Board 8 > SaveEstelle/LeonhartFour in Different Houses: Game of the Decade Edition [SELF]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Oh man less than 24 hours until the contest finally begins

---

I suppose I should give my bracket a once-over.

and probably do some writeups

---

thankfully I've already done the first two divisions before the last delay

---

Anyway, Clone Wars Season 1 Episode 16 complete!

I always enjoy plotlines where there's a spy, and they have to figure out who it is.

---

Zero no Kiseki beated. Some thoughts in spoilers and then some general rankings.

Pros:
-The SSS have a really nice dynamic as a team - in part it's probably due to the size, but no one feels extraneous, and even though Randy jokes around a lot his serious side is a lot more apparent than, say, Olivier's or Crow's. The guest party members are also great - I'm not big on Rixia (though that could easily change in Ao) but I really like Noel and Wazy, and it was nice seeing Dudley slowly warm up to the SSS even if he's kinda tsundere about it. Having Estelle and Joshua be playable at the end was really cool too.
-Supporting cast is also really good - lot of just likable characters. Favorite was probably Grace, though as far as more minor characters go Jingo is about as entertaining as she is in CS3, which is to say she's great
-There were some very good heartfelt moments - Tio opening up about her past and the Hayworths' story of what happened to their daughter both hit pretty hard (though overall I'm not the biggest fan of the Estelle/Joshua/Renne plotline).
-The OST, but I mean of course I'm listing that as a pro. Weird hearing the non-Super Arrange version of Inevitable Struggle considering the SA is one of my all time favorites but the original is fine. Some favorites would be Intense Chase, A Light Illuminating the Depths, The Will to Protect Until the End, Ancient Pulsation and Firm Strength.
-Chest quotes definitely gave me some chuckles as well as some big groans, good touch on the translation team's part. Actually overall the translation was pretty good for the main story (I noticed maybe two errors?) - only part that seemed a little rough was the books.

Cons:
-Crossbell is TOO BIG for a hub and I very quickly burnt out on going around talking to everyone. Mostly stuck to characters I liked.
-Pacing had its ups and downs. Chapters 1 and 3 seemed kinda weak in that regard.
-Probably had the weakest antagonists in the series? Which kinda makes sense given that the game focuses on political corruption a lot so you aren't gonna be fighting a lot of interesting people (aside from Garcia, he was alright), but still. The big bad ended up being very one-note after the reveal and honestly the entire shift to dealing with an evil cult felt a bit abrupt.

Overall, I would probably say CS3 > SC > CS1 = CS2 > Zero > 3rd > FC for my series rankings. Zero certainly does a good job establishing Crossbell as a nation and while I'm familiar with most of the story beats of Ao it'll be interesting to see how a playthrough of it goes having now also done Zero.

SSS ranking is probably Lloyd > Randy > Tio > Elie.

---

whoa nice that was fast

Azure already has a fan translation that's considered "good enough," right?

---

I believe so (the main story at least has been roughly translated), but it's been a while since I've looked into it.

---

Dragon Ball Episode 96 complete!

Gotta give Krillin credit. Dude put up a heck of a fight despite being totally outmatched there, and he used the strategy that gave him the best chance to win.

---

I'll hopefully be able to read all those spoilers eventually. I'm a bit into chapter 4. It's pretty great though, I missed Trails. Presently my SSS ranking is Tio>Randy>Lloyd>Elie, but everyone's likable enough.

---

Janus5k posted...

(though overall I'm not the biggest fan of the Estelle/Joshua/Renne plotline).

best part of the game, yo
---

(though overall I'm not the biggest fan of the Estelle/Joshua/Renne plotline).

best part of the series, yo

-The SSS have a really nice dynamic as a team - in part it's probably due to the size, but no one feels extraneous, and even though Randy jokes around a lot his serious side is a lot more apparent than, say, Olivier's or Crow's. The guest party members are also great - I'm not big on Rixia (though that could easily change in Ao) but I really like Noel and Wazy, and it was nice seeing Dudley slowly warm up to the SSS even if he's kinda tsundere about it.

I've always thought the SSS had far and away the best group dynamic of any Trails main cast. They're all great characters that interact well with everyone else and nobody feels extraneous. Rixia definitely gets better in Ao but I was also a pretty big fan of her in Zero to begin with. Probably a top 5 character in the series for me.

-Pacing had its ups and downs. Chapters 1 and 3 seemed kinda weak in that regard.

I do agree with this. Despite chapter 3 having a contender for best scene in the entire series it's not one of my favorite chapters overall. Parts of it drag on for quite a while and the climax doesn't really have the impact that it should for me.

Probably had the weakest antagonists in the series? Which kinda makes sense given that the game focuses on political corruption a lot so you aren't gonna be fighting a lot of interesting people (aside from Garcia, he was alright), but still. The big bad ended up being very one-note after the reveal and honestly the entire shift to dealing with an evil cult felt a bit abrupt.

I like the cult as an organization but yeah I don't really like the actual antagonists much. Fortunately I think Ao improves in this regard.
---

LeonhartFour posted...

whoa nice that was fast

Azure already has a fan translation that's considered "good enough," right?

