Threads of Fate

[full rock]

Discussion for Threads of Fate!

[lone shale]

thanks for putting me in a starring role even tho i've been in this server for less than a week

[full rock]

You can't stop me from playing Rue's story instead during FeProtagFeb.

[lone shale]

LOL very fair

[meager glen]

haha Rue's is good.

[deep bolt]

starting here for sure

anybody know if this game requires analog input?

would love to play this on my new 35xxsp

[lone shale]

nope and from what i remember dpad can be preferred for some more precise jumps so you're good

[meager glen]

Yeah, might not control quite as well overall but for sure the dpad could come in handy for some platforming bits.

I do like Rue's story better but I'm playing Mint for the gotm theme.

[sinful sedge]

I’m gonna play Mint. then if i like the game enough, i’ll circle back around soon and do Rue

[frail tendon]

So very excited to play this one, even if it's not very fun the dialogue looks extremely entertaining

https://tenor.com/view/dewprism-threads-of-fate-square-enix-gif-2860222316425810091

[stone valley]

Mask off Authoritarianism. We knew we would get here, but not like this.

Red Pilled Rapid confirmed

[meager glen]

Both storylines have some great humor but Mint is probably best for that side of things.

[full rock]

I am so nervous this is going to be another Brave Fencer Musashi.

[stone valley]

I think ToF is much more favourably viewed in history.

[meager glen]

they have been compared XD

[stone valley]

Shows up in a lot of Top 10 PSX games lists.

Meanwhile

Musashi

https://tenor.com/view/what-huh-confused-john-travolta-gif-16946746

[full rock]

I did want to play this one, however I was more interested in some sort of Jurassic emergency

a reptile situation

[stone valley]

A cretaceous evacuation?

[full rock]

Or something like that, yeah.

[stone valley]

Regina will get her time.

Likely when Tron does

(Lose hope, now.)

[stuck locust]

Totally playing this one on my brick

Kinda stoked

[frail tendon]

Surely not, that game was not good

I'm starting with this one

[full rock]

Yeah, I'm just worried about this era of Square ARPGs after that trainwreck.

[meager glen]

I know there will be some frustration with the early 3D platforming bits but overall I'll be really surprised if it's an overall negative response.

[frail tendon]

That's fair, but again Mint's dialogue should carry

I don't remember if it was Roofpooper of Nihilspire, but someone played through it for backlog and the dialogue was great

[full rock]

I have always been interested in this one and I adore the art style. Just finished the manual, didn't have anything of serious value in it. Getting ready to hop in!

[sinful sedge]

i’m sorry, but “roofpooper”?

[meager glen]

lol they're a member

but that typo is great. "Roofpooper of Nihlspire" sounds like one hell of a title.

[graceful tapir]

Is this the Threads of Fate thread for discussing Threads of Fate?

[frail tendon]

Name a game with a more misleading first level

[graceful tapir]

Call a doctor if that lasts more than 4 hours.

[meager glen]

the first 20 minutes is such a drastically different vibe between the two characters.

[frail tendon]

Not correcting, this is great

[meager glen]

lmao works too well

[frail tendon]

The worst family name in medieval times

[fast pier]

Same!

[stuck dirge]

Starting this now!!!

[edgy osprey]

Starting with this one, since my device is rg35xx h, not sure the other 2 will runs good

[stuck dirge]

same here

firing it up now

[meager glen]

Sounds like it's cool to play either character. Rue's story is a little more serious and Mint's is a bit silly. Both still have some funny dialogue. Rue turns into monsters and Mint has a spell mixing system.

They're both pretty different so might be worth it to some to try thr first 20 or so minutes with both.

[frail tendon]

It's female protagonist month, Mint or bust

[grizzled grove]

You kinda got screwed so I ain't about to call you out for it

but yes, I am looking forward to getting Minty fresh

...that sounds kind of dirty somehow

[eager crow]

I mean. ||Rue's ending is more tied to the true ending anyway|| <-- Small Ending spoiler.

[sinful sedge]

looks comfy

[stuck dirge]

Ok first boss little hard lol

[meager glen]

Had to take some of his charge/ram attacks or whatever but biggest thing is avoid the jump and punish it as much as possible.

[copper cairn]

Finally this is off the list for good.

[stuck dirge]

Same

I’m playing as mint so

I know it’s easier with the other guy

Well mint better with magic

[frail tendon]

Mint has more fun dialogue as well

[cedar shore]

Alright. Its been a long time since I played this game

But Mushashi has some WEIRDNESS

Like weird town sim with management shit. Not well done IIRC

[stone valley]

what a trust worthy looking guy

[copper cairn]

Major L

Mint has zero respect.

If Mint was smart she just jump on that pumpkin like Mario would of

Walmart greeter in this game

I would drink also if I had that job

Names are for ||disgusting people?|| what a religion

I hope I have pain killers also.

[stone valley]

Major, I was surprised and shook.

[stone valley]

We are all meaningless under god

[stone valley]

Great motivation for adventure, avoid the squash future

[copper cairn]

Beat the horse dog. Love fighting a enemy you can hardly see on screen

This guy is SUS as hell. He ||twisted his ankle? But made up 3345 steps|| doubtful

Mint is the ||definition of privileged by class|| not taking her education seriously

[copper wraith]

Can't believe this won. 7th time's the charm I guess

[copper cairn]

You been in || the forest for 5 days. Now we are worried about the sun going down?||

[grizzled grove]

"world domination, baby"

[deep bolt]

Played the first hour, and the vibes of this game are fantastic.

[edgy osprey]

Okay lets do this

[copper cairn]

Underground done. Didn’t like the running parts or maze. Glad that’s done

[stone valley]

ah whattaya know

[stone valley]

Poison floor area took me a bit, didn't want to leave without melting ALL the Ice.

[stone valley]

This moment is sold short.

"Yes, this is Mint, I'll never forget that day, 1 year ago..." [begins fading to flash back]

Mint: Nah, fuck that noise, c@

[unborn fox]

The underground ruins suck

[grizzled grove]

idk about anyone else but the older I get the more I think world domination doesn't sound so bad

[naive cradle]

Starting with this one first. Not sure if I’m going to play rayearth.

Playing as rue and made it to underground ruins.

So far enjoyable story. The combat and switching mechanisms takes a bit getting used to with the fixed camera

[naive cradle]

Underground ruins is like an endless maze of the same rooms 🙈

[naive cradle]

I don’t like grinding for MP to burn ice blocks 🙈😭

[edgy osprey]

Wtf, i played for 2 hrs, turn of my device to take a break, then i just turn it on now, boot PS logo

My device not auto save and load, after updated to AW Banana MuOS

[grizzled grove]

what in the shit is going on with these ruins

This is a goddamn mess

[naive cradle]

Just past 3 hr mark and completed underground ruins. That wasn’t enjoyable. Hope it’s not the standard for the rest of the game

[stone valley]

the fight with ||Belle|| was a fucking nightmare of camera shenanigans

[meager glen]

Best boi

[heady fox]

Discussion in here is bumping. Can’t wait to play it after Rayearth

[frail tendon]

I'm excited to start this one this weekend!

[meager glen]

For anyone who didn't talk to the person who kind of explains gameplay... Your max MP increases as you cast so cast as much as possible. Your max HP builds as you take hits so sometimes works well to take some hits and then kill things for potion drops to build back up.

[copper cairn]

I am at this part ||https://youtu.be/TAqZb52sgpU?si=6l0EMrakjSFopCgl||

[copper cairn]

Very FF3 of them

Mel’s report is FAFO. Thanks Mel

Claus finally ||calls out Mint for being a little shithead||

Note: Don’t ||attack the Gamuls|| thanks Claus.

Should I keep attacking Rod between story beats?

[copper cairn]

Mint, ||”looks behind you!”|| Belle ||not falling for that!|| now you’re Johan

Gamula forest done. Man was that another maze.

[meager glen]

Tbf the "maze" in the underground ruins takes all of 5 minutes.

Went through it a second time for an extra goodie.

[stuck dirge]

Games pretty short huh?

im on the maze

[frail tendon]

HLTB has it listed at 14 hours

I just started, off to the forest

[stuck dirge]

yea sounds good

[copper cairn]

Raging mountain done.

[copper cairn]

If you know where to go it’s fast. If keep going the wrong way it’s not. Replaying it is super short:

[meager glen]

understanding how the repeating areas work helps I guess but I feel like it's lost woods lite.

[sinful sedge]

man, this game is GORGEOUS

maybe the Odin Portal is doing extra work here, but this is one very pretty video game

beat the tutorial boss. I’m liking this a lot!

[frail tendon]

It looks great on the DMG as well, just got through the Underground Ruins myself

[copper cairn]

Lake Ruins here I come. I think I am about halfway?

[copper cairn]

That was a lot of story. Game is almost on the level of an VN. Going back, back, back to the underground. Well stopping there for now.

[copper cairn]

Made it to the tower.

[cedar shore]

Sooooo I might ping pong between this and rayearth

But

Device with stick

Or no stick

I know its not required but is it helpful

[meager glen]

I've been switching to dpad for some of the platforming bits and it's definitely playable that way but stick is a bit better all around imo

[grizzled grove]

Maybe if you're using a map

Without it, it feels kind of Guide Dang It to look through for items as opposed to just ||following the sound of water||

The design in this game really needs accessibility options for people who have hearing problems tho, like holy shit

[meager glen]

maybe I got lucky but the first time through couldn't have taken longer than 10 minutes and I'm not using a map or guide and while I have played through this before it's been years.

like 10+

[grizzled grove]

Yeah there's a trick to just getting through it, but looking for side stuff in it would be a nightmare without a guide

[meager glen]

and 10 minutes being the maze part. The whole dungeon took longer.

really felt like lost woods to me but a bit more simple imo.

