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I'm a little surprised they killed both of those characters immediately. The old master is one thing, but given just how much exposure we got to the cat kid it feels off. I guess they were trying to endear him to the player so his death would have some impact, but... well. Also I was sort of expecting he would just turn to actually be the white tiger.
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Aug 22, 2018 16:44
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The Happy Hyperbole posted:I guess they were trying to endear him to the player so his death would have some impact, but... well. They could have started by having him actually just be a guide through a normal dungeon instead of having him sit off to the side laughing as you slogged your through a gauntlet of bland, repetitive filler dungeons with stupid, arbitrary bullshit restrictions. The forced cat puns didn't help, either. Most of them weren't even that amewsing.
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Aug 22, 2018 17:03
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So the old master literally made you put up with tedious bullshit for no reason that ALSO just happened to weaken the defenses of the last thing keeping the big bad from loving the earth. What a dick. That's like using up power from a generator protecting the last human stronghold to watch reruns of Desperate Housewives. Schwartzcough fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Aug 22, 2018 |
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Aug 22, 2018 18:10
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Episode XXIX: Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies Music: Much Hatred Still Rankles .jpg)  Yes!! They finally started something!  ...Is that good? It doesn't sound good. You don't ask those kinds of questions when winging it with those dabbling in occult practices. That isn't reassuring, ma'am... <turns to the troops> All right, Lieutenant Suketani!!Suketani steps forward and salutes. .jpg) Take your troops underground! We don’t know what’s down there, so proceed with extreme caution! If it has more than four limbs, has any manner of unearthly glow or possesses a translucent body – you shoot it! Yes, ma’am!Suketani departs with his men. .jpg) All right. Let’s move out!! <runs after the others> Lt. Colonel Kawashima...Meanwhile... .jpg) Back in the temple, Xifa managed to teleport all of the important characters back to the entrance of his dumbass trials that got him killed. Hmm... the evil sorcerer we barely beat last time and forced me to live in a magically sealed storeroom in the back of some monster filled temple ruins with a cat child as my only company is back and clearly more powerful than ever? Well, I'd better dick around with the people trying to stop him because I'm really bored. That's productive! Old bald loving idiot. I'm glad he's dead. Everyone picks themselves up off the ground. .jpg)  …Where are we?! <inspects the area> It's the Samsara Pavilion! Master Xifa transported us here, didn’t he…? Hey... umm... Was kinda caught up in the old guy dying and the place collapsing but... where is Alice? <looks around> She is... uhh... well. Dehuai... probably took her... Probably... That isn't reassuring, old man! We’ve got no time to waste! We’ve got to get back to Shanghai before this place collapses..jpg) Calm your rear end, Zhuzhen. There's no time limit for the temple collapsing and we need to do a brief bit of mission prep before proceeding. Particularly, you remember those Leonardo Bears that prevent Instant Death? It might be a good idea to equip those on the whole party right about now. Just as a precaution, you know? Music: Misfortune - Psycho Temple .jpg) We never hear Wugui of Kowloon strolls onto the scene. .jpg) That Dehuai doesn’t miss a beat, does he… leaving Wugui behind to block our return… I'm getting sick of mid-bosses. You don’t know when to give up, do you? You here for another beat-down? You’ve caught me at a bad time. I won’t forgive you over my dead body! My sentiments exactly, boy. You will pay dearly for what you did to me. Yeah, yeah... I've gotta busy schedule. Just get on with it. You have no idea what you're about to face, boy. Is it a powered-up second form? Or a Yamaraja dude? Ya know like I called last time you ran away with your tail between your legs... You think you're so clever, boy? But you're wrong! It's BOTH! Wait. ...Doesn't that just make me double right? That checks out. Mhm. SILENCE! Graaaaaah!!.jpg) Music: China Ogre .jpg) .jpg) Meet the actual boss of the Wuhan Temple Ruins -- Yamaraja: War. You can't have any localization confusion if you don't use an element name. Except... this guy wasn't denoted as a Yamaraja boss at all in Japanese. He was just referred to as Unrestrained/Unleashed/Super Saiyan Level 2 Wugui, so whoops! In any case, Shin Wugui is a Dark elemental enemy packing a quite stout 840 HP. .jpg) .jpg) Our first order of business is going to be switching Yuri over to Inferno and buffing his physical attack strength with some Shonen level Fighting Spirit. We may be done with the trial gimmicks of this chapter, but we're not quite finished with the annoying gameplay limitations being present. .jpg) .jpg) Remember how Wugui could absorb all magical special attacks? Welp, he still retains that ability in his Yamaraja: War form. Which means all anyone is allowed to do is physical attacks as everything else will just heal him. Meaning, Zhuzhen is stuck on healing duty and Margarete just kind of chips away for middling damage. Most of this fight is going to be on Goro Yuri repeatedly punching Wugui in the dick until he submits. Not that the Kowloon native is going to take that lying down, mind you.  For instance, Wugui still possesses the Game of Death attack. Yuri still has immunity when he's Dark Elemental (so default status with no Fusions), despite every guide for this game telling you to have three Leonardo's Bears. So in a pinch, he can just remain normal or swap over to Death Emperor. Not so much for Margarete or Zhuzhen. And if you didn't know this fight was coming, whoops they're immediately both dead thirty seconds into the battle. When was the last save point? Oh, before all of the crap with Xifa, huh? That's unfortunate. Definitely didn't have to redo this fight my first time through and get annoyed it was before five minutes of cutscenes. .jpg) But since we prepared properly by giving everyone teddy bears, we're good to go! Nice try, idiot! We have the protection of Benjamin Spooner Briggs the King of Limbo. .jpg) Beyond that, War hits quite hard with his weird chitin axe but he doesn't seem keen on doing more than a single strike at a time. So that's nice of him. .jpg) .jpg) He also possesses a new ability: Nightmare. Which is just... Dark Messenger, that darkness gas spray attack