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TopicVideo Game Music Trivia Season 2
andylt
04/29/23 1:59:43 PM
#27
wg64Z posted...
Also sorry DQ fans but man the music in DQ games sucks.
Agree based on what I've heard

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Topic[VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 17: Nominations
andylt
04/27/23 2:35:57 PM
#490
Throwing a few more supports at 1/1s to try and keep them afloat! There are too many great songs that must be left in the dust this contest :'(

+ Ducktales Remastered | The Amazon | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqhO9coG_vk
+ Touhou Rhythm Carnival! Scarlet | Ritsudo Festival ~ Toho Rhythm Carnival! | https://youtu.be/Jw62-7D4tdw
+ Scarlet Nexus | Welcome to Musubis | https://youtu.be/w8O5_TMZMtk
+ Tropico 6 | Esta Noche | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZZ1F65gxR0

Will drop my own unsupported noms at some point tomorrow.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Topic[VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 17: Nominations
andylt
04/27/23 1:32:48 PM
#481
There are plenty of Crush 40 fans among us! Though I'm not fond enough of any of those particular noms to support them I'm afraid >_>

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/26/23 6:24:21 PM
#109
Huh, thanks for that poll though I am very confused. I thought I'd have Ryoko higher than most people, and I really wouldn't have expected Ei to be the least popular of the playable cast. Then they have 426 split into 4 or 5 different slots, Okino into two, and I don't know the difference between the #22 and #29 Morimuras. Strange. At least we all love Natsuno!

Also Hemborger > Yakisoba Pan sorry Takatoshi

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicVideo Game Music Trivia Season 2
andylt
04/26/23 5:51:01 PM
#25
Another great show! I didn't do very well though. I think I have more fun casually playing along as it goes rather than trying to keep score myself. I did get Spyro the Dragon Quest but couldn't for the life of me get the number. I always love the connect-the-theme round and the finale mashups, thanks for doing this!

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/26/23 5:46:20 PM
#106
I've been meaning to post a proper character ranking but haven't gotten around to writing them out. So instead, here's a quick gut ranking of the main 13 before this topic purges

1. Keitaro Miura
2. Natsuno Minami
3. Ei Sekigahara
4. Tomi Kisaragi
5. Yuki Takamiya
5.5. Tsukasa Okino
6. Ryoko Shinonome
7. Nenji Ogata
8. Takatoshi Hijiyama
9. Juro Kurabe
10. Shu Amiguchi
11. Iori Fuyusaka
11.5. Tamao Kurabe
12. Renya Gouto
13. Megumi Yakushiji

I like pretty much everybody, but the top 3 are clear in front (Team BJ!), Megumi is a clear last, and Iori and Renya don't get much development. Still, it feels bad putting some of them low down. If I was purely ranking based on their stories, Ryoko and Nenji would be higher.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Topic[VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 17: Nominations
andylt
04/26/23 11:37:46 AM
#418
Supporting some 1/1s

+ Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage | Cinema | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiFh4RgPLeA
+ Arknights | Operation Blade | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlQze4sE0UY
+ Radical Rabbit Stew | Time Machine II | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCGHOVvE4jY
+ Xenoblade Chronicles X | MNN+@0(Day) | https://youtu.be/xbvB7ks0MNo
+ Deus Ex | Wan Chai | https://youtu.be/SA19x8bzTC8

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Topic[VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 17: Nominations
andylt
04/25/23 6:24:05 AM
#372
Pls don't jump to remove your noms so early smh!!

DeviDoesNothing posted...
Thanks! Something tells me the "excellent taste" part was sarcasm, but hey I like to think I have good taste regardless of what everyone else says.
It was not sarcasm, I nominated Back 2 Back and was happy to see someone support it lol.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Topic[VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 17: Nominations
andylt
04/24/23 8:05:19 AM
#324
DeviDoesNothing posted...
also hi everyone first time here how are you guys doing

Welcome! And, uh, good luck. You clearly have excellent taste.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Topic[VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 17: Nominations
andylt
04/23/23 8:46:54 PM
#304
NFUN posted...
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/9/0/AAcM16AADR6O.jpg
++ this image

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Topic[VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 17: Nominations
andylt
04/20/23 6:58:08 PM
#135
+ Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia | The Sacrifice and the Saint | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osiA4tyLDOU
Loop point: 2:41
+ Touhou 14: Double Dealing Character | Kobito of the Shining Needle ~ Little Princess | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqndc-C57MQ
Loop point: 3:43
+ Sonic Rush | Back 2 Back | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JY3W5J2UeI
+ Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze | Wing Ding | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEId-ERa0M0
Loop point: 4:30
+ Final Fantasy X | Tidus's Theme | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4RE-ENAjaU
Loop point: 2:31

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Topic[VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 17: Nominations
andylt
04/19/23 7:00:07 PM
#19
+ Sonic Adventure 2 | Fly in the Freedom | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMekPbcN3Ts
+ Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire | Mt. Pyre Exterior | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEtlhq1PxI4
Loop point: 1:22
+ Shovel Knight: King of Cards | The Buzz in the Grotto (Troupple Pond) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok12i2OnRfU
Loop point: 1:48
+ Master Spy | Mission 3 (HK) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4kiWPf7wwU
+ Stardew Valley | Winter (The Wind Can Be Still) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_ezfsJ4-Lw

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicGame of Gen 8: Shovel Knight/Resident Evil 2 | Kid Icarus: Uprising/God of War
andylt
04/18/23 2:03:23 PM
#40
Resident Evil 2
-

Not played GoW but the other three are terrific. Some really strong matches lately!

