Tales Series

Well, duh... the all-titles and SP multipliers kinda lose their impact after the last boss the game asks you to speedkill, because you are just getting your end-game strenght back. A boss selector would have been nice, if overkill.

Said Accels are still broken: an Overlimit + MA you can use anywhere on a game whose Overlimit system you can't quite control (out of Arcane Bottles) I don't know what to say about Malik. It seemed like Richard should have had the 'brutal melee combo' and the Cap the 'faster spells + CC recovery' effects... but it's the other way around!

Anyway. I GOT TO PLAY XILLIA 2! *childish glee*

Tropers: Welcome to August 2014.

Ok, geez. It's a funny story. My partner went shopping this weekend and came home with a Day One Edition, sealed... for 30 EURO. Apparently the price had been slashed several times from its starting 65, but... 30 EURO, man. Goddamm LUCK! We played for some 5 hours and he's already concocting Wild Mass Guessing facts on his own. Me, I am looking forward to play the OBJECTION game where I point out the Blatant Lies being told by the Trial's participants.

edited 25th May '15 9:31:50 AM by FlightMaster

Copying from one place is 'plagiarism'. Copying from several places, 'research'.

No doubt you were staggered by Ludger's vociferous nature, no?

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.

Oh? Ah, well, let's say I am no stranger to Xillia 2's plot, so I already know that Ludger lacks a voice because Victor stole it. 'Voicing Ludger would have given the SUPER PLOT TWIST away like, super early'. Come on! They don't sound, much less LOOK like each other. Like Yeager / Regaey.

I almost forgot: my partner's conclusions on Graces PS 3:

• Friend: Liked the graphics (impressive, as it was an upscaled Wii game.) the music (some memorable tracks) the fast and flashy battle system, the sidequests / skits (great humor there.) the Mixer gimmick (most of it...) and a meaty yet not as-annoying-as-thought postgame. And ACCEL MODE! (Cheria's is like, a beta for Ludger's Chromatus, right?)
• Me: What did you dislike then...?
• Friend: Let's say the plot relies on the heroes being stupid for 70% of the game. Room for more playable chars (like Victoria, Poisson or, of course, Emeraude.) The Dualize system was either useless or Too Awesome to Use, depending on how far you were in the game. Weakness system only favors Asbel or Malik. No aerial game. The A arte tree should have worked like Neptunia's (four slots where you can equip any unlocked arte.) Levels were inconsequential, and new titles are not unlocked fast enough.
• Me: Your crazy predictions for Xillia 2's plot?
• Friend: Ludger and Elle are totally related. Sister is my bet. Julius will be the rival / realist to Ludger's idealist (he will become a Well-Intentioned Extremist and will have to be defeated.) Bisley is so much Pro-Human in the Human-Spirit war that he's Disc 2 Final Boss material (Alexei, yeah. The Final Boss will be a spirit.) Rideaux is this game's Yeager (Except that Yeager cared for his teenage ninja girlies, Rideaux looked like a CHILD ABUSER when threatening Elle.) He will be the 'Repay Debt Ending' boss. As for the old Xillians... feels like they are along for the ride, but will be the 'unbalancing' factor in this war (Ludger will 'win' because he befriended people not chained by his Kresnik bloodline.)

edited 29th May '15 3:33:36 AM by FlightMaster

Copying from one place is 'plagiarism'. Copying from several places, 'research'.

Yeah he's way off the mark about Julius

I'm quite confident in my shitposting you know

After a lot of playing we finally got Ludger's unique skill and destroyed a Frac Dimension willingly, earning the Temporal Blade waymarker and a trophy.

Catalyst Rowen was cake. A mage can't hurt you if you gangbang him with 2-3 chars and set the other to heal! I can count the amount of spells he landed with Captain Hook's right hand. Get it? Anyway. Was Catalyst Volt supposed to be... difficult? Like Wake-Up Call Boss? I know he hits like a train and Paralysis is nasty, but Bubble Blast > Mortar Fire deals with him nicely. Maybe we were just lucky. (Now I predict an otherwise easy boss will give us hell in return...)

Same can be said about Catalyst Muzet. Hungry Hunter > her. Well, Hungry Hunter > any kind of Muzet, really. (We will fight her again in the arena, in yet another Frac Dimension, and in the Bonus Dungeon...) Bitch made us waste a lot of ítems, but we won. We beat Chronos... on MODERATE! GO US! (We kinda forgot to put the difficulty down after getting levels...) Fucker deserved the beating. And more.

At this point I am trying to educate my partner about the Trial's rules without spoiling much. (Thanks to that Tales Translations Tumblr) You can judge the plot a lot better when you are not being fed heavily biased half-lies by a Corrupt Corporate Executive.

edited 31st May '15 9:18:12 AM by FlightMaster

Copying from one place is 'plagiarism'. Copying from several places, 'research'.

I thought Alt-Volt was easy really. Then again I jumped into X2 right after X1 so.

