Johann Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 7 hours ago, Hawkwing said: I just spent the last several minutes looking at the videos you linked. Thank you for that that! They were enjoyable! As for the questions: Something you fell in love with immediately? Something that had to grow on you? Something (in reality or fiction) that you'd pay good money to see? Thoughts/opinions on Batman? Favorite dream you've ever had? No problemo! Mamma Mia, any and all puppies, Zelda games (my first being the original), actually a lot of games really, Thai food, lots of cool people I meet. I can tell extremely quickly when something suits my tastes. I also definitely immediately made the free 2* Felicia part of my primary lineup in Heroes right after I heard her voice acting. Hmm... some characters in Heroes, like Cain and Sheena who were both 5* pity breakers I received early on and didn't really know much about. Didn't take long though. In terms of other things, not sure, it's not common for me to be like "I dunno about this" and stick around too much longer. Hard to say, I don't have a lot of particular desires in that sense. Random thought would be if the people behind the Netflix Castlevania did shows for other game series like Metroid. Michael Keaton and Adam West eras are good, I can get behind Kevin Conroy and the animated series, but I don't really care for Christian Bale's performance. As a series, I think it works better when it doesn't take itself ultra seriously. Heath Ledger gave a phenomenal performance in Dark Knight, but he's the only thing in that movie that keeps my interest. Lucid dreams, especially where I feel like I'm tapping into some source of subconscious power or wisdom. It's an experience like nothing else. 6 hours ago, Karimlan said: I hope it's not Alucard vs Trevor Belmont haha. More queries *grin* Were you one of those guys who thought that once you got the Crissaegrim sword on Symphony of the Night, the game is busted wide open? Prior to getting the aforementioned item, what boss strategy did you employ the most? Ever had the chance to play the Japanese version of the game? What is so bad about Simon's Quest that you recommend people stay away from it, given that SoTN's object in the endgame seems close to that of the NES title? How did you like Alucard's transition into Genya Arikado, or how Konami went about it at least? yeah that one! Though I'd settle for really any Trevor fight scene haha I've never got a Crissaegrim, I had no interest in farming for it and grinding to give it the broken level of strength. Of course, in my first playthrough, I didn't even know it existed. Instead, I got lucky with a different sword, Marsil (I just went to Google to make sure I spelled it right, apparently they changed it's name to Laevatainn), which was way too fucking cool to not use for the rest of the game. Anytime I play as Alucard, as soon as it's available, I go right for it. I guess hit and run tactics, or really nothing different from what you'd do in a normal Castlevania. Sometimes I'd toss out a Soul Steal if I was getting crushed. SoTN bosses don't have much HP, so overpowered stuff makes it a zero challenge game. The DS ones are better in that sense due to having better ways of providing challenges. Nope, is there something unique and worthwhile about it? Have you tried it? Simon's Quest is a directionless mess; every NPC is supposed to give hints, but they're so vague and poorly translated that nothing is clear. There are 3 bosses in the game, two you can literally walk right past, and none of them do anything. Progression occurs from having to farm hearts (which drop from enemies), and the only thing dying for game over does is reset your hearts, so it's just a boring grind to acquire keys. Check out this Sequelitis episode on it if you haven't, I think it sums up everything wrong with the game extremely well. Been a long time since I played the Aria games but I recall it being a pretty natural narrative choice. Anyway here's Marsil, it's so rad. The flames give it extra hits too and it has a special attack where it makes a huge explosion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Re: The weirdo. Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 more questions 1. if your feeling groovy, then that implies that you groove to music. if so, what tunes are you groovin to? 2. any expectations for three houses that you'd like to share? 3. if there was a way to watch any part of human history, but you could only watch one 45 minute episode of it, what would you watch? 