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicFinal Fantasy Pixel Remaster 1-6 Trophy Lists
andylt
04/18/23 2:02:30 PM
#14
Where are the achievement lis- oh, right :(

Well, I suppose trophy hunters will be happy they didn't adapt the DS version of FFIV for these. 100%ing that is a bother!

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Topic[VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 17 announcement!! Noms are 4/19!!
andylt
04/17/23 1:17:26 PM
#52
This seems cool and I also request a larger image if possible!

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicGame of Gen 8: DKC: Tropical Freeze vs. Obra Dinn | Hades vs. Edith Finch
andylt
04/16/23 9:15:31 PM
#25
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
-

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/16/23 7:00:23 AM
#105
I loved that scene too for playing their relationship completely seriously, Hijiyama is one of the best 2188 characters.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicYou are near the end of a lengthy boss fight...
andylt
04/15/23 1:07:07 PM
#4
If I'm confident I can safely revive everyone I will do so. But if there's a risk of dying in the process and having to do the whole thing again, I'll just cut my losses and take the solo kill.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/14/23 6:26:32 PM
#101
tcaz2 posted...
idk I just hope Ryoko gets with someone that will give her a hug. She really deserves one or twenty or so.
It is particularly cruel that Ida gets a happy ending but Ryoko kinda doesn't. I doubt Renya is the hugging type, but I suppose him being an emotionally distant, glasses wearing nerd with an analytical mindset could help him make a decent enough Ida substitute for her >_> Though on the other end, Ryoko doesn't share much in common with Morimura.

MacArrowny posted...
9999
That is... a lot of maps. I'm not going to complain about extra content but huh. Did anyone here beat them all??

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicFinal Tears of the Kingdom trailer tomorrow morning
andylt
04/14/23 3:24:43 PM
#63
Good luck sealing the darkness!

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/14/23 2:28:28 PM
#97
Why anyone would want them to be a thing is beyond me.

I've started looking things up now, apparently the bonus maps are numbered in the hundreds or even thousands? That's absurd, good job they don't lock anything behind it. Also all the unique sentinel powers were brand new with the Switch version so many here may not have even witnessed Miura's bombardment or Natsuno's very chunky laser!

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicGame of Gen 8: Super Mario 3D World vs Hollow Knight | Outer Wilds vs Undertale
andylt
04/14/23 2:08:10 PM
#51
-
Outer Wilds

Stacked day. Haven't played SM3DW but the other three are terrific.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Topic[VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 17 announcement!! Noms are 4/19!!
andylt
04/14/23 1:58:14 PM
#42
How high does the lock count need to be to stop Best is Yet to Come and Reach for the Moon making the contest? I vote we change it to that.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/13/23 5:59:09 PM
#93
It's about a promise.

3-9 and 3-10 are simple enough battles, in fact I could've done 3-10 faster if I'd known in advance that a single Limiter Removal powered Demolition Blade from Nenji would slice 2/3 of the boss's health off in one go. The last fight is tougher, I did not prepare for a defensive battle so I brought all 3 Melee units with me. Oops! Maybe I could've kept on top of the enemy onslaught but I try to play it defensive as best I can, thankfully everybody had EMP gear and Keitaro's Wide Range Bombardment continues to be a godsend to the end.

The plan succeeds, UC wakes up to the Deimos threat and the simulation is cut off. We get a lengthy explanation clarifying Okino's earlier remarks (the sectors are all virtual, but we did land on a planet and the facility we're in is physical), and bless Iori for asking about the 1.2 million people still inside. After a message from the 2188 professors, our 15 survivors (I guess Tamao is sitting offscreen quietly this whole time) exit their growth pods, and make their way to the new world. Juro and Megumi embrace, and vow to live on for humanity.

That ending is fine alone, but I can't tell you how relieved I was to see the simulation continue in the credits. 5 years later, Sector 4 is back up and running and our protagonists hop back in to their previous lives to reunite with their old friends. This is a very cheesy and fanservice-y epilogue and I eat it all up. Well not quite all of it, I still don't love all of the pairings. I like Shu and Yuki but don't love them as a couple, I've spoken on Juro and Megumi before, and are Renya and Ryoko supposed to be together? It was mentioned they used to date when they were kids, but if they're a couple now that's one of the saddest cases of pairing the spares I have seen. They were both madly in love with someone else and would be together simply because they're the only two left. But the game doesn't explicitly mention they're a couple so I'll assume they aren't. The professor will help the two develop a way to give real bodies to the AI populace, so a truly happy ending is coming down the line.

The non-romantic interactions are the best here, from the girls embracing Miwako, to the return of our story's real hero BJ, to an unexpectedly emotional reunion between Ogata and Wajima. Minami and Miura remain the best romantic pairing, I still like Hijiyama and Okino but I wish they had more affectionate scenes that weren't just Okino toying with the dude. The double Tamao meetup is odd, maybe that's a remnant of when she used to be a bigger part of the story. I like that Ei didn't feel like hopping into the simulation lol, I guess there's not much in the way of positive memories for him here. Though it'd be nice to see him and BJ reunite.

