Just an Update:
Hey everyone… no, this is not a new chapter, nor had the story officially started… but I bring some sad news. No, this story is not discontinued or anything, but Date A Live mobile game Spirit Pledge has been. As of yesterday (March 21), the game has been delisted and cannot be downloaded anymore. The game itself is only gonna be active for 2 months before it leaves forever.
There was never a warning given. The deves just sent a in-game message basically saying: "games closing soon. But we'll refund you everything." That's nice and all, but so many people were hurt by this shocking news… though I guess since Date A Live is pretty much over canonically, the books are done and what not, PLUS this game gave an in-game message confirming season 5 is confirmed and in production, there's no need for a mobile tie in anymore… such as gaming culture now. Once servers shut down, you can never physically revisit those memories ever again.
The devs kind of have themselves to blame, delisting its first version and remake the whole thing. This new version did have some improvements, but it was ultimately inferior product (could rant about it but I'm gonna obstain). Combined with the franchise's age and them not taking modern gaming culture into consideration, I suppose this was inevitable.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, most of the lore expansion I've given this story such as the battlelogs are from that very game. With it now disappearing thanos-style… i guess I needed to vent. I've said this plenty of times before, but I'm a recent DAL fan, coming fresh in season 4, and this game holds a special place because of that. From what I understand, the game goes as far back as being from season 2, so you can probably imagine all the history behind that.
I suppose I'll spill some of this extra lore here, as now it's pretty much impossible for any of you to access where it originally came from:
Battlelogs: Like in the Spirit Pledge game, these items boost the power of Spirits. The more one Spirit uses, the higher they will Transend. The equivalent of leveling up in RPG style games, but it takes more than one battlelog to further Transcend after the first initial power boost.
Transending: As mentioned above, this is like leveling up a Spirit. A Spirit can Transcend up to 7 times before reaching maximum potential, each Transcend more powerful than the last. Transcending also unlocks bonus abilities or upgrades existing ones. One battlelog can easily Transcend a Spirit once, but after that it varies from Spirit-to-Spirit how many one needs to Transcend again.
Light Wing: Is a DEM battle mech that runs on Spirit Power, on par with an Inverse. This robot guards Spirit Mimics in this story, based on how you must fight this boss monster before fighting any of those Spirit Mimic Bosses in the Spirit Pledge game.
Spirits Mimics: Are man-made Spirits created by DEM Industries. They have the exact same powers as the main canon Spirits, and can also trigger a special Battle Mode which functions very similar to an Inverse but is activated at will as opposed to negative emotions. These Mimics also inhabit a section of the Neighboring World where their surroundings reflect their powers.
•Eye of the Storm - Home to Spirit Mimic, Beelphegor. Her power is control over wind like the Yamai Twins with the bonus power of summoning animal-like mimics such as bears, wolves, etc. She even wields a bow and arrow like the Yamai's do. Her world consists of a dark dimension with cubes that have various animal heads (mostly cats).
Beelphegor is very Catgirl-like in appearance, with green hair and violet armor that also has cat ears on top of her head along with a purple cat tail.
•Flaming Grounds - Home to the Spirit Mimic, Asmodaios. Her power is fire like Kotori with the bonus power of calling upon star constellations for various different effects. She wields a sword similar to Sandalphon but red and yellow in color like her Astral Dress, and she can even clone herself like Kurumi (but only one clone at a time). Her world oddly doesn't consist of fire in any capacity, but it does feature a dark lake behind her.
Asmodasios is angel-like like Mayuri, but her wings are more machine-like and split into four each. While she has long hair like most of the Spirits, she keeps her's in a braided ponytail like Yuzuru.
•Thunder Realm - Home to the Spirit Mimic, Adramelech. She controls electricity like Mayuri and has claws like Tohka's fused form but instead wields a spear as her weapon of choice. She can also summon totem that fire energy beams and even ride a gear-shaped object. Her world is an ancient temple with symbols of an otherworldly language.
Adramelech is based off if an Indian woman, complete with the same skin tone and silver hair like Miku but yellow eyes. Her base form reveals the most skin of any Astral Dress that not Inverted; her thighs, stomach, and upper body nearly all exposed and leave nothing to the imagination.
•Frozen Glaciers - Home to the Spirit Mimic, Asthraroth. Her power is ice like Yoshino, though she rides a horse instead of a rabbit. For weapons, she wields dual white curled-blade swords, and can also clone herself like Kurumi but unlike Kurumi, this includes her main battling weapon. Her world consists of a snowed over temple.
Asthraoth has the looks of an Egyptian girl, with white hair and snow white skin perfectly reflecting of her powers. Her Astral Dress is white revealing body armor that exposes her breasts and stomach, and she also rides a golden horse.
•Dark Abyss - Home of the Spirit Mimic, Satanas. Her power is derived from shadows like Kurumi but thankfully cannot clone herself. She wields dual grey scythes and chains like Yuzuru. Her world consists of nothing but a dark plane of existence.
Satanas is very demon or succubus-like, but has no wings. She has a black and red Astral Dress similar to Kurumi, but not as revealing ironically enough. She had long grey hair and red eyes.
•Magic Vortex - Home to the Spirit Mimic, Beelzebub. Her power is also shadows but does have some similarities to Miku's song waves (though instead of singing she waves her hands) and even parts of her Astral Dress function similar to Origami's Metatron. Her world consists of a gloomy lake.
Beelzebub looks nearly identical to Satanas but her Astral Dress is on the elegant side that looks like one a queen would wear. She also has a crown on her head.
