Star Ocean: The Second Story

[tribal violet]

Oh never mind the “private action” upon entering Cross splits my party up, and I need to leave and come back in to recollect my party?? Very odd

[trail rock]

Right… that’s ||3 of the wise men down…|| on to the final battle apparently! The remake has been gorgeous and looks amazing on my ROG Ally

[atomic dirge]

Just in case anyone wants to play the Star Ocean 2 GBC sequel, we have deep RH lore

[serene jetty]

Please tell me about how the remake handles the bosses in the final dungeon. Whenever I reach them, I don't feel like touching this game ever again

[fresh kelp]

I have noticed that no matter how much I grind it never really gets easier to dispatch certain enemies, like those god damn rabbits

[opaque fox]

Did you guys work hard for Claude ultimate weapon?

I've got customize at lvl 7

How much level radar are needed for Mithril?

[near apex]

game is all over the place at the end. Waaaay too much RNG for me. Some random fights with small enemies will kill half my party before I can do anything. Retry the same fight and it's no problem. Just depends on what spells the enemies use and who they target.

party of 5 wizards all casting massive AOEs at the same time? cool cool lol

[opaque fox]

Starter is quite easy. But the second land is kicking my butt

RNG based indeed

[trail rock]

I hated the wizards. I found some mobs also stun locked me so I couldn’t move at all at times.

[near apex]

oh yeah, paralyze and stone for funsies. Good times.

[trail rock]

The last area seemed to take forever… ironically named Phynal 😂

[near apex]

finishing up a few things and about to start that phynal phynal

[burnt shoal]

didn't I beat it before you did 🤔

[atomic dirge]

Not blue sphere. I blew past you and Stubbs because I played it non stop

[half coyote]

On the other hand, don't play Blue Sphere

That's my warning

[burnt shoal]

ok but to be fair anyone can blow past the guy who paused playing 2 years ago

some of us at least finished!!!

[fervent tide]

Annnnnnd PPSSPP just corrupted all my save states...

Thank goodness I was still saving in game as well

[serene jetty]

F

I once used a save state in First Departure and when on load the character sprites were gone.

[blazing meteor]

Saves states be doing that sometimes

[signal ibex]

I think I have reached the end

Thank you all day virtual workshop

[signal ibex]

And... Complete

Feels good

[blazing meteor]

What’s the count at now

[signal ibex]

4?

[blazing meteor]

Kevin, Nate, Me, Zu, Geforce, Dan, Chaos

I think so far

[half coyote]

And it's not even halfway through the month

[signal ibex]

It's not a really long game. I grinded a bit and was still less than 30 hours

[fresh kelp]

I just fought my first boss since about 35 sped up in game hours ago and whoever said this battle system is tales at home was correct

It feels like my characters are swimming through the battlefield

And imo it doesn't give you enough control for the enemies to parry and counter this much

Celine has the right idea, just cast fullscreen spell after fullscreen spell

[serene jetty]

Once Claude learns Helmetbreak you spam it. Then he learns Mirrorblade at level 70 or something and you spam that.

[fresh kelp]

Oh I should probably update claude's spells yeah

He only uses air slash until his MP is gone

[half coyote]

Have you upgraded your speed using BP?

[fresh kelp]

Uh maybe not

[signal ibex]

I barely used skills the second half of the game. Used the AOE heal and then aeterna sword

[half coyote]

Try that then, you might be faster then

[fresh kelp]

Thank you I will

[blazing meteor]

And it’s a food item not an potion for the pickpocket friendship loss prevention

Master chef fruit and meat

[spice crag]

Hey, a completion is a completion, no matter how Kevin'd it is.

[atomic dirge]

I mean, it's really not

[blazing meteor]

Tbh I just really couldn’t remember your username

[trail rock]

Think I was about 22-23 hours to complete

[blazing meteor]

22:18 for me and I felt like I did a lot of side content

Played remake though

[wicked forge]

Playing the remake and looking for some mithril. Any easy ways to get it?

[blazing meteor]

I want to say alchemy

But if not pixie band or other accessory

Yeah alchemy but you need a tool called ||lezards flask|| which you don’t get till late in game

[dawn patio]

Okay I just want to take a moment here and say that I hate being forced to lose a battle. Either A. Kill me in one blow, or B. Let me win to a point and cutscene my defeat. But don’t make me fight a battle with no way to win. It’s super annoying.

Not only that but I wasted a ton of mats and resurrection elixers not knowing any better. So now I feel duped and foolish.

[signal ibex]

I just found it organically. I didn't look at any crafting until the final third of the game though

[potent vigil]

Just wrapped it up. Very enjoyable. Game is lucky its so much fun to use its systems to break it though, cause combat is pretty uninteresting. Story was fun early on but loses me a bit in the back half. Kinda want to go through again and check out the other characters, mostly cause I wish I had gotten Precis.

[serene jetty]

There's a few of them. Dealing next to no or even 0 damage with everyone is a clear tell that you can't win. Try to survive for some time because two or three are timed.
Not a fan of unwinnable battles that aren't over in and instance, too.

[obtuse spade]

Going to try this one one more time

[strong hawk]

Clive says some remarkable things and then In the next scene is a petulant child. he flips from one thing to the next he's so frustrating, Rena as well

[fresh kelp]

Ya they're not really characterized as much as they're plot devices

Diss has been characterized pretty well thus far but he just joined my party so I guess we shall see

[blazing meteor]

Late game spoiler - to be fair Claude is a 19 year old with ||daddy issues|| and Rena is a ||700 million year old child || with ||mommy issues||. But yeah none of the characters are in a top ten list of jrpg characters except maybe Creepy and Weepy

[fresh kelp]

I don't know why I read "late game spoiler" and then click on the spoiler

Wasn't expecting that though

[opaque fox]

Another Mithril and my ultimate weapon will be ready

So... Opera or Ernest? And why?

[blazing meteor]

You like three eyes?

[nova smelt]

I'm trying to get a second Mithril too with the Radar skill, but no luck for now...

[opaque fox]

I do, lol

[opaque fox]

Do we need to increase the radar?

[nova smelt]

apparently the Radar skill can give random items when you upgrade it, including Mithril

but it's still unclear to me how it works

[opaque fox]

Well i hate to spend the sp on things that's unsure tho

Kinda gambling

[opaque fox]

@nova smelt FOUND IT!

Mithril guide

And the radar at 7 for claude

[wicked forge]

I’m in this boat too. Is mithril guide an item?

[opaque fox]

Mithril is needed for Claude's strongest weapon

And you need 2 of them

This is the location guide

You need to combine it with the weapon that you got after ||tournament||

[half coyote]

Alternate method to get Mithril: || save before leveling up ESP on any character, preferably not Claude to save his sp for customization. Esp will give you a random item, which may be Mithril. Save scum until you get it. ||

[wicked forge]

I’ll try doing that tonight

[nova smelt]

What's ESP again?

[half coyote]

It should be one of the abilities

Dunno where you get it in the original

[opaque fox]

Radar maybe

[dawn patio]

Mithril drops on world mobs outside central city. Just make sure you have anti petrification rings or something, if your entire party is petrified its game over, and ffwd that can happen a little easily.

[serene jetty]

I got enough Mithril from the Wizard during a field trip. And my team was so OP they didn't pose a thread at all.

[inner tendon]

I'm glad we got 31 days this month. Haven't touched this in several days.

[obtuse spade]

How far are you?

[near apex]

aaaaand done. The enemy balance was a little all over the place for me but overall a decent game imo.

[blazing meteor]

11 completions

[near apex]

probably could have done more min/max with crafting and all that but in the end the bosses weren't that bad. Just some janky enemy groups here and there.

[blazing meteor]

I enjoyed the first half of the game more than the second, but I felt it kept its momentum well enough

[blazing meteor]

Rng crafting was half the fun

[inner tendon]

Uhh, good question. I think just after ||that port town got earthquaked||

[serene jetty]

That's actually pretty early.

[inner tendon]

Yeah I didn't say I was far lol

[atomic dirge]

It's almost like people will actually play an rpg in gotm

[inner tendon]

I was wrong. I'm only slightly further. ||Just finished the Marze forest part and caught that huge fish||

[obtuse spade]

More about time-wise

[wicked forge]

Playing the remake, I feel like it’s going fast

[wicked forge]

Save scummed ESP to get my 2 mithril

[wicked forge]

Grinding customization now and hoping this sword is worth it haha

[blazing meteor]

Yes, yes it is

[wicked forge]

Just got it and hell yeah it’s awesome

[atomic dirge]

I feel like I missed this

[wicked forge]

Did you do the tournament yet?

[atomic dirge]

I just bashed rhe badguys to death with a random sword I made

I'm done

[wicked forge]

Ohhhhh

Yeah the sword you have to craft it with is pretty missable. I didn’t look up ultimate weapons until after I got it and lucked out

[blazing meteor]

Super missable, only clue is some random ass stuff Rena says

And it’s easy to customize the sword into something else if you are not aware

[wicked forge]

What level was everyone when they finished?

