Lurker > dotsdfe

https://youtu.be/MOdZy-DphNU

Double posting, but following from my previous post, this is a fun watch for anyone who hasn't played Thracia.

Doing 24x blind is a wild ride. I firmly hold that it's the worst map in the series on multiple fronts, and that it plays more like a trolly fanhack map than anything else. It makes for a really funny viewing experience, though.

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Compsognathus posted...

It's one of the Maddening HBD is one hardest maps in the franchise. It isn't a good difficulty, but it is difficult.

Yeah, I'd probably rank it in the top 5 or so for sure.

Offhand, Thracia chapter 24x is harder if you're playing blind. I'd definitely rank that as the most strictly obnoxious, though it's a lot less outrageous if you know what's going on.

Battle Before Dawn HHM is probably slightly worse if you're going for full recruitment just because it's possible to lose Jaffar off of bad AI/bad luck. It's not as bad if you're fine with him and Nino dying, though.

And I'd probably put it around the level of Conquest's final map and the swamp map in RD. Maybe the Galle map in Binding Blade would rank up there too.

But yeah, I'd probably put it around 3rd for hardest series maps, offhand.

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DepreceV2 posted...

So I just saw a video talking about the worst map in the game. I never played it on my first playthrough but I did recently on my second. I think someone mentioned it in this topic its the map after the time skip.

I did struggle on this map even in Hard Mode but I thought it was because I screwed up leveling up my units or something. I didnt put much thought into it outside of that. I remember Byleth could be one rounded by the enemy and there was no way that map would be that hard without me screwing up ahead of time. Apparently.. I was wrong.

If that map is that difficulty by design... I cant imagine that map on Maddening Mode. Jesus...

Reunion at Dawn can flat out end runs in some cases.

-The unit positioning is awful and leaves a lot of vulnerable units in terrible spots out of the gate.

-You're stuck with your class units, so if you've invested into Church characters, students from other houses, or DLC characters, you're just fucked for it.

-On BL, you get Gilbert, who gets one rounded by just about any of the enemies in Maddening by default and is dead weight out of the box.

-You can't do much for preps minus some very mild item shuffling if you back out, so if you aren't set up for it, you're screwed.

Basically...yeah, it's a miserable chapter on Maddening. It's one of the best examples of "This game was not designed with Maddening in mind at all."

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Mberer posted...

Question is, who is best boy

Yuri.

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That's a pretty reasonable tier list, but I'd say that the church members are pretty underrated for the most part.

Seteth is very good out of the box and comes in the best classline in the game. He'd be a really good candidate for top tier if he had better availability, but he's always good when he's around.

Hanneman is a shockingly good nuke. His magic growth is almost as good as Lysithea's. Speed is irrelevant on maddening unless you're like, Petra or Yuri anyway, so he ends up being really similar to Lys in practice.

(I'd also probably lower Lys a bit, she hits hard, but I usually find Constance to be a better nuke in practice. Good magic + Warp is really good though, so I still find Lys to be very good overall)

I haven't used Alois or Shamir, but I hear that they're decent. I also had good luck with Cyril, but I never bothered with him on maddening, so he might not hold up on tougher modes.

I'd also probably bump Edel up a bit. Her personal class sucks really hard, but Raging Storm is busted, and she ends up being really strong in a flying class. She can trivialize the final boss of CF just by abusing RS.

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https://youtu.be/Qbdsa2yYVQw

This is basically the TH general by now, so I'm reposting my mixed feelings on some awesome character choices vs. Linhardt getting really screwed over.

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Compsognathus posted...

You know one of my least favorite things in FE games? Figuring out who gets Stat Up items. It is just an endless series of second guessing.

Do I give Giant Shells to someone who already has high defense since defense is a stat that snowballs? Or someone with terrible defense?

Speed ups to slow characters to prevent doubling or fast characters to ensure they double?

There's almost no wrong answer. You can use them to spoil your favorites, or you can use them to help someone who is falling behind. Either way works.

FE YouTubers have made pretty good points about this, in regards to how these things are tools to help you finish the game. Just don't hoard them, and you'll be fine.

The other way to look at it is to consider that you could easily beat the game without using any of them. It's perfectly possible to beat FEs while never using any stat boosters. Considering that, using them on whoever you want to is just going to help you in the long run.

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Maddening's difficulty is kind of lopsided. I find it very tough for the first few chapters, then it levels off until the midgame/specifically the reunion chapter, and then part 2 is largely easy until the last map or two on any given route. Basically, the beginning, middle, and end are all very tough and everything in between is pretty tame.

