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I played the first few hours of this game a year ago, but my completionism made it hard to continue because I spent 3 hours grinding monsters for SP. Does it ever get simpler for that, or is this game just a completionists nightmare?
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Nov 26, 2016 05:27
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MythosDragon posted:I played the first few hours of this game a year ago, but my completionism made it hard to continue because I spent 3 hours grinding monsters for SP. Does it ever get simpler for that, or is this game just a completionists nightmare? SP? Yes, it's a nightmare. Completion near as far as anyone particularly cares about? It's still pretty bad, but far from a nightmare.
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Nov 26, 2016 18:04
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I've done it: I've found the single hardest Elite Monster in the game. It's Siennabronc EX. Mainly because the hit boxes on his attacks are stupid and make no sense, but even so. Extremely powerful, tons of health, and a flying enemy. The only thing he doesn't do is throw out a ton of status effects (but he still throws out a lot). There is absolutely no playing around with that guy.
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Nov 27, 2016 18:33
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Man was not meant to LP past a certain time of day. I was recording poo poo just now that was going on waaaaaaaay too long (because of an extremely difficulty boss fight, which is the typical reason), and after too long I got frustrated with it and decided to call it a night. I started the capture program working on getting the absolutely ginormous final video, when the program informs me I have run out of disk space. So I try to clear a little up to get it started again, when it indicated it was done. So I close the program, delete the temporary file, and check on the final video. Nada. Absolutely nothing. That entire recording went up in smoke. I have nothing to show for the last three hours of my life. Things that are lost to the ether: 1. Rematch against Snow Cougar, but who gives a poo poo? I'll just tell you the trick to beating him, save you all a lot of trouble. 2. Final four cat locations (they were in Sapstrath Seahaven, Hamil, and Aladhi Trail). Even though they won't be there in the actual next update, I'll have the screenshots of where they are). I'm kinda pissed off about that, but eh. I'll live. 3. A bunch of skits that never came up for me, and that I can't acquire without going to the library, mainly because they involve certain points in the game / need to have Elle in the party for them to trigger. Nothing ~10 minutes of recording won't fix. 4. The EX chapter in its entirety, alternate choices and all. Again, more an annoyance than anything, but I really don't want to have to record that. That's just what I'll have to do, though. Luckily, saved just before starting it. This + skits will probably be 30-35 minutes. 5. My opening run of the bonus dungeon. A...certain boss fight is the reason that video exploded in length. If I had any goddamn sense, I would have looked at the time, thrown down a quick save just before the boss, and called it a day. This is why the author of this thread needs to set a bedtime for himself, and not because I have any particular obligations on any given day. This update is destroying me.
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Nov 29, 2016 12:35
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Sylphid posted:This is why the author of this thread needs to set a bedtime for himself, and not because I have any particular obligations on any given day. This update is destroying me. Ouch. I'm so sorry. The LP curse even with hubris bringing it on is never an easy thing to live through. Take your time.
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Nov 30, 2016 04:10
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Part XXXV: The Man Who Challenges Welcome to the Post-game. It offically begins after you get your ending: either the Normal or True ending, both of which are entirely reliant on the choices you make to Origin at the very end of the game. Of course, both of those endings will be covered, but that'll only come after I record and post the "joke" endings. The first, and simplest, joke ending is for paying back all of your 20,000,000 Gald debt. Through the course of the game, you only need to actually pay back about 1.5 million or so of that, and as of the start of my post-game recordings, I'm just under 17,000,000 needed to pay back everything. So clearly, it's not going to be for a while until I can post those endings. But, just keep that in mind. The other ending is for unlocking, and beating, a certain fight. That's not for a loooong time. There's a ton of stuff you (well, I guess that means "I" have to do to actually unlock that fight). The point is, there's a long road ahead of us. But hey, let's start in the present. For finishing the game, you get a free gift of 1,000,000 Gald, Ludger's Endless Waltz arte (not to be confused with the Mystic Arte called Eternal Waltz), a Bond of Shadow (will, of course, be explained later), and the Chromatus Drive / Overdrive skills for Ludger, which can be activated as soon as you desire.  First off, make sure to constantly check when new random jobs come in. You'll regularly pull in 40-50k for even the most minor of jobs, such as Beast Dung (which you should be rolling in...so to speak), you can very quickly fill your coffers for another big payment to Nova, since when the game randomizes new jobs, most of the time you'll get a bunch of jobs for crafting materials you already have. I went to Lakutam Highroad (outside of Xian Du) to complete some jobs I took before going to Canaan, and went to Nia Khera to turn them in, whereupon I got a couple more skits, for your enjoyment. The second one in particular is good. However, because there's a few skits I didn't get in the normal course of the game, the skit video will have a lot more than these two skits. Check it out!  Also unlocked in the post-game is this special shopping mart, in Fennmont's item store. Just take those elevators up, and...  New weapons, armor, and accessories shops. Everything sold here will almost certainly be an improvement over what your characters are using now, and it's your discretion who to upgrade. The weapons will all run for 50,000 Gald, which might seem a lot, but it's really, really not. These weapons will be obsolete fairly soon, but every little bit helps. I should also note Gaius' katana here, the Yasutsuna, is stat-wise an improvement over the Conqueror's Blade in every way. However, it doesn't hit for every basic element with every swing / restore HP and TP / chance for KO recovery. A very good example of why stats don't mean everything. You could honestly keep Gaius using the Conqueror's Blade until the end of the post-game and not be considerably worse off for the wear. It's that good.  Don't forget Customization, either. While you still don't have access to the best customization has to offer, just keep it in mind for now. You can still make good armor / accessories. Well, when you've shopped to your heart's content, let's head on over to the Spirius Corporation for our first post-game event...   Excellent. You have all arrived....  What impeccable timing. Something happen? We heard reports about an incident in Drellin. Something strange is going on at one of the warehouses there. What can be going on at a warehouse?! Are the cockroach freedom-fighters rebelling against their vermin overlords? Ewww! That's going to give me nightmares! Yeah, rats and roaches? Count me out of this one! That is not the situation. They say one of the warehouses is sealed with a mysterious force. They say when you enter, a strange force teleports you back outside. We would like you lot to handle this for us. Oh? You two sick or something? You're acting a little different from normal. No, we are considerably fine. Ludger, the warehouse in question belogns to our company. We must insist that you investigate. This may be the effect of some powerful spirit artes. Indeed. Someone might be inside the warehouse, manipulating the barrier from within. Whoever's behind this has been waiting for this opportunity. .... .... Looks like we need to check this out! Let's head to Drellin. *nod*Yeah, let's...get out of here. Those two are creeping me out.  Said warehouse is in the back of the long corridor in-between the armor shop and the job board in Drellin. Don't see what's so...    So this is the place Vera was talking about. It's quite vast. Is this really the inside of a warehouse?! If it is, why isn't the barrier keeping us out? Probably because whoever set it up wants us inside. I think the word you're looking for is "trap". So what now, Milla? Standing around talking won't get us anywhere. We need to get to the bottom of this ourselves. Let's head further in.This is the Illusionary Darkness, the obligatory Tales bonus dungeon. Nearly every Tales game has a bonus dungeon, with some having several areas that are completely optional (Phantasia is a good example. Shadow's Cave and the Depths of Moria were both unnecessary to finish the game). Legendia, however, has no bonus dungeon, but Legendia is both a weird Tales game and a weird game in general. Now then, the gimmick of this place? Well...we shall come back to this, next time. This update is focused on wrapping up some odds and ends, then we can throw everything we got at the Darkness.  Instead, we have quite the business opportunity, and what I'm about to tell you will be your #1 source of rank points / money for quite a while. All of the Elite Monsters are back. All of 'em. However, they are *significantly* buffed and are considerably more dangerous. Scorpactus here is a perfect example. When we only had Jude and Ludger as our running team, this guy gave us a little grief, but certainly nothing I couldn't overcome. Now this guy, he's the real deal. For bringing his head to the job board, you'll receive 640k gald, and 192k rank points. That's... a bit more than he was worth the last time. So what's the catch?    