The Last To Post Wins!

[DragonFlames]

12 hours ago, Armagon said:

As far as regular battle themes in general go, i said Get over the Barrier from Trails to Zero is my favorite Trails regular battle theme but it's also just my favorite battle theme in general. It's tied with Torna's battle theme.

And for my favorite area theme in any game is still Mor Ardain. What's ironic is that the area itself isn't even in my top three Xenoblade areas but it's theme is just too good.

 

9 hours ago, Zemuria said:

Anyways favorite themes:

Regular battle

Boss battle

Map

Dungeon

Final dungeon

Final boss

I've never played most of the games listed here (except Cold Steel 2), but boy is that music ever glorious.

Edited November 24, 2019 by DragonFlames

[Armagon]

9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Gotta agree, the jazzy elegance is brilliant here. Definitely the best standard battle theme of Xeno. Followed by Mechanical Rhythm, Xenogear's Stage of Death, Time to Fight, XB2's Battle!!, and lastly Black Tar even if for once the lyrics aren't broken English or German.

>Putting Time to FIght above XB2 Battle!!

 

Jokes aside though, i'm actually not a huge fan of Time to Fight. It's a bit too standard-y for Xenoblade standards imo. It's not a bad song by any means but i feel that all the other regular Xenoblade battle themes (except for maybe Battle in the Skies Above) are leagues better.

If i were to rank all the Xeno regular battle themes, from best to worst

1. Battle (Torna)
2. Mechnaical Rhythm (Xenoblade 1)
3. Battle (Xenoblade 2)
4. Still, Move Forward (Xenoblade 2)
5. Black Tar (Xenoblade X) (I'm grouping both versions of the song together)
6. Exploration (Xenoblade 2)
7. Stage of Death (Xenogears)
   • (Below this point are the battle themes i'm not really a fan of)
8. Time to Fight (Xenoblade 1)
9. Battle in the Skies Above (Xenoblade 2)
10. Fallout (Xenosaga III)
11. Battle (Xenosaga II)
12. Battle (Xenosaga I)

Yeah, the Xenosaga trilogy kinda dropped the ball when it came to it's regular battle theme. Episode I in particular. If you ever get around to it, i really hope you like the battle theme because it's the only one in the game apart from the final boss theme. The trilogy's boss themes made up for it. Allow me to demonstrate:

• Godsibb. This is the best Xenosaga battle theme in my opinion (actually the best song in the trilogy period). This song alone makes up for the trilogy's lackluster regular battle themes but thankfully, there's more.
• The Battle of your Soul
• Testament
• Fatal Fight
• Promised Pain

Hey wait, these are all from Episode III.

9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Gotta agree, the jazzy elegance is brilliant here. Definitely the best standard battle theme of Xeno. Followed by Mechanical Rhythm, Xenogear's Stage of Death, Time to Fight, XB2's Battle!!, and lastly Black Tar even if for once the lyrics aren't broken English or German.

This is really nice. Not really sure what you meant by "BKO landscape" but i liked it. 

 

10 hours ago, Zemuria said:

Map

Ah, Land of Blue Skies. Good song. I have a love-hate relationship with the Nord Highlands though. I like the aesthetic and it's role in the story. I hate how damn empty the area is.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Armagon

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Yes, Nord Highlands is dull, but this theme suits perfectly to the silent and beautiful landscape. 

 

@DragonFlames

Trails in the Sky trilogy is really good, I recommend them. 

 

Edit: I will stay with this name for a longer time because this represents the continent where one of the best JRPG series takes place. 

 

 

EditII: I know this is not a regular battle theme, but this one is my absolute favorite in Xenoblade 2.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Zemuria

[Acacia Sgt]

Man, so I was reading up the US Politics thread and... damn, those certain posts... the irony, the cynicism, the hypocrisy...!

Had part a mind to respond... but I just don't feel like wanting to get involved in that conversation.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Acacia Sgt

[Armagon]

24 minutes ago, Zemuria said:

EditII: I know this is not a regular battle theme, but this one is my absolute favorite in Xenoblade 2.

It's really good song.

Also, I really hope they keep that naming trend for the Unique Monster themes in the numbered Xenoblade games.

