Board 8 > SaveEstelle/LeonhartFour in Different Houses: Featuring Doggo Edition [SELF]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Loved it, seen it more than once

Ace Attorney
Clannad
Cowboy Bebop
Full Metal Panic!
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Hyouka
Kanon
Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU
Persona 4 The Animation
ReLIFE
Sailor Moon
School Rumble
Steins;Gate
The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Toradora!
Tsuredure Children
Working!!

Really liked it, will watch again

Angel Beats
Attack on Titan
Baccano!
Eureka Seven
Fate/stay night
Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
Planetes
Psycho-Pass
Usagi Drop

Liked it, but probably won't watch again

Air
Azumanga Daioh
Fate/Zero
Great Teacher Onizuka
Love Hina
Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Ouran High School Host Club
Sweetness & Lightning
Trigun
Tsukigakirei
Your Lie in April
Yu Yu Hakusho

Didn't like it, definitely won't watch again

Beyond the Boundary
Code Geass
Persona 4 The Golden Animation
Persona 5 The Animation

Dropped it, never finished

Fullmetal Alchemist
Gurren Lagann
Monogatari
Slayers

New and Improved Female Character Rankings 2.0

Nagato > Maya > Yakumo > Kurisu > Chizuru > Estelle > Leia > Yukiko > Fina > Eru > Kotomi > Phoebe > Aqua > Makoto > Shoko > Mitsuru > Yui > Tessa > Takano > Luna > Yachiyo > Shiori > Daphne > Milla > 2B > Laura > Drummer > Wagatsuma > Ritsu > Akane > Pepper > Historia > Brawne > Amy > Rin > Namine > Seo > Maria > Mitsuha > Peach > Botan > Sophia > Yurippe > Samus > Eureka > Sypha > Art3mis > Valentine > Lotus > Mizuno > Zelda > Vera > Elizabeth > Yuri > Cora > Kotori
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Phoenix > Snake > Drake > Squall > Tidus

It's been too long since I've played their games for me to confidently order Vyse and Ramza.

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Phoenix > Snake > Shepard > Yuri > Squall > Cloud > Drake > Ramza > Tidus

Never played SoA. Top two are top game characters, top 5 are all great, Tidus is bad. I don't remember Ramza really standing out, but it's been a long time since I played FFT...
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THE Yuri Hyuga
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I voted Tidus but should have voted Squall.

Also not sure about grouping Tidus into the "strong protagonist" category but whatever.

Squall > Tidus > Snake > Cloud > Phoenix (haven't played the rest of the games)
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these all deserve to be considered strong protagonists
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Drake

I have arrived at Altissia. Plot please kick off
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BK_Sheikah00 posted...

Drake

I have arrived at Altissia. Plot please kick off

just wait
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Trying to get a PS4 controller to get recognized as a Bluetooth device on my PC and Im reminded why I generally dont bother playing games on PC.
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The Mana Sword posted...

Trying to get a PS4 controller to get recognized as a Bluetooth device on my PC and Im reminded why I generally dont bother playing games on PC.

I know the feeling
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Well I got the controller working with Steam, but it doesn't register for Trails, with the exception of the track pad, which still works for taking screenshots.

Very fun.
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Ended up figuring it out, Steam was prioritizing the SNES controller I have hooked up over the PS4 one, so unplugging the SNES controller fixed it.

Played for about an hour. The prologue is a bit much with how many mechanics there are in the battle system without any explanation for them, at least everything there was easy enough that it didn't matter. Got into the first main dungeon and that's about it.
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it's nice being able to grind Cactuars for AP in FFVIII because their high evasion rate is negated by the fact that Squall can't miss
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Whew, thankfully, JuJu didn't do much tonight, so I managed to win for the week.
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Beat Dark Souls. Fun game, definitely enjoyed it a lot even if I prefer Bloodborne.

