Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Armagon]

So I found out you actually can run out of storage space for save files on the Switch.

Switch saves are so tiny it never even occured to me but it happened. Well, time to move the few games I have on the system memory over to the SD card.

[Sooks]

2 hours ago, lightcosmo said:

Dun dun duuuuuun!!! *Neps internally*

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Like yesterday.

Have I incurred the wrath of the Xeno fans?

Huh, silly me, I was so focused on preventing casualties in Banner Saga 2 that I didn’t realize I could end up the next casualty.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Sooks

[Armagon]

27 minutes ago, Sooks said:

Hun, silly me, I was so focused on preventing casualties in Banner Saga 2 that I didn’t realize I could end up the next casualty.

There is no escape.

 

[null]

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, lightcosmo said:

Congrats on finishing!

What did you think of the character growth and such?

Regarding the characters:

• Zidane-
  • Certainly cuts a different figure from what came before him. He plays it cool, but in a more laid back way than Cloud's stiffer elite SOLDIER cool. Zidane is a slight extrovert actually interested in romance, which makes him the antithesis of Squall. His Casanova aspect was kept fairly in-check, a moment or there where he cross a line, but he could've done far far worse here. Whereas a loose Western element seems present in Cloud's and Squall's designs, Zidane has the Eastern Sun Wukong/Dragonball influence.
    • To speak of comparison with what was yet to come, Zidane is certainly better than Tidus for me. I forget Tidus a good deal, but so much of the game is built around his awkwardness in the situation he finds himself IIRC.
  • Speaking of that, Zidane himself isn't actually that personally important for the longest time. Yet Zidane is never a bad character, he supports with grace.
    • I also want to slip in mention of Tantalus here. The theatrical thieves with a giant airship consisting of a motley band of presumably orphans and other outcasts wasn't a bad idea. It could use modernization to truly burst with charm, but in principle I liked them. I also liked the sort of related scene where Zidane and Garnet are laying in bed and he explains his past to her.
  • When it finally comes for Zidane to be important to the plot, I felt it was done just fine. It could've used a pinch of refinement, but the late Disc 3 exposition unloading and Zidane's relation to it successfully enlivened the narrative to me.
  • All in all, an understated hero, maybe not the greatest, but good.
• Garnet -I mean Dagger!
  • The game's means for forcing her into being nameable like everyone else starts logical, but entirely loses its purpose after the Alexandria stuff is over. Oh well. I made Dagger into Kris actually, it's an alias either way, and Kris is a name and a short sword at the same time.
  • Garnet reminds me of Yuna both visually and in gameplay, and Yuna looks somewhat like Ashe. Of them all, I might like Garnet the most. A typical princess/leading heroine in some regards, but I don't think the execution of her in those tropes was painfully atrocious or anything. Other than the "can't concentrate!" *wastes a turn* short segment in gameplay.
    • Speaking of gameplay, why no obtainable Alexander summon? It would've been holy redundant with Eiko's Madeen, but Alexander was so spectacular earlier. We get Odin and Bahamut despite Garnet losing them.
    • And to speak of her predecessors, hard not to be better than Rinoa to me. And considering Tifa's meaning is almost entirely derived from Cloud (Aerith has it better and worse), Garnet is a better heroine. She has her own independent story, she can fall in love without the love defining her. Terra and Celes need a real FFVI Remake.
  • Garnet also serves to fill in for Zidane's lack of relevancy during the early and midgames. She is the star of a bunch of tragic scenes well into Disc 3. It was an interesting choice to have the heroine and hero have almost entirely separate stories, and I think it worked okay.
• Vivi-
  • Best boi indeed. They threw no shortage of effort into making him endearing from the start. Young, innocent, his life moments are touching and a little sad.
  • As with Garnet, Vivi is there mostly to occupy the earlier portions of the game because Zidane cannot. I didn't expect the Black Mages subplot to be used up as quick as it was, but I didn't mind. The outright stated parallel to Zidane's stuff at the end of the game added some unexpected and likable endgame relevancy to Vivi's part of the story.
• Steiner-
  • I can tell the CGI animators threw some love into this old quixotic knight, his face during the opening theatre scenes is so expressive.
  • Steiner is there mostly for comedic effect at the start, when he isn't being so strict and wrong about what is best for the princess.
  • Steiner's turning point isn't supremely valiant, he could've used more awesomeness, but hey, he let a thief run off with his princess because the queen is in the wrong. Thats pretty accepting and unexpected of him. Though he retains his distaste for lowlifes thereafter, despite his eventual yielding to Zidane's & Garnet's love.