[grizzled grove]

Also wow this game has a really magic-focused design compared to a lot of ARPGs. It feels like Mint's physical attack is really only there to recharge MP if you run out

[meager glen]

She's the mage. Rue is more for physical attacks.

and fun monster shenanigans.

[grizzled grove]

Yeah I know

She has a very villain protagonist personality so far

[meager glen]

maaaaybe

[copper cairn]

I think I would like to play as Rue more. Maybe I will have another play through later. I think I am almost done

[meager glen]

I know you wanted to murder some dinos but has Threads been halfway decent? I do like Rue better myself but I do still enjoy Mint.

[copper cairn]

Story is good. Kind long winded in parts. VA would be an improvement for longer dialog parts.

[grizzled grove]

I appreciate Mint having a bombastic personality but damn you not a good person Mint

[copper cairn]

I am happy with this game. I just wanted a game break up the month a little.

[copper cairn]

Next mission ||get nee McGuffins||

[lone shale]

Hey rude (sorry I'll try not to make too many jokes like this lmao)

[copper cairn]

Rod and Duke you big dummies

Ok, ||orals acquired. Those missions weren’t too bad.|| I think I am in the final dungeon.

[stone valley]

Hearing impaired people didn't exist in 1999. It's a new phenomenon

[edgy osprey]

For PS1 games, this shadow is really cool

[copper cairn]

That second ||Psycho boss fight is hell||

[frail tendon]

Alright, just finished ||riding the Pinto||, gonna call it here for the night. Really enjoying this one so far!

[grizzled grove]

Damn Rod is tough

Is there a good early game strategy against him?

[copper cairn]

Use the fire in the middle to block his movement and lay into him. I think these later bosses are worse

[grizzled grove]

I don't have fire yet sadly

[copper cairn]

The objects in the middle of the battle aka the fire

[grizzled grove]

Oh my bad

[copper cairn]

No worries. I forgot you get fire magic

[grizzled grove]

Oh I forgot to sell my loot and grab gear on this save. That'd do it

There, finally won. Gear and droplets helped

Damn he gets tougher every time

[copper cairn]

I am finished great game for a couple quick hours here and there. HLTB blind was 11 hours

[willow skiff]

#1102540458627956796 message

I played through it last year when it was runner up. Took lots of pictures and memes so if you get stuck maybe we talked about it back then

[naive cradle]

Unable to get to third chimera cos I can’t jump over the wall!! So now stuck. Apparently need an ootang. Frustrated

[naive cradle]

Had to restart ghost temple as I needed to backtrack to get ootang in forest. But now I can’t turn into it. I’m so confused. Frustrating game

[naive cradle]

Apparently you can’t switch monster coins and it shows only the latest four coins. What kind of mechanic is that. How am I supposed to get over this wall 😂

[stuck locust]

I probably played the demo a dozen times, remembered that area pretty well even after all this time. It's cool to actually experience the game for real.

Finally saw ||Rue without his hat. Wonder how he and giant hand man are connected?||

Predictions: ||Rue is a some kind of demon doll, leftover from the Aeons. Everyone with white hair is a doll. Fancy Mel is Elroy or was one of his apprentices.||

[naive cradle]

Finally made it past the wall by restarting the ghost temple and not picking up any other monster coins other than skeleton and zombie/solider so than ootang can stay as a selectable coin. A very sucky gameplay mechanic. I probably lost 90 mins trying to figure this out. How did others not run into the same issue? When looking online there’s some old neoseeker forum posts complaining about this exact gaming mechanic

[heady fox]

I fired this up last night to try and Mint is very annoying so far. Hopefully she improves a bit

[cedar shore]

Yeah mercurial

I remember hearing that a few times

That the coins can SCREW you if you don't know what you need

Mint doesn't have that problem tho

And it IS female protagonist February

[meager glen]

Don't remember that with Rue but it's been years and it's possible I just got lucky and had the right coins.

[snow tartan]

I'm role playing a complete John Wick style revenge

My sister, my grandpa, and weird doll master guy will all die by my hand

Or rings I guess

[heady fox]

Time to reevaluate my playthrough now and make my own dialogue then

[grizzled grove]

world domination so you can get back at your bitch of a sister

[frail tendon]

Mint kinda sucks as a person, but her dialogue is funny and a nice change of pace from your usual try-hard stoic protags.

looks at Rue boringly

[open crypt]

Just started this yesterday. Beat up the horse was as far as I got.

Planning to do Rayearth first though. Was just struggling to get it running.

[copper cairn]

I have for see if my bios is correct for Rayearth didn’t want to mess with for now so I played Threads

[sinful sedge]

can i sell the moon stones from the atelier?

speaking of that, are there item descriptions anywhere?

[copper cairn]

Yes you can.

If you talk to the guy by the water fountain in the middle of town he describes most of them. There isn’t much to the items.

[sinful sedge]

fantastic, thanks!

[sinful sedge]

alright so this ice in the underground ruins. do i need to just grind up until i have enough MP to melt all three blocks?

[meager glen]

Yep, but it's not needed to progress. Just some extras

[willow skiff]

If it’s the long passage way you don’t have to grind right away. You can come back later. All it gives you is ||a spell modifier ||

Takes 101 MP points

[meager glen]

I ended up grinding to 110ish right there.

[sinful sedge]

i went from 90mp to 115mp pretty easy by shooting white magic at the ant a few rooms away

this game is really fun. i’m enjoying it a lot.

[stuck locust]

Am I stupid? Is there no good way to avoid damage other than jumping?

[pale hedge]

I am enjoying this game overall, but I just finished the Gamul forest maze and I feel like this game really wants me to hate it.

[pale hedge]

Mint is great.

[meager glen]

love all the excellently timed kicks.

[willow skiff]

I really didn’t like Mint’s character at first

But it gives a lot of room for character development throughout the story

[sinful sedge]

alright, underground ruins question ||how do you escape the dragon on the stairs? i can’t seem to dodge the spike balls, or damage them at all||

a video i’ve found shows her outrunning the thing no problem. is there a sprint button?

okay, the trick seems to be ||running along the inside of the stairs, then move to the outside to dodge the spike balls||

[meager glen]

I stayed on the inside and was still able to dodge the spike balls for the most part.

And hugging the inside is a huge difference.

[sinful sedge]

these platforming minigames at Mel’s are awful, my goodness. thank the stars for save states

[eager crow]

I guess it's time to start in on a fateful thread

[copper cairn]

If you get the timing down it’s not that bad.

[frail tendon]

This was Luke in Tales of the Abyss. Insufferable shit to start with, but his character growth throughout the story was excellent. I'd rather play someone with flaws that grows than a mute/amnesiac/stoic MC personally.

[copper cairn]

She is still ||very one note and stays that way most of the game. Even at the end when she told that everything happing is her fault. She does not grow at all. She never has the Taylor moment of it’s me, I am the problem. || basic

[frail tendon]

Still more entertaining

[eager crow]

Well, started Threads, ||beat a giant horse to death||

[sinful sedge]

You know, as you do

[grizzled grove]

I did them on my CubeXX without runahead and yeah, the responsiveness was not great

[high marsh]

I’m not loving any of the running portions. Running up this staircase is so annoying

Annnd I beat it on my first attempt after posting that complaint 🙃

[copper cairn]

It’s the rule of gotx. Post about something you can’t get through then beat it the next try. It’s just how it works

[pale hedge]

HLTB is 13 hours and at least half of that must be dialog...

[stuck locust]

The area with the falling, spikey, balls?

I feel like this game needed some voice acting

It's 80 percent the way to a really good game

The story is intriguing and so far all of the reveals I feel were well telegraphed.

Combat could be a little more interesting.

Turning into different monsters is neat, I wish I could bookmark a couple.

[high marsh]

That’s the one! Was also getting dunked on by the Indiana Jones boulder earlier

[eager crow]

"You have a new magic"

shotguns ||skeleton rex|| boss anyway

[eager crow]

Ngl, I just. Don't like the platforming at all.

Never have

[stuck locust]

Anytime my tippy toes overlap the edge of the platform and I still skid to my death I clench my fist in rage.

[copper cairn]

The time platforming parts are the worse. If you take too long you can't get your HP back.

[copper cairn]

You're not using Mint?

[stuck locust]

I will for playthrough 2

I had yesterday off and spent half of it in front of a fire on my trimui brick

Was rad

[eager crow]

I did the one in the underground, where you have to hit the blinking ones in order. Splish Splash I'm reminded why i had mixed feelings about ToF.

Cause i had that moment during voting where i was like, maybe im misremembering how the platforming was?

[copper cairn]

The ones I am talking about are in the last part of the game. There is another part where the witches shoot pumpkins at you while trying to cross a huge gap. I think that was the worse platforming in the game.

[eager crow]

[eager crow]

I had forgotten about that until now. Sigh

I also forgot the other thing I always dislike about rpgs like this, not being able to just save it wherever. Yes I can savestate. But i also like hard saving.

But that's not something unique to ToF

[stuck locust]

Is it the witch turret enemy?

