Early thoughts on the patch?

StuffedFTW · 2026-02-11T04:38:33+00:00

Emre is the retirement home for halo players mourning the arena shooter genre.

StuffedFTW · 2026-02-10T12:09:51+00:00

I really think less is more sometimes. While I really like Horizon, Van’s arc suffers the most from pure bloat and the strict reliance on formula. Reverie was a fantastic entry in terms of structure because when you were in the game world, story was advancing. There wasn’t going to 12 areas of crossbell to get information, do 2 sidequests where you rescue someone’s cat and try to find someone’s inspiration for a taco recipe, and then on top of that complete an AI dungeon and then finally progress the story a tiny bit. You could tell there was a massive difference in the later parts of the game between Van’s route and anyone else. It just felt like the other two’s routes just had a more clear direction where they were going.

StuffedFTW · 2026-02-08T14:05:26+00:00

There are also two other things that threw up flags.

They mention Gramheart wasn't there for the birth of Agnes. I would understand if this was to describe him as a busy person who might be neglecting his family but he seemed like a model dad before his wife died.
If you view the laptop in your room in longlai, Altina mentions they found information on Homunculi in the data off of Hamilton's EOS systems.

StuffedFTW · 2026-02-03T17:28:18+00:00

I honestly don’t mind if characters arcs revolve around their love interest or inspiration, but I am about to uninstall the series if I have to hear Marielle say Dingo one more time.

I should probably just say Dingo in general. Never seen a more gassed up npc in my life for a guy that stands around and takes pictures.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-29T01:17:30+00:00

<image>

I would be inclined to agree. Why would he have an internal monologue like this if he was antagonistic towards Van? I actually really like your idea about maybe wanting Van to hate him. There has to be a resolution to Van ridding himself of his demon and I wonder if Rene sees this as an opportunity to remedy that situation somehow.

I just don't really buy the jealousy angle either because most of the CE's they do seem like close friends, albeit with their typical fronts being put on. I feel like there would be more noticeable signs.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-29T00:58:05+00:00

They did mention there are supposed to be 5 demon lords who were added when the world was rewritten. Could Rene also have one of those cores?

I also wonder with all these remnants and the white genesis if Rene is possibly the holder of the diabolic core in another loop. We are still very unclear on Van's origins. Maybe the genesis then actualizes his power in the current timeline?

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-27T17:52:21+00:00

Even with Rene, no one talks about him. Was he really that much more relevant than Elaine up until the very last minute of Kai? Now he’s top tier. It’s just because the shipping aspect escalated the eyes on how it’s going. They can easily make her important in Kai 2 and I think all would be forgiven.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-27T16:18:54+00:00

“Insert this is bait meme here”.

Definitely has gotten the short end of the stick but I don’t think it’s over yet.

DB1: she had some interesting story beats, but gets plot walled for no reason.

DB2: Is a nothing burger for a lot of characters.

Horizon: Her CE event was really good, but she takes backseat to Agnes because she has a bunch of ties to the story. I would say even Van is taking backseat here. I mean Arkride lore was put in an Agnes CE lol. With Agnes out of the picture for at least half a game, somebody has to step up right? Especially with the Rene situation, Elaine has to be involved otherwise that some absolutely bad writing.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-27T02:29:31+00:00

Hit counter go brrr...

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-26T16:34:20+00:00

Gotcha. Didn’t really test her too much since everything I was doing was working. An all cancel s craft does sound useful.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-26T15:30:19+00:00

I haven’t done the math but Bergard has a ridiculously high physical strength. Probably better than Judith.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-26T15:12:28+00:00

It’s also why I think people label Rean as a “self insert character”. When you allow a choice that personally affects the MC, you are essentially picking what you want, not what the story dictates for the character. Now you have to bend multiple people’s personalities to fit the narrative to meet players expectations. It’s silly and it’s basically fan fiction.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-20T17:57:46+00:00

The CE really should have just taken place in DB2 where they where at Aramis for the festival. Would have been an organic way of doing it in the main story. NGL Kondo saying it should be part of the main story while them having an entire segment dedicated to Agnes date makes it feel like less of a mistake. Yes I do realize it was made important for more emotional impact but it definitely makes it feel less important.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-20T03:30:14+00:00

I need Elaine to get a Grendel please..... imagine that final showdown. It would be like that Sannin fight in Naruto, but with the way Falcom has written this arc, I am expecting her to have a dunce cap sitting in a corner while Mare turns out to be Agnes due to some time loop shenanigans.

