Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
Rangpur
Dec 31, 2008

In retrospect, it's shocking this LP got to page 3 without someone posting the Hark! A Vagrant! comic on him:


by Kate Beaton

So should we take this as permission to talk about the historical Musashi? Or at least how he's portrayed in Japanese pop culture. At this point sorting one from the other is like arguing the details of Robin Hood's biography.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Zannosuke
Sep 10, 2010

Rangpur posted:

In retrospect, it's shocking this LP got to page 3 without someone posting the Hark! A Vagrant! comic on him:


by Kate Beaton

So should we take this as permission to talk about the historical Musashi? Or at least how he's portrayed in Japanese pop culture. At this point sorting one from the other is like arguing the details of Robin Hood's biography.

:cawg:
Oh, how did I miss this wonderful thing?

As for real life or pop-culture Musashi, yeah, go nuts.

Crigit
Sep 6, 2011

I'll show you my naval if you show me yours.
Let's get naut'y.
No need to wait to find a physical copy of The Book of Five Rings, there's an English translation here. The version I originally read had all kinds of translator's footnotes and comments, but I can't find that one so you get the one linked from wikipedia. For all the hype that the concept of the void gets, it only takes up the final half dozen paragraphs of the book. It's basically an admonition to keep an open mind about things and not get too obsessive dressed up in Buddhist trapery. The whole book is actually quite short, should only take a couple hours to read at most. I recommend it if you are a huge nerd and have some free time.

MartianAgitator
Apr 30, 2003

Damn Earth! Damn her!
It's pronounced som-no-lent.

And the character for sky is also the character for emptiness, vacuum or void. Unless there is a specific pronunciation given to it it could be interpreted either way.


The Book of Five Rings is basically a treatise on how to be a Bruce Willis character (never open your eyes more than halfway, be a hardass to everyone) and a bunch of combat maneuvers that aren't interesting because they are plain and obvious. It has one called, I think, the "Bloody Vines Strike" that is just getting your opponent to fall over the environment. Tactical genius, huh?

If you want to read old Asian literature, skip Book of Five Rings, Art of War and the Tale of Genji and go straight to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and make it a newer translation. And watch Red Cliff before reading it.

Rigged Death Trap
Feb 13, 2012

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Considering Musashi's style in fighting I think he was just writing what worked for him.

'Hey assholes, things are more fun if you show up the stuffy guy you're fighting.'

Mazed
Oct 23, 2010

:blizz:


MartianAgitator posted:

The Book of Five Rings is basically a treatise on how to be a Bruce Willis character (never open your eyes more than halfway, be a hardass to everyone) and a bunch of combat maneuvers that aren't interesting because they are plain and obvious. It has one called, I think, the "Bloody Vines Strike" that is just getting your opponent to fall over the environment. Tactical genius, huh?

If you want to read old Asian literature, skip Book of Five Rings, Art of War and the Tale of Genji and go straight to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and make it a newer translation. And watch Red Cliff before reading it.

No, no. You should read the Book of Five Rings just so you have the mental image of this grizzled hairy muscleman (or spikey-haired anime kid, either works) sitting very solemnly in the candlelight with some incense burning and maybe some koto music playing somewhere off to the side, painstakingly calligraphing his wisdom; "You should always practice with the biggest swords you can find and also two of them, one for each hand because you have two hands and that is perfect for two swords (big swords). You must consider this carefully."

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow
For those of you that never made the connection, the reason why Lumina's blade is so wide is because the sword is a reference to the oar Musashi used in his duel against Kojiro.

My favorite thing about this game is its theme. The same melody is in so much of the game's score that I think that you can hear it in one way or another in more tracks than not.

Zeikier
Jan 26, 2010

"This woman...she's killed before, and not just once..."


Hell yeah Brave Fencer Musashi! One of a handful of great non-FF Square games that I loved the hell out of as a kid and go back to it every few years.

One thing I noticed is that this game, like a lot of early voice acting, sounds like the actors are reading their lines without proper context and say them with strange inflections now and then. It's not a deal breaker, especially since the game is so hammy so it fits in better than usual.

Star Man posted:

My favorite thing about this game is its theme. The same melody is in so much of the game's score that I think that you can hear it in one way or another in more tracks than not.

I love this soundtrack for all the recurring riffs throughout it. Makes things that much more dramatic and feels like the music takes you on the adventure, too.

Med School
Feb 27, 2012

Where did you learn how to do that?

Zeikier posted:

Hell yeah Brave Fencer Musashi! One of a handful of great non-FF Square games that I loved the hell out of as a kid and go back to it every few years.

One thing I noticed is that this game, like a lot of early voice acting, sounds like the actors are reading their lines without proper context and say them with strange inflections now and then. It's not a deal breaker, especially since the game is so hammy so it fits in better than usual.


