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Poltergrift posted:If this is the case, it's the exact same plot twist as the Shades being disembodied human gestalts, and we still didn't see it coming. The difference is unlike the mutual tragedy of NIER, they had it coming this time. Their time is done, the Earth should belong to their children.
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Dec 18, 2017 22:59
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Beefstew posted:Despite all this, its also a positive culmination of A2's arc. She started off as a murder hobo, senselessly killing all Machines she encountered, including children. It wasn't until she met Pascal that she started to have second thoughts. But this encounter with the Red Girls puts her newfound sympathy to the ultimate test. They were responsible for most of the misery in her life and the destruction of her squad, after all. And yet A2, who was diagnosed by YoRHa as overly aggressive (and displayed such behavior time and again), manages to restrain herself and realize that impotent rage won't resolve anything. I can have moments of... eccentricity and sometimes be quite curious about things. Please forgive me if I do something foolish or rude.
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Dec 18, 2017 23:08
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Poltergrift posted:If this is the case, it's the exact same plot twist as the Shades being disembodied human gestalts, and we still didn't see it coming.  "!aroT okoY, em llik tsum ouy, emag eht niw oT"
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Dec 18, 2017 23:09
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MechanicalTomPetty posted:There are a lot of cool things in this update but somehow my favorite part will always be Pod 042 affirming that yes, A2 is actually kinda dumb. I question the use of "kinda" in this context. "Pretty darn" may be more accurate.
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Dec 18, 2017 23:59
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She's Attacker 2, not Thinker 2. Still the best tho
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Dec 19, 2017 00:01
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That crane-elevator ride through a big corridor at the end really brings on the Citadel memories from Half Life 2. Ok, so looking at all the behaviors of android and machine through the lens of "becoming more human-like, regardless of intent" have the androids turned humanity into a religion? We've seen a few machine religions, but it only just occurs to me that the androids essentially used the humans on the moon thing to have a "there is a higher power, there is purpose to life" to keep themselves going. Plus, with the YoRHa end-game reveal, it's now firmly a matter of "yup they're up there, no you can't visit, you just have to believe" Episode CXXXII The Dark Id posted:And boy is there a lot of ‘em. are" and "haven't"
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Dec 19, 2017 00:10
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Ursine Catastrophe posted:Do yourself a favor and listen to all of them. Fixed that for you, buddy. Seriously, it's an absolutely phenomenal soundtrack - just like its predecessor. I hope that the composer(s) stick with Yoko Taro for any games he makes, for the rest of time.
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Dec 19, 2017 00:43
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I can't believe that the Red girls have become human enough to fall into the deepest pit of all. Simpsons Did It.
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Dec 19, 2017 00:52
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Zagglezig posted:That crane-elevator ride through a big corridor at the end really brings on the Citadel memories from Half Life 2. Hmm... kinda reminds me of Resonance of Fate. A church presides over pretty much all of everyday life for the dying remnants of humanity, and the church is ruled by elites who quite literally place themselves above everyone else. Religion is everything to the people; the Earth itself has been slowly dying for millennia thanks to climate change, and the people's belief in God helps them get through the drudgery that life has become. One of the opening cutscenes shows the new high priest being shown that the god he believed in doesn't exist; he has unknowingly been praying to and worshipping a machine that was created almost immediately after climate change rendered most of the planet uninhabitable. It was created in order to control every detail of humanity's existence to ensure that things don't go further wrong. His entire life has been a lie. Like every high priest before him, he grudgingly decides to keep the charade going since revealing the truth might unravel society. While he still preaches and gives longwinded speeches about God, behind the scenes he descends into drink, depression, despair, and guilt. Cutscenes throughout the rest of the game chronicle his slow, unwilling but inevitable slide into evil and madness. Interesting parallels between android high command and the RoF high priest and his associates. Gotta give the people a false god to believe in or things could go south...
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Dec 19, 2017 01:07
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Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:Even worse, one of the other goals of the project was... the collection of combat data! It always comes down to that. Like goddamn clockwork. To be fair, they at least seem to apply the data they are gathering in this game. Yorha was based on A2's suicide mission (and it sounds like they did a decent job of optimising the models for their purposes), it sounds like the destruction of Yorha was to pave the way for something new. Not saying it's a good idea, but at least we see more practical application than that trope normally has. I am curious to know if we ever find out who's calling the shots on the android side though. Can you not attack the creepy girls right from the start of that fight or do you have to wait for the pod to tell you what's up?