Now I'm in a kind of no-man's-land with the wait for Cold Steel III. Can't really start anything new I think. Could NG+ Dark Souls for lolz. Or try to sneak in another run of 3H. But then I also have to binge rewatch Mr. Robot because Season 4 starts next week. And maybe I could/should binge watch a Zero and Ao playthrough because even though I've been thoroughly spoiled on them it might be helpful gonig into CS3 i don't know

ahhh too many options
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man it's so nice just watching those stats skyrocket as you load up on the top tier spells and abilities, as well as the best GFs, knowing it would take so much longer to do this in most other RPGs

FFVIII the best

Only three trophies to go: Eden, Omega Weapon, and beating the game
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Oh right, there's one for 1000 kills, too, but I imagine I'll stumble upon it by the time I'm finished.
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You save getting eden for disc 4?

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Nah, I'll probably go ahead and get it now since I'm already at the Deep Sea Research Facility. I had to stop after I beat Bahamut last night.

Honestly, I could game the system to get the trophy here because you automatically get the trophy as soon as you draw the GF, so I wouldn't even necessarily need to beat Ultima Weapon to get the trophy.
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Also, fun fact about the Deep Sea Research Facility since I'm on the subject: This dungeon is actually noticeably easier with Zell in your party because he takes care of the locks in here for you so it takes the pressure off of you to get it right.
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Eden get, so that's every GF.

It's so much fun seeing Lion Heart wreck everything for 9999 HP for 17 hits.
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Mob Psycho 100 Episode 10 complete

Boss gauntlets are fun, and it's almost time for the big boss to show up.
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Mob and co v Claw is really good.
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You know, I don't think I've ever done the Queen of Cards sidequest in Final Fantasy VIII. Maybe I should give it a shot.
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how is that possible
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pyre i know i asked you this some time back but i'm dumb and don't remember or save things

How did you watch Zero (and Ao I suppose) like is there a particular LP/Story Summary you'd recommend?
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Finished the actual full prologue in CS1. Didn't realize this was going to become a Persona game.

Hot take class rankings based on almost nothing: Rean > Laura > Fie > Alisa > Gaius > Jusis > Elliot > Emma > Machias
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machias in last i can respect that
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Yeah, Machias should be in last at this point in the game.

Laura as best girl so far

this playthrough has potential
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dude has zero chill
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Fun fact: Machias's VA has voiced his displeasure towards Machias's attitude in the Prologue section in such a fashion that he is nicknamed Edward "Respects Women" Bosco.
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The Mana Sword posted...

how is that possible

I mean there's an easier way to get all the rare cards without having to deal with the Queen of Cards's nonsense and all the rule changes between regions...!

All you gotta do is finish the CC Group sidequest, find Ragnarok on Disc 4, and Left Diamond Girl has literally every rare card (except PuPu) in perpetuity. You can refine them over and over, and she'll play them over and over.
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FFXV Chapter 9 and 10 cleared. Yeah, all these characters needed more fleshing out. Ignis's state after Leviathan is the only thing that really got a response out of me. Because he's been a presence the entire game. Little reason to care about Ravus, Ardyn, and if it weren't for her design, Luna. Even back in Lucis, the only supporting character I'd be really invested in would be Cindy. But they all feel irrelevant at this point.

But yes, the main four are strong and Chapter 10 did a good job with them.
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Chapter 9 is great

that was everything I waited a decade for

and Ignis is the best
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Heck, I feel more of a connection with the Regalia than any of the supporting cast.
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BK_Sheikah00 posted...

Heck, I feel more of a connection with the Regalia than any of the supporting cast.

as well you should

it's absolutely the 5th party member

you even have a rescue quest for it at one point...!
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That said, Altissia is probably my favorite location of the game, and I really appreciated the whole Leviathan thing despite the jank. I really liked playing that part.
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Preemptive Episode Ignis hype
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Despair over Episode Luna cancellation.
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My despair is over losing Episode Noctis. It was going to be so good.
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In fact, I'm already tired of this Queen of Cards nonsense, so let's move on to Lunatic Pandora! As we approach, we get a cool cutscene of the Ragnarok busting through its barriers and digging its claws into the inside, quite literally. Seriously, best airship. When we disembark, Raijin and Fujin are there to meet us. At this point, we're so overpowered that the battle is no problem at all. A couple of screens in, we "encounter" Biggs and Wedge for the last time (I say "encounter" because they never really even notice we're there!). Biggs has had enough of being bossed around by Seifer, so when Wedge jokingly suggests that he quit, he takes him up on it and drags him along for good measure!