[atomic dirge]

I have the sword from the guy. Maybe I'll load and old save and make it

120ish

[blazing meteor]

118

Nate was in the 110s too

[wicked forge]

I just hit 70 and probably have a decent amount to go. This sword is going to make the rest a breeze I bet

[blazing meteor]

Celine’s ultimate weapon is locked behind ||fish ironically ||

[blazing meteor]

You’ll gain levels like crazy near the end

[wicked forge]

I just ||got into some futuristic place and teleported back with my dad for a minute and sent back. Woke up in some mansion after an armor guy whooped me|| not sure how far I am

[blazing meteor]

Yes

Not much left

[wicked forge]

Oh nice! The remake with fast travel and quest markers is so nice

Wasn’t a fan of the other 2 games, so I’m glad I’m close on this and don’t have to force another

[lime dove]

Anyone tried this game on psp go hardware ? seems that the first cutscene won't load on mine but it does on my odin 2

the game runs flawless it seems but when u go into the sacred forest and the cutsxene starts it doesn't seem to load past that for me

[blazing meteor]

I’ll try it tonight and see

[lime dove]

Thanks, the whole cutscene will finish on my odin 2 and never load on my go ! 😅

[blazing meteor]

Also

What type of place just has these lying around behind snowmen

[half coyote]

|| she "found it on the ground" she clearly doesn't want to admit she built nuclear weaponry ||

[blazing meteor]

Was able to get to the village with both Rena and Claude routes

Maybe back up your umd again?

Final boss in a nutshell

On repeat

LATE GAME SPOILER

Really cool imagery in the last few scenes

Also proof Claude's Route is just a harem

I think Precis is one of my favorite characters

Just look at that RC car

[lime dove]

once i get to the sacred forest in the begining the cgi cutscene doesnt load up ?

[blazing meteor]

Idk. It works for me on my go. Running 6.61 LME-2.3Inf

Spoiler for Precis x Ashton Ending. Thought they had a cute dynamic

[lime dove]

i got it to work 😊

ty ty

[dawn patio]

Feeling underpowered, I have been trying to do this run vanilla with only ffwd , and I totally missed the best weapon, sitting around mid 70’s and completed 1/4 fields. And it was ROUGH. I’ve flown around and gotten the best armor/wraps from shops. Guess I’m gonna start grinding for fol and seeing what customizations I can get.

I didn’t know I had to keep that stupid sword.

[strong hawk]

Fell asleep after getting || Welch || and doing all their PA's, and using writing to get everything to 7. forgot to save and device died.

I have the strength but it's really annoying to do all that again

[wicked forge]

I wish I got Precis. I got some nerd instead

[blazing meteor]

Ashton is also a better choice than Opera. Would you rather have some ||three eyed boyfriend obsessed lady|| or a man with ||two plushy like dragons who is a barrel connoisseur?||

Almost every map when you go into PA mode has Ashton commenting on a ||barrel||

[fresh kelp]

Which sword now?

[blazing meteor]

“||deadly edge||” You can pick it up after the tournament from the house ||on the far left of Laucer||

[fresh kelp]

Oh, did I fuck up if ||everyone already evacuated||

[blazing meteor]

Yeah too late now

[fresh kelp]

Oh well

Maybe I can use a cheat code lol

[blazing meteor]

Not end of the world

There’s a better weapon in post game

[nova smelt]

I'm in the Hoffman Ruins right now. I think I'm going to rush the rest of the game, I think recruitment and PA are boring.

For a sci-fi game, we sure spend a long time in a fantasy world.

[inner tendon]

NooooOooo. Your time with gotx is a bit cursed.

[wicked forge]

I’ve gotten a bit disinterested in the story, but I like grinding skills and killing stuff

[serene jetty]

Lol same.

[signal ibex]

The secret of Star Ocean is they aren't really sci fi games

[inner tendon]

Don't they all have the same kinda premise? Advanced society lands on a primitive yet fantastical world?

[signal ibex]

The few that I've played, yeah

[blazing meteor]

Yeah. It just changes whether you start off as the advanced civilization or as the more fantasy based one

[atomic dirge]

SPOILERS

[blazing meteor]

Why

[still quarry]

Is having my characters at level 30+ before the Lacuer stupid overleveled?

[burnt shoal]

Mine were 40

[still quarry]

This game is so easy to grind with

[burnt shoal]

Training really is such a good skill

[atomic dirge]

Let me tell you a story about a country called Japan

their latent military ambition was savagely crushed, so they pivoted to weird anime tropes

[strong hawk]

Nah this one was purely my fault

[strong hawk]

Welch is great. I don't use her to fight but between her and Precis it's like having kids all over again

[strong hawk]

Old mate also had a Veil Piercer + for me to steal, he's bank rolling the murder of thousands

[burnt shoal]

How does this story end?

[strong hawk]

It's cyclical.

Their army is bolstered by anime cosplayers who's ability to "nyah" demoralise enemy combatants, promoting insubordination and defection into the Loli Corps, bringing about mass child-but-not-really Soldier recruitment.

Eventually, the world cannot allow such degeneracy to continue, where military superpowers unload their newest Weapons of Mass Genocide and Destruction, starting the cycle anew.

MAN, Faerie Ring really makes the mages feel better to have in the party. Instead of ending every battle MP starved, they actually have enough to generate back up to respectable levels to keep going without wasting Blackberries.

[blazing meteor]

There’s a potion that negates mp cost for 30 seconds as well

And a few armor or accessories you can make that also help with mp costs

[wicked forge]

I just ||completed two of the fields|| about how much longer?

[strong hawk]

Oh man, all allies!?

What herbs did you need?

[blazing meteor]

Artimis + Artimis gives the single person

Athelas + Athelas for the party one

It seems fairly rare proc but you can also replicate it

[strong hawk]

Hell yeah, cheers baby

[strong hawk]

Major spoiler 3/4(?) || Just fought Metatron, seriously hate unwinnables, and I honestly thought I just got a gigabad ending somehow||

[opaque fox]

I'm still stuck at Linga

Onto Bowman's private events

[strong hawk]

Medicine dad

[opaque fox]

We just helped Elenor

Later will continue... I'd kinda fed up with this game after a while

[serene jetty]

Almost there.

[opaque fox]

Okay how to get Eternal Sphere? What did I miss? My customize at 10

Why always Dull?!

[marsh wedge]

This is about where I am too.

[half coyote]

Almost done then, though you might need to work on getting characters builds perfected, the last couple bosses are much harder

[blazing meteor]

Haha Claude AOE heal go burrr

But yeah some resistance and a lot of healing items help out a ton for the last few bosses

[inner tendon]

Just opened a goodie box and got an amazing weapon. That's plum wild

[inner tendon]

Lol wow, Claude has the emotional intelligence of an android.

Just pickpocketed a child in Hilton. ||You steal the kid's last memento of his dead father and if you return it, the kid is delighted to have it back. Claude then asks "did you like your father?”||

[blazing meteor]

Yeah that was funny quest

Kid spawns once you ||unlock pickpocketing just to say “my dad’s dead”||

[jovial forge]

Looks like patience is rewarded for the Steam remake. 20% discount for the Spring sale incase anyone was waiting for it like myself.

[placid arch]

I just ||crossed the ocean and lost the Lacuer Hope||. How far in am I? Half way?

[blazing meteor]

Yeah about half

It goes faster than the first half though

[strong hawk]

God damn it, gettin' real tired of || going through trials to beat the wise men || only to || have another unwinnable and need another maguffin ||

I still really love this game, peak "Break the game by menuing" Star Ocean, but starting to get frustrated by || obvious padding ||

[blazing meteor]

Gotta sell it as two discs somehow

[strong hawk]

Legaia is one disc and that has no wasted time

[inner tendon]

Just finished the tournament. ||I was doing really well, thought I had the finals in the bag.||

😔😔😔

[strong hawk]

|| can't beat those who study the blade ||

[inner tendon]

I even took off my weighted DBZ gear for the tournament

Training + scouting is no joke

[opaque fox]

On CD 2 now. Still don't know how to build Eternal Sphere

[strong hawk]

Want hints?

[inner tendon]

Yes

[strong hawk]

That blacksmith guy was pretty cool to give dias a sword, maybe he has one for you?

And man, it sure would be cool if you could customise that sword with some hectic ore, but that's just a myth, y'all

[opaque fox]

Dude, I already got Minus Sword

But to make the Eternal Sphere. Yeah, I've got issues with that

People kept saying later oh later oh later, after you got orchestra

And btw there's ||Noel Chandler|| here? I must change my profile, I think

[opaque fox]

My issue with ||mithril + minus sword = dull sword|| all the freakin time

So what's your best party guys?

