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Podima posted:Yeah, again, one interesting thing that Suikoden 3 does differently from the others is that whichever main character you pick from the three, NONE of them are actually the Tenkai Star! (It's Thomas, for reference.) I actually always liked this. It was refreshing for the Tenkai star to be a supporting protagonist rather than the main one.
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Sep 14, 2014 03:13
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PFlats posted:What the hell is Jimbo doing keeping his background hidden now? Seems more than a little selfish for the big hero to stay pseudonymous when the big issue is uniting his two cultures. Testekill posted:Because he had been tracked by Harmonian spies and the only thing they know is that he's in the Grasslands and had been a Zexen. In the manga, Hugo and Lulu see the Bishop and co from a distance through some fog and immediately tell Jimba that they'd seen some ghosts out there. They tell him what they overheard and he gets the gently caress out of dodge. Also, unsealing his True Rune is probably a pretty involved process, considering that Yun had to kill herself just to get it started. With me dragging him everywhere at every available opportunity, I don't think he's had the time. In it's sealed state, the Rune's usefulness is pretty dubious -- I think the only thing it's doing for him is keeping him ageless. I doubt he can use it in any way.
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Sep 15, 2014 01:11
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yokaiy posted:Don't worry, Chris. It could be worse. Yeah, they could have Hikusaak in front! Riding a rune-powered bulldozer! With ancient Sindar laser turrets on top! Or quote:...or they could do that, sure, why the hell not?! Never saw that in any of my runs, god drat.
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Sep 15, 2014 17:51
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yokaiy posted:That poor duck only had 4 hp; that was entirely unnecessary. This was my absolute favorite. She could've easily killed him by just tapping him with her Bonk Branch but instead decided to summon demon hell dragons to plink away his last little bit of health.
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Sep 16, 2014 19:13
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Since yokaiy gave me his blessing, here we go. I'm only going to use images when it's something interesting, something dumb or if I feel like it. The Suikoden III manga: Book 1- Prologue 1  The first volume is actually about 50% percent prologue and the rest covers the entirety of the first chapter. The first three pages of each volume are colored with a nice washed out scheme. I especially like it here as it gives this flashback a nice warm quality. However, there are a couple of issues that I have right off that bat. Nevermind the fact that Luce looks pretty hokey in the bottom right corner, what is Sgt Joe doing here? He didn't actually know Lucia until 465, met four years after Hugos birth so he shouldn't actually be here. But a nice bit of characterisation that Sgt Joe gets is that he's an incredibly heavy smoker in the manga, smoking a cigar nearly any time where he's not in battle or on the move. So that's Hugos birth, his name apparently being an old Karayan word for arrow feathers. Next time that we see him he's about maybe six or so and learning to hunt alongside Jimba, Beecham and Aila. It's nice that they've made out that Aila and Hugo are friends and they made it pretty clear that Hugo admires Jimba. The four of them find a dead gryphon (Fubars mother) and find Fubar hiding while Beecham and Jimba harvest some feathers and talons to sell. Fubar seems to be much younger than he is in the game, by this point he should be the same age as Hugo but it's obvious that he's a baby since his mother was killed while leading him along. This is presented differently then how we're told it went down in the game. In the game, Fubar wandered into the village and everyone prepared to attack as they thought he was a monster. However, Hugo was not scared of him and went up to him. Fubar was probably scared at the time so a person approaching him and not wanting to harm him probably made him think that Hugo was safe and friendly. The manga version might be narratively more interesting but it's pretty standard wild animal becoming a pet stuff. I prefer the idea of Hugo and Fubar just deciding "that guy is cool" and becoming friends.  On the prior page it's made clear that Fubar being Hugos playmate is temporary only. I just wanted to include the page because young Hugo and Fubar are pretty adorable. Fubar eats the grub but then immediately bites Hugo when he tries to pat him in another cute scene. A couple of pages go on where Joe tells the kids about Gryphons. One thing that I have to call bullshit on is the ages of the kids here. Hugo is four in the game when he meets Fubar which means that Lulu would be one at that point which is clearly not true here. So I fudged the age of Hugo in my estimate when he's hunting just because Lulu looks about three on those pages.  But then he looks younger here. The art is pretty inconsistent at points but it was most noticable in the first couple of volumes.   Holy poo poo Lucia, this was a poor idea. While she has a fair point that a wild animal is dangerous and Fubar is portrayed as a bit of a coward (He hides from a goat a few pages earlier) but he's been in the village since he was a chick so he's old enough to have been acclimated to the village. Plus you'd think that she'd talk to Hugo earlier so that what happens next wouldn't happen. Also that sneer on her face. Her design is executed well for the most part except for when she is drawn in profile. There she's a bit angular and looks not quite right.   Seriously Lucia, did you not anticipate that this would happen? Seriously, how did you not foresee this happening? Hugo helps Fubar escape into the woods and leaves him alone so that he can be safe. Fubar almost immediately gets caught in a steel bear trap because he doesn't know what this poo poo is because he's pretty much domesticated. Hugo tries to free him but is already panicky and over-emotional when suddenly wolves attack.   