Lurker > pyresword

When I specifically saw this topic title I said "oh yeah" and remembered what it meant, but I never would have made that connection on my own.

I also never would have realized there was a movie called Free Guy without seeing this topic though
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

resurrectedreplayer
Fogbeasts

The situation with the finals is really unfortunate but I do think it was handled correctly.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Persona 4 was one of the 2 other examples I had yes. Well, assuming you just mean the "thematic consistency" bit, since I think the specific themes of Persona 4 are a bit different. (The other example being Undertale, for the record)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

10/10

Probably what sets the game apart for me is that I feel like it has a level thematic consistency that is just exceptionally rare in gaming. The concept of death and learning to live in spite of it is pretty much omnipresent in the game. This itself creates a pretty compelling atmosphere, but the way that the gameplay, story, major character arcs, and social links all play into this amplifies the whole experience and pushes it over the top for me. It helps that this theme is especially resonant with me in particular, but I do hold this story in extremely high regard. The cast of characters is also really strong and the final chapter of the game is one of the best of all time imo.

Nominate: Shadow of the Colossus
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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

Endeavour
Immanence

Match 1 pretty close though.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Are we allowed to rate based on the anime? (which is all I've seen)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Mac Arrowny posted...

This wasn't quite the Muv-Luv Alternative to Deception's Extra

Maybe I should have explicitly said this when you were playing through Mask of Deception, but I don't really think these scenarios are comparable anyways. It's true that most people would say that Mask of Truth is the highlight of the Mask games, but Muv-Luv is an entirely different beast. I think Mask of Deception/Truth fans tend to say that Deception ranges from okay to good and Truth is great. Whereas with Muv-Luv, my experience is that Muv-Luv Extra is universally hated even among people that will swear by Alternative being one of the greatest stories ever written.

Your reaction to Mask of Truth is about what I expected based on how you were talking about Mask of Deception, if not a bit more positive, especially since not liking Kuon is a kind of a death knell when it comes to getting anything out of a noticeable portion of the emotional beats the game is going for.

Generally agree with your comments on the pacing. I think parts towards the middle and end drag on a bit too long, though as a huge Kuon fan there are some parts I minded a lot less than others.

Mac Arrowny posted...

Question: Why did Hakuowlo let Woshis have the Master Key? It feels like a lot of death and destruction would've been avoided if he'd given it to Haku instead.

I never understood this part either tbh
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Also I like how this is your last chance to run this poll because after today you will run out of poll options
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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

Also for the record, while it's true that I like some zts songs more than resurrectedreplayer, I didn't just nominate because it was a zts song that happened to have not retired yet. For that matter, there's a few zts songs I don't really even like at all. And then there's also goldenslaughterer which is good but like I probably voted against it just as often as I voted for it.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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

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

I think you could watch the rebuild movies without watching the TV series, but it's true that they aren't remakes despite what the name would imply.

I also don't particularly like the rebuild movies and wouldn't recommend them from any standpoint, but that's just me and I think I'm in the minority there?
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

+10 The Boss (Metal Gear Solid 3)
+9 Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney)
+8 Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)
+7 Count Bleck (Super Paper Mario)
+6 Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII)
+5 Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney)
+4 GLaDOS (Portal)
+3 Missile (Ghost Trick)
+2 Kyle Hyde (Hotel Dusk: Room 215)
+1 Samus Aran (Metroid)

GP1: The Boss
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Living in the City

Definitely the best 2 songs that made it this far.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I watched 2 episodes of Aquatope on White Sand. The first episode was really good and the second one was kinda dumb, but the potential is there at least.

The current seasons of Slime Isekai and Dragon Maid have also been solid, if you count those
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Neo TWEWY beated. I just liked just about everything with this game, and I think it's great regardless of whether you treat it as a standalone game or if you're an old fan looking for something that's faithful to the original game.

A lot of the beginning feels a bit like retreading old ground from a plot standpoint if you already played the first game, but things are really able to come together in the middle and endgame I think. The game's also just a lot of fun throughout. Combat doesn't quite match the quality of the original (which would be a tall order), but it's still a lot of fun, and the style/feel of the game is fantastic.

One other random thing I liked is that several old characters make appearances which is great fanservice, but with maybe only 1 exception it still feels like there's an actual reason for them to be in the game.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

8.5/10
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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

Immune: Solid Snake
Boot: Phoenix Wright
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Dreamy and Boisterous Holy Land
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Does Amaterasu count as a dog?
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Immune: Bowser
Boot: Dedede
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Class::CIEL_N_PROTECTA;

Already going against my ranking in the main thread I see.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

10

There's some great emotional moments along the way to be sure, but it's ultimately the ending that seals the deal here. The game is pretty ambitious in its scope, but it still manages to tie everything together in a way that is itself compelling while also making everything before it feel like it matters, and it remains satisfying to both the stories of the individual characters and the themes of the work at large.

The game does start out quite slow without being obvious where it's going, and there's some parts throughout where I think it gets a bit too grimdark, but it really doesn't matter in light of how well the story sticks the landing.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Immune: Solid Snake
Boot: Samus
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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

Honestly Shadow of the Colossus, but moreso from the angle of fans creating an absurd amount of hype for a mediocre game as opposed to the game actually being bad.

That probably doesn't help with material for your podcast though, so I'll also throw out Final Fantasy X-2 and Mario Party 8, which are probably more in line with what you're looking for there.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

resurrectedreplayer was able to retire, but will it get a single vote in today's poll!? Stay tuned.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Immune: Bowser
Boot: Missile
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.