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They got a little heavy-handed with that Innocent One business, didn't they. Gotta make sure we know she's the Chosen One, after all.  That aside, I'm enjoying this, looking forward to Rudy's scenario. And I think it's saying something that Cecilia's route has the most talking/info-dump stuff so far. At least there's quite a bit of lore if I remember right. Also that part with using the pocket watch to fix the librarian's mess is just laziness on her part.  Can't have her fix it again next time it happens, Cecilia's left the convent! Can you rename the Guardians, or are they stuck on default and unchangeable?
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Apr 20, 2018 06:56
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The Guardians all have fixed names. None are changeable.
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Apr 20, 2018 07:00
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vilkacis posted:You'll have to post when we get there, because I want to know if I'm right, dammit It'll come back to you when I do.
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Apr 20, 2018 23:15
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Was excited to see this LP in the LP Announcement thread, so I'm following it. I have (perhaps surprisingly) fond memories of Wild Arms 3, 4, and 5, yet surprisingly never played this one in this form or in its rerelease. So I'll be following along with you! Excite!
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Apr 23, 2018 07:27
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In the most non spoiler way possible, is there any continuity between this game and the other numbered ARMs games, or is each entry separate like Final Fantasy?
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Apr 23, 2018 21:48
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Shadow225 posted:In the most non spoiler way possible, is there any continuity between this game and the other numbered ARMs games, or is each entry separate like Final Fantasy? It's more the latter, but some of the recurring elements, particular between this game and WA3, are major plot characters. To the point that I can't tell if WA3 is an actual sequel to this one or if it's like Meteor being plot relevant in both FFIV and FFVII, but are two completely different things.
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Apr 23, 2018 22:05
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That is a really good explanation. I also somehow do not remember Meteor in FF4. Thanks
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Apr 23, 2018 22:16
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they take place on the same planet but i believe theyre meant to be alternate versions of each other, like 'the events of WA1/2 didn't happen in 3's universe, but its the same setting' if that makes sense.
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Apr 23, 2018 23:29
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Huh. I jumped from 1 to I think 4 or 5 and noticed that the world seemed to be a whole lot drier and shittier. Like from a western landscape to Mad Max wasteland.
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Apr 24, 2018 01:43
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Shitenshi posted:It's more the latter, but some of the recurring elements, particular between this game and WA3, are major plot characters. To the point that I can't tell if WA3 is an actual sequel to this one or if it's like Meteor being plot relevant in both FFIV and FFVII, but are two completely different things. My personal theory is that the series reach self-reference critical mass in 5 and imploded on itself.
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Apr 24, 2018 02:11
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I think so as well, but supposedly, ACF did not specifically exist because it is called "Fake". There might be manga that takes up where some games left off.
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Apr 24, 2018 03:12
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Rockopolis posted:Huh. I jumped from 1 to I think 4 or 5 and noticed that the world seemed to be a whole lot drier and shittier. Like from a western landscape to Mad Max wasteland. And the world becoming drier and shittier is a specific plot point in most of the games, 3 in particular.
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Apr 24, 2018 16:12
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Bonus Part 1 - Curan Abbey NPCs 1 Previously, we watched a Catholic schoolgirl burn books and beat up monsters. This time: talking to people. And books; can't forget the books. Music - Abbey  Our first trip around the abbey starts immediately after the initial cutscene concludes and we gain control of Cecilia for the first time. Starting with Cecilia's blonde friend...  Her brunette friend below has this to say:  They are waiting!Riveting. And Sister Mary, her teacher:  Cecilia, you're almost ready to leave the abbey. Your life from here on is going to be a journey. You must be cautious.Hmmm. Seems she might have an inkling of what's in store for the Princess. As for the girl over by the bookcase:  The [Tear Drop] crystal is very beautiful. It is supposed to have special powers hidden inside.Standard-issue Magical Princess Plot MacGuffin, really. Let's head to the classroom to the left; there's only one student in there.  There's also a bookcase here, but I'll cover all the books in the abbey later on in the update, all at once. Let's focus on the people for now. Over on the right side of the back wing of the abbey is the library, and talking to the girl in there sets you off looking for the Pocket Watch to use time magic to put books back on shelves. Which honestly sounds 100% accurate to how far out of their way teenagers in real life will go to avoid any real work. But next to the library is another classroom.  The Red Crest, [Fray]... Attack and Destruction. The power of Fire. The White Crest, [Wing]... Change and Prosperity. The power of Wind. The Black Crest, [Muse]... Adjustment and Growth. The power of Water. Aaarggh... Don't talk to me! I've got to memorize this stuff!She talks about the four Crests used to create spells. The teacher gives what would ordinarily be your first spare Crest Graph, and is covered in the main update. Talking to her again gives this:  It is difficult to use magic correctly. But, if you keep it up, you will someday succeed. You were my best student.Her dialogue does not change until the end of the update, so it'll be a while before we see her again. Moving down to the right side of the courtyard:  And moving on, we get to the first of the folks in the front wing of the abbey.  He must know a lot about the abbey.The kitchen is right below her, so let's go see about that.  But first I decide to see if the waitress/assistant has any different dialogue depending upon where you speak to her. Verdict: She does not.  You... It's not dinner time yet!The stairs next to the kitchen lead up to Anje, who gives the Pocket Watch in exchange for a little help with her experiment. But if you talk to her before the girl in the library:  It can also correct small flaws in magic spells.She still upsells the Watch, but won't give it to us. Back downstairs, we have the entranceway and the nun who gives us the hint about "showing the Light to two mages at once" after we find out about the Sealed Library. You are not allowed to leave without permission.Hey, they can't all be gems. Back inside, we head up the other stairway to the dormitories.  This is the girl who acts as an inn. She asks her "If you're tired, you're welcome to take one of the beds" question after this. Let's go talk to Lila. Cecilia... You eat so much! You have gotten to be known as the [Glutton Woman]. The great mage of... Ouch!Fat jokes and slapstick. Truly the pinnacle of comedic writing. It seems Cecilia has somewhat of a reputation around the abbey, though. A bit of a Lina Inverse situation. The next NPC is downstairs, next to the Magic Guild. To jog your memory, she's the girl who tells us about the switches on the statues in the courtyard.  Aren't you?Then up to the other side of the courtyard...  