Lurker > Llarian

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Arti posted...

Since all the characters are supposed to be in France during this storyline, having them all speaking in Japanese is odd to me. I don't really know why, because I'm fine with English dubs taking place in a clearly Japanese setting. I still enjoyed the storyline though, it was a nice wrap-up conclusion to the main game's story.

I had a similar feeling about the Japanese voices with London Detective Mysteria which I am playing through now and in the end with that I just muted all the voice acting.

Not gonna lie, there's certain contexts in which English audio just makes sense. I remember feeling this way when Hellsing Ultimate was released - nothing wrong with the Japanese audio, but the English dub just seemed to fit with the content. And hiring actual people from those backgrounds to perform with their native or near-native English, French, etc. accents/dialects didn't hurt.

I am a bit more open on this front - have never decided that a certain audio was not worth listening to. I do tend to prefer whatever I've heard first. Best dubs in my opinion are the ones that match the original audio. By that, I mean you can change the audio willy-nilly and still know who each character is by sound alone. Blood+, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Trinity Blood, Trigun [and others that don't come to mind at the moment] all meet this criteria.

I kinda wish we had the budget/interest to have multiple audio tracks available for these sorts of games, but alas.

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Started Reincarnation sequel.

We have clearly been reincarnated. It's like a modern AU for the series so far, and both Michel and Yukimasa are lookin' quite handsome. Novectacle knows exactly how to keep the shallow side of me happy.

Michel and Giselle are living together in a large apt building given to Michel by his family. So far, the two of them have run into modern versions of Maria and Yukimasa. You also see Nellie and Mell, but they haven't connected with the other characters yet. Michel and Giselle seem to be the only characters aware that they've been reincarnated.

Michel clearly plans to propose to Giselle, and says he'll do so after they fix up an area of the main floor to turn it into her very own cafe. So cute. We hire Yukimasa to do some of the heavy lifting/renovating, Maria as our cafe waitress, and the biz is off and running! Or, we wish it was. It's very slow, business-wise.

Fully voiced is a treat. Maria is higher-pitched than I expected, but not unbearably so. I thought Michel's voice would have a different tone to it as well, but it's tough to put my finger on how I would change it. It's accurate to his character but that special something only comes out occasionally when he's expressing his feelings to Giselle. That's fine, I guess. Interested in hearing other characters as they emerge.

Will write up more, once I play more over the weekend.

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Remainder of A Requiem of Innocence:

Maria shows up in the afterlife, and is greeted by Morgana, who reunites Maria in the slums with Gratien, Ceren, and young Jacopo. They laugh together and decide to go down the pub.

Reality flashes back and you see Maria lying on the cobblestone cellar floor, streaked with fresh and dried blood, the light fading from her eyes as she dies. I think the partially carved message in the floor reads 'invincible' but I'm not sure. It's tough to read. I almost cried at werk. This was a tough one.

Reincarnation is next! Woohoo!

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A Requiem of Innocence

This gets into a LOT of juicy detail surrounding the OG story and how Morgana was betrayed. Lots of backstory surrounding Jacopo and Maria especially. I suspect that the next game will involve reincarnation as per the title, and the fact that it's a sequel. I am extremely excited that it's fully voiced, featuring Sakurai Takahiro as Michel, Seto Asami as Giselle, Koshimizu Ami as Morgana, SUWABE JUNICHI as Jacopo!!!, Soichiro Hoshi as Mell!!!, Asumi Kana as Nellie, Suzumura Kenichi as Yukimasa!!!, Toyosaki Aki as Pauline, and Horie Yui as Marie. Lots of old faves for someone like me, who enjoys anime from the 80s and 90s.

Summary for A Requiem of Innocence:

Morgana is in the lord's mansion being tortured and cut up for his blood sabbats, the lord is challenged by a strongman named Gratien. Morgana is wrested from his ownership and raised in the brothel, where she finds many strange friends - Jacopo, Maria, the other girls, and a new character Ceren. Ceren is extremely upbeat and everyone likes her, she's very attached to Morgana.

Jacopo stages a revolt against the lord, planning to take over himself after coming into possession of a special ring that will make him unquestionable as the rightful heir. The brothel is attacked and gutted, several girls and clients killed, Morgana missing. The revolt goes through - Ceren's found to be working with the lord to monitor for dissension in the slums and keep track of people's loyalties. She meatshields for Barnier as Jacopo attacks the lord. We get heartbreaking and creepy backstory on Ceren. With nothing else to hope for re: Morgana and the others, Jacopo allows the seeds of power and corruption to take root in his heart as the lord.