every Dark element enemy has in their move list, but this version hits the entire party. It does do around 60+ HP of damage to the whole team, so that's nothing to sneeze at when Wugui pulls it out. But that's why we have Zhuzhen on healing duty. Nourishing Potion's high MP cost isn't quite the factor when it's literally the only productive thing he can spend MP on in a fight. .jpg) .jpg) Everything aside, just insert three minutes of Yuri furiously punching Wugui in the dick as a flaming Goro while Margarete takes potshots and Zhuzhen puts in work keeping everyone's health topped off and you've got this fight in a nutshell. This jobber is retired. .jpg) Post-battle, our EXP, and Cash prize resulted in Zhuzhen reaching Level 17 and gaining Life Sucker. If that sounds like a nifty attack where he steals HP off an enemy to heal himself... that'd be a decent guess, but you'd also be dead wrong. It's a Dark element attack that hits a single enemy for OK damage and has a chance to cause Silence. Yeah... I dunno either. Music: Wind Which Blows From the Dark II .jpg) Is your entire win record just beating up Zhuzhen? N-no... <raises eyebrow> ...M-maybe..jpg) .jpg) Roger Bacon warps into the room. It's been quite some time since he's popped up. I wonder what kind of nefarious speech he has for this reunion with Yuri. .jpg) .jpg) Oh... He's just going to Hadoken him and immediately gently caress-off with Wugui. Huh... That's a pretty concise speech. Unless we follow a very specific set of choices in the coming chapter, that's the last we ever see of Wugui of Kowloon. He and Bacon might have buggered off to sidequest country. We'll worry about that for another day. We have more pressing issues at the moment... .jpg) Oh no!! Hurry, before everything collapses!! Just gimme a s—.jpg) And that extremely abruptly concludes Chapter 7! Well, I'm sure Alice can get herself out of a kidnapping and sort out Dehuai on her own. Military intrigue and sidequest triggering will commence next time in Chapter 8: Shanghai Again! May we never go to a temple ruins dungeon again.   That chapter was a big wet fart and things honestly would have gone way better if the party just didn't bother showing up. But it did fill out quite a bit of the Library entries... even if many of them were palette swaps. Let's see what we've got here... MONSTER: .jpg) Dead? Dying? He ain't picky! These human teeth are made for chewing! .jpg) Wait, back up... How did a man drown on land? Did he trip into a puddle? Why did that turn him into a gross oily tentacle rape monster? I've very confused. .jpg) Is this what is kicking my rear end when I make the annual mistake of ordering some Chinese food? .jpg) I imagine it just sounds like Dr. Girlfriend from Venture Bros repeatedly going "boo!" .jpg) Uniform shockingly clean and up to dress code despite their zombified status. .jpg) It knows when you've been wanking to the REAL weird stuff on the internet. It knows! .jpg) Honestly, just avoid puddles of water that can potentially house creatures the size of a small cow. Just walk around that poo poo! .jpg) No curse or malevolent spirits involved here. Just a frog that took a full heel turn and decided it was going to eat some brains. I can respect that. .jpg) It guards Master Xifa's weed stash. .jpg) An unfathomable Dark power that can delete one's existence... unless they're carrying a teddy bear. Then said powers are rendered impotent and sad. NPC: .jpg) Turns out getting transformed into a boy burned through about eight lives. Xifa never brought that part up until it was too late. .jpg) Dead idiot with a bumper sticker stuck on his big stupid head.   Video: Episode 29 Highlight Reel The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Aug 24, 2018 |
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Aug 22, 2018 18:12
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Now we're really getting into the hosed-up monster designs that I remember so fondly.
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Aug 22, 2018 20:59
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So I replayed this recently and I instantly died to this Boss,Yuri not having poo poo for instant death immunity at all and I had saved before the girls section. I was very not happy
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Aug 22, 2018 21:07
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The Dark Id posted:For instance, Wugui still possesses the Game of Death attack. Yuri still has immunity, despite every guide for this game telling you to have three Leonardo's Bears. Jack-Off Lantern posted:So I replayed this recently and I instantly died to this Boss,Yuri not having poo poo for instant death immunity at all  So who's right?
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Aug 22, 2018 21:11
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My memory is that Yuri only gets the pass on Game of Death if he's currently Dark elemental; so before he transforms or if you go with Death Emperor. Wugui also has a minor ID chance on one of his other moves, so that can screw you over if you do decide to solo the thing (which... it's Yuri, he totally can otherwise). Point being Wugui triples down on the whole Death thing because they really, REALLY want you to pick up on the idea of "bosses will spam one status and that is their thing, pack the right blockers or die" at this point.
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Aug 22, 2018 21:12
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CmdrKing posted:My memory is that Yuri only gets the pass on Game of Death if he's currently Dark elemental; so before he transforms or if you go with Death Emperor. This seems right,I had the first move, transformed to the fire elemental and ate poo poo. The big issue is,in the first fight Yuri is immune completely even in his forms.
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Aug 22, 2018 21:16
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This is maybe the worst temple in China. I'm glad it's being destroyed and I'm glad everyone who lived there is dead.
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Aug 22, 2018 21:36
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It's so weird to see Berserker Armor Wugui stick his butt out when he uses his insta death attack. Although I didn't realize it was multi-target. That's bad, but still definitely not as annoying as the mandatory lategame FTNW boss with a similar gimmick. And on Yuri's immunity, now I really am confused. Everywhere I've read it says he's no longer immune to Game of Death, but if transforming into Death Emperor is all that you need, then I'm surprised Inferno Yuri was able to take it no problem, since I was under the impression that Id didn't give him a Leonardo's Bear. The Dark Id posted:Well, it'd better dick around with the people trying to stop him because I'm really bored.