I'm not sure how close I am to the end but I transformed into that one and was like a 6'5 berserker in a mosh pit as the enemies died by my hands, wave after wave.

[copper cairn]

You are playing a different game. I think it's different with Rue.

[stuck locust]

Oh true, I do know some of the areas are different.

(And obviously mint can't tranform) can she block?

[pure bolt]

This games kinda funny

[cedar shore]

I'm actually saving this one for last because, I wanted to play this non GotM

I am excite. I hope my nostalgia doesn't totally blind me though and I finally finish it, and go "that sucked" lmao

[frail tendon]

Done with the treetop level ||and got the earrings. Having to go back to the start by design every time was annoying||

[eager crow]

https://tenor.com/view/light-too-bright-too-early-look-away-cover-eyes-gif-17129652

[eager crow]

Unless you're a lot more hypercritical, I think the absolute worse you come out with is "that was ok"

[cedar shore]

Well I was really let down by Tail Concerto but again I have no nostalgia for that game

I did mostly enjoy Megaman Legends. Thats another one I never beat as a kid but played a good bit

[eager crow]

Just remind yourself its a ps1 one game when you hit the jank platforming segments, and you'll be fine.

[cedar shore]

I mean who doesn't love a little jank

[stuck locust]

What a great film

I expect all the platforming sections of psx rpgs games to suck.

Xenogears, musashi... threads of fate

[eager crow]

Entirely fair.

[copper cairn]

I wouldn't call this game an RPG. VN action platformer would be more accurate.

[stuck locust]

Close enough

[sinful sedge]

i’m about to start chapter 2, and I’d hardly call it a VN. you’re saying the amount of dialog increases dramatically later on?

[stuck locust]

I would not call it a VN by any stretch lol

There's dialogue

[copper cairn]

Yeah. After the mountain there is so much.

[copper cairn]

more than half the game is dialog. then again you playing a different version of the game. outside looking in

[stuck locust]

That doesn't make it a VN you goober

I have spent at least half of my playtime smashing pumpkins

[copper cairn]

Just jump over them. I don't think you get the boss wiht the pumpkins that always respond.

[stuck locust]

I do it for the money.

Each pumpkin smashed is a penny in my pocket.

[frail tendon]

https://tenor.com/view/honest-word-its-honest-work-it-aint-much-it-aint-much-but-its-honest-work-gif-13763573

[unborn fox]

I’m trying so hard to enjoy this but the bitterness from dino crisis losing makes every issue this game has feel 10x worse than it probably actually is lol

[stuck locust]

Amigo, we can still play dino crisis

I already have it loaded on my sd

[unborn fox]

We… we can?🥺

It was so close

[stuck locust]

Of course!

Seize your destiny

[unborn fox]

You’re right! I’m gonna do it! I will kevin dino crisis and no one can stop me

[stuck locust]

https://tenor.com/view/brotherhood-gif-22994469

See you in 6 and a half hours

[eager crow]

Trust, I'm disappointed as well, but we will have our Dino Day.

Just vibe, play, and hang out.

[unborn fox]

That’s the spirit

[copper cairn]

I will be there later this month in #1102540458627956796

[snow tartan]

Dino Midris is more like it

https://tenor.com/view/i-can-do-better-chris-cantada-chris-cantada-force-i-can-perform-better-im-up-to-the-challenge-gif-14207746137579839801

[orchid acorn]

Starting on this today, seems interesting so far

[sinful sedge]

i don’t fully understand how selling monsters works. it seems to sell all of the monsters i have at once, no matter which monster i select to sell.

and there’s no indication of how much each monster is worth. it’s a total guessing game.

[pure bolt]

https://tenor.com/view/you-take-that-back-take-that-back-take-it-back-gif-26506942

[pure bolt]

You can sell monsters?

[sinful sedge]

yeah. defeating monsters adds them to your, uhh, “monster inventory”. it’s viewable on the pause screen, and in shops.

it seems like the most efficient way (maybe the only real way besides selling items or beating Rod) to earn money, at least early game. I don’t know if a better method shows up later.

[stuck dirge]

Idk if I just suck. But this game is hard for me lol

I sick at the jumping

[heady fox]

Okay, this game looks good and is charming so far

[vagrant trellis]

I spent about 45 minutes in the first dungeon grinding spider kills and now I have more money than I think the game expected. Really unsure of the system myself.

[willow skiff]

Later in game you can buy stat boosters as a gold sink

[unborn fox]

Threads of Fate more like Head of Ache

[copper cairn]

Remember that you get HP stats from being hit. Magic from using magic.

[unborn fox]

How are you supposed to make this jump

[naive cradle]

Wait for the big ball to regen and then jump on it

And then use it to jump the gap

[copper cairn]

the big ball right before don't kill the guy on top

[unborn fox]

Ahh I see, thanks

[eager crow]

I just finished the Mel stuff too and saved lil homie.

There's the terrible platforming i remember.

[arctic plover]

Is there any repercussions for selling items and monsters? It doesn't seem like I can use them for anything, at least right now.

[unborn fox]

I think the guy in the town square said that their only use is selling but I might be wrong

[arctic plover]

That's what I get for not talking to the NPC. Thanks!

[meager glen]

there are a couple of items that you can give to certain people for some extras but it's nothing major.

[arctic plover]

Overall I'm enjoying this one. Seems like I'm getting stun locked pretty often in combat, but other than that it's pretty fun

[eager crow]

Getting hit to raise your max hp will forever be a terrible mechanic

[arctic plover]

If we had some consumable items to offset the amount of damage you take, it would help a lot in my book.

[mossy ibex]

red potions for mp and blue potions for hp is messing with me

[eager crow]

https://tenor.com/view/anime-girl-panicking-scared-screaming-gif-18964383

[unborn fox]

The combat in this really could’ve used a targeting system

[unborn fox]

Any tips for beating Rod?

[stuck dirge]

I’m definitely getting a better grasp on the game now so when you go back to the town, you just sell everything?

[stuck dirge]

Omg I love this

[stuck dirge]

Listen to the song jump around

I’m really bad at any game that involves jumping. I’ve really realize this I could do it in Castlevania, but I really suck at the rest.

[sinful sedge]

https://tenor.com/view/thank-you-bow-gif-20658004

Oh, a minecart switch maze? yeah no, i’m using a guide for this

[orchid acorn]

Should I bother with trying to get 500 points for that whackamole game?

[sinful sedge]

you get a silver coin, which lets you start a battle over again with 50% of your MP when you lose a fight

[hallow fern]

Just started this up, I love playing as a cocky asshole protagonist, always a fun change of pace

[arctic plover]

Any advice? It's night time, and I can't seem to go anywhere. Already ||talked with rod||, but can't figure out what I'm supposed to do next.

[meager glen]

Go to your room

Where you save.

https://tenor.com/view/leave-parenting-go-away-get-out-dislike-gif-17659629479031748508

[copper cairn]

https://tenor.com/view/sleep-time-gif-25989084

[arctic plover]

I should have known. Lol

[mossy ibex]

someone mentioned this but how do I get through the ice blocks if I don't have enough MP?

just farm the spider or something?

[willow skiff]

Yeah

You need 101 MP to burn through so just grind

[eager crow]

You need about 112 mp

[willow skiff]

But it only gets you a ||spell modifier|| so you can come back later

[willow skiff]

Skill issue. I did it in 101

[mossy ibex]

wait so I don't have to go down that way?

then what I do I have to do? am I done with this place then?

[willow skiff]

For the long hallway with the ice locks that goes to the right yeah it’s optional

[eager crow]

ok

[willow skiff]

https://tenor.com/view/monty-python-gif-3417091

[willow skiff]

You forgot cool story bro

[eager crow]

I mean if you did it you did it. I wouldn't diminish it I know I tried it at every break point from 100 to 112 and it took me until 112 to get through it.

[willow skiff]

Ah maybe I came off as aggressive?

[mossy ibex]

so there's no boss fight here? I just collect all the doodads and then leave?

[eager crow]

Wait, unless you mean the first cube? I'm thinking of the entire hallway.

To get through the first cube to just get the stone you only need like, 30 mp, the entire hallway to get to the treasure room took me 112.

[willow skiff]

#1102540458627956796 message

Spoiler as to what the item is

[eager crow]

Oh nice.

[willow skiff]

But you can see my mp meter there

[eager crow]

Yea, it took me to 112.

[copper cairn]

You can or come back later

[mossy ibex]

yeah just wondering if this is it or am I missing something?

[sinful sedge]

you’re good, you aren’t missing anything

[eager crow]

You aren't missing anything no.

[mossy ibex]

do I... just go back to town? I was waiting for something to trigger

[willow skiff]

Those will form a staircase

[mossy ibex]

ok I did it the neoshine way. couldn't figure out the jack way.

I am embarrassed to ask but how do they form a staircase? do I need to jump on them in a specific order? I feel like playing this game in 10 minute increments has not done me any favors.

[willow skiff]

I can’t remember

But I remember being stuck there

[eager crow]

||Jump on them CW from the right||

If you want the answer.

[mossy ibex]

oh god pepsiman

[eager crow]

https://tenor.com/view/pepsiman-pepsi-running-video-games-gaming-gif-17512109

You mean peak ps1 gaming?

[sinful sedge]

we played it last year. it sucked

[willow skiff]

The fmv was the best part

[stuck dirge]

i cant figure out how to get it fully wide screen

in retroarch?

[arctic plover]

I'm using Duckstation!

