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Last Celebration posted:Man, I guess there’s a lot of questions that could still be answered, but my number one thing is “why is Blueblanc an Enforcer?” Most of the other guys really just loving love fighting poo poo and/or violence and carnage, but he’s just there vibing and doing over the top heists that earn him international infamy. Maybe he’s a true believer in the cause? Maybe Ouroboros gave him his magic? Hell, is he actually Literally Just Magic, because I guess that gels with the setting? Who knows! If you talk to some npcs in CS4 they talk about some trauma to his Aleister persona that had him disappear for a while: "Now that you mention it, I wonder what Aleister is doing. This is the first time he's gone into a creative slump since the incident, isn't it?" "Ah, you mean back when Aleister was in love with a young lady from a different class? When she tragically perished in an unforeseen accident, he lost his spark for a while. His talent is one for the history books. It'd be a shame if he let his artistic sensibilities languish." This is probably the "darkness" every Enforcer must have.
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Aug 7, 2023 14:23
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He seems to have an as of yet unidentified source of magic that is closest to the Witches. Bleublanc might not be the most scary in a straight up fight, but his power is absurd. Also, (CS4 spoilers)Given that he pins an Aion with his Shadow Weaving, I think we can say that, no, Rean's Ogre power would not have been enough to break free. That's actually kinda nuts He probably just likes seeing the truth of the world. And he's definitely still a "loves carnage and violence" type. His speech in Nord is pretty unhinged. Veryslightlymad fucked around with this message at 14:50 on Aug 7, 2023 |
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Aug 7, 2023 14:45
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IceBorg posted:If you talk to some npcs in CS4 they talk about some trauma to his Aleister persona that had him disappear for a while: This corroborates what is behind his star door in Sky 3rd https://kiseki.fandom.com/wiki/Memory_Doors/Phantom_Thief_B_Report
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Aug 7, 2023 15:04
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Veryslightlymad posted:
Yeah, this. While he does steal treasure and the like, he also loves to steal conceptual ideas like stealing the 'hope' from the party or stealing Nord's natural beauty by having the war break out in it
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Aug 7, 2023 15:11
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lmao i'm in ch4 of Cold Steel 3 and i have only one Vantage Masters card to get before i can challenge Kurt's mom... but that card belongs to Maya and the challenge prompt is bugged out. Read a FAQ that said i can still challenge her but i have to keep pressing the button in the hope of it activating randomly. been at it for an hour now... 
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Aug 7, 2023 19:29
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Well, I finished the main story. It sounds like there's more to the plot if I continue in the Corridor, but as it stands, it's probably my least favorite Trails game. Thought the whole Elysium thing was dumb, but handled well enough. Christ that was an awful final boss though. It needed like, at least one less phase and to scrap the three unwinnable fights between Phase 1 and 2. All in all I think the bits that expanded on CS4 were broadly pretty good, the bits that rehashed Azure for the third time were mostly pretty awful, and I could take or leave most of Rufus's route. If I cared enough to read through the books and really dig into the backstory, I would probably like Swin and Nadia more, but as-is they're just Renne again. Lapis was good, and her interactions with Rufus were fantastic, especially the one where she's telling the whole story about him saving her and he's like nah I just put a tracker on her. I'll probably come back and finish up the postgame stuff once we get closer to Kuro but for now I need a break.
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Aug 8, 2023 00:32
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So I got spoiled on C's identity because of fanart online, but it's easy to find clues that he's Rufus. Even with the voice filter I can make out the dialect and verbal tics of DC Douglas, and even his crafts have similarities. His first one has the multiple jabs that Jusis does in his craft, his second one is a variation of his 'normal' Rufus S-Craft where he creates a magic sphere and slashes at it for massive damage, and his third one is the exact same 'power up a magic sword and do three slashes, then get the brandish buff' effect Rufus has; up to having nearly the same animations to boot! Now I have no idea why he's C but also Supreme Leader of Crossbell at the same time, but it's cool that the clues are all there before the reveal
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Aug 8, 2023 04:46
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If there's one thing Trails consistently doesn't care about It's secret identities lol. All the good ones are end of first game reveals. The rest just get dropped unceremoniously.
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Aug 8, 2023 05:11
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SgtSteel91 posted:So I got spoiled on C's identity because of fanart online, but it's easy to find clues that he's Rufus. Even with the voice filter I can make out the dialect and verbal tics of DC Douglas, and even his crafts have similarities. His first one has the multiple jabs that Jusis does in his craft, his second one is a variation of his 'normal' Rufus S-Craft where he creates a magic sphere and slashes at it for massive damage, and his third one is the exact same 'power up a magic sword and do three slashes, then get the brandish buff' effect Rufus has; up to having nearly the same animations to boot! Now I have no idea why he's C but also Supreme Leader of Crossbell at the same time, but it's cool that the clues are all there before the reveal Same, but honestly just looking at his combat idle pose you can probably figure it out. It's literally the exact same pose that he always does, but with his left arm up. It's incredibly unsubtle.