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Dec 19, 2017 02:33
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McFetusBurger posted:To be fair, they at least seem to apply the data they are gathering in this game. Yorha was based on A2's suicide mission (and it sounds like they did a decent job of optimising the models for their purposes), it sounds like the destruction of Yorha was to pave the way for something new. Not saying it's a good idea, but at least we see more practical application than that trope normally has. I am curious to know if we ever find out who's calling the shots on the android side though. You can attack them all you like. It solves nothing.
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Dec 19, 2017 02:39
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chiasaur11 posted:You can attack them all you like. I thought he meant if you can just not attack and let the battle progress to the "don't attack" phase, or if you need to kill some to trigger it.
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Dec 19, 2017 03:15
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That would prevent 042 from calling A2 dumb. Why would you want to do that.
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Dec 19, 2017 03:19
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Meathead A2/Condescending 042 is the best team.
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Dec 19, 2017 03:21
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Nier 3. Several thousand more years in the future. Machines and Androids are slaves to Pods.
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Dec 19, 2017 03:23
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Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:That would prevent 042 from calling A2 dumb. Why would you want to do that. I'm just wondering if it's possible, or if A2 is just cannonically dumb and even spoilers can't save her
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Dec 19, 2017 03:26
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Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:That would prevent 042 from calling A2 dumb. Why would you want to do that. All those years of being a murder hobo really took a lot out of A2. I bet if she had regular maintenance, she might be a little but more on the ball. But yeah, not sure why YoRHa exists when the pods are clearly the best tool for almost every job. Give them wee-handled swords for their stubbly little arms and I'm sure they'd go to town.
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Dec 19, 2017 04:31
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So, after a period of forced mental evolution, the machines conclude that the correct idea is to follow Caim into mad slaughter with wicked grins. Truly they have grown into perfect understanding of their universe.
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Dec 19, 2017 04:33
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That smile is gonna haunt me... Reread the update with A2 entering the Tower since I was just on my phone the first time, I really have to say it was awful classy of A2 to tell Dev&Pop they were good and helpful when in reality they've probably hosed things up again, because that's what they do. If only she could have applies this newfound empathy and grasp of communication skills to other areas of her life.
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Dec 19, 2017 05:05
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Oh look, everything comes back around again. Little Red Girls with Deep Cigarette-Smoking Man Voices. La-La-La-La Don't shitpost on the Watchers' Facebook page... etc, etc, TDI did it better.
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Dec 19, 2017 05:15
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The bit with all the terminals is likely a callback to the bit inside Manah's mind in Drakengard 2. I guess that's canon now.
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Dec 19, 2017 05:18
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So, just caught up on the last 20 pages or so of LP. One neat thing I'm surprised nobody brought up after the "black boxes are harvested from machines" revelation is that this is actually foreshadowed from the very first time you pick up a Machine Core. You just need to look closely at one in your inventory. Maybe in the field too, it's been a while since I played the game.
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Dec 19, 2017 05:40
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ultrafilter posted:The bit with all the terminals is likely a callback to the bit inside Manah's mind in Drakengard 2. I guess that's canon now. Nowe is canon only if we visit the White Chlorination Syndrome-less NIER universe and see all the characters living happily ever after. And laughing at him. Forever.
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Dec 19, 2017 05:48
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Kavak posted:Nowe is canon only if we visit the White Chlorination Syndrome-less NIER universe and see all the characters living happily ever after. And laughing at him. Forever. Actually, I'm pretty sure he fell into White Knight Chronicles and spawned Leonard.
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Dec 19, 2017 05:50
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 Lalala ♫  The Watchers ♫
This content has been deemed inappropriate for pretty much everyone. Please stand by.
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Dec 19, 2017 10:10
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Pod has the best lines. 
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Dec 19, 2017 10:47
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Yunlihn posted:
I'm shocked that nobody else thought to do this before now. I was seriously expecting a 'Watchers' drop when that grin popped into place, though I suppose it was enough getting the mark upon Eve's edgelord form.
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Dec 19, 2017 11:34
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Hey yeah that's not loving HORRIFYING or anything. I think I would have been slapping my PC's power button at this point just to get it off the loving screen, jesus gently caress. It's not bad enough that it's an eldritch-voiced little girl in a red dress grinning - it's how off proportioned the smile is that is viscerally disturbing. The rest is just extraneous, effective details. Yoko Taro, you brilliant, mad genius, I am never playing your loving games because of this poo poo but I love your style.
