Lurker > transience

yep you're playing it right. Yuri is on a whole other level though with his fusions

Highland attacks!

We didn't just get one town burned down, we get 3. First it's Toto, then Ryube, and then the Fliktor Fort. Each one of them is a little bit worse than the last, and we get the somewhat iconic pig scene in Ryube with Luca Blight. We even get some goofy non-Square 90s CG which is a sight to behold. I always forget that this exists - in my mind, this game is the same technological level as Suikoden 1.

Anyway, this arc does a great job at reinforcing that Luca is a Bad Guy with really no redeeming qualities at all. I don't know if he's being controlled by a rune or whatever but he seems evil on a level beyond anything in Suikoden 1. The pig scene is effective for establishing a character but it isn't exactly 'Sephiroth walking into the fire' levels of cool or anything. If anything it's a little over the top.

We then get to this game's version of war battles which is something out of Advance Wars or something, not that Advance Wars existed yet. Your mobility seems pretty terrible for a tactical kind of setup but it's only the first one so maybe it gets better. I kind of have no idea what you're supposed to do in those so far, but it seemed to mostly be a storytelling tool to show off that our fire spears are, indeed, awesome. Don't worry bro, I played Suikoden 1. I already know.

Speaking of! My favourite part of the game so far is just seeing all the Suikoden 1 references. Hey, it's Apple! Here's Flik! Remember Jowston? I hate to be so beholden to fanservice, but after so many years loving that original game, seeing some of the staples come out is always a joy. Hopefully I can grow past that and like this game on its own merits. It honestly feels like you have to play 1 in order to properly understand and appreciate 2, both for the passive references and the active understanding of what has happened in the past. Apple can't just show up and be a notable character without having any kind of understanding of who the Silverbergs are.

After the massacre, we swing by Toto and do the Rune Scene. Man, this is the most anime-ass JRPG flashback I've ever seen. It's pretty cringy. I think it's interesting that they gave Jowy the sword and Riou the shield. Jowy has a real Anakin Skywalker kind of thing going on with revenge and they set it up so well, with the girl losing her parents and then Luca being such a monster. I don't actually know how this resolves, but I do remember him backstabbing me a little bit later in the game. I assume he will become a double agent kind of character that joins up with me again at the end, but I don't know and don't tell me.

We get kicked out of Muse so I'm left to go do a treasure sidequest with this dude at the inn. Boo.

oh that's good too. but the NLA theme is a weird kind of iconic

is there even music in Xenoblade X outside of the NLA theme?

are you resting every 5 battles or something?

Popped by Nanami's house which is pretty entertaining. I love her sprite work! This game really nails animations in a way that the original doesn't. Her unite attack with Riou is just iconic.

We get captured a little too easily, but thankfully Fliktor are there to save us at the last minute. Rowd (is that his name?)'s portrait doesn't match what seems like a weaselly kinda guy. He looks like a strongman but acts like a midboss at best. Suikoden 1 does his archetype a little better with that dude who tags along with you and takes all the credit at the beginning of the game.

I love that Fliktor are here and that you can control them! They come with some real power and it's too bad that you can't really find anything to beat up with them. We wander back to our fortress and they let me just go wild.. which means recruiting!

Suikoden just isn't Suikoden until you can recruit. I should keep a save in each game just before the real Suikoden-ness gets going. I picked up Millie and her pet, Rikimaru by paying for his meal, and Shiro/Kinnison by rescuing a bird. Why did they join my party because I picked up a bird? Don't ask questions. There's a dude in Suikoden 1 whose entire plot is that he likes to cut off people's heads, and when you recruit him he calls you weird. That's it. Suikoden keeps on winning.

Enjoying this so far.

Alright, I played through the first boss. Went with normal since I can change it later, and because god knows I've played this opening before and am familiar with Suikoden combat.

The intro to Suikoden 2 is pretty slow. The opener with the false flag attack is fun, but they don't really give you enough time with the group to really feel anything. Within 5 minutes you're off running. Anyway, it's good enough.

The part where you're captured and doing a bunch of really minor fetch quests and block pushes is pretty boring. I would like it if it was my first time though. It just plays so slow. Eventually we break out.

I like Jowy and his dynamic with Riou, but in reality I just like their unite attack. Any Suikoden 1 fan knows to use Kai to crush the game and I hope I can keep the two of them together most of the game so that this continues. I end up recruiting these three goofballs and walk through this simple mist dungeon.

So far, so good. I'm about to go meet Nanami.

look into my eyes. you haven't seen what I've seen.

Okay, I turned it on and nothing has blown up yet. (granted, I've been playing S1 on the same executable for the last couple weeks, but I'm playing into it, okay?)

I'm kind of considering putting it on easy, just to try to limit any weirdness that might happen. I know it isn't the hardest game or anything, but any thoughts?

MZero posted...

I have a similar story with Tales of Symphonia, although not as many attempts. The first time my friend brought it to school to let me borrow it but he put it in his backpack without a case and it broke into about 10 pieces (This was like 2004ish and we were like 12, but still...) Then I finally played it in 2018 but my PS3 died and I lost my save.

oh man that sucks. maybe you need a revenge tour too!

