Poll of the Day > Anime, Manga, VN, JRPG, Related Things Discussion Topic XCVII

(+) Yeah! (+)

Maaaan. Last two episodes of 86 are delayed for 3 MONTHS!.

I feel like the morpho was way to weird of a weapon. Like being able to control a bunch of light tendrils and transform them into hands and shit isn't a real mecha move and I feel like the fight was lame because of it. Also feels like the skill of the pilot is irrelevant which also makes it lame. I also wish main guy had won of his own skill and machine instead of basically being given a dues ex machina saving his ass like 3 times and then the girl basically cheated by distracting him with more perfectly timed and placed missile barrages. Idk, it felt too lucky and broke my suspension of disbelief. Story is still good though.

I'm now finished Love Live Sunshine as well. All I have left is the original and the two films (may or may not watch the films). So far Sunshine was my favorite series. Liked it way more than Nijigasaki, although Superstar has superior visuals the characters and arcs were better in Sunshine.

Finished up Assassin isekai, so I'm not sure what to watch next. Saw a couple of shows that piqued my interest, but they're not finished yet. One is only a day away, so that's not much of a wait. Thinking of watching the second Witcher season.

Got a bunch of games as gifts. Been playing Monster Hunter Stories 2 on switch. It's like someone mashed pokemon and monster hunter together. It feels a bit tedious in some areas, but overall I'm liking it and just got to the third area. I'm pretty well set for quite some time with the games I've got now.

I did snag baldr sky and I'm having an annoying time finding any information about anything in the game. Like, how do I jump? I can the training dummy/partner to jump, people jump in cutscenes, I know vaguely that aerial combos are very good, but theres no jump button. Presumably I unlock the ability to jump later or maybe I need a move that jumps or something but googling it provides zero information.

I just unlocked the plugin for bad partner and it's very ambiguous if it reduces the damage my partners deal to 1/4th or reduces the damage they take to 1/4th. The latter would be a no brainer but the former seems like it would just make the game harder but I guess it's so they can't siphon off as much weapon xp? Can I ever grind btw cause then it would't matter? Couldn't find any info on any of that on google.

I also have the DLC weapons from the 18+ patch but have no idea how to access them. The game told me I had some of them but they aren't in my equipment menu which always shows new even though I've equipped everything I have and again theres nothing on google for any of this.

As of now the combat feels kinda lame because engaging in melee just means getting stunlocked by a horde of enemies and kiting and using ranged results in effortless flawless slow victory (playing on hard).

Also what exactly is a hotdogger?

YoukaiSlayer posted...

I did snag baldr sky and I'm having an annoying time finding any information about anything in the game. Like, how do I jump? I can the training dummy/partner to jump, people jump in cutscenes, I know vaguely that aerial combos are very good, but theres no jump button. Presumably I unlock the ability to jump later or maybe I need a move that jumps or something but googling it provides zero information.

are you sure they weren't using abilities that sent them flying into the air? because those are pretty common and i'm relatively sure there's no jump button

YoukaiSlayer posted...

I just unlocked the plugin for bad partner and it's very ambiguous if it reduces the damage my partners deal to 1/4th or reduces the damage they take to 1/4th. The latter would be a no brainer but the former seems like it would just make the game harder but I guess it's so they can't siphon off as much weapon xp? Can I ever grind btw cause then it would't matter? Couldn't find any info on any of that on google.

lowers their attack power so they kill things slower, its not super necessary or anything. you can grind later, yeah; after one or two routes you gain the ability to jump anywhere on the scenario flowchart

by the way, you gain the most weapon exp by finishing off large groups of enemies at the same time or within the same combo (all weapons used in a combo get exp even if they don't accomplish very much btw so you can powerlevel a move by just throwing it in somewhere in your bnb), but weapon development is a flat amount of exp gained per action used

i had to do some jp wiki diving back in the day to figure out how the experience systems worked but that same wiki seems like it's deleted some pages

YoukaiSlayer posted...

Also what exactly is a hotdogger?

in-universe slang that was at least used back in baldr force basically calling someone an ace simulacrum pilot

back then it was only used by someone who spoke a weird hybridization of russian/english/japanese slang but it seems to have spread by the time of sky

agesboy posted...

are you sure they weren't using abilities that sent them flying into the air? because those are pretty common and i'm relatively sure there's no jump button

The training dummy can for sure be set to jump. It's got a few options (with do nothing as default) but one option it will just jump in place over and over. In a few of the earlier flashbacks when Kou and other people get simulcrums, they run around and jump a few times. If the player never gets access to that, thats cool, it just felt like I was missing something.
agesboy posted...

lowers their attack power so they kill things slower, its not super necessary or anything. you can grind later, yeah; after one or two routes you gain the ability to jump anywhere on the scenario flowchart

Very useful to know. Thanks.

agesboy posted...

in-universe slang that was at least used back in baldr force basically calling someone an ace simulacrum pilot

back then it was only used by someone who spoke a weird hybridization of russian/english/japanese slang but it seems to have spread by the time of sky

Interesting, I kinda like it.

