Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Sooks]

Huh… I went and watched the secret scene added to the event log after beating the game in 13 Sentinels since Armagon let me know about it. I get what they were trying to go for there but… they did it in the most bizarre was possible. You get three inconsequential lines of dialogue (four if you count the “…”) and that’s it?

Spoiler

Like, if you want to show that there are an infinite number of pods out there infinitely replicating in search of a hospitable planet, so therefore an infinite possibility of ways the simulation could end, why not actually show a different ending as opposed to… the beginning of the game again but this time you see Natsuno and Ogata, with Ogata saying they have to run and that’s it. It’s such an odd decision.

 

[Acacia Sgt]

You'd think that having written the thing already means I shouldn't take two months and a half just to tweak a chapter so I could put it up in proper fanfiction sites... but well, things happen. I work on lots of other things...

Edited April 16, 2022 by Acacia Sgt

[null]

 

[Benice]

3 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

Thief ring goes brr

Thief Ring arrives so late that it doesn't really help for most of the game, most notably for inheritance of weapons, rings and the like.

3 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

...like every FE then?

Infinite enemy staves here (especially on Barons) made it more important in FE4 than in any other FE, at least to me. IIRC chapters 1 and 2 both feature annoying staves that need to be silenced to allow convenient progression.

4 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

Sigurd alone can solo.

Obligatory "Every gen 1 unit can solo" post

4 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

Those are enough to finish Gen 1. Sigurd alone can solo. You don't need the rest.

Right, but you don't have to use them or use them to solo; choosing to use someone less optimal, be it someone still decent like Midir or Alec, can make a big difference over just using the strongest tools available. I had way more fun on my second go-around using Dew, Raquesis, Alec, Midir, Arden and combat Sylvia than I did with Sigurd+Brave Axe Lex because the challenges the game presented to me weren't solved by default. It certainly helped that Sigurd was a bit cursed in my second run, though.

4 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

...why wouldn't i use the lord?

*I forgot to mention "very much."

And as to why wouldn't one use a lord very much? It changes the way you play the game, and some people will prefer it that way, just as you didn't want to make everyone a wyvern in TH. There is technically no reason not to use Seth to break FE8 into two, it's just that most people find it more fun to use a diverse cast of units. There is no one way to play FE, and different units will lead to different experiences.

That being said, my biggest criticism of FE9 is the fact that different units didn't lead to different experiences for me, as everyone had a hard time dying.

4 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

And i am saying those things don't matter at all, if not even add to the chore to make the game pacing worse

Again, this ain't about whether or not one's better than the other, it's about the fact that they're very different. FE4, if nothing else, gives you something to consider during the long waiting periods, be it watching green units you have to protect, having things to plan or things to be worried about. FE9 just had long waiting periods and not very much to be considering since nothing really could go wrong. Perhaps the last ten or so maps are much better in this regard.

I imagine that FE4 on original hardware would be much worse, but thanks to the power of piracy, I found it much faster than PoR (FE4 had similar speeds to RD for me as well, but I felt RD had enough going on that the speed didn't matter much).

4 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

(Even if GBAFE had those iron shops in prep menu in some of the games iirc. FE8, right?)

All the FEGBA games allowed you to buy iron weapons from prep on normal mode, but only FE8 allowed it on HM.

...FE6 didn't let you use items on the prep screen, though. Thank goodness FE7 fixed that.

[Punished Dayni]

6 minutes ago, Shrimpolaris said:

In FE i didn't even have to watch out for my dancer because enemies were so weak they couldn't even hit her, while PoR i remember resetting for quite a few units, and late game Elincia is the bane of every Ironman's existence.

She died on me once, though I was defending her in Clash!

Reyson on the other hand.......

27 minutes ago, Shrimpolaris said:

Imagine caring about fictional character ages

Me wanting more characters over 20:

(I'm not even touching the point as to why I'd care when it comes to younger characters)

4 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Yeah, but even Fusion specifically requires you kill Metroids, both directly and indirectly to complete the game. So hard not to think of it that way. Hell even Other M where she won't shut up about the baby Metroid's death... also has her killing it's clones. Something about dangerous alien parasites that look kind of like jellyfish just seems to lead to Samus killing them.

