Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Armagon]

@Interdimensional Observer @Lightchao42 @lightcosmo @Shrimpolaris ok so Monolith just decided to drop fundamental gameplay info two days in a row so here i am tagging y'all again. This time it's from a dev blog.

1. Healer revives in action

Basically, Healers have no limit on how often they can revive. There's no meter for this....well actually there is: the meter that tells you how long the revive will take. Yeah revives aren't instant in this so no, you can't just slap a team of Healers on your party and expect infinite revives. This fact also makes Defenders even more important, because they gotta keep the aggro on them while the Healer does their medical stuff.

The more i see of this, the more i can tell that Monolith Soft is putting a lot of care into how a six-member party is going to function. 

(Side-note: Healers, or Eunie at least, can cast an AoE regen field around them so there is incentive to stand near Healers as well).

2. The quick dash we've been seeing.

It's really just for positioning but damn, it looks so smooth.

3. Swapping control of characters. You can do it in the overworld like in Torna 

but according to the blog, you can also do this IN BATTLE! People have been asking for this for years. I always felt the Xenoblade AI was decently competent (especially in Xenoblade 2/Torna) but having even more control of who does what is only good. I do just hope AI competency wasn't sacrificed for this.

Time will tell but to me, it feels like Monolith Soft said "yeah all those raw combat systems in previous games was just the warmup act, now we're getting serious".

7 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

Criticism about the portrayal of women means nothing to me – these are empty words. I never cared, I don't care, and I probably never will.

I mean it's not like i'm gonna lose sleep over it. I just think it's weird that Kaga keeps doing it, it's like his mind never left the 90s.

45 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Isn't that guy like, really popular?

And why do you think that is?

45 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Fiction mirrors reality, after all - and what do these issues say about reality?

Funnily enough, i was reading this article (it was about Xenoblade fanservice lol) and it was basically saying that there's two ways the audience can approach fiction: "it's fiction so it's fine, it's not real" and "it's not fine because it's not real" basically the "fiction mirrors reality" approach and it's basically saying that both approaches are valid.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Armagon

[Sooks]

10 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I don’t see any appeal in the Kogals you see around in recent times⁸.

What does “Kogals” mean?

[Lightcosmo]

55 minutes ago, Armagon said:

ok so Monolith just decided to drop fundamental gameplay info two days in a row so here i am tagging y'all again. This time it's from a dev blog.

1. Healer revives in action

Thank you! ❤️

55 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Basically, Healers have no limit on how often they can revive. There's no meter for this....well actually there is: the meter that tells you how long the revive will take. Yeah revives aren't instant in this so no, you can't just slap a team of Healers on your party and expect infinite revives. This fact also makes Defenders even more important, because they gotta keep the aggro on them while the Healer does their medical stuff.

The more i see of this, the more i can tell that Monolith Soft is putting a lot of care into how a six-member party is going to function. 

(Side-note: Healers, or Eunie at least, can cast an AoE regen field around them so there is incentive to stand near Healers as well).

Okay, if they design it with the right negative in mind, this is fine.

They usually don't run into issue of poorly designed gameplay (XS II not withstanding)

This sounds awesome!

55 minutes ago, Armagon said:

but according to the blog, you can also do this IN BATTLE! People have been asking for this for years. I always felt the Xenoblade AI was decently competent (especially in Xenoblade 2/Torna) but having even more control of who does what is only good. I do just hope AI competency wasn't sacrificed for this.

Time will tell but to me, it feels like Monolith Soft said "yeah all those raw combat systems in previous games was just the warmup act, now we're getting serious".

I don't think i'm in this group, but nice to hear anyways!

They had to start somewhere. XD

Edited April 28, 2022 by lightcosmo

[Saint Rubenio]

The game just introduced me to Trevor and Sick. Characters that, according to people online, as the comic relief recurring villains. They describe them as pretty great ones, too.

Trevor and Sick proceeded to demolish me 10 times before I could beat them. What the hell was that? Why are the funny idiot bad guys the toughest bosses so far?

Then we had this exchange.

I love this game.

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

And why do you think that is?

Of course.

Quote

Funnily enough, i was reading this article (it was about Xenoblade fanservice lol) and it was basically saying that there's two ways the audience can approach fiction: "it's fiction so it's fine, it's not real" and "it's not fine because it's not real" basically the "fiction mirrors reality" approach and it's basically saying that both approaches are valid.

Yeah, true. Again, it'd be easier if I could just stick to the former, but I can't help but be more in the latter camp. While fiction isn't real, it's created by real people. A female character in a game doesn't dress in horrible fanservicey clothes because she wants to, she can't want to, she doesn't exist. She dresses in those clothes because a person in real life decided "let's reduce this character to eye candy, and that'll give us more money, because females are better when they're hot and the rest of them matters less." It's an unpleasant thought that I can't shake whenever these things happen.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Saint Rubenio

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Huh, five characters are shown in the combat, interesting!

