Lurker > LuisSera

Perhaps if someone saw Vshojo as the most prominent example of a western 'vtuber company' and was trying to directly compare it to one of the big Japanese ones, but really they're very different business models. Vshojo is closer to a talent management company for established indie vtubers than something like Hololive or Nijisanji that takes more obscure content creators and hires them to stream with company owned models, and as far as I'm aware I don't think they've ever tried to pretend they were the latter. They're very prominent in promoting their talents online and at conventions as well.

pjbasis posted...

When I played XI, anytime I got to a cutscene I swear it would automatically end because someone in the party wanted to move on.

It's made me skeptical of mmo stories, how is it even presented if you're also meant to have a constant gameplay experience?

So in XIV, for the majority of the time during the main story you're playing it like any other single-player RPG, so everything happens at your own pace. When you're partying with other players for dungeons or trials, it won't start until everyone is ready, which includes allowing first time players to view cutscenes. Those cutscenes are never that long though so people don't have to wait for too long.

I think Nick has only played XIV 1.0 so to be fair that is a perfectly reasonable assessment based on what he's experienced.

Each expansion is certainly able to be rated on an individual basis, but rating it as a whole package without Endwalker is going to be like rating any other game in the series without having played the final act. Enough time to form an opinion, sure, but missing the pay off.

Kindred

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That does sound interesting but in fairness it also strikes me as the kind of idea that's nice to have when we aren't running the game anymore.

I would concur with giving upgrade EXP costs another pass and consider whether they should be reduced across the board, mostly in the name of fun. Like, when you make a build and decide what abilities are going to be available on upgrade, do you see them as extraneous and nice to get if you prioritise them, or do you see them as the second half of the build that you're eventually able to unlock? At the moment they seem similar in amount to midgame M4 (once it was established the early releases were clearly too high), which was basically a scenario where maybe an average teams unlocks half of their available upgrades, if they're lucky. This was also evident in Draft Mercs where even with double EXP you were leaving A LOT of potential upgrades on the board and you needed to be highly selective what you unlocked. Yes, it's strategy but it also sucks seeing so much potential never reach realisation. Maybe an alternative solution to this is more upgrades that are time gated and unlock via means other than spending EXP on them.

If players buying a merc and immediately prioritising getting a specific upgrade is a concern, perhaps there could be a moratorium on placing EXP on mercs for something like 3 weeks after their release. Then adjust for late game releases of course.

I don't think literally anyone comes out of that whole situation looking at all good.

RE4R is looking good, but there's one thing I'm most curious out (which I'll spoiler tag in case people are going in completely blind and haven't watched any trailers)

I'm both simultaneously excited and concerned at the expanded role Luis seems to be getting. Obviously given the username I've had for...almost 18 years now (yikes) I've got some investment in this character. He gets bumped off by Saddler a little early in the original game, but he's a memorable character for the bits he's there for. The fact he's seen alive in the latest trailer in parts of the game he's already dead by in 4 gives me hope they're doing him more justice this go-around (assuming it's not a fake-out), but I'm worried they're taking his character in a more goofy sidekick direction, which I would just find so disappointing. I wouldn't mind the odd bit of excessive wisecracking and visual slapstick if it gives him a lot more screentime and importance to the plot, but here's hoping he's ultimately still the same competent, cool and collected cop with one liners!

Chaeix posted...

She actually will know where Bowser is at all times as well - she has innate detection abilities from P4U that allowed her to detect plane hijackers and the weapons (or mock weapons) they were using without being near them. Unsure how far the range extends but it certainly means she's detecting Bowser before he gets close.

To be fair, I think anyone with ears (or artificial ones) will probably be able to make a fair bet on where Bowser is at all times. He's not going to be moving around like Sam Fisher.

So it sounds like there's no way outside of the building at all, so if it collapses it's collapsing on everyone. Even though a giant DK could feasibly manage that, I honestly don't think he would, he isn't a rabid psycho. Bowser... is more in the realm of possibility, but it'll take a lot longer for him to manage solo, to the point I don't think it's a viable strategy in a 2v1 against a stronger opponent (I am taking Mewtwo to be downed by the Triple Tech).

