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Dorothy is Aidios. I thought we discussed this. We can't beat Dorothy up. EDIT: I know it's a joke theory but with this series' track record, Dorothy being more than a simple photographer wouldn't be a shock. Rabbi Raccoon fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Apr 30, 2016 |
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Apr 30, 2016 00:55
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Well, I'm assuming we'll see all the Sept Terions eventually. It's hard to say for sure, since who knows where the rest are, but I'd say the Shining Ring has set the bar pretty high in terms of it's capabilities. I think the later games do explain a bit more stuff, though some of the information may or may not have been stashed in side material which I dunno about....but I'm not sure. Like, I believe there are some "tidbits" of information that are dropped by random npcs in SC, though they might not be too important. Still, you never know what might be hiding. As an example, I am aware of the names of Kloe's parents, and I believe they were mentioned in one of the Liberl News Issues. Another one is the name of the previous King of Liberl, though I don't recall where I read that. Things like that For myself, I'm largely not really able to think of just what the other Sept Terions are capable of, the Shining Ring just seems to be too high up the scale for what it's worth. MisawaMahoKodomo fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Apr 30, 2016 |
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Apr 30, 2016 02:55
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The three higher elements can be confusing, but they get a pretty consistent interpretation during the series, and they aren't really that hard to understand. Time is about chronological time as well darkness and death. Space is about spatial manipulation, holiness and light, as well void. Mirage is about knowledge, illusion and the conscious mind, fables and the collective human experience, and it's the neutral one compared to the two others, sometimes leaning towards light or dark or a mix of both. This also somewhat holds true to the characters. For an example, Tita and Julia are aligned towards Space (since they have orbment slots which are locked to space), the element of light (and by assumption, goodness). Joshua and Kevin are aligned to the element of Time, which is about darkness. And Olivier is aligned to Mirage, the element of knowledge, as well illusion. Of course, how much this holds true depends on how much you decide to read into this, but it's pretty easy to see that the developers consider the character's personalities when determining their elemental assignment. Also, based on knowledge from the series at large, I think the Aureole, the Treasure of Space, is actually fully sentient, and not semi-sentient. As the story goes, the Sept-Terrions were gifts given by humanity from Aidios, whose sole purpose was to help and enrich humanity by granting miracles. We still don't know if that's the whole truth to it, but the purpose is true. The Aureole's reason for existing is to help humans and enrich their lives. As such, everything it does, it does with that in mind. But remember that being sentient and being intelligent (or even being sentient and thinking just like a human being) are two different things. I don't think the Aureole understands or even cares about the morality of what it's doing. It just likes to grant miracles through spatial manipulation and reality warping, but it's fully aware of its own existence and its own purpose, and it has its own agenda. Of course, it's hard to talk about the nature of the Aureole without spoiling stuff from the Crossbell and Erebonia games, so it's better I stop this here.
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Apr 30, 2016 03:15
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So you're saying that the Aureole is basically Renee, and the solution is for Estelle to hug it?
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Apr 30, 2016 03:31
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No, the solution is for Olivier to start flirting with it so that it flees back to the dimension it was sealed in
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Apr 30, 2016 03:34
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:No, the solution is for Olivier to start flirting with it so that it flees back to the dimension it was sealed in Unfortunately we didn't bring Olivier so we have to settle for the normal ending. Good job guys.
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Apr 30, 2016 04:03
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EponymousMrYar posted:Unfortunately we didn't bring Olivier so we have to settle for the normal ending.
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Apr 30, 2016 04:31
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-Confession-  Joshua...I'm sorry...I said I wouldn't die...I promised I'd...walk with you... JOSHUA! Wake your dumb rear end up and stop! But I believe in you. Joshua...don't give in. Don't run away from reality...Even if I die... -Silver Will-    Awww, yeah! That's checkmate!  Sorry, Estelle. I didn't mean to scare you like that.  He can't possibly have reclaimed his will with the-- Wait!  The Stigma! What happened to the Stigma on your shoulder?! Oh, yes. That. The Stigma you carved into my flesh and mind is gone. Thanks to you, it has been shattered. But...HOW?! I've been 'poking' at the wedge on my own since then, getting it ready to shatter the Stigma the instant someone put pressure on it. What?! You... A...what now? A wedge. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep our promise, the way things were going. So I asked Kevin for a little hypnotic assistance after we crashed. Kevin?! Ahahaaa...Guilty as charged! Honestly, I wasn't even sure what to make of his crazy plan at first. If he'd bet wrong, I dread to think what could have ended up happening... So, uh, hey! Good job beating the odds there, J! Haha...Thank you, Kevin. Well, uh, haha...Not what I expected, but I'm not gonna complain! Father Graham, was it? I thought you were just a fledgling little Squire, but it seems I underestimated your bag of tricks. A mistake I'll not repeat. I say it's more the guidance of Aidios than anything. I guess I really shouldn't expect you to get it, what with you turning your back on the faith and all. Besides, wasn't really my idea to start with! Someone else gave Joshua the idea, and I just ran with it! What? Who else...? NO! CASSIUS BRIGHT, drat YOU! Dad...?  