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SweaterGear posted:I wonder who those two will have as Mirages. Yashiro seems like a Jeorge or a Virion type design, but I got no ideas on Mamori. Seriously? The guy's last name is loving Sword. Jeorge or Virion? C'mon. Mamori's name is one letter away from mamoru, protect. And she's a little girl, so a big-rear end armour is the most obvious fit. Too bad Amelia isn't in this game, that'd be perfect.
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Apr 18, 2017 21:13
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Blaze Dragon posted:Seriously? The guy's last name is loving Sword. Jeorge or Virion? C'mon. I mean if we're going on design alone, he and Virion both wear very nice cravats. 
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Apr 18, 2017 21:14
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Yasahiro definitely looks party material, but who knows. Also how is Itsuki this dense. This reminds me... Chrom is also really dense. But you know, Itsuki definitely feels like Ms. Maiko's successor than an idol.
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Apr 18, 2017 21:15
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Blaze Dragon posted:Seriously? The guy's last name is loving Sword. Jeorge or Virion? C'mon. Pardon me for not knowing Japanese, ya jerk. SweaterGear fucked around with this message at 21:25 on Apr 18, 2017 |
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Apr 18, 2017 21:22
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Well, let's hope this bodyguard gig doesn't involve Itsuki having to pull off any Kevin Costner impersonations.
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Apr 18, 2017 21:37
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I'm just saying, the game's not exactly subtle about its characters. Our party right now consists of Itsuki Blue (as in, the hair colour of both Lords that could appear in this game), the red Cavalier Touma Red, the Pegasus Knight Wing Oribe, and the Dark Mage Kiria Black. Meeting Yashiro Sword and Protect Minamoto here...yeah. It's pretty obvious where this is going. Are you sure this is an Atlus game and Capcom or Gamefreak wasn't naming everyone?
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Apr 18, 2017 21:39
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Wow, it sure is
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Apr 20, 2017 00:48
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Well, if it really is Mr. Sword, it would be someone like Lon'qu... Or Navarre. Glazius posted:Wow, it sure is I'm sure that 'hur hur hur' will coveniently place us wherever the next big thing is happening. She also gave us a concert ticket.
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Apr 20, 2017 02:03
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quote:
...Somehow, this doesn't surprise me at all. I'm glad she apologize to the telephone pole though, that was incredibly rude of her.   (This...is Tsubasa's debut CD. Maybe I should listen to it at home.) Before we go though, we can grab this. It doesn't actually *do* anything as far as I know, but the implication is that Itsuki couldn't even be bothered to pick up his best friend's debut CD. Anyway, off to Daitama.  The Photo Shoot  Oh- Mr. Hatanaka? Ah, I knew it! You're that boy who helped me out of that nasty jam earlier. And your name again was... Itsuki Aoi. Ah, Itsuki. So... do you remember exactly what happened at the 106? I've been trying and trying to recall, but all my memories feel like this dreadful haze. I feel like I was lost in some bizarre place, but...somehow, it feels like it was all just a dream as well... Truth be told, I don't even remember precisely how we met. Every time I try to recall, my thoughts feel so jumbled. Why can't I remember anything...? Um, well... Oh, Itsuki! There you are. Whoa, Mr. Hatanaka. Always a pleasure, sir! Oh...! Now you - you were at the 106 as well, weren't you? ...Sorry, Mr. Hatanaka, but we're running a little late. Itsuki and I gotta run. It was nice meeting you again, Mr. Hatanaka. A-Aha. Until next time, then...So, it turns out Mr. Hatanaka does remember a bit about the 106 incident. Not enough to *do* anything, but enough to start asking questions. That...could be trouble later on, but for now we can get away with dodging the question.  