Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Armagon]

Why does a song about eating babies kinda go hard? Murray Gold cooked with this even though he went on record saying he actually hates the song but it's contributing to charity so he has to let it slide.

4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Also, no, the arena geinding in Thracia is not necessary. It's just the argument for people who hate fatigue that much, but it's really not nearly that impactful a mechanic.

I said this

10 hours ago, Armagon said:

the "just arena grind" is ultimately, optional. I think. It helps but you don't have to.

 

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That being said, the window is insanely tight. Siegfried gets to the chest on turn 10 if he has moved as far as he can on every single turn, pretty much.

It genuinely feels like he was actually supposed to have 10 turns but something in the code got fucked and it was 8 turns instead because he shows up on turn 2 of 10.

[Lightcosmo]

I think if a niche argument is needed to justify a game mechanic, then it likely has issues at it's core.

[Lightcosmo]

For one: in this case the mechanic is literally just a detriment to the way the player plays the game. You could say "it makes it difficult though!" but considering how easy 776 is, not really. All this does is force you to field units that you never really wanted to or just simply not fielding units which is kind of a big point of FE. And in turn, that just makes maps take much longer than needed overall.

[Armagon]

15 minutes ago, Lightcosmo said:

For one: in this case the mechanic is literally just a detriment to the way the player plays the game. You could say "it makes it difficult though!" but considering how easy 776 is, not really. All this does is force you to field units that you never really wanted to or just simply not fielding units which is kind of a big point of FE. And in turn, that just makes maps take much longer than needed overall.

Thracia in general is just a poorly designed mess of a game. Big, big example of how absolutely necessary Capture is. Reduced damage makes sense cause you're trying to not kill them but why in God's name is literally all of your stats halved when trying to capture someone? What good does cutting your own defense in half do? You need to Capture to sell weapons for gold cause you start at zero but it'll kick you in the balls if you try to play Kaga's funny game.

Like stamina tho, capture would return in a later Fire Emblem game and done way, way better.

[Saint Rubenio]

17 minutes ago, Armagon said:

It genuinely feels like he was actually supposed to have 10 turns but something in the code got fucked and it was 8 turns instead because he shows up on turn 2 of 10.

Honestly, it's hilarious how badly the whole situation is designed. I'm trying to think if there's something like it in VS2, but... honestly, I'm drawing a blank. There's not even a desert map in VS2. Because VS2 is the better game.

2 minutes ago, Lightcosmo said:

For one: in this case the mechanic is literally just a detriment to the way the player plays the game. You could say "it makes it difficult though!" but considering how easy 776 is, not really. All this does is force you to field units that you never really wanted to or just simply not fielding units which is kind of a big point of FE. And in turn, that just makes maps take much longer than needed overall.

I really feel you blow the mechanic's effects way out of proportion. With the game's lenient stat progression it's not that much of a hassle for backup units to keep up, nor are units going to fall behind just from missing out on a single chapter. And even without grinding the stamina drink shop, the game gives you a decent amount of drinks if there's a unit you absolutely must deploy.

Thracia has plenty of flaws but fatigue is the least of its problems, in my humble opinion.

[Codename Shrimp]

U-L-T-R-A--V-I-O-L-E-N-C-E

IN AMERICA!

[BrightBow]

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That being said, the window is insanely tight. Siegfried gets to the chest on turn 10 if he has moved as far as he can on every single turn, pretty much. This does not synergize well with the fact that all the enemies in his path have axe defend, which is basically a RNG% chance of Siegfried being unable to move forward... And, y'know, losing. And on top of that, Hilda cannot move well on the desert, so she falls woefully behind and can't help Siggy out with her brave axe. And on top of that, Siegfried dies if he eats a few hits, so even with his personal tome he needs some lucky dodges.

Not a greatly designed challenge, this.

You do have fliers and other units that are not impeded by the desert. Not like he needs to handle all of this on his own.

Heck, I usually have Siegfried and Hilda handle the two dragons too, while they are at it.
 

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Also, fucking fantastic start. I am so happy I made this choice.

