Blah blah SN4 blah games

[cuddlefish]

So I'm almost finished playing Summon Night 4, but I have to beat the last boss and it's TOO HARD WAHHHH. And I'm frustrated, so here we have complaints various and sundry.

-The main character is 15 and he or she runs an inn? And he or she seems to think it's perfectly reasonable that Lisher and Lucian barge in to be fed every morning, while the Bronx father is an asshole. Hahaha. No. Also, there's nothing wrong with calling people you're not related to oniichan and oneechan if you really like them, but if you're young enough to be calling them that, you're young enough to get them to support you. ._. Maybe not Glad, he probably doesn't have a house of his own, but what about Mint?

-Disappointingly enough, when the main character does start acting 15, it's the most annoying thing in the world.

-At least I agreed with most of what they said in Summon Night 3. At least the heartfelt speeches weren't so crushingly tiresome and unoriginal. Sometimes I feel like I'm on the side with the people who say all the most awful things. Several conversations made me feel helpless frustration that Gian was not telling his side of the story as well as he could, and the stupid main character was WINNING THE ARGUMENTS.

-They don't even explain why revenge is bad, the main character just knows automatically? A whole extra chapter for Sector and I don't even feel that much for him? That should tell you something. This might be the biggest fault in the storyline.

-I DON'T NEED TO HEAR FROM GECK AND RENDLER ANYMORE, FOR GOD'S SAKE GO AWAY SO I CAN KILL THE LAST BOSS.

-Admittedly villains shouldn't be killing people, but they also shouldn't have to fling themselves at people who openly hate them just because they are likely to be the targets of prejudice. It is not the victim's fault if he or she was abused for a decade or so and don't feel very nice about it.

-Last boss takes forever to die and there are tons and tons of spell animations that you can't skip there. It's so decent of them to let us all skip the normal summon animations---how could they fall down on this, of all things?!

-Japanese reviews overall complain of a "kiddy" feel to this game. Yes, I'd agree with that.


Good things:

Every single character is a shining golden god. Except for Granbald. I know I love bunnies, but putting bunny ears on something that annoying has only sullied the bunny ears. Stupid stupid stupid. This is how I feel about Summon Night characters: I want to watch them and love them all, unknown. I want to melt away into the world and be the bright leaves, ground, air, water, food, clothing. I want to be be Lindbaum, hug every single one of these characters with my very existence. Except for Granbald.

Also, Koyasu Takehito can be heard singing horribly in this game. LAFFS GALORE.

Need to comment? INQUIRE WITHIN. Talking about Summon Night is fun.

Comments

[narugami.livejournal.com]

Yay Robin posted so I can spam at you about SN~~~!!

I definitely agree with you on the lovableness of Summon Night characters! I can never get through one without falling in love with all of them and wishing they had more character development. Example: Worel in SNexthesis, I wanted to punch him at first for his passive-aggressive behaviour and by the end I was just so fond of him. Awwww.

....BTW I played Exthesis this week, and good grief it was such a self-help manual (though I loved it to pieces and F-P should definitely make ARPGs, I can get through to the character development without breaking my head over the battles so much). I mostly agreed with what they were saying, though, and the end left out some hope for the villains too, which was good. I felt sorrier for the final boss this time than I usually do. ^^; Isn't there a saying that writers should give the best lines to the villains?

Maybe the main character in 4 is like Ripre in SN1? She can't be much older than 16 and runs an orphanage and cooks and cleans and takes care of 4 kids and several adults (that grows into a completely ridiculous crowd by the end). I don't think they have much in the way of social services in Lindbaum (SN4 may be kiddy, but some of the characters in the other games, especially the wandering summons, have pretty awful lives) Actually SN1 is kind of worse in that regard that 2&3 because Saijent is a pretty terrible city...

How's the difficulty in SN4? I heard it was really hard, and I'm a crap SRPG player to start with XD;

OH and how are Ruvaid and Ioth, by the way? Are they awesome and gay? And Alba? GOD Alba was so cute in SN1, and now he's all grown up and a knight :) It's going to be so interesting for you to play SN1&2 after this XD

...What can I say, I'm really curious about the cameos in SN4~~~ Give me news of my old friends, please! *shot*

PS: Yes, robot with bunny ears? I don't get the point either...

