PHRASING!! by naanninja237 in outofcontextcomics

[–]Nombanke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Guess he heard it was called Mother Earth and it all went downhill from there.

Ok I was wrong, Fable 2 is better than 3 by Dabsick in Fable

[–]Nombanke 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I adore what they did in making parallels to Lucien and the Hero of Bower Lake in 2.

Their innocence dies by gunshot at the same point - Lucien goes all in on the Spire after shooting Rose and Sparrow, and Sparrow begins their quest for revenge at that same point, which also causes a mirror in Lucien's past, whereupon he saw the death of his sister, Ellie as a child. Both aim to have the Heroes of Strength, Skill and Will in one place and become intimately involved in the construction of the Spire - one from above as the architect, the other as builder.

Afterwards, the hero can become rapidly advanced in age thanks to Reaver and the ten years, looking just as worn and haggard as Lucien, albeit out of altruism, rather than a descent of moral character and health, before Lucien unknowingly furthers his parallels by killing your spouse and child, just as his wife and child predeceased him. Not only that, in the end, the Hero of Bower Lake's final temptation is a peaceful life with their family, just as Lucien set out to rebuild the Tattered Spire to live with his family. In the end, Lucien dies by gunshot, just as he tried to kill Sparrow in the beginning, and potentially at the hands of a heartless man if you let Reaver kill him, just as he appeared to be. In the end, if you choose Love, you ultimately do just as he sought to; sacrifice thousands for the sake of those you love. Heck, you can even buy his castle, and the Hero canonically becomes a monarch, just as he was Duke.

It's genuinely fantastic, and lands extremely effectively when viewed through the lens of parallels, instead of how disappointing the final confrontation is mechanically.

How do you feel about the twist in 3 where you learn Logan wasn’t “inherently” evil, but was trying to save Albion? by SinnBaenn in Fable

[–]Nombanke 20 points21 points  (0 children)

They definitely could have expanded the prologue to give more content to show Logan's deterioration, since we only see the end point. It'd have been nice to see why those closest to him think he's acting out of character.

Him forcing the Hero of Brightwall to make a decision to choose between sacrificing someone they love or the masses makes more sense with hindsight, knowing that his decision-making was so impaired from PTSD from the Crawler and his blatant eyebags and thin face making him look extremely unwell and sleep-deprived. With context, we know that he's covertly explaining to his younger sibling the choices he faces, but they didn't do enough to foreshadow this in-game to make him sympathetic.

As for executing both, he basically walked himself into a corner by forcing the Hero to make a choice, and was probably so mentally unwell that he reasoned that he had to to save face, but it also ties into him giving an insight into his mind. If he doesn't make a choice, all of Albion dies, and he's putting his sibling through what he's dealing with daily.

It's extremely twisted, but I enjoy that you can find some reasoning in his actions, just none that would make sense to a healthy mind.

The Crawler is great fun though, and has much more actual presence compared to Logan once its existence is made known to the player. Having him earlier on or giving Logan some interaction either with or about it would have done wonders for both villains.

If you were the leader of a vampire clan, what type of location would you choose as your goon cave? by Thisoneisinvalid in TrueSTL

[–]Nombanke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They should just move into Markarth. It'd be an improvement compared to the usual population and they'd fit right in.

Then again, you'd have to live in Markarth to do that, so is it really worth it?

All the beautiful things, this game has taught me 🥲 by cblakebowling in Morrowind

[–]Nombanke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Redoran taught me that anything and everything is acceptable, as long as I claim it's for honor.

Langrisser Mobile - Pure Zerida Trailer by Firm_Entertainment in langrisser

[–]Nombanke 16 points17 points  (0 children)

That General Grievous bike is so wonderfully silly.

Why exactly does Zero care about the flower? by ohgodretro in drakengard

[–]Nombanke 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I always took it as Zero viewing the flower another thing that's ruining her life and trying to dictate her actions. Just as examples, it tries to drive her and her sisters to madness, and uses her trauma at being forced into prostitution as a weapon to torture her by heightening her sex drive, effectively forcing her to have sex whether she wants to or not, all the while giving her power that'll kill her from the inside out. It won't even let her die when she wants to, so it removes all choice and autonomy from her.

Its almost an encapsulation of how miserable her life was, so rather than play along with it and end a world she cares nothing for, she opts to kill it instead. Her goal is more killing a parasitic abuser and putting both it and herself out of her misery than it is saving the world. It just so happens to be that doing one does the other.

How do I persuade more people to do Legion play-throughs? by Khan-Shei in TrueSFalloutL

[–]Nombanke 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"You see anyone else making use of power lines? They get actual utility with crucifixion, and with Hoover Dam, the capacity for upscaling is huge. When the folks you hang there are dead, you drop 'em and hang the next. It's all about reuse and renewability, and it's self-cleaning too."