• Xenoblade 1: You Will Know Our Names
• Xenoblade 2: You Will Recall Our Names
• Xenoblade 3: You Will Identify Our Names
• Xenoblade 15: You Will Become Aware of the Words We Call Ourselves
• Xenoblade 30: You Will Occasionally Feel a Vague Sense of Familiarity when you hear Our Names Being Spoken
• Xenoblade 99: You will, with proper knowledge of human language and communication behaviours, understand the concept of our words that may or may not refer to how we, as intelligent beings capable of socializing, call ourselves for the purpose of indentify our own personality in said society

6 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Man, so I was reading up the US Politics thread and... damn, those certain posts... the irony, the cynicism, the hypocrisy...!

Had part a mind to respond... but I just don't feel like wanting to get involved in that conversation.

Your first mistake was going into the US Politics thread.

[Acacia Sgt]

Just now, Armagon said:

Your first mistake was going into the US Politics thread.

Well, usually it doesn't really bother me; and I go there to do learn what's up and stuff.

It was just that one guy's posts that were so... off putting. Too much. Ugh...

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

So it is not a coincidence after all that the optional boss battle themes from Xenoblade I and II have a similar name. I suspect it without certainty. 

 

I almost forgot that Serious Discussions still exists.

[Interdimensional Observer]

4 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Jokes aside though, i'm actually not a huge fan of Time to Fight. It's a bit too standard-y for Xenoblade standards imo. It's not a bad song by any means but i feel that all the other regular Xenoblade battle themes (except for maybe Battle in the Skies Above) are leagues better.

I getcha. That it was composed by Yoko Shimomura and not ACE+ is very noticeable. Before or around the same time as XC1, I was playing a game with this battle theme of hers.

Although Time to Fight is the "first" Xenoblade composition, sounding in its very first trailer.:

The world and warfare was ready, its name and Fiora's hair were not.

I think Shimomura was the only composer announced originally too, the others were mentioned later. To be fair, Shimomura had a reputation at this point, I don't think ACE+ (and Manami Kiyota not to forget her) did, Xenoblade made theirs'.

 

56 minutes ago, Armagon said:

•  
• Battle in the Skies Above (Xenoblade 2)

Listening to this again, I forgot it it existed. It reminds me of the one Xenosaga track I've ever heard (and loosely intend to keep that way barring what else gets into crossovers for first impression context to endure until the time comes).

 

8 minutes ago, Armagon said:

This is really nice. Not really sure what you meant by "BKO landscape" but i liked it. 

"Landscape" was just my way of justifying how boring and empty of action the entire fanfic I extracted that from was.

I took the Heroes of the Aegis War partway through their journey, and threw them through an ordinary ether miasma that when dispelled became a momentary dimensional crack, just to have some method of how they got to where they did.

They spend three days stuck in the utter boondocks of a foreign sky. Which they deduce is another dimension b/c Siren and Ophion can't be contacted, all the Blades have a nonfatal low-ether fatigue issue b/c it doesn't seem to exist here (not affecting the humans, Minoth the least of the Blades), and Minoth and Brighid read a few books in town to find nothing familiar. They meet the mother of Baten Kaitos: Origins's male protagonist, they relax on the island to kill time until they can get ship to Mira to see if on the highly-unlikely-but-they-have-to-take-it chance that they could find a portal back to their sky. After three days they leave for the portal, see en route that the dimensional crack has opened again, they return to Torna with only milliseconds having passed since they left.

Nothing eventful unfolded, no big bad monsters slain, no sparring sessions with heroes of another realm. An idyllic moment before Lora and co.'s return to heroic ordeals. I set it sometime maybe a year or two before BKO begins to avoid having to write interactions between two sets of heroes, that was beyond my talent to handle. Gena was at the core of what I wanted, I wanted Lora to cry because of her. But then I recalled Lora wanting to start an orphanage with Jin, here she was in one, and this would make her happy, doing her character greater justice by showing a fuller extent of who she is.

[DragonFlames]

2 hours ago, Zemuria said:

 

@DragonFlames

Trails in the Sky trilogy is really good, I recommend them.

If I ever get the opportunity (and time) to try it, I will.