The weird thing about Lunatic Pandora is that all the random enemies here are level 1, for whatever the reason, so they barely give any EXP and they have low level spells to draw. You can use Tonberry's LVL Up skill if you want to boost them up so you can get better stuff from them, but I don't bother with that kinda thing! Eventually, we're able to get our revenge on Mobile Type 8!

Eventually, we run into Seifer, as Raijin and Fujin restrain Ellone. He tells them to attack, but they both hesitate. They release Ellone and tell Seifer they've had enough because he doesn't know what's right anymore. He said he thought they were a posse, and for the first time, Fujin speaks "normally." Now if this means that she was always able to speak normally and chose not to, or this extreme situation helped her overcome her normal impediment, I can't say, but it's a pretty awesome speech.

Fujin says they always will be a posse, and it's because of that bond that they want to help Seifer. They're willing to do anything to help him fulfill his dreams, but he's being manipulated. He's lost himself and his dream, so they can't follow him anymore. They want the old Seifer back, but since they can't get through to him, they have to rely on Squall.

When Fujin asks if Seifer still plans to keep going, he tells them that it's been fun, and they run off. A neat little detail you can see during this scene is that the bottom of Seifer's coat is very frayed and ragged, showing how far he's fallen and perhaps how badly Squall and company have beaten him up. Seifer proclaims that he's given up on being a knight and now considers himself a revolutionary. He says he's always gotta be doing something big (perhaps the first truly self-aware moment he's had all game!), and now that he's come this far, he plans to reach the goal, and he won't share it with them.

If you've acquired Odin by this point, you'll get what is probably Seifer's coolest moment in the game. Odin will come out as if he's doing his Zantetsuken insta-kill, except Seifer will reverse it and cut him in half (but the sword will be grabbed by a certain someone as it flies away!). This was such an unexpected moment the first time I saw it. The battle automatically ends when Gilgamesh shows up having received the last sword he needed and blows Seifer away. It's a timed battle if you've got Odin, and Seifer's HP never runs out. If you don't, then it's just a normal fight.

Rinoa will be sad that it's come to this and will walk away, but Seifer hops back to his feet in an impressive display of agility and takes her hostage. He takes her to Adel as she pleads with him that she knows he isn't like this, but he says he can't run away and has to fulfill Ultimecia's wish to make the sorceresses as one. And with that, Disc 3 comes to an end!
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xp1337 posted...

pyre i know i asked you this some time back but i'm dumb and don't remember or save things

How did you watch Zero (and Ao I suppose) like is there a particular LP/Story Summary you'd recommend?

I watched these Let's Play videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKGm2kYlvxiiV9a7uxHk60_9bxVIzHBOU
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKGm2kYlvxihDmwd8jq3O5HajDCIrHbzo

I didn't do a lot of searching for different options, so I don't know if I can definitively recommend these, but I found these sufficient at least. (I don't think there aren't that many LP's available though so it wouldn't be hard to investigate all of them) In this case, the games are played on leaked English translation patches. The Zero one is...serviceable but not good by any stretch. The meaning was always clear to me, but there's tons of typos and the dialogue is often stiff, especially with the dialogue outside of the main storyline. Though it is still better than, say, a machine translation. The Ao translation is relatively good, albeit still not as good as a professional quality localization. As for the LP itself, the LP'er provides commentary but not in a way that I generally found to be distracting, which is nice. He also includes all of the sidequests in the playthrough, as well as makes separate videos that include most of the available NPC dialogue, which I don't think is something all of the LP's do. (For reference, he always did videos running around Crossbell City and talking to the available NPC's, but was less consistent in showing dialogue for other NPC's) He also cuts out most basic encounters (everything except the first time he encounters a particular enemy) as well as a lot of travel time if it isn't the first time he's explored a particular area, which may or may not matter to you.