Ah, crap. Really...? Hope he doesn't stick his nose too far into this. It'd be dangerous if he got mixed up with Mirages. Yeah. Oh, right, Tsubasa's photo shoot. I've already been by the studio she was at, but...turns out there was some kind of trouble. I guess the shoot got cancelled. Trouble... Was it a Mirage? Nah, didn't look like it. All the models were coming out safe and sound, so I think we're good on that front. But I did see the photographer, he looked really mad about something. Hope Tsubasa's- Hey! Well, speak of the devil. Check it out - that's Mr. Horinozawa over there. You know, he doesn't look that mad, Touma. That's a man who's just ready to go home for the day. So he's the photographer... Wait, back up a sec. Why'd you jump straight to Mirages? You remember the article in that magazine at the convenience store? About those models that went missing? Oh, yeah. That stuff. We don't know for sure if Mirages are behind it, but...it's just been bothering me. So I talked to Ms. Maiko about it, and she sent me over here to make sure Tsubasa would be okay. I guess I wasn't really needed here after all, though. Welp. There goes my plans for the day, anyway. I think I'll take a walk before I head back. See you around, man!Well that could have gone a lot worse than "It was cancelled and you already missed her," I suppose. Might as well check in with Maiko and let her know. quote:
Now, I dearly love this game, but it's writing is... Well, "less than subtle" seems like the kindest way of putting it. This scene is literally the first time we've ever seen Horinozawa, and we know all of two things about him - he used to work with Maiko, and all the disappearing models had photo shoots with him. What I'm saying is, please pretend to be surprised when he turns out to be the villain of the week for Chapter 2. The game has a lot of strengths, but the main plot is decidedly not one of them. quote:
Anyway, sounds like Tsubasa needs another pep talk. Back to the office! After the Shoot   Yeeeeeep, time for Itsuki to work some of his magic.  *Sigh* What's the matter? Well, it's just...today's photo shoot didn't go so well... I made the photographer mad, and he just left. Everyone makes mistakes. What's important is that you learn from them. Yeah. If there's something you want to talk about, I'm here. Sometimes it can help you put things in perspective. Thanks, Itsuki. And if it'd help to complain a little, I'll listen. Yep. A tiny bit. Okay... Good thing Itsuki is so smooth about patching things up with everyone. It would honestly be charming if he wasn't so goddamn oblivious. I'm an idol now. There's a lot I'm going to have to deal with. But if I can overcome all of it...that's when I'll know I've made it. They said they'll try the photo shoot on another day, so when that day comes, I'll try even harder! On...another day... What's wrong, Itsuki? Well, Horinozawa, that photographer who was running your photo shoot... There's some strange rumors about him. Strange rumors? Yeah. I heard this from Ms. Maiko, but it seems like quite a few of his models have gone missing lately. You mean...a Mirage...?Of course, now we've gone about 30 minutes without something actually happening, so right on cue...  What's wrong? I-It's Shibuya... There's something strange happening...! What's going on in Shibuya? Th-The people in Shibuya aren't acting normal! What do you mean, not normal? I don't know why, but everybody looks extremely tired... a-and, um, I... u-um...! Calm down, Mamori. Take your time. I'm glad you're okay, Mamori. I don't know exactly what's going on, but for the moment, we should head to Shibuya. Y-Yeah...! Mamori, it could be dangerous, so you'd better stay here. O-Okay. Please be careful, you two...! Maiko and Horinozawa  Oh look, it's a mirage attack. Who could have possibly forseen this?   It's really hard to show the effect with screenshots, but he's teleporting around and making people disappear by taking their picture with his weird camera.   Ah, Maiko! You’ve finally decided to return as my muse, then? I didn't want to believe it... So you really are the one... Return the people you've taken! Now! Hah! No, I don't need to bother with those amateurs. I only take pictures of what truly deserves to be immortalized... You!  Welp, another successful confrontation. Excellent work, team.  You... Where did you send Ms. Maiko!? Horinozawa looks like he's sizing up Tsubasa and Itsuki, but...  True to his word, he's not interested in us. He got his muse back, and that's all that matters.  And that's an idolasphere entrance. See you in Illusory Shibuya!
