The Last To Post Wins!

[Codename Shrimp]

I AM GONNA WIN

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, Shrimperor said:

Either you are super fast or i am super slow xD

I would imagine it being on Nightmare difficulty increases the playtime a bit. But i've played through the game twice and both were about 25-30 hours.

1 hour ago, DragonFlames said:

The best part? This... thing is voiced by the same person who lent his voice to a certain Fire Emblem character we all (presumably) know:

Well it's not the first time Chrom got SMTified haha (actually wait, TMS came after this, didn't it?).

 

 

[Codename Shrimp]

5 minutes ago, Armagon said:

I would imagine it being on Nightmare difficulty increases the playtime a bit. But i've played through the game twice and both were about 25-30 hours.

 

All Doors, all Arena fights, 100%, all achievements?

[Acacia Sgt]

Okay, last grinding session before heading to fight Zoma. My first Sage finally has Puff!, so those Liquid Metal Slimes won't be getting away... as much... this time!

Well, I did took one down right now... in what was both good and bad notes. Bad in that even with Acceleratle my Sage-turned-dragon still went after it. Good in that it didn't fled in either turn. Well, not a high note but not a low one, I guess.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Acacia Sgt

[Armagon]

26 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

 

All Doors, all Arena fights, 100%, all achievements?

I didn't do all the doors because the sun doors are wack. I don't play for achievements. But I did do most of the doors.

[Codename Shrimp]

the only game i ever completely 100%

Edited February 18, 2020 by Shrimperor

[Interdimensional Observer]

3 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

The best part? This... thing is voiced by the same person who lent his voice to a certain Fire Emblem character we all (presumably) know:

Interesting.

I kinda prefer classic Lucifer's two appearances, but the IV redesign was fixed somewhat in Apo. And its phase two as you posted doesn't feel so bad to me now. Whilst I still like Lucifer beautiful, a more grotesquely demonic design gives variety to the Demon Lord's portfolio of appearances, and diversity isn't a bad thing.

 

3 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Too bad actually fighting this guy is really easy if you know what you're doing.

I never finished Strange Journey, but IV seems to have done the inverse of SJ. The harder pre-Redux final boss of SJ is the Chaos-aligned foe, and whereas for IV it's the Law-aligned one that is stronger. I even recall Lucifer having the ability to return one of your demons to your roster, while Merk opts for an unblockable single-target instadeath.

 

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Well it's not the first time Chrom got SMTified haha (actually wait, TMS came after this, didn't it?).

TMS came after SMTIV. In fact, the open-jacket costume you can find in the Hall of Aspirations in Encore for Touma, is a copy of the attire worn by the guy who became that thing in Lucifer's left arm.

Also, Yashiro's VA is the same as Japanese Male Robin. This includes any singing of Yashiro's.

 

 

 

I'm trying to slip back into Soma Bringer now. I had dropped it off at the end of Chapter 3 months ago. Enemies are getting dangerously strong in some cases now. Giant birds being very deadly.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

[Jingle Jangle]

SMTIV Lucifer had a wonky design. I thought that tumor creature was the remains of Walter.

[Interdimensional Observer]

6 minutes ago, Jingle Jangle said:

SMTIV Lucifer had a wonky design. I thought that tumor creature was the remains of Walter.

It is, I hence the blue scarf/collar hanging on its neck. It kinda makes you wonder if he regrets his decision. Merkabah shows no such signs of Jonathan even in its phase two, a small measure of trying to worsen Chaos's PR? 

Edited February 18, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

[Armagon]

 

____________________

 

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

TMS came after SMTIV. In fact, the open-jacket costume you can find in the Hall of Aspirations in Encore for Touma, is a copy of the attire worn by the guy who became that thing in Lucifer's left arm.

Oh yeah, I remember getting that costume. Someone told me where it originated but I guess I forgot.

[Acacia Sgt]

I swear, the game knows I'm hunting down the LMS's. I can only get just one from any group... or they all manage to flee. Puff! must be lowering Agility or something because they all somehow still act before despite the spell itself sometimes acting first before any agility boost.

Ah well, the other enemies still give enough EXP at a decent enough pace for me. I think I'll have my second Sage to level 35 before I'm off to fight Zoma.

