atheral's page

Don't know when this will air but just the fact they are making a second season makes me very happy.

Second Season and Movie announced for Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon.

Grancrest Senki

Concept is fairly standard - fantasy land, Lords with Holy Seals and their allied Mages fighting for dominance. A Lord can share the power of his seal by swearing allegiance to another.

Unlike most anime, the pace is fast. Too fast. Pretty much every episode, a war starts, and is fought to a conclusion in a fairly bloody battle. This gives you very little time to get a feel for more than a fraction of the numerous characters, or the political situation. The main factions are the Alliance and the Union (or similar bland names) but I have no idea of the difference between the two. Maybe it would work better binged than watched once a week? Maybe I just need to concentrate more?

It made me want to play a video game based on it. By the look of it, there aren't any.

While not a direct 1:1, if you are looking for a video game with some similar elements I'd recommend trying to get a hold of the Suikoden series of games. I, II and III are really good, IV and V are ok.

So new season of RWBY is out, looks like its going to be pretty brutal if the first two episodes are anything to go by.

I'd give it a 10/10, I really don't know what more I would want from it.

I've been encouraging my friends to watch it the past few weeks, and it's been incredibly rewarding receiving angry text messages when people hit certain scenes in the series.

Yeah, pretty sure I know which scenes you mean. And yeah, I'm pretty sure I've gotten roughly the same text messages.

So what did folks think of Made in Abyss?

The Deed of Paksennarrion by Elizabeth Moon. Also her linked series Paladin's Legacy. Between the two of them, that's 8 books to keep you busy for a while :)

I'd like to second this. the Paksennarrion books are probably the best depiction of what a Paladin should be in print currently.

Last 3 episodes of Season 7 synopsis revealed

Interesting news out of the Hascon thing thats going on this weekend

Season 7 and 8 coverage Spoilers!

Okay so this may be way premature but I think "Made in Abyss" may take the prize for the show of the season. If you haven't watched it and are a fan of Miyazaki, it has the same "feel" as a lot of his work. I am afraid though, that I may shed a tear or two by the end of this show.

So I watched the first episode of "A centaurs life" today. I honestly don't know what to think about it, it felt like it should have been an episode somewhere in the middle of a series. The setting has some really interesting ideas but if one was to judge from ep1 the pacing needs serious work.

Watched this today, Oh my goodness I'm putting this down as one of my top shows for the year. The weighting and VO is great and the fight choreography is some if the best I've seen in animation.

Based on the previous release, I would expect the resale price on ebay to top $3k within a week. Though it is interesting that they are including Star Fox 2 as one of the titles.

*goes back to playing Secret of Mana on Retropi*

That's me, though I can't take all the credit for the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system. Chris Taylor did a bunch of that too, and some of my initial inspirations were swiped from Ars Magica.

Wow, ok then, Let me give you a real compliment then, not just an inferred one. The Fallout series is one of my favorite franchises, and since you helped create one of the signature building blocks of it, thanks for the 100s of hours of fun.

Chris Avellone is probably best known for writing Planescape: Torment. He also did a significant amount of work on the Icewind Dale series, Pillars of Eternity, Alpha Protocol, and Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords. He's known best for deep character interactions and moral conundrums that do not have easy solutions. At this time he freelances as a writer for video games like Prey and the new System Shock, which in itself says something - freelancing as a writer in video games is not exactly the kind of career that you can undertake without significant skills, and many studios don't even have in-house writing positions.

Not to mention he was a key writer and designer for Fallout 2, Van Buren, Fallout:New Vegas, and Wasteland 2 which are arguably better written than the rest of the current generation of Fallout games (and seeing as how they aren't actually badly written that's saying something.)

Backed it, I'm really interested to see some of the sub systems and things they come up with. We had a very unconventional kingdom in the Kingmaker game I played it. I want to see how crazy I can make this one.

atheral wrote:

This is sounding like it could be a really fun game. Has anyone seen any mention of multiplayer or is it going to be a strictly single player campaign?

It's single-player. They explored the idea of Baldurs' Gate II–style networking, but decided that the huge amount of effort involved would be better spent making a great single-player game.

Probably just as well, a lot of places sacrifice single player quality for a tacked on multiplayer mode. Hearing that they want to focus on their main game is a reassuring thing.

This is sounding like it could be a really fun game. Has anyone seen any mention of multiplayer or is it going to be a strictly single player campaign?

atheral wrote:

something they have been loathe to do since the inception of the APs, give canon endings to previous paths.

and yet, Xin-Shalast's location is known, the Storval Stairs are another archeological side that the Pathfinder Society activly examines and a handful of other stuff that I can't remember right now (and can't be bothered to look up) are now the status quo in the settimg that weren't at the beginning of RotRL.

And since all that has happend, something must have caused the change. And everything points to a group of adventurers that tried to stop a Runelord from rising. (and since he's not around, I guess they were successful)
That's a pretty canon ending to an AP right there. Right at the start of the AP line, right at the start of Pathfinder. Everything since then aknowledges and indicates that the very first AP in the setting was succesfully finished by someone.

