Bionis' 肩 (beta)

The future doesn't belong to you!
For those who have not completed games in the 异度神剑 series, this page contains spoilers regarding the plot. Discretion is advised.

The Bionis' 肩 (Japanese: 巨神左肩, Kyoshin hidarikata lit. Giant God's Left 肩) is an area in 异度神剑. It is located on the left 肩 of the Bionis, and cannot be visited in normal gameplay. This area is quite large and contains many details which would never have been visible in the cutscene. Its internal ID number places it between the Frontier Village and the Eryth Sea, suggesting that it was originally intended to connect those two areas. However, Tetsuya Takahashi has revealed in interviews that the 肩 was built as a "test map for checking 'various movements and the feel of jumping and falling'" and was not developed with intent for use in the final game.^[1]

For the Future Connected story, Monolith Soft touched up the map and created a Bionis' 肩 properly explorable in the context of being set after the Bionis' fall, along with a transporter linking the map to a ruined Alcamoth.

Appearances

It appears only in two cutscenes:

During the events at Mechonis' Core, when Egil remembers talking with Arglas, and later, when Arglas found the Monado, allowing Zanza to take him over.
Near the end of the game, in which 特雷西亚 fly towards the Bionis' 肩, while Alvis tells Shulk of the origin of Zanza's cycle of extinction and rebirth,

It also appears in a painting in Dunban's House.

Details

There are upper, central, and lower levels.
There are three shallow cave areas.
Behind the giant stone spire at the end of the path south of the lake (Navvir Crossroads in Future Connected), there's the cliff where Arglas and Egil talked, and where the Giant first found the Monado. The area is known as the Companions' Forum in Future Connected.
The cave tunnels twist and branch, and are lined with glowing crystal deposits which are simpler than the ones seen in the final game.
There are a series of small, windowed, clay looking huts scattered in specific locations that look unlike any structures that appear in the final game. Future Connected reworked them into ancient Giant ruins and the current homes of stranded refugees.
There is a very large town at the easternmost part of the region. It contains many of the aforementioned houses, some large multistory versions, and an area similar to a shop. Aspects of the town are very reminiscent of Colony 6 and Colony 9, but of more primitive construction. The town is known as Gran Dell in Future Connected.
There are non-functional 秘宝 Chests in various colors, placed at the ends of paths which require some effort to find or reach. This suggests that there had been plans to have many such chests scattered throughout the entire game, as is done in some 其它 RPGs. They are much simpler in design than the silver and gold chests dropped by 敌人 and the ornate chests found in places like Prison Island.

Notes

Although the Bionis' 肩 is not visited during normal gameplay, its appearance in cutscenes required the 3D model of the area to be stored on the game disc. The game uses this model to render the cutscene in real time as it does 其它 cutscenes, rather than using pre-rendered cutscenes which would have taken more disc space. Because it is stored on the game disc in the same format as 其它 areas like Makna Forest, it is possible to use a hack or cheat code to visit and explore the Bionis' 肩.