A slight hint for later. Hidden just offscreen to the north is a nun, who has this to say to Cecilia: You've studied hard. You are a full magician.A translation using "magician" instead of one of the numerous other English words for the concept of someone who can use magic bugs me a bit, probably because I picture a stage magician instead of a spellslinger when I hear the word. I think even a literal translation of mahou-tsukai (assuming that's what the Japanese script uses) as "magic-user" would be better in most cases. But the game uses "sorceress" or "shaman" to refer to Cecilia more often than it does "magician", so even for a nitpick like that it's not a big deal.  At this point, we've completed our first circuit of the abbey grounds. The first set of dialogue changes is triggered by getting the Pocket Watch, cleaning up the library, and finding out about the Sealed Library.  Please be careful. May the Guardians be with you...Talking to Sister Mary a second time gets you this. Talking to the librarian nets this: This is just a rumor... A [Light] is supposed to be the key to opening the door. A warm, powerful [Light]. I don't know what the Light is.And the girl over by the bookcase has this to say. Usually [Sealed] books are hidden somewhere hard to find.Possibly the most useless and inane statement in this update. The two other girls in the room, and the girl in the next classroom, all tell you to talk to Sister Mary, Lila, and Jacques the chef for more information about the Sealed Library. We've already heard what Sister Mary has to say on the subject, and we'll see in a bit how useful the other two are. But I didn't show off Cecilia's brunette friend's new dialogue in the main update, so let's take a look at that. That took long enough. Where were you? Did you get to see everyone? [Sealed Library]... That rumor has been floating around forever. It's supposed to be in the abbey and full of forbidden texts. Those books are scary... If you want to know more, you should ask Sister Mary or one of the older teachers.Talking to her again after opening the Sealed Library nets this: The abbey is very old. There are many strange rumors and tales about it. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a book like the one you talked about.As far as I know, she's the only character with updated dialogue after you unlock the Sealed Library. It could also be that she randomly just has two lines that she says after you clean the library; I didn't talk to her a "second" time until after I had already been in the Sealed Library.  The classroom to the right of the library keeps the exact same dialogue. Studying girl is too busy for us, and the teacher forgot to sprinkle some sage advice into her "Magic is hard, but you're a protagonist so you'll do fine" speech. The next NPC with updated dialogue is the nun in the courtyard just below.  And back inside, to the kitchen. I hear that this abbey was built on an ancient ruin.So, to the person who asked how you get permission to build the secret hidden library into your abbey, the answer is apparently "build the abbey on top of the secret hidden library". As for the folks inside the kitchen...  Chef Jacques, in the back, knows a lot about this place. He's been here a long time. [Sealed Library]... I've heard of it before. Something about the showing of a light being the key...As we can see, Jacques does have a somewhat useful hint, but the nun outside the abbey basically says the same thing, but gets a bit more specific, which makes her more useful. Now we head up to Anje.  If there is a [Sealed Library], it must contain the forbidden texts.We already know what the nun outside says, so upstairs to the dorms we go. Inn Girl's new dialogue is short and sweet.  So on we go to Lila, the final person we are directed by the game to go talk to for information about the Sealed Library. I'm not the only one who knows this... The [Sealed Library] is a popular rumor around here. Something acts as a key to open the door or something.Thanks, Lila. You sure did manage to say a whole lot of nothing, there.  The second and final set of dialogue changes happens for the victory lap around the abbey after defeating Nelgaul and freeing Stoldark. Let's start back in Cecilia's old classroom, with her friends. I've known you all my life, Cecilia. When it comes to studying and eating, I have no chance against your hunger for knowledge and hamburgers. Come by anytime. We'll always be friends, even if you do become a princess.Uh, I'm pretty sure she's already a princess. It's not a job you can apply for. And now let's see what that girl up by the bookcase has to say. Please be careful with your eating problem. Then again, when has eating ever been a problem for you?I imagine that as a dumb 13-year-old, I probably found this kind of stuff funny, but now it's just kind of sad. Let's hope the girl in the next-door classroom has something less disappointing to say.  This seems more like a proper send-off, rather than the parting shots her "friends" in her own class were taking. Over in the library: Do your best, my Princess, and I'll do mine.Hopefully, that involves not screwing up the library so badly you need time-travelling magic to fix it. In the next-door classroom: I'm going to start a school of magic for everyone to attend... I wonder what kind of princess you'll become.Studying Girl has big dreams. I have no idea how she plans to teach magic (or found Hogwarts) when she's having trouble memorizing the four most basic aspects of it, though. Magic is a difficult skill to master, but practice makes perfect. You will do well. You're the best student in Curan Abbey.The teacher basically restates her original dialogue. But suddenly Cecilia's gone from being her best student to being the best in the whole drat school, apparently. They should have had her prepare a speech.  Don't forget the care in your heart.Outside, this nun lectures Cecilia on the Power of Love and Friendship or something. Back over to the kitchen... So, you're going home... Well, don't forget anything. Don't cry just because you're going to miss my burgers. Everyone leaves after graduation. Just thinking about it makes me sad.Alright, upstairs to talk to Anje. So, you're going back to Adlehyde. Just remember that magic isn't the only thing you've learned.We'll skip the nun at the entrance for now; it makes more sense to get her just as we leave. So next up is the dorms again. The Ruin Festival in Adlehyde must have a lot of news to report on. I want to go so bad!Lila is just called a "gossip" in this version of the game, but in Alter Code F, she actually runs a newspaper or something. Here we get a hint that she might have done the same in the Japanese script for this version as well.  The capital city has so much culture...I wish we could take you with us, Girl by the Magic Guild. You are the Most Useful Schoolgirl and deserve a reward. Sadly, the abbey has some pretty draconian exit rules, and even day trips simply aren't allowed.  Has the Ruin Festival started yet? The world outside is tough. Don't give up.The final farewells of the folks in the courtyard. Finally we have the nun at the entrance, just before we leave.  And now for the books! Obviously, the books don't ever have anything new to say, so one go 'round will suffice here. However, the fact that both the abbey proper and the Sealed Library have plenty of bookcases means that there's still plenty of text to go.  No one has been able to stop the degeneration of Filgaia.  About 1,000 years ago, a race of Metal Demons tore through Filgaia. The Guardians, the Elws, and the Humans won the war at a considerable cost. After the Guardians lost their strength, the land could not maintain its life force... The weak faded away... The Elw disappeared, never to be seen again.  There are advanced machines found all over Filgaia. Many of them are weapons. Scientists refer to them as [ARMs].  ARMs and relics of ancient battles have been excavated from the same layer of soil.  They are the protectors of Filgaia. As faint as they are, the Guardians are living among us on this desolate world. All things come from the Guardians' power.  Do not fear failure. You can always dissolve a spell.  The Earth Dragon, Gurdijeff. The Fire Bird, Moa Gault. The Wind Tiger, Fengalon. The Water Turtle, Stoldark. The four elemental Guardians. Probably a good time to talk about these guys, right? They're all based on the Si Xiang, four constellations important in Chinese mythology. Each one represents a direction and a season, with the Azure Dragon (Qinglong) representing the east and spring, the Vermillion Bird (Zhu Que) representing the south and summer, the White Tiger (Bai Hu) representing west and autumn, and the Black Turtle (Xuanwu) representing the north and winter. Alter Code F localizes three of their names differently, as Grudiev, Moor Gault, and Schturdark, respectively. Fengalon, the White Tiger, gets to keep his name. Anyways, that's all the books in the abbey. Now on to the Sealed Library. Let's start with the actual library room.  