gekigengar gargant III!!! (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aestivalis) wrote2021-03-14 02:56 pm
aestivalis) wrote2021-03-14 02:56 pm
'give the lonely old woman the wood. (at night)'
Bravely Default II still going strong! I was 67 hours into this game when I made the astonishing discovery that you don't actually have to be on a save point to save your game. Save points still exist! There will be a tidy two save points per dungeon, without fail! But you don't actually need them. They're just there. Making you feel comfortable and nostalgic, and maybe letting you use a tent if you need it.
I could have been saving any time, any place. For 67 hours.
ANYWAY, GOOD GAME.
edit: this is not true either!! I think the actual truth is that you can save anytime you like when you're in towns (and on the overworld map, of course), but dungeons do still restrict you to save points. I am placated.
I'm in Chapter Five now, spoilers below cut as always!
✦ I don't think I have a favourite NPC figured out at this point, and would need to give it some more considered thought if I wanted to go down that road, but Vigintio's voice acting is audacious in the extreme and I have nothing but respect. I hope whoever voiced him had an absolute BLAST. It certainly sounds like they did.
✦ I think I have all the job classes now! Part of me naturally wants to throw all progress aside in favour of levelling everyone through every possible option immediately, but I have so far resisted that siren call. Gonna finish the main story first, then return for some of those overworld monster spawns that are still way out of my league. That's when I'll level everything up to maximum and really settle on some team builds.
✦ I think I am in the home stretch of the game now. My party members keep saying things after battle like 'I'll never forget this journey we had together' and it breaks my heart every single time. Stop reminding me it's almost done...! I'm not ready to call it over just yet!
That being said, I've had plenty of sidequests turn up, and those are allowing me to delay the inevitable for a little while longer. Went into an optional mine area today and the random encounters were making my life absolutely wretched. Gonna need to rethink my set-up before I venture back inside.
✦ I went Wisweld, Halcyonia, Savalon, as outlined in my previous post, and that did end up feeling correct! The situation in Wisweld was definitely the most immediate and dire—I'm glad we didn't leave Roddy tied to a pole at the top of a tower any longer than necessary, lmao. And Vigintio was every bit as bonkers and delightful as I'd expected him to be. Not a difficult boss fight, but a fun one.
Halcyonia was fine, although Lonsdale was quite wonderful;; Got a soft spot for those slightly sad loyal old men types, especially the ones who are a little bit grizzly around the edges. His scenes with Seth were sweet, and I hope that he and Sir Sloan did many kisses back in the day. Also, yet another tanky class to give to Gloria! That girl is made of titanium and I have no regrets.
Savalon was... fine? I like Pollux and Dromed and Anihal, so it was good to see them again. But wow, what an absolute non-character poor Marla ended up being. She'd already made a weak first impression on me with that whole 'boohoo, other female minion is taking all of master's attention' schtick, and then we just get... like, nothing. Just a throwaway mention of her father's death, and then she suicides herself out of existence, the end. I want to say that it's not too late for us to learn something more, especially with Elvis's magical flashback diary, but... I'm not sure she'd really be worth the effort at this point. Sorry girl.
✦ On that note, haven't seen Dag or Selene in a while. You can't fool me, game. I know all those softening sidequests with them have to be leading up to something. IS IT SO WRONG... TO BEAT UP ON OLD MEN A LITTLE BIT, AS A TREAT... JUST ONE TIME.... (yes it really is)
✦ The reveal of the airship was cool, but now it is crashed! I have found it on the overworld, and you can go inside it like it's just another normal dungeon to return to. I'll need to go back and explore at some point, just in case anything about it has changed? But it didn't seem like it from the brief look I had. I don't think this game is going to give me an airship of my own, you guys...! What kind of nostalgia-fuelled JRPG is this!
✦ The Adam boss fight was pretty cool, got it on my second attempt since he more or less exploded on me at the end of my first effort. There was a moment where it looked like the game was going to try and give him some last-second redemption, but actually he was just being his same old tyrannical self! 'Now go, Warriors of Light, and do my bidding' was a very good way to twist that expectation back on its head, and it really saved the scene for me, hahaha. So long, Adam. You weren't much of a character, but you were fun.
✦ UGH, GWILYM GREW UP. DISGUSTING. WANT BABY DRAGON BACK.
✦ Thought the game was setting us up for some finale romance, but actually it's been pretty even-handed so far. Elvis and Adelle went drinking together of an evening in Wisweld, and Seth and Gloria took a walk on the shore, and it felt very much like standard Bravely 'time to pair off the two heterosexual couples who have been guiding our story'. But both scenes really just had the characters reminiscing and bonding on their shared experiences, with nothing explicitly romantic at all, and.... both pairings are much, much more shippable as a result?! Oh my god, it turns out making characters into really believable friends and allies actually does more for potential romance than a dozen awkward blushing scenes or miscommunicated jealousy moments ever could. Who knew!
We did. We all knew.
✦ Gloria has never allowed herself to think about what she wants. She doesn't make plans beyond completing her duty. Seth prods her to talk about what she might like to do when this is all over, and she hedges for a moment, but then gives in and admits to things she might enjoy. Visiting Seth's distant home, for example.
