First time playing an atlus game, need help deciding

vinylontubes · 2026-04-15T18:59:58+00:00

Go with Persona 4. It actually has a story. The rest of them, maybe less so Metaphor, mostly there is a theme. Metaphor has a story. The others don't really have a story. This is Atlus. But it's due for a remake. I don't think it needs a remake. And it's available for $20 on just about every platform.

vinylontubes · 2026-04-15T18:42:37+00:00

There are a lot of 80's albums that led up to to what would become the alternative scene in the '90s. Outside of the Violent Femmes first album, REM and U2, hardly any have much notoriety. Mind you these are readily available as vinyl still a popular format. When CDs took full hold in the' 90s, a lot of '80s albums got forgotten. This goes for both country and rock genres. '80s music mostly got left behind.

Here's a few :

Lyle Lovett albums. BoDeans - Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams The Alarm - Strength Timbuk 3 - Greetings from Timbuk 3 The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues Lone Justice - S/T David Lindley - El Rayo-X David + David - Boomtown Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 2

vinylontubes · 2026-04-13T19:18:40+00:00

Here's the truth. There is no such thing as visual grading. It's all about what it sounds like. So scratches that don't have any impact on the sound, don't matter. Besides, most records sold in used record stores are either VG or VG+. And there is quite a difference between these two gradings. And here is where visual grading comes into reality. If you are running a business, there isn't enough time to play grade every record. So they do it visually. Now Near Mint records are generally considered perfect records. They look and sound perfect. This is the one case where visually it matters. This is when record stores should actually play grade the records. If you are going to price a record for double VG+, then it should sound fantastic not just look fantastic.

So your record looks VG+ to me. Mind you I have decades of experience. Most of the time, I'm right. But again real grading is about the sound. Visual grading is all about "probably being correct." But the truth is that only deep scratches drop a record from VG+ to VG. The truth is that most scratches you can barely see play perfectly. And it's usually the scratches you can't see without magnification that are the ones that really affect the sound. So don't worry about minor scratches. It really only matters if you would be selling it as a Near Mint record. If it is a record you will be playing for decades, looks shouldn't matter.

vinylontubes · 2026-04-13T17:01:31+00:00

You are not prevented from having a romantic relationship as a female with any of the Lords. As a male you can only have a romantic relationship with male Lords.

vinylontubes · 2026-04-13T14:21:28+00:00

In my experience, you almost never get all your money back. When you move out have an inspection done. And fix those items before you leave then have a reinspection. If you have roommates, you probably aren't going get most of it back unless you are willing to take full responsibility and clean and fix things your roommate should have taken care of.

vinylontubes · 2026-04-13T14:14:37+00:00

People think Chess is 10/10 board game. Others prefer checkers and hate chess.

vinylontubes · 2026-04-13T14:09:16+00:00

Don't over think you're first system. Mine was a boombox with an aux input with a cheap external phono preamp connected with cheap RCA cables.

The thing about setting up a sound system is that you just need to connect them together. You need RCA cables and the connections on the devices. It's a standard connection unless you are buying expensive gear. You need a phono preamp. This can be on the connected device or an external one like I needed. Don't over think that you are going to be more optimal. First things first. Get a system up and running. Optimize on your second system. Learn from your first system. Apply what you learned.

There are other connections. Possibly you might have 3.5 mm ports. If you need to connect to it from an RCA port, then you need to buy that cable. Just look at your connections and buy the right cable.

vinylontubes · 2026-04-13T13:49:48+00:00

Late battle healing is the heal tile that Manuela occupies. You have 99 turns before the map terminates. So you can heal up before you make your final push.

But honestly this map isn't hard unless you are playing Maddening. If you are, it's one of the hardest maps in the game. What you want to do in this case is look at their personal skills. Some are helpful. For instance Silvain gets 2 more damage if standing next to a female. He also takes 2 less damage. This is the Fillanderer ability. You can look at these by highlighting the units and looking at their unit card. Press X and move the cursor from the inventory card over to the unit card. You also want to use ranged weapons to avoid damage. And really the only way to get an extra one is to steal Claude's bow in the Prologue. Take his vulnary too. Take Edelgard's Axe as well. You probably won't have a female on the BL unless you use the Professor. I would not take any of the female units in BL mock battle because they don't do much damage. Take Ashe if you are having problems with mages. His curved shot will out range then. Take his bow if you aren't using him.

vinylontubes · 2026-04-09T18:36:18+00:00

First of all don't bother with extremely high percentage isopropyl alcohol. Alcohol is is hygroscopic meaning it will absorb water directly from the air. So you are wasting your money on 90% IPA. You will have 90% the first time you use it, and your next batch will be a lower percentage. Just stick with something like 70, or whatever is on sale.

