Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Armagon]

11 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Imagine a mother. Now there's a turn-off.

I will say, you do run into Fritz's wife in one of the games. It's one of the overarching plotlines in the Mysterious series, help Fritz and his daughter reunite with wife/mom. She's 50 but also not playable so lol.

13 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Meanwhile, Spain lore:

Hey I've seen this one.

13 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Spain gameplay:

Nothing. You are too young to have a job. Study to get into public administration maybe.

Spanish youth looking outside the international window and seeing everybody else get jobs.

[Lightchao42]

When you find another person into Mishy anime

General thoughts on Trails into Reverie up to mid-Act IV

Spoiler

After how long Cold Steel IV was, I appreciate that Reverie's plot moves at a faster pace (mostly because all the side content is in the Reverie Corridor). The story is pretty interesting, and I like the mystery as to who the villain is, Rufus aside... though I suppose most Trails games have their villains be a mystery at first, and it takes some time for Sky FC to establish that it even has a main villain.

Anyway, there are now robot doppelgangers. Technically they existed as early as Sky SC, but they are much more elaborate this time. I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first, but it fits what was already established pretty well. It makes more sense than when Xenoblade 3 did the same thing, at least. 

Also introduced is Not-Xenogears, which is an eighth Divine Knight despite that supposedly being impossible. And here I thought Rean's hair color antics were resolved in the previous game... My conspiracy theory is that it's piloted by alternate universe Rean from CSIV's bad ending, somehow.

Getting to use so many characters is good, the revolving casts in Lloyd and Rean's routes help give everyone some attention. Even Arios and Towa get to be playable for more than ten minutes! And of course, more Duvalie is good. The most recent character I summoned was Victor; I wasn't sure if he would be playable this time because he shares his crafts with Laura, but I'm glad to see him. I'm a bit disappointed that Schera missed out on being playable again, though at least there's an explanation for it.

Lastly the Daydreams are fun, it's enjoyable seeing what everyone is up to after the events of the previous game. The foundations of the lore have mostly been established by now, so I shouldn't expect too much lore from most of them. I'm particularly fond of "To Your Blessed Future", Olivert and Schera being a proper couple was cute and I like how Bleublanc is basically just friends with the heroes at this point. We also got to hear from Aina again and the age-old question of whether or not Olivier actually played in Heimdallr's opera house was answered.

 

20 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

The Persona nobody asked for!

When a pre-P3 Persona game is officially acknowledged

(outside anniversaries, anyway)

4 hours ago, Shaky Jones said:

And yet I'm smarter than most FE fans

True, I'm not convinced that FE fans know how to read.

[Sidereal Wraith]

3 hours ago, gnip said:

That is a Belgian comic, ya philistine.

(also, there's no accent in 'sacre bleu')

You can’t hide the truth from us Le Gnip.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Ending Get. No "clean" text-free version available ingame. Ending wasn't Ys Seven short, but still eh. Maybe not much could've been done with how limited the real plot actually was. The credits began with calling the game "Project A10", IIRC the Irises and MK1 had "Project A#" somewhere in their openings, but Fall of Alchemy did not.

Final dungeon was short, too short. Final boss was but a single phase -the usual for the Atelier Black Sheep Quintet- and very easy. I might've suffered one KO? The final bosses peaked at Iris 2 for difficulty and have since continually declined.

NG+ is a plus. To say I have enough of every material/item to feel 100% comfortable with carrying stuff over would be incorrect. Yet I wouldn't bother wasting another 40 or so minutes fetching whatever I'd want and then refighting the finale. Any carryover will be useful for seeing Raze's events when I decide to, I've had enough of the alchemy grind.

...Setting aside the need to get Razeing, to say I've fully experienced Project A10 (in like 45 hours), I'll give a few final thoughts now. Beginning with the positives.:

• Music is decent.
• Spritework is solid.
• Alchemy is slightly improved from Mana Khemia 1 with the overhaul to partner assists. Albeit alchemy real easy to "master" in the sense of getting E-Level 100 on almost everything once you're in the midgame -at least for Ulrika's team. Alchemy is fine.
• Combat opens up faster than it did in MK1. Same solid core.

Now for the cons...

