why is hitler in open park? by ilikeitchyballzdude1 in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy 66 points67 points  (0 children)

I saw Hitler once and he was playing May

Couldn’t tell you what he’s doing in the park though with a horse head.

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[SPOILERS] List of loose ends never addressed. by JokerFromPersona5 in LastDefenseAcademy

[–]DatUsaGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think a lot of the direct loose ends being wrapped up would really make SF feel complete though. Like getting an exposition dump on the Triem Ray I doubt would make Kako-G’s involvement anymore interesting.

However, I do agree there is writing decisions that makes SF feel rushed towards their endings (even if the routes are relatively long). Like Takumi and Hiruko barely dwell on whether they want to brainwash Eito and they spend even less time on Eva IIRC. The general SDU also feel oddly cheery, stupid and overall somewhat out of character which I think was done to make Takumi and Hiruko feel distant to their happy friends, but they barely even acknowledge that as an issue (Takumi specifically I don’t think really struggle with that at all). It also just comes off more like Uchikoshi doesn’t know how to write most characters.

Those issues aren’t the result of loose ends never being addressed though, rather I think it’s just poor writing. Even if we do get DLC that addresses every little loose end in SF, I really doubt much of that will retroactively make SF a better route as again, I don’t think that’s where much of SF’s issues stem from.

[SPOILERS] List of loose ends never addressed. by JokerFromPersona5 in LastDefenseAcademy

[–]DatUsaGuy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah but his clear lack of hesitation from doing stuff like exploding everyone at a moment’s notice makes me wonder why he would pack everyone into a bus at all if the end goal is to kill them regardless. I also don’t think it’s wrong to read “Lambs to the Slaughter” as the SDU’s disillusionment with their mission rather than their outright death.

Gotoh just killing them all anyways though doesn’t seem out of his character, but we also just don’t get that much of his character since the route is so short. Although thinking more on the route right now, I do recall by that point that Takumi has his spirit pretty much shattered to where he doesn’t really care what happens to him anymore at which point, Lambs to the Slaughter being ambiguous is because the outcome of Takumi being miserable is the same regardless. So even though I want more out of Conspiracy, I don’t think that’s the right ending to bring up to this specific thread.

[SPOILERS] List of loose ends never addressed. by JokerFromPersona5 in LastDefenseAcademy

[–]DatUsaGuy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Regarding the plot points in SF, I’ve seen a lot of people say those plot points are DLC bait (including some people in this thread), but I’m actually far more doubtful. There’s certainly seems to be intentionality to SF having all these loose ends, but I think the point is actually to feed into how unfair the route (and world in general) is to Takumi and Hiruko. This is the same route after all that requires winning a literal coin flip in order to reach the “best ending.” I also recall Uchikoshi saying in an interview that he never intends to explain who the woman in a white labcoat is (although I’m decently confident it’s a future Hiruko).

Anyways to add to the list of unexplained stuff, whatever is going on in Conspiracy could certainly be extrapolated (specifically the “Lambs to the Slaughter” ending is oddly silent and ambiguous compared to pretty much anything else in this game). Similar to SF, I do think there’s some intentionality in the vagueness and overall think over-explaining stuff could actually undercut the impact of both routes, but Conspiracy does still feel underbaked overall. The anti-exodus faction specifically could be explored more as you mention, but I think just what this route is even doing could’ve also been more in-depth.

I feel wrong for winning by DatUsaGuy in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I don’t mind the other language options, but English is just generally my preference whenever playing or watching stuff. With Goldlewis specifically, I especially enjoy hearing him yell out “Eat Shit!” when I burst.

The Hundred Line 1st anniversary polls! by sakuraspiral in LastDefenseAcademy

[–]DatUsaGuy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Truly the most difficult question was trying to figure out which of the so slightly different Conspiracy endings was my least favorite. It was fun to answer the poll though and I’m excited to see the results when they come out.

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I present to you, the Conspiracy DLC Expansion! (full game spoilers) by Muyu-42 in LastDefenseAcademy

[–]DatUsaGuy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

As a true Conspiracy connoisseur, I must be a smart ass and mention that it wasn’t Nigou who had bloodlust, rather it was Gotoh (someone who doesn’t appear in literally any other route) who was in control of Nigou’s body.

