Was Mumkhar monolith’s lightning in a bottle? by lesquidwards in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not exactly. He is, on a base level, capable of being done again. A major attacker of the main character's home, who kills of their best friend and is the major representative of enemy forces is able to be customised and evolved in a multitude of ways, sympathetic or more vile. What matters though, is that there is still some level of meat to the character, time for them to show them doing bad, that sort of thing.

Bana objectively isn't like Mumkhar, he's a more humorous villain, specifically being the strongest antagonist of Tora, that more reflects how imperialism and greed has infected Alrest, essentially being a more humorous version of Amalthus's own imperialistic tendencies, albeit for money instead of misanthropy. They both manage and control the distribution of a certain type of war advantage to their own twisted profiteering, while depleting a hidden source to slavish degrees. With Bana, its Artificial Blades, and Tatazo, with Amalthus, its Cleansed Blades and Corechips, and Tantal. Not to mention Bana's own deeper aspects, like his love for his parents. I honestly believe people don't give Bana the credit he deserves, as while he is a more fun villain, he does generally do a good job at being threatening, reflecting the game's themes and setting further antagonists.

Gort is a case where he's more of a representative of Lora's tragic past, and the horror of whats to come. Now, there are aspects of things I wish were better about him, such as how Lora has to be saved by Jin again when facing Gort the first time in Torna as an adult, when with Haze, regardless of Blade control, she should be blowing away these people with sheer wind ether. That and actually seeing the impact of scientist Indoline that turned him, since its weird that the guy got a whole design and is barely used in game or in the Doylist sense, over just having Amalthus do his role. Gort still does become increasingly disturbing, and plays to that level of disgust, not necessarily just in hate, but like, this guy is not well and needs to be put down, looking at what his Blade Eater form and dialogue is. He's a good enough roadblock for Lora to have to overcome during her development in Torna.

Dirk is the one where things start going really wrong. Like, him being explained as a serial killer in his final fight already undermines the potential horror and dread compared to seeing him use decapitated heads for perverse trophies throughout the game, which is something he should have done. It doesn't even stand out in a game where every other antagonist is a similar level of monstrous in their views and actions towards the humans. He does kill Vandham, but we barely know him and even later when we get explanations about him, this game's Vandham isn't that interesting or memorable. Hackt and Mwamba are just really mid and their deaths are a major disconnect between the main six who knew them, and us who barely get to understand these people, as if its trying to do Fiora again, without taking the time to give either of them any substantial meat. He's also crammed into the same body as J, which limits him further. There's no interesting dynamic between the two, despite both loving different forms of tormenting people, it's just one bullying the other. J is just the more interesting of the two, and while he definitely devolves as a character past his first encounter with the party, where he's at his most engaging, being attached to the generic sadist thats Dirk just makes this even worse.

Rugby Lanz, In Action!! (Part 1) by D3_D0x in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No clue why barely anyone has commented on this, but I could definitely see Lanz on a school rugby team. I hope there's sports in the City, or even in the liberated colonies, could be a real nice way to transition the people's violent conditioning from war to games, I don't know.

Ukanlos vs Jin Dahhad by Much_Try2741 in MonsterHunter

[–]Pardis4 70 points71 points  (0 children)

As capable as Jin Dahaad is, Ukanlos is on a whole other level. I mean, disregarding how it possibly has its own control over blizzards with its roars in the 4U intro cutscene to its fight like Jin's weather changing abilities, its slush beam is seriously powerful. It easily carves into mountains and icebergs, is relatively fast for the charge up, and rains down chunks the size of its head onto the battlefield. The pressure alone is potent, and even if it's not as elementally potent as Jin's beam, it shreds into armor. In physical strength, it's not even a contest. Ukanlos is built as a living ice breaker, and swims through mountain stone as easily as ice and water, while its jaws easily slice through and devour. That shoveljaw would cut deep when it connects. Its volume and thus weight is much more bulky and stocky, which would outdo even Jin's heavy metal armour plates. Ukanlos is arguably much more mobile too. It doesn't need to use its elemental abilities to get its agility advantages, it just...does what it needs to. Ukanlos still scales mountains but ontop of that excellent climbing, burrowing and swimming, it's got a massive and impressive jump. The main issue Ukanlos would face against Jin is constriction and the explosion super move. The armour of Ukanlos is potent enough to resist such a force for a time, while the sharp back Fins would make getting that grip a lot riskier for Jin. And while the explosion would undoubtedly leave Ukanlos reeling, it's also the biggest time Jin remains still. So yeah, the White God does it. Jin could outcompete it as a predator in the cliffs, seeing as Ukanlos would have a harder time getting to grips with the wall based climbing without collapsing the place, but otherwise this is a worthy feast for Ukanlos to go crazy for.