Mine currently is ||Claude, Rena, Ernest, Bowman|| but I heard ||Chisato and Dias|| would join

[strong hawk]

Gotta get a higher customise lvl, at 10 it should be 100%

[opaque fox]

I already did, and guess what... it didn't turned out well

DULL

I lacked originality, the guide said

[strong hawk]

|| Claude, Rena, Cecille and Precis || || Dias|| won't join unless you're playing as Rena

[opaque fox]

Must wait until I got orchestra

[strong hawk]

Must do, i don't craft unless orchestra is running so I can't talk about crafting without it lol

Yeah || Precis || absolutely wipes hole lines

[opaque fox]

I'm really confused of the RNG thingy

[strong hawk]

Honestly, same

[opaque fox]

I escaped Marvel Strike Force, and this is what I get?

[strong hawk]

At least the chance of getting a good craft isn't 0.06% for a SSS Thanos

[strong hawk]

Healer 2, electric Boogaloo

[opaque fox]

https://tenor.com/view/kitty-puke-puke-vomit-kitty-vomit-cat-vomit-gif-10902081098279086080

[opaque fox]

Guide says that he blows

Is it true?

[strong hawk]

Not sure, I purposely didn't recruit him, saw that he was learning healing spells and I definitely don't need that when Rena pulls so much weight already

Was fairly certain that || Chisato was recruitable || based on context clues and went with her for my 8th slot

[blazing meteor]

Welch’s harem stick

[wicked forge]

I thought I was overpowered until all these wizards in the love fields. How infuriating/annoying

[atomic dirge]

Lol

They're BITCHES

Even when you're super overleveled and using bodyguard, if you run into one and have to actually fight, it requires more than just button mashing

Because I if they both proc their AOE spell simultaneously, you're in trouble

[wicked forge]

They just instantly turn me into stone and then AOE everyone. If this was beginning of the game, I would’ve totally quit haha

[blazing meteor]

There’s armor and accessories that negate petrification

[wicked forge]

Any city in particular sell that?

[blazing meteor]

I know it’s crafting but not off the top of my head

It’s amulet of flexibility

The armor I don’t remember the name

[serene jetty]

So I was really op. Those wizards didn't bother me at all. Celine just killed everything else and my melee dudes and I as Rena beat the old men into oblivion before they could cast anything.
Good times.

[wicked forge]

Made it to Minae Cave. This ending is getting really dragged out and I really don’t care about the story

[nova smelt]

I just started CD2. Guess I'm about halfway through the game. Still on track to beat it this month.

[wicked forge]

Hopefully in the final area now and maybe finishing tonight. I’d say first half of the game was a solid 3/5 and this final bit has changed it to a 2/5 for me

[serene jetty]

The final area will tell you.

[soft thorn]

fuck the remake looks amazing

[jovial forge]

Can confirm, purchased it yesterday. Never played the original but the remake seems incredibly polished. Visuals are incredible. Sure others can vouch for the many QOL improvements it has.

[soft thorn]

I played the original but never beat it

this one mught be the one who makes it

[burnt shoal]

I'm not gonna lie, my enjoyment of this game is strongly being impacted by my enjoyment of Unicorn Overlord

[atomic dirge]

I refuse to let myself get it until RPGotQ and TRPGotQ are finished

[burnt shoal]

it's your own damn fault for taking so long to play them!!

[atomic dirge]

some of us 100% the gotx stuff

[tribal violet]

I should've done some research or guide-reading before playing this game, there is so much stuff that I am just not doing

pickpocketing? nope

private actions? I don't even know what those are

I went through the first ~6 hours of the game just blind, but realizing now that I missed or misunderstood some several key mechanics (likely a product of me playing just before falling asleep), and many of those private actions are now gated by private actions that would've come before it

[atomic dirge]

https://tenor.com/view/jarvis-jarvis-skill-issue-skill-issue-gif-24471438

[serene jetty]

Back in my day we read game manuals before playing. *shakes old lady cane

[arctic jasper]

Really enjoying this one, just got to ||energy nede|| presumably there’s still a little way to go

[arctic jasper]

I’m playing this on the train on my commute and FF7 remake at home and I’m amazed at the similarities in things like crafting and fast travel

[blazing meteor]

And MC is blonde in both

D:

[strong hawk]

The 2.5HD stuff is brilliant, when some of the super spells go off its a sight to behold

[soft thorn]

I'm at very beggining and I'm already blown away

[blazing meteor]

The ending scenes animations

[wicked forge]

Just finished

[blazing meteor]

Any crashes on the you zoo?

[wicked forge]

Zero! Played smooth the whole time

[blazing meteor]

Nice

Spoiler for the fishermen in chat ||you can’t complete the fish log until post-game D: ||

[strong hawk]

Got || Emperor of the Sea || I've peaked and am content to hang up my rod until || Post-Game ||

[strong hawk]

I'm getting a few freezes, but they are predictable. it's only when I'm doing EXP grinding and I over lap too many assault formations with cutscene attacks like Southern Cross or Star Flare

Spoilers for southern Cross || it doesn't drop a gigantic Australian Flag or a Shitty Bogan tattoo, worst game ever 0/10 ||

[fresh kelp]

If I'm at the continent of Ell what % of the game do I have left?

[strong hawk]

About half way

[serene jetty]

More completions.

[blazing meteor]

So which star ocean should I play next

Beat one way back in the psp days

Finished 2

Blue sphere?

[strong hawk]

3

[atomic dirge]

YES

BLUE SPHERE

SUFFER LIKE THEY MADE ME SUFFER

[fresh kelp]

Yeah I think I'm gonna make it. I also just got my rp4p so I might play a bunch of binding of Isaac instead. Idk

[signal ibex]

I started Star Ocean 1 a while back. I should probably go back one day

[blazing meteor]

The post game dungeon wasn’t that bad

Then again I had afk grinded up to level 200

[strong hawk]

I haven't touched blue sphere before, is it that bad?

[digital panther]

I should have Named Claude Shinji with all this whining he's doing.

[strong hawk]

He's like Nega-Shinji, gets in the machine while everyone else is telling him not to, continues to whine about the consequences of his own actions

[blazing meteor]

It’s a star ocean game with two buttons and a dpad

So I don’t have high hopes

[atomic dirge]

It has combos

[strong hawk]

We tales now

[atomic dirge]

And you can't just grind past it. There are level caps

I had to go back and train Precis from the ground up because there's a certain point where you NEED her skill

Maxed-out Uber Diaz can't float apparently

[strong hawk]

||Robbie Megabeam?||

[strong hawk]

Oh fuck it's GBC I had no idea

[atomic dirge]

DO IT

Join me and Bill and maybe 12 other people as the only westerners to beat it

[strong hawk]

OH you mean Blue sphere.

Star Ocean marathon it is

[blazing meteor]

Just bought a reproduction cart

I’ll be the 15th westerner

[atomic dirge]

https://tenor.com/view/you-will-anakin-skywalker-darth-vader-you-will-try-gif-13943010

[fresh kelp]

Wtf skill points cap at 999 and you don't get any on level up when you're maxed

So much for delayed gratification

[blazing meteor]

Damn

Guess it’s 80th place then

[fresh kelp]

Um, ew

[inner tendon]

Yeah I don't like that lol

[atomic dirge]

Eleven completions so far?

Looking good!

[marsh wedge]

Finished! I think I liked the story of the first Star Ocean a little better, but the QoL improvements and visuals of Second Story R I think make it a better game than First Departure R.

Who was everyone's final party? I played blind, but mine was:

Main Crew:
||Claude, Rena, Chisato, Ashton||
Backup:
||Celine, Noel, Welch, Bowman||

[blazing meteor]

Final party : || Claude Rena Ashton Precis || and literally didn’t touch anybody else. Assault formation was previous Star Ocean game jewels. As for the other people recruited || Welch, Noel, Chiasto, and Leon ||

[marsh wedge]

||Leon|| was such an unsufferable little prick that I refused to take him with me lol

[blazing meteor]

He twas. Made weirder with Welch because || she grooms him to be her husband||. And in the end he’s just some ||fellpool wannabe that made a nuclear weapon ||

Though most of the late game characters lack any sort of development in a game where people already aren’t that deep

[marsh wedge]

||a nuclear weapon that works exactly one time then is useless|| lmao

[blazing meteor]

Get MacGuffined

Though he’s route exclusive so mainly recruited so I wouldn’t have to the next time

Unfortunately to finish the ending catalog it seems you ||have to play the game at least 4 times||

[serene jetty]

My final party was ||Rena, Claude, Ashton and Celine. Thought about actually using Dias, but Ashton was too good to be replaced.||

I didn't do any private actions at all, so the endings were pretty bleak. I'd play this game so much more if it wasn't for the final fights.

[blazing meteor]

Ashton was probably my favorite character private action wise

[inner tendon]

Haven't finished the game but Ashton has been the most interesting person I've run into.

||was genuinely surprised by what happened to him lol||

[blazing meteor]

The best PA in the game is in Princebridge at the university. All the characters ||sit and talk about what they would be in a school if they made one.||

Creepy and Weepy get to be ||security guards|| but poor Ashton is ||the janitor ||

[burnt shoal]

Aren’t they all kind of built like that 🤔

[inner tendon]

Imagine if we could ||use a nuke twice||

[fresh kelp]

Are creepy and weepy nicknames you've given or are these real characters

[burnt shoal]

Actual nicknames

[blazing meteor]

Blame Rena

[fresh kelp]

I do

[atomic dirge]

I was Claude, Rena, Diaz, Precis

[blazing meteor]

One of those is wrong

[atomic dirge]

Dias?

