The final battle is at hand, and this shall be my party. There was no question Veronica had to come, and Serena's healing was an essential aid, but it took me a bit to figure out who'd really fit in the fourth slot. Erik, as Erdward's strongest friend, seemed like the best choice, especially to throw a middle finger up at fate. And hey, that means we end the game with the party we started with.
(By the way, reminder, Erdward must be holding the Super Sword of Light.)
If you've done all the pink dots and blow the Sea Queen's Conch, Marina will point you to Calasmos's dark star. No better indication the time has come.
Time for a date with destiny.
...I will admit I should probably have done this in the daytime, but hey, it won't be long.
Cetacea is pushing us into the breach, into a world of Calasmos's making. Erdwin's battle with Calasmos ended back in the real world, which leads me to wonder how that came about.
One rather notable thing is that Cetacea's theme stops playing around now.
Well, doesn't someone have a low opinion of us.
In case there was any doubt, Stake Your Life On It starts playing immediately.
Where does he come from? "The Void". He is more force of nature than he is an actual villain. Suffice it to say he's got no motivations and no history in the worldbuilding other than being the Ancient Evil other people fought before us. We had Mordegon for that.
Calasmos bursts out from the darkness, and he's... a giant bug. "Giant" is pulling a lot of weight on the intimidation front- although he does sometimes use those bug wings in a bug way. If you hate bugs, that might get close to bothering you.
Also the evil. That's pretty scary too.
This mention of the Yggdragon- and indeed, the greater importance of the Yggdragon in general- doesn't come out of nowhere, but this is the first time we really care. Astute viewers might've seen a clue what he means really early on, though.
Way to prove Hendrik's point, Jade. I thought you were supposed to be the one who joined fights.
At least Ronnie gets to give him a piece of her mind. I was worried we were stuck with the usual suspects.
And these two just needed a line.
Now it's our turn to fight from whaleback-
Fortunately, Cetacea saw fit to prepare for that.
We'll be fighting Calasmos from on top of this rune circle: much less chance of falling off. I guess my theory that Erdwin fell off Calasmos and that's how Morcant got the chance to backstab him has merit.
An evil god who defied the flow of time to free himself from a magical prison. The greatest threat that Erdrea has ever known, and the fated foe of the legendary Luminary.
??? family
11000 HP (the arms have ~5000)
∞ MP
Calasmos gets three attacks a turn, and he has a massive list of attacks to his name. Let's see... I can count Kaboomle, Kaswooshle, Deceleratle, Scorch, C-C-Cold Breath, Dire Pyre, a volley of fire to inflict knockdown, Lullab-eye, Disruptive Wave, Party Pooper, literal strafing fire, a projectile of pure darkness, murky mist that hits you with any status effect it feels like, and no less than three ultimate attacks when he faces death's door.
I let him get none of them off. He may freeze time for all but one party member, summon a massive ball of fire he'll drop on you if you don't destroy his arms and knock it down, or he'll summon Darklings to offer prayers for a chaotic Kazapstrophe attack.
Evil avatars of the Dark One himself. They offer up their pestilent prayers in order to imbue their black-hearted master with powers untold.
??? family
600 HP
999 MP
The Darklings are just his black tockle form. All they do is offer prayers to power chaotic Kazapstrophe. 600 HP should be child's play to take down before he succeeds. Fortunately, the Darkling is added to your Beastiary regardless of whether he uses this attack.
So where do you think Sylv, Jade, Rab and Hendrik go when they're not lending a hand?
The first order of business is to apply buffs. We shouldn't really be making an effort to deal damage yet.
That's because there's a trick to beating Calasmos.
The Super Sword of Light may be Used as an item to "do away with evil auras". This one, Calasmos's Cloth of Darkness, is the only one which is susceptible. There are helpful clues, but considering how long it's been since we checked in on the plot, even an observant player has probably forgotten a few.
Underneath that cloth of darkness is a brightly-coloured version of the same creature.
Not that Calasmos is particularly concerned with this outcome. Well, he cut the music out, at any rate.
