The Last To Post Wins!

[DragonFlames]

1 minute ago, Armagon said:

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.

I could have really used that during the time she was a party member... Damn you, CS3! *angrily shakes fist*

2 minutes ago, Armagon said:

10/10

Thanks!

[Lightcosmo]

13 minutes ago, Armagon said:

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

Yeah them making character alts cost $20 makes the cost skyrocket! And at least I got my moneys worth from it! Well, technically speaking, a lot of it was paid in gift cards that I've gotten from people, so it really wasn't so bad when you look at it like that.

15 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

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.

This is true, sad, but true. I don't mind paying if it's something that I get so much out of, though.

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by lightcosmo

[Armagon]

It's her. The best girl in Cold Steel (and possibly the series but i haven't decided on that yet).

Also, heard Tio speak English for the first time and she sounds exactly like she does in Japanese, only she speaks English now. 

30 minutes ago, lightcosmo said:

Yeah them making character alts cost $20 makes the cost skyrocket! And at least I got my moneys worth from it! Well, technically speaking, a lot of it was paid in gift cards that I've gotten from people, so it really wasn't so bad when you look at it like that.

I mean, when you put it that way, it's not too bad but also, i don't get paying for character alts. Especially ones that are $20. What the fuck. What even was the game?

Edited April 7, 2020 by Armagon

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Quote

It's her. The best girl in Cold Steel (and possibly the series but i haven't decided on that yet).

Best post of 2020 so far.

😘 A-A-ALISAAAAAAAAA

[Void Emperor]

Wait do you write fanfiction, @DragonFlames ?

[DragonFlames]

Just now, Void Emperor said:

Wait do you write fanfiction, @DragonFlames ?

I tried to write an actual novel. I did write one or two fanfics in the past, but those never saw the light of day.

[Void Emperor]

Woah ok. I do have a 12000 word sploon fanfiction so i was wondering.

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Void Emperor

[Armagon]

I can't believe they're putting the Empress in a much better game.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Atelier Shallie is brutal, not gonna lie.

Not only that bosses are incredibly difficult, little Shallistera got literally crushed by a giant robot im chapter 2.

It really hurt my eyes to see this.

[Interdimensional Observer]

12 hours ago, Armagon said:

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)?

I was trying to find Einsatz's ingame neutral expression profile picture, but the Internet didn't have it, I didn't feel like cropping a screenshot, his official artwork was eh, and I realized people might mistake me for using weird Sephiroth fanart with the long silver hair. I stumbled on this group artwork in the process of my failed search, and I like it.

 

As to rank Soma Bringer, a comparative shorthand of Monolith Soft games.:

• Story: XG > XC2* >= XC1 > XCX with promise of the sequel >> Soma Bringer > XCX minus the eventual hope.

*XC2 always includes Torna the Golden Country in these rankings.

Baten Kaitos Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean and Baten Kaitos Origins are excluded whenever I exclude one or the other for two reasons. Either I'm am unsure of where to rank them in this category, and or I do not want to influence your future opinions on them on that point.

 

• Heroes: XC2 overall > XG’s top four (Fei, Elly, Citan, and I squeeze in Bart) > BKO > XC1 = XCX (undecided how to judge between 1 & X) > Soma Bringer > the lower half of XG's cast (Sorry Billy, you’re plain filler. And Emeralda my dear, you could be dead in ten minutes after showing up and just as relevant- your character isn’t what matters about you in the story.)

 

• Villains: XG > XC2 > Soma Bringer > XC1 (it suddenly dawns on me this game is kinda weak here) > XCX

 

• Music: XC1 >= XC2 > BKEWatLO >= BKO > XG >> Soma Bringer (not to say it’s bad, Monolith puts out incredible competition).

XCX? Hmmmmm…. It’s more memorable than SB listening to it on the Internet, but divisive too, no lows of NLA and Don’t Worry, if having the highs of The Key We've Lost too. XCX's soundtrack has a lot of "missable" music ingame in the sense that you might not notice it the few times some of the good stuff plays. I didn't "miss" the music so much in Soma Bringer.

 

• Visuals: XC1 = XC2 (I can’t decide) > XCX > BKEWatLO >= BKO > Soma Bringer >> XG.

Soma Bringer does a lot better here than in music, the gap isn’t as big in this case. Soma Bringer is in the vein of BK visually, but brighter and cleaner and less European Renaissance-early 20th century oil paintings and more colored pencils and crayons. But again, Monolith has very stiff competition. I consider the BK world (not character models) very worthy of aesthetic praise- even if they are not the glorious modern open worlds of Xenoblade.

