Interdimensional Observer

So TearRing Saga? Canto is there, but it isn't on every mounted unit. Some have it, some learn it via leveling, others never get it at all. It's always lost when dismounting too. And, the game provides three skill scrolls of Canto, which I guess can be used to give it to anyone. But I never used a single scroll, so I can't say if it can actually give the skill to infantry.

A Mean Look+Toxic+Curse+Double Team Gengar.

The game might have better technical performance on PC. The Switch port, at least now (initial release might have been a different story), has a minor technical issue in enemies when seen in the distance have laggy animations. All it does is immersion break though, since once you're in striking range of the enemies, the lag disappears. Also "top-down-but-at-an-angle" might be summarized in the word "isometric". I haven't played 7, so I can't say if that fits the word. The original release of Ys 8 had a really bad NISA translation I've been informed. So bad they had to patch in massive improvements later, the PC version should have the patch if the Switch version does. I don't know what all the issues were, but I recall one smaller one being "Archaeozoic Chasm" was originally translated as "Archaeozoic Big Hole". Technically "Big Hole" is acceptable English, but no one would refer to a geological feature like that, hence the change. About your second comment:

I think the issue is the middle of the narrative. They needed to get to Dana a bit sooner. Starting with "stuck on deserted island, lets gather survivors and get off" is a fine introductory hook. So was adding dinosaurs to the mix as a big threat. But, they spent too much time there. Maybe they should've had Dana sleeping in the location currently taken by the Silent Tower, since the White Memory mentioned Eternians moving southward. And I wonder if Ys 9 will match 8 for length. Or if Nihon Falcom will step back a bit from doing so much. I saw online there was a True Ending when I was glancing a website to find all the fish locations. So I went for it. Although given all it asks you to do max Approval on everyone and do a bunch of other ordinary things so you can to get Adol a 200+ Reputation (mine was 255), I probably would have gotten it naturally. I really wanted to explore the Isle of Seiren in full, and I did. As for the True Ending itself (MASSIVE SPOILERS!) Sound like tasty morsels then. Even if from a glance of Wikipedia Ys 8 belongs to a gameplay paradigm only begun with 7, if I ever get the chance to play any of them legally, I will. Although has Ys 5 ever been fan-translated? If it has, then I'd be willing to emulate it owing to the lack of an official English release.

Doesn't sound like a bad clash. Humanity armed with metallic artificial giant mecha they've built. Vs. Manaketes and other non-human humanoids able to go Kaiju in size. As long as we get to play as either or both, I'd be happy.

I just finished my first Ys (and perhaps on b/c no PC/PS4) in Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. I had to do it today, if I didn't, I feel like this game would have ended up in the Endgame Limbo where so many games I play do. Gameplay-wise, Ys VIII was a nice ARPG. Game dragged on a little too long in gameplay and narrative, I expected it to be more like a 30 hour game, it ended up being a 60. But, Dana's optional dungeon was fun, if easy (played only on Normal- but I'd suck on harder difficulties). I did really like Dana, which isn't something I take for granted, given mystery special power girls aren't at all my thing. And yet, Dana felt like an independent character more than a trope. They did well to lay out her character with foregrounding scenes before she is actually playable, her Sarai and Olga friendships helped cement her as a character. The tragedy of Dana was beautifully touching, but saddening. It was depressing enough that I might not ever play the game again, although I could have been getting too much into it personally. And on a more random note, the NPC of Rastell, at first, I though his VA was the same as Tiz Arrior's from Bravely Default. But then later scenes with him made it deeper than Tiz's. I'm not sure if I was mistaking his VA originally, or if the VA actually started as Tiz's and got deeper later. But the possibility he shared a VA with Tiz, who I've crushed on, led me to cultivate a crush on Rastell, well that and his personality and shirtlessness. Which only made the realization he would inevitably die a virgin all the more saddening. He and Dana deserved to be together. Well then, onto FFXII tomorrow! Hopefully it'll be great. I know it to be a more open-worldish FF, with XC1 back in the early days being compared to it. Albeit XII I've heard is very lacking in plot. Still, this Zodiac Job System better be good. I know the Switch is the "easiest" version of the game with infinite no-cost resetting of assigned jobs and job points, but I'll try to stick to using all Jobs without resetting even once if I can. A pretty world and fun fighting, thats all I'll ask for.