Using a Key Item as a Use Item in order to make the final boss susceptible to damage is a trick pulled in a few DQ games, but this instance in particular draws heavily on DQ3's battle with Zoma, where the Sphere of Light had no purpose other than to do the same thing to him.
Sealing the reference is the fact that the battle theme changes to Hero's Challenge, the same theme that played for Zoma. This is one of Dragon Quest's few high-intensity final boss themes, and even though I've never beaten Zoma myself, this song is so good I get the rush of energy from hearing it anyway.
Weirdly, Erdward gets another action after doing that. Just him, though, it doesn't start a brand new turn.
Well, he might be using the Brilliant Blade, but he's still doing this.
Calasmos's power in action.
Also the almost traditional ability to guffaw ungraciously and pass one of his turns.
Veronica will be operating at full Kaboomle efficiency. Even if poor Erik is left in the lurch.
Divide will be enough to make Double Down sting.
As you damage Calasmos, you break his mask. This, I believe, is purely cosmetic, although it could very well unlock some of his attacks.
Veronica coming in with that Kaboomle. Although it looks like the Claw is taking the punishment better than the rest of him.
How the claw behaves is its business.
Serena's job is healing everyone up. Sure, she can Divine Restitution, or maybe add some more layers of Benevolessence or Sage's Staff, but I don't want to tempt Disruptive Wave.
One, two-
PUNCH! Erdward, you were supposed to flinch.
Annoyingly, the damage to the two who got punched was enough to force an Omniheal.
Another Double Down, this time with an indication on how much damage it's doing. No Divide, though.
Erdward keeps up his pressure.
It's... Mr Waternoose? He had more eyes than that, though.
Enchanting Echo! I really didn't like those claws anyway.
Dire Pyre seems to be the only real reason to have the Skull Rings. Maybe those were a mistake.
Another Omniheal at the ready.
And Erik's Double Down has removed the Cannon from play. At this point, he can't do Final Flame.
Veronica covered the Claw. I'm told he can only freeze time if both arms are out of commission.
Not that he's going for that trick.
So how far is this guy going to go, then?
Let's try the one way to take down a final boss.
...No?
...Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Now that is a way to take down a final boss. Kafrizzle was probably close enough to do it, but hey, I've never technically shown off Magic Burst yet.
And I really wanted the kill to go to Veronica.
...He is not a good sport about losing.
As Calasmos slumps over, he thuds down on the platform hard enough to shake everyone's balance, but not knock them over. Serena's freeze frame is amazing.
Regardless of what happened to Erdwin, Calasmos came out of that encounter pretty bested. It was a win for the forces of good, even if it was a fairly pyrrhic one.
Dragon Quest is usually pretty big on "defeating the big baddie doesn't solve things" school of thought- someday, in the far distant future, our descendants are going to deal with this again. When viewed symbolically, this makes a lot of sense- medieval solutions haven't solved modern problems, and we should not have expected them to. Besides, if there isn't somebody prepared to fight him off when we get there, we have bigger problems.
With that said, we have very definitely dealt with Calasmos. However "he" comes back later, it won't be Calasmos.
And away we fly in a big dramatic escape. Wherever that battle took place, it's not a place Calasmos was planning on keeping around after he died.
The world is now a better place.
And we no longer have to worry about the impending threat of Mordegon or Calasmos. The power of the Luminary has been used for what it was intended.
Erdward has a thought, however. There's something he wants to do first.
There's someone out there who never got her happy ending.
And for that, we're going back to the Tower of Lost Time. The party seems pretty content to go along with this. Not that they knew what happened the first time we came here.
We came here for Serenica's aid in the Act 3 timeline, although I'm sure the intent of this question is to draw on what occurred during Act 2.
All the plot threads have been tied up, we left with no one dying (well, not true, there's a few unfortunate people scattered around), and in general this is probably the best we could've done to deal with Calasmos and a third attempt would have no value.
Erdward's not here for Time's Sphere, however.
He's here to give Serenica a better ending.
I don't think the party was expecting that, although the fact Erdward tried means he probably had an inkling.
