|
Stabbey_the_Clown posted:I dunno, maybe you could try paying attention to the scene to figure out why that didn't happen, instead of assuming that the characters must be idiots or the developers made a mistake. It is the official stated position of all three people directly involved in this LP that we no longer give a poo poo about what is happening in the actual textual goings on in the game, it has blown through too many chances and long since overstayed its welcome. I don't begrudge anyone in the thread doing the same at this point. Going "pay attention, you just don't GET IT" is not helping matters. It's just a game, calm down. e: Welcome to Page 20, folks! 
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2022 20:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 7, 2024 16:09 |
|
|
That falling scene looked more like they put her on an invisible surface and then just zoomed out after a point.
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2022 21:39
|
|
|
I kinda laughed at how he didn't just jump after her; he did his dash attack. Cue the outtake where it connects. Oops.
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2022 22:40
|
|
|
AradoBalanga posted:You know, I have to wonder if the dev team forgot that Kou's long range attack is a chain-whip sword for a hot minute. Because otherwise, all Kou had to do was throw out the whip sword and catch Shiori. But alas, that would have been the smart idea. Kou has read Spider-Man
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2022 22:53
|
|
|
Hwurmp posted:Kou has read Spider-Man One benefit of Shiori already being dead is there's no real risk in Gwen Stacey'ing her 
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2022 00:14
|
|
|
she's also a web-head
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2022 00:27
|
|
|
This is the climax of the game, and Kou's character arc. Kou's goal for the chapter has been to try and get Shiori back. It seems pretty likely that the point of the leap is to show that (regardless of how the player feels) Kou cares enough about Shiori that regardless of the cost, he’s willing to take that leap into the unknown without any hesitation to try and save her. Kou trying to lasso her from the platform - even if it was possible - would have conveyed the idea of Kou prioritizing saving his own life. Sometimes things are done for the sake of the story you're trying to tell, and what the character would do. Cyouni posted:I really want to know why you're so averse to using X-Strike against groups of enemies. You've probably recharged something like 10 gauges worth by the last fight, and you just keep it at max the whole time. The final level encounter drops down to basically just the robot instantly if you do. If you look at the gauge after just the robot, it's already half full again. The first time I played, I also was quite conservative with the gauges. On my second playthrough, I used them a lot more. They recover a lot faster than people might expect, and some items and cooked foods can recover gauges as well. nine-gear crow posted:It is the official stated position of all three people directly involved in this LP that we no longer give a poo poo about what is happening in the actual textual goings on in the game, it has blown through too many chances and long since overstayed its welcome. I don't begrudge anyone in the thread doing the same at this point. Going "pay attention, you just don't GET IT" is not helping matters. Okay, the commentators have long since stopped caring. Does that make it wrong for anyone else reading to post alternate opinions or give context to things which are not in line with the judgement of the commentators? EDIT: It might surprise people, but I actually agree with a lot of Artix's criticisms of the game just below. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 21:43 on Mar 17, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2022 16:13
|
|
|
Okay, calm down kids, we need to back up for a second here. I wouldn't go so far as to say that we "stopped giving a poo poo about the actual text of the game" (only able to speak for myself, I have not...for at least one more video, anyway), but it is inarguable that the minute-to-minute fiction of the game is at best tedious and repetitive, and at worst hacky and cliche'd. I do not blame anyone who has been imagining a better written or more tightly edited version of the plot in their head, nor do I blame them for occasionally getting wires crossed between our meta-fiction and the actual plot of the game. I'll admit that this is undoubtedly related to a biased presentation on some level, but I would be very surprised if people really bought into the Kou-Shiori relationship as much as the game wants you to, she really is one of the least interesting characters right up until suddenly she's the most important one of all. Also, never using items or X-Drive is a terrible habit of mine. There is no reason not to use them, but old RPG habits die hard. Frankly, the game (at least on the standard difficulty) just isn't hard enough to worry about having to use those items. Making use of the Slot 3 as a healing station is enough to get by in most situations, provided you don't let anyone actually die.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2022 20:10