Hugo proceeds to kill a couple of wolves because he's a video game protagonist even as a child and that's what they do. At least he's visibly terrified about what's going on and is fighting on pure adrenaline which should be happening because he's a loving chid. Hugo gets pounced upon by a wolf and it looks like it's over while Fubar stands there terrified and frozen in place. Hugo is screaming at Fubar to run(not gonna happen because of the bear trap and all) and Fubar has a flashback where Hugo says that he'll protect him because they're friends.  And then Fubar tears the tree out of the ground and fucks poo poo up to save Hugo. I just love the look on the face of the wolf that is by Hugos head. It knows that it's about to be destroyed and it wants out big time. Fubar drags back Hugo on his back and becomes the village mascot or something and gets warrior bracelets. Both of them are recognised as Karaya warriors and then we get a nice party at the end to finish off the prologue.  Also what the gently caress is with Japan and not giving people in the crowd eyes? At least it's not as unnerving as in Suikoden Tactics where they look like the skin has grown over the eyes but it's still pretty noticeable which is odd considering you're not supposed to notice them. I also find the guy looming over Hugos shoulder pretty funny. Like what is his deal? Is he just standing around going "hey, that's pretty cool" and it almost comes across like he's photobombing or something.  So this is the final page of Hugos prologue. There are some words on the following two pages but then next up is Chris'. I'll cover her prologue next time. What about Geddoe you may ask? Well, Geddoe doesn't need a prologue as he's deliberately mysterious and a prologue for him would kinda defeat the purpose. So he and his crew just kinda turn up with about 112 pages in or so. They're there for about 8 pages and disappear for a while until Karaya is getting burnt down. They kinda got shafted here but the third book is pretty much all about them. I'll get onto the next one later. Testekill fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Sep 17, 2014 |
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Sep 17, 2014 03:43
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Not an update, obviously (sorry guys!), but just letting you all know that I am, in fact, not dead. Just busy with stuff. As always, thanks for waiting for my slow butt, and I'll try to post as soon as I can, but this month is pretty much poo poo. I was actually attempting to make a backlog for if this kinda thing happened, but then I got busy before I could make one. 
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Oct 13, 2014 01:53
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He lives again.
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Oct 13, 2014 02:02
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yokaiy posted:Not an update, obviously (sorry guys!), but just letting you all know that I am, in fact, not dead. Just busy with stuff. As always, thanks for waiting for my slow butt, and I'll try to post as soon as I can, but this month is pretty much poo poo. Don't worry, it's not even been two years yet and you're at least half way there!  Seriously though, posting about video games is not an obligation and you should stress out about other things first.
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Oct 13, 2014 02:04
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Real life is always more important glad to hear you are going to keep this going.
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Oct 13, 2014 02:22
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Maybe in the meantime I'll actually try to play Suikoden III again. I only ever went through it once for some reason.
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Oct 13, 2014 02:53
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Glad to see this thread is still going. All the art is really great. I liked Suikoden III at first, but it took a second play-through o really enjoy I as much as I do. Knowing how to go about things to do them properly helps cut down on the slow/grindy bits and help he flow. And having some perspective also helps. When I first played it, I was almost embarrassed by the whole St. Loa Knights quest for Hugo. It felt way too silly and pointless. Only later did I realize it was a parallel to Hugo's own moment in life; about to leave childhood behind and cross the line after which nothing is ever going to be the same again; only those kids are have to deal with losing friends and dreams, and he is going to be tossed into the eye of the coming hurricane. The manga is really good; I wish I could find a way to read the whole thing. It seems to really capture the strengths of the story and the whole Suikoden style. So much of the game's appeal comes from the portraits and how they broadcast what is important about each character. The transition to 3D was a big gamble because of this: before you had sprites and a handful of character portraits in different states of emotions to get thing across. Now everyone has a single portrait and the task of emoting falls to the 3D models, which sometimes worked, sometimes didn't. Add to that the overall ambition of the game (Three protagonists! Multiples POVs! Alternating chapters! Battle pairs! Ducks!) and you can see how it could bog down even an ample, well-supported design staff...which Konami is famous for NOT supplying to its IPs. I also love how this game, more than the others, goes the extra mile to show all sides as being fallible, having both cool and petty aspects. Zexen is industrious and prosperous but also under the thumb of unscrupulous leaders, and has little respect for 'savages'. The clans are honorable and strong but also very insular and...well, clannish. No one gets to be a sterling, blameless standard here. The villains are not those who gently caress things up, because everyone does that. They are those who keep doing it out of malice and/or refuse to change things when their unfair nature is pointed out beyond reasonable doubt. It's a bit like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood in that regard: sometimes victory is not making things perfect but fixing them enough to work, and then letting go of the grievances.
