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 Introduction Hey, folks! My name is Rojo, and this is my first official SA Shining force is a turn based strategy RPG from the days of the Genesis. The game features a colorful cast of characters who will help Max, a young man with amnesia, realize his destiny and battle the evil prophesied to endanger the land of Rune. The game was published by Sega and developed jointly by Climax Entertainment and Camelot Software Planning (also known as Sonic! Software Planning). You can find the version of the game that I'm playing here. About the Playthrough As I mentioned, we're only going to be using spellcasters in this LP series. That's going to handicap us early on, but I suspect things will quickly get easier due to superior levels / stats, and then harder as the level difference between us and our opponents shrinks and we start fighting trickier foes. Even though we're only using spellcasters, I'll still try to recruit all of the characters possible who will then be sent on "vacation." I'm also going to attempt to show off all the secret stuff that I know about, and when the opportunity arises, drop phat lore bombs that may or may not be 100% correct. Finally, I'm going to try to fit in one battle per episode along with some town exploration if applicable. Why spellcasters? Basically, in my typical playthroughs I roll with 2 priests and 2 mages. The priests usually struggle to get experience which means unlocking new spells is slow, and often one of the mages dominates while the other lags behind. I considered some other types of playthroughs, but spellcasters seemed like the most interesting, both for me, and to watch. We'll have a bunch of magic at our disposal to use tactically, which should make for some interesting decision making, and we'll often be forced to put units that typically hang out in the back away from danger right on the front lines. Finally, we'll be playing understaffed for most of the game, theoretically making battles a bit tougher and adding some drama. Special thanks to a one Tonberry2k wherever you are for creating a great sprite sheet from the characters in the game and putting it out there for people to use. There are two versions of each episode. The full version includes all of the town and talky bits of the game, whereas the battle only version contains a brief summary of the story for context, and then jumps right into the action. No need to watch both - just pick the version that suits your tastes. Update Schedule This series is complete! Thread Rules I'd prefer to keep discussion related to what's happened in the series so far, though it's fine if said discussion brings up related stuff from the other Shining games (particularly the Return of Dark Dragon remake). I'm not super worried about spoilers - game's over 20 years old. Hopefully Sega is working on a worldwide release of a new, true, Force game for the 25th anniversary, amirite? Vids Series Playlist | (Battle Only Playlist)
It's video games. Every day...ish. rojovision fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Jul 31, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 01:37
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In our first episode "The Ancient Gate" (battle only here) we explore Guardiana as Max, our protagonist who was found injured on the beach some time ago and is suffering from amnesia. During his time in Guardiana Max been training under the mentorship of Varios, one of the royal guards, and has become good friends with Lowe, a local priest. Unfortunately it seems like an ancient evil is on the rise, and the nation of Runefaust is playing a role in that. We're sent to investigate Runefaust movement at the Gate of the Ancients, which Guardiana has been tasked to protect for centuries by the Ancients themselves. We have to send most of our starting party members away, but we're able to recruit a little extra help before the battle.
rojovision fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Jul 31, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 01:38
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toddy. posted:I should post in the sandcastle for feedback! Do you have any feedback about the thread? I've seen what other people are posting and what I've got appears to be on par with that.
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May 20, 2015 02:07
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Klaus88 posted:Well then, don't read the text out loud, and if you absolutely have to read it out then don't try to voice act your way through it. Yeah, fair enough. I'm not trying to do super serious voice acting except for the silly intro. It just kind of happens unintentionally when I read the dialogue.
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May 20, 2015 02:09
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Mraagvpeine posted:Is it just the first game or are you doing other games in the series? I'd like to do some of the other games as well, but for the time being the plan is just to do the first one.
