Ending... or is it?

Finally, after weeks of playing and racking up over 60 hours of gameplay time, I've finally completed Tales of the Abyss.

And I really enjoyed the final 3 boss battles! The first battle was Asch vs Luke Round 2! I fought him once before but I lost then. It actually didn't matter then, but it does now. I have to win, to prove Luke's identity. Asch has every Arte (skill) Luke has plus Fonic Artes (magic) to boot (Asch was trained in the same Albert-style Artes as Luke).

You can skip my description of each boss battle and just head to the end if you want.

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The battle was pretty straightforward. Block and counter. Run when Asch pulls out magic. Simple. But you do have to spend a lot of items healing (since you're alone) and it's also quite weird when both of you use the same moves.

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It took a while, but I'm glad Asch could finally accept and respect Luke. And, though it wasn't as great as Zhao Yun's feat of charging alone into an army of several hundred thousand soldiers and killing thousands of enemy generals, Asch still did well fighting alone against hundreds or thousands of Oracle soldiers. He had already been stabbed through the body thrice but he only died after he killed every last soldier there.

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The second one was against Sync the Tempest. Now, this kid boasts power. He's one of the most annoying characters in the game. He's a whiner like a lot of other villains but unlike the others, his reason sounds completely stupid. He wants to help destroy the world because he is "empty".

Tch. But the kid has looks. He looks exactly like Ion since both of them were replicas of the original Ion, but Sync looks more badass. His fighting style is pretty badasss too. Martial arts with insane Arcane Artes as finishers. And he's one of the bosses that spams his Mystic Artes (kinda like Limit Break in FF) like there's no tomorrow. Beating him cost me about 1/3 of my items and since you can only carry 16 of each item, it really drains your supplies for the final boss battle.

The final battle was, of course, against Vandasdelca Grants. Unlike every other boss battle in the game, this guy has forms. His first form is pretty easy to beat. Just avoid his attacks and counter. The second one is tough. He goes Overlimit right away and keeps charging into your party to use his Mystic Artes. Here, he uses it as frequent as Sync. Usually, a full blast from a Mystic Arte would kill a character. It's a damn good thing his Mystic Artes aren't like Jade's (Jade hits every enemy regardless of position).

And then, just when I thought it was over, he goes and pulls out a third form! WHAT!? And this form fights just like the second, but the damage he deals skyrocketed. I was on the verge of using ALL my healing items. But then, I got lucky and the battle ended with one last hit. It was pretty funny. We both attacked at about the same time. I had 1 HP left when I won. I really heaved a sigh of relief.

Now, the battle becomes weird but pleasant. Tear will start singing all seven Fonic Hymns, totally changing the BGM. And I agree that the Fonic Hymns are nice. I'm getting the song too. And everybody (including Van) will have infinite lives. Just fight, fight, fight until Tear finishes her song and Luke pulls out a Mystic Arte.

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The ending was pretty cliched. Luke volunteers to stay behind to free Lorelei because he was gonna disappear anyway. Everybody else says their goodbyes to him followed by a confession of love from Tear. Frankly, I was expecting a hug or a kiss but I guess I'm an idiot for thinking that Tear would do that.

Anyway, the cutscene style changes into an anime scene. The whole place collapses. You see Asch's corpse falling from a higher floor and into Luke's arms. Lorelei appears to thank and congratulate Luke on chaging the future. Luke's fonons seperate then and he disappears. Before that, you catch a glimpse of Asch's arm moving.

Some time later, you see the group gathered in front of the fallen Hod replica. They were still waiting for Luke to return instead of attending his funeral (classic, right?). As they were about to leave, a man with long red hair appears on the field of flowers and walks towards the group. Everyone turns around and immediately recognises Luke (his hair grew back). Tear ran towards him and stopped in front of him and then here comes a pretty cliched dialogue.

Tear: Why are you here?
Luke: Because it has a nice view of Hod and also I made a promise to someone.

End.

The ending was handled pretty well. It wasn't stupid like Rave's ending, but it wasn't as well done as Final Fantasy 9. Personally, I would have preferred it if both Asch and Luke appeared then. It would have been pretty cool if two people looking exactly alike appeared under the moonlight and among the glowing blossoms. And I do feel sad for Natalia that she will no longer be able to meet Asch again.