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LiefKatano posted:I don't know why I expected anything else from a man named Hojo, to be honest. The FF7 Hojo would've just made the dog and Nicolai breed to see if the demon could be passed on through heredity.
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Jun 3, 2020 19:55
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Yeah, Kato has gotten seriously messed up. This Hojo scientist- I cannot help but think of his relative In another game carrying out similar experiments on genital therapy with that game’s prime villain, hence why said character is a serious douche. And that dog has surely teleported to the Wolf Bout registry office. It will be meeting Blanca soon.
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Jun 3, 2020 19:58
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ultrafilter posted:"scrotums" is the English plural. We aren't Latin speakers here. wastrel, do not dare to presume you know more about testicles than I
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Jun 3, 2020 19:58
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Literally the only good idea Kato has had since the end of the last game was buying that cape, wasn't it.
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Jun 3, 2020 20:55
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Hein and Raiden seem pretty decent as henchmen go, so saving them might not have been that bad an idea. All the other choices are... not great, no.
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Jun 3, 2020 21:17
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Don't most people get drunk with their buddies and mourn like a normal person when their girlfriend dies? I can't remember the last time a friend of mine called and told me he needed help assembling an android clone of his girlfriend because she died in a freak accident
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Jun 3, 2020 21:23
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I had to quit doing that for people after a while I'm not made of cursed demon scrolls over here
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Jun 3, 2020 21:25
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After the second batch of orphans people start asking uncomfortable questions.
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Jun 3, 2020 21:47
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:Don't most people get drunk with their buddies and mourn like a normal person when their girlfriend dies? I can't remember the last time a friend of mine called and told me he needed help assembling an android clone of his girlfriend because she died in a freak accident I forget, were they ever even dating? His actions definitely make more sense as "creep with a one-sided fixation on a coworker" than boyfriend.
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Jun 3, 2020 23:02
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Ratoslov posted:Literally the only good idea Kato has had since the end of the last game was buying that cape, wasn't it. I don’t know if I’d even characterize that as a good idea.
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Jun 3, 2020 23:38
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I dont know posted:"creep with a one-sided fixation on a coworker" It's that.
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Jun 3, 2020 23:46
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I somehow forgot the bit where he slaps Ouka for attempting to save Hsien and Raiden.
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Jun 3, 2020 23:59
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To his credit, he did confess his feelings, it's just that her getting shot and killed like 5 minutes later muddies the waters on that.
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Jun 4, 2020 00:35
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I remember Dehuai had kind of a monopoly on hosed up monsters from the first game with his dick demons, not to mention the China section had all sorts of depravity with Albert playing the part of Hojo here on poor Wugui and Li Li's story was all kinds of weird. No surprise, the Asia section of this one is just as nuts. Frying a poor guy's balls, inhumane experimentation on animals, and all of Kato's dark deeds lately? The comic relief of Garan and a second Harmonixer like Kurando feel like consolation prizes for all that's being set up.
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Jun 4, 2020 01:28
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The second half of this game is basically the devs saying "Yeah, but this one goes to eleven" for every scene.
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Jun 4, 2020 01:30
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Part 2 of this game is just a bunch of men dealing with the fallout of the first game and dealing with the loss of people they loved in the worst loving way possible. We've already got Kato's weird cyborg clone waifu and Kawashima Sr. adopting a child that looks vaguely like his dead child and renaming her the same name since that's a big normal thing to do. Yuri definitely is going to do some hosed up poo poo regarding Alice too.
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Jun 4, 2020 07:00
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The Dark Id posted:Part 2 of this game is just a bunch of men dealing with the fallout of the first game and dealing with the loss of people they loved in the worst loving way possible. We've already got Kato's weird cyborg clone waifu and Kawashima Sr. adopting a child that looks vaguely like his dead child and renaming her the same name since that's a big normal thing to do. Yuri definitely is going to do some hosed up poo poo regarding Alice too. With the major dark wizards vanquished, the cast face the greatest villain of all: grief-induced depression. I know that depression and loss are done to death in RPGs, but this one does it well. Mostly by showing the effects it has on different people instead of having them outright say they’re sad. It also avoids the quick fixes for emotional trauma. Geostomp fucked around with this message at 12:03 on Jun 4, 2020 |
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Jun 4, 2020 11:49
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I have to wonder what, exactly, Kato's plan for the demon dog is. His troops aren't allowed to touch it, so I don't know how he expects them to catch it, and it can teleport, so assuming they get it, what then? I can only assume the reason for no attacking is the evil energy might go away if it's killed and he wants the whole bundle at once. The Dark Id posted:I was there. It was one by a demon like the one inside Nicolai. "done" i'm guessing?
