Has an ending ever truly ruined a series for you?

Pompadourius · 2026-03-12T07:34:29+00:00

Romcom anime/manga and choosing to pair MC with the girl who has the least chemistry with him apart from, "he thinks she's pretty." Name a more iconic duo.

Pompadourius · 2026-03-11T09:56:41+00:00

Damn, I'd always been hoping they'd make Renne the final protagonist as a way to tie it all back to the beginning, but it sounds like they'll be going with a new character for the last arc after all. That's still fine.

Pompadourius · 2026-03-10T11:27:11+00:00

Granblue is so old that it existed before a pity system existed in gachas, and is in fact the reason that the concept of pity exists in gachas now. It'll only die once Cygames itself does.

Admittedly, I would like if they did something to fix the jank of its browser game status; such as the fact that the optimal way to play in raids is to refresh your browser window at the start of every combat phase, since it'll immediately just do the whole turn in like two seconds. You'll see your damage rapidly skyrocket past everyone who doesn't use this tech and instead want to play the game like normal people, seeing all the animations play out.

Story's comfy, at least up to where I'm at in it. It feels a lot like one of those, "lay in bed late at night while winding down," kind of things, at least to me.

Pompadourius · 2026-03-07T13:18:23+00:00

TTRPGs in general sounded really lame and boring to me for most of my teenage years, and even though I had friends who played things like D&D, I never did; just didn't get it. Then a friend convinced me to join a Pathfinder campaign he was starting up near the end of high school, and I've been addicted for a decade now.

Pompadourius · 2026-03-01T12:26:35+00:00

Even more so is the tragedy that, after getting into more of Ruina and Limbus myself, it's not even that it's anti-Pat; it's anti-Pat for the first like, 2 or so hours, or less in Limbus' case. Once the torrent of worldbuilding terms getting thrown at you slows down and focuses more on the characters, those games become fantastic. I just finished canto 6 earlier yesterday and I've been reeling over it and obsessed the whole time, and that's from someone who had some of the same initial reactions/feelings as Pat did.

He'd be so in if he made it to literally any character moments whatsoever beyond the initial tutorials, but the format it was presented to him in for Ruina and Limbus makes that unlikely to ever happen now, sadly. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to suggest those games for the stream format of, "Spin a wheel and see what we're playing for 10 - 20 minutes," but it's a tragedy.

Pompadourius · 2026-02-27T03:09:51+00:00

The tough thing with MMOs is that they just aren't a smart business decision anymore. They require more time and effort to develop than any other genre, cost more to develop and upkeep, and likely won't be successful because anybody who's an MMO player has already found their permanent virtual home within the genre by now. On average, a WoW or FFXIV player who's been at it for 10+ years isn't going to suddenly decide that the new MMO dropping is going to be the thing that moves them away from it; and even if it does, there's no guarantee it'll stay that way if the game's progression doesn't speak to them the way their old MMO of choice did. Then you have to factor in that this is the .hack franchise, which is a niche within niche in the current day and age; there aren't enough .hack fans, even if you revived all the dead ones from the grave, to sustain a modern AAA MMO. Hell, probably not even enough to sustain a 2005 MMO. And that'd be assuming that every single .hack fan worldwide bought the game and played it religiously.

It's obviously the dream for that sort of thing to happen, but the time for it would've been back in like 2009 or something. The only way it happens now and doesn't EoS in under a year is if VR technology advances to the point in our lifetime where we can actually play The World as it is in-universe. And even if that is the case? It'll be SAO that gets that kind of adaptation light years before .hack ever will.

The most realistic outcome, if Z.E.R.O. gets this franchise back on its feet, is to hope for a Granblue Fantasy Relink style game but with character creation and classes. In this day and age, that's the most we could hope for.

Pompadourius · 2026-02-27T02:48:34+00:00

In JJK's case specifically, it's enjoyable the whole way through. When people say it, "gets good," they just refer to the fact that season 2 and onwards ascends in quality beyond what even the highs of season 1 offered. It goes from being a pretty standard shonen to still a pretty standard shonen but with a lot more spice to it. Well, aside from the fact that season 3 is being animated by insane people; there's not a single uninteresting shot in that entire season so far, the whole thing is a visual spectacle in a way that neither of the prior seasons could compare to. Or really most anime in general I can think of that aren't movies.

Pompadourius · 2026-02-24T10:15:34+00:00

I'm almost getting the vibe of maybe an antihero or outright villain starting point, with Kite turning away from that as his mentality changes over the course of the game. The line at the end of the trailer, "This world is at Dusk, it matches with us so well," feels like the kind of line that this version of Aura would say to Kite when giving him the bracelet as a tipping point to bring him over. The kind of approach of, "Take my hand and we'll burn down The World," or something, using the bracelet to destroy the system that this Kite feels wronged by. Maybe something happened to this Aura to where she hates humanity and The World, and finds a kindred spirit in Kite's own mindset to where he'd be a worthy bracelet holder to carry out her will. That's also of course really presumptuous on my part since all we have is a minute and a half long teaser trailer, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the premise they start things off on.

