|
Justin_Brett posted:I don't like to get into the whole "ugh, the Sky games were better" mentality, but it felt like they just redid the main character ends up on the villain's air ship base with an offer to join them, refuses and escapes plot, except lamer. It was fine until the ending when they realized they had no idea how to get him out.
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 06:05
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 14:27 |
|
|
Hocus Pocus posted:The game broadly felt unfocused. I didn't have a strong sense of what we were trying to achieve overall. Especially with the constant emphasis on neutrality. Speaking of which, I was kind of fed up with Rean by the end. Okay, I can buy the 'we are a neutral third faction, but we aren't really taking part in this war because we are students' thing when they're reuniting classmates and saving friends and family who are being held captive. But when Rean is instrumental in annexing Crossbell, why is that acceptable? I understand that in him being involved it can be largely bloodless, but how is it any different to the civil war? I just want to see Rean stop deferring to any and all authority that calls on him. The best part of the epilogue was him shutting down Claire... which then got walked back. In addition to what ReallyPants said about the events at the Infernal Castle having shocked Rean into a mindset of utter failure, there's also the fact that Osborne ruthlessly manipulated Rean by dragging him into the national spotlight by formally declaring him the national hero who helped save the imperial family and brought the civil war to an end. He then put Rean on the spot by annexing Crossbell, knowing full well that when Calvard inevitably retaliates, Rean will either have the option to join in and end the battle before it has time to escalate or deal with headlines like "Death toll on Crossbellian border continues to rise, National Hero remains on the sidelines". By elevating just Rean and not the rest of the class into a position of prominence, Osborne also isolates Rean from his classmates, who have served as his emotional anchor up to this point and without whom he wasn't accustomed to making hard choices. Osborne also took advantage of one of Rean's main flaws throughout the two games; his lack of direction in life and lack of a clue on what to do with it. Sara warned Rean before his first field trip that if he didn't root himself in place somewhere, the next big gust was gonna blow him away. Regardless, Rean never follows through on that advice. Unlike all his other classmates, he doesn't join a club. He serves as the student council's errant boy, but never officially joins either. When the civil war breaks out, he hyperfocusses on a handful of short-term goals like finding his classmates, saving Elise, reclaiming the academy, "bringing back Crow" and helping end the war without committing to either faction without putting a lot of thought into the fact that as the only person who can pilot a uniquely powerful weapon of war, his life won't be like it used to be even when the civil war ends. This is again in contrast to most of classmates, who have a general idea on what they want to do with their life afterwards. After the events at the Vermillion Throne, those last two short-term goals blow up in his face. Crow ends up dying right after fighting alongside his old class one more time and instead of the two factions brokering a truce under the guidance of Olivert's and Alfin's Third Way faction, Osborne swoops in, ends the conflict with the help of his mole in a way that results in the Reformists' faction decisively coming out on top and neuters the Third Way by grounding the Courageous and publically co-opting its Ace-in-the-Hole (Rean and his knight). With Rean feeling like a failure, with the reveal about his true father breaking him down and isolating him even more (it's mentioned he hasn't been back to Ymir since the day before they liberated Heimdallr) and him still not having found a direction in life, Osborne forces his hand by thrusting a direction on him and Rean accepts said direction because he never managed to work out alternatives he believed in. CharlestheHammer posted:CS 2 is basically the Rean show with Alisa getting some significant screentime and the rest having one scene each at best. Alisa doesn't really get that much more screentime than the rest and several characters, Jusis, Emma, Millium