By this time tomorrow I will have watched all of Love Live. I can only imagine my response at work on Monday.
"What did you do over your vacation?"
"I watched 5 seasons and 2 films of this anime where a bunch of girls sing songs"
"Are you ok?"
"What do you think?"

Judgmenl posted...

"Are you ok?"

im a lady

wait wrong idols

Beat the first (of 6) routes in baldr sky. Pretty good. The combat became infinitely better after unlocking boosters and some new stuff although ranged still OP as hell. The final boss of route 1 was so easy. Just rifle (for xp) into dual SMGs, repeat. I think I got hit twice. Really expected a phase 2. Rifle randomly misses a lot though, seems garbage. As long as I have dual SMGs I feel like I can beat anything.

Story is pretty good so far, reminds me most of ghost in the shell if the major was a horny dude with amnesia. The world especially seems very well thought out although I guess theres been many baldr games before this one to build it up. Most of the villains are pretty lame but father gregory was solid. I assume any better villains are going to be introduced in later routes. I know I've heard that the really good routes are the last 2 so I'm excited to eventually get there. Got the good ending pretty easily in route 1. I may just replay route 1 a few times skipping all the dialogue to grind some of the bad weapons out so I don't have to use them.

Ranged is absolutely the cheese option and I feel kinda bad I relied so heavily on it but homing missiles are cool ok

YoukaiSlayer posted...

Story is pretty good so far, reminds me most of ghost in the shell if the major was a horny dude with amnesia. The world especially seems very well thought out although I guess theres been many baldr games before this one to build it up.

Kind of but not really, it's never even outright stated if they're actually connected at all but there's such similar elements they probably are... society is stagnating in Sky, so Force could have even been hundreds of years ago for all we know if it's the same universe

Due to having two days left to my vacation, I'm going to tackle an anime that I've had on my list for around 2 years now, Takagi-san. Coincidentally, I will also be up to date for when S3 starts next week.

aoko confirmed for new melty same day as apostle noel is confirmed

god is.... maybe not real but he's haggling

Jesus christ Nanoha is so boring and whiny. The whole moving thing makes no sense. They are 2nd gens, they can just hang out in virtual reality no matter how far away they move but they act like all they can do is send email and make phone calls. I will be happy to be on the 3rd route but I've still got like 7 chapters to go. Also man, there is too little combat early into the game. I've been playing for like 3 hours without a single fight. Honestly I kinda feel like the gameplay and story are anti-synergistic. One gets me excited to see what comes next and then bam, halt to that progress and back to the other one. Kind of reminds me of FFT:WotL in that regard.

And now I'm also reading Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru, which is a Shogi Romantic Comedy from the person who wrote Takagi-san. It's getting an anime for Summer 2022.

That Super Robot Wars 30 delivers the same video quality on my laptop as any of the PS4 SRW games comes as a surprise. Nothing slows down or stutters, everything runs the way it is supposed to. I guess that is the difference having enough RAM (8 GB, in this case) makes.

I ended up dropping SRW 30. The game is just way too easy even on the hardest difficulty. It became tedious to play after a while. I also hate that there is level scaling so that leveling up feels pointless after you get your last spirits. Spirits also break the game, upgrades break the game, pilot skills break the game, power parts break the game, AOS upgrades break the game. If you remove everything, making the game somewhat bland but somewhat challenging, then it's just annoying cause it's so RNG reliant with tons of 30-70% hit rates and high damaging attacks.

With baldr sky I'm further into route 2 now and I still hate nanoha but at least now I'm getting juicy plot information.

yeah pretty much everyone is annoyed by nanoha herself but her route is pretty good

the bad ends are worth it if you want to be exposed to plot foreshadowing things very early on

So far I've only gotten good endings (just finished route 2). Even got gigantic field barely even though technically the battle took 1:48, I think I killed the last enemy at like 1:44 so I guess that was enough.

I'm sort of disappointed in the villain of this route. Given dialogue, I'm wondering if somehow that neuzen guy or whatever is gonna end up being the main villain, his faked avatar taking over various people, initially father gregory, then gilbert in rain route, then naoki in nanoha route. A pretty big shot in the dark though. However, I was really hoping there was some more ingenious master plan behind grey chrismas. The story of naoki losing his mind and setting it free to demonstrate it's value just feels too simple for such a sophisticated sci-fi world. Also man how dumb is kou to not realize the priestess is makoto? I'm interested in where she got her fairy mech from so early on and I imagine she gets a route near the end. So far we have basically merc route, fenrir route, next will be goat route, then finally ark route, then I guess a route showing us the real threat but ending suboptimally and then a true route where it all comes together (perhaps focusing on agent and something about people being a recreation based on agents observations). Oh, I also predict eiji had a good reason for being busy fighting people all this time, probably something to do with the stuff he, his wife, rain's dad, and nanoha's parents worked on beforehand, possibly with Noi.