    • Lmao at the moment early in the ending sequence where everyone runs off and Garnet and Zidane are standing there with Steiner looking away arms folded behind his back. As if he is there to be a good chaperone to prevent elicit behavior, but acknowledges the necessity of privacy between two young lovebirds.
    • His own love with Beatrix was a fine touch to flesh him out too. It started as joke, but I like that they ran with it.
    • Could they've explained the history behind the Knights of Pluto or something though? I'd like to know why this seeming buffoon and would be entrusted with a special knightly order of men of average ability. 
  • Not the greatest character, but when I think about it, I can see his subtle strengths.
• Eiko-
  • Yes I'm jumping chronologically ahead, for good reason. 
  • That reason being, Eiko is fairly narratively relevant. She is a summoner, she helps explain the lore behind it and helps with Garnet. Although I felt the Eidolons and summoner tribe were just a tad undercooked for explanation. Mog being an Eidolon is disguise was a novel decision.
  • Initially, her childish personality is undermined by her obsession with Zidane and trying to take him from Garnet. When she acknowledges she has no chance, her little girl personality suddenly loses its annoying aspect. 
  • And at that point, Eiko is likable, a good supporting character with a purpose.
• Freya-
  • This is where the qualitative collapse begins. Freya could've died at the end of Disc 1, and almost nothing would've been lost. Burmecia-Cleyra feels like filler, and this is a character bound to that filler. 
    • You know who also coincidentally has to do with Burmecia? Beatrix. This temporarily playable NPC wound up being a more fleshed-out character than fully playable Freya. I don't think I go out on a limb saying this.
    • Freya's beloved's sudden appearance in the ending left me asking "Where have you been this entire time?". Was something cut from the game?
  • A shame, because Freya's introductory scene wasn't bad. It had promise. -Although it was weird when she showed up in Lindblum Castle in the guest room during the Festival of the Hunt preparations, why would she be let in there? She is a friend to Zidane, but she doesn't know anyone else at the moment and she isn't so connect to Zidane yet as to warrant that.
  • I don't dislike her, but Freya, you are no goddess, the Norne consigned you to obscurity.
• Amarant-
  • When he first showed interest in Zidane, I was like "Ooh someone who is interested in Zidane! Finally I'll discover his past!".
  • Annnnd it turned out Amarant had no relation to Zidane's past at all, beside one little theft Zidane got into. Sweet Rico Banderas has more world & narrative importance than this dude.
  • The Flaming Amaretto is one singleminded loner punk, who can't understand friendship and sparing your defeated opponents. What he is supposed to be? Shadow the Edgehog before Sega came up with the idea? Vincent's second cousin?
  • Listen Amarant, I used you because I liked your design, Chakra, and Aura, but you're so deficient. Freya had three dungeons where she was important, you never had any. You tried to be important for one, and I felt you were forcing yourself into that scene, because it simply didn't naturally fit.
• Quina-
  • Why did Square think of adding a joke character? This isn't VI with an ensemble big enough to fit Gau/Mog/Umaro/Gogo. Quina has a single-track mind, with 0% of the heaping 0 importance that Amarant had. Even Zidane acknowledges Quina is leftovers and baggage.
  • Not helped by gameplay. I had booted up XC1DE a yesterday again and was controlling Riki, a total joke with serious gameplay goodness. Quina held promise at first because of how easy it was to get new spells, but Quina can't be anything less than the worse character around in normal circumstances. What Blue Magics are unqualified good?
    • Angel Snack needs Remedies, which you can't ever buy. I'm not even sure if you can Synthesize these, and if you can, only too late to be useful.
    • White Wind heals for too little after the earlygame where you have no better options.
    • Early Auto-Life is nice, but later Amarant can do that too.
    • Mighty Guard sounds great -but I'm read Eiko can secretly do the same with Carnbuncle if you don't mind giving up the Add On equipment slot. And Mighty Guard is highly expensive and wears off quickly anyhow.
    • Limit Glove is very cheesy if paired with Auto-Life, but I didn't this very early 9999 damage cheat. And Quina needs it, because Quina can't do much else well.
    • Other offensive spells I didn't try, but I can't see them being very good. Barring the Frog Drop spell with enough frog hunting.

 

With regards to the main villain of Kuja, he reminded me of Exdeath with the campy attitude, reveling in his evilness. He got sufficient and dramatically meaningful screen time like Kefka, Sephiroth-JENOVA, Seymour, and Vayne Solidor (in the last guy's case, the time is never spent with the heroes themselves to his severe detriment). Of these Seymour offers the best comparison, although they're opposites in that Kuja hates death and Seymour loves it. Not the best villain Final Fantasy has created, I'd be inclined to say Kefka there, but I think Kuja can hold his own, better than Sephiroth actually, whose entire raison d'être for evil is a total misunderstanding- no you are NOT the child of an alien!

