Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Lightchao42]

I finished Pikmin:

While I have seen plenty of Pikmin playthroughs before, this was my first time playing it myself, so I think this is a decent run. I'm interested in seeing if I can complete future runs in fewer days; Pikmin is similar to Metroid in that it's designed to be played multiple times to improve your strategy (and hopefully to lose less Pikmin the next time).

--------------------------

As for the cult talk, the next FE should have an anime evil organization with a bunch of superpowered freaks, prioritizing varied designs and personalities instead of a bunch of cloaked guys. They can still be mysterious, but they should most importantly be cool.

And I like political stories in FE as much as the next guy, but I wouldn't complain too much if Shadow Emperor Ghidorah shows up at some point and contextualizes how unimportant human wars are in the face otherworldly monstrosities. Or something like that, I just like giant monsters.

6 minutes ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Anime rule 46: less clothes = more power

So, nudity makes you stronger on this planet!

[Acacia Sgt]

You know, fun fact. The scrapped dialogue would have Saronia's Civil War actually be between the King and Queen, and not just the King alone pitting his armies against each other. Whether this means it was still only the King brainwashed or the Queen would've been too, I don't remember if the text said anything on the matter...

[Acacia Sgt]

Screw fighting against the Evil Cult. Next FE we should just be the Evil Cult. That DLC map from New Mystery where you control Gharnef and the Assassins had the right idea of it...

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Enemies hiding in the shadows manipulating things, huh...

Shadows... that you perhaps can only see through Mirrors...

As always, this is me shilling when SRW does something like FE but better perhaps...

Wrong SRW comparison point dum dum!😛

...Took me too long to find the Nagzart on Youtube, or Nazgadd, the inconsistency in spelling owing to the lack of an official translation must've been the issue. Luozorl would have zero issues fitting into FE.

4 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Screw fighting against the Evil Cult. Next FE we should just be the Evil Cult. That DLC map from New Mystery where you control Gharnef and the Assassins had the right idea of it...

I thought I remember hearing Langrisser has endings where you join their cults. And I remember hearing Soul Nomad has an alternative second playthrough where you let the dark god inside you take full control.

 

5 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Instead of having the magic mcguffins be the end, have it be a means to an end.

I understand this. I was thinking of the Suikoden games actually, which had pretty down to earth plots, for the most part, despite the existence of the True Runes. Fairly black & white, but political, and also small owing to a one-country-only policy for each game (other countries can be referenced, have troops present, but not visited or only the tiniest bit).

-But then, I found Suikoden II the most-acclaimed in the franchise, became dull and weak as after a certain plot point. While I only watched it online, Suikoden V turned out to be a similar case of fizzling towards the end (and II's Shu was already straining my limits for godly tacticians, V's Lucretia is... inconceivably impeccable).

5 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Xenoblade 2: Despite all the op stuff going on, the game is about the battle between the player party and antagonist party, and their ideological conflict defines the whole game. The villains motivations are understandable considering the world they live in (even if it needed more fleshing out), and the "supernatual being" at the end is just a "Cool bro thx" dialogue and the final battle with the antagonist we've been fighting the whole game. No hijacking bs despite the existence of many things that could hijack the story

Never really thought of XC2's story like this.

While I like Xeno ofc, the plot of XC2... kind of a blur? I mean, I know it, obviously. But... not exactly the tightest of narratives? I don't know how to describe it. Although maybe it's because of all the time you can spend doing things between progressing the plot. I'm not saying the story is weak. Just... maybe it's just b/c it's been so long since I played it.😆

1 hour ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

 

You know I rarely play a game right after buying it, and buying it early.

For some reason, I think I'll make an exception for this. Backlog and preference for sales be darned.😆

1 hour ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Tbh, would've been better if Arvis was able to outmaneuver them, but his sins catching up to him eventually - and his empire breaks down, but not by cult-kun

Interesting idea! -If only I could fanfict it.

Although I wouldn't leave Cult-kun out of breaking down the empire, they can declare independence in Agustria or something. -While wholly-unrelated rebellions and whatnot break out elsewhere.

 

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

It's also the first time we get a cult being the one behind everything. In Gaiden, the Duma Faithful were doing things but they were generally simply taking advantage of the situation.

What's interesting is that i think it's also the first time the cult is fully depicted as totally malevolent. Before FE4, it was just the bad apples. Gharnef was on his own essentially, while the Duma Faithful is mostly bad, you did have Tatiana at least. Actually, if Halcyon is anything to go by, the Duma Faithful were alright before Jedah took it over.

