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30 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

f that's the case I wonder if they'll even have lines in RB2 and 3.

They will, but mostly in side events and not in the main Story

31 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

One thing I definitely want to do in Rebirth 2 and/or another playthrough of Rebirth 1 is play around with the SP skills a little bit more, as I feel like I've used them less times than I should have in certain situations.

i used offensive SP skills much more in R;B3 and MegaNep, as they become much more useful there. It helps that in R;B3 SP regens ala Crafts in Trails, and SP skills being pretty cheap in general (and you not having access to Exe drives most of the game)

3 hours ago, Armagon said:

you need at least two to launch one EXE Drive

You usually need 3 SPĀ gauges for them tho. Or 2 per character in Combo Exe-drives. I don't think you can pull the 14 Exe drives thing without refilling the SP gauge.

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1 minute ago, Shrimperor said:

i used offensive SP skills much more in R;B3 and MegaNep, as they become much more useful there. It helps that in R;B3 SP regens ala Crafts in Trails, and SP skills being pretty cheap in general (and you not having access to Exe drives most of the game)

Ah, that does sound pretty great.

2 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

They will, but mostly in side events and not in the main Story

Okay, I getcha. That's a bit of a shame, but as long as they're not just faceless tagalongs, all is fine.

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Thinking about reloading an earlier save in Atelier Meruru. I've made quite bit of progress. I'm on the third year, which is the first hard deadline. The first soft deadline, i overachived it. The second soft deadline, i barely made. I spent too much time trying to prepare for a boss. The time limit isn't as strict as in Totori's but it's still something you can't approach mindlessly, which i've kinda been doing. So yeah, gonna reload so i can be more efficient.

Edit: so population increase is also dependent on popularity. The game makes no mention of this. All i knew is that zero popularity = game over. Well then, i won't reload just yet.

4 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

You usually need 3 SPĀ gauges for them tho. Or 2 per character in Combo Exe-drives. I don't think you can pull the 14 Exe drives thing without refilling the SP gauge.

Nah, some characters have 2 SP EXE Drives. Not all but some.

Ā 

Edited by Armagon
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I have completed the Xenoblade 2 Torna expansion and Fire Emblem Warriors this week. Both fun games in their own ways.

I like how the expansion felt like a smootherĀ experience that the base game. WithĀ collection points showing what kind of materials drop, no refiningĀ Aux Cores, field skills lowing down the game, and blade combos are faster. I left I understoodĀ Ā Mythra andĀ Jin's reasoningĀ more in the expansion than in the base game.Ā Making the story progression locked through community level really draggedĀ things out.

As for Warriors I never played a Musou game previously, I quiteĀ enjoyed it. Clearing out a hundred men with one move feels fun. Most of the movesets felt good to control. While theĀ story is nothing home to write about there is enough content through the history mode to continue playing. Is it me or mages attack power is weaker compared to the melee characters?

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1 hour ago, Jingle Jangle said:

Is it me or mages attack power is weaker compared to the melee characters?

It's likely a combination of lack of weapon triangle advantage and generally slower animations that make them feel weak.

There's also the fact that none of the personal tome weapons have effective damage, which can make late-game dragons and monsters feel like they take longer (because you aren't just killing them in one hit), as well as the fact that the late game probably hasĀ a higher number of high-Res enemies (the evil sorcerer villains, pegasus knights, mages, dragons, etc.).

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So just finished Death end re;Quest


It's like a mix of Neptunia, Steins;Gate and Digimon. While not as good as them, it's pretty enjoyable, and the Mystery & Thriller keep you engaged through the Story. The Bad Ends were mostly pretty cool (Highlight for me was the Normal End, which has to be one of the coolest Normal ends i ever saw), and the gameplay had some cool concepts (that were, however, not used to their full potential). The VN part is way better and more interesting then the RPG part though.

It isn't without faults (Gameplay balance, Some missing Plot detailsy and some really lazy bad ends), but i can recommend it, especially to IF/Compa fans.

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Atelier Meruru complete with the normal end. Imma get the negatives out of the way first. To get the normal end, you need to get 100,000 population by the end of the fifth year.Ā The game does not tell you this.Ā The first goal is getting 30,000 population by the end of the third year. That goal is as clear as day. Upon completing that goal, you get an extension by two years. But the game doesn't tell you "get 100,000 population". Once you get the two year extension, what you do from there is extraordinarily vague. What would a blind person assume the requirement for the normal end is? 50,000 population? 60,000? Cause 30,000 -> 100,000 is a pretty big leap. The requirements for all the other endings except the bad one are also very cryptic. Use a guide if you attempt to get any of these.

But now for the positives: this game is an objectively better version of Atelier Meruru in almost every way. Time-limit is nowhere near as strict, the goals you need for dev points (this game's version of Totori's adventure points) are clearly outlined. The game also looks much better than either Arland game that came before it. You have not one but two assistants this time, and they don't require pies in order to work like in Totori. Totori herself is actually useful besides item usage (seriously, if you don't have her in your party, you're making things harder for yourself). While the soundtrack does have one song that reminds me of Yoshi's New Island, the rest of the soundtrack is still great. 8/10.

Also character-wise, Meruru is the best of Arland trilogy protagonists imo. Now it's time for Atelier Lulua. Let's see how this game inevitable blows the Arland trilogy out of the water. But i'm gonna be playing it alongside Bloodstained and Super Neptunia RPG. Oh boy, this is gonna be a busy week for me.

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Glad you enjoyed it! It sounds like Meruru improved on a lot compared to the other two Arland games.

