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Yeah, let's just go with Oersted. You lot had your fun with Sonic.
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Mar 22, 2016 00:55
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Brando. (Just 'cause I know there's no chance of Gil(gamesh) getting said only now and overtaking both for something different.)
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Mar 22, 2016 00:56
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Oersted because, eh-whatever-I-really-don't-care-let's-go.
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Mar 22, 2016 02:25
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Hey, it isn't the thread's fault the name was so perfect, as it were for the Waco kid. I'm still a bit bitter that no once considered Baki as a legimate name for the Wrestler chapter. I'm still voting for Brando.
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Mar 22, 2016 02:43
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I vote for Oersted.
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Mar 22, 2016 06:05
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I think I'll slap in a vote for Oersted, not because it's a name, but because it measures a thing with magnets...and a sufficiently-powerful floor magnet will defeat any knight of the medieval times! 
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Mar 22, 2016 06:11
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...Huh. I learned a thing today. Thanks, Seiren!  As for the voting, things ended up with an 18-vote tie between Brando and Oersted, along with a few stragglers. Which means, you guessed it, I get to decide. And I'm going to go with Oersted, because seriously.  Voting's over, recording begins right now!
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Mar 22, 2016 09:07
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Can't wait for the next episode of Oersted Development.
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Mar 22, 2016 09:23
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gently caress yeah, Oersted! I really like this chapter. It's my second favorite, but it's been a while, so maybe it'll edge out Mecha for me.
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Mar 22, 2016 14:12
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The Mecha story is neat, since there's so much going on behind the scenes that's barely explained or talked about. I like trying to piece it together after the fact. I'm particularly interested by this segment: Yapping Eevee posted:
Note that Yamazaki is a top-ranking general in the Japanese Army. It's never mentioned outright what exactly the Army's new technology was, but we know that the Army later began experimenting with human liquefaction as a means to enhance psychic powers. Toei appeared to be heading up that project at the eastern research facility, and wasn't there willingly; Matsu had to bust him out and he quickly went into hiding at an antiques store. The interpretation I like to draw from all of this is that at some point in the past, Army researchers discovered the potential of Matango as a combat drug for unlocking and/or enhancing psychic abilities. Given that both the Army and the Crusaders have powerful psychics and use lots of Matango, psychic warfare could very well have been the technology threatening to tear both groups apart. Hell, even Coop's psychic powers could be the result of experiments run on him when he was very young or in utero. It's hard to say who the Crusaders were. They could have been a pack of gangbangers who discovered the power of Matango and made war on the Japanese authorities for control of the city. The fact that the Army's files list the Crusaders at an anti-establishment organization could also be taken to mean that they were founded to resist the government's plan to maintain peace through psychic force. Whoever they were, their allegiance to Matsu was tenuous, and after he killed the captain of the Riot Police he either lost control of the Crusaders, or finding Coop at the scene of his father's death led to a crisis of morals and Matsu abandoned the Crusaders himself. Without Matsu, the Crusaders lost their way and became the Japanese Army's attack dogs. The streets are crawling with them, and there's not a single cop who will lift a finger to stop them from terrorizing the city. I'm inclined to say that the Crusaders' mass kidnappings began more recently, either after Toei was rescued and his liquefaction research was taken up by Cindelman, or after Yamazaki joined the Inko cult and the efforts to revive Master Odeo. Notably, the Crusaders use the same ordnance -- psychically-controlled machines -- as the research facility guards, suggesting that the Army is providing them with whatever equipment they need, possibly reinforcing the Crusaders with bigger and deadlier automatons whenever Crusader casualties start to ramp up (and Coop gains a level on their busted heads). Not even sure where to go with speculating about Buriki Daioh. The best I can come up with is that he's an ancient, primitive contraption built by Babylonian psychics hopped up on a shitload of Matango, and he's more puppet than machine, utterly immobile unless powered by the overflowing energy of an out-of-control psychic. That explanation has plenty of issues, though, and I'm not sure myself whether the game's writers wanted to explain Buriki Daioh in any more detail than "gently caress you, he's a robot." Pittsburgh Lambic fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Mar 23, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 05:49
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(We both had our hands full with keeping our subordinates from taking to their heels…)
I don’t want any more deaths!
Don’t be dense! They’re just stringing you along!