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Apr 24, 2017 15:20
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See, crap like this is why I don't like having my picture taken. Anyway, it may be just a case of being a common monster-of-the-week plot or something, but I could swear that Sailor Moon did almost this exact same thing. Only there the possessed photographer was a lot less picky about his subjects as he'd take any girl in a swimsuit.
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Apr 24, 2017 15:32
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Artix posted:
It's been a couple months since I played this, but I believe the CD is a sidequest item.
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Apr 24, 2017 15:59
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It's pretty much the old cameras steal your soul thing that's been around for as long as cameras.
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Apr 24, 2017 16:03
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CaptianKatsura posted:It's been a couple months since I played this, but I believe the CD is a sidequest item. It's been awhile since I played, but yeah, that's what it was for. quote:
Tsubasa is one of my favorite characters just for how much of a huge dork she is. 
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Apr 24, 2017 18:50
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W.T. Fits posted:Tsubasa is one of my favorite characters just for how much of a huge dork she is. I honestly love this about the whole cast. They're dumbass teenagers with their heads in the clouds who have no business being as incredibly effective as they are. Okay that's most jrpg's but this one in particular e: I guess the best way to put it is that it's like saving people from extradimensional horrors is their job on the side and they're more focused on want they really want which is to be children's television actors and pop stars. ManlyGrunting fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Apr 27, 2017 |
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Apr 24, 2017 19:34
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ManlyGrunting posted:I honestly love this about the whole cast. They're dumbass teenagers with their heads in the clouds who have no business being as incredibly effective as they are. It's not just that, but the fact that the game doesn't try to pretend they're anything else.
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Apr 24, 2017 19:43
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Usually taking pictures steals souls. He must be a really good photographer to steal entire people with his photography!
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Apr 26, 2017 01:35
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...are they training Tsubasa up to be such a terrible idol that anybody who tries to target her just flips out and goes indiscriminate on Tokyo instead?
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Apr 26, 2017 01:49
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  What!? Maiko was kidnapped!? Well, she's your president, ain't she!? You gotta go rescue her!You do so have a way with words, Barry.  Well, you heard the man, Itsuki. Let's get a move on. Music: Illusory Shibuya    Illusory Shibuya is a little different from the other idolaspheres since it's not really "attached" to a building or anything. Instead, the gimmick is more closely tied to Horinozawa himself. It's kind of weird because outside of the final dungeon, I think it's the only one in the game to do this.   Heh heh... Heh heh heh... I could get used to this kind of Idolasphere. Save the jokes. We need to find Maiko. These photos... Are these the models that have gone missing? So they were taken by the photographer, just like Ms. Maiko was earlier... I'm worried about these people, too. We have to find them, and quickly. Anyway, I really hope you like those photos because they're the main decor for the dungeon. Right away we've got the entrance teleporter and a split path, the latter being half of the dungeon's gimmick. Each of the three rooms spans three floors, and the path criss-crosses its way up and down, back and forth as you work your way forward. Backtracking for items is thankfully pretty easy, but it does get irritating to have to remember the specific path to get back to where you were.  If we head up the stairs, we see the other half of the gimmick. Scattered throughout the room are these giant cameras, and stepping in front of one will send you back to that pile of red photos right in front of the teleporter. So it's not just a maze, it's a teleporter maze!  Now, to be fair, *most* of them are avoidable as long as you're paying attention. There's a couple of them placed in really dickish locations, but they're mostly used to block off item rooms or make sure you're not totally asleep at the wheel (see the one pictured above, which just requires you to hug the left wall). You could probably also use Lightoma to show the trap tiles, but to be honest, I've never tried.  New dungeon, new enemies! The blue fellow on the right is an Apparition, the first of many palette swaps to come. They melt to pretty much any magical attack, but they're specifically weak to Fire, Wind, Light, and Dark and resist everything else except Bows.  Also just showing off Horseslayer. Note that they're neutral to lances, but are taking the hit like it's a weakness.  