Guess I need to play it again because I didn't remember any of those.

3 hours ago, Newtype06 said:

Use Vimm's Lair. It's safe.

News to me.

Does this break forum rules though?

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Welcome back Dayni! 😃

Hello again IO!

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

My sympathies. My word of advice- you can't fail a driving test you haven't scheduled. Hahahahaha... ha?😰

Can't miss a shot not taken? Sure.

Can't move forward without it is still true as well though.

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Not a bad game I'd say. It could've used a little more combat nuance and more character interactions, but I found it enjoyable. I've been meaning to do a fourth run of the game, but, backlog.

I managed to pick a duo correctly for their story line as the backups to Kevin.

Naturally a bit disappointing.

(Also the PG Agatha fight can go suck a lemon)

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Shortly after you left, I dropped Xenosaga Episode I and watched the rest on YouTube, something in the gameplay I just wasn't doing right. I haven't watched & played the rest of Xenosaga yet.

F for Xeno there.

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Then *checks* three days after your departure, I started on this:

-Which I then abruptly put into cryostasis a few days after starting it.

I mean, if this matches some previous things you described, I can believe that it ended that way.

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

At least it wasn't "raining" inside.

Got a real kick out of reading this splendidly written bad experience when I stumbled on it.😄

Jesus, that would have made it a bitch to watch.

Trying to follow the climax might have involved fatalities in the audience if they went far enough.

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I still love ya Tizzy!😘

Must I retrieve the implement?

[The Roger The Paladin]

23 minutes ago, Punished Dayni said:

Guess I need to play it again because I didn't remember any of those.

But the final boss is literally an Omega Metroid. Which is the "directly".

[Interdimensional Observer]

I slept for like an hour tonight. I still have a couple to go before sunrise, but I simply couldn't get back to sleep right away. I have have spent the past two on my laptop trying to sort out my mind and exhaust myself. I am going to be very tired later today, that's for sure.

 

1 hour ago, Punished Dayni said:

I managed to pick a duo correctly for their story line as the backups to Kevin.

Naturally a bit disappointing.

I was already aware of how the characters were divided before starting the game, so I didn't run into this problem. 

Having Charlotte come along would've added a little to her, and a unique ability I think, though it wouldn't have made things that much better for the writing. A slight shame, as Kevin and Charlotte are both half-humans who suffer from awkwardness, it's a charming, innocent, and totally nonromantic duo. How often do you see that in video games for the leads?

1 hour ago, Punished Dayni said:

I mean, if this matches some previous things you described, I can believe that it ended that way.

For as little as I played of the game, it was a real rollercoaster of emotions for me. Which plants in me a seed of desire to go back and continue it, but also a great wariness of doing so. I need more emotional stability and less of a tendency to fixate for this. And ideally a man of my own so I don't feel so desperately drawn into the rare few video game man jams I encounter.

This is going to sound a little strange, but when I was playing the game, I was all alone in my home at the time and would be for a while. I was coincidentally dressed in a tank top at the time, as Kay and Yu usually are when within the confines of their little nest, all alone on a planet all by themselves. These rather not-that-unusual IRL circumstances consciously made me feel a happy affinity with the two fictional lovers. It was a childlike, cheery, emulative sense of "Yay! I'm totally one of them!" dressed as I was. Like how a kid of single-digit years might feel about their relationship to firefighters if you throw a cheap plastic firefighter helmet on their head when the burning rangers show up for the yearly fire safety education event at elementary school. The kid isn't actually a firefighter any rational adult knows, but if you have a heart, you not dare to say that to them, and choose to let them live in their one-day fantasy. Sure the Haven romance was originally written as a straight one, but maybe with the gay option, it was enough that I had a "seeing oneself represented in the things you love, which you usually don't encounter" moment.