4. do you follow competitive SSB Melee? if so, who is your favorite of the five gods? 5. what would it take for you to say, "everything i know is a lie"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwing Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Do you read any webcomics? Favorite Newspaper Comic? Strangest thing you've ever eaten? Trampolines. Like/dislike/don't care for them? First impressions on the new Fire Emblem game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karimlan Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Ah, Marsil—The Sword of Flames. That is one of the coolest weapons, gameplay- and design-wise. My other favorites were the Mourneblade, Were Bane, the Fist of Tulkas, and good ol' Alucard Sword. I mostly did hit-and-run tactics as well, although I employed the Shield Rod + Iron Shield trick, where two huge swords will rotate horizontally across the entire room, making mincemeat out of anything in their general path (before I got the Crissaegrim at least--the game no longer had a challenge once you got the sword). Spamming that skill saved my rear numerous times in the more expansive rooms full of enemies or Bosses, coupled with Soul Steal (at least before I got Mourneblade) once HP drops really low, and Hellfire's teleport to whisk me away to a different part of the room (someone in the design team really loved fighting game joypad motions, don't you agree?). I thought the Japanese version was a little harder than the North American one (I had played both versions), and Dracula's voice in it is so much more epic. I vaguely remember playing Simon's Quest, but I fail to recall ever finishing it. You mentioned a few posts back that you teach. What subject is it? I take it that you're not a fan of the misanthropic trope in character development, or is it from a writing standpoint? Which one of these literary figures do you think would be most fun to talk with drunk: Hunter S. Thompson, Jack Kerouac, Ernest Hemingway, or Kurt Vonnegut? Did you ever think that Whitey Bulger would ever be caught? (Seems like he's an underworld legend over in South Boston.) And, what did you think of the movie adaptation of his life that starred Johnny Depp (Black Mass)? What period in history would you most likely want to be part of, other than the present day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 12 hours ago, (s)ad touch said: more questions 1. if your feeling groovy, then that implies that you groove to music. if so, what tunes are you groovin to? 2. any expectations for three houses that you'd like to share? 3. if there was a way to watch any part of human history, but you could only watch one 45 minute episode of it, what would you watch? 4. do you follow competitive SSB Melee? if so, who is your favorite of the five gods? 5. what would it take for you to say, "everything i know is a lie"? Right this second, I'm on an ABBA kick, see below I hope they get better writers at the very least. Definitely more of the unique battle conditions. Generally, more options on how we can play beyond setting difficulty and self-imposed challenges. Probably a future part where we verify some sort of incredible technology, like how to properly use fusion energy. I'd take that knowledge and use it today. Nope, I have no interest. A friend of mine follows it and always talks about how great Melee is, but at least with Ultimate coming out, he might let Melee go I don't think anything could make me think that, since I'm pretty open to some crazy abstract and ambiguous possibilities about, well, anything. Like, ghosts, aliens, alternate universes, none of that would phase me to see. 7 hours ago, Hawkwing said: Do you read any webcomics? Favorite Newspaper Comic? Strangest thing you've ever eaten? Trampolines. Like/dislike/don't care for them? First impressions on the new Fire Emblem game? Not really, though I used to check out Hark, A Vagrant quite a bit. Linked my favorite one Hmm used to be Peanuts back in the day, though I just discovered Nancy, which has a new writer/artist in the past few months, taking it waaay beyond what it apparently was Hmm, dunno, I have a hard time viewing any food as strange, no matter how foreign they might seem. In terms of strangest tasting food, really only dishes that I've tried to make that came out wrong and I forced myself to eat for some reason. Like. What's not to love? I did a play not too long ago where the director bought a trampoline just for me to have a dynamic entrance Seems decent, not sold on it yet though. I may wait til after it comes out to hear how it is 6 hours ago, Karimlan said: You mentioned a few posts back that you teach. What subject is it? I take it that you're not a fan of the misanthropic trope in character development, or is it from a writing standpoint? Which one of these literary figures do you think would be most fun to talk with drunk: Hunter S. Thompson, Jack Kerouac, Ernest Hemingway, or Kurt Vonnegut? Did you ever think that Whitey Bulger would ever be caught? (Seems like he's an underworld legend over in South Boston.) And, what did you think of the movie adaptation of his life that starred Johnny Depp (Black Mass)? What period in history would you most likely want to be part of, other than the present day? I didn't have a guide or anything and played SoTN blind so most of the techniques I'd either discovered by accident or completely missed. The Shield Rod was just a rod to me, for instance. Geographic Information Systems (it's basically the computer science behind Google maps and other mapping stuff). I also teach things like Earth Science and tutor some classes that focus on toxicology in humans and in the environment. I wouldn't say that I'm against it, I think it works when done right. However, I generally think most people are more complex than "100% hates all humans". Writing villains is a very difficult thing because it's easy to just give them a sole motivation, when real "bad people" are usually more along the lines of corrupt, conflicted and making the wrong choices, or otherwise believing that their brand of bullshit is the right