#soymilkheaven plays tales of the rays

[carnelianwings]

Good night, global Rays.  You will be missed.

For the curious, I did manage to re-record all of the Main Story skits so I will be reuploading all of those as skit-dialogue only videos over the next week or so.  I recorded the skit dialogue for the last 2 events (Idolm@ster and Christmas) and the rest will (for better or for worse) be playthrough videos with skit dialogue.  Sub event skits did get recorded and sorted by game (with Ix, Mileena, Sara, Haruka, Senel, and Veigue thrown into one) so those will also need to be uploaded, along with some playlist rearranging for organization’s sake just so people have an easier time finding them.

And like I said earlier when global Rays announced they’d be closing, I’m not moving to JP since I’d have to wait for event reruns to recruit bias characters, plus having to shell out more money to even get the account up to where this one was, so the only Tales mobage I’ll be playing now is just Asteria.

Thank you to everyone who friended me on global Rays.  It was fun while it lasted.

[mirons-jrpg-hell]

soymilkheaven replied to your photo: “As the last in line of succession, she’s accepted...

I’ve been saying it ever since the anime started airing; the entire Zestiria cast feels way more like themselves in the events they appear in for Link than they do in the anime (like Edna being the Queen of Snark in the Hello Kitty collab). It’s more than a little sad and disappointing, but at the same time, I’m glad they feel like themselves in the mobile game I’m invested in?

@soymilkheaven Still, it’s a very weird decision that Bamco has made: they could have easily made Tales of Link version the more “fanboy-pleasing” one, since more Tales of fans play it rather than just ToZ fans. And then, they could have kept ToZX as an faithful adaptation of the game, since people who didn’t like the game would not watch it anyway.

To add some maths - according to ANN, an average 24 episodes long anime costs about 300 million yen (about $3.85 million) to create, while a not-too-complicated game such as Tales of Link may cost anywhere from $100k to $500k. Even if we add the micropayment system, it still looks like it would actually be better for Bamco to make Tales of Link the version targeted to the people who didn’t like Zestiria, while keeping the fans who would buy blu-ray discs of the anime.

*sigh* I dunno, maybe I’m missing something here... Maybe I’m reading too much into it. But that just doesn’t make sense, and that frustrates me like hell.

[carnelianwings]

Out of all the things to expect . . . this was honestly not one of them.  At the same time, I’m not surprised given how routinely I’ve been clearing out inactive players on my follower list, and how often I’ve seen people say they skip events on global, and how often they go “I don’t know/didn’t like this entry, so I’m skipping spending on this event/chapter”.

I still wasn’t expecting it to die this quickly though, although perhaps the back-to-back-to-back events the past couple of months followed by complete silence on events after Chapter 13′s release was a clue.  But I guess at the end of the day, money talks, and honestly, if what I’ve seen from going to cons twice a year is any indication, the problems were likely: 1) the fanbase is pretty small to begin with, and 2) the portion of said fanbase who would play a freemium game and whale it even after Link closed is just too small to keep it running.

It’s sad, but I don’t think I’m going to switch to JP - for one thing, I would have to start all over again from scratch, and I just simply don’t have the heart to do it all over again.  Guess it’s just down to Asteria now.

[carnelianwings]

True to form, Tales of the Rays continues to give me mirrage artes for biases and then let’s me clean out the banner super quickly. I mean, it’s irrelevant now that all the pulls are free but . . . I’ll miss the game being so generous to me. Judas came home on the second (the bias I was after), Kongwai (who’s mostly a nice bonus for me) came home on the third. I do plan on recording the event as usual, probably not until tomorrow or Friday, and you should probably expect a Leon/Judas team up in the video lol. Why? Because I can. XD Also I do have plans to at least record the main story, event, and sub event skits before the game closes down for good, and I’ll probably do them all by game or something to that effect. I’m going to miss the global server when it shuts down - it’s a pity Bamco didn’t do shared servers when Granblue Fantasy already showed that works.

[carnelianwings]

Since global Rays is shutting down, I’m going to take the opportunity to do something I’d been meaning to for a while: Stream it. Current plan is to stream the new Halloween event starting 8pm PST tomorrow evening on my Twitch channel!

[carnelianwings]

So I finished the Halloween event - first off, if Leon tanks hits like a wet paper bag, then Judas tanks hits like wet single ply toilet paper.  I still love him though.  I wish Kongwai had some stronger AoE spells for his 4* equipment - the faster cast time is nice, but it makes him a bit of a liability actually during the challenge quest run.  I actually had to resort to doing 2 separate runs per boss for the Formal Style and Student & Teachers stages instead of having both event characters in the stage for the entirety of the event.  Naturally, the rest of the team got filled out by Team Zestiria because, well, who else was I going to call in to help out with extra hard boss stages?  XD  Rest behind a cut for length and Destiny 1/2 spoilers haha.

