Now that I’ve finished Crossbell, I’m off to Cold Steel and I’ve really enjoyed things so far, through the prologue and chapter 1. I can certainly accept that there’s some flaws with even what I’ve seen so far, but I just… enjoy it? It’s really refreshing to see such a comparatively light-hearted, adventure focused story after so much… Crossbell. We’ll see if it keeps up throughout the rest of the game, much less the arc as a whole. Also, I feel like these comments of mine have a… weird? accentation of sorts in them. I almost feel like I’m not exactly typing as I usually do for you guys and it’s a little odd to me.
Oh, please tell me we aren’t starting at the end and working back from there. I really, really kinda hate these ‘taste of power see the endgame’ scenes.
O~h no. This was really made to be played with a controller. I’m in danger ha ha.
Hmm. Lord Albireon reminds me of both Galion Tower and the Pillars used by the final boss of 3rd. Wonder if that’ll ever come up.
“Oh no! the city’s gonna get blown up! Civilian casualties inevitable!”
Cuts to jaunty theme tune for opening Dramatis Personae
Please tell me Rean’s standard attitude is ‘No use thinking, someone else will do it for me.’ I’m here for that kind of protagonist.
‘There doesn’t seem to be anything need [at the gardening store]’
Angry flower-lover noises
Oh yay! I do get to visit the church.
Spots Gaius
I think I like him already.
Is… Is that how Dreichels is supposed to be pronounced? Not how I expected it to be pronounced, certainly [Footnote 1].
Oh my, I think I like Towa already.
Is… Is that how Noblesse oblige is pronounced? Not how I thought it was pronounced, anyway [Footnote 2].
‘Left behind by some kindly explorer’.
Glad to see they finally addressed the fact that orbment charging stations are sometimes places they have no right to be, even if in a tongue-in-check manner.
‘Hey, I just met you. And this is crazy, but what’s your social class? Because I hate nobles.’ – Machias Regnitz, S.C. 1204.
Also, starting off with dude squad. Let’s go~!
Laura: Introduces herself
Machias: Noble detected, opinion formulated.
Olivier!
What the heck! They expect me to know information I’m fairly certain they haven’t told me? That’s some crap.
Alright. I guess this case was an exception. I’ll allow it.
Also, ‘join a club, blah blah blah’. I really, really hope I do get to choose a club and I hope church is one. I’d love to do prayer time with Gaius and learn more about the Septian Church.
Aw… Gaius isn’t in ‘Church’ club. Shame. And he’s in Art too. Don’t see myself getting to know more about him, even though he seems chill.
Okay, the Arcus just look so goofy. Why are they so big? It’s the size of his head.
“Hmm. It’s seems the ‘R’ in Alisa’s name is just an initial.”
Rean. My dude. Did you actually think her last name was ‘R’? How… How dense are you?
I think I would sacrifice Elliot for an S-craft.
Ey~! It’s Lakelord! Love this guy!
Jusis: “We have to cooperate? This is the worst school ever.”
Oh, what a great guy.
I also kinda find it ironic that even though this is the game that really kicked he romance-subplot of the series into overdrive, I kinda… don’t care? Like, all I can see when I look at the girls is ‘obvious romance option’ and while Emma seems cool and I’m a sucker for a Kishidere like Laura [Footnote 3], I’m just more looking forward to some bro-time with the bros.
Wait, hold up. Did Sara’s wrist just clip through her breast? Guys. If you’re gonna make them that big, at least make sure your engine can handle it.
No! How dare you take Gaius from me, Field Study! Take Elliot instead! … Though I guess getting Laura in the party’s kinda cool.
Ah, excellent. It looks like Alisa is transitioning from insufferable to straight Tsundere, class B. And while Tsunderes aren’t quite as excellent as Kishideres… Well, I’d almost as put ’em at rank 2.
Laura’s got a celtic cross and tea set in her room? Yeah, she’s great. … Wait. Why is there a Celtic cross? I mean, it can’t have the same religious significance since the crucifixion is so inherent to the historical aspect of Christianity and– [Footnote 4]
“Why were Machias and Jusis put in the same group? It makes no sense!”
