions or he just brings it out at random, but the only way I can really win a battle against Ardo is if I'm lucky enough for him to never use it. Once his HP falls below 2000, he will use a move simply called "3." This is a countdown, because his next turns will have moves called "2" and "1"--you have before Ardo's number reaches 0 to defeat him, or he will one-hit KO your entire party.

After this, the ending plays out the way you may have seen it before: Crisbell finds a way to transport the Rena so far into the future that they can live independently of humans, while the various (surviving) characters settle back home, but at the cost of Crisbell's very existence. Again, here are the contents of the good ending:
1. Narim and its inhabitants modernize without sacrificing their agricultural roots. The machinery they introduce create even more bountiful harvests.
2. Some earthenware pots, one of which has candles floating on the water. This may refer to Armando and Sophia, though I'm not entirely sure how.
3. Adri's robot store is a success, with her creating a line of dolls based on the other playable characters. Her customers include Isabelle and Richard, who use her robots to assist in their work.
4. A parade in Neva Tulira includes a float of Willhelm as a Time Mage. Joseph and Sol watch the parade from atop the bridge.
5. Lucio and Fran start a family, and the Neva Tulira University's library is healthy. If you thought it was a shame the library was run down, it gets restored, as you can see here.
6. The Oroitz Family create a monument for Gladys.
7. Cristopher and Rysa get together. For having gone through so much, the both of them get exactly what they wanted.
8. The Cinderians rebuild their city. Volcano and Galley use their powers to repair the central building in Ceniza and erect a monument for their parents, the former King and Queen of Cinder.
9. Kari Hudo mourns in the cemetary but is reassured by Zas that they'll always be together. You can see Jaru and Kate in the background.
10. The remaining Mother Superiors--Lucia, Assan, and Lau--restore Crystallis.
11. With renewed passion for life, JKR721 heads out on his own to continue to observe human history.

Where it diverges is what used to be the final cutscene, with Ardo emerging in the future and proclaiming "It's you!" Previously, it ended right there, and we never figured out who this "you" is. Speculation ran wild among people playing this game. This ending reveals who it is: Crisbell herself. Though I'm not sure how they did it, Adri and Alexandre worked together to present to Ardo a vision of Crisbell in her old age, back at the Narim Orphanage as the kids' general caretaker. This confirms that Crisbell DID survive her transporting the Rena from the distant past into the far future. It also confirms that Adri and Alexandre have found their own way to travel through time (especially since the realm they used appears to be the same one in which Crisbell finds the Time Sword and the Millennium Flower; they are the only characters other than Crisbell who can access this realm).

I guess this seals the door on any subsequent games with Crisbell as the protagonist, as her story is finished. It does not rule out her showing up in other games in a limited role though. I hope to see her in an indie crossover game sometime.

Provided we don't get another surprise announcement of DLC after this, Perhaps NOW I can start on Mad Rat Dead. Also provided I don't get in trouble for the music.