|
|
|
 Part 91: All is a Lie And so, we come to the end of Tokyo Xanadu. For all its stumbles along the way, the game absolutely nails the ending and it's a great point to end the LP on. ...Or at least, I would really, really like to tell you that. Unfortunately, we have both the postgame and the eX+ After Story still to go and they are...well, you can probably guess where we're going, and it's not gonna be pretty. We'll be taking next week off while I get the Epilogue videos edited, Part 92 will drop on Monday the 28th.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2022 19:28
|
|
|
After how much this game continually fumbles and drops the ball all over the goddamn place, that ending was actually pulled off amazingly well. I can see no way this level of quality can be kept up and really expect the worst from the postgame.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2022 20:18
|
|
|
Geemer posted:After how much this game continually fumbles and drops the ball all over the goddamn place, that ending was actually pulled off amazingly well. If the ending of Tokyo Xanadu was a velvet rug on an otherwise sparse and patchy linoleum floor, the post game is basically some guy coming along, sitting down on it completely bare assed and taking a nice, big gooey poo poo all over it and then proceeding to scooch along every inch of it with his filthy post-poo poo rear end to make sure it was just completely coated before getting up and walking away and then farting for good measure as he goes. So, uh, it's not great. Maybe the eX+ content makes up for it in some way, but I'm not holding my breath.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2022 20:40
|
|
|
you guys talk about making GBS threads & pissing kind of a lot
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2022 22:40
|
|
|
Hwurmp posted:you guys talk about making GBS threads & pissing kind of a lot yeah everyone can relate to it it's great
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2022 04:17
|
|
|
Well, I'll be honest, that was a solid ending. Not perfect, but still able to feel satisfying in the end, and sometimes, that's all that one has to do to wrap up a story. Having the credits song be called "All is a Lie" is a fitting if not bittersweet touch as well. I'm hoping the dreaded EX+ content at least reveals Towa's quick-change powers, because I want to know how she swapped from her shrine maiden outfit to her teacher's outfit in between the opening assault on the final dungeon and Shiori's farewell.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2022 02:06
|
|
|
To clarify, the upcoming content until the next 'final boss' is still in the Vita version. The stuff after that is new to eX+.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2022 02:20
|
|
|
Yeah, Artix hasn't even recorded anything from eX+ yet and is going into it largely blind, I believe, so we kind of have no frickin' idea of what's coming next. Videos 92 to 97 simply cover the True Ending to the base game.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2022 02:38
|
|
|
nine-gear crow posted:Yeah, Artix hasn't even recorded anything from eX+ yet and is going into it largely blind, I believe, so we kind of have no frickin' idea of what's coming next. Videos 92 to 97 simply cover the True Ending to the base game.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2022 02:44
|
|
|
I like that the game's reason for the uptick in Eclipse activity is basically "oops, Twilight Shiori accidentally photobombed some tourist's Twitter photo of Acros Tower and somebody saw a supposedly dead girl walking around, now reality's falling apart at the seams".  E: Also, the photos altering themselves in the flashbacks seem to imply that there was a period of time when Shiori was just dead and there wasn't Shiori, Goddess of the End wandering around wearing her face? Or is that just me putting more thought into the game's use of visual imagery than the developers did? Commander Keene fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Mar 20, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2022 02:53
|
|
|
So I do want to note that eX+ content is both significantly harder than base game and actually goes some interesting places with the True Ending content. Also, it introduces a new gameplay character, which is... certainly a thing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2022 08:01
|
|
|
Cyouni posted:So I do want to note that eX+ content is both significantly harder than base game and actually goes some interesting places with the True Ending content. Also, it introduces a new gameplay character, which is... certainly a thing. No one get their hopes up, it's not Towa.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2022 08:26
|
|
|
I always knew the Acros Tower mascot would have its time to shine. Heroics in the eclipse and great deals, what's not to like???
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2022 12:44
|
|
|
I can't believe they put in a genre shift and have you play Ace Combat missions as Mikuriya!
