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Though I have seen it happen with other demons, this may be the first instance of my seeing a Will-O-The-Wisp joining the party at the start. You'll have to say if he is worth using in any capacity. This was also my introduction to Megaten back when it first came out, and I was impressed at the level of customization and the difficulty curve, as it required me to forget my Pokemon-like attachments to certain demons and make constant changes to the party in the interest of maintaining a strong group. Favourite aspects of the soundtrack include: the fact that Fierce Battle has actual English lyrics buried under all those filters, and the fact that the game selects a random guitar solo every time the standard battle theme plays. I'm only disappointed that the OST does not seem to include Hijiri's three-note theme that plays during that discussion at the terminal. Keep up the good LP!
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Nov 13, 2015 06:20
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Ah, yon Matador fight. I recall it very painfully as the moment at which the game officially stopped messing around. Even the later Fiend battles weren't as intimidating after beating this one. Also, meant to bring this up way back when, but I actually thought of this game when I was in Japan back in 2012, as while I was there I saw Yoyogi Park for the first time. Based on that experience, I can totally believe people going apeshit over someone building some kind of cell tower substation right in the middle of it, as well as fairies deciding to take it over in the alternate reality version of Tokyo. With that, thanks for reigniting so many fond memories of my trips though both real and SMT Japan with the LP. I'll look forward to its continuation.
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Nov 20, 2015 02:52
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Huh, I would generally argue in favour of skipping skill changes to keep Bright or Dark Might over their more general-use cousin. While you are absolutely correct about Might being more applicable at all Kagutsuchi phases, the reality of it for me was that random encounters in this game, even among other Megaten titles, are far less liable to kill you than boss fights. In some cases, the boss fights were tough enough that the exploitation of Bright/Dark Might seemed at least as worthy of consideration as grinding out a more suitable party. I don't mean to criticize your choice of play, of course. I just like the strategy discussion content of the LP and am curious to know what you think concerning whether or not an exploitable mechanic ought to be considered in a game or series like this reputed for its unforgiving nature. Maybe if you get Bright Might again, you could show it off in the future fight with Ongyo-Ki, where the full Kagutsuchi phase is relevant to the survivability of that battle for other reasons. Anyway, looking forward to the next bit, not necessarily because of what is happening in the immediate future, but because you're going to come up on the second awesome and terrifying boss fight in this early game: It's SHOWTIME!!
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Nov 21, 2015 05:17
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So, Kabukicho Prison I would consider one of my favourite RPG dungeons, simply because everything from audio atmosphere to floor-reversal gimmick makes the whole thing both really creepy and a fun mental exercise, as you described it. While I don't think it is patterned on any particular building, I think that it was intended to emulate some sort of office or schoolhouse building as a clever nod to the odd association to those kinds of buildings as prisons. It even manages to work in a comedic moment with the Mizuchi battle, and I think if it as one of the dungeons I would show to friends as a demonstration of why Nocturne holds up really well even in the face of more recent Megaten titles and RPGs. Also, I liked the inclusion of the atmospheric sample for the non-mirage portion of the building. I'd appreciate hearing more of those if you have the patience to record them.
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Dec 10, 2015 02:47
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So, one more notable event takes place in this chapter of the LP. Unless I am forgetting something, I'm pretty sure that the scene in which Hijiri arrives at the Asakusa terminal is the only moment in this game in which his hat is actually on his head.
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Dec 18, 2015 08:18
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OH GOD NOT PUZZLE BOY. I tend to laugh at my friends who try this game and get killed super hard by Matador. If they live long enough to reach Puzzle Boy then they earn my sympathy. Anyway, cool to see Francois run the gauntlet of both cursed corridors and deadly sins with his usual reckless abandon. Also, please feel free to correct me if I am wrong regarding Futomimi and Sakahagi, but I do remember reading something about them on a wiki that I don't remember seeing is the actual game: Apparently they are more like each other than meets the eye, being reincarnated people who were apparently polar opposites of their Manikin selves.
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Dec 24, 2015 03:43
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The Obselisk was one case of a long dungeon in a game that really impressed me with its pacing, considering that it is one large enough to come with its own healing fountain. I would have been impressed with it as a last dungeon, but, well, we'll see what the actual last dungeon does differently. Though the K Phase puzzle risked getting old, I liked how the first fights against the three sisters individually forced me to think about the puzzle approach in conjunction with the combat. That sort of multi-layered thinking does not come too often in an RPG where random encounters and puzzle completion are normally separate. Also, I was certainly impressed by Aradia's appearance here as I was with my first playthrough, but as Miacis points out, Aradia is less impressive if you actually pay attention to what she is saying.