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May 20, 2015 05:16
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Episode 2 - Runefaust Strikes is available now. Rest assured that any voice acting is meant to be bullshit goofiness. In this episode we rush back to Guardiana to aid in its defense. I talk a bit about some of the characters and game mechanics during the long trek through the mountains, and we get our first look at one of the primary antagonists in the game. Also the dwarves in this fight are shifty as gently caress. 
rojovision fucked around with this message at 02:58 on May 22, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 15:49
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bathroomrage posted:Looks like we got a new valkhorn. I'm not going to be having a meltdown any time soon. I appreciate all feedback, and I consider it all carefully. However, I'm going to reserve the right to veto stuff that I don't think will work for me. Don't be offended if that happens - it's nothing personal. At any rate, in the Sandcastle I brought up the idea of posting battle only episodes in tandem with the full episodes, but I haven't gotten any feedback about it. They would basically serve as my edited version of the LP and just bring people straight into the most interesting part of the game. It seems like there are a bunch of people here who do cut + uncut episodes with some success.
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May 21, 2015 06:41
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Choco1980 posted:I've been skimming through your videos for this and I have to say, everyone complaining about your reading the lines are right on the money. I'm sorry but it's completely a misstep. I find when you're talking about mechanics or your thought processes mid-battle you're just fine, and a gimmick run of a very familiar game is a fun idea. Your idea of battle-only episodes might be a good one. I know if you posted them, I'd probably only watch them and not the in between parts where you read to us. I wouldn't say you're a bad player or video maker, just that you don't seem to realize where your strengths lie, and continue to indulge the weaknesses as well. No need to be sorry. I'm going to try setting up battle episodes for the current parts that are out to see how it looks. If it seems decent (which I imagine it will), I'll be uploading them, though it might take a couple days to get caught up just due to raw upload time since I do other videos that I don't have SA threads for. I'm going to continue doing the uncut episodes as is most likely for the small group of people who like / don't mind that sort of thing. There's a niche market for it - it's just not here, and that's fine. I've also spent a little time upgrading the thread quality a bit.
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May 21, 2015 17:33
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I'm not intentionally sweeping it under the rug, but I guess I haven't explained my thought process as well as I could have, so I can see why you'd think that. The reason I did the intro like that was to try something new for myself and offer viewers something different. It was a creative risk, and I knew that when I did it. Doing things a little differently is a common theme on my channel. I play games very few people do, or I try to do them in a way nobody else has (to the best of my knowledge). I read all the text because that's part of my presentation of the game. Truthfully if I didn't read it out loud and talked over it all I wouldn't be reading the words, I'd just be looking at them, and might miss something that's actually important. It's kind of a thought multitasking thing. Also my well of commentary might run dry while in town, and I don't like watching videos with long silences, so I'm certainly not going to create that kind of content. Some people probably like silence, but they're outside my target audience. A lot of people here don't care for the reading, and that's OK. However, there's a logical fallacy popping up: "I don't like it, so nobody likes it." It's straight up just not true, even if most people in fact don't like it. There's a fairly popular LPer who I hold in high regard who plays wordy games and reads just about everything. Thousands of people like his stuff, so that's proof that there's a market for this type of video, like I said earlier. It's all about matching the right content to the right people, and I don't have the right content for you. Yet. As for doing two times the work, the battle episodes aren't going to be what you're thinking. They are going to be exactly the same content as in the main video, but without about 95% of the town bits, which is what most of you guys have been asking for. Right content for the right people. Basically you can think of the battle episodes as the theatrical release, and the full episodes as the director's cut. Some people are going to like one more than the other, and whichever you think is better, you're right. I think the battle episodes that come as a result of the feedback I've gotten here will appeal to a broader audience and that's good. This is me carefully considering feedback, which I've been doing all along. rojovision fucked around with this message at 23:55 on May 21, 2015 |
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May 21, 2015 23:20
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The battle vids will be forthcoming. It may take a few days to get caught up, but hopefully it'll be sorted by Monday next week so I can release them in tandem with the full episodes.
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May 22, 2015 03:36
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Episode 3 - Advancing to Alterone is now available. The first of the battle only episodes should be going live sometime tomorrow. In an attempt to put tragedy behind us we set out to Alterone, a close ally of Guardiana. Runefaust ever persistent won't let us get there in peace unfortunately. This turns out to be one tough battle! 
rojovision fucked around with this message at 06:37 on May 23, 2015 |
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May 23, 2015 05:19
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Battle only episode one is now available.