It's a bit more nebulous I think,

Now that's not to say that they can't advance the timeline and completely ignore those paths, since I don't think any of them have a set start date in universe. It would just seem odd to have all these worldshaking events that don't offically occur then have one that does. But I suppose that's just how I see it.

Noticed that the video was missing a few things that I know are supposed to come out this Summer so:

Anichart Summer 2017 List

Currently the ones that sound somewhat interesting to me:

• NewGame!! (New Game 2nd Season)
  
• Gamers
  
• Knight's and Magic
  
• Isekai Shokudou
  
• Made in Abyss
  
• Centaur No Nayami
  

I don't suppose there is any new word on an Audible release for this? I quite enjoyed the first outing for these characters in the web stories, and want to check this one out, but sadly Audio books are really the only way I can get through a novel recently.

As far as not using iconics, isn't that the iconic barbarian on the left of the header image on the website?

Interesting.

Other than Avallone the folks are fairly unknown. I guess we'll see if they can pull this off.

I hope they can, a good CRPG set in the Pathfinder world would open the doors to all kinds of new developments.

Something just occurred to me, and I may have just missed it but

Yeah Guardians vol2 lived up to it's hype for me, the humor was great again, the music choices were spot on, and the action scenes were a ton of fun.

The amount of Easter eggs and references in the movie are massive. I can't help but think I didn't even catch the half of them.

It's a film I will be seeing again in theaters for sure.

Also does anyone else want to see them go to Rocket's homeworld?

The other ones I'd say are must sees from this season are, Konosuba 2, Interviews with Monster Girls, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, and Little Witch Academia (won't actually be on Netflix till the second cour is done, but you can find it elsewhere if you really want to).

RWBY had a major shift in quality this season due to switching animation suites. TThey previously used Poser I think and season 4 they started using Maya. I think the animation quality im proved significantly when they switched.

Redline was an awesome movie, I've even shown it to several people who hate anime and they loved it.

From Titan AE I always thought the best line in the movie was

(Edit:I guess that line is a bit of a spoiler, even for a movie as old as this.)

Just watched the season finale of RWBY.

My favourite animated movie to this day is Warriors of the Wind, an Americanized dub of a Miyazaki film he so disliked it nearly put him off allowing dubs.

Also, I prefer the Rankin-Bass animated The Hobbit to the "expanded" CG epic.

That dub did result in probably the most epic editorial note of all time.

Allegedly upon hearing that the company that had picked up the rights to Princess Mononoke was planning edits; Miyazaki sent them a custom made katana with a note tied to it that simply said "No Cuts". There has since been no material cut from any Miyazaki film sent state side. Supposedly this was in direct response to the issues from Warriors of the Wind.

Oh, I just thought of another one, The Elm-Chanted Forest.
That was a trippy one. I don't remember much about it other than the really weird mushroom scene.

I remember that GI Joe movie, it was kinda dark but then both it and the Transformers movie was designed to "clear the stable" for new characters.

Man, I watched the Transformers movie so many time when I was little I had to replace the VHS. But if it didn't do well in theaters I can see why they never made any more Transformers films. Too bad really.

So what obscure and/or unpopular animated movies do you like?

I remember and liked a bunch of those. My list (I know I'm forgetting a lot from my childhood here) is:

Wizards
Heavy Metal
Flight of Dragons
Cat's Don't Dance
Fern Gully
The Last Unicorn
Titan A.E.
The Hobbit
The Secret of Kells
Legend of Manxmouse
Plauge Dogs
Watership Down

atheral wrote:

TriOmegaZero wrote:

Blerg. Must keep current on RWBY, not binge watch until 1:30 on a work night.

This season actually saw me picking up a Rooster Teeth account to keep current, I really want to see where this is going to go. I hope for a big "Getting the Band Back Together" episode as a season finale. Though it may take another season to get to they way its going now.

That would mean less screentime for JNR :(

I know all good things must come to pass, but I've been enjoying our time with Jaune/Nora/Ren.

I also like the JNR trio, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they are all eventually doomed, based on their namesakes and their eventual fates. Especially since there is now a precedent.

Watched the first bit of Little Witch Academia, it's good in the way all Trigger shows are, and it keeps the feel of it's original. Don't know if I like the fact that they are starting from scratch and are seeming to put the two other entries into AU status, but I guess it makes sense not to assume that everyone has seen those and reintroduce the characters. Looks promising.

Blerg. Must keep current on RWBY, not binge watch until 1:30 on a work night.

This season actually saw me picking up a Rooster Teeth account to keep current, I really want to see where this is going to go. I hope for a big "Getting the Band Back Together" episode as a season finale. Though it may take another season to get to they way its going now.

Yeah Netflix has it locked down but people are finding it on the Darkside

there is always the darkside.