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Oct 14, 2014 05:41
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Chapter 4.4 - Schrödinger's Harmonians - feat. Chris Here we are again.  And now, it's Chris' turn to be depressing!  : "I've never seen such a massacre! It's horrific!" : "They sent a combined force of the main and regional Harmonian armies." : "It must mean they don't plan on losing.": "So it seems." With that interlude over, we can go see what's up in the village.  First, Salome's spat with the leaders of the Grasslands. I'll leave it out since nothing changes.   : "What are you doing still hanging around here?" : "You ironheads should mind your own business!"We can talk to them after, but they're not very nice.  While here, I make sure to get this taken care of.  Chris, you suck.  Sticking a wizard hat on her head should help too, at least a little.  Heading towards the entrance, we get informed of the Harmonians approaching.  Then, we have an argument with the Grasslanders. Again, these are things you've seen, so I'll skip them.  This is new, though. : "You did your best, Salome. We need to lend a hand. We can't stand idly by and watch them be destroyed!" : "They'll be decimated with or without us!": "Who's this?" : "An acquaintance of yours, milady?": "Yes, we met in Chisha Village." : "A plan?"The scene fades to post-explanation.  : "I appreciate that.": "Name?": "My name is well known in this part of the world, thankfully. Now, if you'll excuse me..." I really like how smug he looks here, shooting a glance back at Percy as he leaves.  With Caesar gone to inform the rest of our army what's up, the knights get ready for battle.  We get to organize our battle parties, but this is fine, so whatever. We don't have much to work with. : "Yes, let's go.": "Very well, then.": "It's a lot of work, looking after a stubborn lady."From here, we get to battle as the Grasslanders, but we'll just skip to the end of that.   : "We have nowhere to retreat.": "This isn't how I expected it to finish.": "Lucia, Dupa -- fall back now! We'll hold them off.": "A foolish Zexen to the very end. There is nowhere to go!": "I've already sent word to Brass Castle. Go there immediately!": "And face imprisonment? I'll take my chances on the battlefield!": "This is your last chance to trust us.": "Hmmm...": "There is no choice. We... will go. For now.": "You said it yourself; there is no choice."The Grasslanders leave.  : "We don't need to attack. We just have to hold them until their magicians are vulnerable.": "Now we'll show them what it means to be Zexen Knights."In the Chris version, however, the battle doesn't end there.  Instead, we get to continue the fight with just the Zexens. I kind of cornered myself in this battle, actually, since I didn't put any effort into the first half of the fight, but the second half is only a few turns long so it's not too bad.  First, I spread out as much as I could (with only two units, that's basically nothing), and got to work killing what I could. With Sarah and Yuber bearing down on me (Yuber is behind a generic, but he's unit 2), I didn't have much I could do.  We manage, but it's not as good as I'd like. Salome, since he hasn't been in a party with me since chapter one, is downright terrible. He was dealing maybe 40 damage, and that's with the cover boost.  So, basically, I run from every fight I can. (This is me getting attacked while retreating.)  Yeah, looks good, right?    Percy is really good at parrying. Even against Yuber. I still wish he had more HP as a safety net, though.  Salome's unit still goes down, though. I don't remember if Percy went down with the other two, but it doesn't matter since Salome was the leader and he's kind of terrible.  I defend on my turn, since I don't really have anything else I can do and since we've already reached the end of the battle.   A large portion of the enemy units poof on the spot.  : "Sarah, what's happening?! Retreat immediately!"The rest of the Harmonians vanish as well.  : "Wow... It looks like we'll be okay.": "Hmm... Let's get back to Brass Castle.": "I'll expect a warm welcome from our lizard guests." I think I'd have gotten the retreat version of a victory+ if Salome's unit had stayed alive, but I don't think there's a prize for it anyway. From there, we have the same war meeting you've seen before, so that's enough of the Chris version for now.
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Nov 4, 2014 06:38
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And so we continue to see that Flame Champion Chris is only there if you really like her as a character. Or like war battles you can't win I guess. It's worth noting that even the Wizard Hat is only a temporary boost for her complete incompetence with the True Fire Rune; only incognito Chris can equip hats, and spoilers she's going to go back to the Zexan armor eventually. And this is ignoring that she will never get an L4 magic slot barring save scumming for stat boosting stones (or getting her to levels in the 90s, and even then she isn't guaranteed to pull it off). Basically the True Fire Rune can be safely treated as Chris losing an open Rune slot, meaning she's stuck with two fairly subpar runes.
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Nov 4, 2014 06:56
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I don't know about how other readers feel, but to me, recycled strategic battles are somehow even worse than regular strategic battles, which are already the least interesting thing about this LP by a long margin. Feel free to skip any that take place in the future, particularly if they're going to kill your update rate.