That's my uninformed prediction after route 2. Also really wish they wouldn't put important dialogue during fights. I can't read those subtitles and fight at the same time.

I'm excited for the Tomodachi Game anime coming in spring. It's sort of like Liar Game, but a lot more dangerous, with an actual ongoing plot in and out of the games, and the twists practically never stop coming.

I am trapped in the never ending spiral of Love Live memes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmATWAYEAMs

i went to funimations website, and this is the first thing i saw, it was their main banner thing

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/3/0/AAd1RyAACxYC.jpg

and i just immediately "oh hey funimation does porn now????"

for episode 2 or 3 they had one of my favorite porn artists do the ending screen for it, it was great

Did a bunch of grinding in baldr sky. Played through rain's route like 3 more times and man it really helped me realize how tough it can be without either a good gapcloser or good ranged weapon. The final boss took me like 10 tries on the last run because I didn't have either. Eventually chipped him away with wave motion cannon but he dodged it like 90% of the time so it took forever. I also got the "normal" ending of rain route and jesus that's not "normal" at all, thats a straight up bad end. Also managed to finally get spectral missile. Could have sworn I did enough to get it the all the previous runs but got it this time and it's worthless but oh well. So far gigantic field seems to be the best force crash I have although killer instinct is solid too.
Bulbasaur posted...

and i just immediately "oh hey funimation does porn now????"

Lol. If you didn't know thats a currently airing (or maybe it just ended) show called Senpai ga Uzai Kouhai no Hanashi.

it still looked like a promo image for a porn

Off topic, but I started playing Rocket League yesterday; it's pretty fun. I did pretty good for my first time; won two rounds and lost one 4-8, but I scored all four points in that one.

hamstereatingbanana.jpg

Man, the combat in baldr sky is too cool for a visual novel. The combos you can make up and pull off are insane. I do wish we had more controlled access to our moves though. Particularly long range and short range. If instead it was neutral (not dashing), surge dash, R1+ button, and normal dash it would feel so much better. Also if there was a button to lock target and cycle targets, my god I need that. So annoying when I hit someone and they are in perfect combo range but instead I do a long range move because it's not my target that ran away although that too would be solved by changing the controls how I mentioned. I also wonder if infinites are possible because I somehow reset my combo on an enemy before they could move (without initializer).

On the anime front, this is the last day before the new season starts. There's a bunch that looks it might be good but probably won't. Hopefully a few of those end up being actually good. It's possible this season is going to suck.

infinites aren't possible afaik but there are incredibly long combos that last like an entire minute or two

Got a package today from Japan, which confused me because I hadn't ordered anything recently. Opened it up and saw this:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/9/9/AAHsOgAACxkD.jpg

which was even more confusing since I've never ordered Miku anything. But that was just the packing slip for this
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/0/0/AAHsOgAACxkE.jpg
that I Kickstartered forever ago.

hell yeah

Ok, so maybe it eventually stops working but it seems like you can infinite with aerial stun rod. Just doing flying cross chop > scythe > stun rod > land and wait > repeat. The stun decays faster each time until like the 4th time and then it actually lasts longer again so basically the timing is different every time. You can get the timing on reaction though. It seems you must hit him just before or as they hit the ground. Managed to chain it about 30 times in a row against the wall. The game doesn't count it as a true combo but theres no point the enemy could escape if they can't booster tech and I've never seen them booster tech. Even then I think you can do it before they touch the ground in which case it's truly inescapable. Might try it against some of the bosses.

Anime season has started. I've watched 2 shows first episodes and...kinda disappointing.

Leadale is generic VRMMO trapped in the game isekai. The first episode is fine but theres nothing really drawing you in either. The premise isn't established very skillfully and the show in general hasn't really shown us what it's going to be like. I'll probably keep watching but I don't have high expectations.

Orient is trash. Dropped it already. Main characters are annoying, premise is dumb, animation is poor and the manga it's based on has a low score so I have very little hope it'll become watchable.

Might watch 24ku and police girl. Both of them seem to have the odds stacked against them being very good though.

Looking through the line up again, I'm not excited for a single new show. At least we have some sequels and ranking of kings 2nd half to stop the season from being complete garbage but so far looking to be a pretty weak season.

i just want a new season of stray dogs

bunghole stray dogs?

