The Last To Post Wins!

[Armagon]

8 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Something negative Monolith picked up before it abandoned Square? Because the broken summon from FFVII takes a full minute & twenty seconds to finish.:

Well the Erde Kaiser Sigma summon isn't as long as that

Only like 50 seconds.

9 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Also, you left Tri-Force Heroes off that list. But I will say I kinda regret buying it, it just isn't the funnest thing if you aren't playing it with real friends. Not so much the puzzles (though a few issues exist), as it is the bosses and special challenges that are the problem. A noble effort to make a multiplayer Zelda though.

Tri-Force Heroes wasn't even on there. But yeah, it's not as fun if you aren't playing with real friends. When you are though, it became a game of betrayal because everyone shares the same health bar so it's just hilarious screwing everything up.

I didn't have the game myself but i did play it via download play. But honestly, i felt Four Swords was a better multiplayer Zelda (haven't played Adventures but i hear it's the best multiplayer Zelda).

10 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

You played 3D World, but not XCX. Wii U at friend's house I guess?

Yep. Due to certain circumstances a few years ago, I was actually having to live at a friend's house. So i was able to play quite a few Wii U games, one of them being 3D World. Unfortunately he did not have Xenoblade X though that's because he wasn't really interested in the series back then. He is now and he owns both Xenoblade 1 and X but he hasn't beaten the former and hasn't even started on the latter.

13 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Can't quite say where I'd put things for 3D Mario, but I do like the Galaxies. Why doesn't Nintendo give them HD remasters for a quick handful of Yen?

The biggest issue in the way of Galaxy remasters is how vital the motion controls were to those games. A lot of the time, you were required to point at things to shoot starbits or the ball levels where you used the Wiimote to balance things out. The Joy-Cons and even the Pro-Controller do have gyro controls, as well as when playing in handheld mode but like Kid Icarus: Uprising (another fantastic game), putting that on the Switch is gonna take a bit of work. It could be done but out of all the 3D Marios, the Galaxy games are probably the hardest ones to remaster.

[Armagon]

 

[Shrimpica]

''the world... is finally mine''

[Strullemia]

It was really satisfting to see her cut down Linda in that ending.

[Armagon]

Kid Icarus: Uprising is a game inspired by Greek mythology. You have the Greek Gods, mythological creatures such as Cerberus, Medusa and even a character who's a reference to the Egyptian sun God. All sorts of mythological references.

Oh and aliens. Just what was needed in this Greek mythology-inspired game.

In other words, play Kid Icarus: Uprising if you haven't already. I'd say it's the best game on 3DS.

[Interdimensional Observer]

KIU was a good one-off. Decent action gameplay, and a well-written comic script that'd make for a AAA cartoon. Though I never did try/was good at the higher intensities all that much, nor the multiplayer.

I wish the weapon fusion system was much easier to mess with to get what you want, but I did like the weapon designs. I wish there was a full set of Nintendo crossover weapons though, Pokeball Orbitars, Chozo Cannon, and something for every other weapon type.

 

5 hours ago, Armagon said:

(haven't played Adventures but i hear it's the best multiplayer Zelda).

I played through that in full two or three times solo when I was younger. Having to use several GBAs and Link Cables would make the experience a bit different, with some puzzles being modified to account for multiple players. Though single-player gets its four Formations to play with.

The levels (like TFH, they're always fixed and never randomized) are probably a little too long for quick bursts, particularly the later ones, but if you have the time, the game is fun. A nice if unoriginal blend of ALttP and Wind Waker aesthetics. Multiplayer adds a handful of minigames at Tingle's Tower, and a mode where you fight the other players on small group of stages.

Hearts aren't shared, but I do recall the handful of times I had someone to play with, that you do have to choose who gets the extra Heart Containers and damage-halving Blue Bracelets -not that'd you know they're in a chest until someone opens it.

[DragonFlames]

1st visit to Nights Domain: Oh god, what is this?!?
2nd visit after upgrading weapons: You should have done that a LONG time ago, you f***ing idiot!

9 hours ago, Armagon said:

I don't remember that one having insta-kill attacks. Either i killed it quickly or it never used them on me.

Then you got lucky. There is also a kind of gryphon in the Night Domain that uses the same attack. It's really annoying.

9 hours ago, Armagon said:

......ohhhhh, you're talking about the dragon in the Ster Highlands. I'm talking about the dragon in the Night's Domain. Yeah, the one in Ster Highlands is one of Sterk's events. You need to kill it with Sterk in the party. This event is actually referenced in Lulua.

  Reveal hidden contents

Remember that event where Sterk mentions he recieved a scar protecting Rorona? This is it.

 

I figured that was the one. I was honestly expecting a forced-loss battle judging by what Sterk said in Lulua. Never would have thought I need to actually defeat it.
I want to try again, but I don't know if I can find the time to do so. Curse you, time limits!