way. Definitely Hunter S Thompson, even though it'd be the batshit insane kind of fun. Hemingway is probably the least fun. They caught Whitey years ago. Stuff relating to him would pop up on the news rather regularly while he was on the run, so it's hard to not know who he was if you live in Massachusetts. Never saw that movie though, doesn't sound like it was particularly great. The future. I don't romanticize any past period as if it were somehow better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwing Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 25 minutes ago, Johann said: Like. What's not to love? I did a play not too long ago where the director bought a trampoline just for me to have a dynamic entrance Wow, really? I didn't know they actually used them in plays. Or at least, I thought they were pretty rare. Anyway, as for the questions: Do you play any mobile games? Thoughts/Opinions on Indiana Jones? Oldest book you've ever read? Oldest movie you've ever watched? Favorite Fictional Villain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karimlan Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 (edited) I don't live in Mass (I used to reside in San Diego before moving to the Philippines), but I've read Betrayal: Whitey Bulger and the FBI Agent Who Fought to Bring Him Down a year or so before the movie that starred Depp was released. The idea of a fugitive remaining in hiding for a time comparable to Bulger's struck me as fascinating (and freaky, I guess—when you think of the implications therein). (I know you don't wax nostalgic about any historical period, but please humor me for the following question at least) If you are given the chance to change the outcome of ANY historical event (can be in this country or anywhere else, from antiquity to the present day), without regard to its possible consequences/repercussions, which event would it be? Your expounding on villains' motivations reminds me a lot of Peter David. Are you a fan of his comics? Ever tapped into lucid dreaming without the aid of hallucinogens? (I haven't.) Which pulp writer would you bring back from the dead: Bob Howard or H.P. Lovecraft? Which dog breed are you most fond of? Edited August 23, 2018 by Karimlan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 3 minutes ago, Hawkwing said: Wow, really? I didn't know they actually used them in plays. Or at least, I thought they were pretty rare. Anyway, as for the questions: Do you play any mobile games? Thoughts/Opinions on Indiana Jones? Oldest book you've ever read? Oldest movie you've ever watched? Favorite Fictional Villain? Theaters will do all sorts of crazy crap to get an effect just right. I've seen a stage covered in sand, pools of water, functional rain machines, working guillotines, all manner of ways to fly a person... Other than FEH, nope, never have. Love the original trilogy, especially Raiders. What a perfect movie. What's not to love about the character? I didn't see the 4th one cuz it seemed shallow (which is what people have told me too). As a kid, I also played Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and have some very fond memories of it. Hmm I guess either Homer's Odyssey or Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings, not sure which is older Citizen Kane, as far as full length stuff. I have seen A Trip to the Moon though, but that's hardly a movie. This seems like as good a time as any to plug my love for Smashing Pumpkins' Tonight, Tonight video, which stars Tom Kenny (the voice of Spongebob) and his wife THE MONARCH from the Venture Bros 4 minutes ago, Karimlan said: I don't live in Mass (I used to reside in San Diego before moving to the Philippines), but I've read Betrayal: Whitey Bulger and the FBI Agent Who Fought to Bring Him Down a year or so before the movie that starred Depp was released. The idea of a fugitive remaining in hiding for a time comparable to Bulger's struck me as fascinating (and freaky, I guess—when you think of the implications therein). (I know you don't wax nostalgic about any historical period, but please humor me for the following question at least) If you are given the chance to change the outcome of ANY historical event (can be in this country or anywhere else, from antiquity to the present day), without regard to its possible consequences/repercussions, which event would it be? Your expounding on villains' motivations reminds me a lot of Peter David. Are you a fan of his comics? Ever tapped into lucid dreaming without the aid of hallucinogens? (I haven't.) Which pulp writer would you bring back from the dead: Bob Howard or H.P. Lovecraft? Which dog breed are you most fond of? Yeah, he was a very resourceful and intelligent dude, he knew how to best get far away and lay low. As I recall, he got caught cuz either he or his girlfriend slipped up Hmm I'm not sure, like it's impossible for me to not think about the historical implications. That said, I would say something like preventing the assassination of Bobby Kennedy Never heard of him, but if you got something of his you wanna share, by all means, post it Yeah, I've never done hallucinogens. It's not something I can control though. HP Lovecraft was a racist asshole, so I don't care if he stays dead, dunno who Bob Howard is either. I'll save my powers of resurrection that are limited to the entertainment industry for someone else on I don't play favorites, all dogs are equally perfect. I did have a chocolate lab growing up though, loved her so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIHadToPickADude Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 1.) What's your favorite ABBA song? 2.) Do you like other versions of something over the original? (ex. Liking the musical adaptation of Mean Girls over the original movie) 3.) Do you like musicals? If so, do you have any favorites? 