Do I see Aigis and her persona managing a guerilla victory, knowing where DK is at all times? Probably, yes.

Aigis

Maybe an unpopular opinion but perhaps Kirby is just a problematic inclusion due to his sheer variability. Not suggesting he shouldn't be included, but it's clearly his main strength as a character that makes him so difficult to create a build that everyone can be on the same page for (whilst being balanced within the tier system).

I've always thought Kirby hyperbole was somewhere in the region of between fanfiction and the average Pokedex entry. Solid 2/week merc though.

I would probably keep the tier boundaries the same, but make it harder or costlier to pay down. One of the main selling points of the move to the tier system was the fact that so many notable characters feature in the region of 3/week, and low tier gives them their fair dues of flexing their muscles. The problem in M4 was it was far too easy to pay down 4/weeks to the point it was never a purely low tier match outside of the early stages of the game.

(also you missed off Katarina)

The way they handled fist weapons (and whilst we're at it, daggers as well. Why are there only 2 widely available classes that use them?) is just all round weird. Unless you buy the DLC to get Tiki's emblem, the only ring that gives proficiency is Byleth's. I guess having it work like it did in TH was too broken, maybe? Since it'd effectively be a brave weapon operating outside of the weapon triangle. As it is though it seems like you need to jump through a lot of hoops (a lot of which aren't available for a while) to make it work for DPS, otherwise it's basically just extra break utility for healers, which is how a lot of people seem to be treating it.

I'm not sure if this has been brought up in this topic yet, because I don't think the game tells you since I only learned it from a random Youtube video, but the way damage is calculated for fist weapons is completely different from how it worked in Three Houses. In Engage it's the character's Str + Mag stat divided by 2, plus the Mt of the weapon, and then minus the enemy Def. It's why the damage seems so weirdly low for characters you'd think it could work on, and really limits the number of characters it's viable on.

It does lead to builds like this though, if you're willing to go above and beyond to make a niche weapon type work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwqgqNytpDQ

Oh yeah, Celine immediately became the #1 candidate for a Spirit Dust after two straight maps of leaving enemies at 1hp.

part of why I'm glad I decided in advance I'd be ditching her on this playthrough in favour of Citrinne, who has her flaws but damage sure isn't one of them)

Getting points of Bld on anyone with a level up is a blessing, but getting them on Citrinne is like a gift from God. Any time you don't have to sacrifice Speed on her and you can actually double units other than armoured ones she becomes a terror.

UshiromiyaEva posted...
I know a lot of people think Yunaka is cringe (well, vocally at least, she's already come as away as the most popular character in the game by a significant margin.) but NAW I love that star shit.

I like Yunaka, but I just can't shake the idea that they tried a little too hard to make her zany and likeable. Like, Engage doesn't do 'subtle' in literally any aspect but they went so hard to the other end of the scale it's like I'm constantly being beaten over the head by the art and narrative direction.

Eunie
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Bocchi
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I'm convinced they put various characters in suboptimal starting classes just so you'd feel the need to reclass them. I've also heard that Lapis is one of the best potential Generals in the game since she retains her good Spd growths along with Str and Def; and then Anna has the best Mag growth in the game, despite starting as an Axe Fighter.

They're some nice looking sets, but surely they must know by now that people are going to complain about the genderlocking. I guess the hope is that somewhere down the line they become unisex and we end up with two sets of glamour from this event that can be used without Fantasia'ing rather than just one that was unisex from the beginning.

I have 4 dogs and a donkey on the go at the moment!

So the game says I've been playing it for 12 hours, so here's my '12 hours in assessment'. I'm playing on Hard Classic (although rewinding time kind of takes some of the sting out of Classic, unless you somehow manage to run out of uses). I'm 8 or 9 chapters in, and that includes one skirmish and all 3 currently available paralogues.