Yes. That was why he wanted to make sure only I read the letter, just in case anyone was listening in. 'I suspect your best chance of breaking the curse lies in Father Kevin's hands. How to use that key is a decision that must be yours alone to make.' 'Win your freedom by predicting what Weissmann will do.' Heh...Yeah, that's the old man, all right.The power of bonds IS stronger than evil...just so long as it's bonds with hardcore badasses who can beat the dark lord at his own game.  Oh, for crying out...Dad could've dropped me a HINT about this, at least! ... Honestly, I'd been worried about it for a long time. I kept wondering what you would make me do if you took control of me again. And so, knowing you, I decided to bet everything on one idea. That you couldn't possibly resist ordering me to do the one thing I feared the most. And sure enough, you ordered it...and that broke the Stigma. I'm finally...completely free of you. Joshua... ...You foolish little child. If you had just obeyed me, you could have aspired to such heights. I could have advanced you in ways you cannot even dream of! Much like how Estelle turned you down once...I really have no interest in any of that. Besides, if I've learned anything in this whole journey, it's that one's path in life isn't given by someone else. It's something you find WITH others as you search for it, no matter how dark your surroundings. Hahah! Absurd! The history of man is stained with the blood of fools who tried finding your 'path'! Without a guiding light to shine on that road, they shall remain lost! You're wrong! We use the light we each give off to find our way together! That is how we found our way here, through all your cynical traps! That's right! Heh...Heheh...You do like your speeches, don't you, you shambling wreck of an Enforcer. Show me, then. Show me this light you claim will guide you through the darkness.-A Gravestone Struck By Lightning-    ...the blinding light of a loyal servant of the Grandmaster! The power of the Faceless, one of the Anguis!  BRING IT ON! The one being blinded here is you! I've had a chance to rethink Weissmann's tombstone.  He won't be getting one.      Kneel before me!     Agate getting Muted is actually kind of a pain right now. He can't Clock himself, and I don't want to use any of his CP on a ranged craft or move him out of Earth Wall position.        Begone!The Vanish status effect is a new gimmick reserved just for Weissmann. Whoever he hits with Dimensional Exile is removed from play for a round or two. There's no way to counter it--you just have to wait for the vanished team member to come back on their own, and their EP will be reduced to 0 when they do. It is a serious pain when Weissmann uses this on one of your art-casters. If he had hit Kevin with it at any point here, I would have been in deep trouble.   Ha ha ha ha...Can you feel it? The despair? How does that feel? Come! SQUIRM for me! Ahahahahahahahaha!  -Silence-  To think that you would be so damned tenacious... *pant* *pant* Hey, 'Professor,' about time you dropped that 'holier than thou' act. Heh. Someone knows he's up against the wall. Heh heh. Pathetic. You haven't even realized you're standing on your graves. What?  Weissmann, what are you doing?! I had intended to offer it to the Grandmaster like this, but I must change my plans. It's time you realized just what it means to oppose me.-Gospel Project-        He wouldn't...! Oh, no...No no no! Don't FUSE with the Aureole, you heretical maniac!   Is that...yup. Of course it is.     You are so beyond kidding me at this point! This overwhelming power! Can...barely stand... quote:Weissmann's Voice    Weissmann's numinous vajayjay is totally    quote:Weissmann's Voice  This is nuts! Our attacks aren't hitting him at all! He's got some kind of barrier up! But if it's negating even our arts and our best techniques...quote:Weissmann's Voice    The evil eye AGAIN! You sick, twisted son of a... Weissmann...let them go. quote:Weissmann's Voice Man's Voice: I can't believe this. Forget 'bad taste.' The only word for you at this point is 'sick.' Who...?!-The Truth Behind The Tragedy-   Loewe!  quote:Weissmann's Voice  I suppose it can't. I did have a question for you, though, Weissmann. Just how involved were you in Hamel? Wait, what?!quote:Weissmann's Voice Because you're a snake. You appear before people in their moments of weakness and whisper plans into their ears that lead to their destruction. And, in doing so, you achieve your goals without ever dirtying your belly. ...That's just your way of doing things. No...He...Would he...?Does a bear poo poo in the attic? The ringleaders of the hawks were nothing more than political losers who had nowhere else to go. There were a few questions I couldn't answer at first, but if even the war ten years ago was part of your plan... It then occurred to me. Everything made sense.quote:Weissmann's Voice WH-WH-WHAT?!quote:Weissmann's Voice You son of a bitch...Mischa died just so you could prove a goddamn POINT? One more sin for the pile, eh...? I...I think I'm gonna be sick... I see. Essentially as I thought, then.quote:Weissmann's Voice  Hah. Have you forgotten? I've long since learned to stay my anger. However, you knocked me out from behind back there. That is an insult the Bladelord cannot abide. That, alone, I shall be paying back in full.quote:Weissmann's Voice  quote:Weissmann's Voice Yes. The sword granted to me by the Grandmaster. Just like your staff. It's a demon sword forged through the Divergent Laws.quote:Weissmann's Voice     LOEWE! Forget about me! Your path...is clear! Strike him down! Loewe... quote:Weissmann's Voice   quote:Weissmann's Voice  Just try it, you son of a bitch! Okay, you! As a bracer! As a citizen of Liberl! And more than anything, as a human being! I'm TAKING YOU DOWN! Weissmann...this is the end!
Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 20:35 on May 17, 2016 |
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Apr 30, 2016 10:57
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Is it just me, or is Cassius directly or indirectly involved in all of Trails in the Sky's best moments? Either him or Jenis Royal Academy.
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Apr 30, 2016 11:02
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Really Pants posted:Is it just me, or is Cassius directly or indirectly involved in all of Trails in the Sky's best moments? As you said the power of bonds is stronger than evil... when those bonds are with hardcore badasses. Also, I have to agree with Kevin's assessment of Weismann's plan. I mean seriously, fusing with the ancient magic super computer thing? I can have moments of... eccentricity and sometimes be quite curious about things. Please forgive me if I do something foolish or rude. Stephen9001 fucked around with this message at 11:35 on Apr 30, 2016 |
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Apr 30, 2016 11:31
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Someone's really, really salty there. Fun thing: I think Weissmann's first phase is actually harder than the upcoming Aureole phase. He actually uses stats and tricky poo poo in the first phase, but the Aureolemann is just a giant* pile of stats with no tricks no nothing. *far less speed than Loewe, so extremely weak in the one that counts.
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Apr 30, 2016 11:58
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StrifeHira posted:My run was Estelle, Kloe, and Kevin, mostly for practical concerns (Estelle and Joshua as the beatsticks, Kloe as for spamming healing and arts, Kevin to make sure everyone stays alive). I THINK I'd gotten everyone up to like Level 94 - 95 before taking on Lion Sword, and while I was a bit more proactive in attacking, I did end up using much the same strategy. Of course he was going to pull off a mind-control trick on Joshua. That was obvious even on a blind playthrough. It was also obvious that he'd think it was hilarious if he tried to have Joshua try to kill Estelle. Of course, because it WAS so obvious, Cassius and Joshua could guess he would do it. Whoops! My party for Loewe used Agate and Kloe because Kloe was in the party which fought Loewe the first time in FC and Agate had a long-standing grudge. We were all about level 90 and could tank a Dead Emperor's Sword. I had set Estelle up to cast Silver Thorn just because I thought it was a cool idea to use that nasty art from FC back on him. The hallway right before the final boss fight has enemies to let you re-build your CP back up. Nice idea after the tough Loewe fight. I was not surprised that Weissman had a hand behind Hamil after learning what that was all about. Hamil left Joshua so traumatized that he wouldn't even eat. If you don't eat, there's only a certain amount of time before you die. For Weissman to just happen to show up in that small window seemed like too much of a coincidence. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 15:51 on Apr 30, 2016 |
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Apr 30, 2016 13:25
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There's something just so satisfying about having the biggest dick in the world getting humiliated by being predictable in his dickishness. Also, I bet somewhere Cassius felt the warm glow of satisfaction of successfully trolling yet another person, even if he couldn't actually hear Weissman's enraged outburst.
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Apr 30, 2016 13:57
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Let's see, where to begin. For starters, someone has a lot of explaining to do regarding the whole "how the heck do you fuse with the Shining Ring". Again, I don't really get why the heck the Shining Ring just, well, does nothing about it (or is it the opposite). Blah, all this shining ring talk is driving me up the wall. Let's see now. Regarding the "True Evil Eye", I actually forgot that Weissman can use it in battle...mostly because he doesn't. He is mostly a pansy, the only real threats are if you get unlucky and the combat shells bombard you with AOE attacks (depends on how fast you clear them, holy crap 9000 damage dragon dive is one way to trivialize them). Weissman himself is a huge pansy that can't really offer much without them. Genesic Barrier is ok, and when combined (plus some situationality) with Dark Matter EX can potentially lock you down, though both Estelle and Joshua have ranged crafts. His damage is meh at best, any arts casting is more or less a giant waste of time. Another Dimension hits hard and has a confuse chance, but that's about it. The combat shells mute is only eh. I think the fight is ok on Nightmare, but still, kind of eh. Let's just say that...there are some new arts in Third, and leave it at that. The music is ok I guess, it's kind of odd, though fitting in a sense Regarding the whole thing with Cassius, I was honesty like "what the heck", because I was kind of expecting the letter thing to be something bigger. Oh well.... And more, so to speak, "testaments" to how, uh, "savvy"? Cassius is?
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Apr 30, 2016 15:44
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The best part of any story with an incredibly smug, condescending dick of a villain is the moment when the heroes crack the villain's composure and s/he starts to break down. Weissman's breakdown includes fusing with an ancient artifact to try and get his composure back. It's amazing. The Truth Behind the Tragedy is incredible.
