The Last To Post Wins!

[XavierStronome]

 

[Armagon]

5 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

One difference though: Sky 3rd's fight boss' S-craft was Area L

Ao's was Area ALL

Makes a very big difference tbh, as spliting alone doesn'T work.

Other than that, i will say Sky3rd had more powerful attacks.

That and the other difference was that the Sky 3rd boss fight in question didn't have a power-up form.

[XavierStronome]

This is a longer one, but its hilarious.

[DragonFlames]

3 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Also @DragonFlames i recall you said CS3's soundtrack was, while good, also weak in comparison to the previous two games and now that i'm getting a full feel for the soundtrack as opposed to just what i heard from the playthrough i watched, i still don't really agree in regards to it being weak. It's pretty much on the same level as the previous two games.

Imagine fighting the level 81 guy in Gormott or, heck, Jin and Malos, and the background music was just the theme for Argentum. That's how many of CS3s major boss fights feel like.
Still decent music, but it doesn't capture the atmosphere at all. That's part of what I meant when I said the music felt overall weaker. That, and just the soundtrack in general didn't grip me as much as the previous two games' did.

---

Damn, Alice. Damn.
(The girl on the left there is Cinderella. Just fyi.)

[Shrimpica]

4 minutes ago, Armagon said:

That and the other difference was that the Sky 3rd boss fight in question didn't have a power-up form.

he had his op self buff though. Which was fricking strong

[XavierStronome]

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by XavierStronome
Wasn't embedded the first time

[Armagon]

17 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Imagine fighting the level 81 guy in Gormott or, heck, Jin and Malos, and the background music was just the theme for Argentum. 

You've placed that image in my mind and I find it hilarious. Where's the Change BGM feature to make this a reality, Monolith Soft? 

(On a side note, Xenoblade 2 actually does have a partial Change BGM feature. It's DLC and it only applies to the Unique Monster theme and said theme will change to either Xenoblade 1's UM theme or Xenoblade X's UM theme depending on if Shulk/Fiora or Elma is equipped).

17 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

That's how many of CS3s major boss fights feel like.
Still decent music, but it doesn't capture the atmosphere at all. That's part of what I meant when I said the music felt overall weaker.

I haven't gotten to any major boss fights yet so I'll refrain from commenting on that but as far as normal battle themes and area themes go, I don't feel the weakness imo. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Armagon

[XavierStronome]

 

[DragonFlames]

Welp, I'm right out of ideas again. Tried to get some writing done, but as soon as I open my documents, I just draw a blank. Goodie.
I'm honestly at a point where I'm seriously contemplating just giving up on the whole writing thing. It's been nothing but pain and frustration these past few years.

2 minutes ago, Armagon said:

You've placed that image in my mind and I find it hilarious. Where's the Change BGM feature to make this a reality, Monolith Soft?

You're welcome, I guess? XD

But I agree, more games need the Change BGM feature. Atelier has the right idea on that front.

4 minutes ago, Armagon said:

I haven't gotten to any major boss fights yet so I'll refrain from commenting on that but as far as normal battle themes and area themes go, I don't feel the weakness imo. 

And that's a good thing! It means there will be one aspect less that can bother you about the game while you play it.

[Acacia Sgt]

Perhaps surprisingly, my King was able to live up to the ripe old age of 77. Within those last few years I was able to Holy War for the rest of León and convert the ruler of the Magyars. So now I'm playing as his daughter. He qualified for beatification, so now I'm waiting to see if he's eligible for sainthood too! Ah, the only bad timing of the King's death was that I had the Court Chaplain proselyting Saxony. All that progress lost. Oh well.

For now, I'll have to wait and see the appropriate moment to strike another Reconquista war. It will be a beeline for Aragon this time, hopefully while the Umayyad are still occupied with a currently rebellious Emir who wants to become independent.

---

I think I forgot to mention this last night; but in DQIV I decided to head into the Briny Lair and claim the Zenithian Armour already. Wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Only nuisance was this enemy that could act twice and was capable of casting a party-wide healing spell. So I went to Rosehill... and got the really good Falcon Knife Earrings for Alena. This will be good. Hmm, today I plan to fight Sir Roseguardian, though perhaps I'll head for Cascade Cave first. Well, I'll think about it for the next hours.

[Benice]

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

I'm honestly at a point where I'm seriously contemplating just giving up on the whole writing thing. It's been nothing but pain and frustration these past few years.