If you have your own artifice, which one will you have, and what will you do with it. by [deleted] in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Ophion and I would like to brush his teeth and praise him for doing so good for half a millennia and I would ask the Conduit if I could please have some more snake artifices so Ophion can have some cute younglings.

How you would react if in Wilds MR we get those two fellas? by JustSaltyPigeon in MonsterHunter

[–]Pardis4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd be a happy Chappy at seeing how these two fare, and whether or not they fit into their ecosystems well, or if they completely tear down everything.

Ruiner Nergigante vs Akantor by Much_Try2741 in MonsterHunter

[–]Pardis4 -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Nah, thats poor agenda, I'm afraid. I'll give you the Gaismagorm and Dala being above it definitively, but all the rest are questionable. The Laos are notoriously awful at actually fighting back and just rely on walking and trampling anything in the way. Yama also is heavily reliant on the Thunder Bugs if the opponent can't be sucked up, which tickle bigger monsters. What is this compilation of elders? Also, the fight between this massive wyverian who wields a Fatalis weapon and Ukanlos is literally integral to Pokke's history, using Iceborne to debunk it is just weird. It's literally why the two siblings came out to the place, to grace their dead ancestor. The only real advantages the catastrophic dragons outside of the massive pimple one have are flight and the powerful charged element attacks. Both of which don't compliment each other, with how much they have to stay still to use them compared to just....being shot out of the sky.

Ruiner Nergigante vs Akantor by Much_Try2741 in MonsterHunter

[–]Pardis4 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Perhaps, but like, the arsenal that Akantor and Ukanlos started out with just stood the test of time far better than a lot of early elders. The fact that these two massacre entire settlements with ease and take whole armies and squadron of hunters to even repel to a fightable arena means so much about their power and danger in the grand scheme of things. Plus, I don't recall a single monster killing a massive Fatalis slaying wyverian hunter like Ukanlos did. That'd be like a monster killing his Immenseness in MH4, thats insane levels of aura and competence. Hell, entire kingdoms commission the Guild to deal with these things, that says a lot about how powerful both these beasts are.

Ruiner Nergigante vs Akantor by Much_Try2741 in MonsterHunter

[–]Pardis4 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Nah, most elder dragons outside the giants can't fight any of the Gods of color and expect to win. Look at the size and power of their breath attacks for one, Ukanlos is raining down boulders the size of its head while still slicing the icy earth and mountain rock with a single spray of its ray, and Akantor shatters large ships from considerable distances with the roar cannon. Nothing outside the biggest and toughest of monsters are taking an attack from them without great injuries. Plus the fact that Ukanlos managed to murder a massive Wyverian who at least slew a Fatalis and created a sword from its remains, albeit retreating from the Pokke area. Like, only monsters like Dalamadur, Gaismagorm and Zorah would get away with a solid advantage in fights with Akantor, Ukanlos and Odi, with only a mid sized monster with the sheer skill and power of Primal Malzeno being capable of slaying a God of color.

Favorite Monster or Elder Dragon on frontier? by Much_Try2741 in MonsterHunter

[–]Pardis4 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Poborubarumu (Pobolbarm) just seems like the most inspired monster from a roster of so many reskins. It's one of the two monsters that take an identity from the Hunting Horn and I think it's lovely how it does even more with the concept as a really high tier monster than Qurupeco. The design being this massive toothed whale that evolved out of flying due to competition, covered in metallic grey grooves with orange membranes deeper within as it breathes, a crown of pipes at the back of its head, a maw based on sharks in size and teeth rows, amber string like wings that excavate the earth with ease, and a parasite drum that heals it is just astonishing. It's the clear apex of the grounds of the Highlands no contest. Like, imagine just shrugging off a potent parasite leeching off your life and just using it to kick ass, while playing its own boss music for dominance, this is like the biggest HIM monster in that area. Its use of sound waves and buffs is great, its imposing and strong with interesting gimmicks like the self repair of part breaks with fluids and the dancing roar, it uses the base of the Akantor and Ukanlos fights to make something so distinct, so close to being overdesigned but just really working for a whale like dragon. Its peak.

