Mind control in Phantasy Star Online 2. (Major Spoilers) (Contains screenshots)
A while back, they released a story update for Phantasy Star Online 2 (Japanese version) which included some MC. I only just bothered to play through it today since they just recently added a feature to replay cutscenes, and I hadn't wanted to view them before since the English patch translators haven't finished translating this quest yet, and previously you would have been unable to see the scenes again. But I figured, hey, I could get the gist of it from watching it now and get the finer details later on when the quest gets translated.
So I did. And now I bring you screenshots! I'm not entirely sure how, why, or what is going on, but I can give you my best guess to go along with the screenshots. Keep in mind that my own character is not featured in any of these screenshots, for privacy purposes. All the characters you see are NPCs.
And again, MAJOR SPOILERS here. This takes place during the 16th story quest which is VERY late in the game (enemies there are around lv 60).
i.imgur.com/mxagGhO.jpg
^ This guy is Legias/Regius/Nobody really knows how to spell his name. He's one of the Council of Six, the strongest people in all of Arks, which is the group of monster hunters and such that you work for in PSO2. It seems that you (the player character) have been doing... something... I'm not entirely sure, that he doesn't like. Granted you've been sticking your nose where it doesn't belong for a very long time and though you've befriended some of the Council of Six before... Legias is not one of them. Here, we see him appearing on a screen in the lobby, after you've invaded an abandoned Arks Mothership in pursuit of a bad guy named Luther.
i.imgur.com/WHjHQg8.jpg
i.imgur.com/4kwvtWL.jpg
^ Some NPCs checking out the announcement.
i.imgur.com/wKs4Vug.jpg
^ Then this happens. As far as I can tell, this is likely a power unique to him, as I believe he is the leader of the Council of Six. Somehow, it allows him complete control over all Arks members. As you can see here...
i.imgur.com/ZDWcdwo.jpg
^ Yay! Glowing MC eyes! Looks like they're enjoying it too. These are Lottie (the girl) and Lubert (the guy), who are generally mild-mannered NPCs who give you quests to kill enemies. Now, their quest, as given by Legias, is to hunt you down and kill you. Did you think this was going to be happy, sexy MC? Well, it may be sexy. To each his own, after all. But yeah, this is more of the "I'm brainwashing you to kill your ally" kind of MC.
i.imgur.com/3QjUBlx.jpg
i.imgur.com/Nq9TntX.jpg
^ This is Lisa. She's kind of batshit crazy to begin with (and we love her for it) and likes to shoot things. Now she wants to shoot you.
i.imgur.com/krWCFKN.jpg
^ This is Ohza. He prefers to stab things. And of course, he wants to stab you now.
i.imgur.com/cVLVOCH.jpg
^ This is Marlu. She casts spells. Now she wants to set you on fire. You also get a good view of Ohza and Lisa here too.
i.imgur.com/9hk6Bgv.jpg
i.imgur.com/IaXFZyx.jpg
^ This is Fourier. She also likes to shoot things, but she's much kinder than Lisa is. She likes to play with tiny rabbit people and spends her free time trying to learn their language. The only language she speaks now is the language of PAIN.
i.imgur.com/7DTYt26.jpg
^ The group after you beat them up (for their own protection, of course). It's a nice shot of Marlu. Can't really see Lisa too well back there though.
i.imgur.com/B0vh54z.jpg
i.imgur.com/DCo3QDY.jpg
i.imgur.com/lQJAsrT.jpg
i.imgur.com/2mrRAtX.jpg
^ Some shots of the group after the MC has worn off. Lisa's eyes are always red and it's of note that her MC wears off last. Probably because she's a murderous psychopath to begin with. Good thing she's (usually) on our side...
The MC is pretty much done from here on, but I figured you guys might like some of this stuff too. Or some closure on the little story I've been telling you, at least.
i.imgur.com/bQTGYS9.jpg
^ Here's dickface himself and his two buddies from the Council of Six, Claris Claes (left) and Casra (right). Casra seemed like your buddy but he was always kind of suspicious, but Claris has always been an insufferable bitch who you are pretty much supposed to hate.
i.imgur.com/WqQhTkM.jpg
i.imgur.com/fcNqLbX.jpg
^ After you beat the three Council of Six members (two others are actually on your side during this battle, Huey and Maria) something terrible happens to Claris Claes.
i.imgur.com/HEQuCCO.jpg
i.imgur.com/nIrZKuv.jpg
i.imgur.com/dAMdw9e.jpg
^ Turns out that Luther guy I mentioned at the start has been making clones of Claris, and you have to fight against an army of Claris Claes Clones. Claris of course has a total mental breakdown. Even Legias thinks this is fucked up and joins you to help clear them out. Then somehow all is forgiven? I think? Like, no kicking Legias in his mecha-balls for sending the entire Arks fleet to kill you? I dunno. I'm sure this is explained somewhere in the dialog I can't read.
i.imgur.com/hsL9WMQ.jpg
^ Then some more stuff happens and you get to the core of the ship to find Luther and Xion whom he has kidnapped. Xion is really important apparently and I have no actual idea what he's doing here, but yeah, bad guy has captured someone and you have to beat him up to save her.
i.imgur.com/GNpPBX5.jpg
i.imgur.com/KHTgN4o.jpg
^ And then after you kick his can, he gets possessed by the great galactic forces of evil, Dark Falz and becomes.... more evil? Can evil people be corrupted? Does that work? Anyway, it's corruption, and he loses his entire sense of self and becomes another Dark Falz. Yay! More MC! See? I told you to stick around, didn't I? He's known as Dark Falz Loser, and then he turns into this.
i.imgur.com/pq3zp0j.jpg
And... that's pretty much it. Everyone gets un-MCed (except for Loser who manages to fly off to bug you another day) and... I dunno. I honestly have no idea what happens in most of this quest, but hey, MC! :D
So I did. And now I bring you screenshots! I'm not entirely sure how, why, or what is going on, but I can give you my best guess to go along with the screenshots. Keep in mind that my own character is not featured in any of these screenshots, for privacy purposes. All the characters you see are NPCs.
