[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

I wonder how Pac-Man fits into the Xeno lore...

On 8/13/2023 at 7:54 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

Whoa what is this? Context?

Luigi isn't actually in Pacific Rim Uprising, of course. Charlie Day, who voiced Luigi in the Mario movie, played the main villain (he was good in the first movie and happened to be brainwashed by the kaijus' creators, more specifically). It was a strange sequel, hence why Armagon acts like it doesn't exist.

9 hours ago, Armagon said:

His movie made less than Morbius btw

No no, he's got a point.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

Heihachi moment

9 hours ago, Lightcosmo said:

If your still on the Switch version, i want to know if this bug still exists or if it's been addressed there, too. XD

Yeah, it was fixed a few weeks ago.

7 hours ago, Armagon said:

Pacific Rim got a sequel?

It did, Luigi was the main villain... oh wait, you're ignoring it on purpose. I'm glad I got to make that Luigi joke, however.

4 hours ago, Sooks said:

How far we’ve come…

Now they can eat ice cream without trauma. If I had a nickel for every time Estelle tried to get Joshua to feed her, I'd have two nickels.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

Trails into Reverie Lloyd Act I

Spoiler

After dealing with the occupation in the prologue, it's finally time for Crossbell to gain it's long-awaited independence. Basically every non-villain character from from Zero and Azure who wasn't in the previous two games comes back here, Noel and Wazy in particular rejoining the party. Most of this chapter is spent reacquainting yourself with them, as well as a few other familiar faces. Erika Russell is also back, and she's still terrorizing Agate.

It only took seven games, but Rixia finally joins early into the game. Hunting down monsters is just a light workout for her, apparently.

Tio: Hmm... maybe in a few years I'll get to be like you.

Rixia: Uh, I hope that's... related to battle?

Soon it's finally time for Crossbell's independence to be formally signed in... Except not, because somehow... Rufus returned (from jail). He brings with him an unlikely gang of supervillains: Garcia Rossi, Dieter Crois, Not-Ilya, and who appears to be the Emperor (from Three & Nine, not Emperor Eugent). Also, Novartis seems to be helping them with a new group of evil robots. We're still pretty early into the game, so naturally Rufus annihilates everyone with his S-craft once his HP reaches a certain amount. His takeover of Crossbell seems all but assured, so how will the heroes get out of this one...?

Also, I appreciate how Reverie has a model viewer. Hopefully you won't spend too much time looking at Rixia.

6 hours ago, Sooks said:

I’m not sure if there’s any games missing in between those but I’m fairly certain that first trilogy is the best place to start for western fans.

Have fun! More specifically the Phoenix Wright trilogy contains the first three main games, while the following three main games will get a modern release next year. As stated previously, The Great Ace Attorney games are prequels so you don't have to worry about them spoiling games you haven't played yet.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

They're comfy and easy to wear.

13 hours ago, Sooks said:

Lmao is that really a spoiler?

Yes.

Spoiler

One might not expect the Grandmaster to show up at this point in the series, she was introduced before half the Anguis even.

 

12 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

Also, now that you're playing Reverie, I recommend you follow this guide for the optimal experience™

I was planning on going Lloyd -> Rean -> C every chapter, but I'll try this order out.

Apparently there are fewer missables than usual in this game, so maybe I'll play normally before any points of no return and use a guide to make sure I didn't miss anything. But the idea of playing without a guide for once feels... intimidating.

12 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

And he still managed to fuck over everyone

Pain...

11 hours ago, Sooks said:

Y’know these archetypes are very useful information if a teehee hack ever gets made

I also got the powerful endgame girl (twice), I must be the Dark Sooks.

8 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Lots of other developmental factoids there.

If you happen to be interested in more development factoids (or for anyone else who might be interested), you can read these three interviews. The second in particular covers unanswered questions and plot points that didn't make it into the final game.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

I can't believe the cutscenes got buffed.

I appreciate Trails into Reverie's quality of life improvements (getting an accessory from a chest will automatically display what it does, the arts menu lets you know if any enemies are weak to each art, targeting an enemy with an art shows if the enemy is weak/resistant to it). I also got a game over on the first boss...

23 hours ago, Sooks said:

Ah Ouroboros… never once can someone have good motivations.

But they'll pay for your college tuition. And have you considered

Spoiler

Grandmaster hot?

 

23 hours ago, Sooks said:

Anyway, congrats on beating the game!