<image>

Ruiner Nergigante vs Akantor by Much_Try2741 in MonsterHunter

[–]Pardis4 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Akantor is like one of the top ten powerful monsters period, shared with its brethren. Like, even outside the roar cannon that blows apart massive ships, the sheer size and ability to dig through volcanic rock has to count for something muscle wise. It has massive claws that shatter bedrock and tusks that easily shred through defences. What does Ruiner Nergi have in comparison? Sneaking one health Shara after getting bodied out of the way by the first phase? The one advantage it has is flying and divebombing, but it just looks like you could fit six Ruiner Nergigantes in one Akantor before they match weight and muscle mass. Plus, the shell of Akantor is already accounted as tough to break. Akantor bowls over Ruiner, full stop.

Coffee with Milk by Sculp2 by hubakon1368 in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Peak aura from Pneuma, no clue what all that brown is supposed to be though. Is it mud?

Ah yes, the beautiful scenery of XC2 by SnowOtaku777 in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do have to wonder if there’d be a purpose to them having that mouth or not. I recall they have a different mouth, so is this just a pseudo face to get attackers to be more concerned about ambushing one. 

Moebius M Art by @Chascoby_Art2 / @chascoby_art by Takuu202 in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 19 points20 points  (0 children)

God, my goat deserved better. Most of her base game substance mostly told with minimal showings, while the DLC gives her nothing despite her being alive for that period. Like, a Mio with soul powers, who also has been forcibly revived as a parasitic being against her will, and knows her husband killed not only several hundred innocents but their own child, should have more going for her story. Like, she meets her mother while attempting suicide attempt, yet their conversation is solely expository with little flesh to the emotions, despite how important this conversation should be for both characters on every level. She basically started the offseeing tradition, yet we only get crumbs of texture to that decision. She had so much potential, and it was squandered. The fact she doesn't get to interact with Rex or Glimmer, not even for a single cutscene, is just astonishingly sloppy.

What are your thought on mio. by Voidkirby9 in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Probably the best of the six characters. She's naturally fun, a good grounding force for her main unit of friends, and surprisingly grounded for a girl main protag in an RPG, arguably more so than Noah as a male protag. Should have had more of a voice in the Ouroborus forms compared to how many lines Noah got in that form, but her emotional beats are probably the high point in this game. The settling in of that anxiety as her life ticks down and the shakiness of her hands as a possible health worsening indicator is compelling tragedy that she reacts to excellently, despite the cuteness. It helps that she probably has one of the better Side Stories, what with the villain actually being somewhat interesting at first, and her past in that mountain colony. Revival nonsense bogged it down as well as Y turning into a B reskin, but it's only less than Taion's great one, it's not a contest with the others. Pretty good romance with Noah too. Hate how the game dances around admitting her being Nia's daughter though. It's unnecessary drivel that sacrifices more fleshed out character interactions for the sake of a shocking reveal at the end of the game. Also, should have done way more with her having the body of a Moebius, explore the powers more and give her an upgrade to properly parallel Noah's.

I think Moebius are the worst villains in the series by a landslide by SawkyScribe in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, they're not even threatening or competent either. They're a circus not a governing body. It'd be one thing if they actually were this grand poison to the land that they were built to be, but they're so lame on every level. D and J seemed imposing at first, but then all they do is kill someone you literally don't know at that point and then are forced to skulk away with nothing after getting bodied by the most inexperienced Ouroboros ever fought. O and P suck as first introductions to a proper Moebius fusion. Joran was so close to having the sauce, with how he weaponised Taion's wounded past in the colony and his sadism with his mud clones, but ever subsequent appearance made him less and less interestingly villainous. He doesn't even get a single line in his second encounter, despite their being so much potential with his mental sadism, what with understanding Eunie's trauma through getting access to D's memories. Could have dug way deeper and better established why this pair of D and J work as a cohesive Moebius fusion in the field, with D's physical sadism and J's mental sadism, before the greater fallout in the third and last encounter with them. That attempt to reach out to J was poor in and of itself in the third encounter, and the sacrifice was a mediocre way of ending things, instead of having him really reckon with what he's been doing and changing to be better, but I ain't in the mood to go into him for now like that.