This is a new mechanic that I'm just gonna let speak for itself.     Oh, Touma.  So yeah, Ad Lib attacks are the main reward you get from sidequests. Each one is "typed" to a specific kind of attack, and whenever you use an attack that matches it, there's a small chance of getting the ad lib performance instead. Ad lib attacks inherit whatever the base effect of the skill was (assuming it has one), slap a modest power boost and status effect on it, hit every enemy, ignore nulls/drains, and always trigger sessions. If that sounds hilariously broken, well, it is! The main reason they're so ridiculous is because you have to be using specific attacks to cause them, and even if you're using the right skill, they're still fairly uncommon. Like, I don't think Raging Stampede triggers again in this entire dungeon, even though Touma sees fairly regular use.  We're not done with the Rapier yet, but Itsuki took a brief detour into the Deathbringer to grab Ice-Slash. Normally I like to finish one weapon before moving on to the next, but this is literally the only skill the party has to combo off of Kiria.  This is really the main use of the cameras. If we had jumped off that ledge at the start of the dungeon, we would have gotten an item but been blocked off here. Expect to see that a lot - routes that look like progress or shortcuts, but get blocked off by a camera right before they join up with the correct path.  On the right, we have the Dark Shaman. These guys are the first enemies to start throwing ma- spells at us, specifically Maragi and Mabufu. That said, they're not *that* strong (Itsuki is weak to fire and only took like, 90 damage from a Maragi) and they have a ton of easily exploitable weaknesses including Ice and Swords.  The Savage version, on the other hand, is a lot scarier. We're not sticking around to find out how much this one would gently caress us up.  Worms are annoying because they have a good set of resistances, hit fairly hard, and inflict poison. Taking a 130 damage hit on the chin, and then immediately eating another ~100 when your turn comes around is pretty rough, and they actually managed to drop Itsuki the first time I ran into one.  Smash Hit increases the rate at which the SP Gauge goes up if a session has at least 2 links. It's handy, but decidedly a filler skill.  Oh for gently caress's sake-  So let's do something a little cheeky. We've got two weaknesses lined up in this session, and Touma goes next to bail us out in case things go horribly wrong. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?  We managed to take out a quarter of a savage encounter without things going horrifically wrong!  See ya later, shitlords. The door marks the end of the first section. The miniboss is after part 2, and the boss after part 3, so we're maybe a quarter of the way done. The next teleporter is immediately on the other side, so we'll grab that then go back and scour for items in the first bit.  Immediately to the left of the entrance, we can jump down to grab these. I think they're just an item version of Kiria's Lightoma, but I legitimately have no idea what they do.  Past the first camera, we can find this staircase if we hang a right instead of a left.  gently caress 'em up, Itsuki! We've got goodies to grab.  Haha nooooooope. Surprise, motherfucker, gonna have to find another way down here.  The final new enemy for now is the Bacillus, a pretty substantial upgrade over the Slimes from Illusory Daitama. They're fairly beefy on physical attacks and resist Lightning and Lances, which makes most of our session options mediocre at best. However, they're weak to Ice, Wind, Light, and Dark, so magic tears them up pretty well. Offensively, they don't do much damage, but they can and will throw out Poison Breath and Marin Karin. Like pretty much every SMT game ever, Charm is far and away the worst status ailment in the game, and TMS throws one more reason on the pile by making it so that you can't participate in sessions while charmed, and that includes your passive abilities! If Itsuki is charmed, that means you can't change targets after killing an enemy!  If we're being honest, this is what I was really hanging around for. The items are nice, but now that we've unlocked Kiria's first sidequest, we can sub Tsubasa back in and get her caught up.  And since we're here, we might as well grab a two-fer. This is just HP Fitness, so nothing too special.   Anyway, there's an extremely hard to see staircase hiding in the far-left corner of this room that leads down to our wayward item box, as well as a few Patra stones.  A neat touch is that sometimes weapons with unique qualities will pass them on as their final skill. The Steel Feather made Tsubasa immune to poison, and now that she's maxed it out, she gets the Null Poison skill.  And that's another one for Tsubasa. This one is-  You wouldn't think First on the Scene is such a big deal, all it does is make her act sooner in the turn queue. But alas, we're going to need to find another Performa before we can unlock this one.   Last thing for today, a few new toys for Touma and Tsubasa. The Poison Spear is exactly what it sounds like, and adds a small chance of inflicting poison to basically everything Touma does. It's quite handy, assuming it actually lands on anything. Next time, we're going to take a break from the dungeon to see what Kiria's up to. See you then!