I don't know your situation, but I'd suggest taking a break for a while, but keep pushing through. I too am working on a book, and I would be happy to give suggestions and stuff! Unless it's not in english or french.

(I am a god-awful writer though, so my book is gonna be trash until someone who is decent at writing helps me or I get a brain.)

Regardless, you seem to be an excellent writer, so I think you've got what it takes to be successful with your project, whatever it is! And I am always glad to help if you need it.

Edited April 6, 2020 by Benice

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, did my Reconquista war, and took Aragon. Though ugh, the Viking Age (earliest it can start is the year 800) started and now I'll have to endure Catholicism's Moral Authority plummet because the Norse will be raiding and raiding and raiding and raiding! Already got Waldensians showing up in my realm.

Meanwhile, to my big surprise, the Queen's husband ended up inheriting Francia (he is a Karling, after all)... and everything will be inherited by my character's heir (the Queen's son). EVERYTHING. We're talking from the Pyrenees to the Elbe here. Well, so long the couple doesn't have a second son, since their realm begins with Absolute Agnatic Gavelkind, and Mr. Karling has several kingdom titles to start with. At least, they're definitely Absolute Agnatic, since when the Queen got a daughter she didn't showed up in the inheritance priority list.

Though, well, that will be another day.

[Interdimensional Observer]

I finished Soma Bringer! Yaaaaay! My Monolog is only majorly missing Xenosaga now! I didn't tackle the bonus dungeons, but I've enough of the simple but fun gameplay for now. 

 

The final Act started easy except for the special monsters which I ignored, the first area was unexpectedly bright and tropical too, with walkable cloud pathways which I liked. The Soma Palace was a more expected final dungeon, hi-tech with four towers to conquer before the central warp to the final boss opened up. I burnt through SP in no time here, and some enemies depleted my HP in a blink, and this on the starting difficulty, NG+ has two higher ones that’d have to destroy me. Playing as a Corps with Heal, Healing, and Meditation mean I had the greatest survival capabilities of any class to boot; although the items I rarely tapped into should suffice for the other classes. The giant Worm Visitors were surprisingly not hard to kill.

The third-to-last boss was huge and slow, but it seemed nearly impossible to dodge its attacks. While I did a lot of “bum rush facetanking” in this game, I’m not sure how viable avoiding attacks are, even with me having 160% (base is 100%) Move Speed. The penultimate boss battle is a 3-on-3, yet I didn’t lose once for as hectic as it was. The first phase of the final boss was tough, I died twice, and Mirror is an annoying status ailment that adds no real difficulty. Fortunately, even on the final boss, unless you save and reset or maybe take the Schildkrote elsewhere, bosses don’t regenerate their HP after you die. Second phase of the final boss was oddly much easier.

Now for plot comments, with mention of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Chapter 10 SPOILERS:

Spoiler

Idea and Adonis are artificial creations of long ago- Master Cages composed of extremely dense Soma made to contain Aletheia. The Guardian Soma Orpheus was created in case Idea went out of control and chose to betray humanity. Welt, not Idea, established a contract with Orpheus back in Chapter 1. That clears up some things.

Ring Tower, a very tall structure that reaches to the planet’s outer atmosphere and forms a ring around the planet, is by that description like the Beanstalk- not that such a structural design is unique in science fiction. 

Turns out Aletheia isn’t evil and doesn’t want vengeance on humanity for exiling it (despite the war it fought with humanity?). The barrier emitted by Ring Tower, which also created the foundation for worldwide Soma use, contained the human emotion of fear. When pieces of Aletheia passed through the barrier and became Visitors, they were corrupted by that fear. Ironically, the barrier created the enemy humans created it to block out. 

Aletheia, all Soma, and Orpheus, Idea and Adonis- being beings made of Soma- all leave the planet in the end, though Welt optimistically believes they will return one day. The game’s title is wrong, you’re not bringing Soma, you’re getting rid of it. It reminds me of certain Tales games where the fundamental magic power society relies on goes away at the end. And, Xenogears’ slave generators become unusable at the end of that too.