I'm not saying Suteki Da Ne, but my god that girl is destined to die. Protect Gloria at all costs, actually?
Maybe, next time I update, the game will be finished...! That is both exciting and desperately disappointing. I am nowhere near ready to be done with this tale yet;;;
I could have been saving any time, any place. For 67 hours.
ANYWAY, GOOD GAME.
edit: this is not true either!! I think the actual truth is that you can save anytime you like when you're in towns (and on the overworld map, of course), but dungeons do still restrict you to save points. I am placated.
I'm in Chapter Five now, spoilers below cut as always!
✦ I don't think I have a favourite NPC figured out at this point, and would need to give it some more considered thought if I wanted to go down that road, but Vigintio's voice acting is audacious in the extreme and I have nothing but respect. I hope whoever voiced him had an absolute BLAST. It certainly sounds like they did.
✦ I think I have all the job classes now! Part of me naturally wants to throw all progress aside in favour of levelling everyone through every possible option immediately, but I have so far resisted that siren call. Gonna finish the main story first, then return for some of those overworld monster spawns that are still way out of my league. That's when I'll level everything up to maximum and really settle on some team builds.
✦ I think I am in the home stretch of the game now. My party members keep saying things after battle like 'I'll never forget this journey we had together' and it breaks my heart every single time. Stop reminding me it's almost done...! I'm not ready to call it over just yet!
That being said, I've had plenty of sidequests turn up, and those are allowing me to delay the inevitable for a little while longer. Went into an optional mine area today and the random encounters were making my life absolutely wretched. Gonna need to rethink my set-up before I venture back inside.
✦ I went Wisweld, Halcyonia, Savalon, as outlined in my previous post, and that did end up feeling correct! The situation in Wisweld was definitely the most immediate and dire—I'm glad we didn't leave Roddy tied to a pole at the top of a tower any longer than necessary, lmao. And Vigintio was every bit as bonkers and delightful as I'd expected him to be. Not a difficult boss fight, but a fun one.
Halcyonia was fine, although Lonsdale was quite wonderful;; Got a soft spot for those slightly sad loyal old men types, especially the ones who are a little bit grizzly around the edges. His scenes with Seth were sweet, and I hope that he and Sir Sloan did many kisses back in the day. Also, yet another tanky class to give to Gloria! That girl is made of titanium and I have no regrets.
Savalon was... fine? I like Pollux and Dromed and Anihal, so it was good to see them again. But wow, what an absolute non-character poor Marla ended up being. She'd already made a weak first impression on me with that whole 'boohoo, other female minion is taking all of master's attention' schtick, and then we just get... like, nothing. Just a throwaway mention of her father's death, and then she suicides herself out of existence, the end. I want to say that it's not too late for us to learn something more, especially with Elvis's magical flashback diary, but... I'm not sure she'd really be worth the effort at this point. Sorry girl.
✦ On that note, haven't seen Dag or Selene in a while. You can't fool me, game. I know all those softening sidequests with them have to be leading up to something. IS IT SO WRONG... TO BEAT UP ON OLD MEN A LITTLE BIT, AS A TREAT... JUST ONE TIME.... (yes it really is)
✦ The reveal of the airship was cool, but now it is crashed! I have found it on the overworld, and you can go inside it like it's just another normal dungeon to return to. I'll need to go back and explore at some point, just in case anything about it has changed? But it didn't seem like it from the brief look I had. I don't think this game is going to give me an airship of my own, you guys...! What kind of nostalgia-fuelled JRPG is this!
✦ The Adam boss fight was pretty cool, got it on my second attempt since he more or less exploded on me at the end of my first effort. There was a moment where it looked like the game was going to try and give him some last-second redemption, but actually he was just being his same old tyrannical self! 'Now go, Warriors of Light, and do my bidding' was a very good way to twist that expectation back on its head, and it really saved the scene for me, hahaha. So long, Adam. You weren't much of a character, but you were fun.
✦ UGH, GWILYM GREW UP. DISGUSTING. WANT BABY DRAGON BACK.
✦ Thought the game was setting us up for some finale romance, but actually it's been pretty even-handed so far. Elvis and Adelle went drinking together of an evening in Wisweld, and Seth and Gloria took a walk on the shore, and it felt very much like standard Bravely 'time to pair off the two heterosexual couples who have been guiding our story'. But both scenes really just had the characters reminiscing and bonding on their shared experiences, with nothing explicitly romantic at all, and.... both pairings are much, much more shippable as a result?! Oh my god, it turns out making characters into really believable friends and allies actually does more for potential romance than a dozen awkward blushing scenes or miscommunicated jealousy moments ever could. Who knew!
We did. We all knew.
✦ Gloria has never allowed herself to think about what she wants. She doesn't make plans beyond completing her duty. Seth prods her to talk about what she might like to do when this is all over, and she hedges for a moment, but then gives in and admits to things she might enjoy. Visiting Seth's distant home, for example.
I'm not saying Suteki Da Ne, but my god that girl is destined to die. Protect Gloria at all costs, actually?
Maybe, next time I update, the game will be finished...! That is both exciting and desperately disappointing. I am nowhere near ready to be done with this tale yet;;;