Lurker > pyresword

Man the trailer actually looks really good to. I am pretty excited.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Watched through it and I agree with post 4.

I am a huge fan of A Silent Voice. Would recommend. Hyouka and Your Lie in April are also very popular but I had some trouble getting into them for reasons.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

This Dancing Mad hatred is uncalled for.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I like MHA a lot. Season 1 was clearly the weakest but I also quite liked that one so who knows what you'd think.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

xp1337 posted...

Anyway, to Saint-Arkh for the operation where apparently the curse is actually just a status effect that Elliot's S-Craft can heal. Looks like we might be able to solve this crisis if we just load everyone up with Recuria and start casting it at people influenced by the curse. ...No? Well, I'm sure Class VII will use this new knowledge that Elliot can, at least in some circumstances, heal the curse to help-ahahahahaha of course not.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79042134/947251601
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I don't even know what my ranking would be and I'm not even sure it's relevant considering how much changes over the course of the series. But definitely my rankings have shifted a lot as I've gone on.

Rand is consistently great though.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Honestly my take right now is that Cold Steel 3 and 4 should have just been kept as one game that ended at Act 1 of CS4. If you're concerned about length then just cut most of chapter 4 from CS4 which was dumb anyways.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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Steins;Gate
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

tag
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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FMA:Brotherhood
Steins;Gate
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Mac Arrowny posted...

Hmm. Beaten up to the end of 2-3 in CS4 now, and I must say, these chapters are good in the "going around exploring and doings quests" parts, but the main story parts feel really, uh, boring/pointless? Like you're mostly fighting people who aren't really against you, kinda rescuing girls who are kinda captured, and not really doing anything. The Act 1 stuff felt like they put effort into the climaxes at least. This stuff is fillery as heck, like they were planning on making CS3 and CS4 as one game, split them apart, and then realized they had to add a bunch of inconsequential content to make the game longer (shorter can be better, guys!)...

I generally agree here. Act 2 in particular felt like there was a bunch of stuff that didn't need to be there. There's a part coming up that I thought was really cool mostly, but overall I'd say Act 1 has been easily the best part of the game. I am also only on 3-1 right now though and my impression is that most people like the finale a lot, at least.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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Steins;Gate
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Well actually I guess I think it's pretty unlikely the entirety of the Septian Church as an organization is evil especially considering we have multiple party members and one main character as Dominions, so what I really mean is various higher-ups of the Church.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

As if the plot of the final Kiseki game is going to be anything other than Ouroboros, Yun Ka-fai, and various good guy characters all teaming up to take down the Septian Church and Aidios after having revealed their playing hand at last and moving on to do...uh...JRPG villain things.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Mac Arrowny posted...

Can you remind me what that was? It's been a while since I played Azure, and the plans always feel a little nonsensical.

Well, I feel like the plan is a little nonsensical no matter how you look at it but basically:

The stuff that's going on in Crossbell during Azure with the Azure-Zero project, and I think specifically the appearance of the Azure Tree, causes mana/magical energy/whatever to surge through the ground in Crossbell and neighboring countries. For reasons(???), gaining access to the Sept-Terrion in Erebonia requires lots of magical energy, a condition which is now met and allows for things like the appearance of the Infernal Castle and the activation of whatever ritual occurs when the Divine Knights fight each other.

I guess why all those things matter for accessing the Sept-Terrion is something that's elaborated on in CS3 and the beginning of CS4 Act 2, but basically my understanding is that the Divine Knights are fractured pieces of the two Sept-Terrions and that this ritual allows them to fuse together...or something.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I think the primary way gaming has changed is that it's a far more diverse hobby right now with tons of more or less separate communities for different types of games.

I feel like this could lead to a perceived change in quality if you're only looking at one or a few of these particular categories or groups that are evolving in directions you don't like. But there's just so much out there now that I don't really see it as meaningful to make any substantial statements comparing the quality of gaming as a whole to what it was in the past.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

tbh the game that explains the Phantasmal Blaze plan the best is Trails of Azure I think.

I think there's like 1 line about it from Vita in CS2 that might technically be an explanation but that probably shouldn't count.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

LeonhartFour posted...

Elie mentions that the SSS had an indirect working relationship with Heiyue at one point. I'm guessing she means Rixia?