Thank you. It only took 120 hours.

11 hours ago, Armagon said:

Who knows. They immediately regretted it.

I'm not sure about immediately; they stayed married for 20 years (1987 to 2007), even Venom wasn't properly introduced until a year after the marriage. It was mostly Quesada that didn't like it I think. Stan Lee's newspaper comic briefly broke them up too, but that was later established as being a bad dream and they stayed together afterwards.

(As another comic timespan oddity, Norman Osborn stayed dead for 20 years despite being regarded as Spider-Man's archenemy.)

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

I can't believe it took four games for Rean to get an ending that isn't terrible. I also appreciate that the English voice actors are credited this time. Wait, Jona was Alear all along?

Spoiler

For the true final boss, everyone is here. If fact, everyone who has been playable in the Cold Steel arc is either playable here or has their Brave Order usable. Except Rixia. The battle was suitably climactic but I'm not sure if it felt too long or not...

Well boys, we did it. The Curse is no more. Which was Osborne's plan all along, apparently. With that, Crow's time is up... except we have two Sept-Terrions now, and he's not allowed to get another death scene. Not that everyone gets to stick around, though.

Also Franz happened to prepare a backup body for Millium, so she's back too. Erebonia still has problems in the future, but we can worry about that later because Olivert and Schera finally tied the knot! It's a nice note to end the arc on, Schera got to accomplish her dream of becoming a princess and everyone gets to hang out in peace for once. And Rixia was there too! Afterwards Rean returns to teaching at Thors' branching campus, finally being able to look forward to the future.

I like how Cedric chooses to join Ouroboros basically to go on vacation. A surprise to be sure, but an interesting one. They only have three active Enforcers (that have been properly introduced) left at the moment, they could probably use the extra manpower.

For some reason, you have to replay the ending to get more Ouroboros goodness of Campanella and Mariabell meeting with the First Anguis. He sounds like Nielsen, it's pretty suspicious how he knows basically everything and just happened to have the last Black Records... It could just be a coincidence though. Weissmann has been dead for years and he still continues to get zero respect.

Even the Grandmaster finally appears in the flesh and oh no, she's hot! No wonder everyone is Ouroboros is so dedicated to her. Where can I get the society's merchandise? Technically I knew what she looked like before I played Sky FC, though I didn't know it was her at the time. I was wondering who the lady on Trails into Reverie's boxart was... Anyway, with the Phantasmal Blaze Plan complete, the arc ends on the Grandmaster's prediction for the future and the announcement of the next phase of Ouroboros's plot:

Eternal Recurrence? Takahashi can't keep getting away with it!

I am content. Basically

On 12/21/2022 at 12:59 PM, Sooks said:

Cold Steel 4 is peak fiction. And this time I’m sure.

 

On 8/9/2023 at 4:17 PM, Sooks said:

Finally, you’ll have the ability to spoil me.

When last we met I was but a learner, now I am the master. Though you can still spoil me on Tears of the Kingdom.

23 hours ago, Hanes said:

This is pretty fun.

I like how different enemies have different explanations for why they have jumbo versions, majoring in biology for two years paid off.

23 hours ago, Hanes said:

😠 Rean can go screw himself.

If you complain about Cold Steel backwards three times, Rean will visit you 72 hours later and give you headpats.

21 hours ago, Armagon said:

Ouroboros failed to reach the heights again, even if McBurn and Duvalie are good.

True! But those two are almost half of the Ouroboros members in the Cold Steel arc.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

You need a degree in biology to understand Pikmin lore. I appreciate the scientific explanation as to why there are jumbo versions of normal enemies, however.

17 hours ago, Hanes said:

Lol I didn't say I was skipping CS3 and 4. Chronological order is the only correct order, after all.

Prepare for goodness

Although it feels strange to be ahead of someone for once... ahead of someone who played more than just Sky FC, at any rate.

5 hours ago, Sooks said:

Ilya

What happened to pairing her with Rixia?

5 hours ago, Sooks said:

Also our protagonist isn’t as good.

Right, Rean is the best protagonist.

4 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Flopped is relative, anyway.