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Apr 30, 2016 15:49
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Edvarius posted:There's something just so satisfying about having the biggest dick in the world getting humiliated by being predictable in his dickishness. Also, I bet somewhere Cassius felt the warm glow of satisfaction of successfully trolling yet another person, even if he couldn't actually hear Weissman's enraged outburst. I'd argue that that made it even more satisfying. Cassius trolled Weissmann from a thousand miles away. MisawaMahoKodomo posted:Let's see, where to begin. What's there to explain? It's a magical macguffin that can create miracles on demand that has just enough sentience to defend itself against people trying to destroy it or seal it away, but otherwise doesn't judge the intentions behind the miracles people request of it, including temporarily fusing with it, it seems. MisawaMahoKodomo posted:Regarding the "True Evil Eye", I actually forgot that Weissman can use it in battle...mostly because he doesn't. He is mostly a pansy, the only real threats are if you get unlucky and the combat shells bombard you with AOE attacks (depends on how fast you clear them, holy crap 9000 damage dragon dive is one way to trivialize them). Weissman himself is a huge pansy that can't really offer much without them. Genesic Barrier is ok, and when combined (plus some situationality) with Dark Matter EX can potentially lock you down, though both Estelle and Joshua have ranged crafts. His damage is meh at best, any arts casting is more or less a giant waste of time. Another Dimension hits hard and has a confuse chance, but that's about it. The combat shells mute is only eh. Actually, the real threatening move he has is Dimensional Exile. The one where he shouts "Begone!" and banishes one of your party members from the battlefield for several turns. If someone gets hit by it, they're slapped with the Vanish status, which is bad for several reasons: - No accessory can defend against it. - Whoever got hit can't be targetted until they pop back into reality, meaning you can't revive them and since they're out of the fight for several turns, they can't attack, heal or spam Gaia Shield/Earth Wall either. - It reduces your EP to 0, so even after your character recovers they still won't be able to heal or spam Gaia Shield/Earth Wall until someone uses an EP restoration item on them. This is particularly pesky if Kloe or Olivier got limbo-ed. - He can use it multiple times. It becomes a lot harder to survive if only half of your party is present on the battlefield and your healer and tank/damage dealer were both put in suspension. He's not as deadly as Loewe, but the RNG can still really screw you over here. It's just not noticable if you spam Dragon Dive. Angel Weissmann isn't particularly hard, even though Godly Lance Inanna packs a mean punch AND lowers your defense.
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Apr 30, 2016 16:41
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Dimensional Exile is only soso, the ep drain is only bleh. Most of the time, by the time the character comes back, weissman is already backed into a corner and he's too slow to do anything (The main flaw of most bosses is that, once you kill all their backup, you can just outspeed them and block everything with earth wall. The more economical method is to just spam La Tearal/Tear All to heal everything instead, but the general idea is the same) He'd be more threatening if he had like 150 speed maybe. I believe I had a no S Craft run of weissman, he was...still a pansy, s craft or not. The animation for Another Dimension does make me sick though, which is annoying since he pretty much always gets it off once before he dies. For me, Tita's lower max HP is a bit of a concern since I have to patch up every little damage she takes (most hard hits do about 5k plus damage, meaning a 1/2k puts her in range of being 1hko'd), and Kloe's HP isn't too high either. I think.... All in all, it's not so bad...just that the long cutscenes (still pretty long even skipping the text) makes it a bit of a chore to redo the fight(s)....plus the fact that you can't adjust Joshua's stuff (The game is nice enough to leave an autosave after the first weissman fight at least...shame that, you know, autosaves can be rewritten and you can't keep them permanently) Update: I totally forgot this is the part where they talked about the Divergent Laws, but honestly there's not much we can do about it at this time. MisawaMahoKodomo fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Apr 30, 2016 |
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Apr 30, 2016 17:11
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Dimensional Exile is really annoying if he takes out your support. Imagine if he spammed it to take out Agate first, then Kevin on turn 2. Then you're left with Estelle/Joshua, while the four enemies are pelting you and possibly muting. Then you just have to hope he doesn't use it again. I got lucky and he only added on a third Vanish once all his mobs were gone. Was still painful.
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Apr 30, 2016 20:52
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I only got hit by Vanish in the very last fight (although I think it's done a little differently there). Trolling only the way Weissman can, he hit Estelle with it the turn before Olivier killed him
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Apr 30, 2016 21:18
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Watching Weissmann break down like that was absolutely satisfying.  Edvarius posted:There's something just so satisfying about having the biggest dick in the world getting humiliated by being predictable in his dickishness. Also, I bet somewhere Cassius felt the warm glow of satisfaction of successfully trolling yet another person, even if he couldn't actually hear Weissman's enraged outburst.
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Apr 30, 2016 22:04
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During one battle I fought against him, he used Dimensional Exile on his first turn, then again on his third and then once more once my first vanished character reappeared, just to be a dick. It's really annoying if he gets trigger-happy with it, since vanished allies count as dead. And yeah, the Vanish status in the first Weissmann fight is different from the one in the final battle. In the first battle, it cannot be avoided, but it wears off after a while. In the last battle, you can avoid it by moving your characters away from its point of impact, but anyone hit by it will be out of the fight permanently.
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Apr 30, 2016 22:09
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Like a whole bunch of stuff there's probably some kind of trigger condition, which makes him spam his stuff. In practice it's not really that easy to tell.... One thing that I just remembered was, I find it kind of silly that, after Loewe broke his barrier, can't he just bring up another one? I suppose the Shining Ring's limitations aren't really clearly defined or anything...