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Dec 19, 2017 15:24
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McFetusBurger posted:Can you not attack the creepy girls right from the start of that fight or do you have to wait for the pod to tell you what's up? You have to kill Red Girls until Pod 042 tells you what's up. Just waiting around hoping to get to the next phase doesn't work, you HAVE to have Pod 042 tell A2 she's a moron.
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Dec 19, 2017 15:42
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RelentlessImp posted:Hey yeah that's not loving HORRIFYING or anything. I think I would have been slapping my PC's power button at this point just to get it off the loving screen, jesus gently caress. It's not bad enough that it's an eldritch-voiced little girl in a red dress grinning - it's how off proportioned the smile is that is viscerally disturbing. The rest is just extraneous, effective details. Man, that, and the fact that she doesn't just smile - the creepy smile flickers into place like there was a skip in the film. Nosmile-SMILE. That's what really got me.
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Dec 19, 2017 22:28
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Picayune posted:Man, that, and the fact that she doesn't just smile - the creepy smile flickers into place like there was a skip in the film. Nosmile-SMILE. That's what really got me. Hexadecimal was always my favourite ReBoot character.
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Dec 20, 2017 00:14
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Picayune posted:Man, that, and the fact that she doesn't just smile - the creepy smile flickers into place like there was a skip in the film. Nosmile-SMILE. That's what really got me. Same reason why the Happy Mask Salesman was always so creepy. It's the lack of transition. It isn't human - it's a bad imitation of human.
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Dec 20, 2017 00:40
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Episode CXXXIV: The Ascent Music: Bipolar Nightmare (Instrumental) .jpg) Video: Click to view boss battle  Is this thing SERIOUSLY still kicking!? Speculation: It is driven by remaining data located within enemy servers. So this just keeps going until I kill ‘em all!? We... we are... Net... work....jpg) Ko-Shi is back for a rematch. Or err... I suppose a proper boss fight since it’s bringing a bit more to the table than sitting there and lazily launching the occasional missile barrage. .jpg) For instance, this time it can summon Linked-sphere Type machines to tag in and provide support in the form of energy orb spam with a side of horizontal swipes if A2 lingers near ‘em for too long. Unlike most Linked-sphere Types, they are real easy to take down since they’re almost entirely stationary and we can simply lock on and dump all our Pod Fire into ‘em until they’re out of our hair. .jpg) An... droids... Bonds... are lost... Someone... this hole... Fill in this hole... This is messed up. What the hell is this thing going on about? Analysis: It appears to be a leak of the enemy’s past memories. .jpg) .jpg) Ko-Shi has acquired the ability to shoot concentrated beams out of its front arms and uses ‘em to just... kinda slowly sweep the entire area. They’re easily avoided by just having A2 jump over ‘em. Maybe double jump for safety. Double jump and air dash is just overkill, frankly. .jpg) The spider-mecha also possesses a shockwave attack that only goes across the length of the center of the room. This is evaded by err... just not standing in the center of the room when it raises its arms above its head. Even a dimwit like A2 can figure that one out. .jpg) .jpg) After dropping to 75% HP, Ko-Shi once more disengages from battle and ropes off the ascending platform. We really need to stop letting that thing do that. It’s getting old. .jpg) .jpg) But don’t worry about that for a minute. You see, there’s gimmick to this sequence. Remember how 9S flew off in the final remaining YoRHa Flight Unit in existence earlier? Well he’s back now. .jpg) .jpg) And we’re now swapping over to playing as him. You didn’t think we were going to close out NieR: Automata without at least one more shmup sequence, now did you? But that’s not all. We wouldn’t want to let 9S feel left out for the penultimate boss battle. .jpg) So hell, let’s just give him a spider-mecha to fight too. Meet Ro-Shi, named for the Japanese pronunciation of Laozi the ancient Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism. Sure, why not? .jpg)  Become a god, become a god, become a god, who has become?.jpg) Ro-Shi doesn’t have much in the way of attacks initially. It’s content to just slide back and forth while spamming energy orbs in all directions along 9S’s path. .jpg) But that’s fine. 9S doesn’t have time for this bullshit either and quickly drains this new challenger’s HP to 75% as well. Which means... .jpg) .jpg) It’s back to A2 again, who finds herself busy fighting the last common machine lifeforms left in the Tower that they could dig up and throw in her path to stop the