|
Yep, looks like it's silent, though one gets the feeling that wasn't intentional. But, all the same...been waitin' on this, and it's great to see you're finally getting this baby up and going.  I have a request: May you record a video that's just the opening screen, prior to pressing start and having the title appear, with just the open field and the Monado, going through the entire day-night cycle and playing out the entire musical piece? No particular reason other than that it's one of the numerous beautiful yet unobtrusive things about this game that's worth showing off. 
Mazed fucked around with this message at 12:25 on Jul 16, 2013 |
#
¿
Jul 16, 2013 12:20
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 07:07 |
|
|
This music.   
|
|
#
¿
Aug 7, 2013 19:18
|
|
|
vaguely posted:Yeah It bears mentioning that, with this whole development, Fiora was never presented as this fragile victim, to show up as the love interest and promptly get killed off to give our hero something to angst about, which is a scenario handled poorly in many pieces of fiction. She's clearly the peer of Shulk and Reyn, and either of them would be just as doomed in that situation -- but it's absolutely certain that had it been either, they'dve just as quickly made the choice she did, and gone charging headlong into certain death for the sake of protecting their friends. This is still the classic scenario, of course, with the loss of something precious spurring the protagonist to action, but it's equal parts the devastating tragedy and the realization both on Shulk's part and the player's part that no one is safe, not even these heroic leading characters, that lends weight to the quest that ensues. It's also a good presentation of Shulk himself. His response to that event was instant and visceral, and very well played on the part of his voice actor, but he's not about to spend this journey brooding and moping about how he couldn't save her. He never lets go of it, as well he shouldn't, but it doesn't dampen his outlook or his drive. Another nice thing: By now, game has already indicated that the friendship shared between the playable characters is a force unto itself. Just the banter you hear during and after battles is a constant and welcome presence, at that, and something sorely missed in other games like this. Mazed fucked around with this message at 12:48 on Aug 10, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Aug 10, 2013 12:45
|
|
Here's what my thought process was during that cutscene the first time I played:
"
|
Lethemonster posted:With the exception of some of the equipment having boob windows later on this game writes all the female characters very well and keeps them strong both in the narrative and in gameplay. What elevates this game even further is that the standard of writing applies to everyone. If you don't end up loving Shulk and Reyn by the end of the game then you are broken! I know right!? God drat this game has the best cast of playable characters of any RPG this generation (though NIER's isn't far behind). Though, it's advisable to those who haven't played not to go looking them up just yet, as it's incredibly easy to stumble into spoilers. We have not remotely seen the extent of stunning developments the story's got...though really, it's wonderful for it.  Blind Sally posted:I thought it was super refreshing that they weren't off to topple a maniacal demon overlord or fulfill an age old prophecy. Straight up revenge? A simple motive, but one I could believe and get invested in. If they toppled a few demon overlords and fulfilled a few prophecies along the way, so be it. Well, you do have the situation where beyond merely vengeance, Shulk is (as it goes) the only one who can save us, thanks to the fact that he's capable of using the only weapon consistently effective against Mechon. But, there's an element of enthusiasm that he gets from that. That and the strength of his bonds with his friends seems to be how he counteracts any depression that may set in due to his bereavement, in knowing he's capable of taking the fight to something that up to now they'd just barely been able to beat back, and getting a chance to make a difference for, as far as he knows, all of humanity.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 11, 2013 01:40
|
|
|
Sylphosaurus posted:This game looks drat fun. Typical that it's also a system exclusive, since I have way too much on my backlog for me to buy a new console just to play two or three games. I work a full time job, got way too many games I want to play, waited to buy a Wii until Xenoblade came to the US. It was an excellent decision. 
