Lurker > pyresword

Hmmm...I'd been losing interest in Tower of God, but this Name Hunt Station arc was notably better than any of the stuff from the 100 or so chapters before it. They just need to upgrade Yuri, Endorsi, and Shibisu to permanent main character status to be honest.

(Spoilers up to chapter 228 of season 2 of the Webtoon). I will say at least the previous arc had Khun challenging Rachel to coin flipping which is the one of the most petty yet badass things I've ever seen. Khun has personally made it his mission to make Rachel's life as miserable as possible and to ruin her aspirations because he thinks she deserves it, and you know what he's exactly right. Other than that though...eh. Hoaqin is a terrible villain.

Name Hunt arc though had a much better villain in Kaiser/Elaine, along with better fights and twists. It was just all around better. I also liked some of the development it gave us for things going on with the Ten Families and Jahad.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Did you stop Cold Steel II before the Divertissement, out of curiosity? They actually talk about this a bit in there, though you might not catch it/remember it if you don't already know the characters since they don't really highlight it or anything.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

the plot twist no one could have seen coming.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

As far as gameplay goes, you want to be abusing the Break mechanic as much as possible if you aren't already. I can give some more concrete strategies also but overall I think that's generally good advice.

I think chapter 3 is when I remember starting to get the quartzes that really broke the combat system. Chapter 2 was easily the hardest part for me.

I agree with generally not being a fan of the magic/mecha type stuff in the Trails series.

xp1337 posted...

hen Rufus shows up at the Infernal Castle with his WWE "IT WAS ME! I WAS AN IRONBLOOD ALL ALONG! EVEN MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY WAS FOOLED!" reveal

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

Aw yeah Yin. I really liked this fight scene.

One of my favorite Crossbell characters. He's just a great character from a writing standpoint but also I really like his fighting style, aesthetic, etc.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Ok fess up who voted Donkey Kong 64?

KamikazePotato posted...

Ah, I missed squexa's 3rd list revision. Ever17 barely makes the Top 63 if you factor that in.

Aw yeah nice. Ever17 really great game imo even if it admittedly drags at times.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Ironically I have not played Pyre the game but it's one of those games I really want to get around to eventually >.>
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Did some set of votes not get counted? It looks like Ever17 should have more points from that just from mine and squexa's list alone.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Here's my full list. Will tier all the games on the final list that I played later probably.

+10 The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC
+9 Eiyuu Densetsu: Ao no Kiseki (AKA Trails to Azure but this is what it was entered as in the database since it has no official English title)
+8 The House in Fata Morgana
+7 Higurashi When They Cry
+6 Final Fantasy IX
+5 Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
+4 Steins;Gate
+3 Ever17: Out of Infinity
+2 Final Fantasy X
+1 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Don't have an ordered list after this, but the two games I really wanted to find room for but couldn't are Persona 3 and Trails in the Sky The 3rd.

If anything the game I don't get being so high is Nier Automata. I don't really have complaints and would say the story was fine/interesting, but I wouldn't say it was remarkable. In fact a number of the side missions had way better stories than the actual story itself. Maybe this was due to never actually having finished the game, and everyone says the final stuff is the best part, but at least I think I can justify a complaint if I've made it through 2 routes and don't care about any of the main characters and have no desire to continue.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I played FFX most recently at 21. It's actually the game on my list I'm least worried about "holding up" if I were to go back and play it again now, but I suppose that also directly comes from the fact that I've played it to completion like 5 times already when most of my others I only played once.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I had FFIX higher than FFX but both were on the list.

Have notably not played 6 or Tactics though, which are some of the other ones that made it.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

A Place Further Than the Universe
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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

I don't think it's the most consistent show, but the good parts are really good imo. Mostly because it's an episodic show that tries to tackle a lot of different styles, and just some of them work and some of them don't. Overall great show though.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

xp1337 posted...

Kurt getting meta and acting like a Trails player and just accusing everyone of being Ouroboros.

I mean you say this as a joke but this is basically what happened to me with Vita in my Cold Steel playthrough.

"Huh? Who's this random nobody who just appeared and disappeared 2 seconds later but for some reason has the honor of getting a named introduction? Welp, must be Ouroboros."

