#replay it on the ps2 and that doesn't sound fun

[baronaliswritingcorner]

TOS Replay Stray Thoughts #1:

Ahh, playing Tales of Symphonia is like coming home. ❤️

It's been some time since I wrapped up my years-long 100% completion run, so just for fun, I'll provide some wisened/wisecracking commentary along the way. Starting...NOW!!!

-As I'm playing the GC version, it's funny how I went from "the NA opening instrumental is totally rad and Starry Heavens is generic anime schlock" to, uh, kinda the opposite.

To this TOS veteran, said instrumental still "represents" the game for me, but in retrospect removing the Japanese songs is a really cynical practice. (And I'm saying this as someone who doesn't care for Modern Tales at all.)

-HNNNNGGHHH THAT ISELIA THEME JUST INSTANTLY DROWNS YOU WITH NOSTALGIA JUST LISTEN TO THAT RUSTIC AIR

(Seriously, what's up with the different instrument in the PS2/OST versions??? Dunno what that sound is, but it's no good.)

-Who is Vidarr? What's his deal? No one knows, but I'm thinking he's in desperate need of a character study -- one diving into the complex themes of Do Not Get In Our Way and Ugh I Lost To A Bunch Of Kids.

-"I gave the Chosen a lifetime's supply of gels for her journey!"

Then where are they, guy? 'Cause I didn't get a single one when they joined my party.

(There's a story here...were they lost in a tragic accident? Or is Kratos a gel addict?)

-"What are you saying? Do you realize how many died here because of him?"

Scott Menville condemning Scott Menville.

-Kratos in Triet: Lloyd, you are growing stronger -- you've realized you can't just swing your swords mindlessly.

Also Kratos in Triet: Your swordsmanship is bad and you should feel bad.

(Both in-character! But they're bundled too closely.)

-Colette: ohnoitsbroken

That needed another take.

-Lloyd shoots a Renegade with the Sorcerer's Ring and that frees him because??? (As you can tell, nitpicking's a habit of mine.)

-One storytelling flaw of TOS -- particularly in the first act -- is that it's a little *too* frontloaded with foreshadowing. It practically spells out Colette's fate no less than three times before you leave Iselia! That resigned "yeah" of hers on Lloyd's balcony was enough.

-I love Clumsy Colette, but I've always felt Ditzy Colette comes off as a little too dumb/mean-spirited. (Never liked the "you need to act more Chosen-like!" scene early on) I guess you could say it's a coping mechanism of sorts to distract herself from her inevitable death, but I don't know if that works.

-"You got re-ject-ed!"

See, even Genis knows Lloyd and Colette are meant to be. Oh, sure, he's laughing at Lloyd's expense now, but he's crying on the inside. I promise.

Annnnd that's it for now! I'll be posting more thoughts on the regular, so stay tuned for further Tales of Symphonia geekiness!

[movie-robotnik-positivity]

Hey! I'm new to your blog and also fairly new to the Sonic fandom (I've always loved Sonic, but never really played more than one game and I don't even remember what the game was seeing as I was only 6 or 7 years old..) anyways I was wondering if you could share some of your favorite sonic games? I'm very overwhelmed because it seems like there are so many and I don't know where to start. Thank you!

Welcome to the blog! And same here, I've always had an interest in Sonic for its characters and multimedia content, but I didn't know much about the franchise until 2019 happened and I decided that "the Sonic movie looks like it could be good" was a good hill to die on.

I didn't have access to many consoles growing up so my catalog is small (unless you count flash games). Here are my favorites though!

Sonic Heroes: the first Sonic game I've ever played, I remember being obsessed with it as a little kid (probably never got past Seaside Hill though). It was the PS2 version which is somewhat buggy and very slippery. I enjoy it though, despite its flaws.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles: I don't enjoy replaying Sonic 1 and 2 for a variety of reasons, but the third installment is good all the way through! If you want to get into Sonic games, I think this is a good place to start.

Sonic CD: I played the Christian Whitehead mobile port a few years back and I loved it! I suggest you go for the robot generators rather than the Time Stones, the game is a lot more fun that way.

Sonic Generations: My favorite 3D Sonic game (even though I've only played..two). It doesn't have a lot of levels but they're all SO good, it's the perfect game to just replay over and over again. Sounds like it could be a good first 3D Sonic for you!

Honorable mentions would be Sonic Mania (which is great) and Team Sonic Racing (don't own it but I've played it plenty of times at a friend's house and I'm apparently really good at it).

[baronaliswritingcorner]

TOS Replay Stray Thoughts #5

-“You’re as devious as you look.”