I think my favorite part of the entire event is Judas trying to be Best Uncle while still being the King of Tsundere.  You can definitely tell he’s grown a lot as a person between, well, dying as Leon and reincarnating as Judas and traveling with Kyle.  I give a lot of credit to the writers because the entire event makes it clear that he’s his own person.  Like, yes, he’ll deny it until he’s blue in the face that he’s actually a reincarnated Leon Magnus, but even just in the ways he reacts to everyone, his way of quietly trying to do things behind the scenes to make Kyle happy, it all sets him apart from the much more forward and generally more in-your-face-tsun Leon.

And of course, Judas would give Stahn the anguished look, because for one thing, there’s still a part of him that’s Leon in a mask that . . . really can’t even qualify as one, and secondly, in the timeline he’s familiar with, Stahn’s dead.  Shipping reasons aside, Stahn really did go out of his way in Destiny (at least, in the PS2 remake) to befriend him, even when everyone else in the party had written Leon off as an irredeemable asshole.  And I love that Stahn, being, well, Stahn goes out of his way to befriend Judas too.  Actually that entire conversation just punched me in the feels just because this time it isn’t so much Leon is determined to not trust anyone, but because Judas is too heavily weighed down by everything he did and thinks he’s worthless because he betrayed Stahn and the others.

And then, of course, the sub event skit with Judas is just perfect.  Judas, Leon, and Marian all at once, with Judas giving Leon Life Advice that pretty much boils down to “Hold on tightly to everything you cherish in this new world” which is what you’d expect for someone who really has lost it all - Judas knows he has no place in this world, he feels like he has no worth (even history has deemed him to be a traitor to the heroes, no matter what his motivation might have been in that moment), and even here, in Tir Na Nog, he can’t really even begin to live a life of his own because Leon’s here too.  And no lie, I have to wonder what he was thinking about when he politely declines Marian’s offer for tea - does he stop to think about how good her tea was?  Does he wish he could have a cup, one more time like he used to when he was still Leon Magnus?  There’s just so much there to think about, and it also makes me realize I really should pick up Destiny 2 again and actually finish it this time, haha.

[carnelianwings]

I think Tales of the Rays needs to raise the combo damage counter cap . . .

[carnelianwings]

Berseria event, cleared!  I included both Eizen’s and Laphicet’s sub event skits at the end, along with my clear of the 40 AP Hard challenge stage this time in case people wanted to see how I cleared that stage (at a recommended 23k power, it actually put up quite the fight against Team Zestiria!)

Spoilers for the event behind the cut.

Okay, so can I just say this event is really good?  Like, my heart hurts because it’s literally all about finding a way for Edna and Eizen to be able to travel and adventure together, and Eizen’s being stubborn, and Edna’s just letting him, and I love how even Velvet is giving Eizen flack for it with the “dead little brother” card.  There was so much Sad Edna Face in the skits, and when she explained just why those palmiers are her favorite snacks . . . I might have teared up a little.

Other things I really enjoyed (read: cried over) from the event:

Velvet speaking up as both a younger and older sibling.  She may be a therion, and she may be the Lord of Calamity, but she isn’t heartless and she can still empathize with someone else’s situation.  Also, her not-so-subtly getting Eizen to stick around for Edna by having him make palmiers.

Team Zestiria being really supportive of Edna and jumping up at the call to help beat Phoenix’s challenge and just generally being really happy for her when they succeed.  Everyone knows how important Eizen is to Edna, and it just shows how much of a big happy family they all really are.

Eizen recognizing, in the end, that this Edna isn’t the same Edna he’d left behind at Rayfalke, and that she’s had at least a thousand years of life experience since the last time they’d talked, and realizing that she can take care of herself now.  And Phi, for that matter.  And be cunning and clever when she needs to be.

Magilou appearing from out of nowhere, to be a total deadweight, just like in Berseria, because Bienfu is MIA.  Honestly I laughed so hard at that just because I was like “Yup, that’s so Magilou”.  Also Velvet’s reaction to seeing Magilou, plus Magilou’s “coo coo” comment lol.

Also, I’m convinced Jude and Phi just need to make a "I got tricked into shouting embarrassing things” club.

[carnelianwings]

Rays continues to be kind to me, even if it takes a few multis to get there.  First multi got me Marta’s MA, 2-9 got me 3 copies of Lloyd’s (lol), and the 10th got me Emil’s.  The lines for when you pull the MA are voiced for Emil and Marta (I nearly screamed when I heard Rie Kugimiya’s voice for my opening multi).  I have to say, I love the line they chose for Marta’s MA.

