Soooooo what'cha playing?

[Interdimensional Observer]

7 hours ago, Armagon said:

One hope i do want for Xenoblade X2, if and when it happens, is that Skell are more designed around their pilots. I know Skells can be heavily customized but the two criticisms i've heard is that they all feel samey and on-foot combat is just better. Mechs in previous Xeno games, especially Xenogears, were all designed around their pilots and i think bringing that back would be a nice thing.

Yeah, nobody playable has a signature Skell. Not even the DLC characters, three of the four have their 3rd Affinity Missions give you schematics for special "trophy" Skells, with free materials to make one of each. The bad guys get their signatures of course, but

Spoiler

technically, the Vita isn't even worthy of being called Luxaar's signature. Since his compatibility with it is stated to be only 30%. 

Leaves me thinking just how strong the Vita would be with its perfect pilot ("the Great One" IIRC). If 100% compatibility = more than triple the power of 30% compatibility, then maybe the Vita could rival some of the weaker "great" Xeno- mechs. Not that it matters since the Vita got destroyed, unless they choose to rebuild it, which is totally feasible given somebody "died".

 

I do like having the variety of seven Skell models to choose from, even if in practice I don't notice the difference very much, beyond fuel reserves (though there are other differences, like Skell Overdrive effects). And I'd want even more models in an XCX2: the Orphe, Ma-non, Wrothian, and Nopon could all make for fascinating new Skell designs.

But I'd like some signatures too. Elma needs one. Alexa would make sense. Doug is something of a test pilot for Lin's flight module prototypes. I wouldn't give everyone a signature, if they kept the large playable roster. Nor would they need them right away, they'd be a good reward for an Affinity Mission. Or, they can start with weak signatures, and an Affinity Mission would upgrade it (just don't let it be sellable). Not necessarily the best, but good for no investment at least; the very best could be tricked out crafted/bought Skells. And it wouldn't have to be that much, they could opt for a simple customized variant on a normal model with an altered name and some changed stats. Murderess with an Inferno named "Hel Inferno" featuring increased Gravity resistance, and maybe a unique weapon locked to and irremovable from the Skell.

Edited July 17, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[Armagon]

So i did the opposite what i said i was gonna go. I decided i would get all of the ending in Atelier Lulua in one go as opposed to my original plan, which wasn't that. Now, i haven't actually beaten the game (because even with a high quality Fate Talisman with Great Learner XL, i'm just now cracking the Lv.80s) but i have the requirements for every ending met. Also i genuinely wasn't paying attention to this cutscene so i was caught off guard. (It's three different videos because the Switch only lets you record up to 30 seconds at a time).

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

But I'd like some signatures too. Elma needs one. Alexa would make sense. Doug is something of a test pilot for Lin's flight module prototypes. I wouldn't give everyone a signature, if they kept the large playable roster.

Yeah, i think the "main" party members should have signature Skells while the secondary party members just get generic Skells that you can customize. Cross should get a "unique generic" Skell where it's his signature Skell but due to being an avatar, you can customize it in a way that the secondary party members wouldn't be able to. Does that make sense? I'm just reading it out loud right now and i feel like what i just typed doesn't make sense.

So instead, whatever class you choose for Cross is what determines the Skell he gets. I think that's a more feasible option. And of course, later in the game, you can change it however you want.

On the subject of Skells, i think Skell-exclusive areas would be a great thing. Another criticism of the Skells in Xenoblade X, specifically once you get the flight module, is that they undermine the exploration aspect, which i'm in the middle of. One on hand, terrain stops mattering. On the other hand, there's places where you can only reach with a flying Skell, such as those floating islands in Oblivia. So i'm thinking the sequel should have areas that you can only explore with a flying Skell. It's already established in-universe that Planet Mira is one very strange planet and that's ignoring the concept art that shows that Planet Mira is an impossible planet. Or heck, how about space segments? Both ideas would also have Skell-exclusive battles, which is a nice concept after the Telethia, The Endbringer fight dabbles in it during the first phase of that fight. Fuel might be an issue but i suppose they could balance that. Actually, is it even possible to run out of fuel in the first place? I know you can but i've genuinely never seen it happen. I've never seen anyone say "oh i ran out of fuel this one time". It's even possible to fly over the five continents of Mira in one flight without running out of fuel.

Also i hope they keep Don't Worry as the flight theme because, as nonsensical as the lyrics are, that song is a banger.

Edited July 17, 2019 by Armagon

[Lightcosmo]

10 hours ago, Armagon said:

I think both are equal in this regard. The Visions were integrated so nicely into Xenoblade 1's combat. The Blades and anything regarding them were integrated so nicely into Xenoblade 2's combat. If you were to swap them around, it wouldn't be as good. Visions in Xenoblade 2 would be an interruption (and yes i know Visions are in 2 but that version is just more of a QTE; a less involved version of Xenoblade 1's Visions) and having Blades in Xenoblade 1 would just mess with the combat completely.

Yep, that's why I enjoy it's combat system so much, it just has so much impact. I really enjoyed all of the Xenoblade games, combat systems, I just think the first one and Torna are fighting for the top for me.

[Interdimensional Observer]

11 hours ago, Armagon said:

Cross should get a "unique generic" Skell where it's his signature Skell but due to being an avatar, you can customize it in a way that the secondary party members wouldn't be able to. Does that make sense? I'm just reading it out loud right now and i feel like what i just typed doesn't make sense.

It makes sense. More options for Cross than others, which could make them even better, or at least more flexible. Although it's not the perfect comparison, one could possibly use FE's Corrin as one. Technically you can customize the skill loadouts of others and their classes (their class lineups you can personally expand via the A+ and S supports), but Corrin can get their best/worst growths and Heart Class customized as well, and access to pretty much all classes. Or one could use Kris or Robin as other examples.