He hits HARD. Harder than a mach truck. Basically any attack he uses will either kill you in one hit or very close to it, even if you block. The AI is simply unable to deal with this fight. As I've mentioned, they just don't handle burrowing enemies very well. They run after them, they don't bother to block, etc. So combining an *extremely* powerful monster and an AI that deals poorly with that is a recipe for trouble, and honestly, this is definitely in the top 10 most difficult fights in the game. If you wanted my opinion as to difficulty, I'd still say Volt is by far the toughest boss in the game, weighing everything equally. Anyway, how to deal with this guy? Well, all EX bosses still share the same vulnerabilities and strengths they did the first time around. Since the original boss was meant to be fought with a Jude / Ludger party, he's weak to Wind and Earth, both elements Ludger / Jude could exploit at that early point in the game. What this means for right now is Gaius is an *excellent* choice with the Conqueror's Blade, since every standard hit will be a Power Hit, and he can hit Strike (Hydra Strike), and Light (Celestial Rupture is the easiest to combo). But why Gaius in particular? He's one among four characters (technically five, with Jude's Restore, but that's not guaranteed / hard to get to activate under these particular circumstances) who can revive (himself, Elize, Leia, and Muzet). He can revive all fallen brothers and sisters in a small radius with Spirit Channel, and he himself will occasionally shrug off KO due to his currently-equipped katana. He makes an excellent choice. Elize is along because of her Darkness skills, and Leia because she can throw out buffs, though you could probably replace her with Muzet and you might even do better. Gaius' Retribution is also really good at staggering the target. Once Gaius has all his Retribution-buffing skills, he can block a strike, run around for a bit, and keep the charge going. It's only when he takes a front step is the counterattack actually triggered. Now, this guy has a *ton* of health, so there's just no getting past the fact this is a long struggle. But, just keep the pressure on him, back off when needed, and play it cool, and you'l bring him down before too too long. One tip I can give you is the character you play as most (which would be Gaius in this video's case), you should turn on Fury Stroke 1 and 2. These skills will, after that character's taunt, make them the target of enemy attacks / attention for 10 seconds. Against a guy this dangerous, that's big, being able to draw attention while your allies get back on their feet. Being able to control the AI is always beneficial.  Of course, stack on Chromatus combos (you can only use Eternal Waltz in Chromatus Level 4. It just replaces Form Destroyer at that level). Just keep the pressure up, and take advantage of heavy stuns as much as you can.  One final tip I'll give you, is don't try to sidestep away from the surfacing attack. Because your character is still focused on the boss, they will just sidestep in a circle, ripe for the devastating attack coming up. Just Free Run away from it.  The EXP rewards for victory are...considerable. Again, that rank points number is absolutely huge. I jumped about three levels in one bound, and once all the EX monsters are dead...  All of the monster descriptions are basically like this. Apparently some mad scientist revived all of them and made them considerably stronger, so naturally, it's up to us to fix things. Well, the good news for you is that the Scorpactus EX is definitely one of the hardest, and Veywind Eye does not...exactly live up to that reputation. But, I guess you'll be the judge of that. The next bit of business brings us to Sharilton and that little antiques shop directly in front of the main entrance to the city.  Good to him to just hand it over, really. Now back to Spirius.  Would it be all right if I pressed play? Oh, that's strange. There are no recordings on these disks. It's a sequence... This is an unlock code, probably for a door somewhere. A door, huh? That means... This is the key to Julius' room? I believe so, yes. Here, you should have this, Ludger.Okay, not that they're wrong, but seriously, how could Milla and Vera possibly know that? Milla's been in Ludger's apartment all of once (Alt Milla doesn't count), and Vera's never been there at all. Julius' room has been locked from the beginning of the game.... Ah, doesn't matter. ....Well, what are you waiting for? Julius' room, which has been locked since the very beginning of the game, is now open to you. As a note, you have to have completed all the Julius data disk jobs to open this door. There's nothing *too* huge in here, but hey. I would be in error not recording this scene and bringing it to you.  A letter? "I have a feeling that if anyone out there finds this letter, it will be you, Ludger. Am I right? If I am, then I assume you have also found all of my recordings. I won't try and make excuses. Everything you heard on those disks was true." Somehow, he knew you'd find this letter... "Ludger, I know you always looked up to me like an older brother, but I'm no good. I used you to gain more strength, but I was still never able to activate a full chromatus. I couldn't even find the Canaan Waymarkers, let alone the Key of Kresnik! I was a failure, Ludger. And I let everyone else down... Sometimes I even contemplated how much easier it would be if I just simply degenerated into a divergence catalyst. To take my mind off such thoughts, I went on a horrible rampage. Rideaux and I made a game of it, to see who could destroy more dimensions. Sometimes I slaughtered whole towns just to save me the trouble of tracking down the divergence catalyst." I never thought Julius'd be capable of something like that... "But you saved me, brother. Do you recall when you were seven, and you made that margherita pasta? It was the first thing you ever cooked. You were only seven, but you saw how thin I'd gotten, and you were worried about me... So you made me dinner. It was hen I saw those burn marks on your hands that I came to a realization... I decided that my purpose from that point forward was to protect you... But there, too, I failed... I hope you can forgive your selfish brother one day. I tried to do right by you... But I guess rambling on about it doesn't change things."  Julius...drat... Well, picking up the pieces, Julius lends us a bit more of his strength: the Castor Twins Reforged, which is a purple version of Julius' Castor Twins, which Ludger is already in possession of. You know they're stronger because they're a different color. You also get Julius' Glasses, but we already had those. You can check out the bookshelf in our big bro's room for a Royal Feast, Kitty Toy, and Gummy Fishies, and you can raid his closet for a pair of Rare Boots.  But now it's time for the EX Monster shitshow! Unless I pause things to say something, assume I had nothing interesting to say about the boss. In many cases, the strategies and general gimmicks for the first version of the boss stand for the EX version: Heavy Claw EX, Greater Demon EX, Radiant Horn EX, Goddess Touch EX, Bluetaur EX, Graddic Claw EX, Moralzamm EX (EX monster in under 2 minutes!), Ghastly Stump EX (one of the Elite Monsters that is much, much more dangerous in its second iteration, especially with getting heavy stuns way too much. That's a bad thing), Arrow Folzam EX, Veywind Stinger EX, Krudis Eye EX, Hydro Blade EX (Christ this is a hard fight. Any way you cut it, a monster with more than 2 million HP takes a long, long time to kill. And he's extremely powerful...)  Now, for our last normal Elite Monster, Siennabronc, it's a little more difficult to find this guy. There's a few locations in the game he can appear in, but unless you're looking for him, it's extremely unlikely you'll come upon him by chance. What's the solution? Start in the Xagut Floodmeadow. Head to the Northeast region and cross over into the Southeast region, at this screen. Those three trees in the distance will be your landmark. If you don't see Siennabronc, just keep going back and forth between screens until he does appear. If you don't see him, that means the game spawned him elsewhere, but this is by far the best spot to look for him. Although I blow past normal Siennabronc, keep something in mind: the item you can steal from him is the Omega Elixir, which restores all HP / TP, removes all negative status effects, and revives from KO. Normally, a normal Elixir could do all of that, but the Omega Elixir is a four-way Elixir. It's really really really good, and you'll want to quickly acquire as many of them as possible. No use in passing up this opportunity. Make sure you bring Leia along for this fight, and make sure you get that Omega Elixir. Anyhow, round 2 of the EX Monsters: Siennabronc, Dark Teagle EX, Wind Racer EX, Fortune Stepper EX, Hammerzamm EX, Vampiric Plant EX, Cthulhu Demon EX, Magma Dragon EX. Magma Dragon is an *extremely* tedious fight, mainly because you have two targets with mountains of HP between them. As with the first fight, basically you'll want to focus your attacks on one target (if you're using Milla, the one that's weak to Sword attacks), while your teammates haplessly occupy the other. Ideally, you'll keep them apart for long periods of time. Of course, any fire-resistant accessories / armor you have on hand, you'll want to equip them. Milla has an extremely fast full Power Combo she can pull off by herself. I like to start with Binding Sphere (Darkness), Elemental Shot (all four primary elements. There's a little delay in them coming out, which is why Sphere keeps the combo going), Condemnation (Gun), Shimmer Spin (Light, though you could also use Radiant Rondo here), and Overdrive (Strike). Overdrive will knock the target down (assuming it wasn't Stoned from Shot), but you can get it back on its feet with either Grave or a focus hit (L1 + X). Elemental Shot does a ton of damage and has a decent chance of Stone, so that should be the backbone of your attack. Milla in general makes a very good ally, her only downside being she has no way of reviving others. Still, her offensive prowess is considerable. Next up, everyone's favorite Elite Monster: Exoplasma. To be perfectly honest, I was expecting this fight to be a total shitshow. I got a ton of Miracle Gels in preparation, and was even prepared to use Fruit Yakisoba (25% increase to all main stats, instead of Spicy Chicken Roll for EXP increase). I mean, the first round was a cluster, right? Well, to my very big surprise, I beat him on my first try, and it didn't even take that long. Mainly because I was lucky with Chromatus uses. Chromatus Azure Edge absolutely kicks the poo poo out Prime Exoplasma and his buddies, and there's not whole lot they can do about that. I mean, it certainly helps I had my general strategy in place, which was to focus on the big guy first, instead of constantly trying to put out fires by taking out his spawn first. This way I don't have to wait until his drains through his just shy of 2 million HP spawning his buddies, which would have taken *forever*. Color me surprised this went as well as it did, even though I wish it had ended slightly differently. You'll see why. Also, keep in mind, their Rolling Spin attack always has a longer range than you think it does. That's the one you really have to watch for.  