Board 8 > SaveEstelle & LeonhartFour in New Houses: Playoff Edition [SELF]

(+) Yeah! (+)

I guess it was cool, but it felt like a weird loophole that they never really even hinted at before then! I guess it's possible I missed it if they did though! I didn't realize the answer was to go the Persona 5 route, but I'll take it.

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood complete! Good show. I'll probably put it on the second tier.

That was a nice "Where are they now?" epilogue. I'll try to do some sort of character inequality tomorrow.

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I don't remember the details of FMA anymore, especially the ending, but I remember liking it quite a bit. Not the most amazing ending, but still well earned and satisfying.

I also like the final boss being a dragon ball character that shoots blasts of energy. And he gets defeated by the MC punching him in the face. A true shonen

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I do kinda remember thinking Ed saving Al by giving up his ability to do alchemy was a bit of a cop-out and I don't think it was hinted at beforehand, but I guess if Mustang can lose his sight after opening the portal then the thing sacrificed doesn't have to be anything physical.

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fmab's ending is kinda hilarious.

also man i do love the FH theme. this was the single most whoa moment of ff8 for me, music-wise.
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Oh right, I guess I can ask this now. What did the original FMA anime do differently from Brotherhood?

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I remember that even less!

But I know there was some parallel world/real world shenanigans going on at the end. I think the diverging point is when Ed and Al are back on the island they trained at, and a little boy who ends up being Wrath, I think, shows up. And it's all different from there.

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everything starting with hughes's death is completely different, since the manga hadn't been published to that point.

but some highlights...
envy is completely different
fuhrer bradley is pride instead of wrath
wrath is the dead child of master izumi
the master of the homunculi is different
greed is an entirely different character that ed kills in single combat
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Envy is completely different? It's the same character design though. In that case even Lust's backstory is very different iirc.

And there's a woman named Dante.

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Ling, Lan Fan, May, they don't exist.

Sloth is completely different. It's Ed's mom.

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Waifu Armatrong wasn't in the original either I think

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I forget the details, but the homunculi were created differently. IIRC they were all based on dead people and couldn't be killed through sheer brute force alone - you needed part of their remains or something nearby. Also Sloth was based on Ed and Al's mother instead of being that big dude.

Also the tone was considerably darker and I want to say the entire main cast is just far less likeable.

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Yeah, those changes don't sound good. I can see why it's not so well regarded.

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The first opening theme was really good.

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Utawarerumono Mask of Deception: Yeah, I've still been playing this. And boy did the Mikado and Yamato dun fuck up just now. Invading Tuskur? lmfao they're about to get a grim reminder. Hell, Karalau and Touka are still chilling in the capital and I'd literally take them over whatever defense Yamato could muster if it really came down to it. Could have been worse though, I guess. If they launched this invasion like a week earlier then no less than 7 of the first game's combat party would have been in the Imperial Capital at the time. And really I think Camyu is still hooked up to a Kill Sat network so her not being physically there anymore isn't too big a deal lol.

Leonhart4 posted...

Oh right, I guess I can ask this now. What did the original FMA anime do differently from Brotherhood?

As has been mentioned -- a lot.

Off the top of my head (some of this has been covered by others already but...)

The anime just went on its own after Hughes died (pretty sure the manga was still ongoing back then so they just improvised.) The Homunculi were different and based on dead people (and could be weakened by the remains of the same.) Instead of Father, they worked for an anime original character named Dante who used to be Hohenheim's lover (and Izumi's alchemy teacher.) Lust was portrayed far more sympathetically as wanting freedom from being a tool and had a bunch of ship tease with Scar. Envy was the child of Hohenheim and Dante. Wrath was a little kid instead who was formed from Izumi's child. Sloth was the Elric's mom. Bradley was Pride instead. Dante was ultimately seeking immortality and body surfing from person to person to stay alive because all her hosts would eventually decay. She takes over her maid late in the story and was grooming Rose (oh btw Rose's village was sacked and she was heavily implied to suffer an offscreen rape by soldiers) as her next replacement and explicitly tells Ed she wanted to "love the son of Hohenheim" once she took over Rose in the final confrontation. Also alchemy was fueled by the lives of our world... like literally at the end Ed goes to the other side of the gate and ends up in 1920s Germany. Where everyone had dopplegangers. Real World!Hughes was a member of the Nazi party iirc. But that was covered in a movie. At the end of the 2003 series Ed was trapped in post-WW1 Europe since y'know... alchemy doesn't exist here. Dante gets eaten by Gluttony in a moment of karma coming home (she had removed his limited ability to think earlier.) and yeah.

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xp1337 posted...