[DragonFlames]

3 hours ago, Armagon said:

Well it's not the first time Chrom got SMTified haha (actually wait, TMS came after this, didn't it?).

Yup, so it did.

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Interesting.

I kinda prefer classic Lucifer's two appearances, but the IV redesign was fixed somewhat in Apo. And its phase two as you posted doesn't feel so bad to me now. Whilst I still like Lucifer beautiful, a more grotesquely demonic design gives variety to the Demon Lord's portfolio of appearances, and diversity isn't a bad thing.

I love his phase two look. Granted, I haven't played any other SMT prior to IV (and Strange Journey Redux, where he doesn't appear in the flesh), but like Merkabah in both of his forms, everything about the way he looks is just... wrong (in a good way) and it fits really well with the message the game is trying to convey - at least the one that it conveyed to me - that being that extremism is bad, despite how tempting and convincing both sides of the argument are. Apocalypse cheapened that message a bit by having it all be orchestrated by [glitchy noises], I find. But maybe that's just me.

It's a bit sad that his phase two look never appears in Apocalypse.

Fun fact: his appearance in Persona 5 is arguably even more monstrous, in that it lacks any kind of humanoid feature, whereas the SMTIV version at least looks humanoid enough.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

It is, I hence the blue scarf/collar hanging on its neck. It kinda makes you wonder if he regrets his decision. Merkabah shows no such signs of Jonathan even in its phase two, a small measure of trying to worsen Chaos's PR? 

To me, it shows how deep Walter has sunk for his ideals, being reduced to a gross, twitching fetus-like being in the Demon Lord's left arm.

---

@Armagon: I had something absolutely hilarious happen to me today.
I was beating up Imperial soldiers when I noticed that other soldiers were just happily eating in the background while their allies were being slaughtered.

What the hell? XD
I can only imagine their dialogue:
Soldier 1: "Hey, uh, they're fighting over there."
Soldier 2: "So what? I'm hungry. You keep eating, too."
Fighting soldiers: *screaming in agony*
Soldier 1: "They're... kinda killing our guys."
Soldier 2: "Eh, who cares. Have you tasted this cheese? It's freaking delicious!"

Then later:

Soldier 3: "Uh... do you see anyone standing there?"
Soldier 4: "No. Why?"
Soldier 3: "Because they kinda look like the people the higher-ups wanted us to capture."
Soldier 4: "Dude, you're imagining things."
Soldier 3: "They... they freed the terrorist, man!"
Soldier 4: "You need to cool it with the wine next time. Remember what the doc said?"
Soldier 3&4: "Drink too much wine and it'll poison your mind. Nipping the cider makes the imagination go wilder."

Nia: "Wow, these guys are dumb."
Rex: "I know, right?"

---

Also, I finally managed to finish the most annoying sidequest ever.
To anyone still wanting to play this game, I urge you to beware of these two f***ers that I really, REALLY want to kill right now:

On a more positive note, I unlocked a fun little minigame that has a high score board, where you can enter your name like a very old arcade game.

I am a very mature adult human person, I know.

Edited February 18, 2020 by DragonFlames

[Codename Shrimp]

btw @DragonFlamesdid XB2 steal all your CS3 time, or did you actually finish it?

[DragonFlames]

Just now, Shrimperor said:

btw @DragonFlamesdid XB2 steal all your CS3 time, or did you actually finish it?

Prior to getting XB2, I took a bit of a break from CS3 and then noticed a distinct lack of motivation to continue it.
Then I got XB2, because it was currently on sale and, well, here we are now.

I know I said this before, but CS3 is basically CS1 if CS1 had slightly faster pacing, because some of the plot progression is the exact same as it was in CS1. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended the same or at least a similar way, either.
Add onto that some pitfalls CS2 fell into - most prominently the "Lolnope!" boss fights -, a more interesting main cast that, like its predecessor, doesn't really get to shine because anyone but Aurelia "I'm literally invincible because someone in the writing team had a huge hard-on for me and I am the reason there are zero stakes in this story" LeGuin getting to do anything awesome long-term is something Falcom's writing staff REALLY wanted to avoid, and way worse music and that's CS3 for you.

[Codename Shrimp]

4 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

-snip-

OOF. I see. That's kinda sad tbh.

Seems you are enjoying XB2 atleast^^.

I plan to get it myself after i return from visiting my parents.