What matters is whether or not it made a profit, which it most likely did unless IS has Square Enix's sales expectations.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

Hype (Cold Steel IV post-final McBurn battle)

Spoiler

It's finally revealed how both Rean and McBurn are "mixed", but first we need to talk about alternate universes. I actually wasn't expecting the Divergent Laws to be explained yet... anyway, the Divergent Laws are a shorthand for stuff from outside the boundaries of reality, and the Salt Pale is one of those things. It explains why Loewe's sword could get over the Aureole's barrier, since it doesn't need to deter to the rules of Zemuria's reality. McBurn himself is a fusion of a human and a demon from another plane, and his actual goal is to regain his lost memories. The problem is that entering his true form would normally destroy reality, but the Great Twilight screwed up reality enough that he can do so now.

The battle with Final McBurn took me 30 minutes, and I liked the unique mechanic of needing Valimar to deal the finishing blow. I planned to have Rean defeat him with an S-craft too... Anyway, McBurn quits the battle once he succeeds in regaining his memories. He says more cryptic things about Campanella and Ouroboros ("they couldn't have picked a better name than that"), then peaces out to go question the Grandmaster. Before that, he apologizes for troubling the party, gives Rean and Valimar a power up, and leaves amicably. Everything revealed here was quite interesting, but again there's not much time to dwell on it, as we soon have the final battle with big bad Gilly Oz and his mecha friend Ishy.

I'll get the "normal" ending tomorrow and the true ending the day after that. And then I'll be free to do... something.

9 hours ago, Armagon said:

And it's being considered mainline. A25 even though Marie remake is A25 but i guess not. IT'S NOT EVEN BEING DEVELOPED BY GUST PRIMARILY!

Pain. I doubt there will never be an actual Atelier game again though.

Maybe it's like how IS inconsistently considers Archanea Saga a mainline game, but no one else does. Not even Sakurai!

8 hours ago, Armagon said:

Long Raiku is the funniest shit I've seen in a while.

The artwork looks better I think:

I'm looking forward to triceratops Entei.

6 hours ago, Hanes said:

No but ACTUALLY? I haven't gotten to CS4 yet (I beat CS2) but Ouroboros falls off so hard after Sky... it's quite sad.

I was surprised too. Ouroboros is just giving other villains a chance to shine, it's really quite nice of them.

6 hours ago, Hanes said:

I hear it gets back to being really good with Hajimari and Kuro so I want to get to them, at least.

Reverie probably assumes you've played Cold Steel III and IV... but the idea of you playing Reverie before them amuses me, so you can do it if you want.

29 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

Give me Corrin suggestions!

I suggest naming Corrin "Wario", everything else is up to you.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

No question

11 hours ago, Armagon said:

They still didn't explain shit tbh.

It mostly raised further questions but it's still more of an explanation than I was expecting to get.

10 hours ago, Sooks said:

How’d that work out?

Final Fantasy XV's last few DLC releases were cancelled so the story content was made into a novel instead. It's whole development cycle was rather... questionable.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

Ouroboros actually explaining what their plan is? Impossible... (Cold Steel IV, after the fifth Rivalry)

Spoiler

We settle things with Lechter, Claire, Shirley, and Cedric, the last of whom is freed from the Ebon Knight's influence. If I had a nickel for every younger prince voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas who is corrupted by an evil entity due his feelings of inferiority, I'd have two nickels. Though unlike Takumi, Cedric was only a final boss when shoved inside a giant robot. Speaking of which, it still hasn't been explained what the Vermillion Apocalypse was...

Before fighting Campanella and Mariabell, Class VII contemplates how weird Ouroboros is as an evil organization. Apparently, its members are all part of some "experiment". Since we win, the two are nice enough to explain that the end goal of the Phantasmal Blaze Plan is to recreate the Great One (it only took six games to explain it!), but they don't care about what happens to it afterwards. In fact, rather than claiming all the Sept-Terrions for Ouroboros, it seems the Grandmaster's actual goal is to reawaken them and see what mankind does with them. There's also some business about "possible worlds" and Professor Epstein having something to do with that. But Mariabell told us not to worry about it now, so I'll take her word for it.

Lastly is the final battle with Rufus and Black Alberich. As I suspected Rufus isn't actually loyal to Osborne, he'd like to surpass him, become immortal due to El-Prado, and attain ultimate power. It turns out his backstory gave him a massive inferiority complex, but naturally Class VII is here to humble him (and Jusis gives him a well deserved punch for his trouble). Franz Reinford continues to exist somewhere within Alberich, making this truly the battle of family drama. And we haven't even reached Osborne yet!

Before the final battle, there is one last McBurn to take care of. He's getting another shot at being the penultimate boss, and he's playing for keeps this time. His S-craft will probably involve destroying the entire universe or something.