and Fie, end up far more affected by the game's events. CharlestheHammer posted:It was fine until the ending when they realized they had no idea how to get him out. Rean's plan of making his way the to deck and using Valimar to escape actually made far more sense than Estelle's plan of beating up the guards and randomly scouring the ship for a parachute all the while hoping she wasn't accidentally gonna run into the guy who effortlessly whooped her rear end hours before. If the game wanted to have Rean escape without stretching suspension of disbelief, all they had to do was keep McBurn's rear end parked on his couch and have Rean's Ogre mode last a minute longer and he would have gotten away without needing outside help. Erpy fucked around with this message at 11:01 on Mar 24, 2018 |
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 10:55
|
|
|
Erpy posted:Very good points Definitely one of the most interesting things to me by the end of CS2 was just how isolated Rean had become. Over CS1 and the beginning of CS2 we saw how much Rean struggled to accept Class VII’s love and acceptance. There’s not just ogre side that separates him, there’s his Awakening as well. Initially I kept thinking about how little time Crow had actually been in the class. Did Rean really consider him to be such a close friend? And I think yes, but they became closer as time went on even though apart. Here’s a fellow Awakener. The only one to Rean’s knowledge. Here’s someone who takes him seriously. A rival, a goal. Beat Crow. Bring him home. Thinking on it now, Crow’s death really is incredibly harsh. He’s gone through all these trials, without a Class VII supporting him like Rean had. He’s operated a terrorist cell, assassinated the highest ranking government official, fought in a civil war, and then given his life to seal away an ancient evil and protect his friends. And all of that amounted to nothing. He was an Awakener, this special thing, but ultimately he was just another moving part in the background of Osborne’s world. Everything in Crow’s life is reactionary to Osborne. Even his death. There’d be no Cayenne in the depths summoning an ancient evil (for Crow to be killed by) if Osborne hadn’t decided to let it happen. And Rean in his mourning is the same. Osborne defines his way forward. Rean’s parting with Class VII was less bittersweet to me than just outright sad. From his return from the front you could tell things were different. He’s clearly ashamed and you can tell a lot of the adults aren’t happy about the situation. But after the few hours of that epilogue rest day it was just tragic. Rean has had a pretty lonely sounding life, and then he got this one year where he made a home, had friends, and went on adventures. And now all his friends are gone. And he’s at Thors, which sounds like it’s going to not be so much a school as it is an operating base for him and Valimar. I think sometimes I don’t give this game enough credit in the moment, because of how shounen-y and over the top it can be. For example, Erpy, you mention Rean being forced into this role of a national hero, and the title Ashen Chevalier gets thrown around. It’s such a cheesy title that in my head I’m watching the cutscene thinking ‘man that sounds dumb’. And I don’t think on its significance to the story. That’s where I don’t think I give the game enough credit... of course it sounds dumb. It’s a PR stunt. I’m sure the Red Baron would sound mean as hell if you lived in 1915 or whenever.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 12:48
|
|
|
I'd better hurry up and finish CS 2. I'm so near the end. I've been playing the game for a month and I'm starting to feel restless and wanting to play different things. I am up to Floor 8 and have the Chevalier Mirror. I'll probably just try and burn through the rest. I can come back for victory quotes later.BrightWing posted:Should I bring Machias for Act 1 part 3 is CS 2? I did and he does have an exchange with Jusis. I also took Alisa and she has special dialogue with both Vivi and Theresia and none of the other students there have a special relationship with anyone else in Class VII - except for Fie and Vivi. I can't speak for the other possibilities, though. I agree with Erpy. Unlike in CS 1, Alisa doesn't get much more screentime than the rest of the class. Her events have a somewhat more intimate feel than the others though (not just the one where you pick her).