[stuck dirge]

hmmm

i gotta see

[arctic plover]

Some of the UI elements don't line up properly, but I'm hardly looking at it, so I don't mind.

Standalone duckstation, if that helps. It's on the Play store

[stuck dirge]

yea idc

ohh ok thanks

[mossy ibex]

beat a boss. they still get the better of you in the cutscene afterwards.

[stuck dirge]

do you just go back to town and sell all items

and the just purchase whatever upgrades i can

each time

[halcyon phoenix]

Anyone else stuck in the undergeound ruins with those colored discs? I might have to look up a guide...

[stuck dirge]

jump on the one thats blinking

[halcyon phoenix]

None of them are, I jumped on them all while mashing buttons

Etf

Wtf*

I just did it again in the other direction and suddenly it worked

[mossy ibex]

sounds like you figured it out. I was stuck in the same place: #1335056540872474644 message

[sinful sedge]

I did not enjoy the forest boss fight against the ||giant fish||. That sucked. This game is beautiful to look at and charming as all heck, but it’s definitely not perfect. 3/5 so far as I near the halfway point.

[halcyon phoenix]

Yeah, that was it

[stuck dirge]

I want to throw this game out the window

Jumping on the stars mini game

[pure ledge]

This is just, like

Ashley riot's body with a cartoon head

[naive cradle]

The game has charm, but struggling to see or understand why so many appreciate this. Its often on many peoples underappreciated gems list on PSX

[cedar shore]

I think thats sorta how she goes lol. Lots of nostalgia glasses

Its likely a decent enough game in its own right but there isn't anything magical about it i'm sure

[willow skiff]

It was nice Square was so experimental back then

[eager crow]

So thats the thing. Sqenix is still experimental, people just. Turn a blind eye to the games.

Like they did that Neodimension game that was pretty unique.

And Harvestella

They just. Don't sell

They always do the safe games then a couple of games

[willow skiff]

Harvestella was fun

Felt like a 3ds game though

But they were _really _ experimental in the early 2000s

[eager crow]

I mean, they gave us kingdom hearts

And while yea. Now it's a massive name.

At the time people went Square with Disney? Lmao yea right. This is gonna fail

[willow skiff]

And then took away final fantasy from it

D:

[eager crow]

Listen. I'm still bitter they dropped all the FF stuff in 3

[willow skiff]

Same

At least we got Frozen

[eager crow]

[eager crow]

I think the writing is fun, at least for mint, but the gameplay reaaallllly bogs the game down ngl

[mossy ibex]

it is interesting playing parasite eve last month and threads this month. they're off by a year and both made by square. very different games.

[eager crow]

So the question that has to be asked. Which do you enjoy more of the two?

[naive cradle]

I get the nostalgia glasses and that’s the beauty of this community where you exposed to gems and stinkers

Anyways back to the game

I have beaten rod and gotten access to a boat. Think I’m about to start chapter 3. Sitting at 7h30mins playtime

[cedar shore]

Parasite eve was just downright weird to me

Like I got pretty far in it and all, but the combat felt just like sorta janky AF

Like to the point where like I could beat bosses and proceed but it was just like I guess I'm doing this right

[mossy ibex]

so far I like parasite eve more, but we'll see what happens

[eager crow]

Fair enough

Ill be curious after you're done

[mossy ibex]

parasite eve felt more like square had a plan, even if it was flawed. threads of fate feels like they were throwing darts to pick mechanics.

[copper cairn]

Square is like what did we do in FF3? Let's try.

[stuck dirge]

I just cant takw the jumping

i really suck at it

and the jump is delayed

its not super on point

[crimson hare]

This boss in the Gamul Forest, the whale one, is certainly a boss

[copper cairn]

That is the second complaint I see about him. I found him easy.

[crimson hare]

maybe its the magic I'm trying to use or something

but if I don't like him, I can assure you, he sucks

I have good opinions

I live on the internet

[sinful sedge]

it’s not a hard fight. in fact it’s probably impossible to lose since the little guys get thrown at you often enough to keep your hp and mp topped up. it’s just tedious.

[crimson hare]

Getting gobbled up and it healing the boss doesn't improve the boss either

it makes it more tedious and annoying

[copper cairn]

If you use physical attacks when his head is blinking. He goes down in two interactions. I didn't use magic on him. Also ||you have to fight him again at the end||

[crimson hare]

You and I aren't fighting the same boss then, because his horn thing or w/e is up in the air when that happens and I can't just sit there and wail on him

[stuck locust]

I made it

A lot more enjoyable than I had anticipated

[copper cairn]

You have to jump and hit him.

[stuck locust]

8/10

[crimson hare]

I'm aware, but idk about 2 interactions, I would say if anything it takes only 1/4 of the health down

idk, this boss is just not good

Finally

[copper cairn]

IDK I like it better than the bosses that you just don't know where they are on screen. Becasue the camera sucks for those. I had more trouble with the horse/dog first boss.

[crimson hare]

This feels like a game that Square would have delegated to the N64 if they hadn't dropped Nintendo like a bad habit in the 90s

I'm not sure if that is meant to be derogatory or not

but I do like Mint, people annoyed by Mint are incorrect

She's very funny

[crimson hare]

My CubeXX is doing this fun thing now where it doesn't want to save states

which in so trying hangs up saving anything

which means I have to redo the fight again lol

[strange peak]

Right time to get stuck into this

[pure bolt]

oof. The belle boss fight.
Are they all this rough?

[crimson hare]

not for me at least

[sinful sedge]

the one with the robot? or a later one? the robot one wasn’t bad at all imo

[pure bolt]

The first one in the underground. Just felt really…underwhelming.
Honestly the flow of battle with magic just also feels a bit rough with movement + delay

[fast pier]

You guys are really making me consider going for the guy's storyline

I've played maybe 15 minutes with mint

[meager glen]

If you don't care for her as a character it doesn't get much better... lol I think she's funny enough but I get it.

The swift kicks and walking away because she dgaf is pretty great tho

[copper cairn]

Best part is when ||Klaus calls her out and later on her grandpa.||end of game spoiler.

[fast pier]

I'm not too bothered by the character. The guy's gameplay style just sounds a bit more fun

[graceful tapir]

https://tenor.com/view/invincible-mark-grayson-amazon-prime-amazon-prime-video-superhero-gif-25054774

||joke||

[stuck dirge]

I heat rod in 5 seconds the easiest part of the game lol

[pure bolt]

I'm a fan of the 4th wall comments

[pure ledge]

Yeah I think I got to him late so the first time was ez

You can fight him again tho. I think he improves

I like the leveling system, very SaGa

Wish they'd gone all the way and let me improve strength by attacking

[stuck dirge]

I can’t figure out this switches thing

A guide said they have to be facing eachother

[stuck dirge]

Such a weird level this game makes me hate it and then when I beat the levels, I tell myself it’s game of the year

[pure bolt]

Are you on the minecart level? Yeah, I'm mid level and I feel like I'm running in circles lol

[pure bolt]

I didn't realize there was a second alleyway, so I'd leveled up significantly and found both magic upgrades before realizing where it was you could actually fight him

[halcyon phoenix]

Holy shit you put it into words

I wanted to like Harvestella but something felt off about it the entire time

Also, I don't know if I'm finishing this game this month. It's wearing on me.

[mossy ibex]

so what do I do with this whale again?

[crimson hare]

shoot into its mouth without getting sucked in, and bang on its head when its shining

If you get sucked in it heals a little bit

[high marsh]

I love being rewarded for being bad at the game.

[crimson hare]

Speaking of rewards does anyone know what you get for the high scores of these mini games

so I know whether I have to care about these awful games again

[eager crow]

@full rock out of nowhere with the steel chair finish

[cedar shore]

MAH GOD KING

[frail tendon]

Finished ||getting Prima put back together, and then ending up in jail||

Feels like I'm getting pretty close to the end?

[eager crow]

Booped the whale

Fight was pretty easy

[naive cradle]

And done. The final bosses were a pain and abused the save states. I don’t have no motivation to finish the game as mint to get the true ending. Not bad but some mechanics frustrated me

[crimson hare]

Is there actually a true ending lol

[eager crow]

There's a prologue ending if you finish both routes.

[mossy ibex]

Prima doll is a dick

[mossy ibex]

is there a way to get over to that ledge?

[eager crow]

152 hp

[mossy ibex]

is that high or low?

[eager crow]

Iunno, it's just higher than me

I think i play too carefully

[copper wraith]

Started tonight. Did the stupid dungeon maze. That was terrible. Didn't like any of that area. Hope no other places are as bad

[meager glen]

There's a spell under black magic that will break it

[eager crow]

So. The dungeon maze isn't bad. If you play with sound.

[copper wraith]

I didn't hear any water until I didn't a good 10 minutes running around. Then I got out

Then the rest of the dungeon sucked too

[mossy ibex]

I can't jump to that platform to break it right now. or do you mean there's a spell that'd let me break it at range?

[meager glen]

Not the bomb one that says something about breaking stone. Can't remember the name offhand.

At range.

[mossy ibex]

ah, I only have normal, wide, and special

only normal seems to break rocks

[meager glen]

Think it's graviton

[eager crow]

||Go back to the underground maze and to the room where you have to jump on the symbols to the big spiral stairs. You get one of the other spell modes there|| <-- Spell mode spoiler for Mint.

[mossy ibex]

eh I got no patience for that

[eager crow]

Okie doodles

[copper cairn]

forest is bad also. lots of trail and error.

