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Artix posted:More or less, although FF13's weapons have a lot less statistical variance in their base forms. Oh yeah, FF13 just had Strength and Magic, right? That was weird.
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Dec 22, 2016 01:59
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So Aeterna seems to know what's going on, and implies the party's been here before, maybe via time loop? That's not the worst revelation; isn't there a whole genre of enemies that imply some kind of time magic was involved in there creation? Setsuna, probably due to her magic-sensitivity/sacrificiness, is now getting some bleeding effect from other loops. Do time loops happen to other sacrifices? I'd also guess that there's a choice involved and events repeat if the right choice isn't made. Maybe one individual loop repeats dozens of times before the correct decision is made, Time fuckery isn't the worst plot hole if done right, it's just that not a lot of games or other media do them right. I've been struggling to remember what this game thematically reminded me of besides Chrono Trigger, but does anyone remember Radiant Historia? drat that was a good rpg. Mundetiam fucked around with this message at 11:18 on Dec 22, 2016 |
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Dec 22, 2016 11:11
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Mundetiam posted:I've been struggling to remember what this game thematically reminded me of besides Chrono Trigger, but does anyone remember Radiant Historia? drat that was a good rpg. Stocke was one of the few JRPG protagonists I didn't want to violently throttle midway through the game.
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Dec 22, 2016 11:28
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Solitair posted:Oh yeah, FF13 just had Strength and Magic, right? That was weird. The idea was that you pick the stat distributions and abilities you want and then just upgrade that into your own Ultima weapon. The problem being that it required lots of materials grinding and it was easier to just use a weapon that came in at a higher stat threshold.
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Dec 22, 2016 17:52
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Materant posted:Stocke was one of the few JRPG protagonists I didn't want to violently throttle midway through the game. I will keep bringing up Yuri from Vesperia until I am dust I gotta play Radiant Historia one of these days
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Dec 22, 2016 23:37
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Part XL: Rock the Dragon.jpg) Welp. Should have seen this coming eventually. The hell do you want, Reaper? Even the eternal mid-boss Ramsus in Xenogears got something resembling a victory in any of his encounters. You’ve gotten punked three times now and the closest you came to success was Setsuna getting injured by a magic engine you just happened to be standing next to like a dipshit.  Music: The Last Mountain .jpg)  Ugh... *sigh* ...Again? I did not expect to find you here. You know... in retrospective... this idiot can teleport, huh? Obviously. And we had him at our mercy at one point and just let him go. Like dumbasses... *frowns* And then there was the whole floating island thing... You know, if we’d known about that earlier we probably could have just tied this dumbass up when we had the chance and had him warp us here, instead of wasting the last couple of weeks spent rallying supplies to make a catapult or finding an airship. What would we do, Endir? Just take turns riding this guy to the Last Lands? And what’s wrong with that? It’d be better than another frikkin’ fight... Ahem... *rolls eyes* Let’s just get this over with...The party approaches the frozen throne. .jpg) Who is your master? Howabout you just point us in the direction of him, so we can kick his rear end too. You can just walk away, man. Frankly, it’s probably a more productive solution for everyone involved. There is no need for you to know that... Soon you will be dead... *jerking off motion* Uh-huh.Reaper teleports off the throne to... three feet in front of the throne... .jpg) Why do you not fear total destruction? Why do you fight a battle with no future? *shakes head* I have no need... for the future... for life... To fulfill my mission... is the only purpose of my existence... This battle is inevitable... I will destroy you... *turns to Setsuna* Setsuna... was it...? It is time... to fulfill my promise... I shall kill you... last of all....jpg) C’mon! Just try it, dammit! Is that... a tree trunk...? That’s right. This old man is going to bash your brains in with a tree trunk. Ain’t that right, Nidr? Mhm! drat straight! Nidr, calm down. If we talk to him, I’m sure we can get through to him... Of course we can’t! Nothin’s getting’ through to this guy! Right, Endir!? Probably not... Besides, I kinda wanna see how deep the vanished land is by punting this dingus’s head off the side of the island. See, Setsuna? Endir... Hey, I was fully against letting this guy live last time and turns out— He is right... See! Even gothic lunatic knows the score. *extends arms* Nothing will change my mind... Nothing will make me stop... Setsuna... I can understand your wish to avoid combat. ...... But let me say this... In order to accomplish your mission as sacrifice... We have no choice but to leave this man’s corpse behind us. If you lose your life now, this entire journey shall amount to nothing. *shakes head* But... *draws his scythe* One of