...You know, maybe I shouldn't be wearing Erdwin's old tunic. I also kinda wonder where Serena got her outfit, considering Serenica's still wearing hers.
Erdward offers Serenica the Sword of Light. But a Sword of Light, as you might recall, is not enough to shatter Time's Sphere. Only the Luminary can do that.
And Erdward is more than happy to give that up, too.
The way we handled Calasmos? Exemplary. But the way Erdwin handled it?
The guy could use a second chance.
Serenica shatters Time's Sphere, and...
The Sword of Light Erdward gave her drops to the ground, still whole. As you might recall, when we broke Time's Sphere to bring Act 2 to a conclusion, the Sword of Light we used shattered.
The game kinda wants the Sword of Light to continue existing, but despite the fact we, the player, have two of them, Erdward doesn't give up one to be shattered and keep the other. The player need not make the second Sword of Light, after all.
This moment has two major conclusions one can draw: On one hand, this suggests somewhere out there in the complicated world of metaphysics is the Act 2 we left behind, which is something anyone who felt bad about shattering Time's Sphere can take solace in.
On the other, it could be that Serenica has overwritten our timeline just as we overwrote Act 2, but as a consequence of having lived a thousand years ago, very little of our lives were changed as a result. Perhaps the world is deprived of Serenica's mournful poetry about living in a world without Erdwin in it, but overall, we still had to deal with the same things. Or, in a more depressing turn of events, Serenica ultimately failed to save Erdwin- a possibility backed up by the fact that "things didn't change much for us" implies Serenica still has to seal Calasmos in Erdwin's Lantern as opposed to killing it herself.
Neither explanation really covers where the Act 2 memories come from. Although perhaps this entire thing is a giant explanation for the concept of deja vu. Ignore all the conventional psychological explanations for that, deja vu is because someone time travelled a thousand years ago and invented an alternate timeline we're just getting visions from.
...I'd buy it.
DQ11 eschews the traditional ride around the world on the way back. To be fair, we've done more than enough world tours by this point, there's not that much more to see. Plus, Act 2 had a similar niche.
Erdward reappears in Cobblestone with the Cobblestone Clobber and Super Sword of Light. Also, I assume Gemma's appearance in his house is dependent on marrying her, but I haven't experimented much here- I think I've cohabited with the twins, but they wouldn't show up here for reasons we'll get into in a bit.
Finally, we can sit down, relax, and be married to Gemma.
...You're pushing our luck on that one. I'm sure fate can find some way to make me disappear.
"He thought I had a sister!"
Yeah, about that... you could've told us the Sultan was planning on selling the Rainbough.
OK, seriously, he had no way of knowing, but still. That was his contribution to the plot.
...OK, I'll bite.
Connie is going to be a big sister after all? Well, that's going to make that particular misunderstanding very hilarious.
...Must've been a pretty empty wedding, then. I guess Noah attracts a certain type.
He says this, but he's talking about Veronica and Serena, who, you know... are wearing fairly reasonable dresses in similar styles to the Cobblestonians, even if they are an unusually bright red and green. Maybe if they were still wearing their Jacqueline and Serenica costumes, maybe...
Judicious application of Kaboomle.
...Not that I'm disputing any part of this suggestion, but why exactly is my penance for worrying Amber "having a happy marriage"? Surely I should be doing something for Amber herself rather than just being nice to Gemma? The two do get along well, but they aren't exactly related or friendly with one another outside their relationships to me.
Amber herself, though, shares the impression of the woman outside, and seems happy with things so long as Gemma is happy. Dunstan is clearly being a good host.
I've also got two more waiting for me outside the village.
...I mean, not that I'm not going to do that, but...
And this time the King appreciates us for it. Although I doubt you're in any hurry to invite him over. At least his daughter is cool.
Gemma's actual relative has more confidence in our relationship.
This village is having a lot of new life brought into it.
I love this train of thought. Little morbid, but appropriate.
I don't think we can go to the Tor, but without Calasmos, the monsters will be a lot more manageable.
At the end of the game, Dunstan finally has what he's wanted since the start.
And yep, he hasn't mentioned it to us.