[blazing meteor]

Yeah

Man the sequel to this game sure is “unique”

[night umbra]

Wait wait, Blue Sphere!?

[fresh kelp]

Precis, ||your planet exploded||, I don't think that's going to happen

I don't mean that in like a mean spirited way, it's just frustrating that there's no acknowledgement of the reason ||we're on this other planet now||, the minor characters just go on like nothing happened

Like are you kidding me

[opaque fox]

Finally Eternal Sphere. I think I have to buy something from the secret store

[blazing meteor]

It’s not as bad as I was dreading it to be

[night umbra]

I think Bill and Zu built it up to be horrendous, but it's not actually that bad.

After playing SMT If..., my bar is really low

[opaque fox]

Eternal Sphere really makes everything easier. Now I just have to mash and mash and mash X

[blazing meteor]

I can’t speak for all the characters but || they don’t realize that Expel is gone until later in the game|| and Precis ||has a PA about how she wants to cry over it but needs to stay strong||

[opaque fox]

Do I have to worry about few final battles with this weapon now?

Is level 90 okay for it?

I agree Kal. It's not that bad

Tedious yes, but leveling is the main core that drives me

[blazing meteor]

Yeah it’s a good grind game

[blazing meteor]

Probably doable but the last few bosses have spell spams which would make it difficult even with an op weapon

[opaque fox]

Ah this will require the good ol save state

[atomic dirge]

Idk, we were playing a translation patch from two years ago. Dunno if it got better or there are more guides, but some the later puzzles were just impossible to figure out on your own

[night umbra]

https://tenor.com/view/skill-issue-gif-19411985

[burnt shoal]

Also the final boss fight which was like 5 bosses that would rotate in and out of battle was kind of trash

[blazing meteor]

14 completions!

[signal ibex]

Precis is second (or third) best behind creepy and weepy

[blazing meteor]

Basically character ranking is ||Weepy, Creepy, Ashton, Precis ——everyone else— Opera, Leon trash teir||

[blazing meteor]

Let’s all say one nice thing about Leon

[half coyote]

He's adorable with his brattiness

And you can pair him up with Precis and they're adorable together

It's like having your little brother in a video game, it's great

[blazing meteor]

He likes Sentai shows is a positive

[signal ibex]

Dude

[blazing meteor]

He also gets ||slapped|| by Claude because he’s crying over ||his dead parents||

[opaque fox]

Maybe one of the things that made me laugh so

[signal ibex]

That was a perfect moment

[wicked forge]

He is still annoying when playing on mute, but still it’s a little better

[blazing meteor]

Claude in the future

[opaque fox]

Just taking care of the 3 annoying wise guys

Rest is tomorrow I suppose, lol

[blazing meteor]

Sell me on why to pick Opera over Ashton

For my Rena playthrough

||three eyes or three heads? Simp or dork?||

[strong hawk]

Didn't get option, took barrel boy

but also

|| Booba ||

cause || Booba ||

[blazing meteor]

Intriguing argument

I’ll consider it

[spice crag]

I found Opera to be a shield destroyer, which was helpful against bosses and tougher Mob leaders. That, and her mechanic Specialty was fun to play around with.

[blazing meteor]

Isn’t it the same mechanic as précis besides the special skill items

[soft thorn]

based af

[burnt shoal]

The lack of targeting re-adjustment in this game is atrocious

And I don’t remember if the psp version had the same

[spice crag]

She can create her own weapon chips, which I don't think other characters could do. It gave her more flexibility in Customization, and set you up to have multiple powerful weapons with different damage types that you could change out between battles.

[blazing meteor]

https://tenor.com/view/son-of-bitch-sob-im-gif-25272308

[spice crag]

That, and I found that of my core party, her PA/character interactions were the most mature? In a team of Claude, Rena, Leon, and Opera, she was the one who seemed to have her act together. Which isn't saying a lot, considering the other three members of my active team lol

[soft thorn]

kinda happy that I didn't finish this game long ago

this shit slaps on the remake so ahrd

[signal ibex]

The remake makes me happy. So many lazy re-releases lately but this one actually has some care put into it

[night umbra]

Alright, Dragon Quest V is done so it's finally time to start this one. Super excited!
The remake is absolutely stunning, like wowowow

[opaque fox]

Indalecio is assssssss

Literally me in several hours ago

Any tips on beating indalecio?

[opaque fox]

I've done it... So tiring

Thanks all for the help

[nova smelt]

Fighting the ||10 Wise Men|| at the moment. I hope I'm close to the end because I'm not enjoying this game, but I will beat it. 💪

[serene jetty]

If you're fighting and winning, you're so close. You got this. 💪

[fresh kelp]

God these late game enemies sure can soak damage

[inner tendon]

How much do I have left, for those who've finished: ||Just landed on Energy Nede and got a lore dump from the mayor||

Am level 70

[half coyote]

You're around 3/5 of the way through I'd say

[atomic dirge]

maybe 13/20ths

[half coyote]

My bad for trying to be specific. You're somewhere between the beginning and end.

[inner tendon]

How recommended is it to be max level when you finish?

[half coyote]

Max seems very excessive

I was around 120

[serene jetty]

I was level 90 the first time last year, this time about level 70.

[inner tendon]

Alrighty I'm probably golden then. I have no way of knowing my actual playtime as I've been just putting my O2 to sleep and this game demands very little battery.

[fresh kelp]

99 isn't max? Damn I thought I was overleveled at 90

[half coyote]

Nope, it's a lot higher

[fresh kelp]

Time to grind

[blazing meteor]

255 iirc

But you only need that if doing the raid bosses in post game

[inner tendon]

I hate that they made me choose between ||Ashton and Opera||

I wasn't aware until well after I made a choice I didn't know I'd made.

[blazing meteor]

You picked right

Maybe

50/50

[arctic talon]

depends on the version if I heard correctly

the remake nerfed spellcasters

[inner tendon]

I thought it was the opposite?

I'd heard Celine was not good in the OG but is much more useful in the remake

[arctic talon]

I only repeat what I was told, I can't speak to the authenticity, I never played the original or the PSP version

[inner tendon]

Oh alright.

I'm just parroting what I heard also lol

I will say I've been pleasantly surprised and shocked at some of the story beats.

Especially ||a whole planet being annihilated||

[serene jetty]

Celine kills on the PSP.

[fresh kelp]

Yeah she's hitting for 9999

What is getting her to level 255 even going to do for me

[serene jetty]

HP

[blazing meteor]

Celine appreciation thread

[inner tendon]

All of the character's look 300 percent better in the remake

[blazing meteor]

The Welch and Celine joint ending with the ||miniskirt marauders || is kinda funny I guess

[fresh kelp]

Do they break 10,000

[fresh kelp]

I'm actually upset about that, ||it got annihilated out of nowhere|| and the characters are just now learning about it, but now I'm hearing ||it can be brought back||

Like idk they could have done so much more with something like that and instead it's just "oh. Oh. Oh ok I see" ||no stakes whatsoever||

[inner tendon]

||I'm disappointed it can be brought back too. Would be way more impactful if it was permanently Alderanned||

[fresh kelp]

Whatever, Celine appreciation thread

[fresh kelp]

Yeah or ||a race against time to save it|| wouldn't have been bad either

Man imagine if there was like a 10 hour timer constantly running after ||you meet the wise men|| and you either get the good or the worst ending

Why did no one consult me

[blazing meteor]

Basically modern movies plot lines

Oh crap let’s ||kill someone off for emotional effect ||

Only for that person to not actually be ||dead 10 minutes later||

Let’s call it the Disney drama effect

Anyways back to Celine

I appreciate her dedication to her clothing choice even ||in subzero areas|| girl owns it

[blazing meteor]

ENDING SPOILERS DO NOT CLICK And in regards to the ending || I wouldn’t call it as bad as you are making it|| yeah ||Expel comes back || but it also eliminates ||a whole race of people depending on your party make up||. It’s not like the exchange was without consequences like in some media

And all of Noel’s ||animals friends||

Anyways back to Celine

[blazing meteor]

Celine’s pixel art is also one of the better models

[fresh kelp]

Ah jeez why did I click

[blazing meteor]

Dude….

[fresh kelp]

Lmao it's fine

Actually ||claude's dad getting vaped|| kinda got to me

Idk just seems like they fumble a lot of the cool stuff they think they might want to do

And hey I get that

[blazing meteor]

Yeah

Idk what the development was like

Still a better twist than the next mainline game

[fresh kelp]

Every jrpg had to have a twist back then

Ahh... What a time

[blazing meteor]

https://tenor.com/view/i-did-not-see-that-one-coming-surprised-whoa-wow-plot-twist-gif-16845919

90’s gamers

[inner tendon]

Ain't no better fishing spot.