 

Gameplay: Soma Bringer =///// Anything else of Monolith Soft.

Everything of Monolith is a stiffer more standard JRPG to me, Soma Bringer is a freer Action RPG. I can play those games without the plot in the forefront, I have, but I feel Soma Bringer is distinctly different. I can always pick up and drop Soma Bringer at will whenever I feel in the mood for a little carefree fighting. With even XCX if I don’t have future plot advancement somewhere in my mind, I usually have a quest with some potential character development or world-building in there. I would never play more than one Xeno pre-postgame at once, but I could hypothetically wrap up story events in the Eryth Sea in DE and then five minutes later play Soma Bringer. I could start up and drop a Soma Bringer file or continue one at any point, if I intended to start up a Xenoblade 2 file, I’d want a mindset of completing it in due time.

So it's different for me, but different does not say whether it is good or bad gameplay. And for that, I'll say its a fun Action RPG, by no means the most intricate and very best one, but being fun is very good and it isn't overly rudimentary. Maybe I would've waited for a mild discount if I had bought this, but I wouldn't need a steep one to justify the purchase. Soma Bringer would be even more fun if I could try out the other classes without having to start a new file, or if online worked and I had two good players with me.

 

A remake of or sequel to Soma Bringer, provided it added some juicy sidequests for character and world development and some gameplay improvements (not so much "fixes", even if I'd like more than one buff slot), would be great. This is the most "side-project" of Monolith's creations, but it isn't a flop. It's a good pick-up-and-play title that would've been nice to have on my actual NDS if it had come aboard alongside the story-heavy XS 1&2.

 

I am working on a longer review, I could provide it later.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

I didn't know Atelier games are violent.

Would be funny if such a thing like this crushed Ryza's breasts.

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, Reisalin Stout said:

Atelier Shallie is brutal, not gonna lie.

Not only that bosses are incredibly difficult, little Shallistera got literally crushed by a giant robot im chapter 2.

It really hurt my eyes to see this.

It's a little bit brutal early on, but the game is pretty easy for the most part. I actually didn't get any game overs until late-game.

Of course, it all depends on how well you synthesize.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Villains: XG > XC2 > Soma Bringer > XC1 (it suddenly dawns on me this game is kinda weak here) > XCX

To be fair, one of the main villans is really good. And another one is just extremely entertaining. So it kinda makes up for it.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Gameplay: Soma Bringer =///// Anything else of Monolith Soft.

Everything of Monolith is a stiffer more standard JRPG to me, Soma Bringer is a freer Action RPG. I can play those games without the plot in the forefront, I have, but I feel Soma Bringer is distinctly different. I can always pick up and drop Soma Bringer at will whenever I feel in the mood for a little carefree fighting. With even XCX if I don’t have future plot advancement somewhere in my mind, I usually have a quest with some potential character development or world-building in there. I would never play more than one Xeno pre-postgame at once, but I could hypothetically wrap up story events in the Eryth Sea in DE and then five minutes later play Soma Bringer. I could start up and drop a Soma Bringer file or continue one at any point, if I intended to start up a Xenoblade 2 file, I’d want a mindset of completing it in due time.

Interesting perspective. From the little i've played of Soma Bringer, i always saw it's combat as a beta version of Xenoblade's combat. Different enough and not as complex but similar enough to give off a similar feeling.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

4 minutes ago, Armagon said:

It's a little bit brutal early on, but the game is pretty easy for the most part. I actually didn't get any game overs until late-game.

Of course, it all depends on how well you synthesize.

Well, in Ryza I had one single death (Lila) against the final boss on normal mode.

In Shallie I already had a party-wipe-out in chapter 2 on "story-watcher".

Though Ryza didn't have much of these optional monster fights, so I don't really have a reference.

 

As for synthesizing I'm still a bit limited. 

Shallistera is a papercut, not gonna lie.

The other two are fine, but she herself is not.

[Acacia Sgt]

Hah, I took advantage that another independence rebellion broke within the Umayyad, and swooped in to take the Porto region in a Holy War. Meanwhile, my conversion of the Slavs continues as Bohemia was next.

Although, there is something troubling. The Queen's husband has become incapable. It's quite possible he won't be long for the world. Which means my heir will inherit Francia... and he'd be out of my court, no longer able to make sure the AI... Won't. Screw. Up. The boy's almost 14. So long the father can hold on for a few years so the kid becomes an adult, and procures a heir of his own where I can quickly keep in my court to educate him/her, then I can afford it. IT's gonna be the whim of the RNG here, now...