us... will be destroyed... That is our destiny....jpg) Diplomacy has failed! Everyone but Setsuna is instantly ready to throw down... .jpg) ...And even Setsuna shortly yields to the tides of war and draws her chakrams, instantly impaling both Aeterna and Julienne in the chest by mistake with their eight foot wingspan. .jpg) This... can’t be... happening... *flips hair and teleports forward* Descendant of the sacrifice... Guardian of the people...Music: Dance of Death .jpg) Time for the final battle against Reaper. Spoilers. I mean, we’re in the final region of the game. It kind of has to be the final battle against the reoccurring boss character. Reaper has been grinding since our last encounter and is now sporting a somewhat sizable 2260 HP. He’s also ditched all of his previous attacks in favor of newer varieties. .jpg) Reaper’s new primary attack is Black Hole which is... kind of just a gussied up version of Demi with a flashier animation. It has the same effect of drawing all party members close together so subsequent AOE attacks will hit everyone. And there’s kind of dick to be done about that if you don’t have attacks that alter character position (Setsuna has absolutely none ever and Nidr has a couple tied to really useless Techs.) .jpg) .jpg) Cursed Slash is Reaper’s new physical attack of choice. The damage is comparable to Black Hole, but it will only hit two out of our three party members, tops. Most annoyingly, it can inflict Sap just as a dick move. Reaper is all about the petty dick moves. .jpg) Our first order of business in this fight is using Blowbeat. Though not for the usual locking down with Paralysis/Stun like many bosses. Reaper and higher level enemies have been shrugging that off fairly well for a while. No, what we’re hoping for is the much more easy to inflict Confusion. As a refresher, Confusion in IAS makes it so AOE magic attacks will also hurt the one casting ‘em (and their allies.) So in Reaper’s case, he’ll start doing 100-150+ HP of damage to himself every time he attacks. Which is about as much as we’d do with most of Endir or Nidr’s single techs. So that ain’t too shabby! .jpg) Setsuna is completely on healing duty every turn with Cure II. We really don’t want our party to fall below around 250 HP for the first half of the battle, since a good critical from Black Hole could be some real trouble. .jpg) After Reaper’s HP drops below around 33% health, he’ll start giving up on the other attacks and begin casting Dark Matter. Which was Magus’ ultimate shadow magic spell in Chrono Trigger. It’s not quite as impressive here, as it only targets a single party member despite the screen filling special effects. It does, however, do about 400+ HP of damage and will almost certainly one-shot whoever has it cast on ‘em. I had a fun time of musical chairs of someone being dead, someone reviving them, and the third person actually attacking Reaper for a good half dozen turns. .jpg) .jpg) But even with that, it’s a pretty easy rhythm to keep the party in check long enough to style on this dipshit for a fourth time. .jpg) Unfortunately, we’re granted no experience for that battle. For you see, given this is Reaper’s final battle, it wouldn't be right to send him off without a second form... Music: The Last Mountain .jpg) Following the battle, Reaper pops right back up like he has for every other encounter. But he doesn’t seem to be taking his latest defeat as well as he previously had. Indeed, he seems as though he’s been kinda in some bad shape this go around. .jpg) That trailer for the Tom Cruise remake of The Mummy with the hosed up audio is the funniest goddamn thing to me and I’m reading this scream with that same long Tom Cruise yelp from it.   What!? What on earth is happening!? This doesn’t look good! What’s going on!? A tremendous amount of magical energy is flowing into him! That master of his... Is this his doin’!? Hey, folks... Let’s just back up in case he like... explodes everywhere. I don’t know about you guys but uhh... I don’t want to be picking this guy’s gibs out of my mask....jpg) Everyone backs the hell up. I might have wiped on my first attempt at this battle and the second attempt... well... Julienne and Kir took the backing up business a LITTLE too far... Observe below! .jpg) ...Yeah. Kir and Julienne aren’t supposed to be clipping through the geometry. They usually don’t! But I’m happy it happened and I could capture it. .jpg) So is he gonna like just turn purple and yell a bunch? ...Was that what I was doing? You swore a bunch and growled. That was... mostly it. Oh... Well...Music: Deadly Gamble .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Yeah, so Reaper is a dragon now. Sure... Yeah, sure... Why not? Cool... .jpg) Setsuna, do you wanna have a civil discussion with this thing, too? *frown* Alright, alright... Maybe we cannot talk about this...Music: Dance of Death .jpg) Meet the Dysphormic Monster aka a goddamn dragon! But... it’s still Reaper. This is not at all as threatening a boss battle as Rhydderch or Burly Cheetahman whose name escapes me. He comes packing 4521 HP to the party. The immediate biggest threat is right at the beginning of the battle: we didn’t get a chance to heal between fights and our party is almost definitely in rough shape! .jpg) .jpg) I’m going to immediately commit a JRPG player taboo and use a Megalixir to fully restore the entire party’s HP/MP and get us out of this pickle. B-but what if we NEED IT later, the people say in a hushed tone! Hi, hello. I’ve played this entire game before. This is the one time you absolutely need this immediately