Tales of Symphonia - Chapter 23: Derris-Kharlan - The Final Battle

 

Having been acknowledged as the new master of the Eternal Sword, its power transports Lloyd and his friends to the final dungeon of the game: the now-drifting mass of mana know as Derris-Kharlan. If the party cannot recover the rapidly-departing Great Seed from Mithos, all hope is lost to save the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla.

 

Note: It's highly recommended you equip Lloyd's Lv2 EX Skill Personal if you aren't using it. This first section of Derris-Kharlan is massive and there's a lot of ground to cover.

New Monsters within Derris-Kharlan: Doom Guard, Phantasm, Death, Phantom Knight, Samael, Dark Spear, Dark Archer, Dark Sword

 

The final dungeon is home to a few rare items we can get from the, mostly, undead residents. With the exception of the Phantom Knight, all of these undead are weak against light, to note. Colette can pilfer (Also drop) Spirit Bottles from the spell-throwing Samaels. Up until this point, we could only get these from using a Rune Bottle on Energy Tablets. They restore the entire party's TP by 30%. If you no longer have Zelos, this is the easiest place to stock up on them now. Samaels will also occasionally drop Fine Pellets, which is a nice compliment to the following monster.

Of utmost importance is the very tough, dragon-mounted Phantom Knights. Colette can snag Rare Pellets from them, but you'll need to get them when they are distracted or they'll just swat little Colette away. Besides treasure chests, this is the ONLY place in the game to obtain Rare Pellets. Be prepared to spend a lot of time here to complete the Figurine Book. In addition, all of the angel-type monsters can drop Black Quartzs that are required to customize the EXP-boosting Seal accessories.

Most of the 4-group, undead or angel, enemy encounters found in the beginning areas provide the most battle EXP in the game; with the exception of the Gold Dragon in the Torent Forest. The Gold Dragon typical gives about 100 more EXP, but from my experience, being able to loop around this first screen and battle these groups regularly is more time-efficient opposed to always having to leave the screen to respawn the Gold Dragon each time. The undead groups are more likely to spawn groups of four than the angels, though, so, in my opinion, this first screen of Derris-Kharlan is the best place in the game to level up. In the upcoming, optional dungeon, however, there is a greater chance for even more EXP, but for a more conventional, consistent place: this is it.

 

Note: Earned EXP will differ depending on your selections from the Grade Shop and the fact that the amount begins to lower as the divide between your party's level and that of the monsters widens. Also, this can be slightly increased by performing combos and achieving a high technical smash in the battle.

 

To begin the dungeon, take the lower path from the warp point. This linear walkway will lead you to an EX Gem Lv2 chest. Continue to follow the path around to the north and you'll encounter another chest, with an EX Gem Lv3. From there, if you continue to the left, you'll encounter more monsters to fight, but no treasures, instead, move south, then climb the walkway rising to the upper-right.

This area is one massive maze of stone walkways and platforms. At the precipice of the first platform is a chest containing the Golden Helm. This, with the Star Helm, are the best helmets in the game for Lloyd and Kratos/Zelos; which I prefer to give to the latter.

 

Leaving from the platform with the Golden Helm, proceed: right three times, then up twice to a chest with an EX Gem Lv3 in the center platform. Continuing: left, and then up three times and on the edge of the following platform is the above screenshotted EX Gem Lv4. Once you have these two treasures, circle back to the platform that held the Golden Helm to make it easier to pick up the other treasures.

Back at the start of the screen, move: left twice, up three times, left, and then up to find the Magical Ribbon treasure. Defense-wise, this is the best helmet in the game for the ladies. If you don't have Kratos and are unable to obtain a second Elemental Circlet, you should have the best helmets for the females now. Magical Ribbon, Star Circlet, Elemental Circlet, and Maid's Hairband, although a case can easily be made for preferring the HP-regenerative Holy Circlet, too. I gave the Magical Ribbon to Sheena.

 

Heading back south, right four times, then south for the screen's last treasure: yet another EX Gem Lv4.

To finish, from the last chest, keep moving north until the party stands, conventionally, all together on a strange emblem; sans Lloyd. Mithos whisks the entire party away, leaving only Lloyd, protected from the trap by the Eternal Sword.