I love this soundtrack for all the recurring riffs throughout it. Makes things that much more dramatic and feels like the music takes you on the adventure, too.

I think all voice acting for videogames in the 90s was done in a basement for $5. Except Metal Gear Solid, they all got $10

Leximancer
Oct 24, 2010

Mazed posted:

No, no. You should read the Book of Five Rings just so you have the mental image of this grizzled hairy muscleman (or spikey-haired anime kid, either works) sitting very solemnly in the candlelight with some incense burning and maybe some koto music playing somewhere off to the side, painstakingly calligraphing his wisdom; "You should always practice with the biggest swords you can find and also two of them, one for each hand because you have two hands and that is perfect for two swords (big swords). You must consider this carefully."

My favorite continues to be the one that was, paraphrased, "Remember that you can close your fist and thrust it in your opponent's face. For this you must train well." Yeah guys, if you can punch someone in a swordfight you should totally do it.

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow

Leximancer posted:

My favorite continues to be the one that was, paraphrased, "Remember that you can close your fist and thrust it in your opponent's face. For this you must train well." Yeah guys, if you can punch someone in a swordfight you should totally do it.

Well, if slugging your opponent in a sword fight puts you in a position to slash them...

MartianAgitator
Apr 30, 2003

Damn Earth! Damn her!

Star Man posted:

For those of you that never made the connection, the reason why Lumina's blade is so wide is because the sword is a reference to the oar Musashi used in his duel against Kojiro.

No, clearly it is a reference to Cloud's Bastaa Soodo because they have the same Popeye arms and stylish single-colored outfit and and and have eyes shining with genki energy!

Zannosuke
Sep 10, 2010

Star Man posted:

My favorite thing about this game is its theme. The same melody is in so much of the game's score that I think that you can hear it in one way or another in more tracks than not.

Yep, can't beat a good leitmotif. Games don't really do leitmotifs anymore, and that makes me sad. When it's properly done, it adds so much character to a game, and can tie sections together really well.

Rigged Death Trap
Feb 13, 2012

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Zannosuke posted:

Yep, can't beat a good leitmotif. Games don't really do leitmotifs anymore, and that makes me sad. When it's properly done, it adds so much character to a game, and can tie sections together really well.

Leitmotifs can be used well, and when they arent they just come off as lazy, repetitive and quite bad.

aaaahhhh I had an example on the tip of my tongue then I forgot it.

A Pleasant Hug
Dec 30, 2007

...It's the thought that counts, right?
As much as I'd rather not derail the interesting real-life Musashi (I remember previews making a big deal about how the in-game character is loosely based off a real person) or the cool leitmotif discussion, but I'd like to point out the charming little images that are displayed for each power that Musashi can absorb with Fusion. Each ability has a different "splash image" upon absorption, sometimes hardly related to the power itself.

I was wondering if there was a way to get those images out of the game, or if they'd already been ripped and hosted up somewhere. I'd love to have them and make a nifty cool power-up poster to hang on my wall sometime.

I love this game. I have a friend who hates this game, because "it looks dumb". I've done everything there is to do, and uncovered all the secrets in this game. There's a lot of things you can do "just because", like playing with the toys! There's so many small details added to the game that don't matter for gameplay or story reasons, and it's getting very difficult to find games that obviously had so much effort poured in, as if the development team genuinely enjoyed what they were creating. You've hinted at this in the videos, but the value of the toys increasing as you play further into the game is quite a fun little detail that makes you a Dranillionaire by the end of the game if you've been buying them as they become available.

Please play with your toys. Even if you save it until the final video, don't let those masterpieces go unloved. :unsmith:

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!

Seiren posted:

I was wondering if there was a way to get those images out of the game, or if they'd already been ripped and hosted up somewhere. I'd love to have them and make a nifty cool power-up poster to hang on my wall sometime.
I've gone through like a dozen image-ripping programs for PSX games, but I found no way to get the Assimilate ability images from the game files. :( They're really great, too.

But I did rip every single voice file! :haw: There's a lot more voice-acting in the first two chapters than in most of the rest of the game.

Zannosuke
Sep 10, 2010
Hey guys, here's a quick update for ya;
I've already recorded the next part of the lp. However, in my efforts to show you everything possible in this game, I accidentally loaded a save state.

It was about an hour behind where I was. Oh, did I mention that I hadn't saved while doing this? :cripes:

So annoyed right now.

Also, remember when I said that you needed to rescue four people to beat the game? Yeah, it's actually six. I'll explain in the video when I post it.

Tuxedo Ted
Apr 24, 2007

Hindsight, etc, but LPs really really really benefit from exhaustive save collections.