This idea is a minefield. But I'd take it! How to balance the amount of mecha in the narrative and their gameplay execution is everything for the idea. Funnel cake it, and the game would be atrocious.

I think official art Kris... wear the standard outfits for Male Mercenary and Female Myrmidon. So Sword Infantries. But, there is no reason they can't keep the clothes and change the class and weapon. Or they could change the clothes too. I would like a title change for them though. Not "Hero's Guard", which the fan translation uses for their character ending. I'd rather have "Hero of Shadow", which is what they're supposed to be, the hero intentionally lost in the shadows of history.

Mercurius has been the worst of the Regalia though since FE11. FE1, it is Marth-locked with a neato growths boost effect, the growth boost would be good, were it not for Marth already or likely approaching the level cap. And Marth-lock is so-so, because Marth doesn't need it, but he is the best unit in the entire game. Gradivus and Parthia being usable on other people might give them an edge. FE3, it is as good as any other Regalia. Since all of them here have 20 Mt, 100 Hit and double EXP gain. No 1-2 range like Gradivus, but half the weight with a few more uses. FE11- Strongest non-effective/Devil sword in the game by 7 points. But Swords are a little weak in this game, and effective bonuses are really good. Gradivus has 1 more Mt, 1-2 range, and a full heal effect. Parthia's Pure Water effect is weak, but it does have more availability than the Mercurius. Hauteclere has tremendous availability, and is just as strong as Mercurius in a better weapon type. FE12- Still no effect on Mercurius, Parthia has a lot more usefulness against all the Wyverns in Anri's Way. Hauteclere has the same availability lead. FE13- The strongest sword around, but only by 2 points. No secondary effect. Ragnell trounces it in the sword department because 1-2 range is invaluable in Awakening. Gradivus, with 1-2 range is faaaaar better too. Hauteclere got a buff as well, making it better than Mercurius in the 1-locked range category. FE15- The WORST MERCURIUS EVER! Gradivus has a 1-2 range niche, which isn't very useful, but a fast yet more fragile Gold/Falcon Knight can use this to avoid counters on against a 1 range enemy. Parthia has Trance Shot for the longest attack range in the game. Mercurius has nothing special to it. A fully upgraded Blessed Sword has 15 Mt against Terrors, which is better than the Mercurius's 11 Mt with its upgrade. And, to make a full-strength Mercurius, you need 30 Silver and a whopping 9 Gold! It's a colossal waste of forge resources. -Haven't played 3H yet. So, Mercurius, if it wants to be good again, will have to be more than an 20/18 Mt no secondary effects sword. It'll need some good damage-buff skills imbued in it.

A free meal at a Berry-Pokeblock-Poffin-Aprijuice-Poke Puff-Poke Bean-Curry all-you-can-eat buffet.

Same. Gharnef could have had control of Thabes for five years, maybe more. Gharnef could have explored every inch of it in that amount of time. Imhullu grants him invulnerability to everything, or at least 99% of beings and magic, he wouldn't have to fear the enemies therein. Or, he could have his army of dark mages do the recon. A seal? We're talking about the man who broke taboo by stealing the soul-taking Darksphere. A magic seal would only tempt Gharnef to break it, because you don't hide Iron Swords and Heal staffs behind seals.