[blazing meteor]

Well guess people don’t like Celine

Precis appreciatation thread today

[strong hawk]

Precis is 16

[marsh wedge]

ENDING SPOILER I had Noel and Chisato, they could totally ||Adam and Eve their race back|| if they wanted to, lmao.

[blazing meteor]

Does appreciation thread have a different meaning than I think it does?

[strong hawk]

When you go from Celine to precis with very little segues

[blazing meteor]

Ah

[strong hawk]

But I agree their designs slap

And she's heaps of fun to have in the party

[blazing meteor]

Precis seems more popular than Celine so thought it would bring more discussion

But I guess the main discussion point is about how bad Leon is

[strong hawk]

Leon is a child savant and acts as such.

I wouldn't have brought him along if I didn't feel like || we are the only "family" he has left || cause he's abrasive.

As for him being a battle party member, its really funny a Symbol Science Prodigy learns to summon demons from beyond the pale as they advance in level.

[blazing meteor]

That animation is dope too

Precis’ skill ||forcefield|| helped a ton in post game since I decided not to go the bloody armor route

Also Precis’ dad when he and Claude are going back and forth ||trying to figure out how they got their technology || was funny

[strong hawk]

Bloody Armour?

[half coyote]

Some slight late game build spoilers || bloody armor is an armor that gives you invincibility, but constantly drains your health. You use it with a life steal weapon and you're basically invincible permanently||

[inner tendon]

Is ||life steal|| an extra effect any weapon can potentially have?

[half coyote]

I think only certain weapons have it. I didn't use it yet in my original playthrough (though I did on PSP a while back) so I don't remember

[soft thorn]

SHE GOT THE WHEELY SHOES

I NEED IT

[fresh kelp]

Dang how does that go with the many ||unwinnable battles||

Well k guess if you're doing 0 damage you're stealing 0 life

Rats

[half coyote]

I used Bloody Armor for the giant rock boss towards the end because it did too much damage

[fresh kelp]

I'm going to try that, thanks

[soft thorn]

got opera and wheely girl

girls squad 😎

[nova smelt]

Done! Final boss was hard, even in his weak form.

[inner tendon]

What level were you?

[nova smelt]

100

[blazing meteor]

Yeah was spamming resurrect and healing items on cd at level 120

[fresh kelp]

Uh oh

[serene jetty]

Levels won't really help you at the final boss.

[fresh kelp]

That sounds even worse

I'm relying on them helping me lol

[serene jetty]

Step 1. ||Godspeed||
Step 2. ||Helmetbreak and Mirrorblade||
Step 3. ||PRAY.||
Step 4. Success.

I used savestates because there's an unskippable cutscene before the fight … on PSP at least.

[ebon mural]

This is incredibly awkward with media from when you were a kid because you age but the characters don't

tfw I was barely older than Leon when I first played but now the "adult" characters are like kids to me

[strong hawk]

Oh shit I've made so many of them but haven't been able to find literally 1 life-steal weapon outside of "crits heal you" factors

[fresh kelp]

Yeah Celine doing 9999 damage with her spells aside Claude can really rack it up

Claude appreciation thread

Look at those tactical pockets

He can carry all his retro handhelds at once

[strong hawk]

100% I gotta keep remembering that Claude is "only" 19.

Like when Precis is going on about "Oh, so we are only 3 years apart!?".

Don't stand so close to me intensifies

[strong hawk]

Claude's dress sense is aesthetically coherent, functional and utilitarian. This man knows exactly what he's doing

[inner tendon]

Is he wearing a bulletproof vest?

[strong hawk]

"Tactical Apron"

[strong hawk]

Not once does anyone question the insignia on his waist jacket

[inner tendon]

What a glowup

[strong hawk]

For real, it's crazy how far artists can go with their interpretation of "Basic black tee from Kmart, white slacks and stampandglow kicks"

[inner tendon]

Ashton art compared:

My biggest regret is missing out on Opera.

[strong hawk]

Still bugs me that Weepy is Pink in the overworld spite but has been blue in the portrait art since inception

[inner tendon]

this is the only part in the game that made me lol

[strong hawk]

I think the option is a difficult one, and one that is not clearly telegraphed. I had no idea ||Opera|| even existed until it was too late

[blazing meteor]

It’s okay she has no idea you exist either

Three eyes only for ||Ernest||

[half coyote]

Some manipulation of affection levels later and that's easily changed

[blazing meteor]

Basically two books

[strong hawk]

"Lovely to meet you, new party member. First things first, let us exchange memoirs, that we have all written, as is the custom. This will stand in as genuine connection that we have built up across many adventures and hardships together"

[blazing meteor]

Alternatively

“Hey, here’s a short book about how great I am. Fall in line and hope we don’t gain enough friendship during this boss to alter our endings”

[inner tendon]

Is there a way to make people not be mad when I pickpocket?

I can't help myself.

[fresh kelp]

I didn't come up with this, but you should do it during private actions

Also I didn't know that's what books were for

I gotta get writing

As a Claude/dias shipper I think I have some work to do

[blazing meteor]

Yeah

It’s a cooking dish

Let me boot up the game and get the name

I think it’s ||meat + fruit || ingredients to make

[inner tendon]

I thought that would work and I still got people mad at me during PAs

[blazing meteor]

Master chef ||fruit||| plus ||meat||

[inner tendon]

oh hell yeah

my ingredients are just rotting in my inventory

[ebon mural]

Sadly it's worth remembering that this is a game from the 90s, so unless they fleshed some things out because you're allowed to just be gay now, I would expect endings to be pretty on the down low

[inner tendon]

What a wild 25 years

[fresh kelp]

Yeah I doubt I can expect much but why not mess with it anyway

[blazing meteor]

Damn we are old

[ebon mural]

Me shaking my cane at zoomers telling them that in my day Utena and Anthy weren't even allowed to kiss until the movie

That said I don't think I have any ships yet. That's one of the reasons I'd want to take my time with a game like this and am ambivalent about picking it up now; I'd kind of want to wander around and do my PAs and get character interactions for that kind of thing

[atomic dirge]

Hmm

[blazing meteor]

Only one ship in game

Late game spoiler ||and that one gets vaporized||

[still quarry]

I know this is fairly off topic but is getting star ocean first departure R for $6.30 in switch worth it?

[serene jetty]

I found it so boring I forgot everything after finishing it.

[solemn thorn]

Switch version adds almost nothing over the PSP version. Just play PSP

[still quarry]

Oh damn

[atomic dirge]

Ice cold takes

[night umbra]

I played and beat the Switch version and loved it.

New voice options, character portraits, and run button. That's basically the difference.

[serene jetty]

TBF a run button cuts hltb in half.

[signal ibex]

its worth $6 to be able to easily play on a tv

[night umbra]

That's what I did!

[inner tendon]

Not to mention the art for each character is way easier on the eyes for the switch version.

[inner tendon]

I'm presently at the "Field of Might", and I really want this to be over.

[burnt shoal]

for me the 4 fields didn't take too long, but going into Fun city and the end tower definitely dragged

[fresh kelp]

Soooo I'm playing on PPSSPP, I'm still in the game, but all my save states and all of my saves have been corrupted

Any recommendations besides beat it without dying?

[inner tendon]

How does this keep happening to you guys

[half coyote]

PPSSPP is a stable emulator, how are people breaking it

[inner tendon]

I don't have any advice, sorry bud

Beat it without dying

[fresh kelp]

I mean I haven't closed the app in a while

I'm gonna try changing the save directory I guess

It won't let me save or save state either btw

[half coyote]

Check storage for the save state files?

[inner tendon]

What device are you playing on

[fresh kelp]

Rp3+

Well apparently it was completely fine, I restarted the app and my saves and save states were good

Thank you for being here for me during this crisis 🥰

[inner tendon]

Are you near the end?

[fresh kelp]

Yeah I've finished the four fields and am about to ||commit war crimes||

[inner tendon]

I just got to ||the lea mines and that boss is kicking my ass.||

[fresh kelp]

Oh I went there but it's bad for grinding so I'm grinding elsewhere first

What level are you? I'm like 90 but this chat has me spooked

[inner tendon]

Around there

I think 94?

[stone ridge]

Guys do I still have a change to finish the story only (no side quest) before the end of the month, playing like 1 or 2 hours a day?

Maybe 3 or 4 hours on the weekend ahah

[half coyote]

Starting from today? 2 hours a day on average would do it

[fresh kelp]

Ooof I'm level 93. I agree with you this endgame is kinda dragging

[atomic dirge]

I beat it in two days on ppsspp

[fresh kelp]

I got distracted

[burnt shoal]

I would have committed a physical assault (probably towards @atomic dirge) if I had lost my saves at that point

I understand your worried state of mind

[fresh kelp]

The perils of RPGs for GOTM

[inner tendon]

Finally killed ||one of the wise men. Does this mean forced battle losses are done?||

[spice crag]

Yes.