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Pittsburgh Lambic posted:Not even sure where to go with speculating about Buriki Daioh. The best I can come up with is that he's an ancient, primitive contraption built by Babylonian psychics hopped up on a shitload of Matango, and he's more puppet than machine, utterly immobile unless powered by the overflowing energy of an out-of-control psychic. That explanation has plenty of issues, though, and I'm not sure myself whether the game's writers wanted to explain Buriki Daioh in any more detail than "gently caress you, he's a robot." The implication in the theme song is that this was not Buriki Daioh's first throwdown, and that it had been used to combat "demons" in the past. Also, as for much of its backstory, yeah, they were going with the then-common (in the mecha genre) explanation of "ancient/mythical society was actually super advanced, and they built a giant robot."
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Mar 23, 2016 07:05
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EclecticTastes posted:The implication in the theme song is that this was not Buriki Daioh's first throwdown, and that it had been used to combat "demons" in the past. Also, as for much of its backstory, yeah, they were going with the then-common (in the mecha genre) explanation of "ancient/mythical society was actually super advanced, and they built a giant robot." Going by that, where it was presumably found (close enough to the Inko shrine that it could be moved to the antiques store basement without the Japanese army noticing) and how they're both the same size (quite the coincidence considering mecha size ranges), I'd wager that Buruki Daioh was specifically made to fight Master Odeo or entities like it, and was the one who made it so Odeo needed to be resurrected in the first place. GilliamYaeger fucked around with this message at 08:13 on Mar 23, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 08:08
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GilliamYaeger posted:Going by that, where it was presumably found (close enough to the Inko shrine that it could be moved to the antiques store basement without the Japanese army noticing) and how they're both the same size (quite the coincidence considering mecha size ranges), I'd wager that Buruki Daioh was specifically made to fight Master Odeo or entities like it, and was the one who made it so Odeo needed to be resurrected in the first place. I was leaning towards that theory to begin with, but there's a lot of stuff that implies that the statue was moving solely under the power of the liquefied humans, and not Odeo at all. That part is yet another aspect of the Mecha chapter that's extremely ambiguous and open to interpretation.
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Mar 23, 2016 09:13
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EclecticTastes posted:I was leaning towards that theory to begin with, but there's a lot of stuff that implies that the statue was moving solely under the power of the liquefied humans, and not Odeo at all. Iiiiiiiiiiiiiii wouldn't say that. While there's stuff that implies the statue was moving because of the liquefied humans, I won't deny that...it was still...well, we'll get back to this when it becomes relevant.
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Mar 23, 2016 10:21
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I'm a little sad the MOTTO MOTTO version got linked without sticking in the promotional vid for the 2012 "newly recorded vocals" version Squenix single where the attacks get called out by the singer. I wish the link to the store page for purchasing the song worked.
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Mar 23, 2016 11:27
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Raw footage for all of Oersted's stuff: 83GB.  (Read as: Yes, I use FRAPS.) Granted, a lot of that is repeat fights with enemies and me faffing about. It's also going to cover... about four updates, I reckon.Onmi posted:Can't wait for the next episode of Oersted Development. ElTipejoLoco posted:I'm a little sad the MOTTO MOTTO version got linked without sticking in the promotional vid for the 2012 "newly recorded vocals" version Squenix single where the attacks get called out by the singer. 
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Mar 23, 2016 12:06
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ElTipejoLoco posted:I'm a little sad the MOTTO MOTTO version got linked without sticking in the promotional vid for the 2012 "newly recorded vocals" version Squenix single where the attacks get called out by the singer. I'll echo Eevee in saying I did not know this existed. There are so many Live A Live remixes I was not aware of until this LP, and it makes me very happy to see all of them. This game has gone under the radar for so long, but it absolutely deserves a remake, or at least a Virtual Console release, wouldn't be the first time a formerly Japan-only game was given an official translation and put on the VC. Though, ironically, it may end up like Tales of Phantasia where people prefer the fan translation.
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Mar 23, 2016 21:21
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Very likely, as I doubt a VC translation would go through the effort of injecting different fonts in each chapter, which imho is what really helps make the game's atmosphere - I was really surprised to learn that was thrown in by Aeon Genesis and not original to the game.
