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Post by Indigo on Mar 15, 2014 4:54:15 GMT
I've been trying to restrain sharing this There's a song I love from Evangelon, though, but it's end spoilers... It all returns to nothing... It all keeps Tumbling down Tumbling down Tumbling down... |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2014 22:40:02 GMT
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Post by Indigo on Mar 23, 2014 6:48:59 GMT
White Knight Chronicles: Origins was a pretty cool game... One of the most silent game releases I've ever seen for a game of its caliber, really. Partly due to that the localization was only in Europe... It's a solid action RPG with hefty character customization and a nice soundtrack. But one of the biggest things about the game is that you fill up a gauge in missions, and once full, you go fantasy super sentai! until the end of the mission. It's kinda weird. I mean, it's like a fantasy game with knights, warriors, and mages, but almost inexplicably you can just turn into these legendary armor knights. There's also a few different forms that all look completely different. That's when the above theme plays. You're going out on a hunt swinging a greatsword at wolves an bandits... Suddenly, you hold out your arm and your whole team gets this fancy transformation scene with that epic soundtrack. What's even better is that you get another gauge to fill, and then unleash cinematic team finishers, such as lining up to fire a stream of beams in unison, or firing a huge beam cannon together. It somehow all works really well, though. There's this extreme heroic, uplifting, knightly vibe, with the refined transformation scene and the music, that continues to play throughout the mission. There's an alternate transformation theme, and one for the unity attacks, if you like what you've heard and want to look those up, too, they share the similar violin/vocals style. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2014 0:15:32 GMT
I remember Baten Kaitos from my childhood. I think I must have first obtained it sometime in 2007, my Dad got it for me and specifically mentioned that he knew I could play it on my Wii... or something like that. So it was one of the first gamecube games I got after the Wii had already been released. Anyway, I really liked it, but in memory it remained as the only game in history that had beaten me. I loved the game, I really wanted to beat it, but this one boss fight stood in my way. I couldn't beat it, no matter how much I threw myself at it. Hence this music is forever ingrained into my brain, being the music that plays during the fight against three of the game's important villains at the same time.
I couldn't grind at the time, either- the game only lets you level up at blue save points, and from the dungeon you fight the boss in, you only have a red save point (which obviously led to me saving over my previous save data) and the game doesn't let you return. I was stuck. So I replayed the entire game again, obviously- that's one disk, as the chaotic trio is the first boss fight of disk two. So with the fight in mind, I played up to the fight again- I even read a ton of walkthroughs telling me how to beat the boss, and when I reached the fight again, I still couldn't beat it. So I left the game for several years. Then, I picked it back up again in 2010 (if my save file is accurate) and I played through the whole first disk again. I was older, wiser, and better at games, so of course I should be able to beat the boss this time, right? Nope. I couldn't.
So cut to 2014, sometime around the beginning of this month. I had just finished getting every achievement in Dark Souls, widely considered to be one of the most difficult games of all time. I saw the game still sitting there on my shelf, taunting me. There have been many games that I've simply stopped playing, but I always stopped playing them because I was bored or something, not because I was physically unable. After 7 long years and much more difficult games, I still hadn't beaten Baten Kaitos. So, obviously, I picked it up again.
Turns out I was a retard. I realised that throughout all of my play throughs, I didn't know how to play the game. Each card in battle has a number on the card. Stringing numbers together or matching them in one combo leads to a higher damage output. I knew this, but what I didn't know was that as each card grew stronger, more numbers became available. Oh, they're visible, but I was always pressing A to select cards, and I didn't previously know nor much care how one selects the other numbers. Turns out, you point the C stick in the direction of the number you want, making it much easier to string together numbers. The other thing I didn't know was that using opposing elements together in the same combo reduced your damage out put. Using a fire element and a water element for example will actually negate each other's elemental damage, leaving only the physical damage. As soon as I picked the game up for the fourth time, I realised all of this immediately- I mean heck, every time you attack an enemy, a status screen pops up telling you how all the different components of your attacks combined into the total damage out put! It showed all of the subtractions! For 7 years, I didn't look at what was right in front of me. How could I have been so stupid? So, with this basic knowledge in hand, I boldly played through the game again... and beat the chaotic trio on my first try. When you fight them twice in a row without a save/heal break later on in the game where they have boosted stats and can heal each other, I beat them in one try. I only died to one boss in the game on this 2014 playthrough, and I comfortably beat him third time.