Hoelun's growths are awful.

At least she gets +20% strength from her pref bow, I suppose.

[Codename Shrimp]

33 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Thracia has plenty of flaws but fatigue is the least of its problems, in my humble opinion.

Yesn't

I do understand the intention behind fatigue, and at first, like capture, actually liked it, but the more i played (wether in other hacks, runs or just thinking about it), the more i think there're are better ways to do what it tried to achieve

• Controlling what units players can field is a big no-no for many players
• In some chapters, some units are vital for events/recruitment - good luck if they are fatigued - Although S-drinks help with that, so it's not that big of a trouble
• Funny enough, i think one of the reasons Thracia is so easy is because it has to account for fatigue - has to account for weak units and so enemy units are dead weak the whole game
• You could achieve the player rotating units with a "reverse Fatigue". As much as a i dislike 3 Copes,  it had this little something called "Enegized" Status, where 2 of your benched units get extra exp on their next deployment - maybe apply that to all units have been benched for more than 1 Map?

Just my 4 cents anyway

Edited December 11, 2023 by Shrimpy -Limited Edition-

[Saint Rubenio]

Say, a fellow Berwick lover in the Gay Fates server got me to make this.

Berwick Saga map tier list.

https://tiermaker.com/create/berwick-saga-maps-16496674

1 minute ago, BrightBow said:

You do have fliers and other units that are not impeded by the desert. Not like he needs to handle all of this on his own.

Anyone who isn't the fliers can barely make it. I had Accorte dash north at full throttle and she barely made it in time to nick a brigand.

As for the fliers... Sure, but if the Doyenne is gone, or they fell behind in stats, good luck getting them to help in any meaningful way against brigands that were designed to threaten a prepromote with a tome that halves all damage.

1 minute ago, BrightBow said:

Heck, I usually have Siegfried and Hilda handle the two dragons too, while they are at it.

Siegfried too? Siegfried needs to haul ass to the chest, he hasn't the time to go the opposite way to nail a dragon. How'd you do it?

3 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Hoelun's growths are awful.

At least she gets +20% strength from her pref bow, I suppose.

Hahaha I made her a mage so she can't use it hahaha.

[BrightBow]

48 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Siegfried too? Siegfried needs to haul ass to the chest, he hasn't the time to go the opposite way to nail a dragon. How'd you do it?

From what I recall there is some leeway with Siegfried. He should be able to make it on turn 9. So he can lure in the first dragon close enough so that Hilda can then chop it into pieces.
But it's been a hot minute between VS2 and like a dozen Berwick Saga runs. So not entirely sure about all of that. I remember that Hilda will die if she fails to land a crit against the 2nd dragon (and Siegfried most certainly can't stick around to help with that), so it's not entirely save.

On a sidenote, there is a fun little glitch there. Instead of going for the chest, you can have Siegfried go to the escape point. This will completely break this event, but still allow you to keep Siegfried and Hilda.
Downsides are that the key will forever remain in Siegfried's inventory. And I think the two of them don't get their support bonus in that case? And you won't get a chance to duel Zweirach for his Ward Ring.
The big problem is that this means that you won't get Eddard for the prison map. And he is like the only reason that map is somewhat bearable. This guy really needed a substitute character for that map.
As for Lianka, she will be gone for the time being, but she will actually be added back into Cyltan's party in chapter 19.
Presumably the game only checks if Lianka is dead or went with Eddard. And since neither is the case, it thinks she is supposed to be present for chapter 19 and adds her back in.

Edited December 11, 2023 by BrightBow

[Saint Rubenio]

20 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

From what I recall there is some leeway with Siegfried. He should be able to make it on turn 9. So he can lure in the first dragon close enough so that Hilda can then chop it into pieces.
But it's been a hot minute between VS2 and like a dozen Berwick Saga runs. So not entirely sure about all of that. I remember that Hilda will die if she fails to land a crit against the 2nd dragon (and Siegfried most certainly can't stick around to help with that), so it's not entirely save.