 

On 8/5/2023 at 7:52 PM, Sooks said:

I feel like I should remember this quote…

It's from Zero Wing.

You have no chance to survive make your time.

On 8/5/2023 at 7:52 PM, Sooks said:

Or the actual canon ending isn’t even in the game

That's just Final Fantasy XV, except the canon ending was released as a book.

On 8/5/2023 at 9:39 PM, Newtype06 said:

Is redacted

  Reveal hidden contents

Renne?

Ash is also hard.

Redacted is

Spoiler

Olivert

I don't remember having too much trouble with anyone else.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

Cold Steel IV pre-final dungeon

Spoiler

In 1206... war was beginning. Once again I enjoyed the breakdown of the different battlefronts and who's fighting in each of them. Not to mention the montage of offscreen allies who are supporting Operation Shining Steel, even Zin and Anelace were there! Kevin was there too so I can't make a joke about Falcom forgetting him.

It's time to get over the mother of all barriers, so all of Class VII's allies must infiltrate their own dungeons to open the way. KeA can't fight, but she will destroy the enemies with cuteness. Making the dungeons replicas of the Salt Pale, a long running mystery, adds to the climactic feel. It's basically Phantasmagoria, except it doesn't immediately proceed the final boss this time.

It was a bold move to save nine new characters for the pre-final dungeon, but I enjoyed getting to use all these overpowered characters. Who expected to get to use Roselia, George, the Stahlritter, Zephyr, Victor, and Vita (Phantasmal Mirror aside)? Maybe some people, but I didn't.

The obligatory pre-final dungeon speech also doubles as a reminder as to who will be in the obligatory final dungeon boss rush. It saves me the effort of trying to figure it out on my own, at least. Besides Claire/Lechter, Cedric/Shirley, and probably Mariabell/Campanella, maybe Rufus and Black Alberich will be fought together since they're Osborne's right hand men. McBurn will probably be fought by himself, since he'll be using his full power this time.

Also I have reached Pikmin 4's final(?) area, Pikmin is now Chibi-Robo.

22 hours ago, Sooks said:

I did get the secret ending but it’s canon I think so it’s not much of a secret.

Secret ending, true ending, same thing.

22 hours ago, Sooks said:

Incidentally are you gonna go straight into Reverie after this?

Maybe, I enjoyed Katamari Damacy Reroll but I'm not sure when I'll get We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie... wait, wrong one. As for the actual question, maybe.

22 hours ago, Armagon said:

If I had a nickel for every Nintendo game with flutes and an Ouroborous theme, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, it's just weird it's happened twice.

Are there flutes in Splatoon 3? Then it would be three nickels.

18 hours ago, Sooks said:

Ouroborous is in this game?

Heck yeah I can't wait for Bleublanc to steal the Master Sword.

41 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

No, you fools! Don't you know what happened the last time someone added an U to a succesor!?

That just means The Wonderful 101 will somehow be included, I see nothing wrong here.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

It's purpin' time

Having defeated A***** in Cold Steel IV, I am now ready for the endgame... after I decide who to give the Zemurian weapons to. Rean should have three of those by now... The secret boss was pretty tough, I like that the rest of your party will swap in when your four characters are defeated like in Dragon Quest XI, but it took until now for me to learn that you could revive swapped out party members with items.

2 hours ago, Sooks said:

And then the cutscene, and my god the flute again.

Tears of the Kingdom was Xenoblade 3 all along? It's a wild ride, this passage of fate.

58 minutes ago, Newtype06 said:

Dew it.

I ended up winning on my first try. It took some skill and luck but she was easier than Gaius and [REDACTED].

58 minutes ago, Newtype06 said:

I got it last Christmas

What, New Sakura Wars? I got 24 achievements in CSI, 27 in CSII, and probably 38...ish in CSIII.

3 minutes ago, Sooks said:

Who’s the secret boss? I have a guess but it’s probably a spoiler.

Apparently you never got the secret ending, so I guess you might not know.

Spoiler

It's the Holy Beast of Earth, which can be fought after beating every cryptid and competing every sidequest in the final chapter. Defeating him gives you the Earthen Prison, which does... something, but Beryl said the key to the future is Rean's bonds with his friends and "one more thing", so it's probably important.

Just kidding, it's Marquis Ballad. Did you think he was first mentioned in Sky the 3rd for no reason?