I just warpskipped this fight. It's boring and empty, the penultimate fight isn't much better, but it has some good characterization at least. And what is the point to the pitch-black map? It doesn't do anything meaningful, it's just an annoyance. Thats me with Fire Emblem Heroes, among other things. The simile I've liked to use is being Hardin and Nyna post-SD. I am Nyna in that I want to love Hardin, but sadly can't. Not being able to give the love, I can't feel it from the game either, and thus I am like Hardin. *Looks at averages* HP is -1, Str is +2 Skl is +2, Spd, Lck, and Def are on the dot, Res is +1. Slightly better. Given the War Dragon Manaketes in fish stockings and bunny ears, I don't think he was wrong. And I get your point. On a rather random Thracia 776 note, I'm not sure if you've seen this before, but I found this.: FE4 Chapter 7 Castle Leonster, as it should be going off of FE5. As for how Conomor and Amalda are both there. Let's just pretend this is from a canon where Leif split his army at Chapter 15's end. Dorius took the bulk of the army and went along the coastal route with Finn and Marty disguised as a fake Leif. Leif and Augustus meanwhile took an elite force through the forests. Ilios joined despite Olwen being around because why not? At first I misread this as "I think Carla suits Shigen best", as if you were deadpan joking with that.😅 I wish Sierra got more to her character, she is pleasant and rather interesting. I declare the first to be Shigen's blood father, for some reason. The last wouldn't make a bad "Time-Warped Adult Evil Nayfa". How many more of these unused portraits are there? I recall seeing someone bring up a green-haired lady in an orange dress- a prototype Elincia. And other question, how are you going to handle the ending. IIRC, TRS has no "Epilogue Chapter" save right after the end of the final battle. Since the ending/epilogue is fairly long, you'll want to cut it into a separate update from the final battle. When will you make the cutoff?

Looks like the very familiar Tiki and Naga. Is female. Is Breath. $$$ Sirius is a canon, justifable alt. Sirius exists in FE3 a playable unit, and he has reasons for donning the mask. He isn't something like Adrift Corrin or Flying Olivia or Flying Nino which FEH invented out of practically nothing. Zelgius would have been fine too, but he just came too soon for that. Astram should probably be getting Mercurius. Since in the War of Heroes (FE3 Book 2/FE12), Hardin gave him the Mercurius as a badge of honor as one of Archanea's elite soldiers. Nobody else but FE1 Marth and maaaaybe Est would have any connection to it. If Astram is GHB, then it should be FE3 Chapter 16- Reclaiming the Capital, that gets referenced, because it is his joining chapter there, in the game where he is more prominent. Other options would be SD Chapter 13- The Wooden Cavalry, the first fight he appears and joins in (in which case, expect archers). Or it could be FE3 C7, 8, or 9, all of which feature him as an unrecruitable, but very threatening enemy whose pack of deadly Heroes will move on you eventually, and kill you unless you're very overleveled.

I was thinking of that conversation when I wrote it. It did help Travant's character a bit, just as Tahra made Arion seem smart, which well, he kinda sorta needed that after his very complicated "mistake" in FE4. Though, the Travant-Altena convo seemed a bit too much focused on him and his Thracia desires, not enough on interacting with Altena. Though him trusting the future to his children is good when I reexamine that convo. And, I shouldn't expect Travant to be too openly emotional as a father, expecting more free and loving conversation and behavior from him, might be asking for too much. I think SoV might have hurt Naga, if her one of her fangs was made into the Valentian Falchions. Since, she'd have given a fang before and lived, why should extracting another tooth or two hundreds of years later kill her? Without SoV, it's possible fang removal to forge the Falchion (and the base of the Binding Shield?) was a fatal act. And, we've never had a Tiki actually talk about her mother. Awakening's limited interactions between the two beings never had them speak of their maternal-filial bond. Although, it is possible Tiki settled that 1000 years prior when she could have met Naga then.

It has been two years! And finally Archanea gets another banner, hooray!🎉 Bantu? What was the chance this rotting tomato would get in? But, he is put alongside three lovely sellable ladies.

