Eltosian Kadath

You can do the Chidori revival event in P3P as well, and do note that the Shinjiro saving event only occurs in the Female MC option that P3P added, as it changed up quite a few of the social links (making Shinjiro the Moon for her if I remember correctly). Its minor, but P3P added a tiny bit to the ending where you can interact with allies that you don't get social links with. I think this is P3P only, but I am not entirely sure, but on New Game + you can spend the last scene in the game with someone you had a romantic maxed social link with (although the original version fits the story much better...) On the less secret side, a few things you should probably know about the difference between the versions. P3FES doesn't give you full control over your allies in combat (which can be very annoying, such that there is a common P3FES patch which adds this feature to the game), and P3P also changed how extra attacks work with multitarget spells to match P4's system. P3P also ended up gutting the fatigue system of the other versions, which while annoying early on, become kinda interesting after you get more than a full party's worth of allies. P3P also has a few clear limitations added to it from being on the PSP, like some cutscenes becoming talking head scenes, and removing the mundane world exploration with a system more reminiscent of Visual Novels. P3P added rescue quests, where normal people will become trapped in Tartarus until you save them, as well as some late game content with the Vision Quest hall, including an optional boss fight with Margaret. Some other minor changes in P3P include limited the MC to the weapon type that only they could use, instead of letting them wield any weapons they wanted; letting you level persona to get skill cards; added more possible events for Tartarus; removing the late night studying; and replacing the combo spells with item equivalents. And of course there is the big one of P3FES having The Answer, and P3P has the Female MC. Personally I slightly prefer P3P, but its really down to personal preference.

I am usually not one to share videos, but this one ends up kinda amazing. This whole series RubberRoss has been doing with real animators/artist doing Gartic Phone is great, but this one...

Its been a bit, but another update on my nuzlocke, Zelda the Dunsparce manage to sweep Pryce, I may regret giving her the only Gold Berry I am likely to get for this one, but she needed it if the Piloswine crit with blizzard...or at least that was the plan. Pryce started that fight by having Seel debuff her speed using Icy Wind, and I just went all out with Rage. She sweep through the Seel and Dewgong just fine, and I was lucky enough that the Aurora Beams they spammed didn't trigger the 10% attack drop, but the Dewgong crit with the last one. I wasn't entirely sure she could finish the Piloswine off if it spammed Blizzard, but I risked it anyway...and he utterly threw the match by using Fury attack, which super charges rage due to it being a multi-attack move. Gen 2 really is the best generation for Rage, as it is one of the worst moves in Gen 1 (arguably worse than splash, and the bugged Focus Energy), and ends up mediocre in Gen 3, with an extra nerf after Gen 4. Currently grinding up for the Jasmine Fight, so it may be a bit, as I have exhausted all trainers, and her Steelix jumps the Pryce level cap by 4... Also figure I would point out to all those interested that Toby Fox just setup a Steam page for Deltarune, and dropped a "Demo" that includes chapter 1, and a brand new chapter 2.

Lot of folks spreading the Trump message online aren't actually American. Doesn't keep them from parroting, propagating, or perpetuating those ideas.

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but the United States of America is suing the state of Texas over its detection of Embryo Pacemaker signals bill (which they in error refer to as the Fetal Heartbeat bill, despite the fact that at that stage in development it is an embryo, and has yet to develop a heart...). As for the attempted recall of Newsom, I am not surprised at all by the results. I still remember the shitshow that was the last recall, and Newsom did nothing that would warrant a repeat of that. The debate really cemented this stance, as it made it clear that most of them were incompetent, and the tiny handful that didn't were rather outed as to their motives by the question asked of whether or not they would accept the election results. Whole thing convinced me to put Gavin Newsom as a write-in candidate for the second half... As for NinjaMonkey's posts, I rather appreciate their existence, as it shows a glimpse of the mentality, and ideals that Trump supporters hold. These kind of people are a part of America, and understanding the way they reject facts they don't like, redirect critics of their policy into attacks on the opposition (not to mention the uncomfortably large amount of these ideas that come from foreign elements) is a useful to observe in small doses like this.

we;lotosian kadatgh ...You get used to it after a few letters.

One of the classics to give the wrath manual to is Nanna (thanks to her Earth Sword), or a mage that can use Nosferatu, that way they can become a more enemy phase unit by healing the damage the deal with the auto-crits. As for the Paragon scroll, whoever you like best is the best person you give it to.

Did you try to fight the invisible boss, or did you have the common sense to explore first (and hopefully find the item that lets you see the invisible...)?

Well done!

I kinda agree with you, but in a more extreme sense. I don't think AI information, like whether a unit will move, or who they will attack, should be available to the player, even if it was accurate. To be fair, whether you can, or can't block reinforcements is one of those frustratingly obscure, and inconsistent features in the franchise. Its not even always consistent within the same game mode, for one example that comes immediately to mind, Lunatic Fates chapter 5 has unblockable reinforcements, but Lunatic Conquest chapter 26 reinforcements are blockable. Don't get me wrong, Birthright used the concept in a way that was far better telegraphed, but Three Houses was still cheating off of Birthright's homework when they did the same sort of idea again. Plus the chapter immediately after that looks just as ludicrous with only Leo and his retainers starting on the map, with a completely different gimmick in mind... Side note, I think the big problem with most of @Alastor15243's list of complaints there is less what they are, and more that they are so poorly telegraphed that blind play ends up treacherous.