9 minutes ago, Sooks said:

you should only be reading like 10% of the NPC dialogue

Yes, which includes everything Vivi says.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

Pikmin 4

Spoiler

Spoiler

It returns...

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

I have cleared most of the content in Cold Steel IV's final chapter, so I will fight the secret boss and settle the pre-final dungeon preparations tomorrow. Maybe I'll even beat Tio in Pom Party...

Now is an appropriate time to make an observation (Sky the 3rd/Cold Steel IV finale):

Spoiler

When I played Sky the 3rd, I got the impression that fiends and devils existed in Phantasma because it's based on Kevin's mind and they don't actually exist. It turns out they are real and are from other "planes", though it appears they require special circumstances to appear in Zemuria. Fiends showed up as enemies as early as Zero, but it's now when it particularly becomes apparent.

This whole devil business led to Loewe making a cameo from beyond the grave, so it's not like I'm complaining about it. It was also nice visiting Arianrhod's memorial and interacting with the Stahlritter and Bleublanc under friendly circumstances.

 

10 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

This is weird, because I consider myself to usually be a gameplay-over-story person, yet here it feels all I want is to get the combat out of the way so I can get the plot done.

I alternated between Reminiscence and Destruction so that I wouldn't have to fight too many battles in a row. Eventually I would reach a point where I couldn't play any more battle missions until I continued the plot, so I didn't have to worry about getting too ahead in Reminiscence. Playing on the easiest difficulty isn't a bad idea if you want to get through the battles to focus on the story.

9 hours ago, Sidereal Wraith said:

So it seems that one needs an encyclopedia to understand all that happens in the world. Is there such a things as too much world building?

For as many games as it has, Trails's plot isn't really complicated or poorly explained. Unlike Kingdom Hearts, you don't even need to play any mobile games to understand it. There's just a lot of NPC dialogue and in-universe books to read.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

Cold Steel IV Eventide:

Spoiler

With the final chapter upon us, it's time to party like the world's ending (because it is). Well not really, because everyone is chilling and hanging out at Mishelam instead. It's fun to see how everyone is spending their time together, and Falcom saved most of the character notes for this part of the game.

Sara feels a bit competitive tonight and starts a drinking contest for the ages. It answered questions I didn't know I had about each of the ladies' drinking habits. Although, it's a bit odd how KeA is the only person concerned about everyone getting hungover the night before a world-saving operation, even if Olivert saves the day with another reference to a previous game.

Surprisingly enough, you can actually defeat Cassius (in a card game). Millium too, how can she play if she's a spirit? Maybe she has Jusis hold her cards for her. More importantly, Cassius presides over Rean's final Eight Leaves exam and promotes him to Divine Blade. They grow up so fast...

The night concludes with Olivert popping the question to Schera, oof my heart... I had Rean romance Alisa, of course. It only took four games... but Olivert and Schera first met eight games ago, so it's been a long time coming in both cases. Anton also finally got his moment, it feels like just yesterday when I got the final chapter of Carnelia from him.

 

On 7/31/2023 at 3:49 PM, Interdimensional Observer said:

I know with 13 Sentinels it's "don't assume you know anything until the story is done".

There are plot twists up until the end of the game, but I wouldn't avoid speculation entirely. Some of your weirdest theories might turn out to be correct! Also, consider getting Pikmin.

19 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

Reverse psychology, I chose her and I have no regrets

"Cecile to marry another man? No, I don't want that. I want her to have feelings only for me, for ten years at least." -Guy Bannings

11 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

What's the next direction? How will Gust succeed the success story? I'm doubting it's two remakes in a row.

Gust is releasing Atelier games faster than Armagon can finish them.

9 hours ago, Armagon said:

@Shrimpy -Limited Edition-

https://www.promethiumbooks.com/promethium-blog/nihon-falcom-partnership

How does this fit into the Ys lore?

The manual on Zemurian worldbuilding:

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

23 hours ago, CyberZord said:

Most Nintendo series, eh? I'm not sure about that, but I'm too lazy to do a simple internet search so I'd be pleasantly surprised if I found out Pikmin truly was one of the best selling Nintendo franchises considering it's in my top 5 favorite Nintendo IPs. 

I didn't mean to say it was a "best selling" series, but it's more successful than people give it credit for. It always sold better than, say, pre-Awakening Fire Emblem.