I am baffled that Tetsuya Ida gets a happy ending with Inaba, after everything he pulled. He doesn't even redeem himself, he just gets what he wants because it's happy ending time! Poor Tomi, she could do better. But I'll freely admit I'm a complete hypocrite here, because I really like that the game ends on a romantic reunion between two other people who have manipulated events and caused so much destruction for so many lives. Against all odds, Chihiro Morimura and Juro Izumi finally get to embrace and look to the future, and dangit if that isn't sweet.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim- CLEARED

And... that's it! I think. There's a bunch of new data archive info, but it's mainly clarifying things in case we were still confused (much appreciated). A post-ending scene teases one possible alternate world generated by the self-replicating probes, and there's a new wave of battle maps. Is it worth doing these, do I get anything plot-related for them? Not sure if I'll bother otherwise.

I have thoroughly enjoyed playing this game and it pretty much stuck the landing in the end, props to the writers for handling so many plot threads and tying them together in a way that made sense. I'll have to sit and digest on the game for a bit, but I might do some character rankings or something before ending the topic. Thank you very much to anyone who followed along, I hope you got something out of it!


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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicFinal Tears of the Kingdom trailer tomorrow morning
andylt
04/13/23 1:06:24 PM
#44
The OG BotW champions keep sticking around despite their unalive status for some reason

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicFinal Tears of the Kingdom trailer tomorrow morning
andylt
04/13/23 12:59:44 PM
#37
Best trailer for this game yet for sure, though I'm still let down by the map and Zelda being reduced to damsel again. I thought they might be about to transition to her being playable but she just says 'ohhhh link' at 3 separate points in this one trailer.

Good music.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/12/23 7:18:56 PM
#91
Shame, I admit a tiny part of me was hoping for a secret 14th route with Tamao.

The data archives reveal how Okino un-infected the Sentinels, that feels like something they should've told us on-screen lol. Guess there were budget/time constraints somewhere.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/12/23 5:55:29 PM
#89
You... are correct. Is that what you wanted to hear? That I was driven by some... cheap, naive impulse? That I... That I can't think about anything else?

Keitaro Miura
I'm unsure why they locked this last section off, nothing major happens and I don't think it even reveals much about Hijiyama's story. Miura and his long time colleague have a nice chat, this really is one of the most believable friendships in the game, and we get mentions of BJ, Chihiro, and an appearance from Natsuno. A smaller finale than most, but definitely one of the best characters.

Renya Gouto
As one would hope, Gouto's story provides some much-needed answers. As one would expect, it also throws a bunch of new questions our way. The path is less about Gouto himself and more about the clone formerly known as Chihiro Morimura, and excuses to give us many more welcome flashbacks that help clear things up. There's only one scene here that I think centres on Renya himself, and it's an excellent one where he confesses his love of Ms Morimura and his frustration at being driven by such base emotions.

After Ms Morimura's death, Gouto has figured out that baby Chihiro is not a clone of our top-heavy teacher nurse, but instead a direct clone of Professor Morimura from 2188. I did not see this coming, I thought they were leading us to a reveal that she was 426. But it's a great way to tie us back to the original story, and get some answers from 'humanity's traitor' herself. Though she mainly sits there quietly while Renya delivers the exposition dumps. Again this isn't a complaint, I like being spoonfed when things are this ambiguous!

One flashback reveals that Ida was lying about Juro killing the 4 who tried to loop again. We didn't need to learn this info directly, it was pretty obvious, but seeing Morimura break down in guilt over it makes the scene worthwhile, and helps strengthen her motivations for bringing Juro back later on. The myriad of 2188 logs (yay!) come from all corners: Ida, who I think looks more like Gouto than Amiguchi in 2188, berates everybody including the person watching the log (lol, classic Ida); Takamiya and Morimura talk about making clones with some language that goes over my head, and a blatantly evil Kengo Ogata AI taunts 2188 Gouto. The last one doesn't really land as well for me, Nenji's dad is one-dimensional and it's awfully late to add a new key player to the proceedings, but Gouto sets out to halt Project Ark so it's possible there's a later reveal to come from this. Making Ogata Sr the one directly responsible for the infection is a bit cheap, but I suppose it doesn't alleviate Chihiro's responsibility entirely.

As for Child Professor Morimura herself, she's an arrogant sinister egomaniac who will stop at nothing to get what she wants... but what she wants, it seems, is to save the species. She just doesn't trust anyone else to do it right. She's layered pretty nicely considering how fast her arc moves along, and Gouto's key role is to remind her of her own humanity and argue the case for this world's inhabitants to fight for themselves. It works, and she berates herself as she begins to grow fond of Renya and his plan, helping to shift 1.2 million civilians to Sector 3. It's cool seeing the destruction scenes from way back when shown from here on the ground level, and I like that Miwako played a part in helping proceedings.

Another major help comes from Morimura's newly revealed biological son, Tsukasa Okino.