[blazing meteor]

Time for **Indiana Jones ** Ernest discussion

He’s not bad but he’s held back by ||Opera||

[soft thorn]

on the contrary, ||opera|| is held back by him

[half coyote]

Triclops who cares more about running off to look at old buildings than staying with his girlfriend

[soft thorn]

who would leave ||opera|| for rubish

mans insane actually

[blazing meteor]

Hey like Indiana jones

[strong hawk]

Ernest passed me in the street, and I never thought about him again

[fresh kelp]

I tried to get him but I couldn't figure out how to

Too late now ||he's dead||

They did a good job with the sprites though I was definitely like "hey! He's got three eyes!"

[ebon mural]

No special interest shaming now

[half coyote]

Archeology is cool as hell

Less cool when your girlfriend has to fight her way across an entire planet to find you

[ebon mural]

That's fair. He should at least have the courtesy to not ghost her like that

[half coyote]

Heh, "ghost"

[ebon mural]

I mean I get it. Like the dude clearly does not understand or appreciate what he has and needs to communicate better with his girlfriend ||before she dumps him for some weirdo she met on an alien planet looking for him||

[foggy jewel]

"pears into peaches!!"

[unborn bear]

I like all the depth of Star Ocean's skill system, but I'm starting to wish that the game would demand you to engage with it. I'm heading into Ell and I'm starting to feel that my skill allocation won't really effect much going forward. I might be wrong on this, I just want my skill choices to feel like they have more effect on the main game/story, right now they're beginning to just feel like peripheral systems.

[unborn bear]

Claude's really a clod, probably my least favorite of the characters I have in my party, kinda tied with Welch for worst.

Ernest is pretty nothing to me. I like Rena, Celine, Precis, Opera, and Dias. They're all pretty much archetypes though, and Celine and Opera have a lot of overlap in the type of character they are

[blazing meteor]

Speaking of Welch

Look how they massacred ma girl

[fresh kelp]

I like Claude lol. He is indeed a bit of a clod but I think he matures a bit over the course of renas story. Plus he's got a real can-do attitude

Plus obviously he deals a ton of damage

[blazing meteor]

Yeah Claude is one of the better written characters (in a game of meh written characters)

Nobody is “horrible” just basic

Well except that one NPC

[fresh kelp]

The mayor? That guy bugs me

||"build this weapon"
"That's a war crime"
"You don't understand, there's no other way"|| SURE NEVER HEARD THAT ONE BEFORE BUDDY

[unborn bear]

Yeah, I'm not seeing much growth in Claude. He's also kind of the most annoying anime archetype to me. The Goku style protag is definitely more wrote, but it's better to me than pairing it with the hint of a Shinji that makes a protag insufferable to me. His "I'm competent and get results, but I'm gonna still whine about my GF having a close childhood friend and am sad about being in a foreign world" thing just annoys me

[strong hawk]

What the shit

DONE!

Celine and Precis || Just two girls about town, Celine gets called an old bitty, she's 24...||

Leon getting schooled by Chisato

Welch and Ashton || Confirmed ship!!! ||

RENA || HAVIN' A BABY || does suck to see Claude || is basically falling into the ways his father did before him ||

All in all, game was way too easy in the last 1/4 after it was broken in the menu's. But still love it. 8/10

[inner tendon]

ainda nao teriminei

[strong hawk]

Em que capítulo vai?

[serene jetty]

The heck is this. She's so cute in most titles.

[strong hawk]

DAYUM!

[atomic dirge]

https://tenor.com/view/thinking-odafin-tutuola-law-and-order-special-victims-unit-clueless-unsure-gif-23245169

[strong hawk]

Nah mang, just the design, love it, massive upgrade from the SO4 one

[blazing meteor]

Welch is like Anna from Fire Emblem series

Which I always find funny in games

[honest field]

Finally starting this out. At least I got the next week off so I have plenty of time to play.

[inner tendon]

I think I'm almost done. Unless the game pulls a fast one I have ||killed 7 of the wise men and entered a room with a bunch of door puzzles.||

[fresh kelp]

Hey we literally have the same vacation days

I'm either gonna finish this game or... Decide I don't want to and play Yakuza instead

That game is so good

[honest field]

I keep hearing such.

I'm going to stick with this. Played the first one back when it was gotm and been meaning to check this out ever since.

[fresh kelp]

I actually had this game when I was a kid, for some reason it just never struck a chord with me

[blazing meteor]

Maybe you never felt cool enough to wear a headband

[honest field]

Oh, so I'm not the Hero of Light? Glad that got sorted, now to find a way to return home...

[atomic dirge]

This

[fresh kelp]

Claude was too handsome, my self esteem shut it down

[blazing meteor]

?

[blazing meteor]

Nvm Ashton is more handsome

[fresh kelp]

Never heard of him

[blazing meteor]

That far out of your league huh

[fresh kelp]

Lol. Maybe. I feel like I missed a lot of stuff in this game

[blazing meteor]

There’s a lot to miss, especially in the first release

Remake added a lot of markers that help you find stuff

[inner tendon]

Holy moly I did it.

Was expecting ||multiple transformations||

Beat the game at level 104. My hint for the final boss: ||spam healing items||

[blazing meteor]

https://tenor.com/view/this-is-the-way-mandalorian-this-is-the-way-intensifies-gif-16048235

[burnt shoal]

It’s been a couple years for me but isn’t that how 1 ended?

Boss had 2-3 transformations from human to monster to godlike deity

[inner tendon]

I haven't finished the first. I just expected a kingdom hearts-like end boss.

I'll give the game this: ||bosses actually stay dead.||

Huge fan

[strong hawk]

Join us for blue sphere. @burnt shoal any chance for an invite you your Blue Sphere thread? It's invite only

[arctic talon]

I don't know if I can barrel into blue sphere immediately after this

glad I finally knocked that one out after so many years

[blazing meteor]

https://tenor.com/view/well-you-can-try-simon-hardwick-blood-and-treasure-you-may-try-you-can-give-it-a-go-gif-26852916

[fresh kelp]

Just got the LEA metal

I think I'm going to control Celine from now on so my healer is on auto

[ebon mural]

controlling a caster is a bold choice

[fresh kelp]

You think I should put everyone on auto then?

I'll try controlling Claude actually

[ebon mural]

Nah, if controlling Celine works for you, go for it

[fresh kelp]

I'm not sure what works for me. I haven't engaged much with this games systems. It's just been a grind fest for me so far

I really feel like this game was made for someone with more free time than I have

[ebon mural]

A lot of people here beat it in 20-25 hours

You're grinding, probably a lot more than the game needs

You want to rush the Practice and Enlightenment skills to make grinding go quicker, and only do it when you need to

And it's like, I get it. This game's skill system sort of invites you to take your time and fuck around with it, but it's apparently really unnecessary for most people

Once the month ends you could see about getting the remake version and putting it on the highest difficulty

But for now, just try to stop grinding so much and progress instead

[fresh kelp]

Yeah that's what I'm saying though. I feel like I haven't really taken advantage of what makes the game unique

I definitely should have played this, oh, 20 years ago

Anyway, yep, that's what I'm doing. Just beat ||three wise men||. They actually went down kind of easy, although I don't like ||Metstron's shield|| as a portent of what's coming

[ebon mural]

Just remember: your next skills should be getting Practice and Enlightenment if you haven't already. Those will make the grind way quicker should you encounter difficulty (just remember to turn Practice off for boss fights)

Perseverance should be the very first if you don't already have it maxed for everyone

[inner tendon]

My game said I beat it in 125 hours but it also didn't really sleep when I put my Odin to sleep.

[blazing meteor]

Well there goes the HLTB rating ^

[arctic jasper]

||His reaction to Ronyx’s death was a bit poorly written imo, he was super bubbly and cheerful and full of can-do attitude only a day later, but that’s my only gripe||

[arctic jasper]

I think the QoL features make this so much better, I started SO1R and the stuff they added in SO2R is sorely missing

[inner tendon]

The ending is ||kinda fucked up. Whole planet decides to unalive themselves? Little kiddies too? Probably the most utilitarian plot I've ever experienced.||

I think I would have preferred if ||everyone on Nede were like thousands of years old or even millions and not just atoning for sins of the father bullshit||

But the fact that I'm still thinking about it the next day means they did something right.

[strong hawk]

Shit even || Chisato and Noel barely care ||

[inner tendon]

Lol, ||Chisato was all, "shucks, I gotta stop being myself up over this. Time to move on with my life!" Where anyone in their right mind would probably need a couple years to process the annihilation of their species.||

[blazing meteor]

Maybe ||Nedeians and Expelians ||||Have super fast and effective griefing processes ||

22 completions so far!

[strong hawk]

Where are they!? The "RPG'S are too long for GotM!?" Hmm? HMMMMM!?

[inner tendon]

I think one long one is fine

If they were all 30+ I'd be dead

[blazing meteor]

This is the way

We get three so I like one of them to be longer

Otherwise I knock all three out early in the month

[night umbra]

Ive had Scouting on high with the Free formation basically since I got it, and might be way over leveled. Got to Linga with most of my party around 60

[tribal violet]

Is there a way to temporarily drain points from, or turn off, a skill? This absolute moron Claude ||keeps pushing these gorilla things into the switch thanks to his automatic use of Flip|| I just want to turn it off for one fight!