 

11 hours ago, Armagon said:

On the subject of Skells, i think Skell-exclusive areas would be a great thing. Another criticism of the Skells in Xenoblade X, specifically once you get the flight module, is that they undermine the exploration aspect, which i'm in the middle of.

Although given you have to complete Chapter 9 of 12 to get it, it's not so bad. The biggest issue is that the game doesn't force you to go to Cauldros until Chapter 11, so one could literally never step foot there until you've your wings. I recall having myself go there before Chapter 9 and exploring all I could on foot for this reason. That included, after multiple failed attempts, sprinting from the bottom of the big mountain in Cauldros to its summit without getting killed.

 

11 hours ago, Armagon said:

So i'm thinking the sequel should have areas that you can only explore with a flying Skell. It's already established in-universe that Planet Mira is one very strange planet and that's ignoring the concept art that shows that Planet Mira is an impossible planet.

?

*Looks at wiki*

You mean this?:

Spoiler

I never saw this artwork before. It looks nothing like the ingame Mira, beyond each of the five regions ingame being represented in some thematic way here.

It is just concept art, not meant to be taken literally. But I do think it mean that Mira does have unexplored regions at least, and makes the point you're stating.

The dark rifts are very strange. Maybe Mira got hit by a Leviathan and there is a Dark Mira that hasn't been explored yet. Can Mimeosomes be hijacked by organic lifeforms? Because the Ghost could be Ing then. (Metroid Prime 2 I'm jokingly referencing here.)

The north pole also looks something like a precursor to Alrest, with its World Tree surrounded by a precipitous drop in the Cloud Sea.

Thanks for making me find this.

 

11 hours ago, Armagon said:

Or heck, how about space segments? Both ideas would also have Skell-exclusive battles, which is a nice concept after the Telethia, The Endbringer fight dabbles in it during the first phase of that fight.

The Yggraliths are stated in their bestiary entry to travel from planet to planet, so interstellar non-civilization-forming lifeforms exist. Although just Telethia and Yggralith is a little too high end. Have to find other things that wouldn't rip 90% of players to shreds. 

I'd add that besides space and floating islands, they could try permanent weather effects in certain areas that either inflict debilitating debuffs when traveling on foot, or deal gradual but constant damage. Looking over the already extant weather conditions in XCX, they made Electromagnetic Storms deal damage to Skells and on foot (I forgot if Skells got hurt from this), but made Brimstone Rain damage only infantry. The game just needs to not offer an "- Screen" Augment that lets you negate the special weather's effects.

Or, rather than look outwards into space, they could turn inwards. If you deep enough in the ocean, the pressure becomes so great it'll crush you, unless you're in a vehicle that is designed to counteract the inward pressure from outside with an equal amount pressure outwards from inside. This pressure issue would exist if you went deep enough in the Earth even without an ocean of water resting over you. Skells could provide the protection you need from that massive pressure.

But if we do get Outer Space or "Deep Mira", can they please during these segments modify the controls? I don't want to be able to easily make the mistake of just pressing a face button on my controller, and unload my characters clad in casual clothing from their Skells into an environment where they either suffocate or are snapped in two in a matter of seconds.

 

11 hours ago, Armagon said:

Fuel might be an issue but i suppose they could balance that. Actually, is it even possible to run out of fuel in the first place? I know you can but i've genuinely never seen it happen. I've never seen anyone say "oh i ran out of fuel this one time". It's even possible to fly over the five continents of Mira in one flight without running out of fuel.

 

If you do a lot of Skell fighting in one sitting, I guess it's possible. I have burnt through a lot of Fuel that way, not all, but enough to concern me and force me to go back and refuel. And there is the final boss's final phase 100% Fuel drain technique, which forces you to fight it on foot if you don't cheat.

Most of the most powerful weapons you'll find on a normal playthrough cost 200 Fuel per use it looks like. If you equipped 1 200-Fuel weapon, 4 50-Fuel weapons, and 2 30-Fuel weapons, then the initial round of spamming all your Arts when a battle begins would cost 460 Fuel total.

Looking at Fuel tanks, assuming the Urban 20 you get as your starter freebie Skell is the lowest, you have 7650. The Amdusias Hades has the largest Fuel tank, at 28800 units.

Now you can craft some Skell Superweapons, all of which take up both weapons slots for their respective appendage, and which you can equip two of at any time- one on the Skell's shoulders, and one on the Skell's back. These cost between 1200 and 1800 units of Fuel per use individually. That's a lot, even if these weapons are as their epithet suggests, very strong. 

All this said, the game does let you convert 5000 Miranium to 3000 Fuel for a single Skell back in the BLADE Barracks, if you ever need more.

And, Fuel regenerates at a rate of like 1 unit per second or even faster than that whenever you aren't in a Skell. This Fuel regeneration happens even when you aren't playing XCX. You play a few hours of XCX before going to sleep, save and turn off the Wii U, wake up and after eating breakfast, turn XCX back on and see all your Skells are all fully filled again.

Edited July 17, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[Armagon]

I did it! I beat Atelier Lulua with the true ending (and by extension, every ending that isn't the bad one). I was 20 levels lower than the final boss but that was enough apparently. This is by far the best Arland game though there are some parts that i thought the Arland trilogy did better. But i'll get into that later. For now, let's go over the good.