androids from reaching the Tower’s summit and err... .jpg) Umm... Well... ... ...... .jpg) ...We don’t actually have a good reason to climb the Tower, do we? I mean, 9S knows about the (assumed) plan to blow up the moon with the Tower’s launching mechanism and besides that he just wants to kill every machine he can get his hands on. A2 just kinda showed up because it was open and she wasn’t doing anything better and now things have just gotten a wee bit out of hand. .jpg) .jpg) But enough about A2 smashing some machine jobbers. Back to 9S. .jpg) In this phase, Ro-Shi begins getting somewhat more mobile and sweeps the area with energy orbs along with summoning some Small Flyers to offer support. Given Flight Units can spam sword swipes indefinitely while pumping out bullets infinitely, it’s not the most effective of tactics. And once it drops to 50% HP... .jpg) Become as gods! As gods! As gods! ...as gods! Lose what is precious... Lost... destroyed... So we destroy you too....jpg) Music: Bipolar Nightmare (Vocal) .jpg) What’s all this junk? Speculation: It is a resource of some kind. Used to make what? Unknown..jpg) .jpg) Well, if they need more scrap metal, we can help out on that front. I hope there are giant recycling plants on both sides of the war efforts given it’s been 5000+ years now of constant warfare between two robot factions. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) You still fighting that spider-bot, 9S? Yeah. Good luck with that. I’m gonna be real... I didn’t miss the lack of shmup segments in most of Route C... Those were already getting fairly long in the tooth by the Route B Grün battle redux. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Despite the warning of Ko-Shi’s return after a couple rounds of machine lifeform jobbers, A2 is actually treated to being surrounded by Linked-sphere Type machines all ready to make her life difficult. .jpg) .jpg) But that’s OK. A2 is also adept at making others’ lives difficult. Just ask Pod 042. That said, A2 needs to clear at least two of the sides of the lift of machine lifeforms before the main event shows up to his own boss fight. .jpg) Hiya, Ko-Shi. I’m really unclear how you’re keeping pace with a lift that is booking upward non-stop. Then again, I’m not sure how this lift has been going diagonally in one direction for like five minutes straight now. The geometry specifications of that compared to what we’ve seen of the Tower seem off. Is this like the compressed space 18.37 mile runway from the climax of Fast & Furious 6? .jpg) It’s worth noting that every couple of minutes the action will switch over to 9S, who is still fighting Ro-Shi. Except the minimal damage cap against it is 50% total HP, which the flight unit can burn through in no time. A2, on the other hand, needs to hit a 33% remaining HP threshold on Ko-Shi to progress to the next stage of this battle. So it’s entirely possible to have 9S just dicking around for 30 seconds not making a dent before swapping back over to A2 as the game waits for her to get her poo poo together. .jpg) .jpg) When both androids hit a third remaining HP on their respective spider-bots, the battle shifts to a new phase. Ro-Shi ducks into a hole in the Tower’s shell towards the summit and 9S pursues inside. .jpg) We now switch to a behind-the-back camera perspective the game hasn’t used for Flight Units since the very beginning of Route B when 9S was .jpg) Sing... a song... Dedicate... now... We are machines. We are machines. You are androids. You are androids. Mutual enemies. Doomed to fight. Why do you live? Why do we exist? I see... light. The light. We will soar through the sky..jpg) .jpg) Ro-Shi sounds like it is having a bit of a time after its central network administrators had an AI civil war on their server. Real high turnover rate being machine lifeform network admins. Ro-Shi copes with this existential crisis by putting on a colorful but ineffective laser light show for its android guest. .jpg) .jpg) It then resorts to its twin machine’s old trick of launching a bunch of semi-homing missiles and hoping for the best. Given the relatively greater distance, these missiles are a touch trickier to avoid. It doesn’t help the camera is locked onto focusing upon Ko-Shi so they cannot easily be swat/fire out of the air from the sides. Also there’s no Y-axis movement so any rockets coming from above or below just have to be sidestepped with no means to destroy ‘em. .jpg) This time around 9S also needs to deplete his spiderbot’s total hit points to 33% to get on par with A2’s damage rate. As soon as he hits that, the battle immediately progresses to its next phase. .jpg) .jpg) Ko-Shi does what these last two jerkass oversized orbs do best and buggers off to fight another day. 9S pursues. I like to think 9S is swearing his head off at this machine the entire fight and the comms are just busted on this Flight Unit because he half-trashed the thing before hijacking it. .jpg) .jpg) Back on the lift, A2 is now tasked with draining Ko-Shi’s HP to 5% while it continuously summons more Linked-sphere Type back-up. .jpg) In this final phase of A2’s bout against mecha