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Aug 22, 2018 22:22
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I hope Roger Bacon keeps just appearing randomly to own Yuri out of nowhere and leaves without saying anything.
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Aug 23, 2018 18:35
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Nohman posted:I hope Roger Bacon keeps just appearing randomly to own Yuri out of nowhere and leaves without saying anything. Hadokening him without a word is almost as great as him using Special Eyes in the beginning.
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Aug 23, 2018 18:52
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Nohman posted:I hope Roger Bacon keeps just appearing randomly to own Yuri out of nowhere and leaves without saying anything. I managed to entirely forget he did this.
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Aug 23, 2018 21:39
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Roger is about as good a villain as Yuri is a hero. It works out.
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Aug 23, 2018 23:07
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Nohman posted:I hope Roger Bacon keeps just appearing randomly to own Yuri out of nowhere and leaves without saying anything. A gentleman can be made to wait only so long before he destroys your temple seal, slaps your protagonist, and runs off with your mid-boss.
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Aug 24, 2018 02:35
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 Episode XXX: Alliances Music: Profile .jpg) The crummiest chapter in the game is behind us and it couldn't even have the courtesy to end properly. Just <~SCENE MISSING~> hey we're back in Shanghai again! Don't worry about it! Yuri hops out of his bed back at the Cypress Hotel in Shanghai. .jpg) <shrugs and shakes head> Who do you think rescued us from the rubble? Hmmm… I’d better go next door and check it out myself.  .jpg) Yep. That's it. That's all we get for the transition back to town. The Japanese army apparently dug Yuri, Zhuzhen and Margarete out of the temple's rubble, they were all perfectly fine but unconscious. They were then transported several hundred miles back to Shanghai, checked back into their same hotel room from earlier and just kind of tossed into bed with not so much as a single one of them waking up at any point to figure out what the hell was going on. The 1913 Japanese military was shockingly efficient, it turns out. .jpg) Anyway, this entire time Kawashima and Kato have been checked into the room right next door. There's just never been a reason to talk to them up until this point. But let's go over there now and see if things have changed. .jpg) Welp. I guess the Smuggler Boss and Courier's Subordinate ruse is off unless they're going to explain these guys stole their uniforms for some clandestine deal with the army. Kato and Kawashima exchange a nod before Kato waves off the soldiers. The two guards put down their rifles and exit the hotel room. Yuri approaches the pair for some answers. .jpg) I was starting to worry when none of you regained consciousness after... a good day half-day trip... Yeah, I’m awake all right!! Care to tell me what’s going on here?! Why the Japanese Army? <motions to Kawashima> Yuri, this is Lt. Colonel Kawashima. Her unit saved you from the temple ruins. “Lt. Colonel Kawashima”?! The Japanese Army is our enemy! They went to the temple ruins for the White Tiger Votive Picture!! ... …Right? Well, you're not wrong, per se. <walks to the window> Sergeant Kato and I posed as smugglers, entirely to maintain contact with you.  I am still wearing army fatigues. Just not the dress field uniform... Tch. Like I know what an army uniform looks like or if that's the part of your mug I'd pay attention to! ...?.jpg) Please, try not to be angry… We apologize for withholding information from you… To be fair, you never asked if we were affiliated with the army... Shaddup! You think you can just let bygones be bygones, pal?! Heh. Calm yourself. At present, we are not your enemies. Take it easy, kid. Let’s hear what they have to say.Zhuzhen and Margarete barge into the room. .jpg) We don’t know what could be happening to Alice!! Alice is fine. Dehuai took off with her... I think... I was slightly knocked out at the time. Kinda a lot of that going around lately... Does anyone else hear ringing in their ears like non-stop? That's probably fine too..jpg) If only I’d realized sooner… I would have killed you without a thought. Now, now, let’s not get hostile. I'm looking the other way after you bombed a train station and stole an airplane from Fengtian.  ...That was YOU, the idiot that blew up that train and made me have to walk 70 kilometers to Dalian?  Heheh... Don't we have more pressing matters at hand? <glares> The only ones who’ll profit from our fighting are Dehuai and the Japanese who aim to take Shanghai. Please, think about it. If we truly hated you, would we have gone through the trouble of putting our men in danger, asking them to dig you out of that monster-infested rubble? You said that Alice is okay, right? How do you know that?! <walks to the window> If I were Dehuai, I’d protect her. She’s a treasure to him. Her very existence gives him satisfaction. Notta fan of any of that phrasing... He will leave her in some secure location, while he hastens preparations for the Valorization. <shakes head> Which means that Alice is safe until the Demon’s Gate Invocation begins. <nods> Precisely. While we do not have too much time, we are not too late. Dehuai has made Kuihai Tower his fortress. But since there’s no way we can break through the front… ... <faces Zhuzhen> …Master Zhuzhen. You are the most familiar with this, correct? Why don’t we collaborate? <shakes fist> So everything’s just part of the plan, huh? I can’t believe you!! Yuri advances towards Kawashima. Kato grows a huge pair of balls and blocks his path. .jpg) Yuri! You shouldn’t say that! The Lt. Colonel… The Lt. Colonel was at the temple ruins the whole time, praying for your safety, waiting with the unit. She waited, and waited… believing you’d come back…  That's not really selling me, guy. … Enough, Kato. The fact is, we did use you. I truly apologize for that.Kato gets out of Yuri's way. .jpg) <approaches Yuri> Yuri, I want to join in arms with you. … <goes to the window> I aim to make Shanghai a staging