Siennabronc EX But our penultimate EX boss challenge is by FAR the hardest of the bunch. Siennabronc is an unprecedented danger to your team. He has an incredible amount of HP on Hard, standing at no less than 2,385,000, and that number goes down very slowly, not unlike Hydro Blade, which is also an extremely hard fight. Unlike Blade, he is pretty fast, hits just as hard, and has reach, unlike Scorpactus EX. There's absoultely no playing around with this guy. I originally wanted to get through this fight with Gaius, but nope. That just wasn't going to happen. You will have to have your full Power Combo combo down pat, and even a single mistake can destroy everything. I've already explained why Leia comes into this fight (all EX monsters have the same drops and stealable items the same as the originals), but everyone on your team must be able to revive, with the exception of Ludger, because the Chromatus is just too potent as a damage-dealing weapon to take out of your arsenal. Also helps to have Revive Rings and / or Hallowed Dolls on everyone, because, again, a single mistake can easily destroy your team. Having Fury Stroke is, again, extremely good too, even if the enemy AI doesn't always listen to it. As far as getting a combo started, Guns are by far the best way to open up damage-dealing, because you can do it at range.  However, all the advice I can give is secondary to this: patience. There is no way this fight is going to be under 10 minutes. Best case, you keep it between 15-20, but even then, that's if you're completely on point and don't have to spend too long worrying about your allies getting themselves killed. One of the top 10 hardest fights in the game? Absolutely. Now, the final EX monster is the Snow Cougar, which I did record, but due to various recording complications that I went into detail in the thread in, no longer have. It's not a big loss. Really, it's a pretty boring fight, but it has one crucial gimmick. Once it falls to about 25-30% HP, it'll throw out its arcane arte, where it'll curl up and call in a big snowstorm. Now, if it activates this move and you don't have a Chromatus use charged up, that's game. Even if you survive the initial hit, it'll just keep going, Stoning any survivors, while a pack of more generic mooks tear you apart, and it'll just keep going. You have lost the game under those circumstances. Basically, think of it as an offensive version of Chronos' time reversal. Near as far as I can figure, you NEED the Chromatus to win this fight, so if someone has been able to beat it without Ludger in the party, I would be very impressed. But that's it. Your collective reward for defeating all the EX monsters is *monstrous*. Total value of all the monsters is 10,590,000 Gald. So yeah, *kinda* worth your time to take out all those little bastards. Also note that money does *not* include the money you get from money straight from the battles, and your characters will probably be, by the end of things, 25-30 levels higher than when they started. A good start, but there's still a lot of work to be done.   Like cat hunting! The first cat is in the Brauner Highroad, just outside the entrance to Fennmont. Somehow, even though I combed over this area many, many times looking for cats, I never found this one... The Highroad in general gave me a lot of trouble with Ktty hunting, surprisingly. The other one's just in Sillea Tundra, easy to find. These two were acquired before I went to Canaan, and including the two Kitties from Canaan, brings me up to 96. I was completely lost on where the final four were, but... Oh, another interesting tanget for this point in the game.  This actually happened sometime ago, after that scene where Elle left the party to go with Bisley to Canaan. It's a little sad, yeah, but don't worry. When you restart the game, Elle returns to the title screen. Anyhow...  The first is in Sapstrath Seahaven. I'll tell you what Gaius is referring to next time. Hint: I wouldn't necessarily agree with him...  Aladhi Trail, far away in the West Branch. This one is located near Heavy Claw's old haunt. Two more to go, and both are in Hamil.  Oh, I should mention sometimes when you take a job, your buddies will comment on the enemy type. Muzet talks about how she finds Polwigles cute, and Gaius comments on Gentleman and Skeleton-type enemies. Of course, this is all a prototype for Zestiria, where your party will comment on basically every generic enemy when you find yourself in a battle with them, which is really an underrated part of the game. I can only hope that's continued in Berseria.  Hamil's map location Kitty is up this ladder, where you can also pluck a single Porange from one of the trees. The other is acquired through Kitty Dispatch, which, upon retrieval, made that cat my 100th feline. This gives you this amusing skit, as Rollo begins punching above his weight. And why not? He's got a goddamn feline army behind him on this. Well, this has been kinda a disjointed update, but it's stuff that needed to be tackled. We're not entirely done with post-game events, but I will get around to that. Next time I'll be going through the EX Chapter and beginning the deep dive into the bonus dungeon. Surprisingly enough, we've got about... I wanna say a couple more non-ending updates to go through. HOWEVER, my work has just begun. Stay tuned... Update 35 skits Update 35 alternate skit compilation Update: I was made aware of a method of how to defeat Snow Cougar EX without Ludger in the party. Everything here is certainly true, but more trouble than its worth, if you ask me. Still, it's a good challenge. You're still not missing much with no video, though. alcharagia posted:To answer a question you had a while ago: The Snow Cougar EX is defeatable without Ludger. It only uses Snowfall when it's in Overlimit, and when it uses Snowfall, three Snow Wolves spawn and if you kill all three before you die the attack stops. Gaius in particular is very good at it given Retribution. So, either negate it with your own Mystic Artes or kick their rear end. Sylphid fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Jan 30, 2017 |
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Dec 2, 2016 23:30
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I have never seen that skit with the spicy curry thing. It is fantastic. You know, I didn't actually... do any post-game stuff in my playthrough. I got an ending, decided "eh, I think that's that," and put the game back on the shelf. I think I had Xillia'd myself out by then; the thought of fighting the EX monsters and the bonus dungeon didn't really appeal to me this time around. So hey, most of the rest of this LP is gonna be entirely new stuff for me, so that's nice. KeiraWalker fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Dec 3, 2016 |
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Dec 3, 2016 05:35
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The answer to Snow Cougar EX without Ludger is Elize. Teepo amped Dispel will prevent the status ailments, and once the adds are killed then the snowstorm stops. It's still rough, but it's doable (at least, with three humans at the wheel).
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Dec 3, 2016 06:48
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I suppose in a setting without wizards all you really have to fall back on is "the mad scientist did it".
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Dec 6, 2016 04:24
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Alright, this is the last line-up for costume choices. I estimate no more than 2 more updates will take care of the rest of the gameplay. Polsy: Alvin (he's already chosen via PM) alchargia: Leia / Muzet (as first poster, gets two) McTimmy: Milla Stabbey: Rowen wdarkk: Jude Deceitful Penguin: Elize EagerSleeper: Gaius And I will handle Ludger. Let's make this a good one, folks.
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Dec 9, 2016 05:48
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Bump for amusing / cool costumes.
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Dec 12, 2016 08:00
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Muzet's Chirpee Head has turned red and expanded to a massive size, engulfing her upper body as well as her head. This is completely normal, of course. It is also, for some reason, attempting to wear aviator sunglasses, but it's not working so Muzet is just holding them in her hand instead. Muzet has switched to her Xillia 1 outfit for the occasion. Leia is in her color-varied Xillia 1 outfit, equipped with the powerful Therapy Cat. Also, she stole Julius's glasses off of his corpse, and has equipped herself with a Milla's Bangs Replica in a last-ditch attempt to try to win back Jude's heart.
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Dec 12, 2016 08:34
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Milla: Milla's Hair strande (whatever it's called) sticking out the other way. Mini-Milla doll riding on top of her head like it's using the hair strands as sticks to pilot real Milla. Tiny hat on Mini-Milla's head.
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Dec 12, 2016 12:13
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Rgh. I don't know. I've had way too much winter stuff to deal with. Someone else pick something.
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Dec 12, 2016 18:24
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McTimmy posted:Milla: Milla's Hair strande (whatever it's called) sticking out the other way. Mini-Milla doll riding on top of her head like it's using the hair strands as sticks to pilot real Milla. Tiny hat on Mini-Milla's head. Any preferences for hairstyle / outfit?
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Dec 13, 2016 00:58
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Sylphid posted:Any preferences for hairstyle / outfit? Whoops. Default hair, X1 classic outfit to match the driver.