Adonis is a Malos who never overcame the initial psychological imprint of his Amalthus. Adonis met with Laban shortly after he awoke from the Benes Cocoon and established a psychic connection with him. Laban (who wasn’t truly as evil as Amalthus) feared a Soma imbalance and humanity’s greed and other vices lead it to terrorize itself. In Adonis and the Umbras, returning Aletheia to the planet to destroy the sinful humanity and return Soma to its originator was the solution to this human fear. A solution apart from what Laban himself, corrupted or otherwise, wanted. It’s only after the final battle that Adonis recognizes what happened to him and finds happiness.

 

My emulation gaming shifts either to Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django or Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2 next, two GBA games whose predecessors I played, but not the sequels. I'm thinking the latter, with female protag b/c cute and Loki as my Guardian Beast b/c handsome. Yggdra Union is on pause b/c Japan is getting a Switch port of the game, no idea if this means the West ever will, but if it did, I'd rather take the "living" legal option.

[Armagon]

6 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Welp, I'm right out of ideas again. Tried to get some writing done, but as soon as I open my documents, I just draw a blank. Goodie.
I'm honestly at a point where I'm seriously contemplating just giving up on the whole writing thing. It's been nothing but pain and frustration these past few years.

I'm going to echo the the take a break advice, because if you're feeling frusterated with something, taking a break always helps. And it can be for as long as you want to. If you feel that taking a year-long break from writing is for the best, go for it.

But i will say that it's better to not bash yourself over it. The more you bash yourself over it, the harder it gets to do what you want to do. I tell the same thing to my artist friends.

I'm not good at giving advice about personal matters like this, especially when it involves stuff i don't have experience with but i do hope what i said here helps.

6 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

But I agree, more games need the Change BGM feature. Atelier has the right idea on that front.

Unfortunately, even Atelier has kinda dropped the ball on it a little bit. Ryza's Change BGM was completely locked behind DLC. Free DLC but DLC regardless. Then Dusk DX had a full list of Change BGM, which is actually an improvement since previous games with it didn't have every song, but it's also missing both Lulua's and Ryza's songs.

But yes, Change BGM should be a given for any game. Along with Trails' Weaken Enemies feature. 

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I finished Soma Bringer! Yaaaaay! My Monolog is only majorly missing Xenosaga now! I didn't tackle the bonus dungeons, but I've enough of the simple but fun gameplay for now.

Nice! And i can tell by the new pfp that you've definitly enjoyed it. If i ever have the motivation to use DS emulators again, i'll probably jump back into Soma Bringer.

Where would you say Soma Bringer ranks when compared to Monolith Soft's other games (plus Xenogears)?

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Yes, I noticed that Shallie's BGM would be switched, but not in Ryza. Was a little bummer.

Also a bummer is that the entire DLC set (= pass) can't be bought separately. Itcan only bought with the game as whole.

Anyways Atelier Ryza (with / without DLC set) is still 30% off.

[Armagon]

Just finished Ch.1 of Cold Steel 3

Spoiler

The Hamel stuff? Bro, I felt that. We've seen the village before in Sky SC (though the layout shown was a bit different) but being reminded of the tragedy and the connection between Joshua and Lower, along with the beautiful remix of Silver Will. Damn.

Shirley and Duvalie weren't that hard, mainly because Agate hits like a fucking truck. So good to see his Crafts in 3D and HD btw.

 

[Acacia Sgt]

Okay, I defeated Rosenguardian. Wasn't a tough fight. Now next step is the Royal Crypt; but I went first to the Cascade Cave. Ah, good stuff in there. With the Sands of Time and the Liquid Metal Sword.

[DragonFlames]

7 hours ago, Benice said:

I don't know your situation, but I'd suggest taking a break for a while, but keep pushing through. I too am working on a book, and I would be happy to give suggestions and stuff! Unless it's not in english or french.

I think I will be taking your advice and take a break from writing for a while. Good luck with your own efforts!

7 hours ago, Benice said:

Regardless, you seem to be an excellent writer, so I think you've got what it takes to be successful with your project, whatever it is! And I am always glad to help if you need it.

Thank you!

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

I'm going to echo the the take a break advice, because if you're feeling frusterated with something, taking a break always helps. And it can be for as long as you want to. If you feel that taking a year-long break from writing is for the best, go for it.

But i will say that it's better to not bash yourself over it. The more you bash yourself over it, the harder it gets to do what you want to do. I tell the same thing to my artist friends.

I'm not good at giving advice about personal matters like this, especially when it involves stuff i don't have experience with but i do hope what i said here helps.