 

Jump into the nearby portal to go after your lost friends. In the following area, you may, or may not, encounter Mithos and Lloyd's "soulmate"; it's entirely dependent on how high their affection with Lloyd is. It's not important either way, as they will rejoin soon enough. If seen here, though, Lloyd finds his "soulmate" shaking off the effects of Mithos' possession. Mithos curses Lloyd and shows him a scene from the past where Martel was killed by a human and, seemingly, Kratos and Yuan both turn their attacks on Lloyd, however, it is just a deceptive illusion perpetrated by Mithos. The character, free from Mithos, will rejoin the party. A skit should then appear, depending on who the abducted character was, entitled: "Welcome Back, Colette/Raine/Presea/ect.", however, you do not get Colette's skit if Kratos rejoined the party. Instead, Kratos has his own "Welcome Back" skit; it's not accessible yet, but will be back out in the world.

 

Using the portal takes you back to the angel city of Welgaia, now devoid of any life at all. You'll need to investigate different areas of the city to rescue your party members, but in what order is not important. I generally start to the southwest, where there's a save point, but if you need items or to recover, you can find those to the upper-right exit.

Exiting south of the save point, Lloyd will find Sheena and Kratos/Zelos caught in Mithos' web of lies; manipulated by illusions of those they care about and Mithos' threat of eternal damnation for their souls. Generally speaking, Colette will take the place of the character in the scene that was Lloyd's "soulmate" going forward if it were someone other than her. Once Lloyd helps the two work through the deception and Mithos is foiled, the characters will rejoin the party and you receive the Spider Figurine item.

After each scene, there will be a remnant nearby that Lloyd can examine and, subsequently, choose whether or not to engage in a mini-boss battle. If your "soulmate" character hasn't rejoined yet, or you need Raine to add the "boss" to the Monster List, you may choose to wait, but these battles are incredibly easy and rewarding.

 

The Colette/Sheena/Kratos/Zelos monster is known as The Fugitive. No strategy is needed here, seriously. It's got some basic magic, and mediocre physical hits, but you'll be more amazed how quickly it's defeated. Winning this battle serves a little-known purpose, however: it removes the water and lightning resistance from the final boss.

The Fugitive will drop the excellent Magic Ring accessory upon defeat. This increases a character's magical attacks by 10%, but not the Intelligence stat itself. This is an effect on the character (Listed on the status screen) and not a statistical increase. Think: having the Pescatore recipe permanently on the character. While obviously great for Raine, Genis, Colette, or Kratos/Zelos, the true beauty of this accessory, in my opinion, is to give even greater effect to Sheena's summons. I switched it with her Rune Boots.

Note: If you didn't get it earlier, you can still go into the apartment-like building and get Regal's Devil's Arm, Apocalypse, from the left-side room of the first floor.

To find Regal and Presea, use the warp tile to the lower-left that Colette had previously uncovered for the group to help spring them from the prison below. The two former adversaries (Or Colette) are locked within the left-sided cell. Mithos attempts to pit a fake Alicia between them; almost bringing it to blows! Thankfully, Lloyd will be able to intervene and Mithos' plan to turn the two against each other will be thwarted. The Chipped Dagger item is received as proof of overcoming their past rife with the want for revenge and self-inflicted punishment. Take the cuffs off now, Regal!

Examine the leftover pool of blood to fight the next mini-boss, The Judged. Again, this is basically like fighting one of the Dragon enemies; hardly a threat and will die quickly. Its defeat removes the wind and earth resistances from the final boss.

 

You're rewarded with the Attack Ring accessory. Very similar to the Magic Ring, but provides a 10% increase to your physical attacks, and as such, is a heavily favored accessory over the Strength-based Warrior Symbol. I swapped this with Sheena's Warrior Symbol, personally. Like the other Rings of its kind, it does not provide a statistical boost, but an effect on the character; like an auto-Flare Bottle during battle.

Lastly, to pickup Genis and Raine, head back to the center of Welgaia and exit to the upper-right. If you'll recall from the previous visit, there is a refresher and basic item vending machine to be found here by using the upper-level lifts, but the rest of the terminals are now inactive. The siblings (Or Colette) are trapped behind a mirror on the lower-right-side of the room. They're tormented by doppelgangers of their mother and the nameless Iselia mayor; Mithos attempting to use their feelings of worthlessness and not being wanted as half-elves against them. Lloyd will be able to break through the mirror and rescue the two from the delusional ramblings of the fakes and Mithos; reminding them that they are valued as friends no matter their race. The sibling mages then rejoin the party and you acquire the Mirror Shard item.

