Welcome to the end of the world, boys [Lightning Returns]

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Welcome to the end of the world, boys [Lightning Returns]

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Aumanor posted:

Oh man, ground zero. Is this game as stupid as the previous two were?

Absolutely, but in this game it works.

# ¿ May 13, 2016 14:57

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 06:52

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

pichupal posted:

Edit: Fedule sounds so happy it's really strange.

I resent the state of my #brand.

# ¿ May 13, 2016 23:03

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Blaze Dragon posted:

But hey, the battle system looks very interesting and unique. That's a plus. I want to see where that goes, since there's that weird gauge that went from 1 to 5 that didn't get explained and triggered an Overclock or something to that extent, and the new Stagger system looks interesting too. Definitely looking forward to seeing more of this trainwreck.

Oh yes, there'll be much more expounding on this later, but for now a clarification: that gauge doesn't "fill up" (at least not during fights), it just tells you how many EP you have left. You can burn 2 EP to Overclock whenever you want, which will grant you about 5 seconds of free moves and leave you with full ATB after.

# ¿ May 16, 2016 01:23

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Asparagus32 posted:

It's really not that bad. There are things that are time-based, but they ususally have a pretty wide window to get them done. I won't go into detail here, since I'm sure Artix and Fedule will talk about time and time-sensitive events in the next update.

What seems to make most people shun this game is the seemingly tight time-limit (7 days) you start with, which makes them think they'll never get the essential things done in time. In reality you often run out of things to do long before time runs out.

Even better than that; several aspects of the game get markedly better the longer you let them sit. Like, monsters drop much better stuff as time goes on, etc.

# ¿ May 16, 2016 14:33

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Trick Question posted:

"I'm going to put you on a train. You can get off trains when they stop. Something happened in front of the train station."

Thanks for the intel, Hope.

You guys are making this game look super tempting for $20, even after I got burned by 13-2.

This game is the antidote to XIII-2.

# ¿ May 21, 2016 23:01

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Head Hit Keyboard posted:

I hated the combat because I liked what the previous games tried to do with combat but shoehorning one person with a far more limited ability set to do what was previously expected of 3 people to team up and do is just tedious and unwieldy in my opinion.

I don't think this is a very fair assessment.

First up, LR straight away ditches the Synergist and Medic roles entirely, with buffs and healing being managed by items, all of which are limited in supply and independent of Schemata. This leaves you with four roles - the role of one of which boils down to a single ability; Guard. Most people end up with a physical Schemata, a magical Schemata and a Sentinel/Saboteur Schemata (defensive equipment, one Guard command and some debuffs). With the changes to how staggering works there's no longer such a vital need to mix physical and magical roles (not that that was even strictly necessary in XIII either), and the vast majority of fights are one on one.

You lose out on some ability diversity but this is hardly a factor. The biggest problem is having to pick and choose elemental magic but this is largely a matter of location.

LR Lightning shifts between roles just as fluidly as the teams in XIII. Unlike them, however, she can still do multiple jobs at once if you set her abilities up that way. How much you want each Schemata to specialize/generalize is entirely up to you. The tactical options in this game go deep.

# ¿ May 22, 2016 01:32

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Rigged Death Trap posted:

Better switch to better algorithms Fedule .

Define an admissible heuristic for schemata design :colbert:

# ¿ May 22, 2016 16:56

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Artix is busy so here's an update from me.

:siren:

Update 5: South Side Jazz (Polsy) :siren:

Music

Chaos Infusions
Eternal Midnight (Luxerion: South Station - Night)
The Warren

# ¿ May 25, 2016 12:59

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Update 16: The Apocalypse Room (Polsy) :siren:

Music

The Cathedral

Datalogs

quote:

The Winds of Chaos

Vanille once fought alongside Lightning against their shared fate, and she sacrificed herself to become part of the crystal pillar that saved Cocoon. Thirteen years ago, she woke from her eternal sleep and was quickly taken under the care of the Order, who proclaimed her a saint.

When she awoke, it seemed that Vanille somehow gained the ability to hear the cries of the dead. Vanille herself says that she wants to use this power to bring peace to the dead. It is a wish born of the remorse that she still feels for all the deaths for which she believes she was responsible.