Answer: hitting Square on the active skills on the bottom portion of the Skills menus turns them off, apparently 👍

[strong hawk]

Nice work!

[soft thorn]

damn ||lucifer|| was ass

[inner tendon]

Does that mean he sucked or was difficult?

[soft thorn]

took me five tries

I forgot to turn off training lol

after that it was semi-cake

but I thought the fight was garbo

first boss to actually make me think a little and whatnot

[inner tendon]

Not that you mention it I had training turned on as well.

Forgot about that lol

[soft thorn]

I was more annoyed that I could not cancel his spells

made it feel like that stat is absolutely useless, that pissed me off a lot

[inner tendon]

I think I blocked a total of 20 times the entire game.

[soft thorn]

yeah so it's completly garbage, it doesn't even work againsta boss that ONLY casts spells

anyways, on to the next asshat

[soft thorn]

done

it was more mid than I expected

I was having such a fun time at the beggining :(

||gabriel is a bitch also, lucifer was way harder||

[ebon mural]

Celine's personal life ||I am torn between the reasonable part of me that says things like "you just met this fuckboy" and "I'm not your mom and you can do what you want," and the troll in me that's like "we can try to upset a royal wedding and potentially cause political instability in pursuit of your fleeting romantic desires let's gooooooo"||

[soft thorn]

I forgot about this questline lol

should have finished it

[ebon mural]

I haven't decided if I want to or not

It seems like the kind of thing that ||could lean to an alternate ending for Celine, and like, on the one hand that'd be cool, and on the other hand part of me wants intraparty focus||

[blazing meteor]

She’s a queen and will be treated as such, also ||can actually be a queen in an ending ||

[ebon mural]

me sabotaging Celine's future to avoid one of my characters ending up unpaired in real time

[strong hawk]

The shit? I did not get any of these options

[ebon mural]

What version are you playing?

I'm playing the remake, which marks all the PAs

[strong hawk]

Same, And I was pretty sure I did them all so they came up

[ebon mural]

Extremely useful, even if they feel more inorganic when you're zipping around via fast-travel to pick them all up as soon as they appear

Hmm.

[strong hawk]

As they*

Oh well, I'm happy with || Celine and Precis run amok||

She's always a queen in my eyes 🤩

[night umbra]

I zipped around ||to do Ashton's PAs and sub-story, and it was funny because a couple of times the dialogue treated it like he'd been around suffering for a while and I'm sitting here thinking "Fool, you just got those dragons like 10 minutes ago!".||

Also, ||Creepy and Weepy peak naming||

[ebon mural]

That is a bit of an issue with just being able to focus down the PAs, yeah. I feel like there was probably a bit of an intent that you'll sort of accidentally stumble upon them after doing something else in the interim

[night umbra]

Was fast travel a thing in the OG? Cause that would explain it pretty easily

[ebon mural]

It was not

Nor was PAs being marked so you can snap them up right off

[blazing meteor]

The PA thing is the best improvement

[atomic dirge]

yeah, PAs were obtuse in the original and the PSP one

[nimble swan]

Attempting to start SO2 today and finish it by the 31st

[half coyote]

4 hours a day

or a bit less

totally possible

[nimble swan]

Yeah I figured it was possible, not sure if I'll be able to commit enough time per day

The PSP version counts, yes?

[half coyote]

yup

[nimble swan]

Man this dialogue is slow. Gonna take 100 hours to get through it alone

[jovial forge]

I just made it to ||Eluria|| roughly how much longer until the end?

[inner tendon]

If you steamroll maybe 10-15 hours

[nimble swan]

What if I just made it to the port of Clik lol

[inner tendon]

The majority of the game still awaits you.

[blazing meteor]

What if I just ||beat the post game dungeon||?

[strong hawk]

You get my kisses

OK fuck it, my "kiss pitch" doesn't pick up on the microphone properly but just pretend

[blazing meteor]

I’ll cash it in once we finish blue sphere

[nimble swan]

The game seems cool, but I don't think I have time to finish it. I was finishing up DQ5 this month so I'm only now starting. I should probably save my sanity and just chill until April.

But I also have the personality of someone who thrives under deadlines (because I procrastinate until the last minute)

[strong hawk]

Lunar new year ruined my Odin 2 repair timeline so no DQ5, but glad I got to get this one done.

[strong hawk]

https://tenor.com/view/comedy-tiktok-tyler-goethe-god-personality-gif-17485360

[nimble swan]

Maybe but maybe I just don't like doin stuff that sucks (like work)

[strong hawk]

Always give the hardest job to the laziest person, they'll find the path of leat resistance to get it done

[blazing meteor]

Doesn’t work for group projects in university

[inner tendon]

You still got time

[strong hawk]

@blazing meteor wont ever forgive me if I don't get a wriggle on with Blue Sphere

[inner tendon]

Skipping right to the sequel? Are you outta your ||god damned|| mind?

[strong hawk]

While these characters are fresh baby! and I'm always keen to be one of the few westerners to finish obscure JP only RPG's

[leaden latch]

Anyone else get trapped in Field of Mighty? Beat the boss and got the orb but can’t find a way out…

What A Pain… found it…

[nimble swan]

Rise and grind only 5 days left

[ebon mural]

tfw you get a sign in the form of opening a goodie box and getting a broken precis weapon

also poor Claude, my Rena is just not giving him the time of day

his bromance with Dias is almost making me wish I kept Welch's slot open tho. almost

[signal ibex]

https://youtu.be/dysnVwbiJR4?si=k4bFuTR2NeTct8Py

Time to jump back in

[inner tendon]

Lol, the narrator sounds like my aunt who drinks and smokes way too much.

[golden pollen]

Yeah, that was definitely a strange choice for a voice for the trailer. But bad voice acting perfectly matches Star Ocean so

[unborn bear]

First half of this game was pretty great to me, all this Energy Nede/Four Fields/Ten Wisemen stuff is starting to make my eyes glaze over as a noun soup that I don't really care about

Skill system/mechanics still feels pretty intrinsically satisfying to me though

[blazing meteor]

Damn the new npc illustration

Makes me hate Allen even more

The ending playback

I grinded to fill out the chart was was sad you couldn’t replay it at all but now

[unborn bear]

Rena spoilers- ||her being from 700 million years ago made me laugh out loud, her sadness over it also doesn't really make sense compared to my experience with adopted friends||

[unborn bear]

This game is way hornier than I expected as well

[nimble swan]

Just finished Hoffman ruins, how far am I now?

[unborn bear]

Getting close to the halfway point roughly, I think? I still haven't finished yet, I'm pretty sure I'm approaching the final dungeon though.

But that's also probably because I spent a lot more time grinding early on the first continent and have been able to breeze past everything else

[nimble swan]

Lol I played so much today my eyes hurt

Thank God for emulator fast forward

If that's even a little close to halfway I think I can finish in time

[unborn bear]

Skipping the PA system and any crafting skills, you can probably grind it out fairly quick in the grand scheme, especially with fast forward

[strong hawk]

Oh God, they gave Mariana a portrait! And she's beautiful

[soft thorn]

nice updates damn

[ebon mural]

I am discovering the problem with my Ladies' Night playthrough

I have ended up with a crew full of straight chicks that mostly bitch about boys all day

[ebon mural]

also abusing Publication to manipulate character relationships actually manages to make me feel kind of dirty

like all the other ways I could break the game didn't, but this one particularly

[strong hawk]

Any Alphabet vibes at all?

[ebon mural]

Minimal at best

A few things that would require a lot of squinting to perceive as at all flirtatious, and also Welch ||remarking that she's fine with more pretty ladies joining when you invite Opera in, though Welch seemed pretty boy-crazy in her intro||

[strong hawk]

Welch just really likes aesthetics in general honestly

[blazing meteor]

Welch and Leon’s ending is literally ||her complaining that it’s taking him time to grow up and him promising her he’s worth the wait||

[inner tendon]

Imagine if they made it today 😉

[strong hawk]

Fuckin' cat bot growth rates, creepy as Welch, Jesus

[blazing meteor]

Micro transactions

SOA

[strong hawk]

Thought they would at least do the wink wink nudge nudge shit like they do with L'Arachel.

[ebon mural]

Thankfully even in JP they don't have to be wink wink nudge nudge anymore if they don't want to be. Ain't perfect but it's come a surprisingly long way in... for fuck's sake nearly 30 years

my skin is wrinkling and falling off my bones in real time

[strong hawk]

Together we can become a homunculus of the withered. "Back in my day we were used as punch-lines, you can't even begin to believe how good you got it"

[ebon mural]

sadly I already made the "back in my day Utena and Anthy couldn't even kiss until the movie" joke

[inner tendon]

I didn't get it then and I do not get it now.