 

Reach out toward the broken mirror to face-off with the last of the mini-bosses, The Neglected. This is more of the same like the other two; no challenge at all. Defeating The Neglected removes the fire and ice resistances from the final boss.

You get the Defense Ring accessory for winning. Unlike the other two Rings, this one is not good at all. Only providing a 10% increase in physical defense, I thought it would also extend to magical defense, too, but alas, it does not. Equipping it is the equivalent of having an auto-Guard Bottle used on you during battle, but you'd be better off with the 15% Defense Blue Talisman instead; at least in my opinion.

Note: After the party reunites, but BEFORE you step on the central area's glowing emblem, if Zelos was Lloyd's "soulmate", or he still doesn't have the Gigolo title, leave Derris-Kharlan and return back to his mansion in Meltokio and talk to Sebastian with Zelos in the lead of your party to automatically be rewarded it regardless of whether Zelos talked to all the "hunnies" around both worlds or not. This is due to a glitch, but is the only way possible to get the title if Zelos was taken by Mithos. Once you activate the scene on the emblem, the window to receive the title closes entirely.

 

Once all six party members are rescued, if Lloyd has yet to reunite with his "soulmate", they'll be waiting for you in central Welgaia and rejoin you now. Look for the skits: "Pitiful Mithos" and "No Turning Back" to trigger, but the latter requires Zelos. With all three Figurine items, proceed to the elaborate portal to the upper-left of central Welgaia. The party will neutralize Mithos' barrier and you will obtain the Derris Emblem item. The portal beyond leads to the final section of the game, Mithos' castle, Vinheim.

Upon entering the dark castle of Vinheim, the skit "Derris Emblem" will become available. The final save point in the game is located to the right-side of the central staircase, to note. Believe it or not, traversing this dungeon is entirely optional! At the ascent of the stairs, you'll find a dragon blocking the doorway leading directly to the final confrontation with Mithos. Simply challenge it and you are ready to finish the game, however, the interior of Vinheim contains a number of the best pieces of armor in the game, as well as an item that will allow you to access the game's optional dungeon.

New Monsters inside Vinheim: Dark Commander

With the rest of its angel cohorts, the new Dark Commander makes its home in Vinheim. They're hardly noteworthy, but they can cast Explosion if you leave them unchallenged.

 

Unfortunately, besides a rare 4-angel group you sometimes find on Vinheim's apex, encounters are saddled with only 3 enemies that results in a paltry amount of EXP compared to the base of Derris-Kharlan. Stay there for your leveling needs.

From the central staircase, exit east, past the save point. On the opposite-side of the following room's staircase, you'll see a stationary angel icon. Engaging and defeating it will uncover a dark-colored treasure chest higher up on a terrace we can reach later.

 

Use the lower-right door to find an angel guarding a treasure holding an Energy Tablets.

Back in the previous room, climb the staircases to the top, then exit via the upper-right room. Check around behind the sofa to find a chest holding the Presea-only Prism Guard armor. This is, perhaps arguably, the best armor in the game for Presea. It provides resistances to most all elements, but makes her weak against darkness. You'll need to counter this with an accessory, which some players may not like, and such prefer the Star Guard armor instead. Once we can acquire an additional Resist Ring (Soon) this will be preferable, but for now, I swapped her Rune Cape for a simple Drain Charm. I would highly advise against using the Amethyst that makes her attack darkness-based, too.

 

Once you have the two treasures on the eastern-side, return to the central staircase, then exit to the northwest. You'll be on a huge, spiraling staircase, which is the theme of this dungeon; one on each wing of the castle. On the western-side, move left (Down) from the door and crack open the chest for the Blue Shield meant for Kratos/Zelos. Not sure what their intentions were for this piece of equipment as it is inferior to the Star Shield in every way, except looks, I guess. It does have a +30 to Evasion, but that is a dubious stat, at best. Certainly not better than the extra Defense and protection against dark and fire magic provided by the Star Shield. Gil would be very disappointed.

Circle up the staircase, past the door you entered through, the next two you come across, and enter the fourth open door of the climb. Open the chest here for an Elixir.

 

Continue your ascent into the next, fifth, room. There's another stationary angel to defeat here that produces an oddly-colored chest behind the chairs. Open it to procure the Past Stone; an item we will be using shortly.