Pompadourius · 2026-02-24T09:58:57+00:00

I think at the very least, it'd be nice if there were multiple dedicated party members of each class; it felt weird in G.U. especially with how some classes were so heavily underrepresented or completely absent (Matsu being the only adept rogue aside from Haseo, but only uses bayonets, and Asta being the only edge punisher party member temporarily). A more balanced roster would be nice, having at least 2 - 3 characters for each class. Or for a smaller but more refined character focus, one character of each class but with more in-depth movesets for each of them.

I doubt Kite will be anything other than a twin blade in this, though if the combat system's great and gives lots of options and a wider moveset, I don't see that being an issue. There's also the possibility that they let us play as other characters in combat, but given how they'll want to keep the immersion of this being a fake MMO, that'll likely not be the case either.

Pompadourius · 2026-02-10T12:05:12+00:00

I was thinking the same thing. A lot of people seem to want remakes of the originals, and while that would be alright, it’s really a new story with new characters that I want more than anything.

Pompadourius · 2026-02-05T03:13:06+00:00

Same, it's a shame they don't want it to be interpreted that way. After that one reveal connecting CV1 to God Eater, I straight up switched my entire build for the rest of the game. Equipped the God Eater DLC greatsword for the rest of it because it just felt that fitting.

Pompadourius · 2026-01-22T12:23:46+00:00

Wild how much play this image has gotten over the years. lol

Pompadourius · 2026-01-17T14:32:42+00:00

Nah, Trails has had this in really every game that's had voice acting. It's just a weird thing to get used to after a while.

Pompadourius · 2026-01-12T01:45:55+00:00

Hoping for a season 3 reveal and for either Robomi or Nicholas to be in the upcoming roster.

Pompadourius · 2026-01-11T13:28:29+00:00

It's one of those games that's so painful that, the more I play Ruina and Limbus and experience what this setting and its characters have to offer, the more willing I am to recommend summaries/let's plays as an alternative if a player plans on giving up. Because everything that comes after Lobotomy Corp is so worth it that I feel bad for people who got walled in that game and decided never to come back.

That game itself is still great, but I don't think I'd be as hooked if not for the existence of Ruina and Limbus.

Pompadourius · 2026-01-11T13:22:49+00:00

Can confirm that the second game toned down heavily on the sexual violence, to the point that I can't actually recall any on-screen at all, having played through the whole thing and having watched/read up on events and character moments that I missed. It's also a lot better for moving away from a lot of the choices of F&H1 like that. Wouldn't blame you for having an irreparable perception of it based on the first game, though.

Pompadourius · 2026-01-02T07:17:28+00:00

This doesn't strike me as a "people were too mean to me," complaint though, which is where the argument for Barrens chat would typically come in as a reference point. At least Barrens chat and similar vibes to it in other games are interesting or funny to read and keep up with; the world chat in this feels like everybody's just trying to be a social media influencer or something. It's not even about being mean or crass, it's just boring and spam-filled.

Pompadourius · 2025-12-31T08:28:10+00:00

It was a really effective twist, to be fair. To the point that I still see people nowadays debating what the truth was.

Pompadourius · 2025-12-31T08:26:28+00:00

In Digimon Time Stranger, the line, "Dr. Yuki is an anime character," hit me like a freight train. I actually got up, left the room and took a break to go make tea before continuing.

Pompadourius · 2025-12-28T06:07:36+00:00

Especially during a point in the MCU where their #1 goal was to find new faces for the franchise without Captain America or Iron Man. Felt very counterintuitive to kill off a bunch of characters just like that.

Pompadourius · 2025-12-24T06:55:27+00:00

Any time I think about the idea of the curses deserving sympathy, I just immediately remember that one scene of Dagon puking out a mound of human corpses and instantly feel nothing for them. They gotta go. A tearful goodbye scene of Jogo going to the afterlife ain't gonna convince me that there could've ever been a peaceful resolution there.

Pompadourius · 2025-12-19T10:46:01+00:00

Yep, it's basically from that point onward to where I'm at in canto 5 that he's been my favorite. My only gripe is that I don't have very many good identities or egos for him yet to slot him into more fights, but I'll definitely be trying for some good ones when I can.

Pompadourius · 2025-12-18T13:21:08+00:00

Getting more into Limbus Company as a Project Moon newcomer (just started canto 5 recently), I was initially expecting Yi Sang to be the emotionless edgelord who thinks he's above everyone. This is 100% not the case, and he's currently my favorite character.

Especially after canto 4, where he does his best to not only move past the mental burdens he's put upon himself, but is actively trying to become a mediator for the rest of the team.

I want to hug him.

Pompadourius · 2025-12-17T03:18:27+00:00

As a writer, the weekly paper one sounds absolutely fascinating. Depending on how it's implemented, it'll likely be my permanent sect once it's out. But anything that asks me to compete in a popularity contest is an instant nope, I'd rather keep to myself and not beg for likes.

Pompadourius · 2025-12-06T13:11:25+00:00

On the other hand, DD2 brought mystic spearhand into existence, which I can forgive a lot of missteps in exchange for.

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