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May 1, 2016 07:47
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MisawaMahoKodomo posted:One thing that I just remembered was, I find it kind of silly that, after Loewe broke his barrier, can't he just bring up another one? I suppose the Shining Ring's limitations aren't really clearly defined or anything... Explanation a. Loewe's sword has PROPER NOUN power and PROPER NOUN powers cancel each other out. Explanation b. He not only broke the barrier but the thing that generates the barrier. Explanation c. Weissman thinks he doesn't need it. Explanation d. Weissman forgot. Explanation e. It takes too much time to make a perfect barrier. Explanation f. Weissman is having an internal crisis of identity at the moment at being too predictable so of course he thinks that they'll think he'll put up the barrier again and thus will have yet another counter for that (plus the sword's still right there) so of course they'd never expect him to leave the barrier down HAH. There you go, 6 explanations, roll 1d6 for one. EponymousMrYar fucked around with this message at 12:00 on May 1, 2016 |
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May 1, 2016 09:06
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The sword's still right there. If he raised another barrier, they could just walk over to where Loewe is lying, take it and shatter his next barrier with it.
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May 1, 2016 09:22
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Man where do I even begin. This whole long sequence is, needless to say, one of my favorite segments in the entire game. Weissmann is, scientifically, an utter douchelord and he is just so much goddamn fun to write. So first, one or two draft differences in the most recent scene that surprised me a little. (I would've posted earlier, but I keep getting a little intimidated by the speed of the thread. drat you for updating consistently, Pants  )So in the draft, I very deliberately had Weissmann using the "flat what" here. The first was just "What." and then the second one ran "What. What? This is absurd." The Japanese is actually fairly close to this (slightly more literally, he trips over the idea that what he's seeing is impossible, but this read a little better for his personality and speech pattern in English), and it's meant to be Smug_Weissmann.exe encountering a fatal error and hard stopping for a second. He can't even process what he's seeing. It's a small thing either way, but I did think the flat whats worked better, partially to help strip away Weissmann's aura of invincibility and accentuate the moment. And immediately preceeding that: quote:
Ah, yes... this is, ah, quite a bit different from my draft and for a very good reason, as I done goofed there. It's a bit of a story about why I hate how game localization so often works without context in initial drafting. You see, in the original Japanese, Estelle goes rather nuts with the ellipses at this point: "……ヨシュ……ア……" "ごめんね……絶対に死なないって言ったのに……" - "でも……あたしは……信じているよ……" "ヨシュアは絶対に……負けないって……" Falcom is rather fond of heavy ellipses use in their text - even outside of the old JRPG cliche of heavy ellipses use. If you think the English script has been bad about it, trust me, in Japanese it is worse, and both on our side and on XSEED's side there was an effort to get the ellipses under control (or get creative with them in a few places). The thing is, as Japanese is basically a logographic language, the western ellipsis has more or less become a loan-logogram; it actually has a bit of meaning and in voiced works often even sound associated with it (where in English, it's meant to represent trailing into silence or even just full silence). It can be used for specific purposes in Japanese and make more sense, in terms of "readability", than it would used in a similar way in English. This is all important because when I saw the Japanese text, particularly the interrupted "……ヨシュ……ア……" after Weissmann had ordered J to "end her", without extra visual context both Robin and I came to the conclusion that Joshua was choking Estelle out. I even ran with it a bit further: "Josh...u...a...""I'm sor...ry... *cough* I said I... wouldn't die..." Now, it's more meant to be a callback to the end of FC and Estelle being rather sad and thoughtful at the idea of Joshua killing her and desperately hoping he'll make it out. And this is something that would've been easily discovered in QA in any event, but it's a good example of why I like working with code and working scene-by-scene in the game itself whenever it's possible - contextual things like this are so easy to get wrong when all you have is a spreadsheet. Also, a few Kevin Nitpicks, I suppose: quote:
Aww, this was "Awww, yeah! Pawn and bishop take king!" in my draft. EXTENDED CHESS METAPHORS quote:
The second line is rather different in the draft: "And, to be completely straight about it, I gave it better-than-even odds of, uh, cracking his mind like an eggshell when it went off.""So, uh, hey! Good job beating the odds there, J, ol' buddy!"Even here, I don't think Kevin should have let up on some of the funny. I can understand the change, but he was still cracking wise here for a reason. Said reason will become obvious in an update or two. Finally: quote:
