Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies
Apr. 3rd, 2006 01:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gogmagogDammit, I hate losing an hour SO MUCH ARGH. >F
...Okay, I haven't posted in a while basically because I wanted to finish the first part of my ginormous Suikoden V gameblog to date.
So without further ado, TEH GAMEBLOG.
First off, the game itself is good - it looks nice, the music is great (the best since II, maybe?), the translation and English voice acting are both impeccable (seriously, they even used the expression "to toe the line" correctly!). The fixed camera is a bit annoying - if you're going to make it so that most of the game is played isometrically, then design your maps so that you don't have the path to your next area blocked from view by a roof or something, that's just annoying. But I highly approve of the return of the six-character battle system (SANS Suiko3 buddy system, thankfully), and some of the cooler Runes like the Shield Rune that we haven't seen since 3 (since 4 and Tactics took place so long before).
The game starts with the astonishingly femmy-looking hero (seriously, this is what he starts out wearing) returning to the Queendom of Falena. He happens to be the Prince of Falena (and will hereby be referred to as Prince for convenience), and is accompanied by his bodyguard Lyon, his aunt (the Queen's sister) Sialeeds, and the new Queen's Knight Georg Prime (yay, returning character!). They're returning from a trip to a place called Lordlake which was evidently a debacle.
I should probably give you my impressions of each character at this point.
Prince - I picked the girlier voice, natch (because he's a Suikoden hero). He's actually kinda cute and likable in comparison to earlier heroes, with emotions and such (as opposed to SuikoIV's flat-affect Hot Pants). And his off-the-shoulder ensemble is FABULOUS. (His second one is even more so.)
Lyon - The "hero's loyal doglike guardian" type (hi, Gremio, Andarc!). Cute but earnest lolibait. I don't hold that against her, however, because she is adorable. And, more surprisingly, competent (surprising because usually cute girls who hold military offices in videogames/anime are bubbly airheads).
Sialeeds - Clearly the game's "big sister" figure (hi Cleo, Nanami, Seneca!). She tries to appear sophisticated and slightly world-weary, but she's a big softie. Also she can be awesomely snarky at times.
Georg - The game's "big brother to the Hero" figure (hi Pahn, Viktor, Geddoe!). And wow, he's just generally 50000 times cooler than in Suikoden II. He has this rumbly deep voice, and is just generally kickass - think a slightly younger Auron from FFX, only even more badass. He should sate![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jokersama's oyajikon nicely. >D
Anyway, They arrive in Falena to considerably less fanfare than they expected. It's explained that this is because a queen's younger sister and a queen's son (who cannot accede to the throne due to his sex) are not politically all that important. On their way through the palace they meet Prince's father, Ferid, a handsome rangy casual type who gets along with Georg like a house afire. (Because they're bothtards informal military men.) Then they finally make their way to the throne room to meet Queen Arshtat - the Prince's mother and Sialeeds' sister, who also happens to be a total MILF. She asks how things went in Lordlake. The response: a flashback!
Basically, Lordlake is a desert. Apparently it used to be one of the prettiest places in the kingdom, but two years ago the lord of the area, Rovere, started a rebellion against the Queen. In retaliation, the Queen used her Sun Rune to basically blast every bit of moisture out of Lordlake and the surrounding area. You end up hearing a lot of villagers either begging Prince to ask the Queen to stop punishing them, or hating on the Queen (somewhat understandably).
Anyway, after talking with the elder of the town and some punkass bitch named Goesh, we find out that one of the kids in town, Toma, wanders off into a forest, and so Prince is stuck going on a fetch quest to find him. The party saves him from a group of wolves that don't normally attack humans; apparently the lack of water is making even the animals go crazy. They save the kid's life, and then the brat proceeds to START BITCHING OUT THE GUY WHO JUST SAVED HIS LIFE, WTF.
Anyway, this ends the flashback and brings us back to Falena. The Queen seems taken aback and saddened by the story, but then claims that Lordlake got what they deserved; the Rovere family had once been loyal retainers, but they rebelled, attacked a royal palace and even stole one of the three royal family Runes, the Dawn Rune. So she punished them with the power of her Sun Rune (which I know is a True Rune; I don't know about the Dawn Rune). She gets more and more unhinged throughout this scene, truly believing that somehow her judgment is divine judgment and anything she does is right and just because she has the Sun Rune. Her VA does a good job here, going from the loving mother and queen to sounding sincerely fanatically scary.