Edited November 24, 2019 by DragonFlames
cut for irrelevance

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Listening to this again, I forgot it it existed.

It's ok, it only plays in the room right before the final boss.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

It reminds me of the one Xenosaga track I've ever heard (and loosely intend to keep that way barring what else gets into crossovers for first impression context to endure until the time comes)

So i actually don't recall that track. I know it's a remix but any searches of "Xenosaga True Order" come up completely empty. So either the song it's based off of has a different name or it's an Episode II track which means it likely got purged from YouTube.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I took the Heroes of the Aegis War partway through their journey, and threw them through an ordinary ether miasma that when dispelled became a momentary dimensional crack, just to have some method of how they got to where they did.

They spend three days stuck in the utter boondocks of a foreign sky. Which they deduce is another dimension b/c Siren and Ophion can't be contacted, all the Blades have a nonfatal low-ether fatigue issue b/c it doesn't seem to exist here (not affecting the humans, Minoth the least of the Blades), and Minoth and Brighid read a few books in town to find nothing familiar. They meet the mother of Baten Kaitos: Origins's male protagonist, they relax on the island to kill time until they can get ship to Mira to see if on the highly-unlikely-but-they-have-to-take-it chance that they could find a portal back to their sky. After three days they leave for the portal, see en route that the dimensional crack has opened again, they return to Torna with only milliseconds having passed since they left.

Nothing eventful unfolded, no big bad monsters slain, no sparring sessions with heroes of another realm. An idyllic moment before Lora and co.'s return to heroic ordeals. I set it sometime maybe a year or two before BKO begins to avoid having to write interactions between two sets of heroes, that was beyond my talent to handle. Gena was at the core of what I wanted, I wanted Lora to cry because of her. But then I recalled Lora wanting to start an orphanage with Jin, here she was in one, and this would make her happy, doing her character greater justice by showing a fuller extent of who she is.

Thanks for the explanation. I actually didn't pick up it was in the BK world. Probably because i haven't even gotten to Origins yet, let alone beaten the first game.

34 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

This is like... THE best thing ever

It's always good when video game songs get a concert to them. They're always in Japan though. Big sad.

[Armagon]

(Wanted to make this a seperate post)

@Interdimensional Observer so after like a year, i finally found an upload of the Xenogears 20th anniversary concert that Square Enix had after they remembered the game's existence. And it's really good.

I've timestamped when the songs actually start. If you look through the comments of the video, you can find the timestamps for each song. And yes, this is the entire concernt. All two hours of it.

It's been a year and there still haven't been individual uploads of the songs. There used to be but i guess they got taken down.

[DragonFlames]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

It's always good when video game songs get a concert to them. They're always in Japan though. Big sad.

The entire Bravely Default concert is one big moment of epicness. Definitely one of the best video game soundtracks out there, in my opinion.
If you're wondering why I edited that post: I didn't think it relevant enough to post that.

I currently work on a "do not annoy others with the stuff you like" principle, because my sickness is bringing a major case of self-deprecation and depression along with it. Ugh.

[Interdimensional Observer]

25 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Thanks for the explanation. I actually didn't pick up it was in the BK world. Probably because i haven't even gotten to Origins yet, let alone beaten the first game.

You can jump ahead to Origins if you want. It'd be something like playing Torna before XC2 maingame, though not exactly.:

• The brighter side:
  • The main storyline of Origins is more independent, the prequel was started only after Eternal Wings was released. BKO lays some groundwork for EW ~20 years later, but it is mostly confined to itself. I can't say too much.
  • Torna by contrast doesn't show you the exact scene of Mythra being awakened by Addam IIRC, since XC2 shows you that, and Malos is still alive and kickin' at the end wanting to do more destruction. And you don't get that moment for Jin. Albeit going in reverse actually left me tantalized during the main narrative about what it was.
• The downer side:
  • Yet, you'll still find oodles of references big and small from beginning to end in Origins. And those references come from things found as late as the final dungeon of EW. 
  • So XC2 is better in that you can leap into Torna after Chapter 7 and you'll know everything you need to for it. -Not that I think anyone should try that, since C7/8 is so close to the end.

