I
I_R
Guest
I got myself Undertale. Really enjoying it. Finished the pacifist route, now I’m halfway through the genocide route.
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T
Tenofovir
Guest
The Legend of Heroes Trails of Cold Steel
PS3/PS Vita.
Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=S_zHzqR90jU
Overall a fun value for money JRPG. Easily, 70+ hours of content. The PS Vita version which I am playing costs about $39.99.
The game is broken up into 7 chapters and a prologue. Each chapter includes a social interaction section, a quest section, a local dungeon to explore, a test of skills in battle and then a two/three day excursion requiring travel with a designated party to a distant location. Each chapter deals with themes connecting various characters, for example in one chapter we have to unite a noble and an anti-noble to overcome their issues. This occurs on the background of a wider plot which features an underhanded power play/provocation by a mysterious group who are playing on an underlying ground of tension among numerous countries/groups. The social interactions involve things one learns from anime are common tropes for slice of life school based anime.
The Characters:
Intriguing, well designed, attractive and engaging characters. They are stereotypical of the different anime tropes for sure - the reluctant and humble hero, the main tsundere love interest, the mysterious Nagato Yuki like quiet girl, the stoic sporty sword wielding girl, the narcissistic noble guy, the angry commoner anti-noble guy, the cheerful genius little girl type, etc.
Music: orchestrated or well synthesized. I found the OP to be very catchy and of mainstream anime quality.
Battle system: Single player. 4 characters plus two support which can be swapped in/out. Turn based. Regular attacks, item use (mostly curative or restorative), Arts which require EP points and Crafts which require CP points. A link system allows two players to link up and allows them to gain special buffs such as an additional attack strike or an automatic defense / restore HP move. The level of this depends on points gained through social interaction and also through game play. The player has social points to interact with a choice of characters of his preference in each chapter.
Plot:
Follows the protagonist who is a military high school academy student and his classmates, their teacher and several other characters who join later.
Complicated of the usual anime variety. There is a rich historical background given this is a sequel and another game follows this one too. Numerous factions vie for power. There is a plot to provoke conflict and achieve some other purpose as well. A class system exists. Each character comes from a slighthly different class, for example there is a commoner yet daughter of a mega rich arms manufacturer, a commoner whose father is in the government, a noble of one of the better families, an ex mercenary, an ex gifted child, etc.
Representation of religion in the game: Two religions are represented in the game. There is an ancient animistic religion and a religion loosely in passing based on Catholicism/Christianity through portrayal of the clergy, church buildings, saints and acts of the church. The state church has priests, nuns and assists people with medical treatments. At least one of the characters in the series is portrayed as pious via daily prayer in the local church but this is shown to be positive as the character is from a rural nomadic village, is shown to be wholesome, friendly, honorable, and charitable and frequently the NPCs in the game speak of the church in a positive way. This is different to the way some games portray religion, for example games such as Grandia 2 or some Star Ocean games.
Some potentially negative themes:
(I’ve played only past chapter 3).
There is some allusion to yaoi manga in the game. In one scene the protagonist assists one his female comrades to proofread books written by another girl. These turn out to be yaoi novels about love between men. This class of literature is popular in Japan among many women and so it is represented as being popular among young women in the fictional game world. The character however responds negatively toward this literature and while he reads the material for the sake of his female companion he expresses dislike for it.
There are several scenes with mild non visual fanservice, for example there is a mild ongoing conflict between two girls about breast size with one being critical of the other.
Overall however I would consider this to be a very low fan service game so far. Modesty is maintained on the battle field with no skirts ever flying up or such. It is possible to rotate the characters in some views and even change angles but thankfully no upskirt shots are possible.
Continued next post…
PS3/PS Vita.
Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=S_zHzqR90jU
Overall a fun value for money JRPG. Easily, 70+ hours of content. The PS Vita version which I am playing costs about $39.99.
The game is broken up into 7 chapters and a prologue. Each chapter includes a social interaction section, a quest section, a local dungeon to explore, a test of skills in battle and then a two/three day excursion requiring travel with a designated party to a distant location. Each chapter deals with themes connecting various characters, for example in one chapter we have to unite a noble and an anti-noble to overcome their issues. This occurs on the background of a wider plot which features an underhanded power play/provocation by a mysterious group who are playing on an underlying ground of tension among numerous countries/groups. The social interactions involve things one learns from anime are common tropes for slice of life school based anime.
