While other side stories had elements of their canonical stories sprinkled here and there, Sophie’s story is a huge “what-if” scenario. What if Sophie did not meet Asbel during his childhood? What if Asbel grew up to be a normal knight? It feels like an AU fanfic, but then again, Crestoria universe is one big AU fanfiction.
Sophie’s entire story is how she’s an anomaly amongst her peers. She has no memories and only knows herself as Rainy. In this universe, Ange becomes her surrogate mother and cares for her deeply. While this does help Sophie open up, it’s not until she meets Asbel that Sophie finally feels human. Elements of canon Sophie is also sprinkled here and there with her love for crablettes, gardening and her strange fascination for Asbel.
There are two details that are original to Crestoria. One is her befriending a monster named “Kee-woo”. This was an interesting plotline as Sophie learns the value of life after Kee-woo is dead and how much it hurts to lose someone dear to her. The second is her hearing the sound of a piano in an empty, abandoned mansion. It is the sound of her heart, I believe. The tune is really pretty, though. I really like listening to it.
Like in her original game, Sophie has no memory of herself and it revealed to be a weapon towards the climax. Monsters have increased around the area where she lives in and there are many hints that she is a part of it u Her real identity is Protos Heis, a bio augmented weapon designed to destroy Kasque, the God of the Universe. Apparently, she is one of the few weapons created. The revelation got me thinking: Is Vicious a weapon as well? There’s a lot not known about him and he doesn’t have a Vision Orb, meaning he exists for some purpose. Who created these weapons and why do they want to destroy Kasque?
Asbel is a lot chiller in this game. Since he was introduced back in Chapter 4 as Luke’s bodyguard and friend, he doesn’t know Sophie and has never met her until now. It seems that even without meeting her, he still trained at knight academy and became a wandering mercenary. So, is he a knight or not?
His excessive “MAMORITAI” character trait in the original Graces is toned down here because Sophie doesn’t die in front of him during his childhood in this game. Instead, meeting Sophie at 18 years of age triggers an instinct to want to protect her. They have a big brother-little sister relationship here like they do the original game, but unlike the original game, Asbel doesn’t adopt her. His being Sophie’s father is also teased here as she compares him to a dad, to which Asbel doesn’t seem to keen about.
Asbel meets Sophie after being hired to watch over her by a third party so his time spent with Sophie and her family causes him to start doubting himself. He cares deeply for Sophie and the others but he doesn’t want to destroy her. His trying to let Sophie see the value of her own life was quite touching. It was like canon Asbel. Asbel’s noble side is portrayed well in this story and his will to protect seems similar to his canonical story.
I don’t know much about Ange since I’ve only played a little bit of Innocence, but I really like her here. She’s smart, caring and doesn’t hesitate to step up to defend Sophie. She was willing to harm the main villain of this chapter because he was hurting Sophie. That screams mama bear energy and I love it.
I also love how Ange never treats Sophie lesser than the rest of the kids and always tries to be there for her whenever she can, despite Asbel doing her job better. Also, Ange was the one to name her Rainy because she found Sophie on a rainy day. What kind of naming sense is this? Asbel is the one that names her Sophie, so at least she’s no longer Rainy.
The main villain of this chapter is Julius Kresnik. Yes. You heard me. JULIUS FREAKING KRESNIK! Why the heck are you here? GO BACK TO LUDGER! STOP LEAVING HIM ALONE! He apparently works for Spirius Corporation. Oh goodness, that means Bisley exists. As someone who’s a fan of Xillia 2, this smells trouble in the future.
Anyways, Julius in this chapter is a Capital A asshole. He’s trying to kill Sophie because she’s Protos Heis and doesn’t want to reason with her. He keeps blaming her for the monster problem. There was also one scene where Sophie asks if Julius was her father and he responds, “You don’t have a father because you’re not a person.” Wow. What a dick. When the story ends, he just retreats but does seem to understand that she’s not a threat. He does tell them that there will be other agents after her, which is why Sophie’s now traveling with Asbel.
The most amusing thing about the Julius battle is that you can put in SSR Sophie and Asbel into the other panels and you can have a showdown between Sophies and Asbels against Julius.
Overall, this was quite enjoyable to play. It’s not as amazing as Leon’s chapter but it’s not as infuriating as Velvet and Farah’s. If I had to rank them, Sophie’s would be third since I enjoyed Leon and Cress’s stories a lot more than Sophie’s.
Anyways, where will Asbel and Sophie head off now? They were last seen in Spada’s event story. Please let them reappear soon.
Tales of Crestoria is an upcoming mobile title dedicated for smartphones that is an entirely new story and doesn’t focus on previous Tales of titles. The game features Kanata Hjuger, a young man branded as a Transgressor because of the crimeof “protecting someone important” to him. The game will be released for iOS and Android on 2020.
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