...And speaking of "seeing oneself represented in things you love" I changed my avi for the next few months to something that is precisely and strongly that. I mentioned it here, and described it greater detail here.-Keep in mind, though I am I drawn to Phog, it is not a sexual attraction. He is me, not a studmuffin. Although. I did once make the main character a guy, throw Phog, H.B. and Yelv (two other men who are not old) on the team, and then put them all in underwear and run around for five minutes. I was being just plain silly, without a passion of the Kama kind for any of them actually.

1 hour ago, Punished Dayni said:

Must I retrieve the implement?

No, not now. There is the chance I can accidentally punish myself with a sudden reversal in ego flow. Which is an unnecessarily whimsical sci-fi way to say that an impure mind that yearns for another, paired with a reality where I don't have another at my old age, results in existential crisis and self-loathing. It wipes away the good feeling from eros, and in a way makes me a little fearful of delving into it in the first place.

[Punished Dayni]

2 minutes ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

But the final boss is literally an Omega Metroid. Which is the "directly".

.....

I didn't finish.

Whoops.

5 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I was already aware of how the characters were divided before starting the game, so I didn't run into this problem. 

Having Charlotte come along would've added a little to her, and a unique ability I think, though it wouldn't have made things that much better for the writing. A slight shame, as Kevin and Charlotte are both half-humans who suffer from awkwardness, it's a charming, innocent, and totally nonromantic duo. How often do you see that in video games for the leads?

I was not. This despite having SSBU to tell me with the spirits in that game (Still miffed TWEWY got no rep there)

Also good point in their favour, for some reason the other two duos seem like they might be pushed together a bit.

8 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

...And speaking of "seeing oneself represented in things you love" I changed my avi for the next few months to something that is precisely and strongly that. I mentioned it here, and described it greater detail here.-Keep in mind, though I am I drawn to Phog, it is not a sexual attraction. He is me, not a studmuffin. Although. I did once make the main character a guy, throw Phog, H.B. and Yelv (two other men who are not old) on the team, and then put them all in underwear and run around for five minutes. I was being just plain silly, without a passion of the Kama kind for any of them actually.

So what you're saying is you had them act like a bunch of boys at summer camp getting up in the night to have fun.

The imagery...... is less dirty minded than that implies.

[Saint Rubenio]

Looks like @Sooks had some problems finding his games. I must say, turning off antivirus to download something is something I would never, ever do... But then, I've been rather paranoid since a close call I had a while back. If you've had no problems, I guess it's fine.

Shame I'm also paranoid about getting banned for talking about roms. A while back I found on Reddit the most perfect place to get them. Super complete and well organized archive, no shady ads of any kind, good speed on the downloads, safe... It's really great. I've not gone anywhere else for roms ever since I found this. But well, I'm scared to share it here.

10 hours ago, Sooks said:

This though, this is like, the one opinion I’ve seen across all of teehee. I have not seen anyone in this thread disagree with this when PoR comes up.

Very few people like PoR's gameplay. It's not impossible, but it is unlikely. Even some big fans I've spoken to either don't even mention it, or admit it's bad but they endure it for the story.

PoR is something you get into for its story. The gameplay is nothing more than a detriment. I didn't find the story to be nearly outstanding enough to justify the horrible exercise in boredom, so I called it quits. Hopefully you enjoy it more than I did.

10 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Food for thought. We're just thirteen years away from the year that Aria of Sorrow happens...

That's why I'm training in the mountain

9 hours ago, twilitfalchion said:

fans

Ruben mentioned having the same issue lmao

 

9 hours ago, Armagon said:

I don't remember this tbh.

I did, yes. I threw him at all the enemies surrounding the prologue's first chapter, having heard that he's invincible. Instead, he got hit by a bunch of low hitrates and was one dodge away from dying.

Then he died again in chapter 5, when I used him to distract the enemies from Byron. He couldn't take on that many foes.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Reminds me that I should probably book tickets for the ballet of the same name. The quixotic Don is basically a spectator who doesn't dance at all in the adaptation, and the plot -speechless as always for a classical ballet- is practically nonexistent. But, the happy vibrance of the choreography and music make it a pillar of the classical ballet repertoire on par with Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.