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2022 12:55
|
|
|
Artix posted:Okay, calm down kids, we need to back up for a second here. I wouldn't go so far as to say that we "stopped giving a poo poo about the actual text of the game" (only able to speak for myself, I have not...for at least one more video, anyway), but it is inarguable that the minute-to-minute fiction of the game is at best tedious and repetitive, and at worst hacky and cliche'd. I do not blame anyone who has been imagining a better written or more tightly edited version of the plot in their head, nor do I blame them for occasionally getting wires crossed between our meta-fiction and the actual plot of the game. I'll admit that this is undoubtedly related to a biased presentation on some level, but I would be very surprised if people really bought into the Kou-Shiori relationship as much as the game wants you to, she really is one of the least interesting characters right up until suddenly she's the most important one of all. I actually agree with a lot of this. Despite what it might seem like, I've got my own share of criticism for the game. I just don't find "the developers are lazy or stupid" to be a useful criticism. I have never watched even one episode of an anime, and my initial reaction to the first bits of worldbuilding from at the end of Chapter 1 was that the premise felt really generic. Given that Ryouta, upon hearing the premise, says in-game "this sounds like something out of a D-rated anime", the writers clearly seemed self-aware of that. Falcom does often take very common and familiar tropes to build the frame for a painting, but then paints depth onto the canvas. Even though making the premise generic was on purpose, if even I could tell it was generic, they probably overshot the mark too far... which is not uncommon, sadly. It was not the premise which made me like the game, I like the game for how Falcom used those familiar tropes to hide some clever twists inside. I like how they set up expectations to lull players into a certain mindset so they can pull off a twist. I also didn't find Shiori to be very interesting on my first playthrough (and thus was not able to see her final chapter event), she seemed rather bland and focused on Kou to a level which was too unrealistic. She likes reading books, but she didn't seem to have a whole lot of interests outside of Kou. That actually makes perfect sense in retrospect, though, since the deal seven-year-old Shiori made with the Twilight Apostle was to continue living so seven-year-old Kou wouldn't build his personality around blaming himself for Shiori's death (that part worked at least). When the Princess of Doom called it a "hollow existence", she was not wrong. However, it making sense in retrospect does not also retroactively make Shiori more interesting, which absolutely is a flaw. We don't really get to see a self-actualized Shiori in the main game. Similarly, Kou being disconnected from the world and having few interests also makes sense because he's had a feeling of something not being right since Shiori's death. He wasn't able to put it into words, but it shaped his personality into something which was very bland and dull. The explanation exists, but it doesn't erase Kou feeling like a very bland character most of the time. I also rarely used items before learning of the One Neat Trick for neutralizing damaging floors, which is to eat foods which have "neutralize trap damage" in the description. The effect lasts for a solid amount of time. Items can also cure some status ailments, but I ignored that since I got accessories which have "Prevent All Ailments" from the arcade, or the better versions later from the pawn shop. In terms of game balance, it's probably too easy to get those. nine-gear crow posted:Maybe the eX+ content makes up for it in some way, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll say this. I like the Normal Ending. I did not like the True Ending. The After Story ending did, at least to me, somewhat redeem the True Ending (even if not entirely). All LP long, you've been talking about missed opportunities and threads that the developers could have picked up but didn't, or things they seemingly didn't think of. The developers thought of something, and picked up a thread. Commander Keene posted:I like that the game's reason for the uptick in Eclipse activity is basically "oops, Twilight Shiori accidentally photobombed some tourist's Twitter photo of Acros Tower and somebody saw a supposedly dead girl walking around, now reality's falling apart at the seams". The photos altering themselves is to reflect that if the Twilight apostle hadn't altered fate and fused with Shiori, she wouldn't have been around to be in those photos. The confusing part is that there was an optional scene which the LP missed just before the final dungeon of the main game, where Kou goes to his house and looks through his photos of Shiori, and she's missing from all of them, then goes outside and Shiori's parents are out there somewhat frantic and confused because all their photos of just Shiori are missing. That is the part which doesn't really make much sense because this is inside the bubble, and everyone there believes that Shiori still exists. I do get that it is there for foreshadowing and it's not like they could get that info another way at that point since there's no way to communicate outside the bubble. (And getting that information before the reveal would have spoiled the twist.) They can't communicate outside the bubble because they're inside the pocket dimension of "The Box" and no time is passing in the real world outside relative to the Box.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2022 13:38
|
|
|
So as mentioned, no updates this week...sort of. See I went to record the After Story and immediately realized we were going to have to do a vote, which is a little unfortunate because said vote is going to accidentally spoil the true ending. This is not to say that the true ending is hard to guess or that they're necessarily big spoilers (the *how* is significantly more interesting than the *what*), but they are spoilers all the same. The link to the vote (and a brief explanation as to how the after story will work) is here.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2022 04:05
|
|
|