Creative is a charitable way to describe it, most of these are things that happen in earlier game (or something similar to it), but just dialed up to 11 in Three Houses, and made worse by moronic design decisions. Very similar to Birthright chapter 17, where visiting villages, one of the time honored side objectives of the series, instead spawns enemies in the middle of your turn. A lot like how the "stealth" mechanics of Path of Radiance chapter 10 work, but any combat (not simply killing) triggers the reinforcements on any phase. Again, reinforcements are nothing new, Three Houses just dialed things up to 11. The only major difference between this, and earlier games is they tell you when units have "0 move". Kind of like how the Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn Laguz getting their stats changed when they transform on enemy phase, it is better telegraphed that they can do this in the Tellius games , although Path of Radiance's inconsistent stat boosts for transformation makes it still kinda suspect (plus the gains to move are extra mean...). Also there were times when a Boss switches who they are mid-chapter (although in earlier games its common for this to occur at times where its unlikely to impact the player, like Binding Blade chapter 12). Shadow Dragon not revealing the stat bonuses attached to dragon stones in any way seems kinda similar as well. Kinda like Ephraim being killed being added to the defeat conditions of Sacred Stones chapter 8 after turn 2, or keeping partner Tibarn alive in Radiant Dawn chapter 3-11 after you trigger his appearance by crossing an invisible line (and some of the crossbow enemies can one-shot him on this map). Radiant Dawn 3-E does lie about its victory conditions. It doesn't ambush you like THAT paralogue, but if you don't know the victory condition is lying to you, you will play differently, and might push further than you should...

It is optional, but if you do face it good luck. With the Eternal Sanctum Key you can open a locked door right near the beginning of the Dragon Sanctum that eventually leads to it. Be warned, taking down the gank squad solo is a pain, when I did it, it was the longest boss fight in the franchise for me, as it was all about taking advantage of the terrain to isolate them for a few moments to hurt one (hopefully to stab the archer a few times before he switches to the estoc, or fire a few poison arrows into the Havel, etc.) before running away to try and isolate them again. If you want help against the Co-op section, we could try using the Name-Engraving ring to setup you summoning me for co-op support. Hitting him causes your weapons to reduce durability significantly more than hitting anything else, and it was bad enough that I had to menu mid fight to switch weapons to keep from breaking mine before he died...

Ah DLC content...I have never been one to buy those on principle (barring the Fate's route split costs, but those had a very different feel them...) That is a fair point, I am guessing the devs felt anyone invested enough to buy the DLC 6ish months after release probably played through the game once already. But they had the opportunity to integrate this DLC content into the main game in a way that makes more sense, like you suggested.

Not sure why I feel like script doctoring this, but I think this would work better if Manuela was trying to help with the Flayn investigation too, and the faculty knew her plan was to use her acting skills to go undercover. Then have her eek out some phrase saying they though I led you to them before collapsing from her fresh wound (in a way that points to the secret passage), that way her being attacked early is tied directly to you discovering the truth early, and explains what she was doing, and why there isn't a more official response to one of the main teachers being missing for a month... Sounds in line with the numerous other terribly parents with massive wealth from this game. Probably didn't want her back, or particularly care she was safe, and just sent the church some money to take care of her in their stead. If they just gave you some option to skip the almost identical first half of the game it would have been so much more bearable, like FE7 letting you skip Lyn and jump strait to Eliwood, or Hector mode after your first run, or Fate's letting you skip straight to the route split after the first run. Even in FE8 (or FE5) you could always copy your save (so the same save is in two slots) before the Eirika/Ephraim (or Route A/B) route split to just have to repeat one map to jump to the new route. If they just let you jump to the new stuff (even if it was a little clunky), instead of forcing us to repeat that samey section over and over again it would have helped so much. Not to mention these two routes being mindnumbingly similar just exacerbated the problem (fortunately I didn't play those two back to back, but still...)

How well did you handle the co-op area and the gank squad boss at the end of it (where there are three human enemies, one in Havel set, one in Alva, and the archer)? I found his weapon breaking mechanics obnoxious to deal with, but otherwise a fun fight. The DLC tends to get praised for its bosses... Nice, I never did much with dual wielding (usually either two handing, or doing a bit of magic in one, and weapon in the other), but it is an interesting addition. As far as I know its a DS2 only mechanic (although I have heard that DS3's paired weapons can do some similar things)

Took a week off from my Nuzlocke, but I am back at it with another update. Tragically this is the first Gym that Zelda the Dunsparce didn't sweep on her own, as Chuck the fighting gym leader is a bit too scary to face with a normal type...at least now that Midna the gastley is dead. If Midna were still around I would have tried using spite to pp stall the fighting moves on the Primeape (which is unable to hit her with any of its moves), then defense curl to max and rage with Dunsparce, but instead it was a stalling sweep with Mido the Jumpluff. Mido just leech seeded and poisoned both his mons, and used his resists and synthesis to stall his mons till their death.

