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The Japanese OP for Graces is good because the lyrics continue to bludgeon you with the game’s theme, but the English version is just kind of generic. It doesn’t feel like Graces if every other word isn’t “protect.”
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Jan 23, 2018 15:48
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 12:33 |
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Actias posted:The Japanese OP for Graces is good because the lyrics continue to bludgeon you with the game’s theme, but the English version is just kind of generic. It doesn’t feel like Graces if every other word isn’t “protect.” Basically every instance of "protect" is replaced with "our love." Endorph posted:zestiria honestly kind of had a bad ost in that it felt like every now and then someone would slide in a song from a legendia 2 that never existed or something. the two composers weren't exactly collaborating coherently, they just did their own thing and it got stitched together. It kind of owned because the Shiina songs popped and made things they were on way more dramatic. It apparently takes Go Shiina 100 years to make a track so I've always thought how it handled the soundtrack, laying a workhorse Sakuraba foundation and highlighting big segments with Shiina bombast, is a good model. I just wish they'd do it in a game where the Shiina tracks aren't a recurring rear end in a top hat miniboss and act 2 filler dungeons.
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Jan 23, 2018 17:58
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The Shadow dungeon did not live up to the hype. I think I'd rather do it again than Volt's, and it still doesn't hold a candle to Sylph's in terms of sheer spite. I'm not saying it was good but it wasn't that bad by Symphonia standards.
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Jan 24, 2018 04:10
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my experience is colored by the fact that the entire loving time the stupid loving shadows would not just loving follow me and kept getting stuck on everything
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Jan 24, 2018 06:56
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Pretend ("pretend") I'm a moron who's playing berseria with months between each sessions, I just started doing three quests to get some help from a shadow guild, and every random battle I'm getting into has these assholes with two invincible mooks show up and who beats the poo poo out of me. How do I beat them? Like, what's the best strategy here? Even if i build a combo cycle that targets the big bosses weak point (Beast / Fire / fiend vulnerability) my dudes just get stunned in a single hit, then two invincimooks destroy them. Can't stun em, can't outdamage them, I'm at a loss for what to do.
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Jan 24, 2018 07:24
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Last Celebration posted:Berseria is pretty much one of the best JRPGs of last year, and has the best comprise between story and gameplay of the modern localized series, you really can’t go wrong. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Def worth a checkout.
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Jan 24, 2018 07:28
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tithin posted:Pretend ("pretend") I'm a moron who's playing berseria with months between each sessions, I just started doing three quests to get some help from a shadow guild, and every random battle I'm getting into has these assholes with two invincible mooks show up and who beats the poo poo out of me. Run away I guess. You are just supposed to beat down the boss and ignore the invincible adds.
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Jan 24, 2018 07:29
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tithin posted:Pretend ("pretend") I'm a moron who's playing berseria with months between each sessions, I just started doing three quests to get some help from a shadow guild, and every random battle I'm getting into has these assholes with two invincible mooks show up and who beats the poo poo out of me. Consume. Or flee. I'm pretty sure it resets whatever invisible Grade counter triggers the wandering monster.
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Jan 24, 2018 07:29
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tithin posted:Pretend ("pretend") I'm a moron who's playing berseria with months between each sessions, I just started doing three quests to get some help from a shadow guild, and every random battle I'm getting into has these assholes with two invincible mooks show up and who beats the poo poo out of me. If you can't beat a dire foe, you can just run away from them. I'd especially run if the invincible mooks are badgers or snakes or some other low-soul enemy since the stun rate skyrockets when an enemy has 1-2 souls, especially if your souls are high. This also applies to your characters as well, so you can give the boss extra souls with Break Souls to make them easier to stun.
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Jan 24, 2018 15:48
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Is there anything close to a recommended list of Tales games worth playing? I've only played Phantasia and Zestiria and loved the hell out of both. Should I just go through the main series in release order?
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Jan 24, 2018 16:29
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You have nowhere to go but up. Phantasia is dated as poo poo and Zestiria is the worst game in the series, enjoy.
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Jan 24, 2018 16:37
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I recommend Vesperia, but that was my first Tales game so I might be biased. It's good, though.
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Jan 24, 2018 16:39
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Omi no Kami posted:Is there anything close to a recommended list of Tales games worth playing? I've only played Phantasia and Zestiria and loved the hell out of both. Should I just go through the main series in release order? Short answer: having played Zestiria, you should absolutely play Berseria. Long answer: also, at some point, Graces. Likewise from Phantasia I'd point you at Narikiri Dungeon X (PSP). Abyss and Xillia are generally solid.