I was weird, because I made it about halfway through Eternal Wings several times without completing it as a kid, I don't know why I suddenly paused on them, only one incomplete was because of the infamous first dungeon of Disc 2 boss fight. But I still knew the gist of how the rest of the game went, because the game guide had so many lovely spoilerific images, not that I minded at that age. Then I got Origins, and that I actually played to completion no problem. I played through it twice even. It wasn't until a few years later that I did a full run of EW and saw the stuff I missed.

 

I found a translation of an interview that was in Eternal Wings's artbook. I won't link it, because it has major spoilers at some points, but I saw this notable nugget:

"- How would you place Baten Kaitos among Monolith Soft's creations?

Sugiura: I'd like to make Baten Kaitos into a series, like the Xenosaga series. If I succeed, I'd like to make it into the anti-Xenosaga - in a good sense."

Not sure what is exactly meant by this, but it might mean "not sci-fi". It looks like BK was made using a separate, secondary Monolith team from the Xenosaga one. EW was released between XS Episodes I and II.

 

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

I've timestamped when the songs actually start. If you look through the comments of the video, you can find the timestamps for each song. And yes, this is the entire concernt. All two hours of it.

Thank you!

Flight! Is still as aspirational as ever if only it didn't play in that one endgame shop with the broken stuff. Grahf still overloads me with awe. Bringing out his "face" for One Who Bares Fangs At God was a great touch.

 

32 minutes ago, Armagon said:

It's always good when video game songs get a concert to them. They're always in Japan though. Big sad.

Unless you're Zelda. I saw two Symphony of the Goddesses (2012-2017) concerts in New York City, with a poster from the first framed in my bedroom. I had a spiritual experience I kid you not after the second performance when I got back home and stood before it. Does the three-point sign of the cross work for the three Golden Goddesses?☺️

I'd say they should do a few more tours, but that'd require Zelda have a soundtrack again.

And, it looks like Pokemon had a global Symphonic Evolutions from 2014 to 2018. I would not want them to start up again though, because I'm afraid some people will be throwing potted plants and whale inflatables at the stage.

[Interdimensional Observer]

This will not end well.

 

Nintendo opens its first official store in Japan, and it couldn't be bothered to use the coolest new Link. TP feels sooooo dated at this point.

 

Same shopping mall in Shibuya, and Capcom opens its own store. 

Ryu looks like he's holding Sonic.

 

Can I have one of these, but Xeno? At Nintendo New York please.

[Acacia Sgt]

6 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

This will not end well.

It's alright, keep a few Dark Pokémon nearby and just watch out for Miracle Eye.

7 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Nintendo opens its first official store in Japan, and it couldn't be bothered to use the coolest new Link. TP feels sooooo dated at this point.

Come on, he's like, the last left-handed Link or so. Give us this victory, at least!

[Armagon]

8 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

The entire Bravely Default concert is one big moment of epicness. Definitely one of the best video game soundtracks out there, in my opinion.
If you're wondering why I edited that post: I didn't think it relevant enough to post that.

  Reveal hidden contents

I currently work on a "do not annoy others with the stuff you like" principle, because my sickness is bringing a major case of self-deprecation and depression along with it. Ugh.

 

I don't think anyone found it annoying. And if you were worried about relvancy, there was video game music discussion going on. Besides, this is The Last to Post Wins. It's a free-for-all thread, you can post whatever you want. So don't worry.

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

You can jump ahead to Origins if you want. It'd be something like playing Torna before XC2 maingame, though not exactly.:

Oh that's good to know. Though i imagine that Origins made improvements to the BK formula so in that sense, it's still better to play through Eternal Wings first.

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I found a translation of an interview that was in Eternal Wings's artbook. I won't link it, because it has major spoilers at some points, but I saw this notable nugget:

"- How would you place Baten Kaitos among Monolith Soft's creations?

Sugiura: I'd like to make Baten Kaitos into a series, like the Xenosaga series. If I succeed, I'd like to make it into the anti-Xenosaga - in a good sense."

Not sure what is exactly meant by this, but it might mean "not sci-fi". It looks like BK was made using a separate, secondary Monolith team from the Xenosaga one. EW was released between XS Episodes I and II.