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Jun 4, 2020 23:15
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I must say, hearing Yuri’s dad treating Dehuai with utmost seriousness is weird given we met him possessing a puppy. I can only assume that he was much scarier in the planned third game. Papa Hyuga gave him irreparable brain damage in their final battle, which reduced him to the goofy chump we knew 15 years later.
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Jun 5, 2020 00:28
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well, he's older and has several crippled limbs. his big threat in 1 was summoning outside forces, rather than his own capability. who's to say he wasn't a badass before he got a savage hyuga beatdown?
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Jun 5, 2020 00:34
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He also did successfully kill Yuri's mom and did some pretty good curse work on several villages.
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Jun 5, 2020 01:39
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Keldulas posted:He also did successfully kill Yuri's mom and did some pretty good curse work on several villages. Sending some zombies to kill a housewife isn’t that impressive. He did some decent cursing, but those usually awoke or corrupted preexisting evil and/or restless spirits. I will admit, summoning Seraphic Radiance was so impressive that even Albert was surprised the old coot managed to get this far. Too bad he had no plans ability to control it whatsoever. Granted, Yuri failed spectacularly on that front too, but he wasn’t the guy who called it up.
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Jun 5, 2020 01:47
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There's also the metric to consider really, since what did any of the Covenant villains accomplish, really.
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Jun 5, 2020 03:52
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Keldulas posted:There's also the metric to consider really, since what did any of the Covenant villains accomplish, really. Well Nicolai managed to release all that malice which, uh..... apparently was bad? Maybe?
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Jun 5, 2020 04:03
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Geostomp posted:I must say, hearing Yuri’s dad treating Dehuai with utmost seriousness is weird given we met him possessing a puppy. I can only assume that he was much scarier in the planned third game. Papa Hyuga gave him irreparable brain damage in their final battle, which reduced him to the goofy chump we knew 15 years later. The guy was like blasted in half by the time Yuri and the gang got to him for a Hyuga punchboy round 2. I assume he was an actual real threat Shang Tsung type originally. Like didn't he actually summon Seraphic Radiance the previous time too but Yuri's dad fused with it enough to control it but he had to get put down before he, you know, like nuked the city like Yuri did?
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Jun 5, 2020 14:20
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Nohman posted:The guy was like blasted in half by the time Yuri and the gang got to him for a Hyuga punchboy round 2. I assume he was an actual real threat Shang Tsung type originally. Like didn't he actually summon Seraphic Radiance the previous time too but Yuri's dad fused with it enough to control it but he had to get put down before he, you know, like nuked the city like Yuri did? It was said to be an “earth spirit” by Zhuzen and much, much weaker than Seraphic Radiance. SR is so absurdly powerful in Yuri’s hands that it could clown on a cosmic horror, so being weaker than it is hardly an insult. It was so strong that Yuri’s dad considered it a big enough threat to absorb it and die with to protect the world, so it must have been pretty bad. Everything is relative. Okay, we know Yuri’s dad is the one who managed to put a leash on SR after it took Yuri over even while he was long dead, so if Dehuai was powerful enough to make him worry, he must have been more on the ball before Hyuga Beatdown Round One and Albert reduced him to the chump we knew. I guess old “Ben” just didn’t take the time to do obscure sidequests to gain demons as strong as his son did. Schwartzcough posted:Well Nicolai managed to release all that malice which, uh..... apparently was bad? Maybe? He did inflict Yuri with a soul-eating curse that level drained him down to the very basics. Not sure if that says life about him or if Yuri was just that far off his game after losing Alice. He also bonded with one of the Lords of Hell, but that hasn’t exactly helped him at this point. Geostomp fucked around with this message at 14:55 on Jun 5, 2020 |
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Jun 5, 2020 14:51
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Geostomp posted:He did inflict Yuri with a soul-eating curse that level drained him down to the very basics. Not sure if that says life about him or if Yuri was just that far off his game after losing Alice. Too be fair, Nicolai didn't apply that curse, the relic did. All Nick managed was to get a sneak attack and shank Yuri with a stick, which under most circumstances would've been annoying at worst. It's just that the stick in question houses a soul eating curse.