9 hours ago, Armagon said:

Hmmmm. Not that i can think of tbh. 

Although well, i guess depending on the game, a status effect can either be a minor inconvinence or an infuriating thing to get hit by.

True.
An example: Poison in action games isn't that terrible. In turn-based ones? Nightmare.
The reverse for paralysis.

8 hours ago, Armagon said:

>Faye in "Awesome" tier

I liked Faye from my very first playthrough and that hasn't changed a bit.
Her ending is pretty dumb, though.

8 hours ago, Armagon said:

Also lmao, no one ever recruits Deen. He's just killed for his Brave Sword.

Describing my playthroughs perfectly. I always went with Sonya. She's the more interesting character between the two. Also she's Genny's only support. And Genny needs her support.

9 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

 

If you didn't know, things such as this actually exist for all four CPUs plus Uzume. They're included on the MegaNep VII OST.
I don't understand a word they're saying (because my Japanese is basically non-existent), but listening to an hour of Rie Tanaka isn't bad.

[Armagon]

So here's a Xenoblade areas tier list i made a while ago.

Planet Mira isn't ordered but everything else is. I haven't played Xenoblade X but i don't need to to understand that that is Monolith Soft's magnum opus when it comes to world design.

You'll also notice two white spots on this tier list. Those are areas from Xenoblade 2 were merely seeing them is a spoiler (and mentioning the name of one of them is also a spoiler). As such, they are marked spoilers. Don't click on them if you haven't played the game and gotten to those points (or if you don't care about spoilers, go ahead).

A-tier area spoiler (Xenoblade 2 Ch.8)

Spoiler

B-tier area spoiler (Xenoblade 2 final chapter)

Spoiler

 

4 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

KIU was a good one-off. Decent action gameplay, and a well-written comic script that'd make for a AAA cartoon. Though I never did try/was good at the higher intensities all that much, nor the multiplayer.

I actually did try to complete every chapter at 9.0 difficulty. I almost did it. The one chapter i can't do on 9.0 is Ch.23 and it's all because of that fucking heart. I hate that heart.

 

3 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

1st visit to Nights Domain: Oh god, what is this?!?
2nd visit after upgrading weapons: You should have done that a LONG time ago, you f***ing idiot!

Oh yeah, the stuff in Night's Domain hits hard which is funny because the combat in the rest of the game is mostly a pushover. I upgraded my equipment minimally. I don't think i ever used the forge, i just got my stuff through the vouchers. It wasn't until Atelier Totori that i started using the forge.

Speaking of the Night's Domain, i've mentioned this before but I do prefer the Atelier Rorona version of the theme over the Atelier Lulua version.

3 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

I figured that was the one. I was honestly expecting a forced-loss battle judging by what Sterk said in Lulua. Never would have thought I need to actually defeat it.
I want to try again, but I don't know if I can find the time to do so. Curse you, time limits!

Imma be honest, i never actually fought the thing so i can't really help you on that. But if you do manage to defeat it, let me know how it goes.

3 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

I liked Faye from my very first playthrough and that hasn't changed a bit.
Her ending is pretty dumb, though.

Agreed, her ending is pretty dumb.

I do wish Faye got more Supports. I appreciate Echoes for not doing the "everyone can Support with everyone" thing from Awakening and Fates but there were a lot of Supports that should've been there but weren't. Faye/Celica is one of them.

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

So here's a Xenoblade areas tier list i made a while ago.



 

For the briefest moment, I thought "Why is Battlefield from Smash on here?" Took me a second to realize the blue was solidified gel (it isn't actually ice), not sky beneath a floating platform.

To explain the solid gel for the moment, as I remember it:

Spoiler

In the opening sequence, you can see blue stuff surrounding most of NLA's glass container thing as crashes onto Mira, which I think is the gel. Apparently, the impact caused it suddenly and permanently change form. Not exactly unheard of scientifically that a high viscosity (thickness) liquid could under pressure become a solid, usually only temporarily though. This was useful, as it cushioned the blow taken by the city and reduced the damage it otherwise would have taken.

Yet the gel, while looking sorta cool, I recall reading it took weeks, or maybe even a month or two (IIRC, the game starts only three months post-crash) to chip it off before humans could actually leave NLA. The rest they left there, because either its useful protection, or more likely with the gates out of NLA cleared, they have better things to devote their effort to.

I'm not sure if the swimmable, no-damage liquid in the bottom of NLA is leftover gel, or its rainwater that has fallen since the crash. Maybe it is both.