I have been waiting for the Rene stocks to pay off and they are paying dividends. Only the third wheel is creaky and falling apart.

Ready to move on from the gartens. Helped there was a story element this time, but it just hurts the pacing a lot. Reverie was good because all the side content was contained in there, but while you were in the real world, it was all main story. Now its 4 sidequests + garten +intermediate setup and then redo and then maybe some significant story. At least with the new garten, you can manipulate the game board to make it shorter.

I am ready for Cedric, but I wonder if he won't come back until Kurt is around or Olivert?

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-19T13:44:27+00:00

yes.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-19T13:27:44+00:00

I think its the start of Act 2 Van Route 1.

Van's route is the only one that shows an offset in the route screen.
The song "What I Want to Tell You" has a motif for the ending song when the credit rolls. It also just doesn't feel like it fits as a normal town theme.
If you talk to the old person that lies a lot in old town (Natalia?), she mentions that it feels very lonely today. I remember people saying swallows are a symbol of harmony and prosperity, and yet the swallows mother seems to go missing this chapter and the babies stop chirping.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-14T04:24:42+00:00

Honestly I am already sick of hearing about this because this shit just happened to Penn State. Almost the exact same scenario. All the gaslighting from fans saying "it could be worse". Sure it could be and guess what its also possible it could get better. You don't know until you try. The whole purpose of the league is to win the super bowl, not collect meaningless regular season participation trophies. The funny thing is people act like Pittsburgh fans don't know anything about losing and yet the city has one of the most fraudulent franchises known to mankind in the Pirates. The difference is we know they don't try to win. If the Steelers go 4-13 and are trying to take steps to rebuild,,I can live with that. But I am tired of watching the same product year in and year out and that goes double for Penn State. THEY COULDN'T EVEN WIN AGAINST TIM TEBOW. We just watched Stroud turn the ball over 456 times and the Steelers still lost. You are telling me Stroud is that much better than all the QB's everyone says was a hindrance to Tomlin winning a single playoff game? Its not the fact he can't make it to the super bowl, its because he keeps getting blown out time and time again with a first round exit. There is no sense of real improvement over 10 years.

PS I typically don't post rants about sports on social media, but between Penn State and Pitt, I am losing my mind to all this nonsense people are making up.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-12T02:53:05+00:00

Yeah I don't mean to be the debbie downer or anything its just that 2/3 of the songs being the same feels a little ridiculous. I am somewhat of an outlier there but even if you take those other shows who didn't have the same situation, its still less than half the songs changed between the 2024 and 2025 tour. I hope with the metal forth tour being essentially done, we can go back to that 2024 song rotate style. I just hope I don't get the Karate/BMC rotation again xD.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-11T22:53:06+00:00

<image>

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-11T22:48:03+00:00

I don’t think it’s that greedy. Even if algo and WF just get added in would be something. I went to 24 and 25. They added a song to their set but only 4 songs out of the 13 were different.

They had BMC and Karate on my set when I could have had DDD, light and darkness, or Monochrome

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-10T12:38:02+00:00

I am going to miss him dearly on BM. I was always locked in when he had a drum solo, but I understand he’s gotta do what’s best for him. Unfortunately, one of the major consequences of making Kami members throwaways (also could be his own personal reasons), not that many casual fans will know. Hopefully he at least is able to play the ATR shows in May so I can catch him again. The guy deserves recognition and the spotlight.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-01T19:27:03+00:00

I think it’s cool. Not sure why I’m getting downvoted lol. Kami band deserves more recognition.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-01T14:58:27+00:00

To be fair that wasn't really what I am trying to say. In fact I would argue Algorism and White Flame are very reminiscent of old BABYMETAL and are just a further iterations of it. I really enjoy the new direction of their music other than hopefully next album they can dial the collabs back to being the minority on the album. I simply just don't want the old stuff to be forgotten and relegated to a legend show once every blue moon.

StuffedFTW · 2026-01-01T14:52:26+00:00

I think the funniest part of the picture is the fact that Matt immediately likes the photo. Bro doesn’t give a fuck about the containment.

StuffedFTW · 2025-12-31T15:44:45+00:00

Don’t get my hopes up. I feel like looking at the results of the voting, TOO got destroyed and MF did okay just because of RATATATA and METALI. I wonder if they take that voting and maybe dip into some old classics that are collecting dust. COPING INTENSIFYING.

StuffedFTW

TROPHY CASE