base for the Army, but it can’t be done with Dehuai at large. Dehuai is your enemy, as well. Joining forces to stop him is the most logical strategy. Why do you want us to cooperate? It should be easy for your famous army. Why not wipe everything out with your military might? <turns toward Margarete> That’s not it at all!! Certainly, there are many who’d like to do just that… But I am not one of them! An invasion of Shanghai, once begun, cannot be easily stopped. A huge number of people will be involved in the battle, and a lot of them will die. The best course of action is to fell the ringleader, before the winds of war kindle an inferno. <shakes head> That’d be awfully convenient for you wouldn’t it… I’d sooner take Dehuai’s side than do anything to abet Japan’s designs on Shanghai. Master Zhuzhen?! Dehuai is bad news, don't get me wrong there. But I'm not aiding the invasion of my country by a foreign power either. Are you serious? You can go suck eggs on that front.Yuri walks past everyone to the window. Music: ENDS .jpg) If the Japanese Army wants to invade Shanghai, so be it. After I finish Dehuai, I’ll fight them. You'll fight the entire army? Tch. Those soldiers are like one punch a piece. How many would be marching this way? Upward of 40,000 men. So I'll be puttin' in a solid 9:00 to 5:00 that day.... Now, Kawashima, I may not be as smart as you, but I know what’s important in life! And it's punching that creepy old wizard's face in and saving Alice. Not necessarily in that order. Are you saying a joint effort is impossible?Music: Profile .jpg) Don’t underestimate Dehuai! If you leave here on your own, all that awaits you are his traps! Oh no! I'll have to deal with him like possessing a monkey and I'll have to beat that up. Whatever... I don’t care if it’s a trap. I promised myself I’d protect Alice at all costs. <nervous laugh> Y-you… You’re... a fool. People like you, people who plan out every little detail of their lives. You could never understand me.Yuri starts walking past everyone out of the room. .jpg) I thank you for saving us. Goodbye. ...Yuri drops the mic and leaves the room. .jpg) Well... that could have gone better... <turns to Margarete> If the Demon’s Gate Invocation actually takes place, there’ll be no point in debating about Japan. So that's a "no" out of you two as well...? <walks away without saying anything> Bitch, you're lucky I don't double tap you and your bodyguard right here and now...Zhuzhen and Margarete depart as well. .jpg) Everything will be fine. Illogical people can just be… difficult… That's one way to put it... Kato, is Suketani still away? <nods> Yes, ma’am, he said he’d be back right away… I’ll go check on him. Oh, and Kato… give them the Yawang Gate Key. Lt. Colonel?! Are you sure?? Our spies worked so hard to get such an important… Just do it. We can’t let Shanghai become a pile of ashes. Even if we can’t cooperate with them… we can gather our troops and prepare to invade Kuihai Tower. Understood? If need be we have the skeleton key known as "a cannon" to get through that gate. <salutes> Understood. Lt. Colonel, please wait here. I’ll take care of it.Kato runs off to fulfill Kawashima's orders. Meanwhile, outside the hotel... Music: Swindler - Shanghai Mood .jpg) Wait, sonny boy, you can't go by yourself! That's right. You can't very well leave behind your guide through hell, you know? Hmph. I know that!.jpg) We're free to explore Shanghai once again. Absolutely nothing has changed since the first visit. As a side note, out of curiosity/wanting to save the game (Yuri refuses to go back in the hotel with the army narcs in there) I returned to the World Map here by heading north from the hotel. .jpg) .jpg) Turns out the Japanese military did a HELL of a job digging out the Temple Ruins. Indeed, the party can march straight back to where it allegedly caved in on them after the Wugui fight and it's perfectly intact. Indeed, the entire dungeon save the entrance to Xifa's chamber is still fully accessible. There's absolutely nothing to do here and it seems like an oversight it's still an available location when the game had been disabling every other previous locale up to this point. But there you have it. .jpg) Getting back on track, there's no indication of where we're meant to go next to progress. But spoilers: It's Zhen's bar. As soon as we run down the stairs, we're whisked off to another cutscene elsewhere. Music: Army Mood .jpg) Knocking is heard from a door. .jpg) Enter.A pair of Japanese soldiers enter the room, approach Suketani and draw their rifles. .jpg) <looks the two over> What’s wrong with you?! Have you gone mad?!An officer with the designated smug rear end in a top hat/every white guy in the '90s haircut enters the office. .jpg) <salutes> M-Major Kutsugi?! I ordered Kawashima’s whereabouts reported the moment you located her! You tried to trick my spies? N-no, heavens no! I… I haven’t found Lt. Colonel Kawashima yet! Enough lies. I am assuming Shanghai command. This is a direct order from the Imperial Capital. You were with Kawashima in Wuhan, weren’t you? Do you honestly expect me to believe this report you were lead there on a tip by "Smuggler Boss" who 100% matched the description of the Lt. Colonel? Well... Tokyo may charge her with treason. You’re a good soldier. Tell where she is. I will not ask again. I-I know nothing of it! And the Lt. Colonel had no plans for any treason! The Lt. Colonel you've been unable to locate... You're really not good at this, Lieutenant. She failed to report many key details and moved ahead without approval from the Capital. That doesn’t sound like treason to you? Hmph. In any case… The truth will be revealed soon enough, as my soldiers turn the city inside out. Farewell.Major Kutsugi departs. Music: END .jpg) I kind of forgot how much of a bloodbath this game was for minor NPCs you didn't particularly care about. Meanwhile, back in Mr. Zhen's joint... .jpg) Hi... you... Qiuhua. I knew that. No you didn't. You got me. How did it go? Did you retrieve the White Tiger? Well... <concerned look> Nothing good ever begins with "well..."Fade to black to explain that awful filler dungeon and the events that followed. .jpg) Except Alice... And Master Xifa and the annoying cat boy. OK. Maybe "everybody" was a bit off the mark. So, tell us, Zhen. How have things been here in Shanghai? I sense a disquieting air about the town. Indeed. The Japanese Army’s preparing for