Adding to that, Xenosaga was Sony exclusive while Baten Kaitos was Nintendo exclusive. Had Monolith remained with Namco, things might've stayed that way. We could've potentially gotten a Xenosaga/Baten Kaitos spin-off though that's still possible. Namco owns the rights but i'd imagine all Monolith has to do is ask if the latter wants to make it.

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Unless you're Zelda. I saw two Symphony of the Goddesses (2012-2017) concerts in New York City, with a poster from the first framed in my bedroom. I had a spiritual experience I kid you not after the second performance when I got back home and stood before it. Does the three-point sign of the cross work for the three Golden Goddesses?

Oh that's right, they did have those. I listened to a few of the songs. Very good stuff.

6 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Come on, he's like, the last left-handed Link or so. Give us this victory, at least!

*Cries in ALBW Link*

[Acacia Sgt]

1 minute ago, Armagon said:

*Cries in ALBW Link*

I believe he's the very last.  Main series, at least. Since the Hyrule Warriors one is also left-handed.

I don't count the Link's Awakening remake one since, well, he's not really a new Link.

Either way, a long-legacy ended...

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Oh that's good to know. Though i imagine that Origins made improvements to the BK formula so in that sense, it's still better to play through Eternal Wings first.

The battle systems are pretty different, despite both fundamentally using decks of Magnus cards. Though it is true there are some genuine improvements in Origin's take on things.

 

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Adding to that, Xenosaga was Sony exclusive while Baten Kaitos was Nintendo exclusive. Had Monolith remained with Namco, things might've stayed that way. We could've potentially gotten a Xenosaga/Baten Kaitos spin-off though that's still possible. Namco owns the rights but i'd imagine all Monolith has to do is ask if the latter wants to make it.

Namco is always willing to give on KOS-MOS, despite them benefitting how from it beyond the licensing fee? Overall good relations with Nintendo too, if Smash development is anything to go off of.

The choice for the GameCube, reading a different interview, stemmed entirely from the general absence of RPGs on the system. Call it charity, call it seeing a potentially profitable commercial void to fill?

They missed an opportunity for a crossover with XC2 as I see it. Guillo would've made a perfect inclusion to the Blade lineup, being himself a construct. Knuckle Claws would have been his definite weapon choice. Light would have been appealing for his element since it is so scarce, with only Mythra and KOS-MOS being non-DLC options for it. Ice would have been his most likely element, were it not for Ursula. But that'd be easily corrected by moving her to Bitball and purging Dahlia because poor visual design, or Ursula or Dahlia moves to a different weapon type lacking an Ice Rare Blade, like Ether Cannon. They could've made it "another Guillo" like KOS-MOS, and added a Sagi recolor for Rex to the Land of Challenge to match. Guillo might not be Sagi, the main lead, but he is pretty damn important (as you'd hope with only three PCs), so getting the Blade treatment when adding in the rest of considerations would've made sense for him over his human companion.

-But thats just me, and I have a peculiar liking for Guillo.😀

Edited November 25, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[WeAreNewcastle1053]

Okay, so I couldn't format that hard drive on the old computer... I think it's corrupt...

[DragonFlames]

Today on a random restroom wall in university:
"If you can read this, you're pooping at an angle of 45 degrees."

The heck?

10 hours ago, Armagon said:

I don't think anyone found it annoying. And if you were worried about relvancy, there was video game music discussion going on. Besides, this is The Last to Post Wins. It's a free-for-all thread, you can post whatever you want. So don't worry.

Thank you!

[Acacia Sgt]

Ahahaha, I remembered this was a thing:

.... and then I'm like, "Wait, that ship blew up with Viral as the only survivor". Oops.

[Strullemia]

Even though I don't care for the new Pokémon game, the anime certainly does interest me!

LOL at that dance

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Leaving home at darkness and coming home at darkness is not cool. It really takes my motivation to do any freetime activities once I am back home because darkness makes me always tired. This is why I like to get up before 5 AM to play a bit Three Houses or Cold Steel III because my perception is at best in early morning. It is unfortunate that I have not even passed chapter 1 in CSIII yet. 

[Acacia Sgt]

Huh, don't remember the last time this was that low of the first page.

[WeAreNewcastle1053]

Just gonna win....