[moumusu.livejournal.com]

It's really amazing. Usually there's more than one ally character that I don't care about, especially on a cast as big as this one. There are also characters that totally made me like them even though they're not my type and I didn't think I WOULD like them. By this I mean Lucian. Lucian's going to be great when he grows up. Well, he's adorable now, but it sort of hit me that he's gonna be KICKIN RAD as a knight.

I thought this game was just a bit harder than SN3, but now that I think about it? It's because I used no less than two different walkthrough sources (Perfect Summoner's Bible and SN4 wiki), and I've got very familiar with SN3's battle system. There are a lot of event battles where you have to follow a certain path across the map or risk wandering into enemy territory and getting mutilated. Sometimes when I wanted a brave clear, it came down to doing a specific sequence of moves in exactly the right order. Also, battle "tutorials" are pitifully lacking and not user-friendly...you basically have to go in knowing how the system works.

I played a smidgen of SN1...like up until Lambda and his buddies join for good. Fair is rougher and more boyish than Ripre, but I worry for them both. I never really accepted that Ripre was 17 and running an orphanage. Er, well, I never really accepted that Ripre yelled and made certain kids skip dinner, and yet the orphanage was hailed as the ideal family, full of kindness and mismatched yet heartfelt love. I thought the orphanage was a good place because they survived hardships that were created outside of the household, not because they had a stressed "mommy" giving them guilt trips.

This is not to say I don't like Ripre, but I do wonder what those pesky game developers are thinking when they put this stuff in. :<

On to happier topics, Ruvaid and Ioth are so gay it hurts awesome. Oh my god, they even have opposite colors! (red/black and blue/white) Alba breaks his leg fighting assassins ;_; Once he recovers he starts teaching Lucian sword stuff, resulting in some super cute scenes. Mimosa is about to get married (!) :D and she's adopting Lami, who STILL HAS HER TEDDY BEAR XD Fizz's character design still has her in the same pose as in SN1, where she was holding her overall straps, only now she's wearing cool, more grown-up clothes. I have a mostly unsupported fantasy that her future profession is Robin Hood, and she'll meet a dreamy guy and have a fairytale romance. Subaru is...kinda dreamy *_* Cunnon is really strong! I...I kind of really like Gazel. I think I want him to be my knife-throwing pal. Ah, and I forgot Akane...she's really uber in fights. She dodges like everything and she goes everywhere and she hits so hard D: She gives Shingen miso and soy sauce because he's always complaining about not having Japanese food. (Shingen is also funny.)

There's an event with the SN1 characters where the SN4 protagonist wins a trip to the Silturn territory, and they end up meeting the SN1 characters, and then they end up in a cooking contest vs. Riple and Riple of course makes ramen :333

Oh, also, Cunnon is still reading corny romance novels in her study of emotion. Lisher happens to be reading the same series, which has been going for 10 years (I think it might be the same series she was reading from in SN3), and they get into a conversation where several ridiculous titles, such as, "A Loving Maiden's Cries Can Shake the Earth" etc., are mentioned.

In closing, I need a Summon Night icon but there are too many characters I love D:

[narugami.livejournal.com]

I had trouble with SN3 already, so I got scared off of SN4 ^^;;;; Really I should buy some game guides one of these days instead of relying on the Net...

Aww, Ripre didn't come off as that strict to me. She does relent - after saying "WHERE. IS. YOUR. SORRY?" and getting an apology, that is. But I don't think she's even that harsh to anyone except Gazel (and he deserves it for being a punk) Certainly the kids in Banossa's area of the city can't have been better off.

I actually had this irrational ReidxRipre dad&mom fantasy for a while there. I know he's way too old for her ^^;

It's good to know Ruvaid and Ioth are doing well (and are still married OTL). ^^ (when you play SN2, make sure you follow a FAQ for their events!)

I knew Akane would be awesome! Does she still bump into the MC while running errands though And Ripre making ramen = <33333

Alba teaching others sword skills is so wonderful. Alba, you did it! Good for you!!

MIMOZA IS GETTING MARRIED????? Kyaaaa! And adopting Lami, too, oh Lami was so DANG CUTE in SN1. Awwww. Awwwww. I can even see her being a good summoner too! I want to see an illust of the wedding, you'd have the casts of both SN1&2 crashing the party. And Gibson eating half the cake, which is delivered of course by Paffel... *happy sigh*

And Cunnon, Pomnitt and Paffel should have a maid convention. Masters these days. Seriously :/

Then use a pic of one of the group shots, maybe? Though the cropping is difficult...