[copper cairn]

I beat the game with 95 HP and 120 magic.

[willow skiff]

The only really bad parts are the Mel filler imo

[pure bolt]

Just beat ||The dragon||

Kinda ready for this to be done

biggest gripe is that no magic in the air, and start up time really makes this battle engine feel clunky

[grizzled grove]

Rod is kind of a pain in the ass. Is there any serious benefit to fighting him beyond some extra GP?

[crimson hare]

You have to fight him once for a story thing and beat him

[grizzled grove]

I already fought him and beat him the first time. Do I need to keep beating him, or is it just for cash after the first time you beat him?

[willow skiff]

Just for cash I believe

[grizzled grove]

good to know, tyty. Fighting him is annoying, especially with lag time on casting spells

[frail tendon]

You should never cast spells against Rod, just run/jump and fly kick or attack him from behind

[strange peak]

I'll be honest, I'm not enjoying this as much as I'd hoped for. It's good but it's not great

[grizzled grove]

I'm just used to Mint's physical attack being useless

[mossy ibex]

(later game spoiler I guess)

[strange peak]

Damn

[mossy ibex]

What's one more fetch quest in the grand scheme of things, really?

[sinful sedge]

for sure, it's these two issues that make the game feel way clunkier than it should. Rue plays totally different, maybe he feels less clunky?

[strange peak]

Oh I'm playing on theme as mint. The storyline does hint at what the other character is doing but I'm not interested enough to play through as see it from the other perspective

[crimson hare]

I'll take credit for the clear as Mint and decide on whether I want to do the other half after

[pure bolt]

Chat am I cooked?

Mid cutscene this happened

[crimson hare]

oof

[sinful sedge]

i’m about to ||break the seal at the lakeside ruins||. based on the guide i’m following, it looks like there’s not a whole lot left after this.

[stuck locust]

Dunno if anyone said anything, but everytime you beat rod his stats go up by +4

[pure ledge]

I KNEW IT

That cheater

[stuck locust]

So if you delay in fighting him til after the 1st or 2nd area he's a tad easier.

but he'll quickly catch up and stomp lol

[pure bolt]

Flare magic thats the multi hit melts him up to fight four in 2-3 hits

[mossy ibex]

I played through the game without any grinding and ended up with strength/defense at like 18/17 and without enough money to buy the best gear before heading into the final level.

that was rough. I don't know if I missed something or if you're supposed to grind, but I lost patience, reloaded and grinded a little bit and then everything else was easy.

I did not enjoy this. the story wasn't enough to overcome how tedious everything else was, and the character dialogue is just them bickering all the time.

[strange peak]

Well done finishing it though

[mossy ibex]

looking back on it, I was probably under-leveled most of the time, but I never really had the money to buy stat boosts so maybe you're supposed to replay the levels more looking for secrets or something and get money that way?

[strange peak]

A good bit of battering the enemies in most levels has me getting the shop upgrades without really going out of my way. I'm not long after beating the dragon and I think I've the platinum kit

Selling the enemy badges or whatever they are in town was enough for me

[sinful sedge]

i’m about where you are, and with the platinum gear I feel basically invincible

[frail tendon]

I think the game wants you to beat up on Rod a bunch as well

[meager glen]

Yeah, got a decent amount of my money from Rod.

[eager crow]

Finally wrapping this up

[eager crow]

And done.

3/3, i am freeeee.

[willow skiff]

#🗡│gotq-discussion

[eager crow]

No thank you. I have no desire to ever revisit Ogre Battle 64.

[snow tartan]

This game is boring lol

[strange peak]

Approaching the final battle, those arena carry ons were confusing.

[strange peak]

Typical this game doesn't have cheevos for years and then is claimed now 🤣

[strange peak]

Final battle time, here we go

[strange peak]

Finished - 6.5 or 7/10 IMO. Might replay after it gets cheevos

[snow tartan]

how the fuck do you hurt the last boss?

ohhhh, a stupid mechanic

luckily I can save state

[mossy ibex]

the last boss is dumb

[strange peak]

Language, for fucks sake!

[snow tartan]

no u

[strange peak]

Yeah the last boss was terrible

[heavy flame]

I'm enjoying this more than I thought I would and the music is pretty bangin

[sinful sedge]

you need 18k G to get the last cannon ball thing and the final upgrades. Ugh. I don’t wanna grind out that much!

[mossy ibex]

upgrades make the final gauntlet a lot easier

[sinful sedge]

…darn it

[strange peak]

Easier but not necessary.

[sinful sedge]

in the end, it only took twenty minutes of killing ants to get enough money for the upgrades. no big deal really.

i tried to get to the end tonight. just ran out of time. i’ve got some boss rematches to go in the cursed crossways, then the final boss. should finish tomorrow.

[frail tendon]

Alright, just went back ||and whooped up on Wylaf another time to get the [Hyper] magic||

Looks like it's just the final area left now!

[fleet cedar]

Started this properly today. Have just arrived at Mel's VERY BRIGHT atelier. Seems like mixed reviews above. I'm actually really enjoying the vibe so far.

[sinful sedge]

if there’s one thing Threads does well, it’s vibes

[sinful sedge]

how tf do you hit this final boss

had to look it up on youtube. terrible boss fight. how the heck were you supposed to figure that out without a guide?

[pure bolt]

I figured out what it is for me

Mint's magic auto lock is garbage

It's always a few angles behind any moving target so you can't really ever flow in combat at all.

The staircase fight against the turrets really shows off how bad her combat is

[frail tendon]

I completely avoided all enemies on the staircases, I knew it would've been annoying otherwise

[sinful sedge]

done. don’t think i’ll be playing Rue’s story. prolly just look up the epilogue on youtube.

in the end, it’s a very pretty game. and that’s about it.

[willow skiff]

Tbf Rue does look like a weirdo

[cedar shore]

Is this hacked or do these do roms out the box?

I thought those were just evercade devices

[willow skiff]

Basically using a flash cart

[cedar shore]

I see.

Did not know that was a thing with these lol

[willow skiff]

Definitely not the best or cheapest emulation devices but I like the stock firmware experience for its ease

I’m actually a little surprised with how polarizing Threads seems to be

[woeful kraken]

about the get started here last game of mounth

[woeful kraken]

coin system is so bad of an idea they gave ya away to walk it back instantly and keep buying them lol its like they made the mechanic thought about was like this is trash and then were like but lets keep it anyway and just make it unlimited

its like i got an idea

dont make it a macanic cause you ovy no its bad

[willow skiff]

https://tenor.com/view/tkt-smart-gif-20642718

Just don’t die

[woeful kraken]

the smell of ds2

life gems

reeks in this game

with all that as its a macanic im adimitly aganist I think imma skip this one

[steel wren]

JC? don't let milkmanv1 down

[willow skiff]

Weird to call the line at that mechanic but yeah don’t let Milkman down. This was one of their childhood games

[woeful kraken]

its a specific type of mechanic that iv hated in games for years make a resource limited to make game harder but walk it back because you know it was too punishing. which logically calls the question to why have the machinic in the 1st place

[willow skiff]

Not sure exactly how. It’s pretty much a non-issue. You’ll get so many more coins than deaths and you can always sell them for gold too

But yeah, no body but milkman is forcing you to play all three games this month. If it doesn’t click you can just pass

[steel wren]

yeah man, don't let milkmanv1 down, JC

[woeful kraken]

Tht selling to get a limited resource is the walk back on there own choice of macanic and trust I'm not here to upset anyone! I'll always put my thoughts out there cause I generally am the type to breakdown a games choices. But hopefully no one thinks I'm here just to dump on things people like🤣.

[woeful kraken]

ps i know myself ill end up legit raging and likely be back to it lol

[cedar shore]

Wow guys you remembered

Yeah if JC skipped Rayearth I wouldn't be mad

But I'm gonna be big mad if they skip Threads

If I have to shatter my childhood dreams and realize this game is basically just a pretty to look at turd, someone else should suffer with me

[woeful kraken]

Don't worry I already unraged quit and almost intently beat the part I raged at. Still hate the coin system. But in typical JC fashion I'm back🤣

[cedar shore]

lolol. I believe in U

I'm ALMOST done ecclesia.

Then on to this one

I have to face the final boss of GotM when I start this one

WHAT DEVICE DO I PLAY THIS ON

lmao

[woeful kraken]

Well this is ya game so I'm sure it will be easy for ya!!

[cedar shore]

Idk I just remember screwing around as Rue and not getting very far

[woeful kraken]

Tbh I'm sure rage quitting, comming to the thread, complaining, then mear hrs later returning to game ya said ya will never play again to intently beat part you ragged will in short time be renamed to pulling a JC

[woeful kraken]

Well thos time

This time you play as not rue

And smoke it🤣

[cedar shore]

Yeah I mean we'll see

I'm fairly confident i'm going to go, "Well that was super OK" lol

I felt that way about megaman legends. Never beat that as a kiddo and finally went back and knocked it out about a year ago

[woeful kraken]

Thrs fair ya might be like me as we aged we got more critical and now unless masterpiece it just nit met our standards🤣

But also a chance ya will love it

[cedar shore]

maybe we're just assholes JC, the world may never know lmao

[woeful kraken]

So don't wanna be mr negative all the time🤣

[cedar shore]

I too like to crap on everything unless its REALLY REALLY GOOD

[woeful kraken]

Therr no mayb for me

I no I am

[woeful kraken]

One of us

One of us

https://tenor.com/view/wolf-of-wall-street-jordan-belfort-leonardo-di-caprio-one-of-us-jonah-hill-gif-5441859

[cedar shore]

Sing it borther

https://youtu.be/UrgpZ0fUixs?si=7fvrYkNchHWZRoje

[woeful kraken]

I gotta get ready fr work but I watched the 1st min and will listen more later top tear🤣. Except I'm a white, stright, elder emo, metal music enjoyer on top of all this man said so I did not choose the asshole life the asshole life chose me🤣

[strange peak]

@meager glen have you finished this yet?

