Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Capt. Fargus]

45 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Ruben would absolutely hate this game (you have to kill old people in it).

Uh oh... he should have a chapter comin up where he’s gotta take out some old sage fella guarding one of the FE6 legendaries... Oates I think his name is

[Interdimensional Observer]

I was quite eager, and had totally nothing else to pass the time, so I went ahead and finished the Ark.

Spoiler

Yuriev had a decent finale. Standing in the Path of the Sephirot, inside Deus's core. Fear and aspirations of godhood instead of love and a desire for redemption compelling the human to walk the path, the setting so similar yet so different. They even tossed in a few unrelated seconds of spirit-nudity!

The boss battle? Yuriev took a bit too long, and I'm still not fond of 100% accurate partywide Ether sealing. Being advised to Heat away the enemy Boost was bad advice, the damage and break damage from Infinitum isn't that terrible and enemy Boost simply fills too fast to for you to devote 1/3rd of your actions to spamming Heat. I realized that about halfway in and then proceeded to constantly heal, sometimes Break Heal, and spam physical Techs to defeat Yuriev.

When phase two started, I made a save state for the first time with this game. I did NOT want to repeat that somewhat tedious first stage. The Xenogears with totally in-your-face Weltall and Vierge puppets that weren't at all necessary, cool!😄 And thankfully, it was rather easy. Anima Specials tore through it, and for the damage, it did a ton to everyone once, but otherwise it was very manageable. As for the music, I tried taking note of it, it sounded alright, but I was too focused on the battle itself, and not a single note remains in my brain.

And then Albedo showed up. Poor Fei -but just think of how Elly felt being damseled in the endgame, now you shall know her suffering. *Ahem* Oh yes, White Testament, focus on him. His personality remained the same as pre-Testament-ization, if less bombastic I felt, perhaps because he has died and know what he shall do here. -And then I saw why IIRC Armagon thought he got shortchanged, he just fades away, well, into goes into a slumber from which he might awaken later. No battle, although I feel if there was going to be one vs. White Testament in a world where Xenosaga wasn't cut short, it would've been sometime before Yuriev+Omega. This just seems like the perfect way for Albedo to have gone out. Wasn't part of his madness even before Militia b/c he was afraid of being alone b/c he was immortal and was afraid his bros would die and leave him? Now he's stuck with his other half forever. Two souls entering one body and a reference to metempsychosis in a PS2 game, not the first time I've seen that, actually.

Gaignun... well there wasn't much to be said about him at this point, hard to when Yuriev controlled him and the dive into Shion's mind devoured the midgame. As for Junior, he handled it as would be expected I suppose. Although when Gaignun chatted in his mind for a moment with that spirit-nudity I joked about earlier, I thought that Junior would pull an Emeralda and suddenly physically grow up. Al' & Ni' lost their shota forms, why didn't Ru' get his maturation with the conclusion of his storyline?

I saved with the chapter's end, and proceeded onwards into the next, I wanted to see what would now happen with Yuriev gone. I callllllllled it! Heinlein is Wilhelm, Margulis in shambles, what fate/death shall he meet?🤔 "Heinlein" was a really weird disguise, a man never physically seen, yet trusted beyond all else, Wilhelm was right to call Margulis a man of deep faith -not to criticize religion by saying this. Twas but a barely-concealed metaphor for religious faith when I think about it.

Michtam/Abraxas, the planet of the Pied Piper (and coincidentally the name of the one Deus blew up during testing). That explains why Black Testament is still around, he feels like he is going to be such a filler boss. Is there anything to develop with him? Pied Piper had it read like he was yet another victim of loneliness & U-DO sensitivity. I forget the details about Canaan from the Pied Piper, so at least I think I can look forward to whatever happens to him (he seems like a poor fellow). As for Doctis/Melisse, is she benignly going to live on the side to the very end? -But then why make a point of her using a mimeosome and her real body being hidden else, that just sounds like the bad guys will find her real body and kill it. It still being on Michtam sounds feasible, and Voyager might like to murder his former coworker, or Canaan her fellow brother-in-arms.

Now... was Exceed supposed to happen when they were all still in Shion's subconscious? I know Rennes-La-Chateau is supposed to be Lost Jerusalem/Earth, but Michtam seems like it might be the location of the final finale of Xenosaga. The shops look like they've had their final update. MOMO outright said in Exceed they were in the process of escaping from Rennes-La-Chateau, but KOS-MOS learning about about "that soul" and why T-elos wants to fuse in a place beyond time with her never happened there. I'm a little confused -unless Exceed outright bent the knowledge KOS-MOS had at that time. Only one way to find out- keep playing.

I saved in the Elsa and stopped there. I'll continue on tomorrow, although I need to go back into the Ark to see what that rock the robot gave me does.