If you take the main points of praise and criticism from the pre-release critic reviews, they have it about right. Starting with the bad, the story and character writing is every bit as mediocre as was claimed. The plot so far is cliche-ridden and generic, the dialogue is stiff, stilted and mostly uninteresting, with the same going for a lot of the voiced delivery. Exceptions to that exist. Some of the humour lands, but a lot of it you'll only find funny if you're the kind of person that laughs at the jokes in your average Pokemon episode. Most of the cast, even some of the royals have their one defining character trait which they'll let you know about relentlessly. Alfred is obsessed with working out and getting stronger, Celine loves tea; but at least those two are important enough to appear in story cutscenes to flesh out their character more, the same can't be said for their retainers. It's early days but I wish there were a better consistent way of earning gold and materials than skirmishes, other than the occasional stimulus package the game gives you. Finally, some of the features around the Somniel seem a little redundant. I've more or less stopped exercising since they currently only offer small temporary stat boosts (this may change as the game progresses though so it may become worth my while again) I'm also not sure why the Tower of Trials unlocks of early as it does since in the only mode it would let me challenge, the enemies were way above my paygrade and almost instantly beat me by kidnapping Alear and then immediately crit oneshotting her with a Swordmaster. There were no other maps started by other players for me to join.

Onto the good, I'm not sure I have a bad word to say about the combat/gameplay so far. Emblem rings seem like they can make more or less any unit usable, even ones that initially seemed weak, like the twins and this games Villager unit, Jean. The game steers you towards combining certain emblems with certain units, but they're pairings that make sense - Celine + Celica are very strong and the 4th ring you get along with the unit who joins that chapter are very useful utility. The game seems to imply giving Sigurd to Alfred, although I've been making better use of giving him to Chloe instead imo.

Martial Monks are a combination of cleric and brawler and feel like a weaker version of a War Cleric. If you want to use them offensively they need levels and strength growths desperately, otherwise you're better off sticking to staves and breaking ranged units. Reducing the number of units that can use multiple weapon types in their base class is an interesting balancing decision reminiscent of Heroes that I think I'm ok with. It stops any one early unit being too good (Celine with her tome/sword combo is one of the only exceptions and lo and behold she's arguably the best early unit). I like the visuals, they're bright and vibrant; and the music has been fine so far but nothing too memorable yet.

In terms of early maps, Tiki's paralogue is the easy standout. I did it as soon as it unlocked and it was grueling, but in a fun way. I didn't realise until after I beat it that that was how I'm also supposed to get the Silver Card though, so I guess I'll be back again later to pick it up.

All in all you can choose to let the story and supports bog you down and detract from the gameplay, and even if you don't it would still be a black mark against the game, but if not there's the makings of a very good Fire Emblem so far. I'm having fun.

On the topic of 3H house opinions, I always felt Lysithea would have fit much better in BE than GD. You could probably swap her with Dorothea and all you're really losing is an empathetic slant in those surrounding Edelgard.

Hitori "Bocchi" Goto (Bocchi the Rock)
Shez (Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes)
Zero (Final Fantasy XIV)

What I'm learning from these media snapshots is probably a net positive to me and I'm still looking forward to playing it in a couple of weeks (assuming there isn't a demo before then). That Digital Foundry video really brings into focus how much of a graphical improvement this is over Three Houses (even though, yes, it's still a Switch game) and the animations are looking about as close as we've come to recapturing the charm of the 2D sprites in a 3D format. Multiple journalists have been complimenting the maps too, which is promising. Hopefully they mean design-wise rather than just visual diversity.

I've long accepted not everything is going to be to my personal taste, but that's fine. If early indications of the plot and humour are any indication, I'm probably not going to love it. It seems broadly straitlaced shonen anime style and hopefully not all the jokes are in the vein of Alcryst begging for forgiveness like in that first video. I was also a little disappointed that the hyper class flexibility is back. I was hoping this one would go back to more of a unit/class identity again, so I guess I'm just crossing my fingers that I can play through the game with minimal crossclassing without missing any obvious perks that the game is expecting you to capitalise on, especially if learning new skills seems to come from Emblems rather than swapping classes. I'm sure none of the reviewers saying the game feels a little easy are playing on Hard, so I'm not too worried about that.