Brahne worked as a secondary villain, I like her very Toriyama-inspired design. Although I wish we could've seen a flashback of her a sane good person. Garland was adequate, he being a creation himself doesn't excuse what he did, but what was he to do if not follow orders to secure Terra's continued existence? -Cid was a nice NPC too.

[Armagon]

Played Atelier Firis for a bit. Right off the bat, it's clear that this game had a bigger budget, at least as far as the engine goes. This is the same engine that Gust would later go on to use for Atelier Lydie & Suelle and Atelier Lulua, so as a result, everything looks nicer (though obviously the Ryza games still win in the visual department).

Firis herself is nice, albeit a bit loud, though i don't know if that's the game's fault on it's audio-mixing.

There is a time-limit but literally everyone considers it a joke as it passes by too slowly. Still, as is the case with Atelier games with time-limits, i am making backup saves.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Speaking of that, Zidane himself isn't actually that personally important for the longest time. Yet Zidane is never a bad character, he supports with grace

So he's kinda like Fei in that regard? Like yeah, Fei does have the whole mystery thing going on for much of Xenogears but aside from that, he's just along for the ride up until Solaris.

[Dayni]

8 hours ago, Shrimperor said:

The one i just wrote? Took me around 30 Minutes or so.

The idea has been on my mind for a while, but i never wrote it down until now

That's pretty good on you actually.

8 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

"It is obvious that it was difficult for him to speak of honor when a list of things he would have said in public was mentioned: "in any case, in my games, all women are whores", "in the open-space, it lacks tits" or "at Quantic Dream, we do not play games for fags ”.

So why does anybody think this guy is anything but a humongous hack, again?

The company has nothing shown since Detroit came out. I think that there's a chance cracks are showing and that'll suck for the rank and file employees.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Finished Final Fantasy IX.

The final battle was somewhat lackluster. Arguably a notch down in every way from VIII actually. The last phase- why did Grand Cross insta-kill two of my characters, and why did the final boss, despite Auto-Haste on everyone, get triple actions sometimes? Its defense was too high and I won as "fast" as I did solely because of a Zidane Trance. (My final team BTW was Zidane, despite being able to remove him oddly only at this end point, Vivi for damage, Amarant for Chakra and Aura, and Eiko for healing.) Not to mention the final phase is... like why did they invent it? I don't think it would've taken a lot of work to retool and actually integrate its existence. 

That said, the ending itself was fine. 

As for an overall rating, well the game hasn't aged perfectly, I've pointed that out in prior commentary. The music is never bad, the graphics for their time are good, as is the presentation, the gameplay serviceable and actually better than VII & VIII I'd say. 3/8 playable characters do have irrelevancy issues, and the plot, if nothing groundbreaking or unusual for FF, is sufficiently pleasant.

I think I'd actually give it a 8/10, there is something to the cast and tale that have a surprising quiet charm. Had I played this before it had put on as the age has to me, I might've been so inclined to give it a 9/10. A good Final Fantasy.

I'm curious about what level you had gotten to by the end, see if I did overgrind.

So for you it is merely solid? Merely solid? I am quite saddened by such a-

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Vivi-

• Best boi indeed.

All is forgiven.

There is a thing throughout your character review that I wanted to comment on: Every character is supposed to get a moment to be centre stage and barring Amarant (whose moment is definitely not the best) and Quina (Who gives negative shits more often than not) they do at least fine with it but afterwards most of the cast slides into the background with the one connective element being Zidane. And that is unfortunate with the cast being 8 characters. Maybe the devs felt as the game progressed locking characters into your party would have been considered too much or that there wasn't the time to better integrate them into the story. But yeah, the lack of moments where characters got more than quips during story in the late game does undercut it a bit. And that's another reason You Are Not Alone stands out. It's the entire cast getting to say their piece and it works really well imo.

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Could they've explained the history behind the Knights of Pluto or something though? I'd like to know why this seeming buffoon and would be entrusted with a special knightly order of men of average ability. 

I think it is mentioned in game, but they're the only male order in Alexandria, the military's mainly female.

[Saint Rubenio]

5 hours ago, Sooks said:

  Hide contents

First choice of chapter 11, or at least the first one that seems meaningful, is telling Zefyr that Juno tried to do some mind altering on Bolverk or stay silent. I stayed silent, because Juno is obviously important and having the mender council after her wouldn’t help things, but it’s not clear if she believes Juno is alive, and if she does they might go after her anyway. Oh well.

