Lurker > colliding

8

he's good but also in hindsight a surprisingly simple character

changmas posted...

book it now mavs in 6

yeah this is almost certainly going to be correct

My theory is that Valorant players are gonna Valorant. Overwatchers gonna overwatch. Maybe Marvel Rivals gets some casuals invested due to the IP for two months. But Concord looked real generic sci-fi and heavy on the Whedon quips. People were sick of that two years ago with Forspoken.

hunts are the best part of the game

but you know what would be even better? pressing buttons and casting revive yourself

T&T probably wins for best conclusion to a trilogy. Not a fan of Phoenix/Iris though.

KanzarisKelshen posted...

Infinity Nikki is my pick for best of this set but DW Origins, Astro Bot, Ballad of Antara, Marvelwatch and Where Winds Meet all looked good. Not a bad showcase, if short and comically mismanaged by wasting so much time on a game no one cares about in Concord.

Concord is Redfall all over again. I actually legitimately feel bad for the devs. They clearly signed on for this project five years ago when the whole gaming climate was COMPLETELY different. It's coming out now like a musician trying to cash in on a trend that died two years ago. Unless it ends up being a surprise success that whole studio's going to get shuttered by the end of the year.

Where were you hiding that?

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12 . Arianrhod, aka Lianne Sandlot

Pictured above: Me, trying to justify why Arianrhod is ranked so highly. Firstly, Siegfried is my favorite Soul Calibur character. Secondly, I think her backstory is probably the best thing about the whole "War of the Lions"/ Dreichels / resurrection stuff that makes up CS3 and 4. Thirdly: that Azure battle. Probably the best and most difficult AP optional fight in the series? Fourthly: I just wanted to rank the sword babes together. Deal with it.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0dca73cb.jpg
11 . Laura S. Arseid

Besides being the objectively best hetero-pairing for Rean, Laura has other stuff going for her too. The rivalry/friendship with Fie feels real and earned. Her bonding events are actually interesting for the most part (Her CS4 romance route is the only one that doesn't feel pandering). She's a secret Mishy stan. It's a shame her English VA changed at least twice it seems (bless the person trying to do a Laura impression in CS4 but it just ain't it). I get it if you think she's boring though, because yeah, I can only take so much "I have to master the Arseid school" stuff.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/26f70bd5.jpg
10 . Rixia Mao

Accuse me of falling for obvious sex appeal if you want, but if the question is "who's the "best girl" in the Trails series?" the answer is unequivocally Rixia Mao. A sweet dancer during the day and a sweet assassin at night. Every 13 year old's dream girl. Still, if she was only weeb bait I don't think she'd rank this high. I think she's well-written with a great design. Yes, it's completely obvious she's Yin from the beginning, but in a case like this it's not about the secret identity itself, but the dramatics surrounding the secret identity.

Up next: Since we're into the top 10, let's kill momentum with a bonus ranking of the best towns.

If you want to say XVI is better than Remake... I disagree but I can see it.

Now if you say XVI is better than Rebirth... that's a bannable offense

SHINE_GET_64 posted...

even though I'm not partically a Mavs fan I do like Luka. I'm still tempted to go to an NBA Finals game just because

I actually hate luka more than any other current nba star I think. he's complaining after every single possession I stg

Powers: 7.5 - buoyed by 2-4 as well
Oldbag: 6.5 - I was happy to see her return.. up to a point
Hammer: 5 - pretty interesting as far as victims go. lots of backstory here.
Nichols: 5 - cute character I guess. but mostly just here for exposition
Manella: 6 - he roxors
Hackins: 6 - fairly endearing
Vasquez: 3 - there's not enough here. I get why people like her but I needed more.

the narrative on minnesota has gone from "one year away" to "the next dynasty" to "basically the clippers" really quickly

_stingers_ posted...

Lloyd is infinitely better written than Rean and it's not even close lol. And as someone said earlier he is actually competent and serves to progress the story with his own discoveries and actions far more than Rean who is basically guided by fate and plot devices. The most agency he has is picking which one of the 18 girls who are attracted to him he can hug at the end of the game

That was me. Even acknowledging this he's less interesting than Rean since he's such a typical good guy.