in the entire game because this is one of like two times there’s ever anything approaching a boss rush. .jpg) .jpg) Once more, Blowbeat is an essential part of our arsenal just for the Confusion status. Since this idiot dragon will spend most of the battle tripping over its own feet, burning its tongue on fire, and dropping black holes on its feet like a dingus. .jpg) .jpg) The black hole Reaper previously had is replaced by just a standard Demi spell. It does just about the same amount of magic and effect in battle. Just none of the bluster pretending it’s another attack. .jpg) Dragonic Tail is exactly what you’d expect a big dumb dragon to do. It spins around. Everyone gets hit by its tail. It hurts WAY more than you’d expect! But, with that confusion the moron dragon Reaper will also bean itself for 75 HP of damage. I like to think it bangs its tail on the sides of the room like a stupid moron. .jpg) .jpg) Given how all of the attacks here are full party damage, and for quite a bit of it, Setsuna is on full time healing duty every turn. Nidr and Endir are doing the work dealing damage and lobbing Ethers at Setsuna occasionally to keep everyone alive. .jpg) Once Dragon Reaper falls below 50% damage he actually starts using the signature attack of a dragon: Dragonic Rage aka breathing fire. Somehow vomiting dark flames all over the party hurts far less than the dragon just doing a tail spin. Yet it hurts his confused dumbass far more since it’s technically a multiple hit encounter. .jpg) .jpg) The Dysphormic Monster also silently gets a buff to power up his Demi to the next level. Which does just about the same amount of damage as the fire breath. How do you have a dragon and make its fire breath the most meh attack in its arsenal? I am calling the fantasy RPG cops, there is a crime being committed in this battle. .jpg) As long as the party survives the opening round of the attack, I feel like the dragon portion of the Reaper battle is easier than his human form. If only because he isn’t guaranteed to one-shot a party member every turn towards the end of the fight. Though we do have to be careful when finishing off the Dysphormic Monster. .jpg) Reaper is a sore loser and will perform Dragnarok... (UGH!) damaging the entire party for 200-250 HP of damage before he keels over. No warning for that and an unexpected critical attack can easily take off 400 HP of damage while Setsuna is in the middle of casting Cure. Not that I got a party wipe from that or anything. No sir! .jpg) .jpg) Welp. That’s a wrap for Reaper. I wish I had more strategy for the final battle against the one major reoccurring villain but nope... You just kind of stay healed and beat it with Nidr’s tree trunk. Frankly, it’s a fitting end to Reaper’s arc. .jpg) Following its defeat, the Dysphormic Monster charges up one last time and morphs back into tryhard goth boy form. Music: The Lone Reaper .jpg) I was created... to destroy... the sacrifice... This is... my only mission... My only reason... for living... I have no heart... Then... why are you crying? *shakes head* I do not know... Cuz we whooped his rear end? *glares back at Endir* Are these your emotions? Or are they the emotions of your master who created you? *shakes head* They are not mine... But... My eyes are for my master to see... My ears, for my master to hear... So your master feels everything you feel... And you feel everything he does... Cool, he knows the rear end kicking he’s gonna get later. *glares* Could you not? Is that it? So those tears... are your master’s tears? *shakes head* I do not know... But... if they are... Then I wish I could have seen this world... for a little longer... This beautiful world... of falling snow... *looks up* I wish I could have seen it... for my master... Ha. RIP!.jpg) We had to defeat him, for the sake of our mission. Nidr is correct. We still have a mission to fulfill. And let’s be real here. I know you’re all better future for everyone song and dance but... F that guy! *jumps* Yeah, gently caress that guy! Hey! Have some respect for the dead. ...? Let us continue onwards, Setsuna. *stands up and nods* So he was created, too... Created to fulfill a mission... Aeterna... Talk about having buyer’s remorse... ...Endir..jpg) There’s nothing to be done with this sweet looking frozen throne. You’d think Julienne at least would have some interest in it. But nah... Luckily, Reaper left behind a portal to the shadow realm before he died. Let’s check that out. .jpg) It’s like a hidden entrance... Are we close now, then? Yes, not long now....jpg) C’mon, Aeterna... I think it’s time you started givin’ us some answers. What is it you’re tryin’ to do, exactly? Nidr... Yeah... I’m actually gonna agree here, what’s your deal? Same. What’s up, lady? You have run out of mysterious origins dodging time here. All right... I’ll tell you everything. Pfft. Typic—wait what? ! All right, then... Let’s hear it! ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...Are you for goddamn real?!.jpg) Welp... Tune in next time when we enter the final dungeon and maybe Aeterna will actually explain what the hell is going on with her and all the information she clearly is withholding from the party. Or maybe she’ll just gently caress off and say nothing again! Who knows! The march to finish I Am Setsuna continues... The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Dec 23, 2016 |
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Dec 23, 2016 00:10
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I scared my cats laughing out loud at the F that guy line. Well played.