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Jan 24, 2018 16:48
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Caphi posted:Short answer: having played Zestiria, you should absolutely play Berseria. What about symphonia? I keep hearing that one come up, was it awesome or is it just getting boosted optics on account of the terribad PC port that came out a few years ago?
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Jan 24, 2018 17:45
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Symphonia was a lot of people's first Tales mostly cause there weren't a lot of jrpgs on GC. It's super dated as doesn't really hold up imo but it's also the most played of the series so...
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Jan 24, 2018 18:02
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Omi no Kami posted:What about symphonia? I keep hearing that one come up, was it awesome or is it just getting boosted optics on account of the terribad PC port that came out a few years ago? I'm halfway through it right now! It's a mad scientist's experiment in testing how much annoying bullshit people are willing to put up with to have a JRPG on their Gamecube but apparently the answer was "quite a lot."
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Jan 24, 2018 18:14
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gently caress it, I'm bored enough. Of ones released in the US that aren't the 2 you mentioned. Destiny The one most like OG Phantasia as it still has spell pause (where everything stops when most spells are cast) and the rank-based combat system where everyone stands in a line with you and you basically move the rank as well as yourself unless you're using manual mode. Has random battles, okay story, most confusing (and in my mind fun) dungeon designs as the second half of the world map you explore is basically one mega dungeon. About salty sky people mad they lost a war years ago, no summon spirits as part of the plot. Remade on PS2 with one of the sickest combat systems but not translated (though there's an ongoing fan translation that other people would know more about). Original version not available anywhere digitally so either pony up like $80 for a disc copy or pirate it like a sane person. Eternia (Called Destiny II in the US because of freakin' He-Man) Still has random battles, but got rid of the spell-pause and made combat faster so it feels way better. Characters are more fleshed out, but the story isn't terribly more involved than Destiny, though that's the majority of the series honestly. Probably the best 2D combat the west got. About two binary planets about to crash because of a failing barrier. Way into the summon spirits, in a good way. Had a port on PSP that came out in Europe you can play under it's original name, though if you're actually getting a physical copy first print runs of that euro copy are borked. Not available digitally so again whatever you want to do to get it running without paying an arm or a leg. Symphonia First one to get any renown in the West since it was like one of three good RPGs on the GameCube. You'll probably learn more about this by skimming Caphi's recent posts since it's been a decade since I've played it. Was the series first experiment with 3D so there's a lot of janky poo poo that since got smoothed over but I like how fast the combat is. Is a distant prequel to Phantasia, so there's a lot of shared terminology but you're not going to see characters since it's like 1000 years or something like that. Way into summon spirits, in a bad way. Story about racism is bad, m'kay. Introduced the skit system and got rid of random battles. You're fuckin' spoiled for ports. GameCube, PS3, PC versions, the latter two available digitally. Also on PS2 in Japan. Only the GameCube version has 60 fps but that's not going to bother you if you've never touched it and they've added little things to the subsequent versions. Abyss Tales games are usually known for having particularly good characters, and an okay-ish plot. Abyss really went in on having a plot that serves the characters and as a result is either the best or second best story in the series. Fixed a couple issues with 3D battles by introducing free run, but is kind of broken as a result since you can do circles around enemies. Has a neat spell alteration system that you'll probably barely see where your artes/spells change if you're in a elemental circle (and the technique can change). You might not like it if you want the party to like each other as the main character starts off as a dick and the party are dicks to him. About the time in the series where the music got really stale. About a spoiled rich kid getting dunked on while he searches for a Van down by the river (I don't want to say what it actually is because it's kinda great.) This got ported to the 3DS and I think you can buy it digitally? You might want to avoid the PS2 version simply because of bad load times and a few glitches (though I think the 3DS version just replaced those with other glitches). Legendia This one is loving weird because it was made by Soul Calibur/Tekken staff, has character designs from the guy who did Samurai Champloo, and has the best music of the series (or of most RPGs honestly), but it's actually pretty damned terrible. The battle system is a bad implementation of one of the old 2D battle systems, and the characters look like misshapen dwarves. The dungeons are weird straight lines with a separate puzzle dimension for puzzles (that you can actually just skip). Also odd because the game has a credits sequence like you beat the game... but that's just the halfway point and the entire rest of the game is unvoiced; I've never actually seen it because I thought I beat it back in the day! I don't even remember what it was about anymore, you're on a giant boat for the whole game, though. Only available on the PS2, just look up the music on Youtube frankly. Vesperia Another game in the series with a devout following, again probably due to it being one of like 3 good JRPGs on the 360. Does the same battle system as Abyss with lots of little changes like Fatal Strikes (a way to insta-kill some enemies and heavily damage others) and a skill system based on your equipment. First game on a