Last Bible III

Last Bible III is the third of four games in the Last Bible series. Unlike the first two games, this game was not released on a portable system.

Premise
The game takes place many years after Last Bible II. People are living in relative harmony with the beasts. In the intro, a war hero named Alek Messena reaches the gates of the underworld. Before he collapses, he says that he hopes that his old friend (Glen Larsford) will survive. The player begins the game as Glen's son Ciel. Ciel lives a rather peaceful life, playing with his friends and brother and going to school to learn how to make use of his potent gaia (a supernatural form of energy). Occassionally, people mention a devastating war, known as the Polisian War, that came to an end about fifteen years ago.

Ciel discovers that the formerly warring (and now united) Polisian States are working to spread their gaia prohibition law and end the threat of war once and for all. Some of Ciel's classmates live in the Polisian States, which make use of Phelesteau, a perpetual engine that provides free energy for everyone in the city, under one condition: that they never release their gaia within the city limits (or be thrown in prison). After his village is attacked by soldiers who came to kill his father, Ciel is forced to uncover the mystery of what happened between Glen and Alek's old team, the Phelesteau engine and the Polisian States.

Setting
Last Bible III takes place in a medieval, fantasy world instead of a modern Japanese one in most Megami Tensei games.

Synopsis
Two friends, Glen and Alek, are with their crew known as the Shadow Walkers discussing how they want to make a world that's for both humans and beasts. Fastforwarding 15 years, Glen and his wife Ilia now have two sons, Ciel and Rudy. They live in the town of Ragha, where legend says their ancestors came on an Ark a thousand years ago. There, Ciel studies using Gaia with friends Mochowa, who has a crush on him, and Alon (or Aaron), who likes to build machines that use Gaia, as well as a troublemaker classmate Jonathan. Ms. Carol and Principal Cyak (A monster) guide them through a training tower to hone their skills.

While waiting for a return letter from Alek, Glen brings up the idea of taking a family trip to the capitol Megalo Polis to visit Alek. Over the next few days of school, Rudy finds a Beast Egg and brings it home, keeping an eye on it. Then one day while exploring, Ciel and his friends find a cave that leads into Blantica ruins, which was said to have been destroyed 20,000 years ago. And inside they find a Deux that is inactive. Alon explains that Deux supposedly need the power of Force in order to move, though no one is sure what "Force" actually is.

Another day, one of the birds in the town sanctuary suddenly begins talking, having been possessed by someone named Harry. But then just days before Carol is set to leave for awhile and school go on break, Glen receives a letter from the senator Ben-Shoah stating that Alek had been killed during an attempt to arrest him. The letter, signed by Ben-Shoah, states his mind snapped and he killed his wife and child but Glen doesn't believe this. He tells Ciel how he fought with Alek along with Randy, Maia, and Lynn in the Shadow Walkers as an elite group during the Polisian War.

Going back to explore the ruins, Rudy sneaks in and ends up seeing the Deux, making a connection with it and suddenly emitting energy causing it to move and follow his orders, naming it Du. The town agrees to let the Deux stay in the sanctuary, but next they all learn the school is actually going to be closed, and all children from Megalo Polis be sent back there due to a new Gaia Prohibition Law. While they figure out what to do, the egg that Rudy had gotten hatches into a dragon (Defaulty named "Chibi-ryu" or "Teeny" in the translation) and immediately sees Deux, imprinting and following him around. The next day, the Polisian Army suddenly invades and tries to kill Glen.

They manage to get a ship to fight back and learn what is going on. Ben-Shoah ordered for Alek to be killed cause he was trying to destroy the Phelesteau, which powers the cities. They also learn the Shadow Walkers apparently have a "Mind Lock" though they're unsure of the specifics. Glen also recognizes the name Banipal, a man who steals Gaia that he thought he had killed. Finally they are able to find a guy named Shark who operates a crew known as the Red Owls, and has an airship he is willing to transport everyone on.