Alas, although on this day I have finally beaten the longest game it has ever taken me to complete, my journey is still not over. I need to buy Baten Kaitos Origins, this game's prequel, and beat that. I hear it's quite a bit harder, so I am not yet done. Anyway, after all that, here's the epic final boss theme, which was well worth the wait. Well, pen-ultimate final boss theme. The real final boss was one of the most confusing things I've ever experienced in a video game. I don't think I've ever fought a diablous ex machina big lipped alligator final boss before...
I recommend Baten Kaitos to anyone looking for a great JRPG. It has really good visuals, catchy music, a twisty plot that involves the player in some really unique ways (despite how gimmicky it seems at first) and a really fun and fast paced battle system. Plus, it just has a really cozy place in my heart.
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Post by Indigo on Apr 14, 2014 9:12:20 GMT
I don't think Dark Souls is supposed to be one of the 'hardest' games ever... It has a bunch of artificial difficulty and threats/patterns you have to memorize. But once you get things down it's pretty basic.
For that music... I'm willing to bet the soundtrack was worked on by the Resonance of Fate guy, who is famous for a lot of JRPG music... I can really hear the synth style when the melody's not playing.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2014 11:34:08 GMT
The gameplay of Dark Souls actually reminded me of a mario game... more specifically, a metroidvania in terms of level structure. But in terms of difficulty, the game is designed with the idea that you'll die a lot in mind. So yeah the game is mostly built around memorisation and learning patterns, and does get easier as you go along after the first few bosses, but the game is built around it so I'm fine with it... it always requires skill to execute, and I found myself dying right up until the end.
Motoi Sakuraba did the tales sound track, Baten Kaitos, bravely default, the kid icarus uprising soundtrack, Smash Bros, Star Ocean, and hey the Dark Souls soundtrack (it sounds completely different to his usual output) among many others. I thought that his work on resonance of fate was one of his weaker soundtracks... I don't remember a single song from that game. I think Bravely Default or one of the soundtracks from the Tales games (Vesperia perhaps?) are some of his best work.
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Post by Indigo on May 17, 2014 8:58:34 GMT
I've recently started tuning in to the AnimeNfo radio... I came across a song that stood out to me with lots of feels.
Ergo Proxy's opening song... Never heard of it but it looks really interesting. And the song's just amazing... Such a heartfelt chorus.
You know it's an amazing song when Buso Renkin's opening played directly after it.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2014 13:43:41 GMT
I like the song.
Ergo Proxy was pretty good, but it didn't hold much interest for me past the first few episodes (that I watched on DVD no less)
The openings to the two main anime I'm watching now are also pretty amazing.
Kaiji season 2 opening
Bokurano Ours opening
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Post by Indigo on May 17, 2014 16:50:17 GMT
Can't say I exceptionally like the first one, but I've listened to that Bokurano opening before and I really love that song... That reminds me I have to watch it, too.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2014 17:39:08 GMT
Can't say I exceptionally like the first one, but I've listened to that Bokurano opening before and I really love that song... That reminds me I have to watch it, too. Bokurano has been really good so far and I enjoy it, but despite featuring mechs it's not really a mech show, or anything that I would typically associate with your tastes. EDIT: Actually, Madoka Magica referenced Bokutano by showing a bunch of chairs in Madoka's room at some points, notably when Kyubey is doing what he does best. The shows are very similar in many other ways too, when it comes to incidental ploy details, and Bokurano may be even less optimistic than Madoka overall. |
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2014 13:49:34 GMT
Wow... Bokurano made me cry at the half way point, in the very episode where this becomes the ending song.