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Jun 5, 2020 16:30
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Sgt Thud posted:Too be fair, Nicolai didn't apply that curse, the relic did. All Nick managed was to get a sneak attack and shank Yuri with a stick, which under most circumstances would've been annoying at worst. It's just that the stick in question houses a soul eating curse. FalloutFan56 fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Jun 7, 2020 |
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Jun 6, 2020 15:07
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Schwartzcough posted:Well Nicolai managed to release all that malice which, uh..... apparently was bad? Maybe? It's implied to have made WW1 that much more brutal, and may be the cause of some of the later horrors of the 20th century like, e.g., the Nazis. So... pretty bad, yeah.
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Jun 6, 2020 17:04
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Sum Gai posted:It's implied to have made WW1 that much more brutal, and may be the cause of some of the later horrors of the 20th century like, e.g., the Nazis. So... pretty bad, yeah. "Turns out it's man."
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Jun 6, 2020 23:21
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 Episode XCII: New Japan Pro-Wrestling  Music: Rising Sun ~ Japanese Town .jpg)  Slept like a log!So evidentially the gang just got on a train and followed Naniwa Kawashima and his entourage from Yokohama back to his home back in the Imperial Capital of Tokyo. It is only an incredibly modest (for this series) 36 km away from the previous location. That's entirely reasonable for once. Though apparently everyone but Joachim and Anastasia has gone into the city proper rather than Kawashima's estate of Mukyo-An -- where we saw that flashback with Yuri's dad. .jpg) Where is everyone? They all went to hang out in town. Yuri seemed all confused that his father and Naniwa knew each other. They what?! Eh? Didn't you watch the flashback with him and Yuri's dad? It's a Thursday! You know it is leg day in the morning! Nothing will stop that!! Oh. Right. Well, you missed the part where Naniwa Kawashima was Yuri's father's mentor. Hmph. What a strange twist of fate. I could see that weighing on his mind. Karin took him out to take his mind off it. Oh, okay.Joachim stands up. .jpg) People are going to think the circus came to town when they see you. And the people of Japan will MARVEL at my circus of muscles!! .......jpg) .jpg) And so we have our limited party of this next arc of just Joachim and his unlikely companion Anastasia Romanov. There is absolutely nothing more to be done at Mukyo-An. So let's move onto the Imperial Capital district of Nihonbashi. Which is a real district of Tokyo named after the Nihonbashi River and the bridge of the same name. It's south of Akihabara, which is somewhat better known if you're a dweeb. .jpg) Nihonbashi is a new town and naturally has a new batch of NPCs to chat up while we're here. We've never really seen Joachim lumber over to random folk to chat. Let's see how that goes. .jpg) Tokyo to Kyoto is a 454.3 KM distance. So in 1915... yeah, a bit of a trek. .jpg) Does no capital city feature a blue sky at mid-day?! ...I don't understand the question..jpg) Yep... Eight years from now (in our stalled time progression) would be the year of the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake which REALLY hosed up Tokyo and Yokohama to the tune of 105,385-142,800 deaths between the quake itself, fires that broke out, a loving FIRE TORNADO like it was goddamn Day of Crisis and a typhoon rolled in right after causing 10-meter tsunami waves. Oh, and a bunch of racist assholes took advantage afterward to blame and kill several hundred ethnic Koreans right after the fact in a massacre while poo poo was hosed. Isn't learning about history grand? In any event, not a great time coming up... .jpg) .jpg) Just to the north of the street, behind that big pillar near the bridge to the right, we find another of Lucia's Tarot Cards -- The Tower. Predictably, the description is accurate and the Reverse card version is money is halved. The Special Effect version is 4x Cash. While, surprisingly forgivingly, the Reverse Special is only a 75% reduction in Cash and not negating any currency received entirely. But since we're already swimming in a surplus of Cash in the war chest just by playing the game normally, this isn't all that helpful. I enjoy the moxie of the dudes bailing off a cliff on the illustration of The Tower, at least. I think I'd attempt to tank a lightning strike over doing a Lara Croft diving leap straight into the ground but YOLO! .jpg)  It's full of pretty young girls like me. I'm sure you'll like it! I am on a strict dietary regimen, miss!.jpg)  It's some monster, bigger than a tiger or a bear, and it eats humans! Can you believe it?!Oh, Kato. Was your secret illicit government monster experimentation lab located in the middle of a major population center? I know it's a good 80+ years until the Raccoon City Incident, but you should know better. .jpg)  Do you know about the Iron