Glen and Ilia decide they need to go find the other Shadow Walkers, leaving  Alon's mother Meryl to keep an eye on Ciel and Rudy. However, Jonathan convinces Rudy to take a smaller flyer out of the hanger and go after his parents, and then convinces Ciel to go after him. However, Ciel immediately crashes nearby Heat Village. They accuse Ciel of being from Dulloch and killing their children. However, Carol is here and recognizes Ciel, defending him and agreeing to go confront Dolluch. Speaking to people there as well as finding Rudy, they learn that a man with a beard is responsible, but no one in Heat Village has a beard. As well, they keep referring to the temple of Romarnia, which the people of Heat call Toppara, meaning Crescent moon. There they learn that Ben-Shoah had ordered to kidnap them to feed to Banipal, the Soul Eater, who also had killed the Shadow Walker Randy. But to hide this, they intentionally tried to make the villages blame each other.

Exploring the cave where the children were taken, they find horrifying experiments and books explaining that Banipal has been using the power of the Necronomicon to rearrange his "Elementia" (The Elements that make up the world), and keep himself alive, but he needs sacrifices to do so. They try to leave but Banipal shows up. Knowing they can't fight him, Carol acts as a distraction and then blows up herself and the cave to try to kill Banipal, though this fails to kill him. Ciel and Rudy go back and both villages begin to evacuate. Ciel and Rudy's boat veers off and lands at a village being controlled by Mezuki and Gozuki who are there with Polisian soldiers, there to kill a man named Roy who broke the Gaia Prohibition Law. They then take Rudy captive and force Ciel to lure Roy in.

Ciel finds Roy, a werewolf leader who was being lured by one of the local elf women being kidnapped. They go to attack the encampment, and the elf woman and Rudy are both saved. However, the Polisians use a machine that changes the moon to a new moon, the werewolves reverting and both them and the soldiers being killed, with Gozuki and Mezuki escaping. Moving on to the next town of Ekimmu, Ciel finds more people from his village, but no one there will believe they were attacked by Polisian Soldiers. So instead, they decide they're going to hire an infamous mercenary named Yeager who is known as the "Grim Reaper" and have him take out Banipal. Ciel also finds Jonathan along with Shark's crew here and try to help contact Yeager. However, he state's he'll only do the job if he's given a "Memorite" stone, though he recognizes the Deux and can command it.

Learning of a group known as the Barbaroi that have been kidnapping people, Ciel convinces Shark to take him to their hideout, where Jonathan also swims to as one of his monsters had been kidnapped. Saving all the people that were kidnapped, they decide to head to Gotland next where Mochawa is. Mochawa pretends not to recognize Ciel, but finally gives in and stops pretending, wanting to punish him for having left like that. In the town they find Gozuki and Mezuki, who turned out to just be mercenaries, and may have a lead on the Shadow Walkers. However, Mezuki is interested in a local girl named Meena, who she is already engaged.

Choosing for now to explore Thracia, they find Alon and his little sister Rena, who is training to fuse monsters, as well as Harry. Jonathan shows up as well but is angered at the news of Carol's death and runs off. Alon reveals he plans to confront Ben Shoah directly, threatening to blow up the Phelesteau tower if he doesn't cooperate. However, when this explosion happens, Ben Shoah escapes and says the explosion was from the Barbaroi and everyone except for him was killed in the explosion. However, at the bottom of the tower they find that everyone was trapped there with a monster preventing them from leaving.

Heading back to try Gozuki and Mezuki again, Meena attempts to protect her fiance but in the process reveals she is actually a Nekomata, making him run away. Mezuki gives up and the duo explain that their adoptive mother, Lynn Adest, is a Shadow Walker, and the group is able to get a ship to head to Megalo Polis. Along the way they stop by the village of Susa, where a trio claims to have lived before the war, but no one there recognizes them. However, they convince Ciel, who tries to convince the village. When this fails, the men decide to leave, and Ciel and Rudy continue to Megalo Polis.