[ebon mural]

Oh, Revolutionary Girl Utena. Anime back in the 90s about a girl who wants to be a prince and the girl she accidentally gets engaged to in the process (if you watched Witch From Mercury, it has a shitload of Utena DNA in it right from that first episode)

[inner tendon]

I have seen WFM

[ebon mural]

Right, it was very heavily influenced by Utena

Also The Tempest, hilariously enough

you could have an argument about whether it's more Utena or more Shakespeare in your Gundam

[inner tendon]

WFM is my first and so far technically last Gundam, simply because I've been too indecisive about which to watch. ||I don't remember if they ended up actually being a couple||

[ebon mural]

Anyway Utena was amazing. Someone dragged me aside over half a decade ago and made me watch it and I am grateful for that, because it kicks ass

one upside of being from the 90s was that anime was not yet obligated to titillate, so it could actually handle extremely sensitive subject matter appropriately, which it did

But yeah. Lead couple wasn't actually permitted to kiss until the movie

[inner tendon]

I can't believe we lived through such times.

[ebon mural]

indeed. and may we never live through such times again

[inner tendon]

https://tenor.com/view/leonardo-dicaprio-gif-21978827

[soft thorn]

gundam 00 is a banger

[strong hawk]

Gay girls, innit? 2023 was prime lesbian anime season

[soft thorn]

also bravern has some man action

shit is great

[night umbra]

Alright, ||planets have collided and I'm now on Nede||

Gotta power through the next couple of days.

[blazing meteor]

https://tenor.com/view/animated-milk-and-mocha-milk-bear-mocha-bear-cheering-gif-4392277470430342686

[strong hawk]

You're in the last 1/4 gettem, son!

[night umbra]

I like this one enough I'll definitely finish it. Starting to worry Cave Story isn't gonna happen though 😐

[inner tendon]

Weakling

[night umbra]

https://tenor.com/view/hey-im-trying-im-doing-my-best-im-making-an-effort-petter-boyle-gif-15083677

SO2 is already tops on my GOTY list though. Haven't gotten to some of the parts that people have said irritated them, but the remake is so damn good.

I find myself in awe of the work they put into this one, and then the update comes out. Unreal.

[inner tendon]

Nah I'm just playing. I think our trajectory for next month's Gotm is gonna be a challenge for me.

I'm praying one of the three is short.

[night umbra]

I waited until this month to tackle DQV, as well as finishing up DDS, so I put myself in crunch time. It'll happen, just may come down to the wire

[ebon mural]

It's looking like we're probably getting Way of the Samurai for the modern category

That's not guaranteed, obviously, but things seem to be settling in

[inner tendon]

I finished DQV the first week cause I had the flu.

Was wonderful/awful

[strong hawk]

Voting can swing wildly in the last couple days when people start to rescind votes and vote for games that are close to winning and that they'd rather play from the front runners, it's not over yet.

Regardless, stoked for what's on offer

[ebon mural]

fair, fair

[unborn bear]

Man, Lucifer is a joke compared to Michael and Hinael

[tender furnace]

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening was nominated for GotM in November 2022, but didn't win.

[unborn bear]

Alright, finished, it's probably a solid 7/10. Fun mechanics with a lot of depth, I do wish the game was more rigorous to require you to use its systems, they became just ancilliary to use if you enjoyed learning the system itself. I feel like I could've easily beat the game doing no PA's and just levelling combat and stat skills, though training and enlightenment are needed to make everything move along smoother. Story was ok, the overall plot was meh and very generic especially getting into the second half. It does have generally enjoyable and fun characters, if still archetypes. I still just really don't like Claude as a character, he annoyed me more than Welch. Won't play again, but have gotten through my first Star Ocean and could recommend it to people that enjoy this kind of game.

[nimble swan]

Does anyone know why I can't get Deadly Edge customization to work? I have an 8 in the skill, and I just keep getting dull blade when I try to customize it with mithril

[unborn bear]

The skill level never guarantees success, just raises your percentage chance. All crafting skills in this game have a pretty high chance of failure, most guides recommend saving before you try any crafting and loading your save if you don't succeed. It's kinda tedious and fickle

[nimble swan]

Yeah I was saving and trying, but I probably tried at least 20 times with no luck

Tried a lot before now too when my customization was at level 7. Just wondering if I'm missing some other stat

[unborn bear]

Most guides don't even say to try until you're level 10, most crafting specialties also have items you get that increase the chance by 10-20%

I'm not sure about Customization specifically, but also some traits add percentage chance to some specialties

[nimble swan]

I've been running ||Rena, Ernest, and Bowman|| in my party with ||Opera and Celine|| in reserve. I'm at ||Eluria|| now and was wondering if I should add ||Leon or not, since I don't use him that much||

Where I have to make the choice to bring him or leave him. I would appreciate opinions on it

[strong hawk]

|| Leon || is amazing for assault actions due to their wide range of multihit break AoE spells but otherwise I don't find them useful as a party member

[nimble swan]

I'm trying to run mostly melee so I think I'll leave em behind

When you get a full party can you dismiss people? I never use Celine

[strong hawk]

No sir, once you've made the decision (most are really obvious) you've got a friend for life

You can use the others in assault actions though

[nimble swan]

So do you think I should take Leon? I don't know who else is left to get but that would mean only one slot left. I've never played before and I'm trying to grind through it to get the GOTX point.

[unborn bear]

Yeah melee tends to be better, especially in the end dungeon, I've heard that ||Opera|| kind of considered uber-tier for melee focused parties because of the special arts that she gets

there are two more characters after him

[nimble swan]

Ok then I'll probably leave him, he's annoying anyway lol

[strong hawk]

You've only got || 2 more potential recruits || one is Gunkata focused, the other is a healer

[nimble swan]

Thanks to both of you for your input!

[strong hawk]

Definitely gonna have to leave ||Ashton|| behind next play through, I need to experience Opera

[nimble swan]

I didn't even encounter them in mine, I'm following a guide and got the 2fer. I like Opera

[unborn bear]

I actually liked her character a fair amount as well

[oblique seal]

There has been a bunch of updates to the remake, recently

[strong hawk]

I saw the video! What a crazy time to be playing it lol

[strong hawk]

A lot of it being || 10 wise men focused || is a bit disappointing, found them to be the least compelling part of the whole game honestly lol

To me it's the "Mariana portrait update" 💜

[unborn bear]

They were deffo a Zemis/Zeromis-esque reveal situation, but that's kind of the default for most JRPGs it seems

[strong hawk]

That everything was the musings of || Ten Giga-Incels introduced at the 11th Hour || does not a compelling villain make

[strong hawk]

This 100%.

Yu-Yevan, Necron.

At least with Exdeath, there is no ambiguity, just a || TREE THAT HATED EXISTENCE IN ITS ENTIRETY||

Oh shit! That reminds me I have like 3 patches worth of MSQ on XIV I need to do soon

[unborn bear]

XIV is really good even with the little I've played, but it's hard for me to keep interested in MMOs

[soft thorn]

so happy they added more portraits, that is the best part for sure

||10 wise man as assault actions is fun too tho||

[soft thorn]

real toku problem ||introducing a villain with 5 episodes left in the series||

[strong hawk]

It's up there as one of the best Final Fantasies, even ignoring everything MMO focused, with everything culminating in gut punches, call backs and just absolutely incredible music headed by Soken.

Fuckin' masterpiece.

[strong hawk]

Darling in the Franxx intensifies

[soft thorn]

only trigger anime I haven't watched

it was fun for like, 2-3 eps

[strong hawk]

It's awesome up to episode 13. It does "Trigger things" but not handled well like in Kill la Kill and TTGL

[soft thorn]

trigger always gonna trigger, but this one while it has trigger in the credits it actually has a much bigger hand by A1 Pictures, prob that is why I disliked it

KlK and TTGL are peak, no comparing mid to peak

[honest field]

Just arrived to ||Nede||. Probably little under half a game left? I feel confident I can smash this done in time.

[strong hawk]

About 1/4 left b. There's a lot of arbitrary "oh we can't fight the big bad just yet!"

You got this

[nimble swan]

Lol I've used so many Skill Points trying to customize the sword that I have almost none in actual combat skills

[strong hawk]

Pro tip || Get orchestra || you might not be inspired enough

[honest field]

Funny thing, I've had the talents for orchestra for the longest time already, but haven't been able to use it until now since I haven't found any god damn instruments.

[soft thorn]

just visit the shops

instruments are unique items

so you only gotta get one of each once

[honest field]

Yeah, I found more now in the store. Just for the life of me couldn't find any before.

[strong hawk]

https://tenor.com/view/aunty-donna-zach-zach-ruane-everythings-a-drum-aunty-donnas-big-ol-house-of-fun-gif-21576112

[inner tendon]

My bum is also a drum

[strong hawk]

When you came to me... 15 years ago... you told me EVERYTHING is a drum...

God I love that skit so much.

Everything is a drum, Stray man and Piss Test are all so good

[inner tendon]

Bikey wars will always be my number 1

[strong hawk]

Livin' in my crack den, makin' crack 🎶

Truly a poet of our time.

[inner tendon]

My favorite anecdote about that song is that Tim Minchin helped