Artix posted:So as mentioned, no updates this week...sort of. See I went to record the After Story and immediately realized we were going to have to do a vote, which is a little unfortunate because said vote is going to accidentally spoil the true ending. This is not to say that the true ending is hard to guess or that they're necessarily big spoilers (the *how* is significantly more interesting than the *what*), but they are spoilers all the same. Something which is relevant to the ending, but might not be well known is that if you see (same spoiler as Artix mentioned) both the ending for Asuka and Saiori, that unlocks an additional ending where BOTH accompany Kou at the same time. The dialogue from there is notably different than that of other choices.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2022 06:21
|
|
|
Artix posted:So as mentioned, no updates this week...sort of. See I went to record the After Story and immediately realized we were going to have to do a vote, which is a little unfortunate because said vote is going to accidentally spoil the true ending. This is not to say that the true ending is hard to guess or that they're necessarily big spoilers (the *how* is significantly more interesting than the *what*), but they are spoilers all the same. I was already worried it was gonna be something like this. There's gotta be a way to unteach the people who write stories like this past their teen years the concept of language.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2022 07:14
|
|
|
Part 92: In Search of a "Better" Ending It is with great regret that I must inform you it is time to begin the true ending sequence. The actual presentation of it is...fine, I guess? It's basically a Free Time minus the bits where you hang out with your friends, which is far from the worst thing they could have done with this sequence. It's just a shame it exists at all.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2022 03:04
|
|
|
Helm and SPiKA
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2022 12:28
|
|
|
For what it's worth, the swinging pendulums are a lot harder to dodge when the game runs on the Vita at an unstable 30 FPS. Also perhaps interesting to note: I haven't tested this myself, but apparently you don't get this epilogue if you haven't upped your Wisdom/Courage/Virtue social stats enough. Admiral H. Curtiss fucked around with this message at 12:44 on Mar 29, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2022 12:30
|
|
|
Admiral H. Curtiss posted:Also perhaps interesting to note: I haven't tested this myself, but apparently you don't get this epilogue if you haven't upped your Wisdom/Courage/Virtue social stats enough. Ignorance is bliss. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2022 17:45
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2022 21:05
|
|
|
Admiral H. Curtiss posted:For what it's worth, the swinging pendulums are a lot harder to dodge when the game runs on the Vita at an unstable 30 FPS. Huh, would that then also lock you out of eX+? Because that comes off True.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2022 22:12
|
|
|
Cyouni posted:Huh, would that then also lock you out of eX+? Because that comes off True. Getting locked out of the entire extra game mode that facilitated and was the selling point of the re-release in the first place because of some bullshit completionist game mechanic would be an extreme dick move and within the realm of the plausible for a developer like Falcom.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2022 23:07
|
|
|
- Interesting that you mention that the normal ending gave closure and brought everything around in a nice way. While I agree with you about not really liking this Epilogue ending, I do think that the Ex+ ending does in a different way, also give closure and bring everything around in a nice way. But that's just my opinion. - You know, a new opening which erased Shiori would have been cool, that's fair. I'm not sure it would really be all that worth it for just this one chapter. - On a NG+ one final optional Free Dungeon appears here, "The Pillar of Oblivion". Naturally it's in the XRC club room. It's filled with tough enemies covering all elements, and gives some really good rewards, and unusually for a Free Dungeon it has a boss at the end There's also a great accessory "Armageddon Crest" as a reward for finishing it, which gives 1000 HP and substantial boost in power, ranged and flying attacks, and it halves the amount of skill points they cost to use.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2022 01:03
|
|
|
Stabbey_the_Clown posted:- You know, a new opening which erased Shiori would have been cool, that's fair. I'm not sure it would really be all that worth it for just this one chapter. To be fair, Shiori's in literally one shot in the OP, not counting the one where Kou is holding her dead body, which doesn't need to be touched. It wouldn't exactly be that hard to erase someone who has the total accumulated screen presence of an afterthought, if you know what I mean As for the eX+ content, I am withholding my judgement on it until I actually see it in action and am holding out hope that it redeems the True Ending in some capacity, but it has a massive up hill climb ahead of it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2022 01:33
|
|
|
Presented without any context what-so-ever https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/815377494206054432/959295273266475058/put_it_on.mp3
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2022 04:39
|
|
|
Part 93: The Local Band Experience It turns out, SPIKA's band is *also* MIA, and we're going to have to recruit some of the locals to fill in. Surely, this can only end well.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2022 21:50
|
|
|
I'm starting to think SPIKA isn't managed very well
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2022 22:02
|
|
|
your Blade II cards are on the way e: make sure you don't forget Morimaru on drums Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Apr 1, 2022 |
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2022 22:45
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 7, 2024 16:09 |
|
|
So is this better or worse than the plot mandated sequence in Final Fantasy 8 where you have your party perform as a band and manage to, for example, successfully tap dance with no prior training or preparation, while wearing combat boots?
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2022 23:31
|
|