Reuniting with their parents they learn that Principal Cyak was arrested after going directly to Ben Shoah to complain. Then finding Alek's house, they find it completely destroyed, and run into a guy names Goffey who used to help Alek rescue slave children back before the Shadow Walkers formed. He also reveals the reason that no one from Susa recognized those people because the people of Susa were kidnapped and replaced with copies, and that the energy the Phelesteau uses is Gaia.

Learning about a tournament in which the winner gets a wish granted by Ben-Shoah, Glen, Ilia, and Ciel form a trio to take this on. Once they win, they wish for Cyak and Alon, who had also been captured, to be freed. Ben Shoah agrees, and tells Glen he's free to try to kill him now, though Glen isn't stupid enough to try here. With Goffey and Cyak's help, Alon is able to make a machine to remove Glen's Mind Lock.

He suddenly remembers that 15 years ago him and the other Shadow Walkers were watching the Bao Meteor shower, which has a legend that the shooting stars are Gaia masters descending to the world. But while there they saw a huge machine and witnessed that Ben-Shoah had found Lapis, the resource that was the reason for the Polisian war, which he could use to steal Gaia and end the war. They then were taken and had a Mind Lock placed on them to forget this, but Alek's Mind Lock had worn off which is why he was killed.

Next trying to find Jonathan, Alon creates a Gaia machine to help them breathe underwater as they go down into an underwater structure. Inside they find Jonathan confronting Banipal who killed one of his monsters. However, Banipal had also captured the bird Harry was inhabiting, and a machine was preventing him from soul leaping. He reveals he is actually the Gaia of a tree that was planted and visiting by a boy named Harry. But after the boy succumbed to illness, it felt lonely and became able to channel its Gaia to inhabit other creatures. But now all of that Gaia is stolen and he dies. Ciel and the others defeat Banipal in a rage, but his body reconstructs, though he says the pain is worse than death, only doing so to work towards a perfect body.

Next heading to Magoku Kingdom where Shark had went, they learn more about Lynn. She had brought several kids from the Polisian empire to Magoku as a safe haven, as it is a place that welcome humans and beasts. She even goes so far as to threaten to spill her own blood and make the king, Gryas, be remembered as being bloody. The King agrees, but Banipal threatened war if they were not returned for apparent experiments. Lynn had to go into hiding and the king died shortly after, leaving them with no king. They convince Shark to lend his airship and Meryl managed to find some Memorite.

Giving it to Yeager, it is revealed Memorite contains visual memory of things that happened 20,000 years ago, where he and Ben-Shoah are originally from. But the corrupted Gaia tore a rift in time, bringing them here. He also mentions that the Necronomicon is from his time, and Banipal doesn't have the complete one, which Ben-Shoah promised once all the Shadow Walkers are killed. This means that he can be sealed into a crystal using a Ziggurat as a conduit. Reuniting with their parents, Ciel and the others successfully seal and kill Banipal, with Rudy stating he hopes Banipal will be reborn as a better person.

Upon returning to Megoku, the Polisian Empire declares war, blaming them for the Barbaroi terrorizing people and using Gaia for selfish means. As the country tries to decide what to do, it is suddenly revealed that an old staff Rudy found and gifted to Rena is actually El's Rod, and as a result Rena is the reincarnation of Gryas. Despite being so young, Rena accepts this role and begins preparing for war. During this preparation, Ciel and Rudy go to locate the Sand Roamer that had been used to carry people to the Phelesteau. However, they're kidnapped and taken to "Gomorrah." There, Ciel lives in the dream world of "Sodom" and put in a cycle of fighting Hades. But suddenly Harry manages to communicate in the dream and help Ciel wake up. Upon waking up Ciel releases the others as they realize fighting Hades in the dream was a part of draining their Gaia.