Soldiers? Friends of the people, guardians of the Emperor. They're the best of the best! Indeed I do know of them! My allies and I defeated dozens of them on a boat docked at the port of Yokohama just yesterday! Nonsense! No one can defeat the mighty Iron Soldiers. Tell that to my muscles, intricate wrestling techniques, and the power of friendship! Tch. Foreigners....jpg) Hmm. Training, you say? Now that sounds like Joachim's jam. But who could be this mysterious gentleman Rich Okatsu speaks of...? We'll just have to head to the west direction of this crossroad to find out. .jpg) .jpg) A tale as old as time. .jpg) Much like picking up Lottery Tickets discarded in a completely nondescript part of the sidewalk. Anyway, that sure does look like a certain dad-bod sporting Indian wrestler mentor of our luchador vampire hanging out in that wrestling ring. Let's check out the park. .jpg) The thrill of battle! The clashing of bone and sinew! The smell of sweat and tears! Yeah... not convinced. <shakes head> The recklessness of youth....jpg) <smiles and nods head> Now you get it, young champion. You could teach your friend a thing or two..jpg) .jpg) To the right of the ring, we find another Crest for the pile. Arc Heal seems like it could come in handy against a boss with status effect spamming garbage. Except most bosses that do that in this game will immediately re-cast their status effect infliction if it's negated so hmm... That aside, it does seem like the Magimel Brothers have made their way to Tokyo and set up shop in the park. Ah, the halcyon, lawless days before you had to have permits for anything. .jpg)  We came all the way along the Silk Road! Don't say we've come halfway around the world to be told you're not buying! I am aware you were in the area. We saw you back in Yokohama. Oh... So you did. It is just that Yuri usually handles the purchases with your group. So, are you buying? I am not allowed to have a wallet. Well I am! Let me take a look. Ah! Excellent. Welcome, young miss..jpg) Now that we've reached a new city, new equipment is available for everyone. Unfortunately, our party is only Anastasia and Joachim at the moment. So we'll refrain from upgrading anyone but these two for the moment. As I straight up cannot access the descriptions of weapons for non-present party members' weapons. .jpg) Note: No it doesn't inflict any ice damage. Stop lying Faberge Egg descriptions. What it does do is add +129 Physical and +142 Special Attack Power. .jpg) Greater protection than any armor... at least until we reach the next major area. Anastasia can equip this as can Blanca. And I suppose Gepetto and Lucia too could have it as a hand-me-down later on. This one provides +120 Physical and +125 Special Attack Defense. .jpg) G-H-O-S-T Armor! What innovation! Joachim should definitely acquire and equip this immediately. But Yuri, Karin, and Kurando can also handle a ghost forcefield Kendo Armor as well. .jpg)  This is Tatsuichiro Furui, reporting on today's events. Now over to Hirotoshi Yamakoto for the commentary..jpg) Now, you hate to break up live commentary on a wrestling event by power bombing an opponent into the Spanish Announcer's Table or whatnot. However, if you have Joachim inspect this area, we trigger... Music: Gathering God ~ Thrill .jpg) Hmm. Nice emcee's desk... He doesn't really care what he picks up anymore, does he? <clenches fist> Many a fierce battle this folding desk has witnessed... sometimes even breaking the fall of a thrown wrestler... And then one day during a free-for-all, forgotten and left behind by the commentators and audience alike... I wonder if he's going to cry again?Joachim hoists the announcer's table over his shoulder. The commentators are speechless. .jpg) .jpg) Bill Yamagata is a hard counter to an E. Honda player. But beyond that, the Emcee's Desk grants +145 Physical and +126 Special Attack to Joachim. Funny, you'd think a building structural pillar would be more powerful than something John Cena could easily be smashed through. But here we are. .jpg) I think he's remembering something! Something in his past! Well, let's go, everybody. Say, I know! Instead of using the top as a bludgeon, I should chop the enemy with it! Yeah, good idea... Everybody...? I'm the only one with you. The versatility is astonishing!Joachim wanders off with the table. .jpg) The world may never know the imaginationscape that is bubbling in Joachim's head. .jpg) Let's get that Emcee's Desk equipped alongside Joachim's new armor and go chat with Great Gama. The only prep we need for the third match-up with Joachim's master is making sure he has access to the Shield spell. Music: Grand Papillon!! ~ Pro Wrestler .jpg)  Yo! Joachim, my boy! The path of spirited young men knows no borders! How about it? Ready to give me a little of your sweat?.jpg) What could be better? Men rubbing flesh, slamming bodies together here under the open sky! Wouldn't you agree, my boy?  