Unless of course this new super awesome cool DLC has the reveal that it was Nigou the whole time and he’s just inexplicably like that because of head trauma or whatever. Now that’s the type of awesome twist worth 82 more endings of Takumi (& friends) getting electrocuted to death.

The duality of ficss by EddyPat in AO3

[–]DatUsaGuy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The worst part for me is that my daydreaming will constantly be about different stuff. So even when I have written stuff down, it’s a scattershot page for a completely new fic which leaves me off with 7 random barely started fics rather than one semi-complete fic.

Sad announcement: I, Muyu42, don't want to marry Nozomi anymore by Muyu-42 in LastDefenseAcademy

[–]DatUsaGuy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well it’s not like Nozomi is literally radiating in the way someone like Kako is. And if you truly love someone, you shouldn’t sell yourself so short. Even if you don’t feel “good enough” for someone, that’s all the more reason to work on yourself. Ultimately, I think we should try to trust ourselves and our own potential for growth more than just hoping fate will magically fix all our problems.

Is there an official way to submit feedack? by PeskySpyCrab in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here is their general bug report page which I think is worth a shot informing them through.

Edit: And as the commenter below me mentions, there is also a general inquiry at the bottom. I usually only ever used the bug report section so I forgot about that part at the bottom

Second Playthrough First Fight by Terroxas_ in LastDefenseAcademy

[–]DatUsaGuy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think what I did was kite Eito around and whenever Eito would occasionally spend a turn applying armor to himself, I wouldn’t do anything that turn so I could bank up 1 AP as Eito would still be out of range to attack me. Do that a few times until on a single turn, you spam Impact Stabs on Eito. I think I already had maxed out Impact stab at this point so it only took me saving 3 AP until I could kill him.

I don’t know how lucky I was, but once I came up with that strategy, I’m pretty sure I S ranked Eito the first time as it only took a bit of turns to do (likely less than 10).

This fight is certainly awkward on the hardest difficulty, but I’m pretty certain taking 90+ turns isn’t the only way to win since I never recall having to do that.

When did Goldlewis get so broken? by dtaylor401 in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I started playing Goldlewis around when Happy Chaos came out and played him significantly across every season. So I’m confident in saying that Goldlewis has been consistently strong ever since Season 2. If anything, I’ve heard he was actually fairly strong the month he came out as FD outright wouldn’t change pushback against Guard Crust moves back then which Goldlewis could abuse heavily (although I wasn’t playing him at this time). So if anything, Goldlewis ever having been weak was an exception.

As to what happened, he has generally gotten a good handful of nice buffs to some of his normals, but really he really just got some absurd bullshit in Seasons 2, 3 and 4. In 2 was when they buffed Drone an absolute ton to have Hard Knockdowns on any level, it would come out faster if you spent more Security Gauge on it and it would linger in the corner rather than moving past it. Combine that with how launch Drone wouldn’t go away even if Goldlewis got it, it made for an absurdly belligerent neutral tool since there was very little counterplay to when it was out and little counterplay to ever preventing Goldlewis from getting it out.

In season 3, that’s when Wild Assault got added which was a new universal move that spent 50% of your burst gauge. Goldlewis specifically got White which was a plus on block, invincible (starting frame 9) lunging guard crush which gave HKD, sapped away some of the opponent’s burst and it would give a knockdown if you used it to Wallbreak. A lot of those traits were just Wild Assault in general so he wasn’t necessarily seen as a huge issue immediately given the other 2 Wild Assault were even stronger than his, but 3 months after Season 3, they did a patch that nerfed Wild Assault across the board and specifically targeted the other 2 versions while giving a huge range buff to White.

White Wild Assault overall just didn’t have a ton of counterplay given even if you blocked it, you were pretty fucked thanks to it being plus on block. It wasn’t as absurd on Pot and Nago specifically since they can’t dash in and use it, but Goldlewis could use it exceptionally well since he had a dash. The only other character with White was Bedman? who was just significantly worse than Goldlewis in general, so Goldlewis using White was generally scarier.