As for your tier list on the whole:

• My inclinations would raise Bionis Interior by one tier. No exploration in it at all, but it was a novel concept, albeit better done later in Torna.
• Galahad Fortress would drop a tier.
• Colony 9 goes up one. ATM, I'm thinking I'd drop Argentum, but I think I am just still sick of the music and for some reason, roaming around it trying to find/do something annoying. But I do like the concept.
• Would I drop the Cliffs of Morytha? Hmm... Possibly. The dead Titan idea has some appeal, even if it is nothing particularly nice looking in practice.
• I'm not sure why, but I'd half-consider dropping Uraya one. Perhaps because in gameplay it was going a bit uneven here for me on the first trip, this is the awkward growing phase of XC2 in gameplay, where yes, that extra level or three really does help. The gameplay hadn't fully unlocked yet, and yet "beginning tutorial ease" was fading.
• Mor Ardain because size is small would be under great consideration for a drop of one tier. I like the desert, but it needed more.
• And for Mira, I'd kick Primordia down to C, Oblivia to A, and Cauldros to B. Not sure what to do with NLA, but Sylvalum and Noctilum deserve to remain on top.

 

And to do my own little Xeno tier list (note that the purple and yellow tiers are more or less equal to each other, just different criticisms):

One could certainly disagree with some/a lot of my placements, I can logically predict reasons why. No probs, it's called opinions, differences are expectable, often wonderful, and usually to be tolerated within reason. I will write an essay to the mods why you should be banned forever if you disagree with one SPECIAL placement on this list though. That one is no opinion, it is F-A-C-T that cannot be disputed or denied.

I'll add that I never saw most Heart-to-Hearts beyond Lao's, and that I never did Elma's 2nd Affinity Mission, nor Nagi's last, and maybe Celica's, but I know I did everyone's else's. But I think I still have solid grounds for listing everyone as I do.

Edited September 24, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[Acacia Sgt]

So many tiers lists...

Edited September 24, 2019 by Acacia Sgt

[Nobody]

TATSU IS TASTY

[Acacia Sgt]

Honestly, I found Lin more annoying in those cases...

[Armagon]

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Mor Ardain because size is small would be under great consideration for a drop of one tier. I like the desert, but it needed more.

Imma be honest, while i am fine with Mor Ardain's small size (well, small for Xenoblade standards, area is still pretty big), the main reason i rank it that high is because the music is just too good. Mor Ardain's day theme is my favorite area theme in the series, possibly even gaming as a whole. Hmmm, maybe i should make this tier list again but based on how good their music is. One of these days.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

And to do my own little Xeno tier list (note that the purple and yellow tiers are more or less equal to each other, just different criticisms):

One could certainly disagree with some/a lot of my placements, I can logically predict reasons why. No probs, it's called opinions, differences are expectable, often wonderful, and usually to be tolerated within reason. I will write an essay to the mods why you should be banned forever if you disagree with one SPECIAL placement on this list though. That one is no opinion, it is F-A-C-T that cannot be disputed or denied.

I'll add that I never saw most Heart-to-Hearts beyond Lao's, and that I never did Elma's 2nd Affinity Mission, nor Nagi's last, and maybe Celica's, but I know I did everyone's else's. But I think I still have solid grounds for listing everyone as I do.

Interesting. Pretty interesting. While i have seen their heart-to-hearts before, as someone who hasn't actually played Xenoblade X, i should take a look at them before i really decide where to rank the Xenoblade X characters. That said, going into some spoilers

Spoiler

I'd rank Lao much higher since while he wasn't a true villain, i found him to be way more interesting than the actual villains of the game.

Other than that, i don't particularly agree or disagree with this list at the moment, though i'd probably bump Lin up a tier or so. Also Elma, while her character will definitely be more explored in the inevitable Xenoblade X2, she is still one of the best character in X imo. And comparing her to fellow Xeno protags, i'd put her below everyone except KOS-MOS, who i think she is better than. But i don't mean this in a bad way, i think all the Xeno protags are good. I made a tier-list for them:

Actually, i think i posted this a while back before. Oh well, i'll post it again just in case.

 

Edited September 24, 2019 by Armagon

[Interdimensional Observer]

18 hours ago, Armagon said:

That said, going into some spoilers

About that:

Spoiler

Lao's logic leap just goes a little too far. I can see his criticisms, the group of humans selected for the White Whale was intentionally biased to exclude certain groups. And long after he chose to betray, he very likely learned that nobody except Elma had their actual body stored in the White Whale.

I can understand him wanting to terminate himself. But, how he jumps from disliking the selection bias, to deciding the very last remnant of humanity deserves to go extinct, is a little bit much. He is much better than the rest of the villains, but that requires absolutely no effort to achieve, since I'm sure the tentacle Mechon Shulk learned Monado Speed fighting is better than them.

Whether Elma should have shot him dead in Chapter 11, whether he deserved to redeem himself in Chapter 12, and whether he deserves this unexplained post-credits "survival" (except he looks like he is crazed in the eye- we have no idea what will happen to him). Is another set of questions. Was there enough goodness in him to warrant that, when he might have already betrayed since before you even met him?