Back out, descend the stairs back down to the second door; just up from the one that leads out to the central staircase and save point. You'll be out on a long walkway overlooking the dragon below. Exit through the door on the west-end, then use the door across to the west, again. The treasure here contains your second Shield Ring armgear. I gave this to Colette, with Regal having the other, but it's the best armgear for all five of its users. I have Sheena equipped with the Star Bracelet and Genis/Raine with the Draupnirs, rounding out the best armgear for these characters, however, feel free to distribute them to whomever you like; these are just my preferences.

Up the stairs from the Shield Ring room, use the western door, yet again. You'll find the Demon's Seal accessory here. The older brother of the Dark Seal, the Demon's Seal boosts a character's EXP gain by 100%, but inflicts a myriad of nasty status effects. To counter this, equip the Krona Symbol or Yasakani Jewel along with it. If you hope to reach the maximum level of 250, these (Which you can also customize for) will be vital.

 

Proceed up and through the eastern door across from you, this time. Work your way around the outer-rim of the castle and through the door on the opposite-side. This takes you to the terrace where you saw the treasure chest materialize earlier. It holds the Future Stone item.

Next, we need to backtrack to the walkway overlooking the main hallway. The room directly to the east takes you to the area you found the Energy Tablets and Prism Guard. Instead, exit through the door to the northeast to find yourself out on the eastern-wing spiral staircase. Move downwards and you'll come across a chest with an EX Gem Lv4 in the middle of your path. You can get beyond the chest, but there's just a dead-end.

 

Begin your climb of the staircase, passing the door you came through, the second door, and entering the third. There are two chests inside: a Spirit Bottle and behind the sofa is the Regal-only armor, Mortality Cloak. Having a +6 Defense increase over the Phoenix Cloak, but lacking the fire resistance, if you swap the Star Cap back to Regal, it makes the Mortality Cloak the best armor in the game for him, in my opinion.

Back out into the stairwell, keep climbing and exit through the rust-colored door near the end. This takes you to the top of Vinheim. Move up a ways and look for a reaper statue on the precipice. To the upper-right of the statue, concealed by the castle walls, is a chest with the Ninja Sword for Lloyd. Stronger than the Material Blade, this thing is darkness-based, so I would recommend you just keep it in your inventory.

Still at the summit, perfectly opposite of the Ninja Sword, is another hidden treasure: the Colette-only Elemental Guard. Easily the best armor in the game for her, it provides fire, wind, water, and earth-based protection. Combo'd with the Elemental Circlet, she'll have no problem fending off these attacks despite her low Intelligence.

 

Vinheim has now been properly looted, however, one final treasure chest remains in the area, and the entire game, itself. Make your way back down to the entrance, and on each side of the atrium, the Past and Future Stones will react; carving words upon the blue and red glyphs on opposing sides of the room. Various-colored blocks will also appear in the room, too. Reading the glyphs gives clues as to how to proceed with the colored cubes. To start, take hold of the yellow-colored block and push it into the newly-created portal on the right-side of the central staircase, to the lower-left of the save point. This will transport your character, and the block, to an isolated area of the castle's rooftop. Continue to push the block off the ledge to the lower-left corner. From there, warp back to the entrance and follow suit with the green block, then the light blue one, to form a bridge to the center platform. Finally, push the white block across the previous three blocks and drop it into the cut-out area on the platform.

We have to do the same exact thing on the left-side of the room. Start with the black block; pushing it into the portal, then dropping it in the designated area. Next, the dark blue one, then the red one. With those in place, push the purple block over the makeshift bridge and into the carved-out crevice.

 

When both the purple and white blocks are set on opposite sides of the barrier, it lowers and you can open the game's last treasure chest for the Sacred Stone item. This key item will allow us to access the bonus dungeon. Having this item also allows you to warp from Vinheim directly to the base of the Tower of Salvation and vice-versa. All that remains is to remove the Dark Dragon from in front of the door leading to Mithos.

THIS thing is what Mithos tasked with guarding the door to his throne? What is with these joke "bosses" in the final dungeon? Good help must be hard to find. Anyway, this is absolutely nothing more than a Gold Dragon with more HP.

 

Defeat of the Dark Dragon nets you the fire-resistant Dragon Armor that is Kratos/Zelos-only. If you had the Star Mail equipped to them, make sure you slide it to Lloyd. You also gain the Vinheim Key item that opens the elaborate door before you.