And Alt-Muzet was annoying. On a New Game Plus thoguhyou can retain Freezing Eruption so HA i beat the system

I'm quite confident in my shitposting you know

Speaking of Xillia, I'm starting my first run of the first game to go along with my RPG Summer. And thank god I'm back to a more classic version of the battle system after the failures in my attempt to learn Graces' system.

Got up to the seahaven and I'm loving the shop upgrade system the most along with the link attacks.

Stella ~Part 3 (Atelier Shallie)

I never really liked the shop upgrade thing tbh, it meant less money for actually buying shit.

I'm quite confident in my shitposting you know

You don't really need to use money to upgrade shops though. Upgrading with materials is way faster and generally pretty effective, especially if you take advantage of the multipliers for certain shop types, since the materials aren't really used for anything else. Since every field screen is loaded with stuff, there's not much to worry about in terms of getting the necessary materials, so long as you grab the treasure and material spots.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=13239183440B34964700 Alfric's Fire Emblem Liveblog Encyclopedia!

Seconded. I never upgraded shops with money.

X2's shop system was much more boring anyway. I like how X1 did it.

"And you must be Jonathan Joestar!" - Sue

I kinda hate having to wander around everywhere because store inventories are different. Kinda wish the series would do away with it, but unfortunately Zestiria didn't and I still have to warp all around the world to get the equipment I need.

Graces is trolling me these days.

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

Wait they accounted for Critical Blade whiffing?

Also yeha I guess personal taste is why I didn't like X1's shop upgrade thing.

I'm quite confident in my shitposting you know

That critical blade whiff thing looked weirdly awesome.

As for shops, I admit having to go all over the place to find stuff can be annoying, but I don't mind it in the games where they let you check the shops inventories on the world map item, like Symphonia or Abyss.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=13239183440B34964700 Alfric's Fire Emblem Liveblog Encyclopedia!

No need for words she speaks with her whiffs

Graces had that shop map thing too

I'm quite confident in my shitposting you know

Who's ready for a PS 4!Zestiria announcement at Tales Of Festival 2015?

I'm ready for a Steam!Symphonia announcement.

I'm quite confident in my shitposting you know

I think Sophie is supposed to get behind the enemy when they're in a corner, but something went wrong there so she was positioned in a way that Critical Blade bounced off the wall. And yet I still got the max number of hits...

I think every game has let you check shop inventories so far (Zestiria does it with Rose and Sorey's personal skills), but the constant moving around just annoys me.

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

I see. Kinda clever.

I'm quite confident in my shitposting you know

I vaguely remember it in graces now that you mention it (though I didn't use it much if at all), but I cannot for the life of me remember Xillia 2 having that feature.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=13239183440B34964700 Alfric's Fire Emblem Liveblog Encyclopedia!

Every game from Symphonia onwards (that has been localized, of course.) has had that option. Xillia 1 doesn't because every shop is the same. (Insta-delivery online shops? Crowdfunded We Sell Everything merchant?)

Seconding (Thirding?) the opinion on Xillia 1's shop system being the best. It was addictive, even. Xillia 2 goes back to Symphonia / Vesperia's old boring synthesis. (Please, don't ever do anything like Din's Shop again!)

@ Lordoflore: I am ready for a 3DS Rebirth... shame it won't happen.

@ Lu: I recall you having the complete Symphonia Chronicles. Why aren't you playing DOTNW instead of going through Graces again? (I guess same reason as why you dumped Legendia... but what do I know.)

Just finished doing Gaius' then Muzet's main chapters. 'Erston' now is much more likeable, in and out of battle (he plays like a superior Alvin: better heal arte, faster, good range and Calamity Stance: Al can't survive swarms, His Majesty can!) Muzet may be the best black mage. Warp + Hidden Target: she does her job better than squishy Rowen or Milla (but playing Milla as a black mage is wrong anyway.) Also, she isn't a bitch like her Catalyst (or Xilia 1) self.

edited 2nd Jun '15 10:26:54 AM by FlightMaster

Copying from one place is 'plagiarism'. Copying from several places, 'research'.

Bunch of friends decided we must all solo the entire game with a different character. I got Sophie, which is the easiest one since she's the most powerful character by far.

Also, no one beats Rowen. Poor Muzet lacks a good toolset in Xillia 2.

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

That actually sounds like fun. I feel sorry for the guy who got stuck with Malik, though.

Heart of Stone

The guy who picked Malik actually wanted him cause he really likes him. Plus he's the status effect king. The least optimal character to solo with is Cheria but even she can destroy the game~

None of us wanted Asbel or Richard though, so that fabulous pairing is sadly going to fall by the wayside.

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

Muh? Enemies would sooner die to the Cap's spells than fall to their status effects. Only problem I see with Malik's solo is that he has NO WAY of healing himself with artes / skills. Hub has Heal Wind, Pascal has Shine Field... even Asbel has the sword sheathing HP recover, small as it is. Richard is the same, but it would be interesting only to see Richie fight himself at various points.

edited 4th Jun '15 1:21:50 AM by FlightMaster

Copying from one place is 'plagiarism'. Copying from several places, 'research'.