Well that settles it...
Mesh isn't Arti....
He's Beetlejuice!
haaaaa!!
this was sneaky funny and deserves more props than it got
I feel guilty because I am one of the ungrateful who let it pass without comment, but I really couldn't add anything clever to it to make it any better than it already was.
Suffice to say, I grinned at it. :)
I finished Trails 3 and am now going through the cutscenes of Tales of Xillia 1 as a refresher before starting my next game, Tales of Xillia 2.
I really enjoyed the streamlined structure of Trails 3 a lot. And it was very generous with its sidestories. This game offers, not only more backstory on beloved favorites, but nicely fills in a lot of information about some of the ancillary characters that you don't get to see too much of in 1 and 2.
In addition, the game does a fantastic job of making the player feel powerful and rewarding you for taking the time to appropriately equip and customize each character. All of that, of course, leading up to the most satisfying final boss fight I have had in.... maybe ever. My strategy worked perfectly, I was in control at almost all times, but still felt like I had to work for it.
The game also knows how to properly reward the player when they accomplish something. While certain OTHER games like to say "Hey, you took down that crazy-difficult mark! Here's 700 gil!" Trails 3 almost ALWAYS gives you something truly useful when you beat a particularly tough boss or sidequest.
For example, in one of the optional side stories, the player is tasked with taking part in a one-on-one battle against another character. The player is meant to lose here, but there is one viable strategy for winning the battle. If you do manage to win, the game rewards you with a weapon with a STR rating of 1000 (as well as other stat boosts), at a time in the story where the strongest weapon you can hope to have is probably around 600. Now THAT is how you reward a player.
Suffice to say, I enjoyed myself. As for more specific stuff that might be spoiler-y:
- Renne's backstory was disgusting. It was a (maybe?) necessary disgust, and that was certainly what the author(s) of that scene was intending, but still... I really don't think I needed that in my life. The things it made me think about... it's really not anything anyone should ever have to think about. And yet it's real and people should know it's real. Blech.
- Alan Richard might be my new favorite in-battle character in the franchise. I really really enjoyed having him in my party. And his Sakura Morning Moon was always hilariously fantastic. Not only did he take out Cassius Bright with it, but when I did it against the final boss on a Critical turn, he did nearly 30k damage, taking out about an entire 1/4 of the boss' health. With just one hit. It was so so beautiful. And his long cheesy monologue during it with the hilarious, cheesy visuals make it all the better.
- That final sub-boss at the very end of The Abyss (the giant Shining Pom and its minions) was funny and unexpected. It was also extremely difficult. I wasn't expecting a fight that requires only S-Crafts to win. There's really nothing else that can be done in that, unless I'm mistaken? Fortunately, I happened to be fielding a secret weapon: Anelace Elfead! Petal Dance + 200 CP Piercing Wave = Several dead Shining Poms. Hilariously, the one Pom that was left after that fled the battle.
- Is giving Kevin a Super Gladiator Belt and spamming Sacrifice Arrow a viable party strategy? I'm sure someone has done that before.
- The one thing I didn't really do was beat the Nightmare arena or doing any higher levels of the quiz show. And I have no motivation to bother with those.