Jacopo has too many plates spinning as the lord, and starts losing his marbles, the late lord [Jean-Francois Barnier] visiting him in dreams and visions, warning of the siren song of power and corruption bringing paranoia, stress, and ultimately, death. Morgana takes up residence near the lake as the witch of legend, dispensing herbal cures and remedies. Mell meets with her regularly, and she gives her blood for Nellie's health.

Jacopo realizes through speaking with Yukimasa that support of a church would really help his PR and make a bit of coin on the side. He hears of the witch and her blood's mystical powers, and binds together with Yukimasa and Mell in a fateful business decision to abduct the witch and sell her blood through Pauline/Marie's church as a magical panacea elixir.

Far too late, Jacopo realizes that the witch is Morgana. Morgana is too weak to see him as anything but Lord Jean-Francois Barnier. Fair. More than fair. Her hatred manifests into a curse, and errybody die from the curse, just like in the story. Roll credits. There's some after credits scene that I'm still in the midst of that shows Maria succumbing to the curse even though she didn't do anything wrong - suggesting that failure to help Morgana is also inviting punishment.

Will play more over lunch.

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plasmabeam posted...

Sharing my own thoughts...

Overall, so far I love that it's an interconnected group of stories (novellas, really) told within a frame tale. I started Chapter 3 and can't wait to see how this next tragedy unfolds.

Yessss. I'm so glad you're trying it out!

Maniac64 posted...

None of our neighbors gave candy or had their kids out trick or treating.

Probably part of why we only has 6 kids. Very disappointing for my wife.

Lame :| but then again it's a weird year between it being on a weekend and still lingering in the shadow of last year. I'm hoping it picks up again now. When Halloween falls on a weekend, there are so many other activities for the kids to do rather than trick or treating.

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Halloween is all wrapped up, a good time was had by all. What is your fave candy [or what was it growing up]?

Mine is anything chewy or fruit flavored. Not big on chocolate. My fave as a kid was the gummy hamburgers.

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Halloween chewing me up and spitting me out. How are y'all?

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Maniac64 posted...

My wife grew up in the country and then has been in apartments so this is the first year she has gotten to give out candy (we got our house in December last year).

She is really excited for it. Seems like there are a good number of kids in the neighborhood too.

That's awesome. Handing out candy and treats at Halloween is a serious perk of homebuying. :D Plus you get to be part of the best part of memories growing up for someone!

Been playing but sadly not taking notes so I guess when I write this up I'll summarize the first bit. Man, it hits hard with the violins on television. Like, real teeth-grinding, painful stuff if you imagine it like I do. Soundtrack, art, and writing all still amazing. But anyway! More to come.

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I'm feeling Particularly Emotional For Hormone Reasons, therefore this is clearly the week to play some HiFM. :'D

How are y'all doing? What are your plans, if any, for Halloween?

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Defo forgot family was in town for the long weekend.

This means I will play Soon

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I did play a good amount of the beginning but haven't made time to write it up. Lots of intrigue, backstory, drama, fighting, the bloody elements go hard in this one. You see a lot of things that were only described in the OG text and it's tough to stomach, ngl.

Will play more in the next few days and write something up for the weekend.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

Oh yeah, I got my shipment literally the day before I moved, so I don't intend to risk anything by digging into that until I'm all settles in. Still in the cardboard!

I intend to frame every card and poster.

Very smart - keep it safe. Hope unpacking and settling in goes well!

If only I could get Umineko merch this slick too, lol.

Right? I do intend to go back and replay Question Arc [on Steam] since it's been a while and I didn't ever get to Answers Arc. >___>

I do wish that these sorts of games like this would be able to make diverse, dignified merch for their adult audience. The sort of thing that isn't immediately apparent as a fandom item, but that those 'in the know' would recognize easily. I've seen similar things for Japanese pop-ups on older IPs like Legend of the Galactic Heroes [1988].

Etsy stores do fill in this gap sometimes, but it would be neat to have official:
>reusable shopping bags
>reusable water bottle [stainless steel or tempered glass]
>purses
>wallets
>luggage
>subtle print button-down shirts [like they've done for Pokemon]
>ties
>silk handkerchiefs
>cuff links
>hair pins/clips
>office supplies, etc.