After that I chose to warn the families in their homes to get to the mines instead of looting the great hall or helping take supplies (and I declined to steal from the big house, I know I know, the bad guys, but maybe I’m too soft for that). Now I’m going to choose to go back to the top of the mine to fight off the dredge.

And the battle went pretty well, I won, and as far as the choice itself no one died. Though I was terrified when after it, four or five big dredge showed up and I thought my three survivors were going to have to fight them, I audibly gasped. But I didn’t, so Bolverk’s story didn’t end too early. I received a lot of clansmen, presumably the people I warned, so I trained a hundred of them into fighters.

Then there were some events, a man was offered glowing berries they found and I didn’t have him eat them for obvious reasons, someone claimed that found gold and I sent out search parties but the returned empty handed, then some families went missing so I chose to help and to follow a path where I heard voices, but nothing was there, so I searched down the main path… and found all the missing people, woo! Then Bolverk had a dream about getting water and I chose to try like how it was in the dream because I didn’t understand the choice, but it actually worked which improved morale and got me some renown. I had the menders fix an old bridge so we could cross safely, which we did. After that I had Bolverk try to get a big gem out of the cave walls at the god stone type thing underground, which ended with him smashing it in rage and injuring children. Hooray. I tried to have Bolverk see the future at the bottom pool (in the cave pools) which ended with him injured, because of course it did.

After that there was the battle against dredge with the big one that revives other enemies which was very scary and very close, though I won, albeit with Krumr as the only surviver. Then morale declined and I lost a few fighters and clansmen as Zefr and Nikels attempted to stop it, which I doubt is my fault because I won the battle and didn’t get to make any choices after, though it sounds like Nikels died so RIP. We were lost in the tunnels so I sent scouts to help us find the right way to go, but presumably they all died. A big dredge ambushed us and killed two people after, because of course it did. I won the following battle too though.

After that I had a choice to put a stone singer in a cart to take it with us after Zefr revealed she could, and I apprehensively said yes because it might be helpful. But if it betrays us… I mean it won’t be Onef tier, but it will be semi close.

 …oh and he gave us the way to go, nice. Now let’s hope it’s not a trap.

 …54 CLANSMEN AND 85 FIGHTERS LEFT BECAUSE OF THAT? WHAT? YOU’RE WELCOME FOR SAVING ALL OF YOU, BY THE WAY! Well we emerged on some ruined looking mountain side, and ominous music started playing while Zefyr said she didn’t know what it was. If this is that dredge’s fault…

The chapter ended there.

Also, Oli is great. My best non-varl unit, like the Ludin of this caravan. The guy who can go invisible and ignore armor seems interesting, but I didn’t really get a chance to use him properly.

Fine choices, overall.

Spoiler

God fucking damnit, now you have actually beaten me at something. I have never been able to win the battle at the start of the mines. Ever. Lost in my first run, and though I tried it multiple times in my second, it was so hard that eventually I gave up (don't forget I was playing in hard mode in that run). And that's a pretty costly battle to lose, it takes Gudmundr away from you. So yeah. Good job, Sooks.

Also, Nikels always dies, so don't worry about that.

As for the stonesinger, it was a good call to take it along. You'll see why.

Oli, huh. In my first run I didn't use him. I did in my second run. I wouldn't call him that great, but he's fine. Dytch is an interesting utility unit, because of a certain property that his invisibility has.

So yeah, overall, you've done well in this session.

Quote

Pinging @Saint Rubenio because you usually head to bed by now in my time zone.

Thanks. You were... a bit off on the timing there. It was like 4 in the morning where I live when you sent this.

Quote

….that was a lot longer than I expected, almost LPish. Do you want me to keep going like that or just highlight the important choices and any noteworthy event outcomes?

That's all right, I'm enjoying these detailed impressions.

5 hours ago, Teehee the Sixth said:

What's that supposed to mean?

His statements were (rather poorly) translated from French, so I can't tell you the exact words, but well, you get the gist of it.

The man's a piece of shit, that's the gist of it. I cannot say I'm too surprised.

1 minute ago, Teeheeyni said:

The company has nothing shown since Detroit came out. I think that there's a chance cracks are showing and that'll suck for the rank and file employees.

The eternal victims of these situations. They're all going to pay for having a despicable bastard as the face of their company, unfortunately.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Saint Rubenio

[BrightBow]

I love how one of their executives just straight up asked the judge if they are allowed to lie since they are not under oath.