The dead of this world have become part of the endless swirl of Chaos. Feeling the power of it, Lightning realizes that this responsibility is too much for Vanille alone to bear. Yet the one person who has always been at Vanille's side to support her is not there. Fang is gone.

quote:

People: Oerba Dia Vanille

Vanille was raised in the isolated village of Oerba on the Surface of Gran Pulse. A series of events led her and her best friend, Fang, to sleep for hundreds of years as statues of crystal.

When she woke for her long sleep, she found herself telling lie after lie, not wanting to face the painful reality of who she was or what she had done. Vanille's presence affected the fates of many people forever, including Serah. But with Lightning and her other friends, she was able to face reality and bring about a miracle to help atone for the many who were sacrificed because of her choices. She and Fang became the crystal pillar that held Cocoon aloft, saving it and its millions of inhabitants.

Nearly a thousand years have passed, until Vanille and Fang woke thirteen short years ago. Now the Order keeps her in their clutches, calling her their "saint" and believing her to have mystical powers.

quote:

Locations: The Cathedral of Luxerion

Towering over the Luxerion skyline is the grand headquarters of the Order of Salvation.

During the day, a grand hall called the Hall of Devotion is open to the public, and believers come to hear the sermonizing of the priestess who leads the Order. Pilgrims stream to the cathedral, many of them hoping to catch a glimpse of the mysterious saint who lives deep within the cathedral�but few are rewarded.

Beneath the cathedral is God's Sanctum. This special chamber stands ready for the ceremony that the Order will perform on the last day of the world�only a select few are allowed to enter it.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2016 00:05

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

I think I was supposed to post this next one yesterday. Whoops.

Brace for participation.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2016 22:53

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Update 17: The Second Intermission (Polsy) :siren:

Alright, so I'm gonna break these up more or less by their "intended role" and then have a little dump of the abilities we have lying around afterward. Feel free to mix and match however you want, and I'll keep the ones I like handy to use in later videos!

Note: All descriptions will be from left to right in the following format

Garb Name
Max ATB - How much the garb affects your max ATB. Baseline is 100, 0 means no change
Default ATB - How much of the ATB bar you start with at the beginning of the fight. This is generally more important later on, when your main offensive move costs 50 ATB and your garb starts empty.
Abilities - What combat abilities the garb comes with (and their ATB cost)
Special Ability - If a garb has a special ability, it'll appear here with a description. Most have at least a token stat buff, but not always

Commandos

Nocturne
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Attack L2 (10)
Max HP +15%, Strength +40

Velvet Bouncer
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Blitz L2 (20)
Strength +10%, Strength +80

Ravagers

Mist Wizard
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 50%
Abilities - Thunder L1 (15)

Cold Rebellion
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Blizzard L2 (15)
Max HP +15%, Magic +40

Woodland Walker
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Aero+ L2 (15)
Magic +10%, Magic +80

Ignition
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Fire+ L2 (15)
Magic +10%, Magic +80

Watery Chorus
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Blizzard+ L2 (15)
Magic +10%, Magic +80

Electronica
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Thunder+ L2 (15)
Magic +10%, Magic +80

Black Mage
Max ATB - +50
Default ATB - 75%
Abilities - Rapid Fire L2 (15), Quick Freeze (15)
Soul of the Black Mage (Magic damage +10%)

White Mage
Max ATB - +20
Default ATB - 50%
Abilities - Dispel L2 (33), Quick Ruin L2 (15)
Soul of the White Mage (Max HP +5%, Magic damage +10%)

Mixed

Equilibrium
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Attack L1 (10)

Dark Muse
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 50%
Abilities - Attack L1 (10)

Red Mage
Max ATB - +20
Default ATB - 50%
Abilities - Light Slash L2 (5), Buster Ruin (15)
Soul of the Red Mage (Increases physical and magic damage by 8%)

Sentinels

Providence
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Guard L2 (10)
Max HP +15%, Strength +40

Quiet Guardian
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Heavy Guard L2 (15)
Strength +80, Physical and Magic Res +15%

Paladin
Max ATB - +30
Default ATB - 50%
Abilities - Heavy Guard L3 (11)
Soul of the Paladin (Magic Res +10%, Debuff Res +20%), Ruinga Guard (Casts Ruinga after guarding for long enough)