I was quite surprised to hear that the director of the anime and the origional Manga artist had a conversation that went something like this-
Director: Is there anyway to save the characters from their fate?
Manga author: Only if no magic contrivances are used.
From what I hear, the Manga is pretty much pitch black... I hear there's actual rape rather than attempted rape/manipulative relationships, and one of the pilots kills the other while they're piloting Zearth. I'd have to read it to be sure, but I think the anime benefits from some optimism and less overtly dark, try-hardy material. It's depressing enough without having to further cheapen it, and the happy moments in the anime are the saddest.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2014 23:19:39 GMT
I forgot how amazing this music was... first form of the final boss.
It might be my favourite musical piece of the digital devil saga duology, and that's saying something.
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Post by Stove on Jun 20, 2014 0:51:48 GMT
I remember Baten Kaitos from my childhood. I think I must have first obtained it sometime in 2007, my Dad got it for me and specifically mentioned that he knew I could play it on my Wii... or something like that. So it was one of the first gamecube games I got after the Wii had already been released. Anyway, I really liked it, but in memory it remained as the only game in history that had beaten me. I loved the game, I really wanted to beat it, but this one boss fight stood in my way. I couldn't beat it, no matter how much I threw myself at it. Hence this music is forever ingrained into my brain, being the music that plays during the fight against three of the game's important villains at the same time. I couldn't grind at the time, either- the game only lets you level up at blue save points, and from the dungeon you fight the boss in, you only have a red save point (which obviously led to me saving over my previous save data) and the game doesn't let you return. I was stuck. So I replayed the entire game again, obviously- that's one disk, as the chaotic trio is the first boss fight of disk two. So with the fight in mind, I played up to the fight again- I even read a ton of walkthroughs telling me how to beat the boss, and when I reached the fight again, I still couldn't beat it. So I left the game for several years. Then, I picked it back up again in 2010 (if my save file is accurate) and I played through the whole first disk again. I was older, wiser, and better at games, so of course I should be able to beat the boss this time, right? Nope. I couldn't. So cut to 2014, sometime around the beginning of this month. I had just finished getting every achievement in Dark Souls, widely considered to be one of the most difficult games of all time. I saw the game still sitting there on my shelf, taunting me. There have been many games that I've simply stopped playing, but I always stopped playing them because I was bored or something, not because I was physically unable. After 7 long years and much more difficult games, I still hadn't beaten Baten Kaitos. So, obviously, I picked it up again. Turns out I was a retard. I realised that throughout all of my play throughs, I didn't know how to play the game. Each card in battle has a number on the card. Stringing numbers together or matching them in one combo leads to a higher damage output. I knew this, but what I didn't know was that as each card grew stronger, more numbers became available. Oh, they're visible, but I was always pressing A to select cards, and I didn't previously know nor much care how one selects the other numbers. Turns out, you point the C stick in the direction of the number you want, making it much easier to string together numbers. The other thing I didn't know was that using opposing elements together in the same combo reduced your damage out put. Using a fire element and a water element for example will actually negate each other's elemental damage, leaving only the physical damage. As soon as I picked the game up for the fourth time, I realised all of this immediately- I mean heck, every time you attack an enemy, a status screen pops up telling you how all the different components of your attacks combined into the total damage out put! It showed all of the subtractions! For 7 years, I didn't look at what was right in front of me. How could I have been so stupid? So, with this basic knowledge in hand, I boldly played through the game again... and beat the chaotic trio on my first try. When you fight them twice in a row without a save/heal break later on in the game where they have boosted stats and can heal each other, I beat them in one try. I only died to one boss in the game on this 2014 playthrough, and I comfortably beat him third time. Alas, although on this day I have finally beaten the longest game it has ever taken me to complete, my journey is still not over. I need to buy Baten Kaitos Origins, this game's prequel, and beat that. I hear it's quite a bit harder, so I am not yet done. Anyway, after all that, here's the epic final boss theme, which was well worth the wait. Well, pen-ultimate final boss theme. The real final boss was one of the most confusing things I've ever experienced in a video game. I don't think I've ever fought a diablous ex machina big lipped alligator final boss before... I recommend Baten Kaitos to anyone looking for a great JRPG. It has really good visuals, catchy music, a twisty plot that involves the player in some really unique ways (despite how gimmicky it seems at first) and a really fun and fast paced battle system. Plus, it just has a really cozy place in my heart. Your story brought up one of my own in my mind, a fond but frustrating memory - and game. The primary difference is that I knew how to play this game (sort of, the game threw me for a loop that I couldn't have expected that ruined my normal team and strategy) - it's just that it has a Wake-Up Call Boss as the game's Final Boss(es)So there's this game called Evolution Worlds. Fun game, charming too, and a lot of fun to play. It's for the most part a standard turn-based RPG, and I rented it one day in 2003...little did I know I was picking up a game I would cherish, then hate, then cherish, then hate for years. (NOTE: If this is a game you possibly want to play, don't click that spoiler tag below. There will be spoilers inside, obviously.) Don't say I didn't warn you.
