Go multimedia here with my fandoms?

I wonder if I should just include other fandom stuff here. You know, manga and anime instead of just limiting it to games? I find myself watching and reading it a lot more lately, simply because I haven't had much access to my games by my own volition, even though I'm using my monitor at the moment. Just that the computer's not on. I still need to figure out a better way to record from my consoles. That TV tuner card isn't going to cut it and it's an ATI card. I have an nVidia card, so go figure. I just don't feel like clogging up my LJ with that kind of stuff anymore since I tend to write about RL things and use it to watch any fandom related things. Which reminds me, I need to join the Kuroshitsuji communities. And find something for the costume already. I now know that Sebastian's vest is purple according to the manga's character guide. So that's what I'll go with.



And I'm still helping out on the boards. Maybe I shouldn't help out while doing my papers? I'm almost finished my part, but I still need to write up another 2-5 pages for the other. Still, the question I'm answering isn't too bad. It definitely reminds me of when I started the game. I had, and probably still do, have a rather strong dislike of using Item Arts. It'll probably change once I get full access to Shards. I've never used Shards extensively before, so maybe my opinion will change then.Still, no LasuRemu for me until after some of the exams blow over.

Played a little FFXIII before heading to bed because I just wasn't feeling tired at all. The fact that I woke up at 11.30 is a moot point because that's what I always do on Sundays. Grinded some more, pretty much finished Hope, Lightning and Fang's primary roles. I think I'm almost done with the other 3, so just starting on their secondaries. Kept a save before heading into Chapter 12, in case I need to deal with more grinding. I'm only grinding because I can't read JP that quickly, so that slows down my command entry by quite a bit. Not to mention that the JP and EN names are different, so it's somewhat easy to mix up at times, or trying to find the command, but it's not there. It's going a bit smoother now, although I can't seem to remember how I beat the Ochu and Pikochus.

One funny thing... I've managed to get one person to like Hope a lot more! He was annoying at the beginning because of all of his whining, but when you look at things from his perspective, it becomes a little more understandable. But from a gameplay perspective, he's awesome, if you can stand the fact that he's THE most fragile mage. Ever. Good thing he can buff himself before letting loose a whole lot of pain. Got him started on the Jammer role so that he can help out with debuffing the enemy. While Fang does a good job, her best role is Attacker and her magic stat is easily one of the worst. Yeah, my team includes the 2 extremes and the most balanced character. Go me.

Also, I'm still a little annoyed that the 480i/480p output is so bad. I remember hooking it up to the (really old) bigger TV, and it looked horrible compared to my small monitor. I could hardly see the text! So I'm refraining from using that TV to play games. It probably needs to be replaced at some point. There's a few caption boxes burned into it... Two lines worth. It's really bad.

Mission time. Still.

What. I got the Limit Breaker trophy without using a summon or an accessory that allows me to deal more than 99 999 damage (I think it's the Genji Gloves). Characters are limited there, while Summons can initially break it. Well, it's one less trophy to worry about, so I'm not really complaining. Also didn't need to waste any TP on it, so it's all good! The Adamankelis thingys are getting easier to beat. They don't one-shot Hope anymore, but the larger ones with tusks still do well over 6000HP worth of damage with Protect on. That's enough to kill both Hope AND Lightning. There goes me and my healer. Fang has enough HP to survive that while Jamming the target. I think I might spam Mission 12 many many times because it's easy and it gives out 10 000CP. It also spawns a bunch of Cie Corpses for some more easy CP. And since I'm in Gran Pulse, the draw distance determines when the enemies respawn (which is pretty fast). Oh, encountered the Sabotender/Cactuar. I need to use Sneak Smokes to get to them because they run off so quickly if they spot you. Gives out 5000CP, but I don't think I'll be hunting them that much. Not until I can buy a huge number of the Sneak Smokes. Or I can just spam a certain spot on the map... 5000CP/10000CP every 2~3 minutes!