Utawarerumono Mask of Deception: Yeah, I've still been playing this. And boy did the Mikado and Yamato dun fuck up just now. Invading Tuskur? lmfao they're about to get a grim reminder. Hell, Karalau and Touka are still chilling in the capital and I'd literally take them over whatever defense Yamato could muster if it really came down to it. Could have been worse though, I guess. If they launched this invasion like a week earlier then no less than 7 of the first game's combat party would have been in the Imperial Capital at the time. And really I think Camyu is still hooked up to a Kill Sat network so her not being physically there anymore isn't too big a deal lol.

Yamato is also pretty overpowered! I forget what the term was but all the mask wearers are pretty busted.

Also how much of a role has the Mikado played so far? Can't remember the order in which things happen but depending on what you know about him/his motives there's other things to be said there.
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pyresword posted...

Yamato is also pretty overpowered! I forget what the term was but all the mask wearers are pretty busted.

Also how much of a role has the Mikado played so far? Can't remember the order in which things happen but depending on what you know about him/his motives there's other things to be said there.

The masks (Akukra or something, spelling might be off) are the only thing that give them a chance here lol. But given some of the backgrounds in Haku's flashbacks I think they're running with those copies the scientists were trying to make whereas Tuskur has dealt with the OG. I mean, mind you, the masks are still silly powerful given what they did when they put down that other invasion but atm I think only Oshtor and Vurai are in the capital and their powers seem to be "turn into giant monsters" which is like the one power I think would be least helpful if Karalau and Touka cared to start something. Mikazuchi and Munechika's seem a lot trickier! ...Also like... Tuskur is shown to be the whole island now so like... do they have the mechs now too? I still maintain that Camyu could just call in a satellite strike and glass Yamato from orbit if she really wanted to but obviously I don't actually expect that... I just don't think there's any reason she couldn't. Pretty sure those are still around! The two nations are being portrayed as something close to evenly matched so far, with Tuskur having the upper hand tactically so far but it's really only just started. I stopped when Haku's team landed to bring emergency supplies and Kuon blew their cover. I'm on the battle prep screen for that. I just don't really think they should be if Tuskur went total war on them. Those dorks are too nice though and probably never would tho.

As for the Mikado. Haku's been meeting him in his "Mito" disguise for a while but their meeting before last he dropped the reveal bomb on Haku that he's his older brother, confirmed the Tatari = Humanity thing Haku was trying to ignore, explained that as far as he knows they're the only ones left that haven't been transformed, and how he became the leader of Yamato, and also he thinks his lifespan is about to run out and wants Haku to inherit his legacy. Then their last meeting he explains he's invading Tuskur because he thinks they've got a critical ruin that can give him the answers to his "save humanity" project but negotiations to gain access went nowhere so he's decided he has to conquer them to get there. ...Not sure he'd like what he'd find if he succeeded though! Uitsunemetia probably not someone he should poke!

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Leonhart4 posted...

Yeah, those changes don't sound good. I can see why it's not so well regarded.

The original FMA actually is well regarded. It was super popular back in the day which fed into the hype for Brotherhood.
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(Utawarerumono, responding to xp)

Yeah ok all I really wanted to say as far as the Mikado goes is that he basically has personal access to enough effectively god-like tech that he (as an individual) stands very little to fear from Tuskur's military forces. Which doesn't necessarily directly equate to it being a good or bad decision but yeah.

I don't think he necessarily knows that they might have access to things like the satellite strikes.
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Utawarerumono MoD: Yeah, there's no way for the Mikado to know any of this. He thinks he's just dealing with the nth proxy/decoy nation that he can steamroll over with the masks and advanced tech/civilization he's built because why would he expect anything different? He has no way of knowing he's actually just invaded a nation that actually had a similar figure to him in Hakuowlo in terms of providing advanced tech/civilization knowledge, who was hosting the actual god that cursed humanity to boot, may or may not have whatever mechs survived the first game's war (and even if they're all gone they have the experience of having to fight human-era tech and the tactics/skill required to do so), and Camyu/Mutsumi who has access to orbital bombardment. Now I doubt the orbital bombardment will play a role and Uitsalnemetia/Hakuowlo should still be sealed afaik so there is that but Yamato should still be in for a bad time and if Tuskur actually went 100% ruthless I don't think there's anything in the setting that could stand a chance. I still think they have the upper hand here if they got seriously pressed but I guess I'll find out.

Heck, I actually think if the Mikado laid his hand on the table and told Tuskur what he was really trying to do they might actually have cooperated but he - very reasonably! - would never even consider that because there is zero reason to think anyone would ever believe his story. The entire war seems kind of tragic to me in that regard, but again, we'll see how this goes. I'd say if enough details of what the Mikado's motives reached Kuon she might be able to try and salvage this but given there's another game I'm doubting that happens!