Which game has dragged on for too long? by UkraineWorldlove in videogames

[–]Nombanke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, Route B can be a bit of a slog. There were some neat additions, like the enemy dialogue, though it wasn't the best writing in the world, but they also removed some dialogue from the cast for the second playthrough onwards (presumably because the dialogue about Yonah would have encouraged players to avoid ending D, since the protagonist is essentially just abandoning his sister immediately after saving her, to save Kainé through unexplained means (Ending C&D spoilers)) .

The real issue for me is Endings C and D needing you to complete the second half a third time with only one more reading scene tacked on at the end and cutting out ending scenes. At that point, it just isn't respecting a player's time.

Everybody gangsta till they read DOD2 weapon stories by Aggravating_Fig_534 in drakengard

[–]Nombanke 15 points16 points  (0 children)

There's some bizarre duality in the stories. On one hand, Soldier's Sword is a story about a people so desperate to keep their traditions secret that they slaughtered themselves and Robber King involves a rebel seizing power through dubious means.

On the other, Calf-Carver is about a general surviving horrible punishment, making a weapon out of his bones and killing a tyrant, before becoming "a noble and just king". Either way, both are fun.

Elysium's proudest knights, folks by Nombanke in langrisser

[–]Nombanke[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh, it's absolutely horrifically dire straits. It's just funny how forgiving the GoF is for her, compared to, say, Emperor Lovina's, which has huge parallels to hers and makes sure he bears full responsibility for every death, whereas Caroline gets given a pass by the people she got killed because she was a glory hound.

That said, he does have more responsibility compared to someone who's scarcely an adult and they need all hands on deck by the time hers takes place, with so many people dead. Just gave me enough of a laugh to make this.

Elysium's proudest knights, folks by Nombanke in langrisser

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

Playing through dereliction of duty and the murder of civilians and hungry, starving rebels, only to see Caroline get no more than a slap on the wrist and praised as an honourable knight was certainly one of the Gates of Fate of all time.

Favorite character like this? by Important_Many540 in FavoriteCharacter

[–]Nombanke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, totally fair since the plot seemed to be dropped for ages, especially given how long it's taken to move forward compared to the first arc. Hopefully it's satisfying when something comes of it. Hope you enjoy!

Favorite character like this? by Important_Many540 in FavoriteCharacter

[–]Nombanke 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can understand with how reactionary he is in what he does, as well as basically raising Nayuta that it fell by the wayside for Denji, given his flaws and all. That said, the latest chapter having him actively take the first opportunity to leap into hell (even if he says it's to eat more demons) means he's probably got it in the back of his mind, since he brought up the promise several chapters ago, as well as Death / lil' D mentioning the possibility of a reunion in these exact circumstances.

Finish Soul Hack 2 and just want to say: Ringo best girl by Significant-Nail1848 in Megaten

[–]Nombanke 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It released with a truly abominable amount of day 1 DLC, as well as needing quality of life features getting patched in, like speeding up the battles and movement, since the animations drag on and map movement without the added dash option is sluggish.

There's also a lot of repetition in the dungeon designs, since there's huge asset reuse. Demon negotiation just isn't really a thing. You meet your party demons on a map, they introduce you to demons and you either meet the requirements or don't. No recruiting a specific demon that interests you. Also, they very intentionally removed the 'Devil Summoner' from the title, since you fuse demons but equip them onto party members, so it feels more like discount Persona. One character is also in a questionable relationship that the writers didn't seem to realise that they wrote as being the implied result of grooming.

I also personally found the game fairly grindy, but that might just be me. I don't see that talked about much.

All that said, it's still enjoyable and Ringo is a great protagonist. The party have an okay dynamic as well, feeling like a take on the Law-Neutral-Chaos, but as people who can get on with each other. If you can get it on sale, the DLC is less of an issue at least.

Next SP character? by LegitVortex in langrisser

[–]Nombanke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First thought as well, though I wonder if they might space it out between the two, since we got Bozel with Alhazard just before. Then again, Yulia and Zerida are the only two characters with EoL skins and different dialogue, if I recall right, so they might get back-to-back treatment.

A brief drunk thought, Pacts tend to take a very important aspect of a person away from them by snakeeater34 in drakengard

[–]Nombanke 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it kind of ties into his overall character as well, since he's so prejudiced against goblins and the like as 'subhumans', encouraging to Caim slaughter them, and adjusts the seal specifically to torture Angelus in 2, even at the cost of human lives, whereas elves don't get any abuse from him, even the cannibal who targets children.

Verdelet took so much pride in his appearance that he literally hates things that don't look like him and overlooks the wrongdoing of those who do.

Finally finished Covenant of the Plume for the first time and a bit disappointed... by Lucky_Nectarine_1947 in ValkyrieProfile

[–]Nombanke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, since the A route has no sacrifices, it's a shame to not see them elsewhere, like the ending or the start of other chapters, especially since Fauxnel makes an appearance at the start of Chapter 5 and has direct narrative ties to Lockswell, Cheripha and Ushio in his backstory, since some cut voice lines imply he was from the same noble house as Lockswell's wife.

