Atoli's memories (spoiler)

[Advent_Winter]

So, in you guys opinions, which made a bigger impact towards putting emphasis on Atoli's personality visually?

.hack//G.U. Trilogy or her story arc in Reminisce?

 *Because AIDA Atoli whooping Haseo's ass was awesome.*

[GyppyGirl2021]

 Me, I'd have to say they were about equal. Atoli going Inniszerk on Haseo was certainly memorable, but remember that in TRILOGY, he was bleeding. In the game. So... yeah.

I have to admit that while TRILOGY had pretty graphics and some epic fight scenes, it really didn't portray Atoli in the same light. I think I preferred her in the games.

[Advent_Winter]

 Me, I'd have to say they were about equal. Atoli going Inniszerk on Haseo was certainly memorable, but remember that in TRILOGY, he was bleeding. In the game. So... yeah.

Let me shed some light on that. I believe  her AIDA infection just intensified her memories and placed them in a dream setting. The blood and damage to Haseo's PC didn't actually happen. Either that or it was for show.

[GyppyGirl2021]

Ah, yeah, that's a good point, but... why were they in their game bodies in the dream sequence...?

[Advent_Winter]

Because they were technically still in the game.

[N3IWVC]

Not to mention they didn't know each other irl so they wouldn't know what eachother looked like. Many of us probably wouldn't recognize them either if we didn't know we were looking at them.

[TheSorrow]

I love Atoli, and i loved the whole arc about her. It was actually one of the most important points in the GU series, when it comes to character development, both from her and Haseo, and of course, one way or another this changes the way everyone looks at them both...it's a beatiful part, actually. I also love Atoli in Trilogy, and find Trilogy to be very amazing as long as you don't pay deep attention to the story and all the plotholes.

Only thing i don't like about Atoli is how her Avatar was the very first one to have ever defeated me, and that also marked the very first time i lost against a Phase in .Hack (...yes, i also ran into her Haze of Treason. Hey, you see her slowly flying towards you and you don't know what's going to happen...of course you're going to try and smack her -3-' and her Confusion Flight is so insane and strong...you fail at hitting her quickly, and you're going to get pwned badly). However, i actually LOVED that battle. The battle was amazing, Innis' theme is the best of them all, and seeing that little weak girl who would be constantly used, kicked down, rejected, ignored, and all she said to that was "sorry", suddenly screaming her thoughts out and fighting at the very same level as the Terror of Death, was quite epic. So yeah, even though she completely kicked my ass, i loved it one way or another.

[GyppyGirl2021]

I found the Innis battle relatively easy because I'd already seen how to avoid Haze of Treason before I fought her, and I tried to keep my patience when it came to Confusion Flight... but the first VR, ugh, 6 Protect Restores. I think that's the only reason I hated that fight.

It does have some of the best battle music (I liked Gorre's and Macha's more, but Innis' is right up there), and the underlying emotion behind the fight was what made me love it so much. Of course, you knew that something along those lines was going to happen when we found out she was an Epitaph User... but yeah. XD

[Coma]

when shes around in trilogy something bad is happening to her, or she is doing something sweet as opposed to something annoying. Oh and no annoying English VA. Her specific one that is, not all English VAs.

I don't think she was annoying most of the time. She was not obnoxious about anything she wanted -- including wanting Haseo to look at her instead of seeing her as Shino. She kept it all in except for one outburst. She cared about Haseo, so she tried to avoid bothering him with things she knew would upset him.

Plus, I played the UNDUB version, so that might have something to do with it :p Her Japanese VA had a cute voice, and during the Avatar battle with her... "MOTTO WATASHI WO MITE HOSHI DESUUU" ... "WATASHI WO MITE KURENAI". I shed manly tears.

The fight itself was easy. I didn't bother chasing her during Confusion Flight, I'd just sit still and wait for her to come at me. When she chases you with Haze of Treason... I'd always be just out of her range when she stunned herself (and the fact she gets stunned when she doesn't catch you is sad too).

I did try hitting her in melee a few times while she wasn't stunned and ended up activating Haze of Treason, even though she wasn't chasing.

Atoli is now my favorite character! Everyone else have moodswings.

[Advent_Winter]

I found the Innis battle relatively easy because I'd already seen how to avoid Haze of Treason before I fought her, and I tried to keep my patience when it came to Confusion Flight... but the first VR, ugh, 6 Protect Restores. I think that's the only reason I hated that fight.

I love hitting her with a Data Drain from a far away distance during confusion flight. Epic target practice . For some reason, when it connects, the sound effect that you usually hear for Haze of Treason, which is a ghostly hollow wind sound, is heard right when the ball of data hits. It's so creepy, but awesome.

[Coma]

If you hit her in melee while she wasn't stunned (even if she wasn't chasing you for Haze of Treason), it would activate Haze of Treason. Maybe that's why. Maybe it's not just a melee hit, but anything that isn't the little ranged shots, so Haze of Treason would activate after Data Drain, but Data Drain went off first.

Here's a question for you guys: I've only just started the third game -- do you find out who/what the Azure characters are? And did they survive the fight with Ovan at the end of the 2nd game?

[Advent_Winter]

To your first question. Yes you do. To your second, the Azure Knights are virtually indestructible. They can be defeated, but they are able to rengenerate, so yes.