...When did Sylvando get around to this? I guess we missed out on a festival in our honour or something. I'd have liked to see that.
All these weapon shops that are lying around the continent seem to be aimed at people trying to live in a world with monster attacks, but "beating the bad guy" usually results in said monster attacks dissipating. No one thinks of what this means for the weapon shops in-universe: out of universe, we all know they're just mechanical institutions.
Thankfully, this was a general store anyway, and didn't exclusively sell things good for fighting monsters.
I'm more surprised he's still somewhere that sends mail.
Yes, we will be prying into this.
To be fair, we made a huge difference to Erik's life. Also, Erik asked Derk to talk to us.
...Your secret's safe with me. Don't call yourself old, though, you're not even 20.
What he doesn't know won't hurt him.
...The Abominable Showman character started life as a monster, and while he's supposed to be a human in this game, sometimes I feel like they forget that...
The bigger a deal the people you lose to, the less big a deal it is you lost. What hope did this guy have against the man who did what Erdwin failed to do?
Maybe.
These two are on the map and everything. And yes, they've changed out of their cosmetic armours. There'll be a cutscene later anyway, best to avoid anything jarring now.
How long ago was this?
Excuse me, Veronica, I'm a married man. I know exactly what my purpose in life is.
...Also, the original Serenica handled this just fine, why can't you take the blade and do it in my stead?
...All right, fine, I get it, some kind of sense of character or something.
By the way, they're talking about the Super Sword of Light, the one Erdwin made. The one we made has been conveniently forgotten about.
Also, I'm sure Gemma makes sure we know exactly where we keep our swords. They look incredible on the mantle.
I'm not entirely sure why they put us in Cobblestone if we're just going to be whisked away on this- why not go do this after saving Serenica? Best I can think of is they wanted a bit of a denouement from that before diving into this. It should be noted that, as far as the game is concerned, doing this must be the absolute last thing we handle- it wants a big dramatic moment dovetailing from Yggdrasil, and it would take the wind out of its own sails if it goes from that to Cobblestone.
Serena gets to be a little mischievous in making sure she has no responsibility for explaining this to our loved ones. I am fully aware it's not our fault and I have no idea how to make this sound good to them.
Don't worry, if there's one thing that me and the twins are collectively good at, it's that.
I was considering asking if we could keep Veronica, but after this I might just have changed my mind already.
Gemma says this and then the conversation ends. I feel like the only reaction possible is to stand there, gobsmacked, until you finally talk to her again.
They nailed the bait-and-switch. Erik and Serena imply there's been a lot of time since the defeat of Calasmos, but I imagine if Erdward and Gemma have performed the necessary acts to have kids, it's still too early for Gemma to know given the level of scientific knowledge going on.
...Although this does make me wonder who Sandy's sire is. Possibly Bullseye has been coming around this way regardless of the timeline shenanigans.
I know it's not the greatest shot of the relevant area, but Sandy's not using a new model for this.
No, but if I have to do it anyway, I'm happy to do it now.
Fortunately, this isn't actually significant gameplay.
We automatically get ferried here.
Veronica: It's time to return the Sword of Light to Yggdrasil, Erdward. Now that the battle with the Dark One is over, we have to return the sword to where it belongs. It will rest there forever, an eternal symbol of hope!
Serena: It was so nice to spend time with you again, Erdward! It's always so much fun! But now it's time for our journey to end. The Sword of Light must be returned to Yggdrasil. As one thing ends, though, another begins. We'll have adventures together again someday, I'm sure of it.
It's a short walk up here, and I think the sparkly spots don't even spawn.
As a reminder: Veronica does not remember dying here.
...Hey yeah, Erdward's probably in no hurry to come back here.
That's the origin story of the World Tree?
Now then. The following cutscene, like the post-Mordegon one, also doesn't allow native screencapping. I found a workaround, which is good, bcause it desperately needed it.
Erdward holds up the Sword, and into the Heart of Yggdrasil it goes.
...That is a lot of light...
There's an element of the ending of DQ games that has been missing thus far, and it's about time we find a way to rope it in.