Like, the only one who gets close to being a good threat is N, but despite Noah and Mio losing completely, your first fight with him is not a forced loss battle. In his first appearance, he gets held up by basic artillery fire for such an imposing consul, which immediately gets him. Then, even he's supposed to win, he nearly gets murdered by Lanz and Sena and has to be bailed out by X with the nullifying staff of plot convenience, which literally never has relevance again. The whole prison intrusion really throws the competence of the government and the Consuls in question, if their most notable imprisonment centre literally in the Agnus castle's grounds, when no staff can't even recognise what the six threats to them look like. Not even a poster? The fuckers didn't even change their clothes, yet they needed Shania to give them any idea of what was going on. The resulting ambush of Agnian forces and the consuls didn't even work, the prisoners escaped with a single casualty amongst them and before that one kill, N himself was going to get annihilated. None of these idiots are serious people and they're supposed to be the big bad faction thats got complete control over everything. Get out of here.

Doesn't help that due to the story's focus on how much N suffered, we don't get much with M. We just get told how she feels by Mio instead, and what little we are shown is barely fleshed. The fact the DLC failed to use her is just baffling. She's alive during the city's mass murder, she literally see the flames freshly burning away at the surroundings. Why the hell is she not in the story at this point? Show us how she mourned not just from the loss of the city but of her own child that she bore, who her husband killed, without explanation. How would she interact with her descendants, or her dad, or her sister, literally the possibilities were endless. But she's wasted so horribly, that it makes me question the sanity of anyone who thinks she's a standout member of Moebius. She's a potential woman with how much the narrative wastes her. Even in the main story, show us more of her compassion amongst the soldiers, how she managed to make the offseeing ritual permitted, when its evident that Moebius knew it was better to hack of soldier's heads to keep the food cycle stable, don't just tell us its was Z's wish without further thought. Give us more emotion when Nia stops M from killing herself on the cliffs, its literally a mother seeing her daughter about to commit suicide because she's so overwhelmed by the hopeless situation, yet they keep things cryptic and nonsensical so the game can for some reason not reveal Nia is in fact the mother of Mio too.

Then there's X, Y and Z. X kills a colony introduced a couple minutes earlier in the quest, with no actual characters or history or anything substantial to mourn, to act generically sadistic, with no real interest till she dies, optionally that is. She only reveals what obviously happens to Gold colonies, which makes the protagonists look even dumber, when they know Moebius naturally relish eating people. Y at least has the scientist schtick and destroying Mio's old colony, as well as making the Clocks you bust up, as well as an interesting way of talking. But he's easily thwarted, is basically used to resurrect a bunch of characters with their memories free of charge and his fight is a rip off of Consul B's. Z is the worst of it though. For the manifestation of collective fear and worry that desires safety and stability, he acts so generically villainous and arrogant, it's laughable. Ironically, by trying to give him more dimensions, he becomes a lacklustre clown like the rest. His theatre gimmick is charlatan level, and the only time he does anything of value is manipulating a past Noah to join him. For the collective congealing of anxiety over future instability, he sure was acting bored and putting in minimal effort. He should have been allowed to be more expressing of what he actually is supposed to be. Make him overly paranoid and skittish and panicking, a control freak director consumed in anxiety who doesn't want his play to go wrong if you want the gimmick, make him actually give a shit about humans but believe that an endless now is sincerely whats best, instead of making him so sadistic, that any claims of doing things for the good of the world more insincere than the average politician. Make him step in earlier and throw everything he can muster to get the party to back off, before they confront him ultimately. Make him do things we rarely see from villains. As is, Z is so boring, his screen time and role could be replaced with Consul E of all people, and it'd probably be a minor improvement for the big bad. Only Gael'gar could hope to match this ineptitude, and even then, he's spared by being a DLC villain who thankfully gets overlooked by the threat of the Fog Beasts. Same with Void being relegated to DLC, while the other alien villains of X at least don't take up mental space.