 

All this said, if you consider Lao without his big cloud of treason over his head, he isn't a bad guy. I like his interactions with Elma, Lin, Doug, and whoever else. He looks nice, and he is only the second non-Cross character to use a Sniper Rifle, and the rather underused Javelin too. He is nice, which makes his misanthropy such a woe to him. (And I'm not opposed to misanthropic- "all humans die because they're cancer/sinful!"- villains on principle, since I do enjoy a wholly different character who is misanthropic. Said character handled their misanthropy better though.)

And I did warm up to him a little more listening to So Nah, So Fern on its own. His character theme is actually kinda nice, and the lyrics are possibly embodying his very sweet thoughts and dreams of his deceased wife and daughter.

 

My take on Lin is I appreciate the view she provides. Elma by herself would for a dull game make. Elma is on the whole calm, rational, logical, and knowing. Lin is a less calm and less coldly rational. She is not the exact opposite of Elma, but she provides a measure of contrast that should be appreciated, especially since Elma is far from the average person.

The issue with Lin stems from how this contrasting view is carried out. In a game that wants to be lightly mature, removed from excessive "anime" frivolities, Lin stands out as a concession to "anime frivolity". She is a cute and innocent girl, and despite her young age, she is incredibly smart, smarter than probably a lot of adults in the Skell field, she is the foremost mind on the flight module project after all. When everyone else playable in XCX is a few years older than her, when there are no other young geniuses, it is odd. And left to wonder why she is what she is, I, perhaps cynically, went assume it was to appeal to the cutesy anime girl crowd. That was a peculiar move, when XC1 had no one in its playable roster so saccharinely sweet, and yet it did very well without them.

Lin could be worse. Her personality could be way more annoying for sure. She does have good camaraderie with Elma, Vandham, Lao, and Doug. And she even has a post-battle quip with Alexa, which makes perfect sense by actually grounding Lin's engineering geek side a bit.

But, a few more years on Lin wouldn't hurt anything. And, while I'm fine with her liking cooking, the exaggerated use of it before most story chapters is very annoying, her cooking doesn't seem "naturally integrated" into her character for me. It feels tropey, and a little cynically like it was assigned to her to make her into a domestic, because of course women should love cooking. Not to mention her cooking is continually tainted by Tatsu jokes. If they dropped the story chapters constantly bringing this up (a few times, without the Tatsu jokes more than once, would be fine), I'd probably not go after her on this point at all. It'd do a whole lot to help her.

Even though Pyra and Mythra are in XC2, which on the whole is much more "anime", and they themselves are in some great measure "anime", I didn't actually mind the cooking aspect of either. Perhaps it is the difference in usual intended tone between XCX and XC2, neither is a sore-ish thumb like Lin. Perhaps its because the cooking isn't so heavily played with Pyra IIRC. And for Mythra, well she downplays it very well in the maingame, while I actually laughed at it in Torna and sorta liked how she takes pride in it (the Milton scenes were my source of Torna eyerolls, but even those I later saw had a clear and good purpose to them), with her cooking style labeled as 'creative" cuisine. The fact she quietly admits she is terrible at cooking in the maingame was a chicken nugget of character growth. And as for Jin, well cooking is there to help humanize him, which was quite helpful given how his maingame self is as I later learned.

And to return to Alexa, how can I rank her much higher than Lin when Alexa is much more one-note? Well, Alexa isn't a main character, she is optional and doesn't get anything outside of her HtHs and Affinity Missions. If she appeared in more places, particularly with different, more serious contexts, then I'd demand more of her. As is, I can take her more lightly than Lin. Alexa on the surface blends in a bit better than Lin, being a young woman who isn't notably younger than everyone else. Alexa isn't weighed down by Tatsu either.

I'm not saying I dislike Lin, I'm only identifying the criticisms. I harbored no feelings of "ugh!" for having her tag along for every story mission. Nor any similar feeling whenever she appeared.

 

I could absolutely see someone moving Lin up, because I could definitely see someone moving Phog waaaaaaaay down. Though I guess I place Phog so high, because I see aspects of myself in him. Likewise, if someone doesn't like ever being rubbed the wrong way by a character, I could see Murderess and H.B. take drops. But I'm willing to forgive coarse beginnings if things smooth out later (maybe a little too much so), Zeke ended up being that way after all.

 

-I enjoy trying to critically break down my praise and criticism for things. To see whether I truly should be so praising/critical of something, or if I should not.

 

18 hours ago, Armagon said:

Hmmm, maybe i should make this tier list again but based on how good their music is. One of these days.

That is a lot more things to rank, since most places have the day/night theme divide. Not that all have a major schism in the quality between day and night, but some do you'd have to consider, like Valak Mountains.