Pulled a ton of gear for Marta, Emil, and Lloyd (not too much for Colette thankfully, since I already got most of her gear from the Summer 1 event with Guy), so expect to at least see Marta and Emil in my video!  =D

[carnelianwings]

The new mission offer thing is kinda cool, at least when you haven’t cleared all of the daily farming missions yet. I’m pretty sure running in and one shotting enemies isn’t much of a mountain to overcome though . . .

[carnelianwings]

Tales of Phantasia event, cleared! I’m really happy they’re taking the time to run events featuring the older titles alongside the new ones!  Even if Phantasia has a rather antiquated battle system, it’s still the first Tales game ever, and I’m just glad it hasn’t been forgotten. I think my favorite part though, is they used Fighting of the Spirit for the final boss stage - I’ve missed that theme so much!

I will say, though the one thing that gets me is how Cless talks like he’s a knight that stepped out of an Ye Olde English King Arthur tale while everyone else talks fairly normally.  And it’s just Rays - as far as I recall, he spoke pretty normally in the GBA localization of Phantasia.  XD  It’s also just extra funny because Lloyd is also here, and timeline wise, he’s from at least a thousand years in Phantasia’s past . . . but he talks like a normal teenager.

On a more spoilery note, based on what Efreet says at the end of the event story, it sounds like he might be the first of several such events, as he mentions the named summoned spirits we know and love from previous Tales games all have a corresponding counterpart in Rays.  Not that I mind, as long as they keep bringing back the music!  =D

[carnelianwings]

Tales of the Rays did a massive update today. Things I am stupidly excited over:

Backstep

Massive, massive, massive cost reduction on gear limit break costs

Backstep

New notice functions for letting you know when you’ve completed a mission

Backstep

Massive, massive, massive cost reductions in gear limit break costs

Backstep

Did I mention backstep and gear limit break cost reductions?  I’ll have to work on figuring out the timing for evading attacks for bonus CC, but this will be awesome.  Also, the party can actually spend gald on things other than limit breaking gear now, and that’s a wonderful thing, lol.

[carnelianwings]

Time for another double video post, featuring both parts of the Symphonia 2 event!  The event itself is a little light on the story, but hey, I’ve got both Emil and Marta on my team now, and I’m not about to complain about that!

Overall, it was a pretty fun event, and also the character sub event skits for both Emil and Marta are really good - Emil’s is with Milla on the whole “being a Summon Spirit living among humans” thing, while Marta’s is more along the lines of “Emil the super considerate boyfriend”.  Definitely some of my favorite Sub Event skits in the game thus far.

[carnelianwings]

Gonna go with a double video post today!  Also known as, I finally got off my ass and uploaded the Chapter 11 video for Rays as well, lol.  I have to say, it feels a little weird to have Cless talking like he stepped out of a high fantasy novel when Lloyd speaks normally and is supposed to be from an unsaid number of centuries before Cless’s time, lol.  Chester’s arc, while it might seem surprising to some people doesn’t really surprise me - in a lot of ways, Chester was even more focused on getting revenge on Dhaos than Cless was, as Chester really cared about his younger sister, Ami, and as I recall from Phantasia, the only family Chester had left.  And given how in Rays, there’s the ability to exoflect someone from a point in time . . . it wouldn’t surprise me that Chester would work with Phantom and the Salvation Front if it meant a chance for him to get his younger sister revived.

The latest chapter commentary I’ll put behind a cut, as it was only released 12 hours ago just for spoilers.  ;)  Yes, the plot finally kicked into high gear so, I’m hiding it to avoid spoiling people.  =D

This new chapter though . . . we’re hitting the beginning of the end of this first part of the story, and the plot’s definitely kicking into high gear with all the plot reveals. I never thought that Marcus would be a Mirrite like Karia, especially since Karia seemed to be good only as a stand in for the mascot-fairy-assistant type character, and Marcus is, well, a rather challenging boss fight, lol.  I will say I wish they’d placed more of an emphasis on Ix and Mileena having been a circle of three childhood friends instead of two, since Phillip pretty much came out of nowhere to become a really important person really quickly.  Like perhaps if Ix had actually talked about him a little more as someone he admired for being better at mirrage artes than he was.  Also, we got to meet Kocis this chapter, and, uhhhhh, I’m sorta curious what happens now to get Kocis from looking small and cute like Karia to human sized and badass like he does in all the previews I’ve seen for the Mirrage Prison in JP.

(Just one aside though, I’m not sure what it is but apparently Kocis says “YEEEEEHAWW!” too.  Has Ix been spending too much time with Sorey and it’s rubbing off on him now?  XD  If that’s the case, cowboy hat attachment for Kocis for the next part of the story, k, Bamco?  And while you’re at it, give Sorey one too.)