[DragonFlames]

8 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Scheiße the Chosen One

XD
Thanks for the laugh, I needed that! ^^

8 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE! IT WAS SAID YOU WOULD DESTROY LOS CHICOS DE GONZALO, NOT JOIN THEM!

literal turd just lying next to the lava pool

And this makes it even better. XD

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Tyrants and Kishins.

Megidoladyne targets all allies and their demons, but this means Lucifer has to get a turn to use it first. Tyrants in DS1 always have opponent turn delay built into their Racial Skill- Tyranny; this is lost in DS2 once they upgrade to Blood Treaty, probably because it was deemed too strong. 

Give two teams each one Tyrant demon, and give at least one a Kishin so they can engage Lucifer twice every time they get a turn via Double Up. Do this, and Lucifer will next to never get a chance to act on his own. Easy. 

Recarm is an alternative strategy- as a leader that has been revived gets their turn immediately after revival. So keep the demons on the leader's team healthy, but let the leader die after their demons pound at Lucifer. Keep another team standing still and doing nothing except resurrecting the suicidal leader.

Oh yeah, those were really busted, I remember!
This is probably what I will do, once I attempt to fight the guy! Thanks! ^^

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Played Atelier Firis for a bit. Right off the bat, it's clear that this game had a bigger budget, at least as far as the engine goes. This is the same engine that Gust would later go on to use for Atelier Lydie & Suelle and Atelier Lulua, so as a result, everything looks nicer (though obviously the Ryza games still win in the visual department).

Oooh, that sounds pretty nice already!

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

There is a time-limit but literally everyone considers it a joke as it passes by too slowly. Still, as is the case with Atelier games with time-limits, i am making backup saves.

Probably the best thing to do. I'll do the same, once I get to it.
I honestly didn't know Firis had one of those, heh. Oh boy!

---

Music post for today: Neptrian Odyssey

[Saint Rubenio]

4 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

I love how one of their executives just straight up asked the judge if they are allowed to lie since they are not under oath.

It almost feels like a parody at some parts, with Cage speaking like a cartoon villain. Except it's not a parody, it's reality surpassing fiction.

3 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

XD
Thanks for the laugh, I needed that! ^^

And this makes it even better. XD

You're welcome, you're welcome. I honestly wouldn't put it past them, Scheiße sounds pretty badass when you don't know what it means.

[BrightBow]

Their lawyers probably have it rough too.

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by BrightBow

[DragonFlames]

17 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

You're welcome, you're welcome. I honestly wouldn't put it past them, Scheiße sounds pretty badass when you don't know what it means.

Honestly, I think the same is true of mierda. Duque de Mierda, for example, would be an awesome name... if you don't know what the word actually means. xD

[Saint Rubenio]

22 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Their lawyers probably have it rough too.

Imagine trying to keep a straight face while your client politely asks the court if they are allowed to lie since they're not under oath.

Sheesh, even if it was meant as a joke, you really think that's the right situation to make dumb jokes?

Just now, DragonFlames said:

Honestly, I think the same is true of mierda. Duque de Mierda, for example, would be an awesome name... if you don't know what the word actually means. xD

Foreign words always sound so dignified when you don't know what they are. Funny how that works.

Japan apparently agrees, by the way, considering they named an Elibean country "Ostia", which is a common swear word in Spanish.

[DragonFlames]

2 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Foreign words always sound so dignified when you don't know what they are. Funny how that works.

That's true. It probably is precisely because they're foreign, therefore 'exotic' to our ears, which might cause this.

3 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Japan apparently agrees, by the way, considering they named an Elibean country "Ostia", which is a common swear word in Spanish.

I only know Ostia as a city in Italy, as well as that it used to be a port city of Ancient Rome (still there as Ostia Antica).
Didn't know that word is a swear in Spanish. XD

Out of curiosity, what does it translate to, roughly?

[Saint Rubenio]

1 minute ago, DragonFlames said:

Out of curiosity, what does it translate to, roughly?

Apparently it's a synonym of "ostra", which means "oyster", but nobody uses it like that. Everyone just uses it as a nondescript swear word, in the same vein as "damn." That's the closest thing I could imagine, though of course, the other meaning of "damn" is more widely used, so it's not exactly the same thing.

[DragonFlames]

1 minute ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Apparently it's a synonym of "ostra", which means "oyster", but nobody uses it like that. Everyone just uses it as a nondescript swear word, in the same vein as "damn." That's the closest thing I could imagine, though of course, the other meaning of "damn" is more widely used, so it's not exactly the same thing.