Also, about CS3 music, one of my main reason i want to play it is

That track is dope.

[Armagon]

15 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

I had something absolutely hilarious happen to me today.
I was beating up Imperial soldiers when I noticed that other soldiers were just happily eating in the background while their allies were being slaughtered.

What the hell? XD
I can only imagine their dialogue:
Soldier 1: "Hey, uh, they're fighting over there."
Soldier 2: "So what? I'm hungry. You keep eating, too."
Fighting soldiers: *screaming in agony*
Soldier 1: "They're... kinda killing our guys."
Soldier 2: "Eh, who cares. Have you tasted this cheese? It's freaking delicious!"

Then later:

Soldier 3: "Uh... do you see anyone standing there?"
Soldier 4: "No. Why?"
Soldier 3: "Because they kinda look like the people the higher-ups wanted us to capture."
Soldier 4: "Dude, you're imagining things."
Soldier 3: "They... they freed the terrorist, man!"
Soldier 4: "You need to cool it with the wine next time. Remember what the doc said?"
Soldier 3&4: "Drink too much wine and it'll poison your mind. Nipping the cider makes the imagination go wilder."

Nia: "Wow, these guys are dumb."
Rex: "I know, right?"

Lmao. In regards to the soldiers simply ignoring you, remember how I said being certain levels higher than an enemy won't aggro them? There you go.

Does make for some funny situations when you're standing in front of a threatening-looking enemy but it doesn't fight you.

18 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

On a more positive note, I unlocked a fun little minigame that has a high score board, where you can enter your name like a very old arcade game.

Ah Tiger-Tiger. Cute concept but it's kinda a pain if you're a completionist. You already know that's how you get parts to modify Poppi but do be aware that you don't actually have to. My first playthrough, I played the entire game without modifying Poppi that much. Poppiswap is there since Tora can't actually resonate with other Blades, so that's how they worked around it while still giving you the freedom in customization.

[Armagon]

5 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

Also, about CS3 music, one of my main reason i want to play it is

Dope track indeed.

Speaking of CS3 music, I find that it's opening song to be the best in the series imo.

[DragonFlames]

3 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

Seems you are enjoying XB2 atleast^^.

Yup. Despite some frustrations I have with it, I am enjoying my time with the game.

3 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

Also, about CS3 music, one of my main reason i want to play it is

That track is dope.

I haven't even gotten to the point where I could listen to this, but this is no doubt the best track on the entire soundtrack.
The best parts of CS3, to say some positive stuff about it are without a doubt New Class VII and their interactions with each other, Rean (yes, you read that right. CS3 improves him a LOT), and the fact that they vastly improved the Divine Knight battles.

1 minute ago, Armagon said:

Lmao. In regards to the soldiers simply ignoring you, remember how I said being certain levels higher than an enemy won't aggro them? There you go.

Ah, that's what it was. I see. It still created a good laugh for me, so it all works out.

2 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Ah Tiger-Tiger. Cute concept but it's kinda a pain if you're a completionist. You already know that's how you get parts to modify Poppi but do be aware that you don't actually have to. My first playthrough, I played the entire game without modifying Poppi that much. Poppiswap is there since Tora can't actually resonate with other Blades, so that's how they worked around it while still giving you the freedom in customization.

Yeah, I figured that it would have to be something like that.
Speaking of which: I am being bombarded with Core Crystals, it feels like. Is it actually worth having Rex and Nia resonating with all of them or should I just wait until I get access to more Rare ones? One reason I am asking this is because I noticed that they have only limited space for Blades they can resonate with and looking at how many rare ones there are, I kinda feel like I should be a little conservative with it.

[DragonFlames]

4 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Speaking of CS3 music, I find that it's opening song to be the best in the series imo.

Personally, I found the OP to be somewhat weak compared to the previous two.
And none of the OPs in Cold Steel have anything on this in my eyes:

He says and has never played that game.

Edited February 18, 2020 by DragonFlames

[Acacia Sgt]

Alright, finished grinding. Will head for Zoma's Citadel... tomorrow or tonight, maybe.

[Codename Shrimp]

2 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

I haven't even gotten to the point where I could listen to this

I mean
it's the final dungeon track xD

2 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Personally, I found the OP to be somewhat weak compared to the previous two.
And none of the OPs in Cold Steel have anything on this in my eyes:

He says and has never played that game.