Bummer....as a rule I try to avoid such things but if they insist on being obstinate.... *Reaches for Vader helmet*

Anyone seen any thing about the Little Witch Academia TV run? All I can find is a vague mention that Netflix has the license. Which to my understanding means that there will be no simulcast. I was hoping that someone else had it and we didn't' have to wait till the end of the run to see it.

My brother was telling me earlier that, with the release of Doctor Strange (and now Moana), Disney has set a new record for yearly domestic box office totals, at around $2.49 billion, topping the previous $2.45 billion set by Universal.

This with Moana really just starting its run and Rogue One having yet to be released. Either way, it's already a banner year for the House of Mouse.

Based on Box office Mojo, Disney is holding the 1-4th all of which are sitting at 990M+ worldwide with 8 other films on their docket...yeah they've had a good run this year.

Wait someone besides me actually played Secret of Evermore? I normally get blank stares when I mention that game. Cheers!

If they do a mini SNES then I would like to see the following games.

Actraiser 1&2
E.V.O. Search for Eden
Earthbound
King of Monsters 1&2
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Lufia 1&2
Pocky and Rocky 1&2
Secret of Mana
Super Mario RPG
Super Mario World
Super Metroid

Interestingly some friends and me had a bit of a nostalgia gaming night a week or so ago and actually booted up all of the above for a bit. (The rule was when you died/hit 1/2hr play time you had to pass the controller and the new player picked a new game). We remembered a bit belatedly that Secret of Mana was actually 3 player, that was a quirky thing back in the day, but made for some great "Oh, Yeah! I remember now." moments.

Thanks! I appreciate it!

I do have a question. Where do I buy the Games from? I no longer have any of my old games and I try to be as legit as possible unless there is no other way.

I completely understand where you're coming from on that, sadly for many of these there is no really "legit" way to get them, especially the older ones like Commodore 64 and Atari 7200.

I can point you to a site where you can find a lot of them, but you'll have to use your own judgement on whether or not you think it's okay to pull from there as it's a legitimate archive of these things but the practice of using roms is always a grey area at best.

Though if you want it PM me and I'll give you the address.

atheral wrote:

The Nes mini is a neat idea. I would probably pick one up had I not other options for retro gaming. (I highly recommend folks interested look into the Retro Pie). The thing I find ludicrous is people trying to sell one on Ebay for $5K. Is there really anyone who is that desperate for one of them?

Can you give us some links to this Retro Pie please?

Gladly,

Here is the homepage

Here is the how to wiki

I made one myself for about $60 total.

The Nes mini is a neat idea. I would probably pick one up had I not other options for retro gaming. (I highly recommend folks interested look into the Retro Pie). The thing I find ludicrous is people trying to sell one on Ebay for $5K. Is there really anyone who is that desperate for one of them?

I am betting on record voter turnouts this year, In my small town with 1800 registered voters, 300 had voted before 7:30am. (And yes I was one of those 300, at least I have the right to complain for the next four years if nothing else.)

Started the new season of RWBY and, wow, they really stepped up their game with the quality this time around.

Do folks have anything they are looking forward to for the Fall season.

There looks to be a couple that are somewhat interesting announced so far that I think I'll pick up

Nanbaka- looks to be an bizarre prison comedy, may be worth a watch.

Izetta: The Last Witch- This sounds really interesting, I like that it sounds that they may be taking a "necessary evil is still evil, no matter how good the cause" approach.

I would like to see a frontier exploration path, really use the old Star Trek mission statement "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."

Cross that with a bit of space western like Firefly/Serenity and I'd be all over it.

Fantasy Flight and Games Workshop sever ties.

Thought this may be of interest to folks here who may not have seen it.

I don't know who is making decisions at GW lately but they don't seem to be good for growing their brands. (at least in my unlettered opinion)

I'm probably going against the grain here when I say I didn't care for the song this week. The general plot of the episode was fine, but the end felt super rushed with Shining and Cadence doing such a rapid 180 after the song.

For a Spike center Ep. it wasn't the worst but I thought Gauntlet of fire was a much stronger story for him.

But I'm looking forward to next week's as that should be really interesting.

atheral wrote:

Well seeing as how this is the first true sequel in the "Disney Canon" since The Rescuers Down Under in 1990 it's not so bad.

(No, all of those direct to video things they did don't count).

However I do believe they are going to be hard pressed to live up to the expectations for this movie, Frozen 2 and the inevitable Zootopia sequel.

Does Cars 2 count. Admittedly Pixar, but isn't Pixar=Disney these days?

Of course that would also bring up the Toy Story movies and Finding Dory as well then.

Not according to Disney themselves, apparently they don't consider any Pixar film to be part of their "Animation Canon", nor their imported Studio Ghibli films, direct to video/tv films, or basically anything not on this list.

Well seeing as how this is the first true sequel in the "Disney Canon" since The Rescuers Down Under in 1990 it's not so bad.

(No, all of those direct to video things they did don't count).

However I do believe they are going to be hard pressed to live up to the expectations for this movie, Frozen 2 and the inevitable Zootopia sequel.