FE4 is where they were just bad outright, save for Saias who had a "are we the baddies" moment. You can tell it's Kaga's first time really grappling the idea because he tries to put sympathy points by saying "those suspected of carrying Lopto blood/worshipping him were burned at the stake" and....yeah that's bad. Except nearly everyone who was ever involved with Lopto so people's suspicions were right. He repeats this again in TRS. "The cult of Gerxel was oppressed, therefore, we will do exactly what they accuse us of doing, proving them right".

It is the first truly developed cult, true. The grandiosity of Genealogy is both beautiful and deeply flawed, as usual.

As for TRS. Kaga did go a little bit further with inventing a specific ethnicity tied to Gerxel worship, and the Zoans are okay (Shigen is nice) -even if the playable/good ones aren't Gerxel worshippers.

39 minutes ago, Armagon said:

TRS did the same thing. Most of the game actually devotes time to the kingdom vs empire plot and it was fairly good. But then the last 10 chapters hit and Kaga was like "but hold on, can't forget the cult". And it does the same thing as FE4. "Oh our faith is prosecuted for doing the very things they accuse us of doing". Actually, it's worse, because there's a settlers vs indigenous conflict rooted here, a lot of Gerxel worshippers were Zoans, the people indigenous to the continent. Most of the Zoans in the game just happen to be the ones worshipping the evil demon hellbent on destroying the world, which is a very interesting thing to depict Mr. Kaga. The few that aren't are the good guys. We could've had a proper conflict here...

Ironically, their leader wasn't.

-I'm not sure if most Zoans were Gerxel worshippers. But, we really don't get time to chill on Yoda's island, or in Canaan where at least it's implied many are something ~% Zoan (maybe if Sennet had gotten his own game, being its his realm to inherit). TRS spends too much time on Welt and in Leda to give a flavor of anywhere else (if it even gives us a flavor of those two kingdoms at all).

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

I think also a lot of the time is that the cult members simply aren't interesting or engaging. Most of the time it's just them going "heh heh heh" and then they die cause they suck at doing their job. I understand that there needs to be generic mooks for the less important chapters but i think the Black Fang and the Four Hounds had the right idea in having like actual members.

And Nergal had morphs, that made his mooks a little bit different and distinctive.

Named members meant to inspire awe and fear, perhaps with a group name, is always a cool idea. -But then there's only so much spotlight for so many members in a story. Grado's six Gemstone Generals come to mind. Valter- great, Duessel- playable & nice, Selena- Suicidal Camus, Caellach- Evil Mercenary Trope, Glen- eeeeeeeh, Riev- important, but generic with unexplained backstory (yet even if he had one, I doubt it'd be compelling).

 

7 minutes ago, Lightchao42 said:

While I have seen plenty of Pikmin playthroughs before, this was my first time playing it myself, so I think this is a decent run. I'm interested in seeing if I can complete future runs in fewer days; Pikmin is similar to Metroid in that it's designed to be played multiple times to improve your strategy (and hopefully to lose less Pikmin the next time).

Hope it was fun doing this!😃

11 minutes ago, Lightchao42 said:

As for the cult talk, the next FE should have an anime evil organization with a bunch of superpowered freaks, prioritizing varied designs and personalities instead of a bunch of cloaked guys. They can still be mysterious, but they should most importantly be cool.

Soooo let Kojima come up with the "high priests"? Flying flamethrower cosmonaut but in dark robes works for me.

[Acacia Sgt]

5 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Wrong SRW comparison point dum dum!😛

...Took me too long to find the Nagzart on Youtube, or Nazgadd, the inconsistency in spelling owing to the lack of an official translation must've been the issue. Luozorl would have zero issues fitting into FE.

Volkruss Cult does fit more what a FE Cult is on paper, but I don't recall them actually acting like one. In SRW EX at least. The Langran-Shutedonia War never goes beyond that beyond the occasional appearance of Volkruss stuff. Only in Shu's route they actually see prominence, but Masaki and Lune's parties don't participate in the final showdown at all.

Shadow Mirror actually does the whole "manipulate things from the shadows, the heroes slowly uncover them and eventually take them down" that FE is more prone to use.