The time limit in this game got yeeted. I don't dislike time-management but for an RPG, i think it's better off without them. Atelier Rorona's time-management was easy as pie, Atelier Totori's time-management was poorly designed and Atelier Meruru's was in the middle. Atelier Lulua doesn't have any and i think the game did better because of it. Because there's no time-limit, the game has all the time it wants to develop it's characters as well as being able to tell a story with actual plot. Visually, the game's also great and the addition of a fully controllable camera makes taking in the sights much better (Arland trilogy did not have this). The soundtrack is good, this is probably the best soundtrack out of any Atelier game i've played. The lack of a time-limit also gives way to a bigger emphasis on exploration. I loved discovering new areas to explore. Atelier Lulua is also the Atelier game (that i've played) with the best combat. Having a rearguard spiced things up and the interrupt system was exploitable and i love it. And of course, it wouldn't be an Atelier game without the characters. Characters are as charming as always. Atelier games always have a fun cast. I also appreciate you could swap out party members whenever. That was also something you couldn't do in the Arland trilogy.

There are some downsides though. The level scaling towards the later parts of the game is kinda wack. While i love the variety in Assist Skills, i wish they didn't activate automatically. So many times have i had a perfect Stun opportunity ruined because one of my rearguard party members attacked when i didn't want them to. Arland trilogy was better in this in that you decide when Assist Skills were activated. Speaking of the Stun mechanic, you can actually soft-lock. I was fighting the dragon in the final dungeon and i Stunned it but it had one of those after attacks where after it attacks, a second wave hits. So that second wave hit everyone in the front row and they all got Stunned which means everyone got Stunned and thus, no one gets to play the game. I got a black screen when this happened, trapped in Loading purgatory to the point where i had to exit the game. I also wasn't a fan of some of the grinding objectives. For a series that is very good and not making you grind, there were several objectives that wanted you to. I've said it before but i don't like working towards blind goals. Telling me to do something x number of times without actually telling me how many times i have to do it is a no-no. Also not really a fan of the increased stakes near the end. While the game kept the personal goal spirit of the Arland series alive throughout, i could've done without the high stakes. The Arland trilogy did have high stakes but they were more personal and way less climactic. Also, i do think the requirements for the true end are a bit.....much. It's basically get the requirements for every other ending but one of them requires extremely high quality curries, which can be tricky to do if you don't know how. @DragonFlames i don't know if you've gotten the true end but if you haven't, here's a guide on how to get extremely high quality on basically everything.

Final thoughts, of this six JRPGs i currently have on my Switch, this game is probably my third favorite. I unlocked the post-game but i'm going to take a little break from the series. I'll come back when the Totori and Meruru DLC drop but for now, i have to return my attention to Ritual of the Night and Super Neptunia RPG. I'm hoping to get one of these done before Three Houses drops in *checks calendar* holy fuck, that's next week. Anyway, Atelier Lulua gets a 9/10 from me.

One last thing, i'm glad it looks like Gust is ditching the time-limit. I already said how it was so good for Atelier Lulua and it seems the upcoming Atelier Ryza is following in it's footsteps. I look forward to that when it drops in October.

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

?

*Looks at wiki*

You mean this?:

  Reveal hidden contents

I never saw this artwork before. It looks nothing like the ingame Mira, beyond each of the five regions ingame being represented in some thematic way here.

It is just concept art, not meant to be taken literally. But I do think it mean that Mira does have unexplored regions at least, and makes the point you're stating.

The dark rifts are very strange. Maybe Mira got hit by a Leviathan and there is a Dark Mira that hasn't been explored yet. Can Mimeosomes be hijacked by organic lifeforms? Because the Ghost could be Ing then. (Metroid Prime 2 I'm jokingly referencing here.)

The north pole also looks something like a precursor to Alrest, with its World Tree surrounded by a precipitous drop in the Cloud Sea.

Thanks for making me find this.

Yeah that. It is concept but it shows Monolith Soft had some pretty big plans for Planet Mira and i'll imagine they'll revist it in some form. I remember reading about how Xenoblade X's story is actually shorter than it was intended and that was because the game became more gameplay-oriented halfway through development. This concept art is probably a remnant of that.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Or, rather than look outwards into space, they could turn inwards. If you deep enough in the ocean, the pressure becomes so great it'll crush you, unless you're in a vehicle that is designed to counteract the inward pressure from outside with an equal amount pressure outwards from inside. This pressure issue would exist if you went deep enough in the Earth even without an ocean of water resting over you. Skells could provide the protection you need from that massive pressure.

You know, i did not think of that and now i want an underwater area. We've had ocean themed areas with Eryth Sea and Leftheria but we've never actually gone under. The closest we've ever gotten is the underwater tunnels in Leftheria. I think a fully underwater area, perhaps with it's own civilization would be very cool to see.

As for it being a Skell-exclusive area, they don't need to make it so deep. You can't dive in any Xenoblade game so they could do the same here. There's an entire, beautiful area underwater but you need a Skell to explore it.

[B.Leu]

Labyrinth of Touhou 2 and PQ2. I might also try to 100% Etrian Odyssey 4.

Wish me good luck for the first one, because boy, got destroyed by the first boss. Which is a rat. with a parasol. in his mouth.
... To be fair, I was trying the in game challenge where you have to win the boss fight with a team level lower than the boss for more loot apparently.

Still hurt. 😞

Touhou doesn't screw arround.

Edited July 17, 2019 by B.Leu

[Shrimpica]

So playing more FFF:ADF when it suddenly went (Warning: Massive Spoilers!)

You have been warned

Steins;Gate on my ass. Funny think i jokingly thought about that exactly happening a few days ago and went ''nah'' haha.

Now it's full Hype Time, i guess. 

Why do i have to wake up in less then 5 hours?

[Sire]

Super Smash Brother: Ultimate - I'm late on this train. I got it as part of Nintendo's "Game Voucher" deal, with the other game being Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

At the moment I am on "Part 2" of the World of Light section, using Bowser as my main. Its great burning things to a crisp and just saying "no" to super armor with Bowser's Side+B. Ever since I got Bowser, he's been my go-to character and I haven't really swapped to anyone else since. I don't know if I'll transition to Ike (my original "main") once I get him since Bowser feels amazing to play as.