Also having extreme trouble against the Neochu/Mission 55. It's accompanied by several Picohus, which can be respawned by the Neochu indefinitely. So you have the Neochu killing people and the Picohus interrupting everything you're trying to do. Fun, isn't it? Trying to kill it with Vanille's Death, but I think I'm going to need those Dash Shoes first. In the mean time, just going around doing as many missions as possible while maxing my Crystarium Board. The Grow Egg's going to be used for the secondary roles because the costs are so freakin' expensive.


Recorded and proceeded further. Now onto the "second" disc, but I don't have the full party just yet. I really don't want to kick out Lythete because he's been built up for a while now, but his Lotions really suck. Still stuck at Antivenin, and it's way too situational to use. Maybe solo a few of those flies? Either way, it's almost time for the full party to be assembled.

This might also seem really weird, but I want someone to lend me a 360 while I rent Last Remnant on it. I'm really curious to see how screwed some characters were in the game. Like Paris. Besides his unbelievably crappy voice, his arts seem to be extremely lacking. Starting with only Remedies? AS A GUEST CHARACTER?! It's a good thing that the PC version gives him Psionics (well-developed too, up to Addle Maledict II), Double-handed (staff) arts and Remedies.

Another thing... WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE STUPIDLY HIGH BR WHEN GOING TO THE NEST OF EAGLES?! Seriously, I only was around BR23 when I approached that, WITH taking on sidequests and using only soldiers. Even lower with one of my parallel games (which I don't have a save of now) while using uniques. Now I'm seeing someone as BR63, and one at BR47. What the hell guys. I think people are usually around BR30-ish, but definitely below 45.

Why am I still up...?

Emmy's got a cool render!

Completing "The Hero" and "The War of a Thousand Years" together or separately yields different entries in the Quest log...

Separately
The Hero: The hero-turned-monster is done for! Balterossa is safe. Go me!
The War of a Thousand Years: I killed the monster! The qsiti seems to think there's some kind of conspiracy, but who cares! The important thing is-I rock!

Together
The Hero: The hero-turned-monster is dead. No one really knows how he transformed into that thing. Not my problem, I guess.
The War of a Thousand Years: I killed the monster and the ancient hero. I don't know why they kept fighting all these years. Isn't there a better way to spend time...?

I like these little details~ Also, the tone of Rush's notes when completing the quests. Pats himself on the back when dealing with them separately. WTF-ing and scratching his head if done together. I don't think there are any other quests that do that.

Also just got the JP guidebook recently. And they're right. The soldiers have illegal upgrade pathways for the 360 version. That's just plain stupid. Good thing that was changed in the PC version. Or at least I think it was... Seriously, that book is almost thicker than a phone book! It was heavier than the Ookami OST, which is 5 discs! If they had released a PC version guidebook, I would have bought that instead. There's no info on the DLC (360) monsters, and the newly updated stuff from the PC version. I guess listing every single freakin' change would have taken up at least 5 pages. There are weapon stat changes, wage changes, different things have new requirements, some things don't cut each other off (At Hatred's End not required for Things Unchangeable anymore), etc.

More later, after I browse through the book some more and getting a few more segments recorded. I think I'm going to need that hard drive.


Got to Chapter 13 in FFXIII. I think I accidentally put myself in a somewhat unwinnable situation. The enemy groups don't give out that much CP, and are pretty damn hard to beat as well. Good thing I have a save back in Chapter 11 where I can just head outside and start grinding for CP. Maybe also take on more missions to get the Dash Boots. I have an idea on how to get them, just need to get enough materials to level up the Hermes Boots as well. Not sure if it's a good time to start farming for Traps either. It's not like I need the 3rd tier weapons right now, but I should at least get more weapons upgraded so that it's not such a pain to kill everything. Even the normal encounters are driving me insane. Yeah, I'll just restart from Chapter 11. It's not like I lost that much time. Plus, I get to watch the intro to Chapter 12 again! That's always fun.