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 14:15
|
|
|
Stabbey_the_Clown posted:I did and he does have an exchange with Jusis. I also took Alisa and she has special dialogue with both Vivi and Theresia and none of the other students there have a special relationship with anyone else in Class VII - except for Fie and Vivi. I can't speak for the other possibilities, though. The exchange with Jusis happens whether you take Machias along or not. If you don't take Machias along, the exchange happens when you return to Ymir. (just like Jusis sidestepping the Millium-glomp)
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 15:21
|
|
|
Erpy posted:In addition to what ReallyPants said about the events at the Infernal Castle having shocked Rean into a mindset of utter failure, there's also the fact that Osborne ruthlessly manipulated Rean by dragging him into the national spotlight by formally declaring him the national hero who helped save the imperial family and brought the civil war to an end. He then put Rean on the spot by annexing Crossbell, knowing full well that when Calvard inevitably retaliates, Rean will either have the option to join in and end the battle before it has time to escalate or deal with headlines like "Death toll on Crossbellian border continues to rise, National Hero remains on the sidelines". By elevating just Rean and not the rest of the class into a position of prominence, Osborne also isolates Rean from his classmates, who have served as his emotional anchor up to this point and without whom he wasn't accustomed to making hard choices. What happened to Millium and Emma I genuinely don’t remember stuff happening to them. Jusis should have been effecting but I don’t think it worked out that way. Fie I will grant you.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 16:47
|
|
|
Millium had ties to Altina and, of course, the Ironbloods, although they didn't really do much with either besides sow some seeds. Emma had the scene where she admitted what literally everyone playing already knew, plus some backstory with Vita and the Awakeners/Divine Knights in general. I'm not sure how much of that was mostly Celine, though. Does Gaius get a character arc in 3 besides "Is from the Nord Highlands"? Like I don't want his family to die and have him go berserk or anything, but like, he's a cool, chill dude and I just want him to do something interesting.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 17:00
|
|
|
GrandpaPants posted:Millium had ties to Altina and, of course, the Ironbloods, although they didn't really do much with either besides sow some seeds. Emma had the scene where she admitted what literally everyone playing already knew, plus some backstory with Vita and the Awakeners/Divine Knights in general. I'm not sure how much of that was mostly Celine, though. gaius has a potentially interesting thing in 3 but true to form he manages to avoid making it that interesting. i still like him tho
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 17:07
|
|
|
GrandpaPants posted:Millium had ties to Altina and, of course, the Ironbloods, although they didn't really do much with either besides sow some seeds. Emma had the scene where she admitted what literally everyone playing already knew, plus some backstory with Vita and the Awakeners/Divine Knights in general. I'm not sure how much of that was mostly Celine, though. Yeah I know the connections for those two but they don’t really do much with either.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 17:10
|
|
|
While Emma confirms what most people already know, we also learn more about her background, how she sees post-Orbal Revolution society and she learns about her clan's true purpose. We learn that Millium's not human and she's slowly adopting emotions she wasn't "designed" with. GrandpaPants posted:Millium had ties to Altina and, of course, the Ironbloods, although they didn't really do much with either besides sow some seeds. Emma had the scene where she admitted what literally everyone playing already knew, plus some backstory with Vita and the Awakeners/Divine Knights in general. I'm not sure how much of that was mostly Celine, though. Gaius has a thing that's been there from the beginning, though you aren't really given a clue unless you finish the hidden "Missing Priest"-quest at the start of Act 3 with Gaius and Sara in your party, where you learn that Gaius' mentor is actually the 8th Dominion of the Grallsritter, suggesting Gaius' connection to the Septian Church may be tighter than the many church visits he performs throughout the game.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 17:40
|
|
|
Erpy posted:Gaius has a thing that's been there from the beginning, though you aren't really given a clue unless you finish the hidden "Missing Priest"-quest at the start of Act 3 with Gaius and Sara in your party, where you learn that Gaius' mentor is actually the 8th Dominion of the Grallsritter, suggesting Gaius' connection to the Septian Church may be tighter than the many church visits he performs throughout the game. This is kinda legit, although I didn't realize that that character was a Dominion. I didn't catch that detail in the sidequest, although it sort of makes sense.. The sad part is that even that reveal gets undercut by another character being way more tied into that particular plot point.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 17:50
|
|
|
They want you to come back to this boss in the fortress at the very end of the game, right?