And random gameplay observation- the Ice element is entirely unavailable to the player in E.S. combat. Plenty of Physical, Fire, Beam, and some Lightning weaponry, but no Ice at all. I think I can see why XCX ditched Ice when Monolith decided to give it a similar set of Attributes. Ice can be perfectly fine in a purer sci-fi game -as to opposed to fantasy where the Greek-Hindu classical elements make "logical" sense- certainly more fitting than Earth or Wind (or Water, that Ice-related element that it often one and the same). What could be interesting would be an attribute system where you had a “Thermal” attribute that wasn't just Fire as in XCX, Heat and Cold would be classified sub-attributes of Thermal, since (minus the combustion process) they’re opposites of the same thing- increasing or lowering temperature. Lumping them under a single greater attribute would be because it's entirely possible for something to resist both temperature change extremes.

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, still in the midst of doing quests, but I'm putting a stop for now.

[Armagon]

Neat

Not a cell phone in sight. Just living the moment.

Bring me that horizon.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

The boss battle

Hardest boss theme of pre-Blade Xeno.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Now... was Exceed supposed to happen when they were all still in Shion's subconscious? I know Rennes-La-Chateau is supposed to be Lost Jerusalem/Earth, but Michtam seems like it might be the location of the final finale of Xenosaga. The shops look like they've had their final update. MOMO outright said in Exceed they were in the process of escaping from Rennes-La-Chateau, but KOS-MOS learning about about "that soul" and why T-elos wants to fuse in a place beyond time with her never happened there. I'm a little confused -unless Exceed outright bent the knowledge KOS-MOS had at that time. Only one way to find out- keep playing.

It could be possible that KOS-MOS was simply pulled from a different point in time than MOMO was. Rennes-La-Chateau was already a timespace anomaly.

Wouldn't be the first time the crossover games did this. In Project X Zone 2, Dante knows what happens to Vergil (this is pre-DMC5 obviously) despite those events not happening to Vergil yet.

[Eltosian Kadath]

It is done. I have all achievements in Sekiro.

[Saint Rubenio]

10 hours ago, Capt. Fargus said:

I like Dieck. I definitely like him better than that Ogler or whatever his name is. 

I like Ogier better because he's worse. Although Dieck does have a pretty cool design, better than Ogier's milquetoast look. My current Dieck is somewhat speed blessed and he was perfect to support Klein, so I had to use him. It pains me to use a good unit, but...

10 hours ago, Capt. Fargus said:

You took the path where you get Bartre? I’m kinda curious how he stacks up against Gonzales from the other path

Well, he's basically 20/1 Wade. There's actually not much more to him, he's just a promoted Wade with all of Wade's weaknesses and his singular strength of having big strength, but he doesn't need training or promoting and he has a bit of extra bow rank. Against Gonzalez... Well, again, promoted, no investment needed, bows. Those are pretty important. On raw stats, though, he loses. Gonzo is pretty speedy and promotion instantly skyrockets his skill long past anything Bartre could ever hope to reach.

This is not to say he's bad. He's actually kinda great with an iron bow, though his accuracy suffers from his terribad skill. His awful skill and speed really limit him, though. It's not that bad for what's left of the Western isles, but once you leave he starts getting consistently doubled, and you might as well forget about having him use axes. Echidna is probably the better unit. She has a lot more ways to compensate for her low power and durability than Bartre does for his low speed and accuracy.

She's also a rare female hero, which is awesome, while Bartre exists in the same game as the best axe fighter, Lot.

8 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

His name is Free Armorslayer

Hey, he does more than Wendy does

8 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

I am surprised I didn't mention it earlier, but it is kinda interesting that one of Sekiro's bosses is from that rather rare demographic of videogame characters

An old woman in Lady Butterfly

Y E S

Sekiro is automatically amazing.

7 hours ago, Armagon said:

Ruben would absolutely hate this game (you have to kill old people in it).

Don't be so sure. I appreciate the existence of elders in videogames, even if I have to kill them. Especially when they look like they can put up one helluva fight, like Lady Butterfly overthere.

6 hours ago, Capt. Fargus said:

Uh oh... he should have a chapter comin up where he’s gotta take out some old sage fella guarding one of the FE6 legendaries... Oates I think his name is

Oates, yeah. Good memory! I always found him to be really funny, because his dialogue, role and gameplay performance are no different from any of the bazillion throwaways you've fought up to that point... Except Oates looks like this.

Like, I know Niime, Marcus and Yoder are a thing, but unlike them, this guy doesn't just look old, he looks like a senile 97-year-old who falls asleep on his chair every so often. In other words, the last person that you'd expect to still be working as a military commander leading a whole platoon on a critical mission. And yet he does, and he's actually kind of a terror with his boltings. FE6 says no to ageism!