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Dec 23, 2016 00:24
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Dammit Aeterna. You better have something awesome to tell us with all this annoying-rear end secrecy.
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Dec 23, 2016 00:35
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Waiiiit a second....jpg) Hmmmmm Oh!  gently caress off IAS.
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Dec 23, 2016 01:08
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Rigged Death Trap posted:Waiiiit a second... Come now, are you really surprised THIS late into the game?
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Dec 23, 2016 01:17
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Huh, so that clipping bug must be more common than I thought, it happened to me too.
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Dec 23, 2016 01:28
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Rigged Death Trap posted:Waiiiit a second... Shame we didn't get a chance to not fight him and have him join up. But it's probably for the best. The dev team would've had to come up with a plausible reason for him to not fight us, and given that the team's own reason for not fighting him would've been "Because Setsuna doesn't want to despite any protests from the rest of the team or the player", plausible reasoning is clearly something foreign to them. But Aeterna agreeing to finally tell you everything and then just fading out is freaking hilarious.
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Dec 23, 2016 01:59
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I still think that there is no goddamn way that this idiot does not join our party, and like Mangus he will be borderline useless to boot.
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Dec 23, 2016 02:23
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Agreed that Aeterna's fade out had some pretty great comic timing, even if I don't get why the developers put it off again after saying otherwise. Maybe they just wanted a new background for the next exposition round, since this one was for Reaper stuff.The Dark Id posted:You’re gotten punked three times now
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Dec 23, 2016 02:29
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I like to think Aeterna's like "I'll tell you...if you can catch me! Suck it, nerds"
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Dec 23, 2016 02:30
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I appreciated the Eternal Darkness reference. That was a good game. I assume Aeterna's fadeout is because she's about to fade in as some kind of monster (Aeterna pengy reskin?), but just peacing out again would be hilarious.
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Dec 23, 2016 04:21
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Qrr posted:I appreciated the Eternal Darkness reference. That was a good game. Actually, if you looked closer you'd notice that Julienne and Kir also faded away. It wasn't a case of Aeterna disappearing again, it was just the game giving TDI control again.
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Dec 23, 2016 04:27
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... I actually smiled a little at the Dragnarok pun.
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Dec 23, 2016 05:46
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I think Reaper's dad/master/clone is gonna show up to turn into a dragon only to be beaten and reveal that the dragon is just an illusion whereafter he begs for forgiveness like Doctor Willy or some poo poo. That Mummy trailer audio gently caress up is pretty loving hilarious. Glad to find enjoyment in a trailer for a movie I'll probably never watch.
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Dec 23, 2016 05:46
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Solitair posted:... I actually smiled a little at the Dragnarok pun. It and the Deermon are the best enemies in the game.
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Dec 23, 2016 05:51
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Okay, I know this is a budget title and all, but man, each and every track just HAD to be pianos, huh? Maybe in the next game, they could just have bass guitar for everything sad, happy, whimsical and serious.
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Dec 23, 2016 07:08
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HR12345 posted:Okay, I know this is a budget title and all, but man, each and every track just HAD to be pianos, huh? Maybe in the next game, they could just have bass guitar for everything sad, happy, whimsical and serious. Once they had that theme going there was little point in breaking it. And it did give us the part of Deadly Gamble that sounds like the player is slamming his head against the keys.
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Dec 23, 2016 07:20
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HR12345 posted:Okay, I know this is a budget title and all, but man, each and every track just HAD to be pianos, huh? Maybe in the next game, they could just have bass guitar for everything sad, happy, whimsical and serious. The budget wasn't why it was all piano. Music is one of cheapest in terms of game production. They went for a gimmick and stuck by it.
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Dec 23, 2016 10:04
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I feel incredibly slow for just realizing that Reaper is a Magus expy. Minus the interesting characterization, though.