Edited January 12 by Acacia Sgt

[Eltosian Kadath]

5 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

 

Honestly, presenting a video game as having a "dramatic political" story outside of maybe something artistically indie, will raise my suspicions. What is good political drama? And how does one keep on that track and work on developing it despite the challenges in doing so, and not resort to some kind of magical/sci-fi co-out? -Maybe I need to play more games, but I'm not sure if I've seen such a thing. Or maybe they'll bore me/leave no lasting impression.

I wonder if Fallout New Vegas would count. The game is all about a clash of political forces trying to take over the Mohave waste land, the Hoover Dam, and the titular New Vegas, and whether it will fall under the control of the more democratic New California Republic, the more fascist regime of Caesar's Legion, the sickeningly corporate ideals of Mr. House and his New Vegas, or if you are narcissistic enough to pretend you would be a good benevolent dictator with the help of Yes-Man. The main cop-out here is that the player character is unreasonably competent, but that is a bit of a standard for videogames in general. It really is a great game, and its opening does a good job setting things up a bit as a clash of political ideals.

 

6 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

And Mauv joines the ranks of the Zombies, getting Echo'd to death. Solm hasn't been kind to me ;_;

The Jeigan died too. That is a rough stretch for an ironman.

 

6 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

 

15 Bld o.o

Berserker sucks, however, Hero or something might work hmmm

But it does leave room for my Bouchy Boy to save the day. Let him lead the team.

 

6 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

I wouldn't exactly count Sephiran myself, and imo, Tellius is the one that escapes the "Dark cult" bs the most....

Part 4's enemies are the cultiest cult the series has ever had, they just pretend the cult isn't Dark

 

47 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Sara's a weird thing cause she's only related to Manfroy. I don't think she was ever part of the cult itself.

She was a part of the cult, if you take the B route through the cursed forest instead of the A route on the high road, you recruit her before she gets hit by the amnesia bat, and its a bit more apparent.

 

15 minutes ago, Lightchao42 said:

 

As for the cult talk, the next FE should have an anime evil organization with a bunch of superpowered freaks, prioritizing varied designs and personalities instead of a bunch of cloaked guys. They can still be mysterious, but they should most importantly be cool.

But they just did that with Engage's Four Hounds

 

[Armagon]

27 minutes ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

And IS still sticks with damn cult for some reaaon

Like IS experiments alot, except with the damn setting...

.....funnily enough, Kaga has done more stories with evil cults relatively speaking.

Kaga cults:

• Gaiden
• FE4
• Thracia
• TRS
• Berwick
• VS1
• VS2

Total: 7

IntSys cults:

• Blazing Blade
• Awakening
• Three Houses
• Engage

Total count: 4

Give a half point to Radiant Dawn if you want to count Ashera's Order in Part 4.

17 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

While I like Xeno ofc, the plot of XC2... kind of a blur? I mean, I know it, obviously. But... not exactly the tightest of narratives? I don't know how to describe it. Although maybe it's because of all the time you can spend doing things between progressing the plot. I'm not saying the story is weak. Just... maybe it's just b/c it's been so long since I played it.😆

There is a noticable shift in story pacing once Ch.5 hits. Not that the story is frontloaded but the first four chapters definitley feel "longer" if that makes sense.

 

[Acacia Sgt]

1 minute ago, Armagon said:

.....funnily enough, Kaga has done more stories with evil cults relatively speaking.

Kaga cults:

• Gaiden
• FE4
• Thracia
• TRS
• Berwick
• VS1
• VS2

Total: 7

IntSys cults:

• Blazing Blade
• Awakening
• Three Houses
• Engage

Total count: 4

Give a half point to Radiant Dawn if you want to count Ashera's Order in Part 4.

I'm pretty sure Sacred Stones does have a cult to the Demon King, which Riev and Novala belong to.

[Armagon]

3 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I'm pretty sure Sacred Stones does have a cult to the Demon King, which Riev and Novala belong to.

Looked it up. Riev is essentially just a fallen priest and Novala is his subordinate. He was exiled from Rausten. 

Maybe there are others we never see them.

[Interdimensional Observer]

26 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Volkruss Cult does fit more what a FE Cult is on paper, but I don't recall them actually acting like one. In SRW EX at least. The Langran-Shutedonia War never goes beyond that beyond the occasional appearance of Volkruss stuff. Only in Shu's route they actually see prominence, but Masaki and Lune's parties don't participate in the final showdown at all.