•Seal of Light - Home to the Spirit Mimic, Baal. Her power is also electricity like Mayuri and wields a large hammer similar to Kotori's Camael. Her world surprisingly looks like a human world park, complete with a fountain in the middle.
Baal wears golden armor with wings in the shape of a halo behind her.
•Virtual World - Home to the Spirit Mimic, Rophocale. Her power is pure Reinyoku but she can also trigger earthquakes like Tohka, but also spawn small purple balls that have a gravitational force. She wields gauntlets as weapons. Her world consists of an outer space-like plane, though their is oxygen to breathe here.
Rophocale is pretty basic in design, having short hair like Origami with an Astral Dress looking like a AST combat unit.
That's pretty much most of everything that was going to be expanded upon in my corner of the Date A Live universe. Hopefully I did a decent job of describing everything and if not, I got screenshots. However your gonna have to at me on Discord to see them. With this info in mind, now you can guess what Light Wing and that unnamed Spirit during the Mayuri movie was about.
I'm a little depressed right now, but I'll get over it since I never spent a cent on this game and just played for free. I can only imagine how long time DAL fans must feel, but at least we got Season 5 which will most likely be our final Date with our Waifus before their gone. It just goes to show, everything goes away sooner later. I had fun with the game in my short time playing it, and like many modern games that are on servers rather than physical disks, it's soon gonna be erased forever.
Ironically, Rinne Dystopia is on sale on steam, literally at the same time this was announced… coincidence, I think not. That game might also be on its way out. In Rinne's case, its been archived on YouTube pretty well for the most part, but if you haven't checked it out, this is my warning to you: you don't have much time. In my experience, watching a gameplay video on YouTube is not nearly as the same as experiencing it for yourself.
To end this off, here are some of the bonus powers the canon Spirits were going to unlock. Mukuro is not included in this list as she was the last Spirit in the game via an event, and sadly had not received any new abilities during her run:
•Tohka - Moon Breaker
Unlocks at Transcend Level 3. Tohka performs an uppercut that can send her target into the air. Each additional Transcend adds a sword slash to this attack, the final upgrade allowing her to slam her sword on her target where they both hurtle to the ground for a devastating and ground-breaking final blow.
•Kurumi - Shooting Gallery
Unlocked at Transcend Level 3. Kurumi warps toward a target and she shoots that target (or targets if any are in close proximity) 5 times from 5 different angles. Each additional Transcend adds one more strike to this attack (for a total of 8), with the final upgrade summoning a transparent Zafkiel that then shatters to damage enemies further and in a slightly larger radius.
•Yoshino - Ice Thorns
Unlocked at Transcend Level 3. Yoshino summons rising icicles from the ground. Each additional Transcend extends the range and potency of this attack, and the icicles get larger as they travel.
•Kaguya - Destructive Tornado
Unlocks at Transcend Level 3. Kaguya can generate a gust of wind before her and launch it at her foes. At Transcend Level 5, this attack adds a 4 smaller projectile tornados that launch before the main attack that minor damage and also stun targets before they can block or flee.
•Yuzuru - Chain Reaction
Unlocks at Transcend Level 3. Yuzuru learns how to send her El'Nahash into the ground, where the chains will erupt to strike enemies. At Transcend Level 5, more chains will come from above. By the final upgrade, an explosion of wind erupts when the chains are forcefully recalled.
•Miku - Concerto
Unlocks at Transcend Level 3. Miku dances and spins forward, musical notes of Spirit energy damaging what she comes int contact with. At Transcend Level 4, the energy lingers and swirls around her. The final upgrade at Transcend Level 6 summons balls of musical power to fall on opponents caught in the vortex.
•Origami - Halo
Unlocks at Transcend Level 4, allowing Origami's crown on her Astral Dress to shine with light and entrap a small group of enemies and she can optionally damage them. Each additional upgrade strengthens the hold this ability has. As a bonus at Transcend 4, Origami can also heal like Miku can with her Requiem, but not as effective.
•Nia - Information Dump (Actual name in game is called "Poised and Ready")
Unlocks at Transcend Level 2, where Nia can boost herself or an ally based on how much Spirit Power uses to power this move. Further upgrades increase the capacity of energy she can give and receive.
•Natsumi - Celestial Prison
Unlocks at Transcend Level 2, trapping a group of enemies in a star-shaped prison. By Transcend Level 4, the prison can then explode (optional) and a magical gravity pulls more enemies into range. At Transcend Level 6, a magic mirror is conjured up nearby to pull targets into. These mirror will explode afterwards to damage their targets further.
•Kotori - Fire Arbiter
Unlocks at Transcend Level 3. Kotori stomps the ground, then generates a large fire tornado around herself before slamming the ground with her Angel to attack with a wave-like eruption of fire. Each additional Transcend increases the time this attack can be charged up.
I'm not when I'll return to this story, but I'll still be updating other fics. Sonic DxD needs an update, like, soon. I just rebooted my long dead yet somewhat cringe True Evil series now called Bakugan: Genesis Rampage. Been thinking about going back to Ben10 and a Vampire, and even the Shapeshifter of Kuoh remake from Omnsaurus… I don't know bro, I kinda ran out of things to say and just typing away.
I'll guess I'll see you guys some other time. Date A Live is nearing the end of its run and all we have is our memories to cherish of our time with the girls. While I can't say I'm its number one fan, it was definitely a fun ride while it lasted. Stay safe and health, everyone; and I'll see ya when I see ya again. 👍