something… The number of troops has increased! I think they call that sort of preparation an "invasion" or something like that. Hey, how do we get inside Kuihai Tower? If you know, you’ve gotta tell me! Fifteen years ago, Dehuai destroyed every entrance to the Tower but one Yawang Gate. The door is sturdy and locked tight. It’s locked? You can do something about it, right, Zhuzhen? Hmph! If all it takes is an unlocking spell, that’s a simple enough order. Yawang Gate, eh? Thanks, Mr. Zhen!!.jpg) OK. So, we need to go find a key. Shanghai is only a few screens big. Surely it cannot take that long to track it down. Side note: If you were ever playing the game yourself, now is the time to tackle the Pit Fights in Zhen's bar. Indeed, the cut-off point for that sidequest is fast approaching so it's one of the last chances to do it too. But we don't need to worry about that. Let's head back outside. Music: Army Mood .jpg) .jpg) Well, they didn't waste any time at all. All NPCs on the streets have been replaced by patrolling Japanese army soldiers. The soldiers don't have any AI or anything. They just kind of mindlessly marching back and forth in the same couple of yards of space. But should Yuri bump into one of them... .jpg) Music: Brain Hopper .jpg) .jpg) We'll be forced into a battle with a couple of Corporals. Despite literally being an identical character model to the previous soldiers we've fought, these soldiers are slightly more durable and have rifles that can nearly do double-digit damage with each shot! The military might of Japan is getting even fiercer! .jpg) By being "slightly more durable" I mean they'll die at the end of Yuri's entire three hit string instead of keeling over from the first punch. Margarete can also take most of 'em out unloading an entire magazine into their chests. Since there's only ever two soldiers in a fight, Zhuzhen doesn't even have to participate. Music: Army Mood .jpg) In any case, when the party walks into the middle of the street, we're stopped by Kato rushing out in a panic trying to get our attention. Let's see what has the mighty chin upset... .jpg) N-no! It’s terrible, just terrible! You’re a grown man! Get a hold of yourself! What is it? What happened? Yes, yes… Well…Music: God Knows Bad News .jpg) L-Lieutenant Suketani!! <runs over to Suketani> <kneels down> L-Lieutenant Suketani!! Please, please, say you’re all right!.jpg) Wh-who did this to you?! Lieutenant! Who was it?! Ku-kutsugi… Major Kutsugi… He’s after… the Lt. Colonel… Listen carefully, Sergeant… I hid it… the p-precious item… I hid it in the boat… Tell that to them… Tell Yuri’s party, right?! Understood! Please, don’t say another word, Lieutenant! I’ll send a medic over right away! Forget it… Sergeant, forget about me… I'm l-lung shot... and gut shot... and lung shot a-again... and my heart... and n-neck... S-Shouldn't even be... able to... speak... The Lt. Colonel… Protect her! There’s no… time… G-go! I… leave it to you… B-BARF! <dies>.jpg) Lieutenant!! Lieutenant Suketani!!Back in the street... Music: Army Mood .jpg) <sniff> But Lieutenant Suketani... I can't believe he's gone. Yeah... none of us ever met that guy. So not really feeling that loss... I just shot dead a soldier kid in the alley... But… what in the world is this precious item that Lieutenant Suketani wanted us to have? He says he hid it on board his ship? Yes! Please go get it right away. I must return to the Lt. Colonel! Got it. As soon as we find whatever it is we’ll head back to the inn! Until then, you stay put! Got it?! Y-yes! <runs off> I thought we just told the Japanese army to shove off. Why are we back to help them again? Ehh... I guess I've cooled off. And I kind of like that big chinned dope... What about Kawashima? <shrug> She's kinda hot so, ehh... Let's see what this thing is in the boat, maybe beat up a few soldiers and then we'll go kick Dehuai's rear end. You're not the most focused guy, are you? It comes and goes..jpg) .jpg) Over to the Smuggler's Boat we go. More Japanese troops are patrolling the streets. But again, they make no effort to actually give chase to the party. That said, there are now random battles in Shanghai against these same soldiers. So... not sure what the point of the patrolling guys you can easily avoid is supposed to be, other than flavor. .jpg) .jpg) Checking the Smuggler Boat hold where Sea Mother stowed-away a lifetime ago will result in the party locating the key Kuihai Tower where Dehuai is up to some nefarious poo poo. Thanks for the assist, rando military guy the party never once interacted with directly. Tune in next time as we help Kawashima out of a jam (not because we wanted to help her or anything baka!), discover what happened to Alice and completely skirt our responsibilities to embark on a wildly inappropriately timed entire sidequest chapter as Shadow Hearts continues!   Lt. Colonel Yoshiko Kawashima Portrait – Yeah, my office is full of dragonflies. Meh... It happens. China is weird. The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 23:30 on Aug 24, 2018 |
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Aug 24, 2018 19:05
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It's sort of interesting that there's essentially some Japan military politics story that's only tangentially related to our party at all. It's like those cut-away side stories in FF9 that alter bits of the world structure, but aren't properly felt by anyone you control except in one or two cutscenes somewhere along the way.The Dark Id posted:after... a good day half day trip... Got some spacing weirdness on that second one, third should be "completely"
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Aug 24, 2018 20:29
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The Dark Id posted:
Her and Kato's chins were made for each other.
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Aug 24, 2018 20:38
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Huh. Thought for sure Suketani was gonna end up betraying Kawashima or something like that. Like Kato was gonna jump in front of her to take a bullet when Suketani revealed his true colors. Guess not.
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Aug 24, 2018 21:16
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I respect the only Chinese party member actively told Kawashima to go eat his dick when she tries the enemy of my enemy spiel with a Japanese invasion. Zhuzhen is alright.