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Dec 13, 2016 01:05
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McTimmy posted:Milla: Milla's Hair strande (whatever it's called) sticking out the other way. Mini-Milla doll riding on top of her head like it's using the hair strands as sticks to pilot real Milla. Tiny hat on Mini-Milla's head. I think I'll mirror this for Jude, too. X1 alt-color outfit, default hair, antennae, mini-Jude using the antennae to pilot Jude, different tiny hat on mini-Jude.
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Dec 13, 2016 01:23
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Is there a polwiggle accessory in this game? I always thought they were the cutest monster design in the Tales series. If so, I motion Rowan to have that equipped. As for the rest of his design, since I've never played this game myself I'm going to entrust which fashion items to equip to Sylphid, only with the the guiding stylistic philosophy of 'make my eyes bleed'.
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Dec 13, 2016 02:37
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EagerSleeper posted:Is there a polwiggle accessory in this game? I always thought they were the cutest monster design in the Tales series. If so, I motion Rowan to have that equipped. As for the rest of his design, since I've never played this game myself I'm going to entrust which fashion items to equip to Sylphid, only with the the guiding stylistic philosophy of 'make my eyes bleed'. Actually, Gaius is your choice. I'll handle Rowen, then. Also, no, no Polwiggle accessory.
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Dec 13, 2016 02:50
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Sylphid posted:Actually, Gaius is your choice. I'll handle Rowen, then. Whoops, I must have misread. If it's Gaius then, possibly try to make him Casual Friday or beach attire. Even kings need to relax sometimes.
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Dec 13, 2016 03:34
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I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays. I make this post because, when you run an LP, especially an LP of an RPG, with a lot of samey gameplay any sensible author cuts out because it's boring and adds nothing to the thread, at certain points you have to make hard calls what you will and will not add to a thread. Case in point: the post-game of Xillia 2. Anyone who has gotten to the post-game of Xillia 2 and insists on 100% completion, or at least 100% as far as anyone cares, knows it is *extremely* grindy. Nothing more-so than unlocking and making use of the Tales weapons. The Tales weapons are all very strong and are basically rewards for a lot of dumb grinding through the bonus dungeon. Anyone who knows what the post-game's dungeon deal is, also knows it is extremely boring and once you've done a single run, you've pretty much got the idea. So when I unlocked the ability to forge the Tales weapons by completing the Elite Tag Battle in the coliseum just now, I was faced with a difficult choice: equipping the Tales weapons I already have carried over from my previous game, or craft them normally? I chose the former, and here's why. Getting those weapons legit is BORING. I won't make any excuses for it, because it deserves none. It'll get a mention in the next update, which is being worked on as I type, but it would add nothing to the thread to waste hours and hours of time I'd rather spend toward a productive end in another game I'm playing these days, rather than grinding materials for hours and hours on poo poo no one really cares about. This is one of those decisions that seems more obvious the more I look at the circumstances. I'm running an LP, and my first priority is bringing all story content, and any bonuses I feel would enhance your experience of the game alongside mine. Nothing about getting those weapons is exciting at all. I hope everyone understands.
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Dec 27, 2016 08:01
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If it wasn't for the swell costumes I wouldn't even have bothered with the bonus dungeon. Even with them as a reward, I still had to give up about halfway through because it was just that miserable. It is totally goddamn understandable to cut that.
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Dec 27, 2016 10:31
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Sylphid posted:So when I unlocked the ability to forge the Tales weapons by completing the Elite Tag Battle in the coliseum just now, I was faced with a difficult choice: equipping the Tales weapons I already have carried over from my previous game, or craft them normally? I don't see how this is even a decision. Good grief doing that again is a world of pain.
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Dec 29, 2016 07:20
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Part XXXVIII: Debtor's Release So while work continues apace on the latest "real" update, why don't I give you all an overdue Christmas present, in the form of the Repayment Ending? Simple enough, just pay back all of your loan. However...   Yeah, Nova will tell you to come to the front of the Spirius Corp to pay the last 100 of the long, long payment process. Off we go... Also, don't worry about saving. Once you watch the ending / credits, you'll be allowed to save, and you'll be dumped off just outside the Spirius Corporation, where you paid Nova, off to complete whatever tasks remain for you. Let's just skip on over to our first real ending...  I can't believe it! Finally.Ludger, quite a laconic man. After paying back 20,000,000 gald, that's it? I...I think I'm gonna cry! Oh, and Ludger! I want to give you something to celebrate going outta debt! How about going to a hot spring...with me! Huh?! Meow?! Now just a minute, Nova! You said you were taking ME to that hot spring. Was this whole thing intended to be a gift to Ludger from the start? Uh huh! And you're coming too! We're gonna have a blast! This sorta thing calls for a huge celebration! Everybody's coming! The more the merrier! Yeah. That sounds real "merry" all right. Hey, congratulations, Ludger! I heard you got your debt paid off! What great timing! I was just about to call everyone together! We're all gonna have a big party to celebrate Ludger getting out of debt! I'm taking everyone to the Celestial Hot Springs! Pets and dolls are welcome too! Are you guys excited?! A hot spring trip? At a time like this? On second thought, it's not a bad idea. It can be very beneficial to restore one's energy and wash away the aches and pains of battle. That's true... And Ludger deserves a little reward for his hard work! Meow! Um, Ludger? I've never actually been to a hot spring before. So let me get this straight... Hot water just keeps flowing out of the ground?! How have we not done this sooner?! Perhaps I'll use this opportunity to teach you the proper way a man washes one's back, Ludger. And I'll bring everything we need for some pillow fights and truth or dare! I think Ludger her's more excited about the prospect of co-ed bathing, isn't that right? N-No! Ah, this must be one of those "naked bonding experiences" which people always speak of. Very well then, I will partake in the hot spring experience with everyone. Let us engage in naked merriment and become better companions. Well put! Seems like a rather brazen way of putting it though...Yeah, well, it's Milla. Hey, this is a party! I say, go brazen...or go home! Y'hear that, Ludger? All right, gang, let's go put the "hot" in "hot springs"!Alright, so...this is a really funny ending, and text doesn't even come close to communicating it. So I'm not going to bother. There's really no way to experience this ending other than seeing it, so drink, and be merry. Link to the ending is in the screenshot below.  Debt Ending Credits Sylphid fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Jan 24, 2017 |
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Jan 6, 2017 04:31
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quote:Quality costume design. Rowen's quiet voice barely escaping from the sea of manly bodies posted:"To think I once commanded the armarmies of Rashugal...." Quality cutscenes.
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Jan 6, 2017 05:30
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Oh, this ending had me rolling on the floor when I got it. It is one of the best things in the entire game.
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Jan 8, 2017 04:56
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KieranWalker posted:Oh, this ending had me rolling on the floor when I got it. It is one of the best things in the entire game. I liked the subcontractor ending better but this one is second-best by a mile.
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Jan 8, 2017 07:03
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Yep, that was great. It was probably a bit of a dick move to punish all the boys BEFORE they did anything wrong, but I guess they were genre savvy and decided that this would just save time.
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Jan 8, 2017 15:00
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Big news, everyone! After nearly 10 months of recording poo poo, as of a few minutes ago, I am finally done recording Tales of Xillia 2! You know, I had been wanting to LP this game for some time before I started this LP, but it only slowly dawned on me how massive a task of recording this drat game was, in the way I decided to do it. Running two consecutive games to record different choices, and just how long this game is. This is a really long game, I'll have every one of you know. And I saved a ton of time carrying over and using my Tales weapons at the point I did. This is not a game to tackle lightly. My previous record-long thread was the Atelier: Arland thread, and that series of THREE RPGs lasted a year and change. This game, just one RPG, is only going to come in a few months under the wire. Not that easy. Though, I won't say this is the biggest RPG I could have LP'd in the format I've chosen. I've been catching up on the Dragon Age: Origins thread, and I gotta say, that game, I don't think I could LP. It's just too massive a game for me to bite off. I've already decided what game I'll be running next, but of course all of my current effort is going to go into wrapping up the final updates of this thread. So what's left? The next update is very nearly ready to launch, and again, I've recorded all the content for the update after next, and all outstanding endings. I will do my utmost to get those out as soon as possible. Sylphid fucked around with this message at 08:43 on Jan 12, 2017 |
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Jan 12, 2017 08:36
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Having played the game, I can only imagine what a pain in the rear end it really is to LP it. Congratulations on getting the recording done.