On the topic, I am enjoying Pikmin 4's nonlinearity so far. Pikmin 3 was pretty linear and Pikmin 2 was nonlinear after you get every type, but Pikmin 4 lets you explore each area however you want. Where and when you get each Pikmin type is up to how you play, so I like how it ensures that everyone's playthrough is different. I'm particularly interested in seeing how speedruns develop over time.

23 hours ago, CyberZord said:

Well, I just simply don't trust him is all. 

Louie is just misunderstood. Though his reliability as an employee is... debatable.

21 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

Have you ever heard of levirate marriage?

But if she wants Lloyd for herself, why did she have him rub sunscreen on Elie and Rixia too?

32 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

(is it just a "Daily Life" nothing-end that I missed?)

I'm pretty sure the same thing happened to me, and you can't miss anything that actually matters. It will be filled in automatically later, if the missing space bothers you.

32 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Is the rule "you have the means to advance a character's story within itself until it locks at the character selection screen?" or something else?

That's right, though there are cases where you have to play some branches of a character's story before others. So in your case, you either have to find a keyword in a different branch or figure out the requirements based on what the game says.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

It's one of the least weird things Rean has seen in the past two years.

OOF. Though his options include Elie, Rixia, and Noel, so I guess I can't blame her too much for being invested.

Cold Steel IV end of Act 3:

Spoiler

Two more of the Rivalries are complete, and we have several new and returning allies (Sharon, George, Leo and Xeno, probably Ines and Ennea). Rutger got to pass on with no regrets and Black Alberich got verbally annihilated by Schmidt, which is nice to see.

In Crossbell, heroes must unite… to stage a show to distract the military. Elliot threw everyone and the kitchen sink in there, and it was quite fun to watch. I’m sure Sully made Ilya and Rixia proud…  Rean and co. fight Victor and McBurn at the same time, the heroes have sure come far in terms of strength at this point. McBurn still doesn’t use his full power, but he’s nice enough to promise to go all out the next time we see him, so it seems there will be answers as to what he is during the final chapter. Bringing Emma along to the fight suggests that he’s not from "this world”, and he’s probably an ancient demon of some kind (I previously thought he was somehow connected to the Holy Beast of Fire, before the reveal earlier).

Duvalie development good. Lastly is the final battle with Arianrhod, and which is tough since she can use her S-craft whenever just like the good old days of Trails to Azure. She confirms that destroying Ishmelga was her goal all along, so it seems she wasn’t very loyal to Ouroboros's cause in the first place. Surprisingly she's actually convinced to help the party, but unfortunately she's subject to the Loewe clause of being too overpowered to join the heroes...

I am mad, I will boost Duvalie's strength to ludicrous levels for when we fight Rufus later. Even the other members of Ouroboros show up to pay their respects (contrast everyone's reaction to Weissmann's death). The mortality rate for the Anguis is pretty high, now that I think about it... Lianne was nice enough to leave us as parting gift of enabling Valimar and Millium to talk with us once again, which is much appreciated.

We are now in the endgame as Musse would say, since the gates of Armageddon have been opened and the final chapter looms (after a trip to Mishelam, it seems). I was thinking that maybe Rean and Crow would fight Cedric and Rufus together as a 2v2 as an alternative to the final dungeon having three Rivalries, but now I'm not sure...

Aren't there almost 40 characters in this game? It seems the final dungeon will dump another ten characters on you, not that I'm complaining.

 

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

On 7/27/2023 at 4:09 PM, Interdimensional Observer said:

Japanese sales are out, 401,853 physical copies sold. Add in digital sales, and it could very well reach 1 million in Japan alone in a week or two. (Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XVI has sold 401,376 physical in Japan after like a month on the market. Pikmin > Game About Doms, at least in Japan.) Sounds like a real success for Pikmin.

Miyamoto when a Pikmin game does well

Pikmin has always sold decently--every game sold over a million copies, which is more than most Nintendo series can say--but it's still good to see Pikmin 4 doing well. It will sell a Pikmillion copies! Though Final Fantasy XVI is both PS5 exclusive and catered exclusively to Western tastes to attract the Call of Duty audience, so it's not an entirely fair comparison in terms of Japanese sales.

22 hours ago, CyberZord said:

I've also been playing some Pikmin 4 recently. Oatchi's definitely the best part of this game and I have gotten a bit too attached to him. Gonna make my eventual playthrough of Pikmin 1 + 2 harder without my favorite space pup. 