[iuliathe3rd]

I loved the AIDA!Atoli fight from Trilogy. It's one of my favorite scenes from the movie. It was a great way of summarizing that whole conflict with Atoli, not to mention really purty. *3*

[GyppyGirl2021]

I did try hitting her in melee a few times while she wasn't stunned and ended up activating Haze of Treason, even though she wasn't chasing.

I did that a couple of times, but only found out the reason later: it's because Haze of Treason isn't an actual attack, it's a counterattack. If you'll notice, shooting at her while she's trying to shoot you will activate Haze of Treason. There are two things that don't seem to apply: normal slash attack, and Confusion Flight.

I don't usually stun her much outside of Haze of Treason, though. But it's pretty hard for her to catch up to you if you're moving away... I've noticed she's been right in my face before and still didn't catch up to me before stunning herself.

[AuraTwilight]

And I continue to vehemently disagree about this. Remember, Haseo voluntarily stayed with Shino, it's not like she forced him for goodness' sakes.

This is a disgustingly bad argument. By this logic, we shouldn't blame someone who beats their girlfriend because she loves him and chooses voluntarily to stay with him. The fact that you think it's totally excusable of Shino to knowingly and deliberately play with Haseo's heart for her own personal gang simply because he let it happen due to not knowing better is nothing short of putrid and disgusting.

Clearly, your Shino fanboyism is blinding you, or your sense of ethics is f*cked up. I LIKED Shino until she pulled this crap.

I feel as though I should get drunk before talking back to AT, for at least a psuedo excuse afterward. However I am all out of beer, mainly because I don't drink, but whatever.

Anyways, I don't feel I should be obligated to like or even tolerate a character simply because they went through some **** in their life. Even if it is still going on. If I did, then I'm fairly sure I would have to like the entire cast of Naruto as well as the series itself...

Okay, awesome. I wasn't suggesting that whatsoever, though.

So, in you guys opinions, which made a bigger impact towards putting emphasis on Atoli's personality visually?

.hack//G.U. Trilogy or her story arc in Reminisce?

VISUALLY? Trilogy. But the games actually pulled it off better in general.

[iuliathe3rd]

This is a disgustingly bad argument. By this logic, we shouldn't blame someone who beats their girlfriend because she loves him and chooses voluntarily to stay with him. The fact that you think it's totally excusable of Shino to knowingly and deliberately play with Haseo's heart for her own personal gang simply because he let it happen due to not knowing better is nothing short of putrid and disgusting.

Don't twist what I was saying. I would never imply that. First off, the case with Haseo and Shino is nowhere near the example you provided. Second, I don't think she's nearly as cold-hearted and conniving as you say. I'm not completely excusing what she did, I just don't agree with your assessment of her character or intentions.
Honestly I don't care if you dislike her, but I do feel the need to point out that not everyone thinks the same way you do about Shino.

Also, I'm not a guy and I'm not a blind fool. I've thought about this subject enough to be pretty sure in what I think. You don't have to agree with me, but don't twist my frickin' words to make me out to be a bad person.

[Kuukai]

All of G.U. is a giant chain of emotional dominoes. Aina->Ovan->Shino->Haseo->Atoli. Everyone is "used" to some extent to help a person higher on the totem pole. Not too much innocence to go around, so quit blaming Shino. Probably one of the major lessons of the ending is that while you can't control your feelings, you can still find forgiveness and understanding for what you did wrong. That's probably why they retitled it "Redemption."

[Ranylyn]

I definitely agree that the games had a bigger impact than the movie. I actually found myself tearing up while fighting Atoli, but then again I'm such an emotional tard and Atoli and my fiancee (well, at the time, girlfriend) are alike in so many ways, right down to just wanting to be accepted. Except she doesn't think she's annoying me, heh.

That isn't saying the movie was bad, it was quite good. The game just had a higher impact, I found. That and the whole Xth form being brought out by "teh powahs of our luffs" was just a tad on the cheesy side. I like it but it was still cheesy.

[Ganheim]

Did nobody else see parallels between Atoli and Endrance? Both of them were hyper-dependent on other people to validate their existence. I know there's quite a bit of difference, but the core of it is there: Endrance was obsessed with feeling needed and he hadn't gotten over Mia from his time as Elk.

Atoli may have had a hard life, but I thought her reasons for being "emo" were weaker than the whole of the rest of the cast - everybody is pulled in multiple directions during childhood, teenage, and adult years. The fact that she wanted to commit suicide and was talked out of it by Sakaki started her obsessive focus (anybody notice how much of that there is in Roots/GU? Ovan>Aina, Shino>Ovan, Haseo>Shino, Atoli>Sakaki...)

I will admit, I hated Atoli with a passion in Vol 1, and that changed to loathing mixed with tinges of sympathy/understanding in Vol 2 (I jumped up and cheered when Haseo slapped her and gave the "stop the weepy act and open your eyes! Start living your own life!") I still didn't like her by Vol 3, but at least she'd grown to understand that she has to walk on her own two feet at least part of the time - but like Endrance, she was still so dependent on other people. Not that I'm against that as a personality trait, I esteem altruism, but neither of them seemed to really grow up and out of those bad habits.

[AuraTwilight]

neither of them seemed to really grow up and out of those bad habits.

Which is realistic. It's going to take more than a couple months or whatever to get over crippling life-long emotional problems, especially when you spent that time trying to save the world in an action-packed adventure instead of going through therapy or whatever.