Paul the sparky wrote:

Minnesänger wrote:

Paul the sparky wrote:

Prologue spoiler:

Spoiler:

Is there's a chance Joshua will make a comeback? Because of the Phoenix main trait and all?

No idea, tbh

Spoiler:

Game seems completely willing to just Snuff characters hard. That bloke? Dead. Daddy? Ned Stark-ed to fuck. Teacher dude? You burn him to a crisp, whoops! That said...yeah, i'd agree Joshua being Phoenix means he has a better than zero (and i'd argue quite likely) chance of making an appearance later. 

General pondering within:

Spoiler:

Do you reckon there's a chance Joshua wasn't the red king bloke's son? Going purely off barnet colour, there's a big difference between smouldering sexy dark haired Clive and his Dad and the ginger boy. Then there's the obvious difference in treatment from the mother of the year. Only fly in the ointment for me is that it's a bit too on the nose for that to be a plot twist when you're going with a GoT vibe isn't it?

Responding to pondering:

Spoiler:

I think that's a smart shout, tbh - never considered Joshua wasn't his.

It's pretty clear now that she's an empire plant - go there, sire kids, secure the Phoenix for the empire. That's kinda what makes me think it is the dad's kid - he talks about how Phoenix passes down his line.

The visual differences are clear though, you're right - at the time I took that as symbolism for Joshua being the kid she wanted - not the disappointment that clive turned out to be. He looks like his Dad, but also his Dad seems to have not been a proper Phoenix boy maybe? He said how he was thrust onto the throne as a stopgap when his dad died...

I think Joshua being someone else's is deffo a possibility, but i'd still put money on Joshua being the Dad's kid, just that his missus always had other intentions.

Spoiler:

Hmmm. The Phoenix thing does scupper it a bit, unless she's carrying that line and not the Dad. Her bloodline being a thing was mentioned in that scene between the two of them. But it's spiraling out of control here because that would mean the Dad is of a completely different bloodline than everyone thinks.

I don't know enough about the way the dominants and Eikons work to be honest. Obviously Clive will be able to claim and use other Eikons, so how does he do that? Killing the current dominant? Could Clive's grandpa (bear with me) have killed the Phoenix dominant to claim it as his Eikon, but that would mean he's then unable to pass it down through his bloodline?

If you're following this, good on you because I've got my own head spinning. All this because the kid has different coloured hair too, dear me

Minnesänger wrote:

EvilRedEye wrote:

Paul the sparky wrote:

Minnesänger wrote:

Paul the sparky wrote:

Prologue spoiler:

Spoiler:

Is there's a chance Joshua will make a comeback? Because of the Phoenix main trait and all?

No idea, tbh

Spoiler:

Game seems completely willing to just Snuff characters hard. That bloke? Dead. Daddy? Ned Stark-ed to fuck. Teacher dude? You burn him to a crisp, whoops! That said...yeah, i'd agree Joshua being Phoenix means he has a better than zero (and i'd argue quite likely) chance of making an appearance later. 

General pondering within:

Spoiler:

Do you reckon there's a chance Joshua wasn't the red king bloke's son? Going purely off barnet colour, there's a big difference between smouldering sexy dark haired Clive and his Dad and the ginger boy. Then there's the obvious difference in treatment from the mother of the year. Only fly in the ointment for me is that it's a bit too on the nose for that to be a plot twist when you're going with a GoT vibe isn't it?

Responding to pondering:

Spoiler:

I think that's a smart shout, tbh - never considered Joshua wasn't his. It's pretty clear now that she's an empire plant - go there, sire kids, secure the Phoenix for the empire. That's kinda what makes me think it is the dad's kid - he talks about how Phoenix passes down his line. The visual differences are clear though, you're right - at the time I took that as symbolism for Joshua being the kid she wanted - not the disappointment that clive turned out to be. He looks like his Dad, but also his Dad seems to have not been a proper Phoenix boy maybe? He said how he was thrust onto the throne as a stopgap when his dad died... I think Joshua being someone else's is deffo a possibility, but i'd still put money on Joshua being the Dad's kid, just that his missus always had other intentions.