PS Were you also entertained by the random geometry in SN1? Obtuse, Acute, Flat, Lambda, etc XDDD

[moumusu.livejournal.com]

My problem with SN3 was emotional involvement, which I didn't have as much of this time around. :D Er, well, I wasn't as sad for Aty and scared I would get the karma ED. Shaomei gives out karma/brave clear fortunes for free and as long as she doesn't say, "Oh crap..." then everything's good :3

I didn't rely on SN4 wiki that often, but their advice for the last boss is what saved me. The problem is that their suggestions on how to use each character are kind of disorganized and incomplete. There's too many high-level contributors who try to make their characters ultimate and powerful, and they don't really discuss the basics. (Or they scorn the basics.)

You're right when you say that the other kids probably didn't have very nice lives in the northern part of town. And, LMAO ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Me too! Reid was the oldest, he would be just fine as a surrogate daddy D: It is TOTALLY rational.

I have a walkthrough guide book for SN2, too ^^;;; I really...enjoy the feeling of being able to hold a book and examine things in it when I play.

Akane is a mix of awesome and hysterical fail, translating to more awesome. The protagonist meets her because her master whose name I forget kicked her out for some terrible failure, and now she has to sell off a ton of really expensive medicine or she can't go home. So in order to recruit her, you have to pay in excess of 40000b to buy her medicine over 4 events, and then when you finally finish, she decides the main character is rich yet evil and stupid enough to drop ridiculous amounts of money on useless medicine...and tries to rob the inn u_u Alba says, I know her, but I don't want to tell her she knows me because it would be too much of a pain in the butt.

You get to keep Riple's recipe later---it's called "Ramen of Love."

Alba is also seen being extremely patient with Granbard and unprejudiced towards summon monsters. He's so good. :< He shows up at the same time as Ruvaid and Ioth because they were all traveling together and he got separated. (I am now trying not to make a crude joke about Ruvaid and Ioth taking a minor along for their honeymoon (´Д‘)

Yes, Lami is a great summoner, and Mimoza's adopting her as an heir. Oh, and Mint is a member of the Blue Faction, so she says her sempai is getting married soon and she wants to go. :3 I think Reid gets to be a knight again, Edos is soon to be a father, and Gazel is Gazel, so most everyone has grown up and left the Flat ;_; Fizz is kind of upset in the SN4 events because all these people she likes have left, so I imagined her becoming a vigilante and stealing or defending poor people. (Her final classes are Future Robin Hood, Dependable Master Thief, and Punishing Swordfighter :3)

I feel like you told me that Gibson loves cake and I forgot. This is a terrible oversight on my part :<

I'm guessing Pomnitt has the worst maid situation. I think she was hired partly out of charity due to spoilers. She can be seen crying to get Lisher and Lucian to come home and behave themselves on more than one occasion ^^;

P.S. Flat was the only geometry word you listed I didn't recognize >:D I thought maybe by flat they meant an apartment kind of flat.

I'm quite incoherent, sorry

[narugami.livejournal.com]

Ah, I had that problem with TotA more XD; You're making me want guidebooks too!

Akane's shishou, yay!! (IIRC his name is Shion??) Yeah, she really hasn't changed then, except to become more Akane-like (awesome and ridiculous at the same time.) Although I wouldn't have pegged her as robbing somebody. You fought for justice, Akane! What are you doing???

Ramen of Love? ....:D Awwww! (HayatoxRipre ED??????)

Well Alba would be (unprejudiced, that is) since by the end of the game there's quite a lot of summons hanging out at his house. Including the MC. XD

Edos would be a good dad... just please wear a shirt

Poor Fiz though, all her siblings are leaving :/ That is kind of sad, but then, they're growing up. Fiz as a bandit queen would actually work pretty well, probably. Now that you mention it. She's grown up to be a punk OTL

I did mention Gibson's love for cake because it really stuck with me. Who's that pirate guy with the feathers in SN3? He has a conversation about desserts with Aty so who knows, they might get along well :)

Wellll just flat as in something is flat/2D/I dunno. Flat as in a flat works too. Personally I thought at first that Banossa's group was named 'Optus' - then it clicked and I kinda facepalmed.