Takatoshi Hijiyama
Instead of sticking with Gouto it feels right to shift to these two. While waiting for Inaba to show herself, Okino and Hijiyama are attacked by androids, and Okino shifts Hijiyama to safety before being attacked. Then Hijiyama runs around the school looking for anyone who can save him, not even stopping at the cafeteria. That's how you know it's serious! His only pause is to reminisce about an encounter with Okino, and then the game's constant MVP BJ comes to the rescue. Bless you, BJ! It's too late to save the AI Okino, but Takatoshi resolves to fight to keep a home for Okino to return to, which is so very sweet.

We know Okino comes back for the final battle, so his return isn't a surprise. But the information he brings us is! He reveals to Hijiyama that the world as he knows it is a simulation, and 80% of the innerlocitor's processes go to simulating reality to make it believable for the 15. I have to admit I'm a little confused here, I thought the sectors were real constructions 30km in diameter and that their waning stability is the reason we can have no more resets. But Okino says the sectors are a simulated space, and only the pods they are in are reality. The people, though created by UC, must be real by some definition or why would Chihiro bother saving all 1.2 million of them? Are you telling me Miwako isn't real, game?? Maybe I misunderstood this and Tsukasa is just putting things in a way Takatoshi can understand. I took 'simulated space' to mean the space itself is non-existent, but maybe he meant the space is where the simulations take place.

More easily understood is Takatoshi's way of declaring his love, and no longer burdened by shame he marches with a clear head into the final fight. A solid story, still hope these two have a happier epilogue ahead.

Renya Gouto
The professor softens, and Renya makes her a bet that this world can take care of itself. Even she can't deny this possibility, and she shifts some satellites to create one final opportunity for us to save the world (which she refers to as Earth!). She's done a lot wrong, but I can't help but love her for addressing Keitaro as big brother here and wishing him luck.

And... that's it! We're onto the final battle for real this time. There's ten more scenes left unseen in the event database, and an unusually large amount of analysis logs still missing, so I hope we have more story to come. I'm not clear on absolutely everything (an understatement and a half), but I'm eager to see what happens after the Deimos' demise.

A random thought I've been having: I wonder if Tamao was originally planned to be a playable character? She's likely one of the 15, and is always tangentially evolved in events. I kept waiting for her major role to come through but it never did.

Also, did any of you pick up on the 'design engineer' slip from Chihiro to indicate she was the professor? I don't recall what I thought at the time but I think I just assumed Morimura knew everything at that point >_>

Cleared:
Shu Amiguchi
Ryoko Shinonome
Tomi Kisaragi
Yuki Takamiya
Natsuno Minami
Nenji Ogata
Juro Kurabe
Megumi Yakushiji
Ei Sekigahara
Iori Fuyusaka
Keitaro Miura- CLEARED
Takatoshi Hijiyama- CLEARED
Renya Gouto- CLEARED

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicFinal Tears of the Kingdom trailer tomorrow morning
andylt
04/12/23 12:49:43 PM
#4
Why wait for the reveal? Let's rehash durability arguments right now!

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicHas Goldeneye 64 aged well?
andylt
04/12/23 11:42:28 AM
#13
I played it for the first time a couple months ago after hearing about how poorly it had aged, and was surprised how fun it still is. It has obviously dated poorly in some respects and I played on Xbox with the new controls, it may be worse on Switch, but I had a good time.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
Topic[VGMC] Video Game Music Contest 17 announcement!! Noms are 4/19!!
andylt
04/12/23 6:26:56 AM
#14
Ah a 7pm Eastern start time is much more doable for me, I really appreciate that change! Fewer noms is probably wise too, but now I have to work harder at cutting my own noms down to a reasonable size. Gah!

UF8 posted...
i hate the current interpretation of the lock system tbh, the whole point of it was to merely protect songs that were considered """safe""" ie. stuff at the top of the nomcount sheet right off the bat from the inevitable actions of people deciding to drop them for that reason, not for pushing people to support anything they see before they even listen to other noms so it can make the guaranteed in cut in time

if the requirement isn't at least bumped up to a minimum of 8 i'll be mad
A system I stole from lefty for the contest I ran was to disallow people dropping noms for the last 24/48 hours, with the idea it'd stop 'safe' entries collapsing out at the last second. But that has its own drawbacks too. I guess the hope here is that having fewer total noms will encourage people to be more discerning and not jump to lock in songs they know they like, though maybe it'll work the other way and everyone locks stuff in too early. Who knows!

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicIGN's Top 10 Super Mario Levels
andylt
04/11/23 6:53:36 PM
#10
What a bizarre list. It's almost as if it was specifically designed to be controversial!

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/11/23 6:02:58 PM
#88
You overestimate your borger, my friend!

Takatoshi Hijiyama
Hijiyama's path is fun. A third of it is about Okino's research and the overarching story, and then the rest involves Hijiyama running around school picking up change left by a nearby cat, Hijiyama wrestling with his feelings for Okino, and Hijiyama embracing his feelings for Yakisoba Pan. I had never heard of Yakisoba Pan before this game and now it's all I can think about. Someone on the writing team was very hungry.

We cross paths with pretty much everyone here at some point, though it's mainly glimpses while they're going through their own stories. In fact, one of the only people we don't see is the one Okino is searching for, our Deimos commander herself! One of my fav smaller scenes is the one between Keitaro and Takatoshi, a genuine conversation between two old friends reconnecting, and then arguing about food.