That's the real dope right there

so dope, i Karaoke'd it with some peeps on discord lmao

 

[DragonFlames]

Just now, Shrimperor said:

I mean
it's the final dungeon track xD

Ah, that would explain it.
CS2's final dungeon theme was great, but this beats it by a wide margin.

Just now, Shrimperor said:

That's the real dope right there

so dope, i Karaoke'd it with some peeps on discord lmao

Awesome!

My personal favorite JRPG opening song is currently this one (though the actual opening uses an instrumental version, the one with the actual lyrics is the final boss theme).

[Armagon]

I need. Friday needs to hurry up. 

10 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Speaking of which: I am being bombarded with Core Crystals, it feels like. Is it actually worth having Rex and Nia resonating with all of them or should I just wait until I get access to more Rare ones? One reason I am asking this is because I noticed that they have only limited space for Blades they can resonate with and looking at how many rare ones there are, I kinda feel like I should be a little conservative with it.

There is a way to transfer Blades (not counting personal ones) onto a different party members using an item called an Overdrive Protocol. You can get one from a chest in Torigoth. Overdrive Protocols are limited and while you can technically farm infinite of them, it takes way too long to get even one with that method. However, there is no wrong Blade to equip on a Driver. There are optimal ones, sure (Nia for example wants all the healer Blades and Ether Cannon Blades) but in the end, you can get by with just any Blade setup.

At this point, I'd say make sure Rex and Nia each have an extra Blade. I wouldn't worry about getting new ones for now, especially since you can't equip a third Blade yet. 

Also in regards to Blade limits, it's a lot. So I wouldn't worry about that either.

Actually, that reminds me, there is a pity system in place for when you get too many Common Blades in a row. There's five sets of Rare Blades the game will give you as a pity, but what set this is is unknown until you pull your first Rare Blade (assuming you pulled a lot of Commons before hand). In that case, I'd say keep opening those Core Crystals until you get a Rare Blade. From there, we can likely determine what pity set your save file has.

13 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

And none of the OPs in Cold Steel have anything on this in my eyes:

He says and has never played that game.

That one is definitely a close second for me.

[DragonFlames]

1 minute ago, Armagon said:

There is a way to transfer Blades (not counting personal ones) onto a different party members using an item called an Overdrive Protocol. You can get one from a chest in Torigoth. Overdrive Protocols are limited and while you can technically farm infinite of them, it takes way too long to get even one with that method. However, there is no wrong Blade to equip on a Driver. There are optimal ones, sure (Nia for example wants all the healer Blades and Ether Cannon Blades) but in the end, you can get by with just any Blade setup.

That's good to know. One less thing to fret over. XD

2 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Actually, that reminds me, there is a pity system in place for when you get too many Common Blades in a row. There's five sets of Rare Blades the game will give you as a pity, but what set this is is unknown until you pull your first Rare Blade (assuming you pulled a lot of Commons before hand). In that case, I'd say keep opening those Core Crystals until you get a Rare Blade. From there, we can likely determine what pity set your save file has.

Why does this sound scarily familiar?
Remembers Fire Emblem Heroes and other gacha games exist.

---

While we are on the subject of saying positive things about CS3, here are some more tracks from the soundtrack I actually enjoyed listening to while playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqVohcuRUDI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVC_uv36U6A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVTXxQYjqwU

I still consider these to be somewhat weaker than some stuff from the older games, but this is still good music in my ears.
The entire soundtrack is good, but it's not amazing like it was in CS2 or CS1 (which so far has my favorite Trails soundtrack).

[Armagon]

1 minute ago, DragonFlames said:

Why does this sound scarily familiar?
Remembers Fire Emblem Heroes and other gacha games exist.

Thankfully, there's no microtransactions haha. And every Rare Blade is unique, you will never get a duplicate Rare Blade. 

5 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

The entire soundtrack is good, but it's not amazing like it was in CS2 or CS1 (which so far has my favorite Trails soundtrack).

I will agree that CS1 and 2 have a better soundtrack overall than CS3. CS1 and 2 have Atrocious Raid, one of the best songs in the series. CS4 also uses a badass remix of it (which technically already existed in the Super Arrange album).

In regards to CS3, here's some of my favorites

Sword of Biting Gale

Step Ahead