I think I found a name that is technically even worse- Sheldon the Dentally Challenged. (A level 30 Dilus- crocodile.) Really? I don't think it wanted to be named this. This seems more like somebody leaked his medical records have forced the world into shaming him for his bad teeth. We're one step away from Beatrice the Constipated and Mosquito-Fearing Belial. I stumbled on that when I just skimming for two Tyrants at an identical level with massively different sizes. Just to confirm that indeed, size matters when it comes to stats. Since in the earlier superboss level talk, I couldn't help but think of how Telethia doesn't actually have the most HP in XCX, that goes to something tens of levels lower. Although the Telethia still has the second most at 10 million, first place is 100 million. Given the Golden Monsters are treated as being special, and there is a practical sub-99 level cap in Torna- because there is nowhere to grind past endgame level- they certainly deserve to count. You actually showed some precise use of an evasion Art, I don't think I ever have. Though I do appreciate the idea of the evasion Arts. And uh, speaking of lethal damage, did XC2 have insta-kill? Because I found instances where my characters would just be KO'ed from an attack that didn't look deadly. The Land of Challenge via Shulk's Vision made that easy to see. Something as simple as a Caterpile(?) attack in the challenge set in the Gormott farm fields could do it. Looking at it, the level cap is 9999 in all games. But, Reincarnation exists a mechanic- reset level to carry over some stats + bonus stats. And you can reincarnate at 9999 19 times, which factoring in the re-leveling one last time to 99, means nearly 200000 levels on a character. Apparently some game called D2, it looks like you'd need at least 250 Reincarnations at 9999 to max your stats. Numbers porn indeed. I played the DS version of Disgaea 1, thinking getting to 9999 would be fun. Nope. Ingame endgame level, sans intentionally increasing enemy levels, is actually the usual ~70 range for an RPG IIRC. And everything else is grind. Grind, grind, grind, and not the kind Grindr is named for. I was turned off to ever playing a Disgaea ever again. And all this still doesn't count for all the other grind forms Disgaea has like on weapons, nor the fact that amount of leveling was for one character. No game requires stats in the millions or billions, not even Disgaea barring its postgame content. It's superficial fluff that caters to a real niche audience.

Yet again, awesome. Although, isn't the enemy level just pure vanity beyond a certain point? Does 200, over say 120, have an actual difference in damage dealt to the player? Will XC3 keep the player level cap to 99, but raise the enemy to 300 just because? The Xe-doms are accompanied by the Oc-Servs... ...as Mechanoids made of mysterious "living metal" that the Ganglion found on Mira and managed to take control of. Both Oc-Servs and Fal-swos are much, much smaller, stuff you can fight on foot no probs, so they don't have the reputation of Xe-doms. An easy reminder of their difference in origins is that they all have hyphens in their names, which no other Mechanoids have. And, apparently they're immune to weather effects, which must mean they've superior designs in some way. That'd make sense if they've been functioning on Mira for who knows how long without repairs. All other "normal" enemy Mechanoids are Ganglion-made. I say "normal", because lone fights in sidequests against human-made Skells and Earthlings (b/c mimeosomes aren't real flesh bodies so they aren't Humanoids) do not count as normal, being rare and unrepeatable.

I actually find the Sylvalum Xe-doms charming in a way. They quietly float off the ground doing their routine checks of their territory again and again, making sure there are no mechanical threats. Who knows, maybe the Xe-doms protecting the indigens as though they were pets? Because they know there are awful humans who, when unable to fight something roughly comparable to their own puny size, will take to big machines because they're cheaters. Although they only haunt west of Lake Ciel IIRC, the rest of Sylvalum once you get past the entrance should be fine. Also: "Enigmatic, pilotless crafts exhumed from the Miran soil. They come in a variety of sizes, and are constructed from some kind of living metal that not even Ganglion technology can replicate. But while the particulars of the xe-dom manufacturing process remain shrouded in mystery, a lucky research mistake unlocked the secret of controlling the units." I'm assuming the Ganglion found that secret, why can't NLA? Or, why don't the Orphe who defected from the Ganglion know it? Even if they aren't reproducible, converting a few Xe-doms over would be an incredible boost in military might. And on Unique Monster/Tyrant names, I really like Reckless Godwin. It's the ruler of the Ignas in the fortress in Satorl Marsh. The title actually sounds like something I could see a king being named.

As I feared, FE12 Flame Barrel on anything but Normal is utterly unfair and diabolical blind. FE3 had the politeness to restrict reinforcements to only the three forts behind the starting position, which you could easily block or outrun to the seize point. FE12, nope, it lets dragons crawl out of everywhere. This chapter is why I dropped the game for a while.

