Board 8 > Jeff Zero & Leonhart in Different Houses: Trails of Arcadia Edition [JZLF]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Well, I think the game's peak was the whole Aball/Titania attacked/Earthpulse section and the last dungeon was probably a slight step below the parts that preceded it, which themselves were a long tail off from that particular section, but it still ends in a good place, overall. The game was just that excellent beforehand that it felt like it was weakening in comparison.
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After watching some more Working!!, I am reminded that Izumi is definitely the best Takanashi sister. Wish she had more screentime.
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They all should have gotten more screentime to be honest.

I think I liked Nazuna the best, but I can't actually remember for sure. Been a bit since I watched seasons 1 and 2.
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Nazuna is pretty good, too. I just love Izumi's soft-spoken voice. I watched the episode where she thinks her brother is in love with Taneshima, but she thinks she's an elementary school girl. When she talks to all of her other sisters about it, they all think she's talking about Inami, so a comedy of errors and misunderstandings ensues. So good. It's very Frasier-esque.

Kozue's the only sister I don't particularly care for (and sadly the one who gets the most screentime), but I don't like the drunk archetype in general.
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Oh hey, looks like I'm all caught up on the Kawai Complex manga, at least all they've got up on Crunchyroll anyway. I guess I should add Ritsu to the list:

Yakumo > Kurisu > Chizuru > Yukiko > Aqua > Makoto > Mitsuru > Yui > Shiori > Ritsu > Akane > Pepper > Amy > Namine > Yurippe > Mikasa > Eureka > Art3mis > Valentine > Zelda > Vera > Elizabeth > Cora > Kotori

Ritsu reminds me a lot of Disappearance Nagato in some ways, which is a very good thing. It's a similar archetype. She's not as good as Nagato though, but that's nothing to be ashamed of! Few are that good. She's still the main draw of the series, primarily as it relates to her relationship with Usa. I guess her biggest flaw is that she's extremely dependent on him to work as a character. She can't really stand on her own because she's so ridiculously introverted and withdrawn most of the time otherwise. Usa is kinda dependent on her to grow as a character since his defining characteristic is "Really likes Ritsu," but he's a pretty good straight man and can play off all the other characters really well. It's a compelling relationship though, which was enough to keep me going with it.

Kawai Complex is a weird thing though, because most of the characters embody tropes that are inherently unlikable (at least for me), but they're so over the top about it that it almost swings completely the other way and makes them somewhat likable.
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Also, I guess I should throw in my "What I'm listening to" for the day right before I go to bed: Investigation ~ Core 2016 from Spirit of Justice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu55SrCtC-o

Found myself listening to this particular song quite a bit the last few days.
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Checked the in game credits. The art is definitely by other people in Steins Gate Zero. Huke is just credited as the character designer.
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99% of personas fused

Now time to beat the game!
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Meant to go to bed like an hour ago, but Persona 5 beated!

140 hours, jeeze
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Did it in 80 with all Max Confidants <_<
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LordoftheMorons posted...

Meant to go to bed like an hour ago, but Persona 5 beated!

yeah I feel like this happens to everyone

that endgame sequence is long

My final time was like 110 hours, but I had long stretches of time where the game was running and I wasn't playing for one reason or another. It was still around 100 hours if you take out all the idle time though.
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I think my total time was around 110 as well? Though I also played through May in a second playthrough to get the platinum.
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LeonhartFour posted...

I just discovered this a little bit ago because of SHINE posting it in that FF topic, but I started watching this series of (presumably still ongoing; there are five videos out at present and he's moving at a relatively slow pace based on the first two) videos about the FFVII translation. He goes into some pretty intricate details about some of the nuances and differences between the English and Japanese versions. Language stuff has always fascinated me, and this might be something up dowolf's alley, too (assuming he hasn't already looked into something like this).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZefYEaNUJ7w

unbelievable but Kotaku actually put out something worth watching

Yeah, I've been watching them. Some of them are interesting, though I do think Tim gets a bit nitpicky at times.
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Yeah, it's a little nitpicky in some cases, but I like him drawing out the nuance in the Japanese that you can't really properly convey in a translation.

also I totally want Aerith to call Cloud Mr. Everything Shop in the Remake now
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"Handyman" would probably be what I'd go with there, tbh.
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I think Jack of All Trades fits what they're trying to say there.

probably not quite as cheeky as Aerith is trying to be there though
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man I had forgotten what it was like to have a running back score a TD in fantasy

thank you Doug Martin

(my fantasy team sucks this year)
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my RBs score a TD like every week!

well, one of them.
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Isaiah Crowell and Marshawn Lynch have been useless. Drafted David Johnson and he got injured first game.
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yeah most RBs have been generally useless this year

Ive got Fournette who has been one of the few consistent ones (so far)
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So I was looking through the available manga Crunchyroll has to see if there was something that peaked my interest, and I came across something called "My Wife is Wagatsuma-san."