I'm not familiar with the second half of LoE1, or 3 or 4. But the partial script Akurasu has for Revelation of Evil God does get to "Saphine's sister & pacifist celebrity during the Shutedonia Civil War, is a Volkruss Cult member trying to amass guilt among those who fight to feed the evil Pillar God of Harmony".

26 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Shadow Mirror actually does the whole "manipulate things from the shadows, the heroes slowly uncover them and eventually take them down" that FE is more prone to use.

True. And they aren't bad in either incarnation. More manipulative in A, stronger and with more substance in OG (b/c OG, they need it and can get it).

 

5 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Maybe there are others we never see them.

As I said before, Riev is the weakling on the SS villain lineup. With a plot on the shorter side for FE (even factoring in the route differences) and 4~5 Gemstone Generals, Lyon, Orson, Formortiis, and kinda Vigarde, that's one too many villains for one story.

 

23 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

I wonder if Fallout New Vegas would count. The game is all about a clash of political forces trying to take over the Mohave waste land, the Hoover Dam, and the titular New Vegas, and whether it will fall under the control of the more democratic New California Republic, the more fascist regime of Caesar's Legion, the sickeningly corporate ideals of Mr. House and his New Vegas, or if you are narcissistic enough to pretend you would be a good benevolent dictator with the help of Yes-Man. The main cop-out here is that the player character is unreasonably competent, but that is a bit of a standard for videogames in general

I can see it from what you describe. No worse than fellow post-apocalyptic with ideological conflict RPG (albeit Japanese) Shin Megami Tensei. Actually better I would imagine, owing to being a nice-sized WRPG, with more world-building and other things, making the ideals more felt/grounded than in SMT.

23 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

She was a part of the cult, if you take the B route through the cursed forest instead of the A route on the high road, you recruit her before she gets hit by the amnesia bat, and its a bit more apparent.

I don't think the game says amnesia. When I played, it came off more as if she was in like a trance. Maybe Sara actually has some unexplained spiritual sensitivity despite lacking (un)holy blood, perhaps drawn out by being in the cult. ...Actually, the warp forest recruitment convo for her suggests that indeed, she has some measure of psychic/spiritual power.

Edited January 12 by Interdimensional Observer

[Acacia Sgt]

Ugh, that Lightning attack... well, fortunately it took at most two Jumps, with some Geomancer support, and a Blizzaga cast from a Black Mage.

34 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

I wonder if Fallout New Vegas would count. The game is all about a clash of political forces trying to take over the Mohave waste land, the Hoover Dam, and the titular New Vegas, and whether it will fall under the control of the more democratic New California Republic, the more fascist regime of Caesar's Legion, the sickeningly corporate ideals of Mr. House and his New Vegas, or if you are narcissistic enough to pretend you would be a good benevolent dictator with the help of Yes-Man. The main cop-out here is that the player character is unreasonably competent, but that is a bit of a standard for videogames in general. It really is a great game, and its opening does a good job setting things up a bit as a clash of political ideals.

Ah, great game, but some of the discourse, though...

[Armagon]

I've reached the part i was at before before i reset my Ryza 3 run

12 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

As I said before, Riev is the weakling on the SS villain lineup. With a plot on the shorter side for FE (even factoring in the route differences) and 4~5 Gemstone Generals, Lyon, Orson, Formortiis, and kinda Vigarde, that's one too many villains for one story.

All of this combines into Magvel just having probably the worst worldbuilding in a series and yes, that includes Fateslandia and Elyos.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Here comes the Sun, huh.

Played them enough when I was young, I'm good now. And I know the debate around whether these games have aged well or not.

Also, a game where "alchemy" is a major plot point but involves zero crafting (the TLA has a smith) just sounds strange now.

[Acacia Sgt]

12 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Here comes the Sun, huh.

Played them enough when I was young, I'm good now. And I know the debate around whether these games have aged well or not.

Also, a game where "alchemy" is a major plot point but involves zero crafting (the TLA has a smith) just sounds strange now.

Ah, Golden Sun. My very first RPG...

Yeah, we knew this for a while now. Was announced months ago.

Hmm, since I have the Expansion... but I'm already playing too many games to cycle through, hahaha...

[Acacia Sgt]

You know, my very first fanfic was actually a Golden Sun one. Wrote waaaaaaay back, in the ancient year of 2007, or so. It was meant to be a sequel to the games, long before Dark Dawn was a thing. However, I only wrote the first chapter, and then... that was it. Sadly, I eventually deleted it, so it's now lost in the annals of time.