• Voice acting is competent at best, and often bad, even some playables suffer from this.
• Character Portraits- Bad, just like MK1. Either Gust needed to get the artist to refine their style, or hire a different one.
  •  The Mana Khemia art style does look more "drawn" than a generic aesthetic, which is appreciable. Yet I'd rather have Iris 3's generic stylings or Iris 2's or even Iris 1's over the Mana Khemias'.
• Combat is really easy. Only the final dungeon did grunts have any tooth to them, and bosses faired no better.
  • Maybe in the bonus chapter there is some actual bite -but I probably won't ever touch that.
• Plot- The opening had enough promise, the game itself actualized little of it. Too much time was wasted on half-hearted school junk, and the basic plot for Ulrika was veeeeery slowly tackled. The whole "Al-Revis may be forced to cease teaching alchemy" was anticlimactically brushed aside at one point, the school's dire situation felt no better at the ending than when the game began.
• Characters- As in Mana Khemia 1, Team Ulrika felt very forced together at first. Even getting past that, it felt like a team of eclectic rejects pulled out of writers' room's trashcan.
  • I admit I laughed at lousy attempts at humor. I concede that, it doesn't undermine the above.
  • Over time, the Alchemists of Al-Revis overcame their dragged-togetherness and became appreciable to me, and they liked each other well enough ingame. Ulrika's five... even in the end they felt pretty dysfunctional.
  • This is set like a decade-and-a-half or more after Alchemists of Al-Revis. Only three characters return, and Gust had worms for brains because they picked a bleh antagonistic NPC, a forgettable NPC, and the aggressively worst playable character from that game. No Pamela even! (Does that make her character ending canon? Because she inexplicably couldn't leave the academy/the giant tree it was on.) I don't think they could've chosen worse.
• The School Vibe- It's totally there, because it's a school setting. But was it done well? No. This ain't *insert fictional school with a rich sense of place, deep world-building, vibrant student body, wonderful teachers, exciting classes, cool events, yada yada... here*.

Was the Fall of Alchemy a terrible fall from the good graces of heaven such that for the sake of saving Project A's immortal soul, a return to ancient customs -which historically took the form of the Arland Restoration- was necessary? No.

Yet neither was the Mana Khemia duology some kind of wondrous golden age. Setting aside Razeluxe's unknown escapades, Fall of Alchemy felt more like a sidegrade or more-or-less equal than an outright improvement over its predecessor.

Edited August 30, 2023 by Interdimensional Observer

[Sidereal Wraith]

1 hour ago, Lightchao42 said:

True, I'm not convinced that FE fans know how to read.

You monster! How dare you make fun of Rubenio like this! 

[Acacia Sgt]

[Armagon]

29 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Final boss was but a single phase -the usual for the Atelier Black Sheep Quintet- and very easy. I might've suffered one KO? The final bosses peaked at Iris 2 for difficulty and have since continually declined.

Modern is weird. Some games have final bosses, some don't. It depends.

32 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Gust needed to get the artist to refine their style, or hire a different one

The latter is what happened of course.

Atelier artists stick around for whatever the continuity is and don't get reused i think.

33 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

This is set like a decade-and-a-half or more after Alchemists of Al-Revis. Only three characters return, and Gust had worms for brains because they picked a bleh antagonistic NPC, a forgettable NPC, and the aggressively worst playable character from that game. 

As you can imagine, Gust became better at bringing back past characters. Even in Salburg, there weren't a whole many returnees, let alone playable ones.

Though Dusk gets odd because Ayesha is the only modern protag to not show up in every game since her debut. Like she skips the second one.

35 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Yet neither was the Mana Khemia duology some kind of wondrous golden age. Setting aside Razeluxe's unknown escapades, Fall of Alchemy felt more like a sidegrade or more-or-less equal than an outright improvement over its predecessor.

The best thing i hear about it (mainly cause i can't imagine a lot of people have played it) is it's combat, combat that got refined later. Dusk 2 and 3 would be right up your alley if you enjoyed the combat mechanics, while presumably having more bite in the challenge.

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

51 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Modern is weird. Some games have final bosses, some don't. It depends.