As for me, I've gotten started on Hyperdimension Neptunia Rebirth 2 and reached the second half (?) of Chapter 2 (reached Lowee, met and fought Ram and Rom). Some first impressions:
The good: The environments look better than the first game, I find. They're a tad bit more colorful and varied. I also enjoy the neat sound effects they added to fit the environment, like the bird chirping in Virtua Forest or the sound of the waves crashing in the resort areas (because apparently, Lastation has those now). Nepgear and Uni are adorable, even if Uni is practically a younger-looking Noire, but with a gun. I get some Atelier protagonist vibes from the way Nepgear is characterized. Now I seriously wonder how she and Neptune interact, considering they're practically opposites...
The surprising: There seems to be no continuity between this and Rebirth 1, considering the world map looks entirely different, IF and Compa claimed to have known each other since they were kids, didn't recognize Falcom, who looks completely different now, didn't recognize Puchiko Broccoli, the four lands have Oracles now, who help the CPUs run the place (Histoire got a serious downgrade with that, from a basically all-knowing tome to what amounts to a secretary), Avenir apparently never existed, considering the new origin story of the Killachines, and of course the biggest one:

Ā 

Arfoire going from a human who got corrupted by an insatiable lust for power to a "Deity of Sin", thus allegedly being the main villain again.


Then, there's the fact that things seem to be a tad bit more serious than in the last game, considering it starts with the CPUs basically dying. Then again, there's that Star Wars-esque text crawl that - among others - points out that "Things are messed up, you guys", so the humor is definitely still present.
Another thing: For a supposed "younger sister", Nepgear sure looks older than Neptune. I wonder if that will come up.
The slightly worse than the first game but not so bad that it's a dealbreaker: I preferred the aesthetic of the world map in Rebirth 1. It's not bad in this game, far from it, I just loved the islands floating in the sky thing the first game had going. I also found the CPUs to be more immediately likeable than the Candidates. In particular, I don't think I am that much of a fan of Ram and Rom yet. I also don't know how to feel about Red, whom I'm convinced is supposed to be a parody of the "hardcore waifu crowd". Nepgear also feels a lot weaker than Neptune in combat. When I compare the damage output of Neptune's Cross Combo in the first game and Nepgears initial SP skill (the name escapes me at the moment), Cross Combo did a heck of a lot more damage. This also holds true for their respective HDD transformations. Purple Heart felt a bit more powerful than Nepgear does. It makes sense, however, since Nepgear is only a CPU candidate and not an actual goddess, but it's something I've noticed nonetheless. I do appreciate the fact that Nepgear comes with a defense buff and a healing move, the latter of which the CPUs from the last game sorely lacked.

Edited by DragonFlames
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1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

There seems to be no continuity between this and Rebirth 1

Because there isn't. Starting R;B2, the games take place in a different dimension, with only a very slight hint to R;B1 in R;B3. From now on the Games are connected, however.

R;B1 is basically an introduction to the series and it's characters, before they move on to a slightly different setting. The characters are mostly the same (for the most part, but they added/overamplifiedĀ some annoying traits to characters for some reason. It's especially bad in R;B3).

Ā 

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

Nepgear sure looks older than Neptune. I wonder if that will come up.

you know it will xD

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

I preferred the aesthetic of the world map in Rebirth 1. It's not bad in this game, far from it, I just loved the islands floating in the sky thing the first game had going.

same here. Imo, R;B1 is just better then both other R;B games. I also disagree on the R;B2 being more serious. It may be darker, sure, but it isn't really serious. Also, at the start of R;B1 the other CPUs all basically teamed up to kill Nepko.

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

I also found the CPUs to be more immediately likeable than the Candidates. In particular, I don't think I am that much of a fan of Ram and Rom yet.

Honestly, i didn't like the Candidates much until Megadimension. I do however, like how they play differently.

Edited by Shrimperor
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I forgot to mention, another criticism i have with Atelier Meruru is that it doesn't tell you how popularity works. I found out that if it ever drops to zero, the game just ends (you don't even get the bad ending, it just ends). The game doesn't tell you this although you can infer that popularity is your "time-limit" for sidequests since the longer you go without doing them, the more your popularity drops. What the game really doesn't tell you is that popularity exponentially increases your population. The first year of the game, i didn't put too much focus into the sidequests because i didn't think popularity exponentially increased population.

Anyway, i started Atelier Lulua and holy fuck. I knew that Lulua was gonna blow the Arland trilogy out of the water. That's an understatement. Lulua just nuked the Arland trilogy from orbit and i'm still within the first hour of the game. Characters are still as charming as ever but the gameplay is on a whole 'nother level.Ā You can set run as the default and it stays that way when you turn on the game again!Ā The environments are pretty, especially in the sunset or at night. God, i love day-night cycles. I can't tell if it passively changes time or if time passes when doing things though. Also, time is hours now. There's still days but they don't end nearly as quickly. I guess the lack of a time-limit in this game allowed them to be more liberal with the time? Idk, just interesting that hours are a thing now. Music is also fantastic.Ā 

There are some minor nitpicks i have. The first, i'm gonna miss the character portraits. All the cutscenes in this game are played out with the full character models. They have good facial expressions but the movements are a bit static. But Gust isn't that big of a company so i guess it makes sense.Ā The animations are at lost better in combat though. Speaking of combat, i'm really gonna miss that fast-forward option. In the Arland trilogy, you could speed up battle animations. You can't in Lulua. So either speeding things up in the Arland trilogy fucked with my perception of speed or the battle animations are actually slow. Moving items between the basket and the container confused me too. There's no sound effect when you move an item between either spot, it just happens. On a bit of actual criticism, synthesizing does the same thing it did in Atelier Totori: it doesn't give you the option of putting it in your basket. It automatically goes in your container. At least there's no time-limit to fuck me over in the event i forget about it and have to backtrack to the workshop just to get the item i synthesized.