Leon_Silverberg posted...

Tag

yeah I recruited you two days ago, and I will do it again if you show up in S2

For those who have been around a while, you may have heard about my tribulations with Suikoden 2.

Suikoden 1 is one of my very favourite games and I have beaten it probably a dozen times. Suikoden 2 is S1 but expanded! My perfect game! -- but for whatever reason, my conquest of the Dunan region eludes me. I have tried to beat the game maybe 7 times over the years and every time, tragedy strikes.

It started with simple problems, like dying and losing an hour-plus progress when I wasn't expecting it, convincing me to give up and move on. It then progressed to the game crashing about 3ish hours in. The next time I played, it didn't crash, but my save got randomly wiped. Over time, it has slowly escalated - hardware issues, power outages, you name it. Suikoden 2 has my number.

My most recent attempt was in 2022, when I put it on my Vita. I finally crossed the 5 hour threshold and was having a great time! I actually got my castle! But, about 15 hours in, I had the worst crash yet:

https://x.com/transience242/status/1572415809653280772

Yep, every single PS1 save on my Vita -- FFT, Xenogears, anything -- was cooked. The curse is real.

During that playthrough, a Suikoden remaster was announced. I have been waiting patiently since then to get my revenge. Perhaps a new platform will exorcise my demons? However, I'm playing it on my PC this time so a system-level crash will have a much bigger impact. I won't lie, I'm pretty worried about that.

Over the last week, I've been slowly walking through my 13th or so playthrough of Suikoden 1, getting all 108 characters. The entire reason of doing this is to import my save into Suikoden 2. I finished that late last night.

The decades-long plight to defeat Luca Blight continues tonight.

Andre is coming, get ready

so Joachim has 'joachythms' or something in the menu that show you his random transformations. basically, invisible means he won't be targeted, bat is really high attack but low hp, and papillon is the best of everything. in general, don't worry about it and just let it happen. the only time it might matter is if you get bat on a boss due to the low hp.

I think Pennyblood is dead

it's not a spoiler to say that this game follows SH1's bad ending

teacherrrrrrrrrrrr

you won't even need pure leaves in a few fights if you keep leveling up a single fusion. yuri can do so much damage

wait til you see his, uh, art collection

anyway the character of the game is on the other side of the sewer

that's not an unpopular opinion at all!

I am slowly working through getting all 108 in Suikoden 1 so I can make my 10th or so attempt at completing Suikoden 2. Perhaps a new version is what will exorcise my demons

it's been some time, but there are 3-4 different types of attacks (up, down, knock forward) and if the one you choose misses then you get a combo break. some attacks hit high so if you knock an enemy down, you'll miss. it's kind of a dumb system but you get the hang of it through experimentation.

time for you to do a fiesta

severance is scratching that LOST itch lately

I'm really bummed. been waiting for this so long!

I played this a few years ago and fell off of it. I love me a TRPG as much as anyone but it felt like a lot to manage once it got going, and the story didn't seem super interesting. some people swear by it though so stick with it and don't let me stop you.

he finished 1-3, that's above. we still have our switch and can totally play it there, he just has a whole world of new games at his fingertips

we got a new Steam deck and other new games so I don't think he's ever gonna play 1-4. we might be done with 1-3 and Cody as MVP of the game

yeah, those games are super cheap to make. it wasn't until we got into fully 3d environments that we started to hit a wall, and we've been at that wall ever since

well, they were rereleases so that made it a lot smoother for us. some of us even imported the japanese ones since they had the english right on there.

KamikazePotato posted...

Also, how do you react when he makes observations like that? Do you try to keep a poker face so he doesn't get 'spoiled' or...

oh I have so so so much experience with this. I have a great poker face for things that I really value highly. for example, I'm watching Lost with my oldest and we're in the middle of season 5 right now. she looks at me and asks a thousand questions after every episode, and I am a master of saying only what she has knowledge of at this point in time. AA is the same way.

oh, and news flash! I asked for his favorite characters from case 3. get ready for this amazing character ranking

1. Cody
2. Edgeworth
3. everyone else

we're still going, but he just said "wait, why would she know about the murder before she went to studio one?" which is Edgeworth's line, verbatim

he's been working on speedrunning Mario Odyssey recently. he fits right in. that's what he did today instead of moving on with 1-3.

I did some Q&A on the way to school today to get some thoughts heading into day 3 of 1-3. right now, he's stuck on the idea of being able to physically handle the spear, so his main suspect is Sal. I mean, it's not the worst take?

he's ruled out Oldbag and Cody due to physique and isn't quite sure what to make of Vasquez yet. Penny slings Ultra Rare Premiums so she doesn't seem too likely. that's a language he can understand. he was like 'these cards suck, they don't even have any stats on them'. preach, brother.