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May 23, 2015 13:31
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Battle only episode 2 is now available.
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May 23, 2015 17:27
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Bacter posted:Do you have an audience that's really depending on you to read all the dialogue? My past analytics for another series I did suggests that my pre SA audience didn't mind being read to, though there was less of it by a fair margin. I definitely wouldn't describe it as people depending on it. The reading thing isn't what people here want, that's for certain. As I get more comfortable with the LP I may stop reading literally every single thing if I have other things to talk about while we poke around towns. I sort of begin to do this a couple times at the end of episode 3 while we're checking out Alterone. The reality is that most people in towns don't have anything important to say, so you're really not missing anything super critical from the full episodes that I don't summarize in the battle versions, which are identical in content as far as the actual fights go. The only things you might miss out on are some of the goofy encounters like looking through the telescope in the first episode, and maybe a secret or two as we progress through the game.
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May 23, 2015 18:38
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Choco1980 posted:Is there a reason why there's such a staggered release between the full episodes and the battle videos? I mean, it's a pretty easy thing to do to just straight cut the video to the size and upload it at the same time as the full length one to youtube. I only ask because I'm one of those that would look forward to your battle videos but wants to avoid your regular videos like the plague and am not going to watch them any more. I already covered this. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3721223#post445632304
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May 23, 2015 23:27
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Golden Goat posted:Why not try one episode without reading out the dialogue? I'm sure you guys would like it. However, that's why I made the battle episodes. The other ones are for me / the audience outside SA that doesn't mind the reading. Also as I said, I may transition into not reading everything in the full episodes as the LP continues, though I'm not making any promises. Really, it's not even totally that people don't like to be read to. It's that most people don't want to see someone gently caress around in town for 10-20 minutes when there's so little of importance happening. I still want to do the town parts in the full episodes for any secrets / little events that pop up, and for the people who actually do want to see someone dick around in town.
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May 23, 2015 23:50
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I mentioned this as well in the thread, but it takes hours to upload a video, so it's not really about my time, it's about upload time. An additional complication is that I have to travel to another location to do an initial file transfer since my home internet is balls. Then I remote connect to that location to do additional uploads after the first. It's a bit convoluted, but it's workable. Additionaly I have other series that are scheduled on my channel, and I'm not going to interrupt them to play catch up. As I mentioned everything should be caught up by Monday, and hopefully I'll be able to release both versions at the same time consistently in the future. I miss my symmetrical gigabit connection which allowed me to upload videos in a few minutes. The battle videos are a clear example of my ability to accept feedback and apply it to my work. As for your question about which is more important? Those aren't mutually exclusive concepts. I want both, and theoretically one should lead to the other. MartianAgitator posted:This is clearly a mischaracterization. I watched both battle-only videos and I'm not interested in your approach, but you've absolutely explained your position concisely and without childishness. There are great reasons for not reading the text, but you've said you are doing it for other audiences and posting them in SA for those few here who might like it or just for curiosity's sake. Since you have already made battle-only videos for us, there is no reason to begrudge you posting the other videos. Thanks, I appreciate that. DeliciousCookie posted:Just want to say I've been enjoying the battle only videos. Didn't watch the others however, so I can't comment on those. Would love to hear any other little tibits you know about the game as well. And that.
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May 24, 2015 00:57
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Golden Goat posted:...At this point he's dead set on proceeding on without changing anything. I'm sort of at a loss as to how anyone can reasonably think that if they've read the thread.
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May 24, 2015 12:04
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Battle only episode 3 is now available. If the upload gods are just, battle episodes should release with the full episodes in the future.
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May 24, 2015 17:32
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Choco1980 posted:Sorry if I've been overly harsh. These battle-only videos I actually quite like and will continue to watch them. You very much are entertaining, and the gimmick is interesting. Don't let my criticisms discourage you from that. No worries, and thanks. Also yeah, bats can suck it.