Dragon Quest III
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy VII
Nier: Automata

If Nier doesn't count, Kingdom Hearts (the first post says "developed by")

There can be only one

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15 . Lloyd Bannings

Look at Bannings board 8! I almost called him Lloyd Irving. Wrong Lloyd. Our first MC off the board, but really it's a toss-up between he and Rean. I could see it either way. Lloyd has a more interesting backstory than Rean (at least at first): he's out to solve the mystery behind his older brother's murder, as well as become a baby-faced assassin (of juggy babes) himself. He's optimistic and has a strong sense of justice, which doesn't say much since that's every JRPG protag ever. I guess I do find him to be a tad generic and a bit too much of a goody-goody.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c93b3367.jpg
14 . Rean Schwarzer

The harem king himself. He's slightly better than Lloyd, despite the harem stuff, which sucks. It wouldn't be so bad if they figured out a way to make the romance stuff optional. Putting all of that aside, I have to admit he's kind of cool. He's got that whole Bleach thing going, with the whole Hollow-fication inner monster stuff. He's also a gundam pilot! It's just like one of my Japanese animes. Just watch Rean's CS4 s-craft and tell me he's not cool. I will say that Rean basically just reacts to the events of his games the whole time. I feel like Lloyd and Estelle both actually "guide the action" of their games much more prominently than he does.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/cdb7e61c.jpg
13 . Joshua Astray

One better than his Enforcer number, Joshua could be thought of as the "male MC" of Trails in the Sky FC I guess. That's my logic for putting him in this grouping at least. He's also got his own female following. I used to really like Joshua, but I feel like stuff with him gets resolved way too quickly. He and Estelle have their beach moment in SC and everything is basically back to normal. I still feel like I don't know anything about him basically. Thank christ for double slash though.

Up next: the return of big sword energy

parappa robot almost makes the state of play worth it

but yeah I think that was the worst one yet

man astro bot seriously could be goty this year

MacArrowny posted...

State of Plays are always bad tbqh. No reason to watch them unless you care that much about Resident Evil

People say this but they forget that at least two State of Plays had FF7 remake announcements/trailers

you can't tell me these games weren't all conceived by AI

yep that's bargain bin overwatch alright

lots of people gonna lose jobs over this one!

good lord a ten minute cg trailer in 2024? no wonder the industry is in the toilet

long dev cycles means that you get games inspired by guardians of galaxy/marvel way after they've firmly been relegated to cringe territory

Lopen posted...

What you actually do makes for a boring movie though

no question there

As an English professor, Williams's character in DPS is often what I think of if my life was one of those "what people think I do vs. what I actually do" memes

it's iconic though I guess

nah this is definitely real

let's go leon

I don't see Noel on that list!

"Special Support Section" sounds like a fashion feature

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/911dc4ef.jpg
19 . Randy Orlando

Winner of the "Most Likely to Be Fired for Sexual Harassment" superlative, Randy is a pretty swell guy (so long as you can get around his murderous past and playboy present).It's a kind of put-upon swagger that I don't usually go for, but Randy pulls it off pretty well. He's got some genuinely funny moments, and when he isn't around at the beginning of Azure you definitely feel his absence. He makes the leap to Cold Steel pretty much intact.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/fe75d7a6.jpg
18 . Zeit

It's a dog. He's not on the level of Repede or Red XIII, but he's firmly in the second level of dog/wolf playable JRPG characters (with Koromaru I guess). He's also the guardian spirit of Crossbell, so he theoretically could have just transformed into a giant wolf spirit earlier to save us all a lot of trouble. But then we wouldn't have much of a story would we?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d77bc7d7.jpg
17 . Juna Crawford

Juna is really good. Personality wise, she's a perfect blend of Estelle and Lloyd without some of the stuff that makes Lloyd kind of boring. There's a world out there in the multiverse where Rean doesn't come back until the end of Cold Steel 4 and it gets to be "her game." I think that would've been such a cool idea, because she is essentially the MC of CS4 for the first third, and she does a great job. Unfortunately that isn't what happens, and she quickly drops in relevancy as soon as Rean returns.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/65a4c617.jpg
16 . Tio Plato

Everyone danced and made a wishy with Mishy in order for Tio to be ranked this high. At first, I really didn't see the appeal (again, I played CS before Crossbell). The Crossbell games might have some issues, but Tio definitely isn't one of them. I must protect this smart child. I have to say it kind of sucks how reliant players have to be on her S-Craft in the superbosses. But that's what Zeram capsules are for I suppose.

Up next: Main Character Syndrome

no video games for me thank you

i'll probably get around to playing eiyuden though

May: 4
Grossberg: 6
Bellboy: 3
White:5

Is this even going to have original songs? That's all that matters to me.