So the to-do list would be to max out Crystarium Lvl. 9 before heading to Chapter 12. That way, I can start getting some of their secondary roles (which are unbelieveably expensive) levelled up somewhat with the Grow Egg. Pretty sure that the CP gains cap at 999 999, so I need to be careful about that.

Uh, oops.

Looks like I'm going to hit another REALLY PAINFUL wall soon. The next part after The Catacombs. Numor Mine. It's the Emma and Rush only part, which is going to suck oh-so-badly because those two haven't seen much battle. Emma's stuff also hasn't been upgraded all that much, so she's fallen behind a bit as well. Rush's equipment is fine since I'm the one creating them, but it's his HP that I'm concerned with. It was hard enough to fight Namul Sin and Niram Sin at BR3. If they get hit with Spark V, they're dead. I may have to sacrifice a few BR ranks to train them up, but not too much though. OK, really only training Rush at the moment. Need to make sure that the soldiers are also keeping up. As long as he's the leader, it's easy to manipulate his art usage. Good thing he has Poison Gas V now. It can wipe out most enemy groups at the moment. May need to dedicate some time to farming some materials for them as well.

Planned out the rest of the game, so hopefully it'll go a little smoother. Kicked out a few soldiers to make room for the more important ones later on. After Numor Mine, I'll have access to 12 active battle units and 4 unions. I'll still be spreading out my units since stacking them right now isn't such a bright idea. After the Nest of Eagles, I should have 15 on the field, so I guess I can start training up using Wisdom's Echo. Unfortunately, some of the units I want to use aren't available until after Wyrmskeep or a certain BR. They also haven't gotten any of their accessories, so their HP and AP/Speed aren't inflated. It's actually kinda annoying. I actually don't get why people think that stacking unions is a good idea... You can only deadlock one union at a time, so if you're surrounded, you could very well end up screwing yourself over. Not exactly a pleasant thought in LasuRemu. Especially in the beginning when you have no way of reviving for a long time.

Also, that little vertical bar beside the union's HP/AP bars? Apparently that's known as the Union TENSION Gauge, not the Union Morale Gauge. If it's high, they're tense/"hyped up" as Rush would say. If it's low, then they're sleeping/daydreaming on the job? Would probably explain why those soldiers are pretty bad at hitting stuff when the Union Tension is low. Actually, they just suck in general. Except for that qsiti, Mithidia. He's pretty cool, what with smacking his enemies with Spark III so early in the game. But you know, I need Hex users. BADLY. Good thing I'll have access to a few soon.


Still going fairly slowly in FFXIII. Just got to Chapter 9, and realized that it's a farming spot. Farming for Premium Chips and Credit Chips to sell for Gil. Farming CP to level up the Crystarium System. The nice thing about it is that it features leaked experience, so Vanille and Sazh are gaining CP even through they're not in the party. Snow is with the party, but he's currently not usable. Justified, since he's still injured from a (should have been fatal) fall. At the rate I'm going, I'll be finished just in time for the start of school again. I normally can finish an RPG in about a week, so I'm already running behind. Not at 100% completion, but just the main story.

A little something I noticed... It seems to feel less like FF and more like SaGa in terms of difficulty and progression. There's a lot of micro-management involved, including trying to sync up attacks. In SaGa, it would turn into some sort of combination attack. Here, it's used to ensure that the Chain Break gauge doesn't fall too quickly. You also have to think a little faster with the Optima Change system in place. Like LasuRemu's targeting and random variables, but in real-time. LasuRemu is essentially a renamed SaGa. FFXIII could very well be a SaGa-FF hybrid. Maybe that's why I'm starting to warm up to it a lot more lately.