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May 1, 2017 18:57
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Artix posted:If that sounds hilariously broken, well, it is! The main reason they're so ridiculous is because you have to be using specific attacks to cause them, and even if you're using the right skill, they're still fairly uncommon. Like, I don't think Raging Stampede triggers again in this entire dungeon, even though Touma sees fairly regular use. Artix posted:and they actually managed to drop Itsuki the first time I ran into one.
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May 1, 2017 22:20
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Itsuki can die and the game will still continue, although the game is pretty easy in general so if you're in a situation where your party members are actually dying then you're either in a boss fight or got unlucky and ran into a Savage Enemy. This dungeon is the goddamn worst by the way, followed closely by the next one, but at least the next one is much easier to navigate in. I feel like Illusory Shibuya has way more sidequests that make you go back to it just because the developers know they made a bad teleporter maze.
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May 1, 2017 22:44
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I'm not sure if I forgot something here, but is there any reason why the characters are in their normal clothes and not Carnage Form in battle now?
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May 2, 2017 00:17
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Kind of weird we started out with two lancer units. Can Touma switch-hit with swords?
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May 2, 2017 00:22
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Blaze Dragon posted:I'm not sure if I forgot something here, but is there any reason why the characters are in their normal clothes and not Carnage Form in battle now? AradoBalanga fucked around with this message at 00:38 on May 2, 2017 |
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May 2, 2017 00:29
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Glazius posted:Kind of weird we started out with two lancer units. Can Touma switch-hit with swords? nope, they just front-end the lancers in this game, though Tsubasa should really only be using lances to start sessions since her strength is outright pitiful compared to her magic. At least the party has access to all four magic elements at the moment (well Kiria has a darkness spell but since that can't start a session it falls off in utility very quickly)
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May 2, 2017 00:32
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Commander Keene posted:I forget; is Itsuki dropping an instant game-over in this game? Atlus tends to do that a lot, although less in recent years. I think even Persona 5 does it that way? It is not, and I was honestly very upset that Atlus brought it back for P5 after it wasn't in SMT 4 or this. It's so dumb! Blaze Dragon posted:I'm not sure if I forgot something here, but is there any reason why the characters are in their normal clothes and not Carnage Form in battle now? I changed their costumes. I'll be doing that after each boss or other important fight, just to keep things interesting.
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May 2, 2017 01:30
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There are a lot of costumes in this game. Some of them are amazing, some of them are .... questionable.
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May 2, 2017 02:39
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I just noticed; is the max part limit only three characters?
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May 2, 2017 02:48
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Snorb posted:I just noticed; is the max part limit only three characters? Yeah, you only get three. It's a little weird, but you never really need a fourth.
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May 2, 2017 03:04
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I think I remember seeing somewhere that the first time you use a skill that can be turned into an ad-lib after you acquire it by completing the relevant side quest, it triggers, just to show it off or something. I forget if this is actually a thing or something I totally made up, can someone confirm for me?Snorb posted:I just noticed; is the max part limit only three characters? I believe so. However, I think Artix mentioned in a previous update that all party members will eventually get a skill through Stage Ranks that let them participate in sessions even if they aren't in your active party, so they'll still be able to do damage.