Confucius, it gains a ground-pound shockwave. You double-jump forward over it to avoid its effects. Subpar work, Ko-Shi. Please see me after class. .jpg) I actually ran into a small, confusing glitch here the first time I played. Ko-Shi’s HP gauge stopped appearing so I figured I wasn’t hurting it. So I decided to fight all the Linked-spheres it was summoning thinking that would let me to damage it again. I mean A2 did mention she needs to kill them all at the beginning of the fight. Makes sense, right? This fight might have continued for ten minutes longer than it should have... I think 9S ought to have reached the moon by the time A2 finished her bit. Whoops... .jpg) But we’re not gonna... .jpg) ...make that error again. Music: ENDS .jpg) Welcome to the top floor of the Tower! The final Flight Unit segment of NieR: Automata is complete. Now to sort out these lousy bootleg Tachikomas.  Even within the realm of the Cutscene Zone™ A2 can’t seem to seal the deal on destroying Ko-Shi. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) At the same time, 9S has managed to complete his total destruction of all Flight Units in existence. He’s very vocal about his desire to kill all machine lifeforms but the vendetta against YoRHa’s mechas has been there since the very beginning. .jpg) .jpg) At the very least, 9S has finally managed to stick the landing on bailing out of one of ‘em. I’m honestly disappointed he didn’t faceplant and totally eat poo poo one last time... for old time’s sake, you know? .jpg) Alternatively, Ro-Shi just landing right on top of him would have been an acceptable comedic outcome. But I guess we have to put on our serious faces for the end of the game. .jpg) Sup? Are you two gonna play nice or— .jpg) Yeah... I thought as much. .jpg) .jpg) Alright, I know you two are heading for an actual fight and unless another pit swallows 9S up and drops him to the bottom of the Tower, we’re not going to avoid that. But err... .jpg) .jpg) ...You two might wanna call a truce until you sort out your mutual machine lifeform problem. .jpg) Quite literally! Tune in next time for the bout of the century! A2 & 9S vs. Ko-Shi & Ro-Shi! Surely A2 and 9S will be able to bury the hatchet through battling a common en--pfft. I can't even finish typing that thought with a straight face.    Video: Episode 134 Highlight Reel (You should watch this.)   The Tower Concept Art – Where’s the JRPG where the final battle takes place on top of like a squat two story building? The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 04:28 on Dec 21, 2017 |
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Dec 20, 2017 01:06
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This segment is so perfectly Platinum.
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Dec 20, 2017 01:13
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it was a rush alright though I am pretty sure I too got that weird Ko-shi hiding his HP bar glitch thing or something at least that extended the fight
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Dec 20, 2017 01:14
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Coughing Hobo posted:This segment is so perfectly Platinum. The shot of the flight unit transitioning to gameplay was one of the coolest moments in the game for me. This close to the end, and they're still pulling off new tricks. Not exactly common.
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Dec 20, 2017 01:19
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This was my least favorite part of the game. My computer was already having trouble running the game, and this boss just made it chug. It didn't help that I could deplete the boss' hp within a few seconds as 9S and I had to wait for the game to transition, and there were like ten total before getting to that final section.
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Dec 20, 2017 01:49
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That segment looked like fun. (well, fun to watch anyway. Not sure about actually playing...) Why can't these two just go be battle buddies together and get over their various issues with machine murder therapy?  ...although yes, I was wondering what the hell A2's motive was for being up there in the first place too. 'Just felt like it, no reason' seems pretty weak and it's harder to excuse when we all know some really tragic poo poo is about to go down. Meanwhile all the stuff the spider bots were saying was making me think of the story of Beepy the robot messiah.
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Dec 20, 2017 01:49
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I'm a sucker for a good tandem boss fight, so this looked incredibly rad.
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Dec 20, 2017 02:05
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A2 is there because she wants beat the hell out of every god drat machine she can find. If she weren't, then she would've state updated intentions in order to secure more usable data.
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Dec 20, 2017 02:17
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