[meager glen]

Yep, finished Mint and about 3 hours left of Rue's story.

[strange peak]

Now that's a true hero! I was really looking forward to it winning and well, for me, it's just ok in the end.

[meager glen]

I think that's fair for most. I'd say 7/10 keeping the release date in mind.

[pure bolt]

I take it back

Combat is amazing

Just invest in strength and jump kick everything

Its faster and more importantly, funnier

[copper wraith]

Not really feeling this game. Think I'm on my way to kick a dragon's ass as Mint, but nothing is very engaging. It seems short. Looks like 5 areas left and I'm at like 2.5 hours game time

[pure bolt]

Ive done minimal side stuff and I am at 7 hours

A lot of time is spent in the later half walking, watching a cutscene and the being sent back to town

@_@

[steel wren]

I've hit this point i think lol, strange change of pace

[steel wren]

I was thinking the same, but i remembered there's actually two campaigns if you wanna get the good ending

[woeful kraken]

https://tenor.com/view/good-night-gif-5479725380357410088

me during 90% of the cut story and diolog lol

[steel wren]

good game, could have used a bit more game to go with the amount of cutscenes it has, but yeah, overall, good game. Fun bosses for the most part too

[grizzled grove]

Starlight Duke chapter question ||Can you beat him? I got him down to zero and still got a cutscene like I lost to him, but maybe I need to win with a certain amount of health left to survive his post-zero attack?||

[copper wraith]

Just jump over his post-zero attack. Or have more than 20 HP

[grizzled grove]

OK, good to know, thanks

Now I'm morbidly curious if it actually affects anything

but I suppose I'll find out

[mossy ibex]

I lost that fight and kept playing.

[copper wraith]

Up to the final dungeon! Spent all my money thinking I was already going to the final area and then needed 5000G. Luckily, I had 4000 and just needed to grind a bit. Still not feeling the game at all. Just lacks anything to make it special

[pure bolt]

Ho man, the game just does not want to end

Also, kinda annoyed “find 5 orbs.” But the fifth is just go back to Rod. Searched EVERY single area before going back

[steel wren]

I got to the get-5000g part, and I had 2000g and I needed to buy one of the upgrades. I farmed like, 150 gargoyles to get the cash because for whatever reason, they block off the fighting competition at that point. . . lol

[woeful kraken]

Imagin being low on money😏

[woeful kraken]

I ahree do much about this game tho

[sinful sedge]

there were several times I had to grind a bit for cash

even if you don’t buy any stat upgrades from the potion shop (which aren’t necessary at all), you still won’t have enough money to buy the final pieces of equipment. And I strongly recommend that equipment for the final chapter of the game.

not to mention, you need an extra 5k to buy one of the orbs for Rod. You need 18k in total before you can take on the final chapter

[woeful kraken]

I grinded one time earlier to get 30 copper coins after tht I did not but I also killed all enemies as I went and sold them all. And never bought an upgrade tht was not armor or better attack. Fought Rod like 4 times. And I did have brave equip.

And sold all stones from chests

I will say it prob benefited me tht I aways went for more expensive one when 2 options where there because then I was not getting charged for say copper and silver plate

But basicly my only true grind was early to nullifiy the bad coin macanic

[willow skiff]

You really have a vendetta against the coin mechanic

[woeful kraken]

https://tenor.com/view/vendetta-banners-gif-22530311

[pure bolt]

Whats the coin mechanic?

I thought they were just for selling

[steel wren]

||if you die, you have to pay the piper, if you have no coins, it's back to town.|| ||for Monster coins:|| ||if you collect the Legendary Sword, Shield, and Helmet, turn them in to the bar, and he'll cook Monster Meals for you, if you give him the recipe requirements, I think it's stat-buff food||

[pure bolt]

Alright. Beat ||Psycho Master and found a boss rush.||
Yeah...I'm not up for that right now. Gonna break a bit from this. Its just dragging

[steel wren]

It does drag a bit with all the cut scenes, but by the sound of it, you might be close to the end

[frail tendon]

Yeah ||it's a boss rush, but they keep the same stats from the first time you fought them so if you've been upgrading it's easy peasy||

[sinful sedge]

it’s hilariously easy. to the point where you have to wonder if it was an oversight and the bosses were meant to be buffed

[frail tendon]

Or just a way to pad the play time

[steel wren]

Lol 1000%

[frail tendon]

I'm right at the final boss, but likely won't finish until tomorrow. ||Doll Master was ridiculously easy||

[woeful kraken]

|| doll was a good ol tank and spank ||🤣🤣

[pure bolt]

Jump kicking is broken. I stun locked the secondary element of the final boss the entire time, then had free reign on the boss himself

[pure bolt]

Okay this one is done. I WANT to see what the true end is, but I alson don't want to really play through the same story as Rue.

Maybe I'll come back to it. who knows

[grizzled grove]

Starlight Duke ||losing that fight is a helluva lot funnier than winning it||

[copper wraith]

Sheez it's over. I've never heard the word sheez...

[fleet cedar]

Yeah the vibe alone was not enough here. Currently wading through the aforementioned one hour cutscene sequence and a bit done with it now, really.

[fast pier]

I got the ||cube|| open. Where is ||Rod||? They told me he has a fast boat but I can't find him anywhere

Oh nevermind. I forgot you can go down that little alley

[fast pier]

This tree house place is the worst

[frail tendon]

Done! I enjoyed it for the most part, some pieces were a bit irritating but Mint was insufferably amusing and dropkicking everything was enjoyable.
Took me almost exactly 6.5 hours to beat

Now to decide if I go Ecclesia or Rayearth...

[woeful kraken]

Rayearth more relaxed - Ecclesia better gamr imo but frustrating cause very hard

[rapid lichen]

Dominus Collection version has save states and rewind functions. If it doesn't feel like cheating, that version would be better.

[woeful kraken]

I played tht version but with out save states or rewind. (Nothing wrong with using them) just not my thing! I like changing stuff

[cedar shore]

I sorta wish I had save states but, it was very doable on a ds lite with the original cartridge

[crimson hare]

Pretty sure I beat the game but I didn't get the credits yet, so I'll save my post for later since I do actually want to try and finish Rue's story now

just for completeness sake because the game is Fine overall imo

[frail tendon]

I was tempted to go ahead and do Rue's storyline, as I liked the game enough, but decided I'd rather put my time elsewhere for now.

[steel wren]

^ this

[rapid lichen]

I read in the book called "A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games" that Rue's story is really boring compared to the Mint's

By the way, the book is amazing. I recommend to everyone who enjoys JRPG's

https://www.bitmapbooks.com/collections/coming-soon/products/a-guide-to-japanese-role-playing-games

[willow skiff]

Well yeah Rue doesn't talk like this so ofc would be more boring

[copper wraith]

I'm still scarred by how they dedicated 20 pages of it to the Tales games but like all the writeups in the book are very negative to basically all the games

[willow skiff]

Hipster

Authors

[cedar shore]

I just started this yesterday basically. I think I have a bit of GotM burnout but I have to finish this one lol

So far, I reallllly don't remember much about this game. IDK if I ever played Mint tbh, I may have only done Rue as a kiddo.

So far Mint is spunky, a bit annoying, but not insufferable, just stupid/silly to a fault. The first boss wasn't too bad. Idk It seems like I'll be fine with this I think I was just busy this weekend and am slightly GotM Burnt out. Felt hard to pick this up and actually get into it

[crimson hare]

I have this book but haven't flipped through it yet 😦

All their other books they've published are awesome tho I have a few others

[cedar shore]

Ok so. I'm doing Mint, I'm at the "ruins" so I feel like the game is actually starting now. The level design is...questionable. I understand the FF2 "Leveling system" where - do thing and get more of it. I.e. Get hit and get more health, use magic, get more magic

But idk if its just me, or if this game is extremely mechanically simplistic or what, but items are super confusing.

I know the coins are basically "continues" but. Like I just got "rare wine" and "super" and like..."super" isn't even in my items list?!

Oh... Just looked it up lol. Really had to dig there, its a magic "form"

[frail tendon]

If it's got [] around it, it's usually magic. The rare wine ||can be given to the bloke selling stat boosters in the alley near the tavern for a permanent discount on all stock||

[cedar shore]

Yeah I did a little google-fu.

I know its an old game but dang lol, pretty archaic.

Get item, figure out what the hell it actually is/does/how to use it

[frail tendon]

I wish that [relic] didn't have brackets around it every time someone mentioned it, looks silly in dialogue that way.

[cedar shore]

Item Get!

[fast pier]

There's a lot more of that level design to come

[cedar shore]

Yeah the 3/4 overhead sorta nonadjustable camera and general sense of "where tf am I going" and why is this looping back are...not great...