Ah, yes. This bit. So what's being talked about here is, in Japanese, 『外』の理. "Soto no Kotowari". The eagle-eyed will recognize one of those words from earlier in the game (and man, that's another one I could/probably should do an entire post about) and 外 is... difficult to nail down. It has a huge number of possible meanings depending on context, and the game is pulling a Japanese Language Trick by not really revealing that full context to the reader. So it's deliberately unclear just what the hell Loewe is talking about, even though Loewe and Weissmann know. Most broadly, it means "outside" or "the other place", with the idea seeming to be that "outside" is outside our entire frame of reference or reality. Without further context, though, coming up with a descriptive term for it that sounds like it was formulated by an English speaker is incredibly difficult, and "Laws of the Outside" sounds rather nonsensical. My draft went with "Laws of the Beyond", and I'm not remotely surprised that XSEED made a choice to change that, especially if they were perhaps able to tease a little more production info out of Falcom. 'Cause you see, even as of Cold Steel 2, Falcom hasn't really clarified what the heck this is. It's one of the enduring question marks (and for some, even a bit of a sore spot at this point) when it comes to Trails. As for the scene itself: needless to say, I love it. It's the point, finally, at the end of the game, where everything gets to come up Estelle. Estelle finally gets to start winning over Weissmann, unambiguously. It also, interestingly, drives home one of Legend of Heroes' wider themes (going back even to the Gagharv games): the Lead Guy and Lead Girl are two parts of a whole and complete each other. I've seen a lot of complaints over the years that, on some level, Estelle is really Joshua's waifu. J's the super-competent one, he's the action man, in some ways this is his story more than Estelle's, he has a tendency to try and rescue her, et cetera. But this scene hammers the point home: without Estelle, Joshua can't win. I mean, literally in this particular case, as without Estelle Joshua is doomed to be Weissmann's mind-slave forever. But it's been a running theme throughout the game and has developed especially in the last few chapters: Estelle and Joshua, as a single unit, are at their best when they're together. Separate, they both struggled, but once they are together and accept they can be together and help one another, and give the other a reason to live, there's nothing they can't overcome. This has been a wider theme of the Legend of Heroes franchise going back to at least White Witch, which centered primarily on Julio and Kris as they traveled Gagharv, searching for the title character. That game was almost entirely all about those two. The LoH games to come continue to riff on this, in slightly different and spoilery ways. But I really think that this is one of the scenes that brings together the journey E&J have been on this whole time: at the very end, they help save each other. And yes, Weissmann reaches Apex Ham here. I did think the bit about him kicking off the Hundred Days' War was a little much, but it ultimately fits his utterly nihilistic character and it jives with the rest of his lack of faith in humanity. It does make you wonder just what made him so damned cynical. As I've said, this was so much goddamn fun to write in English. He's legendary in Japanese and making sure he was dual-wielding whole hogs in English was a blast. (and yes, even in Japanese Kevin is stopping just short of outright saying Weissmann shouldn't eat the power source because it's bigger than his head. Falcom knows what tropes they're invoking.) Man I could say even more but good grief this post is huge. Looking forward to end and what everyone thinks of it!
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May 1, 2016 12:40
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理 seems to be, from what little I know, a ...meaningful thing, in general, in the series? To be honest, I'm not even sure how many things it applies to, but I wasn't aware that Falcom hasn't touched on it much, if at all? (I'm under the impression that there is/are going to be a total of at least 7 arcs....but I have no idea) MisawaMahoKodomo fucked around with this message at 13:14 on May 1, 2016 |
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May 1, 2016 13:11
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MisawaMahoKodomo posted:理 seems to be, from what little I know, a ...meaningful thing, in general, in the series? From what I've heard, after Cold Steel 3, they're planning an arc set in Calvard that's going to finish the Zemuria story, making it 4 arcs.
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May 1, 2016 14:23
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Some Numbers posted:From what I've heard, after Cold Steel 3, they're planning an arc set in Calvard that's going to finish the Zemuria story, making it 4 arcs. I've heard the same, though I may not know the entirety of the rest of the story so far, it seems a bit much that they can answer everything, even with the calvard arc has like, I dunno, 4-5 games? That being said, I probably need to do more reading on the marvelous forums, but I dunno.... Cold Steel 3 is probably going to answer a lot of questions, or at least, I hope it will.......but even then, I dunno...
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May 1, 2016 14:39
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-Outskirts of Evolution- Be not afraid.   The Low Tax Loopers can bite someone for minor damage, or spit up on a small area.  They are basically a non-issue. If you can clear them out efficiently with arts, do so, but don't blow any S-Crafts just yet.  Angel Weissmann himself gets some dirty tricks.  His basic laze-gaze will zap everyone in a narrow line, like Plasma Wave.  He's still got Godly Lance Inanna, which does decent damage and reduces DEF.     Power Light Enlil can Confuse a party member even if they're protected against it. Bring Curia, or save up your Smelling Salts.  Angel Weissmann will also use full-screen arts. While he's casting, his DEF and ADF drop dramatically. If you don't go for the immediate alpha strike, you'll be ready to drop a Chain on him when he's open.     Sometimes Sacrificial Arrow will push people away from Kevin, and sometimes it won't. I have no idea why.             Don't finish Weissmann off right away if you can help it. Take some time to heal up.    quote:Weissmann's Voice  quote:Weissmann's Voice      *CHOMP*  quote:Weissmann's Voice  -The Merciless Savior-     Like being hit in the FACE with raw heresy... Change all you want! Bring it on! Looks like he's really starting to lose it. C'mon, guys! Take him down and let's get back to Loewe! Here we go! See it's like an ouroboros. With the whole snake eating his butt.  I'm not sure what the demonic stunna shades represent, though.    The Alpha Omegas will teleport around and zap people, or destroy parts of the board.     