So to accurately understand my dilemna, you must know some basic info of the characters. (First, all the characters are named after weapons. Ex: Mag Launcher, Linear Cannon, Chain Gun, etc. It's a funny little touch.)
So Mag and Linear are the main two characters of the story. They will always be in your party, and you can choose a third one. Did I say always up there? Sorry, I meant ALMOST, and this is what irked me about this game. Mag will always be in your party. He's a good damage dealer with solid health and techniques. However, Linear...Linear is your healer. Unfortunately, your healer also has a penchant for getting kidnapped in this game. TWICE. Not to mention both of these times are before four of the toughest bosses in the game. Now, there are other ways to heal (healing items, and other characters have healing techniques before.) but since I had Linear I didn't bother getting said healing techniques. So I died. A lot. At what I call about the halfway point of the game is when Linear first gets kidnapped. After what was 100+ attempts on that boss, I gave up, and returned the game to my rental place. (And this boss isn't even considered that hard if you're prepared.)
Fast forward to about 2007. I spot the game again, this time in a store, and I decide to buy it. After many more frustrating attempts on this boss, I FINALLY beat him. I'm so overjoyed. With all the effort I put in, I felt that surely it was the end. I was wrong, as I got thrown into another boss fight which I also eventually beat (Though I found out the gamecube version I played is a combination of two games and this actually was the end of the first one), and then another part of the game entirely. I play through it, and Linear is now back in my party. I think that that terrible incident won't happen again and go through the game, once again enjoying it. Obviously she gets kidnapped again. I'm irritated going through what actually is the final dungeon, until I meet....HIM. Not the guy from before, but this a-hole who has been basically flirting with Linear the entire 2nd half of the game. This guy had me angry. So we commenced in fighting. I still don't have any healing techniques (but I'm 7 levels overleveled.) Once again, I get my *** handed to me. Again. and Again. and Again. Eventually, once again, I give up.
Fast forward to this year. I finally spot this game again in a pile of junk while cleaning my room. I put it in, and play, but this time I decide to start over. Unlike what I do with most games where I use research to help me, I do not, for the sake of pride to beat this game. This time, after all these hours of experience...I know what I'm doing. I set up my party better, don't waste my money as much, and I'm back to Yurka after many more hours. I fight, excited and angry, and after a few attempts, I FINALLY beat him. (This guy is considered pretty hard even by RPG standards.) Then...it's not over. It's still not over. I find one last boss...and it's brutality all over again. I get beaten so many times...but this time I don't give up. This time I'm prepared. After so much toiling, so much rage, and two times giving up (something I almost never do) I finally...FINALLY beat the boss, and the game. My sheer happiness after 11 years of being abused by this game was a satisfaction so great that I've only felt it a select few times in my entire time as a gamer.