I only watched a little of the Pokemon anime as a kid, but I did have one VCR tape with like two episodes on it, one of them being Mt. Moon. And, I did have one GBA Video cartridge with the Suicune episode on it. That was the last of saw of the anime. I think I saw almost every Kanto and Orange Island episode, but only a few scattered Johto ones, but I did see the Whirl Islands episode to name another. Movie-wise, Mewtwo, Lugia, Entei, Celebi, those are the ones I saw. This said, as a child, I envisioned myself as the "Chosen of Pokemon". A human created all the legendaries, led either by Ho-Oh or Arceus, to be a bridge between humanity and Pokemon. Since, as the Chosen of Pokemon, I possessed the powers of types, and the ability to seemlessly transform into any Pokemon I wished not a legendary. Or, I could just manifest wings or Vine Whips if I sought only a quick and partial transformation. Typically, I then set myself up as Ash's little sibling/clone. Although the exact age varied from infant to just a little younger than Ash. The logic was that Ash was seen as a particularly special human whose DNA was therefore chosen as the base. Onto which Pokemon DNA, including Mewtwo's "Berserk Gene", was then added, thus resulting in a sibling who didn't look exactly like Ash. Oftentimes, highly likely because of the one Kanto episode of a wildling human raised by Kangaskhans, I envisioned myself as a wildling. With a Chansey (or was Blissey?) "mother", an Alakazam "mentor", and a Houndour "brother" and a Kirlia "sister". In the Ash scenario, I assigned Giovanni as the father. And that oftentimes had us don matching Team Rocket outfits as the rebellious and anti-TR "Rocket Renegades", I'm guessing that was because of alliteration, a liking for Team Rocket uniforms, and Tales of Symphonia a game loved in my youth having a group called the "Renegades". On at least one occasion, Team Rocket tried to capture the Chosen of Pokemon, because of obvious world-domination applications from having such a Pokepowerful human. I several times played out in my mind an episode where there was a sibling tournament of sorts where I and Ash would participate under the title "Team Mew and Mewtwo", reflecting the relationship between Ash (Mew) and the Chosen (Mewtwo), I innocently forgot the memory-wipe at the end of the Mewtwo movie when thinking of that. And yet, I was not always Ash's sibling. There was a scenario where I was more confrontational towards Ash as a rival of sorts and pro-trainer at his age, who nonetheless sought because destiny to work with him. And then, there was the brief time where I instead took things into Black and White, as a trainer apart from the player character. This scenario never went far in my imagination, it generally consisted of me, the player trainer, and N heading off to fight Ghetsis. Then, while N and the player trainer run ahead, the Chosen stood back with their Pokemon and fought legions of Plasma goons. At the end, having gotten through all the lackeys, my fatigue Pokemon transferred their remaining vitality to me and I ran ahead. After that, it gets to N losing to Ghetsis, the Chosen runs in to confront Ghetsis, and before doing so says to N something to the effect of "If Pokemon and humans don't belong together, then what of I?". At this point, it shifted to your typical battle scene, Ghetsis trainer sprite appears, and so did the back sprite of the Chosen, who usually was wrapped from head to feet in a leaf green robe of which I can't define the exactly shape. Ghetsis sends out a Pokemon and mocks me for being a human trying to fight a Pokemon, willing to use their Pokemon to harm me if I choose to fight so. The Chosen takes an attack, then uses a Fighting move like High Jump Kick, seeing how a human should be able to do that. That deals one KO to Ghetsis's team, he sends out another Pokemon who injures the chosen, the Chosen uses Psychic, another thing that human could normally use in the Pokemon world, which damages or KOs another of Ghetsis's Pokemon. After this, the Chosen takes a third attack, the Chosen then uses Recover, a power no human has. Turn 4 beings with the Chosen using something spectacular, like Solarbeam or Fire Blast, which leaves Ghetsis bewildered by this, the Chosen has revealed their hitherto secret abilities. I then cut to the Chosen running tired from fighting, the unimportant player character defeats Ghetsis, N wants to speak more with the Chosen, but the Chosen chooses not to. Instead, they fall through a giant hole in the wall far off the ground, and as they fall generate wings and fly away, ending the scenario. Though I'd throw it an unfleshed out epilogue moment where N finds themselves accompanied by some Normal-Flying Pokemon who when N is in danger transforms back into their human form thus revealing them the Chosen, who then speaks gently with N once again, but I don't recall if anymore followed, or if the Chosen just left again. ...And since someone brought up Ys, albeit in passing, earlier, I'm reaching the end of Ys VIII I think. Oceanus was far easier than I thought it'd be for such an important monster. A nice thing though is Dana's styles. It feels just a little like I get to play as the three Golden Goddesses of Hyrule whom I have such a Zelda lore liking for.