He doesn't deserve you

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22 . Duvalie the Swift

I do not remember the context of this photo. Maybe there was an ice cream cone glued to Duvalie's head somehow, and Rean is trying to remove it? Regardless, Duvalie deserves praise for being an Ouroborous member who actually cares that nothing that they do makes a lick of sense in CS3 and 4. She's classic tsun, but not to an annoying degree. Props for that CS4 outfit too. So much better than the clunky Stahlritter armor. She basically should leave Ouroborous for good and join Thors as a soccer coach or something.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/ddca7f24.jpg
21 . Noel Seeker

Poor Noey. She's a bit of a cop, and not a "cool cop" the way the rest of the SSS are. Her mini-heel turn felt earned because of all the setup throughout Azure. Despite her brief toe-dipping into fascism, she's still cute and I liked her way more than Elie. I guess Noel's kind of like Makoto from Persona 5: strong sense of responsibility, a bit nerdy. Unfortunately for her chances with Lloyd, Rixia also exists.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0b3eac5c.jpg
20 . Josette Capua

I probably am the world' biggest Josette defender. I'd go so far as to say, IN TERMS OF JOSHUA SHIPPING ONLY, she's better than Estelle. One, because they're not brother and goddamn sister, and two, because their rapport just feels much more interesting than the wholesome Estelle stuff. She's a sky pirate! She's a displaced noble! She's a reformed villain! She's funny! She has all this stuff going for her, but no, they have to completely kick this character to the curb once Joshua and Estelle get together.

Yes, she should have been better incorporated into the party in SC. But I'm still glad they did it! As far as her appearances in Cold Steel: screw Falcom cause she's awful in that series. She doesn't even feel like the same character. Part of this is due to the graphical engine giving everyone same-face, but part of it is the fact they completely took away all of her interesting qualities and just turned her into basically Alisa I guess. Another thing Falcom: YOU CAN'T JUST GIVE PEOPLE LONG HAIR TO SHOW THAT THEY'RE OLDER. It's lazy and sexist you pieces of (*gets chloroformed*)

Up next: A character whose name sounds like a porn star's

Lopen posted...

Don't you play as Edgeworth in Trials and Tribulations and isn't it awesome there

Or am I misremembering

It works there cause it's basically just for one day (and there's a lot of funny gumshoe stuff there).

I will stand by my opinion that playing as Edgeworth isn't as fun. He's not poorly written or anything, I just don't like him as much as Phoenix. Still gets an 8 though which is pretty good.

LeonhartFour posted...

Bonus Question: What was the first video game story beat that affected you emotionally?

Probably FFIV (Palom & Porom). I remember feeling genuinely sad about that. But the real answer is probably Suikoden II (with Nanami's death). That actually tore me up. FF7 got spoiled for me.

Aw yeah Bloodborne remake here we go

8

Don't kill me!

The AAI games are not good, and I think part of the blame has to lie on Edgeworth and him just not being as fun to play as.

Also, he's just a bit too buttoned up for my tastes, even in the original trilogy.

+5 Final Fantasy VI
+4 Contra 3: The Alien Wars
+4 Illusion of Gaia
+3 Earthbound
+3 Chrono Trigger
+3 The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
+2 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
+2 Super Empire Strikes Back
+2 Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
+2 Final Fantasy IV
+1 Mega Man X
+1 Secret of Mana
+1 Super Mario World
+1 Super Metroid
+1 Street Fighter II
+1 Actraiser
+1 Breath of Fire 2
+1 Super Mario Kart
+1 Final Fantasy V
+1 Super Castlevania IV

Final Fantasy VI
Metal Gear Solid 3
Trials & Tribulations
Nier: Automata

Radix posted...

kirin tifa

no hornyposting

It's fine to hate on FFXII. I don't think I would've liked it if it wasn't FF either, but I just really dislike the battle system. It just feels like walking around and auto-battling, which just isn't my bag. Thankfully Xenoblade took it and turned it into something really good, so in hindsight I'm glad FFXII exists.

Storywise it's all setup and big story moments without any of the necessary transition stuff to get from point A to B to so on. There's a version of this game that could work but it would need to have even more cutscenes. FFXII decided that its main story would be told primarily only through cutscenes, which hurts it quite a bit.