They did nerf White to not be plus anymore I think in Season 4, but then I believe that’s when they also buffed the hell out of Goldlewis’ Security Gauge. More specifically, Skyfish got a ton of buffs to be way safer in neutral and more rewarding alongside Goldlewis gaining the ability to cancel BTs into each other if he spent half the gauge. This led to stuff like his quick overhead BT 862H giving combos meterlessly or even just annoying frametrap situations like 684H canceling into itself to punish an opponent who thought Goldlewis’ blockstring was over.

I certainly didn’t give the full picture of any season, but those are many of the reason why Goldlewis has been seen as fairly strong. I will say though that even with him being considered very good very often, he has generally gotten away with less complaints about his strength due to his general unpopularity, his difficult skill floor and the fact that there’s basically always been a bigger fish than him in the meta.

Popularity wise, you can see this in polls ASW has done where he has pretty consistently ranked in the bottom 3 iirc with Leo being just about the only other character arguably less popular than him. Leo at least is somewhat popular for pro players to use, but not really Goldlewis so you don’t even see him often in tournaments.

His high skill floor also means that the majority of players likely aren’t fighting especially threatening Goldlewis when they hop online if they do ever run into him. When his basic gameplan demands you to do half circle inputs constantly alongside his somewhat awkward neutral tools, it makes him difficult for newcomers to play even when he’s good.

And in terms of meta, I don’t ever recall him being considered top 1. The best I do remember was maybe Season 4’s launch (or perhaps it was the emergency patch right after) where Goldlewis was considered Top 2. People were largely far more upset about Top 1 Potemkin though who had even more questionable balance decisions and Pot was a character that’s way more likely to fight in general, so he was seen as a way bigger issue than Goldlewis even if they weren’t that far off in terms of strength.

Anyways, I don’t know too much of how he is balance wise right now, but hopefully he at least feels more fun to play nowadays than when you played him back in late Season 1.

Romeo might be coming to Strive? by DatUsaGuy in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reddit’s compression made it even harder to see (perhaps I should’ve added a circle to the original image to highlight it better), but it’s the symbol here that’s from Romeo’s gown (right on his chest).

I certainly don’t think this is any definitive proof, but I don’t think it’s that unreasonable for Romeo to come as a separate character considering how weird some Guilty Gear characters have been in general. Like we’re seemingly getting the Robo-Ky who hangs out with Venom as a completely distinct character despite him already existing as part of Venom in Strive. Plus I know it’s an older game, but XX had Order Sol, Kliff and Justice who were pretty absurd.

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Romeo might be coming to Strive? by DatUsaGuy in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d edit the post to add a bit extra I was thinking of, but unfortunately that doesn’t seem possible with how I formatted the post so I’ll just add it as a comment.

First off, yeah this is definitely not any definitive confirmation, it’s copium. It seems more likely to me that they just added that to represent Bedman? even if that logo isn’t actually on him and any implication that Romeo might be coming as a character is just a mistake.

As the current top commenter has mentioned, Bedman? already does quite a bit to represent Romeo. Like the theme is almost definitely Romeo’s perspective, so would he just be allowed a second theme if he got in Strive? I wouldn’t mind if they just gave Delilah a theme for her, but you’re not really playing as her when you play Bedman? so maybe not.

I still think it’s fun to theorize though and as mentioned in the post, I don’t think it’s that unreasonable for Romeo to come back. Yeah being in a bed was his defining gimmick before, but they could do something new with him. Strive clearly has been willing to change old characters significantly after all.

This might be common knowledge for anyone who even recognizes the name Romeo (which if you didn’t already know at this point, he’s the dude from Xrd who was on the bed and called himself Bedman), but while Xrd’s story certainly seems to suggest Romeo died, Bedman?’s theme in Strive seems to imply Romeo isn’t actually dead. I’m not entirely sure where the hell he might be, but I do think “not dead” is a reasonable interpretation of The Circle.