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Mar 24, 2016 00:49
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EclecticTastes posted:I was leaning towards that theory to begin with, but there's a lot of stuff that implies that the statue was moving solely under the power of the liquefied humans, and not Odeo at all. That part is yet another aspect of the Mecha chapter that's extremely ambiguous and open to interpretation. That's actually neat in that it gives Master Odeo a definite identity, and one similar to that of the Dio we encountered in the western chapter. Liquefied humans are never much explained, but individual liquefieds keep their identities and memories, though they're often confused and terrified by what has happened to them. This can only be made worse when multiple liquefied humans are mixed together; two thousand of them all poured into a pond are likely to become one boiling mass of PSI-spewing insanity. Compare this to Dio, a horse that became a magnet for the souls of men killed in combat. Like the liquefied humans, Dio winds up comprised of a huge number of confused, vengeful spirits inhabiting a single vessel and attacking everything they come across. Our nemesis takes many forms across the ages, but some of those forms have a great deal in common.
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Mar 24, 2016 06:15
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Update 24: Welcome to Lucretia. Oh boy, here we go. -------   It’s been a long, long time since we’ve heard the game’s opening track. And look, a standard medieval setting! It’s almost like we’re playing a normal JRPG.   In the West… Er… What’s your name again? It turns out that some goons are about as subtle as sledgehammers, so we’re sticking with Oersted. In the west, it’s Oersted versus Armstrong! ...Oh dear. I hope this tournament isn’t to the death! -------  Oersted starts at level 1, and his basic techs are very straightforward. Cut One Way is weaker and can target in eight directions, while V Shine is stronger but can only target a foe in the cardinal directions.  Armstrong dies in two hits from V Shine; all he can really do is poison Oersted with Monkshood, aka. Wolf’s Bane. Miiiight want to get that treated later. -------  And in the East… ...Coming out of the Mecha chapter, that feels just a little bit on-the-nose, y’know? Now then, before the finals, a word from the King!  Remember, to the winner… Ah yes, none of this ‘marrying for love’ nonsense when it comes to royalty.    Even though we may be friends… I’ll never forgive you if you go easy on me! Now then, it’s Oersted versus Straybow in the final match! Begin!!-------   Our long-haired pal is a level 1 wizard, and therefore could be easily killed by a kitten as per D&D tradition. I do hope you enjoy the proper battle theme for this chapter though. -------  Rrgh… You’ve won… Come forward, Oersted! (Music fades.)  You certainly seem to be… VERY strong. To Oersted goes victory, and the hand of Princess Alicia! In celebration of these two, on whose shoulders Lucretia’s future rests… A feast! Let us all eat, drink, and be merry! -------   Father overdid it a little at the feast, admittedly, but he’s happy to have an heir such as you… Of course, I’m happy too.  From this day forward, even more than Father…   D’awwwww.  Also worth noting is that Oersted is a silent protagonist; even when he was clearly supposed to have said something, we didn’t get to hear it.  Ack, random encounter! -------  The Dragnon can spit poisonous fluid to lay down poison fluids, but dies into two hits. Mainly because… -------  It was just a distraction!   Welp.  Couldn’t even hold onto the princess for a single night.  There resides, in the Western mountains, a Hero fated to destroy the Demon…  -------   How is it that the Demon could have come back to life? We have little hope. The brave Hero Hash slew it last time… But he’s closed his heart now, and is living as a hermit in the mountains.Make your own  jokes, people. Meanwhile, back at the plot… Thank you, Oersted. I hereby proclaim you the new Hero! Please! Destroy the Demon, save Alicia and return peace to this fair land of Lucretia!! I’m counting on you, Oersted! I believe in you! ...What a wordy old man. But yes, of course Oersted is going to slay the Demon and rescue the Princess! I mean, she is his wife and all…  It abducted the Queen, who was pregnant with Alicia at the time. The Hero Hash joined forces with a monk named Uranus to fight the Demon, emerging victorious. His Majesty rejoiced, granting unto Hash the title of “Hero.” Despite all this, he still set forth on his self-imposed exile… Uranus left for parts unknown as well. We haven’t the foggiest where he could be.Thank you, Minister of Exposition. Also, I’d say something about living in Lucretia requiring you to have a ridiculous name, except that Alicia and Armstrong are reasonably normal.  All of the guards come in pairs; the guy directly to the right will say the same thing. A pair lower down say:  We’re trusting you to save the Princess!  Now, there are a pair of side rooms here. They have items in them. However! I will not be taking them. Indeed, Reasons™ suggests that we take almost none of the items available to us in this chapter. (Don’t worry, we’ll manage.)  