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Aug 25, 2018 02:35
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yeah that's what I like, even with the bigger enemy - the party has every good reason to tell Kawashima to piss off - Yuri doesn't like getting yanked around, Zhuzhen is Chinese, and Marguerite is a hostile agent, and that's what they did. The only person that might be willing to hear her out isn't here. And it's nice despite this, Kawashima does kick over the key because she does recognize they're the only people who can deal with Dehaui.
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Aug 25, 2018 03:22
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I do like how they executed that desync of player and character here. For the player, Kawashima is being built up to be more sympathetic since we see her very abrupt 'fish out of water' moment with magic, and her softer side. The party sees none of that and realistically have very good reason to be mad with her.
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Aug 25, 2018 05:27
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Keldulas posted:I do like how they executed that desync of player and character here. For the player, Kawashima is being built up to be more sympathetic since we see her very abrupt 'fish out of water' moment with magic, and her softer side. The party sees none of that and realistically have very good reason to be mad with her. On the other hand the player (and not the characters) got to see lovely words like "hey his granddaughter will get to see him soon because he's loving dead!" Softer side, not so much.
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Aug 25, 2018 22:05
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Episode XXXI: Press the Select Button to Submit Music: Army Mood .jpg) Let me see… Is that… It’s the Yawang Gate key!! Then… we can get into Kuihai Tower! That’s right! Awright! Back to the inn!.jpg) .jpg) This game really loves to make the most of its maps by making you run a circuit from one end to the other to trigger plot flags. But given how our taste of an actual linear dungeon goes... Perhaps that's for the best. In any case, it's back to Kawashima and Kato's room, where we find... Music: Profile .jpg) So you’re the new dog Tokyo sent? I had no idea they wanted me so badly… They sent you all the way to Shanghai, just for me?! We have issued telegrams with explicit orders to return to Tokyo at once for questioning towards your recent behavior. I cannot be expected to read every trivial notification that comes across my desk. Fourteen telegrams were sent. I can see one of the correspondences on the table right there! Yes, well... Tch... Don’t think my father will take this lightly! Hmph. Watch your mouth. You’re speaking to the new ruler of Shanghai. <turns away> You’d best forget your father. Oh, you haven’t heard the news, eh? Well, I’ll tell you. Your father adopted a new daughter… someone from the Qing Dynasty. Wh… WHAT…?! He’s busy raising her. He doesn’t have any time for you now. He even gave her your name. I guess he's doing a redo after you were such a disappointment. Harsh... Wh… <turns around and approaches Kawashima> Your time’s up.Yuri struts into the room. Kutsugi and his men are very confused. .jpg) Heh heh. I’m your worst nightmare, buddy. Are you one of her underlings?! Get him!! Nobody stands in my way!! Aww, that's cute. You must be new in town....jpg) Music: Brain Hopper .jpg) .jpg) Kutsugi is too much of a bitch-made fuckboi to participate in battle so we'll have to settle for his men instead. These guys are Sergeants and they're far sturdier than the rest of the Japanese soldiers we've faced. The rifles these guys have been issued do upward of 30 HP of damage. Very impressive stuff. They can also survive a combo out of Yuri, which is far more than anyone else human thus far can claim. .jpg) They cannot, however, survive two combos. Or really one Yuri assault and a follow-up by Margarete or Zhuzhen. Needless to say, that's two more notches on our party's growing slaughter of the Japanese military. We're at least three or four times the body count of the Trans-Siberian train massacre in the prologue. New Music: ICARO - Beated Version (If this plays anywhere else in the game I don't remember it.) .jpg) Major Kutsugi runs off with his tail between his legs. You'd expect him to come back later on with reinforcements to be a minor nuisance to the party at the very least. Or to show up and unceremoniously get killed by Dehuai and his minions. But nah. Spoilers: We never see this man again. He apparently just takes the Japanese soldiers under his command and flees off back to Tokyo after this. His home Major Kutsugi and his men run off. .jpg) Ungh… You came… but why?Kawashima helps Kato back up. .jpg) Y-you came back for us! All of you! Hee hee. We just stopped by to say hello! You can thank us later. Relaxing that whole arrest warrant for the spy Malkovich would be a good start. Once I get back control over the situation, I suppose I could see what I could do... assuming you stop bombing army infrastructure. Let's not start talking crazy here. ... We seem fated to keep meeting. We may be on opposing sides the next time we meet, but do take care. Yuri. You’re going, right? To Kuihai Tower. …Yeah. You know her, she’ll sob and cry if I don’t rescue her. Or at the very least flop over unconscious like a sack of potatoes again and get in everyone's way. We wouldn't want that. Heh. Be careful, ok? And, Yuri… I’ll pray for your success. <turns to leave> Heh. Thanks.Yuri and the gang depart. .jpg) Meanwhile, in Kuihai Tower... Music: Misfortune - Psycho Temple .jpg)  Hee hee hee… Are you awake, Alice? <lifts head> D-Dehuai! This is my Kuihai Tower laboratory!! What do you think? Impressive, isn’t it? The amount of effort it took to get the Feng Shui correct with all this scientific equipment alongside traditional Taoist elements was a real pain in the rear end to get right. But I'm pretty happy with the final product's aesthetic. O... kay...? Before we begin the Demon’s Gate Invocation, I must test your power… just a little. Hee hee hee… Wh-what do you think you’re going to do to me?! I’ll never, ever cooperate! Hah! We’ll see how long that sassy little attitude lasts. You’ll soon give up and do whatever I wish. Well then, shall we begin? Hee hee hee… I hope you enjoy this. I'm going to run a high voltage electric current through your body. If it's just for a short time, it won't kill you. ...Th-that doesn't sound right. At all. Ah. Calm your tits! It'll be fine Now, answer me! (They’ll come for me, I know it… I just have to buy some time…).jpg) So, this is kind of a strange sequence. Alice is getting tortured by Dehuai. How much she gets tortured depends on the responses she gives to Dehuai's interrogation. Doing this sequence correctly directly ties to unlocking a rather lengthy