Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Eltosian Kadath]

Chapter 13 was a disaster. With my smiter dead, I rescue dropped Ike adjacent to Astrid instead of the push & smite strat to recruit her turn one, and she got killed on enemy phase one instead… RIP Astrid and Gatrie. I also moronically lost Rhys due to not double checking the speed of a Steel Bow archer (was not expecting him to double Rhys), but that isn't the biggest deal as I have been using Mist as a healer more (and could promote her now if I wanted, but wont due to the upcoming chapters), and am getting close to promoted Soren. Other than that I managed to grab all the loot (barring some stealable coins on the birds…), and routed the chapter. Also, I am starting to realize that I have one of the worst Oscars of all time; I am starting to think his only value this run will be as an Earth Support…

[Acacia Sgt]

5 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Sayeth he for whom there is no such thing as a spoiler.

Fine, if you want to know...

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Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha XIV vs. King Abaddon 

Now, for all the details...

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Plot point in question- A family regularly marries their daughters to a being known as Lord Tento.

As it slowly turns out, Lord Tento is an insect humanoid who lives underground. Lord Tento migrated to Japan thousands of years ago and established an unusually advanced culture in the area before humans drove him underground. Lord Tento is bitter, very ugly, and doesn't care for humans very much.

And, Lord Tento is actually an entire species of organisms. All of whom are male. When a daughter of the clan "marries" the "Lord Tento", she is given over to all of them. The "bride" is raped again and again, bearing the next generation of insect humanoids known as Old Ones. Her body gradually becomes insect-like as well. The rest of her life consists of purest misery.

The way the game drops the visceral revelation on the player -without actually showing the IRL player anything graphic- came off as quite disturbingly shocking to me. Neither the first Raidou Kuzunoha game nor anything else in King Abaddon goes in this dark direction.

 

As for why a family would generation-after-generation give their daughters over to such horrors, there is a reason. You see, the family is a clan of assassins approved by the Shinto gods, they might be shady, but on the whole they help protect Japan.

These holy hitmen rely on Luck Locusts, which steal a person's good luck from them. Either the person dies of an unlucky accident, or they despair of their unending misfortune and die of sorrow or commit suicide. Either way, death by lucklessness leaves not a trace of the murderer, nor evidence of the murder weapon, nobody can seriously claim a murder. It's the perfect assassination.

Outside of the assassin clan and their little rural village which is entirely devoted to them, nobody know about the Luck Locusts. And the Luck Locusts are manufactured by the Old Ones. The Old Ones get to reproduce, the assassins get the means by which they can carry out their heavenly duty.

Does this still sound twisted? Well, you wouldn't be the only one to think so. When the young man who would be the assassin clan's next leader saw in-person what had become of the last "bride to Lord Tento", he refused to let his little sister meet the same fate. And so Dahn becomes the game's villain, the man who through acquiring the status of "King Abaddon", seeks to sever his family's ties to such an awful pact, and at the same time find a replacement for the Luck Locusts so the family business can stay open.

 

I know, this whole thing might sound crazy -and it is. The Raidou games were intended to be over-the-top to some extent, the first game is subtitled "vs. the Soulless Army", but in Japan it's "vs. the Super-Powered Army", who seriously calls something "super-powered"? Which only emphasizes how bizarre the rape twist in King Abaddon is.

 

 

Thank you.

Reminds me a little of The Elder Scrolls, with Molag Bal and all that.

[Sooks]

Well, Tibarn and company will definitely be important later.

[Lightcosmo]

2 hours ago, Shrimpolaris said:

old af games

* known discontinued series

From what im reading here, I gather the following.

:series that continue = good. This would imply CS is good, which I disagree with. 

:older games are bad. This sounds silly, considering how old Pokemon games are, they are still popular.

[Sooks]

Woo, this is fun. Astrid good.

She does have paragon, is she supposed to be the Est of this game?

Jill decided to hop on the train as well.

Unfortunately, Nephenee decided to go against the kinds of levels she’s been getting and got a pretty bad one (just HP and res).

Lastly, Tanith good. Not that I know anything about this character, but I like this one line.

[Armagon]

8 minutes ago, Sooks said:

Lastly, Tanith good.

Reinforce Skill go brrr

[Interdimensional Observer]

5 minutes ago, lightcosmo said:

From what im reading here, I gather the following.

:series that continue = good. This would imply CS is good, which I disagree with. 

:older games are bad. This sounds silly, considering how old Pokemon games are, they are still popular.

You totally misunderstand.

Discontinued series means there are no modern titles to grab peoples' attention and make them even realize Xenosaga exists. There are thousands of good games at this point, with yet more added each year. You need to be able to grab attention if you want anyone to think anything of a game.