I see! Thanks! ^^

I could imagine many Spanish folks go to the actual Ostia on vacation just for the shits and giggles, though. I know I would. xD

[Saint Rubenio]

2 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

I see! Thanks! ^^

I could imagine many Spanish folks go to the actual Ostia on vacation just for the shits and giggles, though. I know I would. xD

It'd be funny for five minutes. Afterwards, I think I'd rely on Italy's beauty to keep me going.

...Though according to my quick Google search, the place is a mafia hive, so...

[Dayni]

14 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Apparently it's a synonym of "ostra", which means "oyster", but nobody uses it like that. Everyone just uses it as a nondescript swear word, in the same vein as "damn." That's the closest thing I could imagine, though of course, the other meaning of "damn" is more widely used, so it's not exactly the same thing.

I wouldn't be surprised if they did look at it as Oyster and went "you know what defends itself with it's shell? An Oyster!" and went with it.

Or more likely just thought it sounded neat, Elibe doesn't feel like the names have much of a lore connection. Or of course it's in Italy.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Teeheeyni

[Saint Rubenio]

3 minutes ago, Teeheeyni said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they did look at it as Oyster and went "you know what defends itself with it's shell? An Oyster!" and went with it.

Or more likely just thought it sounded neat, Elibe doesn't feel like the names have much of a lore connection. Or of course it's in Italy.

Considering stuff like Bern, I imagine it's more likely that they named it after the town and just didn't know about the Spanish thing.

[Codename Shrimp]

Fuck this weather just sayin

1 hour ago, Dayni said:

That's pretty good on you actually

^^

Although I think that's a bit slow tbh. Someone else would've probably written it in like 10 Minutes. But since i am not in a speedruning competition or something, i don't think anyone cares xD

[Lightcosmo]

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Regarding the characters:

• Zidane-
  • Certainly cuts a different figure from what came before him. He plays it cool, but in a more laid back way than Cloud's stiffer elite SOLDIER cool. Zidane is a slight extrovert actually interested in romance, which makes him the antithesis of Squall. His Casanova aspect was kept fairly in-check, a moment or there where he cross a line, but he could've done far far worse here. Whereas a loose Western element seems present in Cloud's and Squall's designs, Zidane has the Eastern Sun Wukong/Dragonball influence.
    • To speak of comparison with what was yet to come, Zidane is certainly better than Tidus for me. I forget Tidus a good deal, but so much of the game is built around his awkwardness in the situation he finds himself IIRC.
  • Speaking of that, Zidane himself isn't actually that personally important for the longest time. Yet Zidane is never a bad character, he supports with grace.
    • I also want to slip in mention of Tantalus here. The theatrical thieves with a giant airship consisting of a motley band of presumably orphans and other outcasts wasn't a bad idea. It could use modernization to truly burst with charm, but in principle I liked them. I also liked the sort of related scene where Zidane and Garnet are laying in bed and he explains his past to her.
  • When it finally comes for Zidane to be important to the plot, I felt it was done just fine. It could've used a pinch of refinement, but the late Disc 3 exposition unloading and Zidane's relation to it successfully enlivened the narrative to me.
  • All in all, an understated hero, maybe not the greatest, but good.
• Garnet -I mean Dagger!
  • The game's means for forcing her into being nameable like everyone else starts logical, but entirely loses its purpose after the Alexandria stuff is over. Oh well. I made Dagger into Kris actually, it's an alias either way, and Kris is a name and a short sword at the same time.
  • Garnet reminds me of Yuna both visually and in gameplay, and Yuna looks somewhat like Ashe. Of them all, I might like Garnet the most. A typical princess/leading heroine in some regards, but I don't think the execution of her in those tropes was painfully atrocious or anything. Other than the "can't concentrate!" *wastes a turn* short segment in gameplay.
    • Speaking of gameplay, why no obtainable Alexander summon? It would've been holy redundant with Eiko's Madeen, but Alexander was so spectacular earlier. We get Odin and Bahamut despite Garnet losing them.
    • And to speak of her predecessors, hard not to be better than Rinoa to me. And considering Tifa's meaning is almost entirely derived from Cloud (Aerith has it better and worse), Garnet is a better heroine. She has her own independent story, she can fall in love without the love defining her. Terra and Celes need a real FFVI Remake.
  • Garnet also serves to fill in for Zidane's lack of relevancy during the early and midgames. She is the star of a bunch of tragic scenes well into Disc 3. It was an interesting choice to have the heroine and hero have almost entirely separate stories, and I think it worked okay.
• Vivi-
  • Best boi indeed. They threw no shortage of effort into making him endearing from the start. Young, innocent, his life moments are touching and a little sad.
  • As with Garnet, Vivi is there mostly to occupy the earlier portions of the game because Zidane cannot. I didn't expect the Black Mages subplot to be used up as quick as it was, but I didn't mind. The outright stated parallel to Zidane's stuff at the end of the game added some unexpected and likable endgame relevancy to Vivi's part of the story.
• Steiner-
  • I can tell the CGI animators threw some love into this old quixotic knight, his face during the opening theatre scenes is so expressive.
  • Steiner is there mostly for comedic effect at the start, when he isn't being so strict and wrong about what is best for the princess.
  • Steiner's turning point isn't supremely valiant, he could've used more awesomeness, but hey, he let a thief run off with his princess because the queen is in the wrong. Thats pretty accepting and unexpected of him. Though he retains his distaste for lowlifes thereafter, despite his eventual yielding to Zidane's & Garnet's love.
    • Lmao at the moment early in the ending sequence where everyone runs off and Garnet and Zidane are standing there with Steiner looking away arms folded behind his back. As if he is there to be a good chaperone to prevent elicit behavior, but acknowledges the necessity of privacy between two young lovebirds.
    • His own love with Beatrix was a fine touch to flesh him out too. It started as joke, but I like that they ran with it.
    • Could they've explained the history behind the Knights of Pluto or something though? I'd like to know why this seeming buffoon and would be entrusted with a special knightly order of men of average ability. 
  • Not the greatest character, but when I think about it, I can see his subtle strengths.
• Eiko-
  • Yes I'm jumping chronologically ahead, for good reason. 
  • That reason being, Eiko is fairly narratively relevant. She is a summoner, she helps explain the lore behind it and helps with Garnet. Although I felt the Eidolons and summoner tribe were just a tad undercooked for explanation. Mog being an Eidolon is disguise was a novel decision.
  • Initially, her childish personality is undermined by her obsession with Zidane and trying to take him from Garnet. When she acknowledges she has no chance, her little girl personality suddenly loses its annoying aspect. 
  • And at that point, Eiko is likable, a good supporting character with a purpose.
• Freya-
  • This is where the qualitative collapse begins. Freya could've died at the end of Disc 1, and almost nothing would've been lost. Burmecia-Cleyra feels like filler, and this is a character bound to that filler. 
    • You know who also coincidentally has to do with Burmecia? Beatrix. This temporarily playable NPC wound up being a more fleshed-out character than fully playable Freya. I don't think I go out on a limb saying this.
    • Freya's beloved's sudden appearance in the ending left me asking "Where have you been this entire time?". Was something cut from the game?
  • A shame, because Freya's introductory scene wasn't bad. It had promise. -Although it was weird when she showed up in Lindblum Castle in the guest room during the Festival of the Hunt preparations, why would she be let in there? She is a friend to Zidane, but she doesn't know anyone else at the moment and she isn't so connect to Zidane yet as to warrant that.
  • I don't dislike her, but Freya, you are no goddess, the Norne consigned you to obscurity.
• Amarant-
  • When he first showed interest in Zidane, I was like "Ooh someone who is interested in Zidane! Finally I'll discover his past!".
  • Annnnd it turned out Amarant had no relation to Zidane's past at all, beside one little theft Zidane got into. Sweet Rico Banderas has more world & narrative importance than this dude.
  • The Flaming Amaretto is one singleminded loner punk, who can't understand friendship and sparing your defeated opponents. What he is supposed to be? Shadow the Edgehog before Sega came up with the idea? Vincent's second cousin?
  • Listen Amarant, I used you because I liked your design, Chakra, and Aura, but you're so deficient. Freya had three dungeons where she was important, you never had any. You tried to be important for one, and I felt you were forcing yourself into that scene, because it simply didn't naturally fit.
• Quina-
  • Why did Square think of adding a joke character? This isn't VI with an ensemble big enough to fit Gau/Mog/Umaro/Gogo. Quina has a single-track mind, with 0% of the heaping 0 importance that Amarant had. Even Zidane acknowledges Quina is leftovers and baggage.
  • Not helped by gameplay. I had booted up XC1DE a yesterday again and was controlling Riki, a total joke with serious gameplay goodness. Quina held promise at first because of how easy it was to get new spells, but Quina can't be anything less than the worse character around in normal circumstances. What Blue Magics are unqualified good?
    • Angel Snack needs Remedies, which you can't ever buy. I'm not even sure if you can Synthesize these, and if you can, only too late to be useful.
    • White Wind heals for too little after the earlygame where you have no better options.
    • Early Auto-Life is nice, but later Amarant can do that too.
    • Mighty Guard sounds great -but I'm read Eiko can secretly do the same with Carnbuncle if you don't mind giving up the Add On equipment slot. And Mighty Guard is highly expensive and wears off quickly anyhow.
    • Limit Glove is very cheesy if paired with Auto-Life, but I didn't this very early 9999 damage cheat. And Quina needs it, because Quina can't do much else well.
    • Other offensive spells I didn't try, but I can't see them being very good. Barring the Frog Drop spell with enough frog hunting.