To be fair, it both created a distraction and chose a method of escape that Oersted couldn’t possibly follow. At least we know where it went though.  The lower of the two doors leads out onto the balcony; moving to this corner will actually make the whole kidnapping scene replay in sepia tone.  Like so. We will be seeing flashbacks a fair bit in this chapter.   Gee, it’s like one thing is on everybody’s minds. Almost like treasure on the west bank.  On the left side of this area is the prison, and the right side has the armory.  Don’t forget the swords and shields hanging on the wall!There’s a whole lot of nice stuff in here, but again, we’re not taking it. Not needing to gather treasure actually cuts down on time spent in this chapter a fair bit.  ...Don’t tell me I have to make sprites for all these people. There’s like, eight different people in this crowd of eighteen (which I think makes the population of Lucretia at least half soldiers). And at least two of these people are always obscured by trees. Unless…  Haha, disabling background layers to the rescue! That’s the first time I’ve ever done that on purpose. Going from left to right, top to bottom:  Oersted! Take care! You must be the new Hero! That’s our Oersted! So manly…! Tee hee! This sword has been handed down through many generations of my family. Please, take it. Go on! Destroy that Demon! Don’t let some nasty Demon get you down! This might come in handy… You like it? Go on, have another! Have as many as you like!You can use This Thing (the RPGC shrine calls it BlueGate) as an accessory, for a whole +1 Vt. Still, might as well get twenty.  I gathered this in the southern woods… Save the Princess!The Naorigosa is our staple healing item of the chapter, and unfortunately is single-target. Can boost all your stats though.  I don’t have anything for you… Oh, wait, I know! How about this? Can’t really afford more than this, sorry…...That’s okay, really. Please put your pants back on. My sisters live in the village of Familia, to the southwest.The name rings a bell. (  ) It’s my treasure, but… Since it’s you, Oersted, you can take it! It was a present from my woodcutter daddy!The Joshua Seed is also single-target, but can be used on someone other than the person selecting it. It cures statuses as its added benefit. I-i-i-i-it’s Oersted! Cooool!! I’m the woodcutter. I picked up some seeds out in the woods. The mountain in the southeast is known as Devil’s Peak. No one’s ever been up there except Hash and Uranus… I’m the woodcutter’s wife. Roundabout the time I’d left to bring my husband his lunch…  Oh no, I’ve completely forgotten! Give me a minute… I’m going to be up ‘til three in the morning worrying about this if I can’t… Oh hey, wait, “three” reminds me of “tree,” so… Tree, tree… Oh, right! See, my husband brought that home, and… There’s an old man in a nearby village who spent all day sitting in the sun. Now, let’s see, what was the name of that village? Errr… I’ll think of it eventually… Goddamnit, woman!  This is what I get for trying to scam items out of NPCs. There’s a snowy peak to the West of here called Hero’s Mountain. We can’t fight, but we still believe that you can bring the Princess back! Please save the Princess… and all of Lucretia! Grownups are sneaky! They don’t fight, they just lay it all on the Hero!...How very perceptive you are, kid. Be sure to bring back the princess! Well, that’s all the chatter done and a few bits of gear gotten. Let’s actually get this show on the road!  Literally everyone else in town just gave Oersted a fond farewell. I don’t think you can really say that.  If it’s a Demon we’re up against, then it only makes sense… I wasn’t aware the man who got second place could call themselves a champion too.   Straybow is very much your typical spellslinger; completely unable to take hits, but with tons of damage-dealing potential. His moves are actually mostly instant-cast too.  Once we step outside of Lucretia, the music settles down into a much more chill and peaceful track. Yoko Shimomura’s “best of” album, Drammatica, had two songs from Live-A-Live; one was the Kung Fu chapter theme linked during that chapter, and the other was Forgotten Wings, a slight remix of Wings That Don’t Reach.  Here’s a Tindeck version too.  Navigation is pretty straightforward, especially since everything is signposted.  But because this chapter is the most like a traditional JRPG, we have good ol’ random encounters for the first time!  Indeed, this chapter actually requires us to do a little bit of grinding.  Straybow and Oersted can handle the forest creatures, but heading straight for Hero’s Mountain would result in a swift asskicking.   So before getting stuck in on slaughtering local wildlife, let’s take a peek at Familia village.  ...It’s all of two houses, apparently.     Oh, that must be that one lady’s sister.  Are you really Oersted? My son’s a huge fan! Aside from meeting some of Oersted’s adoring fans, this tidbit is good for letting you know you can take the orange flowers. (They’re Naorigusa.) We’ll be leaving those alone too, though.   What a lovely day…Ah, you must be the old man who likes sitting in the sun.  