Also, I saw that Catholicism's Moral Authority did plummeted... but not because of the raids. Rather, Lombardy set-up an Anti-Pope. Each of those guys is a flat minus 30 (out of 100). My character's husband has actually been engaging wars to depose the Anti-Pope; but has been failing. I'd help him... but I've been focusing on expelling the Umayyad. On the flip-side, his vassals have been finally able to chip at Saxony.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Acacia Sgt

[Interdimensional Observer]

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

To be fair, one of the main villans is really good. And another one is just extremely entertaining. So it kinda makes up for it.

I would guess this to mean... (XC1 SPOlLERS)

Spoiler

...a high opinion of Egil?

I realized thinking about it that strong feelings for Egil don't seem to have endured with me either positive or negative. The dying Mechonis punch was awesome, that survives in my mind. But the flashbacks of him and Arglas, don't bring major sympathy to my mind right now. Instead, I continue to cry XCX didn't give me a cameo battle against Yaldaboth- Face vs. Skell. I still lament the fate of Agniratha, but not how it and Arglas drove Egil's rage.

 

Mumkhar is entertaining. And he died no more than one area too late, I like how well they timed this ultimately secondary villain's death. When utterly mysterious, he was scary and impactful, slowly the mystery undid itself and him as a pawn became apparent, but killing Melia's father kept him very prominent. He might have been better dying at Valak, or maybe that would be too much with Yaldaboth's arrival, but Sword Valley, poetically where he first died, was perfect for this figure whom the plot had outgrown.

Zanza is a demiurge to replicate the Xenogears-styled Gnostic triad, but not very developed, just a jealous god with unsympathetic stated but not shown loneliness. Since, unless DE brings in more of it, his real backstory was thin in XC1, I can't exactly use it in his favor.

Thinking negatively on Zanza, combined with my uncertainty on what I make of Egil, drove down XC1's ranking- since they're 2/3 of the big bads.

 

Dickson b/c he deserves comment, is rudimentary in his reasons for supporting Zanza, that could use work, but otherwise a swell character.

 

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

Interesting perspective. From the little i've played of Soma Bringer, i always saw it's combat as a beta version of Xenoblade's combat. Different enough and not as complex but similar enough to give off a similar feeling.

We may just have differing perspectives on genres and whatnot.

You're always in battle mode in Soma Bringer where enemies are present even if none are nearby, you transition into combat mode in XC when you engage an enemy. The Arts palette of XC1 & X feels more menu-y than Soma Bringer's inputs, which detracts from being action. Dodging non-AoE attacks by moving around is possible in Soma Bringer, not so in Xenoblade where Agility/Dex & Agility/Ranged & Melee Accuracy & Evade determine whether hits will land or not most of the time. These little differences add up for me to put it in a different genre and make my mind process the game differently.

[DragonFlames]

New chapter, new area, new playable character. This time we are joined by the heroine of the Japanese fairy tale "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter"; Princess Kaguya.
She is basically a mix of Hilda and Bernadetta; lazy as hell and she refuses to leave her room even when the others ask her for help. Her reason for being this way is everything but funny, though:

 

She was raised in a village and defended said village from the Marchens, seeing it as her duty as a Blood Maiden. But the villagers were all terrified of her, treated her like crap, and called her "monster" among other things, which brought her to the conclusion

Ouch.

Another aspect of the game I haven't talked about yet is that it takes Etrian Odyssey's concept of enemies that chase you through the dungeons and takes it to its logical extreme: what if the F.O.E.'s were actually invincible? In Mary Skelter, creatures known as Nightmares roam the dungeons and their appearance is usually marked by a really unsettling noise, then everything goes dark and a truly hideous monster jump-scares you.

Something like this.

You can fight them, but these things will resurrect themselves constantly, so the game advises you to run away as soon as one appears. But the caviat is, these things move in real time AND the minimap vanishes when a chase begins. If you manage to put enough distance between you and the Nightmare, then everything goes back to normal, if it catches up to you, you can fight it and break its body parts to momentarily stun it, then run away, but they hit like a truck, so unless you want to risk one of the girls going all Blood Skelter on you due to the massive damage they take (if they can survive the damage in the first place, that is), it's better to just get the hell away.
If you get in a battle during a chase, the Nightmare will not stop chasing you and can even attack you during the battle. And may some deity come to your aid when one of these catches you in a dead end. Paranoia fuel, indeed.
The worst part about these things chasing you is all the terrifying noises they make while they do it. It's really freaking creepy.
You can beat them up for real if you manage to find and destroy a dungeon's core, though. This is how chapters have ended so far.
Fight a boss -> destroy the dungeon core -> Nightmare appears -> kill Nightmare.