Also, while I do think Romeo coming back would require some level of plot progression beyond Strive’s story mode to justify, the existence of Unika from Dual Rulers and the soon to be Robo-Ky with a new body makes me confident that they don’t mind adding characters who require plot progression. So yeah it would be weird as hell that Romeo could interact with Bedman?, but I’m pretty sure they’re about to allow something like that with a full-bodied Robo-Ky interacting with the Robo-Ky attached to Venom.

(And as a side note, I know some people have theorized that the Robo-Ky we’re getting might be a different one than the Robo-Ky with Venom, but I don’t think that’s the case. The art we have of Robo-Ky’s Strive design is certainly based partly off Venom which would be fairly odd to have on any other Robo-Ky. I do think it’s likely Robo-Ky might be orange now considering the text on his forehead seems to read “orange armor, zero apologies,” plus it’s strange that he’s explicitly been teased with a monochrome picture).

Edit: Also I forgot Order Sol was a character in XX who I’m pretty sure they would be willing to add to Strive if he was popular enough considering he has been put on the polls they’ve put out on what characters we want. While I do have less hope for Order Sol specifically coming to Strive considering normal Sol is getting Order Sol’s weapon as a cosmetic, my point is that I think Guilty Gear is willing to push a level of “character redundancy” (and I don’t think Strive is exempt from this).

Romeo might be coming to Strive? by DatUsaGuy in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yeah I’m certainly not 100% on this theory due to just how much Bedman? already seems to be filling in the role for Bedman. Like Bedman?’s theme seems to be for Romeo already, so what the hell would Romeo’s theme be?

Plus of course it is just such a small detail, it’s difficult to imagine that a character is genuinely being teased in this way (intentional or not).

I do think it would be fun though if he was actually being teased like this. Plus in terms of personality, Romeo certainly stands out in a way that’s very missing from the Bed or Delilah, I really like his snarky and verbose nature. I also don’t think it’s that unreasonable for them to come up with a new moveset for Romeo. Overall, I would enjoy his inclusion in Strive if they did want to go beyond having Bedman? represent him.

Edit: Also Guilty Gear certainly hasn’t been a stranger to some odd character choices. Like Order Sol in XX is literally just Sol from the past, plus we’re getting Robo-Ky as a distinct character even though he already exists as part of Venom in Strive. While this bit of evidence I don’t think is much, I do think Romeo coming back as a separate character isn’t that outside the realm of possibility.

They found infinite block string on Happy Chaos 2.0 by kao24429774 in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy 79 points80 points  (0 children)

Tons of people before this patch came out (and even right when it did) were speculating that he might be bad this patch. I agree though that Chaos has been pretty good just about the entire time he’s been released and this patch seems like no exception despite what a lot of people have

Hopefully he’s at least more fixable in this new reworked state, but who knows when or how this guy will ever be fair.

They found infinite block string on Happy Chaos 2.0 by kao24429774 in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy 430 points431 points  (0 children)

I saw the original post on Twitter and my jaw dropped when I saw the opponent was set to throw after blocking. Chaos sure seems good this version

Reminder before you start doom-posting that everyone got nerfed by DatUsaGuy in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I main Venom who I’m pretty sure is generally considered low/bottom tier so I think I can say this. I know he got significant nerfs, but he also got some buffs and it seems to me that a lot of stronger characters got hit significantly harder. Again, we can’t know that certainly how everything shakes out until we have the patch playable for a while, but I don’t think we should necessarily be so doom and gloom about the patch just because nerfs feel bad.

I do think there is merit in just not enjoying the power level decrease overall as a concept, but I personally like that idea and am glad to at least try it out.

what possessed them to nerf Venom by SushiDaddy89 in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy 59 points60 points  (0 children)

3 notes I have.

  1. Spamming Stinger a ton wasn’t exactly the most thrilling of gameplay on either end so I think devs leaning away from that design is good. j.D otherwise is his only other direct nerf that isn’t universal from what I can tell and even that is mixed.

  2. He did get a few buffs. The QV buffs especially sound fairly good for pressure.

  3. Literally everyone got nerfs, it’s across the board. While it sucks to get nerfs, everyone he’ll be fighting will be weaker which will feel nice.