You shouldn't forget the town-wilderness divide either. Theosoir and the Colony 6 Refugee Camp should not be forgotten, nor should all the renditions of the Colony 6 town theme that change as you rebuild the place.

And since you haven't played XCX, I'll also remind you in particular of its handful of places besides the five regions and NLA with designated music. First there is Don't Worry for flying, I think that qualifies, you might argue otherwise, reasonable I can see the case being. Then, there is the music that play on the handful of isolated islands remote from any region. And you want the Ma-non ship that docks in NLA too. And the Divine Roost, and the Ganglion base theme, and the cave music- not that these are necessarily good. And lastly, the rather pleasant BLADE Barracks theme.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[Shrimpica]

Pudding

[DragonFlames]

18 hours ago, Armagon said:

Speaking of the Night's Domain, i've mentioned this before but I do prefer the Atelier Rorona version of the theme over the Atelier Lulua version.

Agreed. The music in Atelier Rorona is really good in general.
Although from what I've listened to on the soundtrack, I greatly look forward to Atelier Meruru based on that alone.

18 hours ago, Armagon said:

Imma be honest, i never actually fought the thing so i can't really help you on that. But if you do manage to defeat it, let me know how it goes.

I actually did manage to beat it earlier. It's almost hilarious how much of a difference upgrading equipment makes. The dragon didn't stand a chance.
I had Sterk and Cory with me and had Rorona spam Meteor, while Sterk and Cory just attacked normally. I had to use healing items ONCE during the entire fight. And that was just me overestimating the HP the thing had left and healing up just to be absolutely safe, because Cory's HP pool isn't the largest.

Afterwards, there is a cute scene with Rorona, Sterk and Esty in the hospital and Sterk gets put out of commission for a while, meaning I have to report assignment stuff to Esty as well until he's better. I replaced him with Gio for the time being because of that.

18 hours ago, Armagon said:

I do wish Faye got more Supports. I appreciate Echoes for not doing the "everyone can Support with everyone" thing from Awakening and Fates but there were a lot of Supports that should've been there but weren't. Faye/Celica is one of them.

Agreed 100%
Which reminds me, I never actually recruited Faye with Celica. Two earlygame healers was too good to pass up on Alm's route.

2 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

Pudding

Did somebody say "Pudding"?!?

 

[Armagon]

11 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

About that:

  Reveal hidden content

Spoiler

So while i do understand where you're coming from regarding Lao's leap of logic, I think it can be traced back to the fact that the loss of his wife and daughter just left him broken. I don't think he sided with the Ganglion because he thought they were right but because perhaps he thought it'd be the quickest way to his own destruction. He has a few quotes where he mentions his family by name and how he talks about them suggests that he himself wishes to join them. However, as things currently are, he can't because of the mimesomes. If he dies, he'll just wake up in a new body like nothing ever happened (and in the end, that's what does happen). I interpret his thought process as "Join Ganglion -> destroy Lifehold -> finally able to cross to the other side. Of course, given what happens to the Lifehold, we know that it's already been destroyed beyond repair and that something else on Mira is keeping everyone alive. My guess points to that black tower in the concept art but who knows.

Anyway, he does decide to side with humanity in the end and he does deliver one of the most badass lines in the game: "Because of you, there's only 20 million of us left... That leaves 9.98 billion reasons for me to want you dead". On a side note, doing the math, that means there were 10 billion people in 2054, when Earth was destroyed. A quick google seach suggests that Earth will have a population of 9.7 billion by 2050 so X wasn't too far off in that regard (now let's just hope nothing cataclysmic happens). Anyway regarding Lao's redemption itself, it does happen a bit too quickly in my opinion. Either way, I do hope we get to see more of him in the inevitable sequel. I actually have imagined the sequel starring Lao as the main protagonist, assuming the Black Knight is benevolent in his nature. If not, i do have a theory that the Black Knight is the Xenoblade version of Xenosaga's Testaments. Black Knight's identity is unknown but perhaps he's come to recruit....or rather, transform Lao into a Knight. Xenosaga had four Testaments, Black, Red, Blue and White and if this theory is correct, i'd imagine we'd see something similar.

But yeah, back to the original point, Lao's betrayal isn't as big of a leap in logic in my eyes because of how i interpreted it. But maybe i just tend to like villains who were once good but turned to the dark side after losing someone they really care for. The Darth Vader effect, i call it, where a character who is good loses a loved one and ends up turning to the dark side and maybe they redeem themselves shortly before death. Of course, execution still matters. Like, Jin experienced the Darth Vader effect but he was done a lot better than Lao was.

 

 

12 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

That is a lot more things to rank, since most places have the day/night theme divide. Not that all have a major schism in the quality between day and night, but some do you'd have to consider, like Valak Mountains.

You shouldn't forget the town-wilderness divide either. Theosoir and the Colony 6 Refugee Camp should not be forgotten, nor should all the renditions of the Colony 6 town theme that change as you rebuild the place.

