#this shit sucks and is really hard for me because I'm a COMPLETIONIST

[renren-writes]

playing gacha games like genshin and honkai and then playing games like MS giving me a huge whiplash. like it's so obvious that genshin and honkai are designed for easy gaming with how everything is made to easily achieve unless you're a completionist and that's when we step into the whale territory. with ms however, you have to figure out the mechanics of everything in the game yourself through trials and errors. no hand-holding shit here. you can be a whale but it's not worth it since the game now goes out of its way to create events to keep you playing longer and rewards you with cash stuff. you can beat any boss as long as you care about leveling up your character and enhancing your equipment (im still figuring out this stuff. profession is truly a process). in fact, leveling seems to be one of the main goals when playing ms. the game can be easy but when it's hard, it is HARD but not impossible to beat it. also, no need to whale to beat anything. idk it feels like i'm detoxing the gacha gambler out of my body. it really is refreshing.

oh for sure, like even i, someone who sucks ass at recognising i-frames, can exploit that stuff on genshin with the right focus. i actually have suuuuuper bad finger coordination unless it’s with touch typing, but it’s especially bad in my right hand since strain makes it cramp up really quickly. a lot of the console games i play is stuff that’s easy to work with while still giving me a decent challenge, and i’m not gonna lie, after years of playing just gachas like genshin and fgo, i ate ass CONSTANTLY when i tried to pick up my dragon age games and final fantasy xiv again because i had to get used to all the mechanics again. i’ve got stray on my ps5 but i’m so scared to play it because i know i’ll be uncoordinated with it and i so hate to see the little outsider limping…..

[joviantwelve]

beat the Live A Live remake...I bought it when it came out but my ADHD ass didn't wanna play it until I braced myself fully for all the secret bosses, because I wanted to be completionist this time around...

...was very worth it though! what a good fucking game! everything they added made it even better; the QoL to the battle system alone is just huge. ("there were weaknesses and resistances in this game??" I say, having literally beaten the original)

almost feel like I should get a music player on my blog again so I can throw the new mix of Megalomania up there, because I had it on my blog like 10 years ago and had asks like "oh my god what is that song from??" LMFAO. full circle

I wish every cult classic could get another shot at life with this much love and care. and hey, now it's on Steam, so this is me telling you you have no excuse!!

full game spoilers below, but I had a few screenshots I wanted to take. also some additional, equally spoilery commentary:

...mostly of boss kills, because I started with Prehistory (I like going chronologically, it pleases my brain), so I figured "well I'm grinding forever to take down the mammoth, as well as other superbosses I heard were Hard, I might as well get screenshot trophies of everything"

poop throw MVP

adding voice acting really makes you confront a few things. why did they make ou di wan lee sound hot.

oh my god FUCK THIS SWORD GUY. I was trying to go for oboromaru no kill route so I had to just...grind on ghosts...then this ghost sword guy keeps killing my ass...sob...sob...I actually almost gave up here

then I didn't

the fish was so much easier in comparison man

oboromaru why is your chapter like this

then I blanked and didn't take a picture of killing gamahebi because I was too overcome by the fact I 1) successfully did the no kill run and 2) never have to do this again

awarded myself with gay cowboys next. I didn't go into this thinking "time to award myself with gay cowboys" but like, I last played this game before I realized I was gay. so like. it kind of just hit me all at once. oh no this Did something to me didn't it

I took this screenshot because I was stoned as hell and mad dog's stupid little smug gayboy pose just really got me

hey can I also say I just really like the HD2D style? I never played Octopath so this was my first....and like...this really fucking blows pretty much any SNES FF remake out of the water. I know they don't do this for every game because of Budget I'm sure, but like, God I Wish Every SNES Square RPG Could Get This Treatment

gay???????????

is it just me or is odie o'bright the hardest final boss of the individual character chapters????? fuck this guy

out of context live a live

I love that they added voice to the combat too. hearing Akira go "YOU SUCK!" in a giant mech as he evades an attack is just

so fucking funny to hear in a final boss fight

ok OD-10 had THE biggest glow-up though

every time my eyes got to grace this battlefield/boss I was like mMMmMMMMMMMM

normal final boss fight :)

:(

i love masaru he's just a completely normal dude

THE FINAL CHAPTER HAS SO MANY EXTRA BOSSES AHHH.

FISH 2

actually can I just say I LOVE how they localized the middle ages to be all shakespearean

which means that not only do oersted/odio get to be the hugest drama queens, every boss in the area in general just has the most delightful dialogue

FFXIV has taught them well. did you know the dialogue in FFXIV is NOT like that in japanese?! I can't even imagine

it was around this point that I realized doing EVERY character dungeon probably overleveled me hardcore

and, in that respect, I can see why you may have accidentally stumbled upon the fact that running from 100 encounters nets you a secret boss. I got sick of that shit around when Lei was one-shotting everything first turn

but.

not in a bad way necessarily. like I knew going in this was definitely going to happen since I'm doing EVERYTHING in a chapter where you can technically bumrush the final boss of the game

so I guess my advice is, if you find the battle system a bit difficult during boss fights, leveling solves most ills

the other ills can be taken care of by Cube

I admit I didn't vibe so much with Pure Odio upon first playthrough, mostly because it's hard to compete with Megalomania being there, but I really vibed with the new mix

but THEN

but THEN!!!!

they EXPANDED ON THE FINAL BOSS FIGHT???! HUH???

(ME LOSING MY MIND)

it's like something out of fanfic??? in the best way??? just this small little thing that really makes an impact on the character arc BUT NOT in a way that destroys anything that was there previously

just a small little detail...this is what I kinda wish for more remakes honestly?? expansion isn't BAD. some of the issues with modern remakes of games from 20 years ago is that they DON'T change anything. being TOO loyal can hurt sometimes

also oersted's VA just fuckin KILLED it good job my dude

gay cowboy dad giving the saddest boy in the universe some sympathy

these credits were really nice. always gotta love Montage Credits

OH....WUH...WAHHH....

AND THEN

THE TITLE SCREEN!!!!!!!!!!!

WHHWAHHWAAHHHHHHHHHHH

live a live is so good.....................

i'm so glad this game can reach more people now. definite 10/10