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Nov 4, 2014 06:57
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CmdrKing posted:And so we continue to see that Flame Champion Chris is only there if you really like her as a character. Or like war battles you can't win I guess. It's worth noting that even the Wizard Hat is only a temporary boost for her complete incompetence with the True Fire Rune; only incognito Chris can equip hats, and spoilers she's going to go back to the Zexan armor eventually. And this is ignoring that she will never get an L4 magic slot barring save scumming for stat boosting stones (or getting her to levels in the 90s, and even then she isn't guaranteed to pull it off). Basically the True Fire Rune can be safely treated as Chris losing an open Rune slot, meaning she's stuck with two fairly subpar runes. And yet, I seem to be having the best luck with her version of things for some reason.  poo poo, I forgot that she ditches hats like 5 minutes after I stuck that one on her. I'm really bad at remembering to check armor. Xander77 posted:I don't know about how other readers feel, but to me, recycled strategic battles are somehow even worse than regular strategic battles, which are already the least interesting thing about this LP by a long margin. Feel free to skip any that take place in the future, particularly if they're going to kill your update rate. I kept the second half of it in this update because it was technically new, since you only get the last few turns if you play as Chris. Rest assured, I cut it out of the Geddoe version, and won't be showing the alternates off unless there's something significantly different or something ridiculous happens that I think is worth noting. My update rate being slow as poo poo lately had nothing to do with that, though I have found that not capping strategy battles or caring about tactics in the alternate versions is great for my sanity. Life just decided to be terrible for about a month. Quick update on things while I'm talking about it; the Geddoe version should be going up after I get home from work tomorrow (still gotta finish it up, but shouldn't take long), and the next Hugo update is pretty much finished, so you can expect that soon as well.
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Nov 4, 2014 07:10
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Chapter 4.4 - Schrödinger's Harmonians - feat. Geddoe Once again, we're in Duck Village, and we are all very sad.  He's never been on the receiving end of a Harmonian attack, I guess.  : "That attack came from more than just the regional army."Queen and Aila approach the group from behind, having done all they could for the injured.   : "But it isn't over yet." Geddoe then creeps over the shoulders of the Grasslanders fighting with Salome, sighing a lot because this is stupid. Justified on their part, but stupid.  : "It's too late.": "We will protect the Grasslands ourselves."And, their post-spat dialogue.  The Harmonians come into view.  More friendly fighting.  And the mercenaries take it outside to complain.  : "They are too agitated. Nothing could be done.": "They could get wiped out, you know."  Apple and Caesar approach the group.  : "Well, I could be our savior and the future military strategist of the Grasslands.": "Someone's really full of himself!"I love these jackasses.  : "We can use military strategists. Maybe not to win, but we'll have a plan to avoid total annihilation of the allied forces."That's encouraging.  : "Yes, I think the Harmonian army is too big to be real. We had the first battalion, then two more advanced on both sides. And now another one! I bet they're using a magician to conjure up phantoms." : "A phantom-conjuring magician? That's a wild idea!" : "It's got to be that female I saw who was making herself disappear!" : "All by ourselves?": "If she's conjuring up such a large force, she'll be deep in meditation somewhere. You don't need to do much more than break her concentration.": "Then the fake troops will simply vanish? Can it be true?": "Maybe not all, but at least half of them are phantom images.": "Let's get going, Geddoe! I told you they were the bad guys." : "But you see..."She begins to protest. : "So what?"But Ace cuts her off.  : "That's not good at all.": "So, are you with us or not?": "Sure. Count us in.": "Very well then. I'm depending on you to be my main man in the defense force. Agreed?": "He sure knows how to use people well." Caesar and Apple jump in the party for the time being. And then, there's that strategy battle we're going to skip.  We've got beef with Sarah instead.  : "That's her!": "Remember, we just have to make her lose focus.": "I see." : "Hey! Who's this?": "What is it?"  Well, let's get to it.  There's nothing new in the Geddoe version of the fight, so I figured I'd take the opportunity to show off the rest of the True Fire Rune.  First up, it's level 2 spell, Explosion.   It's basically meteor.   That felt good. It's also actually a pretty useful spell, especially compared to others in the Fire Rune family. It does good damage, and tends to be fast enough (at least for Geddoe) that he can cast it before anyone has the chance to move into the line of fire.  Next, the level 3 spell, Final Flame.     (I went out of order while playing, but decided to show them off in order, so please ignore that Sarah is the one getting attacked.) If it were anyone but Sarah, it woulda done huge donk damage. Also, now that I'm seeing it, this is the spell Sarah used against me in the strategy battle to fry my ducks, meaning she wasn't cheating as much as I thought she was -- just means she has a Rage Rune and no cast time for it's fourth spell.  Finally, the level 4 spell, Hellfire.     If there's one thing I'll give to the True Fire Rune, it is that it's casts look really cool. It did end with Ace getting burnt to a crisp by it, though. Queen defended, so she was okay. I really don't know why she defended but he didn't. Maybe it has to do with their magic stat? Anyway, you get the idea. Everything burned alive. After beating up Sarah and her knights, everything continues as it did in the Hugo version. Next time, new things!