It does, thank you! Every bit of support helps.

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

Unfortunately, even Atelier has kinda dropped the ball on it a little bit. Ryza's Change BGM was completely locked behind DLC. Free DLC but DLC regardless. Then Dusk DX had a full list of Change BGM, which is actually an improvement since previous games with it didn't have every song, but it's also missing both Lulua's and Ryza's songs.

But yes, Change BGM should be a given for any game. Along with Trails' Weaken Enemies feature.

The whole DLC thing is all Koei, most likely.
No joke, I heard that some of their games have so much DLC that buying every DLC there is will cost you $1,000+.

Kinda sad to hear the Dusk DX trilogy doesn't have Lulua or Ryza songs. I wanted to beat up the scrubbiest of enemies those games have to offer to the beautiful melody of Cygnus. 

6 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Just finished Ch.1 of Cold Steel 3

  Reveal hidden contents

The Hamel stuff? Bro, I felt that. We've seen the village before in Sky SC (though the layout shown was a bit different) but being reminded of the tragedy and the connection between Joshua and Lower, along with the beautiful remix of Silver Will. Damn.

Shirley and Duvalie weren't that hard, mainly because Agate hits like a fucking truck. So good to see his Crafts in 3D and HD btw.

 

Oh yeah, even someone who didn't play Sky like me definitely felt the emotion that place carries. It was really well presented on top of humanizing Duvalie and Shirley. Probably one of my favorite parts of the whole game, honestly.

Also, Agate's S-Craft is my favorite in the whole game. It just looks so damn awesome.

---

I had the dumbest "duh" moment I ever experienced in a video game earlier.
Situation as follows: I run through a dungeon in Mary Skelter, getting increasingly confused, because there was no way forward. On one of the earlier floors, there was a door. Said door didn't open when I first went there. I assumed "okay, this is probably the way to a new area later on in the game", like it was the case with other similar doors in other dungeons I've already been to. But then I realized "wait, this door didn't have a signpost in front of it like the others did", so I searched everywhere for a way to open it only to hit a roadblock because the way forward just wasn't there. I, being me, assumed I did something wrong so I went through the whole dungeon twice and a third time, before I questioned "Where is the damned key and/or switch to open this door?!?". Then, on my fourth combing of the dungeon, I accidentaly walk into the door and sure enough, it opens.
Because, and here's the kicker, the damn key for that door has been in my inventory the whole time! I probably picked it up without noticing and I didn't realize it all. Flipping hell.

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, went through the Royal Crypt and got the Mod Rod... and man, I finished off three Liquid Metal Slimes! Good thing I got the Liquid Metal Sword beforehand.

So, I've exhausted every other place to go, so now it's onward to the Diabolic Hall. First stop: Riverton. Though now I have to head back to Pioneer Town and Minikin's Dominion. Well, that will be for another day.

[XavierStronome]

Unfunny meme man is resigning cause I'm out of good videos and also they were dumb (except for the dorcas patch)

[Armagon]

7 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Kinda sad to hear the Dusk DX trilogy doesn't have Lulua or Ryza songs. I wanted to beat up the scrubbiest of enemies those games have to offer to the beautiful melody of Cygnus.

The worst part is that all the other songs mention "Deluxe Pack" or something like that, which implies there's gonna be another, likely paid, music pack as DLC that contains the non-Atelier songs+Lulua and Ryza. Wouldn't surprise me, as that's exactly what Ryza did.

7 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Also, Agate's S-Craft is my favorite in the whole game. It just looks so damn awesome.

Agate has another S-Craft in the Sky games and i'm a little bit bummed out it's not that one instead, because i liked that one more. I forget the name of it, i just know that the one he has in CS3 is his original S-Craft from Sky FC. Which is still cool tho.

Maybe he'll bring it out for CS4.

7 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

I had the dumbest "duh" moment I ever experienced in a video game earlier.
Situation as follows: I run through a dungeon in Mary Skelter, getting increasingly confused, because there was no way forward. On one of the earlier floors, there was a door. Said door didn't open when I first went there. I assumed "okay, this is probably the way to a new area later on in the game", like it was the case with other similar doors in other dungeons I've already been to. But then I realized "wait, this door didn't have a signpost in front of it like the others did", so I searched everywhere for a way to open it only to hit a roadblock because the way forward just wasn't there. I, being me, assumed I did something wrong so I went through the whole dungeon twice and a third time, before I questioned "Where is the damned key and/or switch to open this door?!?". Then, on my fourth combing of the dungeon, I accidentaly walk into the door and sure enough, it opens.
Because, and here's the kicker, the damn key for that door has been in my inventory the whole time! I probably picked it up without noticing and I didn't realize it all. Flipping hell.