[copper wraith]

I didn't even know the bar area existed until I needed it. Same for the field area and needing a boat. Spent a good 20 minutes looking up how to get to the damn grass area

[steel wren]

Manuals are basically a requirement for these games lol, I'm so thankful for the archivists scanning

[cedar shore]

Yeah archive org has the prima guide scanned in

I'm torn on this game

I can pretty clearly see as a kid I didn't get far AT ALL

Bosses feel sorta spongey, I don't hate it but I don't love it

Its such a pretty game though, and its fun for the most part - I actually like Mint.

I just can't tell if maybe i'm burnt out a bit on GotM or what i'm just having a hard time getting into this one

[crimson hare]

Its not super long if you only want to do Mint's side

[steel wren]

Mint was great. Like, almost insufferable, but not.

My only disappointment is that they open up for more content in the world and idk if we ever got any. Pretty simple world building, but the characters were super fun

[cedar shore]

Yeah I'm not 100% how I feel. I probably have 2.5ish hours in of active gameplay. and I'm like right around 2 hours in on a longplay video that I'm cross referencing here and there

[copper wraith]

Gross, are you some kind of nerd that likes reading? 🤢

[cedar shore]

Ok. This game got a good chuckle out of me with the guy in the star costume

that sequence was pretty funny

Is there any way to make the bosses less spongey though? Ugh

[grizzled grove]

dungeons in this game kinda tedious ngl

[cedar shore]

yeaaaa you're not wrong

[pure bolt]

same. I actually found the bar myself but apparently was blind to the field so that took a while to find

[fast pier]

Yeah, I didn't find the bar and field until I needed the field to progress

[heady roost]

I can't decide if I'm gonna finish this game or not 😅 I am enjoying the overall aesthetic, as well as Mint's characterization, but I feel like the actual gameplay is just like... kinda meh? The lack of a traditional leveling system feels a little demotivating

[cedar shore]

Mint is the best

[twin brook]

she deserves world domination

[frosty plume]

Well, just started this tonight. Hoping to get through it all before the month is over. Made it to Mel’s atelier tonight and calling it a night. Not sure why this game isn’t being received better. The platforming isn’t great, but in enjoying the combat, beautiful visuals, and the fun characters myself.

[grizzled grove]

Mint for dictator

[willow skiff]

Out of all the women this month, Mint is the most deserving of world domination

Shanoa wants to save the world not take over and the Magic knights are just kids

[woeful kraken]

Gotta be real I was team Mia the whole time! || Mint was selfish and mean spirited from the rip. Never really learned anything (which is less then good writing but thts a whole other story tht I won't get into). Even when others around her tryed to help her grow she stayed the same. Going with what we got In front of us Mint was basicly the 2nd biggest villan of the game outside of doll master. Mia was a much better person. Even when it came to getting relic she was like this prob should not be in anyone's hands and did the right thing. Even tho it got her put in jail. And hell Mia even had character development and was not even the main character. She by the end realized she had to try and let her sister help her run the kingdom as it was prob wrong to just usurpe the throne even tho she would clearly be a better ruler. ||

[willow skiff]

That’s a lot of shade for something that isn’t true. ||just because her character doesn’t 180 personality wise doesn’t mean she had no character growth. Compared to the beginning of the game, it’s clear Mint starts to care for others even though she hides it behind her abrasive personality. Go read it again||

To call it bad writing when not grasping the nuances is a bit far

[woeful kraken]

Start of game || "I want world domination" || end of game ||"I want world domination" ||

Let's not get that twisted.

Did she show mayb she cares sometimes sure. But did she also always walk it back 100%

And I think I said less then good writing but if ya wanna interpret tht as me saying bad writing that's on you😃.

[willow skiff]

Acting like world domination is a bad thing

Had a goal and worked towards it

[fast pier]

If I've learned anything from game of the month, it's that I have a bias against 3D action games and platformers. That said, the story has been kind of funny at times. If the RPG mechanics were a little better developed or if the dungeons were more than just repetitive duplicated rooms, I might have been more into it.

9 times out of 10 you're better off jump kicking than using magic and the dungeons either require a guide or random wandering

[cedar shore]

Yeah I've immediately shifted to a guide for bosses

The jungle "dungeon" was trash

Bosses are wayyyyy too spongey

[fast pier]

They're usually weak to jump kicks

[cedar shore]

Except when they're not lol. The cloud whale was something. Was not expecting to use the wind magic, nor did I know I could shoot magic into its mouth

[fast pier]

Oh yeah I got lucky on that one

[cedar shore]

Idk I like the game but dungeon designs are not great, and a lot of the boss fights are frustraing tbh

[willow skiff]

I mean it’s glowing. Zelda hammered that into my game sense

[woeful kraken]

|| by best gear and armor || at tht point it was just || the whale tht pissed me off till I figured of the trick ||

[cedar shore]

Yeah I mean I saw the glowy but was not sure if I could hurt it

Boss was all like

"You want some of this glowing"

https://youtu.be/trKcSLsn78Q

[woeful kraken]

If ya wanna know how || rapid fire white magic, hit when mouth open for about 3 sec then start walking back cause he will start sucking and if ya get sucked ya screwed ||

[willow skiff]

Just like real life

[woeful kraken]

Never thought ya learn life lessons here as well huh?🤣

[meager glen]

To be fair she wanted world domination so she could protect the world in her own... special... way.

[woeful kraken]

Did she seem tht way to you? Serious question. Cause to me gotta be real would not want her as my queen🤣. I'll take Mia tho. Like I said seems like Mia got good head on shoulders 😃

[meager glen]

She literally said it. She wanted to dominate the world to keep bad people from destroying it.

[woeful kraken]

Ya and people say alot of things I also saw here tell people what they wanna here then in here head monolog say the smart ass thing she really wanted. Don't exactly trust her

[meager glen]

and Mia absolutely would be a better ruler lol

[woeful kraken]

Mia for queen 2025

Or when ever this game came out 🤣

[meager glen]

lol I'd take it now plz >_>

[summer relic]

Dude maya ||literally was the ruler and, given the chance, let the whole doll master conspiracy happen because she was out of her depth, and says so near the end of the game|| anyways mint for world emperor

[meager glen]

Fair point ||she was easily duped||

[steel wren]

Mint/Maya 2004

[meager glen]

https://tenor.com/view/teamwork-gif-11937128885494742584

[woeful kraken]

Side : || why was doll master such a joke of a boss 🤣 ||.

They built up what I'd consider || a cartoonishly evil guy to be a big bad fight and when ya fight him he stands there and eats it ||

[woeful kraken]

I'll take someone who makes mistakes and owns up to it over someone who always thinks right and lies to people directly but thts just me🤣

[willow skiff]

Trap master supremacy

[woeful kraken]

Ya no even we can agree sometimes 🤣

He was easily my fav character cause he was just so over the top

[willow skiff]

Just like his hair

[woeful kraken]

Also great hair

True alt culture representation 🤣

[mossy ibex]

trap master looks like he should be catching apes

[woeful kraken]

He a punk rocker 😉 garentee it he out there listen to sex pistols and smut peddlers🤣

[cedar shore]

Porcupine head!

[cedar shore]

What happened in those between years

[mossy ibex]

too many apes got away

[frosty plume]

I'm not really far into the game yet, but I haven't gotten nearly as lost as other people. Maybe I'm just more patient with mazes? I used to watch that maze screen saver thing for hours during boring classes in school 😆 I've just adopted it's strategy of keep a hand on the left wall. If you end up in a loop, skip one turn and continue on. Underground passage was quick and easy and I collected everything. Bosses have not been hard either yet. I'm having a good time. RPG elements are weak, sure. I don't love the take damage to get stronger bit, or even the MP being tied to how much you use magic, but it is functional in its own way.

https://tenor.com/view/computer-90s-vintage-retro-start-gif-13284186

[cedar shore]

I think the first "dungeon" looping back on itself threw a lot of us for a loop. Its not tooooo bad, but a little annoying

Then its not too bad but the treetop switch dungeon is bullshit tbh. Forces you to retread the same area like 12 times

[fast pier]

And it turns out that's actually different areas

They just look identical

But yeah, I'm not having a particularly hard time with it. I'm just not finding the fun really

[frosty plume]

I think part of the reason why it ends up on so many hidden gem lists is because it wasn't released in Europe for whatever reason.

So it's kind of like Terranigma.

[cedar shore]

Isn't that the opposite of Terranigma?

I thought that one got an EU but not a NA release

[frosty plume]

Yeah, it's the opposite, but similar situation. Just with a reverse perspective.

[cedar shore]

Gotcha!

[summer relic]

I read it as a fun little sendup of the seriousness of jrpgs

[fast pier]

Ugh. Where are you supposed to grind money

I need 10k to get this ||orb||

[fast pier]

Nevermind. I sold a bunch of the rez coins

[copper wraith]

Sucker. I only needed 5k

[fast pier]

Are they really making me play these poppurel games again?

[fast pier]

Yeah, I sold that wine to the other shop owner before I realized the area with the bar existed

Alright finally off the final area

[copper wraith]

It actually depends on what action you do. He'll only charge 5000 if you feign your dad dying

[frosty plume]

Ewok village is annoying.

[frosty plume]

I almost did. The manual has a map of the town and conveniently leaves the two alleys out.

[cedar shore]

NGL I hated this dungeon

[frosty plume]

This is the first part where I’m truly annoyed by this game.

[crimson hare]

and its exclusive to Mint!