sidequest. If we pick the wrong replies, well... .jpg) <screams in pain>It's not a good day for Alice. So, let's screw it up on purpose first just to see what happens. .jpg) > This strange machine is so sexy! Oh. Into the kinky stuff, huh? Well, I won't let you down. <flips the switch> <gets electrocuted> AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! <laughs> You can't trick me. I'm not buying that kind of talk out of your white bread, missionary only after marriage rear end. I wasn't born yesterday. Do you feel like cooperating now? I-I... I'll n-never... Okay, here it comes! (Wh-what should I do?!) > This scary tower is sexy, too! Uh-huh... Gonna flip this switch again now...Alice gets zapped again. It isn't a pleasant time. .jpg) I LIVE here. Impressive. Menacing. Foreboding. I'll take those descriptors for my tower. It ain't sexy, sweetie. Try again. Hahh... hahh... s-somebody... Okay, one more time! (Wh-what should I do?!) > But YOU'RE the sexiest! <sigh> You're still doing this, huh? Honey, I've got half a face, a reptilian prosthetic arm I ripped from a lizard man and a peg leg. That's without even going into the nasty stuff going on below deck. I'm not hitting the dating market anytime soon. I am hitting this torture switch though!.jpg) Alice screams from the torture and passes out. .jpg) ... Wah hah hah hah hah hah hah!! Wah hah hah hah hah!! Wah hah hah... huh? ... <sizzles and smokes> Oh CRAP! You're not dead, right!? AWW c'mon! Frick frick frick! Piss! <approaches Alice> Tsk! She's passed out... <wipes brow> False alarm... OK. That was fun and all but that's certainly enough of this... Dammit. If I accidentally killed her I'd never hear the end of it from that dick, Bacon! Crap. He's probably spying on me right, now! Ehem... I mean... <clears throat> Wha ha ha! How sad. I'll have to stop before I put her into a coma... Heh heh... Finally... finally! I begin the Demon's Gate Invocation! Bear witness, lowly maggots! I shall soon show you the face of God!! All of you! Especially any dick European warlocks! Wah hah hah hah! Wah hah hah hah hah!! And from there the scene fades out and we'll rejoin Yuri and the gang. But having Alice deep fried isn't the optimal or desired outcome. Instead, let's rewind to the beginning of this sequence and do it right. .jpg) There're three choices in each segment. We want to choose the first option every time to do this sequence correctly. This will cause a different reaction out of Dehuai. > Quit it, you dirty old man! Dehuai moves away from the torture device switch and walks up to Alice. .jpg) Wh-what's going to happen to me...? I'm going to run a high voltage electric current through you. Tap the action button to regain your strength. I-I... don't know what that means! Look, I'm just reading the instructions in the manual. <walks back to the switch> Okay, here it comes! (Wh-what should I do?!) > Just get away from me! Dehuai steps away from the machine again. .jpg) I'll have you know I used to be quite sexy back in my youth. I dunno, I think I still got it. S-stop, please... <walks back to the machine> Okay, one more time! Or... for the first time. I really need to stop getting distracted. (Wh-what should I do?!) >Ignore him. Dehuai steps away from the machine again and stomps his foot angrily. .jpg) Help... Help, Yuri... Bad vibes... Not enjoying this... <goes right up to Alice> Such a stubborn girl...! Do you really believe that brat will come to save you?! Yep! He's going to come and kick your butt! Oh, now you're just pissing me off! That damned, filthy Harmonixer! Wugui's sure to have sent him to hell by now... <looks around> ...Where is Wugui, anyway? I don't think he'd return to Kowloon without telling me... <frown> I was going to take him out to lunch. I got reservations and everything. That'd be rude as hell... Oh well, I'm sure he'll pop up eventually.Limps toward the screen. .jpg) Bear witness, lowly maggots! I shall soon show you the face of God!!.jpg) And fade to black. Alice made it through the sequence without getting tortured and knocked unconscious for the 23rd time this adventure. Repeatedly getting knocked out like that cannot be good for her. In any case, having Dehuai bring up Wugui in a conversation nobody in our active party heard has somehow unlocked a new sidequest. At that same time... .jpg) Technically, we're immediately tossed from the Shanghai streets to Kuihai Tower for the final chapter of the first act of the game, Chapter 10: Kuihai Showdown! .jpg) Well, well. It’s a whole lot bigger than it was fifteen years ago. Where does he get the funding to pay for all of this? I never figured that part out, honestly. Just wait, Alice. I’m coming for you..jpg) Yeah... Just wait, Alice. You can hold out for... ehh... Like a week, right? We'll be right back... Eventually... Music: ENDS .jpg) We're going to backtrack to Huayuan, Shanghai. Kuihai Tower is actually a major Point of No Return for this portion of the game. This is the last chance we'll have for doing anything in Shanghai. Music: Swindler - Shanghai Mood .jpg) All the NPCs have returned to town and the Japanese army random battle encounters have vanished. The townspeople all have new dialog, but it's all just variations of "Hey, it's cool the Japanese army left! Screw those guys!" Kawashima and Kato have also vanished from the hotel room. Don't worry about them for now. .jpg) .jpg) What we want to do now is return to the docks with the Smuggler Boat still in port. First of all, there is a new mini-game here involving that man and his puppies. I suppose we have time to check that out. .jpg)  A prize for only 300! Boy, you people will gamble over anything, huh? That's a little racist, boy. But also, yes! So, you in? Sure, I'll do it. Do you want to hear how to play? Sure, tell me. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have wagered on something without fully knowing what it was about, huh? Indeed, you shouldn't have, sir! It's simple. First, you pick one of these dogs here. Then, the dogs move around for a fixed time. Keep your eye on your pick! When the dogs line up again, point out the one you first picked. If you're right, you get an amazing prize! If you're wrong, it's all over. It's simple see? Whaddya say? Let's start with an easy level..jpg) .jpg) So, this is a cup game but with tiny dogs instead of a ball under a cup. We have to select a dog and keep our eyes on 'em as they randomly scurry about. These are trans-dimensional dogs that can phase through one another if they should cross paths. So that makes it a little tricky. A little it's still a remarkably easy cup game equivalent. I got every pick my first try. .jpg) For picking the correct dog we receive another Lottery Ticket. We can never have enough! After claiming our prize, we pay another 300 Cash to play a slightly more difficult variant of the game with FOUR dogs. Winning this one gains us another Leonardo's Bear. At least we can