Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

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@TheJGG Thanks for dropping the link in your signature! I considered suggesting that actually, but I wasn't sure if that was a route you'd prefer. Looks like the music idea factory is still going strong, so I'm looking forward to digging into more arrangements! I've started listening to the top of the list while posting. While I'd like to see how much the page count is upped with Thanos's posts, I completely respect the decision to not include his commentary. I must've missed that memo; I've been skimming some threads, but I'm mostly keeping my forum activity to replies only for now.

It has been years since I've written fanfiction, and much of it has been lost to time. Deleted boards, archived/lost threads, plus the fact that, back in the day, I was VERY bad at keeping backups of what I'd done. Sure, I saved the files, but I lost a lot of content when the family Windows XP machine died over a decade ago. That thing lasted for nine years. It survived the internet, video games, papers, digital art projects, whatever video editing program came before Windows Movie Maker....That was a sad day. I would certainly read a novelization of Xenoblade Chronicles! Definitely a lot of material to work through and explain. Hopefully, it would explain some of my own questions about life on the "corpse" of a titan. I also wondered about the scale, as well as how they were technically on level ground as they traversed up the Bionis's body.

I had a blast with the E3 2019 Direct; it was worth watching from start to finish. Some Directs range from meh to pretty friggin' amazing, and that one is close to the top for me. I do agree that the Switch eShop is subject to more shovelware than in eShops past, at least to my observation. I also agree that some decent indie games that wouldn't have much exposure elsewhere do have more of a chance when compared to other platforms like Steam. I'm sure the indie showcases help out in that regard. I know I probably wouldn't have given some games the time of day if not for those showcases and word of mouth (or text) here and elsewhere.

I've liked Mario since I was very young, but I wouldn't say I was ever completely obsessed with the plumber. It's one of my favorite platforming franchises, and I do enjoy some of the spinoff series as well. Dora was a bit under my age group, but my sister was obsessed with the show for years. I've had a preference for first party games for years. Mostly for quality reasons. Though there are some very good indie and (until Adobe Flash was killed off) flash titles out there. Some "games", while serviceable, are poor imitations compared to some more quality titles. It saddens me how some ad-ridden freeware passes for entertainment.

Both the Middle-Earth saga and the Harry Potter series are very good, in my humble opinion. Though I've only went through the former more recently, so some of my opinion on the Wizarding World may be rose-colored. The movie adaptations were very good and, for Hollywood, really stuck with the source material in most instances. Though when it comes to the movie adaptations for Tolkien's works, I've only seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I haven't seen the three movies based off of The Hobbit, but from what I understand they spread it a bit thin, omitted a lot, and went a little crazy with the creative licensing in other aspects. Outside of money, I really don't see why they stretched it into three movies. There's a lot of ground to cover if they want to make the movie(s) blow-by-blow, but I would've thought two would've been more sufficient.

While I like visual novels, I haven't had much opportunity to dig into them. It's funny since I like reading, but the closest would be some of the puzzle games I've played. Not sure if I've mentioned it here, but I'd like to dig into both Famicom Detective Club games too...on a slight discount. I realize a lot of work went into the titles, but I have a hard time dropping that much cash on digital content. Doki Doki Literature Club is one that's popped up recently, but I haven't really looked into it. Can't say I know much about it, but color me intrigued.

On sleep: I did get a little more mileage last night, but I did have to set an alarm in order to make an early dentist appointment. The tradeoff was eating some excellent French toast and eggs at a local place afterward. I'd been meaning to try their breakfast menu, plus I had to recover from the trauma of dental x-rays somehow. (Nothing going on; those are just procedure once a year) Your watching schedule certainly would suit me, but with your sleep patterns, I can definitely see how the times are more of a problem.

While I've seen headlines about Final Fantasy VII Remake's second ending, I've avoided those in fear of spoilers; I've already had THAT one event from the original spoiled, some I'm going to stay blissfully out of the know as much as possible. As for the DQ III HD-2D remake, your expectations of what you'd like sound similar to my own. I'd like a little extra content, though not a smattering of it. And a 1:1 adaptation wouldn't bother me much. Though I admit I'd feel differently if I'd played the game previously. Xenoblade Chronicles certainly knew how to pace itself. Other than a late-game grind for some of the content that made me take a few days off - one of the few criticisms I have since there was a point when enemies were either too weak or too high to properly deal with, so I had to farm and kite Gogols - I enjoyed it all from start to finish. I also ordered the game at launch but didn't receive it until the day after.

Ouch. That must've been a hard one to take. Though from how you describe Hamilton, he isn't one to let something like this get him down; I'm sure he's one to step back in the ring for next time. I love how worked up the announcer's voice is, that must be quite a job! I'm usually not one for sports, but even some of the drama makes its way to my eyeballs through friends and family lol.