Spoiler:

Hmmm. The Phoenix thing does scupper it a bit, unless she's carrying that line and not the Dad. Her bloodline being a thing was mentioned in that scene between the two of them. But it's spiraling out of control here because that would mean the Dad is of a completely different bloodline than everyone thinks. I don't know enough about the way the dominants and Eikons work to be honest. Obviously Clive will be able to claim and use other Eikons, so how does he do that? Killing the current dominant? Could Clive's grandpa (bear with me) have killed the Phoenix dominant to claim it as his Eikon, but that would mean he's then unable to pass it down through his bloodline? If you're following this, good on you because I've got my own head spinning. All this because the kid has different coloured hair too, dear me

Spoiler:

It does seem likely the mother was a bad’un all along. It would explain why she hates Clive - she goes through the rigmarole and danger of pre-modern childbirth not out of love but purely to produce a dominant and then it turns out she has to go through it all over again so the plan can be executed.

Spoiler:

Yeah, they mention the Empire being their "allies" when they're surprised about the attack - I took her to always, openly be empire. The marriage was a proof of unity, a political marriage, but her always having a mission to sire a Phoenix and eventually nab him...

That said, that's just a guess and it's likely i missed a line where she talked about her bloodline. Very keen to find out what the truth is.

Paul the sparky wrote:

Apologies to anyone not into this spoiler bullshit

Keep it coming I'm enjoying reading, but I don't want to join in incase I spoil anything from later in the game having played past the prologue.

Has everyone here talking about it preordered?

Way back in April for £55

I got mine yesterday for £55 (with the Shopto card discount). Still can’t get over how much I’ve gone from meh to yeah.

b0r1s wrote:

Has everyone here talking about it preordered?

Months ago

I thought the main demo was a bit ‘grind to stagger’ but the second bit didn’t really feel like that because the additional options made it a bit more interesting. I think it might be the traditional ‘first few hours take a bit to get going’ JRPG issue rather the system being fundamentally duff.

Switched from Japanese to English tonight and I think I’ll stick to Japanese for when I play the game. English voiceovers felt a little too dramatic and overacted to me, the tone and delivery go JP voiceactors seemed more palatable to me. Lip synching will be off though

Tonally, it seems fine. But I’m genuinely surprised that someone didn’t question the choice of names.

Oh, there is no Japanese facial capture at all?

I think it’s quite funny that I’m currently playing Japanese-inspired Western-developed Ghost of Tsushima with Japanese dub and facial capture and soon I’ll be playing Western-inspired Japanese-developed Final Fantasy XVI with English dub and facial capture.

Paul the sparky wrote:

Spoiler:

I'm just really enjoying thinking about what the fuck is going on, and having characters to discuss for a change. Like I said earlier, they've managed to do a lot with not very much screen time. It's drawn me in instantly and got me wanting to know more, the signs of a cracking piece of writing for me

Demo is done. I think it has potential, but I won’t be preordering and will wait for the reviews.

I liked the world they’ve built. The idea of a dominant for each house/region and that being linked to the summons of old.

In terms of the environments, they looked detailed enough, but also empty/hollow, and I’d like to know more about traversing the world outside of the demo/intro. If it’s just push forward to explore, that would be annoying.

Combat was fine. It was a little simple. I’m sure it’ll become more complex over time, but it was an interesting enough template, assuming it layers up with some more moves/systems. Playing as the Eikons was a spectacle, but again a little simple. I’m not sure they’ve got that balance between scale and actually playing right yet, but that could be limited to the demo itself.

All in all, it looks like it could be a good one and I am interested in the characters/story, based on that sample. But I’d like to know more about what the 40+ hours are going to be filled with.

Could also be completely wrong and got myself mixed up again.