This is a big difference compared to three in the former games (Idk if it also applied to X since I have not played that one)

[Armagon]

14 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

She dresses in those clothes because a person in real life decided "let's reduce this character to eye candy, and that'll give us more money, because females are better when they're hot and the rest of them matters less." It's an unpleasant thought that I can't shake whenever these things happen.

My issue with this way of thinking is "if it applies to sex, should we apply it to everything else?" Killing is something you do a lot in games but i don't think devs actually want you to go around killing people.

But again, both views are valid.

I do think fiction can imitate reality in some ways but i don't think it's always an advocation, you know?

3 minutes ago, Julizan said:

Huh, five characters are shown in the combat, interesting!

This is a big difference compared to three in the former games (Idk if it also applied to X since I have not played that one)

Six actually. No seven. Six main party members+an occasional guest character.

The previous record was 4 party members in Xenoblade X (although if you wanna be technical, Torna did have six people out at once).

[Punished Dayni]

19 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I love this game.

Trevor needs to compensate for not having a dumb name as comic relief.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

This is cool, but also quite huge. I do not know, how I will feel about it. Usually action RPGs have usually 3-4 playable party members. However if I am not mistaken switching characters during combat in Xenoblade was not possible, so it should not affect too much. If it should be possible, I could imagine it can become chaotic.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Julizan

[Interdimensional Observer]

5 hours ago, Dayni said:

 

Hey, I never said I wanted him. Acknowledging Man-deus is a hunk, doesn't mean I'm asking for his junk.

 

1 hour ago, Sooks said:

What does “Kogals” mean?

The red footnote at the end explained it. Japanese schoolgirls of the 1990s who had a bit of a cultural nonconformity streak, including dyeing their hair blonde.

[Lightcosmo]

56 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

A female character in a game doesn't dress in horrible fanservicey clothes because she wants to, she can't want to, she doesn't exist. She dresses in those clothes because a person in real life decided "let's reduce this character to eye candy, and that'll give us more money, because females are better when they're hot and the rest of them matters less." It's an unpleasant thought that I can't shake whenever these things happen.

These are worse than my CS rants. XD

[Saint Rubenio]

52 minutes ago, Armagon said:

My issue with this way of thinking is "if it applies to sex, should we apply it to everything else?" Killing is something you do a lot in games but i don't think devs actually want you to go around killing people.

But again, both views are valid.

I do think fiction can imitate reality in some ways but i don't think it's always an advocation, you know?

Fair point, but there's a bit of a difference, I think. Violence in games is most often treated as a necessary evil. Sometimes it's parodied and mocked by making it ridiculously over-the-top, to the point where it's obviously not meant to be taken seriously. There's also plenty of stories that make "violence is bad" the entire message they try to convey, or at least one of the major ones.

By comparison, there's a lot less fiction that criticizes the sexual issues. Most often, it's there even when there's absolutely no need for it - celebrated, even, just because the creators of fiction know that the majority of people prefer female characters when they're hot and this hotness is put up on display, regardless of all other factors.

Still, it's true that fiction tends to take stuff like violence in stride, as well. I mean, the amount of people who watch shows like The Sopranos or Breaking Bad and come out of it thinking "wow, Tony/Walt is such a boss and a real man, too bad their families are bitchy cunts, that totally isn't the result of having horrible parents" is straight up depressing.

In the end, these are complex issues, and I suppose I'm a hypocrite for caring more about some than others. I guess it comes down to how desensitized to them I am. Violence and death are pretty much unavoidable in fiction. Someone dies in 99.99% of stories. Sexualization, while still very common, can be dodged depending on what kind of fiction one consumes growing up. I'm no better than anyone else, I'm just not as used to one issue as I am to the other.

Damn. Now I'm sad.

12 minutes ago, lightcosmo said:

These are worse than my CS rants. XD

Yeah, you know what? I should just shut up. It's not like talking about it to people who disagree is going to change anything. I should just stick to talking about games I like and keep my frustrations with the state of the world to myself. Nobody wants to hear that.

With that, let me use this chance to recommend everyone to play Lisa: The Painful, a game I've recommended a couple of times, which isn't nearly enough, because it's a masterpiece and the only reason it didn't make me feel as much as Omori is that I got spoiled, as usual. Come to think of it, why haven't I shilled this more to @Shrimpolaris and @Sooks? This game would be right up their alley. The amount of suffering in it is staggering. It covers child abuse, drug abuse, suicide, depression, trauma... You know, the works.