I was a bit apprehensive about Oatchi as a mechanic when he was first revealed, since I didn't want him to take too much focus away from the Pikmin, but I like how he was implemented as a leader/mega-Pikmin hybrid. Don't worry, Pikmin 2 has Louie so it's good.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

The hardest part of Cold Steel IV is figuring out which bonding events to see, not that it really matters since getting to max bonding level with everyone seems rather easy. Though unless the final chapter has some this is probably the last time they'll be a mechanic, so maybe I should enjoy it while I still can? I'm surprised Rean took the initiative when it came to his and Alisa's relationship, I thought everyone else was supposed to dump their feelings on him?

When visiting [REDACTED] on August 29th

Spoiler

Renne finally sees her family again, it only took six games for a proper meeting! I've been waiting for it since I finished Zero; I was going to mention it when I finished that game, but it's better late than never.

Also I got Pikmin 4, it only took ten years. One must master the art of Dandori to play more than one game at a time.

6 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

It was interesting, but knowing already the story had to be split up in two games, it definitely felt more like "buy SC to see the rest!", hahaha.

I mean, it quite literally ends with a trailer for the next game. I'm impressed with your willpower if you haven't bought it already.

5 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

As for Wind Waker, yes it was poorly-received, but le grande infame of Celda meant it still held a lot of attention, even if it was vocally negative.

The internet is exactly the same as it was 20 years ago.

4 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Please don't feed anyone to 'zilla if this sounds too much like a "X is a bad Y game, but not a terrible Z game" criticism.

You're fine, Godzilla doesn't eat people. Rodan and King Ghidorah, on the other hand...

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

Cold Steel IV's bonding events continue to be good. (Act 3-2)

Spoiler

Scarlet is basically the only major character from the first two Cold Steel games who hasn't shown up (and Duke Cayenne but he's in jail), so it's nice to hear what she's up to. It was nice that the other ILF members get acknowledged as well.

Once again foiling Gilbert's attempt at taking over a settlement (and him getting fried by Campanella for it yet again) was fun, but who was expecting a swimming quest against Shirley? I'm guessing one of the developers modeled Shirley in a bikini in their free time, and the rest of the development team added the swimming quest after they saw it.

 

On 7/23/2023 at 10:37 PM, Sooks said:

Bunny Rixia let’s goooo

Sooks Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Rixia

On 7/23/2023 at 10:37 PM, Sooks said:

Everyone is Rean, that’s the big plot twist at the end.

I can't believe Nomura was the writer all along...

21 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

... yeah, this is a 90's game alright. Subtle as an anvil.

Trails in the Sky actually first released in 2004, unless you're talking about a different game.

48 minutes ago, Armagon said:

The movie about the man who created the atomic bomb is bad because it doesn't show any Japanese people getting obliterated by it. Even though the movie was never about them.

That's just because Chris Nolan is letting Toho handle that topic in Oppenheimer's sequel, Godzilla Minus One.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

On 7/22/2023 at 6:48 PM, Sooks said:

Wait Rixia, Karla, Fir? I’m noticing a pattern…

You like vaguely Eastern-themed swordgirls? Two-thirds of those characters have bunny outfits in Heroes, for some reason.

On 7/22/2023 at 6:48 PM, Sooks said:

How does bankrupting serve your ends, then I won’t be able to afford Xenoblades 2 and 3.

That just means you'll have to get a job to afford all four Pikmin games (and become a productive member of society, I suppose).

On 7/22/2023 at 6:48 PM, Sooks said:

and, since this is Cold Steel, they never speak to anyone other than Rean ever again.

But just yesterday Dudley... I mean Machias was giving Wayne advice on hobbies, and this isn't Kingdom Hearts so Wayne probably isn't Rean.

10 hours ago, Armagon said:

I am now 23 on July 23rd in the year 2023

Happy birthday!

Though if you were born in 2000, then I guess your age always matches the last two digits of the year.

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Belated, much? I guess Falcom still acknowledges VIII is its pseudo-franchise breakout hit/best modern title if they entertain this.

Presumably it was either this or committing to twelve Trails novels. Ys VIII has a good story from what I've heard, so it probably lends itself more to a novelization than the rest of the series.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

22 hours ago, Sooks said:

That sure is a lot of money, it would be really irresponsible to drop 60 bucks on Reverie.

Yes, be irresponsible with your money and get Pikmin.