The Characters:
Intriguing, well designed, attractive and engaging characters. They are stereotypical of the different anime tropes for sure - the reluctant and humble hero, the main tsundere love interest, the mysterious Nagato Yuki like quiet girl, the stoic sporty sword wielding girl, the narcissistic noble guy, the angry commoner anti-noble guy, the cheerful genius little girl type, etc.
Music: orchestrated or well synthesized. I found the OP to be very catchy and of mainstream anime quality.
Battle system: Single player. 4 characters plus two support which can be swapped in/out. Turn based. Regular attacks, item use (mostly curative or restorative), Arts which require EP points and Crafts which require CP points. A link system allows two players to link up and allows them to gain special buffs such as an additional attack strike or an automatic defense / restore HP move. The level of this depends on points gained through social interaction and also through game play. The player has social points to interact with a choice of characters of his preference in each chapter.
Plot:
Follows the protagonist who is a military high school academy student and his classmates, their teacher and several other characters who join later.
Complicated of the usual anime variety. There is a rich historical background given this is a sequel and another game follows this one too. Numerous factions vie for power. There is a plot to provoke conflict and achieve some other purpose as well. A class system exists. Each character comes from a slighthly different class, for example there is a commoner yet daughter of a mega rich arms manufacturer, a commoner whose father is in the government, a noble of one of the better families, an ex mercenary, an ex gifted child, etc.
Representation of religion in the game: Two religions are represented in the game. There is an ancient animistic religion and a religion loosely in passing based on Catholicism/Christianity through portrayal of the clergy, church buildings, saints and acts of the church. The state church has priests, nuns and assists people with medical treatments. At least one of the characters in the series is portrayed as pious via daily prayer in the local church but this is shown to be positive as the character is from a rural nomadic village, is shown to be wholesome, friendly, honorable, and charitable and frequently the NPCs in the game speak of the church in a positive way. This is different to the way some games portray religion, for example games such as Grandia 2 or some Star Ocean games.
Some potentially negative themes:
(I’ve played only past chapter 3).
There is some allusion to yaoi manga in the game. In one scene the protagonist assists one his female comrades to proofread books written by another girl. These turn out to be yaoi novels about love between men. This class of literature is popular in Japan among many women and so it is represented as being popular among young women in the fictional game world. The character however responds negatively toward this literature and while he reads the material for the sake of his female companion he expresses dislike for it.
There are several scenes with mild non visual fanservice, for example there is a mild ongoing conflict between two girls about breast size with one being critical of the other.
Overall however I would consider this to be a very low fan service game so far. Modesty is maintained on the battle field with no skirts ever flying up or such. It is possible to rotate the characters in some views and even change angles but thankfully no upskirt shots are possible.
Continued next post…
T
Tenofovir
Guest
Difficulty wise the game is mostly well balanced although in the beginning regular enemies can KO your party easily. You are given an option to replay or replay with weakened enemies. It is possible to weaken the enemies progressively although your stats show that you had to retry the game so many times. At least one boss was too powerful to beat without weakening several times. Difficulty settings can be set initially only, as EASY, NORMAL, HARD and NIGHTMARE. The Easy option is for players who only wish to enjoy the story. Upon game completion there is a New Game+ option allowing you to carry over your levels, items and money.
The game also includes quizzes at various stages as well as mini games. This requires that one pay attention to at least some of the historical details of the game. Correct answers increase your rank which while not helpful in battle allows for some sort of bonus.
Of course one can reload the game and answer correctly.
Saving: It is possible to save anywhere and at any time.
Themes: Sacrifice, camaraderie, humility, self improvement for the sake of others, altruism, honour. Honour, respect and a sense of duty/responsibility are major themes in this game series. Family is also an ongoing theme this includes relationships between parents and children and adult parents and grand parents. Family bonds are seen in a positive light.
In summary: recommended. A fun JRPG with a follow up due for release in 2016. Compared to most anime/JRPGs out there, the game is light on fan service and there is no visual fan service at all.
The game also includes quizzes at various stages as well as mini games. This requires that one pay attention to at least some of the historical details of the game. Correct answers increase your rank which while not helpful in battle allows for some sort of bonus.
Of course one can reload the game and answer correctly.
Saving: It is possible to save anywhere and at any time.
Themes: Sacrifice, camaraderie, humility, self improvement for the sake of others, altruism, honour. Honour, respect and a sense of duty/responsibility are major themes in this game series. Family is also an ongoing theme this includes relationships between parents and children and adult parents and grand parents. Family bonds are seen in a positive light.