sell the extra for a couple grand. .jpg) If we speak to the man a third time, he'll offer a final challenge level. This time it is four dogs but they... move marginally faster, I guess? And the length of time they shuffle might be a bit longer. I couldn't tell all that much of a difference between level two and three. .jpg) Either way, we get a Monkey's Paw consumable item. Unrelated, Windjammers 2 is announced... being made by Dotemu... is announced. Chaos reigns. .jpg) So, the dog watching mini-game is NOT the reason we came to these docks. The real reason is Junk-dealer Taka here has repaired the Smuggler's Boat for... some reason. He's not charging Yuri or anything. It's not like it was his boat. Presumably, Kato and Kawashima were just going to let this thing rot on the dock until further notice. But why do we care about this? .jpg) Well, if we hop on board, noted seasickness suffer Yuri will suddenly decide to get adventurous and want to hit the open seas for... some reason. Demon's Gate Invocation? Rescuing Alice? Pfft... The wind is calling me... So, where the hell would we sail to? Maybe a return trip to Dalian? Fengtian? Nah... .jpg) What if we just hosed off 1200+ kilometers to the south and hit up Hong Kong for a vacation to go find out what happened with Wugui of Kowloon when Roger Bacon took off with him? That seems like a swell use of everyone's time! Tune in next time for the most absurdly timed extensive sidequest in Chapter 9: Kowloon Fortress! Sure, why not? I mean we're technically in a new chapter already. So, we may as well do the brief rundown of new entries. .jpg) Very stressful. .jpg) VERY stressful. .jpg) The elite soldier who pursues his prey for... all of twenty minutes, then immediately aborts his mission and returns home in failure at literally the first sign of opposition. Given the mortality rate of NPCs with portraits thus far, this probably makes him one of the smarter guys in this game, really. The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Aug 28, 2018 |
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Aug 26, 2018 18:37
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Makes me wonder if Kutsugi originally had a bigger role in the plot but it just got cut for one reason or another. But boy this side quest will be new for me.
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Aug 26, 2018 18:50
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It is so incredibly easy to miss out on Kowloon Fortress. When I first came across it I was not expecting a difficulty spike.
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Aug 26, 2018 18:52
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Kowloon is my favorite part of the early game, and I really don't understand why they made it so obscure and easily missable.
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Aug 26, 2018 18:54
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Well, Yuri may get seasick again, but I'm glad we're not doing this little excursion to Kowloon in Margarete's airplane.
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Aug 26, 2018 19:07
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I think Kowloon is one of the more memorable sections in the entire game, though I did forget about the silly timing of it. Also "sexy" is a bit of an awkward translation for suteki (which you might recognize from that FFX track "Suteki Da Ne" - "Isn't It Wonderful?"), though in the original she does the Japanese thing of slowly pronouncing each individual syllable of the word for a teasing/seductive effect and picturing someone doing that repeatedly in the situation she's in is especially comical.
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Aug 26, 2018 19:33
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I was worried the game was getting to a Squall/SolidSnake-style electric torture scene with Alice for a moment. Instead I got... well not what I expected. (Guess she'll have to make due with roleplaying experience, instead of battle experience) DeafNote fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Aug 26, 2018 |
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Aug 26, 2018 19:52
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Kowloon? ...Kowloon?
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Aug 26, 2018 20:23
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The Dark Id posted:
It plays in the final dungeon, or so I thought. Pizuz fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Aug 26, 2018 |
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Aug 26, 2018 20:36
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Kuihai Tower has such a good fuckin' theme. OST in this game is golden. Also if we're still arsed about corrections: quote:a reptilian prosthetic army I ripped from a lizard man And I think we're missing a bold for Alice's last reply or maybe I'm blind.
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Aug 26, 2018 21:09
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Ratoslov posted:Kowloon? Kowloon.
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Aug 26, 2018 21:20
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I missed Kowloon my first playthrough. Got it on the second though. I forget entirely what happens there, but I seem to recall it being pretty neat.
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Aug 26, 2018 22:04
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No time like sidequest time.
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Aug 27, 2018 04:48
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This is just weird. You'd think they'd put this sidequest after rescuing Alice or whatever so there's a plausible excuse for it. And it's even money whether 90's bowl cut was meant for more or if we're just conditioned for portrait'd NPCs to be important and not just disappear from the story like their faceless counterparts.
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Aug 27, 2018 05:10
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Shadow Hearts is way more generous with portraits than most games but they usually have some storyline significance even briefly, this guy is just a one and done that could be replaced with any nameless soldier.
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Aug 27, 2018 05:34
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Robindaybird posted:Shadow Hearts is way more generous with portraits than most games but they usually have some storyline significance even briefly, this guy is just a one and done that could be replaced with any nameless soldier. Nah, he needed a portrait because he killed Suketani. A character with a portrait can only be killed by another character with a portrait. That's just elementary game design.
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Aug 27, 2018 07:57
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