The light-dark thematic that was true of most promotion options: Great Lord vs. Conqueror, Falcon Knight vs. Wyvern Knight (not so strongly here though, WK could be darker), Paladin vs. Dark Knight, Sniper vs. Assassin, Hero vs. Swordmaster. But there was already have one light-dark failure: Sage vs. Sorcerer. I'd say thats because Tharja being a Dark Mage by default took away the "dark" option, leaving Sorcerer to be more the "neutral" one that the base classes otherwise are. As for Great Knight not looking dark enough, I wouldn't call Swordmaster an inherently "dark" class in mainline FE. Navarre archetypes, and we are talking the Navarre here, are antisocial killers, but otherwise the class isn't shady. And not even all Navarres are that darkly like Zihark and Lon'qu. And yet, they took Swordmaster in TMS and amped up the darkness. They could make Great Knight darker if they wanted to. As for whatever Maiko gets if it's a refresher Mirage, it'd be one of Songstress or Dancer for the base, and the first promotion option is whatever of the two isn't chosen as the base.The second promotion pick is much harder to figure out. Troubadour perhaps? Because IRL troubadours were Medieval singers and musicians. Troubadour (and Great Knight) could work, because they already dismounted Walhart's Conqueror and gave it to Chrom. And lastly, will Tiki get promotion options? She has to get Carnage Unity access for more skills, and she'll need Radiant Unity for a bunch of other skills (but how will she the flying fast-stuff-then-slow-motion hand touch with herself?). But, Class Change is just unlocking a few Carnages and some stat boosts. What would she get? Would there be costume changes? Manakete as a base class with Divine Dragon as one promotion is plausible. The second option though, what would it be? Fire Dragon would easily work, if not that "dark". Shadow Dragon is a no because it is Medeus's title. Fell is as close to Shadow in darkness as she could get, Earth and Mage are remote other possibilities with a "dark" feel to them. For XS Episode II, I'd throw in a second line. "Unless you're from Europe." Since from XG to XS Ep. III, that was the only Xeno released in Europe. Which is a little ironic, given what the European release of XC1 did for the franchise.

Which, while I won't say I like Makalov (I don't), is the idea of Makalov that I like. He isn't absurd. His crime is gambling, a very petty crime. Yes, an army is a reasonable place for psychopaths and assassins to gather b/c killing is the job. But IRL historically, I'd probably be only able to hang a half-dozen psycho-assassins from my army a month, while having a hundred gamblers to choke, so to speak. And the idea of Makalov, like the idea of Shinon, add a hint more realism to the player's forces. Whilst having a virtuous army of justice is wonderful, there is something to appreciate in making it more earthy, which requires including a few real imperfections. I consider Mia to be the weakest Greil Mercenary as a character myself. So I see what you mean. If I had to guess her appeal, it's just simple surface charm. A confident, cute girl with a sword. I'm not sure how anyone could find depth in Mia.

According to Bulbapedia, that isn't about social awkwardness.: When Clair gives the player TM24 (DragonBreath) in Generation II, she says, "No, it has nothing to do with my breath." This was a pun lost in translation, as Clair's Japanese name, Ibuki, can be taken to mean "breath". Despite this, a joke remains, as "dragon breath" is a term sometimes used for someone who has halitosis. Because she gives out TM59 (Dragon Pulse) in Generation IV instead, this joke was removed, though Clair does start to make a reference before becoming embarrassed.