Internet connected system so it introduced a lot of DLC poo poo you don't need, and achievements which basically add, well, somewhat hated bonus conditions for most boss fights (I liked them but I'm also weird). About anime Batman. Well, for part of it anyway. Available on the 360 digitally, not BC with the Xbox One. If you somehow don't know this had an untranslated enhanced version that came out in Japan on PS3, don't worry, really loving annoying Tales fans will make sure you know. It has a fan translation but getting a CFW PS3 going is a hassle iirc. A cool goon worked on that and also has a site where you can follow along with dialog in a browser (or had, anyway). Graces F I still think this has the best combat in the series. It's almost completely different from the games above, as it put the camera behind you instead of to your side and made the game all about sick dodges. Also got rid of a basic attack, all your attacks are artes now, split into A and B artes. A-artes are static and B-Artes are like traditional ones, with each character having a fun gimmick that plays into it. Also used the title system which tied your skills into basically a mini achievement system that you're building into for most of the game, with each title having a separate bonus tied to it. Also turned cooking into an "Eleth Mixer" that can still do cooking stuff but also can randomly generate items you've gotten before of your choosing and also confer neat bonuses. I wish they'd make another game that wholesale rips off these systems. The story is pretty bland though, as it seriously and straight-faced is about a guy worried about how to protect his friends. About where I feel the series started allowing you to use higher difficulties on the first playthrough (and gave you bonuses for it.) On PS3 and available digitally and goes on sale occasionally on PSN for maybe $5. Originally a Wii game that had some nasty bugs as I recall, though the Wii version stayed in Japan. Xillia Tales games used to be split between two separate teams and this was the first one after they merged those teams. It's got a weird balance of being between the super technical games like Graces and the Destiny remake and the more mellow battle systems of Vesperia and Symphonia. Has it's own gimmick where you link up with other party members to do combo attacks that is pretty cool. You can pick between two characters but no matter which you choose the ending is going to feel either rushed or absent. Milla is a really cool protagonist. Story goes hard into the spirits thing again, in a cool way. Also easily available on PSN for PS3 for peanuts. Xillia 2 Xillia 2 is weird because it's clearly a situation where they had extra assets because the first game was rushed but also you spend a lot of time going to the same maps. Also it has an overarching "your character is in debt" narrative so sometimes you have to stop and do a few sidequests to unlock a new mission. Your main character is mute for whatever reason and also is kind of mary sue-ish (instantly becoming friends with the old cast and stuff like that) and has a really broken super mode that you're expected to use, as well as three different weapons that you switch between. Has a lot to do with alternate timelines. It's fun and of the same quality of the first game but since it is very recycled you won't want to play it right after the first one. Again, easily available on PSN for PS3 for nothing. Hearts R Hearts R is a vita remake of a DS game that never came out in the west, and is also one of two games with no dubbing (the other being Destiny). This is important because if you have even a passing knowledge of Japanese from playing games or watching anime, you'll know that they tried to punch up the script considerably. On one hand the game plays pretty well and has an interesting idea going on where peoples hearts are weird crystal mazes but also you spend a bulk of the game with the main heroine having no personality because it flew out of her and you're looking for it. Which sucks because she is a good character. Available on Vita for nothing again thanks to PSN, you can also play it on a Vita/Playstation TV but you'll be missing out on one small mechanic due to no touch screen (I've tried to use the Vita TV's click in the analog stick to simulate a touch screen but I'm just not fast enough). Berseria gently caress it I'm running out of time to do this and other people will love to signal boost Berseria for you because it's excellent.
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Jan 24, 2018 18:27
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I will say this about Berseria/Graces: I've always been on the TP side of the fence, for the simple reason that the Tales games I've enjoyed playing the most have had TP. Graces with its supposedly superior combat didn't really land for me, probably due to my lack of ability to properly grasp its systems that far better players were able to. However Berseria has thus far been plenty fun and of course it doesn't feature TP.
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Jan 24, 2018 18:33
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TP is the single worst thing in the series and Xillia bringing it back after Graces liberated the west from it was the worst loving decision.
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Jan 24, 2018 18:34
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Phantasium posted:Vesperia PS3 CFW has been a bit less terrible since last November or so, it currently works on all firmwares but only on Fat and early Slim consoles. Check it out if you have an old-ish PS3. Also, the site still exists!
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Jan 24, 2018 18:43
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RevolverDivider posted:TP is the single worst thing in the series and Xillia bringing it back after Graces liberated the west from it was the worst loving decision. What, you don't like doing your combo and then having to pop a gel or two in order to do another one? 
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Jan 24, 2018 18:52
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I think the only items I used in Berseria were maybe 5 life bottles and it was loving great.