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 19:28
|
|
|
GrandpaPants posted:This is kinda legit, although I didn't realize that that character was a Dominion. I didn't catch that detail in the sidequest, although it sort of makes sense.. The sad part is that even that reveal gets undercut by another character being way more tied into that particular plot point. You kinda need Sara in the party at that point in order to notice, since she's the one who mentions his nickname. That same nickname is mentioned exactly once in Trails in the Sky the 3rd as the one belonging to the Dominion who was sent to the capital of North Ambria to investigate the appearance of the Salt Pale.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 19:31
|
|
|
Justin_Brett posted:They want you to come back to this boss in the fortress at the very end of the game, right? If you mean the big hippo-tank, it's level 78.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 20:03
|
|
|
I just brought Emma and then he couldn't do anything. I thought Ancient Glyph had some cooldown but turns out he can just spam it if he wants, so I guess you're intended to cheese him that way. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 20:10
|
|
|
It's the first of 5 optional super-bosses spread throughout the second act. If you have the right setup, the right party and enough HP to survive the Ancient Glyph art it usually insta-casts on you on its first turn, you can usually take it down at the time it appears. Emma's generally required because all cryptids can insta-cast top level arts whenever they want, so you can't impede. During my last run I usually used a team of Alisa, Elliot, Emma and Machias with Alisa keeping my Chrono Drive, Fortuna, Insight and CP-regen buffs going and using Blessed Arrow whenever she had a free turn, Machias using Energy Shell to restore EP and help with healing, using Burst Drive to give others more turns and occasionally help out with buffs and Elliot and Emma casting the strongest art of the element the boss is weak to (and linking with Machias whenever possible for auto-recharge) while keeping Art Reflect and HP Regen buffs in place. It takes a while, but I eventually wittled them down without requiring tons of supplies or S-craft cheese. Erpy fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Mar 24, 2018 |
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2018 20:15
|
|
|
Ys VIII: At the start of chapter 5, what is the best enemy to get saurian scales from? Because I need 3 for a quest and the drop rates on all of the enemies I've tried seems quite abysmal. E: Literally the next batch I tried in the jungle after the mountain did OK and I got three relatively quickly 
Nate RFB fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Mar 25, 2018 |
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2018 01:28
|
|
|
Every single crypid can be beaten very simply with a 100% dodge fie and a crescent mirror caster. Some damage will get through from some of them having large enough physical aoes to hurt people behind fie in a line.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2018 01:59
|
|
|
Hit the intermission. Ok. You guys win. Duvalie is the new Best Girl.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2018 05:15
|
|
|
BrightWing posted:Hit the intermission. Ok. You guys win. Duvalie is the new Best Girl. Wait, that wasn't obvious in Act 1 Part 3?
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2018 05:36
|
|
|
Some Numbers posted:Wait, that wasn't obvious in Act 1 Part 3? Her screaming at Bernie was great too, but going full hero worship and yelling at Rean sealed it. E: I'm assuming I lost out on some AP by getting my rear end handed to me by pretty boy Rufus? Because I was not ready for that... party situation at all. Might have done it with Emma spamming crescent shell. BrightWing fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Mar 26, 2018 |
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2018 05:54
|
|
|
BrightWing posted:E: I'm assuming I lost out on some AP by getting my rear end handed to me by pretty boy Rufus? Because I was not ready for that... party situation at all. Might have done it with Emma spamming crescent shell. You get some APs for getting him down to half health or so before he  s you into next week.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2018 14:54
|
|
|
Maybe if I had started playing Zero sooner after finishing Sky 3rd, I would've had the memory of Door 15 fresher in my mind and it wouldn't have taken me until the case where Colin goes missing to realize the reason why this seemingly random couple had portraits.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2018 16:03
|
|
|
BrightWing posted:E: I'm assuming I lost out on some AP by getting my rear end handed to me by pretty boy Rufus? Because I was not ready for that... party situation at all. Might have done it with Emma spamming crescent shell. It's another (and fortunately the last) fight where you're on a 40-turn timer to get the boss' health low enough before the fight ends. Once those 40 turns are up, the boss simply spams S-crafts until you stop getting up.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2018 16:09
|
|
|
leather fedora posted:Maybe if I had started playing Zero sooner after finishing Sky 3rd, I would've had the memory of Door 15 fresher in my mind and it wouldn't have taken me until the case where Colin goes missing to realize the reason why this seemingly random couple had portraits.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2018 16:13
|
|
|