Takatoshi is still pretty isolated in this world, his only real relationship is the complex give and take between him and Tsukasa. Their dynamic is by and large a good one. They're mainly up front with each other when it comes to serious issues, and there's an easy chemistry between them. I'm rooting for Takatoshi to accept his feelings, though Okino does overreach sometimes when it comes to teasing Hijiyama's insecurities. Monitoring his brain activity like that was too far! You've gotta cut the guy a break, he's been transplanted out of the '40s into an unfamiliar world and clearly has a lot to sort out in his head. Offering Okino half of his Yakisoba Pan is probably as close to a declaration of love as he can give! The poor guy winds up thinking Tsukasa's in a relationship with Nenji, Ei, and Tomi lol.

Takatoshi is a good guy, despite everything he's trying his best to help people and wants to protect the world. The visit back to a ruined 1945 is good, though I once again judge the 2188 crew for deciding to pick a slightly pre-World War II Japan for one of their eras. A real case of trauma tourism there, folks! Hijiyama is, of course, affected by the devastation of the war, and it'd be no different if there weren't giant mecha kaiju involved. The two get so close to realising there's no time travel going on, but don't quite make the (admittedly large) logical leap.

The best scene here, unsurprisingly, is the one with 2188 logs from BJ. Where would this story be without BJ? Hijiyama and Okino are a couple in this time, it's nice seeing their romantic relationship be stated explicitly and for Takatoshi to be so effusive about his love. Though I see Okino has kept his penchant for manipulation across incarnations! Curse that corner-cutting code. Then we see the aftermath of an energy dispute, which for some reason resulted in Ogata opening fire. Tsukasa is killed (an interesting decision having the shooter be Izumi, a reminder if we needed it that he's not always an all out amazing guy!), and Hijiyama annihilated Ogata's whole crew in response. It's noted that Ida and Shinonome got out safely (hmm), and then Takatoshi muses that he'd like to save his friends if Project Ark comes to pass. A sad scene, even in humanity's last days something so trivial caused so much destruction. Hopefully our Hijiyama and Okino will be able to live a happier life than their 2188 counterparts after this is all over.

Takatoshi is noticeably shaken by seeing this, and declines to tell Okino what he saw. After an amusing sequence with the dysfunctional Nenji/Tomi and Takatoshi/Tsukasa pairs, we reach our final scene of the day as Okino lays all his cards on the table. We learn a few new things. First, Sector 4 has been left til last by the kaiju as their commander is based here. Second, the D-code maintains regular updates with UC, the automated factories in Sector 1, and the artificial satellite, and third, the D-code only uses a small amount of the innerlocitor processing power and we don't know what 80% of the nanomachines are being used for. Or who implanted them in the first place. Is this merely Izumi's meta-upgrades at work, or have we got another major reveal left to come. I'm thinking the latter, as Okino feels he's missing something fundamental, and to my great surprise we are locked out of the final Hijiyama section.

Checking the event archives, this scene took place before the scene with Juro in Okino's lab, so next time we should get a clearer view of events from him. But I am shocked that we're locked off behind Gouto's story, which has just opened up again! You love to knock me off my guard, game.

Cleared:
Shu Amiguchi
Ryoko Shinonome
Tomi Kisaragi
Yuki Takamiya
Natsuno Minami
Nenji Ogata
Juro Kurabe
Megumi Yakushiji
Ei Sekigahara
Iori Fuyusaka

Uncleared:
Keitaro Miura- 87%
Takatoshi Hijiyama- 85%
Renya Gouto- prologue done

NEXT UP: Keitaro's last scenes are unlocked and I won't be able to resist going there. After that, we'll see what the second shadiest glasses wearer in Ashitaba has been up to.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicI dreamt we had another Character Battle and not even Board 8 cared.
andylt
04/11/23 12:25:34 PM
#5
There is no contest too insignificant for us to care about.

ctesjbuvf posted...
Most NNers somehow keep getting new relevance and when they don't their game suddenly is the favorite of the whole site.

I don't think Squall can ever beat that.
Only an FF8 Remake will help Squall beat the NN!

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicWhy did no one tell me Outer Wilds was a horror game
andylt
04/10/23 5:25:16 PM
#20
tag

The vast emptiness of space always scares me and it did here, I understand your take. Oddly one of the games that evoked the same feeling (in this particular sense) was Subnautica.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/10/23 5:23:52 PM
#87
If only I had the courage to take your hand. That would've been for the best.

Iori Fuyusaka
Things start off a little slow. These girls love their fast food! It's almost nostalgic seeing these early lighter scenes again, and I like the sly hints at other stories going on, like Juro mentioning that he's easily influenced by movies, or Tomi being extra kind to Miwako presumably after she has had her memory rewritten. Flashbacks/dreams of Morimura are always welcome, I did not expect Okino would be the one who coined the term 'UFO' for UC lol. Nice Natsuno shout-out from Iori there, too.