I really appreciate all the trouble you're going through to show us this fantastic under-appreciated game! Don't lose hope!

Zannosuke
Sep 10, 2010
New episode up!!!

Episode 4, Part 1: Off-Kilter

Another one with loads of exposition.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!

Musashi posted:

I have a bad feeling something is wrong with the village.
The music must have tipped him off. :v: This always feels like the chapter with the most text, and most of it unvoiced at that. Now that you're at Chapter 3, I'll have to get off my rear end and record one or two short videos for tricks/extras pertaining to this section. I'll save 'em until you've covered the parts where they're doable, of course.

One thing about sword techniques: most of them, including Dashing Pierce and Crosswise Cut, aren't usable if Musashi is over 90% Tired, poisoned, or has some other status effect.

And you complain about "artificial game-lengthening," but BFM is such a short game already. Or maybe I'm just used to blazing through it, I dunno. You can get Misteria between talking to Wid and its blooming time the next day if you really book it though.

Zannosuke
Sep 10, 2010

How Ingratiating! posted:

The music must have tipped him off. :v: This always feels like the chapter with the most text, and most of it unvoiced at that. Now that you're at Chapter 3, I'll have to get off my rear end and record one or two short videos for tricks/extras pertaining to this section. I'll save 'em until you've covered the parts where they're doable, of course.

One thing about sword techniques: most of them, including Dashing Pierce and Crosswise Cut, aren't usable if Musashi is over 90% Tired, poisoned, or has some other status effect.

And you complain about "artificial game-lengthening," but BFM is such a short game already. Or maybe I'm just used to blazing through it, I dunno. You can get Misteria between talking to Wid and its blooming time the next day if you really book it though.

The part about getting Misteria isn't that bad, since at best you grab it the next day, or at worse the day after that with a short nap. In fact, this is one of my favorite chapters in the game, for reasons I'll explain in the next couple of videos. The only part really gets under my skin, is fixing the goddamn gondola. Too easy to guess wrong what gear you need first time around.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!

Zannosuke posted:

The part about getting Misteria isn't that bad, since at best you grab it the next day, or at worse the day after that with a short nap. In fact, this is one of my favorite chapters in the game, for reasons I'll explain in the next couple of videos. The only part really gets under my skin, is fixing the goddamn gondola. Too easy to guess wrong what gear you need first time around.

Personally, Chapter 3's my least favorite, due to a certain fight later on. It does have a lot of good points, though. Chapter 5 might be my favorite one, but I can't really pin down why. I made it a point to remember which is the right gear, because making a mistake there is as annoying as you said.

Shoren
Apr 6, 2011

victoria concordia crescit

Zannosuke posted:

The part about getting Misteria isn't that bad, since at best you grab it the next day, or at worse the day after that with a short nap. In fact, this is one of my favorite chapters in the game, for reasons I'll explain in the next couple of videos. The only part really gets under my skin, is fixing the goddamn gondola. Too easy to guess wrong what gear you need first time around.

Having to get Misteria at a certain point of the day isn't artificial game-lengthening. That's just making use of the in-game click for a story element. Artificial game-lengthening is going all the way to the top of Twin Peak Mountain to get Aqualin because Hotelo couldn't. Maybe they didn't (or couldn't) code the two objectives simultaneously, but that was always a huge gripe of mine, especially with the time limit imposed.

Zeikier
Jan 26, 2010

"This woman...she's killed before, and not just once..."


While the first part of the game isn't a slouch, and despite the length and annoyance throughout this part, Chapter 3 I think is where the game really shows its teeth with what it can do. It has some of the best tracks in the game, and starts having fun with the Assimilate abilities.

Also, there's an ability you can learn soon that winds up being incredibly useful for most of the chapter.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Yes, I can see how monsters that suck blood out of people are an upgrade from monsters that merely shove large pieces of sharpened metal through them.

zerosix
Jun 22, 2012
I've always been curious why this game never made it to the PSN store.

I have a question. I have always found BFM a very unique game, and I've been wondering if any resent games that emulates its gameplay at all. (assimilation, metroid like world, ect.)

I'm wondering if I'm going to have to boot up the emulator for the nostalgia trip or not.

MartianAgitator
Apr 30, 2003

Damn Earth! Damn her!
It sounds like you are saying "som-a-lint." Just add an "n" sound so it becomes "som-na-lint." It means sleepy.

It's worth pointing out that the Crosswise Cut is basically the completely upgraded version of the normal Lumina attack. The regular Lumina attack has a huge wind up and the Cut basically replaces that vulnerable time with another attack. Does it do more damage than the regular attack too?

Zannosuke
Sep 10, 2010

MartianAgitator posted:

It sounds like you are saying "som-a-lint." Just add an "n" sound so it becomes "som-na-lint." It means sleepy.

