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Well, we got Watanabe'd offscreen, Kirk's dead, Rachel went all creepy, somebody's gaslighting her, and (to the surprise of nobody) the monster they're transporting has broken loose. At this point, it really does look like someone's actively sabotaging things, but who? Yes, I know who, but I'm obligated to not spoil it for those of you who don't.
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May 1, 2024 18:52
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5N3GRWoDUs Part 18 is out! Mystery, intrigue, tragedy and arcade games. All this and more in the finale to the final chapter of the game. Or is it the final chapter....?
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May 2, 2024 12:45
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honestly i'm pretty torn on the waymarkers in this chapter. on the one hand event-flag-hunting in the second act when the dying starts was pretty annoying, and it took me so long to look back into the medbay i forgot Kirk was meant to be there and i had no idea why the spooky theme started playing, on the other hand i found the sense of helplessness when it's just down to two survivors pretty effective and that's completely lost with the game telling you "please entire the designated jump scare spot for progression". on the third freak hand the game pointing you to every progression point only to withhold that information at the lowest point is pretty neat the final boss actually has a front-facing and back-facing sprite like any other character and enemy in the game, only to see its backside you have to use HP Lookup, which you're obviously less incentivised to do in a version with HP bars freely visible. kind of a shame since the backside is pretty interesting
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May 2, 2024 14:54
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It’s particularly funny they retain the limited uses of the prybar even though the path marking means you will not even come close to exhausting it. But yeah a lot of moments came across a lot creepier in the SFC version due to the fact you had to scour the ship more. I distinctly remember the impostor Cube sequence unnerving me more there because you’re just wandering the ship until you happen to spot a doppelganger darting into the next room.
CullenDaGaDee fucked around with this message at 15:05 on May 2, 2024 |
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May 2, 2024 15:02
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Y'know, in hindsight, they really should've known better than to give an AI that model number. They probably would've been better off if they'd skipped straight to 11. Also in hindsight, that "distress signal" from Darthe's room was clearly just OD-10 trying to incite even more infighting by revealing Darthe's orders to the crew. Anyway, OD-10 being the culprit is actually a pretty decent twist; when you meet everyone they're all on their best behavior, but it deteriorates pretty rapidly because, quite frankly, the crew was a dysfunctional mess, with everyone but Kato and the captain having plausible motives to kill at least one crewmate, except SURPRISE, the AI's gone completely insane so it's the ship itself killing its crew! ...I won't say anything about the coming chapter until it happens; it's the sort of thing you really need to see for yourself.
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May 2, 2024 15:42
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a cartoon duck posted:only to see its backside you have to use HP Lookup, which you're obviously less incentivised to do in a version with HP bars freely visible. HP Lookup (Protocol A) does inflict a lot of debuffs, though, so it still has some use in the Switch version. CullenDaGaDee posted:the impostor Cube sequence The weird part about the Prototype Cube sequence is if you go straight to every location marker instead of following them, you never actually see Prototype Cube kill Rachel. Darthe and Kato just mention that she died, no explanation given.
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May 4, 2024 01:35
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Snorb posted:The weird part about the Prototype Cube sequence is if you go straight to every location marker instead of following them, you never actually see Prototype Cube kill Rachel. Darthe and Kato just mention that she died, no explanation given. drat, I wish I knew that! Maybe I'll check that out with my back up saves, I always just assumed she died due to the increasingly severe power outages.
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May 4, 2024 02:53
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My playthrough kinda stalled out during the vacation (I wanted to play along with the LP, and by the time it came back I was busy with something else), but now that I'm caught up I'd like to say that Distant Future is by far my least favorite chapter. Thankfully you can skip cutscenes in the remake, so I didn't stall out again by forcing myself through it too much. Not a condemnation of the quality of the chapter so much as it is an expression of distaste for the subject matter; horror stories aren't my thing.