Another dream shows Ida looping back to 2089 to assist Morimura, I had completely forgotten about the accompanying scene for this until checking the event database afterwards oops. I'm not sure exactly how the loops work, as I think this is a different one to the time Morimura and Izumi warped back together, but she seems to be acting the same only without Juro this time. My mind is a little jumbled on this stuff! Later we get a long overdue (for my playthrough, that is) flashback of Izumi and Morimura on Sumire Bridge. He discusses their romantic relationship, and she reluctantly kills him. Juro+Chihiro is a relationship from multiple loops ago and does not seem to carry over to Kurabe+Iori at all, but it hangs over the whole narrative and I wouldn't be surprised if we aren't done with the couple. Honestly, I hope we aren't, they're too vital to the story not to get some satisfying closure to the doomed couple.

Iori's story shifts into gear when she accidentally activates the science room gate and runs into Ei in Sector 2. Her longing for the handsome stranger she knows nothing of is a little silly, but she is a teenager I suppose. Seeing Ei from an outside POV is interesting, the guy really does not have a high opinion of himself. Gouto and Morimura find Iori, and do what they do best: gaslight. Iori ignores them and open sesames her way back to the future, only to misread Ryoko and Ei's relationship. Then we get a bizarre interlude with a rapey Wajima and boring Good Cop Onishi, I don't think these scenes were necessary tbh.

Iori winds up confessing her love on Ei's motorcycle, and again this romance feels a bit underbaked. It's very cliche hollywood 'love at first sight', though I'll admit it can be cute. Ei doesn't openly reciprocate but he is clearly touched by her feelings, and rather bluntly states that he's not known love in his life since he was a child. I wish we'd seen more of Ryoko and Ei's relationship, it's very sad what happens there. At least Ei's not alone now, poor guy, but he and Iori know virtually nothing about each other >_>

At the park we meet Morimura, and she admits she was trying to rewrite her personality onto Iori's (and Tamao is mentioned multiple times, we're running out of options for her relevance so I have to assume she'll be major in Hijiyama's story). The big reveal of the day is that looping through Sector 0 isn't a real way to save yourself. UC reconstructs your data and duplicates you into a new body but you're a different being to before, and not a human one. This is what Morimura now is, an illusion, and that's another reason for her to insist on Operation Aegis. Another instance of the ambiguous nature of identity and self! Baby Chihiro overhears this conversation, perhaps this is when she decides to murder herself.

Iori is willing to take up the hero mantle but Ei thinks himself useless and leaves again. After thinking on it, he transfers ownership of #15 to her and tells her to believe in herself, and when Judgment Day comes she is the first to take up the call and fight. Having played Ei's story already, I like that he decides to join after seeing Iori and the others fight, it's a nice way of showing the impact she's had on him and makes the relationship a bit more two-sided. Overall I don't think this is the strongest story, it has some great flashbacks (and music!) and I always like Ei, but Iori herself is a little underwritten. I wish they'd done more to flesh her out as a person, she's decent, but there could've been more here to help layer the romance.

Cleared:
Shu Amiguchi
Ryoko Shinonome
Tomi Kisaragi
Yuki Takamiya
Natsuno Minami
Nenji Ogata
Juro Kurabe
Megumi Yakushiji
Ei Sekigahara
Iori Fuyusaka- CLEARED

Uncleared:
Keitaro Miura- 87%
Takatoshi Hijiyama- prologue done
Renya Gouto- prologue done

NEXT UP: Hijiyama fans rejoice, now is your time!

---
Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicDid you need a guide/walkthrough to beat Ocarina of Time?
andylt
04/10/23 11:26:17 AM
#4
I used a guide for everything when I was a kid, so yeah

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicWhat are some good short games on Switch Online? (Free trial for Europe)
andylt
04/09/23 6:45:16 PM
#62
I'm glad this topic was useful for someone other than me!

WazzupGenius00 posted...
-and perhaps most critically, they found major success with Kirby shortly afterward
curse that pink ball

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicVideo Game Music Trivia Season 2
andylt
04/09/23 6:43:00 PM
#3
Leonhart4 posted...
Tag for later


---
Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicThe Super Mario Bros. Movie Reviewzone
andylt
04/09/23 6:01:57 PM
#213
MoogleKupo141 posted...
they could do a pikmin movie and really minionize those fuckers
oh no

I am unsettled that you have brought this idea into the world

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/09/23 5:59:59 PM
#84
Huh, I used the interceptors a lot at first but didn't find them to be worth their cost. As far as the gen 4 units go I've gotten more use out of stuff like like Gouto's teleport or Yuki's Quad-spike. I play very aggressively so don't use the defensive powers all that much tbh >_>

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/09/23 4:42:27 PM
#82
I also saw Iori as female lead but I hadn't planned this order, it just kinda worked out this way. It should be a decent test to see if the 'play the stories in any order' premise actually works! I'm sure it will.

For now I've been doing destruction. I like that fighting in the apocalypse is when the game decides to loosen up and let its characters joke around. The individual powers are cool, I've been abusing Keitaro's bombardments and Natsuno's wide railgun very often. The long range and melee crews are great, def the best generations. Flight support has its uses too, but all-around seems the least necessary group.

I've been locked off after 3-8 until I 100% the story, so there's nothing left to distract us.

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicThe Super Mario Bros. Movie Reviewzone
andylt
04/09/23 7:06:40 AM
#165
I haven't seen this but I'm glad Kamek gets some love. Maybe one of these days he'll make it into Mario Kart...