Special shoutout to Blue Lions reunion, which is especially bullshit due to your unit placement in it. Mercedes & Annette show up together and get crushed by anything that looks at them, and you get Gilbert, who is an outright liability if you want to try to keep him alive since almost any enemy one rounds him at base on maddening.

The most jarring changes to maddening come in the form of stat thresholds. Being a fast unit is actually pretty bad on maddening, because very few units can actually keep up with the speed that they need to double, barring heavy use of stay boosters. Yuri and Petra can do it, and Felix is borderline (my maddening Felix eventually fell behind in speed and I just went gauntlets on him to try to salvage him later on).

Tanking is pretty similar in that so many units get doubled that tanking is unreliable just due to how strong enemies get. On my current CF maddening run, Balthus is my literal only real tank. Edel and Byleth can take hits if need be, but they aren't super reliable at baiting enemies. If you do BL, Dedue is a godsend for a good chunk of the game due to his personal skill. He carried my NG maddening run pretty hard just because he was the only one who could actually take a hit for a lot of the game.

For the most organic experience with it, I'd recommend not using NG+ on it. NG+ trivializes a lot of the earlygame just because you have so many resources. I think it's worth doing a fresh file maddening run at least once just for the hardest overall experience, though I've done NG+ on subsequent runs just to cut down on monastery time.

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This vaguely happened to me recently with Final Fantasy IX. I had played it as a kid and didn't really appreciate it all that much. I revisited it last month and absolutely loved it.

Veey glad that I gave it a second shot.

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The series was basically canceled after VLR and ZTD happened on a really, really low budget. Uchikoshi was too ambitious too, considering it was also on 3DS, and it ended up being kind of a technical mess.

The game is...fine, but it's a big step down compared to the other two and it's way more of a meme than a good story in a lot of points.

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I think that AGK may genuinely be the worst show I've ever seen. It does kind of wrap around to being funny in a really ironic way, but from so many perspectives it was just pure garbage.

The writer definitely wanted to make a super edgy story without really bothering to actually establish fundamentals for a passable plot, and with the edge being so over the top and forced that it ends up just being really stupid and moderately funny.

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vigorm0rtis posted...

It's... not that good, but they do these one-offs that are pretty good-- some of which border on being horror.

Oh, yeah, those one offs are fantastic. I don't think they've done any lately, though?

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coh posted...

What is adult swim like nowadays anyway? I think the last time I kept up with it was in 2009

A lot of Fox reruns (Bob's Burgers, Family Guy, American Dad), Rick & Morty, a random mishmash of older original programming, and sporadic original shows that tend to all be variants on the same brand of stoner humor and which usually get canned after one season.

I think, at least. I haven't watched a ton of it lately outside of Toonami.

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I'm here to stand up for yorkies.

I know smaller breeds get a bad rep, but my yorkie is legitimately the sweetest pet I've ever had, as well as one of the smartest. She just loves to hang out with her family including lap sitting, going for rides, and sleeping with people. She knows when you mention extended family members and will always want to go with me to see my other family members because she loves seeing them all too. She's legit just a little ball of sunshine and I adore the hell out of that sweet little dog.

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Slaya4 posted...

I completely missed that when beating the games a couple years ago.

It took me a bit to figure out who was speaking for sure, but yeah, it could only be Vivi. Especially when you consider that the black mages had limited lifespans, and that Vivi is the only character main missing from the ending scenes.

I didn't catch it at all as a kid, so it hit especially hard this time.

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I always talked about you, Zidane. How you were a very special person to us, because you taught us all how important life is. You taught me that life doesn't last forever. That's why we have to help each other and live life to the fullest. Even if you say goodbye, you'll always be in our hearts. So, I know we're not alone anymore. Why I was born... How I wanted to live... Thanks for giving me time to think. To keep doing what you set your heart on... It's a very hard thing to do. We were all so courageous... What to do when I felt lonely... That was the only thing you couldn't teach me. But we need to figure out the answer for ourselves... I'm so happy I met everyone... I wish we could've gone on more adventures. But I guess we all have to say goodbye someday. Everyone... Thank you. Farewell. My memories will be part of the sky...

It's Vivi's final words that hit me the hardest.

I entirely missed that it was Vivi speaking in that scene prior to his death when I was a kid. It hit really hard when I realized what was really going on there.

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Ruvan22 posted...

Hmm so they'd be like the black mages that became sentient- aware and independent but without souls?