17 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

On 11/16/2022 at 9:55 PM, Lightchao42 said:

If I had a mira for every Trails character who had green hair, wore glasses, was no-nonsense, and used guns, I'd have two mira. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

The jury's out on how Dudley feels about Jusis, however.

4 hours ago, CyberZord said:

Hol' up, Sora was 14 in the first game? I thought he was like, 11 years old in Kingdom Hearts 1. Well either way, I'm gonna miss KH1 Sora's voice a bit, there's an odd charm to it, like Tails' voice in the Sonic Adventure games. 

Haley Joel Osment was also 14 when Kingdom Hearts 1 released, so Sora was aged up as he got older. Tails used to be voiced by young boys as well, but now he gets female voice actors because they must've gotten tired of recasting him after every game.

Sonic Adventure's voice acting was actually pretty decent, when you consider that even the voice director was barely given any context.

1 hour ago, Sooks said:

Although I did like three and nine… maybe I will play Reverie…

I can't believe it, Reverie marks the return of D O O R S but it took Not-Rex and Sleepy Girl to sell you on it.

5 minutes ago, Sooks said:

This is gonna turn me into one of those Lyn simps who are convinced she’s the best unit in all of Fire Emblem.

Sooks no, don't be someone who says "actually Lyn doesn't have enough alts in Heroes".

Lyn was pretty useful in my playthrough, but I never actually finished it so I'm probably misinformed.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

22 hours ago, Armagon said:

And Toho doesn't like it when Godzilla loses so Superman is definitely being smacked around a bit.

They'll probably team up when Lex Luthor builds Mechagodzilla or something. Batman once survived falling to Earth from orbit, so he should be fine.

17 hours ago, Armagon said:

Kraven? Peak. Venom? Peak. 

But man the returning characters look off

They should give Venom his own spinoff, maybe they'll have him look his age in it. Though if they did it would be PS5 exclusive, so I would never play it.

Hmm, but Venom was playable in the Ultimate Spider-Man game. Maybe I should play it when I'm done with Sonic Adventure 2 Battle...

17 hours ago, Sooks said:

“AH HELL YEAH REVERIE’S OUT, CAN’T WAIT TO PLAY AS MACHIAS REGNITZ” (I mean except like super fans who have to acknowledge his side character status by now).

Machias's bonding event in CSIV was pretty good, let him enjoy his coffee with Dudley in peace.

On the subject of FE, did you ever get around to finishing Engage?

1 hour ago, CyberZord said:

(Also, can we address the fact that Sora hit puberty in the short time between KH1 and CoM? Bro's voice dropped before he even entered Castle Oblivion!)

To be fair, the voice acting was done after KHII released. Given that Sora was 14 in the first game, he probably should've gone through puberty before then...

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

Relatable

19 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Okay, time to finish the Tournament!

Something I appreciate is that the game shows you the other tournament matches, instead of skipping over them and telling you who wins. Watching Zin solo an entire team was fun.

18 hours ago, Armagon said:

@Lightchao42 DC Comics has leaked

It only took six decades after Batman Meets Godzilla was cancelled for them to meet for real... this also means that Godzilla has now crossed over with both Marvel and DC, funnily enough.

17 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Okay, back in Grancel. Okay, time for an oldie but goodie: rescue the princess. Can't be a classic JRPG without it. There better be a dragon and/or wizard there as well as a tower. But, that's for next time...

Estelle: "We gotta find the princess!"

Joshua: "And YOU gotta help us!"

Estelle: "If you need instructions on how to get through the hotels, check out the enclosed instruction book."

You've been to four towers already, so the princess probably isn't imprisoned in any of them.

7 hours ago, Armagon said:

It's so sad bro

You guys don't have railways?

Source

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Why does 30% reduce the price more than 60?

30% of $1200 is $360. If the price was 30% off, then it would be 1200 - 360 = 840. Conversely, 60% off would be 1200 - 720 = 480.

[Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread]

7 hours ago, Armagon said:

Ok ngl i'm legitimately confused by these comments because Marie is just short for Marlone. That's like her full name.

Idk am i missing a joke here?

The joke was that I forgot what Marie is short for, derp. There's a possibility that the long haired guy is also named Marlone, but this isn't Trails.

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

So I take it the big burly guy with the stache's called Marie, then

That's right, it's short for Marvin.

2 minutes ago, Lightcosmo said:

Those lines are from KH II. XD

This is also true. I expect someone named Noxalrem to show up at some point.