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Aug 8, 2023 06:09
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Zero: I’m sure this small child I found in a suitcase that was supposed to contain a doll from a famous crafter with ties to Ouroboros, with no memories whatsoever, is completely normal and not, you know, some kind of artificial child with weird powers who doesn’t have memories because she’s been sealed/offline until fairly recently. I guess I’ve been spoiled on some things but the game isn’t being subtle, in a way that makes the protagonists feel kinda dense since, like, we JUST did a whole thing with Renne where she mentions going to Rosenberg to fix her archaism, so we know Rosenberg isn’t on the up and up. And, of course, I could be completely off-base with my assumptions! Also, I do like that Cold Steel onward decided to make bosses consistently engaging, but i still slightly miss how Sky/Crossbell tend to show you you’re outclassed by just having a guy hit like five times as hard as everything you’ve fought before and can randomly Faint your guys or that inflicts Deathblow on attack.
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Aug 8, 2023 06:23
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Last Celebration posted:Also, I do like that Cold Steel onward decided to make bosses consistently engaging, but i still slightly miss how Sky/Crossbell tend to show you you’re outclassed by just having a guy hit like five times as hard as everything you’ve fought before and can randomly Faint your guys or that inflicts Deathblow on attack. you might just nova the boss down before they get a turn, so we have to have stop-holding-back cutscenes just in case
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Aug 8, 2023 12:26
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Saddest part in the Cold Steel series is when (CS4)Rean summons Valimar and he just silently activates and doesn't go "Ou!" 10x sadder than Millium IMO. This game is actually very good as long as you can make yourself ignore the dumb stuff. It's neat how despite having a massive set of possible party members, they'll still comment during quests and stuff. Is it dumb that Rean and friends are spending time to help fix a distiller for a wine producer while the clock is ticking on a world-ending war beginning? Yeah, it's pretty dumb. But as long as you mentally treat it as existing in some weird semi-canon space (sort of like most of the side content in Xenoblade 2 and 3, which also makes no sense given the timeline of those games) it can still be enjoyable.
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Aug 8, 2023 18:54
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I think I officially ran out of fucks to give as far as “drat, there’s pressing plot stuff to do but I have some banal side quest poo poo to do” around the point where on my goal to take my new foster daughter around to fix her amnesia I was allowed to go into the sewers to kill a giant insect while she cheered me on for stat buffs.
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Aug 9, 2023 07:59
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Last Celebration posted:take my new foster daughter around to fix her amnesia If I had a nickel for every time...
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Aug 9, 2023 08:14
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The Machias support in CS4 is kind of silly, though mainly in the sense that it encapsulates how goofy the series' presentation of the nobles/commoners conflict is. The story seems to settle on the conclusion that it's actually fine and good for nobles to exist, as long as they're nice. There's nothing really said about the fact that it's inherently wrong to have a hereditary upper class. In the support, Machias talks down his dead cousin's ex-boyfriend/fiance from seizing a boat from nobles and is like "we should work within the system and do things by the book." Opposing seizing the boat is fine (since it's being seized to be used in the war), but Machias also makes a point of it being inherently wrong to take the nobles' property. Also - what system?! Your government is the one trying to start a massive war! What institutions and laws are you even appealing to?! I actually did appreciate the resolution to Machias's situation, though. I think I also figured out the main specific thing that weirds me out about Rean's romantic situation - the way most of his love interests are aware of all the other girls also liking Rean. I think I would have preferred it if it were the sort of thing where each romance exists in its own separate "space," but instead they just make it explicit that yes - this large group of women are all in love with Rean, and they're aware that all their friends feel the same way. And Rean's (lack of) response in some of these scenes is downright bizarre. Particularly the Laura one. At least have the decency to respond! Poor girl makes her move, and Rean basically responds with "thank you."
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Aug 9, 2023 11:35
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It would be super cool if all the bonding stuff was just “you’re my very best friend/found family” since, amount other reasons, it lets there be NPCs who are actually allowed to have romantic pairings outside of the MC. Give Let Elie and Maribelle smooch, Falcom. and all joking aside it would be legitimately neat to have them both think of each other as more than just friends even if they aren’t dating considering future plot stuff.
