Act 7

[Shilen]

The leniencies NCSoft has taken with this act is astonishing. 

 

The sense of urgency, that the entire Act is built upon, is gone. Maknae/Cricket again received the axe, and is now more stupid and gullible than ever before. The amount of ridicule that you are supposed to put up with in this act alone is ridiculous. There is no reason for why we should care for Seo Yeon/Soyun – or any of our students for that matter – because the alterations made to their characters has made them nothing but annoying, bratty, and crude. Instead of having proper, well-written characters we get caricatures and stick-figures. Julia acts and talks like a 12 year old. She, here, just isn't a villain you can take seriously. There is an alarming shortage of logic following the lore, and this act in particular. The (multiple) name changes are bizarre and ridiculous, Kun Hyang/Ku Yang in particular. For a game that has prided itself as "eastern fantasy", the eastern part sure is lacking.

 

Kun Hyang has no real place in the storyline. He lacks the depth and intensity that was found in his original character. Honestly, he's just a blue haired Yu Chun, just more insulting and less flirty. The qualms about going against his clan, superior and friends, together with the need to get justice for his mentor, toppled with depression/survivors guilt and a death wish has been swept away. The moral dilemmas and controversy surrounding him are merely gone (mostly because of the massive change in the Eight Masters' storyline), which makes for such a trite character. 

 

There isn’t a sliver of depth, let alone anything that resembles Blade & Soul, in this unholy mess that NCSoft is calling a storyline.

 

The Eight Masters were never manipulated and/or brainwashed. They were lied to somewhat, yes, but they willingly followed Julia. That is what caused the entire conflict with Kun Hyang in the first place, and the clash of ideals between the groups. Instead of sticking to the actual storyline, this got resolved in the most cliche way possible, "lol we were manipulated". The same was done with Geo Geo Bung in Act 4, this isn’t something new. But it is a shitty way to tie up loose ends, especially when the original storyline did something different.

Similarly, their reasoning for doing what they’re doing has been thrown out the window. Thing is, they know Julia is screwing them over. They know they are doing horrible things, and for whom.

 

Direct quote:
"Juria was originally an alias, and it was true that Juria, also known as Son Ban was one of the Council of Eight. In fact, she was the one who saved the rest of the Council of Eight during the fight against Jin Seo Yeon. But now... They likely know this fact. But they do not want to believe it. They yearned for the Council of Eight to be alive, so they refused to listen to him (Kun Hyang). It is natural for them to long for the Council of Eight because not single one of them was officially recognized as a true successor to the Council of Eight.
When reality bites, it is better to rest in the warmth of lies."

 

The sense of duty and the love for their masters/mentors/families that was the driving force for their actions just isn’t there. Instead we get tirades upon tirades of how Jin Seo Yeon killed Taejin’s father, which, surprise, isn’t what the conflict ever was about . The hatred for Seo Yeon has close to nothing to do with personal affairs, and everything to do with... well, everything else. Taejin never once brings up the fact that she "killed his father" (because she didn’t.). She broke martial law, and used corrupted arts. She murdered her master. She tried to summon Satan. It’s personal to Taejin and the rest, of course, but not because of something Jin Seo Yeon directly did to them. The original Eight Masters has nothing to do with this, even if they "died to stop her". It’s a matter of duty, obligation, and honor. This isn’t uncommon in wuxia. 

 

Choul Mugoe isn’t Admiral of the southern Blackram fleet. There might be several Admirals, but it isn’t based merely on region as proposed here. No, he is Fleet Commander of the Blackram. He runs the entire ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ing thing.

 

The Dasari Palace isn’t "an altar and relics from the Stratus golden age". It is the capital of Stratus, and an actual ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ing palace.

 

Barely any of the cutscenes has been translated correctly.  Take for example when we first see Julia,

 

KR:
Julia: "Going through all that trouble on account of one little kid?"
Taejin: 2May I ask why you wanted us to come here? And also why you wanted us to bring the child..."
Julia: "There is something important inside that child."
*Jin Seo Yeon tries to bite Julia*
Julia: "Oh my oh my, Jin Seo Yeon don’t you think you should be a better role model*...?"
JSY: "For you...? Aren’t you older than me?"
Julia: "hahaha, I suppose so/guess so...."

 

*EN1 trans. directly Julia refers to JSY as "sister" (more spesifically older sister). JSY is confused about it since Julia is older than her. It really just means that the older one should set an example for the younger, not that they are actually related.

 

(just for comparisons sake) NA:
Julia: "Aww! This must be the little soybean!"
Taejin: "Master Sanzu, we kept the little brat alive, just as you requested. Though I have to admit, killing her would have been easier."
Julia: "Now, aren’t you the most adorable little mass murderer?"
*JSY tries to bite Julia*
Julia: "Careful with that temper. You might hurt somebody!"
JSY: "I don’t hurt people. You’re the one who’s the bad guy."
Julia: "Everyone’s a critic!"

 

Now I get that the cultural differences (sister/senior thing) would be difficult to translate properly, even though the EN1 handled it pretty good imo, but the fact remains that these are completely different texts.

 

Even the climax/final battle is nothing like how it is supposed to be.