Hah! Well, when you get around to it, I hope you have fun.

[Shrimpica]

3 hours ago, Benice said:

Thief Ring arrives so late that it doesn't really help for most of the game

And before it arrives you don't need Dew or money stealing.

3 hours ago, Benice said:

IIRC chapters 1 and 2 both feature annoying staves that need to be silenced to allow convenient progression.

And the game hands you a silencer on a golden platter.

Not to mention later on you get enough high res units you don't even need to think about the staves.

3 hours ago, Benice said:

Right, but you don't have to use them or use them to solo

My friend

This "you don't have to use them" applies to every FE. It's not an FE4 exclusive thing, and even you mention that later on your post.

And this appliey to many of your points as well

3 hours ago, Benice said:

That being said, my biggest criticism of FE9 is the fact that different units didn't lead to different experiences for me, as everyone had a hard time dying

Can't confirm. I can say however the no one dying part was definitely a problem in FE4 as the enemy quality was pathetic there, while Ike died from 2 mages. I definitely had to think about my staff usage more in FE9 than in FE4, too.

3 hours ago, Benice said:

nothing else, gives you something to consider during the long waiting periods

It doesn't. At all.

3 hours ago, Benice said:

FE9 just had long waiting periods and not very much to be considering since nothing really could go wrong.

That's FE4.

 

...we really don't see eye to eye when it comed to FE lol. Except Berwick xD

[Saint Rubenio]

We encountered Evil Wrys in a pyramid. I must say, his fashion sense is impeccable. He managed to incorporate the Evil Villain Overcollar into a snazzy suit. I want one of those! Anyway, let's see what he has to say.

Yada yada you're weak, yada yada I'm the best, yada yada let's not kill them right know even though we can for no reason... Wait... He... did not call Charlotte a child!? He just called her a young lady!?

Oh my God

That's how you can tell he's the main villain. He's the only one who doesn't have time to partake in everyone's favorite sport.

[BrightBow]

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Very few people like PoR's gameplay. It's not impossible, but it is unlikely. Even some big fans I've spoken to either don't even mention it, or admit it's bad but they endure it for the story.

PoR is something you get into for its story. The gameplay is nothing more than a detriment. I didn't find the story to be nearly outstanding enough to justify the horrible exercise in boredom, so I called it quits. Hopefully you enjoy it more than I did.

I mean, I'd only agree with this assessment insofar as that I would throw it into the same pile with the GBA games for their dull, dumped down gameplay that mostly revolves about having juggernauts one-round dozens of enemies on enemy phase.
Even then, PoR is still more engaging due to the return of Re-Move and the addition of Shove.

Of course if you consider the game came out around the same time as Berwick Saga... it falls just a little bit short.

Edited April 16, 2022 by BrightBow

[The Roger The Paladin]

1 hour ago, Punished Dayni said:

.....

I didn't finish.

Whoops.

Oh crap. I got to stop assuming people finished the games they mention.

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I did, yes. I threw him at all the enemies surrounding the prologue's first chapter, having heard that he's invincible. Instead, he got hit by a bunch of low hitrates and was one dodge away from dying.

Then he died again in chapter 5, when I used him to distract the enemies from Byron. He couldn't take on that many foes.

I also found Sigurd a bit over-rated. You always hear how he can solo the first generation.. and while I have no doubt he can, I came to the conclusion it's be very, very tedious.
Guy kept not getting used on chapters like two and three because of the fact he had to seize, so I could set up the rest of the army somewhere before he seized and they'd be done before he got to the objective. Eldigan's cross knights fell before Sigurd was anywhere near, even with the return band.  Reptor was dead and the battle over before Sigurd could cross the desert. Sigurd was good, don't get me wrong. He had capped strength, skill and speed, 62hp, and 19 defense. But end of the day I was getting more use out of Lex because he didn't have to seize and thus could be wherever I needed him to be (like guarding a castle at the other end of the map), and paragon let him still hit max level. It reminds me of the classic Ike versus Keiran argument, with "enough" being suitable compared to "overkill". Plus Lex totally capped defense in chapter 2. Sigurd's performance was more consistent, because Lex was kind of lacklustre until he got the brave axe.  But damned if I didn't get some use out of Lex.