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Jan 12, 2017 15:03
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Part XXXVI: The Man Who Remembers Welcome to Part 2 of overtime. We begin in Marksburg. I coyly noted that we may not be done with character chapters in this game, and this is why we begin in the bridge between worlds. For the EX chapter to open up, you have to finish all of Jude and Milla's chapters, and have entered Canaan. Which, of course, means you can turn around right after entering Canaan and start this. It's a nice story and you get a cool arte for Jude at the end of it. Let's roll...   Another crisis  I take it you guys have something to do with it. Ivar, what happened with Spirius? Exactly what I expected. I got canned. Sorry to hear that. So I've decided to return to Nia Khera. I missed communing with all the critters there anyway. Well, I mean, as far as standing in our way and being in the way of the party, either in this game or Xillia 1, you're pretty poo poo at this whole "Agent" thing. But, no need to be a jerk about it, and at some level you do have to feel bad for him. Save your pity. This is humiliating enough already. Jude, I swear I'm going to figure out my mission in life. That's the only difference between you and me. You've already discovered your purpose. *nod* Until you discover yours, would you watch over Nia Khera for me? Of course I will, Lady Milla. We're family.   He seems to be in a better place. Yeah. I'm happy for him. Yes? Oh, dear. I understand. I will formulate a plan to deal with this at once. What is it? Fort Gandala's golems have gone berserk. Several of them are advancing on Sharilton as we speak. The golems are headed toward Sharilton? Driselle's in danger! Why'd they go berserk? The fort was struck by a massive tornado. A tornado? Another side effect of nixing the schism, I take it? Most likely. Spirit climes have become unstable throughout Rieze Maxia. They had deployed the golems hoping to divert the tornado's course. But the artes controlling those monster machines may have been disrupted by the sudden magnetic shifts of the tornado. Even the new golem model? I'm afraid so. Its engineers apparently saw the tornado as an opportunity to test its abilities. And its ability-limited mechanisms? Primary and back-up governors were installed. Unfortunately, the spirit channeler controlling those governors was killed by the tornado. So chances are they're no longer operational. Hmm... Milla, I want to stop them. I could use your help. Very well. Ludger, we should lend a hand. Golems are no run-of-the-mill monsters. Well, jumping into action right away will increase Gaius and Rowen's affections, but hey, Ludger hasn't thrown down with a golem, and the Xillia cast (sans Muzet / Gaius) have. Might as well see what they have to say about them. They're synthetic monsters developed by the Rashugal military. They can only function within a particular spirit clime, yet they are indestructible while inside it. So the only way to defeat the golems is by altering the clime around them using spirit boosters. Hmm... Ludger, Jude, Milla, and Rowen will go to Sharilton to inform Driselle. Understood. We'll establish a local command center and a last line of defense. Everyone else come with me to the Talys Highroad. We'll split up to scout the golems' progress. I'll lead the way. I'll round up the boosters we need. Please do.Everyone runs off except the Driselle Four... We'd better hurry.And hurry we did...  Contingency plans There's no time for that! What?Another fade... Not too many of those left to go. Rogue golems are rampaging toward Sharilton? We're preparing to intercept them. As for you, my lady... Order the self-defense force and coalition of merchants to blockade the Talys Highroad immediately. Tell them... Tell them it's becasue of tornado activity. No need to start a panic. Send a message to all merchant groups in the vicinity to return to the city. Explain that House Sharil will compensate them for any damage.  Yes, milday!The soldiers run off... Driselle's certainly come a long way as Lady of Sharil. Incidentally, I mistook who her deceased relative, Clive, was. I said he was Driselle's husband, but I misremembered that whole bit from the first game. Clive was her brother. Splendidly done, Lady Driselle. I couldn't agree more. You honor me, King Gaius. What's the status of the golems? They've split in three groups: left, right, and center. We've secured three boosters, so we can send out three teams. The central group had a golem we've never seen before. It's a new model. A new model? Yes. It's an enhanced golem capable of manipulating all four elements: earth, water, fire and wind. Milla may be the only one of us capable of meeting that threat, thanks to her ability to command the Four Great Spirits. Are you serious?! Wasn't the development of these sorts of weapons banned under the ceasefire agreement? I proposed developing them in secret. I gave my approval. Why would you do that? Ludger's a jaded man, but he's learned a few things from this long, long experience (9 months, as of this writing...). Gotta be realistic here, and Rowen and Gaius will appreciate you keeping the politics in mind. Elympios is more than a litlte mightier. They're packin' military airships and spyrix weaponry. I suppose Rieze Maxia must make a show of strength if it's to negotiate on equal footing. I'm not one to believe might makes right. But those who repudiate power often become its victims. Wielding power you can't control can make you its victim, too! That... I cannot deny. Perhaps today's incident will serve as a cautionary tale. Regardless, we're gonna have an international incident on our hands if we don't stop them before things get serious. *nod* I have devised a plan of action that takes into account everyone's respective combat abilities. Milla, I'd like you in the central team to battle the new golem model. Ludger, Jude, and myself will use a booster to support you. *nod* Alvin, Elize, and Leia will make up the left team. Roger that! Can I count on you to handle the booster? Of course! Wouldn't be the first time! Gaius, I'd like you and Muzet to deal with the golems on the right wing. Of course. This is my responsibility. Nothing the two of us can't handle. Driselle, prepare an evacuation plan for the city. Odds are on in a hundred it will come to that, but you should be ready. I will do what you ask. But knowing you guys, I'd lay the odds at one in a million.Let's move out...  Hey, Jude? It's me. Ivar? What's going on? The local critters found something interesting on the Nia Khera Hallowmont. Sorry, Ivar, we've got an emergency on our hands right now. What's going on? Well...Take a guess... Lady Milla is going up against a multi-elemental golem?! So this is destiny... I understand, Jude. To the Talys HIghroad! Huh? What do you understand?Ivar hangs up... We don't have time. We better get moving. Probably unimportant... But it's Ivar, so who knows. What I do know is that visibility is not great. Let us proceed with caution.  Sandstorm   Y'know, there might be a point in the game where the Golem could *possibly* be dangerous, but after defeating all the EX Monsters, yeah... The Golem can shift elemental strengths / vulnerabilities, blah blah blah. After a few moments...  He'll throw out this change and become completely invulnerable. Might be a problem...    What? Now there's two new golems? Ugh, bloody hell! I should ahve known they would build more than one!  What'll we do? Yes! Do something! This is becoming a thing for Ivar... Dropping in from a wyvern is also how he showed up one time in Xillia 1.   I'm here to save the day!  It can be! It's Maxwell. You have one of those booster-majigs. That's all you need to make it, right? A Maxwell spyrite! But would you really be able to control a Maxwell spyrite?Ludger lands back near the party... Heck if I know. But hey, that's Jude's job, right? I'll buy you some time!  Sure I can. But the message doesn't seem to make all that much sense. "Muster they will and prove thyself, for it shall serve as the contract that binds us." Prove yourself? I wonder what we're supposed to do. Well...Jude's the cautious type, and maybe we should be, too. No, I'm sure I can handle it. I know that I can make the spyrite work for us!    Maxwell! Spirits!  Now! Ludger! Rowen! Understood!A future for both So we're going back into it. But now, we have a new toy to play with: Jude's Maxwell arte. Maxwell is basically the exact same thing as Muzet / Milla's Elemental Shot, but it has one gimmick with it. To use it, you need to have Jude's Special skill activated. To use it, fire Maxwell as Jude while in Over Limit, and hold X. Don't do it after a Linked Arte, or you'll throw out Jude's Final Fury. As a note, you can launch Mystic Artes without being Linked to someone, but there's really no point in activating Mystic Artes through this method.  Jude's Mystic Arte will be replaced by Maxwell's old chestnut, Meteor Storm. It is super worth it? Not particularly, actually. Most of your most powerful enemies will be in 4-1 fights, or variations thereof. So Meteor Swarm's advantage, that it hits every enemy on the field, is negated in that case. As usual, you're in general better off when you focus as much firepower as you can on a single target. Anyway, it's nice-looking, at least. In any case, the Golems just have an added step, hit them with Maxwell or Elemental Shot to open them up for Power Combos. Otherwise, they'll be invulnerable to everything.They'll stay briefly vulnerable after one of those artes hits them, but you'll know it when you start doing 0 damage again. Anyway, it's still an enormously simple fight, made easier by the fact the damage you were able to do against the first Golem carries over into this one. As you might guess, I am *enormously* overleveled for this fight, and thus, I am bereft of interesting things to say about it. Well, strictly speaking, at the level I was when I recorded this video, I wasn't overleveled. I was using my alternate playthrough to record this, since the first recording did...not end well. However, my Tales weapons are more than making up for any level deficits with these guys. I will say the Elementals both enemies drop are pretty handy as accessories.  