And here I'm proud of my like 8 Berwick runs

21 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

On a sidenote, there is a fun little glitch there. Instead of going for the chest, you can have Siegfried go to the escape point. This will completely break this event, but still allow you to keep Siegfried and Hilda.
Downsides are that the key will forever remain in Siegfried's inventory. And I think the two of them don't get their support bonus in that case? And you won't get a chance to duel Zweirach for his Ward Ring.
The big problem is that this means that you won't get Eddard for the prison map. And he is like the only reason that map is somewhat bearable. This guy really needed a substitute character for that map.
As for Lianka, she will be gone for the time being, but she will actually be added back into Cyltan's party in chapter 19.
Presumably the game only checks if Lianka is dead or went with Eddard. And since neither is the case, it thinks she is supposed to be present for chapter 19 and adds her back in.

That's hilarious.

"I will be watching you! Should you dare try to run, I will bring you back and execute your little harem!"

"Ok how about I do it anyway"

Say, I can get Cromwell and Rastelle by letting Eddard die in the prison map, right? I don't want to miss my chance to get them.

[BrightBow]

16 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Say, I can get Cromwell and Rastelle by letting Eddard die in the prison map, right? I don't want to miss my chance to get them.

That should be all that's needed.

I did once have Eddard die in the desert so I could use Lianka in chapter 19 and have her literally cut Adonsphair into tiny pieces with Lianka's Claw. But I have to imagine him dying in chapter 17 would work just as well.

Another sidenote: Destroying the outer parts of Adonsphair will not defeat it. Only the squishy center does. Which means you can cut out 3 tiles of his body to clear a path to Zweirach and take a swing at him. Sadly it turns out that he has the immortality flag until Adonsphair is defeated and he transforms.

Edited December 11, 2023 by BrightBow

[Eltosian Kadath]

22 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I don't think I'd bench a unit just for not liking them.

With Hortensia it even feels counter-productive, considering she's the ultimate staff bot. Give her Divine Pulse+ and get her Lck high enough, and she'll never miss...

Also, World Tree + Nodus, MWAHAHAHAHA

I have mainly ironmanned the game, and even if I didn't, I wouldn't turn-wheel the RNG much, so that skill is far less useful for how I play. Plus I am trying to think of what staves are so rare that this skill would feel worth it for, and the only one I can come up with is Nodus, which I have never grinded enough money to get any way. Sure she can staff and fly, but so can Ivy, and by being a flier she loses the ability to chain guard that a lot of healers get.

 

20 hours ago, Armagon said:

Well I can tell you that the playthrough stopped at the route split cause everyone in Clyde's side was under leveled as hell.

They give you a fairly robust opportunity to grind up underleveled units in the prep chapter for the split to help fix that problem for you...

 

22 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I would believe that if it wasn't consistently presented as cute and endearing and one of the main conflicts of the second game wasn't Zade rescuing his beloved from the clutches of evil. They keep dropping all the cliche lines, they just lack any sort of chemistry because Kaga can't write a romance to save his life.

22 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

It honestly never felt that way to me. The game really never portrayed it in a negative light. The one time it maybe tried to do (at the end of VS1), turns out that it was much better for Athol than what happened after

Athol may look stary eyed at Zade, but Zade was never into it. Its like people trying to ship Aimee and Ike, but Zade is obliged not to tell her to fuck off to her face. Perhaps this is changed in VS2, still haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

18 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...Oh... I forgot Cyltan could climb the ladder in the Shyft chapter. And that he could talk to Ke'mar. And that this was necessary to recruit Ma'aya next map. And I already beat all three maps since the Shyft mission.

Oops. Did you at least take the opportunity to commit the war crimes on the Shyft chapter (which also prevents her recruitment)?

 

18 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

 

This run, they have both fallen behind so badly that Yaeri couldn't kill things even with the Doyenne last time I deployed her. Which was last map, except I had missed half the things I needed to do for Ma'aya so I deployed her for nothing lol. No fliers for me this run.

That is going to make the desert evens much tougher.

 

16 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Time for some bad ideas.