Gee. It’s almost like the teaching staff is trying to force them to cooperate with each other.
Bleublanc!
Oh man, Laura has an S-craft. Definitely best girl then.
Alisa gets Blessed Arrow? Ohoho, things are heatin’ up.
A) Yikes, ambushes are way more brutal than I remember them being.
B ) Amusing that they still say ‘spend the night’ for resting when the in-game timeline clearly doesn’t support that.
466515… Is that the same code as last time we did light repairs?
Elliot: “I wonder where we are?”
My dude, I know Laura said it but nicer, but can you not read? The sign is right there.
Alisa: “Who are [they] calling kids?”
You. It’s you. You’re high-schoolers. You are children.
Also, I haven’t brought it up yet, but Autumn Leaf Cutter seems kind of… busted? It seems busted.
Related to the above, in that scene where Rean was practicing his draw with the candle on the barrel, what was he actually trying to accomplish? Because I saw slash -> candle goes out. And… I can see a few ways it goes, but thatfeels like not it. Like cutting so quickly and steadily the candle doesn’t go out from wind pressure. Or slashing through the wax and keeping it intact and burning. Or something like that. But cutting near the flame and it going out seems… Trivial. I think I could do that.
Rean, after battle: “That’s the power of the Eight Leaves.”
Really? That’s how I get that reveal? Wow. Maybe shoulda locked that behind something since it is a little important.
Huh. So that merchant said Pikkards used to be raised as livestock in Zemuria as well as Elde-Terra. Interesting… Ve~ry interesting… [Footnote 5]
Why are those mugs so big? They’re the size of their heads. How much… coffee? are they drinking. Also, are they drinking coffee before going to bed? What the heck?
Okay, okay. So the whole Eight Leaves thing got revealed super early anyway. It’s fine.
Wait. Autumn Leaf Cutter Impedes on top of AoE and Delay? Who the heck balanced this move?
And you know, I’ve given Elliot a lot of crap — mostly because I just find him uninteresting — but Resounding Beat is also incredibly good.
Wow! They actually managed to pull the ‘you win, but not actually card’ in a satisfying way that didn’t totally negate my accomplishments and make me look like a chump for losing to random mooks. Good job Coldsteel. Good job.
Though given I was rescued by Ironblood forces… Sorry Claire, but I’m gettin’ some serious Amalthea vibes from you.
Eh. That’s harsh. More Richard-y vibes. Amalthea was always kinda aggressive and Claire at least seems civil for the moment.
Oh man! Evil mask guy! Yes! It’s so great, I love it.
Oh. I can stack multiple types of the same quartz. That… Changes things. All Actions all the time, here we come!
Footnote 1: For the record, I assumed Dreichels would be pronounced with a ‘shh’ sound for the ‘ch’, not a ‘k’ sound.
Footnote 2: For the record, I am fairly certain the way I pronounce the phrase is wrong; ‘No-bless Oh-bly-juh’. But I thought the correct pronunciation was ‘oh-blee-djay’, not ‘oh-bleeje’.
Footnote 3: Okay. Kishidere. So this is another Martlet-ism. What I mean when I say this is, in short, Seiba-ripoff. Lady Knight. Devoted, stoic, idealist with a strong sense of justice. Admittedly, I know that Kishidere is a bad term for it that’s incredibly artificial; the way the other ‘dere types’ are structured, it implies a continually change from one to another. Tsunderes go from tsun to dere as the story progress; aggressive and standoffish to friendly and sweet. Kuuderes go from ‘cool’ to dere; aloof and stoic to warm. Danderes go from shy to open. Yanderes are the exception in going from dere to yan; sweet, friendly, and kind to outright insane and twisted. When I say Kishidere, I do not mean that same kind of shift. But, like. I feel a need to make my own term because the ones that currently exist feel like they have certain baggage to them. Because it’s not about the trappings. It’s about the attitude. It’s not about holding a sword, not about how they look, not even about being combat capable. It’s about Chivalry. The characters that hold to an ideal with dignity and devotion. Etc, etc. I could go on. I like knights.
Footnote 4: Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m just sayin’.
Footnote 5: It’s dumb, but.
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