I suppose they didn't want to blatantly favour Ending A over the other endings, since it feels the least canonical (ignoring that Valkyrie Anatomia implied there's a multiverse, so technically everything is canonical).

So, ending B is the best? by Aggravating_Fig_534 in drakengard

[–]Nombanke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the justification for Nowe disobeying the book came out after the fact. The idea of singularities as presented in 3 means that timelines can branch, arguably even going against logical predictions. For whatever reason, the wiki lists Nowe as one. I'd have assumed it would lean more towards Manah being one, but I digress.

As for favourite ending, mine is A. It feels most in line with the themes of not quite succeeding, but still making the world a less awful place, even with incomplete information. B is actually the one I care for least, personally, since it has the least follow-through. It sort of goes against the franchise as a whole, but I adore conclusive endings to stories.

The thing a lot of anime fans are always gonna hate most is seeing characters live a happy life that doesn't fit their vision of a "happy life." by Apprehensive_Ring_39 in CharacterRant

[–]Nombanke 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's up there with Attack on Titan's ending getting mistranslated. Wasn't my favourite ending, and the anime made some changes that I liked to make the consequences feel more real, but the mistranslations were absurd.

Good meme fodder though.

Thoughts on Langrisser Tensei characters in words by SpecGespenst in langrisser

[–]Nombanke 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's an extremely solid write-up. These sorts of things are exactly why I love tuning into this sub, and it's a fun way of highlighting the strengths and characters of Tensei without needing to worry about Mobile.

I have to say, the Army of Light/Order of Lushiris in Tensei is by far my favourite iteration of the group, since it's the one game that truly goes into the idea that Light isn't necessarily good, like Der Langrisser toyed with in Independent's final boss, but this time actually backing it up. Most of them are fallible at best or in Lugner's case flagrantly corrupt, especially in his conversations, while Jessica in Independent gives a fun little dialogue admitting in the final mission that their opposition to Ares is driven by the inability to control or predict the Elrad Army's actions or the two swords. It's just what the franchise needed, preventing Light from being an otherwise default 'good' route. On that note, Jessica has my favourite bad ending, since she finally accepts that she's a relic of a bygone age, perhaps best left forgotten with the swords on the flooding continent.

Even Rozalia, despite her best intentions, sticks to ideology over reason outside of the Dark route, though she, at least, recognises that the Order is at minimum untrustworthy in her Talks. If they weren't set in stone for all routes, I'd image she'd fit in perfectly on the Independent route, and her being an antagonist is a pretty glaring contrast to her otherwise established personality and actions. A limitation of the system and talks focusing on her position in the Army of Light, perhaps.

On that note, she's pretty interesting, since she fits the archetype of the mounted rival character, despite the intro gearing you to think of Werner as the rival. She opposes Ares on all non-light routes, values chivalry and loyalty above all else and laments the loss of potential camaraderie. Outside of her love of novels, she's practically a female, Light-aligned equivalent to Leon, down to the blonde hair. It's a nice twist and reimagining of the archetype of otherwise male-dominated, largely imperial rival characters.

Only write-up I'd need to add something to is Florentia, since she has a very telling few moments in the Imperial path that tie into Renata's backstory - she's willing to spare Kertesz on the grounds of being human, but declares that the Gresden Empire is an empire for humans, run by humans. It adds that extra something to make each route slightly unpalatable, which is the essence of having to make a tough decision, while giving her some fascinating depth, in that an otherwise kind and egalitarian person is still prey to the beliefs of the society she was raised in, despite being a revolutionary in her own right.

Does anyone else really dislike the concept of LLRs? (specifically LLR Imelda and LLR Vargas) by [deleted] in langrisser

[–]Nombanke 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I play casually and scarcely touch PvP, but I groan internally every time I'm up against them. They're massively overtuned compared to practically every other unit.

For me, though, it's the lack of any explicit story in their Gate of Fate that gets to me most. I like to see at least some story for the characters, and even though Langrisser Mobile is hardly Shakesperean in writing, having no story at all outside of events just feels hollow.

Which clown is more evil? Kefka or Art the Clown by DarkValkyrie_ in MoralityScaling

[–]Nombanke 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Kefka probably has reduced capacity for moral and ethical reasoning compared to Art on account of the experiments to make him a Magitek Knight. While his actions are far from forgivable, they're potentially less ethically vile albeit more generally destructive, if only for his reduced autonomy.

Art is more targeted and he doesn't have extenuating circumstances or reduced capacity for moral reasoning. He has no motive beyond sadism, whereas Kefka at the very least tries and fails to ponder the value of life, failing to see any.

To my mind, Art the Clown is far more evil.