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Aug 9, 2023 12:31
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Ytlaya posted:The Machias support in CS4 is kind of silly, though mainly in the sense that it encapsulates how goofy the series' presentation of the nobles/commoners conflict is. The story seems to settle on the conclusion that it's actually fine and good for nobles to exist, as long as they're nice. There's nothing really said about the fact that it's inherently wrong to have a hereditary upper class. The writers don't really seem to want to commit to anything much, other than the idea that teamwork and friendship always saves the day. That's one reason why they made a big deal about "a third way" between the Noble and Reformist factions in the first two games, even though that ultimately was just "we choose the Reformists, but we are uneasy about Osborne." It's why the game isn't going to explicitly have the main characters state that nobles should not exist (that would, in fairness be awkward as many party members and allies are nobles including the protagonist). That extends to the love interests angle as well, where even though Falcom has a preference, it still lets the player choose. Rean only has a clear response to the one the writers prefer, and everyone else gets the awkward response.
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Aug 9, 2023 13:10
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For most of them they also say “you don’t need to give me your answer now, Rean.” And during the Eventide chapter when Rean makes his choice he’ll call the other girls to let them down gently.Ytlaya posted:Particularly the Laura one. At least have the decency to respond! Poor girl makes her move, and Rean basically responds with "thank you." This one grates me as someone who’s been on the Rean/Laura ship since the beginning, because it’s the perfect scene for those two as a couple who’ve been together since CS1. SgtSteel91 fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Aug 9, 2023 |
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Aug 9, 2023 17:32
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Last Celebration posted:I think I officially ran out of fucks to give as far as “drat, there’s pressing plot stuff to do but I have some banal side quest poo poo to do” around the point where on my goal to take my new foster daughter around to fix her amnesia I was allowed to go into the sewers to kill a giant insect while she cheered me on for stat buffs. I’m going to make my rounds and talk to a bunch of people anyway. I’m gonna be in the sewer, so why not? I need to know what trainiac guy thinks of the newer models he’s seen drive by.
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Aug 9, 2023 18:04
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Legitimately, one of the better things about this series is Becky and Pablo being inexplicably Scottish
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Aug 9, 2023 18:05
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yasss
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Aug 9, 2023 18:31
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Isn't Becky from Celdic, in the region Jusis's family rules over? Because Inexplicably Scottish Jusis and Rufus would be even more amazing.
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Aug 9, 2023 19:51
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she lived in Celdic up until graduation, but no word on whether she was actually born in the place e: bairn Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Aug 9, 2023 |
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Aug 9, 2023 19:55
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:The writers don't really seem to want to commit to anything much, other than the idea that teamwork and friendship always saves the day. That's one reason why they made a big deal about "a third way" between the Noble and Reformist factions in the first two games, even though that ultimately was just "we choose the Reformists, but we are uneasy about Osborne." It's why the game isn't going to explicitly have the main characters state that nobles should not exist (that would, in fairness be awkward as many party members and allies are nobles including the protagonist). I mean, you can remove the status of nobility without actually getting rid of the people themselves. A pretty simple change that shouldn't be controversial would be removing the ability of nobles to have their own standing armies (maybe this happens and I forgot), and ideally also removing their regional political power (which I believe they still have in their respective regions). I don't expect the series to straight-up seize all their assets (though it is annoying that they explicitly said it's bad to do this in the Machias bond event). If you really want to avoid upsetting the status quo too much, you could even have people like Jusis or Hyarms remain in their positions through popular support even after losing his inherent authority as a noble. Last Celebration posted:It would be super cool if all the bonding stuff was just “you’re my very best friend/found family” since, amount other reasons, it lets there be NPCs who are actually allowed to have romantic pairings outside of the MC. Give Let Elie and Maribelle smooch, Falcom. IMO they should just straight-up ask you at the beginning of the game "who do you want to have a romance with the protagonist?" and give all the characters not selected a friendship/found family thing. If someone selects all the characters they can still have their harem, but it would at least let people have a less bizarre outcome if they desire it. Or go the Persona route, though the main issue with that is that it usually relies on not making any sort of romantic interest explicit until the very end of the s-link.
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Aug 9, 2023 20:37
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So after months of waiting and a couple of emails to Nisa’s store support email, my limited edition of Reverie and Rean plushie is finally being shipped. But I think I ended up paying for these two things twice? When I originally made the pre-order it was in Nisa’s old store page, and I have invoices from it. But when I went to the new page to confirm the order, it asked me for my credit card again. Did anyone else go through something similar? Did I actually pay for these things twice now?