It's worth pointing out that the Crosswise Cut is basically the completely upgraded version of the normal Lumina attack. The regular Lumina attack has a huge wind up and the Cut basically replaces that vulnerable time with another attack. Does it do more damage than the regular attack too?

Yes. It sometimes doubles Lumina's striking damage, and should definitely replace the basic Lumina attack in your repertoire. The next episode is a bit of a doozy to set up though; this was the part accidentally loaded that save state on, so there's a bit of a time skip. I've got it planned out though.

zerosix posted:

I've always been curious why this game never made it to the PSN store.

I have a question. I have always found BFM a very unique game, and I've been wondering if any resent games that emulates its gameplay at all. (assimilation, metroid like world, ect.)

I'm wondering if I'm going to have to boot up the emulator for the nostalgia trip or not.

To be honest, the only games I could think could of off the top of my head would be anything from The Legend of Zelda series OoT and on(and any clones thereof). But I don't know of any game that directly emulates this type of gameplay. I say, boot away.

Quoting myself earlier in the thread:

Zannosuke posted:

Also, what the hell, Sony?! Why is this game not on PSN anywhere but Japan?!:argh:

No idea.

David D. Davidson
Nov 17, 2012

Orca lady?

zerosix posted:

I've always been curious why this game never made it to the PSN store.

My best guess is that there is some sort of legal issue regarding the voice actor's contract.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!

zerosix posted:

I've always been curious why this game never made it to the PSN store.

I have a question. I have always found BFM a very unique game, and I've been wondering if any resent games that emulates its gameplay at all. (assimilation, metroid like world, ect.)

I'm wondering if I'm going to have to boot up the emulator for the nostalgia trip or not.

I always got a Secret of Mana vibe from BFM, if we're comparing it to other games. Hell, your weapons even level up! Maybe try Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3, or Legend of Mana.

Grimwit
Nov 3, 2012

Those eyes! That hair! You're like a movie star! I must take your picture!
When I was playing this game, oh so many years ago, I got this strange routine where I would go into town as soon as the bar opened and eat terrible food.

Then the Vambees came and I was genuinely angry at them.

Here's some fan art.



Can't wait until I can draw my all time favorite character, but they haven't shown her, yet.

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
Awesome! Vambees are one of my fav things in this game. Your art is totes hilars!

Gleefully awaiting the next video...

Zannosuke
Sep 10, 2010
Hey guys!
Sorry about the delay of this episode. Real life called; they wanted their money back. Anyway, episodes should be coming out at a decent click, maybe once or twice a week time permitting.

Here's the new episode!!

Episode 4, Part 2: Flower Power

And because of a certain post on this thread, here's something a little extra:

Special: Rules of Musashi

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow
And we reach the video that reminds me why I have a hard time coming back to this game--the platforming. It's so touchy at times that it can become very frustrating. There's also one other part way late in the game too that I'm pretty sure we all dread.

Grimwit
Nov 3, 2012

Those eyes! That hair! You're like a movie star! I must take your picture!
I donno. I thought they handled the platforming a little better than most 3D games at the time. They thought ahead enough to adjust the camera to a side-view, making jumping a little easier than if they kept a top down or worse, isometric....ish.

Maybe I was just used to it, but I can't remember any trouble with the jumping puzzles, even later in the game.

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!
I actually had fun platforming in the mines. Maybe I just found a rhythm for it. Learning how not to skid using analog stick movement really helps here (if you only had the basic PSX controller's D-pad, you had to deal with it).

The spot where the Antidote Worms fall down constantly is great for grinding. Just stand in the right place and mash away.

Zeikier
Jan 26, 2010

"This woman...she's killed before, and not just once..."


I think the worst platforming section is the bone swings in Twinpeak. The hitbox on that is wonky as all hell and you can't just hold to the right to catch the next one. It's manageable, but still awkward.

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow
Is my problem really that I play with the d-pad instead of analog sticks?

How Ingratiating!
Sep 7, 2011

Infinite ammo vs. CYBER PUNCH!!

Star Man posted:

Is my problem really that I play with the d-pad instead of analog sticks?
With the D-pad, you can't start running at full speed right away (when dust clouds come off Musashi's feet), and letting go of the direction while running always results in a skid. With an analog stick, Musashi can dash right away and stop on a dime.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Zeikier
Jan 26, 2010

"This woman...she's killed before, and not just once..."


Star Man posted:

Is my problem really that I play with the d-pad instead of analog sticks?

I did my most recent run a few weeks ago with the keyboard. It's actually more feasible than you'd think, even with a 3-key-hold restriction!

Zeikier fucked around with this message at 20:35 on May 7, 2014

  • Locked thread