Let's see how far i can get before i have to start playing this, Bloodstained and Super Neptunia RPG at the same time tomorrow.

Ā 

6 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

There seems to be no continuity between this and Rebirth 1, considering the world map looks entirely different,

As mentioned before, that's because there is none. What happened was the original Hyperdimesnion Neptunia ended pretty naturally but the game got popular enough (relatively, series is still niche as hell) to warrant a sequel. The problem? They couldn't do a sequel. The first game had a very natural ending. So they hit the "make new continuity" button. This isn't to say the original, and by extension, ReBirth 1, aren't canon. They are. Those two take place in what's officially categorized as the "Super Dimension". The Gameindustri of Mk.2/ReBirth 2, Victory/ReBirth 3 and Megadimension take place in the "Hyper Dimension". Victory/ReBirth 3 also feature another version of Gameindustri called the "Ultra Dimension".

Yeah, it's a multi-verse. The games do have "dimension" in the name after all. I guess by that logic, all the spin-offs are also canon, just not canon in the way the Kingdom Hearts spin-offs are canon (it would be very bad if that were the case).Ā 

6 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

didn't recognize Falcom, who looks completely different now,

Yep, that caught me off guard too. I remember you saying RB1 Falcom looked like Estelle. If RB1 is the Estelle (representing Trails), then RB2 Falcom is the Adol (representing Ys).

Ā 

6 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

I preferred the aesthetic of the world map in Rebirth 1. It's not bad in this game, far from it, I just loved the islands floating in the sky thing the first game had going.

Yeah same. At least the same world map is back in Action Unleashed (one of the spin-offs, it's one of the two Musou-like Neptunia games. It's alright).

4 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

The characters are mostly the same (for the most part, but they added/overamplifiedĀ some annoying traits to characters for some reason. It's especially bad in R;B3).

Ehhh, i kinda disagree but i'm also in the camp that doesn't see ReBirth 3 as the worst in the trilogy soĀ ĀÆ\_(惄)_/ĀÆ. Won't deny that stuff like the anime portrayed ReBirth 3 characters better though.Ā 

Ā 

Edited by Armagon
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7 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

Because there isn't. Starting R;B2, the games take place in a different dimension, with only a very slight hint to R;B1 in R;B3. From now on the Games are connected, however.

Gotcha. Glad to know my perception wasn't wrong.

7 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

R;B1 is basically an introduction to the series and it's characters, before they move on to a slightly different setting. The characters are mostly the same (for the most part, but they added/overamplifiedĀ some annoying traits to characters for some reason. It's especially bad in R;B3).

I can definitely see why you recommended I play R;B1 first. I'd probably be confused about a few things if I hadn't.

7 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

you know it will xD

Figures they'd bring it up XD

7 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

same here. Imo, R;B1 is just better then both other R;B games. I also disagree on the R;B2 being more serious. It may be darker, sure, but it isn't really serious. Also, at the start of R;B1 the other CPUs all basically teamed up to kill Nepko.

From what I've played up until now (start of Chapter 3), I have to agree that I liked R;B1 a tad bit more than 2 at the same point in time (mostly because Neptune is just that great of a protagonist). Though I do find the battle system has improved itself by giving you a fourth party member to play around with.
About the seriousness: yeah, I'll definitely retract that statement. Between Underling (her actual name, apparently) and Warechu, as well as the wacky Oracles, the shy idol and the hardcore otaku crowd, and killer robots that quote Spaceballs when they shut off, my impression of things being "more serious" this time around sure went to heck fast. Which isn't a bad thing by any means.
Bold part: While true, don't forget that R;B1 immediately followed up with that very same Nepko panicking over how her "secret" game stash might be discovered before she had a chance to delete them, and of course if she had to wait for more text boxes to pop up before continuing on, which set the tone for the rest of the game more than the initial fight; in which, interestingly enough, Purple Heart absolutely wiped the floor with the other CPUs. It wasn't until they decided to team up that she was actually put on the ropes.

3 hours ago, Armagon said:

Anyway, i started Atelier Lulua and holy fuck. I knew that Lulua was gonna blow the Arland trilogy out of the water. That's an understatement. Lulua just nuked the Arland trilogy from orbit and i'm still within the first hour of the game. Characters are still as charming as ever but the gameplay is on a whole 'nother level.Ā You can set run as the default and it stays that way when you turn on the game again!Ā The environments are pretty, especially in the sunset or at night. God, i love day-night cycles. I can't tell if it passively changes time or if time passes when doing things though. Also, time is hours now. There's still days but they don't end nearly as quickly. I guess the lack of a time-limit in this game allowed them to be more liberal with the time? Idk, just interesting that hours are a thing now. Music is also fantastic.Ā 

There are some minor nitpicks i have. The first, i'm gonna miss the character portraits. All the cutscenes in this game are played out with the full character models. They have good facial expressions but the movements are a bit static. But Gust isn't that big of a company so i guess it makes sense.Ā The animations are at lost better in combat though. Speaking of combat, i'm really gonna miss that fast-forward option. In the Arland trilogy, you could speed up battle animations. You can't in Lulua. So either speeding things up in the Arland trilogy fucked with my perception of speed or the battle animations are actually slow. Moving items between the basket and the container confused me too. There's no sound effect when you move an item between either spot, it just happens. On a bit of actual criticism, synthesizing does the same thing it did in Atelier Totori: it doesn't give you the option of putting it in your basket. It automatically goes in your container. At least there's no time-limit to fuck me over in the event i forget about it and have to backtrack to the workshop just to get the item i synthesized.