 

With regards to the main villain of Kuja, he reminded me of Exdeath with the campy attitude, reveling in his evilness. He got sufficient and dramatically meaningful screen time like Kefka, Sephiroth-JENOVA, Seymour, and Vayne Solidor (in the last guy's case, the time is never spent with the heroes themselves to his severe detriment). Of these Seymour offers the best comparison, although they're opposites in that Kuja hates death and Seymour loves it. Not the best villain Final Fantasy has created, I'd be inclined to say Kefka there, but I think Kuja can hold his own, better than Sephiroth actually, whose entire raison d'être for evil is a total misunderstanding- no you are NOT the child of an alien!

Brahne worked as a secondary villain, I like her very Toriyama-inspired design. Although I wish we could've seen a flashback of her a sane good person. Garland was adequate, he being a creation himself doesn't excuse what he did, but what was he to do if not follow orders to secure Terra's continued existence? -Cid was a nice NPC too.

I... think i'm gonna use a spoiler tag so others don't have to scroll so far. XD

Spoiler

Zidane: i agree, he does a pretty good job as an MC and a supporting role. You can see his good and bad points, which is a good thing imo. He isn't perfect, and his change is done gradually, not doing a 360 with his character. his relationships with Garnet and Vivi are his best ones, i think.

Garnet: At the beginning she is your typical naive princess, which is fine. But, she changes alot of the game, with the influence of Zidane. She goes out and finds answers on her own, she has her own thoughts and feelings. I like that about her personally. The whole "can't concentrate" thing was obviously story driven, so i don't mind it.

Vivi: This little guy has alot of story relevance, and considering you have him around the most of any ally, that wouldn't surprise anyone. His story of being afraid of death like the other black mages is a well handled tragedy, i agree. He has alot of impactful lines with others, Kuja included.

Steiner: He is a character that probably changes the most next to Garnet. he is stuck up and simply rude at the beginning. As you go on, and get to the beginning of disc 3, you see his good sides start to shine (too bad it's too late) and i can appreciate this actually. People can indeed change, he is here to prove that.

Eiko: I liked her story well enough, and the fact that she can have a "familial tie" to Garnet helps. She does have a lot of scenes where shes's the butt of the jokes, sadly for her. All in all, she's okay.

Freya: She... sadly doesn't see enough screen time to develop any character quirks. So i can't say much here. But i agree with your opinion here.

Amarant: Again, not enough time to shine really. Doesnt have much besides the "rivalry" with Zidane. He doesn't have any defining moment, either.

Quina: ...yeah, just, yeah.

I liked the story with both villians, actually. They were good enough, considering the games development time and all they had alot of solid ideas in place, just sometimes a bit too scattered.

i'm glad you at least liked the game, though!

 

[Saint Rubenio]

I find myself counting the days until Mario Golf comes out. I must say, when I made that throwaway joke during my Berwick LP, I really wouldn't have expected it to backfire so spectacularly. The game has no business looking so good... Though, let's be wary. There's still a chance they'll muck it up. Best wait for more gameplays.

So yeah. Nothing new. I'm just hyped.

Anyway, in the meantime, I know what I will play now: One of Wario's greatest achievements, Wario Land 4 on the Game Boy Advance, hahaha. I loved this game a ton as a kid, but for one reason or another I'd completely forgotten about it until very recently. I'd say it's about time I went back to it.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Saint Rubenio

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Only one week till I will start civil servant course, easily starting at worst possible time of the year. I just hope weather will stay as it is right now: Clean air and not too warm. Since I have to do the course at home I really don't need an overheated room for this.

Quote

I find myself counting the days until Mario Golf comes out.

Is it a remaster of the N64 game?

It's the only Mario sports game I played (if I may exclude the kart games) and I liked it a lot.

I also learned the golf rules by that.

[Lightcosmo]

4 minutes ago, Zan Partizanne said:

Is it a remaster of the N64 game?

It's the only Mario sports game I played (if I may exclude the kart games) and I liked it a lot.

I also learned the golf rules by that.

I don't believe so, that would be amazing if it were!