Reminds me of those Red Bard videos where they detail [on an excessively popular franchise, e.g. Evangelion] how you could essentially live using/wearing merch from the franchise. It won't be realized for something like Umineko or Fata Morgana, but a girl can dream.

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Maniac64 posted...

The outfit the lady is wearing in the first card sure is something

Yeah, not much fabric to speak of, at least in key areas.

It's a very 'fashion tape 800 years before fashion tape existed' look.

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GANON1025 posted...

I love those art cards! Would love to see them better

I can of course, take better pics but this is the basic overview of the 8 cards.

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GANON1025 posted...

I love those art cards! Would love to see them better

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GANON1025 posted...

I love those art cards! Would love to see them better

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I gotta take pics of the art cards tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

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GANON1025 posted...

I love those art cards! Would love to see them better

Okay, cool! I'd be happy to take pics later!

Help, I still think I'm funny:


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Maniac64 posted...

Woo! Looks great

Thanks! I posted the pic from my phone. It all came in a nice printed box, there's art cards, an art book, two-sided poster of the first and second games' covers, of course the game cartridge itself for the Switch with an oddly detailed inner booklet, a 6-disc soundtrack set, and a fancy-looking holographic card of Michel [not pictured, but I can post it tomorrow probably].

Also, you can go to the 'Back Door' option on the game and answer 3 trivia questions to unlock all chapters, rather than having to play through the original game again.

Auto flows very smoothly so far on Requiem for Innocence, my first time playing on the Switch, but the controls were relatively intuitive once I got to know them. Very easy to save, load, and config as needed. So excited to start writeups again soon.

Ask me anything, or if you want to see something closer, I'm happy to take more pics, within reason.

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Supposedly delivered today. I am praying that there shall be no porch pirating today until one of us gets home.

There will be an unboxing series of photos. :D

Yay~

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It's in my state now, about a half hour away. Might get here before Wednesday [DHL only delivers M-F] or it might not.

I'm so excited to finally play the rest and have a deeper understanding of the everything.

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GANON1025 posted...

I hope you like it! If its anything like the first release of their special edition, its super super nice.

Are you referring to the Vita CE from 2019? The summary image is still on the LRG website, that looks like it was nifty.

Just gotta cross fingers and toes that delivery people are gentle, or that it's been packed well to avoid damage.

I still have a CD player in my car [not sure if this is becoming more rare?]. So excited that I can play the soundtrack on CD when I'm driving around!

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All righty, I got a tracking number over the weekend. :D Should be in by Sept. 15th according to DHL, but we'll see.

How are y'all doing?

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https://twitter.com/LimitedRunGames/status/1433451409467453453?s=20

It's green and status is 'ready' on the website. All looks good. I have heard some not-so-great tales about their packaging but I hope the games are being packed more carefully now. And I do mean all games, not just because I ordered the CE. Someone who ordered standard should also get a game that hasn't been kicked around unnecessarily.

Woohoo!

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Seriously considering buying Requiem for Innocence in a week or two if there's no word on the CE. Which, if the playtime to cost ratio is anything like the OG, will be $14.99 well spent.

I wanna say there's some different art in the CE. Unless I'm thinking of the PlayStation VITA version, where Moyataro was sick and another illustrator had to take over.

The art is incredible, I still think of it often and it makes me want to do art more often. If I don't get back in the saddle, I'm going to miss out on a lot of art-making years here.

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Update from LRG: status of HiFM CE is 'On Deck'. According to their subreddit, this means it's at the warehouse but will get out to me eventually.

Sounds like LRG has this issue with delivery times. Hope I don't have to wait for a year like the Ys CE who was the OP on that thread.

We'll see.

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GANON1025 posted...

Here's a ... trailer?

Not really sure what to make of it...

Yeah, that trailer was special, but did help make the distinction in tone for HiFM fans XD

I'm interested to see where it goes.

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Maniac64 posted...

It Takes Two with my wife. Very fun.

Co-op games are a good time!

Arti posted...

It will definitely take a while since it's still in production because there's a lot of items they have on deck in front of it right now. Including my order of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which is apparently ready but hasn't shipped yet.

I appreciate you weighing in on this. Now that I'm looking into it more, it sounds like this is pretty common for LRG and companies across the board have really slowed down in the wake of 2020.
Hope you get your Scott Pilgrim game soon!

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Hrgh. I keep checking LRG daily and a whole lotta nothin'. 'In Production' is all it says. I hope they didn't forget about me.

