Board 8 > SaveEstelle/LeonhartFour in Different Houses: Best Smile Edition [SELF]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Alvin is great.
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so should I always be linked up with someone in battle or is there some reason why I shouldn't

I'm still trying to get used to this battle system. It's been a while since I've played a Tales game as is.
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Linked party members tend to follow you IIRC so it can mess with casters if you're melee. Also you share status ailments which can be a problem depending on what it is (lol petrify)

I always linked though.
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sharing status ailments sounds terrible but it seems like linking with Alvin should be fine since he and Jude aren't casters

I keep accidentally unlinking though because I keep trying to use the D-Pad to cast directional Artes for some reason
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Matt Mercer doing a Troy Baker impression yet again.
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Matt Mercer is the guy you hire when you can't get Troy Baker after all
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Finished the first Toradora light novel. I had forgotten how slow the story is until Ami shows up, and she's not in the first book at all. Not enough Minori here either because they're busy establishing Ryuji and Taiga's characters.
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So is there a reason to not just donate all materials to expanding shop levels in Xillia? Is there a reason to hold onto them for something else?
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Anyway, in Xillia, we spend some time in this new town getting used to quests, and man, there are tons of enemies all over the screen. It's nice that you don't have random encounters, but man, that's a lot. Also, this was the period of time when JRPGs were still trying to replicate the Sphere Grid, huh? I guess this thing here is fine, but it does feel like a cheap knockoff.

We eventually get to the town of Hamil (not to be confused with Hamel) as Milla tries to make her way back to the location of her shrine. Unfortunately, the soldiers are right on our trail, but then we meet this little girl with a weird monster thing that scares the soldiers, and then a giant man with a big beard and an even bigger hammer charges in and KOs them. They both run off, but we're not allowed to follow them in KH2 fashion.

Also, we get some great Skits. Perhaps the most interesting one is where Milla reveals that she has to have a physical conduit in order to interact with the world around her, and humans work the best since they contain all the elements (since Maxwell is the Lord of Elements and all). However, Maxwell can't just create a full-blown adult out of thin air, so he had to wait for one to grow up before he could use it as his vessel. Like myself, Alvin expresses thanks that he chose a woman.

and we get our first glimpse at Milla's annoyed face as she compares the Four Spirits to annoying in-laws who come over to your house and refuse to leave
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Upgrading shops is possibly my favorite thing in Xillia.
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Milla needs to exercise better discernment in what she reads

she seems to focus on reading books about human behavior but it doesn't seem to matter (or more likely she's oblivious to the context of) what particular behavior is being discussed
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I've been kinda wanting to get back into Tales again.

I have Xillia and Zestiria already, but maybe it'd be best to just go Symphonia HD. I haven't played that game since the year it was released. I have Abyss on 3DS too but I'd rather do console.
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Abyss 3DS is good.

Still waiting for user SaveEstelle to replay Symphonia.
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berseria is the best game to get back into the series imo
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oh hey Tsuredure Children volume 10 is out now

sweet
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The Mana Sword posted...

berseria is the best game to get back into the series imo

i think this is right. I couldn't really get into Xillia or Zestiria, but Beseria hooked me.
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Xillia seems pretty fun so far, so it's working for me!

Zestiria seems like it's always on sale for 10 bucks.
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The ending to the episode where Phoebe has the triplets is probably the most poignant moment on Friends other than the ending to The Last One.
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poignant moments in a sitcom no thanks
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pjbasis posted...

poignant moments in a sitcom no thanks

sounds like Scrubs is not for you
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LeonhartFour posted...

We eventually get to the town of Hamil (not to be confused with Hamel)

one hopes

LeonhartFour posted...

Also, this was the period of time when JRPGs were still trying to replicate the Sphere Grid, huh? I guess this thing here is fine, but it does feel like a cheap knockoff.

It absolutely is. I remember not really liking it.
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I'm honestly not even paying attention to what stats I'm building. I'm just trying to complete loops to unlock artes and skills.
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KH1: Sephiroth beated/Journal done
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congrats on defeating Lance Bass
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oh wow they've got Nintendo Power issues on the news stand in this episode of Friends
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and whoa this guest character on Friends is Sephiroth's current VA
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Tsuredure Children volume 10 complete

School Festival arcs are usually good fun
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Finally started that Tokyo Xanadu eX+ NG+ I talked about earlier. <3 this game, seeing these guys again made me smile.