And yeah, playing the OG version of this at regular speed was literal torture

Bastards of the Young

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b2c0bf3b.jpg
24 . Rufus Albarea

Time to discuss the Albarea boys. This ranking topic has purposefully ignored Reverie (to avoid spoilers) for the most part, so I'm discounting his role there. Even with Reverie taken under consideration, I think I like him a little less than his brother. At first you might think he's just "Jusis's Carl/Irina," i.e. family member that just so happens to be on Thors' Board of Directors, but Rufus's story ends up having a lot more twists and turns. There's a malice/ruthlessness to him that's quite surprising.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a4049031.jpg
23 . Jusis Albarea

Pictured here doing his duty as a noble, Jusis is all about doing his duty as a noble. It's only a matter of course. His annoying repetitive lines notwithstanding, Jusis is one of the best members of the original Class VII in terms of characterization and development. I don't mind the Millium stuff since it allows us to see a more vulnerable side to the character. After all, he just thinks of her as a younger sister, right? But oh wait, this is Trails. Nevermind. Sorry Machias, that ship has sailed.

Up next: Bridesmaids, never Brides

9.5

very important character to the series' success

he's too old to believe babies can be flushed down the toilet

LOVED him as a broadcaster. RIP

i'm proud of you for liking eiko since she's overly hated but yeah that sure is a ranking

maybe DQXII will be a Switch 2 launch/exclusive

just kidding it's never coming out.

Yeah, I think you're all right re: George. I made the list while replaying CS3 so I think he's overranked due to how good those specific moments are. I'm convinced I messed that up. So switch him with Alan. He's probably a lot cooler than I remember.

The Non-Importance of Being Earnest

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26 . Ash Carbide

Man, how upset are Tri-Ace knowing that they can't name the next protagonist of Star Ocean 7 "Ash Carbide?" That's the most Star-Ocean ass name. Ash is a bit rough and tumble, growing up on the "wrong side of the tracks" as it were. He's also yet ANOTHER survivor of Hamel, which I don't love, but I guess it would allow for some much needed development to Joshua's character (if they ever wanted to revisit Joshua in a meaningful way again). Probably another example of how CS4 drops the ball with a really good CS3 setup.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/fcd434bf.jpg
25 . Lechter

Lechter is this high almost entirely due to how cool he is in 3rd and Zero, and in spite of how frustratingly mediocre he is in CS. Lechter works best when he's sly and unpredictable, and they don't let him be that once they make him an Ironblood. We'll always have Jenis and Mishelam I guess. He just needs a vacation maybe.

Up next: A matter of course

neonreaper posted...

oh, watch Boston choke this series away someone. I'd almost welcome it to keep the Kyrie circus from coming to town.

it won't happen with either team but I'd give better odds to Minnesota, despite game 4 being in Dallas

they should have won at least one of these games. they're a year ahead and they probably shouldn't have beaten denver. but they certainly have more weapons than Indiana at this point

10

goated

Are we the baddies?

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29 . Sharon

Sharon could very easily just be weeb-trash, and maybe she is, but I like her. I generally don't go for maid / butler characters, since they're either played as flagrantly s/m fetish stuff OR they're actual Victorian era prim and boring. But then I saw Sharon's CS4 outfit and I was sold. Feel free to look it up on your own time. She's got cool attacks and the funniest run animation in CS. Bonus points for being a "string" character, which really speaks to my inner weeb.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/515257e3.jpg
28 . George Nome

Yeah, it's the fat guy! If you haven't played CS3 you're probably wondering how in the world he's this high on the list. Play the game, because I don't want to spoil the legitimately most surprising twist the series has had to this point. If you have played CS3 and CS4, you probably wish the latter game hadn't undone nearly all of what the prior game set up. Also, I think it's funny how stupid his name is in hindsight of said twist.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/fa1841d1.jpg
27 . Weissman

Speaking of twists, it's the twist that started it all! Actually, I think it was Suikoden that taught me to never trust an NPC with a character portrait who shows up more than once. So while the end of FC might not be totally surprising, it certainly felt earned and well-done. I still think he's probably the best main villain in the series. I certainly felt more hatred toward him than I ever felt towards the Crossbell people or Osborne (mostly because I was just confused by Osborne the whole time).

Up next: Bad Boys Ride or Die

maybe boston loses the next one "on purpose" so they don't have too much rest

I liked it! Fury Road is a straight up 10/10 and this definitely isn't, but that's fine. It's a very different movie than FR. It's very much post-apocalyptic Kill Bill, and it feels like Miller is doing his own take on Western tropes the same way Tarantino did. Just don't go in expecting it to be 2 straight hours of action, because then you might be disappointed.

I would definitely recommend seeing it in the theaters for 1 or 2 sequences alone.

Payne: 8
Stone: 2
Sahwit: 5.5