4.) Have you ever just stared at a word long enough that it just doesn't look like a word anymore? 5.) Favorite novels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karimlan Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Peter David's claim to comic book fame is a 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk. He's also written stuff on Aquaman, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, and X-Factor, among others. I knew we'd run into the racism of Lovecraft in his writing, pretty much. In better days I'd like to think that it's typical of the time he lived in, and in worse ones I'd think it would be exacerbated by the attention to detail he employs for his literary kicks. Barring that, I think his influence to the modern horror subgenre is great. Robert Howard, on the other hand, is the creator of Conan the Barbarian and pretty much laid the foundation for the sword & sorcery subgenre. Do your lessons in toxicology delve into substances that have been weaponized (i.e, chemical warfare)? Given that you also look into toxicology in the environment, with all the experiments in chemical and biological warfare that have taken place in Fort Detrick (Frederick, MD) through the decades, would you wager that living there would not really be a good idea? Somehow the train of thought on the General US Politics thread had gravitated a little to military spending and appropriations, which hit close to the ballpark of the military-industrial complex as a point in discussion. Picture yourself as Dwight D. Eisenhower. Would you have wanted to, in your final address to the nation as President, made more than an allusion to the existence of that all-powerful entity? Ever tasted Japanese curry dishes? How do you combat writers' block? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alistair Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 1. Favorite FE song/track? 2. What's an experience you're glad you did but would never try again? 3. What made you want to teach? 4. Orange juice: pulp or no pulp? 5. Assuming it's not your real name, why did you decide on "Johan" as a username? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a bear Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 do something with this https://github.com/LagoLunatic/dsvrandom/releases/tag/v1.2.0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 4 hours ago, IfIHadToPickADude said: 1.) What's your favorite ABBA song? 2.) Do you like other versions of something over the original? (ex. Liking the musical adaptation of Mean Girls over the original movie) 3.) Do you like musicals? If so, do you have any favorites? 4.) Have you ever just stared at a word long enough that it just doesn't look like a word anymore? 5.) Favorite novels? Of the upbeat stuff, Honey Honey (especially when sung by the always dreamy Amanda Seyfried), and of the more heartfelt sincere stuff, Chiquitita Hmm lots of things I suppose, though I can't think of anything off the top of my head. Les Misérables works great as a musical whereas the book spends chapters describing things like the sewers of Paris. Might come back to this question if something comes up. Also I heard that the music in the Mean Girls musical is mediocre, so probably not that. Definitely. Pippin is my #1 favorite but other faves include Once on This Island, Jesus Christ Superstar, Into the Woods, and Mamma Mia. Yeah, I think everyone has done this Wind, Sand, and Stars (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry), Count of Monte Cristo (Alexander Dumas), Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig) are my top 3. Worth noting that 2 of those 3 are non-fiction I made a Pippin gif because I can: 3 hours ago, Karimlan said: Peter David's claim to comic book fame is a 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk. He's also written stuff on Aquaman, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, and X-Factor, among others. I knew we'd run into the racism of Lovecraft in his writing, pretty much. In better days I'd like to think that it's typical of the time he lived in, and in worse ones I'd think it would be exacerbated by the attention to detail he employs for his literary kicks. Barring that, I think his influence to the modern horror subgenre is great. Robert Howard, on the other hand, is the creator of Conan the Barbarian and pretty much laid the foundation for the sword & sorcery subgenre. Do your lessons in toxicology delve into substances that have been weaponized (i.e, chemical warfare)? Given that you also look into toxicology in the environment, with all the experiments in chemical and biological warfare that have taken place in Fort Detrick (Frederick, MD) through the decades, would you wager that living there would not really be a good idea? Somehow the train of thought on the General