Neat shield he’s got too.  But enough of that. If we head back to the first signpost, this path north leads to Hero’s Mountain.  Which means that we have to take some time to grind now, unless we want to flee our way up and down the mountain. (The slugs are Thing Eaters. They drain HP, but are squishy.)  ...Why are there tiny men riding… whatever the hell those are?  At any rate, the encounters around here have EXP values between one and three, and you’re getting barely anything once your level matches the EXP value. So level three’s where we want to be! Oersted’s level two move is Plus Link, which hits everything around him.   While Straybow embarrasses his friend by learning Silver Wind, a single-target attack that is basically our caster’s bread and butter.  Alright, good enough. Straybow is going to lag behind Oersted experience-wise by an encounter or two from here on out, because fighting Armstrong gave the knight a headstart.  So off into the rainbow snowdrifts we go!  … RUN AWAY!!   No, seriously. If you see the Nuggiebear, just flee. It will murder you hardcore. It’s also only got an EXP value of 5, when almost all encounters here offer 4-6. So it’s not even worth it when you are able to kill one! (There’s an encounter with two Nuggiebears with an EXP value of 15, but that’s pretty rare.)  Aside from the Thing Eater already being palette-swapped for the Fang Eater, we have Oersted’s level 3 tech, Hammer Power. It’s a little stronger than V Shine, turns enemies around most of the time, and it targets diagonally. Between those two moves, Cut One Way is now useless.  Straybow’s next tech sucks royally by comparison. Blue Gale apparently hits a 3x3 area (despite what the targeting reticle says) and can stun, but it’s weak and has a charge time. Don’t bother with it. Cool Bulbs are fairly unremarkable beyond having good damage and rarely dropping Ice Helms, which would be a semi-nice find.  By the way, the whole idea here is “go north”. After the first screen transition, it’s north and then a little bit west.  Right about here.  Oh, hey there Armstrong. Came back to try that whole wolf’s bane business again, I see.   Red Cage certainly looks cool, but unfortunately its damage is highly inconsistent. A random number of flame pillars will be shown in the animation, which means it does a random number of hits. I’ve seen it only put out one pillar before, barely managing double digits.  The Freezines are somewhat dangerous to Straybow, but nothing to write home about.  Hey, long-haired hermit guy! Would you happen to be Hash by any chance?   …  Well, that’s a dead giveaway. We’d better schlep back down the mountain and go back to Familia territory. -------  Examining the shield up in the hermit’s hut has relocated the old man.   The warmth of the stove is quite comforting… To echo Starkclamp (or Adelheid as they’re now known)… The old LP posted:I... Are you serious? You just said this, and also you were here looking at this exact one just a short bit ago.  (Music stops.) -------   So the Demon has come back… But afterwards, the kingdom had no use for him, and he was soon all but forgotten. Eventually, he hid himself in the northern mountains, and grew disgruntled…There’s a moment’s pause…     So then… That’s right… I’m the monk who fought alongside Hash all those years ago. Though rescuing the Princess is indeed important, I don’t wish to leave Hash as miserable as he is. If people can’t believe in others, then in what CAN they believe…?“Believe” is the chapter’s drinking word, if you hadn’t picked up on that.  I still believe that Hash will change his mind!    The Hero Shield is definitely worth grabbing. A minor speed penalty is manageable when it gives +10 defence and +8 IQ.  Oh, and Uranus also steals Straybow’s Leather Boots. He’s an old man, he needs them more. -------  As you may expect from an old monk, Uranus is all about religion and healing. God’s Blessing is a 3x3 heal of reasonable potency. Prayer of Healing is single target, very strong and cures status effects. And Voice of God…   Hits the whole screen, good chance to stun what it doesn’t kill, and makes the same sound effect as Ayla screaming. Uranus is pretty badass. -------  Okay, let’s try this again.  (No music.)...He’s still not super receptive.  How long do you intend to brood here? There’s a very, very long pause here.  Before he just turns away. You’ve grown weak, Hash. People are inherently weak, so they have to depend on those stronger than themselves…  That’s how they grow strong. Fiercely strong…Another long pause, with no response.  This man…  This actually gets him to turn around…  ...though he’s definitely not in a good mood. Once we try and leave though…  (Music stops.)He stands up.    I’m not doing this for “people” or any crap like that.  Whatever the reason, we’re glad to have you.  Let us first visit the summit.Hold on a moment.  Okay, now we’ll visit the summit. -------  Nice view. Very… ‘West Cape’.  (Loud rumbling.) Hash, if this is where… … Oh, you want Oersted to move. Got it.  So that Hash can dig in front of the gravestone. The Demon…    Not any more. Now he’s wide awake… and it’s time for us to go kick that Demon’s rear end!