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May 4, 2024 11:13
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXTxJQZJZUY Part 19 is out! A brand new chapter in an all too familiar setting, as we are thrust into the role of a gallant knight questing to save the kidnapped princess. With our wizard friend by our side, this quest should be a cake walk. Extra Notes -There's no need to collect all the items in the castle now if you'd rather just jump right into the quest. I would definitely recommend raiding the store room though, as the armor there can be helpful. A good chunk of this stuff can also be equipped by Streibough, so that'll help him take a few more hits than his normally frail stature would allow him too. -Despite being the beloved hero of the kingdom, Oersted is actually quite weak right now and has limited options to engage his foes. It's not a terrible idea to put Streibough first in the formation, since his skills flatly hit harder right now, and he has better AOE at a range. -The balmgrass field restocks every time you exit from it, so you can stock up on as much as you like. Balmgrass is only capable of self healing for about 150 HP though, so it won't save your team from a disaster scenario. -There isn't any reason to visit Archon's Roost straight away, but I figured it'd be fun to show off what happens if you do. Streibough's comments were more of a straightforward hint in the SFC version, since once again you aren't being guided along the plotted line there.
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May 4, 2024 14:00
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CptWedgie posted:My playthrough kinda stalled out during the vacation (I wanted to play along with the LP, and by the time it came back I was busy with something else), but now that I'm caught up I'd like to say that Distant Future is by far my least favorite chapter. Thankfully you can skip cutscenes in the remake, so I didn't stall out again by forcing myself through it too much. As much as I like the chapter, like so many story driven games it's not quite as special any time you play it after the first. There's also just not too much difference from watching it in action to playing it yourself, so that can also dampen the experience.
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May 4, 2024 14:04
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I feel that the speech in this is far less grating than FFXII/WotL forced Olde Englishe Bloat. Maybe like you said it's in poetic meter or whatever rather than Arbitraree mispelling and placking ks after every ck.
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May 4, 2024 14:32
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CullenDaGaDee posted:As much as I like the chapter, like so many story driven games it's not quite as special any time you play it after the first. There's also just not too much difference from watching it in action to playing it yourself, so that can also dampen the experience. Again, not a condemnation, just saying that I, personally, don't like it.
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May 4, 2024 18:15
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I get you, no worries. Horror is one of my favorite genres, so the idea of not liking it on that basis is a little alien to me (no pun intended).
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May 4, 2024 18:20
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Anyway, setting aside my personal complaints, let's get to the video! The dialogue is pompous to the brink of incomprehensibility, I'd say; I wouldn't mind something a bit less... Shakespearean. Streibough seems pretty full of himself, really (seriously, "glory deserved?"), but then that tends to be a mage thing, doesn't it? Of course, you can't have an RPG chapter that doesn't even give you proper control over your protagonist, so naturally the princess gets kidnapped ASAP. We wouldn't have a goal without that, would we?
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May 4, 2024 19:39
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I think the Elizabethan flavored dialogue is a cute idea, but it pretty quickly wears out its welcome. Also I try not to crap on people's writing too much, but I feel like the team didn't have much experience writing in this style. The meter and word choice get really stretched and tortured at times to keep the gimmick going.
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May 4, 2024 20:04
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Yeah, I think my biggest problem with the gimmick translation is that it's done kind of poorly. Could have used a few more passes for comprehensibility and minimizing stretched meter. Not a bad idea, but also kind of mediocrely executed.
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May 4, 2024 21:35
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FeyerbrandX posted:I feel that the speech in this is far less grating than FFXII/WotL forced Olde Englishe Bloat. Maybe like you said it's in poetic meter or whatever rather than Arbitraree mispelling and placking ks after every ck. Other than magicks and technicks (themselves valid antiquated spellings) I can't think of anything that FF12 'misspells' rather than deifacted and manufacted, which seems like an intentional choice to highlight something man-made vs god-made. In general I don't see an issue with any of the way the characters are speaking. Seems pretty normal to me.
