I believe my first thoughts upon getting in were 'shit SHIT why did I app a CATALYST?'
First! I've already screwed up playing Albert...twice in the first week? The first, when he lost his cool at Caesar. Granted, he'd turned into a dog, but... The second, in how he addressed Luc, because the 'Lord' was not supposed to be in there from the beginning oh these strange alliances aaargh. Albert wouldn't even be using his real last name at ALL if there weren't already people from his world in camp who knew what he was.
I've mentioned several times before that Albert-from-the-manga is very different from Albert-in-the-game, in his relationships with the major characters and the why of the things he does.
Basically, you think manga!Albert is horrible? He has his softer moments. Game!Albert doesn't get 'em.
Game!Albert's conflict with Caesar is so much more inflammatory and tense. They...basically insult each other across the battlefield, whereas in the manga they don't actually speak except through an envoy. Manga!Albert actually takes Caesar's insults in fairly good grace, his response to them being "Thanks for the jokes. Good luck with the battle. You'll need it."
In-game, it's "Still being sweet to weaklings, I see."
Their last interactions are pretty damn bittersweet, but in two completely different ways. In the game, the Fire Bringer win the war because Albert betrays Luc. Caesar apparently swallows his pride and asks him to help them further (sort of), but Albert refuses to do so, and leaves. I'm going to steal material from saladdoze's essays until I've finished my replay, 'k?
REPLAY-RELATED EDIT (paraphrased):
CAESAR: We're not even sure which ruins he could conduct the ceremony at...
NASH: Why don't you ask me?
[...]
CAESAR: But how would you have this information? We can't waste time on unreliable sources.
NASH: Even with Bishop Sasarai's endorsement?
CAESAR: Endorsement isn't a guarantee of accuracy.
NASH: Well, what if I said it came from a man you knew very well?
CAESAR: A man I... ... ...damn! All right.
AND LATER--
CAESAR: This is peculiar. Why aren’t there any traps or guards?
ALBERT: You can thank me for that.
CAESAR: Albert!!!
[CAESAR runs towards him, but is stopped by HUGO.]
ALBERT: Calm down, Caesar. A good strategist needs a cool head. Now, hurry. Even if you retrieve the True Runes, the power of the ones already collected at this site is strong enough to carry out the ritual.
HUGO: Huh? I thought you were an enemy.
ALBERT: This whole thing is getting too melodramatic for my taste, so I’m thinking of retiring from the stage.
HUGO: Weren’t you going to collect all five Elemental Runes and destroy the True Rune?
ALBERT: That was his intention, not mine. I’ve reached my objective. I will get a position of status in Holy Harmonia now.
CAESAR: You did all this for that?
ALBERT: Yes. I intended to lend a hand when he was a bishop, but he relinquished the title of his own free will. It was a minor setback, but I still had time. While you were recruiting unsophisticated knights and barbarians, I gained strong backing from Holy Harmonia. That serves my purpose for now.
CAESAR: Damn!!!
[ALBERT summons a Nariqua to teleport out of the chamber.]
ALBERT: Well then, I shall make my exit. When the four Runes are released, the forcefield shall be destroyed. From then on, it’s all up to you.
CAESAR: You shouldn’t leave everything to chance! If you are trying to impress the Harmonians, leaving the Runes to be destroyed is still a bad idea, because we can’t guarantee you our victory.
ALBERT: I know I, as a military strategist deceiving my master, have lost any pretense of trustworthiness that I might ever have had. Even so, I can’t kill him. I feel a strange sort of sympathy towards him and his crazy mission. Do me a favor-try to salvage his soul, if you can.
[Exit.]
In the manga, the war is...a secondary thing, and in a completely horrible twisted way, it combines the philosophies of both Silverberg brothers, the point their whole conflict disagrees on--saving life at the risk of drawn-out conflict (Caesar) vs. wasting life and quickly ending conflict (Albert.) Because in the manga, Albert follows Luc's orders and sparks the war in order to save the Grasslanders. Caesar calls him on it, and Albert's only real response is that it was his duty. And, well, they just speak a lot more as brothers would, instead of the pure 'zomg rival!!1! i hate u' and Albert...at least tells Caesar where he's going, and something of his reasoning.
Caesar tells him not to die, and that he'll settle it with him, and Albert is actually okay with that. Big difference, although it might be more that Albert enjoys the potential challenge (Caesar can probably, after all, match him, if given time and experience) than he does getting chased down by his little brother. Basically, all I could infer from the game was kind of poisonous. The manga manages to give the brothers some closure with each other.
Because Albert loves Caesar, but he's not willing to back down from the reason that causes Caesar to hate him, but he has his disappointments with Caesar, but he hates Caesar too, but he doesn't--it's really fricking complicated.
It happens with Luc, too. Manga!Albert willingly joins Luc's cause in order to bring about Luc's primary goal, which is the prevention of the World of Order. This...is not to say he agrees with the rest of Luc's goals, because I'm pretty sure he was disturbed by Luc's vendetta against Hikusaak and Harmonia. And Albert...well, he saw Luc's death as necessary, but otherwise I doubt he would have condoned it. He likes Luc, as much as he can make himself like anyone. Enough to allay Luc's concerns about immediate loss of life (...by killing lots of people, yes, I know, Albert is also a ruthless bastard), enough to give up position and power for something that in the end didn't work.
Not to say that any of this was altruistic, only that the goal was big and important enough that it was worth so much manipulation.
In-game? Albert renders all of that irrelevant, because he betrays Harmonia to help Luc, and then defects from Luc's side at the very end. And he apparently does it to gain power in Harmonia, playing both sides for his own personal gain. Thus the difference--manga!Albert was very much capable of orchestrating the same things game!Albert did, but he had a different goal in mind.
Conclusion: Albert is a dick no matter how you look at it, but a bit less so the way I play him. Because Aki Shimizu rocks like that.
-
To follow up - Albert and camp.
- Albert does not expect to stay, except where he's found out he'll probably will, and thus will attempt to work out a way of breaking the barrier. Obviously he won't find one.
- Albert is used to giving people directions (except the generals), not working with them personally. He doesn't like losing control, and he doesn't like being made into a jungle gym, but he will accept it within reason. Meaning that if you get violent about it, he'll do something.
- He will do his job. Or try to. Watch hilarity ensue.
- His default setting is Does Not Like You. The other default setting is How Can You Be Used. Albert doesn't do or say anything without a reason. He's a little bit lighter than he is in canon firstly because he's not acting as the military strategist here, and also as a counter to what the rest of the Suikoden cast have told campers about him already. He doesn't have much of a secrecy bid to screen himself anymore.
- Albert's priority, with Luc still alive, is still the prevention of the World of Order.