Knowledge can be a guide or an obstacle depending on how you handle it.  Knowledge has true power when it is needed. Sometimes, though, it is more important to act on intuition.  Too much knowledge can blind the viewer. There is never a moment when this should be forgotten.  Together, the Humans and the Elws were finally able to defeat the Demon Queen. The Queen's heart was forever sealed into three separate Guardian statues.  The life of Filgaia has been sustained by linking the weakened Guardians together, through a pipeline called the Rayline. This was a last ditch effort of the weakened Guardians to support Filgaia to this day. And this is where we get the thread title from. I'll be honest; I'd forgotten about this book and thought that the payoff for that would take quite a while longer to get to. Also, apparently it's one word, not two. Whoops.  Anyways, "Rayline" is supposed to be "ley line", as in the belief that certain land formations hold spiritual or magical significance. The actual term was coined in 1921 by Alfred Watkins, and then popularized in 1969 by John Michell. Alter Code F fixes this goof... for the most part. Guardians, Elws and Humans fought to protect Filgaia. Of the Guardians, the Guardian of [Desire] sided with the demons. The shadow of a black wolf, disappeared with the Demon Race.  The enigmatic Elw race... Much of the Elw magic was truly astonishing. The specialized in magic related to biology. One of their technologies converted life force to energy for transport to other locations.  At the bloodiest point in the war, one Elw forged a sword of ultimate power. This sword had the ability to channel the Guardians' power through its blade. There is no record of the sword being used in battle, but it was about that time that the demons withdrew from the war. There is no doubt that the Guardian Blade was a major factor in the war.  Soon after the war with the Demon Race, the Elws disappeared from Filgaia. They used what powers they had remaining and moved an island still teeming with life to another dimension. Their destination is known as the Elw dimension.  Is it because humans do not have wings that they constantly strive to reach the heavens? With science seemingly limitless, some people reached for the heavens from a massive tower dedicated to magic.  There once was a Guardian who chased the tail of a falling star. He came crashing down to Filgaia with the falling star. The Guardian of the [Star Light], [Ligudobleit]. Does he still sleep next to the fallen star somewhere in Filgaia? The Guardian referred to here is called Rigdobrite in Alter Code F. Considering his theme seems to be stars and light, I'd say Agetec managed to un-gently caress this one. Good job, guys!  After the great war, a huge magical machine was built to restore the land from the devastation. The machine was named [Yggdrasil], after the tree in the legends. The demons discovered the machine and stole the reviving mechanisms. Rather than use the mechanism to give birth to new land, the demons' leader [Mother] used it to give birth to more demons.  Since the war with the demons 1000 years ago, many monsters have been born all over Filgaia. [Rago Ragla], the [King of the Beasts] sleeps somewhere in Filgaia.  The basis for the elemental crest magic is the binding of two elements together to generate magic. There are 32 secret elemental spells kept by the Magic Guild that are more powerful than the normal spells available.  It is normally impossible to cast two spells at once. The Great Mage Dhee devised a method to cast two spells simultaneously.  After many failures, the Magic Guild was able to organize the crest combination into 32 secret spells. Some continued the research to take the magic even further...  The Thousand Poem Legend prophesied the coming of Angol Moa. The demigod, Angol Moa will arrive at a promised time to destroy and recreate all. He is known as the ultimate existence.  There exists a secret sect of Guardianist who worship the power of the Guardians. These extremists believe in a complete return to nature, as opposed to the harmonized coexistence with nature taught by Curan Abbey. They left the safety of the common world to develop and instill their beliefs discreetly.  The Rings of Timespace contain a power that no human should ever possess. The Rings of Timespace are a seal that holds down the boundaries of time and space. The Ring consists of two alignment circles. Once circle designates Northwest, Southwest, Southeast and Northeast. The other circle designates West, South, East and North.  During the age of creation, one woman had received a secret book from a heavenly messenger. The book contained information about the creation of the universe. It is said that it contains theories on alchemy and the ways of the heavens.  The cold hard bodies of the demons are made of metal. Their metal bodies, however, have most of the same traits of a biological entity. The ancient Mages of the art of Alchemy studied captive demons to learn from their technology. That is how we came to create the golems.  The Demon Race has technology that allows them to travel across time and space. They have also developed a device that utilizes this technology to instantly transport troops to a faraway location. The demons' attacks seemed to use this strategy...  The dead area called the [Sand River], was caused by the battle against the Demon Race a thousand years ago. The massive destructive powers drained the life from the entire area.  Use the different elements to enhance your power against the opponent's elements. Using fire against ice monsters, for example, will increase the effectiveness of your attack. Welcome to JRPGs 101, here is your textbook.  The Guardians sometimes use their power for earthquakes and lightning. But it is all part of the energy we need to sustain life on Filgaia.  The eight golems were built by humans a thousand years ago to fight off the invasion of the Demon Race. All but one still remains deep inside the ruins... A real study of these artifacts can only be done when all eight of the golems are excavated.  In the realm of the Elws, the powers of nature are used as magic... They live on the path of eternity. They have long, hairy ears but their silhouettes are human. No one knows the reason why they left or where they have gone... But we just read the book that said they made their own dimension and hosed off to there! We know exactly where they went, we just can't get there!  The [Ring of Grace] has forgotten this land... Our continent will eventually end in warm desolation.  In the ancient days, Guardians represented basic human nature. There were three Guardians who were in charge of higher energies beyond the four basic energies. These three Guardians were in charge of those who lived their lives according to their energies. These were: The [Courage] Guardian, who had the power of growth beyond oneself. The [Love] Guardian, who had the power to protect what is precious. And the [Hope] Guardian, who had the power to believe in the future. In the old days, these three energies existed in everyone's hearts. Now, people have forgotten the meaning of these energies.  The other moon that floats above the night sky, shines its dull light down on the surface of Filgaia. Some say it's the Castle of the demons and is made of magic silver... We have no way of knowing now...  Each unassuming tool has a mystic power within it. This power can be brought out of the tools depending on the psychic abilities of the user. This describes Cecilia's Level 1 Force ability, Mystic, which I didn't demonstrate in the main update because it's mostly pointless when she's solo. Don't worry; I'll show it off eventually. Note that it's referring to items, not Tools. Down in the room where we found Nelgaul and Stoldark, there are two last bookshelves. The first one...  A magic seal prevents it from opening! We'll be getting back to that one later.  No one really knows who the Guardians are... The only place one can see them is in the legends. And that's it for the books, and for this update! Next time, we actually meet the gunslinger in this Western fantasy.