I'm used to the full character model animations from Sophie and Nights of Azure (also made by Gust, believe it or not), so not having them in Lulua didn't bother me (also because I've never played the other Arland games), but I do agree with your other nitpicks. I haven't discovered a way to speed up battle animations myself, but I didn't find them THAT slow, so that I never missed that possibility.
Honestly, the day-night cycle and the hours thing made me panic about time limits, but nope. None there. Time does pass when you gather things, walk around, or battle, but you can take all the time you want/need, which is nice, as it lets you enjoy the game at your leisure. I've read some comments wishing for time limits to come back, but thinking about it and reading your thoughts on the other three Arland games, I gotta say, I definitely prefer these games without one.

3 hours ago, Armagon said:

As mentioned before, that's because there is none. What happened was the original Hyperdimesnion Neptunia ended pretty naturally but the game got popular enough (relatively, series is still niche as hell) to warrant a sequel. The problem? They couldn't do a sequel. The first game had a very natural ending. So they hit the "make new continuity" button. This isn't to say the original, and by extension, ReBirth 1, aren't canon. They are. Those two take place in what's officially categorized as the "Super Dimension". The Gameindustri of Mk.2/ReBirth 2, Victory/ReBirth 3 and Megadimension take place in the "Hyper Dimension". Victory/ReBirth 3 also feature another version of Gameindustri called the "Ultra Dimension".

I think get it now. I read the summary for Megadimension Neptunia VII (to decide if that's a game I would want to play - the answer is yes) and I read something about at least three different dimensions. So that's how it works.
Yeah, Rebirth 1 ended on a pretty... well, final note, though I do feel like there was potential for a sequel without hitting the "make new continuity" button. Rebirth 2 might have worked if they introduced ASIC as an entirely new threat and not bound to the villain from the previous game, which I assumed to be the case at first.

3 hours ago, Armagon said:

Yep, that caught me off guard too. I remember you saying RB1 Falcom looked like Estelle. If RB1 is the Estelle (representing Trails), then RB2 Falcom is the Adol (representing Ys).

Ah, I get it now. That makes slightly more sense. I do remember Estelle-Falcom mentioning she was from a different dimension, while Adol-Falcom made no such remark. Funny, then, that Broccoli still looks like Broccoli from Rebirth 1.

3 hours ago, Armagon said:

Yeah same. At least the same world map is back in Action Unleashed (one of the spin-offs, it's one of the two Musou-like Neptunia games. It's alright).

So... there actually are Neptunia Musou games? I thought it was a joke, at first.

Continuing on in Rebirth 2, I'd appreciate it if my attacks didn't miss every second hit or so. Some enemies are definitely more dodgy than in the last game. Interestingly enough, it seems to be easier to get your hands on new and useful processor units. It's also a bit easier to get the materials for plan development, so that's appreciated. I do still miss a way to see which items can be gathered in which dungeon and if I have to have Harvest Shift turned on or not. Though that might just be because I was blessed by Atelier Lulua, where you can check which area holds which material.
For one more negative, the two comic relief villains are starting to legitimately get on my nerves now with how often I've had to fight them up until this point (which was probably the intent). They're mighty persistent for simple peons, that's for sure. If either of them turns out to be secretly the final boss, I'm out. Not really, but you get my point.

Edited by DragonFlames
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5 hours ago, Armagon said:

The problem? They couldn't do a sequel. The first game had a very natural ending. So they hit the "make new continuity" button. This isn't to say the original, and by extension, ReBirth 1, aren't canon.

Ā 

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

Yeah, Rebirth 1 ended on a pretty... well, final note, though I do feel like there was potential for a sequel without hitting the "make new continuity" button. Rebirth 2 might have worked if they introduced ASIC as an entirely new threat and not bound to the villain from the previous game, which I assumed to be the case at first.

The Problem isn't R;B1 per se, as as Dragonflames said, they just had to introduce a new villain instead of Arfoire and then you could connect R;B1 and R;B2. The thing is however, the original Hyperdimension had a different end from R;B1

Ā 

Where the CPUs turned into humans and lived their lives naturally until they died

so a sequel was impossible. And with R;B2 being a faithful remake afaik, they had to do the new continuity thig. Although i would've prefered it if they continued upon R;B1 instead.Ā 

5 hours ago, Armagon said:

i'm also in the camp that doesn't see ReBirth 3 as the worst in the trilogy soĀ ĀÆ\_(惄)_/ĀÆ

Oh i am not in that camp either, and i enjoyed R;B3 more then 2 myself.

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

I read the summary for Megadimension Neptunia VII (to decide if that's a game I would want to play - the answer is yes)

I hope that summary didn'T spoil too much, because MegaNep is legit amazing and the best game in the series xD

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

I'd appreciate it if my attacks didn't miss every second hit or soļ»æ.ļ»æ

The main reason why in the first half i gave everyone not on support duty aĀ Tec increasing item xD

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

the two comic relief villains are starting to legitimately get on my nerves now with how often I've had to fight them up until this point

i really hated them as well. Especially Shtapa-san.