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Mar 24, 2016 11:45
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This chapter, true to genre, doesn't really have much in the way of trivia to share. It's the only chapter that didn't have a manga artist do illustrations, and aside from following a lot of common genre conventions for fantasy RPGs, there's not really anything in the way of references. I'm afraid my role as pointless thing explainer has basically come to an end. 
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Mar 24, 2016 12:08
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It's kind of interesting that the game saves the "traditional JRPG" chpter for last.
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Mar 24, 2016 12:17
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This chapter's music The most Yoko music. This won't be out of place in a KH game. Compare with this one Rigged Death Trap fucked around with this message at 12:30 on Mar 24, 2016 |
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Mar 24, 2016 12:28
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It took me a couple of tries to not read "Straybow" as "Strawboy" or "Strayboy". I'm not sure why the name is untranslated in a chapter that's not at all Japanese-inspired, but Naorigusa is Healing Grass. Maybe the translators figured the great hero Hash was already too much for one chapter.
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Mar 24, 2016 12:55
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Rigged Death Trap posted:This chapter's music It also isn't out of place in a Fire Emblem game.
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Mar 24, 2016 13:05
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Yapping Eevee posted:
You fuckin' dick.
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Mar 24, 2016 14:19
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i think it's really neat that you can just walk up and grab wall decorations like that i think it's not so neat that this chapter features a lot of backtracking that feels worse than it did in other chapters because of the random encounters
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Mar 24, 2016 18:59
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EclecticTastes posted:This chapter, true to genre, doesn't really have much in the way of trivia to share. It's the only chapter that didn't have a manga artist do illustrations, and aside from following a lot of common genre conventions for fantasy RPGs, there's not really anything in the way of references. I'm afraid my role as pointless thing explainer has basically come to an end. Also my Combat Lessons are pretty much done. Knight knows you've played all of the previous chapters and it expects for you to have picked up on some things. There's really only one noticeable reinforcement this chapter and it deals specifically with one of Oerstead's moves later.
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Mar 24, 2016 21:32
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The music in this game is excellent in general, but I'll concur - it's exceptionally good in this chapter. Wings That Don't Reach <3 (or rather,  )
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Mar 25, 2016 02:53
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The music in this game is excellent in general, but I'll concur - it's exceptionally good in this chapter. Wings That Don't Reach <3 (or rather, )
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Mar 25, 2016 02:53
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Update 25: Taking on the Demon. Hash’s old sword is extremely nice, and the one he started with will make a good hand-me-down for Oersted. Our young knight also steals the helmet, and swaps their other gear.   Like so. Can’t have anyone getting confused about who the protagonist is, right?  While we trek down the mountain again, let’s examine Hash’s moveset. We know the first three, and Jump Shot is a simple high-damage instant move that can only be used at a range of exactly three.  The other four all have charge times, so here’s some angelic healing while we wait.  Death Trail is an ‘Evil Tech’, which apparently means that it will do a lot of damage, but lower Hash’s level after use. Much like Ayla’s Dodegesden, this makes it most useful as a finisher.  Dragon Sword hits foes on the diagonal up to three spaces away, which can be handy if enemies line up correctly.  Hash also has a nice 5x5 move in Razor Sonic. All in all, a pretty good moveset. ...Oh right, Spindle. It doesn’t do much damage, but it does turn enemies and Hash can instant-cast it as a counter. And free damage is never bad (when you’re the one dealing it).  The new generation of heroes have been picking up some tricks as well; Straybow learned Purple Mist at level 6, which delevels and lowers the IQ of a target while dealing damage. Oersted’s level 5 was Sword Wind, which gives him a decent ranged option.  