10.6 GB for Trials of Mana on the Switch? Now I'm glad I want to get it physical. There are worse file sizes to be sure, but I'm usually very conservative with the SD card space on all my devices lol. I think I'll enjoy the game, even if I have to mute the parts where Charlotte speaks. Some of the VA work isn't bad by any means, but some of it really grates when I've played through much better scripts. XD

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@Tyranexx Well convenience is convenience! My posts are frequent enough that I may end up getting banned for shamelessly plugging my work but hey, I make absolutely no money from this at all. I wrapped up Dearly Beloved this morning, and now I’m well and truly happy with it, enough to put it in the folder. I share your sentiments with Thanos but I’d be a poor human being if I didn’t respect his wish! It rises steadily though, but I’m less concerned about the length and more the quality of the things I post. Onto the good stuff.

Once E3 is over there’ll be a small hibernation period where I won’t have any new games, during which I could have a window to write a possible Xenoblade Chronicles treatment. One thing I know I’d do if I was going to write this, is to use the game’s English script word for word, and build on it. Unless context and common logic dictate otherwise I’d want to keep dialogue unchanged that isn’t my own. Could be a good way to keep my English going… I was hit by a stroke of inspiration actually and managed to write a small demonstration. It covers the first… minute of the first cutscene of the game. I’ll put that in another post.

The eShop has too much software indeed, but I would have never played such indie hits like Stardew or Celeste if I didn’t have a Switch. Thing is, I detest mobile games so the modern video game console business model of paying sixty dollars for your game up front and (most times) receiving a complete package. Every now and then there’ll be an indie game that’s so good it can pass for a major game in terms of quality. I own many of those that are available on Switch.

The Hobbit’s awkward transition to the screen is partly why watching the Middle-Earth saga is hard. The Harry Potter series has been fantastic throughout, and that’s the core strength. The Lord of the Rings is amazing though, especially Return of the King. Almost every single scene is memorable, so much dialogue is quotable, and the action scenes were years ahead of their time. I admit I haven’t watched any of them start to finish, I have a life and my patience with films isn’t four hours long. Nonetheless the production of the original trilogy can be hailed as a marvel… a massive accomplishment in filmmaking.

I honestly can’t think of any visual novels I’ve played, probably because I likely haven’t played any. I think we both would like to invest in the Famicom Detective Club games on discount! They look superb from a graphics standpoint, and the effort put into the artwork, voice work and the general feel of the game is quite impressive. And naturally I’ve never played Doki Doki Literature Club, but I am very interested in getting it. This is a bit of a spoiler but is necessary to knowing whether you want to play the game; it’s a psychological horror as well. So if you’re sensitive to those kinds of elements it’s important for that to be known. I’m not sure if I’m a fan of the genre but the game’s nature means it was always a buy!

Last time I ate out… God that must have been a month ago. That doesn’t mean I’m not able to enjoy a quality breakfast however, because yesterday morning I had some pretty great homemade waffles. I have a tendency with pancakes and waffles, to spread peanut butter (smooth of course), and then drizzle maple syrup. It makes for two different kinds of sweetness, one’s thicker and the other’s lighter. They taste well enough that they complement each other. Otherwise I just stick to toast… and as for the dentist, I haven’t been in three years. The dental in the African subcontinent is as good as you’d expect; not too bad but not too good.

Time doesn’t flow for me anymore. As of writing this sentence (2:40pm) there is just over seven and a half hours until the Square Enix presentation. I feel like a racecar tyre, I’m meant to last a specific amount of time but during E3 I need o stretch my operating window before I fall off a cliff. All said and done it worked yesterday… even if the show was an unequivocal waste of time. Most of the live-chat users would agree, we were making some pretty funny jokes.

Duly noted, I’ll hold out on open Final Fantasy VII Remake spoilers until you at least have played the game. I know some people here’ll be less than enthused the game will be exclusive to the PS4/5 hardware for the foreseeable future, but that’s how it is. As for Xenoblade late-game shenanigans, it was so much easier in Definitive Edition thanks to the Casual Mode setting. I was able to do late-game quests, like the second Coming of Age ceremony, the War God statue quest, Three Sage Summit, and more, and advance my level quickly, especially in the Lv75-85 bracket, where it was really tedious getting through that. The final boss rush becomes far too easy though, and I remember the deep satisfaction I experienced when I finally beat the final boss, because it took me weeks on end!

Well Lewis Hamilton isn’t just any old driver, he’s statistically (and in my opinion objectively) the greatest F1 driver of all time! His mentality over the last few years has been quite inspirational; do your talking on the track, don’t bother with mind games, work hard, never give up, never get complacent… it’s a true champion’s mentality. My parents are fans of his so it was passed down to me. While that is true I still support him because he’s one of the most complete drivers. He’s not dirty, but he can be very aggressive, he starts well, he has blistering raw speed, he takes care of tyres, and he doesn’t make many mistakes. He’s very old by F1 standards, usually their peak is around 25-30 but he’s winning championships at 36, but he’s lost none of his speed. He’s also into fashion, and that’s… very fascinating indeed.

Indeed, mute Charlotte! Down with that absolutely awful speak! Makes me wonder if NintendoLife could make a fan dub patch or something. Alex, Zion and Jon voicing all the characters. And of course our resident “genius eccentric”, Kate. That would be better than the current Trials of Mana cast. At least they know how to use their voices.