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Jan 24, 2018 18:54
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You pretty much hit the nail on the head when saying that no matter how poorly Symphonia has aged, a bunch of idiots like myself will have a soft spot for it. The dungeons are crap, especially in disk 2, but I still really like the combat.
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Jan 24, 2018 18:58
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I dunno I always seemed to get go so much TP back on refunds either during a battle or after it that I never ran out.
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Jan 24, 2018 19:01
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At least Sonic 06 is like, so bad its funny. I'd probably laugh a few times. Where as Zesteria is the worst video game ever made.
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Jan 24, 2018 19:09
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I dunno, Zestiria has enough stuff in it that's this close to being really good, or terrible in a way that's so insane it feels audacious. I found the trash fire aspect just entertaining enough to finish it despite also having especially serious issues with gameplay. And even the combat system was honestly not that terrible (though most of that was on Graces' credit), so most of my frustrations had to do with crafting skill stacks. The DLC, on the other hand. e: Rebirth is another super good Tales game with a character-centric plot and a whole system that's really unique and different but gets it right, and a translation that may or may not come out before we can all just sideload cracked Japanese language modules into our Google Brain™s. Caphi fucked around with this message at 19:33 on Jan 24, 2018 |
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Jan 24, 2018 19:26
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tbh even if you like phantasia and zestiria i wouldn't recommend symphonia on the basis that it's not even as funny as either of them, literally its only saving grace is that the combat is pretty fun once you get really far into it. otherwise, not only is the writing meandering but almost all of the skits are just kinda boring until you get zelos, and even he doesn't save most of them after that.
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Jan 24, 2018 19:40
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Honestly I haven't found Zelos' skits funny either, and even in his serious skits he does poo poo like calling Sheena "a woman's hysteria" while lecturing her about her own people.
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Jan 24, 2018 19:44
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lmao I literally forgot about Symphonia 2 in my list
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Jan 24, 2018 20:05
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COURAGE IS THE MAGIC THAT TURNS DREAMS INTO REALITY
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Jan 24, 2018 20:49
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You forgot Tempest, too. It's fine, neither of them count as "mainline."
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Jan 24, 2018 20:53
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i would rather do 5 NG+ runs of Zest back to back then ever touch Symphonia 2 again. Zest is a weird trash fire of a game that's got a bunch of fun stuff horrifyingly shackled to insanity. It's occasionally genuinely entertaining, occasionally incredibly awful, and occasionally just a weird trainwreck that veers between funny bad and just awful.
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Jan 24, 2018 20:53
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Caphi posted:You forgot Tempest, too. It's fine, neither of them count as "mainline." I was limiting my list to US released stuff. I mean, it's fan translated but I didn't count Innocence either.
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Jan 24, 2018 20:56
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It still doesn't count as "main series." Games with 2's are mothership sequels, games with colons are spinoffs. (Which is baffling because the ones with colons are better as sequels than the ones with 2's.)
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Jan 24, 2018 20:59
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Oh for sure I wasn't disputing that I just wanted something to limit the list because I was already rambling midway through and trying to remember details of rebirth and innocence and destiny dc would be harder.
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Jan 24, 2018 21:01
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RevolverDivider posted:i would rather do 5 NG+ runs of Zest back to back then ever touch Symphonia 2 again. I remember getting weirdly into the bizarre pokemon stuff in Symphonia 2, but I hated pretty much every other aspect of it.
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Jan 24, 2018 21:03
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I don’t know if anyone else here was still playing, but the announcement of the closure of Tales of Link is hitting me pretty hard. It wasn’t particularly unexpected, but it’s still a real shame. 
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Jan 25, 2018 18:25
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Actias posted:I don’t know if anyone else here was still playing, but the announcement of the closure of Tales of Link is hitting me pretty hard. It wasn’t particularly unexpected, but it’s still a real shame. Ah, that's lame. I stopped right before six star normals became a thing but I think it was one of the more unique phone gacha games out there (also the only one I ever put time into). Were the numbers just low?
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Jan 25, 2018 21:23
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I think it's because the other Tales mobile game is doing better.
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Jan 25, 2018 21:26
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Games, plural: Asteria is apparently still going strong, and Rays seems to be doing well enough. Three games is admittedly a bit excessive, and Link was the logical one to cut. I’ve come to like Rays quite a bit, largely due to the character interactions, but Link was the first (and, for a long time, the only) mobile game I didn’t bounce off of right away and I’ve grown pretty attached. Its story started off very bland but somehow ended up being remarkably good. At least global got to finish out the main story, even if we’ll never get the second part.
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Jan 25, 2018 22:14
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