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Grand Theft Autobot posted:It seems like Octopath but shorter and probably even more disconnected. It's more or less totally disconnected: a short story anthology of different game concepts Squaresoft had, all built in the same tactical RPG no matter how ill-fitting this is. For example, one of them is a one-on-one fighting game with a Megaman style fight-select screen/abilities from each boss, one is a single stealth mission, one is a visual novel in which combat only takes place in the context of an in-universe puzzle arcade game. Very strong "checking out random demos on an RPG Maker site" vibes, by which I mean it's great and I love it but you should know that you're getting something weird and clumsy before you get it!
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Feb 10, 2022 14:00
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Snake Maze posted:This feels unfair. The chapters are all deliberately different in structure as well as setting. It's definitely a unique game, and if you want to call that weird, ok, sure, but I don't think it's particularly clumsy. That's a reasonable take too!
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Feb 10, 2022 14:28
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C-Euro posted:Making my way through a bunch of random 3DS demos ahead of its eShop closing down, and I'm currently playing something called 7th Dragon III Code: VFD, which seems fun enough but is something I've never heard of. What's the cool stuff in this game that would separate it from the several other jRPGs/turn-based RPGs that I own but not played? It's a vision into a parallel universe where instead of descending from Final Fantasy, all RPGs trace a direct ancestry back to Dragon Quest III, so it's telling the kind of story you'd see in an LN/manga inspired JRPG, except you have generic characters you make yourself beating up lots and lots of dragons. The desire to implement social-links like in Persona on this chassis results in every single named story character in the game having a sequence of three relationship vignettes you can just pick any of your party members to play through, the last of which invariably ends in a suggestive fade to black, regardless of whether the NPC involved is your childhood-best-friend analogue, the hotshot rival fused with dragon DNA or his military commander dad, one of the game's final bosses, or the sarcastic stuffed animal mascot character*. This would probably be more disconcerting if the writing in the game was less cursory, but the brevity mostly makes it come off as a weird thing. Extrapolate to the rest of the game. That said, there's relatively few different environments in them, and one gets reused twice in different chapters. Also, it has lots of songs by Sasakure.UK. EO4 is, in my opinion, an all time classic, VFD is weird and occasionally clunky but its classes include "hacker that can hack dragons", "plucky kid who plays a TCG to cast spells", and "a butler or maid, who is super strong". I personally found it fun! *: The one exception is the tokusatsu hero. None of your characters bang the toku hero.
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Mar 10, 2022 18:41
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Tired Moritz posted:How is Triangle Strategy? Is it as bad as I expected I liked it a bunch, but the demo's a really accurate sample of the game - if you didn't like the demo, you won't like Triangle Strategy.
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Mar 14, 2022 15:04
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Leraika posted:are there any good ocean rpgs Horizon's Gate is an Uncharted Waters: New Horizons pastiche game that's also a fully featured tactical RPG with weird amounts of Ultima DNA, I liked it a lot.
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Jul 6, 2022 15:52
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SLARPG trip report: It was good and I liked it! It's an extremely sweet and heart-on-its-sleeve game. Saturday morning cartoon vibes. But it's pleasant and the cast reminds me of my friends, so the twee-ness was more fun for me as opposed to bugging me. It has a lot of extremely good goofy jokes, some of which are set up and paid off in really satisfying ways. Very good joke-craft. Lots of calling my wife into the room so she can see the silly thing this game just did moments. Particular favorites include there's a room in one dungeon where reality has gone weird that's a maze activity from a coloring book, complete with cheery black-and-white illustrations of the characters, and you solve it to push a button, and none of the characters comment on it, the silly moment is just let stand for itself and eventually you find a piece of equipment that's a Wizard Hat, which would be very good for your witch, except it specifically states that she can't wear it because she already has a hat she likes. And then about ten minutes later, when you're getting a round of sidequests, one of the rewards mentioned is a hat for Claire, and she goes "oh, no, I actually really like the one I have on-" to which it's explained that it's actually an extremely tiny hat you can wear underneath a bigger hat, which Claire is happy to go all in on. Goofy fun! In terms of game design, it's smooth and well-paced and does some reasonably neat things with the engine? It's only a little bit more complicated than a Mother game, but knows how to use its combats and encounters to make you feel good. If you can look at a screenshot of it and go "Yup, that looks like something I'd like to play" you will actually enjoy playing it. (If the vibe doesn't click with ya, you, y'know, won't.)
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Dec 22, 2022 13:22
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Junpei posted:SLARPG question: The three doors you can choose to go through at game start-are those like, class or levelling options, or are they for flavor? And if it's the former, is there reclass/change options? They're class options but also have some flavor changes over the course of the game. You can respec at the very very end, before doing a specialization sidequest for one of them.