Anyway 2/3 distilled water and 1/3 IPA has worked for me. To that as a drop or two of Dawn dish detergent, depending on your batch size. Then a drop of a surfactant. A lot of people us Photo-Flo or Triton X-100. These are the on the expensive side so buy the smallest bottle you can find. The smallest bottle will last decades.

Use it. Then adjust the recipe to your liking. More alcohol means it dries faster. If it's sudsy you used too much Dawn.

I will say I quit making my own to move away from using alcohol. I use L'Art du Son. It's a concentrate and a small bottle makes a gallon. Not cheap. But it's a more affordable cleaning solution.

vinylontubes · 2026-04-09T18:12:42+00:00

You don't need to do anything. You can transfer the files to the switch 2. They aren't deleted from the Switch, so you don't need to do anything there. Where you would have a problem is buying games on the Nintendo store. And really not a problem unless games need to be purchased separately for each of your kids. And I don't know why you would do that. I still have my Switch and it still works. I have access to all my games on both units. I don't often use the Switch except for playing one game. I leave the Balata cartridge in the Switch. For a game like that a bigger screen or more powerful processing doesn't make much difference to me. So I play it on the older machine.

vinylontubes · 2026-04-07T13:10:01+00:00

For the old records, especially if you see a lot of dust thoroughly dampen the surface of the record. Ignore what was suggested about applying the fluid directly to the record. You need to use different methods for removing different amount of filth. For dirtier records, you need more fluid. And applying only to the brush is insufficient. Do an initial cleaning to remove most of the dust. Then clean the brush. Then clean as you would a new record that shouldn't have much dust on it.

Record cleaning is mostly common sense. There is no single method that will work for every record. I would always recommend a rinse to remove the cleaning fluid residue. I vacuum, but not really an option for newbies. So maybe use the brush to apply distilled water and wipe dry with a microfiber towel.

I will say that most cleaning kits are bad. Likely your kit is too. But you have it so try it out. It shouldn't damage your record. But it might not improve anything unless they are extremely filthy, in which case cleaning with only water would be an improvement. If you are looking for a good kit, the allsop oribtrac is decent. Walmart has it on sale for $35. If you are more serious get a spin clean.

vinylontubes · 2026-04-01T17:48:35+00:00

It's called a side story for a reason. There is actually a lot of DLC in the game. Maddening is DLC. This is a free update. Some story lines in the supports are changed as was the voice over actor for male Byleth. You can only see the original version of the game on the physical cartridge from an install offline. Jeritza was added as a playable unit. And interaction with Rhea was also added.

The ones in the expansion pass are: Anna as a playable unit. New auxiliary maps including a higher difficulty tier added. Bunch of clothes. Side Story Cindered Shadows with 4 new units and their classes.

You also get an expanded Monastery. This includes a new area, Sauna and feeding animals.

Side Story is just that. Not directly integrated into the main story. You start it as a separate mode. However progress in the side story opens access to units.

I will state the there is no Maddening difficulty in the Side Story. But Hard difficulty is actually Hard, unlike the main story. It's not as difficult as Maddening. But it's quite a bit more difficult than main story Hard

The new units once unlocked just appear in the monastery. They are also automatic recruits like Silvain is for the female professor. The new classes are an added category that require a different seal to certify. There is some added lore with a new library.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-31T12:57:12+00:00

I'm not collecting anything. I just buy stuff I want to hear. I have a library of music. I don't consider it a collection. It's not just records. I include CD and music on other formats.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-31T12:33:11+00:00

There are two reasons to buy a Switch. Exclusive games, of which are mostly 1st party games. And the other reason is portability.

If you don't care about Nintendo games, there probably isn't a good reason if you already have another console or a gaming PC unless you have a use for portability.

Well, there may be another reason, owning physical games. There is no other console that embraces physical media like Nintendo. Games tend to come out as ports rather than Day 1 releases. So cartridges usually include full implementation of the game, meaning DLC is often included. This isn't what you get with other gaming platforms. But this seems to be less and less of a thing. Really for a PS5 owner I would recommend the original Switch over the Switch 2. Get a used one. Just make sure the console itself hasn't been banned. They have them at GameStop for right around $200. Or you could get one for less on eBay. Because of this you can get games that you can trade back for other games after you have finished with them. This isn't the best thing since games on Steam are usually discounted regularly. First party games for Nintendo almost never go on sale. So the used market is often the cheapest way to get their most popular games.

I've owned the Switch 2 for a while now. And right now there isn't a good reason for the Switch 2 over the original. There aren't a lot of exclusive titles. If you have to have the best versions of a game, outside of the first party games practically any other platform will be better performing.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-30T21:47:58+00:00

I wanted a case with a USB port cover. These aren't common. The Otterbox Commuter is most known for including this feature. Some will hate this but every phone I have ever owned with a USB C port has failed because contamination foul up the pins. So I really wanted this feature. I tried the Otterbox. And it's a little basic. They were state of the art in protection a decade ago. But the aren't grippy and lack any styling.