Say hello to the magic dragon. This is Yggdragon, the true form of Yggdrasil. You might've noticed this plot point make a brief cameo in the opening cutscene, where Yggdrasil turns into a dragon and becomes the dragon shape in the game's logo.
I'm sure I'm over-reaching on this conclusion, but for some reason Yggdragon reminds me of the mysterious gold dragon from DQ6. You can see where I'm coming from, though. The question is "was the parallel intentional or did they just create the same dragon twice independently?"
So then, what's the deal with Yggdragon? DQ likes to end with a conversation with some super-important figure of the mythology, and Yggdragon will be DQ11's representative. Sure, she hasn't appeared all game until now, but just because of that doesn't mean she has nothing to offer.
Funnily enough, it is also a plot twist that DQ9's incarnation of Yggdrasil (the only other incarnation to be as plot-relevant as 11's) is actually a deity transformed. Yggdragon's story bears no resemblance to Celestria's other than the "turning into a tree" bit, though.
We're talking a long time ago. Like, Erdwin would consider this ancient history if he knew about it.
Lucky shot, or power imbalance? Ultimately, it doesn't matter to Yggdragon, she doesn't get a second shot.
This is just as symbolic as it is literal, as of course it would be.
This was probably a horrible, Act 2 flavoured time.
And here we get to one of those exciting parts, "mysterious race does mysterious things because mysterious". The Watchers getting involved only raises more questions than it answers, and I'm fairly sure that was intentional.
The method they use with which to restore Yggdragon's being to life bears a striking resemblance to what happened to Serenica. Perhaps it is no coincidence, then, that undoing Serenica's fate was quickly followed up by undoing Yggdragon's.
If Yggdragon couldn't beat Calasmos, then she's going to play chess to build a man who can.
And that man was us. Collectively, although I'm not sure whether that's just us three or all eight.
Imagine Yggdragon's disappointment when Erdwin dropped dead at literally the last second. She had to wait an extra thousand years for the next try.
...I wonder if Erdwin wasn't the first try. Has she just been throwing Luminaries at the problem and they keep dying progressively later and later in the process?
Well, until he gets his redo. Considering you got two, it's only fair.
The almighty Chosen One, who will go down in legends, so on and such forth.
Time to roll out the overture, incidentally. Surprisingly, this isn't something DQ does often, but every time it does, it's well-earned. This is the sort of song that means DQ. Hence why it's usually the opening theme (including in this game.)
The "title" of Erdrick is, in fact, a Dragon Quest tradition. The name "Erdrick" is associated with the Heroes of DQs 1 and 3, and they also received the name as a title, regardless of whether or not it was their original name. It only comes up at the very end of the games, so it's not something you think about that often.
Yggdragon acknowledges that one day, there will be another Calasmos.
Honestly, this'll be so far in the future that this is more a simple statement of the law of averages: The odds that someday there'll be a greater evil somewhere out there are just that large stretched over millenia.
This is a bit of a reference to a reveal that's incoming, but yeah: Yggdrasil wasn't a big deal in every DQ world. Which kind of implies the Yggdragon might not have the power she has now.
...Whatever that power might be. So far, aside from this conversation, the only active power she really exerts is choosing Luminaries.
Just as Calasmos will be back, so too shall Erdward.
Even after Yggdragon is done picking them.
After all...
That's what they've always done.
(Yes, for those who might not recognise him, this guy is the DQ1 Hero.)
And that, up there, is Charlock Castle, home of the Dragonlord.
...I'd hate to rain on this dramatic shot, but Erdrick's Sword was found in the basement of Charlock Castle (I believe the lore is that the Dragonlord found and attempted to destroy the blade, failed, and kept it locked up so the Hero at least couldn't have it). For this shot to take place within the canon of DQ1, Erdrick would have to have been killed in Charlock and sent back to Tantegel to try again.
On the other hand, "Erdrick Game Overing in Charlock" is kinda the premise of the first Builders game...
And with that, we roll the game's credits.
This game doesn't finish with cool shots of the adventure we just had: I think DQ's credits don't normally do that anyway. We're going to get cool shots of DQs 1-10 instead.