Yeah.

In fact, the remaining Genomes get dropped off at the Black Mage Village at the beginning of disc 4. There are some fun scenes with the black mages teaching them about stuff, or at least trying to.

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SpaceBear_ posted...

"Mr 36 is buried in the ground, but I don't know why. He's going to come back someday, right? When he does, I'm going to wash him off in the pond."

The entire black mage plotline is really tragic. That was another plot point that I had totally forgotten, but the realization that they were all built to be disposable was heartbreaking.

Especially with Vivi at the center of it. His ending monologue seriously crushed me. Such an endearing character.

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AlisLandale posted...

tbh I dont consider oh shit I feel bad to be a redemptive act. >_>

but my memory is kinda fuzzy

I think it was supposed to redeem her since outside factors were influencing her and she seemingly wasn't in a rational state of mind. It definitely felt like the game wanted her to be redeemed in the end, but I didn't really buy it.

spikethedevil posted...

She succeeded in genocide.

Fair. I was thinking more of the "outright wipe a group out" definition, in which she didn't get Freya, Fratley, Puck, or a few other stragglers. But just as far as killing a ton of people, yeah.

Either way, she was pretty damn evil.

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Brahne was redeemed and absolved in the end with her dying words, which firmly pointed to the Mist being the reason why she was acting that way (along with Kuja's influence). She says that the greed clouding her heart finally lifted, apologizes, and then dies. Garnet also mentions losing another mother as a big reason why she's so upset about it.

Honestly though? I didn't love that plot point, personally. Brahne spent the entire game as an absolute monster and attempted genocide while conquering the world. I wasn't huge on the game trying to let her off the hook for that.

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Tom Clark posted...

I think it has by far the best story of the PS1 Final Fantasy games.

I'd agree with that.

jumi posted...

Eiko: Tribe was killed like Dagger

Amarant: No one fucking cares.

Quina: EATER OF WORLDS.

Amarant's parents were (probably) dead since he grew up on his own.

I actually liked him quite a bit, even though he was really unimportant overall and his arc was pretty rushed.

Also, Quina is history's greatest monster. S/he devours frogs, leaves enough alive to reproduce, then comes back later to periodically harvest their offspring. S/he is death incarnate.

(Absolutely busted character too, s/he was my best party member by a huge margin)

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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

It is interesting that the concept of life and death is so prevalent for the entire roster.

Zidane and Kuja - have basically a shorter life due to their creation.
Vivi - obsolescence and short life are guaranteed.
Dagger - Actions of her country gives way to death of thousands, her tribe is also killed when she is young.
Freya - lives through the near eradication of her entire race.
Garland - attempting to save his planet from extinction

So much death.

Yeah, I think that death and how to deal with it and accept it was ultimately at the center of the game. It was honestly very well done and was a really deep story for what seems like such a quirky and lighthearted game on the surface.

It all flew over my head really hard as a kid, so I'm really really glad that I revisited the game.

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I just rebeat it for the first time since I was a kid after having forgotten most of the plot.

Vivi's monologue/final words in the ending legitimately brought me to tears. Such a fantastic character, and even if his death was pretty unavoidable, it hits so hard with that monologue.

Probably one of the most genuinely impactful endings I've ever seen.

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UnfairRepresent posted...

Strong disagree

Quina's entire character and presence to the game comes from the fact s/he doesn't give a shit about what's going on

Lose that and you lose a unique voice

Maybe.

But it'd be nice if they at least...spoke sometimes. Quina goes for large chunks of the game without any dialogue of anything, so at least give them a bit more to do, even if not some plot relevance or anything.

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I'm rebeating FFIX right now (pretty far in, just did the four seals thing where the party splits into groups of two), and I'm enjoying it a lot, but yeah, it does have flaws.

Namely, it has no idea what to do with its cast at all. You could almost cut anyone that's not Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi without losing much for the main plot. Maybe Eiko too.

Freya gets a great arc early on, but then it ends quickly and she spends the rest of the game just kind of existing.

Literally none of the party ever care whether or not Quina is there. (Though that adds to their charm honestly, hilarious character)

Steiner is incredibly important early on, then just borderline stops getting dialogue. Sadly the game doesn't know what to do with him at all post-disc 2.

Amarant just joins too late. His plot is interesting, but it's mostly crammed into a few scenes and his really awkward mini-arc in Ipsen's Castle, which was just too rushed to be impactful.