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicThe monorail episode is overrated.
andylt
04/07/23 12:07:57 PM
#6
RikkuAlmighty posted...
Great, but overrated.
Were you sent here by the devil?

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicGame of Gen 8: Dragon Quest XI vs Shovel Knight | Resident Evil 2 vs Pokemon SM
andylt
04/06/23 7:06:58 PM
#44
-
Resident Evil 2

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/06/23 5:52:55 PM
#79
He's definitely up there!

Ei Sekigahara
Our heartthrob assassin's final segment does not disappoint. Yuki helps Ei get to the SIU HQ, where he comes face to, uh, glowing orb thing, with an android Tetsuya Ida. Ryoko did kill the guy but he of course saved his memory to a backup, which now holds Iori hostage. But Ei has regained more memories and we get an enthralling flashback sequence with Morimura. She has learned we're on a hard time limit now: the world we are on is losing stability, and any further attempted loop resets would destroy Sector 0. And then we finally see the infamous log she erased.

The log wasn't removed as part of some grand conspiracy, she was acting out of regular self-interest. And guilt. In 2188, Morimura and Sekigahara confront each other. In doing so, we learn that there are allegedly only ten humans left alive (which ten?), that Ei is willing to detonate a bomb on the only remaining structure with surviving humans, and that... Professor Chihiro Morimura caused the annihilation of humanity. Whoa. I wonder if humanity was already on a downward spin and that's the reason for the Ark project in the first place, or if she was simply an egotistical scientist getting down and dirty to fund her own vanity project, which ironically then became humanity's last hope. Either way, she traded nanomachines on the black market and this somehow resulted in the spread of the infection that has all but destroyed the species.

2188 Ei moves to kill her, and back in the alley Morimura expresses her guilt over her identical DNA self's actions. I wonder if learning all this is why she's been acting 'off' according to Gouto, there's no reason to doubt her sincerity here. As I contemplate this, child Chihiro arrives, and shoots the adult Morimura. Holy shit! This is cold-blooded murder, I can't think of any reason this killing needs to happen. Is this Chihiro in on some other agenda, or is she petty enough to kill anyone sharing her DNA? Does Gouto know about this? Will multiple clones be unable to coexist after all is done? If so, I worry for Iori! The scariest part here is that child Chihiro exists as of the final battle, so if she is up to something then nobody has stopped her yet.

Ei tells Idabot the truth and causes Ida to hesitate, thinking about Tomi and giving Ei a chance to finish his mission. He rescues Iori, nonchalantly embraces her and we cut to the final battle, where he is the last sentinel to take his place in the fight. A thrilling story from start to finish, Ei's assassin-with-a-heart-of-gold character is very appealing and having connections to every other central plot character doesn't hurt. Ida's story may be done for real this time, though once again I'm not certain on that front as his memory is still backed up to Sector 0. The tale of Morimura and Izumi, however, I think is far from over.

Cleared:
Shu Amiguchi
Ryoko Shinonome
Tomi Kisaragi
Yuki Takamiya
Natsuno Minami
Nenji Ogata
Juro Kurabe
Megumi Yakushiji
Ei Sekigahara- CLEARED

Uncleared:
Keitaro Miura- 87%
Iori Fuyusaka- prologue done
Takatoshi Hijiyama- prologue done
Renya Gouto- prologue done

NEXT UP: It's Iori or Hijiyama. I'm gonna follow the thread and go for Iori next, to see the other half of this self willed love story and hopefully get some much needed perspective from Morimura. From what I've seen so far, there's very little of Iori that resembles any of the other Morimuras personality-wise, I'm very interested to see how this will all tie together.


---
Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicAndy plays 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim
andylt
04/05/23 5:51:01 PM
#77
Whether we retain our memories or not, we're never the same as our past selves.

Ei Sekigahara
I'm glad I left this route late, because Ei crosses paths with pretty much every other story at some point here. But unlike some other characters, there's a strong focus on Ei himself and his arc continues to progress as we go. I like this guy a lot!

Continuing to reluctantly follow orders from the mysterious voice (Would Ida make sense? You usually can't go wrong guessing Izumi. Or it could be Ei himself? The phone has a short range... who knows!), we wander around interrupting everyone else's plots and getting some juicy flashes of Ei's past. First a curious Tomi has us remembering an encounter in Ida's lab. Thanks to the voice work here we can instantly tell this is Izumi, who creates the drugs that will later be used on Ryoko, Iori, and Shu to counter DD-426. I don't know why I didn't notice DD-426 has 426 in its name until now >_>

Then we learn Morimura and Ei share authorisation over the fancy motorbike, and head to Okino's lab. In flashbacks, Okino reveals that he is sort of an AI construct. A year prior, 426 had created DD-426 (I keep forgetting how close together a lot of this timeline really is) and Okino used it on himself to try and detach the D-code from his brain. I wonder, did Izumi know what he was making here in an attempt to kill all the compatible nanomachines to stop the apocalypse, or was it an accidental result while he was trying to upgrade them? Either way, Okino got infected and transferred his memories into his nanomachines to create a simulated personality that then attached to his brain. He considers himself 'the true Tsukasa Okino' now, which raises some very interesting questions.