Ā 

Btw, i will write some ending requitements over here:

Ā 

Conquest: Planeptune Shares above 55% at the end of chapter 5, every CPUĀ recruited (you recruit them at 50% shares of their nation iirc)

Holy blade: Same as Conquest, but with everyone's Lily Rank with Nepgear being 8

True Ending: Every Nation Shares at 15%+, Asic at 0%, CPUs recruited, Lily Rank of Nepgear with everyone at 4+ (have fun grinding) at the end of chapter 5

''x Nation ending'': Lily Rank between Nepgear and CPU at 5+, That Nation's Shares are 70%

Human Ending: Lily Rank with all nonCPU characters at 5+

Edited by Shrimperor
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Made it to Arls in Atelier Lulua. This was a happy moment. I got to see Keina again (her hair got longer since the events of Atelier Meruru) but i also got to re-explore some Arls locations again. Hart Outpost and Trombe Plateau were especially nice because these were two locations that you develop in Atelier Meruru. So seeing them in HD and actually being able to turn the camera 360 degrees (oh yeah, the camera in the Arland trilogy is set) is great. I can't wait to get to Arland and the surrounding areas. I also spotted Alayna Village on the map so i can't wait to see it either.Ā 

So far, there have been two characters from the Arland trilogy that i've met in Lulua: Piana, who appeared in Atelier Totori, and Keina. Hoping to see more.

Also this game seems to have more actual plot. The plots in the Arland trilogy were more slice-of-life stories.

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

I'm used to the full character model animations from Sophie and Nights of Azure (also made by Gust, believe it or not), so not having them in Lulua didn't bother me (also because I've never played the other Arland games)

Yeah, the lack of character portraits isn't really a loss, but i miss the charm.

I do have one actual criticism of the character model animations: how they sometimes pop-in in cutscenes. Like the scene at the start of Ch.2 where Lulua gets a letter from Cordelia stating that Rorona's workshop will be closed if she doesn't renew the license. She runs to Piana in the atelier wagon. Piana turns around and Lulua suddenly appears. At least animate Lulua coming from the door. These pop-ins have happened twice as of me writing this.

Ok they aren't exactly popping-in but they do come out from the bottom of the screen really fast. They haven't happened too often yet, but i still gotta criticize that aspect.

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

I've read some comments wishing for time limits to come back, but thinking about it and reading your thoughts on the other three Arland games, I gotta say, I definitely prefer these games without onļ»æe.

Same. Rorona's time-limit was pretty easy because it was segmented. Totori's time-limit is bullshit. Meruru's timelimit is like in the middle, but leaning a lot more to Rorona's side of the time-limit spectrum.

Though i do wonder how the ending requirements will be in Lulua. There's no time-limit so you aren't limited in how long you can take to do certain things. You can't miss any events either. My only guess is that you have to completely fill out the Alchemyriddle.

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

So... there actually are Neptunia Musou games? I thought it was a joke, at first.

There are. Just.....don't expect them to be on the same level, gameplay-wise.Ā 

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

I do still miss a way to see which items can be gathered in which dungeon and if I have to have Harvest Shift turned on or not.

I was gonna say you can but then i checked for myself and you can't. You totally can in ReBirth 3 and onwards tho.

3 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

The thing is however, the original Hyperdimension had a different end from R;B1

Ah alright, that makes more sense.

Ā 

Ā 

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On 6/21/2019 at 12:49 PM, Anacybele said:

A few games, really.

Pokemon Diamond
Pokemon Ultra Sun
Xenoblade Chronicles
2
Yoshi's Crafted World

I also need to play my copies of Arms, Detective Pikachu, and Ever Oasis. They haven't been opened since I got them months ago. XD Too much stuff lined up in the meantime!

That reminds me; I still need to finish Ultra Sun and Xenoblade Chronicles 1, as well as The Witcher 3.Ā 

I'm currently playing Ocarina of Time on my GameCube. I just beat the Water Temple, and I honestly don't get why this dungeon is so widely disliked. I heard that it's difficult, but it's really not; no more difficult than the Forest Temple or Fire Temple except for one small part that involved a river with annoying vortexes. I didn't even need to resort to a wiki except once to figure out how to destroy a particular Gold Skulltula, and that was really me just momentarily forgetting the magic spin attack. The worst criticism I can think of for it is that having to repeatedly go into the menu to equip and de-equip the iron boots can be a bit tedious at times, but that's really a minor annoyance. Overall, I'd say it's a pretty fun Zelda dungeon with a neat water-level mechanic that's really well utilized.

Am I the only person that likes the Water Temple?

In any case, overall, I'd say Ocarina of Time really holds up. The only thing that's aged a lot is the graphics, and of course that was eventually going to happen.Ā 

Edited by vanguard333
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1 minute ago, vanguard333 said:

That reminds me; I still need to finish Ultra ļ»æSun and Xenoblade Chronicles 1, as well as The Witcher 3.Ā 

Heh, glad I could remind you! I've finished the main story in Ultra Sun, but not the Pokedex. And I like filling up Pokedexes. It's what I've been doing in Diamond (and to a lesser extent, Platinum and HeartGold as well) too.

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1 minute ago, Anacybele said:

Heh, glad I could remind you! I've finished the main story in Ultra Sun, but not the Pokedex. And I like filling up Pokedexes. It's what I've been doing in Diamond (and to a lesser extent, Platinum and HeartGold as well) too.