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Dec 23, 2016 15:23
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Somehow the non-playable characters' fading from existence has been the funniest thing in this game.
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Dec 23, 2016 16:28
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Hah, wow. Dragnarok. 
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Dec 23, 2016 18:38
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Part XLI: Aeterna Explains It All New Music: Final Push  Welcome to the final dungeon of I am Setsuna: The Frozen Land. Yeah it is... the void ruins dungeon template but with a sepia color filter over the tileset...  There isn’t a whole lot to this dungeon. The real highlight is every floor of it, Aeterna is going to briefly take a minute to finally explain the end game plot to the rest of her companions. Which is nice considering if you really gunned it, there’s like an hour and change of the game left. .jpg) It’s there in order to contain an unimaginable vast power that lies sleeping here. A vast power...? *nods* That’s right. A horrific beast known as the Dark Samsara lies sleeping here in the Last Lands. The Dark Samsara... The big baddie behind everything is named ...Dark Sam? Dark Samsara. Dark Sara is not any better! Dark... S-A-M-S-A-R-A. It’s one word. Darksamsara? *sigh* Close enough. *shakes head* It is a creature that was created over a thousand years ago, by foolhardy humans... Why? Hmm? ...Why was this Dark Samsara created? That’s a very good question... *fades away into the non-cutscene zone* .......jpg) .jpg) The first floor of this dungeon is home to Greater Deermon and a new upgrade to the Megaten boys, the Peacockiel (the previous standardized enemy version was the Heroniel. Notice a theme?) They’re just stronger. More lighting junk out of the man-deer. More full party buffs with the Megaten lads to make battles take longer if Grand Cross wasn’t instantly turning them all into paste. .jpg) There’s also an upgraded reskin of the Dinotarus: the Dinotaurus Magnus! They still explode into a Meteo spell upon death and that’s still a big dick move. These guys require a Grand Cross AND a follow-up Tech to down. Fearsome beasts up in here. .jpg) Anyway, there’s no loot of note on the first floor. So let’s grab a portal up (down?) to the next floor and some more Aeterna exposition. .jpg) Then the power that dwells here... is indeed my kingdom’s nemesis... Even now, as it sleeps, its unimaginable magical energy continues to wreak havoc... It is what brings the monsters into this world, and it is what will bring about this world’s end... So it’s got a real thing for penguins, huh? What’s up with that? Penguins are cute. ...... That’s not an explanation. Isn’t it? ...NO!! So y’mean... this thing’s been livin’ here all this time? *nods* That’s right... The Dark Samsara lives on even now. *sweats* You said it was sleeping, right? If it creates monsters while it’s sleeping, what’s gonna happen when it wakes up!? Will the barriers hold up!? The barrier is still maintained today by the guardian who first created it... And who’s that...? Well... *fades away out of cutscene* Oh, c’mon!.jpg) .jpg) Yeah, there’s some slight switch flipping on this floor. Uhh... that’s it. We got some Megalixirs, I think. Maybe some weapon upgrade material... And like ten battles in-between. Indeed, assume I’ve skipped 8-10 fights on every floor. It is the final dungeon. .jpg) So that’s my duty... The energy and life force given by the sacrifices is what helps contain the creature. This has continued for a thousand years... But we are reaching the limits of what can be done. The evil magical energy seeping through the barrier is already causing the monsters to change... The last few penguins we’ve seen have been outright ugly. These are dark times... *nods* We have little time left. .jpg) The third floor has the strongest of the mushroom apes outside the Spritnite eaten variety (which we met literally right after or potentially before any previous mushroom ape.) They have even stinkier breath! Who’d a thunk! .jpg) .jpg) There’s also a new weapon for Endir in the form of the Timeforger. It’s kind of gaudy looking, if you ask me. Like some kind of accessory you’d find on a bargain bin He-Man knock-off. And it has increased SP gain while attacking versus more often and harder hitting criticals of the Rainbow sword. I think we’ll stick with what we’ve got already. .jpg) Onward to the next floor! .jpg) *nods* That’s why we needed a new solution... A last hope for the future... And so, we needed to reach that solution, no matter how many times that meant repeating this... Repeatin’ what...? *fades out of cutscene* Hey wa—.jpg) .jpg) They crammed reskins of Deermon (upgraded to the Arch Deermon) and the Persona expat angels (dubbed the Condoriel.) I did not give a one of these things the time of day. We’re all out of coal for these baddies, but Grand Crosses for everyone will have to do. .jpg) .jpg) This floor’s only noteworthy loot is Frog Squash, a new command Spritnite for Aeterna. It is...  ...exactly what you’d expect it to be. Do you remember Chrono Trigger?! DO YOU REMEMBER CHRONO TRIGGER?! DO YOU!? DOOOO YOUUUUUU?!?!?! .jpg) That’s it for the final floor of trash mobs in I Am Setsuna. Yep... we saw the last new enemy type about ten minutes into the first area of The Last Lands. .jpg) I’ve been waiting for all of you....jpg) This here is the last save point of the game. We’ll get a few chances to use it. But there are no further save points past this one. Just a note. .jpg) .jpg) Anyway, there’s a floating platform in front of a gigantic ball of yarn with a glowing cloaked figure hanging out in the center of it. This better not be some Time Lord Catgirl... Music: Faith .jpg) Hey. Sup, Old Aeterna. Took a few fashion lessons from Lady Yunalesca and her stripper mage design catalog, huh? .jpg) What!? Why’s there a fake Aeterna here!? *draws log* What is it, a monster!? W-Where’s its pants?!.jpg) The rest of the party is startled about the lack of pants present on this new character and draws their weapons as well. I guess Setsuna has completely gotten over the diplomacy phase of dealing with human enemies after acing Reaper. .jpg) *shakes head* Put away your weapons. She’s no foe. *sweats* Really!? You sure it’s all right? We can trust you, right? Right? *nods* I think if she was gonna backstab us, she’d do it before the evil doppelganger reveal... ...That makes sense, but... I mean, that’s what I’d do. But in my case it’d probably involve pulling out an even eviler looking mask and putting it on. ...... Man... I’m SO doing that the next double-agent ambush job I get. ......Everyone puts their weapons away. Aeterna walks up beside her mystery double. .jpg) Her clone...? Aha! That’s your deal! I knew it! ...No you didn’t, Endir. ...... Okay, no... But, being fair... how could I guess you were the clone of uhh... Who were you again...? *nods* I created Aeterna using my magical energy. What does she mean, a clone? Did you just poop out your younger self at some point...? Is she like your daughter-clone? Cuz I’ve heard someone try that before and it ended uhh... weird. What’s YOUR deal? Who are you? I am the Time Judge... I no longer recall my human name..jpg) Aeterna said the Dark Samuel thing was created a thousand years ago. Time Immemorial just means a very long time ago. Which 1000 years most certainly qualifies. Please stop interrupting my mom, Endir... Fiiiiiiine. ...As I was saying. I am unable to leave here. That is why I created Aeterna... To move around the outside world on my behalf. Aeterna’s role is bringing the sacrifice, Setsuna, here. *nods* That role has now been fulfilled. I came here intending to pass on my magical energy and life force to you. I-I think...? The sacrifice instructions began and ended at using chakrams and going to The Last Lands... *shakes head and looks down* But... if that won’t change anything... Then I want to change the future myself. I want there to be a future where families and friends can live together, and laugh together... *nods* Then let us change it, Setsuna. Yeah, I know I’m being unrealistic and naïve about what can be do—wait...? Huh...? You are special, Setsuna. You are able to choose your destiny. You, Setsuna, are our last hope for a new future. *nods* It is exactly as she said... It is exactly as Mana said... She saw hope in you... And she was right. ? Mom did...? I believed her, and watched over this last glint of hope... I have watched you grow, and learn... Thanks to you, I am now ready to stake everything on one other option... Or at least Aeterna watched you and I did by proxy. I am sort of stuck here....jpg) We shall destroy it completely. Destroy it completely...? Why didn’t you just do that in the first place, then? If you fail, this land and all life in it will be destroyed. The decision to attempt such a fearsome battle cannot be made lightly. Couldn’t you have raised an army? I mean... I’ve been carrying this party and everything. But even with me, we’re still just six people... I’m afraid not that would not work. Why? It is a complicated matter. Try me. No. ...No? The conversation has moved on. The matter cannot be dealt with so lightly. ...... Yeah, anyone’d get nervous if they had a decision like that weighing down on them... *nods* But now you must make your choice... To pass on your magical energy and life force to me as sacrifice... or to destroy the Dark Samsara... Which shall you choose? *looks down* ...... *turns to the party and nods* My mind is already made up. I want to know what the others think, though....jpg) By “the others”, Setsuna of course just means Endir. And we’re given a dialogue option here of just going along with the sacrifice or going with the fight the final boss plan. Unsurprisingly, this is a completely false choice. Setsuna will briefly consider doing the sacrifice and then go “nah gently caress that noise” a moment later. So let’s just go with “Destroy the Dark Samsara” like the narrative wants. .jpg) Pfft. Just because you put “dark” at the end of a dopey name like that, doesn’t make it impressive. Let’s kick this thing in the dick. ...Does it have a dick? Whatever. We’ll work out the genitals to kick it in later. Besides, if time just loops at the end of this job... I don't get paid. ...... Wait ...But if we beat this Dark Sammy I... don't fulfill my job and do not... get paid... ...... ...... ...... GODDAMMIT! I am getting stiffed on this job either way, aren't I?! I cannot believe I have