The meaning of identity and the 'self' is a rather crucial theme of the game- maybe the central basis for the story given all the clones, amnesia, repetition and looping we've seen. Every one of our protags shares some similarities with their 2188 originals, but they all deviate in their own way, too. Juro for instance has a bond with Megumi in one life, and Morimura in another. Amiguchi and Ida, BJ!Miura and current Miura, Iori and the Morimuras, everyone is distinct but shares certain qualities across their various lives. Beyond nature v nurture there's stuff like Ida wanting to reset the world to recreate his muse in perfect form, the matter of memory loss changing who a person is, and I guess this all connects to the idea of reality and artifice, and if the two can overlap (yes!). Okino himself obviously believes in self-determination, and he's a good character to give that lesson. Sekigahara chooses not to create a backup simulated personality, partially because he hates himself ( :( ), and this choice is accepted too. I'm clearly not well versed on these topics but I enjoy how the game is exploring these themes.

Okino's memory backups appear to have failed Ei, and our next clue sends us to Keitaro, via Megumi and a legitimately hilarious Fluffy cameo ("Well, I guess we're doing this whole thing now"). Before BJ was BJ, he was Ei's friend. I really like this relationship! We don't see their history but the connection here is believable, Ei sees the person in Miura and not the AI, and Miura hides incriminating data to help his pal out. It's a very wholesome bond and I am now VERY sad that BJ dies later on. Iori seems to believe her and Ei are bound to be a couple, but his strongest pairing is clearly with AI Miura!

While we're here, Miura suggests that AI Tamao is the pilot of Sentinel 18, and I forget who actually pilots Sentinel 18 in the present. I should have those names down by now, jeez. He also believes Morimura quarantined important data logs that he has created backups of in his sentinel, surely the same logs that are key in Natsuno and Keitaro's routes. Morimura looks more suspicious than ever, but I won't jump to conclusions. The voice on the phone wants BJ destroyed, could it be coming from Morimura herself? Or Gouto? I rewatch the scene with Gouto and Chihiro in 2025 and Gouto isn't certain the adult Morimura has been hijacked, but he is very clear that there's something majorly off about her decision making. Hm.

Natsuno and Yuki lead Ei to the least abandoned Abandoned Building in history, for BJ to show Ei another 2188 log. I love you for all these logs, BJ, but you're such a tease eking them out one by one instead of blasting them all at once. We see 2188 Sekigahara for the first time, an assassin ordered by Renya Gouto to kill Chihiro Morimura in the still-under-construction Sector 4. Purely for the sake of hiding his own corruption, smh Gouto. Very interesting that both of them wind up inside the enclosures and that our Gouto works with Morimura in here. What really happened at the start of these cycles?!

Our last flashback of the day brings the grand return of the villainous bespectacled Mr Ida. Hooray! He orders Ei to deceive Miura in order to extract the most vital log, and we get more info on how the looping works. I wonder, did Ryoko really kill Ida? He's escaped death before and talks here like he's in it for the long haul, but we already know his plan failed... I'm bouncing back and forth wondering if he'll return for the final act or not.

There's one more section for Ei that requires 10 characters at 80% completion, and as luck would have it we reached that marker tonight! But I'm tired and want to be fully alert for his finale, so I'm forcing myself to leave it til tomorrow. Great stuff so far, though.

Cleared:
Shu Amiguchi
Ryoko Shinonome
Tomi Kisaragi
Yuki Takamiya
Natsuno Minami
Nenji Ogata
Juro Kurabe
Megumi Yakushiji

Uncleared:
Keitaro Miura- 87%
Ei Sekigahara- 85%
Iori Fuyusaka- prologue done
Takatoshi Hijiyama- prologue done
Renya Gouto- prologue done

---
Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicWhat are some good short games on Switch Online? (Free trial for Europe)
andylt
04/05/23 12:10:49 PM
#57
I'll give the other Lolos a go if they're ever on NSO but I won't seek them out otherwise. I wonder why the series died.

pjbasis posted...
Not even a title screen scroll huh? Still the early days of game boy
Not even pre-title logos! It boots up directly into the title screen, and then the game starts with Samus getting out of her ship. No context whatsoever, it must all be in the instruction manual. I didn't realise this was an early GB thing! (Then again, I didn't know until recently that the Game Boy came out in the 80s, I had been assuming it wasn't out long before Pokemon >_>)

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicWhat are some good short games on Switch Online? (Free trial for Europe)
andylt
04/05/23 9:24:48 AM
#54
Apparently it took me about 14.5 hours to 100% it

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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
TopicThe Super Mario Bros. Movie Reviewzone
andylt
04/05/23 8:36:16 AM
#72
I wasn't meaning to imply anyone here was being disrespectful to critics btw, it's the internet at large that's doing that (as usual).

Bane_Of_Despair posted...
https://twitter.com/grantkirkhope/status/1643446092791705600?t=w6oAUosjH89d5U428OCsNg&s=19
The 'as expected' says a lot, this stuff seems to be becoming more and more standard. Someone screenshot the credits, I guess Nint 'owns' the songs so doesn't legally need to credit anyone but it seems really out of place and a deliberate omission. (Spoilers for songs that are in the movie)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fs8mN9IakAA0V4k?format=jpg&name=large


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Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
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