Honestly, even Garnet isn't handled all that well. She has like four moments where she seems to grow, but then fails or gets bailed out by Zidane, only to feel useless and go through the same story beats all over again later.

Also, a lot of the guest characters really should have been fully playable, especially Beatrix and Blank. Probably Marcus too. All of them got a good deal of plot development (and probably honestly more than some of the main cast), and it felt like them not joining was pretty arbitrary.

I'd be interested to see a remake of FFIX eventually, and how it might rebalance the characters and their screentime a bit. In particular, I'd either have Amarant join way earlier, or have the subplot with him and Lani start significantly earlier with them both encountering the party multiple times before Am joins. And give Quina some sort of plot relevance.

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I despise myself and will likely end my life rather soon.

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Good job, Fluffy.

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Joker98 posted...

That's really helpful! Thank you

No problem. If you have any specific questions or anything, just let me know, and I can try to help out further.

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Joker98 posted...

I have 3 of the character's story arch's broadly outlined and the general plot outlined to about 1-2 paragraphs worth. So at the very very beginning

I'm following the snowflake method
https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/

I'm not familiar with that method precisely, but skimming it, it doesn't sound too different from my own method.

Starting with core ideas is obviously essential. Start trying to figure out the directions that you want the plot to take and the biggest story beats, then start mapping it out into a coherent story. You don't need to spontaneously know the whole novel in one sitting. I typically go from like a key plot concept to general plot points and then organize them and refine them over time.

The biggest thing that helps me, though, is to get a physical notebook to jot ideas down on. Having my ideas on paper helps so much, and in particular, I make pages for each character to help write out traits or quirks or just smaller details as I develop them. Even if they aren't all important and are just mentioned in passing (or maybe not at all), developing your characters like that really helps.

When you get to actually writing it, pacing is really important. I tried to just attack it on my first time writing a novel, and I burnt out pretty hard and didn't feel up to writing for quite a while after that. Even "a chapter a day" isn't always realistic when it comes to longer chapters. My biggest advice there is to just try to write something every day. Even if it's just a few sentences, keep making progress without pushing yourself too hard.

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I've written two. Both were awful.

Where are you at in the process exactly? I can try to offer some tips, though I'm not really an expert or anything, but it'd help to know precisely where you're at with it as of now.

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Ace Attorney.

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Selphie liking trains in HD?

Yes.

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pegusus123456 posted...

<_<

I was under the impression that this show was finished, so now I'm mad.

Season 4 is the final season. (It's literally titled Attack on Titan: The Final Season)

However, it's likely to be split cour or end with a movie.

The manga is set to end in April.

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DarthAragorn posted...

Did it? Season 4 dub still ain't on Hulu at all so I wasn't aware it had aired anything.

I can't speak for Hulu, but Toonami started airing the S4 dub like a week and a half ago. Episode 2 aired this last Saturday.

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DarthAragorn posted...

The dub of season 4 being so delayed is killing me

It's not all that delayed? It started airing like a month after the Japanese premiere, which is fairly fast for things that aren't purely simuldubbed.

Especially during COVID, which has slammed the dubbing industry.

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The DR series loves to careen itself off the rails to pull off big twists at the very end.

I think a lot of those big twists fall pretty flat, but ehhh, I love the overall rides for DR games. The characters are fun and memorable, and I like solving mysteries and whatnot.

I prefer Ace Attorney overall, but DR is a great series.

Also, lower your expectations about the sequel anime now. It's absolutely atrocious, even if it does offer some answers.

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I legit don't know where the country is supposed to go from here.

If you try to bridge the gap, they'll keep trying this shit.

But the two party system and red states ensure that they won't face actual consequences for this.

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TvC is phenomenal.

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Lately, I unironically think it's like 800-1000 most days.

I've been eating one medium sized meal per day most days. I often only drink water aside from that.

Granted, there are often days where I go way more through drinking soda or eating unhealthy snacks, but I very often don't.

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DeadBankerDream posted...

I wouldn't know because lmao @ giving the worst character in the game enough attention to let them have an ending with anyone.

I hope that you aren't referring to Linhardt as the worst though, he's great as both a unit and a character.

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I love how transparently gay the Linhardt & Caspar ending is.

Like, the romance is so thinly-veiled that it may as well not be veiled at all.

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I got hit by a truck as a kid and was out for quite a while. I woke up in the hospital with a cracked pelvis. I was really banged up hard.

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Mr_Karate_II posted...

Why was the launch so bad?

Very buggy, particularly the PS4/XBO version which is next to unplayable.

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