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May 25, 2015 00:19
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Aces High posted:I am surprised at how few levels you seem to be having after three battles, but maybe I am too used to Shining Force 2 where you only started with 3 characters instead of 6. That and just cheating by egressing to get Sarah more levels I only beat Shining Force 2 once, and didn't play it until long after its release so I'm a lot less familiar with that game. Can't recall the leveling rate in SF2, but the mechanics in SF1 definitely cut the xp gain pretty hard once you outlevel your opponents as you've noticed.
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May 25, 2015 22:10
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Episode 4 - The Great Escape is now available. The battle only episode is here. Having reached Alterone and explored the town, we head to the castle to speak with the king. However, the guards seem lazy and genuinely unconcerned about the threat right outside their gates. Something is definitely amiss, and it doesn't take long to find out what. We also add a new member to the force. This episode marks the end of Chapter 1. 
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May 26, 2015 03:32
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DeliciousCookie posted:Think ya needa start taking more chances/feeding Tao some kills. She sseems to be falling pretty far behind in levels at the moment. Yeah, absolutely. That last battle was a chance for her to catch up, but that dark mage pretty much hosed me.
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May 26, 2015 13:38
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Episode 5 - Dust and Ashes is now available. The battle only episode is here. After liberating Alterone and finishing up Chapter 1 of the game, we start Chapter 2 in Rindo, a port town some ways to the north. There we discover that the circus is just getting set up, and that Kane bought all of the ships in town and sailed away, save one which belongs to the mayor. The mayor is unwilling to part with his ship, so we continue our journey toward Manarina and Princess Anri, who is still unaware of her father's death. This is typically one of the tougher fights in the game, in my opinion. 
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May 27, 2015 22:46
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Episode 6 - Lights Out is now available. The battle only episode is here. We enter Manarina only to find that it was the mages that live there who attacked us outside of the town. We finally meet Princess Anri and give her the news of her father's murder, and she is understandably distraught. After speaking with Otrant, the wises mage in Manarina, we do battle in the Cavern of Darkness underneath the town in order to retrieve the Orb of Light, which should allow us to enter the Holy Spring. We also find a strange egg which will be important later. I recommend watching the full episode even if you hate being read to a little - there are a bunch of neat little events in Manarina, which is why it's one of my favorite towns in the game. 
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May 30, 2015 04:07
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Majere posted:Pretty cool to see an interesting run of this game. Love the videos, keep it up! Thanks, glad you're enjoying them!
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May 30, 2015 23:55
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Valgaav posted:Can we agree to stop calling them "fat blazes", please? I meant phat because I'm hip with the times, but suppose I can try to put a moratorium on it...they're really pretty skinny anyway. Might need a renaissance once we get Blaze 4, though. Those are the truly fat ones.
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May 31, 2015 23:14
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Episode 7 - Cirque du Mort is up now. The battle only episode is here. Orb of Light in hand, we visit the spirit of the Holy Spring who helps us understand our enemies' intentions. We head back to Rindo to see if the mayor has reconsidered selling us his ship, but it seems his grandson is missing. If we can find him, the ship is ours. His grandson loves the circus, and now that it's set up, we go to search for the child there - only to be ambushed by a familiar face. This is the first time we fight a real boss enemy in the game, and this is also typically one of the tougher battles in the game, in my opinion. Seems like Chapter 2 is full of tough fights. 
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Jun 2, 2015 03:52
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Added Space posted:You can view stats by talking to Nova, I think. You can also get tips on the upcoming battle. Yeah, I was thinking there was a way to cycle through stats on the force list screen when you're just out and about. I think that might be a Shining Force 3 feature...or maybe I'm just crazy. I never really bothered to talk to Nova...maybe I'll chat him up sometime before one of the battles for kicks.
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Jun 2, 2015 04:23
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armoredgorilla posted:Arthur is an absolute terror if you can get him to 20 prior to promotion. I'm going to avoid grinding on screen or off if possible, so I don't know if I'll be able to hit 20 with the way XP curves. However, I may not promote everybody at 10 like I usually do. I'll definitely try to prioritize Arthur a little for killing blows in the short term so he can get the XP to cast a couple spells and hang out on the front line like the knight he is!