Also, there are no women in the game. All the women died years prior to the start of the game, that's the premise. I can't be mad about the treatment of women when there are no women.

48 minutes ago, Dayni said:

Trevor needs to compensate for not having a dumb name as comic relief.

His face isn't dumb, either. He looks very angry. Almost too angry, like he's trying too hard. Which... is his character, actually. He's the one that tries too hard, so much that it becomes humorous. Good job on the design, SCF.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Saint Rubenio

[Sooks]

16 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I mean, the amount of people who watch shows like The Sopranos or Breaking Bad and come out of it thinking "wow, Tony/Walt is such a boss and a real man, too bad their families are bitchy cunts, that totally isn't the result of having horrible parents" is straight up depressing.

There’s no way anyone has actually thought this…

…right?

16 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

the only reason it didn't make me feel as much as Omori

Dammit, you know exactly how to get me interested in games…

16 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

is that I got spoiled, as usual. Come to think of it, why haven't I shilled this more to @Shrimpolaris and @Sooks? This game would be right up their alley. The amount of suffering in it is staggering. It covers child abuse, drug abuse, suicide, depression, trauma... You know, the works.

I’ll look into it, thanks.

16 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Also, there are no women in the game. All the women died years prior to the start of the game, that's the premise. I can't be mad about the treatment of women when there are no women.

Ruben has become so invested in the treatment of women in video games that he circled around to the other side and now hopes there are no more women in games.

[Shrimpica]

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Fiction mirrors reality, after all

Hard disagree here

Very hard disagree.

Also it's not like only females get sexualized, males do plenty, too. Maybe you don't see it often because you don't read stuff aimed at girls, however i do dabble from time to time and boi...

More degen. Much more degen.

And it's fine. As long as in serious stories the characters are more than meat pieces, which is often enough the case.

Maybe if reality had magic bending dragons transporting people to other dimensions i would think differently lol

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

in spite of the fact that she dresses completely out-of-character

Why would the way someone dresses bother you that much?

People in summer wear revealing clothes all the time, i won't handle them different because of that.

And that applies to characters as well, they are more than their looks

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

The quick dash we've been seeing.

The backflip tho

2 hours ago, Armagon said:

you can also do this IN BATTLE!

YEßSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSßSSSSSS

Finally!

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

let's reduce this character to eye candy

Except they usually are more than just eye candy. People's inability too look beyond that worries me more than the people who draw sexy stuff ngl.

Now if they were just eye candy you will find me complaining as well, but more due to their characterization. And that's more my problem with the Kaga heroines as well, and not just woman representation.

23 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

violence is bad

Also plenty of violence because of violence

And it's fine. Everyone needs to let steam out every once in a while. Nothing helps as much in a bad day

23 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Also, there are no women in the game. All the women died years prior to the start of the game, that's the premise.

Kaga^2

Edited April 28, 2022 by Shrimpolaris

[Interdimensional Observer]

https://www.gematsu.com/2022/04/maglam-lord-coming-to-pc-on-may-30

Switch or PC? Now I have a choice. I prefer Switch, but, maybe the PC version will fix the laggy performance the Switch release has. Then again, this game has no reason to be lagging on Switch at all, so maybe the developers are just lazy, in which case, can I expect the PC port to make it better? Although the gameplay is simplistic and easy, the real draw is the writing, so does lag even matter? I'd go with whichever has the first sale, but the developer would probably do it on both marketplaces simultaneously.

---

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/04/tales-of-arise-tops-an-impressive-2-million-sales

Tales of Arise continues to do well. Tales is very well alive.

---

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04/yuji-naka-was-removed-as-balan-wonderworld-director-filed-lawsuit-against-square-enix

And it looks like the bete noire bomb of 2021 ran into development issues. Although anonymous online commentators are somewhat divided whether or not Yuji Naka is a good boss/competent developer, or if having him at the top was actually the problem and he is engaged in unsubstantiated slander. Maybe a blend of rush and Naka Bad?

 

11 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Also, there are no women in the game. All the women died years prior to the start of the game, that's the premise. I can't be mad about the treatment of women when there are no women.

Move to Mount Athos. The famous monastic community in Greece where women are to this day forbidden to visit. Can't have them distracting the monk men from their prayers to God for everyone's immortal souls.

I would say one solution would be "make everyone biologically asexual or hermaphroditic". But then, biological sex and gender identity are separate things, and you need to eradicate both the female sex and the female gender. I'm actually familiar with one species in a video game that is biologically asexual, but has both male and female genders. Thus, you would need to make everyone into Gorons seemingly asexual and male-gender only.

 

1 minute ago, Shrimpolaris said:

Also it's not like only females get sexualized, males do plenty, too. Maybe you don't see it often because you don't read stuff aimed at girls, however i do dabble from time to time and boi...