Then Ferid shows up, and Arshtat, apparently dismayed at being caught being so psycho, gets very subdued suddenly. She bids the party to leave, and Georg and Sialeeds go off to do their own thing. Meanwhile, Hero goes to see his little sister Lymsleia. I have to hunt up and down the palace for that wench. While there, I run into some people badmouthing the prince, talking about how Falenan royal males are worthless deadwood. One of the Queen's Knights, Kyle, shows up and comes to Hero's defense. He's actually kind of awesome, and kind of reminds me of Cliff from Star Ocean 3, so I'm fairly certain I'll like him.
Anyway, he accompanies Prince to the Queen's Knights' room at the end of the hall. This triggers a gigantic fight among the Queen's Knights: apparently Kyle is the representative of one of the major nobles, Barows, and his fellow Knight Alenia is the protege of the rival Godwin family. Kyle criticizes the Queen for using the Sun Rune; Alenia defends it, and a slapfight seems about to ensue when Ferid shows up in the nick of time AGAIN, and does the whole "loyalty is being able to say the bad as well as the good, we should be able to say whatever we want in this room."
Afterwards, talking with Kyle reveals that Georg is mysterious, and was apparently a general in a kingdom to the north previously. Ferid is also apparently a "wayfarer" from the Island Nations (though probably not from SuikoIV, given it's ~150 years before SuikoV, heh heh), who came out of nowhere to win the Queen's hand in marriage. ...And then of course Kyle's all "but I've never met a random wayfarer who was so strong! And cool!And handsome!" Sigh. And I thought a Suikoden game could go for ten minutes without bringing on the gay, especially since Kyle is such a NANPA OTOKO. I was clearly mistaken.
Anyway, then Prince's sister Lymsleia bursts into the room. And, wow, I haven't seen a brother complex this severe since Gilgamesh. XD
Seriously, she's all "Brother! Brother! Brother! You're home! I missed you so much!" No one else even really rates a hello. She's shortly followed by her bodyguard, Miakis, who's all perky and cute outwardly but is actually kind of snarky and cynical. XD
Lymsleia asks Ferid when and where Prince is going to have to leave again, and Ferid replies that they're sending Prince and Sialeeds to Stormfist to prepare for the Sacred Games, a Falenan tradition in which the winner of the games gets the future queen's hand in marriage. That would be Lymsleia, who's like about 13. Needless to say, this would lead to an engagement rather than an immediate marriage. XD
...Lymsleia says to the Prince, "You'd hate it if I had a fiance, wouldn't you?" If you have him answer "Of course I would" everyone's all "..........ANNNNNNYWAY, HOW ABOUT THAT TOURNAMENT." They see the incestual undercurrents floating in the room too!
Anyway, Prince, Lyon, Lymsleia, Miakis, Kyle, and Sialeeds all embark on an expedition to the Senate Hall to see the current list of competitors, figuring it couldn't hurt to know who's competing for Lym's hand. And oh God, why do I have a feeling this is eventually going to lead to Prince winning the tournament himself and getting his sister as a fiancee? orz
In the Senate Hall they meet Salum Barows, the head of the Barows family, and his son Euram. Euram is clearly one of the narcissists of the game, all flourishy and extravagantly polite, and he makes up to Lymsleia ridiculously, who is all "ehehe D:" at him. When he tries to make more invasive moves, Miakis shows up, informs him that the only men allowed to touch Lymsleia are Prince and Ferid, and perkily threatens him with a knife. He, undeterred, tells Lym that he'll win the tournament and get to marry her.
Lymsleia: ...Wow, um, you must be stronger than you look. Can you really, y'know, swing a sword?
Euram: Ha! Swing a sword? I am no barbarian! I have a champion who will carve his way into your heart!
Lymsleia: Psh, as if. My heart's got no place for a wimp like you.BECAUSE ALL HER LUV IS 4 HER BROTHER
They leave Barows and Euram, and finally get to see the list. Sialeeds sees one of the names on it, and is all "oh, he applied too...huh. -_-" It turns out "he" is Gizel Godwin, Lord Godwin's son...and Sialeeds' ex. As she says, "my ex-fiance wants to marry my niece...this'll be awkward." XD
They leave the Senate Hall, and Sialeeds, Lym and Miakis all leave for the palace, while Prince, Lyon and Kyle continue to explore. Lym's goodbye scene is funny:
Lymsleia: Please come see me whenever you can...every minute you're away... *sniff*"
Sialeeds: ...He's gonna be at dinner, don't be such a drama queen.