And since you haven't played XCX, I'll also remind you in particular of its handful of places besides the five regions and NLA with designated music. First there is Don't Worry for flying, I think that qualifies, you might argue otherwise, reasonable I can see the case being. Then, there is the music that play on the handful of isolated islands remote from any region. And you want the Ma-non ship that docks in NLA too. And the Divine Roost, and the Ganglion base theme, and the cave music- not that these are necessarily good. And lastly, the rather pleasant BLADE Barracks theme.

Oh yeah, there definitely is a lot to rank which is why i'd mainly be settling in on the main themes of each areas, those being the day themes. Not all of them, some places like Satorl Marsh, i'll be using the night themes (and i'll have these areas with a colored border so people can know). Basically, i'll be using the theme that left the bigger impact. Like for Bionis' Leg, while the night theme is good, the day theme is one of the most iconic songs in the entire series. It does sound a bit unfair to leave out some of the other themes but I think my method will make things more manageable. 

And of course, i'll have to update the list once DE comes out because we all know Bionis' Shoulder is getting new music.

 

7 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

I actually did manage to beat it earlier. It's almost hilarious how much of a difference upgrading equipment makes. The dragon didn't stand a chance.
I had Sterk and Cory with me and had Rorona spam Meteor, while Sterk and Cory just attacked normally. I had to use healing items ONCE during the entire fight. And that was just me overestimating the HP the thing had left and healing up just to be absolutely safe, because Cory's HP pool isn't the largest.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Congrats. 

Spoiler

Sterk's gonna be out of commission for 80 days, iirc. Hope you have enough time to see the final Sterk event.

 

7 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Which reminds me, I never actually recruited Faye with Celica. Two earlygame healers was too good to pass up on Alm's route.

Oh well you're not supposed to. It's more of a nice Easter egg, referencing the unintended part of Gaiden where Celica could recruit Kliff if Alm didn't. Faye's recruitment dialogue with Celica is like the biggest thing making me wish for a Support between those two because she was genuianly happen to be reunited with her. We were robbed, God damn it.

9 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

Pudding

 

[Acacia Sgt]

Pudding, huh.

Don't remember the last time I had some.

[Strullemia]

Any games you guys are looking forward to? I can’t wait for dq11, Baldur’s gate collection and The Witcher 3. Then next year’s trials of mana and XB Switch.

[Shrimpica]

2 hours ago, Hekselka said:

Any games you guys are looking forward to? I can’t wait for dq11, Baldur’s gate collection and The Witcher 3. Then next year’s trials of mana and XB Switch.

Ys 9 - I am not just looking forward to it, i am in DIRE NEED OF IT. Sadly, we probably won't get it over here before 2021, knowing Falcom. It's already out and japan and i watched the first 15 Minutes and HYPE. SO MUCH HYPE. Ys 8 was one of the best games i ever played, and Ys 9 is looking to be even better, atleast Gameplay wise. It's smoother than Ys 8!

Atelier Tighza - looks fun tbh.

Dragon Star Varnir - Witches & Dragons? Sign me up!

Iron Harvest - I've been carving some RTS lately, and WW1 Setting + Mechas? If it has good reviews i am getting this. 

Command and Conquer Remaster - Although i don't have much hope for this one, considering most likely EA will be EA

 

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

I tested out this Mario Kart mobile game which came out today. 

The controls feel like how I would drive when I am drunk. 

It could be fun, if the controls were not that imprecisely. 

 

PS: I neither drink nor drive, but this is how I imagine it would be. 

[Strullemia]

4 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

Ys 9 - I am not just looking forward to it, i am in DIRE NEED OF IT. Sadly, we probably won't get it over here before 2021, knowing Falcom. It's already out and japan and i watched the first 15 Minutes and HYPE. SO MUCH HYPE. Ys 8 was one of the best games i ever played, and Ys 9 is looking to be even better, atleast Gameplay wise. It's smoother than Ys 8!

Atelier Tighza - looks fun tbh.

Dragon Star Varnir - Witches & Dragons? Sign me up!

Iron Harvest - I've been carving some RTS lately, and WW1 Setting + Mechas? If it has good reviews i am getting this. 

Command and Conquer Remaster - Although i don't have much hope for this one, considering most likely EA will be EA

 

I actually googled Atelier Tighza before I understand what you meant.

I also want to play with the witches. No switch release though ;_; 

EA, ruining it for everybody since forever.

[Armagon]

8 hours ago, Hekselka said:

Any games you guys are looking forward to? I can’t wait for dq11, Baldur’s gate collection and The Witcher 3. Then next year’s trials of mana and XB Switch.