Encage is a 5x5 attack centred on Oersted, capable of locking hand and foot techs on any survivors. It’s great for clearing out fodder. -------  Back down in the forest, there’s a secret on the south side. A ways east of Familia village, there’s a path hidden among these trees.  Weaving through them brings us to this secret grove, where ten Naorigusa await us. (AlphaKretin helpfully told me that means ‘healing grass’.) The nice thing about these particular plants is that they respawn whenever you exit and reenter the screen, so we can stockpile a whole bunch of the things. That makes this chapter much, much easier.  Ah, such a classic phrase. 14th century even.  (No music.)Imposing. Question is… How do we get in? Let’s go.   Ah, of course. Using the sword as a key.  ...Okay, that .gif is funnier to me than it should be.   Enough of that silliness though. Let’s head inside.   Skull lanterns, creepy music, dark cave. Yep, it’s a Demon’s hideout alright. It’s not very long though… if you aren’t going down all the side paths for treasure. For progress, we want to start going west.  Devil’s Peak has its own set of encounters, with EXP values of 4-9. Lesser Dragons are pretty meh unless you stand on the diagonal, where they can slaughter you with their fiery breath. They can at least take some punishment with their 196 HP.   Avoid the opening off to the side and head up the stairs, which takes us through a door into the next screen.  ...Sure, game. Whatever you say.  Oersted hits level 7, and learns a bit of crowd control with Moon Down. It’s alright.  Next intersection, we’re going through the northern opening.  Bypassing a whole bunch of other paths, head for the far right.  Through a little adjoining room.  And into somewhere that’s starting to look more like ruins than just a cave. Heading left again…  And again. (Sorry if this part is rather dry. Offering directions without having new random encounters or something to sprinkle in is… eh. I’m not sure how people who regularly LP JRPGs do it.)  Ah, here we go. We’re nearly at the end of the dungeon. Just right, up and around…  Show off Straybow’s other charged tech, Blue Squall… (Have you noticed they all start with a colour yet?)  Oh, and here’s Spindle kicking in as a counter. Speaking of counters, Oersted learns one at the end of this fight. It’s called Mirror Drive.  Alright, now we’re ready to take on the Demon! Let’s go!  ...Well now. Doesn’t this look familiar?  (Silence.)And in the next room, the Demon awaits. Demon!  -------   So, this goofy-looking beastie is the Demon Lord. He hits like a truck, throws around status effects and takes very little damage. Unless you know the secret to this fight, that is.  That secret is using Death Trail. It won’t do much damage to him the first time.  But it will prompt him to use Barrier Burst. Uranus can cure the Stone effect, and using it absolutely cripples the Demon Lord’s defences.  It does nothing to blunt his offence, but you have to take what you can get.  Oersted and Straybow don’t actually have much to contribute to this fight; just let Hash deal all the damage and have Uranus keep him healthy. A second dose of Death Trail can do 400-600 damage, and the Demon King only has 720 HP.  The only way this can really go south is if Uranus bites it too early, because we only have the one Joshua Seed. But you may well still be able to power through with Hash. -------  (No music.) There’s no way… What do you mean, not the Demon?  ...And why are you suddenly clutching your chest?   How pathetic… Hash…  Hash this, great hero that… I’m tired of hearing it. So that wasn’t the Demon after all…? The true demon… is much stronger… Oh, right…  Hash… Why did you come?! I… I may be old, but I am still a Hero… Hash… Oersted… use this sword… The Princess placed her faith in you. So long as at least one person believes in you…  Oh geeze, that’s not good.  …Rest in peace, Hash.  Hash… … But, the Princess! Where can the Princess be…?  (Music stops, loud rumbling starts.) Let’s get out of here!But…  …Crap!   Straybow…So, to summarise… We did not kill the true Demon. We did not rescue the Princess. And we did not make it out without losing half our party. …We are the worst Heroes. -------  Eh? Hash? Hash? And against the Demon!? What’s happened to your friends, Oersted? Th… that’s right… You’re the new Hero, right? Oersted! Please, save the Princess! Mighty Oersted!...I don’t think Oersted feels very mighty right now.   The hero Hash and Straybow, too… So that means the true demon… And Alicia…  You must be exhausted. Please, rest in the room to the left…Thank you, your Highness.  (Music fades.)Perhaps a little rest will help… -------   -------  (Pure silence.)Hey, wasn’t that… Straybow?  Hash… Forgive me…It’s no use. We’ll have to go after him alone.  !!!  Have at thee… fiend…?  Oh. Oh God.  …  Somebody! Help!!   …Well, gently caress. Wh-what kind of awful…  Oersted…!  Oh, come on now…  They scream as Oersted takes even a single step toward them, and back up again.  