For DQ1, we get... the game's opening setpiece, fighting the dragon to save Princess Gwaelin, and going to an opening shop to get set up on the quest.
Two things you might notice from these screenshots that show how old this game really is:
- The really small and restrictive view in the dark cave. That's after using a torch: beforehand, you get nothing to go on.
- And, perhaps more ancient, but our hapless hero doesn't even get four unique sprites for walking up, down, left and right! After interacting with something, you have to indicate which direction the thing you want to interact with is. This oddity is unique to the Japanese version of the game: Dragon Warrior updated this bit.
Next up, Luminaries of the Legendary Line. I find it interesting they don't update all of these gameplay clips with English ones for the English version, but a) I imagine filming each game was a non-trivial task and b) it would make DQ10 stick out like a sore thumb.
Here we have the climactic battle with Malroth, exploring Rendarak (at this point, you've made it past the cave), and... I'll be honest, it's been a hot minute since I saw the story of DQ2, I have no idea what's going on in right panel.
Seeds of Salvation.
We have a full suite of lategame scenes to choose from here: the climactic battle with Zoma, the hatching of Ramia to open the path to Baramos, and the use of the Rainbow Drop to open the path to Charlock Castle and reach Zoma. If I were asked choose the three most spoiler-filled clips to represent DQ3, there isn't much that can top this.
Pictured: Using the Orb of Light on Zoma does change his colour- Calasmos has a similar effect.
Chapters of the Chosen. Apparently this was the game to introduce that awesome bit where the "T" in "Quest" is a sword.
The game opens with a very Alena-heavy choice of pictures: Aside from the climactic confrontation with Psaro the Manslayer, you have Alena preparing to enter the Tournament of Endor and Alena setting off with Kiryl and Borya at the beginning of her Chapter.
Fortunately, the bottom-left panel moves on to representing all five of the game's Chapters, even if Alena gets to keep the Tournament one (fair enough, this game outright referenced that). In order, we have Torneko Taloon falling for an Indiana Jones trap in his opening dungeon (I say "trap", but I think you have to do that to get to the end), Ragnar McRyan and Healie departing the forest in which they meet, Meena and Maya Mahabala setting out on the start of their journey, and the DQ4 Hero leading Meena, Maya, and Borya- I believe this would be to start the Parthenia quest to heal Kiryl's sickness.
Hand of the Heavenly Bride.
A fairly simple one: Ladja's confrontation at the end of that game's Act 1 (Ladja is hiding under the text-box: this scene occurs as you leave a dungeon from the same door you entered it), the choice between Bianca and Nera as you finalise it, and the baby Hero entering the overworld for the first time, finding some monsters, and having Pankraz jump to the rescue.
Realms of Revelation.
We have the game's opening sequence, where Milly plays an ocarina to summon a dragon, the first bit of intrigue, where the DQ6 Hero saves a man's life only to fall down the cliff instead, and... the final battle with Mortamor.
As you can see, the Hero survived the fall, this is your introduction to the Real/Dream World, although the exposition about it isn't for another few hours of gameplay yet- for reference, the Weaver's Peak festival hasn't happened yet.
Incidentally, if you're way too familiar with the DQ6 gameplay and animations, you might notice that's not actually the final boss fight with Mortamor. That's the bonus cutscene that plays once you've beat the bonus boss Nokturnus: If you beat him fast enough to impress him, he will beat Mortamor for you. It makes no sense, but who am I to argue with an awesome cutscene of a final boss as hard as Mortamor getting the snot beaten out of him? (OK, I do have an argument with it: Nokturnus uses Magic Burst as part of his final barrage of attacks, but it's not his final action.)
Fragments of a Forgotten Past.
Another fairly simple set here: The opening of the Shrine of Mysteries at the start of the game, awakening the Water Spirit, and fighting some Ersatz Estarks in the game's bonus dungeon- these are normal enemies, despite their name and similarities to the ultimate monster of DQ4 and recurring superboss alongside Nokturnus.
Journey of the Cursed King.