[fast pier]

Ooooh

[crimson hare]

Rue's story is way better, shame that Rue himself is much more boring compared to Mint imo

Lots of lore, and playing it after Mint's was a good move because going from grand mysteries of the cosmos and the people involved in it to "I hate pumpkins and people" is a bad way to make the second half interesting

but what I also don't necessarily like is that the two stories are not exactly two sides of the same coin

the events play out differently, and I don't know if I like that personally

like Rue getting ||the tiara from Belle|| was something I hoped to see the inner workings of how that happened and what they talked about but they just make Mint get it in his story

[woeful kraken]

I did not play it but it's cause rue is mysterious 🤣🤣. Which makes him cool🤣

[crimson hare]

he's literally bone stock amnesiac JRPG hero

[fast pier]

Huh. Yeah maybe I should have played Rue

[willow skiff]

But its FemProMonth

[fast pier]

I mean that's why I went with mint

[high marsh]

In my current stretch the gameplay to cutscene ratio is starting to feel like Metal Gear Solid.

[cedar shore]

I just "got to the lake and everything that happens there" and yeah its definitely getting cutscene HEAVY

[woeful kraken]

https://tenor.com/view/willj-oprah-oprah-winfrey-winfrey-you-get-a-car-gif-5778731

You get a cutsence and you get a cutsence

[steel wren]

They really did put an OVA in the middle of some light platforming and action game mechanics

[plush drift]

Just starting this hope I can get thru by end of month 👀

I've made it to ||the witch's atelier, did all those mini games||

I like the presentation quite a bit in this game tho the emulator on mm+ has some real bad graphical errors at times lol

Combat is competent enough. Platforming can be a damn nightmare in this tho. So imprecise.

[cedar shore]

Yea this was actually somewhat of a childhood game for me, but I can see now I did NOT make it far at all

Its uh...okay

I just finished up and tbh i'm glad its behind me and I have no desire to play Rue's story anytime soon. Maybe one day

[frosty plume]

Wylaf down. So far, Ewok village has been the worst area. Boss fight included.

[cedar shore]

Agreed

[fast pier]

Oh man they bring back the "endless identical room" mechanic for the final dungeon

[copper wraith]

At least it doesn't loop. Didn't last very long at all for me

[fast pier]

I just followed a map to avoid all the fights

[cedar shore]

Yeah I flubbed through that last bit of the dungeon. This game gets a solid OK from me

Didn't love it didn't hate it

[strange peak]

30 completions, not bad.

[plush drift]

I will make it 31. I'm like 35% of the way thru. I HAVE TIME.

[willow skiff]

You have the power

[frosty plume]

I’m hoping I’ll be 32. Not sure how much more I have to go. Just finished the story dump after ||getting the amulet for prima doll and Maya locking mint in the dungeon and such. ||

[mellow crane]

I'm just starting today, wonder if I'll make it through. Be nice to keep my 3/3 streak going

[fast pier]

Boy they really make a meal out of this cutscene after the final boss

[fast pier]

Done

[fleet cedar]

I took a lil break from this but picked it back up yesterday and am at Valen's Fortress, so should be good to finish 🙂

[rapid lichen]

I wish the game had Retro Achievements. Seems like the achievements are promised but never appeared.

[deep bolt]

Heading into Raging Mountains now

Trying to finish before Friday + Monster Hunter

[mellow crane]

I'm currently in some kind of prison, hoping to wrap this up quick so I can get back to Keep Driving and SMTV: Vengeance before the next round of GotMs drop

[grizzled grove]

just fought the goons again after the mountain

||Mint being like "hell no you're not going anywhere I'm kicking your ass" for absolutely no reason other than orneriness was great||

[frosty plume]

Reached the point of no return. Already found my way through the ||teleport maze. My least favorite type of dungeon. Now I'm trying to figure out the torches puzzle.|| I think I'll be able to finish later today.

[summer relic]

one hint on the torches puzzle if you want it, since I got stuck on it for a long time: ||you have to set the pattern in the initial room too||

[grizzled grove]

I sort of put this game off for a while because the Underground Ruins and Gamul Forest are not necessarily a strong start

But I feel like it does pick up a bit after the Gamul Forest

probably best to play it with a guide because the game puts a lot of stuff in absolutely what the fuck places tho

like some of it is kind of absolute bullshit

[mellow crane]

I'm expecting a final boss to pop up at the end named "Boss Master".

[grizzled grove]

Is there some point at which you can't fight Rod any more?

The characters really start to pop after Gamul Forest tbh. That part was an absolute slog that really got in the way of getting to the part where the game gets good

[willow skiff]

You’ll know when

[grizzled grove]

||I take it you can't fight him after the Tower of Maya when he's waiting for you to collect the cannon orbs. Or does he become available again for fights between collecting them all and going to the fortress?||

||Also I'm wondering if defeating him enough advances his narrative, like helping him make the ultimate weapon he wants to make before he returns home||

Looks like I was correct

I don't need any of his rewards, so this isn't a big deal unless there's some... oh wait the different weapons are particular to particular points in the game

[heavy flame]

Just got to Raging Mountains, it'll be tight finishing this one

[frosty plume]

And done. I enjoyed it. Bright pretty graphics. Good music. Fun characters. The platforming was the worst part, and it wasn’t completely awful. Not great, but serviceable at least. Glad I finallf got to beat this one. Have wanted to play it for a long while.

[grizzled grove]

For a while there I was worried this game was gonna be mid but it did really pick up after Gamul Forest. Not the best game I've played by a longshot, but it was legit charming

[cedar shore]

This is a nostalgia childhood game for me and I thought it was very mid lol

Also I realize now that I never made it like anywhere in this game. Like got stuck within the first 20-30 mins

[willow skiff]

https://tenor.com/view/skill-issue-pikachu-pikachu-skill-issue-gif-3559280283046901335

[cedar shore]

Absolutely. Also I was 10 lol

[woeful kraken]

Some would say a skissu

[grizzled grove]

I mean it is pretty simplistic. It's honestly more beat'em up with mild RPG elements than proper ARPG and all, and not everything they try to do works well. But at some point the formula actually does start to click

fuck the Gamul Forest tho

Like Yakuza Kiwami honestly has more RPG in it than this game does

[cedar shore]

I dunno. It just didn't feel super enjoyable. Just tedious lol

[grizzled grove]

At times, yeah. The Gamul Forest was the biggest offender here for me. Also a fair bit of Guide Dang It

[cedar shore]

I didn't hate it I just didn't really feel like I needed to savor it either. At all

[copper cairn]

All the game are just mid this month. Not bad game. Just very forgetable.

[woeful kraken]

Jay being nicer then me I think the best one was mid at best🤣

[plush drift]

Almost done now, collected all the orbs. I agree with this sentiment. Platforming can be painful at times. Everything else is decent (combat) to great (presentation).

[heavy flame]

This Gorotan battle is lame af

DOWN KITTY!

THAT'S A BAD KITTY!

Damn this game needs a fan translation to remove the cringe...

Mint is sooooo unlikeable

[cedar shore]

I didn't exactly pick up on it, but Zu pointed it out - She's just supposed to be a tsundere.

[mellow crane]

She definitely is a contender for one of the top 5 most annoying fictional characters I've had to experience. She's lucky I'm dedicated to the theme otherwise I would have switched to Rue right after the intro.

[willow skiff]

Curious to see that list

[mellow crane]

1. The kids from Psycho Goreman
2. Jar Jar Binks
3. Caillou
4. Slippy Toad
5. Probably Mint (previously Skylar White)

[mossy ibex]

I don't think mint makes it onto my list. but just video game characters would be:

baby mario
fi from skyward sword
ashley from re4
yunobo from botw/totk
the dog from duck hunt

[mellow crane]

Baby Mario and Navi/Fi definitely make my VG only list

[plush drift]

I don't mind mint tbh

Maybe I'm in the minority but she shows she is more crusty exterior than actual selfish person

[heavy flame]

Still waiting for her redemption arc then...

[fleet cedar]

I need to actually finish this. At the cursed crossways at the moment about to fight ||that silly whale again||.

Fwiw I think Mint's character has softened along the way for sure. But I'll reserve full judgement until I'm done!

[mellow crane]

I think my biggest issue with her is it feels a bit forced/manufactured.

Her personality reminds me of girls who watch Parks and Rec and decide their personality should mimic April, or a guy who goes all in on being an edgelord

[frosty plume]

I think that’s the point? All the characters are kind of over the top and caricatures.

Like you mention people mimicking April, but you’re fine with April? Stories do this all the time. Exaggerating and caricatures are very common, and even more so for cartoonish stuff targeting younger people than adults.

[mellow crane]

I haven't watched it in a long time admittedly, but yeah oddly enough she was probably my favorite character. And I get it's probably the point, but she's (Mint) cranked just bit too far to me

As I near the end I'm softening up a bit on her. She's not on my top 5 anymore

[cedar shore]

I liked Mint. She was stupid and spicy

[woeful kraken]

Iv not been in this thread much since iv beat the game I see a few have joined my anti mint team....nice

[steel wren]

Mint being noted as Tsundere makes everything make sense

it's like when I realized that Yugioh's Millennium Pegasus addressing Yugi and Kaiba as "Yugi-boy" and "Kaiba-boy" was just translating "-kun" to "-boy" (Yugi-kun, Kaiba-kun)

[summer relic]

Mint is a totally confident and self-assured little goblin and I stan her

She knows what she wants and works to get it

[steel wren]

1000x