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May 5, 2024 13:17
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYR5nQIT0Ko The quest to save the princess is in full swing, and we bring a couple of old dudes out of retirement to get the job done. They run circles around the whippersnappers, as it turns out. Playing the SFC version for fun this go around, but rest assured I'll be including clips from the HD version of the more notable scenes featured in this part in the next video. Extra Notes -You don't need to visit the village before ascending to the Hero's summit, but it is a chance to pick up more Balmgrass/Naoriguisa before setting out into the tougher areas. -It's not a terrible idea to grind to level 4 before ascending the summit, since the enemies are a bit more dangerous there. -Once Uranus joins, it can be a valid option for grinding on the summit to put him in leading position for battle. Voice of God will heavily damage a lot of things there, if not outright kill a good chunk of them. -Once Hasshe joins, absolutely put him at the front. He blows everyone out of the water right now, and can easily win every battle by himself. -I mention this in the video, but like so many other chapter party members, Streibough will not be with us forever. He does learn techniques all the way up to level 16 though, and I can assure it takes a ludicrous amount of time to get him there. Only do that if you're deathly curious to see what he gets.
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May 5, 2024 13:41
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg8MJ6fZ4MU Part 21 is out! The wheels come off the wagon at this point in the chapter, and Oersted has to grapple with an unfortunate sequence of events where things were not quite as they seemed. Extra Notes -For both versions of the game, it's not a terrible idea to take the best armor pieces Hasshe has before fighting the fake Lord of Dark if you didn't happen to get any extras on the mountain. While you do obtain Brion when he dies, all other equipment he had is just lost forever, even in the HD version. -Both Streibough and Uranus have new techniques they learn as they level up, even though they leave the party well before they will ever organically reach those level ranges. Streibough in particular has a level 16 technique, and it takes an ungodly amount of grinding to get him to that level in order to actually see it. -If you hadn't looted the castle of its healing items previously, then you'll definitely want to do so now before returning to Archon's Roost as the new enemies within can really lay a smackdown on you. Relatedly, it's a good idea to stock up on balmgrass as the hidden meadow. -I'd recommend power leveling to at least level 11 before delving too deep into Archon's Roost. The enemies can be very nasty to deal with when you're just a lone Oersted, and both the stats and techniques you have by level 11 make the going much smoother.
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May 6, 2024 11:56
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And thus everything starts going completely off the rails. I've been trying to say the bare minimum because, as I said before, this is the kind of thing you need to see for yourself. Why'd everything go so horribly wrong in the first place? Well, you'll see when he gets back to the end.
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May 6, 2024 18:49
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I think I fought a lot of knights before heading back into Archon's Roost, those new enemies really are rough.
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May 7, 2024 09:04
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Poor, poor Oersted.
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May 7, 2024 11:17
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxLO8R38JQU Part 22 is out! I could say some things, but I think it's better to just let this one play out. We're entering the true end game now.
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May 7, 2024 12:04
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Probably shouldn't go into too much detail until another update or two, but I can say that I consider this boss to be the most despicable character in LAL at the absolute best (as in, he may actually be the single most despicable character in any game owned by Square-Enix). Like, it's not just that he's a villain; those're a dime a dozen, they're frequently "love to hate" types or have some excuse or at least don't wear out their welcomes. This asshat, though? He commits the single greatest sin possible for a fictional character- DERAILING THE NARRATIVE! And why? Pure spite- if he's not allowed to have something nobody else is either. I hope he enjoyed himself, because they're gonna need to make a new hell just for him. No, I did not mistype; not just a new level of hell, but an entire new hell all to himself. ...It's so hard to not go off on a frothing, mod-angering rant about him. I may not have even quite managed it here. Anyway, re: Sleep resistance: Nightmare Helm. Apparently it gives the wearer nightmares so horrible they can't sleep?
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May 7, 2024 16:20
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CptWedgie posted:Anyway, re: Sleep resistance: Nightmare Helm. Apparently it gives the wearer nightmares so horrible they can't sleep? Makes sense. I probably could have double checked that but I wasn't overly concerned about that fight since it's much easier in the HD version. Now if I had known I needed to be wary of petrification, I definitely would have taken more care there.