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Day 7: Best Overworld Theme
Final Fantasy VII - Main Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UARM4q7hHU

With no disrespect to Terra, Crossing Those Hills, or the fact that FFV has three darn good overworld themes on its own, this isn't even close. The entire song is a magnificent journey in and of itself, and that climax is unbeatable.

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Oh, hmm. Overworld Theme, huh? ...Compression of Time doesn't count, does it? It'd easily win if it did but pulling up a gameplay video to double check and I don't think it does... dunno why I thought it did.

...Probably Final Fantasy IX - Crossing Those Hills?

...Wait, does Sprouting from FFX count? If so it's that. Uhh... Compression of Time > Sprouting > Crossing Those Hills. Whatever counts first on that chain. >_>

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Compression of Time never plays on the world map. It's only ever Blue Fields, even on Disc 4. FFX is a tough one because it doesn't strictly have a world map, and those areas where Sprouting plays aren't dungeons or towns either. It's in a weird space in between the two. I'd allow it since it doesn't really qualify as anything else.

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Eternal wind

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The Trial of Courage proved to be quite daunting in Origami King

although it was annoying that you had to start all over each time you failed on the last one

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Oh yeah, thats a pain in the ass

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Favorite FF overworld theme almost definitely is Crossing Those Hills. There's definitely other strong overworld themes, but I just love this one so much. FFIX so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1v02ubK7Wc
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I prefer Evil Mist's Return to Crossing Those Hills as far as FFIX world map themes go.

Terra probably still my fav overall tho. FF7 Main Theme also good stuff.
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I've always liked the Merged World map theme from FFV. I also have a soft spot for Blue Fields too.

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Cold Steel 4 - Act 1 - So old Class VII and Altina being in Alster and meeting this kids. When did that happen? Was there a drama CD or something?

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Oh right, Fullmetal Alchemist character inequality. Let's see here.

Mustang > Bradley > Hohenheim > Edward > Hawkeye > Greed > Alex > Scar > Alphonse > Lust > Hughes > Olivier > Ling > Barry the Chopper > Winry > Izumi > Gluttony > Kimblee > Sloth > May > Pride > Envy > Father

something like that, not ranking all the minor characters (except Barry because he's Barry the Chopper)

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BK_Sheikah00 posted...

Cold Steel 4 - Act 1 - So old Class VII and Altina being in Alster and meeting this kids. When did that happen? Was there a drama CD or something?

It was indeed on a Cold Steel II drama CD.

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Pretty good ranking

Father does suck

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he's one of those characters who gets worse as time goes by

he seems really cool as a concept but then his actual character ends up kinda sucking once you know everything about him

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Yeah, that's a pretty good ranking. I'd have Ed above Hohenheim at the least and Alex a bit lower (more on the strength of the others than any fault in him) but generally I agree.

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I think disliking Al, Ed, Mustang, and Scar really tanked FMA for me...

Bradley rules tho.
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LeonhartFour posted...

Barry the Chopper > Winry

Mostly good ranking but this I will not stand for.
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Really came around on hohenheim

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Winry was a pretty vanilla love interest. She wasn't bad, but she wasn't anything special.

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pjbasis posted...

Really came around on hohenheim

His character arc really impressed me, yeah. I wasn't expecting it.

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As far as minor characters go I really like those half-animal dudes that end up allying with the protagonists at the end.

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pjbasis posted...

As far as minor characters go I really like those half-animal dudes that end up allying with the protagonists at the end.

Yeah, the chimeras weren't bad. I don't think I ever learned their names though!

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Leonhart4 posted...

Winry was a pretty vanilla love interest. She wasn't bad, but she wasn't anything special.

So I take it you're not gonna be using Winry as a baby name

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LordoftheMorons posted...

So I take it you're not gonna be using Winry as a baby name

Highly unlikely at this point...!

Maybe Riza

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Dragon Ball Z Episode 54 complete!

Mark it down. It's the first mention of the term Super Saiyan!

Also that Namek Guru reminded me a lot of NORG.

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I do like Winry but "not anything special" would still be putting you way ahead of Barry the Chopper for me.
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Leonhart4 posted...

Mark it down. It's the first mention of the term Super Saiyan!

oh snap I wonder what that means!

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Man, why does Shirley look so good in a uniform

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pjbasis posted...

oh snap I wonder what that means!

dont worry it probably wont ever come up again

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I like Winry but I can also respect having BARRY THE CHOPPER above her

Think my top 3 would be Mustang > Hawkeye > Ed, though Bradley's definitely up there.

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