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Jun 2, 2015 04:38
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Episode 8 - The Scenic Route is up now. The battle only episode is here. With the mayor of Rindo's grandson rescued, we attempt to set sail for Runefaust, but it seems the fortune teller from Alterone isn't quite done being a thorn in our side yet. Also, Arthur shows us what he's worth in this episode. There aren't many enemies in this battle, but they're all fairly strong and it's a close quarters fight which can easily lead to danger. 
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Jun 4, 2015 01:08
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Unperson_47 posted:Shining Force is one of the games that I always go back and play through every few years. I must've completed it a dozen plus times and never even knew Arthur gained magic because he was such poo poo whenever I would try to have him in the force. Yep, he's pretty bad initially...but depending on when you promote he actually has the best overall potential stats of all the knights if I recall, plus the basic magic. armoredgorilla posted:Poor Arthur. That wasn't even his fault. IIRC, Evasion is a flat hidden stat on the monsters, it's nothing checked against the Force member. Ah, yeah I think I've seen that tool that you mentioned somewhere, and you're probably right - it didn't necessarily have much to do with him. Either way, he makes up for it a bit in the next episode.
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Jun 5, 2015 01:34
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Episode 9 - Smoke and Mirrors is up now. The battle only episode is here. We promptly end Chapter 2 and begin Chapter 3 as we leave Shade Abbey and are guided through the mountains to Bustoke by Balbaroy and Amon. While in town we quickly learn that Runefaust have been using the men of the town as slave labor in an effort to unearth an ancient weapon that they will no doubt use against us. Additionally, a renowned local warrior has been poisoned and driven mad by Runefaust's hand, and the only cure also lies in the quarry. It seems our next destination is clear. 
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Jun 6, 2015 03:10
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Episode 10 - A Long March is up now. The battle only episode is here. With the men of Bustoke saved we do a little more exploration of the town and meet some interesting characters, including the warrior driven insane by Runefaust. Shortly after, it's time to move on toward Pao, but the terrain is rather unfavorable. We also find a super secret item in the Bustoke Quarry. 
rojovision fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Jun 9, 2015 |
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Jun 9, 2015 02:28
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inthesto posted:One thing to note so far: You're a little off when it comes to land/terrain effect. It's not a reduction to damage (getting your damage cut by 30% would be a massive reduction) but instead a bonus to defense. Functionally, it still reduces damage to the target, but it's a different coefficient that doesn't turn things completely out of whack for the attacker. You are right, though, that land effect is not directly tied to movement penalties. Good info. Thanks for those clarifications!
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Jun 9, 2015 04:02
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Shiki Dan posted:I always remembered negative status spells sucking total poo poo in the original SF, but in the GBA remake they are MUCH better--Muddle can even completely shut down some late game bosses. Yeah, the status effect spells are pretty much garbage in this version of the game to the best of my knowledge as well. I'll still cast them from time to time just for fun or to see if we get lucky, but I'm not holding my breath for any major coups.
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Jun 9, 2015 21:01
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Episode 11 - Straight Shooter is up now. There's no need for a battle only episode for this one. We emerge from the wilderness to discover a narrow bridge - and the weapon Runefaust dug up in Bustoke waiting for us on the other side! This episode marks the end of Chapter 3. We also find another super secret item during the battle. 
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Jun 10, 2015 23:45
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inthesto posted:Wow, the RNG really laid the smackdown on you with a single fire of the laser eye. I guess that's RNGesus punishing me for abusing the silly AI a little.
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Jun 12, 2015 01:25
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Episode 12 - Death and Honor is up now. The battle only episode is here. We begin Chapter 4 in the moving town of Pao. While there we learn some very important stuff regarding what's going on in Runefaust. We also add a bunch of people to the Force, including one very special character that we can actually use. 
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Jun 13, 2015 00:17
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Episode 13 - Assault on Uranbatol is up now. The battle only episode is here. Pao has arrived in its new location nearby just as we defeat General Elliott. We make a quick pit stop there to add an important character to the Force, and then move on to Uranbatol. We also find a couple secret items! 
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Jun 16, 2015 05:53
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