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Nov 5, 2014 02:55
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yokaiy posted:It did end with Ace getting burnt to a crisp by it, though. Queen defended, so she was okay. I really don't know why she defended but he didn't. Maybe it has to do with their magic stat? IIRC, it's basically just a random chance that characters will jump out of the way of a hostile spell fired off by someone on their own team. The base chance is pretty low, like maybe 15-20% (this is a wild guess based on my experiences), but characters with the Precision skill have a better chance of not frying their own teammates. Sadly, as I've mentioned previously, there's only like 5 characters with that skill, and none of them are Flame Champion candidates Hugo, Chris, or Geddoe.
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Nov 5, 2014 05:33
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In general though, as noted, getting Explosion as an L2 spell is the main money on the True Fire Rune. So I guess in that way it is true to the spirit of Fire Runes in general. It's meant to be good mob-clearing damage, and a spammable Explosion casting clears some mobs by god.
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Nov 5, 2014 05:44
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Oh hey this is alive again. Good to see.
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Nov 5, 2014 09:10
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I always thought that allies dodging the fire spells had to do with if they had any remaining movement left. If their move and their swings took up their entire "turn", then they wouldn't be able to get away. I'm not really confident about that, though, as you can only hit yourself with Explosion so many times before you stop casting the spell any time it could theoretically hit anyone on your side.
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Nov 5, 2014 14:34
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: "You've got an idea to stop us from being run down like dogs by the enormous invading army? That's neat, I guess. Why are you talking to me about it?
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Nov 5, 2014 15:53
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Glad to see you back! This is really starting to sell me, S3 is the only Suikoden I haven't played. I like me some True Rune cosmic interplay.
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Nov 6, 2014 02:32
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I feel like there should be more interaction between Chris, Geddoe, and Hugo at this point. It feels like we've been constantly building up to the point where the three groups come together and for the most part they've barely acknowledged one another. Okay maybe it's just Geddoe who's ignoring everyone, and he just barely gives a poo poo in general.
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Nov 6, 2014 04:52
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I just noticed something. I was going through FE PoR. I can't figure out how to show the image here, but Haar and Geddoe could almost be the same guy. Mostly laid back but gets passionate when dealing with things regarding old comrades, both only got one eye and brown hair, both very powerful units. Its almost as if Geddoe just changed clothes and got something to do the walking for him.
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Nov 6, 2014 04:55
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grandalt posted:I just noticed something. I was going through FE PoR. I can't figure out how to show the image here, but Haar and Geddoe could almost be the same guy. Mostly laid back but gets passionate when dealing with things regarding old comrades, both only got one eye and brown hair, both very powerful units. Its almost as if Geddoe just changed clothes and got something to do the walking for him. Also, Geddoe is like, a thousand years old or so and is Thor-if-he-were-a-mage-character. Haar is probably in his 30s at the minimum and a physical attacker. They can't be the same person.
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Nov 6, 2014 05:31
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Bufuman posted:IIRC, it's basically just a random chance that characters will jump out of the way of a hostile spell fired off by someone on their own team. The base chance is pretty low, like maybe 15-20% (this is a wild guess based on my experiences), but characters with the Precision skill have a better chance of not frying their own teammates. Sadly, as I've mentioned previously, there's only like 5 characters with that skill, and none of them are Flame Champion candidates Hugo, Chris, or Geddoe. AshtonDragon posted:I always thought that allies dodging the fire spells had to do with if they had any remaining movement left. If their move and their swings took up their entire "turn", then they wouldn't be able to get away. I'm not really confident about that, though, as you can only hit yourself with Explosion so many times before you stop casting the spell any time it could theoretically hit anyone on your side. We may never know exactly what causes someone to defend against magic attacks, but I do know that talking about it with inverts has caused this monstrosity to be drawn.  The higher level the spell, the more of the song he sings. Years later, and I still can't handle that that's a real song.
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Nov 6, 2014 06:48
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That's amazing, as is the fact that this thread is up and running again!
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Nov 6, 2014 07:49
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The fact that the song exists is bad enough, but the image of Geddoe singing it while standing perfectly still (because  ) and with his usual  expression is... I don't know, I don't have the words for it. 
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Nov 6, 2014 10:39
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vilkacis posted:The fact that the song exists is bad enough, but the image of Geddoe singing it while standing perfectly still (because He says it 3 times then a meteor comes down.