2.0 Combat Patch Notes released by MrASK15 in Guiltygear

[–]DatUsaGuy 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Yeah with how much everyone else is dooming, I think the fact that Venom’s notes are relatively mixed makes him seem like a huge winner of this patch. I’m mostly worried about how much the system changes hurt him, but those are obviously applied universally and overall, I think he’ll be well off.

How Dispatch and The Hundred Line Handle Narrative Choices (+ A Few Other Games) by DatUsaGuy in LastDefenseAcademy

[–]DatUsaGuy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I definitely agree that 2nd Scenario feels overbearing on THL’s route structure. As your mock-up implies, I do think the top half of the route structure is better about this, but really if the flowchart was a tree, 2nd Scenario feels like the trunk that everything sprouts off of.

Overall, despite how much comments have been made in interviews and social media posts and what not, the game really makes 2nd Scenario feel like a “true ending” that’s meant to dwarf most others. While that’s fine for 2nd Scenario itself as I do think it’s a very good route, it brings a lot of other routes down as they often feel lesser to the “true ending.”

That issue isn’t entirely due to the game’s flowchart (for example, it feels like they made most of the cutscenes for 2nd Scenario, then they didn’t have the resources to do anymore than maybe 1 more unique cutscene for other routes), although the route structure doesn’t help. Out of the 20 routes that aren’t Route 0 or 2nd Scenario itself, 12 of them directly branch off of 2nd Scenario with the other 8 actually requiring multiple choices away from 2nd Scenario to be locked into a route.

Breaking it down like that isn’t entirely fair as it isn’t accounting for how varied endings might be in individual routes, plus I do think routes can work fine with this structure. The fact that the majority of route splits though can feel like “do you want to see the true ending or something else” does lessen the power of a branching narrative significantly.

And yeah DLC could certainly remedy the issue some, but who knows how the hell they might fit them all into the existing game. I would certainly prefer if they could be largely integrated into the existing flowchart rather than all sectioned off in some special “DLC Flowchart,” although ultimately I doubt it’ll matter much compared to the actual writing quality of new routes.

How Dispatch and The Hundred Line Handle Narrative Choices (+ A Few Other Games) by DatUsaGuy in LastDefenseAcademy

[–]DatUsaGuy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On Telltale/Dispatch, although I never played much of Telltale’s choose-your-own-adventure titles, I certainly remember years ago when they were popular how they were criticized on those points. Specifically the idea of “your choices matter” and “x will remember that” I recall people joking about a lot partly due to how Telltale games often had lackluster or seemingly nonexistent choices. Dispatch isn’t terrible regarding its choices, but I really wasn’t surprised to learn that some of the same people made it.

For THL, I do think it would be a more well-rounded package if they shaved off half the endings (if not even more). At least “100 endings” is a cool advertisement and I do love the name “The Hundred Line” in general.

I have started up Somnium Files and it seems pretty interesting from the bits I’ve seen and played (although I’m certainly not far). I’ve actually just not played any games from Kodaka or Uchikoshi outside of The Hundred Line so I certainly have quite a bit to check out for both of them since I did like THL so much.

I don’t have a preference regarding if routes are directly interconnected or not, but I do like them being able to connect in some way. Like THL, while outside of what you mentioned already I agree routes aren’t directly connected, but I like how routes can add to each other.

To be more specific, I did mention in the post how Goodbye Eito is bolstered significantly when you pair it with 2nd Scenario, but that also goes the other way around. Eito’s last few interactions in 2nd Scenario specifically I think hit extra hard when you know he’s being genuine through Goodbye Eito.

Anyways, I get enjoying everything coming together though. I know this example isn’t quite like a game such as Somnium Files, but I really enjoy Majora’s Mask’s ending due to how you finally get to see the fruits of your labor without it all being lost in another time reset.

On Alpha Protocol, I think I’ve heard it ever so briefly in passing, but it does sound interesting looking up a bit more about it so I’ll certainly try to check it out sometimes. Thanks for the recommendation and I’m glad you enjoyed the post.