[Lightcosmo]

8 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

It's busted because Ryoma and birthright design. Xander also has a 1-2 range weapon without negatives, and he isn't nearly as strong, as he can't just lolevade and conquest is just much better designed.

All durability ever did is just make people hoard weapons. And FE is almost never stingy with money to make it matter. Fates is the only game that imo did inventory management almost right, and it's only mistake is not limiting forging.

Also Fates isn't the first game with unlimited durability no drawbacks legendary weapons. RD and PoR had the same.

He isn't as strong, sure, but it sure as hell carries him futher than he would get without it.

 I think it's better than "oh, i'm gonna use Ragnell every time cause it's 18 Mt 1-2 range and +5 def permenantly!" Isn't that equally as poor game design?

I was gonna bring that up next.

[BrightBow]

30 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

We encountered Evil Wrys in a pyramid. I must say, his fashion sense is impeccable. He managed to incorporate the Evil Villain Overcollar into a snazzy suit. I want one of those! Anyway, let's see what he has to say.

Yada yada you're weak, yada yada I'm the best, yada yada let's not kill them right know even though we can for no reason... Wait... He... did not call Charlotte a child!? He just called her a young lady!?

Even more silly considering they also have Death snooping around. But hey, can never have enough people out for your head, I suppose.
Not to mention, while the heroes are stuck in the portrait. You could probably just destroy it, redraw it or do all kinds of other stupid bullshit.

Edited April 16, 2022 by BrightBow

[Shrimpica]

7 minutes ago, lightcosmo said:

Isn't that equally as poor game design?

The weapon itself isn't the problem, it's how it meshes with the game design. Look at Conquest, where Xander is good yes, but Ninjas and Mages completely obliterate him even with his 1-2 no drawbacks weapon. Especially with how much weapon triangle matters in Fates.

Also them being "op" doesn't come due to no durability, but due to not having drawbacks. Fates is the first game where'd i call javelins and the like balanced.

And honestly, for lords i'd rather have an op weapon than "Roy is only good for 20 attacks"

Edited April 16, 2022 by Shrimpolaris

[Saint Rubenio]

Jonathan!?

Traitor! Traitor! Betrayal abounds!

How dare you! You'd take the boss's side just because she's a hot Egyptian lady? Isn't Charlotte enough for you?! Stop treating her like a child!

Goddamnit, man. I wanted to grind dart levels on the boss...

Oh wait, I can just yell CHARLOTTE and render the attack completely ineffective. Yeah, that works. This looks like it'd be an absolutely grueling battle to do if I let Jonathan be taken... Maybe in another run.

25 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

I mean, I'd only agree with this assessment insofar as that I would throw it into the same pile with the GBA games for their dull, dumped down gameplay that mostly revolves about having juggernauts one-round dozens of enemies on enemy phase.
Even then, PoR is still more engaging due to the return of Re-Move and the addition of Shove.

Of course if you consider the game came out around the same time as Berwick Saga... it falls just a little bit short.

I talked about this some time ago. A lot of the people who really enjoy PoR played it first, or among their first FEs. When you're inexperienced and just getting started, it seems pretty wonderful. If you play it late like I did, however, it just doesn't measure up. Same deal for the GBA games. Nowadays I cannot stand vanilla FE8 and 7, but I started with them, and back then they seemed to be the queen's beans. I was bad and I had no idea what I was doing. Even SS offered a challenge back then.