I think there's actually 2 parts to this. In Trails of Azure, (spoilers for Azure, but relatively minor if you've already played CS2) some stuff surrounding the Azure Tree incident causes the two parties to temporarily cooperate under an "enemy of my enemy is my friend" sort of logic.

This actually continues into some stuff covered in Cold Steel 2 which you can see in the Divertissement: The operation Lloyd and Rixia are doing in that sequence is in collaboration with Heiyue, and you actually see the two of them talking to Cao Lee on a terminal at the beginning and I think again in the middle of that chapter. I think it's implied Heiyue is cooperating with the resistance movement in Crossbell trying to undermine the influence of Erebonia during the occupation
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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Evangelion
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I was always a fan of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Parks and Rec and HIMYM also pretty solid. Wouldn't say I'm very familiar with the rest though I've seen a few episodes here and there for most of them.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

tbh I don't mind the harem aspects of Cold Steel that much and there are other things I'd rather criticize the sub-series for anyways. (At least in comparison to the older games which may be an unfairly high bar)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Mac Arrowny posted...

So we discovered in a sidequest in CSIV 2-2 that Elliot's music can cure the Curse. I wonder if we'll actually use this discovery to cure other people at some point...

Elliot becoming relevant now that would truly be a plot twist for the ages
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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Death Note
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Tom and Jerry
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Yu Yu Hakusho
Steins;Gate
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Mac Arrowny posted...

We don't know anything about the Calvard arc yet, do we?

Well I'm told Hajimari teases a lot of info but I don't think we know much concrete.

I think there was also one piece of promo art depicting who we think is the main character but no other info.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Actually yeah I think you're right that he is primarily a cameraman rather than a reporter, though I had the impression he did some of both.

In any case yes that's who I'm talking about I'm almost sure.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

(response to Leon's Cold Steel IV post)

I don't think you meet Sully/the blue haired girl until late in Trails from Zero and even then I think it was in an optional quest. It's not until Azure that she reaches full character status.

The reporter is treated as a minor NPC for most of the Crossbell games but is there for the entire time. I'm pretty sure he was usually following Grace around. (He does feature heavily in a quest towards the end of Azure though which is honestly one of the more memorable quests in the series for me!) I believe his name has also been translated as Raines in some of the other games.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Evangelion
Teen Titans
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FMA: Brotherhood
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

LeonhartFour posted...

Marcel Nielsen

He's appeared before in the Crossbell games where he's also mentioned with some frequency. The short version is basically that he's a very famous journalist and has covered most major events in recent history and knows a lot about all of them, including lots of the "behind the scenes" stuff. (I hate how the games use this term but whatever) In an optional quest line in Azure he passes on info to Lloyd about some of the stuff going on in Crossbell, and he...knows a lot of things, to put it lightly.

The stuff in Alster is from one of the Cold Steel Drama CD's http://www.trailsofcoldsteel.com/cs2/memoirs2.html
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Mac Arrowny posted...

Hey @xp1337 or anyone else, are you familiar with the timeline of the Trails games? I'm wondering how long it's been since the annexation of Crossbell as of CS4.

Also wondering where the resistance is since Azure's ending implied there was a big one...

https://kiseki.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline_of_Zemurian_history
(Note: You could potentially stumble on large spoilers if you blindly look through that page, and this is especially true for others who haven't played many games in the series yet)

The ending of Azure/CS2 is in December of 1204; Cold Steel 4 starts in August of 1206, so a bit over a year and a half.

As for the second question, I don't think it's totally clear. There's a few references to characters helping the resistance but I don't think we ever really get to see it properly in the Cold Steel games. (Though I'm not finished with CS4 yet.) I'm guessing/hoping Hajimari will give us a better look at this.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Ok so the blame absolutely falls on the left for failing to successfully communicate their ideas in the case of "defund the police". It's a terrible slogan and it's a terrible message and it (falsely) implies a terrible idea.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

South Park
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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FLCL
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Death Note
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

The +17 was from an "A+" pollster according to 538, and there was also a +11 from a different "A+" pollster in the leadup to the election.