One day, a super-average 2nd-year high school student who wants a girlfriend, Aoshima, suddenly awakens to the ability to time slip. Ten years in the future, he is *gasp* married to the cutest girl in school, Wagatsuma-san! In the present, they are only classmates, so how in the world does he end up with the unobtainable Wagatsuma-san?! A time-slipping Romcom coming at you from a brand spanking new duo!

The description reminded me of that Futurama episode, "Time Just Keeps On Slippin'," which was one of the show's best ones. The premise seems interesting enough for me to give it a shot, so I might read a little give of it to see if it hooks me.
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Finished with SG0. Was pretty cool stuff for the most part. Story was interesting, Maho was a cool new character, and depressed Okabe made for a neat change of pace. I think it was more confusing and complex than it should've been though. There were some things that really left me confused at the end especially the Kagari and Amane stuff, though I did find an explanation for that. Not to mention Amadeus turning into the real Kurisu, where the explanation was apparently that the AI version developed Reading Steiner?. They really should've explained that in the game. The ending was also pretty anti-climactic. Kinda necessarily so, but I think it was the shortest of all the endings, which was odd. And the art bothered me to the end. The scene where they actually use the original SG art made it stand out even harder.
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Yeah, they left a lot of things unexplained and vague, which was kind of disappointing. I still liked it, although the original is a lot better.
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Now playing: Tales of the Abyss - Mirrors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxsy1C0HNpw

Probably my favorite song from the game. It plays during some of the game's best moments.
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In uninteresting Trails FC news, I met up with Nial and Dorothy, and we're off to the Esmelas Tower. Nial looks exactly like the type of guy Steve Blum would voice. Estelle also finally got Hurricane. I was feeling a little empty without that thing around. Now I just need to get a Petrify Quartz.
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Now listening: Trials & Tribulations Cross-Examination ~ Allegro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLiZiquxsUQ

a.k.a. the best darn Cross-Examination theme in the series (meaning it would get blown out in the first round of VGMC)

A little off the beaten path for where we normally go, and I don't know if you guys are into stand-up comedy at all, but my favorite guy is Brian Regan. I don't listen or watch stand-up that often, but when I do, he's my go-to. If I find out he's put something new out, I find it. Anyway, this only came to mind because he did a Google Talk recently, and I watched it. It was pretty interesting because he gave his backstory for how he got into it and his philosophy on a bunch of things relating to stand-up.
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I guess sort've my problem with those themes in VGMC is that it's tension without payoff. In the games, that's fine; the payoff is plot, and when you get to it new music starts playing. But when you're listening to it in isolation, you're just stuck in that waiting phase.
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I don't really get that.

So do you just not like battle themes at all? Those generally have no "payoff" either. Skies of Arcadia might be the only game I've seen that has a payoff with its battle themes.
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I dunno, even something like FFVII's battle themes have pretty nice payoff.
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Are you defining "payoff" as a clear climax? Because for most battle themes, the payoff is the victory fanfare. That Allegro theme has a clear climax, too.
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Most of the battle themes I like have a lot of variation and payoff, yeah. It's why I'm not a big fan of a lot of classic NES stuff -- it tends to loop too fast.
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In context, I feel like you could consider boss fights and therefore boss themes to be the payoff themselves, since they usually signify a climax. Probably helps that I like a lot of those in general, but still.
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Well, the fight itself is the draw, and the music is meant to rev up the energy and tension to immerse you in it more fully.

I'm still not entirely sure I understand what you classify as a "payoff" though.
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To be fair, neither do I >_>
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and that's the beauty of music
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I think payoff refers to the climax of the music.

Right before the song loops, the FFVII battle theme culminates in this really dramatic section built up from a few parts before as they all crash into each other.
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True true.

I dunno. Maybe it would help to see VGMC less as an avenue to get your favorite songs recognition, and more of one to introduce/be introduced to new stuff? That's generally how I approach it, anyways.
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dowolf posted...

True true.

I dunno. Maybe it would help to see VGMC less as an avenue to get your favorite songs recognition, and more of one to introduce/be introduced to new stuff? That's generally how I approach it, anyways.

I mean this is exactly why I don't participate in it anymore

I'm not interested in the latter, but that's what it is now.
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LeonhartFour posted...

Now playing: Tales of the Abyss - Mirrors

Probably my favorite song from the game. It plays during some of the game's best moments.

Definitely one of my favorites. Of Karma's around 10-ish variants in the game, it's the best.

LeonhartFour posted...

In uninteresting Trails FC news, I met up with Nial and Dorothy, and we're off to the Esmelas Tower. Nial looks exactly like the type of guy Steve Blum would voice. Estelle also finally got Hurricane. I was feeling a little empty without that thing around. Now I just need to get a Petrify Quartz.