In summary: recommended. A fun JRPG with a follow up due for release in 2016. Compared to most anime/JRPGs out there, the game is light on fan service and there is no visual fan service at all.
J
jegaar
Guest
Hello greetings to all.
I am new to this and I froum has started making a request to have if someone can help me locate a recording.
I live in Spain and every year I see the Midnight Mass of the National Shrine of Washington BNSIC emitting Tv. EWTN, but 2015 This Year I Could not see for a medical emergency. Does anyone have or know where i can find or see That tape? If someone That Could I lay out I would be very grateful
Thank you very much and God bless
Jesus Maria de Madrid
I am new to this and I froum has started making a request to have if someone can help me locate a recording.
I live in Spain and every year I see the Midnight Mass of the National Shrine of Washington BNSIC emitting Tv. EWTN, but 2015 This Year I Could not see for a medical emergency. Does anyone have or know where i can find or see That tape? If someone That Could I lay out I would be very grateful
Thank you very much and God bless
Jesus Maria de Madrid
J
Joe_5859
Guest
Here’s a link to the video for their Mass on Christmas day:
catholictv.com/shows/national-shrine-mass/christmas
It looks like it has been edited down to a half hour.
I cannot find the Midnight Mass on the EWTN website or anywhere else, though.
Someone uploaded their Midnight Mass from 2012: youtube.com/watch?v=kM9zV8JF654. It’s not the most recent one, but both are Year C in the Lectionary.
The readings are the same for that Mass every year anyway, though.
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I_R
Guest
I’m sure this is common sense, but I highly recommend doing pacifist first.
If you go genocide, believe me, you’re gonna have a bad time
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jegaar
Guest
5859 Joe thank you very much, I appreciate your kindness and quick to answer.
I already asked the National Shrine recording if they had but did not, and so the DVD EWTN asked to sell it without results.
I search on YouTube, I do every day. I do not lose hope someone has the recording and hang on Youtube.
And I ask here in case any one of the Forum’s brother may have. The miracles of the Lord are constant.
May the love of our Mother Mary always accompany us
Jesus Maria - Madrid
I already asked the National Shrine recording if they had but did not, and so the DVD EWTN asked to sell it without results.
I search on YouTube, I do every day. I do not lose hope someone has the recording and hang on Youtube.
And I ask here in case any one of the Forum’s brother may have. The miracles of the Lord are constant.
May the love of our Mother Mary always accompany us
Jesus Maria - Madrid
T
Tenofovir
Guest
Also playing this: IA/VT Colorful for PS Vita.
Japanese music rhythm game similar to but a little easier than Hatsune Miku Project Diva.
I got to say I’m actually starting to like this game.
(Only available by import. It will not be localised outside of Japan, but the menus are in English.) Vitas are region free so accept games from across the world.
Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=iqg6nD2ML-Y
There’s 60 songs and at least 15 or so are memorably good. No fanservice. Songs require points to unlock which are only achieved once per play through per rating (e.g. A gets you extra points if you scored B before) and even EASY mode can be challenging. Getting a score of 0 for a song gets you 200 points so it’s possible to unlock all included songs combining easy and a little bit of practice.
Japanese music rhythm game similar to but a little easier than Hatsune Miku Project Diva.
I got to say I’m actually starting to like this game.
(Only available by import. It will not be localised outside of Japan, but the menus are in English.) Vitas are region free so accept games from across the world.
Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=iqg6nD2ML-Y
There’s 60 songs and at least 15 or so are memorably good. No fanservice. Songs require points to unlock which are only achieved once per play through per rating (e.g. A gets you extra points if you scored B before) and even EASY mode can be challenging. Getting a score of 0 for a song gets you 200 points so it’s possible to unlock all included songs combining easy and a little bit of practice.
J
jilly4ski
Guest
For my birthday my husband moved our playstation 2 out to the flat screen tv (it was hooked up to an old tube tv). So I have been playing Final Fantasy X, and he found a PS2 copy of FF X-2, since I haven’t played it. (That was a cheaper option than buying a PS4 and a newly remastered edition of the game, LOL). I was surprised how well the graphics transferred to the flat screen tv, and I have been having fun, putting some hours in.