US Politics thread had gravitated a little to military spending and appropriations, which hit close to the ballpark of the military-industrial complex as a point in discussion. Picture yourself as Dwight D. Eisenhower. Would you have wanted to, in your final address to the nation as President, made more than an allusion to the existence of that all-powerful entity? Ever tasted Japanese curry dishes? How do you combat writers' block? Regarding Lovecraft, I never got into his stuff so learning he was racist wasn't an issue for me to deal with. Yet, there's always an issue of having to grapple with how something you love has been tainted by a creator who may turn out to be a piece of shit. The video I linked in the last post discusses that with Lovecraft in particular, though it's been a while since I've look at it. The Hobbit analysis by Lindsay Ellis (I linked the first part on the last page) also addresses this when looking at how it's hard to reconcile that stuff, especially in her third part. I think you'd find these videos rather fulfilling if you have the time to watch them. Yes, to some extent; I have some quick notes of the toxicological effects of some commonly weaponized chemicals and substances on the human body that I give to the students. However, most of my students are environmental majors, so we look more on the side of chronic exposure due to pollution or contamination. The rest of my students are in Emergency Management but I only tutor them with modeling things like blast radii, floodzones, more of the FEMA type stuff. In my graduate program, which was also Emergency Management, my knowledge in the area was extremely valuable for issues relating to public health, since I either had the information on hand, or knew exactly where to get it. We often looked at these kinds of things in things like WMD attack scenarios. I'm unfamiliar with the place, but a quick Google search tells me the stuff I'd really want to know. It's not longer listed as a Superfund site (the government funding program to deal with the worst of the worst polluted areas when nobody is left who's responsible for or capable of paying), so that's good at least, but that's no confirmation of safety. I'd avoid it myself and I'd probably tell anyone who asked about it to not even bother considering it. Eisenhower was a rare gem, and I'm skeptical of anyone who calls themselves a Republican and thinks Reagan was the best president instead of Ike. I'm not sure emphasizing that message of his would've been enough, I think it's more that it needed to echo throughout the years. I haven't, none of the strictly Japanese restaurants serve curry. I'd be super down to try though. You don't fight it, you do something else. The direction you seek comes to you in time. You can't force it to go away. The same thing applies to visual arts like painting; sometimes you need to stop, walk away from it, and sort of cleanse your visual palette, if you will. 4 minutes ago, Alistair said: 1. Favorite FE song/track? 2. What's an experience you're glad you did but would never try again? 3. What made you want to teach? 4. Orange juice: pulp or no pulp? 5. Assuming it's not your real name, why did you decide on "Johan" as a username? Hmm I'll go with been What Lies at the End (from Echoes) While working at a summer camp during my teen years, we had one of those super high ropes courses (I got over my fear of heights very quickly from being up there, which was great). One of the things we had on the side was basically a super long dynamic (as in, stretches) rope in a reinforced pulley. We'd tie a kid's harness into the rope, and everyone else would run and pull them as fast as they can, so it'd send the kid flying. I'm pretty sure it was super against the rules to do this. Anyway, I tried it once, which was intense, but what really makes me not want to try it was that one kid nearly had the rope go under his crotch and uh, mess him up I kinda just fell into it. At first I was a tutor while a student, and they still needed me after I graduated, so I got a raise. Eventually they realized it was easier to just let me teach, and since then all the other teachers have quit, been fired, or retired, so I'm the only one for this class. It pays extremely well for the amount of hours I work, and I have complete control over how the class works. Preferably pulp I just kinda jump around with variations on my real name as it appears in other languages. This started years back when my brothers and I would use the foreign language names from middle school when we'd have to enter our names in fantasy games, like Final Fantasy Tactics or Baldur's Gate II. With FEH, I just put in Johann randomly but it's worked out well given the 2 minutes ago, a bear said: do something with this https://github.com/LagoLunatic/dsvrandom/releases/tag/v1.2.0 1000 yeses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alistair Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 1. Favorite FEH youtuber, if any? 2. Assuming you're American, have you ever been outside the country? 3. Pork or chicken? 4. Any mechanics from Heroes you wish will be integrated into the main series? 