Jude! The spyrite is too much for him! I'm on it! We'll wrangle this thing together! No... It's not a matter of controlling it... We need to get in sync... We need to...find a way...to communicate... Ah... Interesting. So you do understand. Very well. Then prove yourself to me! What do you mean by "prove yourself"? "Muster thy will and prove thyself, for it shall serve as the contract that binds us." It's the same message as the spirit code... "It's called the "Hymn of Proof". It's supposed to be about longing to see someone."Well, I mean make up your own mind how much Song 4 U is about longing to see someone. Personally speaking, I didn't know they took "If It's For You" from the song itself, but hey, not like the first time the Tales series has done something like that. "Milla Kresnik had a wonderful singing voice. It's said she sang with such passion that even Lord Maxwell fell under her spell." Choosing L1 is definitely the correct one, because it increases various characters' affections (one of the last times in the game you can raise affection via choice), whereas R1 drags the scene out a bit longer, but... I mean, we can't give them all the answers, can we? The Hymn of Proof? Could that even be possible? It is entirely possible. Some speculate that singing started out as a form of prayer to higher powers. Maxwell, did you seek "proof" the very first time you were summoned by a human? I did. The Milla Kresnik who first summoned Maxewll... She was known as the singing handmaid. Then perhaps we should sign the Hymn of Proof passed down to her descendants... Jude. *nod* Jude and Milla start humming it...  Is it the "proof" that you sought after? *shakes head* No. It is nothing more than a song. Just a song that was composed on the spot by a young girl named Milla Kresnik. And the words? *shakes head* I suppose you could attribute the loss to humanity's hubris. But at the same time, the melody has persisted through the ages. I take that as a measure of sincerity. What is the song about? I ask you the same question. Tell me, Jude Mathis. What words would you choose for this song? *thinks* Lyrics fit for both humans and spirits. Heh heh heh. How modest. That girl, MIlla Kresnik... Unlike you, she was far more forceful. She sang about how she wanted to see me, and talk to me, and how she'd yank out my beard if I didn't show up. What a painful thought. It was like a little ditty for children! There was nothing fancy or elegant about it at all. But it did have a line about how she'd give me all her mana if I came out to see her... In that sense, you could say it was like a love song as well. I'm just as determined as she was. I can assure you I will make my version of hte song come true.Jude's like "Little too much information there...  It seems that unusual human beings such as yourself, somehow show up every few hundred years or so. And to make things interesting, a spirit who believes in him or her appears as well. Maxwell, at the end of the day, what is the "proof"? You should know that better than anyone else, Maxwell. It is the hearts of men. You did it, Jude! You managed to wield a Great Spirit spyrite. This is all thanks to you, Ludger. Ahem. And to me, of course! I see... All this itme, I already had my "proof" without even knowing it. Congrats, Jude. You've finally done it. No. We have only taken the first step. Gaius and the others should be all finished by now. Let's go ahead and make our way back to Lady Driselle's. Guess that's settled... There's a skit that pops up just after this scene for your consideration, then we're headed back to Driselle's for the last scene of the EX Chapter. I guess Ivar and Balan got their own rides.  The Trouble With Spyrites There was never a doubt in my mind. Forgive me for worrying you so, my lady. The concern in your eyes is obvious. Everything's going to be okay, Driselle! We smashed those golems to smithereens! So you even subdued the new model. Very good work. Thanks. Jude and Ludger persuaded the spyrite of Maxwell to help. Are you serious?One more fade to black... Wow, Jude, that's amazing! And quite a scoop, huh? Well, sure, but that's not why I'm so happy. Who knew that song would prove to be the key to spyrites. Well, in Maxwell's case, at least. Spirits are more like humans than we think. I bet each spirit requires its own "proof" to gain its trust. Spyrites sound like such a hassle. Well, they are! Look how much trouble Jude's had with 'em. You don't deserve to use spyrites with that attitude! Take it back, Ludger! I suppose this leaves Origin's Trial as our final obstacle. If we want to protect this world and its people...then it's time we make our way to the Land of Canaan! I assume chronologically, this took place sometime after Julius' death, but this is kinda undermined by what you have to do to make this bonus chapter show up. See, the way everyone's talking, and by what Bisley is doing right now, we don't have a moment to lose, and indeed, when we do show up in the final area of Canaan, Bisley's on the ropes. Xillia 2 has nasty case of the RPG Time Bubble, where the plot sets up the final battle as a point of crisis. If we don't move our rear end, the world comes to an end. Lots of games that are not RPGs also do this, come to think of it. However, I'm going to go off on a limb and say Xenosaga I has perhaps the most egregious case I know of this, staying in-genre. The final dungeon of the game is a space station that is about to crash into a planet, which you've been trying to reach all the game. The point of the final dungeon is to basically sabotage the space station and not, you know, have it crash into the planet. But, of course, once you arrive, you are free to bugger off and do whatever you want. It's pretty silly when you think about it.  But enough silliness, we've got the bonus dungeon to start going through. When you get here, you'll get a skit to introduce things. First off, let's begin by going to that purple hexagon. Let's take a look at our options...  We seem to be missing a couple... That's because of the first of the Darkness' gimmicks. You cannot bring any character who is below level 8 affection with you into the dungeon. HOWEVER, you can bring them along if said character below level 8 affection has a Bond of Shadow equipped. You'll recall we got one of those at the end of the game, before we started the post-game. Don't try to cheat the game, however. If you enter a character with a Bond of Shadow, taking it off any point will cause that character to be ejected from the dungeon, and you being permanently down a buddy. I would not advise doing that. At this point, any characters who are not at level 8 affection or close to it are probably not going to get there, just because there are very few affection choices left. So unless you want to use Linked Artes to very slowly grind affection, Friendship Potions are your best bet for getting over the line. In any case, you'll find out quickly why you need to make choices. After you've selected your party, you'll get a message that says "Amidst illusion and shadow, go forth and strive to return the light. Shouldst thou accept this task and be victorious, thine efforts shall be duly rewarded. Thy task is as such: shalt touch one of the three floating lights. Second, thou shalt touch all of the three floating lights. Third, thou shalt touch the lights in the following order: lantern, candle, torch."  Then you'll get dumped into this hub area. Now, there are 9 different doors in this hub area, one representing each of the characters you can bring here (however, as usual, Ludger is mandatory and the door directly ahead of him is always open). The doors are only open if the character it corresponds to is in the party. For example, Ludger is in the middle, Gaius is in the SW, Elize is on the lower east platform, Jude is in the top right, Milla in the top left. Basically, each character's "partner" character (like Gaius for Muzet, Alvin for Leia, etc.) will be on the opposite side of the hub area. Now, what did it mean when it talked about floating lights? Well...  In the hub areas, and the two stages (I'll get to those), there are three floating objects: a red lantern, a blue candle, and a green torch. If you get those three objects in order, you'll get this message...  "Obtained 1 Gold DIce! Obtained 1 Silver Dice!" Or maybe just 6 Ancient Bells. The Ancient Bells are an Illusionary Darkness-only currency used to buy some...interesting skins from a special shop that's only open in the Darkness. Now, as long as you collect even one floating light, there's a chance of getting Gold and Silver Die, but that chance is significantly increased by getting all 3 lights in-order. Let's talk about the first stage... But first, since I didn't record any of it, Gold and Silver Die are used for Poker. A Silver Die, while it's active, will guarantee you draw at least one Joker. A Gold Die, will guarantee you're dealt at least a Flush (sometimes it's a Straight Flush). Can make Poker grinding a lot less tedious, all in the name of getting more Friendship Potions and Royal Feasts. Why you want to get your buddies up to max affection...next time.  The first stage type: the Desert. In the Desert, the game gives you a certain enemy to kill, and a certain amount of time to do it in. Time elapses almost everywhere, except when viewing the map if you need a breather or a pause for whatever reason. If you do not defeat the required number of the target enemies, you fail and get kicked out of the dungeon, back to the starting area before you chose your party. This also happens if you get a Game Over at any point. The dungeon just tells you to piss off and come back when you're stronger, or whatever. In addition, you do have to finish the final battle by the time limit. Starting a battle with 30 seconds on the clock and taking a minute to finish it will cause you to fail. Now, also in the Desert, the enemy you are told to kill does not go by their name in the Bestiary. You're supposed to infer what the game is referring to. For example...  The Shadow Devil, being targeted here, is the "Wicked Centaur". Simple enough. Also, speaking of battles, all of the enemies drop the rarest crafting materials, the kind of materials needed for the best of the best equipment. Trouble is, even with the 2x item drop multiplier from the Grade Shop, the drop rate is extremely low. You'll want to have all of your major combat members equipped with Hunter's Monocles throughout, which gives the character who delivers the killing blow a +30% chance of getting their victim's item(s). Just remember to switch to something more useful during boss battles.  