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May 7, 2024 16:43
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Yeah you gotta love to hate this fucker. For the simple fact that he looks at the whole world for what it is, Dragon Quest 1 where no one has any agency besides him. Not having to talk to anyone and merely just staring at someone until he gets the shirt of an NPC's back, because that's what's expected. The tournament arc existed and concluded without a mysterious silver haired guy that had plot armor, so he won, screw the idea that his friend wanted to win, or the princess either. Such a huge textbook case of protagonist syndrome that he got so mad that he spent billions on tw-
FeyerbrandX fucked around with this message at 21:20 on May 7, 2024 |
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May 7, 2024 20:57
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It's implied more than said but I think there is the clear indication that Streibough and Alethea were in a pre-existing relationship. That pretty much colours the relationship - Oersted and Streibough were best friends and friendly rivals where Oersted almost always came out on top. Streibough begged Oersted to throw the Champion's competition so that he could marry his love; Oersted clearly rejected the idea. Alethea's initial reluctance to be with Oersted is clear, before basically shrugging and making the best of the situation - he is the stronger and more traditionally heroic guy.
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May 8, 2024 10:51
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Yeah, that's a vibe I've always gotten from what he was saying. The thing I've always been unclear on is if there ever was any ploy from the demons who kidnapped Alethea, or if Streibough just orchestrated everything. When he starts relaying his actions to you, it sounds like the former and his betrayal was an opportunistic bid to swoop in as the hero for Alethea and he decided to screw Oersted over afterwards. As he starts ranting though, it becomes clear he's resented Oersted for a long time and he starts talking like he organized the entire situation to get his revenge, which would explain the Fake Lord of Dark. I get the feeling he didn't fully expect Oersted to keep pushing on after being set up for the murder of the king, so he only has the loosest bit of deniability lined up if Oersted actually made it back to him and couldn't keep that veil up as he started to get heated.
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May 8, 2024 11:53
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Okay, since people're openly discussing it now, I might as well drop the vagueness... While there're apologists who insist that Streibough was possessed into the betrayal and that he'd never do it himself (citing the "surging emotions" thing or whatever), my point of view is that it's clearly all him. My proof? The voice acting. Streibough is clearly pissed at Oersted even before they fight in the tournament; all he was looking for was an opportunity. And that "preexisting relationship" thing? I don't see it; admittedly I'm not a "relationships" kinda guy, but all I see is Streibough yandere'ing over a crush who may not even know who he is. It's not like you ever get a chance to see them interacting; Streibough doesn't address her directly on-screen, and Alethea only has like 2 scenes before getting kidnapped so the most you can glean of her personality is that she's somewhat reluctant to marry (near as I can tell) a total stranger she only knows by reputation. Oh, the end, where she commits suicide rather than be separated from Streibough? He's had who-knows-how-long to brainwash her, and it's certainly within his ability to do so. All he needed to do was say "oh, Oersted turned back at the first obstacle, I'm the one who pressed on to find you, he doesn't actually care" (hell, he actually did that, he says so himself) and she'd never have any reason to doubt him because he tricked Oersted into turning back and locked the door behind him. And the part where he "begged" Oersted to let him win? Pretty sure he's delusional by then; we have no reason to believe he begged before their match, and it seems pretty out-of-character for him to even ask politely to me, so I'm gonna go with self-serving memory to cast Oersted as the villain from the start. ...The worst part of his "plan" is that it's stupid; yeah, screw over the guy who's been better than you all your life and give him reason to murder you, that always ends well. (/sarcasm) Only reason things went anything close to how he planned is that he was above suspicion (first by being his target's "friend" and second by him faking his death). So congrats, Streibough; your petty, narcissistic temper tantrum has doomed the kingdom and destroyed everything you fought for, both before and after your betrayal. ...yes, I hate Streibough; hard to miss, isn't it?
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May 8, 2024 12:58
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Yeah, I never really liked the possession suggestion and nothing in either version of the game really indicates that's the case. It kind of runs directly counter to the themes of the chapter about what jealousy, resentment and hatred can push people to. Streibough and Oersted definitely accept a darker power into themselves, but only AFTER they are already past their breaking point and have their minds made up.
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May 8, 2024 23:37
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It kind of undermines the themes of the story if they aren't both responsible for their worst actions during most of the story, yeah. Oersted's is the one who chose to become Odio even if he was under a lot of mental strain, and Streibough's the one who orchestrated and/or took advantage of the events that drove him to that point. I think it honestly makes more sense with those same themes if Alethea didn't know either of them and would have been equally "well okay I guess :/" regardless of who won. Streibough being Like That based on absolutely nothing tracks with what we see of the man.