5. Favorite Heroes OC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karimlan Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 It was in reading this book by Annie Jacobsen that I picked up the topic of chemical and biological warfare (other than that Nicolas Cage movie The Rock, in which missiles filled with VX nerve agent have been procured by a cadre of Army insurgents, and Anthrax and Sodom of course—the former, a band from NYC; the latter, a German thrash outfit whose 1989 album Agent Orange which had a track that talked about the eponymous defoliant) that piqued my interest. Ever picked up any Ogre Battle game? What did you think of Final Fantasy Tactics' story? Along with Symphony of the Night and Vagrant Story, it was one of the most memorable games I've played on the Playstation. Aside from Cain, which Heroes character are you most fond of (OC or otherwise)? Ever seen the Netflix docudrama Wormwood, which was based on the life of CIA operative Frank Olson? Ever played Earthworm Jim? I always think of that game whenever I read the word "groovy." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 6 hours ago, Alistair said: 1. Favorite FEH youtuber, if any? 2. Assuming you're American, have you ever been outside the country? 3. Pork or chicken? 4. Any mechanics from Heroes you wish will be integrated into the main series? 5. Favorite Heroes OC? Don't have one, I really only pay attention to people here at best when it comes to Heroes. I am, and yes, but only once to Canada as a kid. I have been to nearly ever continental US state though and I travel about semi-regularly Chicken, I don't really eat pork I like how the triangle works here, where tomes are directly integrated into the normal triangle. I wouldn't mind if they toned down some of the more random factors as well. Probably the best thing, however, is that reaching level 40 is no big deal and thus experience points (a system I generally dislike) are pretty much set aside. I don't think exp works too great in FE games where it's not limited. Characterization/plot-wise, I'd say Laegjarn for being intelligent. Gameplay-wise, Fjorm since she's been a great unit for me since her release. All-around (except story role), Gunnthra and I'm not really sure why, but she clicks with me. Goodness! 51 minutes ago, Karimlan said: It was in reading this book by Annie Jacobsen that I picked up the topic of chemical and biological warfare (other than that Nicolas Cage movie The Rock, in which missiles filled with VX nerve agent have been procured by a cadre of Army insurgents, and Anthrax and Sodom of course—the former, a band from NYC; the latter, a German thrash outfit whose 1989 album Agent Orange which had a track that talked about the eponymous defoliant) that piqued my interest. Ever picked up any Ogre Battle game? What did you think of Final Fantasy Tactics' story? Along with Symphony of the Night and Vagrant Story, it was one of the most memorable games I've played on the Playstation. Aside from Cain, which Heroes character are you most fond of (OC or otherwise)? Ever seen the Netflix docudrama Wormwood, which was based on the life of CIA operative Frank Olson? Ever played Earthworm Jim? I always think of that game whenever I read the word "groovy." I haven't, but I've heard good things. Perhaps one day I'll get my hands on a copy or if it's available to download on something Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story are two of the greatest video game plots put together. Disregarding the few poorly translated scenes in the original FFT, the first 3 chapters are brilliantly set up by giving Ramza a personal foil for his main antagonist and major boss. I think Chapter 4 sort of falls apart in a narrative sense because the main antagonists are a little hollow and the political drama plot is further and further delegated to the side. With that in mind, I would have made changes to the final chapter, primarily by (FFT spoilers below!) Spoiler making Dycedarg the final antagonist, built up throughout Chapter 4. Algus, Gafgarion, and Wiegraf are such memorable enemies and battles in part due to how deeply connected to the dramatic side of things they are, and how personal the confrontations are (especially when Ramza has to face Gafgarion and Wiegraf alone). By focusing on a more generic power-seeking demon character like Vormav, the only real driving forces for Ramza are the more basic ones to save his sister, and by proxy the world (but by that time, you're so far removed from the rest of the game's world that it hardly matters and almost everyone else is either a jerk or dead). Vayne from FFXII is largely a good rough idea of how I would have preferred Dycedarg's role to play out, in that he's not rendered a puppet by the power he's seeking, and actively using it to expand and strengthen his empire. I'm not really a fan of generic evil godlike characters as villains, especially if they're going to follow the playbook of RPG cliches. Not surprisingly, Game of Thrones, which, like FFT, is also inspired by the real life War of the Roses, seems to be making the same narrative mistakes as FFT's endgame. Meanwhile, I think Vagrant Story is perfect, the only problems it has are on the gameplay side of things. The "those who crave the Dark cannot control the Dark" theme is brilliant and I wouldn't have minded if FFT borrowed from it in subtle ways. VS would work as a movie or play with some tweaks to connect the scenes in either medium. Matsuno is one of two game creators