Oh, and before each dive into the Darkness, it would be wise to double up on Spicy Chicken Rolls (+80% EXP after a battle), and Creamy Beef Bowls (+50% Gald and EXP after a fight). Might as well maximize your gains. If you've defeated all the EX Monsters, though, you're not going to be getting many levels here, though. Level 200 is the max level, and it takes an absurd amount of time to get anyone on the team to that milestone.  Now then, once you've chosen a path and completed the first stage, you'll fight your first boss. Every single mid-boss is a character related to that character. So, Nachtigal on Rowen's path makes perfect sense. The only characters who are exceptions are Jude and Milla. On Jude's path, Milla is the mid-boss, and on Milla's path, the reverse. So, you can tell how fun it was to record this dungeon as me. Here's the full mid-boss line-up. Jude: Milla, Milla: Jude, Alvin: Presa, Elize: Jiao, Rowen: Nachtigal, Leia: Agria, Gaius: Wingul, Muzet: Maxwell, Ludger: Julius. Also, after each, the path character will speak about the shadow character fought, and those comments will be on the tail end of each battle video. There were recording problems with both Shadow Jude and Milla, so I am afraid those videos are lost. You honestly aren't missing a whole bunch. Without exception, the mid-bosses are significantly easier than the final boss on each path...  Notice Alvin's Squall Shot is only doing 1 damage. This is another of Darkness' gimmicks: unless a character is linked with another, all of their attacks will only do 1 damage. It's all about teamwork...  Once you've defeated the mid-boss, you'll get thrown into a second hub area. This hub area has different enemies for materials, and also a chance to choose a different path. Since the goal of Illusionary Darkness is to defeat every single boss, I would advise keeping things simple and staying on the same path. So off we go...  Platforms! The goal here is to pass through 3 illuminated hexagons to activate the final warp that'll take you to the boss. Now, the illuminated platforms are randomized, and you'll frequently need to change columns. You can do so by jumping down from platforms, and places you can jump are indicated by those little horns on the side of a hex. It's pretty tedious, but hey. This is just one of those tedious bonus dungeons the Tales series is oh-so-well known for. I will say, though, in terms of design, Nifelheim from Symphonia is the worst. That dungeon *sucked*. Abyss' bonus dungeon was just boring, but Nifelheim was offensively bad, only barely redeemed by a nice final final boss in the PS2 / 3 versions of the game. Now Phantasia, the big bonus dungeon of the game, The Depths of Moria, was actually really good. Sure it was dark as poo poo and had some really annoying encounters, but it had actually had a hidden boss of its own...and you know what? It was honestly not that great of a dungeon, but it had some neat treasures and stuff, and it wasn't just balls-out tedious like Illusionary Darkness is. Best I can say about this place is, the final secret boss is pretty cool, and directly leads into the Big Bad Final Final Boss of Tales of Xillia 2. That fight is really cool, actually, and *almost* worth the time wasted here. Oh yeah, and when it comes to gathering the three floating lights, I honestly wouldn't even bother trying to do it on platform levels. Just wastes too much time remembering the order + getting to the appropriate lights + where the lights even are.  And the final boss for each path? Why, a mirror fight against that character. Now, as you might expect, they are enormously more powerful than anyone in your party, and are a *huge* threat. Some more-so than others, but Rowen is definitely one of the most dangerous, just because of all the status effects he throws out. Anything that can cut down on status effects, like Laurels (one can be found in a treasure chest in a hub area, they cancel all negative status effects), you're going to want to use here. Anything that reduces damage is basically useless, since these shadows do a *ton* of damage anyway, and a few thousand damage reduced is probably not going to make a huge difference. Confusion is an especially nasty status effect to get hit with. Anyway, here's the line-up! Jude, Milla, Alvin, Elize, Rowen, Leia, Gaius, Muzet, Ludger. If I had to choose a top 3, I'd probably go Milla, Gaius, and Muzet, not necessarily in that order. Milla gets top-billing because she can activate Undine and heal a ton of damage, and naturally, it's always right when a single combo could probably destroy her... Anyway, you have Shadow Milla to thank for my most recent recording disaster. Also, none of these fights are pushovers. Like with Siennabronc EX, there is absolutely no playing around with this bunch. Also, in the last update, I had a screenshot where Gaius was mocking someone (it was one of the phantom cat screenshots). Shadow Milla was who he was referring to (screenshot was taken shortly after I finished that boss). Again, I don't know if I'd agree with him on that one. As for Shadow Muzet, again, she's difficult because she's a spellcaster, meaning she can throw around status effects like crazy, and you can't combo her. The reason I was throwing so many Elemental Hymns at her is because of the Stone possibility. It actually worked out decently well, but it's a real hard fight. The first Shadow [Player Character] defeated gives you a skit when you return to the starting area. As a final note, you do not refight the mini-bosses if you go down the same path, for material grinding or whatever (different monsters will appear in certain paths), but you do refight the shadows. However, winning or losing, as long as you've won before, doesn't matter after this. Because if you win, and you have more shadow bosses to defeat, you'll just get thrown out of the dungeon again, as you march ever-closer to the truth behind the darkness. If you lose, you'll be down the experience and Gald for winning, but the same happens.  So let's switch gears again until that's done! When I arrived in the Xian Du coliseum, I got a short skit (that becomes available in the post-game) where the party talked about a new rank being established at the coliseum, but the way this rank is unlocked is a bit...unclear, let's say. GameFAQs posted:How do you unlock the different ranks at the Coliseum? Yeah, good luck figuring that out without internet. And that's not even all the Coliseum has to offer! Anyway, the reason you want to do this is for the highest-tier of weapons and armor to be available at customization, AND, do you remember that weird old guy in the Nala Lava Tubes / Felgana Mine who was saying he doesn't want to do business with anyone who hadn't proved themselves in the coliseum? The Elite Tag Battle is what he was referring to. The difference between the two is Tag Battle is for any two characters of your choosing, and Party Battle is for a regular 4-member party to do battle with all the Elite Monsters, and a few friends. But don't worry, they're all significantly weaker than they used to be. This is yet another grind, but hey, that's the name of the post-game. I've got a video for an Elite Tag Battle and an Elite Party Battle. Good times. The final battle will always be against a party member + important NPC. Once again, GameFAQs to the rescue. The following spoiler is really something you'll want to avoid, if you want to keep the identity of the cameo characters secret until next update. This for those who know the truth. GameFAQs, again posted:Ludger: Wingul + Random Party Member + Bisley (Beat Wingul within 6 minutes) It all depends on who you chose as your first party member. For the Ludger hidden boss, unless you're getting lucky with enemies bunching together, it's pretty hard to get this without using the Devil's Arms. Actually, let's talk about those, while we're in the neighborhood. In many Tales games, starting with Symphonia, there is a special class of weapon that you get through small sidequests or hidden bosses, or some combination thereof. In Symphonia and Abyss (and Xillia 1), they are called the Devil's Arms, in Vesperia, the Fell Arms, but the concept is always the same. Defeating more and more enemies as a specific character will increase the power of these weapons. In Symphonia, for example, the game has a hidden counter that keeps track of the number of enemies a certain character has killed. Their Devil's Arms stats are powered up in proportion to their kill count. But to prevent this from being too broken a mechanic, you usually had to do something to "unlock" their power, namely defeating a super boss that, if they aren't the hardest fight in the game, they're not too far from the border. Well, Xillia 2 does have the Devil Arms, and you get them by completing an Elite Tag Battle run with that character in the party. They all have names like Forzex, The Destroyer, or Brandung, the Howling or likewise. I forget a lot of them. Anyway, aside from that there's no other hoops you have to jump through to unleash their true power. The one catch with them? As long as a character is using them, they take 2x the damage from enemy attacks, and that can kill you real fast. But likewise, when a character has maxed out on kills, their P. and A. ATKs are at 9999, more than twice the power of the Tales weapons. As far as LPing goes? I'll probably never use them. They're just too broken after three playthroughs of kills and their power going up so drat much. Just wouldn't be any fun, y'know? Now, Ludger? He gets a set of weapons called the Alliance Arms. He'll get the Alliance Guns and Hammer from the mailbox, after paying off a certain amount of money, and the Alliance Swords (they're called something else I also can't recall at the moment) from the coliseum. Now, the power of these weapons goes up with the number of Linked Artes Ludger participates in. Other than that, no negative effects. As you might expect, this effect is also very broken after a few playthoughs. Will also not be using these, for previously stated reasons. Just, y'know, for the record.  One final note: wrapping up an ancient sidequest. Once you've acquired all 100 Kitties, talk to the batty cat lady again.  