Weissmann's butt-snake can stab its tail right up through the floor to impede casting.    And he can create a new Alpha Omega if you've cleared them out.  But mostly he'll just tweak that absolute barrier of his.      Weissmann's color changes will amp up his resistance to weapons, and all but one element of arts.  I've dropped the ball pretty hard on this phase; Estelle can't finish casting before Weissmann gets a chance to change his defenses again, Joshua doesn't have all four elements, and I won't be seeing any decent arts damage out of Dragon Dive Jones or Time Gem McGee any time soon.  You can just wait it out if you have to. Weissmann will return himself to normal sooner or later.  Eventually Weissmann will lower his defenses to start charging up. Just like with his last form, it's a good idea to hold some strength in reserve for it.            On top of the STR and SPD boost, Raging God Angel unlocks a new move or two.  See that circle? You really don't want to be in that circle.       Anybody who was still standing on those five squares will vanish for the rest of the battle. It's effectively a deathblow with no chance of resistance or revival. Ruined World Noaba's charge time brings another big drop to Weissmann's DEF and ADF, so take advantage.     -Silence-   The Aureole is...gone? This is impossible...IMPOSSIBLE!Hey, you know the rules. The end boss gets three powerups. No more.   He got away! Argh! Oh, who cares about that idiot! Way more importantly...!    Loewe! Stay with us! Just...wait a second! We'll fix you up!-Hamel-  There's...no need...You...know perfectly well, these aren't the sort of wounds you 'fix up'... No...No, please, no! Loewe, I can't lose you like Karin! That's just...No, I can't! Hah...Come on, chin up. Heh, you look like...the crybaby you were when you were a kid... That's right! I'm a weak, naive crybaby! I still need you, Loewe! So...come on! Stay awake! ...Just like a little kid...Listen...Joshua...If you find this...unacceptable...then take a lesson from me. Don't end up like this...Don't die to...protect what's important. Live...Live to protect it...instead. Loewe...! Estelle...I must ask you one last favor... Of...Of course. Anything. He likes to act tough, but he's...pretty tenderhearted deep down...Now that he's truly free of his curse...he needs to become a better man. So...please. Promise...me that you'll keep helping him...Take care of...our little brother, okay? Heehee...I was gonna do THAT no matter what you said. But...don't worry, Loewe. I swear to you, he'll always have a home with us. Thank you... Hah...At least I finally understand. Why Karin...could smile like that...at the end. Karin...you were just as...as content...weren't...y... Loewe: ... L-Loewe?Loewe: ... C'mon. This isn't funny. You can hear me...right...?Loewe: ... Come on! COME ON! It all finally ended! We could finally, FINALLY be together again!Loewe: ...  Please... PLEASE, ANSWER ME! Joshua... Well...guess you get away with that win on me, partner.Woman's Voice: Hello there!   Goddess be praised, you're all safe. Wait, that's...Loewe? Is he-- Yeah... Ah. I see. After you descended, we were swarmed by those archaism beasts. It was only Loewe intervening on that dragon of his which saved us. I see...Yeah, that sounds like him, all right. If I may...What happened to Weissmann and the Aureole? Oh, right... Yeah, the Aureole disappeared somewhere. Weissmann's also gone, but...he really lost it when the Aureole disappeared. It...disappeared? Well. That could be bad. Uh. Define 'bad.'*KROOOM* PLEASE tell me this shaking isn't involved in the 'bad'! The Aureole was the main source of power for the city. You've removed the city's power source. There's nothing keeping it afloat any longer. Yes, that seems rather bad! We should return to the Arseille at once. A good idea. I don't think everything will shut down all at once, but it would be best if we hurry. Kyle, Don, is the Bobcat airworthy? Should be airworthy enough to save our skins, at least. We'll lift off as soon as we get back. All right. Let's move, everyone! There was a transfer gate near the elevator! That seems like the best exit. We should stay in lines to avoid losing anyone!  Joshua...um...I know you...don't want to leave him behind, but we have to hurry... ...Sorry, Estelle...You just...go on ahead. Don't...Don't worry about me...Go. . . . Ah! GET IT TOGETHER, JOSHUA! Were you listening to a drat thing Loewe said?! Didn't he tell you to live? To protect what's important to you?! He... I don't know about you, but I sure was listening! And I promised him I'd stay with you and help you! I promised YOU the same once, too! If you think I'm just going to turn my back on that, you've got another thing coming! Estelle... Sorry...I really am a weakling.  Oh! The sword... Loewe...I'll hold on to this. I'll deliver it to Hamel. To Karin. Joshua...! There's no time to waste! Please, hurry! Ah, right! I'm sorry...I'm going now. (...) (Rest well with Karin...Loewe.)-Release from the Spell, And...-  This wasn't in the Grandmaster's prophecy at all! Un...Unless...Does this mean...I, too, was being tested? Rrrgh. I shall have to have words with my 'master' once I return.Man's Voice: Sorry, but I think your question's gonna be deferred. Indefinitely.  Kevin Graham? What are YOU doing here? Out of my way, insect. I've no time to deal with gnats like you.  Even with Gralsritter training, a fledgling like you can't possibly-- Yeah, sorry, I've been puttin' on a bit of a show. I'm actually their number five. I've seen my fair share of fights. Granted...when you were at your best and power-tripping on the Aureole I would've struggled... But now? You don't have a prayer. Not that you do that anymore...you filthy heathen. What...? Gh...! Locating the Aureole's been kind of a sideshow. As you mighta figured out. So. Georg Weissmann, apostate and heretic, damned in the sight of Aidios. I'm here to send you to your final judgment. Heh...heh heh...I see...However, Gralsritter, I think you will find it a little hard to fight the Faceless on your own with onl--    The calamity which turned half of North Ambria into a sea of salt...? They would let you use that just to kill ME?! It's what you've earned, you faithless pile of filth. The church does try to stay neutral in all things, but we can't overlook what you've done. Now kindly stand still and die quietly.  