Nial is the best reporter. Think it'll be a bit before you can get a Petrify. Think the earliest is the BP reward one.

~~~

Tales of Berseria:

so this bonus dungeon is gonna throw walls of enemies at me huh.

Had to lower the difficulty on the first timed room because I couldn't win all 3 battles in time. 4:30 with those enemy types was just not happening. Next one was fine with 4 battles at 8 minutes. Dual Mystic Artes not explained well at all, but I got one.
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Nial is the worst Trails reporter. Grace is so much better than he is.
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speaking of zero no kiseki

Apparently the placeholder site that XSEED has had for Zero for the longest time had a brief change for a few seconds earlier today before reverting back to normal. It's probably nothing, but god my heart can't take things like that.
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how does everyone in this topic keep misspelling Dorothy? (The 3rd spoilers [not actually spoilers, but it's a quote from it])

Nial: Please don't tell me you skipped lunch so you could chow down on the feast.
Dorothy: Forget lunch -- I haven't eaten since yesterday. Thirty straight hours without food is making my head spin...
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xp1337 posted...

speaking of zero no kiseki

Apparently the placeholder site that XSEED has had for Zero for the longest time had a brief change for a few seconds earlier today before reverting back to normal. It's probably nothing, but god my heart can't take things like that.

Yeah I saw this to but I don't think this is anything, since there's any number of ways this could have happened accidentally. (For anyone who didn't see, it wasn't like a significant change. It just had the text "please come back later" and nothing else before reverting)

Now, if you want to read into anything, I recommend reading into how oddly insistent--to the point of making a meme out of it--the XSEED twitter has been over the past month that nothing they're posting is a teaser for a new game. (There are Zero teases on their Twitter? That's my favorite interpretation at least)

I also don't really recommend reading into that since that Twitter page basically posts whatever the hell it feels like, but the potential is greater there I think.
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I used to follow XSEED's twitter daily for god knows how long trying to look for SC hints.

i can't do that anymore. it's too much

But whenever "news" like that comes out my heart argh. i want to believe. Especially now since I think I had a dream or something a few days ago where the Zero announcement did happen, because I spent most of a day yesterday or the day before thinking it was before it occurred to me, "Wait, that never happened" and being sad again.
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I just saw the world's largest mailbox, wind chime, rocking chair, and pencil.

I wonder if they sell souvenirs featuring smaller versions of these things for you to take home.
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Now playing: The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya OP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBArHQ2Tdxc

I love how high energy this song is, to the point that it sounds like they're almost running out of breath by the end. It's one of the things I like about the Working OPs, too.

The Haruhi Suzumiya series has some really good music.
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I think I'm just going to have to make peace with the fact that there is absolutely no way I can make it to a Trails of Cold Steel III release without being spoiled.

they're everywhere

chief among them of course is my old pal youtube. who has "helpfully" recommended me, among other things like playthrough videos, a video called "Sen no Kiseki 3 Ending." At first I thought nothing of it other than "oh you" because I couldn't make any sense of the thumbnail image but I can't help myself from thinking and god I already have theories about it now which would be crazy if true. And it will undoubtedly get worse as time goes on.

TVTropes is, of course, already gone to the land of spoilers. But thanks to the nature of Trails that means even the Trails in the Sky pages aren't necessarily safe AS I FOUND OUT (learn from my mistakes all of you)

and i just know i'm going to want to know some really vague answers like how certain systems are handled and it'll end with me learning like 4 major plot events instead somehow.

please hurry xseed =(

~~~

Tales of Berseria: berseria and i are having a fight right now. i want my monster book to be complete and it refuses to have this monster type drop an item. worse it is limited in number (well i suppose hypothetically i could keep re-running the bonus dungeon but screw that) and not even a guaranteed appearance and despite countless reloads it continues to troll me.

god don't do this to me at the end berseria
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Lmao yes. I've already deleted all Cold Steel 3 videos from my watch history which has been more or less effective so far. Stuff like tvtropes and the Trails wiki are super dangerous though yeah.

Thankfully I've only learned two things so far. One is likely a minor detail especially without context, and the other is not really even a spoiler strictly speaking. (For reference, this "spoiler" was in a topic title on the Falcom subreddit and the mods didn't delete it.)
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It doesn't help that the few player impressions I've seen so far have been crazy positive and hype.

And unless a miracle happened and Falcom let XSEED actually see/start work on CS3 before release I wouldn't be surprised if work hasn't even started. The idea that XSEED hasn't been able to work on it in the background for a while gives me SC flashbacks even though it shouldn't and that comes with a chill running through me. For the longest time I'm pretty sure XSEED has been able to work on the games in the background before announcing anything since we were way behind and they were already out.

i should stop talking about this i just keep making myself even more sad
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it's nice not having to worry about that stuff
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