Here we get the DQ8 Hero calling for Baumren and riding around outside Farebury, the cutscene preceding the climactic battle with Dhoulmagus, and some Party Chat with the three main heroes.
The bottom panel changes to a Munchie sequence where you have to drop a lizard on Prince Charmless's head in order to scare it out of a room he is hiding in. It's almos impressive, the lengths DQ can go to utterly humilitate this man and yet still make it come off as deserved.
Sentinels of the Stary Sky.
An interesting set of picks. We have the final confrontation with Corvus, which is normal by these standards, and then... in the top, we have the party running around looking for Metal King Slimes in a grotto, and the right has an emotional scene where the dying Marion feeds a Fygg to her dolly Marionette, bringing it to life. I'm not going to say the latter choice is wrong, but I definitely wonder why this scene in particular.
If you're wondering, the top panel gets an encounter with two Metal Kings, one runs away, and the other one is defeated. You kinda had to get both outcomes in here.
(Also, the characters are all tinged blue in the first shot because the player has used Holy Water, presumably to avoid the non-Metal encounters on the prior floors.)
Five Awakened Tribes, or whatever the subtitle is now.
Suffice it to say I don't know what's going on in any of these clips (although I'm fairly sure none of the three panels is showing footage from only one part of the game), but I can't help but notice more than three quarters of the chosen clips is Anlucia representation. I feel like I like Anlucia disproportionately, since I don't actually know her deal yet, but I don't think that compares to whoever on the development team liked Anlucia this much.
Once the game has finished with the part of the credits where the people who worked on the game get credited, we get shots taking us back to the era of Erdwin and Serenica.
The two are in a mountainous valley region. I always kinda feel like this place isn't anywhere the player winds up going, but the biome does kinda resemble the outside of the Arboria region. Funnily enough, Arboria was where we turned up after shattering Time's Sphere, too.
If Arboria was build in this area in tribute to this encounter, that would reinforce the "stable time loop" theory. Although that suggests all the depressing Serenica poetry (and the corresponding death of Erdwin to inspire it) still exists. That's not to say Arboria's construction requires Serenica to have shattered Time's Sphere.
Serenica has finally reunited with her lover.
And now they're both bearers of the Luminary's mark. It'll be a lot harder for Serenica to explain that than our sudden possession of the Sword of Shadows.
...With that said, we never provided any explanation for that, did we?
"...Now, don't take this the wrong way, but don't trust Morcant, he's going to stab you in the back."
Now that I say that out loud, it'd be virtually impossible for Serenica to present this argument and make it sound reasonable and not like a controlling girlfriend making unreasonable demands unless she also tells him about the time travel. To compound on that issue, it's not like Morcant is secretly evil- him stabbing Erdwin in the back is Calasmos capitalising on a moment of weakness, not Morcant scheming to usurp the glory. Even assuming Serenica can get anyone to believe her, there's not much they can do to stop Morcant now.
Then again, it's not like Serenica herself can't do anything about it. All she has to do is not fall off the whale this time.
Erdwin's story ends with a cool image in this woodcut style of everyone looking up at Yggdrasil.
And a woman closes the book.
I'd joke that of course our adventure is kept in the red book, but there's a much brighter red book on this shelf.
This lady walks upstairs...
And into the bedroom of her child.
Pictured: the opening setpiece of Dragon Quest 3: Getting woken up by your mother, because today is your sixteenth birthday and you're off to see the King! Dragon Quest 11 has referenced all of DQ history, but it is DQ3 that got the best deal of the bunch, and that was by design: DQ11 is a distant prequel to DQ3 (and thus also DQs 1 and 2, in that order). Erdrea bears little resemblance to the unnamed world of DQ3, which kinda dampens the reveal a bit, but considering how big DQ3 is and how many remakes it's gotten, it's kinda surprising this is the most modern it's ever looked.
And yes, Yggdrasil has fallen tremendously: You can still find it for Yggdrasil Leaves, but it is in the middle of a gigantic forest and looks no different from all the surrounding trees. The major goddess of the time is Rubiss, and I'm not about to delve into a massive timeline wedgie to speculate on whether the two are connected.
We've reached the ending of the game, after all!
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