WarThaNemesis2 posted...

does he know what a youtube comment section is?

if so, tell him that is what a youtube comment section was in 2006

do you think I let an 11 year old read a youtube comment section? I'm better than that!

okay, trial day 2 is down! for those not intimate with the game, this is where you press Cody and get the picture of studio 2 that breaks the case open. it's one of the best moments of the series, where the game kind of levels up the conclusions and presents a complex narrative.

investigation day 2 is one of the slowest moments of the series as you go back and forth 3-4 screens repeatedly to fetch scripts, bring notes to people and other boring things. he got pretty frustrated at the idea of a game being this obtuse. games these days are a whole lot more smooth.

but trial day 2... this was fascinating to watch because he wasn't totally able to follow the logic. he's sharp as a tack but the logical deductions of presenting the camera or seeing that 2 aren't quite there yet. for the picture of studio 2, he figured it out, but with a little bit of prodding to talk through what he knew. his initial thought was to present the spear because it didn't look broken.

he currently doesn't have any idea what is going on outside of that the body was moved, so investigation day 3 will hopefully open some eyes. that last press of Vasquez is going to be rough, I think, but I've trained him to save at like every conversation so we'll figure it out!

oh god we just hit sal manella

this is real hard to explain in 2024

some quotes I just heard:

"I feel like the only answer in this game is to keep pressing and do the most ridiculous thing over and over"

"dad, I think I can be a lawyer. I'm really stubborn and don't take no for an answer."

I'm raising a regular phoenix wright here

Leonhart4 posted...

I've been playing through the OT with my wife watching alongside me and we're on 3-5 now

I'm gonna need to hear some wifepinions

wallmasterz posted...

I was half expecting

my son is playing Ace Attorney.

he says it doesnt have enough action

That's awesome TC. I look forward to gaming with my kids one day (theyre 3, 2 and 1)

dear god. good luck!

that's what I'm doing right now! he just asked me if he'd always be battling Edgeworth and I was like, just keep going

we just finished court day 1 of 1-3. the "photo #2" part of the evidence hung him up for a while, but fortunately there's only so many possibilities. everything else has been pretty smooth. he's been keeping a running "whippersnapper" count for court (if you're curious, we're up to 9) and just ran around the house yelling objection and hold it. so, yeah, I'm raising a board 8er.

he's 11. we've been reading some middle grade murder mysteries and I mentioned that he might be old enough to play it.

he just started case 3. he breezed through case 1, though he didn't totally understand the whole time zone thing because what are time zones to an 11 year old? he just doesn't have the life experience yet.

case 2 went well until the very end, where you have to scroll through the final cross examination and Phoenix admits that he's got nothing until Mia shows up. he got stuck and game overed by presenting random stuff, so I had to help him figure that one out. other than that, no problem though.

we're just on day 1 of case 3. he's not a fan of Maya so far - "too energetic", which I felt the same about at first - and he's scared of Oldbag. I'll try to update as he goes, though he could drop it at any point because that's just how it is when you're 11!

I have an OLED on the way. it was really hard not to get the LCD with it being on sale but eh

I'll probably be hitting you guys up with some steam deck tips once we open it on christmas.

yeah, I knew I was going to go with the monster guy since that's net new, but figured a traditional team would be to just dump a fighter/warrior for him. but, if the game isn't too rough, maybe I can let a mage go and end up with a sage that can do both.

yeah I'm also a DQ mark. the question is to get it now or wait for a price drop. it's DQ so it's going to be faithful enough to the original while making it feel like the more modern games, and because of that I feel like I can already picture what it's going to be.

will be curious to hear what classes are the most fun, since the difficulty sounds pretty relaxed.

would you recommend it? it feels like it isn't notably different enough to justify the cost, but also could be a step back in terms of difficulty nerf. I want it though

dragon quest is the series most afraid to change things because of how intense the fandom clings to tradition. I'll never forget the reaction to DQ9 being an action RPG - that caused an explosion so big they changed the game back to the old ways

ctesjbuvf posted...

A bit late but I completed Crystalis yesterday and I agree it is very good. While the appreciation might have been different back then, I had a blast. The overworld theme is indeed fantastic. The only issue I had was not being able to do bosses anything if you were too low leveled, seemed to be no way to really know.

were you playing with the sound off? they make a pinging sound when they can't be hurt

Asheville and Boone seem like the worst hit places. I've seen so much devastation out there online and through friends.

the rest of the state is fine though. central NC is sunny and normal. I'm sure the coast is OK for once too.

I don't get people who like goonies 2, but it has an audience for sure. I think you had to play it when you were young because it is so trial and error-y

Paratroopa1 posted...

I'm fascinated to imagine which one of my actual top 5 you thought wouldn't be there, lol

But yeah, The Guardian Legend is a game I'll give another chance at some point I think. It's one of the games not appearing on this list along with Bionic Commando that makes me go "hmm, am I the one that's wrong here?"

to be fair, I made a quick mental list in like 15 seconds, counted to 5 and posted

Bionic Commado does seem like it would be your jam, as a mechanics-heavy game with amazing feel if you can get the hang of the arm. it's okay to not go along with the flow though, obviously

ah darn, I was hoping the 5th would be guardian legend. it's an acquired taste for sure, but that game shines in its back half, kinda like how a metroidvania does once you get lots of upgrades