I delayed a bit on my big DS2 ramble, but here it be @Benice

The director took inspiration from the most traumatic memory from his childhood for the final boss. Earthbound always had a fair bit of darkness throughout it, but that final section is where it becomes unbound, and unmasked by humor. I have always found it a fitting end as at its core it was a coming of age story, and that ending successfully embodied the end of childlike innocence.

His promotion is tied to a story event at the end of the chapter. Don't worry, just finish the chapter and he will promote.

Sorry I missed the end of Shadows of Valentia, as I seemed to be the closest thing that game had to a defender, and I think having opposing opinions helps to sharpen critique. I would have commented sooner, but it didn't feel right to do so before catching up, and while it didn't take long to get through the rest of your Shadows of Valentia coverage, I find reading about Three Houses exhausting, in part because I find a lot of similar opinions about how Three Houses plays. I don't usually talk about Three Houses, as I really forced my way through all of the routes of the game too quickly, playing well after the point where I was enjoying it, and its really clear to me that the Three Houses burnout I was feeling after I was done with the fourth route has highly colored my opinion in a way I do not think is entirely fair to the game (maybe I will have more to say after the mind numbing White Clouds section)...although I do have a few comments on your biggest hot-takes First, I agree a lot with your opinion on Three Houses support, one of the few places I think we disagree is with the paired endings, as I like the idea in concept, the way they obscure the mechanics to make it seem more like the characters are in control over who they will end up marrying, although I find your point about the romantic undertones of potentially pairing A rank supports undercuts this idea in execution. Also some nuance that I think was lost when people were talking about the gameplay effects of supports is that Three Houses have a far more generic effect compared to the rest of the series. It either gives extra hit, or if its a "special" support, some extra might on top of that same hit bonus. As soon as supports became a thing that would grow, there was more variety in its mechanical effects, from the proto supports of Genealogy's love mechanics leading to highly divergent children characters; the GBA and Tellius era's affinities gave a fair bit of variety to the boosts you could get; New Mysteries was the most generic in effect before, but even that gave you a Bond item based on which support you are getting; Awakening gave the variety of children like Genealogy; Fates went all out with both children, and linking the defense stance stat bonuses, and attack stance calculated stat bonuses based on character and support level, and Echoes gives a lot of creative though into what bonuses its supports give. These differences in the gameplay bonuses supports give make individual supports feel more special and distinguishable (even if you don't read it) which has been greatly diminished in Three Houses, and something distinguishable is desperately needed with the overwhelming glut of supports that rapidly drown you as you play. This is probably its own massive can of worms to open, but I do have a complaint about Three Houses class system. I find the massive amount of possibilities in the system leading to an exhausting amount of decision fatigue. The massive number of endgame classes, and the even more variable paths you can take to get there with multiple tiers, gets exhausting to consider, and is more difficult to ignore than a lot of other clear sources of decision fatigue in the series. In other FE games, I can fairly easily ignore the class change systems if I don't feel like dealing with that, and even if I do engage with it (barring Robin and their kids) Three Houses has more options than any other game at every tier. Sure I could follow a guide to make that decision for me, or just declare a single-class challenge run or do the challenge run where I do ignore its class system, or something, but a more manageable number of choices would make for a more enjoyable system to deal with...or at least a less draining system one to deal with.

Its not impossible, but it is harder than the mage room. I ended up facing that half on my Lunatic challenge run, so that I could then take advantage of the Berserkers being able to outpace the Generals in the room after.

Well Done !!! Sounds like your team was better than even you expected. I have been waiting for a sale myself, and would be game for some Ace Attorney posts, but I have kind played the whole series barring that one (and the Japanese only Edgeworth Investigations 2... which I should finish one of these days...), plus that seems like the kinda game which would lead to oodles of spoilers.

Probably not going to be 4 paragraphs, but I do think people complain about it more than it deserves. Inevitable End is more about getting you to cycle through the troops you are using mid-map, being careful not to overuse (thus over debuff) your units, encouraging having built a well rounded team, over having a few units carrying you through. This is also one of the maps that really encourages careful planning and resource management, as certain skills and staff make it a lot easier to deal with if you have prepared for it. Finally, worst comes to worst, you have a clear out available for you. Also random question completely unrelated to this little bit of Fate's talk, but I am curious if you have played, or plan on playing the Phoenix Wright, Professor Layton crossover game?

My first though is tonics, but with withdrawal symptoms after long term use, first a small penalty to the stat they give that get overwritten by the tonic boost, growing with the more chapters they use it (adding an addiction like mechanic), but soon they are getting penalties to other stats, which don't simply go away with more tonic use, having to suffer through the penalties, or go cold turkey as they go away one point at a time per map...