Playing on Calamity + Infinity because I wanted to get the last few trophies but uhh... I may end up regretting this. I knew that endgame might be tough and I was dreading the After Story final boss but I really didn't expect the S-Greed in the first dungeon to be capable of one-shotting party members. I figured my endgame equipment would give me a buffer! Ah well, some of it is just me being rusty too I suppose.
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Bought SMT IV because it was on sale and played a few hours. Gameplay is fun but something about the art style of the humans is a bit jarring to me for some reason.
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Oh yeah, that reminds me that I should buy Devil Survivor 2. Devil Survivor so much more fun than vanilla SMT <3
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Joey: You're fake laughing, too, right?
Chandler: Oh, but the tears are real.
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I expressed disappointment in Xillia's Sphere Grid ripoff, but its map is really well done. It's clearly laid out and marks literally everything on it for you.
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man Xillia is going all out with villain enemy designs huh

just encountered a woman with a wolf's tail and wearing an outfit akin to Shadow Sae's in Persona 5

Also I am fairly certain at this point that Alvin is playing both sides. It was just too convenient that this woman showed up right after Alvin suggested they take a break to rest instead of just forging ahead to the village like Milla wanted. Plus, she seemed to know him, too, and the guards in that other village showed up way too quickly, something the other characters lampshade themselves.
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I also appreciate how liberal Xillia is with its save points and shop vendors
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I just realized I started playing Assassin's Creed III around the fourth of july. Let's go america(n assassins).
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i was curious of the characters/game count of me and robas list so I went ahead and sorted it, but didn't want to post it in the smfffc topic since while I don't mind spamming that topic i'd prefer not to make it obnoxiously difficult to determine the unsafe list and this highly resembles it

so I'm posting it here instead

-FFV- [1]
Gilgamesh

-FFVI- [2]
Cyan
Terra

-FFVII- [5]
Cissnei
Elena
Vincent
Yuffie
Zack

-FFVIII- [6]
Doomtrain
Irvine
Rinoa
Seifer
Selphie
Squall

-FFIX- [2]
Eiko
Garnet

-FFX- [2]
Rikku
Yuna

-FFXIII- [4]
Chocolina
Lighting
Lumina
Sazh

-FFMQ- [1]
Tristam

-BD- [2]
Agnes
Mephilia
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at least FFVIII is the most represented
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things never end the way you want them to

oh well
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Chandler: What an interesting approach to guitar instruction. Some might find it amusing. I myself find it regular.
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it's kind of weird that Xillia has DLC that lets you instantly have hundreds of thousands of Gald

but at the same time I kinda want to do it
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SMT IV: beat the Minotaur without any issues (supposedly hes where the game will really punish you if youre not playing correctly?)

Some of my suspicions about whats going on with the world are looking pretty good now too
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oh wow now I can quick jump to anywhere I've visited before (as long as it's not closed off for story reasons, naturally)

that's super handy

good work, Xillia
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oh right I was falling asleep in the middle of playing Xillia so I forgot to do an update

uhhh let's do a real quick one since I have to go to work in a few minutes

Milla can't summon the Four again, so they think they're stuck inside the Lance of Kresnik or whatever. Jude decides he's going with her no matter what. Milla's "handmaid" turns out to be a dude, and a really high maintenance one at that. Alvin gets paid and leaves the party, only to show up again when we leave saying Ivar paid him to accompany Milla some more. We find the girl in Hamil again and she joins the party. Her name's Elize but only Teepo is allowed to call her Elly, it seems. Teepo is voiced by Erin Fitzgerald, so this should be fun.

oh right there was also a brief scene with a bunch of bad guys with their backs to the camera (except the weird furry lady since we've already seen her) to make it seem more ominous I guess and they talk about needing to find some KEY and how they've already got a pawn who can help them find it (whom I'm guessing is Alvin)
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the race for Best Smile is getting tighter
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Persona 5 anime episode 14 complete

Whoa, new OP. Same ED though. They mostly covered Makoto's Confidant here, although no romance option at the end, sadly. They did show Mishima meeting Ohya though, which was great. Poor guy. Looks like the Futaba arc is next.
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The One Where Everyone Finds Out is so good

maybe the best episode of season 5
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Decided to watch the cutscenes from Re:CoM since the last time I played it was almost 15 years ago

Once I finish I have to decide whether I want to replay KH2 or go straight to BBS
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sometimes you go to lunch and get more than you ordered

never had my waitress kiss me before
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just like one of my japanese animes
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it definitely felt like something out of an anime
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