[Lightcosmo]

8 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

saved in the Elsa and stopped there. I'll continue on tomorrow, although I need to go back into the Ark to see what that rock the robot gave me does

For Shion's ultimate weapon.

If you mean the purified crystal, at least.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Lightcosmo

[Sidereal Wraith]

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

 

Like, I know Niime, Marcus and Yoder are a thing, but unlike them, this guy doesn't just look old, he looks like a senile 97-year-old who falls asleep on his chair every so often. In other words, the last person that you'd expect to still be working as a military commander leading a whole platoon on a critical mission. And yet he does, and he's actually kind of a terror with his boltings. FE6 says no to ageism!

I’m old, senile and fall asleep in my chair.

[Saint Rubenio]

32 minutes ago, Sidereal Wraith said:

I’m old, senile and fall asleep in my chair.

It's you, Wraith. You are Oates Binding Blade.

[Sidereal Wraith]

31 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

It's you, Wraith. You are Oates Binding Blade.

I’m way more handsome then he is. I’ve got that silver fox look going on.

[BrightBow]

Aggro Incarnate added a playlist for the Vestaria Saga II songs a while ago.

Titles are just the names of the actual song files. So they aren't very informative, sadly.
I did rip them myself a while ago, so I know that much.
Like, Karajan's theme is ws-msc01_011. Would not have been my first guess.

 

[Lightcosmo]

Maxing out Stamina isn't fun at all. XD

Apologies for the poor quality, my old TV screen does not agree with my new age phone camera. 

[Armagon]

Holy shit, attaching Dragon scales to your Zonai devices is an actual cheat. Even just putting a replica scale from Autobuild will prevent whatever it's attached to from despawning. To clarify, your Zonai devices have longer-reaching permanence if there's a Dragon scale attached.

I was sailing from Lurelin Village to Akala, made a quick stop in Hateno to restock on arrows and then when i returned to the coast, my pirate ship was still there. Without the scale it would've despawned long before.

Only problem with this is of course it requires a Dragon scale, which isn't as easily farmable like they were in Breath of the Wild (you can only get one Dragon scale/claw per cooldown (each Dragon is different) and the Dragons themselves move in-real-ish time. Just because Faroosh began his day in Gerudo doesn't mean he always will, because his timer pauses whenever you rest.

Of course i'm also playing on 1.1.1 with the easiest duplication glitch known to man.

4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I appreciate the existence of elders in videogames, even if I have to kill them.

Ruben fighting old people bosses

[Acacia Sgt]

4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Oates, yeah. Good memory! I always found him to be really funny, because his dialogue, role and gameplay performance are no different from any of the bazillion throwaways you've fought up to that point... Except Oates looks like this.

Like, I know Niime, Marcus and Yoder are a thing, but unlike them, this guy doesn't just look old, he looks like a senile 97-year-old who falls asleep on his chair every so often. In other words, the last person that you'd expect to still be working as a military commander leading a whole platoon on a critical mission. And yet he does, and he's actually kind of a terror with his boltings. FE6 says no to ageism!

To be fair, it is part of the stereotype of "old magic sage". Even within Binding Blade Niime and Yoder are also magic users.

[Acacia Sgt]

Okay, time to begin TH's timeskip period. Onward to Chapter 13!

[Interdimensional Observer]

I love the sound effects of E.S. combat, they're so crunchy. The standard E.S. battle theme is so serious too, adds a certain gravitas to their use that differs from that of personnel combat. And I somehow haven't tired of the attacks animations, as plain as they are.

Fought Pelligri. Trying to get take away all the Vessels of Anima I see. Leaves me wondering which reason is going to explain how the heroes' E.S.s are going to continue functioning in the endgame if the big bad is trying to collect/awaken them all. I also found the location of Erde Kaiser Sigma, chose not to fight it knowing it's probably the strongest boss in the game.

 

10 hours ago, Armagon said:

Wouldn't be the first time the crossover games did this. In Project X Zone 2, Dante knows what happens to Vergil (this is pre-DMC5 obviously) despite those events not happening to Vergil yet.

I'm uncertain of the events myself, but assuming tragedy happens, that could be interesting. Seeing one character struggle knowing but being unable to speak about what is yet to happen for another. I'd leave me hoping they can simply enjoy this bizarre miraculous moment where they can be together again, however brief.

 

3 hours ago, Lightcosmo said:

For Shion's ultimate weapon.

If you mean the purified crystal, at least.

No, the rock I meant turned into chaos's ultimate weapon + a nice ring.

I found Omega-Id. I tried fighting it, but I realized I was going to run out of Half-Repairs before I destroyed it b/c missmissmissmiss. I then went and continued on in Michtam and got the Nullify Evasion disc from the first boss encounter there. Before I try fighting Red Weltall again, are there any more of those Nullify Evasion discs I can get?