Oh my, that was an interesting path to go with her.

 

16 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

She can't even promote. Why did Kaga hate this girl so much...

The horse option kind of feels like a promotion for her base class, it just doesn't reset her levels for some reason.

 

11 hours ago, Armagon said:

I think there's something similar here going on with Vestaria 1. While it's not quite as awful as stamina, you're still getting into a situation where if you didn't use those units, it's a "fuck you, spend the next hour grinding them up to speed".

Its one of the shorter chapters in Vestaria Saga, even when you milk all the experience it offers to you.

 

11 hours ago, Armagon said:

 

Hell actually, now that I think about, while Thracia is overall the worse game, the "just arena grind" is ultimately, optional. I think. It helps but you don't have to.

You don't even need to do that, simply playing through 14x usually gets you more S drinks than you reasonably need, the "just arena grind" element is for people that hate the mechanic unreasonably.

 

11 hours ago, Armagon said:

Any game with optional maps you can do (Awakening, Sacred Stones, etc)? Also optional. In those games, it's "you can grind if you need to catch up". With Vestaria 1, it's "you will grind if you have to catch up".

...Chapter 15-x isn't optional, you can just end it when you feel you are ready for the split. That is a bit different from the Awakeneing and Sacred Stones examples.

 

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

 

That being said, the window is insanely tight. Siegfried gets to the chest on turn 10 if he has moved as far as he can on every single turn, pretty much.

This has simply never been my experience with the chapter. I have been looking back on my VS1 ironman LP, and I note that I am having Siegfried wait around on top of the chest for a few turns, that way I have more time to reposition my flier before the demons are spawned by the event. It should be noted that one of those fliers was a 3 str Ma'aya, and one of my fliers was already dead before the chapter started...

 

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

 

Oh, and to add insult to injury, right after the rescue, the game spawned wyverns on top of Cezar when he went to get the northern chests. For fuck's fucking sake, what a shit map this is.

Huh, I remember it just being thieves and axie boys from those caves.

 

1 hour ago, Lightcosmo said:

For one: in this case the mechanic is literally just a detriment to the way the player plays the game. You could say "it makes it difficult though!" but considering how easy 776 is, not really. All this does is force you to field units that you never really wanted to or just simply not fielding units which is kind of a big point of FE. And in turn, that just makes maps take much longer than needed overall.

You must really hate when fire emblem games give you multiple deployment slots, where you are forced to field extra units, or just nor fielding units in all those burdensome slots.

 

59 minutes ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

 

• Controlling what units players can field is a big no-no for many players

I do partially disagree with this framing, as the mechanic adds a bit of player choice into it with how you can have units hold back to keep below their fatigue threshold, and then absolutely let loose on the chapter after, as massively over fatiguing is no greater penalty, plus you can chose when to give unts breaks to reset their stamina, not to mention the choice of when to use S drinks. 

Really its just a new resource to manage and use.

 

59 minutes ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

• You could achieve the player rotating units with a "reverse Fatigue". As much as a i dislike 3 Copes,  it had this little something called "Enegized" Status, where 2 of your benched units get extra exp on their next deployment - maybe apply that to all units have been benched for more than 1 Map?

The Warrior's spinoff? I hope I didn't just forget about it from 3 Houses.

 

[BrightBow]

17 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Time for some bad ideas.

You didn't get the Cyltan support, it seems.
If you have Cyltan and Hoelun wait next to each other for 3 turns during the Shyft map, they have a series of 3 conversations resulting in them getting a mutual support bonus.

[Saint Rubenio]

18 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

That should be all that's needed.

I did once have Eddard die in the desert so I could use Lianka in chapter 19 and have her literally cut Adonsphair into tiny pieces with Lianka's Claw. But I have to imagine him dying in chapter 17 would work just as well.

Very well, thank you for the confirmation. Guess I'll have to let Greasy Karajan have Lianka.

8 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Athol may look stary eyed at Zade, but Zade was never into it. Its like people trying to ship Aimee and Ike, but Zade is obliged not to tell her to fuck off to her face. Perhaps this is changed in VS2, still haven't gotten around to it yet.

