darksnowman

Do you mean the wild west, feudal Japan, imperial China, prehistory or...? Oof. Just Distant Future to go now? Don't worry, it's not all 2001, there's other sci-fi influences to enjoy in it too.

The other character offered so little I mostly passed on their turn unless they were able to punch or kick an enemy in the vulnerabilities.

I have an Orville the Duck money box.

Has this tech pouch started getting a refresh every summer now? Nice one. Hope your audience enjoys that!

I watched a documentary on them a few years ago when P Nev was at the helm and they seemed like a decent bunch. Just wanted to knuckle down and improve to get the best out of themselves that they could. Stark contrast to the men who think they've won everything before a ball's been kicked. Quite right. That's snapped me out of it. Anyone but England! Noooo.

Indeed you did. I knew there was something else but I was getting distracted by the women's euros match at the time of posting. Imperial China is a good one. The way the story goes and the delivery of the final blow are among the best moments LAL has to offer, imo. I chuckled at the introduction of the first disciple, too. Still, there is something I'd change in it which I'm going to mention below. It's a weird one because when you think of the conceit for each chapter, they all sound cool with their own unique twist. But beyond that bullet point idea, there's plenty that could've been fleshed out. I came in via the demo and it's still managed to throw me for a loop. Perhaps the next step is S-E putting up a poll for people to vote on which concept they'd like to see developed into its own 25-hourPG. Steer clear of spoilers for the conclusion if you can. Ah, right you are. Best of luck with that. You can always check out the Live A Live demo sometime to see what you think of it. I was so glad to have some chapters resembling an RPG by the time I got to that I enjoyed it quite a bit. He ended up being my highest-level character because I didn't mind clearing the (Pac-Man) streets almost every time I was out and about. Something I noticed in this chapter that applies to several... The Origami King. Battle layout recognition. A lot of battles in the near future are groups with a leader. It's not long before you see the patterns repeat and you have the path to the enemy leader memorised. "Oh this one's up around the side, across the back, he'll try to poison me on this square, then I'll move in for the victory." And so on. I cruised through a lot of those encounters on autopilot. It reminded me of how people described ring combat in TOK. Also: no exp! There are a few chapters/ sections where you're battling but not gaining exp. TOK did not get a pass for this and it's been a niggle for me in LAL every time it's come up. Yes, the parts of LAL with no exp are so easy you don't need to be levelling... but still, every time I've battled for no reward it's felt like a waste of time, similar to TOK. Players who want to should be able to level the wee robot. Let him plug in like R2D2 to collect the exp or something. In Ancient China, he could receive 1 exp point from normal battles and higher exp when training the disciples because he discovers that he's learning from them, too. Or something. Near future has a part where exp is disabled yet the streets are still filled with enemies. Exp distribution could have been calculated in such a way that players who take the time to clear the screen will gain a level. In the gunslinger chapter, exp gains could be set so that you will level up after the final duel. You're overpowered for these parts already, so what difference is an extra level going to make. Better than battling for no nowt.

They play with heart, togetherness and humility. Go and bring the thing home.

Is that Hemp or Rivaldo?

It is three!

I see you're a man of culture as well. I'll be checking back for what you think about the opening segment of the Twilight of Edo music. Forget what we've said on that chapter and be sure to weigh in with some fresh thoughts on it. Have you got around to making any more progress on the Near Future or Ancient China? @Hero-of-Time It's been interesting to watch our points of view on LAL start at different ends of the spectrum, zig-zag up and down as we've ticked off chapters in different orders, and it now looks like we're going to settle on a similar final opinion by the end of it. Wild West was my 7th and it was such an underwhelming way to cap it off. There's "leave them wanting more" and then there's LAL. If you heard this was the first SNES RPG and they put all this together as a showcase for what to expect in the 16-bit generation you could believe it. It's like a 16-bit RPG tech demo. @martinist how's it been going for you? @MindFreak did you get Live A Live, then?

Trent take note!!

Don't think the Swedes' heads will drop, let's see if they can get the breakthrough. It's the semi so they will go for it. England will have to show they're worth their spot in the final.

Not surprising. Reyn was never passing any IQ tests.