And, these discontinued old games don't even have modern ports. Xenosaga accessibility is a serious issue for the series. Not everyone is willing, knows, or can go corsair. Buying a first-edition PS3 or a PS2 and copies of the games is very expensive and only hardcore past-interested gamers would do it. Another problem of having no HD remasters- Xenosaga has no modern quality of life improvements either. XS Episode I would've been better with a way to accelerate combat animations IMO for instance. QoL = playability and therefore affects peoples' interest even if they have access to the game.

 

2 minutes ago, Sooks said:

She does have paragon, is she supposed to be the Est of this game?

There isn't any super late-joiner who would qualify as a 100% Est. Growths-wise, Astrid isn't particularly Stella-r *cough* forcedpunbecauseherJapanesenameisStella *cough* compared to her fellow cavaliers, though she is a perfectly good unit regardless. A good replacement for Oscar if he turned out bad and you'd want someone other than Kieran and or Titania. 

There is one strange thing about Astrid though. That Knight Ward she comes with inexplicably provides +30% Speed growth to anyone who can equip it- horsies, armors, and Soldiers/Halberdiers.

[Sooks]

Also, I like how chapter 13 just straight up ends early if you kill every enemy before you hit the turn limit. Because, you know… it was incredibly easy, being a Path of Radiance map. I was wrong about needing the chest key (although I did use it to avoid a scare with the birds when they spawned), I severely underestimated how long it would take to clear out all the enemies.

And Gatrie rejoins the mercenary company he specifically left because… ???

Edited April 21, 2022 by Sooks

[BrightBow]

54 minutes ago, Sooks said:

And Gatrie rejoins the mercenary company he specifically left because… ???

Probably because he is just a carefree pushover with no real drive of his own. So he goes along with whatever Shinon says.

Like back in chapter 3, when he backed up Shinon about them being to good for mercenary work. He specifically mentions this is something he at length discussed with Shinon. But he instantly folded like a sheet of paper when Titania showed she was not amused. He clearly had no real conviction behind that push, unlike Shinon who was still grumbling about it.

The real question would be how they got separated I suppose I could see Shinon simply ditching Gatrie, but this possibility is not alluded to anywhere.
Not to mention if Gatrie dies in chapter 3, Shinon requests time off in order to grief. So I like to think he does care about Gatrie.
But then again, this was just Titania'a assessment of the situation. Not that Shinon himself stated that intend when making the request.

Edited April 21, 2022 by BrightBow

[Acacia Sgt]

Gatrie's current job is guarding Astrid. Astrid joins the mercs. Once she tells him, he follows suit. That's mostly it, at least for that initial act of re-joining.

Of course, I'm pretty sure if she doesn't talk to him, he doesn't rejoin despite his current job still being active, so... beats me....

Edited April 21, 2022 by Acacia Sgt

[null]

3 hours ago, Sooks said:

She does have paragon, is she supposed to be the Est of this game?

I don't consider her an Est if only because she doesn't show up late.

She's a great unit either way though.

3 hours ago, Sooks said:

Not that I know anything about this character, but I like this one line.

Support her with Oscar.

 

 

[Dayni]

17 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Reminds me my parents mock me a little when I say I still like Kirby.

My parents don't know who Kirby is.

6 hours ago, Armagon said:

 

  *sigh, so far away.

Least it isn't cancelled.

[Codename Shrimp]

5 hours ago, Sooks said:

Woo, this is fun. Astrid good.

Enjoy her while she still good

In RD sge falls off hard both gameplay and character wise

[Saint Rubenio]

10 hours ago, Armagon said:

So basically it was

Hah! Yeah, more or less.

10 hours ago, Armagon said:

Monolith Soft is just so based, especially when you consider they are a company based in a country that has it's own word for when people work themselves to death (i heard this secondhand, not actually sure about that tidbit).

Monolith Soft has

• No overtime policy. You can negotiate for overtime if you really need it but even if that gets approved, there's a limit. The overtime is paid too tho, which a lot of Japanese companies don't do (American companies are guilty of this too).
• Reasonable hours overall.
• Hires lots of young staff, because they believe that younger folks can bring in more interesting ideas (and this is also to encourage them to make their mark in the industry at a younger age)
  • A high percentage of Monolith Soft employees are women, which is rare both in the industry as a whole but also in the male-dominated society that is Japan.

This is just the sparknotes version

Once again. Really wish they made games I could enjoy. Companies like these need to be supported more.

10 hours ago, Armagon said:

It was yesterday when i found out that Doug Bowser used to work for EA, which.....yeah.

Ohhh, nooo...

We need Reggie to come back and beat him up.