I might not be old enough to be hearing this conversation... <clenches fist> Of course! Thatta boy! Why don't you show me a little of your sweat, then! You got it! You should know I am always sweating master! As a man should be! ...... Here we go, then! Graaahhh! <enters fighting stance> Here I come! Graaahhh!.jpg) Hee hee! Keep your eyes open! Today I'll be hitting you with an even deadlier attack in the fifth turn! Graaahhh!!.jpg) Music: Vicious 1915 ~ Battle in Europe .jpg) Time to take on the Great Gama Round 3. He's climbed to only 880 HP since our last bout so... like barely any stronger, honestly. To make this match a cakewalk, all we need to do is cast Shield and then Rage on Joachim's second turn.  Great Gama's new ability is Artem Buster -- an impressive athletic display. Especially the part where he manifests a pillar to stand on in the middle of the ring and produces a cape only to cast off a second latter as a spectral audience cheers in excitement. With Shield deployed on Joachim, it only does in the ballpark of 45-50 HP of damage at most. But he will spam the attack every round until the fifth turn, as he said he would. .jpg) So when Gama's fifth turn is heading up, we need to have Joachim defend for a round as Gama will switch from Artem Buster to using Fifth Key to do a 26 hit physical combo. But, between having a Shield up and blocking the attack, as you can see it barely accomplishes more than Joachim eating the Artem Buster on the chin. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Beyond that, just spamming Joachim's Muscle Arts in turn is more than enough to defeat the Great Gama with little issue. Music: Grand Papillon!! ~ Pro Wrestler .jpg) Whenever you want to test your skills, come back to me, my boy. The open-air ring will always be waiting for you! Phew! I'm wiped out...!.jpg) And thus Joachim learns a new Muscle Art and his power grows. .jpg) The legendary festival is many, many moons away in the Shadow Hearts: Covenant endgame. What festival, you ask? Why... The Man Festival. Let the ominous nature of that phrase sink into your muscles and don't you dare skip leg day as Shadow Hearts: Covenant continues.    Video: ARTEM BUSTER!! (You should watch this.)   Mukyo-An Concept Art - Yeah, I'd definitely chill, drink sake and wear a nerd hat here.  Nihonbashi Concept Art - That's a bridge alright. The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Jun 13, 2020 |
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Jun 12, 2020 23:01
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Oh no, they mentioned the Man Festival. 
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Jun 12, 2020 23:11
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You know, I should have expected a WWE-esque announcer's table. I wasn't expecting that they'd go "yeah it's a flimsy piece of poo poo, but it's a LEGENDARY flimsy piece of poo poo" to justify it as an upgrade over a structural element holding up a house.
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Jun 12, 2020 23:52
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Really it's just confirmation that Joachim's speeches are for more important than we might have previously believed: the power of narrative, not the material, fuels his mighty bludgeons. *goes back to cackling in anticipation of THE MAN FESTIVAL*
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Jun 13, 2020 00:00
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I am a bit disappointed Joachim didn’t have a special wrestler opponent for each town in the game. Might have been interesting to see him go up against a sumo or a luchador instead of just Gama over and over. Oh well. I know all about the Man Festival and am looking very forward to Id depicting it. 
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Jun 13, 2020 00:10
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I like how the mics and the nameplates are glued to the desk.
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Jun 13, 2020 00:57
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I don't think that I'll ever forget the Man Festival, no matter how hard I try.The Dark Id posted:
Missing italics here.
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Jun 13, 2020 02:07
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Being reminded of... The Man Festival... makes me anticipate it more. Id's coverage of it will be amazing.
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Jun 13, 2020 02:44
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Id posted:I am on a strict dietary regiment, miss! Hyped for the Man Festival!
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Jun 13, 2020 02:49
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CmdrKing posted:Really it's just confirmation that Joachim's speeches are for more important than we might have previously believed: the power of narrative, not the material, fuels his mighty bludgeons. I choose to believe that Joachim channels his vampire powers through whatever he holds. Whatever he believes is stronger will become stronger. A cheap table could crack mountains as long as it’s held by our wrestling idiot. I also love that the emcees are just so stunned by the whole thing that they don’t even object to having their table stolen right in front of them by some huge weirdo.
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Jun 13, 2020 03:30
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