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Nov 6, 2014 11:12
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yokaiy posted:We may never know exactly what causes someone to defend against magic attacks, but I do know that talking about it with inverts has caused this monstrosity to be drawn. The image of Geddoe as a rap artist is equally hilarious.
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Nov 7, 2014 00:08
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AradoBalanga posted:This is hilarious. --> Take your one shot, your one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted, your one moment, capture it, don't let it slip --> Eh
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Nov 7, 2014 00:15
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yokaiy posted:We may never know exactly what causes someone to defend against magic attacks, but I do know that talking about it with inverts has caused this monstrosity to be drawn. I'm so happy you drew this. I'm so happy Geddoe and Queen are singing it together. Poor sweet idiot Ace.
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Nov 7, 2014 00:24
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Chapter 4.5 - Fly, My Duckling Well, I am feeling completely at a loss, how about you? We know that the Zexens and Grasslanders have to team up to have any chance of stopping the Harmonian invasion, but how will it happen? Iroh had the respect of the entire world for his actions. Hugo has his rune, but not much else.  Hey, Joe.  What should we do?   : "Just wondering what you're doing, Sergeant." : "I'm on lookout. The enemy might attack at any minute, you know." Joe turns to face Hugo for a moment. : "If you're asking what I think our odds are, I can't say. There are no guarantees in war. The only thing you can be sure of is that if we lose, we won't get a second chance. Does that make sense to you?": "Sergeant...": "Hmmm..."He turns back around. : "Sorry." : "After all, you have the True Fire Rune in your right hand.  : "I see.": "Hugo, you want to be a hero, don't you? Think about Lulu.": "Okay. I'll try, Sergeant. But I don't know how far I can go...." : "That's what a hero would do!": "Sergeant...": "Now, off you go! The Grasslands need a hero.": "Yes, and I'll be the one!!"     Yeah, Hugo might not be Iroh.  But he can do plenty as himself.  Hugo stands before the soldiers, still unsure of himself, but determined, and starts talking.    His audience, a mob of the demoralized and injured, perks up. : "I was born and raised in the Grasslands. I didn't know the outside world until recently."  : "Now, things are different. I've seen the Grasslands and Zexen with my own eyes. I was shocked at what I saw." : "And those living in Zexen think of us as barbarians. This mindset has gone on for ages. The True Fire Rune I bear in my right have keeps memories of the late Flame Champion, Iroh. It's taught me that human history is filled with wars and conflicts. The spirits of fire were seldom at rest, and peace never laster very long." : "He sacrificed everything to protect his loved ones!!" Slowly, the soldiers start to rise.  : "I couldn't protect my friend, my best friend. But that didn't make me give up. I don't want to go through that misery again! Do you?"   : "Do you really want these destroyed now?" : "It's time we fought together to protect what we cherish! Why no go and fight? Let's do it!"  : "Can't we just do this for the time being?"  : "Yes! We'll never give up!"   : "This is a time to fight together! Under the name of the Flame Champion!" : "I swear by the Rune in my right hand that I will be the Flame Champion, Iroh's successor and heir to his power, and that I will fight to protect this land as Iroh would have done!"     Our little boy's all grown up and giving speeches.   I'm so proud.  : "We might even have a chance to win.": "We wouldn't mind staking our lives on the Flame Champion.": "Absolutely. This is the birth of a new hero, I should say.": "Hero..." Hugo turns back as the others approach him.  : "Thanks. I was almost too excited to follow what I was saying."Yeah, we could kinda tell. : "You did well. But now you have to show your worth, and it's my job to help you. Are you ready, Hugo?"You know what this means. Harmonia is still at our doorstep, and we've got to take the fight to them now.  I set up my units like so. Generally you want a bunch of well-rounded but full-units, even if that means that Dupa gets shafted. (The game defaults to 5 partial units.) We'll just keep him in the back. I was pretty haphazard with who got to be in what unit, but it should still do the trick. With that set, we're good to go. : "Yes, I am ready anytime.": "All right, this will be our first battle."  Here we go: our first battle as a united force under the new Flame Champion.   : "I see. If we were only searching for runes, all this wouldn't be necessary..." : "The Grassland Clans think they've beaten Harmonia. They must be shown the bitter reality. It is imperative that Harmonia firmly crushes Grassland and the surrounding kingdoms.": "But only because Hikusaak has personally ordered so."Something about how he says that...  : "Listen... It's too quiet. Could this mean they've given up?": "It doesn't look like it."On cue, Hugo('s unit) steps out.  : "I am in command of this army.": "There is an agreement between Harmonia and the Flame Champion that Grassland not be invaded. Do not break that agreement!"  I kind of love this guy. : "In my right hand is the True Fire Rune bequeathed to me by the Flame Champion. Under the flag of the Fire Bringers, I lead the warriors of Grasslands and Zexen into battle against you!" Some more units pop in to say hi. : "The Karaya Clan will fight to the death under the leadership of the Flame Champion!": "The Lizard Clan will die before it runs! Those who challenge us will pay the consequences!" : "The Zexen Knights raise their blades for the Zexen Federation and for peace in Grassland!" Now that is an impressive speech. : "50 years ago? That mysterious explosion that ended it all?": "The Champion appears to possess the True Fire Rune. In that light, these words carry a different weight.": "But the seal of the True Fire Rune was broken only recently. How could...": "This calls for a dose of caution. But withdraw no more than half the forces. That still leaves enough to take the castle if..." True to their word, they actually do pull out half of their units. Now, terrain is interesting in this battle, because basically every circle has some. Being on the bridge gives us a 40% reduction to damage, and being at the gate does the same but also heals 15% of our HP each turn. On the enemy's side, they have a lot of forests, which reduces damage 20%. They've also got some plains but that doesn't do anything, and they move off of those pretty quickly.  