I don't know the details of how 538 assigns those ratings and also that rating only says things about the pollster historically.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I'll get a PS5 whenever a (mainline) Persona or Trails game is released on it >.>
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Can't say I'm too thrilled with the winner, but it definitely could have been worse and the top 10 or so was mostly pretty solid.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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Courage
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Yu Yu Hakusho
Madoka Magica
Steins;Gate
Adventure Time
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker | Manu Start Sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw5R6Tg-02Q

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker | Tetra's Wink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWHCaSl6ryI

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker | Secret Sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84Bne8XZ2lE

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | Minuet of Forest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaIDovzdVag

Banjo Kazooie | Jiggy Fanfare
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unjqNlr1w6w
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

The best use of Ancient Pulsation in context isn't even when it plays in the Ancient Battlefield imo. It's the phone call with Dudley in the final chapter. Gives me chills every time.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

xp1337 posted...

Milsante was an okay small town but it has presented me with one of my big mysteries for this part in "Who is Diana?" Juna thinks she reminds her of someone, she mysteriously showed up in town eight years ago, and has an examine-able family photo in her room. My first, and still leading, guess is a connection to Altina because of the silver hair and how Altina has on multiple occasions mentioned the area is familiar somehow but what bugs me is... how? Like wasn't the whole point of the Oz project to create homonculi with artificial souls why would there be a connection to someone unless we're gonna learn she or her daughter was the model for Altina for reasons??

This hasn't been confirmed at the point I'm at in the game, but I'm almost positive it's supposed to be Elie's mom, which is just really cool imo. There's also a bit stronger hint pointing in this direction later on because Randy and Tio make an almost identical comment to Juna when they meet Diana. There's also a bunch of NPC dialogue about some kind of troubling event in her past, though that's generic enough it could apply to a lot of things I guess..

Anyway I've been playing a ton of Cold Steel 4. I'm far enough ahead of you guys though (almost done with Act 2) that I don't think posting updates is really relevant. I can comment on what you guys say at least though!
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

xp1337 posted...

Fable II

This and it isn't close.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

There was a somewhat likely path to a tie before that's now been closed thanks to NE-02, in which Biden picks up AZ+NV+WI+MI but loses PA+GA+NC and NE-02

The path being proposed above trades AZ+NV for GA+NE-02 which is a 17 for 17 vote trade.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I think Bernie would have underperformed compared to Biden in the midwest, though I don't really have anything concrete to base that suspicion on.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Hey now I'd also have killed Azure Arbitrator if I'd gotten it and it would definitely have been worse than Deo's ranking.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

BK_Sheikah00 posted...

So in Cold Steel 2 Divertissment when Lloyd calls Rixia by a different name, that's a spoiler?

Not as major of one as it might seem but yes. The narrative reveals it to the player relatively early on before any of the main characters themselves figure it out.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Oh I mentioned this in Discord also but I had a boss fight where the bonus AP requirements were "survive to the end", and I was able to win the battle by reducing both bosses' HP from ~80% to 0 without them getting a turn. I don't know if the game wasn't expecting me to win this fight or if it was a typo/error or what, but I thought it was funny.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Generally I feel CS4 has been harder than CS3 but also I feel that as of Act 2 I've pretty well broken this game as well--at least on normal. At least here I feel like I've found one particular broken strategy as opposed to CS3 which felt like anything I did could break the game apart by the halfway point, I guess? I was able to take out a cryptid (not the one in Eerie Woods--a different one) while 20-25 levels under them with a bit of difficulty, though I've further optimized the strategy since that point which probably would have made it go more smoothly.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

(Trails from Zero)

LeonhartFour posted...

And I didn't expect Rixia to wind up being Yin, but looking at all the clues and hints in hindsight, it makes sense, especially when she talked about Ilya moving her off of her fated path or whatever. Plus, she was the one who brought the threat to the SSS in the first place.

I don't think they give much context but I'm pretty sure they actually tell you this in the Crossbell segment of Cold Steel II. At least I know one of the characters calls her Yin in that. I'm pretty sure they also either state or imply that she's an assassin, though I'm not 100% sure on that.

Anyway Chapter 2 definitely one of my favorite parts of Trails from Zero. Rixia and Arc-en-ciel in general is so good imo.

xp1337 posted...

things

Hey thanks to you also xp. I'm not in quite in the same position, but I do feel like b8 in general is one of the only places I have where I can be open about my interests, hobbies, etc, so I'm definitely grateful that. I've always appreciated your posts here and in the politics topic in particular so thanks for that. This might be insignificant compared to everything else going on but you've also introducing me to some pretty good vgm on that side of b8 so that's definitely something I appreciate, at least.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.