Actually, I think some of these cats might not even be mine, but oh well. No need to get catty at a time like this! And as a special treat, I'll give you some hints about where you can find three great treasures! The first is located "underneath where sits he who rules the snowbound keep, sealed by Maxwell's hand." The second is located "beyond the most narrow crevice under the land where a magnificent frog dwells." The third is located "at the foot of a shining tree by a river that runs between daytime and nighttime."She doesn't say anything special once you've gotten all three, so let's grab all of them, shall we?  First, "Snowbound keep" and "sits he who rules", should be your key phrases for the first item. Obviously referring to Gaius' throne itself. Forget which Kitty Item you get here. There's a hat, a pin, and something else. Not really important.  For the second clue, "Magnificent frog" is the key word here. We've encountered a lot of "narrow crevices" on this ridiculous journey of ours, but only one location connects one of those with a marvelous frog: the Tatalian Abyss. This one is a corner of B3F, so feel free to nab it by crawling through and scooping it up.  And finally, the one common thread for all the clues in the third riddle? "Shining tree", "river", and "through daytime and nighttime"? Only Brauner Highroad, just outside of Fennmont, fits all three. The areas closer to Gandala are in the daytime, nearer to Fennmont is night. Brauner does have a river, as seen in the distance, and it also has shining trees. The one in front of Ludger holds the final Kitty Item. And that's a wrap for this busy update. Next time, another action-packed update as we finish Illusionary Darkness, the bonus boss at the Xialen Woods Temple, and the True Final Boss of Tales of Xillia 2, in the final regular update! Update 36 alternate scene compilation Final victory compilation video Of course, a ton of end-battle quotes I got but didn't record or forgot I had, ton more I couldn't get because I didn't have the DLC costumes...it goes on. Ultimately, you have to draw a line somewhere, y'know? Especially when you're near the end of a long LP and you're kinda wanting it to be over. The Tag Battle and Skit videos have added victory quotes I wanted to bring along for the ride appended at the end of the them. Sylphid fucked around with this message at 17:26 on Jan 13, 2017 |
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Jan 13, 2017 07:52
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Now that everything's on the table (at least I'm pretty sure none of this gets brought up in the endings), let's have a rousing round of the the true story of Millia Kresnik and why Chronos is a loving moron. -Milla Kresnik uses the Hymn of Proof to make contact with Maxwell. -When Elympios begins making spyrixes, Milla Krenik becomes Maxwell's representative in warning them of the dangers spyrixes represent. Her and Maxwell's declaration goes unheeded and spyrix production continues. -The Three Primordial Spirits: Maxwell, Chronos, and Origin, discuss their response to spyrix creation. Chronos wants to exterminate them, Maxwell wants... whatever and Origin comes up with the Trial. -Maxwell, with no faith left in humans, creates the schism and Rieze Maxia. He invites Milla Kresnik and her clan to come with him, but she, and a number of her clanmates refuse. Milla Kresnik hasn't given up on humanity yet. -The Kresnik Clan begins warring with each other over the Wish that's a reward of the Trial. In addition to the fact that Chromatus L4 is needed and that's best brought out by combat. -Milla Kresnik eventually succumbs to Catalyzation and forms the First Fractured Dimension. Here, Maxwell didn't leave her and the clan didn't devolve into infighting so they work together to collect the Waymarkers. -It takes way too long, but Milla Kresnik collects four of the Waymarkers. The only one left is the L4 Chromatus. Which belongs to Millia Kresnik's grandson. -The grandson's wife takes it from him, so Millia and the wife—Lara Lara Travis, summon Chronos and demand passage to Canaan to end this nonsense. -Chronos asks for proof—and Lara Lara Travis takes this as murder and fatally wounds Milla Kresnik. -Milla Kresnik remembers this is a Fractured World and those can't reach Canaan so her whole life has been pointless. -Lara Lara Travis's fetus becomes the next Dimensional Catalyst Host. Chronos could have easily ended the Trial and Origin's suffering almost 2,000 years prior but didn't. Chronos full and welly cheats when it comes to punishing humans . He had the choice of Origin's safety or winning and he choose the latter. Choose the latter repeatedly. McTimmy fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Jan 15, 2017 |
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Jan 13, 2017 10:33
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As tedious as the Illusionary Darkness dungeon sounds, screenshots of it look mind-bendingly cool.McTimmy posted:Now that everything's on the table (at least I'm pretty sure none of this gets brought up in the endings), let's have a rousing round of the the true story of Millia Kresnik and why Chronos is a loving moron. I don't understand the plot of the game that well, but is the reason why Chronos is an rear end in a top hat because he didn't allow Millia from the fractured dimension that was peaceful to succeed? There's still a lot about the plot that I don't understand.
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Jan 13, 2017 14:52
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EagerSleeper posted:I don't understand the plot of the game that well, but is the reason why Chronos is an rear end in a top hat because he didn't allow Millia from the fractured dimension that was peaceful to succeed? There's still a lot about the plot that I don't understand. Chronos is some sort of spirit supremacist rear end in a top hat. There are three Millas. -Prime Milla Maxwell, who is currently in the party and was the heroine of Xillia 1. -Fractured Milla, who was in the party but died to bring Prime Milla back. -Milla Kresnik, who 2,000 years ago summoned Maxwell. She managed to acquire all the Waymarkers and nearly stop the Trial, but had become a Fractured Dimension doing so. Now, by the "law" of the Trial, Chornos's only job was to escort whoever in the Prime gathered the Waymarkers to Canaan. This is Chornos's sole and only job in the Trial, so, by that thought, he was within his role to ignore bringing her to Canaan. However, Chronos is a big crying baby and cheats. He introduces Chromatus into the Trial, hunts down anyone who can complete the Trial, and deliberately murders Keys of Kresnik because only they have the power to stop him. Even when the Prime acquires the Waymarkers—as seen in-game—Chronos refuses to take the party up to Canaan. His one actual job and he ignores it. Origin's role is to maintain the balance of souls. When there was only the Prime Dimension, this was all fine and effortless. But now he's dealing with hundreds of thousands of Fractured Dimension's worth of souls straining and tormenting him. The source of these Fractured Dimensions, has its roots with Chornos, who introduced Chromatus, which then makes Fractured Dimensions. Chronos's actions are the primary source of Origin's burden, but he blames humanity for it, because they use something he gave them—and outright need—to complete the Trial. Chronos has had multiple times, throughout 2,000 years, to bring people who have assembled Waymarkers in Fractured Dimensions to Canaan and end the Trial to save Origin. He is fully willing to cheat to ensure humanity fails but not to save Origin. He is outright much more concerned with being right than actually ending Origin's pain—which he caused.
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Jan 13, 2017 15:45
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Again, lots of interesting backstory, that will be added to an update somewhere. You have my thanks again, McTimmy. What I like about Chronos is that Origin even points this out to him in the ending, in his own way by saying he really is acting just like the humans he hates. Even when his buddy is finally free, Chronos just can't help himself in being in rear end in a top hat for no reason, especially when humanity has already passed the Trial. He made the Trial as absolutely hard as possible for any potentially Canaan-bound individuals, to the point of basically making the Trial unwinnable. Of course, Bisley also went too far when almost all of his anger at the spirits is directed squarely at Chronos, for killing his wife, and preventing him from reaching Canaan under any circumstances. Also, the thing with Xillia 2 is that a lot of its backstory and not-really-explained bits are Japan-only stuff. I can guarantee you the name "Lara Lara Travis" never once shows up in the game, at least insofar as I'm aware, as well as the eventual fate of Milla Kresnik after Rieze Maxia was created. It's that interesting "I feel like I'm missing stuff" feeling you don't get from a lot of video game plots, and whether that's good or bad...guess that's for you to decide. I mean, the broad strokes of the plot obviously happen within the game, but the finer points, like the story of Victor's fractured dimension or the above plot points...yeah, that's something never elaborated upon in the game.
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Jan 13, 2017 17:24
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Even if it makes it irritating bonus content, I like a dungeon that makes use of a notable game mechanic like linking.
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Jan 14, 2017 22:30
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Lara Lara Travis is really more of a localization joke. The first name is shared with Elle's mother, and that was changed to Lara in the localization.
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Jan 14, 2017 23:29
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McTimmy's Spoilered Text posted:spyrites You mean Spyrixes. Spyrites are the things Jude invented to replace Spyrixes.
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Jan 15, 2017 18:28
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KieranWalker posted:You mean Spyrixes. Spyrites are the things Jude invented to replace Spyrixes. Whoops, right.
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Jan 15, 2017 20:30
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Thanks for clearing up the backstory.
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Jan 16, 2017 06:27
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