Watched Hakozume - Kouban Joshi no Gyakushuu. Was funny.

oh shit leadale was this season

liked the manga a lot, started the light novel i think

watching ep1 of leadale and they don't really capture the main character's melancholy and hopelessness of her past life very well

in the early chapters of the manga she'd lapse into depression pretty often, she was pretty shell shocked

agesboy posted...

watching ep1 of leadale and they don't really capture the main character's melancholy and hopelessness of her past life very well

I haven't read the source but thats how I felt. It was told right away but sort of clumsily that she was dying in a hospital hooked up to vr and then it might as well have not happened because she didn't seem to care.

i'm watching the second mha movie, and all might is just

holdin an unconscious deku's crotch

Judgmenl posted...

I am trapped in the never ending spiral of Love Live memes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmATWAYEAMs

The jump cuts were obnoxious.

Zeus posted...

The jump cuts were obnoxious.

That's the reality of low quality love live memes

Holy christ baldr sky NEEDS a lock on button. Just did the mission where you fight gilbert as he is logging out in route 3 and I was determined to kill him before he logged out and that was so freaking frustrating. I managed to take him out in time on like my 5th attempt but then I had too little health left and lost to the rest of the enemies. Then on like attempt 25 I managed to do it but it'd be so easy if I could just target him specifically and the stupid targeting system can decide to target the random tadpole to my right instead of gilbert readying his force crash to my left so I can't see it and get oneshot. Just keeping track of where the hell he was is impossible like 90% of the runs. Also how do I unlock survival mode?

While waiting for code to compile, I managed to watch the first episodes of both Slow Loop and Takagi-san S3.

Got a good deal on the S.A.V.E. versions of Utawarerumono (because I have never seen it and want to play the games) and Sands of Destruction (because it was very cheap and has a ... reputation). I was looking for the SOD game ($160 U.S. on Amazon -- not happening), and it linked me to the anime version instead.

Utawarerumono is one of those games / series that I've wanted to play but never prioritized playing. Let me know if it's good or not.

I've got all that stuff (Sands of Destruction game is cart only). I've only checked out the SoD anime, but I really liked it. Not even sure I want to know what sort of reputation it has...

Utawarerumono original anime is pretty solid. Haven't played the games and I think I ended up not finishing the newer anime but I can't remember why I stopped watching it. I don't think I outright dropped it, so I guess I got sidetracked by something else.

Watched a few new episode 1s of the new season.

Magic crest feels very generic power fantasy but it's slightly watchable so far. Good chance I'll drop it next episode if it doesn't get better.

Realist kingdom S2 so far is solid like the first one. More of the same really but thats fine by me.

the weakest crest reincarnation anime was happening this season too huh....

Judgmenl posted...

Utawarerumono is one of those games / series that I've wanted to play but never prioritized playing. Let me know if it's good or not.

I've only played the original which is pretty fuckin' dated at this point (I think official english release uses a remastered version with a different battle system), but I liked it a lot. bonus points to the game's story being linear so the main character just ends up a total chad and getting it on with literally everyone

I hear a lot better things about the newer ones than the first, but they weren't on PC until recently

I beat the main story in Monster Hunter Stories 2 and started on the post game. I like the game, but I think it could definitely shine more with some more effort behind it. Think I was just a few minutes over 70 hours when I beat it, which isn't bad at all. I heard about the game having bad framerates and was dreading running into intermittent slideshows, but the lower frame rates in parts didn't bother me too much. I guess that's one benefit of not being able to buy a gpu.

Been slowly watching Senpai ga Uzai Kouhai no Hanashi. It's fairly run of the mill, but done well enough to be enjoyable.

Dang, the latest demon slayer episode had some well animated fights. First demon slayer episode in a while that's got me craving the next episode.

In baldr sky I beat route 3 and man the lack of target swapping/locking is such a detriment to this game. So many fights are so annoying because of that. Ended up going through the final section with a pretty bad loadout and it was extreme pain. Had to retry several sections 5+ times to squeak through. All the 1v1 boss fights are incredibly easy by comparison.

Going through some of reminiscence and I hate it. If it was just replaying various flashbacks, whatever, I could just set it to auto and tab out and let it do it's thing. It's not though, you have unique scenes mixed in so I have to pay attention to shit I just watched like a week ago and theres many many hours of it. If the game let me skip read text from the main game in reminiscence then it'd be great but it all counts as new text even if it's the exact same for no reason. The main game has this problem too where a scene in one route that is 100% identical to the same scene in a different route counts as new text and it has a terrible effect because I end up not paying much attention and probably missing out on when we get sections that do play out slightly differently.

I really like baldr sky but the few issues I have it are so incredibly frustrating and drag the whole experience down a lot.