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Apr 25, 2018 01:54
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I'd forgotten how chatty everyone in the abbey was, my goodness.
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Apr 25, 2018 02:20
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Leraika posted:I'd forgotten how chatty everyone in the abbey was, my goodness.
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Apr 25, 2018 02:32
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Yeah, I know I said you should revisit locations after completing each route to see the different dialogue, but looking at it now, don't feel pressured to do it. It's definitely one of those things that's more enjoyable while playing the game. I'm just surprised that they went to go through so much trouble to adjust the dialogue of random NPCs based on who you use to talk to them with, especially this early in the game. I don't think that's something they do later on and in other areas when the main storyline comes into focus.
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Apr 25, 2018 03:31
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"Magic-user" has a long and respectable history as an English phrase. I know Quest for Glory used it (and specifically distinguished Magic-Users from both Wizards and characters that had points in the Magic skill), but I think it actually goes all the way back to D&D.
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Apr 25, 2018 04:20
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ManxomeBromide posted:"Magic-user" has a long and respectable history as an English phrase. I know Quest for Glory used it (and specifically distinguished Magic-Users from both Wizards and characters that had points in the Magic skill), but I think it actually goes all the way back to D&D.
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Apr 25, 2018 04:47
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Cecilia stopped being a Hamburglar in ACF, but that wasn't the worst change to her character. They made her boring as hell.
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Apr 25, 2018 06:07
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So...the demons are 40k Necrons? What with being robotic masters of teleportation?
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Apr 25, 2018 08:56
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Hamburgers  What kills me is it's just loving chow mein in ACF. Not some super obscure dish, just... noodles. And if that was really too obscure for the tiny, tiny brains they expect their target audience to have, they could just called it "pasta". Well, at least they didn't go with hot dogs. ...Goddamn that's a lot of semi-spoilers in those books, I didn't remember that they told you about second-tier magic this early.
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Apr 25, 2018 15:10
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I am going to be honest here: I was on my third replay of this game before I figured out the red bit of Anje's sprite was supposed to be a fancy scarf and not an immaculately maintained beard. I was a stupid, stupid child.
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Apr 25, 2018 16:16
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Those books sure reminded me of a ton of stuff late in the game. Almost makes me want to grab my copy and play along.
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Apr 25, 2018 16:46
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vilkacis posted:Hamburgers Or donuts. Jelly filled donuts.
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Apr 25, 2018 17:03
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ManxomeBromide posted:(and specifically distinguished Magic-Users from both Wizards and characters that had points in the Magic skill),
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Apr 25, 2018 17:32
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Man, I forgot how much foreshadowing they do in the secret library! Are you going to be referring back to the books when they become relevant, Keene?
placid saviour fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Apr 25, 2018 |
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Apr 25, 2018 18:14
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Xander77 posted:How?
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Apr 25, 2018 21:51
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Yeah, "Magic User" was the class in QfG 1 and 2, and becoming a Wizard is a plot point for the Magic-User class in 2. From 3 on that class was named "Wizard" because the assumption was that QfG2 had happened. There were various ways that Fighters or Thieves could get some points in the Magic skill, and would get access to some spells that way - but certain plot elements throughout the entire series hinge on which class you are declared as, so a magic-using Fighter or Thief would get those variants. An additional bonus class was introduced later that actually changed your class, and if you went from Wizard to that, you stopped getting Wizardly plot events. Unless that "how" was "how do you get magic points on your Thief", in which case you can do it by spending all your upgrade points on the Magic skill at character creation, or wishing for Magic from the Djinn of the Ring in QfG2. I'm afraid I have nothing insightful to say about Wild Arms, though - this is one of those series I've heard about over the years but never played, and I'm mostly here to learn about it. 
ManxomeBromide fucked around with this message at 04:41 on Apr 27, 2018 |
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Apr 27, 2018 04:37
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Ha! I forgot that actually used to be a thing. Though I understand changing it more in this case since it's a more obscure food and the show is aimed at younger kids.