KR:
"Did you know?  The original purpose of the Twilight’s Edge is to open the door between dimensions. But what to do, the sword was broken into pieces in the last Divine Mandate ceremony. However, even though it is broken a single piece/fragment will allow the user to travel between continents. *crazy laugh* And it is right here! *stabs Jin Seo Yeon* If you want to see me, do your best to find me! I will be waiting.“

NA:
"Remember when this squirt used the Twilight’s Edge to open the Dark Gate? Remember that? And then you flew into the sky and broke the sword into a million pieces! But wait! Just a small fragment of the Edge would be enough to open another Gate! Hahaha! So don’t worry. I know where to find one! It’s been fun. Take care, my precious babies! Until next time!"
 
This couldn’t be more different from each other. It says complete opposite things. More contradictions appear when you speak to Kun Hyang, and he says Julia is now travelling between continents, which the cutscene says nothing of, only about opening new Dark Gates. Let alone that there is no reason for doing any of this. Act 7 is reeking of nonsensial-ness  and contradictions.

Not to mention this little gem;

http://imgur.com/a/DNl9w

"It was well known that the legendary Twilight’s Edge had the power to open doorways between realms."
1) No it isn’t. This was established as early as in act 3, and wasn’t changed for the western version. The entire point of retrieving that book in the Highland Central was exactly because it wasn't common knowledge. And the entire first passage have no grounds in the final boss/cutscene.

"She knew the Edge’s explosion had lodged a sliver of the sword in Jinsoyun’s body."
2) That didn’t happen, and the shard didn’t enter Seo Yeon when the sword exploded.

 

"This was the hope Zulia clung too.... Would her theory bear fruit, etc"
3) This wasn’t a theory, it was something Julia knew. She didn’t do everything on a ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ing hunch. 

 

"He had been gifted a new sister, and now she had been taken from him, just like his parents before her"
4) Spelling error.

You’re wrongfully answering and explaining plot points before they are supposed to be answered. We aren’t supposed to get the answers to anything of this before act 8, and what has been written (specifically in this journal entry) contradicts story aspects and lore in said act. The result is that more things will have to be altered in act 8 to accommodate the western changes done to act 7. I don't get what is so hard about just localising the game faithfully.

 

Not to say that this is everything, far from it, I just can’t be bothered rn to get into more obscurities, not to mention characterization.  And yeah, sure, I know that this horse has been beaten to death a hundred times over by now. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck. 

 

/rant

[Lunakitty]

Quote

KR:
"Did you know?  The original purpose of the Twilight’s Edge is to open the door between dimensions. But what to do, the sword was broken into pieces in the last Divine Mandate ceremony. However, even though it is broken a single piece/fragment will allow the user to travel between continents. *crazy laugh* And it is right here! *stabs Jin Seo Yeon* If you want to see me, do your best to find me! I will be waiting.“

NA:
"Remember when this squirt used the Twilight’s Edge to open the Dark Gate? Remember that? And then you flew into the sky and broke the sword into a million pieces! But wait! Just a small fragment of the Edge would be enough to open another Gate! Hahaha! So don’t worry. I know where to find one! It’s been fun. Take care, my precious babies! Until next time!"
 
This couldn’t be more different from each other. It says complete opposite things.

I'm not sure how you read these things but with the comprehension I have from this I think you are mistaken that these two are opposite things. Both state that Jinsoyun used the Twilight's Edge and the purpose of it, both state that it was shattered and both state that Julia knew that small piece is enough which could be found in Soyun's body.

 

Quote

"He had been gifted a new sister, and now she had been taken from him, just like his parents before her"
4) Spelling error. 

Where's the spelling error? That they call Jinsoyun her? As far as I know she IS a girl. This sentence means that Jinbin's parents were taken just like now Jinsoyun is taken from him.

[Shilen]

20 hours ago, Lunakitty said:

I'm not sure how you read these things but with the comprehension I have from this I think you are mistaken that these two are opposite things. Both state that Jinsoyun used the Twilight's Edge and the purpose of it, both state that it was shattered and both state that Julia knew that small piece is enough which could be found in Soyun's body.

Sorry, but have you misquoted something? That is the dialogue for the last cutscene in Act 7, not the journal entry for finishing the quest. When I say that they are opposites I mean the gates Julia is talking about. In the NA/EU version Julia says she can open a gate only with a shard of the Twilight's Edge. Since the only gate she has talked about up until that point is the Dark Gate, so the only logical thing to conclude she is talking about would be the same thing (Dark Gate/portal to hell). But KR has no mention of a new Dark Gate, only a portal that can teleport you between "earthly" continents. Those are two very different things with very different contexts, and that is the problem. I could have worded it better though, "opposite" probably weren't the most fitting.  

20 hours ago, Lunakitty said:

Where's the spelling error? That they call Jinsoyun her? As far as I know she IS a girl. This sentence means that Jinbin's parents were taken just like now Jinsoyun is taken from him.

Yeah, my mistake. I thought it referred to Jinbin.

[Cherrieko]

There is a reason why we have to take care of JSY , what i dont get it is how did the new 8 masters discovered who she really is ? LOL

Why did jiwan sent her to us? she's better off at the divine realm than here.

 

[Cherrieko]

i mean they cant just believe what Julia said about some little girl being Jinsoyun.

[Leyren]

I stopped reading after a few lines, than scrolled in shock about how much you wrote. But seriously, Bunyang and his sister were brats from the beginning, so why should they now behave otherwise? And why should the story lead to not caring about Jinsoyun? That doesn't even make the slightest sense. Also, Zulia is some Joker-like villain which went totally nuts about the loss of her father (which made her use the name Zulia instead of Sanzu in first place).