that I can actually say "this guy really knows how to write a story", the other being EarthBound creator Shigesato Itoi (who is a renowned professional writer by trade and simply made a few games cuz he thought it would be fun). Symphony is fun but I sort of put Castlevania plots into the more "pulp" side of video game stories. My most invested units (other than Cain) are Felicia, Sheena, Fjorm, Hawkeye, Brave Lucina, Legendary Robin, Frederick, Ursula, Kaze, and Clarine. I should add that I never played Fates, Blazing Blade, or the Marth games so some of these characters I knew little to nothing about. I haven't, but it sounds interesting. Yeah, but moreso Earthworm Jim 2. I say "groOOOvy" exactly like he does a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwing Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 Favorite Pixar Movie? Favorite Disney Movie? Favorite Fire Emblem Meme? Favorite Character in Super Smash Brothers? How did you discover the Castlevania series? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 4 minutes ago, Hawkwing said: Favorite Pixar Movie? Favorite Disney Movie? Favorite Fire Emblem Meme? Favorite Character in Super Smash Brothers? How did you discover the Castlevania series? Hmm I guess Wall-E or Toy Story? There are a lot I haven't seen and I don't watch them often. Very few that I've even seen multiple times, too. Looking back, it's probably Tarzan. Only thing I don't like about it is Phil Collins Don't think I have one. Not a big meme person, I kinda hate how people drive the jokes into the ground Link, no question about it Always knew it was a thing, but I didn't get into it until one day I was looking for FFVIII and saw there was a copy of Symphony of the Night in the case. Apparently my brother traded disc 3 of FFVIII for Symphony to a friend or something like that. Gave it a try, loved it, had to try the others and dove in deep into the series. I think this was like, right after high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karimlan Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 (edited) I definitely like the bend you'd wanna take in FFT, Spoiler making Dycedarg the prime villain. As to how it weaves into the entire story arc of how Ramza rebelled against the church in the game and considered a heretic, that may have taken a stretch to sort out from that point, I'd like to think. Apart from Emile Zola and Voltaire, where would you recommend a novice to French literature start? Who's your favorite American satirist? Stand-up comic? Noticing that you've picked Xander as your banner thingy, have you noticed similarities in design between him and Elric of Melniboné? Do you play a musical instrument? Which of Dostoyevsky's works do you find the most depressing? Hope you didn't mind me picking your brain...much. I wanted my queries to be as less banal and commonplace as possible. Thanks for the answers! ...(yeah, it seems that the vein had pretty much dried out from constant mining lol) Edited August 24, 2018 by Karimlan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 3 hours ago, Karimlan said: I definitely like the bend you'd wanna take in FFT, Hide contents making Dycedarg the prime villain. As to how it weaves into the entire story arc of how Ramza rebelled against the church in the game and considered a heretic, that may have taken a stretch to sort out from that point, I'd like to think. Apart from Emile Zola and Voltaire, where would you recommend a novice to French literature start? Who's your favorite American satirist? Stand-up comic? Noticing that you've picked Xander as your banner thingy, have you noticed similarities in design between him and Elric of Melniboné? Do you play a musical instrument? Which of Dostoyevsky's works do you find the most depressing? Hope you didn't mind me picking your brain...much. I wanted my queries to be as less banal and commonplace as possible. Thanks for the answers! ...(yeah, it seems that the vein had pretty much dried out from constant mining lol) It is strange to me how the heretic stuff isn't addressed much (or at all?) by Dycedarg and Zalbag. It would definitely require some retreading to make work in that sense though. In a similar vein, I think FF7's Rufus makes a far better rival for Cloud than Sephiroth does, and Hojo makes for a better ultimate antagonist by orchestrating many or the problems the heroes face. An absolute novice would being with The Little Prince, of course! It's hard for me to pick something for people when I'm not sure what their tastes and reading levels are though. Mitch Hedberg all the way Dunno who that is, I just think Xander's a cool character with an awesome design The cello, but I rarely ever touch it anymore Haven't read any of his works, it's hard for me to get through the ultra depressing downer stuff No problem dude, you've been asking some good stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacLovin Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Favorite B/C list comic characters from DC/Marvel/other that you want to see more focus on? What's your guilty pleasure? Would you recommend Robert E. Howard as a start for people who want to get into sword and sandal fantasy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwing Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Final set of questions: Something you’re glad you tried, but will never do again? Something that seems to bother others, but never/rarely you? Something you want to like, but can’t for one reason or another? Something you wish had a sequel? Thoughts/opinions on the Elder Scrolls? Favorite/Least Favorite story trope/cliche? Favorite/Least Favorite character trope/cliche? Favorite/Least Favorite gameplay trope/cliche? Did you enjoy your interview? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 14 hours ago, Joe Cool said: Favorite B/C list comic characters from DC/Marvel/other that you want to see more focus on? What's your guilty pleasure? Would you recommend Robert E. Howard as a start for people who want to get into sword and sandal fantasy? Don't really follow the Marvel stuff, but as a kid, when the X-Men show was on, I enjoyed Gambit the most. I also played as him in the old Sega game. So, Gambit. Hard to say since I don't think anything I like is considered crap by most people, and if it is, I'm not even aware of it. I guess Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which I think a lot of people rag on, mostly cuz of Kevin Costner, but goddamn I love that movie. It's got everything, including Alan Rickman as the villain, check it out if you haven't Never read his stuff, so I can't say 2 hours ago, Hawkwing said: Something you’re glad you tried, but will never do again? Something that seems to bother others, but never/rarely you? Something you want to like, but can’t for one reason or another? Something you wish had a sequel? Thoughts/opinions on the Elder Scrolls? Favorite/Least Favorite story trope/cliche? Favorite/Least Favorite character trope/cliche? Favorite/Least Favorite gameplay trope/cliche? Did you enjoy your interview? I answered this question earlier, so I was gonna copy+paste my answer, but I thought of another one: Stage managing a play. What a huge pain that was, though it's in part because the director threw me into the show as well. Lots of things, I don't care what people are doing or thinking if they're not actively hurting anyone. Majora's Mask-- the only Zelda game I haven't been able to get through because I've grown out of the Ocarina formula. There's just too much talking to NPCs and doing easy puzzles. It's such a heavy slog between the things I actually like that I get bored with it From a narrative standpoint, I dunno, cuz I don't think most things need sequels, but in terms of gameplay, something like Jumping Flash or Vagrant Story Never played em, I think I'll give them a shot sometime though THE CHOSEN ONE, it's just a lazy excuse to give a character prominence When characters say something important to themselves, and then someone else is like "what's wrong?" and then they're like "oh, it's nothing" and everyone drops it like it actually was nothing. That should only happen when someone makes a dumb joke or something. Like just speak up about that plot significant thing you noticed, cripes Experience points; you're either too strong for your enemy, or not strong enough, and you can ignore the fact that you might not have a real strategy by simply going back to leveling up. I think it works ok when there's a limit to how much exp you can get in a game, and if it's not all earned through combat. I'd like to see that system retired and replaced with a more meaningful way to have characters/players grow stronger. Yeah, was fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alistair Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 1. Favorite weapon type in FE? 2. Is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all? 3. What, if anything, excites you about teaching? 4. Green apples or red apples? 5. Who will win CYL 3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tactician_Iris Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 A bit late to join in, but if it's alright for a fellow FEH player to pose a few questions of curiosity... 1: Who are your five most wanted units for FEH (can be anyone, someone entirely new or a specific alt/seasonal version of someone who is already in (or new))? 2: As a Swede, I sort of feel like I'm obligated to ask this - have you heard any of the Swedish versions of ABBA's songs, and if so, what did you think of them? 3: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? 4: I have a vague memory you've mentioned that you speak French(apologies if I've misremembered), so apart from English and French, do you speak any other languages? 5: Is there any language you wish you could speak/want to learn? 7 hours ago, Johann said: Hard to say since I don't think anything I like is considered crap by most people, and if it is, I'm not even aware of it. I guess Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which I think a lot of people rag on, mostly cuz of Kevin Costner, but goddamn I love that movie. It's got everything, including Alan Rickman as the villain, check it out if you haven't Since I have a weak spot for the very same movie, I'll ask, is "I'm going to cut your heart out with a spoon!" a great line from a villain? Wait...that's not actually question is it? Ofc it's great considering just who says it in the film. I mean I uh...I may have lost count of how many times I've seen this movie tbh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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