Lymsleia: Why do you always ruin the mood, auntie? >F
AUGH LYM STOP MAKING UP TO YOUR BROTHER D:
Anyway, Kyle's all "let's go check out the new Rune shop...and its HOT CHICK OWNER, HURR HURR." He asks the hero if he wants to "check her out," and the hero can either be all "you betcha" or "not really." Because he's a Suikoden hero, I pick the latter option, and Kyle is dismayed. "But it's your job to 'inspect' the town and its citizens, right?" Lyon bristled, and gets all "stop hassling the Prince, he said he wasn't interested!" but Kyle's still all "this is a necessary step for the Prince into manhood!"
...of course, Jeane (I assume it's Jeane, because she's the series' resident Sexy Runemistress) is not there. Disappointed, Kyle slouches off only to discover a bar brawl that's spilled over into the street, over whether the Queen is a good monarch or a psychotic bitch. Prince steps in to stop it, to Kyle's dismay, and beats up the guys handily.
They return to the palace, and we move to a private scene between Arshtat and Ferid. Arshtat now seems like a genuinely nice woman who is worried that she's a crappy mother and sister (and she is kinda, but she's still being way too hard on herself because she's trying her best), and who's kind of scared by the fanaticism she was displaying and thinking, which it turns out is a byproduct of having the Sun Rune on her. And Ferid is a wonderful and supportive husband who's also worried about her. This scene really made me feel for these two - mostly sad, though, given that thanks to Georg's investigation in Suiko2 I know how this all ends. ;_;
Anyway, that's enough for today - I'm sure I'll be posting more gameblog soon, though. XD
Er, in other videogame talk, I decided against Kingdom Hearts II for now; I barely have time to play one game at the moment, and moneywise it came down to one or the other. I'm sure I'll get it eventually - probably as a reward to myself for finishing finals - but right now I'm sticking to SuikoV. But dammit, now I really wish I had gotten KH2 as well. XD
Let's see, what else has gone on lately...oh, yesterday I went to hang out withlordtravis, teachingmusic and bshippotemkin to watch The Brotherhood of the Wolf, which was a delightfully cheesy French action flick about the Beast of Gevaudan. It was better than I was expecting, and the first half was actually pretty historically accurate! (Well, except for the kung fu Indian.) After that it got a little more ridiculous (...okay, a lot more ridiculous) but it was still fun. :D
Also, apropos of nothing, painting illuminated letters is a ridiculous amount of fun. So is putting gold leaf on them - it's so shiny! +_+
Links to follow tomorrow, I don't really feel like organizing and formatting them right now.
...Okay, I haven't posted in a while basically because I wanted to finish the first part of my ginormous Suikoden V gameblog to date.
So without further ado, TEH GAMEBLOG.
First off, the game itself is good - it looks nice, the music is great (the best since II, maybe?), the translation and English voice acting are both impeccable (seriously, they even used the expression "to toe the line" correctly!). The fixed camera is a bit annoying - if you're going to make it so that most of the game is played isometrically, then design your maps so that you don't have the path to your next area blocked from view by a roof or something, that's just annoying. But I highly approve of the return of the six-character battle system (SANS Suiko3 buddy system, thankfully), and some of the cooler Runes like the Shield Rune that we haven't seen since 3 (since 4 and Tactics took place so long before).
The game starts with the astonishingly femmy-looking hero (seriously, this is what he starts out wearing) returning to the Queendom of Falena. He happens to be the Prince of Falena (and will hereby be referred to as Prince for convenience), and is accompanied by his bodyguard Lyon, his aunt (the Queen's sister) Sialeeds, and the new Queen's Knight Georg Prime (yay, returning character!). They're returning from a trip to a place called Lordlake which was evidently a debacle.
I should probably give you my impressions of each character at this point.
Prince - I picked the girlier voice, natch (because he's a Suikoden hero). He's actually kinda cute and likable in comparison to earlier heroes, with emotions and such (as opposed to SuikoIV's flat-affect Hot Pants). And his off-the-shoulder ensemble is FABULOUS. (His second one is even more so.)
Lyon - The "hero's loyal doglike guardian" type (hi, Gremio, Andarc!). Cute but earnest lolibait. I don't hold that against her, however, because she is adorable. And, more surprisingly, competent (surprising because usually cute girls who hold military offices in videogames/anime are bubbly airheads).
Sialeeds - Clearly the game's "big sister" figure (hi Cleo, Nanami, Seneca!). She tries to appear sophisticated and slightly world-weary, but she's a big softie. Also she can be awesomely snarky at times.