I don't know, I feel this was less "Zade was intentionally written as only enduring it out of obligation" and more "Zade has no personality because he's a FE protagonist." They both drop all the cliché lines and they even get that cute CG of them kissing. And by VS2 she's become Peach, more or less, and he seems thoroughly in love (just, y'know, your typical protagonist love that is entirely saccharine). Could just be my own perception though.

10 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Oops. Did you at least take the opportunity to commit the war crimes on the Shyft chapter (which also prevents her recruitment)?

I certainly did.

10 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Oh my, that was an interesting path to go with her.

She has 8 mag and speed now. She's awesome.

10 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

The horse option kind of feels like a promotion for her base class, it just doesn't reset her levels for some reason.

Yeah, it's not a true promotion.

11 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

This has simply never been my experience with the chapter. I have been looking back on my VS1 ironman LP, and I note that I am having Siegfried wait around on top of the chest for a few turns, that way I have more time to reposition my flier before the demons are spawned by the event. It should be noted that one of those fliers was a 3 str Ma'aya, and one of my fliers was already dead before the chapter started...

Huh... Welp. Guess I might just be bad.

11 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Huh, I remember it just being thieves and axie boys from those caves.

A dragon randomly appears at some point. I was just lucky enough that the first time the game deployed it on the first wave.

Just now, BrightBow said:

You didn't get the Cyltan support, it seems.
If you have Cyltan and Hoelun wait next to each other for 3 turns during the Shyft map, they have a series of 3 conversations resulting in them getting a mutual support bonus.

What a disaster the Shyft map was. I forgot so many of its quirks.

[Eltosian Kadath]

2 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Huh... Welp. Guess I might just be bad.

I think it is just showing how much a difference using the fliers makes here, as only fliers and thieves can really make it in time to help out Siegfried, and he needs just a little help to make his trek really reliable.

[BrightBow]

7 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I don't know, I feel this was less "Zade was intentionally written as only enduring it out of obligation" and more "Zade has no personality because he's a FE protagonist." They both drop all the cliché lines and they even get that cute CG of them kissing. And by VS2 she's become Peach, more or less, and he seems thoroughly in love (just, y'know, your typical protagonist love that is entirely saccharine). Could just be my own perception though.

Keep in mind that Athol is already betrothed to his brother.

Zade is also very much a ball of anxiety who believes he shames his brother's name and doesn't consider himself to be deserving of love, least of all the princess of his kingdom. He puts up a mature front, but it shows cracks every now and then.

[Saint Rubenio]

19 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

I think it is just showing how much a difference using the fliers makes here, as only fliers and thieves can really make it in time to help out Siegfried, and he needs just a little help to make his trek really reliable.

Yeah... Shame. If only we got Aslanne instead of her scrub squad.

16 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Keep in mind that Athol is already betrothed to his brother.

Zade is also very much a ball of anxiety who believes he shames his brother's name and doesn't consider himself to be deserving of love, least of all the princess of his kingdom. He puts up a mature front, but it shows cracks every now and then.

That's very true and I do like that side of him. I mean, the events of VS2 basically happen because Zade felt the need to remove himself from Redessa, allowing Grevandel to do whatever he wanted unopposed. It might be his most key flaw. Still, I don't feel it's so well-reflected in his romance arc.

To be fair, when I said he has no personality, I was exaggerating. Probably should've made that more clear. I do like Zade, he's above average as far as FE protags go. He's definitely not a sociopath like Reese.

[BrightBow]

11 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

To be fair, when I said he has no personality, I was exaggerating. Probably should've made that more clear. I do like Zade, he's above average as far as FE protags go. He's definitely not a sociopath like Reese.

I feel like Reese' main problem is his supporting cast. I love Ward and Tianna, of course. But they don't have an intimate relationship with Reese and are not going to push their lord and force him to be more open about his feelings. So you just end up having to interpret a lot into his ellipses.