I will also mention that I don't think it's particularly hard to get the same translation patches and just play the games yourself if you'd prefer to go that route, but I'm the wrong person to ask about that. There's also of course the Geofront translation patch releasing soon for Zero which will be much better than the existing one, though that is not going to be released before CS3 comes out I don't think.
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Yeah, I'm not sure if I should just wait until that patch comes out before attempting to dive into these games. I know Cold Steel relies a lot on info from those two games, but I'll just have to do without it, more than likely.
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I will say that I don't particularly recommend a story summary just because as I understand things, CS3 itself already provides some information as needed on things like who characters are or what events transpired in the Crossbell games.

Based on what I've been told, the primary benefit I think is not so much avoiding confusion as it is providing emotional context for certain characters/themes/etc, which I don't think is something you'd be likely to get from a story summary anyways.
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At this point, you can no longer leave Lunatic Pandora, so we're pressing toward the endgame now! Rinoa's pleas almost seem to get through to Seifer, but once Squall shows up on the scene, he steels his resolve and offers her up to Adel. It's interesting to note that Seifer is gone by the time the battle is over, and we don't see him again until the ending. Perhaps this was the "heel realization" moment for him and it finally brought him to his senses.

Anyway, this fight is unique in FFVIII in that you have to defeat Adel while also keeping Rinoa alive, and Adel will draw from Rinoa's HP periodically through the fight, so you've either gotta heal Rinoa or finish it quickly. As a fun aside, you can actually successfully use Devour on Rinoa, although it results in an instant game over, of course. Either way, it's a disturbing thought! Speaking of disturbing, after you defeat Adel, her face will literally explode.

Afterwards, Ultimecia clearly possesses Rinoa, and Ellone and Laguna appear on the scene to do their part in the plan. As he runs off to let us do our thing, Laguna reminds us of the importance of love, friendship, and courage! Oh right, as an aside, if you look at the info corner after learning Laguna is the president, it'll say that he shut off Esthar because of the potential repercussions Odine's inventions could have if they fell into other people's hands, and he wanted to make sure Esthar didn't use them for the wrong reasons either. It also adds that Laguna will probably face criticism for staying isolated so long.

Anyway, we get a really cool FMV as the party travels through time compression (as the song by the same name plays once we arrive at our destination). We get a cool effect of a bunch of save points appearing all over the screen once we touch the first one to show the distortion has already begun. We see a mirage of Edea from the end of Disc 1, and we get a really cool battle sequence as we fight a bunch of different sorceresses, with the background changing every time a new one appears. This goes along with what the info corner said about a bunch of different sorceresses crossing the flow of time to give all their powers to one sorceress, namely Ultimecia herself. The backgrounds also slowly "melt" to demonstrate the distortion, which is a cool effect.

Eventually, we reach Ultimecia's world, surrounded by fallen SeeDs who've been fighting against her all the way up to her time (although they're dressed in white like Edea's SeeDs). At this point, you can begin the final dungeon, which is one of my favorites in the series, but we'll focus on finding the Ragnarok first, although that'll have to wait until tomorrow!
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Still trying to figure out what to do once I finish up FFVIII until CS3 shows up.
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Finish the next Three Houses route?
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Yeah, that was my first thought. I could also go back and finish up PW Trilogy since I left off after trial day 1 on 2-2, so I'm about halfway-ish through that one. I don't want to start anything massive, of course, but I need something to fill the time.
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Post Chapter 9 is such a different game. Such a shift in tone makes me miss the boys on a roadtrip adventure. Cleared Chapter 13, Ardyn became more interesting, Tenebrae was such a waste, and now Noctis became sexy. Zegnautus Keep was starting to wear me out but it had a nice payoff at the end.
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Young Noctis's design is so bad (as are the other boys - why are there outfits so similar?). Wish we had older Noctis the whole game. He actually looks interesting.
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