Also, it's more of a NTS, but try not to fiddle around with the GPU's settings too much. I liked getting 400+ fps on certain scenes, ~170fps while moving on the field with no stuttering and 25~80fps in battle. The game purposely slows down during Critical Offense/Defense segments. But hey, at least I managed to record some rather hilarious clips of my GPU acting like it's bugged! Actually, why am I so amused by that anyways? It could have been an indicator that there's something wrong with my computer. It's not like dad can help since he doesn't deal with the crazier/high-end/gaming video cards. I also feel really tempted to boot up the "main" computer to check its specs.

Next playthrough is being recorded.

Huh, there are more changes to the PC version than I thought. I guess I can start editing the Last Remnant wiki now. As an example, Mayfield starts with a Spatha customization so I thought that he would continue upgrading along that line. For some reason, he ended up upgrading to a Bluesteel after I visited a town to give Rush a Superlative Bluesteel to learn Cerulean Rain and provide better defense. Didn't happen as I just simply went "It's going to take too long. I'll just use its stats." As another note, Rush can't use Katana-based arts if the Bluesteel is in his main hand slot. I think pretty much every LasuRemu player knows that. Just noting it down for my reference for future playthroughs.

Anyways, finished my 2nd run, but just barely. As many people will note: morale control is key. The most surprising thing was that he didn't bother trying to kill multiple unions at a time with Deep Impact. The Conqueror did manage to use Animalcule twice, and both times, it didn't kill off the party outright. In fact, it didn't land any effects on 2 unions once, and the 2nd time was completely dodged by a union that can hold its own in a deadlock. And again, Rush was a main attack force with Swift Spring Squall V. At least he wasn't blocked or dodged when he was able to use it. There was some scrambling to get the unions back on their feet when I was left with only 1 union. None of the downed unions were near him, so breaking Deadlock was the only way to go and the only option I had unless I wanted to see the last one completely slaughtered. He was already in Savage mode when it happened, so the chances of seeing another dead union was much higher. I also basically cheesed him through abusing Cachexia V with Chamberland's union. I remember that specific one because he was the first to learn Cachexia, and the only one to reach level V with it. The damage didn't matter at all; it was the Clear AP effect that mattered.

And how much money did I get from New Game+ anyways?! Let's see... Before fighting The Conqueror: 1 357 992. New Game funds...: 92 142 067. Er... what? That's way more money than I need... EVER. It's the materials that are more important, although it's not necessary this playthrough. All soldiers means that Rush isn't going to see much of a fight unless forced. So... after Blackdale. I think that's where I'm headed next. Already got into an unnecessary fight at the beginning of the game, while wandering around the Gaslin Caves. Shouldn't have freaked out when that monster popped up from the ground. Oh well. Not like a fight there is going to affect my BR much anyways. Not going to care too much about my BR this time around, so let's see what happens, hm? Oh, and taking notes on the soldiers' weapon progression for the wiki!


FFXIII progress? Still very linear, but that's OK. I haven't gotten lost, so it's all good for me. Hope's got a lot of problems. Vanille is a little too happy for my liking. Fang is cool. Same with Lightning. Snow still needs a good punch to the head. Maybe several more. Sazh isn't that old, but he's actually surprisingly easy to relate to. Love the battle system. Libra/Scan is quite a life-saver, but you can't really use it that often since it's linked to the TP system. It refills gradually after several battles. There are other abilities that are linked to the TP system, and guess what? It also limits how many times you can summon. You can only control one character (Leader) in battle, and you can't switch. Perfectly fine with me because FFXII's way of doing it was a bit of a mess. The Crystarium system is like the Sphere Grid, but much more limiting. The game tells you how much you can upgrade by setting the Crystarium Level for that chapter. I like the Optima Change system quite a bit. It's possible to somewhat abuse it too. Sometimes when you Optima Change, the ATB bar refills instantly for all party members. Sometimes, not all the time. I don't know what the conditions are, but it's very helpful for the Healers to start throwing Cures in your direction. Best to do it when the HP starts getting into the YELLOW range. Once it's red, it's probably a better idea to spam Potions. It'll connect faster since the spells have to travel in order to activate. Another thing I like? BUFFS AND DEBUFFS ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING. Yes, that has to be in caps because you're going to need them. Enhancers and Jammers. Starting a battle with either of them makes it somewhat easier.