Through the door, the party can see the Great Seed in the distance; Mithos there with it, no doubt. The game's final battle is just a warp away, however, viewing this beforehand scene is necessary to unlock the final side-quests back out in the world. There's still MUCH more to do; including a bonus dungeon. Since we are here, I will go ahead and cover the game's finale, but make sure you have saved your game before activating the warp point to Mithos' throne so that you can return to it after viewing the ending. Keep in mind that Tales of Symphonia employs a new game+ system, so you are likely to want to carry over the side-quest rewards and data to your next play.

In regards to the final boss battles, they are relatively straightforward, without need for much preparation. Like the typical Yggdrasill battles, you'll have to fend off plenty of light-based magic, but perhaps the best thing to protect against are status ailments. Especially if you're not bringing Raine, the Krona Symbol and Yasakani Jewel accessories are helpful to equip, but it's best you bring along plenty of Miracle, or at least, Panacea Bottles; the latter you can buy at the vending machine in Welgaia, if need be.

The Solar Guard armor for Colette, Beam Shield for Kratos/Zelos, and typical Resist Ring and Stun Charms for light defense might be a good idea if you are below level 75, but not totally necessary. You can't take them over to your next game, so go ahead and equip any Reverse Dolls, too, for an auto-resurrection.

 

Lastly, if this is your first time playing, Colette and Raine are absolute musts for the final battles in order to complete the Monster List and obtain a special item. Colette can steal an item that you are extremely unlikely to find anywhere else in the game and you can carry it over to your next play. When you're fully prepared to complete the game, set your favorite party and take the warp out towards Mithos' throne.

 

A mumbling, lifeless Mithos is found aimlessly floating before Vinheim's throne. Suddenly, Mithos' Cruxis Crystal, still being held by Lloyd's "soulmate" departs and reunites with his flesh, bringing him back to a state of consciousness. Genis asserts that Martel has already died and there is no need for Mithos to continue with his plan. Unwavering, as long as he still holds Martel's Cruxis Crystal, Mithos believes he can still bring her back to life. Lloyd having denied him his dream of a world of lifeless beings, incapable of any form of discrimination, plans to create a utopia upon Derris-Kharlan with just his sister and the Great Seed, regardless of her wishes to stop his madness. There's no longer any choice but to take back the Great Seed by force.

The first form of Mithos is incredibly more difficult than his secondary one, so use any Elixirs, Energy Tablets, and Spirit Bottles you need now. Firstly, make sure Raine uses a Magic Lens, though. Mithos has Absolute in his arsenal, but otherwise, the battle will consist of a constant array of the light-based Holy Lance, Judgment, and Ray magics you have seen from him in numerous battles. Stand still for Judgment, Guardian Holy Lance, and quickly backstep away from Ray. He'll also continue his trick of teleporting around the screen, but this amounts to just a minor annoyance. Employ, like usual, your Unison Attack while he is charging a spell to knock him out of the casting.

 

The absolute worst thing about this battle is Mithos' use of an ability called Retribution. Mithos will emit a magic circle around him that stymies any character in range with a host of physical and magical status effects that cannot be blocked. If Raine isn't in your party, switch to defense and immediately start applying Miracle, Panacea, or Anti-Magic Bottles to everyone before resuming your offense. If you can overcome Retribution and Mithos' barrage of light magic, you'll move on to his final form. Make sure you take advantage of your chance to cook after the battle, too.

Mithos has become encased in some kind of "thing" similar to the mini-bosses in Welgaia. Once again, it's imperative Raine uses a Magic Lens quickly to begin. This battle is so simple it'll leave you scratching your head as to how difficult a lot of the previous bosses in the game where. He's almost completely stationary now; allowing everyone to combo him into oblivion, and his only defense from the pummeling are some paltry, area-based attacks that are hardly need for concern. Although he still uses Judgment, and can now cast Explosion, for whatever reason, he's also using mid-tier magic like Flame Lance and Spark Wave most of the time. The only difficulty here will be keeping him alive long enough to allow Colette to steal from him.

Note: This form of Mithos is strong against both light and dark-based attacks, but if you defeated the mini-bosses in Welgaia, he will have lost his resistances to other elements.