Oh; cool. I've never been one to try filling up Pokedexes. Good luck catching all 3 Fire-Type PokƩmon in Diamond!

I'm just making a joke. Gen 4 is easily my favourite, but even I am not blind to its flaws.

Cool that you finished the story in Ultra Sun. I started playing Ultra Sun, but I noticed the main story is almost exactly the same so far as the story in Sun. Is it like Platinum in that it's really the latter part with the legendaries that differs, or are there more changes than just the climax?

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2 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

Oh; cool. I've never been one to try filling up Pokedexes. Good luck catching all 3 Fire-Type PokƩmon in Diamond!

lol, actually already did. And I think you mean four. XD I always start with Chimchar, and Rapidash, Magmortar, and Heatran are all caught too.

Edited by Anacybele
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3 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

lol, actually already did. And I think you mean four. XD I always start with Chimchar, and Rapidash, Magmortar, and Heatran are all caught too.

Right; Magmortar. I always forget that one even though it got a new promotion in Diamond.Ā 

As for me, I always start Diamond or Platinum with Turtwig, since it's my favourite PokĆ©mon.Ā 

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Just finished up Final Fantasy 4: The After Years. Also known as Octopath Traveler before Octopath Traveler. Okay, that's not true. Octopath traveler has less character campaigns than this game. Final Fantasy 4 is a darling game for me, so a sequel involving the whole cast and some of their kids and actually lets you choose your party always sounded great to me. Unfortunately you'll be 80% of the way through the game before you can choose your party. The airship is also locked out to you until a small sliver of the game before a no turning back point, so it's an extremely on-rails experience. Going through the individual character storiesĀ feels like a chore with so little gameplay variety and having to start back at level 15 (essentially "level 1") with so many characters. Those tales also include way too many scripted boss fights. The kind in which you only need to survive an undisclosed amount of time, or killing the boss results in them waking up and defeating you in a cutscene. That's a trope that's very common in today's jrpgs, but not an issue the original Final Fantasy 4 had so it's an unwelcome direction.

I think it's a fun game to play, but if FF4's ATB system didn't impress you than this game won't change your mind. I have to say though that system really holds up. Every time somebody finishes readying their next attack, everybody else's ATB bars pause and wait for the animation. Take notes, FF9. I also love that Auto Battle doubles the animation speed of attacks, in addition to doubling the ATB charge rate for fast battles. With cursor memory on you can breeze through random battles. One grievance i still have is the game neglecting to tell you which of the enemy's attacks are counterattacks. With careful observation you can find out for yourself, but there's no good reason they can't just say "Counter: Attack" at the top of the screen like other FF games do. The part of the game where you have the airship is a lot like the latter half of Final Fantasy 6, where you just solve all the world's problems and find your friends, it's a lot of fun and I wish the whole game were more like that.

Overall I rate the game a 6.2 out of 10. It barely delivers on its promise of an experience unique to the original FF4, which is still the better game. But it's more than playable if a little bloated. Glad I got around to it. I've also been playing InFAMOUS: Second Son and The Messenger while listening in on SGDQ. Might post some thoughts on those when I finish.

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11 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

Ā 

The Problem isn't R;B1 per se, as as Dragonflames said, they just had to introduce a new villain instead of Arfoire and then you could connect R;B1 and R;B2. The thing is however, the original Hyperdimension had a different end from R;B1

Ā  Reveal hidden contents

Where the CPUs turned into humans and lived their lives naturally until they died

so a sequel was impossible. And with R;B2 being a faithful remake afaik, they had to do the new continuity thig. Although i would've prefered it if they continued upon R;B1 instead.

Oooo-kay. Yeah, that does make so much more sense now.

11 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

I hope that summary didn'T spoil too much, because MegaNep is legit amazing and the best game in the series xD

No, it didn't spoil too much. It was just the text on the PS Store. That stuff doesn't spoil anything. "Summary" was perhaps the wrong word to use here, I should probably have used "description" instead. Damn you, brain!

10 hours ago, Armagon said:

Made it to Arls in Atelier Lulua. This was a happy moment. I got to see Keina again (her hair got longer since the events of Atelier Meruru) but i also got to re-explore some Arls locations again. Hart Outpost and Trombe Plateau were especially nice because these were two locations that you develop in Atelier Meruru. So seeing them in HD and actually being able to turn the camera 360 degrees (oh yeah, the camera in the Arland trilogy is set) is great. I can't wait to get to Arland and the surrounding areas. I also spotted Alayna Village on the map so i can't wait to see it either.Ā 

So far, there have been two characters from the Arland trilogy that i've met in Lulua: Piana, who appeared in Atelier Totori, and Keina. Hoping to see more.

Also this game seems to have more actual plot. The plots in the Arland trilogy were more slice-of-life stories.

Yeah, the lack of character portraits isn't really a loss, but i miss the charm.

I do have one actual criticism of the character model animations: how they sometimes pop-in in cutscenes. Like the scene at the start of Ch.2 where Lulua gets a letter from Cordelia stating that Rorona's workshop will be closed if she doesn't renew the license. She runs to Piana in the atelier wagon. Piana turns around and Lulua suddenly appears. At least animate Lulua coming from the door. These pop-ins have happened twice as of me writing this.

Ok they aren't exactly popping-in but they do come out from the bottom of the screen really fast. They haven't happened too often yet, but i still gotta criticize that aspect.

Piana's actually part of the gamebreaking combo I outlined before (she gets four support attacks later on, all of them pretty powerful). She also ended up as one of my favorite characters in the game. I had no idea she was in Totori before this, though.