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Jan 3, 2016 07:48
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Man, I turn around for five minutes and you go and finish Dante Tag. I distinctly remember that while Matador was most surprising and Puzzle Boy most frustrating, Dante Tag was the most stressful sequence in this game for me. Seriously, I can grasp your frustration with Dante at the end of this portion of the Kalpa. Hopefully what comes to pass for continuing is worthwhile. Nothing in this game can be worse than Dante Tag, can it?
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Jan 5, 2016 04:23
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Sure, Isamu is a poo poo, but I tended to (charitably) interpret the concept of Musubi as more of an assertion of metaphysical solipsism, namely the idea that everyone gets to live in a world where they are the only ones "known" to exist, with the possible bonus that reality can therefore be bent to reflect conscious or unconscious desires. People who want Yosuga or Shijima can still have it, and people who want the world reflective of some other ideal can have that. The cost of solitude could theoretically be explained away as the people uncomfortable with the idea not necessarily being aware of the fact that they are alone, in the same sense that our current reality may or may not be an illusion created by our minds. I mean, I still didn't go for it at the time because Isamu is probably the worst person in the multiverse to try to explain the appeal of it, but on speaking with other NPCs later in the game I can see how it would offer some solutions as a Reason.
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Jan 9, 2016 17:27
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Sweet, now I finally get to nerd out about a joke in Japanese: The phrase "Yahirono Himorogi" is meant to evoke a kind of odd double-entendre, as a Himorogi (divine fence) is usually an area of land demarcated by a set of posts and paper charms with a plant in the centre to represent the local spirit of the land. The phrase Yahiro also translates to "enormous," hence resulting in an awkward-sounding request from your teacher to provide her with an enormous area of consecrated land that you can apparently also carry around with you.
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Jan 14, 2016 02:18
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FrankZP posted:Right, that's the core of her message in the end. "Find the Reason within yourself, and I'll be the god you need to make it." The symbolism here is very telling; it's important to remember the point of a Rorschach test. The images by themselves have no meaning, they're ink stains on a page. Any meaning that an observer finds in the image is a reflection of the observer's own mind, and nothing else. I will admit that after having missed this game for a while, I did kind of forget (or failed to realize in the first place) that Aradia is actually saying something a bit more pertinent here and that the "freedom" she represents strikes me as having a bit of a double meaning (to us) regarding Yuko specifically. In Yuko's case, she seems to be waiting around for instructions and guidance while Aradia refuses to give it not just because gods don't seem responsible for Reasons, but because the idea of providing that kind of instruction seems counter to Aradia's own ethos of letting her followers do what they will. Hence, the somewhat terrible pairing of fake god of freedom with mentor that seems lacking in direction. Alternatively, now that I am writing this down, it strikes me that both characters seem to fill a purpose of mentorship with regards to Francois, the human who once guided the human side and the god that guides the demon. Aradia is less of a guide to Yuko then she is to Francois.
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Jan 20, 2016 03:54
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Yeah, it's quite a turn of events and all, but...I have the strangest feeling that this is not the last we'll see of dear old Hijiri. Looking forward to more as always.
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Jan 25, 2016 23:58
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Lunar Suite posted:But he lost his hat, whereas Isamu still has his hat. Clearly, one of two Hatbearers has obtained dominance. If he didn't want to lose his hat, he really should have put it on his head more than once in the last...entire game.
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Jan 26, 2016 02:21
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FrankZP posted:I honestly have very little recollection of what happens in the Labyrinth from this point on (though I did make sure to verify where exactly the point of no return is so I don't pass it by accident before I have a chance to put the final decision to vote), The exact point of no return for what you are thinking of is standing on the elevator that leads to Lucifer at the end of the fifth Kalpa, which is immediately after the hallway you first saw after becoming the Demi-Fiend and fighting the tutorial fights. Furthermore, you are locked out of the Lucifer ending after you step inside the final Kagustuchi tower for the first time.
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Jan 29, 2016 14:36
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Shitenshi posted:Yeah, he was quite the subject of ridicule in the Japanese media from what I've heard. Supposedly the zombie episode of Samurai Champloo is taking a poo poo on him too, which given the main zombie is also named Shige and obsessed with digging up Heike dynasty treasure, is very likely. Heh, I wrote in a review once that part of Earthbound's appeal is that it was probably the world's first RPG-autobiography, among other things, but I digress. I don't think I ever found those rooms where you can speak to Futomimi and Sakahagi in my playthroughs, but it is good to see that they closed the loop on those storylines in-game and that it's not one of those factoids buried away in an artbook notes page. Also, based on the general attitude of the thread, am I to assume that Francois may find himself pursuing the...alternative that Lucifer seems to be proposing? At the very least we ought to hear a bit about Hijiri's side of the story first...