20 minutes ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

I also found Sigurd a bit over-rated. You always hear how he can solo the first generation.. and while I have no doubt he can, I came to the conclusion it's be very, very tedious.
Guy kept not getting used on chapters like two and three because of the fact he had to seize, so I could set up the rest of the army somewhere before he seized and they'd be done before he got to the objective. Eldigan's cross knights fell before Sigurd was anywhere near, even with the return band.  Reptor was dead and the battle over before Sigurd could cross the desert. Sigurd was good, don't get me wrong. He had capped strength, skill and speed, 62hp, and 19 defense. But end of the day I was getting more use out of Lex because he didn't have to seize and thus could be wherever I needed him to be (like guarding a castle at the other end of the map), and paragon let him still hit max level. It reminds me of the classic Ike versus Keiran argument, with "enough" being suitable compared to "overkill". Plus Lex totally capped defense in chapter 2. Sigurd's performance was more consistent, because Lex was kind of lacklustre until he got the brave axe.  But damned if I didn't get some use out of Lex.

Reject Sigurd. Embrace Arden.

4 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Even more silly considering they also have Death snooping around. But hey, can never have enough people out for your head, I suppose.

Evil Wrys does bring up Death... as a reason to ignore Jonathan and Charlotte's existence. He just goes "wait girls, we can't waste time on these two idiots, we gotta go deal with Death." Which... Eh, fair enough, Death is kind of a big deal, I can understand he'd want both of his girls to help in the fight against him.

Still could've left one of them behind for a quick mini-boss fight. That would've made it feel less dumb.

4 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Not to mention, while the heroes are stuck in the portrait. You could probably just destroy it, redraw it or do all kinds of other stupid bullshit.

...No arguments here.

4 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Sadly the game isn't really interested in actually taking advantage of the portrait concept in any way. All the locations are just so mundane.
Considering how the game presents itself as a sequel to Castlevania Bloodlines, this was probably just a convenient way to do that whole "world travel" concept in a Metroidvania.

I mean, the locations are a bit cliché, but they're pretty crazy compared to most Metroidvanias and their plain castle areas. I'm enjoying the gimmick, myself.

[BrightBow]

2 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I mean, the locations are a bit cliché, but they're pretty crazy compared to most Metroidvanias and their plain castle areas. I'm enjoying the gimmick, myself.

Sure, but it's just such a waste of a really cool concept. I can't help but feel disappointed that they didn't even try.

Plus, if it's just about visiting other places.... it's not like the entire game has to take place inside the castle. You can just make the castle a part of the larger overworld. I can't wrap my head around why they kept limiting the game world to the castle.
Make that reason number 3273 as to why Ecclesia is the best, I suppose.

[The Roger The Paladin]

10 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Reject Sigurd. Embrace Arden.

The unit I'm finding funny to use is Johalvier. He's got a 10% speed growth, no pursuit, and lacking movement. Though his strength and defense are really good. I know he's the worse pick because no horse. But I want to use the bad one.

[Saint Rubenio]

Bible learned.

Bible requires 2000 points to master, which means I'll never master it in my life, but I still kinda want to roll with it the rest of the game. I mean, c'mon. I'm literally tossing a bible at enemies to hurt them. How amazing is that?

15 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Sure, but it's just such a waste of a really cool concept. I can't help but feel disappointed that they didn't even try.

Eh, true enough. They could've gone for a more surreal aesthetic for the locations. I don't mind, I'm enjoying them, but they could've gone wilder, that much is true.

15 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Plus, if it's just about visiting other places.... it's not like the entire game has to take place inside the castle. You can just make the castle a part of the larger overworld. I can't wrap my head around why they kept limiting the game world to the castle.

Because tradition. Same reason why they keep on insisting that the Death fight just has to have those awful RNG scythes every single time.

Besides, not everyone can be as cool as--

15 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Make that reason number 3273 as to why Ecclesia is the best, I suppose.

Ahahahaha... Yeah, that.

14 minutes ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

The unit I'm finding funny to use is Johalvier. He's got a 10% speed growth, no pursuit, and lacking movement. Though his strength and defense are really good. I know he's the worse pick because no horse. But I want to use the bad one.