Blazing Blade has bucketloads of charm but it reads like it was written by a game dev team inspired by 90's anime rather than professional writers (which honestly may have actually been the case). Having said that it still has a very good cast of characters on the whole, but thankfully the writing gets leagues better later in the series.

Have you seen Merlinus' Luck stat? It's a legit strategy to use him as a dodge tank to protect squishier units, especially since enemies are coded to prioritise targeting him.

Letting an important unit die midway through the game isn't really a viable option on Lunatic though. They may as well be a Lord when you consider the future knock-on effect. Besides, you're already resetting plenty of times figuring out the maps anyway.

There's nothing quite like making a positioning error at the end of a map whilst on autopilot to make you think Divine Pulse is the best new feature added in recent games. I'm glad its coming back in Engage!

(In this instance it was moving Hinoka onto Corrin's tile intending to pair them up, but because I've only recently promoted her to Falcon Knight, that bit of muscle memory now defaults to healing Corrin for 2hp whilst putting her in range of boss Keaton who's able to stroll over and oneshot her with his beast-effective attack zzz)

Caeldori's paralogue feels so satisfying for that reason. She starts out with a Swordcatcher and is already oneshotting Heroes and Sorcerers 10 levels higher than her as a base Sky Knight.

A little more digging comes up with Forrest as the most popular kid overall, which seems consistent with this I suppose!

Mewtwo59 posted...

As for her, she's lucky Soleil exists or she'd easily be the worst Conquest kid. Though I do get a little bit of enjoyment out of the fact that she doesn't exist if you go through with the only gay pairing in the game.

• Nina is the most popular female child and 10th over all female in the official character popularity poll held on the game's official site.

Never get between a Japanese Fire Emblem fan and their BL I guess.

Odin is basically a myrmidon who decided he wanted to be a dark mage, and thus was given the statspread of a myrmidon reclassed into a dark mage.

If you want to save that rank in swords, Laslow himself passes down Ninja by default, so you'd start with an E in daggers but immediately have a good sword rank on promotion to Master Ninja.

Male Kana is by some distance the worst avatar kid. And yes, that Sakura looks highroll as heck.

Leo isn't wrong, Conquest Takumi is a complete asshole and it redeems how bland he is in Birthright.

I've always liked the really mobile magic classes like Valkyries and Dark Fliers.

Wow, your Rinkah did well on Speed, but got screwed everywhere else.

I have a certain amount of sympathy with IS regarding the Fates 2nd gen. 2nd gen kids were such a popular addition to Awakening that they must have felt compelled to include it again in Fates, but it just didn't make any logical sense to have grown up kids in the setting they'd created. Any justification they created was either going to be nonsense or contrived.

Having said that, as much as I like some of the 2nd gen, they're a major contributor to one of my main gripes with Fates - far too many playable units. This is obviously much more stark in Revelations, but if it were up to me I would've kept the royals split between versions but cut the dedicated retainers and have the remaining recruitable units shared between routes. So Conquest would look something like Corrin, Jakob/Felicia, Azura, Xander, Camilla, Leo, Elise and then 20 or so units also available in the other two routes.

The circumstances surrounding his resignation lend into that as well. Compared to the other recent managers who resigned for non-footballing reasons (Hoddle and Allardyce), feeling undermined because the FA stripped John Terry of the captaincy is a pretty minor reason for leaving such a big post. He must have known the players didn't like him or buy into his tactics, but that alone isn't going to be reason enough to quit. Leaving when he did just suited all parties really, since England were going nowhere under him, and 2010 was probably the last tournament where that group of players were at their peak anyway.

Its still in there, but only with whoever Corrin has S ranked with.

Yeah, like Isquen said, Jakob and Felicia are a little different and are pre-promotes in name alone. They earn EXP at the same rate as Corrin et al. so you don't need to feel bad about them taking kills, and similar to Dancers or Manaketes they level all the way to 40 without promoting or changing class. Any other unit that you promote or change into a Maid/Butler work in a more conventional way.