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Apr 28, 2018 01:45
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Part 3 - Rudy the Wandering Youth Previously, we spent half an hour talking to poeple and reading books. Today, we get to the final character route, and finally meet our gunslinger. Music - Hope  We open with narration and a gradual pan across a pastoral village. A devastated environment filled with ferocious monsters plague the people of Filgaia who desperately try to cling to their land.  "Dream Chaser" here was localized as "Wanderer" in Alter Code F, and "Drifter" in 3, 4, and 5, IIRC. Drifter certainly fits the Western aesthetic the game is going for, but I feel Dream Chaser is pretty cool too.   This seems a bit odd to me, because there's a bunch of dialogue in the village that states that Surf is definitely not Rudy's hometown, and suggests he just got here fairly recently. If so, isn't he already a Dream Chaser?    You turned out to be OK. By the way, what's your name? Rudy, you're stronger than you look. The horses seem happy. Here's today's pay. Sorry kid, this is all the village can afford. You should see if the mayor has any more work for you. Thanks again! See ya.At this point, we gain control. Let's take a look at our new character, shall we?  Rudy has the highest VIT (and thus Defense). His HP and attack are middle of the road; slightly less than Jack's. His SOR, MGR and RES are abysmal; he folds like paper from magic attacks and will pretty much always be going last, barring stat-boosting items/equipment.  His only special ability right now is Hand Cannon, which does exactly what you think it does. Rudy is unique in that his special abilities (the ARMs mentioned in one of the books last update) run off of bullets, not MP. I'll go into what that means when we pick up another ARM for him. We'll go see the mayor.... eventually. But first thing we do is talk to this guy again. By the way, Rudy. Can you help out with the horses?Wandering around the stables, there are some horses and chickens. The horses just make a neighing sound effect when interacted with, and I'm pretty sure they don't even move. But just like Legend of Zelda, you can pick up and throw the chickens.  Around the back of the... barn (or whatever that is), there are some crates.  Smashing them gives us a Heal Berry, and...  Our first stat-booster. Hardy Apples increase VIT by 1. I'll probably hold a vote on who gets what after we've got a few more under our belts.  Up in the actual stable building, we find this boy, named Tony.  Do you want to know why? Yes. Ha ha ha. I can't tell you! Maybe when I get back. No. No?... Hmm... You didn't find out, did you?Well, this child is clearly planning something wholesome and won't be causing any trouble in the near future.  On the other side of the stables' fence is this child, who is surprisingly well-versed in the local history. But the last seed was used to kill a monster, so there are no more. You wanna hear more? Yes. Long ago, a monster prevented the villagers from collecting berries from the cave. The villagers hired many bounty hunters. But the monster kept coming back to life over and over again.As everyone began to give up, one of the bounty hunters had a brilliant idea. His idea was to plant a Holy Berry seed inside the monster while it was regenerating. The Holy Berry sprouted and sealed the monster with its magic. Nobody believes the story anymore. It's considered a fairy tale. No. I don't blame you. No one believes in the story anymore.Over by the village well is this man.  I hear the world is coming to an end. It must be an OMEN!Crazy doomsday cultists always spring up this time of year.  In a crate next to this house (actually the Mayor's house; we'll see the inside... eventually) we find the STR-boosting apple.  This guy over near the entrance seems to be the village greeter. They always seem to have one, despite the population of the average JRPG town being smaller than the staff of your local Walmart.   We're not allowed to leave the village until we talk to the mayor.  You're okay, but we're trying to keep this kid named Tony from going outside. He's a pain in the...And the greeter has something to say to us, as well, if we try to leave the village right now.  Man, if I wasn't married I would love to live a life filled with adventure.  This guy is the village store. He doesn't sell anything particularly useful; that Long Knife there is the weapon Rudy currently has equipped. Gella is the currency of Filgaia.   Oh?! You don't... I'm sorry to hear that. Pardon me.Inside the house is this woman, who serves to confirm that Rudy is indeed a Certified JRPG Protagonist, dead parents and all. Next is the house next door to the mayor's (See? I'm on my way!), which houses Tony's family.   With my husband's injury, we couldn't take care of the horses ourselves. Where is Tony? He's probably causing trouble somewhere. We could use a hand around here, with me sick in bed... Thank you! If there were still Holy Berries in the Berry Cave, I wouldn't be here. My son and I were talking about this earlier.Tony is the boy who's definitely not plotting anything over in the stables. We get a hint here of what his plan is.  Yes. Ha ha ha. Rudy, you're merciless. This village used to be lively back when there was still some berry trade here. No. Ha ha ha. You don't have to be nice. I'm bored too. To the south, there is a city holding a festival. I want to go.Past the empty house on the other side of Tony's is this man, who's bored in his hometown but won't let you say you are as well. I feel that canonically, Rudy would probably say he didn't find it boring, and would actually mean it; he may be a silent protagonist, but he does get some characterization, as we'll see later. Though, haven't we heard somebody else mention a festival recently? In the crates nearby (covered by the Yes/No prompt in the screenshot), we find another Heal Berry.  Stories of her battles with monsters are famous. She's probably very beautiful.To the south of the stables is this boy, who clues us in on the local gossip, while admirably demonstrating kid logic. "She beats up monsters. I bet she's gorgeous." Next stop, the mayor's house, finally.  The mayor's wife serves as an inn. Her husband is upstairs.   Thanks to you, the stables are in great shape! Take these as a token of my appreciation. Long ago, I found these Bombs while exploring ancient ruins. You may find them handy. This is much better pay than a single Heal Berry! The Bombs are Rudy's first tool. Unlike Jack or Cecilia, he doesn't start with one. These bombs will destroy most small objects. Walk next to the object you want to blow up and push the Tools button. It will go off in a bit. These magical bombs will never run out. In the good old days, magic berries could be found in the cave to the south. We would use the bombs to clear debris from the cave. Now that all of the berries are gone, we no longer need them. The world is fading and our village is starting to feel the impact. Uh, the kid outside said that the story of the monster in the Berry Cave was so old nobody believes it anymore. And yet here you say that these bombs, that you found, were used in that very cave. How old are you, Mayor Pifer?  As the mayor said, the Bombs will destroy crates, loose rocks, etc. Place them with the Tools button (default Square) and then wait for them to go off. They can't be moved once placed, but also don't hurt you when they explode, so they're safe to use in cramped confines.  As we go to leave, this man literally runs into Rudy. Excuse me! I must talk to the mayor immediately. What?! What do we do?The mayor paces around his rug for a bit.  