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Dec 23, 2022 02:12
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One thing I will say about Scarlet Grace is that, though I greatly enjoyed it, the scenario design can be somewhat vague and confusing, even for a SaGa game. Maps contain nodes to investigate and fights, as opposed to more traditional "actually walk around in areas" RPGs, and it can be unclear which fights actually successfully progress scenarios and which don't.
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Jan 6, 2023 04:14
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Snooze Cruise posted:another space on the bingo card would be me telling someone to play troubleshooter abandoned children I did play it because of you and have been enjoying it a fair bit, I should pick it back up and finish the expansion
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Jan 8, 2023 01:28
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Sakurazuka posted:In Wild Arms 3 is there enough hidden/secret stuff to be worth using a guide? Back when it first came out I totally missed the side quest that lets you start growing healing items and ran out because there's no way to actually buy them. Wild Arms 3 has an enormous amount of side-quest content, and you might find being able to consult a map useful for its "make you look for a place to find it" mechanic. That said, I wouldn't necessarily say all its side-quests are worth doing, most of them just unlock bonus options after you beat the game, and you don't need to do that many of them to get everything, and even then it's just stuff like "An art gallery!" or "View the opening movies on demand!" Cute, but not necessary. Do side-quests that you think are neat, happily miss other stuff. If you have Guardians, you should be able to use those items, I think? You might do it from the Skill or Guardian menu, I think there's an option called "Equip"? If you can't find it I can boot the game up and check how exactly to do it.
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Jan 18, 2023 17:15
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exquisite tea posted:Did anyone get to play the Sea of Stars demo yet? I've played it! The Mario and Luigi-style air hockey attack move is really fun. The lock mechanic is a fun iteration on Octopath Traveler's breaking mechanic - though if you don't read the How To Play guide, which tells you that it's not all or nothing (a partially broken technique is a less powerful technique), it seems more frustrating than it actually is. Combat is generally simple-but-feels-cool. Doesn't seem like there's any character customization systems beyond equipment, close to the Chrono Trigger inspiration, which might be a good thing. Has CrossCode style traversal, in a way, with a climb - I'd say so far it's been clearer to read than CrossCode, though, which is a plus. The writing's basically okay from the thin slice I've seen - a little bit on the goofy side. It's going to have lots and lots of luscious sprite slapstick (more Mario and Luigi DNA!) and the bit of that in the demo made me smile. Did you like Owlboy? It reminded me a lot of Owlboy, but a Chrono Trigger riff instead of a Zelda riff. Oh, and the demo kind of splashes you into the middle of a fairly isolated low-stakes chapter of the game, so it's not really any kind of introduction to the world or the plot, just the mechanics and feel of the game. Not a "just the first few hours of the game!" demo like Octo does.
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Feb 10, 2023 13:08
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Squeezing a corpse for gacha is a very SEGAGAGA mechanic, I think.
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Feb 11, 2023 04:42
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Inspector Gesicht posted:Apart from The Stick of Truth, which games fill the void left behind by Paper Mario? I enjoyed Virgo vs. The Zodiac, which takes a maximalist, maybe even overstuffed, surprisingly difficult approach to the Paper Mario formula. I found the writing pretty fun, even if it's dorky - it'll be tolerable to you if Homestuck was. (And, as a story about astrologically-themed, incredibly powerful dorks with themed planets made of two gimmicks stuck together, stuck dealing with each other for all time, there are clear parallels.) I'd say it's the "One Step from Eden" of Paper Mario-likes. (...Huh, I compare games to other games a lot when talking about them in this thread. Maybe I just find it comfier than trying to give an objective value judgement.) And yeah, I should (do another playthrough of, having lost my save, and) finish Bug Fables.
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Feb 13, 2023 21:23
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Einander posted:I tried a bit of Virgo vs The Zodiac and I remember the timed hits stuff being way more intense than I want out of an RPG. Like, drat, calm down, this is supposed to be a minigame to keep the player engaged, not a core part of the gameplay difficulty. But it's also been a while, so take that with a grain of salt. Nah, that's accurate. (Though you can crank the difficulty on them down, you still absolutely have to hit them consistently, or battles will splat you.) The game also has a difficulty curve where I'd say the first two bosses are the hardest the game gets, and everything after that is a fair bit easier - they're both two relatively tricky "Do you really get it?" execution tests, the latter on a tight turn limit, and then everything else is easier, without, if I remember, any other hard limits like that ever again!