Edited January 12 by Acacia Sgt

[Acacia Sgt]

If you're gonna fight a dragon, why not spice it up a little...

FE should just have the dragon be a giant mech/battleship.

[ping]

10 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

You don't have to. A little "war", even without conquest, is an option. Just keep taking and deleting her missionaries, and you'll be of good luck if she sends a full charge prophet which you could then plant for a nondenominational Holy Site. -But then you'll be unable to peace out for like ever with her then.

Well, the point has become moot, since Theodora didn't even get a religion. She got beaten, in that order, by Ramses (peak wonderwhoring, he got both Great Library and Stonehenge), Harun, myself, and Ahmad. Happens when Byz doesn't pick a faith patheon, I guess, and three of the other AIs go Piety.

[Codename Shrimp]

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

thought I remember hearing Langrisser has endings where you join their cults

L2 does have quite a few endings/routes yes

L1 remake does ss well, but i heard they suck

....but i was never able to get into Langrisser gameplay, L4 aside, due to the whole squad shtick  ending up being a chore imo

Funny enough, i enjoyed the mobile gameplay the most...if only it wasn't a gacha...

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

But... not exactly the tightest of narratives?

I do agree

But i do think it has one of the best antagonist groups in the genre that works really with the story, present the whole game and work as a good foil to protag gang.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Soooo let Kojima come up with the "high priests"? Flying flamethrower cosmonaut but in dark robes works for me.

If only those who twerk in the place where the sun doesn't shine were that cool

6 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Part 4's enemies are the cultiest cult the series has ever had, they just pretend the cult isn't Dark

They are a light cult instead xD

I think the reason i don't perceive them as such is that the senate was basically an enemy in the 2 games more out of political reasons than anything (and them being asshole politicians), before they got cult'fied in RD

RD would be cooler tho without Part 4 - especially gameplay wise that route spam is one of the worst stretches in FE history. And the story suffers in general starting blood pact

Funny enough, the one hurt the most writing wise by the blood pact is, imo, Micaiah. Felt like it neutered her potential she showed in Part 1

6 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

But it does leave room for my Bouchy Boy to save the day.

But first i will do Roy & Leafy boi paralogues. Now that i have Hurricane Axe, Roy Paralogue should be doable, and i hope for Leafy boi Warpragna can take out one of the ballista while a warping dance gang takes care of two - still need to calculate it or it will end in a massacre

6 hours ago, Armagon said:

Berwick

They are thankfully not that strongly present there - even if they do get the final map, which is annoying

6 hours ago, Armagon said:

IntSys cults:

• Blazing Blade
• Awakening
• Three Houses
• Engage

Well

Might be a bit of a reach but:

* In FE6, Zephiel's tantrum against humanity is not that much different from a cult's

* Sacred Stones kinda has it as Acacia mentioned

* Tellius has the Senate going full republican

* Anankos is a cult himself with the whole curse bs xD

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

don't think the game says amnesia. When I played, it came off more as if she was in like a trance. Maybe Sara actually has some unexplained spiritual sensitivity despite lacking (un)holy blood, perhaps drawn out by being in the cult. ...Actually, the warp forest recruitment convo for her suggests that indeed, she has some measure of psychic/spiritual power.

Yeah

Like

Couldn't she hear Leafy boy's inner voice or something? And that he needed help? It kinda felt like she had some sorta spiritual connection with him?

She had a high position in the cult tho, wasn't she called "Lady Sara" by a cult guy in the forest that you will need the rest of your gaming life to exit because it's super simple?

I don't remember any amnesia tho in either of the routes, and in both she hates Manfroy with a passion.

 

Honestly, i do think she's one of the few must haves in a FE4 remake, along Saias, Salem and (maybe) Olwen.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

despite lacking (un)holy blood

I don't think she lacks it. Maybe not full, but wasn't it one of the reasons she could use the Kia staff - atlesst implied?

6 hours ago, Armagon said:

All of this combines into Magvel just having probably the worst worldbuilding in a series and yes, that includes Fateslandia and Elyos.

Can't say i disagree, but

Atleast it has a name, unlike Fateslandia xD

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Here comes the Sun, huh.

And yes, gimme Mecha Dragon.