 

If you brought Colette along, like suggested, she can nab the extremely rare EX Gem Max from Mithos' final form. If needed, open the menu and give Colette the Tambourine, Lunar Guard, Bridal Gloves, and two Rabbit's Foot accessories to make this easier. With the huge increase in Luck, hopefully she can pilfer it before Mithos kicks the bucket!

You'll pick up a second EX Gem Max at the battle's conclusion. This ultra-rare Gem allows you to choose any EX Skill among the 1-4 tiers to equip. They're not that great, honestly, but are handy to have. In theory, you can get these from the bonus dungeon, too, but trust me when I say: a more efficient use of your time would be to play through the entire game again to pick up two more from the final boss than hoping to get one from the bonus dungeon. More on that in the last chapter.

 

Hopelessly defeated, Mithos remains unrepentant. He tells Lloyd to destroy his Cruxis Crystal before he is completely consumed by it. Frustrated by not being able to save him, Lloyd shatters the Cruxis Crystal; Mithos' soul along with it.

 

The Material Blade merges into the Eternal Sword before Lloyd and asks what its new masters wishes of it. Lloyd lifts the Sword toward the Great Seed and asks that the two worlds become one again. Lloyd's wish is granted and light sweeps throughout the worlds; returning them to their original, natural state.

 

However, Origin and the Summon Spirits inform the group that even though the worlds have been reunited, the Great Seed has died and there is no longer anything to sustain the world. Lloyd is determined to go after the Great Seed and Martel, despite the risks.

Lloyd sprouts angel wings and flies toward the still-rapidly fleeing Derris-Kharlan.

 

Colette joins him and the two call out to Martel and the Great Seed to please wake up.

Lloyd and Colette ask the Eternal Sword to give rise to the Giant Kharlan Tree from the Great Seed. Tabatha is seen looking up into the sky from below. Out of nowhere, the Great Seed falls to the Earth and completely engulfs Tabatha!

We see the visage of Martel embrace Tabatha; the so-called failed vessel by Mithos has become the perfect host body for the reincarnated Martel.

 

The majestic Giant Kharlan Tree erupts from the ground where Tabatha once stood; bringing the life of mana again to the world. Lloyd and Colette meet the new Goddess in front of the Tree. She tells them that it is just a sapling now, but will continue to grow if given love and admiration. Translation: Stop all the bickering and half-elf discrimination or no more mana! Lloyd promises to protect the reborn Tree and the credits roll right before he can christen it with a new name...Presumably, Yggdrasill.

Stick around after the credits for more scenes. Colette returns to her family in Iselia, Genis and Raine talk to Altessa about journeying out into the new world to work towards the benefit of half-elves, Sheena is back in Mizuho preparing to rejuvenate the ninja clan, Zelos (If was in your party) will have become an important part of the Tethe'alla King's monarchy, and Regal and Presea visit the grave of Alicia; Regal (STILL hasn't taken off the cuffs) declares that he has shut down all of his company's Exsphere mines.

Before the base of the ruined Tower of Salvation, Lloyd will bid his father, Kratos, goodbye. Kratos intends to leave with Derris-Kharlan to scatter the remaining Cruxis Exspheres deep into space. He refers to "us" which makes me assume that Yuan goes with him, too, as he's not seen or heard from in the ending, and seems reasonable.

The concluding scene shows Derris-Kharlan, Kratos and (assumably) Yuan with it, slowly drifting away from the newly-reborn planet. Lloyd is next to his mother's grave, saying goodbye to her and Dirk. He and his "soulmate", or simply by himself if you chose Kratos in Flanoir, set off with Noishe to remove the last of the Exspheres from the world.

Once all the final scenes have played, you're treated to the wonderful piece of art seen above. Of course, if you had Zelos instead of Kratos in the end, he'll replace Kratos in the picture. You'll then be asked if you would like to save your game. DO NOT save over your current file! This new save will allow you to access the game's Grade Shop and subsequent new game+ mode. You cannot use it to return to your save before the final battles. Once a save has been made, indicated by a green star on the save/load screen, anytime you begin a new game (Through the Grade Shop or not) the Mania battle difficulty will be available in the options as well as the skit viewer in Katz' Village. For a full explanation on the Grade Shop and proper preparations for a new game+, head back to Chapter 0. Otherwise, there's still plenty of the game left to explore, so reload your save file before the Mithos battle and let's get started on wrapping this up!