The Berry Cave is full of monsters. There is not much we can do. I must talk to the townsfolk about this situation. Please keep this quiet. We can't have people panicking.We regain control now. Speaking to the mayor nets us this: The cave to the south is full of monsters. Dear, oh dear...And the man who came to inform the mayor has this to say: I don't have time for this. That troublesome kid!!!Note that this guy is probably the one standing by the entrance who told us that he'd love to live a life filled with adventure. What does he even do? Since the Mayor is keeping Tony's departure quiet, most of the townsfolk have the same dialogue. Only Tony's parents have updated, aside from what we've already seen. Tony! Tony! Where could he be? I hope he's not causing trouble in the village... My son Tony... He may seem wild, but he's really a good kid. His smiling face has helped me through my illness.They don't know he's left town yet, but they do seem to sense something's amiss.  And the "adventure" guy is back at his post, doing... whatever it is he does. Must be essential work. Music - Into the Wilderness  And now we get to leave the town of Surf. Rudy is the only character who gets to leave his starting area before his scenario is over. We could go exploring, and even reach the others' areas as well as the next town; but we'll save that for a bonus update. Out on the overworld, the random encounters include Balloons, Pillbugs, and an enemy we'll see later this update.  The Berry Cave is only a short walk from the village. Let's see if we can find Tony; he can't have gotten too far, right? Music - Cold Darkness   No one from the village is allowed in here! What am I to do?At the entrance to the cave, we meet the cowboy assigned to guard it. If we came here as anyone else (or presumably somehow got Rudy out of town before seeing the mayor), he'd be blocking the entrance and tell us the cave was off-limits.  Past him, we find this sign. That second part, "Bats bring danger," is part of a warning. Don't worry, it'll be elaborated on later.  Large crates cannot be lifted and thrown; they must be broken with bombs. Most have items in them; this one contains a Heal Berry. On our way to the next room, we get our first random encounter. Music - Critical Hit!  Balloons are still not a threat.  Even though Rudy's slower than they are and doesn't quite one-shot them unless he gets lucky on the damage roll. They have 35 HP, remember.   In the next room, this lever moves the statue out of the way, allowing progress.  Proceeding south, we find these crates. None of them hold anything, although the chest has 50 Gella.  With another 50 in a chest just offscreen.  This sign is directly above the last chest. Sorry, but you're blocking the way, so you gotta go.  As we proceed, we encounter the second monster found in the Berry Cave.   Goblins are the most dangerous enemies in the Berry Cave. They almost always beat a level 1 Rudy in initiative, have 40 HP and thus can't be one-shot without a crit (or the Hand Cannon), hit decently hard, and frequently come in pairs. Make sure Rudy never dips below 20 HP, and if you encounter two of them, heal if Rudy's below 40 HP.  Continuing on, we find another switch, which means another statue is likely nearby. We don't want to flip this one yet, though.  Because this one has a crate in front of it, preventing it from moving. Blowing up the crate (which is one of the rare large crates to contain nothing) allows us to flip the switch and move on.  And we find the final enemy encounter in the Berry Cave. The Tatzelbelm, localized as Tatzelwurm in Alter Code F, looks like a lizard in this game, but was redesigned to be a land-dragon-thing in ACF. They can also appear on the world map.   They have 70 HP, so Rudy frequently takes three attacks to finish one. They also have a fire breath attack (called Flame Tongue in this version, and Baking Breath in ACF) that they almost never use. However, they're weaker than the Goblins and the only monster in the dungeon consistently slower than Rudy, so they're actually less threatening, even in rarely-encountered pairs. Most of the time, they show up alone or with a Balloon, which makes them even less of a threat.  Even so, it's still fun to let loose on one with the Hand Cannon.  Rudy's still level one here, and dealing around 30 damage with a basic attack, keep in mind. The Hand Cannon is a pretty big boost to his attack power. In the next room, we find this sign. "Slow and easy" just means "ease off the dash button you moron"; there's no stealth mechanic in this section.  What happens if you run? Well, if you're running when you hit this bridge here, some bats come out and afflict Rudy with the "Bad Omen" status condition. Bad Omen causes all enemy attacks to target the afflicted character, and outside of battle, it increases the random encounter rate. Since Rudy's solo (and generally the guy you want attacks focusing on anyways) and more random encounters means more Exp, you could actually see this as a boon rather than a detriment.  There's also these rocks at the end of the walkway to trip you up if you're running when you hit them. Here, it's more of an inconvenience than an actual danger (they don't deal damage themselves). The treasure chest pictured contains a Holy Symbol, which cures the Bad Omen status you may or may not have gained on the way.  There's also a treasure chest below containing a Heal Berry.   From there, we head north to this downward staircase.  Which leads us to this cluster of crates. The large one reveals a Heal Berry when bombed.  At the bottom, we find this curious-looking wall. Well, years of playing Zelda games have conditioned me to use high explosives when walls look unusual, especially deep underground. I should look for a job in the mining sector.   Inside, we find three treasure chests, containing a Power Apple, a Hardy Apple, and this, the RES-boosting apple.  Back in the main room, we cross under the bridge we dashed over before and find this large crate, containing a Heal Berry.  Further south, we find these switches, and two statues this time. Flipping the right switch moves the bottom statue, which gets caught on the top one if it's there.  Therefore, the correct solution is to flip the left switch first.  In the next room, we find this, which will refill the bullets in one of Rudy's ARMs. I've used a whole one bullet, just to demonstrate the Hand Cannon's power. I think the game expects me to use more of those in random encounters than I do at this point. Still, it's nice to have, and I'll almost certainly use it sooner or later.  Past the save point there, we finally find Tony. Let's see what he has to say for himself.  The berries are on the other side of this blocked passage.He can actually be talked to twice more for more dialogue. I know it's not safe here, but I have to get those berries for my wounded father!And finally... Aren't you a [Dream Chaser]? I've heard about you. Can you move those boulders? Please, I'll be a good boy. I'll do all my chores.See? Tony directly calls Rudy a Dream Chaser here. Then we blow up some rocks with a young child standing about ten feet from the bomb.  I have to get back! My father is waiting for these berries back home.But he seems fine.  The next room is a long, wet cavern. I'm not really sure what to call it; "lake" and "pond" don't seem appropriate, since Rudy can wade through it, but "puddle" seems too small.  We pick up a bandanna for Rudy along the way.  And it seems like these would be the Holy Berries. Dunno what that glowing monolith is, but I don't think it's important.   This is what we came here for (kinda), so let's take 'em. Tony shows up at this point, having finally dredged up the courage to walk in.  