After escaping it's revealed they had been in that dream for months, and a new superweapon orbiting Terra was used to fight Magoku and killed Lynn, as well as Ciel's parents, in the process. Magoku, having managed to find the Ark and repower it, are able to destroy the superweapon, though the Ark is severely damaged in the process. However, they learn that there are more Gomorrahs and as long as Phelesteau is active, they can easily rebuild the superweapon. While investigating, Deux is also destroyed while trying to save Teeny during a recon mission in a Polisian building. As a result, the dragon awakens as the Terra Dragon, destined to be alongside Gryas. Finding another Memorite, Yeager despairs as he sees visions of Blantica having been destroyed, fearing everyone he knew was killed.

Finally attacking the Phelesteau, Ben-Shoah is confronted. He defends his actions as being good for the many at the expense of the few, believing his way could put an end to hostility and prevent corrupting the Gaia again. He is finally killed and the Phelesteau is destroyed. However, upon returning to Magoku, Ciel is suddenly stabbed and killed by rioters looking to take advantage of the chaos from the war.

Now in the underworld, Ciel meets his parents and Lynn who explain that Alek had went to the gate of the underworld and contacted Black Gaia, seeking to get revenge on the Polisian Empire. However, in the process it gained control of his soul and left him as a vengeful spirit, gathering members from the Underworld to invade the living world, having even recruited other Shadow Walkers. Finding Baal, Belial, and Lucifer here, having been punished to rule here after their defeat against El. Lucifer also recognizes Ciel as the reincarnation of El. However, it is revealed that now Rudy is the one that carries the power of Force, and is able to use it to ressurect Ciel and his parents.

Alek had decimated the living population, but the returned Ciel leads the charge against Alek. Glen tries to reason with him, stating that if they destroy Lapis, there will be no more reason for there to be a war over it. However, Alek states that humans will find another reason to fight, and refuses to give up, turning into the demon Gilgurk in an attempt defeat them. After being killed, Alek is simply relieved that his fight is over, and he disappears. Residents of the Underworld state that when a resident of the underworld is killed, they rest until they are reborn 100 years later.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that Shark managed to make a ship to go to the moon, even without Lapis. Jonathan now works teaching kids Gaia, and the beast fusion sages seek to spread their art to other worlds. Alon finds data from the Ark and wants to use it to develop a warp drive. Finally, Meryl hands a diary she found to Yeager that is written in the Blantican language.

The diary reveals that the people of Blantica did not die, but managed to escape Terra and spread to other worlds. It ends stating that they plan to return to Terra, even if it is thousands or tens of thousands of years into the future. A final scene then shows a colony growing on the Moon.

Playable characters

 * Ciel - Protagonist
 * Mochowa
 * Alon
 * Rudy
 * Jonathan
 * Du
 * Teeny
 * Ms.Carol
 * Harry
 * Glen Larsford
 * Ilia Larsford
 * Ramon Yeagar
 * Baal
 * Belial
 * Lucifer

Non-playable characters

 * Principal Cyak
 * Shark
 * Meryl
 * Gozuki
 * Mezuki
 * Rena
 * Ben-Shoah: Major Antagonist
 * Alek Messena: Final Boss
 * Banipal: Major Antagonist

Gameplay
Last Bible III features basic RPG elements (leveling up, items, turn-based battles). Like in the previous Last Bible games, the protagonist can recruit monsters. However, this game takes it a step further and allows the protagonist to customize monsters. Monsters can be equipped with items and level up just like human characters. A new feature during battle is a gauge that shows how close a monster is to being recruited. Recruitment of monsters requires correct answers of a few questions.

Trivia

 * It is possible that the people of Blantica, as well as the beast fusion masters, spreading throughout the cosmos is why there are humans on other planets such as in Another Bible and the New Testament games.
 * The people of Blantica are capable of using Force, meaning that the people of Ragha are descended from Blanticans that returned 19,000 years later.