I don't think Atelier is a franchise that inherently needs a final boss. The peaceful crafting side could do without it, but being a JRPG means fighting has to be a thing and that benefits from bosses.

52 minutes ago, Armagon said:

The best thing i hear about it (mainly cause i can't imagine a lot of people have played it) is it's combat, combat that got refined later. Dusk 2 and 3 would be right up your alley if you enjoyed the combat mechanics, while presumably having more bite in the challenge.

The combat really began with Iris 3, in the sense of a burst mode where damage dealt is temporarily increased. That carried over into Mana Khemia, to which it added flashy ultimate attacks. The wholly-'Khemia addition was tagging characters in and out with Support Attacks and Support Guards (with those in the support getting SP regeneration). These begin generic for everyone when you first unlock them, but do get upgraded up for some uniqueness later.

51 minutes ago, Armagon said:

As you can imagine, Gust became better at bringing back past characters. Even in Salburg, there weren't a whole many returnees, let alone playable ones.

...Checking to try to find a nice compilation of the MK ultimate attacks, I learned that the ultimate postgame bonus boss battle of MK1 is shadow versions of four antagonists from Iris 3. Neat, but why not the playable trio?

...Which also leads me to think of how Mana Khemia 2 is the last time Atelier was two-dimensional. That'll be noticeable whenever I make the leap.

[GuardianSing]

Civil War! Civil War!

So is it just me or does Fire Emblem always just resort to using their accent as their sole personality whenever they have a rural farmer character?

Revolution sort of implies a structural change...

Do we get to overthrow the palace and cut all their heads off?

Yeah! And we can finally give power to the people, right?

...Right?

Good save on making it so it was the rural peasant characters doing this because it would've been way more uncomfortable if it was the nobles.

Well, you know what they say...

Rebellions...

R-Rebellions are like...

Holy shit it's Jill's racist cat girlfriend.

Wow, lumping the Laguz together as though they're a monolith? Classic Beorc move.

This guy is literally just a color swap of Jarod.

Oh sorry, was the word crossbow trademarked by Link's Crossbow training?

Fun fact, Nephenee was the 5th champion of the previous game If I remember correctly.

Unfortunately my grief for this loss and her legacy does not overwhelm me not being bothered to restart this chapter, lets continue.

Honestly I'm surprised FE hasn't really done the "FE lord is so overwhelmed by their job that they just break down." as much, but it's great to see it here.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by GuardianSing

[Acacia Sgt]

6 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

So is it just me or does Fire Emblem always just resort to using their accent as their sole personality whenever they have a rural farmer character?

I think it only started around this time, actually? Trying to recall...

6 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

Yeah! And we can finally give power to the people, right?

...Right?

6 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

Well, you know what they say...

Rebellions...

R-Rebellions are like...

Yeah, it's gonna take a while, he's asleep right now. lol

6 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

This guy is literally just a color swap of Jarod.

I actually had to go check. lol

I guess... still look different enough I'd say.

6 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

Oh sorry, was the word crossbow trademarked by Link's Crossbow training?

No, that's the next tier, I think. There's several of them.

6 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

Fun fact, Nephenee was the 5th champion of the previous game If I remember correctly.

Unfortunately my grief for this loss and her legacy does not overwhelm me not being bothered to restart this chapter, lets continue.

Oof, RIP.

6 minutes ago, GuardianSing said:

Honestly I'm surprised FE hasn't really done the "FE lord is so overwhelmed by their job that they just break down." as much, but it's great to see it here.

Well, usually since their reign is an "after the game" affair, and they have to end on a high note. But this is a sequel, so all bets are off!

[ping]

1 hour ago, GuardianSing said:

Somehow Jared has returned.

Part 2 detailing how nope, things aren't just magically working out after Elincia took the crown might be my favourite part of Tellius. Hope you're enjoying it, too.

Shame about Neph, she's honestly a pretty fun character in RD. In gameplay, that is, I don't think she has too much screen presence after part 2.

[Saint Rubenio]

10 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Real Life. Worst MMORPG ever.

The balnce is all out of wack, God plz fix

10 hours ago, Armagon said:

will say, you do run into Fritz's wife in one of the games. It's one of the overarching plotlines in the Mysterious series, help Fritz and his daughter reunite with wife/mom. She's 50 but also not playable so lol

Imagine old women.