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Feb 13, 2023 23:17
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Morpheus posted:I'm in the mood for a classic JRPG style of game, should I be looking at Chain of Echoes, Chrono Cross, Octopath 2, or Live a Live? I think Octopath 2 is a very solid bet for that, I've been enjoying it a lot. I liked Live a Live too, back in the day, but I wouldn't call it "classic" - more of a funky experiment.
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Mar 2, 2023 18:10
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poe meater posted:Any opinions on Harvestella? I enjoyed it tremendously. The gameplay itself is really thin and rote - you're going to be hitting the same few abilities over and over and occasionally healing - but it feels cool, in a way that I'd honestly compare to Chrono Trigger. Well. Maybe not as well-paced as CT, which is a perfectly paced game. I liked the story a lot - I think... it's kind of a satire of the iisekai genre, at least a little bit, and then it unravels out from that to do a big optimistic RPG swing for the fences in favor of the Indomitable Human Spirit? I'd say it's in dialog with 13 Sentinels, Nier, and FFXIV thematically, though maybe not quite as stylish as all those.
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Mar 17, 2023 03:21
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Motto posted:the funniest case for me to remember is radiant historia getting passed off as being one of the good JRPGs because it was "just like Chrono Trigger" when beyond having time travel it's the complete opposite, in the sense that it's budget as hell and heavily relies on story investment to carry the fact that most of the game is shuffling through the same five maps over and over It's been a while since I've played it, but Radiant Historia did make me go "It's Chrono Trigger!", not because it's like, a CT-level mainstream appeal masterpiece game, but - hazily, from memory - one of the special things about Chrono Trigger was its pacing, to me, and RH felt a lot more sharply plotted than a lot of JRPGs I'd play in a while. It's more Chrono Trigger-like than a lot of other RPGs from that era I liked a lot. Like, compare "I am setsuna", which was more closely modeled after CT in gameplay and form, but was structurally more like FFX - a slow reveal about how messed up the world is and why, as you journey to fix it, also a human sacrifice is involved - but RH starts off with a bang as something goes horribly wrong and you have to scramble to fix it, and as you do, you discover how big the problem is. I also kind of think Harvestella is a Chrono Trigger-like for similar reasons.
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Apr 20, 2023 03:06
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Inspector Gesicht posted:I wouldnt have minded the linear levels had the progression system not also been so railroaded. I dropped the game last when I had to play that libertarian beach bum. Like, aesthetically libertarian? 'cause if I remember correctly he worked for a non-cop community self-defense-against-monsters co-op, so if you're saying anything other than the guy looks like a dork (which, fair criticism, he do look like a dork) I am confused about your read on Snow Villiers here. Edit: though I personally would accuse him of looking like a Bumble profile that expresses an interest in totally revolutionizing the practice of up-close magic, if we're roasting him
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Apr 20, 2023 18:02
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Right, yeah, got me there.
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Apr 20, 2023 18:05
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I really enjoyed Cassette Beasts! I think it does really interesting things with the Pokemon formula - combat is slower paced and more intentional, less "eggshells with sledgehammers". Music is fun. Sense of humor tended to click with me in a "hehe" way. Does that thing where really scary enemies will have art from the wrong kind of game to show that they're super spooky. You can get famous literary bisexual Viola of Messaline in your party, and date her.
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May 14, 2023 15:00
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Arivia posted:Does Odin consent to this Odin's greatest desire is to become the GF of the strong - those that are strong in battle. If you would have Odin be your GF instead, Arivia, you must fight.
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Jun 11, 2023 15:06
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The Triangle Strategy extra chapter is a little bit cute, just various little character loose-end tying for the true ending. In large part may exist because they realized they went a whole game without making a 'salting the wound' joke and had to fix that.
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Jun 17, 2023 13:47
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AngryRobotsInc posted:Mostly just don't want to waste what little time I have for gaming anymore if it turns out to be "So bad even technically free is too expensive". Nah, it's basically fine. It's cute but poorly paced. I enjoyed it for a while and then stopped playing and then am probably never going back to it.
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Jun 29, 2023 12:57
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Inspector Gesicht posted:Given that many JRPGs are about winning the fight before you even make a move, has there ever been a puzzle game where you have to outfit a party for combat, but the combat is strictly automated? I think Megaman Battle Chip Challenge satisfies this definition.
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Jul 5, 2023 12:17
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Oxxidation posted:i am the gnarled old hermit at the mouth of Cave Kiseki crying out "enter not the forsaken ground! flee while you can!" Do you know where I can find the cure for Monster Disease?