Georg - The game's "big brother to the Hero" figure (hi Pahn, Viktor, Geddoe!). And wow, he's just generally 50000 times cooler than in Suikoden II. He has this rumbly deep voice, and is just generally kickass - think a slightly younger Auron from FFX, only even more badass. He should sate
jokersama's oyajikon nicely. >DAnyway, They arrive in Falena to considerably less fanfare than they expected. It's explained that this is because a queen's younger sister and a queen's son (who cannot accede to the throne due to his sex) are not politically all that important. On their way through the palace they meet Prince's father, Ferid, a handsome rangy casual type who gets along with Georg like a house afire. (Because they're both
Basically, Lordlake is a desert. Apparently it used to be one of the prettiest places in the kingdom, but two years ago the lord of the area, Rovere, started a rebellion against the Queen. In retaliation, the Queen used her Sun Rune to basically blast every bit of moisture out of Lordlake and the surrounding area. You end up hearing a lot of villagers either begging Prince to ask the Queen to stop punishing them, or hating on the Queen (somewhat understandably).
Anyway, after talking with the elder of the town and some punkass bitch named Goesh, we find out that one of the kids in town, Toma, wanders off into a forest, and so Prince is stuck going on a fetch quest to find him. The party saves him from a group of wolves that don't normally attack humans; apparently the lack of water is making even the animals go crazy. They save the kid's life, and then the brat proceeds to START BITCHING OUT THE GUY WHO JUST SAVED HIS LIFE, WTF.
Anyway, this ends the flashback and brings us back to Falena. The Queen seems taken aback and saddened by the story, but then claims that Lordlake got what they deserved; the Rovere family had once been loyal retainers, but they rebelled, attacked a royal palace and even stole one of the three royal family Runes, the Dawn Rune. So she punished them with the power of her Sun Rune (which I know is a True Rune; I don't know about the Dawn Rune). She gets more and more unhinged throughout this scene, truly believing that somehow her judgment is divine judgment and anything she does is right and just because she has the Sun Rune. Her VA does a good job here, going from the loving mother and queen to sounding sincerely fanatically scary.
Then Ferid shows up, and Arshtat, apparently dismayed at being caught being so psycho, gets very subdued suddenly. She bids the party to leave, and Georg and Sialeeds go off to do their own thing. Meanwhile, Hero goes to see his little sister Lymsleia. I have to hunt up and down the palace for that wench. While there, I run into some people badmouthing the prince, talking about how Falenan royal males are worthless deadwood. One of the Queen's Knights, Kyle, shows up and comes to Hero's defense. He's actually kind of awesome, and kind of reminds me of Cliff from Star Ocean 3, so I'm fairly certain I'll like him.
Anyway, he accompanies Prince to the Queen's Knights' room at the end of the hall. This triggers a gigantic fight among the Queen's Knights: apparently Kyle is the representative of one of the major nobles, Barows, and his fellow Knight Alenia is the protege of the rival Godwin family. Kyle criticizes the Queen for using the Sun Rune; Alenia defends it, and a slapfight seems about to ensue when Ferid shows up in the nick of time AGAIN, and does the whole "loyalty is being able to say the bad as well as the good, we should be able to say whatever we want in this room."
Afterwards, talking with Kyle reveals that Georg is mysterious, and was apparently a general in a kingdom to the north previously. Ferid is also apparently a "wayfarer" from the Island Nations (though probably not from SuikoIV, given it's ~150 years before SuikoV, heh heh), who came out of nowhere to win the Queen's hand in marriage. ...And then of course Kyle's all "but I've never met a random wayfarer who was so strong! And cool!
Anyway, then Prince's sister Lymsleia bursts into the room. And, wow, I haven't seen a brother complex this severe since Gilgamesh. XD
Seriously, she's all "Brother! Brother! Brother! You're home! I missed you so much!" No one else even really rates a hello. She's shortly followed by her bodyguard, Miakis, who's all perky and cute outwardly but is actually kind of snarky and cynical. XD
Lymsleia asks Ferid when and where Prince is going to have to leave again, and Ferid replies that they're sending Prince and Sialeeds to Stormfist to prepare for the Sacred Games, a Falenan tradition in which the winner of the games gets the future queen's hand in marriage. That would be Lymsleia, who's like about 13. Needless to say, this would lead to an engagement rather than an immediate marriage. XD
...Lymsleia says to the Prince, "You'd hate it if I had a fiance, wouldn't you?" If you have him answer "Of course I would" everyone's all "..........ANNNNNNYWAY, HOW ABOUT THAT TOURNAMENT." They see the incestual undercurrents floating in the room too!