Mazed fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Aug 12, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Aug 12, 2013 03:43
|
|
|
The game remembers what you were wearing at any given time if you run into a flashback cutscene. This can be tragic or hilarious, depending.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 14, 2013 02:55
|
|
|
Sharla is a crutch character, sure. Even so, I never got tired of "Let's get this done and dusted!"
|
|
#
¿
Aug 15, 2013 04:17
|
|
|
Took a second to catch what you did here.  Dr Snofeld posted:The first time Xord started talking really threw me for a loop. From the way the mechon look you'd expect them to sound more, you know, roboty, and then this giant cockney ork robot comes along. Oh man, it gets even better. All the praise that the voice acting in this game gets is just so, so richly deserved. Mazed fucked around with this message at 07:59 on Aug 17, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Aug 17, 2013 07:53
|
|
|
Dunban's official romanization (in the artbook) is "Dunbun".  (also, Sharla was "Carna" and Fiora was "Fiorung")
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2013 04:24
|
|
|
The interactions between different characters depending on party compositions are one of the biggest highlights of the game. Hearing these guys never gets tiring, in fact it gives the game a relentless energy that keeps it up where the pace otherwise slackens. The way they act on their huge quest to save the world is no different than they would act just hangin' out. Anyway, Riki's theme music is like a a grooved-up Baby Elephant Walk. And this is fantastic.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2013 04:34
|
|
|
So evidently Dunban has a more old-fashioned view of ladies than big dudebro Reyn.  Stabbey_the_Clown posted:I'd dispute this myself, but in the aborted LP last year, Mazed put it better than I ever could. (The link requires Archives access). Seeing the Fiora talk earlier, I was about to come in and be like "yo wait a second", but hey.  Also just puttin' this in: Melia owns. Mazed fucked around with this message at 04:08 on Sep 29, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2013 04:06
|
|
|
Tax Refund posted:So thank you, Mazed, for that excellent summary of Fiora's impact on the plot. And thank you, Monolith, for one of more impactful character deaths I've seen -- which reminded me strongly of Up in its high emotional-impact-per-second-of-character-screentime quotient. We're finding a pattern in "stuff Lethemonster likes". But yeah, though you could probably still make a fair argument along the 'women in refrigerators' angle in some form or another, this is a good ways better than most of those in fiction, or at least in video games. It's kind of ironic that Xenosaga, despite being (debatably) narratively weakest of all Xeno games thus far, gives more attention to the arcs of each individual character, even if one of them was sidelined into a mobile game which never made it out of Japan, and with the possible exception of Jin (though perhaps it's just as well that he didn't get the opportunity to be more like Citan). Then again, it's not like Xenoblade completely neglects them, but putting most of it in Heart-to-Hearts is one of my biggest complaints about it. Past a certain point I just couldn't stomach more grinding, which is exactly what is needed to see each and every one of these.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2013 04:46
|
|
|
Microcline posted:Huh. I always though Jin had one of the most complete character arcs in Xenosaga, and in many ways was a parallel to Citan. They face the same decisions, but while Citan always takes the "be a dick" option (and is constantly reward for it), Jin's sense of duty forces him to do the right thing (and he is constantly punished for it). Hmm...now that you mention it. I suppose this'll be a good thing to keep an eye on with ScurvyKip's Xenosaga LP, as perhaps I'm remembering Jin wrong. Though I'm pretty sure Shion gets and takes multiple opportunities for dickery (but usually gets punished for it...usually) By the way, Lethemonster: Let me just voice sincere appreciation for the way you're doing Heart-to-Hearts. Having missed many in my playthrough, seeing them in screenshot format is a quick, easy, and enjoyable way to catch them.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2013 08:42
|
|
|
On equipment-talk: I had no idea I was walking into a cutscene back at the beginning of Makna where Shulk first met Aldo. So, he was shirtless. It definitely added something to that exchange.Vil posted:Riki is currently wearing one of my two favorite outfits for him. The other is the heavy armor set that makes him look like a little spiky ball. YES. Riki's little shiny Prussian helmet is perfect for the heropon. It adds some real dignity while at the same time not at all compromising the adorable. Lethemonster posted:Next update: A Xenogears dungeon. FTFY 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 20, 2013 09:51
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 07:07 |
|
|
I kind of felt a bit of a Babel Tower from Xenogears vibe from this dungeon. Might just be reaching to find parallels of course, but it does have the whole "climb this freakin' enormous thing with cool music playing" thing. Except, you know, not infuriating. Color palette in Mechonis does start to wear thin after a while, though. While it makes sense as to why, it doesn't hold a candle to Bionis in environmental variety.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 23, 2014 08:17
|
|