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

(+) Yeah! (+)

F/GO: Oh wow, this went as well as it could have. I was all hyped up to get Merlin... and he came in 7 tickets. I planned on using 10 before going to my SQ stockpile and I didn't even have to touch it.

the delayed luck of angra mainyu perhaps?

Guess that means I'm in great shape to roll for Summer Melt in a few days...!

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Track and field is always my favorite part of the Summer Olympics

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@xp1337 when does Utawarerumono Mask of Deception get good anyway? Or is this one bad the whole way through and it's just the first and third games that are good? Cause man, I'm four and a half hours in, and it sucks so far compared to the first game. The combat's solid (though it feels pretty shallow so far), but the story and characters are blah. The pace is incredibly slow, with very little happening. I liked the early parts with just Haku and Kuon, though even there there were some issues. Probably the biggest negative is that all the girls are huge assholes to Haku for no reason. They're constantly hitting and choking him and such, and it sucks. They even have jokes about the animals doing it for whatever reason. The humor's been uniformly awful. Haku's pretty lame too, constantly being surprised by things even when he just saw them happen a few minutes early (particularly Kuon's (and everyone else's) strength). The other characters (Ukon, Rulutieh, Nekone) haven't impressed either, and Maroro's bad enough that I tend to skip through all his dialogue when he's on screen. I wish the game would just stick to being serious - that'd mean less of the trash humor, though even in the more serious scenes, it could stand to pick up the pace.
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Mask of Deception starts off pretty rough, I shared many of your issues with it at the start (Pacing, Maroro, Haku's repetitive surprise, etc.). It genuinely gets better, but you go through some serious shit pacing to get there.

I'd say it starts to get better around the 60% mark or so which is... not ideal. I want to say that once some ambassadors come to the capital is when things begin to actually get going if you're looking for a signal.

But until then it moves like a glacier and even my patience was being tried a bit and I'm usually pretty good about things like that.

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That's very reassuring, thanks. Things like this can definitely improve over time, and I don't find playing it to be as repellent as some games, so it's nice to hear that.

Incidentally, will I still be good to play these if I haven't played Uta 1 for over a decade? I still remember some things from it, but definitely not everything...
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I watched the anime (don't do that) so I'm not sure if it is handled better in the game, but I found it useful to refresh my knowledge on Utararerumono 1 first.
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I think remembering the broad strokes/major characters would probably be okay, especially for Mask of Deception. Mask of Truth you might want a bit of a refresher.

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I played the Mask games without having played or watched the original first and thought it was fine without having any prior knowledge.

The pacing in Mask of Deception isn't great, yeah. The main appeal is mostly Mask of Truth, though Deception does get better at about the halfway point or something. You've probably still got a fair bit to go before that point though unless you're a much faster reader than I am, which is possible.
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Started book 6 of Wheel of Time

ya go my Perrin

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Oh man, that 400m hurdle final was great.

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All right, G1-1 in Great Ace Attorney Chronicles complete!

boy I'm in trouble if it took me this long just to beat the intro case

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To be fair, the intro case didn't feel any shorter than the two after it.

Though I also discovered shortly after it that the Skip Text option makes text appear faster in general and I didn't have that enabled for G1-1 - that could have something to do with it. But I also wouldn't be surprised if it was longer than G1-2 or G1-3 (or at least comparable to them) regardless.

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You might be right because they aren't really full length cases in the traditional sense.

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I think I'm getting close to the end of case 2

The one thing that has most surprised me so far has been how silly Sholmes is. I had assumed he would have been portrayed similarly to Layton.

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Yeah, he's pretty over the top, but I like him a lot.

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oh man I accidentally just clicked on the My Games thing and just to give you an idea of how little this thing is still used

the #1 "Currently playing" game is Super Smash Bros. Brawl and literally every game in the top 20 is a decade old

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Utawarerumono Mask of Deception:

Further in now. The war parts were alright, but man, this game is still awful at comedy. I wish they'd cut out all the eating and drinking scenes. Kuon has to be one of the worst characters of all time. Practically all her scenes are just her getting upset and hitting Haku or stealing his money or tormenting him for no reason. I'm up to the part where a bunch of characters from the original return now, though they aren't written as well as they were there. Seems like most of the writing staff on this didn't work on the original, which makes sense. Or maybe I just liked them better without voice acting, haha.

On a side note, it seems like Kuon is Hakuoro and Yuzuha's child, but most of the characters from the original seem like they're the same age they were in that. How much time is supposed to have passed since then?
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G1-2 beated

I wouldnt be shocked if there turns out to be more to it later, but as it stands I reallllllly dont like the death being basically a coincidence, unrelated to the main plot.