Edited January 12 by Shrimpy -Limited Edition-

[Saint Rubenio]

7 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Screw fighting against the Evil Cult. Next FE we should just be the Evil Cult. That DLC map from New Mystery where you control Gharnef and the Assassins had the right idea of it...

Honestly? Legit cool idea. Let's just have Bad Guys Emblem. FE is very cowardly when it comes to story, though - no chance in hell this is happening. The only way I could see it (and it's still a big maybe) is if the protagonist is a conflicted member of a cult that questions and eventually leaves it. So basically, Salem Emblem. Which, frankly, would still be insanely cool and I still find very unlikely.

6 hours ago, Armagon said:

Kaga cults:

• Berwick

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Debatable. The aesthetics of the Razite church are very culty, but the game does go out of its way a couple times to humanize them and establish them as a proper church that's been taken over by its most extremist faction - though I'll admit, it should've shown more reasonable Razites than we got. It's basically just Owen, Azrael and Claudia that we get for non-insane Razite acolytes, but the stuff they (and occasionally Almuth) say about the church of Raze is quite interesting - especially Claudia's comments about church doctrine, despite the fact that it's not even the focus of her one appearance.

There's also really no "they were behind everything all along" non-twist with them at all. The game's lesser focus on the continent-spanning war at large in itself means they wouldn't have as much room to play that role to begin with, but even disregarding that, the war is a complex conflict that spans back many years and didn't start from anything so simple as "cult-kun did things." They also don't have any ultimate goal towards which the war is a mere stepping stone, like every other cult-kun.

Heck, the Berwick League's horrible rulers are more to blame for the war than anyone in Raze, and the only Berwick king that's manipulated by a cult mastermind came long after the war was already in full swing. And speaking of said mastermind, even he doesn't have a grand world conquest plan. He just wants to use the war to secure a position of leadership in the church. They might actually just be the most low-key cult in the series.

It's really the aesthetics that hurt them. Kaga called the country friggin' Raze, I mean for fuck's sake old man. And his love for bleach-skinned dudes cosplaying Palpatine with garbage bags, too. They look like the cultiest cult to ever kun. Pope Urbanus's greatest crime truly was the dress code he imposed upon his brethren.

1 hour ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

They are thankfully not that strongly present there - even if they do get the final map

Even then, the conclusion to Volcens's character feels more prevalent to the final map than the simple presence of the Razites. Though maybe that's just the way it comes across because Volcens is the best character in Berwick Saga.

6 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

I wonder if Fallout New Vegas would count. The game is all about a clash of political forces trying to take over the Mohave waste land, the Hoover Dam, and the titular New Vegas, and whether it will fall under the control of the more democratic New California Republic, the more fascist regime of Caesar's Legion, the sickeningly corporate ideals of Mr. House and his New Vegas, or if you are narcissistic enough to pretend you would be a good benevolent dictator with the help of Yes-Man.

Oh, believe me, I wasn't narcissistic enough. I just wanted to watch the world burn.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

As I said before, Riev is the weakling on the SS villain lineup. With a plot on the shorter side for FE (even factoring in the route differences) and 4~5 Gemstone Generals, Lyon, Orson, Formortiis, and kinda Vigarde, that's one too many villains for one story.

Ehhh Riev's fine. He suffers a little bit from being kinda stock, but he's a lot more involved and knows more than anyone else, which gives him a niche. I also dig the "fallen priest excommunicated by the theocracy that holds a massive grudge" angle - he acts like a petty child throughout the Rausten map and it's a lot of fun to watch.

I'd say Glen is much more the weakling than he is. He's a very forgettable "loyal general that doubts" and feels completely wasted compared to Duessel and even Selena, mundane as she is as well.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Here comes the Sun, huh.

Played them enough when I was young, I'm good now. And I know the debate around whether these games have aged well or not.

Also, a game where "alchemy" is a major plot point but involves zero crafting (the TLA has a smith) just sounds strange now.

My main source of Golden Sun knowledge comes from the LP at the LParchive that just craps all over the duology relentlessly.

It's probably a gross exaggeration (I've read enough LPs there to know that's what passes for "humor" in SomethingAwful) but well, I know myself and my preferences well enough to tell that, if titans like Suikoden, Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger don't do it for me, this super generic pair of JRPGs sure as hell aren't going to.

[BrightBow]

7 hours ago, Armagon said:

• Berwick

The Raze Church is basically just the Catholic Church.