Zade has Theodel, who very much sees him as his pal and does not treat him with the kind of reverence everyone else does. And Athol, who is in the unique position of both outranking him while also being far less mature than he is, which puts Zade into a difficult spot. Even Garlan, proper servant as he is, will sometimes be quite assertive when he thinks it's needed.
Of course even Cyltan eventually picks up on the fact that Zade is just putting up a façade that gets in the way of them getting a more personal relationship.

Edited December 11, 2023 by BrightBow

[Saint Rubenio]

8 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

I feel like Reese' main problem is his supporting cast. I love Ward and Tianna, of course. But they don't have an intimate relationship with Reese and are not going to push their lord and force him to be more open about his feelings. So you just end up having to interpret a lot into his ellipses.

Zade has Theodel, who very much sees him as his pal and does not treat him with the kind of reverence everyone else does. And Athol, who is in the unique position of both outranking him while also being far less mature than he is, which puts Zade into a difficult spot. Even Garlan, proper servant as he is, will sometimes be quite assertive when he thinks it's needed.
Of course even Cyltan eventually picks up on the fact that Zade is just putting up a façade that gets in the way of them getting a more personal relationship.

Yeah, this is a good point. Ward and Tianna are both great, but they're great in a vacuum. Zade's pals have a lot more interesting dynamics with him and bring out sides of him that Reese never really gets to exhibit because he spends too long listening to people talk about things bigger than him. And then you end up with that silliness where the game tries to give him a romance and it ends up reading embarrassingly stiff.

[Venger_06]

I bought Assassin's Creed Valhalla last month. I'm 90 hours into the game for now, but I miss Odyssey. I think a rant would be more appropriate for when I finish the game itself, but I can't believe they didn't learn anything from the mistakes of Origins and Odyssey and even removed the changes that Odyssey made for the better just to "bring in the classic elements " that nostalgic fans were asking for. Protip: don't try to please everyone.

Ruben would like the DLC beard tho

Anyway, also finished Zeta Gundam back in October after more than one year procrastinating. I should've started ZZ by now, but it is, well, ZZ.

Fanart not related

[Saint Rubenio]

6 minutes ago, Newtype06 said:

Ruben would like the DLC beard tho

I do, yes. Thank you for sharing.

[Armagon]

@twilit since I think you've already started.

Watch this, Xenoblade 2's in-game tutorials suck ass and will only set you up to succeed minimally.

4 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Controlling what units players can field is a big no-no for many players

It's less controlling and moreso "oops, you used McSwordy too much and he's gonna sleep in the next day" and weaker units (read: less HP) get screwed by this more.

2 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Sure she can staff and fly, but so can Ivy

OH BOY, TWO CAKES!

2 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

They give you a fairly robust opportunity to grind up underleveled units in the prep chapter for the split to help fix that problem for you...

I already talked about that and how it sucks that it's basically a necessity if you dared to bench someone.

If Kaga didn't want me benching units, he should've:

-made more deployment slots

-made the units actually good and not die to a twig

And that's just if you benched them. What if your ironman'd and like 3/4ths of someone's route gets turned into a statistic before the split? What then? What does Cyltan or Zade do when they only have five units under their command?

2 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Chapter 15-x isn't optional, you can just end it when you feel you are ready for the split. That is a bit different from the Awakeneing and Sacred Stones examples.

....yes? I wrote that? I made the distinction?

 

[Saint Rubenio]

2 minutes ago, Armagon said:

If Kaga didn't want me benching units, he should've:

-made more deployment slots

-made the units actually good and not die to a twig

Vestaria Saga 1 walked and tripped so that Vestaria 2 could soar the skies. You can really tell he learned a few lessons from his mistakes in this game. Are you convinced to continue VS2 yet

...I mean, not when it comes to writing romance, but--

[Saint Rubenio]

11 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Watch this, Xenoblade 2's in-game tutorials suck ass and will only set you up to succeed minimally.

...A different source told me recently that Xenoblade 2 has like 10 hours of tutorials.

Now you say the tutorials are awful and teach only the barest minimum.

Now my question is: Are you fucking kidding me