Yes, sometimes it's hard to know with those low scores if they can be trusted or if they're doing it stand out from the crowd and pull in some clicks. Taking a look at the Eurogamer review now. It's a good piece and the polar opposite of GI. One has nothing good to comment on, the other has nothing bad to say. The truth will be somewhere in the middle of the two.

Yep rating it essential makes them the outlier...

Seeing that, I pulled up the Gameinformer review for a squiz. Knowing the first Xenoblade Chronicles, I'd imagine the criticisms are valid. Then I scrolled down just a wee bit too far after the conclusion of the review and saw that the first commenter is calling for the website to die, and demands answers on as to why the Apex Legends guy was given the task of reviewing XC3. The Internet needs to take a chill pill.

I would give you a like for the effort you've put into the graphs but then I see your Nintendo comment and... ...I don't even think there's a gif that covers it. That's what I was thinking but that Oceanhorn score brings the whole thing into disrepute.

Good choice for something you know you can get through at your leisure over a week. When I first got it (primary school age) I thought I'd followed an epic chain of events just to get to the first level. That sense of discovery never lets up either. As you say, Koholint isn't the biggest but it crams plenty in. Totally right about 7. No matter how many times I start a new file, I always find myself doing extra loops of 7 and then 8 as well. Reminder set. Will give you a prod when that day's approaching and making a note to remind you it's also satisfying to jump those arms and hit the eye with the boomerang, too.

And that's the wild west done with. Barely knew ye.

Already? I'm so far behind the times I still need to get spoiled on 2.

Just wondered in case there was something I wasn't privy to. I dumped them in in batches and it didn't seem to do a great lot of use. I mostly just passed on that character's turn as all they did was plink, mostly. The only info I can offer in return is that in the back room of the home base there is an instrument, if you interact with it more than once you will hear a selection of little ditties. One might be more recognisable than the others. That's the near future finished and... was that the best chapter? I think it might well have been. Another one that took some turns for the darker. Always wanted to party up with Johnny from Chrono Trigger. I was level 17 or 18 by the end--didn't feel like I was grinding at all.

It does what it does well, but would have been nice if it was fleshed out more. Grim ending. Do you know if there's an optimal way to use: Or is it a case of as and when you get em?

It's interesting how chapter order is colouring our impressions of the game. This is how it's been going for me from a battle standpoint: - distant future -- err? - imperial china -- harder to lose than emerge triumphant. - shinobi -- I restarted my demo progression on this to try stealth, so it was a lot of hiding and fleeing. - modern-day -- done with before I could finish my coffee. - prehistory -- now we're talking. Hunting grounds where I can level? Gimme it. Thrown out onto plains to fend off stronger enemies? I'm all over it. A shop system to trade items for others? Sure why not! At last, the training wheels are off! - near future (currently playing) -- Golden Sun with attitude. Leave it to me and I'll clean up these mean streets and be double the level of the next party member by the time they join. I enjoyed the distant future and imperial china for how they played out in other respects. You've a keen eye for these. I thought there might be one going off the gameplay tips, but two? Must be cryptic. No joke. I feel like that that one took me longer than it should because I found it difficult to keep a clear picture (or any picture to be fair) of how it connected.

Wasn't aware of that. I'm just figuring the game out as I go along.

I noticed the tip for the secret boss in prehistory, so thumbs up for mentioning that @Glen-i. My intention was to have a go at tracking it down as soon as I'd reassembled the party... except going that course lead to the end of the chapter. So I'll have to try to keep that in mind for next time. Prehistory was pretty good, I thought! Reckon the only downside of starting with this one would be you might get the wrong idea about the type of game you're getting into here, because prehistory is a decent little mini-RPG and the rest isn't. Just can't believe what happened to Prince Peasly in the end. I could have smacked him about plenty more. Twas one of my preferred chapters, that one. The Beverly Hills Ninja was a standout. I wasn't smart enough to figure out any of your advice points myself and still found the chapter to be a breeze. Sure you're overpowered for the duration. Though I'd made a mental note to do protip one on future replays to see if it makes any discernable difference. What... have... you... done....