8 hours ago, Lightchao42 said:

True, I'm not convinced that FE fans know how to read.

Clearly they do since the majority prefers story to gameplay

7 hours ago, Sidereal Wraith said:

You monster! How dare you make fun of Rubenio like this! 

You moron, we were just agreeing that pompous games are rad rhe other day!

4 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

 

So is it just me or does Fire Emblem always just resort to using their accent as their sole personality whenever they have a rural farmer character?

Eyup. Pretty much.

4 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Yeah! And we can finally give power to the people, right?

...Right?

Forgetting the series you're playing? Rebels are bad because the queen is nice.

4 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Well, you know what they say...

Rebellions...

R-Rebellions are like...

Hahahahaha...

Salt that earth, Quetz.

Salt it!

4 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Oh sorry, was the word crossbow trademarked by Link's Crossbow training?

No, it was trademarked by Kaga lololololol

4 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Unfortunately my grief for this loss and her legacy does not overwhelm me not being bothered to restart this chapter, lets continue.

Fs in chat were had by all Nephy fans.

I think her design is neat, I like the helmet, but that's about it.

4 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Honestly I'm surprised FE hasn't really done the "FE lord is so overwhelmed by their job that they just break down." as much, but it's great to see it here.

See, they could do it now because the lord is a woman. She needs her man to come save her.

4 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Yeah, it's gonna take a while, he's asleep right now. lol

Somehow Ruben returned.

Edited August 30, 2023 by Saint Rubenio

[Acacia Sgt]

4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Forgetting the series you're playing? Rebels are bad because the queen is nice.

Remember: Good Tsar (Elincia), Bad Boyars (Ludveck). 

4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

See, they could do it now because the lord is a woman. She needs her man to come save her.

Damn that Gary Stu.

4 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Somehow Ruben returned.

 

[Acacia Sgt]

I feel it's still gonna take me a week or two to finish the next chapter of Chronicles of Sorrow... at best...

[Interdimensional Observer]

Not sure what to play now with MK2 finished. I've a hankering for J third run (I do want all four runs done before starting GC given W also features Nad/SEED/Blade/FMP and has sprite & audio carryover I take it). It has been two months since the second run was completed, yet it is still too soon? 🔺Strategy? I should ...but I'm not feeling ATM. Maglam Lord is entering my skull as something light, short and potentially sweet ...but then it just reminds me RF5 is still sitting undone and I'm not charged up for returning to that. XC3... I want a little more spacing. Live-A-Live is yet another game still in its plastic wrap, but I feel like I want Tri Strat done before touching that. Tales of Berseria and Arise are both unplayed on Steam, but I'm still somehow feeling "Tales bloat saturation" from Zestiria last year, not helped by the "insubstantial length" of MK2.

I need to play something, else I risk becoming self-critical about pathetically wasting my time completely, but I'm unsure of what. And yet again, I find myself concocting a reason not to play everything I can think of.

 

5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Clearly they do since the majority prefers story to gameplay

Who needs to read when voice acting can be everywhere?

5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I think her design is neat, I like the helmet, but that's about it.

Brom is also arguably the better written of the two Crimean peasants. But him being a middle-aged fat father of eight he has known love magnitudes more than the average FE player makes him infinitely less popular than the young lady who says relatively little (not that there is a problem with a character insecure about how they speak).

[Acacia Sgt]

3 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I need to play something, else I risk becoming self-critical about pathetically wasting my time completely, but I'm unsure of what. And yet again, I find myself concocting a reason not to play everything I can think of.

If you're not rushing to play SRW again, how about trying this mobile game called Another Eden...

3 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Who needs to read when voice acting can be everywhere?

That percentage of deaf players, I'd assume.

3 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Brom is also arguably the better written of the two Crimean peasants. But him being a middle-aged fat father of eight he has known love magnitudes more than the average FE player makes him infinitely less popular than the young lady who says relatively little (not that there is a problem with a character insecure about how they speak).

Reminds me there's a big Brom fan here on SF. XD

Poor guy still waiting for him to be added to Heroes.