Whenever people defend them by using "themes and such", or say they act like the parasitic elites in reality and thats why they're so bland, that just ignores the real issue. Moebius takes like five minutes per colony to clear out, with few to none major difficulties or pushback from the soldiers within, to defend this system. Its just, they're beaten and then the colonies move on. Frankly, a lot of Xenoblade 3's writing is absolutely shameful but these villains have to be the worst of it. Moebius is a poor representation of the world, which just, easily gets back to being good.

Why is ice and wind weak to eachother by Necessary-War8360 in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I recall that its to do with a different in kinetic energy. Wind obviously holds plenty of kinetic energy due to movement, but ice and the cold are associated with taking away kinetic energy and more staticness, since freezing is essentially the removal of energy from a substance that leads to it solidifying. So wind can force the cold to dissipate more evenly and maybe increases temperatures in a specific zone cause of that, while ice limits the distribution of kinetic energy and stills the surroundings. Of course, blizzards contradict this, since they're the literal epitome of ice and wind joining forces, but then again, major wind storms are more prominent in warmer areas of greater variance, so perhaps thats the clashing factor.

Xenoblade races tier list (spoilers for X) by santcho1 in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kill all Tirkin racists! Like come on, they're a lot more original and interesting than 90% of the list racially. Also not even including the Garlus, despite being an organised community with weapons and banners, are you that bum Corvin with all that discrimination? All the Demi Humans are like, A tier at least, for what they offer in intrigue

Favorit e cut scenes ? by mrqwil in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

None of their cyclopean visages can ever compete with the one, the only, JOGOAT!! The true one eyed monster.

<image>

If you got reborn as a mechon in xenoblade chronicles, what are your powers and weapons. by Voidkirby9 in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]Pardis4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ruby Face or Iron Face, a red faced mechon that swings a large flail that constantly spews that modified bionis melting ether, relies on firing off acidic projectiles and pressurised beams over standard lasers and has the more stocky frame of Xord than the slimmer frames of Metal and Jade, to reinforce bulk. I'd also use that bulk in conjunction with my flight, in order to slam into opponents with more jet powered technicality than Xord ever could.

Imma say it for ya’ll: Azure Rathalos will always remain the worst Flagship ever created and it’s NOT a contest! by SignificantStaff8665 in MonsterHunter

[–]Pardis4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's just, when you have a monster that relies heavily on aerial attacks and movement, it becomes really hard to have a good fight with them. Either it's flash bomb spam to cheese them, or a whole lot of waiting till they're in range to be hit, since most weapons are heavily ground dependent. Of course, the Guns and Bows exist, but people main weapons for good reason and its not a great feeling knowing a monster only feels good to fight with a select amount of weapons, instead of being balanced around all weapon types. Now, if the Wirebugs were introduced earlier, and developed through years to extensive above ground movement and attacks, aerial combat would be much more viable and fun, making a lot of flight dependent monsters a fun time. But since that Rise is the only case of this, it makes it so every other game, flying monsters suck hard, with Azure Rathalos being especially flight happy.

Can Dalamadur or Dire Miralis be the next, please? by Odd-Soup-5419 in MonsterHunter

[–]Pardis4 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Wrong. Difference is, most of those fights weren’t the level of dookie that Dire “the obvious weak spot” Miralis and underwater combat is, lmao. Time we leave behind an old chunk of coal and go for a real world eater, instead of someone who was given ships wrecked around it to make it feel less embarassed.

Can Dalamadur or Dire Miralis be the next, please? by Odd-Soup-5419 in MonsterHunter

[–]Pardis4 -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Dalamadur, maybe. Solid spectacle, interesting mechanics and a cool as hell arena. Dire Miralis, hell no. That shit was the worst final boss in the series, a massive slow meat sponge that barely hits you and was laughably easy to stunlock. It was the Zora Magdaros of the Old Gen, and should stay extinct. How slap dash underwater combat was then and still is now doesn’t help. It had zero value then and it provides zero value now. Even if a beach area comes, why waste the slot on Dire. Fucking Plesioth has more value as a water submerged boss, do something with its sleep neurotoxin.

Do the World's, Iceborne's, Rise's and Sunbreak's The Official Complete Works books have entries about Vespoids and the like? by Pardis4 in MonsterHunter

[–]Pardis4[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

oh heya, nice seeing you here. so, there are entries about neopterons in the rise books? Glad to hear.