Dog...? You aren't wrong, I guess. ... You know, Joshua, you're lucky. You, at least, can get out of this sort of life.quote:Boy's Voice: Hehehe...Is that jealousy I hear?    I must say, you're just as cold as the rumors said. Ah...You're the 'Fool,' right? Sorry, but it's a bit late for him. Heheh. You may have heard, but I am here purely as an observer. Purely. To observe and oversee every single facet of the Gospel Plan and report the results, without exception, to the Grandmaster. Weissmann's...self-destruction is simply another result, and wasn't anything I needed to stop. I see. You Ouroboros types sure do love being mysterious, don't you? Heh, and you accuse ME of being cold... Haha! Are the Gralsritter REALLY so different? I wonder. Now, then...I'd say I've observed everything, hmm? I've found what I was looking for, so it's time I went on home. What...?*snap*    Hahaha! Well, good day, Mr. Graham! I hope we meet again someday!  Found what he was looking for? Could he mean...? ... Well, whatever...That's outside my jurisdiction. I should hurry back and rejoin the others.
Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 01:02 on May 12, 2016 |
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May 1, 2016 15:13
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The most fitting of ends.
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May 1, 2016 15:34
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Time for the finale folks Yeah, now we've wrapped up Angel Weissman, it's time for cutscenes...sort of. To be honest, I still have no idea why the Shining Ring disappeared. Let's see now...Weissman is a pansy as usual, his Raging God Angel can be impeded which is a joke (since usually he'll just use it again). With it I guess he's somewhat threatening. His normal attack is bleh, 3-5k, same with his arm swipe thingy. I actually forgot that he had Calamitous Star Shabatt, mostly because he didn't use it for so long I don't know the exact trigger conditions, but he also has Chaos Spiral Palmeric: 3-5k damage, 100% confuse ignoring immunity (The curse thingy, I forgot the name): Transform debuff Shining Burst Adante: Green charge, cannot be impeded (afaik), deals 7k to the whole board Using my own (and even then) party, I still can't really think of a good strategy to cleanly beat up the boss...but oh well. The Alpha Omegas are even bigger pansies than the greed loopers, really. Ruined World Noaba would have been threatening if he didn't give you like three free turns per character to move away and beat him up perhaps. All in all, I suppose he's a little bit more threatening than Reverie, but ultimately, still bleh. In other news, did anyone see that "transfer gate near the elevator"? Also, Kevin and his sneaky getaways. I suppose it's still believable that nobody saw him disappear or anything (iirc, if he's not in the final party, he won't be here either, so it can't be helped I guess) Stuff for the very long future: The Grandmaster has a lot of explaining to do. MisawaMahoKodomo fucked around with this message at 15:42 on May 1, 2016 |
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May 1, 2016 15:36
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Is that the only on-screen death in the series so far? Edit - "Trails in the Sky - the GET IT TOGETHER, JOSHUA! story". Xander77 fucked around with this message at 15:54 on May 1, 2016 |
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May 1, 2016 15:39
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Xander77 posted:Is that the only on-screen death in the series so far? Which one?
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May 1, 2016 15:40
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Xander77 posted:Is that the only on-screen death in the series so far? I'm sure more than a few of those poor Royal Army troops in Grancel at the end of Chapter 8 didn't make it, but yes, Loewe and Weissmann are Trails in the Sky's first confirmed kills outside of backstories and such. Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 15:58 on May 1, 2016 |
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May 1, 2016 15:45
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Hah. Poor Weissman. Got Gomorrah'd by the Arrow of Indra. Or would that be Sodom'd? Whatever, his big stupid face is stupidly dead. Now for Cassius Bright to tell us we did a good job but that the worst is yet to come.
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May 1, 2016 15:53
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Well, that was unexpected.
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May 1, 2016 16:03
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we almost went the entire LP without anyone making jokes about weissmann being salty but then someone ruined it last update. i'm very disappointed in you
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May 1, 2016 16:06
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I'm getting the impression that Kevin is a member of the good counterpart to Ourboros. Here's hoping Falcom doesn't make them secretly evil, too
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May 1, 2016 16:11
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EponymousMrYar posted:Hah. Poor Weissman. Got Gomorrah'd by the Arrow of Indra. I think that would be Lot'd? Technically Lot's wife, but close enough.
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May 1, 2016 16:12
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So... if Kevin's been acting up till now... how tough/skilled would he be if he hadn't been holding back? Capable of taking Lowe on one on one?
I can have moments of... eccentricity and sometimes be quite curious about things. Please forgive me if I do something foolish or rude. Stephen9001 fucked around with this message at 16:20 on May 1, 2016 |
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May 1, 2016 16:16
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