Gunter is... certainly a climb down even from where Frederick was.

Again, I hate to beat the same drum over and over but the gist of your criticisms boil down to issues with the writing and the balancing of the difficulty, which are fairly widespread complaints, but I don't think it's fair to portray them as holding the entire game back, especially when you use Three Houses as a counterpoint. You're underplaying how easy it can be to standardise the unit variety in that game without abusing academy mechanics, even on a first playthrough, if you really wanted to. IIRC the early meta was pretty stale with all the Wyvern Lord spam! But essentially I'm trying to play devil's advocate here because I feel like that's nitpicking at both games rather than something that ruins them. Like I mentioned previously, I do kind of wish they reigned in the reclassing somewhat though. I like being able to think of a character like "This is Cherche, she is a Wyvern Rider. Look, there's a wyvern in her art and everything", when actually she can also be a Cleric or a Troubadour if you wanted. They correct this somewhat in Fates where characters only have 1 reclass option by default, rather than 2 or 3, and then it's more or less on you if you want to go nuts with the support reclassing etc.

It sounds like a lack of challenge is spoiling your playthrough because the plot is telling you it's all 'backs against the walls' but there's no sense of adversity in the gameplay. Normal difficulty essentially treats you like a complete novice to the point where it almost doesn't matter what you do unit-wise, especially if you take advantage of the mechanics to accelerate your army growth like second seals and optional battles. There's no agency, so it's no wonder if you're pimping out an Olivia so much and yet don't care about the outcome because it could be any of a dozen units in her place achieving a similar result. Is this the game's fault? Probably, yes. But most of these problems disappear even with the game on Hard. It's functionally the same game but suddenly there's consequences to your actions. Lunatic and L+ take it perhaps too far the other way. The early game there is essentially a series of puzzles where you figure out how to position your units so they don't get oneshot whilst Frederick does all the heavy lifting. Personally, I have more of a problem with the lack of flexibility there compared to Normal's issues, but I don't think either ruins the game so long as I find a way of enjoying it within the available options.

The criticism of the writing is... fair enough. I wouldn't call the story boring myself but I also wouldn't rate it as anything higher than average. It's serviceable. The tone they take with the supports, which is mostly played for laughs, is not going to be for everyone. It's kind of like they took a slice-of-life approach over a shonen one. There are definitely some lazy and nonsensical ones in there too. If you were to cut through the chaff though there's some diamonds in there, about as many as there are in the earlier games, which have a lower quantity of supports but a higher percentage in quality.

Hopefully this doesn't come across too much as "you're playing it wrong", especially regarding the difficulty, but I think it can be easy to play through Awakening as a series veteran, wonder what the fuss is about and zone in on it's faults when a lot of them can be addressed. I realise you're just venting a bit in that post too and they aren't your complete impressions, but I thought it was worth responding to whilst you're still playing rather than in a post-mortem.

It depends what you mean by 'going through the motions', but Awakening isn't a difficult game at all on Normal difficulty, especially for someone who's been playing so much of the series recently. If it's more about engagement in general, I think Awakening gets better when you play around with it and extract everything you can out of the mechanics rather than play through it relatively vanilla. Maybe that's a mark against the game compared to others that are more plug-in-and-play, but I think it gives it more replayability as a trade-off.

Shattered posted...

So somehow England enter the knockout stages with the best record? Obviously not all groups were equal difficulty though

If you go by the (lol) FIFA rankings, England's group actually had the highest average ranking going into the tournament. All 4 teams in the top 20.

charmander6000 posted...

Would make it a lot more competitive. I'm a bit on the fence about giving Oceania a full spot, but if we are going to keep them around they might as well get a full chance to be represented in a 48-team tournament.

I considered that as well, but to be fair, if CONCACAF retain that many qualifying spots into the 2030 World Cup (and to a lesser extent the fact that over half of South America qualifies with 6 guaranteed slots), think just how hard it is for some of the bigger teams there to fail to qualify. That's almost as much of a sewn up qualification as New Zealand's is.