The boss battles are actually hard. There's a timing aspect in some of the battles too... The first one when in Lake Bilge created a few problems because there weren't that many Optimas to deal with. You need a Healer for almost all battles for the beginning, at least until everyone's leveled up a little bit to blast through the battles quickly. The Chain Break part of the game isn't that easily exploited, but it's something to aim for. The one boss that gives most people problems that doesn't involve a timer on your head? That bulb-like monster in Chapter 4. Keeping Lightning in the ATK role and having buffs casted in the first critical seconds in the battle were key. Then using Libra to figure out its weaknesses. Why? Because it changes its weakness every so often. It's annoying, but you practically have to leave it up to the AI to target that while you try to keep the Chain going with normal attacks or Ruin. The ATK also keeps the Chain gauge from falling too quickly. Helpful, to say the least. Oh, and timing? Knocking them up in the air, then synching attacks to KEEP it in the air. It stops the enemy from fighting back while you pound it with attacks. I summoned Odin into the battle, but it didn't help too much because it also stopped me from having Hope recast buffs. Basically, it was 2.5 minutes of trying to Break the boss while staying alive and Optima Changing every few seconds to maximize damage and healing.

Ninja and Blaze Edge.

Yay, Legendary Ninja achieved! Along with several Swift level 5 arts. Pretty much end-game now. Going through The Ancient Ruins because I forgot about it in my first run. It's actually somewhat difficult with a Rush+soldier party. Mostly relying on Rush to deal damage with Swift Spring Squall V with one other unit doing Dispirit V/Bewitch V to lower enemy morale enough for the other units to make up for the lack of uniques.

While fiddling around with the trainer, I managed to change David's in-game model. Well, in battle model. I like his eyepatch, so I swapped his usual one with the one you see at the beginning of the game. Well, there are other things that I can say, but I'll just leave it at that. Don't think I'll be fiddling around with any more models. I could always sub in Emma for Emmy since I kinda miss her hat... Eh... whatever.

And I'm not sure if I can take on the final boss right now. It's "The True Conqueror" Rank 8. In other words, I'm screwed unless I can get some status control to deal with all about 2M HP. If it were Disgaea, 2M HP would be no problem whatsoever. Oh, and get another attack union. Currently, I have one attack union, one for morale control, one dummy union (3 units, no healing...) and I have no idea what the other 2 are for. They're kinda all purpose, like Rush's union, but not as effective. None of them can lower enemy morale, and no soldiers learn Wards, so no "Band of Champions" or "Cheer" for more morale control. The only problem about morale is that if it gets too high, he'll use Crimson Flare III to knock it back down while slaughtering as many units as possible. I think I spent at least 20 out of 40 turns just running around healing everyone while keeping him distracted with various dummy unions. Pretty everyone becomes a dummy union based on status, union speed and positioning. Breaking deadlock is sometimes beneficial if they're at full health. And maybe if they had more than 7000HP. I should get a few soldiers with Lotion arts. There shouldn't be any crossover for item consumption between the other Item arts, so it should be safe. Also, why are there no soldiers who can learn Shards? It seems a little unbalanced here. Not to mention that none of them can dual wield. But yeah, I need some serious status control.

Started some FFXIII, but didn't get very far. Eh, whatever. Not like I'm going to finish it in less than a week anyways. Very pretty, had a few close calls in battle and Lightning can punch out Snow. Kinda funny listening to him after playing Sigma Harmonics (Kurogami Sigma) and Last Remnant (Lord David).

Also


Build 4699. Try to find this specific build of the Dolphin emulator. Tales of Graces is extremely tempting. Not too keen on modding my Wii either.