been TIME SCREWED out of a paycheck after all of this garbage. Son of a BITCH! *puffs up* We might as well, right? After all this, you really think we’re gonna chicken out now? If there is a chance to break this vicious cycle, then we must seize that chance. For the sake of my people, I too shall end you my strength. *leans over to Time Judge* Should I interject my support here? That seems inappropriate. *nods* Thank you... all of you... I feel the same way, too. I want to change things... and to do so, I must fight. Everyone all right with that? *turns to Aeterna and nods* .jpg) “Finally”? “This time”? Look, all that stuff about things repeatin’, or whatever it was... It took us a long time to get this far... Enough with the riddles, eh? I have given you this choice many times before. To defeat our foe, and bring the world into the future... Or to avoid battle, and leave the situation unchanged... Up until now, you have always chosen to avoid battle. What the hell, guys? Weak... But each time, the outcome was always the same... one of destruction... And each time, I once again wound back time..jpg) Sound clock winding SFX. .jpg) Space Time... Spritnite...? *nods* That’s right... Since... when was that... a thing...? Time immemorial. ...Right..jpg) Although, I’m sure none of you remember, of course... What!? I don’t remember a thing! Yes... because time reset to before we ever met. I’ve just been aware of every loop. Oh... Well... how does that...? *sigh* This is the 62nd time you’ve gotten confused about how time loops work. ...... I’m gonna shut up now... Each time, we chose to evade combat, and each time, time was wound back once again... Does that not mean this world does not move toward the future? Yes... this world constantly repeats the same period of time... That is true. When time is wound back, no one retains their memories. Except for me, the user of the spritnite... and except for Aeterna. But very rarely, it seems distortions can occur, causing others to also retain their memories. That is likely the cause of your dream, Setsuna... the cause of your sense of déjà vu. How far is time wound back? Is it like the beginning of Setsuna’s journey? Have I been stuck traveling to the same Podunk town and getting blindsided in a cutscene all this time. No, actually... Hm?.jpg) I continued to wind back time to that point, over and over again. Each time, though, the events that followed unfolded in more or less the same way. *nods* However... this journey has been different. The rapidly changing monsters... the Vanished Land... the appearance of the Reaper... Sounds like this time loop go is a real bummer. And most unexpectedly of all... Endir’s appearance. Wait, what...? *nods* None of those things ever happened once before... Not once. *blink* So... erm... Really turning it around this time loop, huh? This is a helluva lot to take in all of a sudden... and we’ve got no way of knowin’ if it’s true or not... So this means... You’ve seen lots of different versions of us, right, Aeterna? Yes... You were all different each time, though only slightly. Shall I tell you about the other Kirs...? *sweats and rapidly shakes head* NO THANKS! I don’t wanna know! Honestly, a large chunk of them died. It wouldn’t be too long to relate. W-Wha...? Didn’t you say I’d gotten confused about time loops or whatever a bunch? *nods* Yes. 62 times. There have been loops WELL into the three digits range... Hah. RIP! Julienne’s monster blood... situation evolved a great number of loops and she became a mildly difficult boss encounter a great deal of attempts at this. Killing Kir in quite a few of those time loops, actually... *nervously glances at Julienne* *blank unimpressed stare* Setsuna was... well... Setsuna, usually. Nidr sometimes had a mullet and a soul patch. Pfft. Hahaha! *glares* When I think of these thousand years that you’ve lived alone, it makes my heart ache... Thank you... but I am fine. I have simply lived for a little too long. And anyway... My role shall soon end... ...Huh? *nods* I want you to show me proof...Music: Endir’s Theme .jpg) Proof that you have surpassed me... But... you can’t... If you cannot defeat me and I kill you all here, I can... just reset time and try again. I absolutely can do this. Well... yes, but... I must thank you. Starting with the appearance of Endir, many changes have come to pass. These changes appear to have also affected me... I got that way with the ladies. *turns to Aeterna* Well, if this doesn’t actually change anything, at least we’ll have someone new to poo poo talk for the next loop. ...Wait. You guys two talk mess about us between time loops? Yes. *nods* I have just... remembered something... ...Huh? I have remember my own name... and the name of the person I once loved... Although, of course... this was a thousand long years ago... OK...? *nods* I am glad to have met all of you... Then come with us! No, Setsuna... You must face me! You must fulfill your role! And I... I must fulfill my role...Tune in next time when we throw down with the The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Dec 24, 2016 |
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Dec 24, 2016 01:10
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Ah yes, the old tried and true "fight me for reasons" gambit.