I tend to play more heavier characters that are "grounded" as combos and air attacks are not my specialty. The faster "fall speed" in Ultimate doesn't help me in this regard. This has screwed me over a few times where I make one mistake by pressing the wrong button and suddenly I'm dead instead of being able to recover. Also, it's a shame that World of Light is basically a glorified Events mode as I would have loved to see another "Subspace Emissary," but WoL has been enjoyable nonetheless. Lastly, dodges seem to have been changed as when I try to dodge or roll, I still get hit.

As a casual Smash player, my favorite is probably still Brawl due to its slower pace, overall aesthetic, and Subspace Emissary. Ultimate is still looking great though and may be my 2nd favorite. Melee and the original hold special places in my heart due to my time with them. Wii U and the 3DS versions are somewhat forgettable outside of Smash Run...

* * * * * * * * * *

Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2 - Also late on these games, I got them when they were on sale on Steam for less than $3. Absolutely loved my time with them, having soloed the campaign on the first title before fully transitioning over to the 2nd for general play. As an aside, I've been playing Solo Normal to try and understand the games first before maybe delving into multiplayer and the replayability aspect of L4D.

I haven't finished the campaign on 2 yet, but maybe I'll get back to it at some point...

* * * * *

Enter the Gungeon - Picked up the PC version when it was on sale. I saw an LP of it and always wanted to give it a whirl, so I eventually bought it.

The bullet hell dungeon crawler is pretty fun! My minor experience with other bullet hells helped a bit, but the main thing that got me is the hitbox. I'm used to Bullet Hells where the hitbox is basically a pixel, but I think Enter the Gungeon is for the entire character. At least there's a dodge roll that helps somewhat.

I managed to make it to the "Dragun" which acts as the first major turning point in the game, but I was defeated. I haven't really had time to go back to it though as of late...

Edited July 18, 2019 by Sire

[DragonFlames]

On 7/16/2019 at 6:11 PM, Armagon said:

Fun fact: since you're doing New Game+, you can turn off world map random encounters.

Yes, and it's glorious!
I'm almost through the Zero Dimension arc. I'm playing with Japanese voices this time around, and I gotta say, having every line voiced makes the experience a hell of a lot more immersive.

15 hours ago, Armagon said:

I did it! I beat Atelier Lulua with the true ending (and by extension, every ending that isn't the bad one). I was 20 levels lower than the final boss but that was enough apparently. This is by far the best Arland game though there are some parts that i thought the Arland trilogy did better. But i'll get into that later. For now, let's go over the good.

The time limit in this game got yeeted. I don't dislike time-management but for an RPG, i think it's better off without them. Atelier Rorona's time-management was easy as pie, Atelier Totori's time-management was poorly designed and Atelier Meruru's was in the middle. Atelier Lulua doesn't have any and i think the game did better because of it. Because there's no time-limit, the game has all the time it wants to develop it's characters as well as being able to tell a story with actual plot. Visually, the game's also great and the addition of a fully controllable camera makes taking in the sights much better (Arland trilogy did not have this). The soundtrack is good, this is probably the best soundtrack out of any Atelier game i've played. The lack of a time-limit also gives way to a bigger emphasis on exploration. I loved discovering new areas to explore. Atelier Lulua is also the Atelier game (that i've played) with the best combat. Having a rearguard spiced things up and the interrupt system was exploitable and i love it. And of course, it wouldn't be an Atelier game without the characters. Characters are as charming as always. Atelier games always have a fun cast. I also appreciate you could swap out party members whenever. That was also something you couldn't do in the Arland trilogy.

There are some downsides though. The level scaling towards the later parts of the game is kinda wack. While i love the variety in Assist Skills, i wish they didn't activate automatically. So many times have i had a perfect Stun opportunity ruined because one of my rearguard party members attacked when i didn't want them to. Arland trilogy was better in this in that you decide when Assist Skills were activated. Speaking of the Stun mechanic, you can actually soft-lock. I was fighting the dragon in the final dungeon and i Stunned it but it had one of those after attacks where after it attacks, a second wave hits. So that second wave hit everyone in the front row and they all got Stunned which means everyone got Stunned and thus, no one gets to play the game. I got a black screen when this happened, trapped in Loading purgatory to the point where i had to exit the game. I also wasn't a fan of some of the grinding objectives. For a series that is very good and not making you grind, there were several objectives that wanted you to. I've said it before but i don't like working towards blind goals. Telling me to do something x number of times without actually telling me how many times i have to do it is a no-no. Also not really a fan of the increased stakes near the end. While the game kept the personal goal spirit of the Arland series alive throughout, i could've done without the high stakes. The Arland trilogy did have high stakes but they were more personal and way less climactic. Also, i do think the requirements for the true end are a bit.....much. It's basically get the requirements for every other ending but one of them requires extremely high quality curries, which can be tricky to do if you don't know how. @DragonFlames i don't know if you've gotten the true end but if you haven't, here's a guide on how to get extremely high quality on basically everything.

Final thoughts, of this six JRPGs i currently have on my Switch, this game is probably my third favorite. I unlocked the post-game but i'm going to take a little break from the series. I'll come back when the Totori and Meruru DLC drop but for now, i have to return my attention to Ritual of the Night and Super Neptunia RPG. I'm hoping to get one of these done before Three Houses drops in *checks calendar* holy fuck, that's next week. Anyway, Atelier Lulua gets a 9/10 from me.

One last thing, i'm glad it looks like Gust is ditching the time-limit. I already said how it was so good for Atelier Lulua and it seems the upcoming Atelier Ryza is following in it's footsteps. I look forward to that when it drops in October.