Edited June 4, 2023 by Interdimensional Observer

[Saint Rubenio]

2 hours ago, Sidereal Wraith said:

I’m way more handsome then he is. I’ve got that silver fox look going on.

Don't put Oates down. He's got that top tier beard going.

1 hour ago, BrightBow said:

 ws-msc01_011

Ahh, my favorite. I should change my extension accordingly.

1 hour ago, Lightcosmo said:

Maxing out Stamina isn't fun at all. XD

Apologies for the poor quality, my old TV screen does not agree with my new age phone camera. 

The really bad image quality makes the little guy (gal?) look so derpy, I love it.

40 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Ruben fighting old people bosses

Indeed, but alas. I must be strong, and look to all the anime teens I can kill after.

You know I was actually toying with the idea, now that I have time, to make a boss recruitment mod for BB...

24 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

To be fair, it is part of the stereotype of "old magic sage". Even within Binding Blade Niime and Yoder are also magic users.

Oh yeah, definitely, but in their portraits the playable old people still give off an appearance of being spry and alert for their ages, so to speak. Oates, meanwhile, has the same forceful, authoritative speech as all the other, younger bosses, but his portrait looks like he is permanently asleep and/or suffering of back aches. It's a weird contrast.

[Capt. Fargus]

3 hours ago, Sidereal Wraith said:

I’m old, senile and fall asleep in my chair.

Im old too but sure as hell don’t look that frail 😳

2 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Aggro Incarnate added a playlist for the Vestaria Saga II songs a while ago.

Titles are just the names of the actual song files. So they aren't very informative, sadly.
I did rip them myself a while ago, so I know that much.
Like, Karajan's theme is ws-msc01_011. Would not have been my first guess.

 

Last week I grabbed that game off GOG. Went to put it on my laptop and the damn PlayonMac app wouldn’t run it 🤬

 

 

7 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Oh yeah, definitely, but in their portraits the playable old people still give off an appearance of being spry and alert for their ages, so to speak. Oates, meanwhile, has the same forceful, authoritative speech as all the other, younger bosses, but his portrait looks like he is permanently asleep and/or suffering of back aches. It's a weird contrast.

Dude kinda gives me the vibe like the Emperor from Star Wars. Kishuna LOOKS more the part IMHO but Oates is more fitting personality wise

[Acacia Sgt]

I totally get those Vampire Hubert memes now...

[Interdimensional Observer]

2 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

The really bad image quality makes the little guy (gal?) look so derpy, I love it.

Chao are gender-neutral/ambiguous. However you want to imagine them.

Chao come from eggs (and sometimes can reincarnate), but how the eggs get made is left unsaid. It doesn't matter, because they're the undeniably cute stars in the greatest virtual pet/child-raising simulator known to humanity. Which is technically nothing more than an optional side-activity in a game whose "main" aspect is unironically overshadowed by and infinitely inferior to Chao-raising.

9 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Oates, meanwhile, has the same forceful, authoritative speech as all the other, younger bosses, but his portrait looks like he is permanently asleep and/or suffering of back aches. It's a weird contrast.

Close one's eyes to the world, and the eyes of the mind open. He sees not walls, nor columns, nor floors or water. He looks upon the plane of the spiritual, he can see souls five-hundred kilometers away. A body without a soul is no threat at all, and humans know not how to protect their essence, thus, with single precision strike...🌩️.

[Lightcosmo]

21 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

The really bad image quality makes the little guy (gal?) look so derpy, I love it.

Thats just how Chao look. At least Chaos Chao do. Xd

[Sidereal Wraith]

45 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Don't put Oates down. He's got that top tier beard going.

Now who’s being ageist? 

33 minutes ago, Capt. Fargus said:

I’m old too but sure as hell don’t look that frail 😳

I’ve lived a long, wearisome life.

[Acacia Sgt]

I'd say, it would be interesting to read/write a story about two characters getting Isekai'd to Fodlan... but one arrives pre-timeskip and the other post-timeskip.

[Capt. Fargus]

Ch 22x of Blazing Blade on Hector's story. Never tried this one yet. This was one of the few times I was able to stop Pent from killin all the bad guys in the desert before I could get enough exp points

This should be enough beef to knock it out... I hope anyways

 

Screen Shot 2023-06-04 at 11.14.57 AM.heic

[ping]

19 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Hey @gnip remember when you talked about how Elen's good growth of magic helps her compete with Saul and stuff?

Well, scratch that. My 20/7 Elen has the same magic as base Cecilia.

...Yeesh. She does beat Cecilia in most other stats, but still. That's just sad.

five_points.mp4 (behind her averages)

RNG gonna RNG, I guess. Unless you play PoR and abuse BEXP, of course. And on the plus side, it's food for the Niime propaganda presses, since you can only ever be positively surprised by her level-ups, for example when she gets an extra point of staff range by leveling Mag.