9 hours ago, Armagon said:

BRUH, I TOOK OVER THIS SHIP FAIR AND SQUARE BUT I STILL HAVE TO BUY IT????????

I'm like actually kinda pissed rn.

Palpatine utilizing the most evil weapon of all.

Capitalism.

9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Is Glen even a Camus tho? He died before he confronted his emperor and could come to his own conclusion about staying loyal or defecting.

Glen is more a victim of "Six Gemstone Generals sounds pretty" -but having a plot too short to accommodate them all, plus Lyon, plus Orson, plus the Demon King. Eight villains (because Duessel doesn't count) in a 22/28 chapter game.

Yes, this is true. Like, I love FE8's cast of villains, but they really should've cut a couple to give Orson more time. Orson specifically.

8 hours ago, Armagon said:

Now time for the good Prequel

Revenge of the High Ground.

7 hours ago, Sooks said:

Also Astrid lmaoooo. I might actually use her tho

I used her. She got a few levels and immediately caught up to the rest in brokenness. Honestly kinda wish I'd used Makalov instead, he looked actually properly bad.

6 hours ago, Sooks said:

Lastly, Tanith good. Not that I know anything about this character, but I like this one line.

In a game full of broken units, Tanith stands out as one of the most insanely broken. She joins and the game becomes twice as easy. If that's even possible.

I hate it, because I enjoy her gimmick,  but it's just... Sooooo poorly designed. Instant bench if you wish for the game to retain what tiny little challenge it can manage.

[Saint Rubenio]

LOOOOL

So I was just walking down a hallway of the Death Star as Obi Wan. I passed by a cafeteria full of Stormtroopers, and then he just suddenly went "he made a good blend." Confused, I looked around the room through the window.

Darth Vader was just sitting there. This game is amazing.

Anyway, I've a million studs, which I will use to get a stud multiplier when I get a data card. I already figured it'd be a good investment, I've seen people recommending going for that early and with the amount of things to spend cash on, the more I can get the better. Then Armagon posted the price of the capital ship. Yeeaaaaah I'll want those extra coins.

[Codename Shrimp]

6 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I've a million studs

...excuse me?

Edited April 21, 2022 by Shrimpolaris

[Codename Shrimp]

[Lightcosmo]

8 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

You totally misunderstand.

Discontinued series means there are no modern titles to grab peoples' attention and make them even realize Xenosaga exists. There are thousands of good games at this point, with yet more added each year. You need to be able to grab attention if you want anyone to think anything of a game.

And, these discontinued old games don't even have modern ports. Xenosaga accessibility is a serious issue for the series. Not everyone is willing, knows, or can go corsair. Buying a first-edition PS3 or a PS2 and copies of the games is very expensive and only hardcore past-interested gamers would do it. Another problem of having no HD remasters- Xenosaga has no modern quality of life improvements either. XS Episode I would've been better with a way to accelerate combat animations IMO for instance. QoL = playability and therefore affects peoples' interest even if they have access to the game.

Right, and we all see what most people here think of CS...

But most people just use Emulators, so that doesn't matter much.

[Dayni]

1 minute ago, Shrimpolaris said:

She is one of the better assist trophies, she certainly can do that.

1 minute ago, lightcosmo said:

But most people just use Emulators, so that doesn't matter much.

I'd have to find Xenogears (and restart because it turns out I don't have my save) and get all of Xenosaga.

[Lightcosmo]

1 minute ago, Dayni said:

I'd have to find Xenogears (and restart because it turns out I don't have my save) and get all of Xenosaga.

Hey, don't force yourself!

All i was saying was old game does not = bad inheretly, was all. That just sounded silly to me.

[Codename Shrimp]

3 minutes ago, Dayni said:

She is one of the better assist trophies, she certainly can do that.

Now i want Tiki to do this dance

(The song goes something like Chiki Chiki bang bang, hence the gifs above xD)

Edited April 21, 2022 by Shrimpolaris

[Codename Shrimp]

1 minute ago, lightcosmo said:

All i was saying was old game does not = bad inheretly, was all.

No one said that old games are bad tho

Edited April 21, 2022 by Shrimpolaris

[Lightcosmo]

Just now, Shrimpolaris said:

No one said that old games are bad tho

That's why i said "from what i gathered" and you never responded, so i assumed i was correct in what i was saying.

[Codename Shrimp]

1 minute ago, lightcosmo said:

That's why i said "from what i gathered" and you never responded, so i assumed i was correct in what i was saying.

Observer responded before i could hence i didn't. He put what i wanted to say in much easier to understand words xD

[Lightcosmo]

Just now, Shrimpolaris said:

Observer responded before i could hence i didn't. He put what i wanted to say in much easier to understand words xD

I mean, i initially did direct those responses at you for a reason, as you commented on them initially.