EDIT: Also I just realized I replied to something two months old. I honestly thought that was the newest post in the thread...  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2014 11:57:08 GMT
This is probably one of the most depressing songs I've ever heard, now that we've got this beautiful english cover. www.youtube.com/watch?v=stlbq_w3zrY It feels almost cruel to hate this stupid show... I hope the original LN author and its fans find at least something to enjoy about reality. |
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Post by Indigo on Jul 22, 2014 2:39:47 GMT
It seems pretty uplifting and inspirational to me. I don't see a problem if the anime's viewpoint is that a game life is better... It probably is. I'm sure everyone that likes it does find reality enjoyable... Even if it's just watching anime. I mean, reality is a subjective, perspective-ish(?), and situational thing, anyway.
Somewhat related, though... At least, I was reminded of it because of the lyrics. A song from Yu-Gi-Oh:
More of an old classic than emotional... I've always liked it.
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Post by Stove on Jul 22, 2014 2:51:18 GMT
This is probably one of the most depressing songs I've ever heard, now that we've got this beautiful english cover. www.youtube.com/watch?v=stlbq_w3zrY It feels almost cruel to hate this stupid show... I hope the original LN author and its fans find at least something to enjoy about reality. I can't tell whether I love or despise that song, it's not one or the other. On one hand, I like the instrumentals and it all fits great, along with the lyrics (from what I've heard of NGNL) On the other hand, that singer leaves much to be desired. For starters, she does that...thing. I don't know how to describe it. It's that noise they make between syllables. Like...listen to the very first syllable of the entire song. She starts with that kind of throaty HHHHHHH noise. I hate it when singers do that, it really just sounds absolutely terrible, along with the squeaky S noises that sound like nails on a chalkboard. I hate that noise. Oh, and too much nasty EEEEEEE vowels where it should make more of an "ah" or "eh" sound. But that's just my nitpicking. EDIT: I just listened to the original. I prefer it because the singer does a lot less of those annoying tics. Oh, and the full version gets 30 seconds of that lovely piano. EDIT2: Konomi Suzuki. Kay. EDIT3: And then there was this. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2014 11:39:09 GMT
Seriously Claxus? It isn't healthy to have that perspective. They're just using gaming as a way to escape from reality, and Sora is pretty much the only 'real' person in NGNL, all the other people are there to fulfil some kind of fetish or other narrative function, because the world he is transported to is a fantasy in the purest sense, tailored to suit him and his needs.
His perspective (and I feel the authors too) is kind of disgusting, misanthropic, and pathetic, but the song reminds me that pretty much any gamer can fall into the trap of thinking that our lives are meaningless without the trap provided by gaming crafting an artificial sense of agency and self worth. On top of that, you can't say that everyone who likes it finds reality enjoyable, that's a lot of people. I can say that everyone exists in reality, and that means that they have to engage with it. Does that mean they enjoy engaging with it? Not necessarily, and that's why this show exists, to provide the fantasy of being free of their perceived shackles.
Even if you could wish away your reality to a better one inside a perfect world of your choosing, it wouldn't be better. You'd be alone and unchallenged.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2014 16:21:01 GMT
I hate NGNL, it isn't like Sword Art Online where it doesn't realise it's crap, it revels in it's own awfulness.
But when I consider the culture around the show though, and what it ultimately represents... I feel more depressed than angry. It broke something in me. I want to fix it.
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Post by Indigo on Jul 22, 2014 19:21:03 GMT
What probably broke is your acceptance in other views... It's fiction. No one's hating on you for whatever kill-God-or-Satan game you like so much. I suppose you represent atheists who want to kill religious icons.
Seriously... Fiction. Is it wrong to like stories/anime based on fantasy ideas? Fantasy worlds are (usually) meant to be ideal/better in the first place. Whether you like it or not, a fantasy world can certainly paint a prettier picture than reality, and there's nothing wrong with wishing or dreaming of that sort of thing, or liking it, unless you kill yourself because of it. I'm sure you don't watch anime just to reinforce your personal views. So I don't know what the big deal is.
You hate anti-social culture?
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Post by Stove on Jul 22, 2014 20:22:13 GMT
hey guys, mind taking this to PM since this has absolutely nothing to do with the thread?
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