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Looking at the next three weeks in anticipation... hopefully the Switch copy arrives this month after it got delayed last month.

Finally gonna start my replay this week, opened HiFM up last night and took a look - playing it through a second time gets me an achievement and so does reaching all the bad ends. :D

How have y'all been?

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

All shipping address updates must be made by TODAY, August 4th, 2021.

I'm so excited. I can't wait to play the rest of it and see the gorgeous illustrations and hear the VOICES. One thing I may not have mentioned is that I'm an 80s-00s seiyuu geek, I love Japanese voices, and it sounds like they've got a good slate of them for HiFM's sequel Reincarnation.

My favorite seiyuu [who is sadly not in House in Fata Morgana] is Kosugi Jurota, who was:

• Briareos in Appleseed
• David from Blood+
• Dryden from Vision of Escaflowne
• Fernand de Morcerf from Gankutsuou
• Jotaro Kujo from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure OVA [1993]
• Kasper Linz from Legend of the Galactic Heroes [1988]
• Zagato and Lantis from Magic Knight Rayearth [1994]
• Henken Bekkener from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
• Arlong in One Piece
• Akio Ohtori from Revolutionary Girl Utena
• Mr Legend from Tiger & Bunny
• Krauss Ushiromiya from Umineko no Naku Koro ni [2009]

I'm not even sure if there'd be anyone for him to be, aside from possible Didier especially as a ghost? He has a deep voice that can be either militant/harsh or soft/seductive, depending on the role.

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

Got the confirmation email that all shipping address updates must be made by August 4th, 2021. They will likely start prepping to ship the week of August 8th?

Anyway, hype. I ordered some colored contacts so I'm excited for those to come in around the time this game is shipped.

Unrelated, I am hoping to do some cosplay from HiFM at some point, seems like it would be fun. Michel tops the list, but Maid would be fine too. Wish I could cosplay Didier, but I'm not that cool looking. XD

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

New estimated ship date is August 2021. Really looking forward to it. What have y'all been playing these days?

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

Checked Limited Run and it's still in production. We're running out of July for it to be shipped though...

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

Favorite track from the OST?

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

masterplum posted...

Haven't heard of it

I have heard Journey comparisons - there are platforms that are part of larger puzzles, and the nature of the world changes depending on how you interact with it. At first your character can only walk, but as they proceed, they start to be able to run, jump, glide, thwomp on things to weigh them down temporarily, etc.

There are no fail states, so you are free to explore and find out what works and what doesn't. The color is vibrant, the art is beautiful, the puzzles are frustrating at times, but there's no text/dialogue/other delays to interrupt the gameplay.

I've played it all the way through and I enjoyed it. YMMV.


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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

masterplum posted...

Virtues last reward

and braid

Virtue's Last Reward is part of Zero Escape/999 right?

Have you played Gris? The art style is totally different, but Braid's puzzle solving/platform gameplay makes me think of that.

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

It keeps getting away from me. No more promises.

This game really stands out as a game that you think of long after you've played it. Have y'all played any other games like that? [no spoilers please]

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

Done traveling. Replay writeups to start next week.

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

All righty, I checked on Limited Run Games and the Switch CE status is 'In Production'! Something to look forward to. Anyone else excited for their order?

I'm traveling these days but when I can return to replay I will.

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

IRL has been throwing me for a big loop. Sorry y'all. Will be back to it ASAP.

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

stats stats stats

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

Yikes. That week went by fast. I'm going to start my replay this weekend, so I'll let you know what new stuff pops up.

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

masterplum posted...

Finished.

Congrats!

I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I liked reading your critiques. Jacopo really threw me for a loop there too.


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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

masterplum posted...

There was one though that was completely incomprehensible consonants next to each other where I conceded the point that it was not an actual sound. Don't remember what it was.

These do happen. We do have our demonic sounds and torture, after all.

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

masterplum posted...

My spouse also voice acts all the cries based on how over the top and absurd they are. We had an argument how to pronounce "Ngh"

Thank you for this mental image.

I always thought of 'Ngh' as that sound in your throat when you grit your teeth and flinch because something is painful. Not voiced so much as a small groan, mouth closed.

What was your interpretation?

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike

masterplum posted...

The end of this game is taking entirely too long. Mel isn't so bad after all. I get it.

Yeah, they proceed with the rest of everyone else and it is quite a process. >_>

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Come on, John darling, they won't boo me.
-Sybil Thorndike