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Jul 9, 2023 12:08
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Snooze Cruise posted:Is there a chance I would be into Cassette Beasts if I am more into the Siralim/SMT side of monsters collectors than the pokemon side of things? Pretty good shot, if it's not an active distaste for Pokemon? I liked it a bunch. One of the story branches of the game is a little more SMT-ey, at least in tone - kind of feels like a modern Persona pastiche in part, stapled onto a GBA Pokemon game. Definitely a little bit of a risk... Oh, um, and you can date your party member actual Viola of Messina from actual The Twelfth Night, which maybe isn't as cool as having Giselle in the game, but might be a neat selling point.
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Jul 11, 2023 01:27
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Kanos posted:The game seems neat but I can't get over how much it feels like it's wasting my time for no reason because it takes minutes to walk anywhere. You're looking for the monster that's a bullet.
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Jul 18, 2023 12:59
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Zokari posted:it never fails to make me laugh that this is one of the angriest and most hostile threads on SA A big tent holds a big circus! Posting in a game thread about how you don't like the game is a little weird, but since there are lots of different RPGs, it makes sense that we'd have different tastes about them.
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Aug 8, 2023 16:24
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Item Getter posted:Anyway curious what games still have an old style world map. Harvestella had one, though without encounters, as a Chrono Trigger riff.
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Sep 5, 2023 10:52
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Have guides for Scarlet Graces got a little bit better? I quite enjoyed it last time I played - I think I cleared all characters - but I found some of the provinces kind of confusing or meandering in terms of how to solve them and got frustrated, so it'd be nice if I could just read a little page telling me how they work. I think what Chrono Trigger did amazingly, solidly right was its pacing. It rollicks from beat to beat, each of which has just a little bit of (Saturday morning cartoon, but still) emotional impact. And it's bright and colorful and has huge gorgeous sprites! Whereas, say, Terranigma begins with the slow mystery of climbing four separate towers, and I mean, I liked that game a lot - the ending has hooks in my mind - but it doesn't feel as consistent as CT does, in large part because CT's way easier. It's an accessible game.
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Sep 23, 2023 23:21
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I guess that's fair! It isn't like, my favorite RPG, but "it has really good pacing" just settled in my mind as the solution to so why does everyone like it so much?
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Sep 23, 2023 23:45
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Okay, phewf, we just all thought you posted something crazy there for a bit!
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Sep 24, 2023 00:03
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I mean, I just watched my wife beat Bug Fables. I've never cleared it myself but it seemed pretty good. I like that all the characters banter at each-other and they all have their own specific Tattle dialogue for each enemy in the game, with some very strong opinions.
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Sep 24, 2023 01:26
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The fact that farming is irrelevant to the story is actually (I think) really, really relevant to the story, because "what if you had a farm but didn't actually have to do any work because of magic" is a comforting, impossible fantasy on par with "what if you went to the past and so were way smarter and cooler than everyone else" - it's there so the protagonist can keep getting told they should have stayed home.
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Oct 17, 2023 21:10
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Clarste posted:What role do ahrimans play in the ecosystem? minor pest that can cast Roulette serves important purpose of keeping itangirs from spreading as an invasive species. (as they're invisible dinosaurs, nothing prevents itangirs from being accidentally included in ship cargo.)
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Oct 22, 2023 15:33
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ImpAtom posted:Small Saga has better sprite work and better music than SoS. I did like Small Saga a lot! The mythic character of its setting and the tight over the shoulder battle camera combine in a really slick way to make you feel like a scrappy underdog, which absolutely carries the game. Also Gwen rules because she's Freya Crescent promoted to main character, fairly explicitly. (And she does +50% damage to soldiers because of how much she hates cops.)
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Dec 10, 2023 00:32
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Snooze Cruise posted:SORRY. BUT IT REALLY WORKS IN THIS CASE. Which ones are you thinking of right now? I honestly really loved that game's dedication to following the antagonists.
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Dec 24, 2023 00:58
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I played through In Stars and Time! It was neat! I never got into the locked door in the left side of the town so if someone wants to spoil me on what's in there that'd be great. (I'm a little curious but not enough to go back and try to solve that one. I'm pretty content with my time spent on the game.) I appreciate the thread recommending it.
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Dec 31, 2023 04:38
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Einander posted:(The info I asked for) Thanks! I did see the fellow walking around town later who Siffrin had never seen, so it makes sense that that'd be him! I did get the optional boss fight, pretty much by luck? So: neat.
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Dec 31, 2023 04:49
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What I mostly remember about Resonance of Fate is how insanely good the dub was, to my ears.
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Jan 1, 2024 20:12
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