Hey, glad you enjoyed it! I haven't gotten the True Ending yet, but I was planning to (I took a bit of a break to play Neptunia), so thanks for the guide!

I definitely agree with the flaws you listed, in particular about the Stun stuff. I had that happen to me on so many occasions, it's not even funny.
Agree on the final score, too.
I'm very much looking forward to Atelier Ryza, as well. I wonder if it can top Lulua.

[Shrimpica]

5 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

having every line voiced makes the experience a hell of a lot more immersive.

That's one of the few things that annoys me with IF/Compa games: incomplete English VA. The English VA work in DERQ is really really good, but 80% of the game is not voiced, including pretty damn important scenes. (The other thing that annoys me is the inability to save Everywhere. Sometimes a man just gotta go and not play until the next Save point. Even a Suspend save would be nice)

 

And since i remember you asking me to say my opinon on Fairy Fancer F: Advent Dark Force. I just reached the half way mark (and the route cut off, since the game has 3 routes. I don't know which route i landed on tbh haha, since i am playing Guideless). I've to say, i like it, I love it. At the beginning the Characters were a bit weak imo (weaker then Neps for sure), but the Setting and the Gameplay (if you love neps gameplay, you'll love FFF's. It's basically the same, but with more options) keep you going until the Characters start to grow and you start to get attached to them.... And then the game hits you with plot twist after plot twist, revelation after revelation, and the train is rolling. I'd say so far it's as good as R;B1, with potential to be as good as MegaNep. The games does feel alot like Neptunia tbh, with alot of Meta moments as well. However instead of Full Meta, it's semi-Meta, and story is quite a bit more serious as well.

 

 

[Armagon]

6 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

I'm very much looking forward to Atelier Ryza, as well. I wonder if it can top Lulua.

Well visually at least, it definitely will. They seem to be using Unreal Engine which has me a little bit worried for the Switch performance (worst case scenario, Switch version gets 30 FPS, 720p while everyone else gets 60 FPS, 1080p) but with Gust has quite a bit of experience for the Switch, so i'm sure it'll be fine.

Back to Atelier Lulua real quick though, i did forget to mention that there's one other thing i missed from the Arland trilogy: you could synthesize anything regardless of level. Now, whether or not you'd succeed in synthesizing something higher than your level is a different story but i liked that game of chance. I prefer that over being unable to synthesize something because i'm one level short. But that's just a small preference. Synthesizing is still good.

9 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

(The other thing that annoys me is the inability to save Everywhere. Sometimes a man just gotta go and not play until the next Save point. Even a Suspend save would be nice)

I feel like this is a pet-peeve of the genre for a lot of people and it isn't exclusive to Compile/IF games. Like, if you're still putting save points in 2019, what are you doing? Just let me save whenever or, like you said, at least a Suspend Point.

Auto-save should also be a thing but that can fuck you over depending on the game so at least make it toggable or do what Trails does and have section dedicated to auto-saves. 

[DragonFlames]

1 hour ago, Shrimperor said:

That's one of the few things that annoys me with IF/Compa games: incomplete English VA. The English VA work in DERQ is really really good, but 80% of the game is not voiced, including pretty damn important scenes. (The other thing that annoys me is the inability to save Everywhere. Sometimes a man just gotta go and not play until the next Save point. Even a Suspend save would be nice)

Yeah, it's a bit of a shame, too, because as I've already said, the English voice work is awesome in MegaNep VII.
Though I guess having no VO at all doesn't spoil certain moments in the English version, like the fact that the Uzume that appears to Nepgear when she dozes off clearly ISN'T "our" Uzume due to the way her voice sounds. I hadn't even noticed that this might actually be a different entity from Uzume (a.k.a. Kurome), because we don't hear her speak. Awesome foreshadowing is awesome.
Seriously, a second playthrough and knowing what happens makes me appreciate the excellent writing in the Zero Dimension arc even more.

1 hour ago, Shrimperor said:

And since i remember you asking me to say my opinon on Fairy Fancer F: Advent Dark Force. I just reached the half way mark (and the route cut off, since the game has 3 routes. I don't know which route i landed on tbh haha, since i am playing Guideless). I've to say, i like it, I love it. At the beginning the Characters were a bit weak imo (weaker then Neps for sure), but the Setting and the Gameplay (if you love neps gameplay, you'll love FFF's. It's basically the same, but with more options) keep you going until the Characters start to grow and you start to get attached to them.... And then the game hits you with plot twist after plot twist, revelation after revelation, and the train is rolling. I'd say so far it's as good as R;B1, with potential to be as good as MegaNep. The games does feel alot like Neptunia tbh, with alot of Meta moments as well. However instead of Full Meta, it's semi-Meta, and story is quite a bit more serious as well.

That does sound pretty great. If there's different routes, that adds to the replayability, if they're different enough.
Will definitely have to look into this game someday, as well.

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Well visually at least, it definitely will. They seem to be using Unreal Engine which has me a little bit worried for the Switch performance (worst case scenario, Switch version gets 30 FPS, 720p while everyone else gets 60 FPS, 1080p) but with Gust has quite a bit of experience for the Switch, so i'm sure it'll be fine.

Lulua is Gust's fourth game on the Switch that isn't a remake of an older game, so they know what they're doing when it comes to Ryza, I believe.
If you're curious, the other three are as follows:
Atelier Lydie and Suelle - The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings (the third game in the Mysterious trilogy, second sequel to Atelier Sophie)
Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World (a crossover game)
Nights of Azure 2 (one of my favorite games as of this post, though MegaNep VII might have overtaken it as my favorite game right now)

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

I feel like this is a pet-peeve of the genre for a lot of people and it isn't exclusive to Compile/IF games. Like, if you're still putting save points in 2019, what are you doing? Just let me save whenever or, like you said, at least a Suspend Point.