Which wakes Uranus.  This one came back with Oersted! Then you must also be the Demon’s… This… this is quickly going from bad to worse.   Stand down, Oersted… Shut up! Oersted, flee from here! Make haste, you fool!You’re really not helping our case here, Uranus! He is right, though… There’s nothing Oersted can do but run.  Oersted has become a victim of some vile deception.   We have to inform the townsfolk!Branded as a Demon.   Don’t open the door!  Please, leave us alone!  Hurry, hide our daughter!  Feared and hated by those who had believed in him.   Cast out… -------  Where can he go now?  Royal soldiers still pursue him.    I… I may be old, but I am still a Hero… The Princess placed her faith in you. So long as at least one person believes in you… You must not lose hope…!Self-reflection offers little comfort.  It’s not true, is it? No! Keep away from him!   Demon? It’s not true, right?! Don’t…! Stay away!!It seems that all have abandoned him.    Really… What else is there to do?
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Mar 25, 2016 06:53
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Is it my imagination or do the combat animations just have a lot more personality in this chapter than anywhere else?
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Mar 25, 2016 07:23
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I'm curious, does the fake demon lord ever attack you if you let it? Because an illusion flailing around trying to do damage is strange at best.
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Mar 25, 2016 07:25
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"That was NOT the demon" is not what you want to hear after the fight that wiped half your party.
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Mar 25, 2016 11:59
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Wow. Poor Oersted.
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Mar 25, 2016 19:14
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Ah, Oersted. He has no idea what's yet to come.
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Mar 25, 2016 21:20
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Kind if a pity Eevee didn't show off the rest of Straybow's moves but it's a pain to get him to 16 with only the enemies in the tunnel to grind off of and it robs something from the upcoming section. Also Poor Oerstead, word spread really really fast about him being proclaimed the Demon. Pittsburgh Lambic posted:Is it my imagination or do the combat animations just have a lot more personality in this chapter than anywhere else? That's the main reason, Straybow's the only Mage/Sorcerer character in the game. Everyone has a bunch of personality put into their animations (Ayla's 'scream face' puts Uranus's to shame for example) but even Coop's psychic casting is just him pawing like a cat a bit.
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Mar 25, 2016 22:16
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EponymousMrYar posted:Kind if a pity Eevee didn't show off the rest of Straybow's moves but it's a pain to get him to 16 with only the enemies in the tunnel to grind off of and it robs something from the upcoming section. Yeah, like Oersted, Straybow gains abilities up to level 16, like a normal character, which makes sense, as both he and Oersted are meant to be "new generation" parallels to Hash and Uranus. The rest of his moveset isn't really especially interesting, though the next move up from the last one he learned here can be used as a counter under certain circumstances, he gets moves to add Water and Elec tiles, and his level 16 is a fairly difficult-to-activate counter-only move, so it's kind of disappointing overall. Blue Squall is basically his best attack.
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Mar 25, 2016 22:29
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Anyone guessing that Straybow is the one pulling the strings here? He conveniently disappears in a way that makes so it looks like he's dead, he shows up just before the illusion, he's a mage and he didn't win the tournament. All signs point towards him, as in a lot of stories like this using magic is only for the villains.
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Mar 25, 2016 23:37
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grandalt posted:Anyone guessing that Straybow is the one pulling the strings here? He conveniently disappears in a way that makes so it looks like he's dead, he shows up just before the illusion, he's a mage and he didn't win the tournament. All signs point towards him, as in a lot of stories like this using magic is only for the villains. He also has a "Morgan Robe", which could be viewed as a reference to Morgan le Fay, who is often portrayed as an evil sorceress. I mean, if he were a good guy, wouldn't he have a Merlin Robe?
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Mar 26, 2016 01:09
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