Dust and Shadow
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Guard L2 (10)
Ailment Resistance +33%, ATB Recovery +10

Saboteurs

Passion Rouge
Max ATB - 0
Default ATB - 100%
Abilities - Deprotect L2 (25), Deshell L2 (25)
Ailment Resistance +33%, ATB Recovery +10

Ability List

Attacks

Attack (10)
Light Slash (5) - takes less ATB but does not contribute to stagger
Charged Strike (10) - hold to consume more ATB and have a stronger attack
Blitz (20)
Area Sweep (5) - Like Blitz, but it's just immediately around you instead of running up to the enemy
Froststrike (15)
Sparkstrike (15)
Galestrike (15)

Spells

Fire (15)
Blizzard (15)
Blizzara (25)
Thunder (15)
Thundara (25)
Aero (15)
Aerora (25)
Firestorm (20) - casts both Fire and Thunder
Icespark (20) - casts both Blizzard and Thunder

Debuffs

Defaith (25)
Deshell (25)
Poison (25)
Poisonga (40)
Curse (25)
Dispel (35)

Guards

So all guarding abilities have an initial cost, a sustained cost, and a measure on how much damage they actually block. The sustained costs is similar across most guards, so I'm not going to mention it unless it's particularly egregious.

Guard (10) - Physical/Magic: 40%
Light Guard (5) - Physical/Magic: 25%
Mediguard (10) - Physical/Magic: 25%, Hold to recover HP
Counterblow (30) - Physical/Magic: 0%, Blocks a physical attack and counterattacks

Outside of the obvious, you can pretty much mix and match however you want and you'll turn out with something passable because the base stats of the garb itself matter a lot less than the weapon and shield you equip with it. That said, if you try to put a bunch of spells on Velvet Bouncer (which has both a flat strength bonus AND a 10% bonus), it would WORK but uh...come on, you can do better than that.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2016 22:53

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Oh by the way I'm not sure if it's come up yet but you should know;

You can name your Schemata.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2016 14:50

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Personally, I always named my Schemata "Suppress the Tango" (SEN/SAB), "Break the Tango" (RAV), and "Elevate the Tango" (COM), after that one thing I can't shut up about.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2016 20:00

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

What? I fuckin' love Crazy Chocobo! What's your evidence for this slander?!

# ¿ Jul 23, 2016 16:26

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Instant Grat posted:

https://youtu.be/BPxMBngvj5o?t=13m26s

That's... not really a great equivalence?

Like, my point here is that the lyrics employed in the soundtracks of Final Fantasies XIII are dumb as gently caress, and sometimes that fact is an enormous liability and sometimes that fact seals the deal. I hold that the lyrics in Crazy Chocobo are absolutely dumb as gently caress, and I hold also that the track as a whole is amazing. These are not contradictory viewpoints.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2016 23:32

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Update 30: The Third Intermission (Polsy) :siren:

Datalogs

quote:

A Vision of Serah

In reward for her loyal work as the savior, God decided to gift Lightning a fleeting reunion with her beloved sister. The Serah who appeared before was Lightning was just a shadow, and not the girl herself, but her voice, her face, her very presence felt as real as flesh and blood to Lightning. Seeing Serah again lit a fire in Lightning's heart, steeling her determination to bring her sister back � or at least, it should have.

The fact is, Lightning felt no joy when she saw the sister she had lost � only a cold, mechanical recognition. Were her emotions taken away the moment that she took up God's offer? Has she lost something precious, something she could no longer even grasp? Even faced with this betrayal, the expected fear and anger fail to materialize.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2016 00:00

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

We hear you.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2016 09:04

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Say it again, folks; it is nuts that they locked the entire weapon upgrade system behind New Game Plus, because it makes all the DLC weapons viable again (mostly).

# ¿ Dec 7, 2016 01:47

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Sixty five thousand, five hundred and thirty five.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2017 20:36

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

It's been ~~a pleasure~~ quite something.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2017 19:19

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 06:52

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

No Lightning Returns is a good game I swear-

# ¿ Feb 3, 2017 01:52

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Welcome to the end of the world, boys [Lightning Returns]