Feast, Raine/Sheena faithful. Feast on that line. Mmm.

-“Ahh! Help me, please!”

...screams a local priest as he leisurely strolls away from Clara. The limitations of TOS's graphics engine provides some unintentional comedy, although I say that knowing full well the dev team were gritting their teeth.

-Kinda prefer Sheena joining after your first trip to the Asgard ranch rather than in Luin – aside from the latter feeling too abrupt, it's simply better storytelling given that a) she's repaid her debt by saving the Chosen's group and b) she's had a night to digest the horrible truth surrounding Exspheres. Don't know if she'd stay quiet about her objective until after the Tower of Mana, but still.

-“These are all Exspheres? Incredible…”

Lloyd, you sweet summer child.

-What’s with Botta suddenly stopping in the middle of their escape? I think it's meant to telegraph the Desian ambush, but it's poorly choreographed and nothing makes any sense, lol

"Wow, Lloyd -- isn't this usually the other way around?"

Y'know, usually lines like this run the risk of trivializing serious scenes, but as evidenced by Lloyd's comeback it does highlight Genis's immaturity -- much as he relies on his education to compensate. (That, and it is funny.)

-"Ah, I see some of you know me."

...does Kvar know of Kratos's true identity/purpose? He sorta and sorta doesn't step around it.

-Love how the overworld Desians just slow-walk towards you. “Oh, hey, yeah…you…get back here…or whateves…

-boy they really couldn't telegraph that kratos reveal enough huh

(I mean, I guess you could argue this with his first scene as well, but his flailing mouth at discovering Lloyd's survival is one of my favorite little touches. Shame they removed that in the PS2 port.)

-So, Exsphere manufacturing -- how...does it work? Kvar says they're initially dormant and feed off human life, but where exactly do they come from? The Toize Valley Mine? We know Cruxis/Desians can travel between the worlds at will, so that tracks, but the Presea/Tabatha sidequest where they "listen to the voice of the Exspheres" throws a monkey wrench into that explanation. (And, of course, doesn't make any sense -- they obviously wouldn't have absorbed anyone beneath the earth.)

Doesn't help we just witnessed a whole line-up of people instantly turn into shipping containers, either. I'm sure console limitations played a part there, but it certainly makes things more confusing.

-On that note, how do you take off Exspheres? Be it Key Crests or skin implants, that sounds pretty, uh, tough. And painful. Ick, it hurts just thinking about it!

-By the way, we know who Lloyd and Genis’s Exspheres were, but did you ever stop to think about the others? Now that's some fun headcanon material – just imagine the poor sap in Raine’s Exsphere going “aw geez, look at this weirdo” when she goes into Ruin Mode.

-Picking "No!" during the Exsphere campfire scene is essential -- really, I'm a sucker for Lloyd's speeches/monologues and everything from him spending the night wrestling over the ethics of using his mother's life to both help Colette and end the cycle of Exspheres to Kratos stopping by to give a cryptic pep talk to "I'm sure my mother wanted to live longer than she did" gets me every time.

-“There was someone who escaped from the ranch. He may know another way in.”

We knew Luin hid people from the ranch, but Raine's line here makes it sound like it was just Pietro.

-The "Desian Curse" is interesting -- there's the commonfolk interpretation of their degrading health, for one, but there's more unsettling implications there with prisoners' dependency on Desian treatments, experiments and whatnot. Ghastly.

...of course, there's the question of this only occurring in Asgard escapees, but you know Kvar and his cruelty.

-ew look at Sheena’s jiggle physics

-Using this magic orb to push a boulder to cover a hidden entrance seems a little…convoluted??? how did Pietro do this. why was even a thing.

-….so what was Kvar doing with the Mana Cannon, anyway? More on that later.

-Kvar, now there’s a villain. Kinda wish he had more screentime ala Rodyle/Pronyma, but what's there is deliciously cruel. A shame the blurry Gamecube textures can't capture the unnatural black of his thin eyes, so he just looks squinty. Maybe he needs glasses.

-Dat Lloyd/Kratos team-up. Dat Colette trying to hide her non-existent (or not-so-non-existent?) pain. Dat Lloyd confessing everything. Goooooood stuff.

-Ever notice how many 3D RPGs just have the characters sleep on the beds as opposed to beneath the covers? For all of Tales of Symphonia's graphical shortcomings, Colette in that Asgard scene is surprising deviation from the norm there. -aw geez I missed the third Kratos training scene! Ugh. Welp, YouTube time.

"But even if I get to be your age, I don't think I'll be as calm as you."

"Ah, I'm not sure about that."

Does Lloyd ever look back on these conversations and just go "...oh."