Also random aside: that thing about the Church is not wrong I think, but I want to add that the Gralsritter as an organization predates the Church by I think several hundred years which is definitely one of the most intriguing revelations of the series to me.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I am returning to the Higurashi VN soon (maybe) since I can actually get all the chapters now. Still have to decide whether to start at ch. 5 where I left or restart from the beginning or fast forward through and read only the key scenes from ch. 1-4 or what. Been like 3-4 years since touching the series though D:
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I only played Automata which I wasn't huge on, but I think I might like the story/premise of the original Nier somewhat more if I ever played it.

It would rely on the gameplay being better though--which was actually my biggest gripe with Automata--but I've unfortunately heard this is not the case.

Both games have top tier music though.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Solfadore posted...

mentions back then Ouroboros was still in its early years. What? I thought for sure the society was way older, judging by Arianrhod and Campanella's respective age.

Honestly part of me feels like there might have been something in Trails in the Sky that contradicts this because this has been the reaction of almost everybody I know who's played it to this part of Cold Steel 3.

Obviously just speculating here because I don't have a specific line or anything but it's very weird to me that so many people have had this apparent misconception.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

EXEC_PAJA/.#Orica extracting.
Weight of the World (Japanese)

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

A Place Further than the Universe
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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

Solfadore posted...

I snag the latest copy of the Imperial Chronicle, as always. Hahaha, the article about our Sutherland adventures includes the sentence: "Students of a military academy were attacked by someone at their field exercise camp." Attacked by 'someone'? Some top-tier journalism there, Vivi! Why didn't you just ask Altina, she's blabbing classified info to whoever wants to hear.

I don't think they'd be allowed to print their identities even if they knew since it's implied that Osborne has a pretty strong grip on the press in Erebonia. (And in fact, to me it would entirely make sense if they did in fact know, though there's no way we as the players will ever figure that out)

I loved the Josette appearances in this game. Not all that important in the grand scheme of things but it was a nice touch imo.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

XSEED already officially localized it as "Yin" when they mention the name in the Trails of Cold Steel 2 Divertissement so they might have just been following that? Same with Rixia actually for that matter.

It's also what the earlier bad fan translation of Zero used which might pre-date Cold Steel II as well. Not clear on the timeline there.

Also I do feel like Heiyue along with most of the Calvard culture in general that we've seen is inspired by China.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Mac Arrowny posted...

I suspect I'm one of the few on the board who's only played the original Utawarerumono.

I watched the anime which I think is generally considered a good adaptation?
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Oh I missed this tag.

SC > Ao > 3rd > CS3 > Zero > FC >>> CS1 > CS2
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

To be fair: Effective communication is a responsibility that goes both ways, and I definitely blame the not-Corrik side here.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I like Fate/Stay Night quite a bit but I'd probably only put it in like a top 25 list or something.

Still meant to play Dies Irae one of these days :(
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I think this is more bad messaging but I think a lot of the abolish police folks really mean they want to distribute all the current services of police officers to other organizations. I see it more as a decentralization of law enforcement than an abolishment of it.

I also haven't seen reason to believe that's a good idea, but it's not an idea I see as absurd on the face of it.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I wonder if Shadow of the Colossus made the list because god would I be triggered by that.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

pyresword posted...

There's definitely nothing on this list I would compare to any of the things in that picture for any reason other than artstyle.

Oh wait maybe Danganronpa, actually. Possibly DDLC also but I haven't played that so idk.

Hmmm, maybe you could make an argument for Utawarerumono also actually.

I wouldn't call most of the games that have appeared weeb games in the way I think you're saying though. (Which as I understand it would be something akin to Neptunia?)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

There's definitely nothing on this list I would compare to any of the things in that picture for any reason other than artstyle.

Oh wait maybe Danganronpa, actually. Possibly DDLC also but I haven't played that so idk.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

MGS2 huh. Can't say I expected that or that I'm happy by its appearance, but I guess it's a fine game.

My list:
+10 The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC
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+8 The House in Fata Morgana
+7 Higurashi When They Cry (confirmed did not make it)
+6 Final Fantasy IX
+5 Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
+4 Steins;Gate
+3 Ever17: Out of Infinity (confirmed did not make it)
-
-

My +9 is exceptionally unlikely to have made it though not technically confirmed to be out, but my +2 and +1 will almost definitely be there.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

+2 Level 5: Main Theme
+1 Jena Anderson
+3 Kaine ~ Salvation

Literally the 3 songs from the same 4-pack as Giratina why was that so busted.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Think that's most of my list now? Fata Morgana was my +7, and I was one of the supporters for both Higurashi (+8) and Ever17 (+3).