I had no issues with the Azure translation I had, though I couldn't tell you where to find it as I watched Let's Play's for the Crossbell games.
---

oh man it's contest day at last

---

I still haven't even looked at my bracket after the day it went up...wonder if I should do that.
---

second guessing your bracket is the worst though because then you'll be kicking yourself for every time you change it and get it wrong

---

What is the consensus on BotW vs Smash Ultimate? I Imagine most people will have BotW but are people somewhat split on this?
---

in the last BOP 37 people have BOTW and 1 person has Smash

the Guru might have more of a split since it'll have more brackets overall but I imagine 90%+ of us will have BOTW winning

---

Whew, Ring Fit Adventure World 9 complete!

Also, I see that Xenoblade for Switch is coming out at the end of May with a new epilogue. Nice.

---

So contest starts tonight? No more delays?

---

BK_Sheikah00 posted...

So contest starts tonight? No more delays?

So it would seem!

---

Man, if dialogue in Crossbell City refreshes this frequently, I'll never beat this game! At least I have quick travel now. I just got back from Armorica Village, and now I'm headed to St. Ursula's, and I've got one more location to go after that.

also even if I didn't already know who Elie was it's blatantly obvious that she's a high society lady and doesn't want anyone else to know

---

Well, it looks like the travel agency we booked the honeymoon through will give us a full credit toward another trip if it turns out we aren't able to go due to the outbreak, so that's one bit of good news. We might not get to go right after we get married, but at least we'll get to have a honeymoon trip relatively soon thereafter, hopefully.

---

Welp, guess Im just gonna go with my gut pick bracket (plus the Skyrim>HGSS switch I made like a week or two ago). Ill probably regret it, but whatever!

---

LeonhartFour posted...

Well, it looks like the travel agency we booked the honeymoon through will give us a full credit toward another trip if it turns out we aren't able to go due to the outbreak, so that's one bit of good news. We might not get to go right after we get married, but at least we'll get to have a honeymoon trip relatively soon thereafter, hopefully.

Thats good. What did you end up deciding to do about the wedding itself, or is that still up in the air?

---

LordoftheMorons posted...

Thats good. What did you end up deciding to do about the wedding itself, or is that still up in the air?

I think the plan is still to get married on the original planned date one way or the other. If we can't have the wedding itself, we'll just have a reception at a later date.

---

I wonder how many perfects will be after day 1. Halo and Tales so unreliable.

---

I'm honestly not too worried about Halo. Berseria/Hollow Knight has given me fits since day 1.

---

Hollow Knight got killed by Cuphead:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6951-best-of-2017-indies

Hard to really get a solid feel for Cuphead but it's not really a good showing:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6953-best-of-2017-game-of-the-year

Can Berseria be worse than that? Absolutely. >_>
---

I'd sooner take Cuphead > GTA5 than Hollow Knight > Berseria!
---

yep my gut was right

Halo is fine, Tales is not

---

Ugh why did I think LiS could do this

At least I was right about Hollow Knight, but I guess it will once again be a struggle to get to the leaderboard

---

Cuphead > GTA5 confirmed

<_<
---

if only the contest ended today

I feel much less confident about tomorrows matches

---

Hollow Knight's been released for several more platforms since that poll; I assume it got stronger (I believe it was just on PC in 2017)

---

LordoftheMorons posted...

Hollow Knight's been released for several more platforms since that poll; I assume it got stronger (I believe it was just on PC in 2017)

I wish this had been brought to my attention more recently than 2 hours ago

---

I also only just found out that it was PC only during its GotY poll where it looked awful. I didn't give the match that much thought since it was a 1 point match so I might have still took ToB. Even so, it still would have been nice to know.
---

Being wrong on Berseria is disappointing. Being this wrong is just annoying. >_>

---

Hollow Knight is also an extremely good game I swear.
---

pyresword posted...

Hollow Knight is also an extremely good game I swear.

Can confirm

---

It might be but being this off still annoys me!

Berseria losing 55-45 sure. Under 40%? that's just insulting. can it at least be close so i can feel it wasn't an awful pick

---

Yeah, I still don't know why people weren't out here saying "Hollow Knight was the first big indie game on Switch so it's popular" before the match started.

---

Well if the BOP (which I just looked at for the first time) is any indication, my perfect bracket ends tomorrow.

Does anybody even play Monster Hunter?
---

pyresword posted...

Well if the BOP (which I just looked at for the first time) is any indication, my perfect bracket ends tomorrow.

Does anybody even play Monster Hunter?

enough people to get it a 3 seed!

---

pyresword posted...

Well if the BOP (which I just looked at for the first time) is any indication, my perfect bracket ends tomorrow.

Does anybody even play Monster Hunter?

It's Capcom's best-selling game ever by far!
---

Mac Arrowny posted...

It's Capcom's best-selling game ever by far!

I dont believe this for a second even though I looked it up and you're right holy shit

---

yeah Monster Hunter games sell ridiculously well especially in Japan

---

MHW actually didn't sell that great in Japan compared to a lot of the other MH games, which makes it having the sales crown even more impressive. Most of those copies are from the West, where none of the previous games did well at all.
---

Has Berseria been going down over the day? It couldn't even find a way to climb to 40% to preserve some sense of dignity?

---

the Reaper's curse strikes again

---

dammit lol

---