Auto-save should also be a thing but that can fuck you over depending on the game so at least make it toggable or do what Trails does and have section dedicated to auto-saves. 

I personally don't mind the save point stuff, particularly in dungeons. Though I do agree that there should be more suspend save options for when there's real life stuff coming up.

Auto-saves would screw you over big time in Re;Birth 1 and its various sequential boss fights if you so happen to be underlevelled for one of them, for example.

[Shrimpica]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

I feel like this is a pet-peeve of the genre for a lot of people and it isn't exclusive to Compile/IF games. Like, if you're still putting save points in 2019, what are you doing?

Yeah. But thankfully the industry seem to be moving from that...

10 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Though I guess having no VO at all doesn't spoil certain moments in the English version

I mean, i wouldn't call foreshadowing spoilers xD.

It seriously hurts DERQ tho, since it's a thriller/mystery, and not hearing the sighs and stuff makes some of the clues go away. Not to mention it makes emotional moments emotionless.

10 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

That does sound pretty great. If there's different routes, that adds to the replayability, if they're different enough.
Will definitely have to look into this game someday, as well.

The name of the routes alone makes them sound pretty different (Storywise atleast.)

I will post my full thoughts when i finish every route 😄

Edited July 18, 2019 by Shrimperor

[DragonFlames]

Just now, Shrimperor said:

I mean, i wouldn't call foreshadowing spoilers xD.

You're right, of course.
Though in my first playthrough, when that scene was unvoiced, I didn't think too deep about that particular scene and went away believing it is how Nepgear sees Uzume. Voiced, however, I immediately noticed that something was off just from the way Uzume talks in that scene. Sure, me already knowing what's going on helped (with Kurome being able to appear in people's dreams and all), but I'm sure I would have had my suspicions had I played with Japanese voices from the get-go, hence me calling that a "spoiler".
You're still right, of course. It's not really a spoiler and more an "ah-ha!" kind of moment.

1 minute ago, Shrimperor said:

The names of the routes alone make them sound pretty different (Storywise atleast.)

I will post my full thoughts when i finish every route 😄

Nice, nice!

---

I have to make one more comment on MegaNep VII. I praised its glorious soundtrack, and I still think it's amazing, but I'll be honest: Dancing Girl and To Hell are still my two favorite boss themes in this series, the former in particular. And I'm kind of bummed that I don't get to hear those in this game.

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

Lulua is Gust's fourth game on the Switch that isn't a remake of an older game, so they know what they're doing when it comes to Ryza, I believe.
If you're curious, the other three are as follows:
Atelier Lydie and Suelle - The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings (the third game in the Mysterious trilogy, second sequel to Atelier Sophie)
Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World (a crossover game)
Nights of Azure 2 (one of my favorite games as of this post, though MegaNep VII might have overtaken it as my favorite game right now)

Yeah but i don't think any of those have used Unreal Engine, that's where my bit of concern comes from. The saving grace is that they know how to develop on the Switch.

[DragonFlames]

... I just learned that there was apparently first-print exclusive DLC for Nights of Azure that gave you the Hyperdimension Neptunia personification of Gust as a demon servant...
It's a small world, after all.

50 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Yeah but i don't think any of those have used Unreal Engine, that's where my bit of concern comes from. The saving grace is that they know how to develop on the Switch.

I honestly don't know if they had or hadn't.
What exactly would be bad about the Unreal Engine? Apologies if this is a stupid question, I'm not tech savvy enough to know these things.

[Armagon]

9 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

What exactly would be bad about the Unreal Engine? Apologies if this is a stupid question, I'm not tech savvy enough to know these things.

It's not a stupid question, don't worry about it. And what i'm about to explain applies to the Switch specifically, PS4/Xbox One/ PC don't have to deal with this. Unreal Engine is good, it's just you kinda have to optimize right when it comes to the Switch. PS4 and Xbox One don't have to deal with it and if your PC is good enough, you can run some of the higher end Unreal Engine games.

Because it's also a handheld, the Switch isn't as powerful as the PS4 or Xbox One and as a result, sometimes ports of 3rd party games get the short end of the stick. For example, the Switch version of Ritual of the Night runs at 30 FPS, 720p and on handheld mode, it runs even worse. The other versions of the game run at 60 FPS, 1080p. That's an example of a game using Unreal Engine though, sometimes games that don't have that still don't run as good on Switch as they do on other platforms, though by how much varies. Atelier Lulua on Switch runs worse than it's PS4 counterpart but it's such a minimal difference that it's unnoticeable. The worst case scenario is that sometimes a game just can't run on the Switch. There's a reason why the Switch only gets Final Fantasy 15 Pocket while everyone else gets the real version of the game. 

It's worth noting that this only applies to 3rd party games that have different versions. 1st party games and 3rd party games exclusively developed for the Switch (that may or may not have gotten ports to other platforms such as Octopath Traveler) don't really have this problem.

There hasn't been a case of a Switch port just being so inferior that it's unplayable but i would prefer a game to run better. Like i'm still having fun with Ritual of the Night but i'm definitely playing the worst version.

At the end of the day, the graphics don't matter to me as much but i would prefer a better performance. So when Atelier Ryza drops on Switch in October, i'll still get it even if it ends up as the noticeably worst version. I'd just prefer it if it wasn't that. Now, i'm going to admit, i'm actually not 100% sure if Atelier Ryza is running on Unreal Engine. I think it is because of how it looks but i could be wrong and they're simply just using a new visual style. And i'm actually not sure if my post here is 100% accurate but at the very least, this is the gist of the Switch's occasional issues with 3rd party games.