And again, MAJOR SPOILERS here. This takes place during the 16th story quest which is VERY late in the game (enemies there are around lv 60).
i.imgur.com/mxagGhO.jpg
^ This guy is Legias/Regius/Nobody really knows how to spell his name. He's one of the Council of Six, the strongest people in all of Arks, which is the group of monster hunters and such that you work for in PSO2. It seems that you (the player character) have been doing... something... I'm not entirely sure, that he doesn't like. Granted you've been sticking your nose where it doesn't belong for a very long time and though you've befriended some of the Council of Six before... Legias is not one of them. Here, we see him appearing on a screen in the lobby, after you've invaded an abandoned Arks Mothership in pursuit of a bad guy named Luther.
i.imgur.com/WHjHQg8.jpg
i.imgur.com/4kwvtWL.jpg
^ Some NPCs checking out the announcement.
i.imgur.com/wKs4Vug.jpg
^ Then this happens. As far as I can tell, this is likely a power unique to him, as I believe he is the leader of the Council of Six. Somehow, it allows him complete control over all Arks members. As you can see here...
i.imgur.com/ZDWcdwo.jpg
^ Yay! Glowing MC eyes! Looks like they're enjoying it too. These are Lottie (the girl) and Lubert (the guy), who are generally mild-mannered NPCs who give you quests to kill enemies. Now, their quest, as given by Legias, is to hunt you down and kill you. Did you think this was going to be happy, sexy MC? Well, it may be sexy. To each his own, after all. But yeah, this is more of the "I'm brainwashing you to kill your ally" kind of MC.
i.imgur.com/3QjUBlx.jpg
i.imgur.com/Nq9TntX.jpg
^ This is Lisa. She's kind of batshit crazy to begin with (and we love her for it) and likes to shoot things. Now she wants to shoot you.
i.imgur.com/krWCFKN.jpg
^ This is Ohza. He prefers to stab things. And of course, he wants to stab you now.
i.imgur.com/cVLVOCH.jpg
^ This is Marlu. She casts spells. Now she wants to set you on fire. You also get a good view of Ohza and Lisa here too.
i.imgur.com/9hk6Bgv.jpg
i.imgur.com/IaXFZyx.jpg
^ This is Fourier. She also likes to shoot things, but she's much kinder than Lisa is. She likes to play with tiny rabbit people and spends her free time trying to learn their language. The only language she speaks now is the language of PAIN.
i.imgur.com/7DTYt26.jpg
^ The group after you beat them up (for their own protection, of course). It's a nice shot of Marlu. Can't really see Lisa too well back there though.
i.imgur.com/B0vh54z.jpg
i.imgur.com/DCo3QDY.jpg
i.imgur.com/lQJAsrT.jpg
i.imgur.com/2mrRAtX.jpg
^ Some shots of the group after the MC has worn off. Lisa's eyes are always red and it's of note that her MC wears off last. Probably because she's a murderous psychopath to begin with. Good thing she's (usually) on our side...
The MC is pretty much done from here on, but I figured you guys might like some of this stuff too. Or some closure on the little story I've been telling you, at least.
i.imgur.com/bQTGYS9.jpg
^ Here's dickface himself and his two buddies from the Council of Six, Claris Claes (left) and Casra (right). Casra seemed like your buddy but he was always kind of suspicious, but Claris has always been an insufferable bitch who you are pretty much supposed to hate.
i.imgur.com/WqQhTkM.jpg
i.imgur.com/fcNqLbX.jpg
^ After you beat the three Council of Six members (two others are actually on your side during this battle, Huey and Maria) something terrible happens to Claris Claes.
i.imgur.com/HEQuCCO.jpg
i.imgur.com/nIrZKuv.jpg
i.imgur.com/dAMdw9e.jpg
^ Turns out that Luther guy I mentioned at the start has been making clones of Claris, and you have to fight against an army of Claris Claes Clones. Claris of course has a total mental breakdown. Even Legias thinks this is fucked up and joins you to help clear them out. Then somehow all is forgiven? I think? Like, no kicking Legias in his mecha-balls for sending the entire Arks fleet to kill you? I dunno. I'm sure this is explained somewhere in the dialog I can't read.
i.imgur.com/hsL9WMQ.jpg
^ Then some more stuff happens and you get to the core of the ship to find Luther and Xion whom he has kidnapped. Xion is really important apparently and I have no actual idea what he's doing here, but yeah, bad guy has captured someone and you have to beat him up to save her.
i.imgur.com/GNpPBX5.jpg
i.imgur.com/KHTgN4o.jpg
^ And then after you kick his can, he gets possessed by the great galactic forces of evil, Dark Falz and becomes.... more evil? Can evil people be corrupted? Does that work? Anyway, it's corruption, and he loses his entire sense of self and becomes another Dark Falz. Yay! More MC! See? I told you to stick around, didn't I? He's known as Dark Falz Loser, and then he turns into this.
i.imgur.com/pq3zp0j.jpg
And... that's pretty much it. Everyone gets un-MCed (except for Loser who manages to fly off to bug you another day) and... I dunno. I honestly have no idea what happens in most of this quest, but hey, MC! :D