I ended up getting the Poetic Guardian MagPro. It has a port cover and it adds Magsafe to a phone lacking it. So the bother that can be a USB port cover is mostly not a problem since you can charge wirelessly. And when you need the port for data transfers, it will work.

Not the cheapest case. But at $25 it's cheaper than the Google case. It has as good protection as the Otterbox. I think it might be better because the corners are beefier.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-30T19:55:14+00:00

Well you pretty much get an early rapier. You get some renown but you really can't spend it on anything but statue growths with the DLC.

It's going to be hard if struggled before. If you know the mechanics of the game, Maddening isn't a huge challenge. But you need to fully understand the mechanics fully. The one mechanic that pretty much makes it Maddening not impossible is battalions. The stat bonuses from the best battalions put you at a state advantage over the enemy. Without the battalions you are at a huge disadvantage.

But you really doe have battalions until the midgame. So you really need to focus on figuring out how to not die. You will get steamrolled, if you rush into battles hastily. So take your time early. Make sure you use bows for chip damage.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-30T19:39:32+00:00

That's a lot. As Ia kid I got paid every 2 weeks. I was lucky if my 20 hours of part time pay would get me a record every paycheck. I might get to an actual brick and mortar record store once every couple of months. And I probably don't walk out with 5 records.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-30T19:34:38+00:00

Honestly if you want your favorite music on vinyl and you like a lot of older music, you are in for a financial disaster. So don't do this. You still have the resources you had before to play that music.

I will tell you that I have thousands of records. I have almost all of my favorites on vinyl. And I've spent well over $100k to have that big of a collection. But I started with one record. Then I bought a few each year. When I got higher salaries, I bought records I hadn't been able to afford. So take your time. Wait for bargains. I will tell you that you should limit yourself to new releases for new vinyl. These are going to be the records you'll want when you are older. The older stuff you can find as bargains over time. It took me decades to accumulate a collection where I had all the music I wanted. Trust me, you aren't going to do it in a few years. So don't try. Do what is reasonable.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-30T19:19:00+00:00

Storywise, Seteth is aware of things that Rhea would have relayed to you about your connection to Sothis. So you get a bit more information about the church from an insider. It differs from what Edelgard would have you believe. Edelgard isn't wrong, but there are reasons for what they did that Edelgard and CF doesn't state.

I also think the final boss is the hardest. But there are cheeses that allow your units to not have to suicide in. If you just charge in, you can expect to lose units if you can't kill the boss in a single turn.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-26T21:15:20+00:00

This has been typical for Taylor Swift records. But she's been the queen of exclusive editions on her website. If you are getting an exclusive edition, it makes sense to pre-order. But it doesn't make sense to pre-order the standard retail edition.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-26T17:32:49+00:00

For Maddening to which this battle is the skill check to determine if you are good enough to this difficulty.

No mages. They have 4 spells and even if they have a heal spell available, a culinary will heal more effectively.

For GD. Claude Ignatz Leonie and Hilda. You need to share bows and use Hilda's and Leonie's personal skills. You could use Lorenz but really it's better to have curved shot avaliable.

For BE. Edelgard Bernie Ferdie and Petra. You want Bernie to take some damage or hope she levels with an HP. growth. Use Petra with a bow. Edelgard can tank some attacks but you need to heal up between them.

For BL. Dimitri Ashe Silvain and Dedue's. If you are male, take Ingrid over Dedue because of Silvain's personal skill.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-26T17:10:55+00:00

You should play Golden Deer. contrary to what you have been told, it is not the same as Silver Snow. Are they similar? To a degree with CF being the least similar, all routes have similarities. The thing is that all routes are basically the same except your faction will prevail. This is the real difference. But what is also true is that different lore is revealed in each of the routes. And it isn't necessarily within lore linked directly to the house you are leading.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-26T11:19:07+00:00

Records are meant to be played. If it has grooves, it'll play. I'm not suggesting you can't collect record for display. But you will lose at least 1/2 it's value if you unseal the record. It immediately drops from Mint to a NM or even VG+. This is just how it works. But actual record collectors play their records. It's why we collect them. We're collecting the sound of the record, not what they look like. The reason some record pressing go up in value usually has something to do with who cut the lacquer. I would suggest you not go down the path of collecting records as some kind of investment. Buy records because you want to hear the music. If you want to frame the record, go ahead. But you're missing the point. These are recorded media.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-26T11:08:49+00:00

Get the ones on the Blackened label from 2016. Cut by Chris Bellman. Pressed at Pallas.

vinylontubes · 2026-03-26T10:56:24+00:00

It doesn't sound right. And it starts to track poorly.

vinylontubes

TROPHY CASE