[Jingle Jangle]

Today I have completed and got the true ending for Batman Arkham Knight. Overall I loved it and disliked it at parts.

I liked certain sections in the story. Panessa Studios and Ace Chemicals areas were some of my highlights in the game. The Season of Infamy DLC was great for involving more of Batman's central rogues that didn't get much exposure in the campaign. Loved how the game ended on that after 10 years Gotham needed more than Batman creating a new identity. Not too many stories I seen end on that note.

What I disliked how frequent the Batmobile was to the game. Almost 50% of my playthrough was in it. Some of the worst moments of the game are in it. From the bizarre tank stealth sections, transforming the game into a superhero version of Twisted Metal, running over people at 80 mph. The Riddler trophies were worse  is time around. The increase in verticality  and size of the map made it more difficult to collect them all. The worst being the ones the clues that leave only two four-digit numbers that are map coordinates then do a race on. 

As for the story section, Batman's martyr complex throughout just makes things annoying. All of his allies are in the city that night yet he want to save Gotham by himself. Scarecrow and Arkham Knight interests in theatrics ruin their own plans in the end they feel sidelined by Joker. The Arkham games relied on the Joker too much, as if he is the true Batman villains and all of the others are B-listers for side missions. After 4 games I thought that will change. Even in dead he manages to steal the show turning Batman (somehow) into him.

[DragonFlames]

13 hours ago, Armagon said:

It's not a stupid question, don't worry about it. And what i'm about to explain applies to the Switch specifically, PS4/Xbox One/ PC don't have to deal with this. Unreal Engine is good, it's just you kinda have to optimize right when it comes to the Switch. PS4 and Xbox One don't have to deal with it and if your PC is good enough, you can run some of the higher end Unreal Engine games.

Because it's also a handheld, the Switch isn't as powerful as the PS4 or Xbox One and as a result, sometimes ports of 3rd party games get the short end of the stick. For example, the Switch version of Ritual of the Night runs at 30 FPS, 720p and on handheld mode, it runs even worse. The other versions of the game run at 60 FPS, 1080p. That's an example of a game using Unreal Engine though, sometimes games that don't have that still don't run as good on Switch as they do on other platforms, though by how much varies. Atelier Lulua on Switch runs worse than it's PS4 counterpart but it's such a minimal difference that it's unnoticeable. The worst case scenario is that sometimes a game just can't run on the Switch. There's a reason why the Switch only gets Final Fantasy 15 Pocket while everyone else gets the real version of the game. 

It's worth noting that this only applies to 3rd party games that have different versions. 1st party games and 3rd party games exclusively developed for the Switch (that may or may not have gotten ports to other platforms such as Octopath Traveler) don't really have this problem.

There hasn't been a case of a Switch port just being so inferior that it's unplayable but i would prefer a game to run better. Like i'm still having fun with Ritual of the Night but i'm definitely playing the worst version.

At the end of the day, the graphics don't matter to me as much but i would prefer a better performance. So when Atelier Ryza drops on Switch in October, i'll still get it even if it ends up as the noticeably worst version. I'd just prefer it if it wasn't that. Now, i'm going to admit, i'm actually not 100% sure if Atelier Ryza is running on Unreal Engine. I think it is because of how it looks but i could be wrong and they're simply just using a new visual style. And i'm actually not sure if my post here is 100% accurate but at the very least, this is the gist of the Switch's occasional issues with 3rd party games.

Ah, I see now. Thanks for explaining.
Let's hope it's not the Unreal Engine or Gust knows how to make it function on the Switch, then.

[Camus The Dark Knight]

Fire Emblem 4

It gave me the idea to check up on the site.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Started to play Tokyo Xanadu today.

The beginning was........not great.

I barely survived the first boss with 22 HP and one death. 

I need to buy a controller because there are too many buttons to press on the keyboard that I already forgot some commands or pressed on the wrong button. It is Ys, but way more complex. 

If I should have mastered the controls, I am fairly sure it will become a promising game.

 

One fun side fact: In this game are references to other Falcom games. 

[DragonFlames]

Soo... I decided to support IF and Compile Heart a bit and got the DLC characters for MegaNep VII. I dropped the ball on recruiting Nitroplus, because I already finished Vert's path before downloading them.
Blanc now has a fish with a goofy face in her party. A fish who is absolutely busted if my theory about skills always doing fixed amounts of damage is wrong.
Along with the gentlemanly fish voiced by Xander Mobus in the English dub, another... thing joined my party. A thing apparently called "Nepgya", who looks just like Nepgear, but constantly has her shocked expression. I mean, Neptunia has some wacky stuff happening in its several universes, but I think this is by far one of the wackiest things I have ever seen.
A pic, for reference, putting the two side by side (Nepgya on the left, Nepgear on the right):

Wtf? Just... wtf?

[Shrimpica]

ugh send help i've been binging FFF without stopping xD. I think i am looking at finishing a route this weekend, if not today lmao

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

I dropped the ball on recruiting Nitroplus, because I already finished Vert's path before downloading them.

Don't tell me you forgot to recruit Arthur, too! Becaus She, along with Umio, are best DLC characters tbh.

I also didn't use Umio in Hyperdimension Arc. For immersion reasons xD

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

another... thing joined my party. A thing apparently called "Nepgya", who looks just like Nepgear, but constantly has her shocked expression.

Ah, the best character. I say that as a joke because she's an actual joke character. She also didn't originate from any of the games. From the wiki, here's her origin

Quote

Nepgya originates from the Paper Dimension 4-Panel comic in Dengeki's Neptune volume.