Johalvier is the better person from the two lines each of them gets. Of course, he sucks ass compared to his more morally bankrupt brother. Moral dilemmas!

[BrightBow]

17 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Jonathan!?

Traitor! Traitor! Betrayal abounds!

How dare you! You'd take the boss's side just because she's a hot Egyptian lady? Isn't Charlotte enough for you?! Stop treating her like a child!

Goddamnit, man. I wanted to grind dart levels on the boss...

Oh wait, I can just yell CHARLOTTE and render the attack completely ineffective. Yeah, that works. This looks like it'd be an absolutely grueling battle to do if I let Jonathan be taken... Maybe in another run.

Pretty great example of trial and error gameplay. Once you know what the attack does, you can just swap to negate it effortlessly. But you only find that out the hard way. And it's not like you're gonna dodge it, considering it's insane speed and homing.

You also won't realistically turn this around after you lost Jonathan. Taking him out is one thing. But the boss is heavily resistant towards all magic types. Preciously little in Charlotte's arsenal can properly hurt her.

Btw, remember when I said that Old Axe Armor is treated as female for the purpose of gender specific stuff? This is probably why.
Old Axe Armor is the only character going through the game without a partner. If a male solo character were to get hit by that attack... well, something would most certainly break.

[Saint Rubenio]

Of course, I could buy a master ring to help me grind up the bible. Y'know, for 200000 bucks. I've been selling unneeded stuff quite liberally and I've only amassed 30000. Jesus Christ, Vincent... Give me the friends discount or something, no?

1 minute ago, BrightBow said:

Btw, remember when I said that Old Axe Armor is treated as female for the purpose of gender specific stuff? This is probably why.
Old Axe Armor is the only character going through the game without a partner. If a male solo character were to get hit by that attack... well, something would most certainly break.

They could've at least given the armor proper female grunts, then. Stick to their guns and make it the first solo female protagonist.

[The Roger The Paladin]

3 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Eh, true enough. They could've gone for a more surreal aesthetic for the locations. I don't mind, I'm enjoying them, but they could've gone wilder, that much is true.

You've not been to the third one yet have you?
 

22 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Sure, but it's just such a waste of a really cool concept. I can't help but feel disappointed that they didn't even try.

Plus, if it's just about visiting other places.... it's not like the entire game has to take place inside the castle. You can just make the castle a part of the larger overworld. I can't wrap my head around why they kept limiting the game world to the castle.
Make that reason number 3273 as to why Ecclesia is the best, I suppose.

I personally quite like the locations. The section where you go through the butcher shop in Ye Olde London Street is great. I do wish that the locations didn't all just get a variant with the same setpieces later though.

6 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Johalvier is the better person from the two lines each of them gets. Of course, he sucks ass compared to his more morally bankrupt brother. Moral dilemmas!

Yeah but he also gets Julia the Nosferatu tome without any screwing around letting castles get seized. Which when you consider the fact she probably contributes more than either of them... kind of helped make my choice.

 

[Shrimpica]

3 minutes ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

gets Julia Nosferatu

The soloratu

Edited April 16, 2022 by Shrimpolaris

[BrightBow]

23 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Because tradition. Same reason why they keep on insisting that the Death fight just has to have those awful RNG scythes every single time.

But that's the thing. It's not tradition at all. Sure, Castlevania 1 took place entirely in the castle. But 2 didn't, and it was the one that did this whole overworld thing first. Castlevania III and Super Castlevania also have quite a few levels before reaching the castle. And of course Bloodlines did that whole world tour thing.

Then Symphony of the Night came and took place entirely in the castle. Then Circle of the Moon came and took place entirely in the castle. Then Harmony of Dissonance came and took place entirely inside the castle. Then Aria of Sorrow came and took place entirely in the castle. Then Dawn of Sorrow came and took place entirely in a cult base... which just so happened to be identical to Dracula's Castle in every way. Even has a draw bridge. How convenient.
At least there actually was a bit of an outdoor area at the start, though.

Edited April 16, 2022 by BrightBow