With these berries, I can heal my father! Let's hurry! I've got to get them to him right away!And they leave.  Then the room starts shaking.  The monolith grows dark.  And then cracks in half.  Looks like it's not just the room shaking, it's a full-blown earthquake.  The camera pans down, past this other cave...  And this castle...  To end on this building. This is our first time seeing the outside, but this is the Curan Abbey, where Cecilia's scenario takes place.  Back at the entrance to the Berry Cave, it looks like the entire village is here to greet us.  Why do you always cause so much trouble? I came to get these berries to heal father's wounds. Are you two OK?! What was that earthquake all about?! I have always told you not to come here... You're safe, that's all that matters. Let's go home. Boss Fight - Zombie Music - What Crawls in the Dark  As everyone starts leaving, the dog notices something.  A blast of air ripples out of the entrance to the Berry Cave.  And red eyes can be seen in the darkness inside.   The monster emerges and lets out a mighty roar. Music - Battle ~ Mid Boss  And then the fight is on.  First, I equip the Bandanna I forgot about until the fight.  The first of the Zombie's two forms of attack is just a basic physical strike. It doesn't hit particularly hard; the Goblins were doing almost as much damage.   The second is Rotten Breath, which hits considerably harder. Despite what you might expect, it doesn't inflict any status effects, though.  ARM Lock-On is Rudy's level 1 Force ability. It guarantees the ARM you use with it will hit, no matter what. It's an okay Force power, especially at the beginning of the game when Rudy's ARM accuracy is at its worst. Still, Hand Cannon has an 89% accuracy even at base, so you can get by without using it.  Shown: the final hit on the Zombie, after gaining a few Force levels.  Zombie has 750 HP, so it doesn't take too long plugging away at it with the Hand Cannon to bring it down. It took all my remaining bullets, and you'll probably have to heal once or twice, though.  The healing light from the Holy Berry reduces the Zombie to sludge.  And it does.  Tony's Mom pulls Tony back away from Rudy. Music - Omen of Ostracism ...?! What happened, Mom? You have brought tragedy to the entire Village of Surf. I know about you. You possess the [ARM]. The forbidden power! I know I shouldn't have, but I looked through your stuff the other day. The [ARM] has brought doom upon us all!This line exists specifically because it's entirely possible to beat the Zombie without ever actually using an ARM. It takes about three times as long, but it can be done, especially with the healing supplies I have from doing the other two routes first. This scene doesn't change at all if you do, so there isn't even really a point to doing so. The Dream Chaser, Rudy, has cursed us all... That earthquake was probably caused by Rudy!!!It's hard to tell, because they use the same sprite, but this Generic Villager and the guy saying the line immediately previous are two different people, and both are different from the guy also using the same sprite who spoke before. I know, it's confusing. Be quiet everyone!!! Rudy. Thanks for saving the boy. But you opened the forbidden path and put us all in danger. You also possess an [ARM]! You will be judged for this according to our village law. Do you agree, Rudy? Yes. We must get back to the village at once. Rudy will be judged there. No. I'm sorry, Rudy... Even though you're a [Dream Chaser], you still have violated our law. We must judge you. You have no choice. Please come with us.But thou must! At this point, we get the Yes/No prompt again. Accepting takes us back to the Mayor's house. Music - Alone in the World  He's just a [Dream Chaser]. It may be cruel, but he may bring harm upon us all. Again, more people who refer to Rudy as a Dream Chaser. I'm beginning to suspect that the opening scrawl was a localization mistake or something. When the seal was broken, it caused an earthquake that damaged the entire village. I'm presenting these lines by text box because it's impossible to know who's speaking them. I tend to assume each text box is a different villager. Also, nothing in the village is actually damaged. Designing new tiles for damaged buildings is hard. We regain control here, but only until we get downstairs.  I took him in, so I'll inform him of our decision.Mayor Pifer walks over to Rudy.  I mean, I feel like the first sign of a kangaroo court is if the accused isn't even allowed to be present, let alone defend himself. Then you know what we've decided. I must ask you to pack your things and leave. And please, don't come back.Talking to Mayor Pifer after he passes sentence on Rudy gets us this: Your actions have brought chaos to this village. If you have any conscience at all, please leave.Well, he's certainly not happy with Rudy. His wife has this to say: I heard from my husband that you committed a crime. Please don't visit me.Let's go talk to the folks around the table.   Two identical villager sprites sitting right next to each other. And there's a third sitting directly across from them! It's like somebody knew some goon would try to SSLP this game 20 years in the future and deliberately made it difficult!  I knew it. You can't trust strangers. You've desecrated the way of life we hold so dear.I think you guys might be overreacting a bit to Rudy's heinous crime of "shot a zombie with a gun to save the life of a young child". I'm all for gun control, but I feel exceptions can be made, and this might be a good time for one. Also, it's time for another round of NPC Chat, because everyone's dialogue has updated. Most of it is about how much they hate Rudy for being a lawbreaking scumbag now. It won't take that long, though, because a bunch of the villagers are in the Mayor's house busily convicting our protagonist. Tony's house is next door, so let's start there.   Tony's Mom now hates us forever. His father, however, seems a bit more reasonable. It was all my fault. Please forgive me. If I didn't get injured, none of this would have happened to either you or my son. I beg your forgiveness.He's also beating himself up over this. I don't think you chose to get hurt, Tony's Father. Unless you did something Darwin Award stupid to get that injury, I don't think this can be pinned on you.  This guy is the one who asked us if we thought the town was boring earlier.  This is what the kid who told us the story about the Berry Cave has to say.  And this is the kid who was gaga over Calamity Jane earlier.  Shopkeeper Cowboy won't sell to us any more. Which is fine, because I never bought anything from him anyways.  The Official Town Greeter now hates all Dream Chasers because of Rudy. And with everyone else in the Mayor's house, it's time to leave.  Well, right after we hear what Tony has to say. I know that you did the right thing and that they are wrong. I just want to say, thank you. I've gotta get back. Thanks again! This is the final time we'll be seeing this in this LP. Within him is a power he never asked for... the skill to use the forbidden ARMs. He still wanders the world in search of his soul, unaware of his inborn power... Now, I forgot to check Rudy's stats before I recorded the next update. I did, however, go through his prologue twice more, and his stats ended up the same both times, so I'm relatively certain that this screenshot is accurate aside from Exp totals and possibly Luck, although both playthroughs had Rudy's Luck as BAD at the end, so the game might set it to that?  That's it for this time. Join me next time for another bonus update; this time it'll be what-ifs, alternate dialogues, and even a glitch or two!