We get the first turn, but nothing interesting happens. I just move everyone up a little.  The Harmonians do basically the same thing. First thing's first: let's see if we can't nerf Yuber a little.   That'll do.  Everyone moves up except Geddoe.  And Sasarai is an rear end in a top hat. He nukes Hugo's unit for about the same amount of damage that Geddoe did to Yuber.  This is followed by Yuber attacking Hugo, but gently caress that noise.  Fire Runes are good when you've got a number of enemies on one circle.  And we'll follow that up by attacking them.  Haha, cute. Ace, show them what a real attack looks like.  Yes, very good. Well done. As a side note, this team is probably my strongest on the field. If I swapped Bazba out for one of the others, it would be even more amazing.  Well, I guess he can pull his weight too sometimes.  Very good.  We're not done yet, though.     You know what? I take it back. This team is also great. Even with Roland.  Not too bad, if I do say so myself. We've still got Yuber to contend with, but two units down in a single turn is pretty good. And one of them was Albert, which is even better.  Sasarai continues to be a jerk, but I can't say I blame him. We're pulling the same strategy with Geddoe.  Speaking of Geddoe('s unit).  You know what? I like this unit too. Shiba and Fred face-tank pretty well.  It's just a retreat, though, so nothing too exciting.  This was something I didn't care about, so I had Dupa block.  Not even all four of the soldiers could take him down before he got away.  Lucia will be our cover support this time, as Geddoe takes on Yuber.  Yuber is a big poopy jerk who dodges too much.  But we make him flee.  We take the opportunity to challenge Dios as well. Since he's the leader of his unit, like Albert, there's no on-field leader. So we have to actually defeat all four of his lackeys.  Which, actually.   Isn't much of a problem.  : "This is useless. Retreat, retreat." For some reason, Apple decides that this would be a great time for a pep talk. I think that signals the half-way point of the battle, but I wasn't counting turns so I can't say for sure.  Yuber makes a grievous error.   Yuber immediately tries to flee.  Why does no one want to loving hit him?! I hate this guy.  No! What?  Why did those both only do one damage?! That has to be some kind of cheating.  Take that!  gently caress yeah. : "Curse humans..." : "Indeed. Much tougher than before."The general and his attendant decide to make some surprisingly light-hearted observations at Yuber's defeat. Again, I'm not sure what exactly causes the mid-battle banter, but I'll take it anyway.   The generic unit decides to poke us a little, but I think we've done a good amount of damage, so I get Chris out of there.  Sasarai moves up.  And Dupa moves back.  : "Relax, they're ours!"  : "Choose your targets!"Mua!  And Hallec!  And Thomas!  : "Come on, Thomas!" : "I knew I should have made an appropriate yell for him..."These are the best reinforcements.   : "Ahem! We came from Thomas to answer the Flame Champion's call to arms! We fight as one!"Well, that came out strangely.  : "Ho ho ho ho ho!!" : "They've come to serve... under the Flame Champion.": "More forces from the south!": "Enough. Withdraw in an orderly fashion. And send a message to Crystal Valley..." : "Afraid so, Albert. If you're going to help Harmonia, then I will help Grassland stand against you. My plan is finally complete.": "Still being sweet to weaklings, I see. What will be gained by this? You'd understand if you have the blood of Leon, our grandfather."'Our?'  Brother???  And there we have it -- A Silverberg on each side of this mess! : "It's your life to throw away."These two don't seem to be on good terms. The Harmonians poof from the map after that verbal spat. : "They're running away!": "We won! We really won!" : "It's true!"  Lilly!  : "Hmm? It looked like the enemy was here. They must have wandered off." : "Now, milady, please stop. Must you insist on insulting the Flame Champion?": "I will not be made a fool of! How dare the Flame Champion appear after we returned to Tinto. I will speak with him -- or else!" : "But milady, that is no excuse to call on the Tinto army.": "What?! Did you say something?": : "Nooo, milady." Hooray!     Everyone seems to be getting along now.   : "Oh!!! Here comes our Flame Champion!" Hugo and his entourage are majestic as gently caress, and no one can tell me otherwise.   He is immediately swarmed by the soldiers. : "You were the key to our victory! We wouldn't have won without you!": "Hugo!!! Our hero!!! We're all very proud of you.": "We'll be proud to fight alongside you.": "You sure are popular around here.": "It was a very close victory, so they are very happy." Joe flutters his wings in surprise.  And then shoots a nasty look at Hallec.    I know the thread has been waiting for this.  : "You know, you had some nerve to leave without me." : "You must be joking, Miss! Weren't you going back to Tinto because the caravan hadn't arrived?"That's quite a hike. : "Be quiet!" She busts through the Grasslanders. : "Well...": "What?"   : "Really?!! You're the Flame Champion?!! Why didn't you tell me?!!"Cue one long, off-screen explanation.  : "I see, now I get it.": "Ohhhhh! That took a while...": "All right, count me in. I don't want to see the Grasslands taken over by Harmonia.": "Ms. Lilly!"  She turns and walks off without a chance for protest.   Hahahahaha.   Next time, we'll see how things are going for our new alliance.