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Feb 4, 2016 04:25
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Ah, so much commentary to provide in so little time: The Diet building is awesome (as a dungeon, I mean, haven't yet had a chance to see the actual one) and probably my third favourite Nocturne dungeon, behind Kabukicho Prison and the Amala Temple, naturally. It may be painfully apparent from my previous commentary, but I never actually got the Afterlife Bell and the full story behind Futomimi and Sakahagi in-game. Might be something to do on the playthrough I am semi-forcing a friend through, though (if we are still friends after he reaches Matador I think that will be a good sign). Of course the prior-protagonist peanut gallery reacts to the revelation of Hijiri's reincarnation with an argument about hats. Dante recruitment is hotly contested, yes, but he is quite a powerhouse for the period you can acquire him and his permanent residence in a demon slot is nothing when you consider how fusion-happy this game encourages you to be at this point in the story. That said, my actual favourite aspect of his recruitment would have to be (minor Devil May Cry series spoilers to follow) that if you recall when Nocturne was made and the character design, this is actually Devil May Cry 2 Dante specifically, and the fact that he uses that coin which always comes up heads is both a plot point and a characterization gimmick. The fact that it makes an appearance in this game is hilarious, but also appropriate and a sign that they actually cared about inserting unique elements of his characterization into the narrative for his cameo. For those curious, the Dante inclusion for Nocturne Maniax also had implications on the Capcom side. For their part of the crossover, Atlus lent character designer Kazuma Kaneko to Capcom while they were making Devil May Cry 3, and he created the Devil Trigger forms that Dante assumes in that game. As far as endings go, I would argue that any of the options before us might make sense for Francois, given that he is a human, and a demon, and has had to sacrifice aspects of both halves of himself to get to where he is now. Whether to create or destroy will be his decision, and I'll be rooting for him regardless. That, or maybe Ms. Takao's Reason might provide one more alternative. ahahahahahahahahahahaha...
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Feb 5, 2016 04:16
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Rigged Death Trap posted:Oh and this game is one of the few games that Use optical illusions or forced perspective. I think the fact that this game uses this very clean cel-shaded look is part of why it is possible. A modern game that has a too-high graphical fidelity in a more nuanced colour and shading setup would make the flaws in the fake paintings a little too apparent to be believable, I would think. I agree though that I would like to see it tried again, as it is part of why I think so highly of this dungeon. Though I haven't had that happen, I can certainly believe it may have been intended. Though after seeing that video I do find myself wondering who provided the base for that voice grunt that Mot uses. It is quite something.
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Feb 7, 2016 23:51
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I'm checking in one more time before the final choice is made. Looks like Francois is quickly closing in on the end of his journey and I'll be glad to see his final success one way or another. If I might navel-gaze for a moment, though, I remember FredMSloniker talking some time ago about choices, or lack thereof, and how they seem to have defined the adventure. Our hero's transformation wasn't by choice, and ever since he has been presented with terrible option after terrible option. Whether dealing with poorly thought-out Reasons or gladiatorial deathmatch in the ostensible service of the Devil. Finally, it has been made clear to him that God himself determined the course of the world and steered the tragic fate of a dapper-hatted man who he once thought of as a friend (perhaps), and thereby robbed him of choice since before he even came into the world. After all that, we arrive at a moment of clarity and the realization that for the first time, a meaningful and far-reaching choice has been finally offered to poor Francois, and yet even now, my fellow LP fans and I are being asked to make it for him. That just feels wrong to me. To that end, my vote, whether it means anything to anyone or not, is to let FrankZP decide for himself what path he chooses. Count my vote towards whatever you think Francois, after all he has seen and done, would decide. [/soapbox]
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Feb 11, 2016 02:34
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Great job, man. This game is something special to me as it introduced me to an amazing series, and I was glad to see it get a good LP here. The Kagutsuchi battles are the biggest reason I felt Bright Might was indispensable even in the late game, as being able to get eight turns was a huge help in the last phases. I also remember being hella intimidated when I saw that Kagutsuchi would skip turns for dialogue, making me think he was charging up for something much bigger. It's a nice touch, even though I had gotten on the hellevator and was subsequently informed that I was nowhere near done. Also, last-phase Kagutsuchi vibrating would make a great avatar.
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Feb 28, 2016 18:33
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Glad to see this game get put through its paces, as I did not get to see some fun alternate content like the demon-specific conversations or the recruitable Futomimi and Sakahagi. The narrative was fun and light without really seeming out of place for the story, so good job on that too. 10/10 would read next LP for sure.
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Mar 28, 2016 02:57
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