Fata Morgana probably the most pleasantly surprised I've ever been by a game. It had (and still doesn't really have) basically no buzz whatsoever at the time of its release, which is very saddening to me. I only picked it up on whim because I was in a VN mood and saw a passionate tweet about it from the translator. I'm guessing the artstyle might doom the game since it doesn't seem like it would be that appealing to the visual novel fandom, but I don't really know. In any case it's very good.

Edit: No sorry, Fata Morgana was my +8 and Higurashi was my +7. I actually like Higurashi a bit more overall but I switched the order when just zero'ing in on the story.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I haven't read most of this topic but I 100% agree that "all cops are bad" is an incorrect way to communicate what a large portion (not all) of the people saying that actually mean. Many people I think are trying to say that the police system is bad which is obviously not what they are actually saying.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I don't totally agree with that.

Intended order is a different question from "is this game essential to understanding what happens in a later game", and most people are typically asking about the latter.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

From the New World a top 10 anime imo.

Best sports anime is Chihayafuru change my mind. (Haikyuu and Ping Pong also great though)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

GildedFool posted...

I should get TitS 2

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

xp I think Leon is referring to Ries, not the character you're talking about? I might be wrong.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I'm kind of surprised Planescape made it this high. I know it's well regarded by almost everyone who's played it but I didn't expect its playrate would be high enough.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

The beginning of episode 2 was far and away my favorite part of Umineko that I got through. (Which was like ~60% through episode 3 or something?)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

A Place Further Than the Universe
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

colliding posted...

people will disagree, but you really only need to play sky 1 & 2 (fc & sc). trails the 3rd is not really essential. and yes, the best way to play sky is on the vita.

Depends what you're saying. You might be able to justify this if your plan is to just play Cold Steel 3 and 4 and then check out.

For the series as a whole though I'd say Sky The 3rd is the most important out of any of the games so far at least up to Cold Steel 3.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

The Trails in the Sky games have official English releases yes. The two Crossbell games do not.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

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

The subbed version is on Crunchyroll
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Solfadore posted...

Rean can't keep bumping into old classmates every 10 meters!

Trails of Cold Steel III: Challenge accepted

Solfadore posted...

Lovely sad remix of Whereabouts of Light in Hamel - I really appreciate that!

The theme they're remixing here is actually the Silver Will theme, not the Whereabouts of Light theme. Well, it would probably be more accurate to say they're remixing this song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCwgaK7dRz8) just called "Hamel" from Sky SC, but that song is itself a slow remix of Silver Will so it's the same thing. Great song regardless though.

Solfadore posted...

So far so good, except Shirley S-crafts me back and OHKOs my entire party except Fie

I think this is an issue with the combat in the game...sort of. Lots of bosses have abilities such that if they get even 1 turn in their enhanced state they can heal a good chunk of their HP and nearly or completely wipe your party. Fortunately there's stupidly many ways for the player to also break the combat system in half so it actually balances out into a system that's pretty fun imo, but it can result in some frustrating events if you get careless. (At least by about the halfway point it's easy to break the game, not really as straightforward this early on)
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

I don't know if you're saying that because of content of the Answer arcs themselves or if it's because I'll miss foreshadowing. If it's the latter though I will say that I already know most things about the story including what I guess most people would describe as the "main" twist"?
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

Leonhart4 posted...

Umineko is better if you just take it at face value instead of trying to figure out the "tricks."

I tried this also. I attempted more than once to read through it. The problem is that so much of the screentime is devoted to this that it's impossible to ignore.

What I suspect I should really do is just skip straight to the Answer arcs tbh.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

You did not get far enough to see it, but this is pretty funny to read considering the statements in the Umineko narrative later on about how nobody has the right or authority to say what makes good storytelling and mystery <_<

This level of pretension is one of the other reasons I couldn't stomach the game!

post edited to be less confrontational maybe.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.

KamikazePotato posted...

The player is as much an actor in the story as any character, as half the game encourages the player to find the truth while the other half simultaneously tries to coerce the player into giving up

This is a large part of why I wasn't able to stomach Umineko. From my perspective this idea is just bad and has no business in serious storytelling.

I know there's a story I'd like at the core of Umineko if I could ignore that, but I just can't.
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I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.