• Gunvolt Chronicles comes out tomorrow. A love me some good Inti Creates 2D action.
• Atelier Ryza came out in Japan today but the West has to wait a whole month. It looks good.
• Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, because i never played the original.
• Rune Factory 4 Special because this series died and then rose from the grave.
• Rune Factory 5 for the same reason.
• Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive because obviously. I have never been more hyped to see a shoulder.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Armagon

[Interdimensional Observer]

@Armagon

More spoiler talk:

Spoiler

Maybe showing off Lao's loss a little better would help him. The game strays from using flashback (because who wants to make locations used only for brief flashback moments?), but just hearing Lao replay voiced snippets of his wife and daughter in his head, no visuals, would do something more to emphasize personal brokenness. Considering there is another for whom their brokenness and subsequent despair successfully affected me.

 

12 hours ago, Armagon said:

Anyway, he does decide to side with humanity in the end and he does deliver one of the most badass lines in the game: "Because of you, there's only 20 million of us left... That leaves 9.98 billion reasons for me to want you dead".

I'll concur, very good use of a statistic as you point a weapon at a big ugly badguy, -before the two of them enter an unholy union of the flesh. 

 

12 hours ago, Armagon said:

I actually have imagined the sequel starring Lao as the main protagonist, assuming the Black Knight is benevolent in his nature. If not, i do have a theory that the Black Knight is the Xenoblade version of Xenosaga's Testaments. Black Knight's identity is unknown but perhaps he's come to recruit....or rather, transform Lao into a Knight. Xenosaga had four Testaments, Black, Red, Blue and White and if this theory is correct, i'd imagine we'd see something similar.

Lao looked a little too "MUST DESTROY!" in his eyes in that one moment for me to think he is back to normal. And if you're mentally insane in some way, I don't think you can occupy the spotlight from the very first moment of the game, which means, while Lao should be a major actor in XCX2, the main protag is questionable. I'd think at least one revelatory survival scene, another where he fudges things up for Elma and co. a second time, and then at least one battle.

 

I'm not familiar with the Testaments, but as for the Black Knight, maybe he is the Lone Hero after the Ghosts caught him? That'd make him and Lao alike "presumed dead" individuals who survived at the mercy of the mysterious alien group.

 

If there were to be other "Knights" then, I'd think they would undergo the same process of MIA/dead, being quietly captured, and then brought back. Albeit since I expect the Ghosts to be at the forefront of XCX2 as a massive invasion force at some point, if they were responsible for the "Knights", they might intentionally attack in board daylight to collect fine Knight material. Though they'd do it without anyone who lives seeing them at the moment they take the prey away. A pinpoint strike on BLADE Tower to collect Vandham the glorious NPC is within the realm of imagination, and it'd throw humanity into greater struggle by removing one of its top leaders. Just don't have the Ghosts resurrect everyone who died on Earth as their soldiers, but all the dead Project Exodus survivors works for me.

 

12 hours ago, Armagon said:

Of course, given what happens to the Lifehold, we know that it's already been destroyed beyond repair and that something else on Mira is keeping everyone alive. My guess points to that black tower in the concept art but who knows.

So the Lifehold Core would have on impact had split physically and spiritually? The consciousness & memories data was relocated to a secure place on Mira presently not explored. Sounds plausible.

How would Monolith then represent this?

• A carbon copy of the Lifehold Core, but entirely black as opposed to the gray-white of the actual Core? Maybe they'd turn it upside down? That would help, since they wouldn't want the "True Core" to be easily visible to everyone. Burying it upside down would let it stay hidden easier.
• Or, Monolith could abandon any reference to the original Lifehold Core, and go with a radically ancient-yet-powerful approach. Making the "True Core" look like technology and biotechnology far beyond what any human, or the even Elma, the Orphe and the Ma-non, could possibly conceive of. A glorious, divine creation of whoever was/is responsible.

 

On the other hand, there could be no True Core.

Although I might prefer having a True Core. It is possible, perhaps, that although humans can't detect it, their souls were transferred into their mimeosomes. Everyone is now a high-intelligence cyborg.

Elma understands consciousness and memory, but IIRC she disbelieved in the existence of souls (the mere talk of souls at the end of XCX suggests they must exist). Yet if souls do exist, and consciousness and memory are traits of souls, then perhaps due to a soul transfer into mimeosomes happened, and that gave mimeosomes their consciousness. Elma then, because she does not understand how that could happen and how it would manifest, could not expect it to happen.

The issue here then is how humanity is going to continue on into the future without the ability to reproduce. But, if mimeosomes are considered by the higher power at play to be a "phase" for humanity, perhaps later once humans have proven themselves, it shall reveal a new way to convert mimeosome to real flesh. Or the heroes will find one in the powers of the higher power, but not with the help of the higher power itself if the higher power is actually antagonistic and would rather force a wholly spiritual or "non-human" existence on humanity which the heroes oppose.