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Dec 24, 2016 01:39
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So at what point will "wait poo poo what happens if they kill me and still lose" cross her mind? This is poorly thought out.
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Dec 24, 2016 01:44
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Testing our strength seems... ill advised on the Time Judge's part. What happens if we kill her and it turns out we can't do poo poo against the Dark Sim Salabim? Who's gonna turn back time and give the world another shot then? I guess the implication is that if the party fails, the world will be destroyed so quickly and totally that she wouldn't be able to reverse it anyway, so getting herself killed doesn't actually raise the stakes?
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Dec 24, 2016 01:46
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Materant posted:So at what point will "wait poo poo what happens if they kill me and still lose" cross her mind? This is poorly thought out. That was the point of "if you fail this land will be destroyed". If you don't fight the dark Sammy then time loops again, if you do then you better win or else you lose forever. Or until you reload your save, whichever comes first. For the line "Although, I’m sure none of you remember, of course...", there's Setsuna's face instead of Aeterna's, by the way. Also even though the game "but thou musts" you into fighting this time around, it feels kind of out of character for this Endir to go straight there. After all, if they beat the boss then Setsuna doesn't die and Endir doesn't get paid. I mean, I guess he could kill her after they beat the boss but that would be way harder.
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Dec 24, 2016 01:48
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lol what do you want to bet that you don't get a full heal between this and the next boss fight
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Dec 24, 2016 01:53
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Ah, so Endir's name is a pun. He's the "ender" of the cycle because his presence is what allows the time loop to diverge enough for the outcome to change.
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Dec 24, 2016 02:02
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So, wild guess here...Is Nidr going to end up being TJ's long lost love somehow?
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Dec 24, 2016 02:05
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I will be immensely disappointed if the Dark Samsara is not a giant eldritch Penguin-Dragon-Bear with wings made of bees and a tiny crown. 
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Dec 24, 2016 02:24
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Glazius posted:Ah yes, the old tried and true "fight me for reasons" gambit. The seal probably's a deadman's switch, it only goes down with her dead. So either they kill her, or wait around for her to die. "No, Setsuna... You must face me! You must fulfill your role!" is a lot more appropriate than "Grab that pillow over there and shove it on my face." Especially since the only thing that makes sense on beating the Sealed Evil is someone who can beat the tar out of the person sealing the evil. That being said, Aeternia probably should have grabbed a substitute sacrifice to top off her mom so they could fight her True Form and know for sure they really have a chance.
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Dec 24, 2016 02:49
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So, that would make Reaper Darksamsara's equivalent to Aeterna. He mentioned his master seeing through his eyes, which sounds like what Time Judge does with Aeterna.
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Dec 24, 2016 02:53
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quote:Yes... this world constantly repeats the same period of time... That is true. When time is wound back, no one retains their memories. Except for me, the user of the spritnite... and except for Aeterna. But very rarely, it seems distortions can occur, causing others to also retain their memories. That is likely the cause of your dream, Setsuna... the cause of your sense of déjà vu. So we're in a rebirth loop until we defeat Samsara. Just a little on the nose there, I am Setsuna. wikipedia posted:In Hinduism, Saṃsāra is a journey of the soul. The body dies, assert the Hindu traditions, but not the soul which it assumes to be the eternal reality, indestructible and bliss. Everything and all existence is connected, cyclical and composed of two things, the soul and the body or matter. This eternal soul called Atman never reincarnates, it does not change and cannot change in the Hindu belief. In contrast, the body and personality, can change, constantly changes, is born and dies. hey girl you up fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Dec 24, 2016 |
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Dec 24, 2016 03:11
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MachuPikacchu posted:So, that would make Reaper Darksamsara's equivalent to Aeterna. He mentioned his master seeing through his eyes, which sounds like what Time Judge does with Aeterna. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that dark samsara is the old king and the TJ is the old queen.
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Dec 24, 2016 03:19
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| # ? Apr 29, 2024 02:46 |
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It's right there in the title, the Time Judge is Setsuna.
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Dec 24, 2016 03:19
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