C
catholicmoviene
Guest
So I just finished Beyond Eyes… I had a lot of nice things to say about this game, such as its gorgeous painting-like graphics and understated storytelling, until the climax ripped my heart out of my chest and fed it to Shiva. Thankfully, the after credits scene ALMOST reversed the feeling that I wasted $7.50 that I’ll never get back; even then, the $7.50 discount was way too much. Only a replay will let me know for sure.
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catholicmoviene
Guest
Valve’s chief writer has retired…but he didn’t confirm that Half-Life 3 isn’t happening…
C
catholicmoviene
Guest
Finally beat Episode 2…
That was evil. That was pure evil.
That was evil. That was pure evil.
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Robyn_p
Guest
I feel your pain. :console:
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catholicmoviene
Guest
Though I think I did like the original Half-Life 2 more than the episodes. It had a better balance between being an action and a zombie shooter cause I think the episodes were too much of the latter. In the context of the story, the zombies act as the main symbol of the Combine’s totalitarian regime that’s now backfiring, but the ways they’re used are for little more than cheap thrills and mentally scarring shock value.
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Melodeonist
Guest
I love video games!
I love games set back in time. I love WWII games, WWI games, Medieval games, etc.
I also love the Fallout games, but sadly, Fallout 4 is laggy on my 5 year old PC.
I am a big fan of flight simulators. I am currently playing a lot of Combat Flight Simulator 3, which is 14 years old. I just got a joystick, and it is much funner now.
I also liked playing the Sims 3, but I haven’t been able to log-in to it for a while, as it was giving me an error.
When I was able to play the Sims 3, I enjoyed making 1950s houses.
I also like Garry’s Mod, but I mostly like making 1950s maps for it.
Here’s one of my 1950s Garry’s Mod maps in a video tour.
youtube.com/watch?v=nX-VmIjX0fc
I also like the ArmA series, and the related Iron Front game.
I love all sorts of video games. Sadly, many of them are too new for my computer to handle lately.
I love games set back in time. I love WWII games, WWI games, Medieval games, etc.
I also love the Fallout games, but sadly, Fallout 4 is laggy on my 5 year old PC.
I am a big fan of flight simulators. I am currently playing a lot of Combat Flight Simulator 3, which is 14 years old. I just got a joystick, and it is much funner now.
I also liked playing the Sims 3, but I haven’t been able to log-in to it for a while, as it was giving me an error.
When I was able to play the Sims 3, I enjoyed making 1950s houses.
I also like Garry’s Mod, but I mostly like making 1950s maps for it.
Here’s one of my 1950s Garry’s Mod maps in a video tour.
youtube.com/watch?v=nX-VmIjX0fc
I also like the ArmA series, and the related Iron Front game.
I love all sorts of video games. Sadly, many of them are too new for my computer to handle lately.
T
Thom18
Guest
I’m a huge Halo fan. Halo and Halo 3 are my favorites. I also play GTA V and Minecraft. Nazi zombies from call of duty world at war is AWESOME, too, but my favorite call of duty game is modern warfare 1. Fallout 4 is pretty amazing ������
Back on my PS2, I played the Jak games, need for speed hot pursuit 2, SOCOM, all of that.
I use to play the Sims on PC when I was a kid, and I tried Sims 3 on 360.
SLENDER. One Late Night. In general, indie games on Steam.
I’m a huge gamer. Not a good thing in college, but I get by.
Back on my PS2, I played the Jak games, need for speed hot pursuit 2, SOCOM, all of that.
I use to play the Sims on PC when I was a kid, and I tried Sims 3 on 360.
SLENDER. One Late Night. In general, indie games on Steam.
I’m a huge gamer. Not a good thing in college, but I get by.
C
catholicmoviene
Guest
review of the DuologyPortal
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Robyn_p
Guest
It’s been some time since I’ve played all three, but for some reason I remember less zombies in episode two and more Combine/aliens like the Hunters. I also remember liking the end of episode two where you’re holding off the striders more than the ending of Half-Life 2. I didn’t like episode one that much since it didn’t add much to the story. Maybe I was just happy episode 2 had more substance to it than 1 did that I remember liking it more.
But I agree Half-Life 2 is the better game all around as far as story and balance goes. Probably because it was a complete game. The episodes were supposed to be the equivalent of Half-Life 3 broken down into smaller portions so we didn’t have to wait as long in between games. That obviously didn’t work though…
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catholicmoviene
Guest
And I just replayed the first one straight through in about 1 and 3/4 hours. Not bad. Not bad.
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