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Aug 10, 2023 00:07
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SgtSteel91 posted:So after months of waiting and a couple of emails to Nisa’s store support email, my limited edition of Reverie and Rean plushie is finally being shipped. But I think I ended up paying for these two things twice? When I originally made the pre-order it was in Nisa’s old store page, and I have invoices from it. But when I went to the new page to confirm the order, it asked me for my credit card again. Did anyone else go through something similar? Did I actually pay for these things twice now? Most preorders sites dont charge you till the product ships. Nisa was one of them, they just did a check to make sure your account was real since cancelling and putting stuff back in stock is a pain. They have now changed to a charge you now system. Re: Scottish I am playing Dragon Quest 4 right now when I cant be at home to play Reverie. I love DQisms. Trails absolutely needs to assault my mind with all the regional dialects. Also the most recent discussion about Nobility is kinda confusing? Trails has never really said nobility bad, at most assholes who also happen to be nobility bad. It's actually an interesting parallel to our world. The concept of nobility was wiped out by them failing to keep up with the rising technological trends, so the merchant class who were used to changing trends essentially replaced them. Trails compressed that timeline so much, that they didnt have time to fail, so nobility continued to exist alongside higher standard of living created by said technology. It's a pretty fun case study by itself, even if it is a bit idealistic like everything in Trails.
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Aug 10, 2023 01:54
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Also some of the Nobility are Goku levels of crazy strong Imagine if Prince Harry could split a boulder in two with a sword; maybe the British Monarchy would be cool enough to justify sticking around
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Aug 10, 2023 02:29
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SgtSteel91 posted:Also some of the Nobility are Goku levels of crazy strong When your kingdom is 14 people in the middle of the Taiga you all need a hobby.
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Aug 10, 2023 02:34
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just wrapped up Cold Steel 3. lmao
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Aug 10, 2023 18:14
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psychoJ posted:just wrapped up Cold Steel 3. lmao Now imagine waiting years for the follow-up, lol
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Aug 10, 2023 19:16
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Reverie - Coda. I was told in-game that "The Seventh Stratum is the last." And I finished it. The shadow recreation of the non-playable character was really nasty. But okay, I beat it... and then the "0th stratum" has opened up. Is that really the final stratum this time, or is there another one after that? Because just like the Reverie Corridor from CS 2, I'm feeling fatigued. But apparently the actual final boss is going to require me to form a bunch of teams so I can't just ram through with my standard high-level squad.
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Aug 10, 2023 19:44
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:Reverie - Coda. 0th is actual factual the final stratum. The option to add +50 to monster levels is super helpful for raising up your auxiliary teams, just remember to turn it off before the boss. Your two other teams also don't have to be as strong as your main team, their phases are easier.
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Aug 10, 2023 19:50
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psychoJ posted:just wrapped up Cold Steel 3. lmao Some of the latter games reuse that sound effect, but it never quite has that impact.
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Aug 10, 2023 20:06
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I have a potentially dumb question that was probably answered at the end of CS4, but I definitely forgot: CS4/Reverie spoilers The Rivalries were supposed to end with all the Awakeners and Divine Knights absorbed by the winner, so why did Rufus manage to get out alive?
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Aug 10, 2023 21:03
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Some Numbers posted:I have a potentially dumb question that was probably answered at the end of CS4, but I definitely forgot: CS4/Reverie spoilers The Rivalries were supposed to end with all the Awakeners and Divine Knights absorbed by the winner, so why did Rufus manage to get out alive? I could be mistaken but I think it was only the Awakeners who were brought back to life who were supposed to go away, the ones who were normal living people got off just by losing.
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Aug 10, 2023 21:05
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So did we actively kill Osborne or was he absorbed by Ishmelga or something?
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Aug 10, 2023 21:07
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Some Numbers posted:I have a potentially dumb question that was probably answered at the end of CS4, but I definitely forgot: CS4/Reverie spoilers The Rivalries were supposed to end with all the Awakeners and Divine Knights absorbed by the winner, so why did Rufus manage to get out alive? Only people kept alive after death will disappear without their knights - hence why Cedric also lives. Crow died in CS2, Rutger years ago and Sandlot centuries ago, so they were only alive by the power of the rivalries.
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Aug 10, 2023 21:08
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Some Numbers posted:So did we actively kill Osborne or was he absorbed by Ishmelga or something? He technically died in Rean's place a decade ago. Ishmelga was keeping his body alive as a host.
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Aug 10, 2023 21:09
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Yeah everyone who died during the Rivalries was already dead and being sustained by Divine Knight connection. The winner only absorbed the Knights, basically severing the connection from there (and obviously when they vanished).
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Aug 10, 2023 21:51
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just started Cold Steel 4 last night. i am a big fan of how the hub village is basically just The Shire from LotR, complete with a shop that's literally called Gandolf lol also like. feel free to answer vaguely but is the "curse" just full-throated nationalism. because lol if so psychoJ fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Aug 11, 2023 |
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Aug 11, 2023 18:39
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