Anyway, Prince, Lyon, Lymsleia, Miakis, Kyle, and Sialeeds all embark on an expedition to the Senate Hall to see the current list of competitors, figuring it couldn't hurt to know who's competing for Lym's hand. And oh God, why do I have a feeling this is eventually going to lead to Prince winning the tournament himself and getting his sister as a fiancee? orz
In the Senate Hall they meet Salum Barows, the head of the Barows family, and his son Euram. Euram is clearly one of the narcissists of the game, all flourishy and extravagantly polite, and he makes up to Lymsleia ridiculously, who is all "ehehe D:" at him. When he tries to make more invasive moves, Miakis shows up, informs him that the only men allowed to touch Lymsleia are Prince and Ferid, and perkily threatens him with a knife. He, undeterred, tells Lym that he'll win the tournament and get to marry her.
Lymsleia: ...Wow, um, you must be stronger than you look. Can you really, y'know, swing a sword?
Euram: Ha! Swing a sword? I am no barbarian! I have a champion who will carve his way into your heart!
Lymsleia: Psh, as if. My heart's got no place for a wimp like you.
They leave Barows and Euram, and finally get to see the list. Sialeeds sees one of the names on it, and is all "oh, he applied too...huh. -_-" It turns out "he" is Gizel Godwin, Lord Godwin's son...and Sialeeds' ex. As she says, "my ex-fiance wants to marry my niece...this'll be awkward." XD
They leave the Senate Hall, and Sialeeds, Lym and Miakis all leave for the palace, while Prince, Lyon and Kyle continue to explore. Lym's goodbye scene is funny:
Lymsleia: Please come see me whenever you can...every minute you're away... *sniff*"
Sialeeds: ...He's gonna be at dinner, don't be such a drama queen.
Lymsleia: Why do you always ruin the mood, auntie? >F
AUGH LYM STOP MAKING UP TO YOUR BROTHER D:
Anyway, Kyle's all "let's go check out the new Rune shop...and its HOT CHICK OWNER, HURR HURR." He asks the hero if he wants to "check her out," and the hero can either be all "you betcha" or "not really." Because he's a Suikoden hero, I pick the latter option, and Kyle is dismayed. "But it's your job to 'inspect' the town and its citizens, right?" Lyon bristled, and gets all "stop hassling the Prince, he said he wasn't interested!" but Kyle's still all "this is a necessary step for the Prince into manhood!"
...of course, Jeane (I assume it's Jeane, because she's the series' resident Sexy Runemistress) is not there. Disappointed, Kyle slouches off only to discover a bar brawl that's spilled over into the street, over whether the Queen is a good monarch or a psychotic bitch. Prince steps in to stop it, to Kyle's dismay, and beats up the guys handily.
They return to the palace, and we move to a private scene between Arshtat and Ferid. Arshtat now seems like a genuinely nice woman who is worried that she's a crappy mother and sister (and she is kinda, but she's still being way too hard on herself because she's trying her best), and who's kind of scared by the fanaticism she was displaying and thinking, which it turns out is a byproduct of having the Sun Rune on her. And Ferid is a wonderful and supportive husband who's also worried about her. This scene really made me feel for these two - mostly sad, though, given that thanks to Georg's investigation in Suiko2 I know how this all ends. ;_;
Anyway, that's enough for today - I'm sure I'll be posting more gameblog soon, though. XD
Er, in other videogame talk, I decided against Kingdom Hearts II for now; I barely have time to play one game at the moment, and moneywise it came down to one or the other. I'm sure I'll get it eventually - probably as a reward to myself for finishing finals - but right now I'm sticking to SuikoV. But dammit, now I really wish I had gotten KH2 as well. XD
Let's see, what else has gone on lately...oh, yesterday I went to hang out with
lordtravis, teachingmusic and bshippotemkin to watch The Brotherhood of the Wolf, which was a delightfully cheesy French action flick about the Beast of Gevaudan. It was better than I was expecting, and the first half was actually pretty historically accurate! (Well, except for the kung fu Indian.) After that it got a little more ridiculous (...okay, a lot more ridiculous) but it was still fun. :DAlso, apropos of nothing, painting illuminated letters is a ridiculous amount of fun. So is putting gold leaf on them - it's so shiny! +_+
Links to follow tomorrow, I don't really feel like organizing and formatting them right now.