leather fedora posted:Maybe if I had started playing Zero sooner after finishing Sky 3rd, I would've had the memory of Door 15 fresher in my mind and it wouldn't have taken me until the case where Colin goes missing to realize the reason why this seemingly random couple had portraits. it's too late now but if you use the board in the bracer guild to follow Estelle and Joshua around they have some good scenes relating to those characters
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2018 16:16
|
|
|
Well, whatever. Something to do for the replay. I feel like the relationships work both ways bit was something basically everyone has been trying to convince poor Rean of, it just took that scene for him to finally get it. Which is good, kid has some raging self worth issues. Just felt a little forced for it to happen there of all places.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2018 16:22
|
|
|
lets hang out posted:it's too late now but if you use the board in the bracer guild to follow Estelle and Joshua around they have some good scenes relating to those characters
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 02:50
|
|
|
So I finally decided to bite the bullet on Trails and picked up Trails in the Sky. I'm still in the prologue, but I'm running into a LOT of enemies on the road, so how devoted should I be to fighting every encounter I see? The xp rewards seem to taper off pretty fast, but they also give sepith, and I'm not sure how much of that I need. I don't want to get burned out fighting the same encounter 30 times if I don't have to.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 04:56
|
|
|
honestly I avoid most encounters on the roads. Like you've noticed exp scales heavily so you can't really fall behind there, and money all comes from the guild. Sepith is nice but eh it's not in that short supply. Just don't waste it on opening anyone but Estelle and Joshua slots and you should be fine not the same extent but you probably don't need to kill every enemy in a dungeon either
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 05:00
|
|
|
TheOneAndOnlyT posted:So I finally decided to bite the bullet on Trails and picked up Trails in the Sky. I'm still in the prologue, but I'm running into a LOT of enemies on the road, so how devoted should I be to fighting every encounter I see? The xp rewards seem to taper off pretty fast, but they also give sepith, and I'm not sure how much of that I need. I don't want to get burned out fighting the same encounter 30 times if I don't have to. The game seriously disincentives grinding since the EXP drops off. Don't worry about the sepith, especially in the prologue. You'll have many more opportunities to open your slots and make more quartz later on.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 05:04
|
|
|
Dammit Cake Attack
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 05:05
|
|
|
Hit act 2 and I don't think I've ever been this excited for a game to open up for me. E: it's that music on board! It's so...excited to see what happens! BrightWing fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Mar 27, 2018 |
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 05:24
|
|
|
Cake Attack posted:Just don't waste it on opening anyone but Estelle and Joshua slots and you should be fine
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 06:17
|
|
|
TheOneAndOnlyT posted:Is there a reason for this? Are they the only two permanent party members? Your party is Estelle, Josh and two rotating guests until the actual end of the game, so yeah, focus on Estelle and Josh's slots first. The guest characters will open slots that you don't when they return.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 06:19
|
|
|
What's a good way to get into Ys? I have all the games on Steam because they were cheap and I like supporting Falcom, but I really can't get into 1. Is there a better place to start? I just think 1 feels kind of archaic like an NES game.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 06:48
|
|
|
Beelerzebub posted:What's a good way to get into Ys? I have all the games on Steam because they were cheap and I like supporting Falcom, but I really can't get into 1. Is there a better place to start? I just think 1 feels kind of archaic like an NES game. Maybe Ys Origin? That was my first Ys. Ys Seven is another if you want to try out the new party system that will be in Memories of Celceta and 8.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 06:50
|
|
|
Origin or Oath in Felghana is probably a good place to start. Ark of Napishtim too, maybe, but I haven't played a whole lot of that one myself so I can't say too much on it
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 06:53
|
|
|
Napishtim is like Felghana, except less refined. It was the first of the three Ys games using that engine and gameplay system and Falcom was still figuring out what worked and what didn't. So overall, it's like Felghana, but slightly more grindy and bosses that pull slightly more BS on you. Oh and it has the Dash-Jump. XD The Catastrophe Mode XSeed introduced in PC Napishtim is harder in the short run, but easier in the long run, ironically. It's easier to get into than Ys I. I think if you play it before Felghana and Origin, you'll appreciate the finetuning they did in those games more when playing them.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 07:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 14:27 |
|
|
Yeah, 1 is nice for the novelty value and Origns callbacks but it’s seriously not a great game since it’s only improvements are UI poo poo and it’s a very grindy game as is. 2 is honestly way the gently caress better, like the dungeons are deliberately samey mazes but that aside it’s actually pretty fun since the ranged combat does a lot for the combat, especially the actually good bosses.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2018 08:40
|
|