Edited April 7, 2020 by DragonFlames
Added spoilers for size and to avoid spoiling too much about Mary Skelter

[Lightcosmo]

7 hours ago, Armagon said:

 I mean, when you put it that way, it's not too bad but also, i don't get paying for character alts. Especially ones that are $20. What the fuck. What even was the game?

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, for PS4. So you're pretty much paying for the FF name. I'm a huge FF fan so I had to have it, though!

[Acacia Sgt]

Alright, the King finally kicked the bucket; and now my heir is King of France. Who made Burgundy his primary title, for some reason, so now he's King of Burgundy (and France, and Germany, and Aquitaine, and Lotharingia). Thankfully, he had a son who is now being educated in my court. Those titles are still under gavelkind, so the moment he has a second son... Anyway, I also finally reached the prerequisites to unlock Primogeniture, which I switched to ASAP. More conversions, this time to Moravia and Nitra, so now I have my Court Chaplain now over yonder with the Magyars, who are still north of the Black Sea. I think the game gives them a decision to replicate their migration to the Pannonian Basin, but it seems they either don't have the needed requirements yet, or haven't done it for some reason. One last thing I did was Holy War for Valencia. Too bad in this timeline there won't be a rise of an El Cid Campeador. Well then, putting a stop for today.

[Armagon]

Well, it's not a bad controller. But it looks so fake. 

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I would guess this to mean... (XC1 SPOlLERS)

  Reveal hidden contents

Spoiler

Yeah, Egil is one of the top Xeno villains imo. He's so good that the story isn't as good after he dies, though that could be because Zanza isn't anywhere near as compelling.

 

21 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Another aspect of the game I haven't talked about yet is that it takes Etrian Odyssey's concept of enemies that chase you through the dungeons and takes it to its logical extreme: what if the F.O.E.'s were actually invincible? In Mary Skelter, creatures known as Nightmares roam the dungeons and their appearance is usually marked by a really unsettling noise, then everything goes dark and a truly hideous monster jump-scares you.

Something like this.

I'm glad you mentioned the other elements because without context, i would've just assumed that was an SMT enemy that made it into the game.

The big lips make it look kinda goofy ngl.

[Armagon]

I don't think I've ever been more confused in my life.

[Interdimensional Observer]

56 minutes ago, Armagon said:

I don't think I've ever been more confused in my life.

As weird as these are, they aren't easy to get, you have to win on Master difficulty, and F-Zero is no Mario Kart, the difficulty is intense. Which is why it dead, very dead.

 

But, best Rainbow Road rendition ever:

 

Edited April 8, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

[Shrimpica]

>be me

>fight Ao final boss

>pretty darn cool might actually be my fav or 2nd fav. in the series

>10% HP remaining

>Party wipe out attack with low charge time that can't be impeded, and you can't guard against it.

>you have to kill boss before he charges, which was impossible blind really.

Instantly became my least fav. boss. 

<.<

Edited April 8, 2020 by Shrimperor

[Armagon]

So there's a sidequest in Cold Steel 3 where you have to duel Aurelia and you have to get the latter to 70% HP to get the AP points. It was going pretty well until Aurelia turned me to stone, resulting in an instant game over. After several attempts, i simply reloaded the save i made right before, set the difficulty to Very Easy, and completed the sidequest. I wanted my two AP points.

Speaking of sidequests, Josette shows up. That was nice. 

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

But, best Rainbow Road rendition ever:

 

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. That is a banger remix.

1 hour ago, Shrimperor said:

>be me

>fight Ao final boss

>pretty darn cool might actually be my fav or 2nd fav. in the series

>10% HP remaining

>Party wipe out attack with low charge time that can't be impeded, and you can't guard against it.

>you have to kill boss before he charges, which was impossible blind really.

Instantly became my least fav. boss. 

<.<

Second phase? I don't remember that. I remember the first phase, you have to take out the two thingies, otherwise the final boss says "it's rewind time" and revives itself (though not to full HP).

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Sky 3rd's final boss has a deadly attack too which can't be impeded.

Idk if something similar like Kevin's s-craft exists in Crossbell.

Though I assume earth wall would do it too.

[Armagon]

8 minutes ago, Reisalin Stout said:

Idk if something similar like Kevin's s-craft exists in Crossbell.

Tio's S-Craft. Although I can't remember if it was a universal Guard or either physical of magic.