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May 9, 2024 00:06
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I don't think there's any kind of possession going on. There's clearly something odd about Archon's Roost as a location and its ability to empower a 'Lord of Dark', but becoming the Lord of Dark is a choice you make. Streibough made it for love, and Oersted did it after everyone else losing their faith in him. I don't see any reason to disbelieve any character about what they're saying or their motivation. Oersted is a hero, a designated 'winner' in everything he does, and that follows through even to the ending where he finally gets lines - he did everything right and he's the strongest, so why did he lose? Streibough is the followup to that - how do you feel when you're always second-best to your best friend? Even when he steals your girl? I think given how much the line is flashed back to (and yeah, Alethea doesn't exactly get a lot of lines) Althea's VA does a good job of communicating the hesitance in her "there's nobody I hold higher in my heart" line, as well as the "a fine match, good job champion" line immediately when Oersted first beats Streibough. The winner wasn't who she wanted it to be, but it was a fair fight. (or was it, when we remember that Oersted's first opponent kept trying to use wolfsbane to poison him? Well, now we'll never know - that's all the clues we're going to end up getting)
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May 9, 2024 03:16
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I do think there's a bit of an interesting line to follow if you consider that the chapter is from Oersted's perspective. Feyerbrand kind of joked about this, but there are a few moments where you can change perspective and it makes Oersted look like an overly self-assured prick. Who's to say everything we see is meant to be taken at face value? I will say I do kind of dislike the aspect introduced at the end where Oersted outright says he feels entitled to a reward for his good deeds. I guess to me it feels more poignant if a true knight in shining armor completely falls from grace due to a series of tragic events he couldn't realistically account for. Sure, maybe he could have been more sensitive to Streibough's feelings, but that's an honest mistake anyone could make.
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May 9, 2024 03:30
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP43iXTwjcQ Part 23 is out! Oersted has had enough of being the gallant night and decides to just burn it all to the ground. But that's not how we can let the game end, is it? The final chapter will allow us to select any one of the previous protagonists of the game as our main character going forward, and hopefully they can secure a better ending than the one featured in this video. Since we're now suddenly spoiled for choice, I figured it's a good time to run another poll! You can vote at the link below, first place will be our protag for the HD version, and second place will get to take center stage in the SFC version. I'll run the poll until Saturday, and the results will be finalized that morning. https://strawpoll.com/NPgxEMvk4Z2
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May 9, 2024 12:15
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What's going on with the names on the experience screens in this chapter?
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May 9, 2024 12:35
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I have no idea why OD-10 is called that in the battle, it just is. That was the same name it had when Cube fought it in the Distant future chapter.
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May 9, 2024 12:48
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bewilderment posted:I don't see any reason to disbelieve any character about what they're saying or their motivation. Now granted, I won't deny that Oersted is being a bit self-centered in his ending speech, but to be fair? He WAS promised the princess's hand in marriage, the hero's reward, and so on and so forth. Losing that to, again, a petty, narcissistic temper tantrum was pretty much the last straw that led to him going completely insane. CullenDaGaDee posted:I have no idea why OD-10 is called that in the battle, it just is. That was the same name it had when Cube fought it in the Distant future chapter. (Incidentally: Voted Cube for final protagonist for the lulz.)
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May 9, 2024 16:29
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I did pick up the mother pun though I didn’g catch the murder double meaning.
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May 9, 2024 16:35
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It's actually pretty easy to pick up the "murder" pun if you just say the name out loud as a single word, I feel. Slightly less obvious if you pronounce the "thur" like "thorough" instead of "mother" but still pretty easy. edit: hadn't finished the video, i feel stupid now CptWedgie fucked around with this message at 17:06 on May 9, 2024 |
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May 9, 2024 17:01
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I saw other names of chapter final bosses where on the experience screen they were different than the name given to them before. Just screenshotted the one.
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May 9, 2024 17:39
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