She initially appeared in a small comic included in Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2's artbook as Nepgear's shocked expression when IF surprised her with saying "Nepugia!!" in response to Neptune's Japanese expression "Nepu!".

In Vol. 7, the expression returned to Nepgear's face, shocking Nepgear in the process. Nepgear tries to revert her face back, only to fail and just settled with a smile.

In Vol. 14, Nepgear seems to have her expressions back as she talks to the viewer, only to rip her face mask off and reveal that she is still stuck with the expression.

During Vol. 24 to 26, Neptune tells Nepgear, as a celebration of the comics' second year, that the Nepgya face is banned for the year. Nepgear jumps in joy, while briefly turning her face into Nepgya. Nepgear then looks at the calendar and was disappointed on the fact that the date was April 1. While Nepgear is sleeping, Nepgya separated herself from Nepgear as a spirit, thinking that it is time for her to leave and let Nepgear find her own personality and happiness. Nepgear wakes up in the morning, feeling lighter, while Nepgya watches from the side, wondering where she should go. She continues to watch Nepgear while taking note that she will disappear if she stays as a spirit, as well as conflicted whether she would possess other people or not. She was interrupted by Neptune, who mistakes her for Nepgear, thus confusing and surprising Nepgya.

After meeting with the sisters, Histoire explains that a stream of shares, which are from the viewers, allows her to materialize. As Nepgya wonders about her fate, a referendum appears, asking about her fate to the viewers. The choices are: Going back to Nepgear, Disappear, Be a new character or Other. The results were determined by letters sent by the readers.

After a while, the results arrived showing that more than half chose Nepgya to become a new character and without anyone choosing for her to disappear. This touched Nepgya as she wouldn't have to worry about disappearing. However, the letter, which contains the results, started shining and transformed Nepgya into her own version of Purple Sister, which is actually showcasing the "Other" option, which is to become the "Nepgya goddess". Neptune and Histoire congratulate Nepgya as she prepares to leave for a journey and try to have a quiet life. Nepgear sighs in relief as she thinks that she won't make weird faces anymore. However, as Nepgya leaves, 12% of her secretly goes back to Nepgear.

In Vol. 29, Nepgear appears to be wishing happiness to everyone on the moon. She opens her eyes to reveal that it is actually Nepgya who is just tricking the viewer on that strip.

In one of the 4komas for the anime, Nepgear, who still has a Nepgya face, remembers her leading role in mk2. Then she also looks at the anime version of herself, briefly praising it before cursing it to get stuck with the same Nepgya face.

 

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

I dropped the ball on recruiting Nitroplus, because I already finished Vert's path before downloading them.

53 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

Don't tell me you forgot to recruit Arthur, too! Becaus She, along with Umio, are best DLC characters tbh.

Wait, you can lock yourself out of recruiting them?

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

On 7/17/2019 at 1:25 PM, Armagon said:

You know, i did not think of that and now i want an underwater area. We've had ocean themed areas with Eryth Sea and Leftheria but we've never actually gone under. The closest we've ever gotten is the underwater tunnels in Leftheria. I think a fully underwater area, perhaps with it's own civilization would be very cool to see.

As for it being a Skell-exclusive area, they don't need to make it so deep. You can't dive in any Xenoblade game so they could do the same here. There's an entire, beautiful area underwater but you need a Skell to explore it.

I did really like those two tunnels in Leftheria, they were beautiful. They were better than all the faux coral the Eryth Sea had scattered over its land to attempt its nautical feeling; but I'm not calling the Eryth Sea bad, it was a quaint brain lake.

The deep sea aspect was partly thoughts on reality from watching plenty of Planet Earth, and partly remembering the old JRPG Skies of Arcadia. The game has a brief segment where you have to descend to and scan the bottom of sky with radar to find something Minesweeper-style. Think Chapter 7 XC2 if Mikhail had to drop a crane into sand to find Jin, and often to only discover a giant manta ray he'd have to kill instead and then try again. SoA also had the Dark Rift, a giant black hole-like place that was in ways underwater-themed, and in others is a little creepy dark alien void world-themed.

 

Underwater battles and locations in XCX2 would be great to me. Mira has a lot of water that amounts to just empty space, underwater environs could fill it in. Looking at the XCX map of Mira:

Spoiler

There is enough empty ocean here for another couple regions. Although since Skells move faster than humans on foot and are bigger, the areas could feel smaller than they actually are, which might be to their benefit with so much ocean to fill in.

One couldn't retroactively add underwater portions to XCX1 though, owing to the Lifehold Core being submerged and for that reason it was undiscoverable until the very end of the game.

I could see some saying Thermal weapons shouldn't work down there, but like an electric stovetop, really hot things don't require flames. If Skells can operate in space and air, then sea should be no concern.

 

 

I decided to try the demo for God Eater 3. I've never played either prior game, nor have I tried Monster Hunter, which apparently the series tries to compete with, albeit looking a bit more anime and some gameplay differences.

The demo reminded me of Daemon X Machina's, except it was even more purely gameplay than DXM's, no story at all (other than the opening trailer). It has a tiny hub, a console to customize your weapon and move loadouts, and another console to accept the handful of missions, only three of the seven being actual gameplay, the other four are pure tutorials. There is the character creation aesthetic customization options, nothing massive, but enough that its good, I spent way too long for a demo picking out how I wanted my character to look.

From the short time playing it, I understood the basic controls of the game, but nothing more. The game gave me base level versions of all the weapon types to try, yet the demo didn't give me anything of a good feel as to the differences between the melee ones, which is what I'll be using most of the time. And with the useful AI partners, I wasn't compelled to learn anything complicated regarding fighting.

I could see myself possibly getting the game, but the demo did little to truly persuade me for or against it. Not what I hoped for, I wanted more decisiveness.

Edited July 20, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer