GameFAQs Contests
Time to keep playing through Shadow Hearts because it's so awesome. (Part 2!)
| ZFS | Posted 5/5/2007 6:02:25 PM | message detail | #101 |
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Okay. So I played about two hours worth of the game so far, and I just
got finished with the village of man-eating cat demons. Or whatever
they are. The game starts off with one hell of an introduction. It starts off talking about a priest who has been killed, and his daughter has gone missing, then it switches over to the train sequence with Albert Simon slaughtering Japanese soldiers to get to Alice. Of course, Yuri, who is on the train, just isn't going to have any of that. He ends up confronting Simon, who sends his little demon thing after him. Yuri ends up with a cutoff arm, but the demon ends up getting his head smashed by Yuri's hand. Oh, and just because he's a badass, Yuri picks up his arm and puts it back on. That's just how he rolls. Yuri tries to attack him, but he uses some weird eye flash to send him flying back through pretty much all of the train cars. After that, he takes Alice and makes a mad dash for the roof. Yuri ends up catching up to him, and what happens next is probably on par with the Idar Flamme from Covenant. After a short and quick battle with Simon (he ends up using a move that does 999 damage; lol whoops instant death), Yuri lands a punch so hard that it pretty much takes off half of Simon's face. I'm pretty sure that punch cracked his skull and removed his eye. But, of course, Simon has healing hax, so it doesn't matter -- but holy **** The Punch. With that, Yuri takes Alice and jumps off the train all badass like. When Alice regains consciousness, she's scared of Yuri, and then decides to run off by herself in the dead of night. Young woman runs away during a creepy night? Oh yeah -- recipe for disaster right here. Sure enough, she screams in terror soon after and Yuri goes to see what's up. A funny scene happens where he thinks about what he could do in a situation with an unconscious, good looking girl. But then she wakes up is like "I saw a monster and fainted and stuff." aww yeah Some of the things I noticed -- you can tell that the game was originally made for the PSX. Everything about it reeks PSX era graphics, everything from the models to the CGI. It seems like they gave it a little upgrade for the PS2, but it's just got PSX hardware written all over it. Still, it's a pretty good looking game just from a design standpoint. It's not jarring at all. The gameplay that some of you guys mentioned earlier is indeed pretty standard. I love the whole Judgment Ring, so I don't have too much of a problem with it. The attack animations are still great, though, especially Yuri's when he can pull the full thing off. Alice attacking with a Small Bible is hilarious, too. I'm also definitely seeing why people were hyping up the atmosphere for the game. Right when you get to that first village with the creepy people, and then it switches over to blood everywhere and that red fog. Yeah, it's really dark -- but very awesome at the same time. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most." |
| ZFS | Posted 5/5/2007 6:10:40 PM | message detail | #102 |
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Oh, and the difficulty so far has probably been higher than it ever was
in Covenant. I haven't died yet, but I had a pretty close encounter
against Yamaraja -- darn that Large Whirlpool move. Basic enemies have
done notable damage, can usually take more than one hit, and I actually
have to use healing/items! I'm liking that. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most." |
| KleenexTissue50 | Posted 5/5/2007 6:19:31 PM | message detail | #103 |
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His name isn't Albert Simon yet, you don't know that! He's Roger Bacon! Stop using your SH2 hax! --- Sign up to nominate Gilgamesh for SC2k7! http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs9/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=34669782 |
| ZFS | Posted 5/5/2007 6:35:41 PM | message detail | #104 |
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The only Roger Bacon I know is a fragile old man with strange hair growth !! --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most." |
| Kyle Bowen | Posted 5/5/2007 10:59:58 PM | message detail | #105 |
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augh fake ring Squint or look slightly away from the ring to expose the fake rings slight dimness. ^_^ SH FTW!!!! KICKARSE!!!!!!!!!! KB |
| ZFS | Posted 5/5/2007 11:00:35 PM | message detail | #106 |
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WTF Sea Mama storytelling... --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| KleenexTissue50 | Posted 5/5/2007 11:01:12 PM | message detail | #107 |
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SCHLOOOOOOOOOOOOOP --- Sign up to nominate Gilgamesh for SC2k7! http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs9/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=34669782 |
| Drakeryn | Posted 5/5/2007 11:01:57 PM | message detail | #108 |
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SCHLOOOOOOP --- I don't need to do a better job. I need better P.R. on the job I do. - Calvin |
| Drakeryn | Posted 5/5/2007 11:02:15 PM | message detail | #109 |
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darn u kleenex --- I don't need to do a better job. I need better P.R. on the job I do. - Calvin |
| ZFS | Posted 5/5/2007 11:02:35 PM | message detail | #110 |
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That wasn't even the worst. It was that description -- a wet, slimy piece of meat slithering across the ground? ...No. And then I jerked my head back every time she imitated the seagull. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| Kyle Bowen | Posted 5/5/2007 11:02:41 PM | message detail | #111 |
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Its akward but it has some sense of... realism? or believability. KB |
| transience | Posted 5/5/2007 11:03:46 PM | message detail | #112 |
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yeah, you'll learn that SH1 actually has these items called Pure Leafs!
you actually have to use them! SH2 (and 3) have bosses that go down so
quickly that SP never really becomes an issue. good to see no complaints about the judgment ring. it's really awkward for me and I've played more SH1 than pretty much anyone on this board. have you figured out the whole malice thing yet, and draining your malice? (as Brakmaster says, best masturbation phrase ever) it's not hard or anything, but some people find it tedious. I don't mind though. I also love the PS1-ness of the game. it's not as crisp as SH2 obviously, but I like the style that it gives off. everything is so grimy. I love that. I think the graphics suit the game. --- xyzzy |
| Kyle Bowen | Posted 5/5/2007 11:05:16 PM | message detail | #113 |
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There are some great items in this one that are not in the others... Monkeys paws and Dragons fangs... They affect your ring in similiar ways as the keys do... but only better. KB |
| ZFS | Posted 5/5/2007 11:05:49 PM | message detail | #114 |
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Yeah. Every time I get that flash on the screen after defeating a
certain number of enemies, I generally make sure to go to the Graveyard
to tame the malice the next time I'm at a save point. The writing in this game is brilliant, too. Whoever did the localization did a fantastic job. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| jlh28532 | Posted 5/5/2007 11:05:55 PM | message detail | #115 |
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I'm guessing the Dark Tower is Joachim's best weapon, because that was the reward. it's the Natalus, you get it during the quest to get Karin's ultimate weapon --- Diamond WIFI code: 1203-5713-9413 Wi-Fi record: 3-1 |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 12:36:13 AM | message detail | #116 |
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Time for an update. I saved after getting on the ship with Kawashima,
which has got bad things written all over it. (Note: Damn, you
Mayweather.) -- The first stop I made was over to Fengtian. I got to see a scene with Kawashima finding the remants of the Japanese soldiers that got sliced up by Simon...er, I mean, Bacon. Kawashime seems to be under the impression that it was little Alice that cut them up. oh lol at that -- Once I got back in control of Yuri, Alice slept for a few minutes, I played the lottery for a bit, talked to some folk, and then she woke up. Headed over to do some shopping, then there was a radio broadcast that put out the alert to look out for a man with a young woman. The shopkeeper goes nuts, then Yuri and Alice make their escape... only to get hit by a Margarete's bomb. Damn women and their explosives. Got a good laugh out of "Whoa. I can see your...," "Consider it my apology, sonny boy," though. -- The sewers weren't too bad, but they did a good job of making you run all over the place trying to find stuff. It was nice getting Margarete as a party member to have another character who could do damage -- and she uses a gun, which is always cool. After running all around for a while fetching stuff (little dog, treasure, key to the place), fighting a bunch of water monsters, which did allow me to get the MAN DRAGON fusion, I ended up taking on the boss of the place, who really wasn't too hard. -- Once out of the sewers, the dog that Alice found immediately goes running off alerting the guards that there are people here. Dammit, Tiny! A couple of quick Japanese soldiers later, the dog reveals itself to be Dehuai, or was under the control of Dehuai at least. The battle that ensued with the dog was probably the first time I realize that SP was going to be an issue for a quite a while, because the cost of doing a fusion takes a good chunk of Yuri's meter. But with Alice as a constant healer/buffer/item...user, it isn't too bad. Still love the whole attack by whacking enemies with a Bible thing. -- A couple of "Man, Alice, you have all the old men after you. I guess you DO have the whole innocence thing going on" comments later, Margarete has somehow managed to hijack a ****ing plane. A *****y plane, but a plane nonetheless. I thought that was hilarious. You hear the sound of something coming, and then -- BAM -- giant plane is roaring by. The comments about it being made for midgets was pretty good, too. -- I liked the flashback scene that Yuri had with his mom and dad. I'm guessing the stuff he briefly touched on in Covenant is going to be delved into a lot more here, which is going to be pretty cool to see, because Yuri is a really interesting character, I think. -- After that scene, Yuri wakes up to find out that the engine to the plane has blew and they're about to crash. Yeah, good going, Margarete, great idea stealing that plane. The group ends up landing at Dalian, which is currently experiencing some sort of strange curse. The curse being that there is the ghost of a girl named Li Li hanging around every night making people suffer 24 hours before dying. I got to see one of the victim's last minutes, which was actually kind of rough. No amount of voodoo was able to save him. -- Later that night, the group ends up running into Li Li's spirit wandering around. She gets all jealous of Alice's voice, which about confused the crap out of me until I hear the epic story from Sea Mama, and puts the curse on her, then disappears. She gets taken back to the restaurant where the Sea Mama is, and she says that she hired a more powerful adept to help lift the curse on the village. Then begins what has to be seen to be believed -- the story of Li Li's curse. It was a pretty sad story, but holy crap those sound effects. Shloop? Skree? Creak? Splat? WTF? And that voice... oh man... but it was so awesome. It's, like, so bad it's good |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 12:36:22 AM | message detail | #117 |
| -- Afterward, some guy comes in and says the adept
she asked for arrived. Behold -- the crazy old man! He says the curse
will be nothing to break, and that Alice will be fine by morning. Woo.
I just have to defeat a boss that's, like, immune to physicals! I ended
up running out of Pure Leafs/Seeds during this fight, so Yuri was just
a distraction for a couple of rounds until Margarete/Zhuzhen could take
him out. This fight made me realize how much I miss Alice's healing in
battle. -- With that thing defeated, there was another scene with Kawashima. That guy from before was apparently some spy working for Kawashima to dig up some details on the whereabouts of Yuri and Alice. This was also the first time I got to see Kato in the game. Man, he's totally different from how he was in Covenant. Seeing him all nervous and stuttery just seems weird. That poor guy (Coward Chen, I think his name was) ends up getting killed by orders from Kawashima, though. She takes no chances. -- Now that the curse was lifted from Alice, Zhuzhen ends up telling the group about Dehuai, and how he's pretty much the puppetmaster of all these events, and that he's after Alice to perform some ritual. So the group decides it'd be best to confront him at Shangai, but they'll need some way to slip by the Japanese Army, and that's where Kawashima comes in, acting like a smuggler boss, to give the group a ride. Let's see here. So far, I'm really enjoying the game. Yuri's as awesome as ever, I'm liking Alice, Margarete is pretty cool, and I don't really care too much about the old man. The battle system is indeed a lot simpler, but I think it's made up for by the game being significantly more difficult. It's not "holy crap this is hard" kind of difficult, but just in comparison to Covenant, this is a whole world harder. The story is really good so far, too. I'm interested in seeing what happens, even if I know the end result. So yeah, it's fantastic so far. I can't believe I went so long without trying these games. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| transience | Posted 5/6/2007 12:41:12 AM | message detail | #118 |
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rule of SH1: make sure to have a ton of HP/MP/SP items. you never know when you'll need them. also, you'll find that SH1 doesn't have point cards in the same sense - instead, you'll find five cards scattered around in lotteries, chests and maybe even battles. get those so money doesn't become a concern. oh, and I like Zhuzhen! I mean, he's not great or anything, but I do care about him. --- xyzzy |
| Kyle Bowen | Posted 5/6/2007 12:47:11 AM | message detail | #119 |
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Alice is the the unspoken key. Yuri is the kickass character again but
because there are no crests and no way to magically heal accept for two
characters... Alice is gonna be your best friend for a while. The more
and better you level her the better your support becomes. KB |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 12:47:45 AM | message detail | #120 |
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Yeah. I remember the first shopkeeper talking about there being
different cards, and that mine was a Snake Card or something. I've had
some problems with cash so far when it comes to decking everyone out in
new equips, so I'll keep an eye out for those. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| transience | Posted 5/6/2007 12:47:52 AM | message detail | #121 |
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oh, and I apologize in advance for what could be the worst dungeon of
all time. I can't even help you very much because it's so weird. it's not yet, but it's comin'. like the one after it, though! --- xyzzy |
| transience | Posted 5/6/2007 12:49:16 AM | message detail | #122 |
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did you win the second card in the lottery on the boat? if not, not too
big of a deal. you can find the third one when you get to Shanghai. --- xyzzy |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 12:50:49 AM | message detail | #123 |
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Alice's healing, and just general support, are indeed a necessity. For
some reason, I keep thinking it's still Covenant with bosses that I can
just pound away on, then heal if I need to. But these bosses don't have
any problem taking your group down to yellow in one
hit, or hit everyone for a crapload of damage. Hopefully she doesn't
get separated from me too often. I suppose leveling can't hurt, either! --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 12:52:20 AM | message detail | #124 |
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I haven't done the ship yet, no. Although now that you mention that, I'll have to make sure to get it while I'm on there. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| Kyle Bowen | Posted 5/6/2007 12:53:54 AM | message detail | #125 |
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Hopefully she doesn't get separated from me too often. I suppose leveling can't hurt, either! I don't think she leaves the party much. ^_~ Also its leveling that determines when new abilities get unlocked, I am sure you noticed this already. Arc Cure is the games lifesaver. KB |
| transience | Posted 5/6/2007 12:54:07 AM | message detail | #126 |
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Alice actually isn't that good at the beginning -- you can use thera
items to replace her healing since it's only one character, and her
attack is kind of a joke. later on, though? she's as much of a necessity as Yuri. her last heal spell is just sick. can't hurt to find a good level spot and whoop some ass, too. also, if you can find some light souls, get as much as you can. the light fusion has an all heal which is really great. I know the frogs in Dalian give you that, but not much else does in the first half of the game. I love Light and Fire in SH1, along with Dark. --- xyzzy |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 1:04:39 AM | message detail | #127 |
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Yup. I learned Holy Edge at level 7, and it's kinda nice to put the
Holy element into my attacks. I noticed Zhuzhen and Margarete have the
same thing except Fire and Aqua Edge. also, if you can find some light souls, get as much as you can. the light fusion has an all heal which is really great. I know the frogs in Dalian give you that, but not much else does in the first half of the game. I love Light and Fire in SH1, along with Dark. That sounds really good. I haven't ran across too many Light enemies, though. A whole lot of Water and Earth, for the most part. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 1:06:57 AM | message detail | #128 |
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Oh, by the way, where's the next place where you find the, uh, needle guy? Is he once in a blue moon or frequent? --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| Kyle Bowen | Posted 5/6/2007 1:08:41 AM | message detail | #129 |
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He is frequent... Its just about every town IIRC. KB |
| transience | Posted 5/6/2007 1:14:18 AM | message detail | #130 |
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his name is Meiyuan, but I never use him. waste of money until the end,
especially since it only depends on the weapon. if you've got lots of
money from levelling or whatnot then go for it, but I don't think SH1
is hard enough to justify power levelling. do recommend doing so when you find the frog dudes in Dalian, if it's not too late though. --- xyzzy |
| Kyle Bowen | Posted 5/6/2007 1:16:39 AM | message detail | #131 |
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I found him very useful, however I am one to appreciate powerleveling. Its not that big of a difference. It does suck to power up a weapon all the way and then run across the next best one. However there are a few gaps between new ones where leveling the weapons makes up for it. KB |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 1:21:38 AM | message detail | #132 |
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You know, I hadn't thought of that. It probably isn't worth it if you
can just buy a new weapon and get a nice jump in power. And I don't
plan to spend too much time leveling up, unless it's to get Fusions or
something. I like the difficulty right now, and I'd rather not it
become too easy. :P Another question -- are sidequests worth doing in this one? --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| transience | Posted 5/6/2007 1:31:11 AM | message detail | #133 |
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some are, but there aren't many sidequests until the end of the game in
SH1. there's one aways in, but you have to fulfill a couple of
conditions before you can do it. it's a pretty cool area though. I'll
help you find it when you get closer to it. --- xyzzy |
| transience | Posted 5/6/2007 1:31:50 AM | message detail | #134 |
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by the way, how's your score been in both games? score is one of my favourite extras about the SH series. --- xyzzy |
| Kyle Bowen | Posted 5/6/2007 1:32:14 AM | message detail | #135 |
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Another question -- are sidequests worth doing in this one? If you like a challenge, yes. Getting Yuri's ultimate Fusion is kickass. One of the best fights in a game ever. Also getting his final weapon is way harder than it is in Covenant. You might want Amon as well. There are only a few extra sidies but they good. KB |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 1:33:04 AM | message detail | #136 |
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I can't remember what, exactly, my score was at the end of Covenant,
but I know I've shot up into the low 80s already in SH1. It seemed to
take forever for me to get there in Covenant. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| transience | Posted 5/6/2007 1:34:23 AM | message detail | #137 |
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I think SH1 does a lot by percentage, whereas SH2 depends on total ring
hits or something like that. either that or it's just a ton harder to
get a high score in SH2. I don't think I've ever been above 10 in SH2
(though I never really try either, and I had like 65% perfect
percentage), whereas if you get ~40% or so in SH1 you can get rank 1. --- xyzzy |
| transience | Posted 5/6/2007 1:34:45 AM | message detail | #138 |
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Kyle knows a lot more about score than I do, I'm sure he can explain it! --- xyzzy |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 1:38:58 AM | message detail | #139 |
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According to a FAQ, it's pretty much anything Ring related affects the
score -- in battle, at item shops, etc. -- along with some other stuff.
--- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| Kyle Bowen | Posted 5/6/2007 1:48:16 AM | message detail | #140 |
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I dont know much about SH Score. I have gotten Rank One in Covenant on multiple single playthroughs and on aggregrate total game playthroughs. I Finished my most recent playthrough with >99% Ring and >95% I know one thing for sure and that is this... http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/2368/img0362sf5.jpg See how I have 42 time unconcious... http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/2764/img0364cw0.jpg No see how I have 861 total battles fought? Well, I had Rank two with 42 times unconcious and and 839 total battles fought. When I fought my 840th battle I got rank one. 42 is lis .05% of 840. It may have been just a fluke, but it makes me believe the game uses %'s of many stats to determine rank. Its not just your ring % or total battles. KB |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 3:41:32 AM | message detail | #141 |
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That might be. The FAQ I checked out was for SH1, so it might be
calculated differently for SH2 or something. Not that I know either
way, because I haven't had enough experience with the games yet. But that did make me check up on my score. In Covenant, my score at the end of the game was 69 - Pendulum. I'm currently outside the Temple Ruins and my score in SH1 is 49 - Police Dog. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| KleenexTissue50 | Posted 5/6/2007 3:42:16 AM | message detail | #142 |
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Maybe your score was low because you didn't use Anastasia. --- Sign up to nominate Gilgamesh for SC2k7! http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs9/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=34669782 |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 3:44:41 AM | message detail | #143 |
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Imposhibibble. That would have made my score even worse! --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 3:48:27 AM | message detail | #144 |
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On another note, I'll do a quick update of what I've done since then. -- Sea Mama and Zhuzen exorcised Li Li on the boat. Holy Edge + Blessed Light = lol Li Li. Poor Sea Mama ended up dying at the very end, though. :( -- Kawashima is plotting away about stuff, dislikes the politics being thrown around in Japan, etc. She's cool. -- Arrived in Shanghai. The flashback sequences with Colonel Hyuga -- Yuri's dad -- were awesome. Pretty funny that the same thing seemed to occur again in that shop later on. -- I liked the little video of the chick playing that...whatever that was. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga" |
| transience | Posted 5/6/2007 3:51:44 AM | message detail | #145 |
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most pointless scene in the game right there --- xyzzy |
| KleenexTissue50 | Posted 5/6/2007 3:52:14 AM | message detail | #146 |
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So pointless, I don't even remember what he's talking about. --- Sign up to nominate Gilgamesh for SC2k7! http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs9/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=34669782 |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 3:52:45 AM | message detail | #147 |
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Yeah, well, you both suck. --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga." |
| transience | Posted 5/6/2007 3:53:28 AM | message detail | #148 |
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it's that girl - Qiuhua or something - playing a violin-like thing. it's like a two minute scene and it's like '...why?' it's a cool enough scene and all, it's just completely random. --- xyzzy |
| ZFS | Posted 5/6/2007 3:54:39 AM | message detail | #149 |
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Hey, would you rather watch that or a really not so detailed NPC play away on her stick and bowl? --- "Called 'Godslayer' by some; feared by most -- Yuri Hyuga." |
| KleenexTissue50 | Posted 5/6/2007 3:55:35 AM | message detail | #150 |
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I still don't really remember it. Maybe I should play Shadow Hearts again. ... Nah. --- Sign up to nominate Gilgamesh for SC2k7! http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs9/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=34669782 |