 

12 hours ago, Armagon said:

Oh well you're not supposed to. It's more of a nice Easter egg, referencing the unintended part of Gaiden where Celica could recruit Kliff if Alm didn't.

And she could take Tobin too, and with a minor glitch, Gray. Not only the Ram Villagers, Celica could nab Silque, Clair, Python, Forsyth, and even Clive, all without having to glitch anything. 

Oddly, Celica in SoV can converse with everyone left behind, but not take anyone except Kliff and Faye. Even though Silque, Python, and Forsyth remain where they are if left unrecruited in Act 1 (maybe Silque should leave a bandits' hideout though, why is she still there?). 

I can understand why SoV forces Alm to take Gray, Tobin, Clive, and Clair. Imagine if SoV Alm side was just one giant dialogue between him and Lukas.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Interdimensional Observer

[Armagon]

12 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

More spoiler talk:

  Reveal hidden contents

Spoiler

12 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Maybe showing off Lao's loss a little better would help him. The game strays from using flashback (because who wants to make locations used only for brief flashback moments?), but just hearing Lao replay voiced snippets of his wife and daughter in his head, no visuals, would do something more to emphasize personal brokenness. Considering there is another for whom their brokenness and subsequent despair successfully affected me.

Oh i agree. It's nice that we got the names of his wife and daughter (though i don't think it's ever specified who is who) but while Lao's emotional loss is understandable, it needed more showing and not telling. We should've gotten flashbacks of his time with them in a pre-destruction Earth leading all the way to when he finds out that his wife and daughter weren't onboard the White Whale because they weren't chosen.

23 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I'm not familiar with the Testaments, but as for the Black Knight, maybe he is the Lone Hero after the Ghosts caught him? That'd make him and Lao alike "presumed dead" individuals who survived at the mercy of the mysterious alien group.

Well that's the most assumed theory, on the same level of "Alvis is Ontos", of which we'll definitely get answers in DE. However, the reason i think the Black Knight is part of Xenoblade's version of the Testaments is because, at least visually, the Ghosts are very similar to Xenosaga's Gnosis

 

As for the Testaments themselves, to put it simply, they are neither alive nor dead but every single one of them has died prior to becoming a Testament. And what do you know, Lao seems to fit that requirement. While he didn't die in the normal sense, he did die after his chimera form was destroyed. Of course, in Xenosaga, the Testaments were created by someone else but the Knights don't have to follow the same rules.

Though if this theory is correct, i would like the Knights to be better written overall. Blue Testament was pretty decent, Red Testament was dumb and Black Testament is an F-tier Xeno villain. White Testament is weird because prior to becoming one, he was fantastic. But as White Testament, while not bad, he gets immensely shafted, likely a result of Xenosaga III having to be the end of the Saga series.

And on a visual note, there are similarities between the Testaments and the Black Knight

 

Hmm ok, maybe not as similar but both of them are still covered in armor from head to toe. The Black Knight seems to have a weapon while the Testaments were more Ether based. But like i said, the Knights don't have to be an exact copy of the Testaments.

 

 

41 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Elma understands consciousness and memory, but IIRC she disbelieved in the existence of souls (the mere talk of souls at the end of XCX suggests they must exist). Yet if souls do exist, and consciousness and memory are traits of souls, then perhaps due to a soul transfer into mimeosomes happened, and that gave mimeosomes their consciousness. Elma then, because she does not understand how that could happen and how it would manifest, could not expect it to happen.

Well it's interesting that you bring up souls because throughout Xeno, souls exist within the context of the games. 

• In Xenogears, it was shown throughout the constant reincarnation of Fei and Elly, as well as Miang being able to manifest from any women.
• In the Xenosaga Trilogy, it was this whole thing with the Upper and Lower Domains, along with the Real and Imaginary Number Domains. I uh, should explain that
  • Basically, the Xenosaga universe is split into two main dimensions: Upper and Lower. Upper Domain is where U-DO a.k.a God lives. Lower Domain is everything else. The Lower Domain is further split into the Real Number Domain and the Imaginary Number Domain. The Real Number Domain is the material world. The Imaginary Number Domain is the realm of the soul and is where they go until the eventually reincarnate back into the Real Number Domain. A soul can exist without the body but not the other way around. Oh and the Zohar can serve as the link between these domains.
• In Xenoblade, we have souls thanks to Zanza and Meyneth, being the souls of the Bionis and Mechonis respectively. Shulk himself also supports the existence of souls, as Zanza effectively served as his pre-Mechonis Core since he killed him as a child and later, Alvis restored Shulk's own soul. Rex also dies but as a soul, is able to meet Pyra (which perhaps suggests that Blades themselves have souls). Xenoblade X is the only game where souls aren't outright confirmed yet but it shouldn't be a stretch to say that they are.

So it's possible that the mimesomes are being kept alive through spiritual means and not technological ones. And i wouldn't be surprised if the Conduit is involved.