You talking about "reading stuff aimed at girls" brought this otome I recently saw to mind.:

You likey?😛

[The Roger The Paladin]

Fuck chapter 8 and fuck that Draco-knight. That's twice I've critted him to death trying to wittle him down for capturing. Twice. I have now lost a move level on Halvan, and at least one good level on Leif between the two runs. All because I want to actually play the gaiden chapters.

[BrightBow]

1 minute ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Fuck chapter 8 and fuck that Draco-knight. That's twice I've critted him to death trying to wittle him down for capturing. Twice. I have now lost a move level on Halvan, and at least one good level on Leif between the two runs. All because I want to actually play the gaiden chapters.

You can use a thief to place items into an enemy's inventory too.
For example a scroll, in order to prevent unwanted crits.

[Shrimpica]

5 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

You likey?😛

Ngl

Looks interesting

*looks up vndb*

https://vndb.org/v32555

"With this oath branded into her heart, she returns to life… Yet this resolve will only lead to further misfortune."

Boi

I like the sound of this

3 minutes ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Draco-knight. That's twice I've critted him to death trying to wittle him down for capturing.

...you can't capture mounted units

You need to sleep them first

Edited April 28, 2022 by Shrimpolaris

[BrightBow]

2 minutes ago, Shrimpolaris said:

...you can't capture mounted units

You need to sleep them first

He doesn't start mounted and there is no way to put someone to sleep this early into the game anyway.

Edited April 28, 2022 by BrightBow

[Shrimpica]

 

3 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

He doesn't start mounted and there is no way to put someone to sleep this early into the game.

Ah that guy

I confused it with another chapter

Edited April 28, 2022 by Shrimpolaris

[The Roger The Paladin]

1 minute ago, Shrimpolaris said:

.you can't capture mounted units

You need to sleep them first

He's the boss in chapter 8 that starts dismounted. It's fine. I just don't know his name offhand because cart and my Japanese is meh at best. Bastard has enough defense from the gate that I really, really need to wittle him if I hope to capture him before he mounts. But I keep getting crits.

[Saint Rubenio]

Oh God, another Exit Fate boss fight so soon. It's optional, but I need to do it to recruit Richard. And Richard looks pretty good, I don't have an archer right now.

13 minutes ago, Sooks said:

There’s no way anyone has actually thought this…

…right?

My sweet summer child.

13 minutes ago, Sooks said:

Dammit, you know exactly how to get me interested in games…

I’ll look into it, thanks.

Hah! Very well, then.

13 minutes ago, Sooks said:

Ruben has become so invested in the treatment of women in video games that he circled around to the other side and now hopes there are no more women in games.

Oh God, no.

12 minutes ago, Shrimpolaris said:

Snip

Yeah, you make good points. Maybe I'm just an idiot that worries too much.

Ah, let's just drop it. I know I'm the one who started, but I don't want to keep arguing about this.

7 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Move to Mount Athos. The famous monastic community in Greece where women are to this day forbidden to visit. Can't have them distracting the monk men from their prayers to God for everyone's immortal souls.

I would say one solution would be "make everyone biologically asexual or hermaphroditic". But then, biological sex and gender identity are separate things, and you need to eradicate both the female sex and the female gender. I'm actually familiar with one species in a video game that is biologically asexual, but has both male and female genders. Thus, you would need to make everyone into Gorons seemingly asexual and male-gender only.

A game entirely made up of Gorons would be way rad, not gonna lie.

[BrightBow]

6 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

You can use a thief to place items into an enemy's inventory too.
For example a scroll, in order to prevent unwanted crits.

Wait, sorry. Odds are rather low to have an unfatigued thief at this point.

[The Roger The Paladin]

5 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Wait, sorry. Odds are rather low to have an unfatigued thief at this point.

Actually, Lifis has exactly 2 points of fatigue before he's forced out. By sheer luck. Didn't think about that. Might try it if I strike out a third time.

[Acacia Sgt]

*Me looking the conversation kept going*

[Acacia Sgt]

6 hours ago, ping said:

That's mad! Crazy! More legitimate heirs? Think of the gavelkind!

Although I'm guessing that you get to primo by the 1300s in CK2, too

Still, the CK3 powermove is to reform into a matriarchal religion

Fortunately, 769!Asturias doesn't begin with Gavelkind.

I think it also begins as Elective, but that's more manageable to ensure my dynasty keeps inheriting. At least until the switch to Primogeniture. Although, thanks to Bloodline shenanigans I gained the ability to switch to Tanistry, which I did for a bit to ensure specific inheritances. Then switched back to Primo.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Acacia Sgt