As for the character models popping in out of nowhere, I believe that was meant to be a visual joke, like "holy crap, where did you come from?!?". Especially Lulua has a tendency to pop up in the most random of places. Sometimes it gets lampshaded by one or more characters acting surprised, sometimes it doesn't.

10 hours ago, Armagon said:

Though i do wonder how the ending requirements will be in Lulua. There's no time-limit so you aren't limited in how long you can take to do certain things. You can't miss any events either. My only guess is that you have to completely fill out the Alchemyriddle.

Do you want me to tell you?

11 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

Btw, i will write some ending requitements over here:

Ā  Reveal hidden contents

Conquest: Planeptune Shares above 55% at the end of chapter 5, every CPUĀ recruited (you recruit them at 50% shares of their nation iirc)

Holy blade: Same as Conquest, but with everyone's Lily Rank with Nepgear being 8

True Ending: Every Nation Shares at 15%+, Asic at 0%, CPUs recruited, Lily Rank of Nepgear with everyone at 4+ (have fun grinding) at the end of chapter 5

''x Nation ending'': Lily Rank between Nepgear and CPU at 5+, That Nation's Shares are 70%

Human Ending: Lily Rank with all nonCPU characters at 5+

Lilly ranks to 4 by chapter 5, huh... oh, jeez. Is it only Nepgear's Lilly ranks with everyone or is it everyone with everyone?

Ā 

11 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

Btw, i will write some ending requitements over here:

Ā  Reveal hidden contents

Conquest: Planeptune Shares above 55% at the end of chapter 5, every CPUĀ recruited (you recruit them at 50% shares of their nation iirc)

Holy blade: Same as Conquest, but with everyone's Lily Rank with Nepgear being 8

True Ending: Every Nation Shares at 15%+, Asic at 0%, CPUs recruited, Lily Rank of Nepgear with everyone at 4+ (have fun grinding) at the end of chapter 5

''x Nation ending'': Lily Rank between Nepgear and CPU at 5+, That Nation's Shares are 70%

Human Ending: Lily Rank with all nonCPU characters at 5+

Sorry for the double post, but I can't edit my original post for some reason.

Sorry, I missed the part that told me that yes, it is Nepgear's ranks with everyone. My mistake!
Better get those Lilly Rank + chips!

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6 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Better get those Lilly Rank + chips!

This guide might helpĀ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=452596207&searchtext=lily

Ā 

Also, i hope you are using the Re-translation patch for R;B2 and R;B3Ā 

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=542831125

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=727913135

Edited by Shrimperor
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So, I finished both Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2 a week ago. Ultimate Alliance 1 kicks ass. Easily the best comic book video game I've ever played, and it'll take a lot for UA3 to top it. UA 2 on the other hand, wasn't as good as the first one.

Well, since I'm in a Star Wars mood now, I'll think I'll replay through both KOTOR 1 and KOTOR 2. All while fighitng a nasty sinus infectionĀ šŸ˜·.

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Made it to Arland in Atelier Lulua. So good seeing this place again after it's absence in Atelier Meruru. And just like reaching Arls, getting to see familiar faces was great. Sterk the MVP of the previous game hasn't aged since his appearance in Meruru (i know he has but he doesn't look like it). Best girl Liona from the first Arland game is back, Cole apparently watched JoJo because he's buff as hell now. Even after his introduced himself, i didn't recognize it was him at first. I remember in Rorona when he was just a kid. And hey, Totori's here too. Like Sterk, she too hasn't appeared to have aged that much since her appearance in Meruru. Perhaps the two games aren't as apart.

I can't wait to get to Alayna Village. I see it on the map, so i know i'll be heading there eventually. Right now though, i gotta take care of the beast in Orthogalxen. I solved one part of the riddle, making a high-quality Craft. Now i just need to figure out what "acquiringĀ certain abilities through the repetition of synthesis" means.

The magician dude (name escapes me at the moment) has an interesting mechanic with his Arcana. Those are basically his "ammo". No Arcana, no Skills. He'll need to reshuffle to get more. Reminds me of Billy Lee Black from Xenogears, who could only attack as long as he had ammunition for his guns and this applied to his Gear as well.

I'll be playing Bloodstained and Super Neptunia RPG later today when the eShop updates. Still salty about Bloodstained not unlocking at midnightĀ even though i pre-installed the game.Ā 

Ā 

6 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

As for the character models popping in out of nowhere, I believe that was meant to be a visual joke, like "holy crap, where did you come from?!?". Especially Lulua has a tendency to pop up in the most random of places. Sometimes it gets lampshaded by one or more characters acting surprised, sometimes it doesn't.

Yeah, that became more apparent as time went on. Still a little bit jarring though.Ā Ā 

6 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Do you want me to tell you?

Yeah. No spoilers, obviously.

6 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Lilly ranks to 4 by chapter 5, huh... oh, jeez.

Well as long as you don't end Ch.5, you should be fine.

3 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

Also, i hope you are using the Re-translation patch for R;B2 and R;B3Ā 

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=542831125

I believe DragonFlames is playing the Vita version so he likely doesn't have access to this.

I didn't even know there was a re-translation patch. Imma be honest, re-translation patches like these always rub me the wrong way. Unless the translation is legitimatelyĀ bad (example: the original 8-4 translation of Azure Striker Gunvolt, which Inti Creates themselves had to fix),Ā i don't like these kinds of patches (it's also why i took issue with Fates' re-translation patch although that's also because people wouldn't shut up about it. God, 2015-16Ā was a terrible time to be an FE fan).