The church of Veria might fit the definition of a cult more. Idk, when is the exact point a cult becomes a proper religion?
 

14 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

It's really the aesthetics that hurt them. Kaga called the country friggin' Raze, I mean for fuck's sake old man. And his love for bleach-skinned dudes cosplaying Palpatine with garbage bags, too. They look like the cultiest cult to ever kun. Pope Urbanus's greatest crime truly was the dress code he imposed upon his brethren.

I don't get myself if it should be Raze or Laze as in Lazberia.

In any case, I think it's save to say that it's not pronounced anything like "razing".

Edited January 12 by BrightBow

[Saint Rubenio]

1 hour ago, BrightBow said:

I don't get myself if it should be Raze or Laze as in Lazberia.

Honestly, probably should be Laze. Though that still leaves them open to all the lazy jokes, so not that much better off. Raze does sound nicer, I'd say.

[Lightcosmo]

3 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

but i was never able to get into Langrisser gameplay, L4 aside, due to the whole squad shtick  ending up being a chore imo

Really? I don't recall it being too bad to manage, at least on the remakes.

[Interdimensional Observer]

8 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Sadly, I eventually deleted it, so it's now lost in the annals of time.

The fragility/ephemerality of digital media.⏳ I feel that.

 

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

this super generic pair of JRPGs sure as hell aren't going to.

Oh I get that for you. I don't question it one bit.

The main -"reasonable"- criticism I've seen of the games nowadays is the summary statement "These were highly-regarded because they were original JRPGs on the GBA, a system that didn't have any". Their animations were also lovely, but again, for the GBA. Placed against the rest of the JRPG pantheon, Golden Sun doesn't faire well -so it goes.

And then there were years of nothing, followed by a Dark Dawn that didn't fix the mistakes of the originals. If anything it drew attention to those old flaws in the minds of some fans, and only added more issues that killed the prospect of another GS.

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Ehhh Riev's fine. He suffers a little bit from being kinda stock, but he's a lot more involved and knows more than anyone else, which gives him a niche. I also dig the "fallen priest excommunicated by the theocracy that holds a massive grudge" angle - he acts like a petty child throughout the Rausten map and it's a lot of fun to watch.

I'd say Glen is much more the weakling than he is. He's a very forgettable "loyal general that doubts" and feels completely wasted compared to Duessel and even Selena, mundane as she is as well.

Yeah, Glen is either weakest or second weakest for sure. He dies too soon, never once fought nor joining. He's a prop for a little drama between Cormag and Valter ...except these two side characters can't really have a full arc in a game like Sacred Stones.

I wouldn't say "delete Glen and make Duessel take his place contra Valter", even if it's reasonable since Cormag already venerates Duessel and Duessel has a past with Valter. I wouldn't say this, because Cormag isn't a Gemstone General, and he really can't be if we want to keep him a Wyvern Rider, and if he isn't a Gemstone nor related to one, he doesn't have place hanging around the Gemstones (the best we could do is have Duessel make Cormag his (second factoring in Ephraim) student who he is cultivating as a future Gemstone). Removing Glen's existence would also slant Cormag towards Ephraim's route, denying him justification for showing up on Eirika's.  

 

5 hours ago, ping said:

Well, the point has become moot, since Theodora didn't even get a religion. She got beaten, in that order, by Ramses (peak wonderwhoring, he got both Great Library and Stonehenge), Harun, myself, and Ahmad. Happens when Byz doesn't pick a faith patheon, I guess, and three of the other AIs go Piety.

The AI loves Piety a wee too much. And that Byzantine lack of faith bonuses can really hurt them (I think there's a simple mod out there that adds +1 or 2 Faith to the Palace, ought to fix that issue).

 

4 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

RD would be cooler tho without Part 4

I think we were destined (or doomed if you prefer that) to have it, with PoR having the name "Astarteyune" in its data.

Now, Beta Path of Radiance, hmm... I almost-groundlessly speculated towards the end of last year that maybe Micaiah took Mist's original place.

[Acacia Sgt]

Okay, reached Doga's Manor. Sure, he's a powerful sage and all... BUT CAN HE CHOKE THE POINT!?

[Acacia Sgt]

I can't help but notice...

Noah, Doga, Unei, Xande

Gotoh, Miloah, Wendell, Gharnef

There's some curious parallelism there. Both games released only seven days apart, haha.

Edited January 12 by Acacia Sgt