[Armagon]

12 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I don't think Atelier is a franchise that inherently needs a final boss. The peaceful crafting side could do without it, but being a JRPG means fighting has to be a thing and that benefits from bosses.

Yeah like there are optional fights and whatnot where you can test your mettle. For modern:

• Atelier Rorona doesn't have a final boss
• Atelier Totori has two final bosses, one for the normal end (mandatory) and one for the true end.
• Atelier Meruru doesn't have a final boss
• Atelier Ayesha has a final boss
• Atelier Escha & Logy has two final bosses, same as Totori
• Atelier Shallie has a final boss
• Atelier Sophie has a final boss
• Atelier Firis has a final exam
• Atelier Lydie & Suelle has a final boss
• Atelier Lulua has a final boss
• All Secret games have a final boss
• And not modern but Atelier Marie doesn't really have a final boss but there's one specific one for a particular ending.

12 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

The wholly-'Khemia addition was tagging characters in and out with Support Attacks and Support Guards (with those in the support getting SP regeneration).

Yes this is what the latter Dusk games do. Lydie & Suelle and Lulua also do this but it's not as....snappy?

9 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Revolution sort of implies a structural change...

Well the structural change isn't always a good one.

9 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Fun fact, Nephenee was the 5th champion of the previous game If I remember correctly.

Unfortunately my grief for this loss and her legacy does not overwhelm me not being bothered to restart this chapter, lets continue

Well....it's Radiant Dawn so a single loss is gonna make later parts of the game trickier.

 

[Sidereal Wraith]

6 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

You moron, we were just agreeing that pompous games are rad rhe other day!

I was defending your honor sir!

[Saint Rubenio]

2 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Damn that Gary Stu.

Damn him indeed.

55 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Who needs to read when voice acting can be everywhere?

Ah, true.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Brom is also arguably the better written of the two Crimean peasants. But him being a middle-aged fat father of eight he has known love magnitudes more than the average FE player makes him infinitely less popular than the young lady who says relatively little (not that there is a problem with a character insecure about how they speak).

Yeah, hit it right on the nail as usual.

46 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Well....it's Radiant Dawn so a single loss is gonna make later parts of the game trickier.

 

Frankly, I don't think the loss of Nephenee is going to impact much for Quetzal.

25 minutes ago, Sidereal Wraith said:

I was defending your honor sir!

Well, do it better.

[Armagon]

2 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Frankly, I don't think the loss of Nephenee is going to impact much for Quetzal.

Part 4 not so much because of how it works but the few Elincia chapters in Part 3 will now have one less character, which gives him less options to work with.

Edit: this isn't even getting into Part 2 endgame either. I think the game assumes you have all hands on deck for that one.

Edited August 30, 2023 by Armagon

[Acacia Sgt]

6 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Part 4 not so much because of how it works but the few Elincia chapters in Part 3 will now have one less character, which gives him less options to work with.

Edit: this isn't even getting into Part 2 endgame either. I think the game assumes you have all hands on deck for that one.

Spoiler

Nephenee is not with Elincia in Part 3. She joins Ike's army in 3-2.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[Armagon]

Just now, Acacia Sgt said:

Nephenee is not with Elincia in Part 3.

Ah my bad.

Then yeah it's just Part 2 endgame that might get tricky with one less unit.

[Sidereal Wraith]

31 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Well, do it better.

If this is the thanks I get now the next time I have to defend your honor to the utterance I’ll do so in a manner more along the lines of your current disposition towards me:

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Sidereal Wraith

[Saint Rubenio]

 

51 minutes ago, Armagon said:

this isn't even getting into Part 2 endgame either. I think the game assumes you have all hands on deck for that one.

You literally only need to beeline Elincia to the boss and murder him with her effective sword. Two turns is all it takes. And that's if you don't have Haar to add insult to injury.

[Saint Rubenio]

25 minutes ago, Sidereal Wraith said:

If this is the thanks I get now the next time I have to defend your honor to the utterance I’ll do so in a manner more along the lines of your current disposition towards me:

 

You implied I don't know how to read, Wraith. With allies like that, who needs enemies?

Still, I suppose it's the thought that counts. Thanks, old timer.