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May 2, 2017 03:03
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No video this time?
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May 2, 2017 15:16
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ChaosArgate posted:Yeah, you only get three. It's a little weird, but you never really need a fourth.
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May 2, 2017 21:26
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I can confirm that Lightoma highlights the areas you have to watch out for. Makes things much easier as you can tell precisely where the cameras are aiming. Doesn't help with the dead ends and jumping to an area where teleportation is the only way out, but eh, at least it's something.
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May 3, 2017 01:30
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Oh groovy, dungeons that teleport you back to the start if you take a wrong turn. I have no idea why Atlus loves this particular gimmick, but running through that one temple in SMT4 was incredibly stupid the first time because of it. Incidentally, how's this game for resource management? I noticed in the Aversa fight that you still had plenty of MP by the end of it, and from how you've described it, the sessions and ad-libs seem to provide a lot of extra cost-free damage to boot. Blastinus fucked around with this message at 01:40 on May 5, 2017 |
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May 5, 2017 01:37
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Blastinus posted:Oh groovy, dungeons that teleport you back to the start if you take a wrong turn. I have no idea why Atlus loves this particular gimmick, but running through that one temple in SMT4 was incredibly stupid the first time because of it. Commander Keene fucked around with this message at 02:10 on May 5, 2017 |
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May 5, 2017 02:08
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Blastinus posted:Incidentally, how's this game for resource management? I noticed in the Aversa fight that you still had plenty of MP by the end of it, and from how you've described it, the sessions and ad-libs seem to provide a lot of extra cost-free damage to boot. I think the only time I was ever remotely in danger of running out of resources in a boss fight was during the final boss, and even then that was less "I'm out of SP" and more "gently caress gently caress gently caress I'm gonna wipe if I don't get some healing up right the gently caress now." GhostStalker posted:I think I remember seeing somewhere that the first time you use a skill that can be turned into an ad-lib after you acquire it by completing the relevant side quest, it triggers, just to show it off or something. I forget if this is actually a thing or something I totally made up, can someone confirm for me? Confirmed. That's how I show them off because gently caress waiting for it to randomly happen.
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May 5, 2017 06:20
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Artix posted:
drat, if it weren't for the heroics, Itsuki would be a terrible friend.
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May 5, 2017 08:48
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I'm starting to get the feeling from his reactions to things that if his friends weren't involved in the idol scene, Itsuki would rather be at home playing video games or reading a book. The guy seems downright bored about this whole music business.
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May 5, 2017 17:52
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Blastinus posted:I'm starting to get the feeling from his reactions to things that if his friends weren't involved in the idol scene, Itsuki would rather be at home playing video games or reading a book. The guy seems downright bored about this whole music business. Japan has a huge facination with making the main character a blank slate. Itsuki is the blankest sheet of paper ever with a blue tint.
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May 5, 2017 18:44
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Blastinus posted:I'm starting to get the feeling from his reactions to things that if his friends weren't involved in the idol scene, Itsuki would rather be at home playing video games or reading a book. The guy seems downright bored about this whole music business. That's kind of how I feel too. I've been following since I like me some SMT, but literally everything about the idol scene is either super disconcerting or completely uninteresting to me. I would probably not have gotten anywhere near this far if I had been playing myself. Mzbundifund fucked around with this message at 18:47 on May 5, 2017 |
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May 5, 2017 18:44
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| # ? Jun 3, 2024 16:15 |
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Blastinus posted:I'm starting to get the feeling from his reactions to things that if his friends weren't involved in the idol scene, Itsuki would rather be at home playing video games or reading a book. The guy seems downright bored about this whole music business. Given his flowery descriptions of all the cafe items and vending machine drinks, I get the feeling he'd rather be at home working on his food blog.
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May 5, 2017 18:51
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