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May 3, 2018 07:08
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All I can think of right now is every single thing Khan from King of the Hill said about dumb hillbilly neighbors. There's no words that can describe how much these people suck.
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May 3, 2018 07:24
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Commander Keene posted:This seems a bit odd to me, because there's a bunch of dialogue in the village that states that Surf is definitely not Rudy's hometown, and suggests he just got here fairly recently. If so, isn't he already a Dream Chaser? Probably means more that you wouldn't know by looking at him. I mean he's a pretty skinny kid. quote:
I love this guy. Performed a menial task? Here's an infinite supply of bombs. I think he knows what kind of game he's in. quote:This line exists specifically because it's entirely possible to beat the Zombie without ever actually using an ARM. It takes about three times as long, but it can be done, especially with the healing supplies I have from doing the other two routes first. This scene doesn't change at all if you do, so there isn't even really a point to doing so. Which ACF solves by having the ARM be Rudy's only weapon. v vquote:I think you guys might be overreacting a bit to Rudy's heinous crime of "shot a zombie with a gun to save the life of a young child". Shitenshi posted:There's no words that can describe how much these people suck. Of course, it's a blatantly heavy-handed "please feel sorry for this poor mute being unfairly oppressed by the stupid hicks" moment, but he did kind of... go to a catholic village and do good deeds by shouting the power of Satan compels you. And while he did kill a zombie, they're actually right in that it wouldn't even have been a problem if he hadn't released it in the first place (and caused an earthquake in the process). It's not as if kicking him out of the village is really such a big deal either, since he's not a resident and clearly has what it takes to make it to another settlement. #npcsdidnothingwrong
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May 3, 2018 13:37
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On the subject of the stat boosting apples, rather than having us vote on them, I think that you should apply them as you see fit. I do find it funny that you have to be gifted in order to pull the trigger on a pistol. I want to imagine a grown man trying to pull the trigger to no avail.
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May 3, 2018 17:37
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vilkacis posted:I love this guy. Performed a menial task? Here's an infinite supply of bombs. I think he knows what kind of game he's in. Infinite supply of magical bombs= "Here you go stranger, thanks for cleaning the chicken coop. Go have fun bombing whatever" Shoot a zombie with a gun= "HEATHEN! I CAST THEE OUT!" Also, since firearms are apparently some kind of arcane forbidden voodoo, that should mean that the bullet clip we found just now ought to be some ancient relic or something?
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May 3, 2018 18:38
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Shadow225 posted:On the subject of the stat boosting apples, rather than having us vote on them, I think that you should apply them as you see fit. Yeah, I'll support this. I don't think you get enough of them to make a really noticeable boost anyway. quote:I do find it funny that you have to be gifted in order to pull the trigger on a pistol. I want to imagine a grown man trying to pull the trigger to no avail. There's more to using an ARM than just pulling the trigger. I think the game will explain how they work a bit more thoroughly pretty soon.
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May 3, 2018 18:50
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I keep reading elws as "elvis." It makes some of the writing more entertaining.
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May 3, 2018 20:50
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Shadow225 posted:On the subject of the stat boosting apples, rather than having us vote on them, I think that you should apply them as you see fit.
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May 3, 2018 22:00
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Give all the apples to Cecelia! Make her invincible!
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May 4, 2018 00:14
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vilkacis posted:Probably means more that you wouldn't know by looking at him. I mean he's a pretty skinny kid. vilkacis posted:Of course, it's a blatantly heavy-handed "please feel sorry for this poor mute being unfairly oppressed by the stupid hicks" moment, but he did kind of... go to a catholic village and do good deeds by shouting the power of Satan compels you. And while he did kill a zombie, they're actually right in that it wouldn't even have been a problem if he hadn't released it in the first place (and caused an earthquake in the process). Shiki Dan posted:Also, since firearms are apparently some kind of arcane forbidden voodoo, that should mean that the bullet clip we found just now ought to be some ancient relic or something? vilkacis posted:There's more to using an ARM than just pulling the trigger. I think the game will explain how they work a bit more thoroughly pretty soon. PurpleXVI posted:I keep reading elws as "elvis." It makes some of the writing more entertaining.
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May 5, 2018 06:51
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Commander Keene posted:It just feels off to me that there was literally nobody defending him when up until that point he was fairly well-liked. Not the Mayor (whose house he was living in) or even Tony's Mom (Tony would have gone into the cave with or without Rudy, and considering it's monster-infested even without the Zombie, it's likely Rudy saved his life not even counting the boss fight). Literally the only two people who don't hate Rudy's guts are Tony (who doesn't seem to have the same fear of ARM-wielders the other villagers do) and Tony's Father (who's deep in the self-blame due to his injury). It is definitely exaggerated, and clearly meant to make the player think they're jerks and feel sorry for Rudy. But it's also true that some things just change the way you look at someone. Like, if someone did me a huge favour but in the process revealed that they're a neo-Nazi, my reaction would be pretty similar - thanks and all, but holy poo poo I don't want you around any more. Even if they are happy that Tony is safe, their view of Rudy has gone from "a nice kid" to "a guy who uses an ancient forbidden doomsday device". Even if they allowed him to stay, it'd be incredibly awkward for everyone involved. quote:One of the books in the abbey mentioned that you need to synchronize with an ARM to use it, and weapons tend to be the most finicky about whom they synchronize with. I had some idea that it was going to come up in more detail during the festival, but it could be an acf thing or just me misremembering.
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May 5, 2018 17:36
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