I will say the Radiant Mythology games are one of the few Tales games I haven’t actually had a chance to play, so I don’t actually know Kanonno Earheart very well, but she does seem rather sweet and rather quick to think on her feet in a combat situation, so I like her and can’t wait to recruit her and see what she can do in battle.  All I really know about her is from having one of her units in Link, which means all I really know is she’s cute and uses a sword, lol.

[carnelianwings]

Sorry for the wait!  Joys of going to work so I can earn money to spend it on the gachas, you know.  XD

(Going to tuck this behind a cut to avoid spoiling it for people.)

TL;DR: This is the Zestiria/Berseria crossover we deserve.

I swear Rays just keeps on getting better and better.  If I had to pick a single favorite part for this chapter . . . I’m not sure I could!  I think I’d have to point to every single skit, from Sorey meeting “old” Velvet Vengeance Demon, or him and Velvet meeting and eventually coming around and meeting each other in the middle and working together, to Edna having to step in and stop Sorey, Mikleo, and Velvet before everything came to blows and somebody died.  Or as I thought when Sorey found out Velvet is a Lord of Calamity and Velvet found out Sorey’s a Shepherd: “. . . well that escalated quickly, lol.”

But I’m really glad that they had Sorey and Velvet working together in the end, because one of the things Velvet spoke out against when it came to the Abbey was their mistreatment of malakhim, and if there’s anything Sorey believes in is that the seraphim aren’t tools to be used; they’re living breathing beings with hopes and dreams of their own.  And I really like that the skits go out of their way to have Sorey show Velvet that and it serves as the start of a common understanding between them.

Oh, and I love how Velvet’s solution to Vengeance Demon is murder, while Sorey insists on trying to talk it out . . . before coming to the conclusion that talking won’t work, trying to purify her won’t work, and Velvet steps in to murder consume her.  In a way, it’s like Velvet takes Rose’s place for Sorey’s character development - we knew the Sorey we got was after Glaivend Basin from how he acted, but from his reaction here to hearing Velvet use her “Lord of Calamity” title, it’s not late enough in the game for him to have fully come around to the idea he can’t save everyone and sometimes the only solution is a Mercy Kill when talking and purifying won’t work.  I’m pretty sure what we have is late game Velvet and Phi, probably right before or after the events in Meirchio based on how much emphasis she’s placing on doing things of your own free will.

I will confess I did really like the part where Velvet discovers she can taste things again, because it was one of the things that she really focused a lot on in Berseria, that the only thing she can taste is blood, and everything tastes like ash.  She may joke about things tasting bad to her Therion arm or not needing to eat or drink since she’s a daemon, but it was pretty clear to me during that mid-game revisit to Aball that it was the one sense she really missed and being able to taste again, even briefly, was something that made her happy.after everything that’s happened.  Plus, she really does seem to enjoy cooking, and not being able to taste the food you’re making would put a major damper on that.

New headcanon - Rays!Velvet totally volunteers for kitchen duty aboard the Heimdallr with Yuri, Jude, Mileena, and Mikleo.  Raine may try to, but after That One Dinner, everyone does their best to keep her distracted whenever she gets a new recipe idea.  (Everyone that was there for that disastrous dinner just refers to it as That One Dinner, but the full details have never been fully shared.)

And I can’t wait for the Berseria event since we know Eizen’s coming - I might actually keep tissues around depending on Edna’s reaction to seeing Eizen again!

[carnelianwings]

Sorry it’s a bit late! I was only a little busy trying to get Rank 1 in Mikleo’s Soul Arena, lol!  But here it is, the latest event in Rays!

I have to say, this entire event was really cute and sweet, just like Sophie!  I was hoping to pull Cheria’s MA before I did the event but . . . RNG decided I needed 3 copies of Asbel’s MA and another 2 copies of Sophie’s so I figured I’d just make the video and worry about getting Cheria’s MA later, lol.  I also entirely forgot I had everyone else still in their swimsuit costumes but I figured it’s still a summer event, lol.

I’m really happy they gave Asbel and Cheria those costumes - those are some of my favorite units in Link so it makes me happy to be able to use those same costumes here!  Plus, Asbel with that eyepatch actually looks pretty (dare I say) cool and badass and Cheria’s such a cute pirate (hint hint Bamco, pirate costume for Velvet when?) so I’m pretty happy with the costume choices they gave us.

Also, Sophie has the best timing ever.  Poor Cheria.  She’d get along great with Rita with how well they deal with scary stories lol.  Not to mention, she doesn’t ask for much in life, is it really so hard for Asbel to get a clue and realize all she really wants from him is some sign he sees her as someone special in his life?  He sure doesn’t seem to hesitate when it comes to his adoptive daughter (Sophie).  And then there’s Richard, lol.