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Nov 8, 2014 19:13
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I'm glad that the game acknowledges that the Zexens aren't close-minded racists and the Karayans noble savages. They're both close-minded racists.
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Nov 8, 2014 19:39
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Geddoe's grand speech is going to be epic, hilarious, or both.
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Nov 8, 2014 20:14
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:Geddoe's grand speech is going to be epic, hilarious, or both. Geddoe's speeches are pretty much all of higher quality than Hugo or Chris, who are both kind of generic.
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Nov 8, 2014 20:33
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Best as I've ever been able to figure, command runes can miss. But the animations are elaborate enough that the dodge animation was loving them up, so they just render the miss as 1 damage. So one thing the game does in the early going is invisibly start a bunch of people off as part of Hugo's party then just make them completely unavailable from until, well, now. Those being of course all the Karayans and Lizards we get in war battles. They're pretty dull overall, but let's go down the list. Lucia- The best of the group. She ultimately gets three open rune slots, and can wing it as either a pocket mage (natural A in Fire mostly) or for piling all your physical boost runes. Her bases are kinda meh, though, so you'll need a full set to really get her ahead of the likes of Emily, but it's a definite option. Beecham- The boringest Karayan. Way back I talked about how most of the races had a sort of basic build (Karayans like earth and wind magic combined with the repel skill for example) then gave each one some quirks. Beecham, uh, gets an alright Water score? Yeah. He's not bad exactly, just he's boring and will never be a top 6 character no matter what you do with him really. Jimba- So y'know how they talked about the True Water Rune having another seal way back in Hugo 2? Yeah, he really doesn't have the drat thing right now despite clearly being immortal still. He's got a slot reserved for it, and starts with an A in water, but can't use the thing. Otherwise see Beecham. He's got a bit better of an attack stat, but yeah. Dupa- So Dupa's got a Fury Rune. That's cool. Otherwise though, Lizards are completely shafted; their thing is having piles of raw stats and being mediocre in basically every skill. Their glide weapons are pretty strong, and they've got high HP backed with chainmail, so they can take a hit. Pretty good units for war battles. Otherwise, bench. Shiba- He's a bit more defensive than Dupa. 'bout it. Bazba- the 'mage' lizard. Dude's got a locked Cyclone Rune. Which is about the worst thing for him, because what he doesn't have is enough magic to ever get an L4 magic slot. So he misses the main appeal of a Cyclone Rune, the Shining Wind spell, gives up Wind of Sleep in the game where that's actually really good, in favor of... uh... healing I guess? Yeah, that worked out. Otherwise, he's got less of those 'stat' things the other lizards do, but will still stand out compared to, I dunno, Roland or something. So yeah, in summary these are dudes you put in the party just to level up their skills and kit them out as filler in war battles, then bench for the rest of the game. Actually Beecham might not be a fighter in war battles, been a while.
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Nov 8, 2014 20:39
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Defiance Industries posted:Geddoe's speeches are pretty much all of higher quality than Hugo or Chris, who are both kind of generic. It's really kind of funny how much better Geddoe's dialogue as Flame Champ is than the other two. Hugo is generic JRPG boy hero #3184573, Chris is somewhat better, and Geddoe is...well, you'll see.
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Nov 8, 2014 21:08
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As far as I can tell, the thing where characters deal 1 damage with skills simply represents a miss. Skills generally hit more often than normal attacks, but Yuber is a dodgy dick, so skills will typically whiff on him too. Can't wait to see Geddoe's speech.
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Nov 9, 2014 00:18
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I'd like to see what kind of speech Lilly would make...
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Nov 9, 2014 02:23
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