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Armagon

[DragonFlames]

7 minutes ago, Armagon said:

The worst part is that all the other songs mention "Deluxe Pack" or something like that, which implies there's gonna be another, likely paid, music pack as DLC that contains the non-Atelier songs+Lulua and Ryza. Wouldn't surprise me, as that's exactly what Ryza did.

Oof.
Oh well, the music that's already within the games is pretty enough, I think.

8 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Agate has another S-Craft in the Sky games and i'm a little bit bummed out it's not that one instead, because i liked that one more. I forget the name of it, i just know that the one he has in CS3 is his original S-Craft from Sky FC. Which is still cool tho.

Maybe he'll bring it out for CS4.

We'll find that one out pretty soon.
I for one will be quite sad if he loses the one he currently has.

Spoilers for another guest character below:

Speaking of S-Crafts, Tio for some mystifying reason, doesn't have one at all in CS3.

9 minutes ago, Armagon said:

 

 

 

Wise words spoken by a wise man.

---

I went and did some poetry. Let me present to you the Ode to Ferdinand:

There once was a knight
His pantaloons were on fire
He shouted with might
„I am Ferdinand von Aegir.“

His stats were so bad
He should've drawn so much ire
Yet no one was mad
'Cuz he's Ferdinand von Aegir

He was o so proud
Yet knew he's no flier
We kept hearing him shout
„I am Ferdinand von Aegir.“

His origins lie
Within the Empire
We did not ask why
'Cuz he's Ferdinand von Aegir

Over mountains and lakes
We will trudge through the mire
Someone ate all the cakes
It was Ferdinand von Aegir

The others were mad
The situation was dire
But he escaped like a chad
'Cuz he's Ferdinand von Aegir

[Lightcosmo]

7 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

The whole DLC thing is all Koei, most likely.
No joke, I heard that some of their games have so much DLC that buying every DLC there is will cost you $1,000+.

 

Yikes, the most I've paid for DLC all in a single game is around $200. 

[DragonFlames]

9 minutes ago, lightcosmo said:

Yikes, the most I've paid for DLC all in a single game is around $200. 

Greed at its finest. Koei just tends to fall under the radar because EA, Activision-Blizzard, Bethesda, and Ubisoft are like the four-man-ensemble of evil in the game industry these days.
EA even messed with the goddamned law to keep gambling in their games a thing.
Not that this personally affects me, since I never buy any games from them and I didn't buy the $1,000 DLC game in question from Koei, either, but it is an entertaining trainwreck to follow.

Edited April 7, 2020 by DragonFlames

[Armagon]

13 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Speaking of S-Crafts, Tio for some mystifying reason, doesn't have one at all in CS3.

That's.........odd. She had two S-Crafts total in Crossbell (most characters do, iirc, only Kevin gets to have three and only in Sky 3rd). 

In case you're wondering, Tio's S-Crafts in the Crossbell games consisted of an AoE Guard (i forget if it was physical or magic or both) and the other was Absolute Zero Beam. I had the first one as her S-Break because Guard.

16 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

I went and did some poetry. Let me present to you the Ode to Ferdinand:

There once was a knight
His pantaloons were on fire
He shouted with might
„I am Ferdinand von Aegir.“

His stats were so bad
He should've drawn so much ire
Yet no one was mad
'Cuz he's Ferdinand von Aegir

He was o so proud
Yet knew he's no flier
We kept hearing him shout
„I am Ferdinand von Aegir.“

His origins lie
Within the Empire
We did not ask why
'Cuz he's Ferdinand von Aegir

Over mountains and lakes
We will trudge through the mire
Someone ate all the cakes
It was Ferdinand von Aegir

The others were mad
The situation was dire
But he escaped like a chad
'Cuz he's Ferdinand von Aegir

10/10

10 minutes ago, lightcosmo said:

Yikes, the most I've paid for DLC all in a single game is around $200. 

I'm kinda concerned you paid around $200 for DLC in a single game.