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Mac Arrowny posted...

How much time is supposed to have passed since then?

I assumed ~20 years, but idk if it's ever actually stated.

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Been making progress in GAA - got through both G1-3 and G1-4 and started G1-5.

G1-3: this was... a ride. The jury was kind of annoying and the witnesses were pretty one-note (except Gina) but at the end of the day this trial is about McGilded and how absolutely sketchy the whole thing is. It's a bit unsatisfying but it seems like 1-5 will tie into it so hopefully it gives sufficient closure.

G1-4: this one was just weird. I think my favorite part is early on when you get to see Ryunosuke's doubts about standing in court (which are pretty reasonable after the last case!) and seeing him work through it. Soseki is fun. Joan is awful, probably one of the most unlikable characters in the franchise. The pacing in this felt a little odd - "the knife came from above" seemed like it came way too early for such a big twist, but I guess having that in mind and working towards making it feasible was a decent approach. Also poor Roly, go take a nap man.

Just got past discovering the murder in G1-5 and it certainly has me hype. I enjoy the ridiculous animations of this guy who is totally named Eggert Benedict

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He was just Egg Benedict in Japanese. I'm pretty sure one of the sailors in G1-2 was Beef Stroganoff in Japanese, too! Takumi pulling from the Romein Letouse database in this one!

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The "Dance of Deduction" stuff with Holmes in GAA is a lot of fun. I enjoy the presentation of it more than anything else.

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https://thenerdstash.com/final-fantasy-ranking-every-cid/

User SaveEstelle ranked every Cid. I didn't realize there were 30 of them.

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Wow, FFXIII Cid way too low.

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is this the Cid ranking you dreamed of

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good number 1 I approve

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Finished with Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception. Bad game! I've beaten a lot of games so far this year, and this was the worst of the lot. My complaints from earlier posts applied less in the second half of the game (pyre was right about the point where it gets better), but they didn't vanish completely. Even later on the comedy scenes were abysmal, and a lot of characters were real dumb. More spoilery thoughts:

Kuon is just such a fucking piece of shit the whole game. Why does she constantly treat Haku like garbage? Why do people like her? Were they trying to make a comparison to Dekopompo, with both of them being children of beloved men who get supported regardless of how terrible they are? I dunno. She's a bit better in her serious scenes, but not much better. Her motivations are never as clear as they could be, and feel like she just whatever the plot wants her to do.

Likewise Nekone. The game constantly had me thinking about how stupid she was, and that was before the ending scene where she gets her brother killed. Her introduction is supposed to be about how smart she is and how she deserves to be a scholar and is being held back by foolish conservative elements, but she never demonstrates her intelligence, really. She's the dumbest character in the game from the start to the end, and the comedy with her is pretty miserable.

I didn't dislike the rest of the cast to the same degree, but the comedy scenes with them were never good. The big scene with Haku and Mikado was the best scene in the game. Everyone was good there. The twin priestesses were probably the best of the main crew, so it's a shame Kuon treated them like garbage whenever she was around them.

Thoughts on some other parts: the first war was solid, but the villain wasn't very believable. The guy who kills his subordinates every time we see him unified 100 tribes that had been warring for generations? The generals using their masks was cool at least. Dekopompo felt like he got too much screentime throughout the game relative to the other generals.

Going to war with Tuskur was a great idea. Some parts of that were cool, but the stuff with no one dying was pretty unbelievable. The game would've been better in general with more of a willingness to kill people.

The very ending was quite promising. Having Haku take Oshtor's place is a great idea (I always liked Oshtor, though Ukon wasn't good). Should hopefully solve some of the comedy failings.

Gave Uta 1 an 8 and this a 4. Hopefully Uta 3 is a return to form.
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You're harder on Kuon and Nekone than I was but I do think they both are much better in Mask of Truth. The latter probably makes the biggest jump between games IMO.

No one dying is indeed an issue but one that is all too common in the genre.

The ending is indeed excellent. Sorry you didn't like the game as a whole though! Hopefully, you do like Mask of Truth a lot more.

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(Utawarerumono) I remember Anju and Nekone being kind of obnoxious but I don't remember having an issue with anyone else. Maybe reactions to Ururuu and Sarana, but I really think they're just dumb characters in general and I associate these events more with problems with the twins than anything else >.>

I will say I think Kuon's motivations mostly make sense but that there is some important information about this which the player doesn't have yet at this point.
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FE Three Houses: Made it to Blue Lions Part II finally.