I do know that stuff in the localization of Neptunia games is often exaggerated. I believe the "ARE YOU SURE YOUR NAME IS SATURN, I'M PRETTY SURE IT'S ACTUALLY SATAN" line (probably my favorite line in the entire series)Ā from Superdimension Neptune is exclusive to the localization, and honestly, the exaggeration is part of the series' charm imo. I wouldn't want to play a version that removes these.

Edited by Armagon
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33 minutes ago, Armagon said:

the exaggeration is part of the series' charm imo.

While i agree, there is a difference between exaggeration and completely changing the way one speaks for the lulz. Sure, NepNep is meme-y and funny and all, but the was she speaks in the og translation or RB2Ā and RB3 is weeeeird. There's also this ''Nep jr.'' atrocity.

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6 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

Armagon already pointed this out, but yes, I'm playing the Vita versions, so no retranslation patches for me!

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

Made it to Arland in Atelier Lulua. So good seeing this place again after it's absence in Atelier Meruru. And just like reaching Arls, getting to see familiar faces was great. Sterk the MVP of the previous game hasn't aged since his appearance in Meruru (i know he has but he doesn't look like it). Best girl Liona from the first Arland game is back, Cole apparently watched JoJo because he's buff as hell now. Even after his introduced himself, i didn't recognize it was him at first. I remember in Rorona when he was just a kid. And hey, Totori's here too. Like Sterk, she too hasn't appeared to have aged that much since her appearance in Meruru. Perhaps the two games aren't as apart.

I can't wait to get to Alayna Village. I see it on the map, so i know i'll be heading there eventually. Right now though, i gotta take care of the beast in Orthogalxen. I solved one part of the riddle, making a high-quality Craft. Now i just need to figure out what "acquiringĀ certain abilities through the repetition of synthesis" means.

The magician dude (name escapes me at the moment) has an interesting mechanic with his Arcana. Those are basically his "ammo". No Arcana, no Skills. He'll need to reshuffle to get more. Reminds me of Billy Lee Black from Xenogears, who could only attack as long as he had ammunition for his guns and this applied to his Gear as well.

Yeah, Ficus (the magician dude) will be one of only two sources of magical damage for a while to trigger Eva's support skill, the other being Lulua's Little Vice. He's an interesting character, for sure. I liked his gameplay mechanic - elemental damage without using up items is nice - though he fizzled out of my party after I got his friendship rating to 100%.

On the topic of character ages, I've read somewhere that Totori is supposed to be 26 in this game... She certainly does not look (or sound) the part, though. I do appreciate how Sterk has wrinkles. It's a nice little detail, I think. Though I didn't recognize him at first, only by his voice, since I only knew about the guy from Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, where he was one of my favorite characters to play as.

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

Yeah. No spoilers, obviously.

Okay. No story spoilers (would have tried to avoid that anyway):
This game has a lot of endings, actually. There is a bad ending, a normal ending, a joke ending, a true ending, and one for each of the playable cast members (two of them share theirs). Reaching the normal end is really easy, as it is pretty blatantly telegraphed what you're supposed to do to get it (which I don't mind, honestly), the true end requires you to have seen every other ending (except the bad one, I believe) first. You can get the character endings if you view every character event with them and advance their friendship levels to 100%, which is done by advancing their events and letting them participate in battle with you. Having them in the front row will increase friendship faster than sticking them to the back row all the time, too, so that may be something to watch out for. Side note: I have not found any other effect friendship might have except for unlocking more of their events and the characters' endings. Another thing to note is that Piana's events advance as you increase your alchemy level.
This is about as much as I can explain things without spoiling anything.

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

Well as long as you don't end Ch.5, you should be fine.

The biggest "issues" are going to be Falcom, Uni, and Ram, because they start at a measly 2. I happily found out that CC2, Marvy, and Tekken join with a default 4, so I can have them help with grinding. In fact, one of my favorite teams to use right now is Nepgear, Cave, Marvy, and Tekken.

Can I also just say that I really, REALLY wanna kill CFW Trick? Holy hell, that guy is disgusting (meant to be that way, I'm sure, to make him seem even more like a villain. Poor Rom and Ram). I'm cool with CFW Brave, though. He kind of looks like a Gundam and a Transformer had a baby. His boss fight at the end of Chapter 3 was rough with only Nepgear and Uni, to the point where I assumed it was a forced loss battle, but I made it, somehow.

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

I do know that stuff in the localization of Neptunia games is often exaggerated. I believe the "ARE YOU SURE YOUR NAME IS SATURN, I'M PRETTY SURE IT'S ACTUALLY SATAN" line (probably my favorite line in the entire series)Ā from Superdimension Neptune is exclusive to the localization, and honestly, the exaggeration is part of the series' charm imo. I wouldn't want to play a version that removes these.

XD

Yeah, I don't mind the localization, either. My understanding of Japanese is... questionable at best, but I am far enough to know when the dialogue they're speaking and the text box are different, so I assume many jokes I had a good laugh at are localization only.

I am playing with Japanese voices in Rebirth 2 as well, if only because I've gotten used to IF and Compa's Japanese voices now (though I prefer Compa's English voice by a wide margin), and I didn't like the original CPUs English voices in the first game all that much; Noire's sticks out for being... not good, especially in HDD form, and Vert's doesn't fit her character. Neither does Blanc's, especially when she snaps. Neptune is fine on both ends, I prefer Japanese Purple Heart, however.

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