You know, it's kind of interesting and a bit uncomfortable knowing that Punished Dimitri started down this path over (Crimson Flower spoilers)an assumption he made that is just flatly untrue. Edelgard *wasn't* involved in the Tragedy of Duscur and yet his assuming that is what started his unhinging. Hell, Edelgard even tried to tell him *twice* that she wasn't involved in that and he just digs deeper into his delusions. Like, Edelgard's plan - or rather the *severe* trust issues she understandably has causing her to carry it out the way she did - was essentially certain to bring them into conflict anyway but Dimitri basically drove himself crazy over something that wasn't even true all on his own.

Also, nice try 3H but (Azure Moon, up to where I am/Chapter 13-14 spoilers)not buying you off-screen'd Dedue like this. I do wonder why Dimitri thinks he's dead though.

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Insanity isn't always rational!

Also, in the Golden Deer route, Dimitri is unceremoniously killed by a bunch of randos after the big battle between the three houses, so it could happen...!

but you haven't played the Golden Deer route yet I think so don't read that

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Yeah, that stuff's part of why I'm not as fond of Demitri as the other leaders.
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Ted Lasso Season 2 Episode 3 complete!

Very good episode for Sam. It's cool that they dealt with the topic of protests in sports.

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G1-5 and GAA1 beated

Who would have guessed cross-examining Mario and Luigi would be so entertaining

As far as epic cases go my gut reaction is that it falls shy of the big three and 6-5 but beats all the others - while it was nice watching Gina slowly open up, the emotional stakes weren't all there, but the actual ones certainly were by the end. I'm... not entirely sure how I feel about "reveal state secrets" as a way to win a trial, but seeing as the message was both obscure and overly cryptic I'm sure it's fine. >_> Overall case ranking is probably 5 >> 3 > 4 > 1 > 2, maybe switch 1 and 4.

Think I'd put the game somewhere in the lower half of the series, though cleanly above AJ and AAI1 at least. Was fun having a completely new cast (who are pretty great for the most part) and watching them develop/interact, but having only two "full" cases really held it back I think, especially when one of them is pretty weird. Doesn't feel self-contained like the other games either - it's pretty clearly set up for the sequel. Which I guess I can start now!

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Those two witnesses were something else indeed

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wow the Braves finally got above .500

it only took 110 games and losing our best player to a season-ending injury

and we can still somehow win our mediocre division

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I didn't realize how easy it is to pun off of the word "shoe"

As a mail carrier, I've seen shoe companies called Shoebacca and now Shoeby-Doo

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Oh right, forgot to mention that I finished G1-2 in Great Ace Attorney last night! This is such a strange case in many ways, but it introduces us to the antics of one Herlock Sholmes, so it's worth it.

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Dragon Ball Z Episode 137 complete!

Been a while since I watched! I like how this episode was like "hey remember when Piccolo was supposed to be pure evil and Goku was actually willing to kill someone"

also is Roshi ever going to fight again or is he just the dirty old man for the rest of the show

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All he can do is blown up one measly moon what can he contribute at this point

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hey now he blew it up twice

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Leonhart4 posted...

also is Roshi ever going to fight again or is he just the dirty old man for the rest of the show

well if you ever decide to watch Super

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Gotta watch GT first

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So many Dragon Balls

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pjbasis posted...

Gotta watch GT first

does he really though

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R.I.P Bobby Bowden

Never been a fan of Florida State, but I always liked him as a coach.

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The Mana Sword posted...

does he really though

how else can he know the glory of Baby

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by playing Other M

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I'm on trial part 3 of G1-3

Kind of weird, but I'm now thinking the client is actually guilty. At minimum he seems to have tampered with the evidence; not sure what's going on here! I also really hate Furst's animation where his hat repeatedly slips off; it's heavily triggering my OCD and making me want to force it to be straightened out. His galloping animation is so dumb that it's hilarious, though.

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LordoftheMorons posted...

I'm on trial part 3 of G1-3

Kind of weird, but I'm now thinking the client is actually guilty. At minimum he seems to have tampered with the evidence; not sure what's going on here! I also really hate Furst's animation where his hat repeatedly slips off; it's heavily triggering my OCD and making me want to force it to be straightened out. His galloping animation is so dumb that it's hilarious, though.

Yeah, that animation is super distracting, but I guess it's supposed to be ironic that a hat maker has a poorly made hat. It's the "the cobbler's kids have no shoes" trope.

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