-
Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:
- The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
- Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration
Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.
Hi, Lea, Hi! CrossCode! Bye!
- Thread starter MCBanjoMike
- Start date
I really enjoy the way that the first two major dungeons had "that one chest" that you could absolutely find on your own if you were paying very close attention but are quite likely to miss, and then had other "players" discussing their one missing chest and trading clues on where/how to look more closely.
The first dungeon in particular also had some of the best gear I found in the early game, so it really rewarded persistence. The stuff you got in the second dungeon didn't seem to be quite as worthwhile, sadly.
(Note: mid-game plot spoilers. I'm level 40.)
I did not expect this game to make me cry. Also pleased that I called the big twist just before the game spelled it out. That's always so satisfying and difficult for a piece of media to pull off well, but they nailed it for me.
I did not expect this game to make me cry. Also pleased that I called the big twist just before the game spelled it out. That's always so satisfying and difficult for a piece of media to pull off well, but they nailed it for me.
Sounds like you're right about where I am, or maybe even a hair farther? I'm about to sneak into the tower in the red wastes area. Definitely had some big story developments recently.
OK, I just played through the rest of that area and the whole sequence at the end was awesome. If the game is going to go full meta on me, including hacking stat values and clipping out of bounds, then I am here for it. Hitting the boss for billions of HP at a time was particularly joyful. I will say that I felt pretty bad afterward when I learned that red wastes Lukas is another AI...who doesn't know he's an AI trapped in a shitty wasteland. That sucks, man.
It opens up a potentially huge can of worms with respect to the rights of the player to not have their identity stolen vs. the rights of this new consciousness to continue to exist and I'm fascinated to see where the game is going with all of this. I just had no idea that this is the experience I was signing up for it, but I'm super excited about it.
Obviously Lea has some communication issues (why?), but right now it bugs me that she isn't champing at the bit to go rescue AI Lukas. I imagine that will come later, but it feels like it got dropped in all the confusion and the return to the Solar.
I got a bit discouraged at the fact that I was going to have to duel Apollo Justice for a third time to gain access to the next main area, but last night I finally did it and it was a piece of cake. They even told me I was underleveled! Turns out you can really do some damage with the second tier throw art that sends out a cloud of seeker orbs. Then I made friends with him and his quadroguard buddy, which I kind of saw coming but was happy about nonetheless. The jungle area is gigantic! I spent an hour running around before finally stumbling into the city, which of course is actually right next to the entrance. That's fine, though, I found a few treasures and unlocked a couple of shortcuts as I was exploring, and we all know that's the real point of this game.
Yeah, the jungle was a bit overwhelming; I think it'll end up being the game's largest area. I almost ran out of map stamps when mapping it. You'll be there for a while, but I finally just left. The boss at the end of the final dungeon there was my favourite fight in the game so far.
I'm missing exactly two chests in the jungle, but I'm hopeful later quests will turn them up, since I feel like I was very thorough.
I'm missing exactly two chests in the jungle, but I'm hopeful later quests will turn them up, since I feel like I was very thorough.
This game is good. Good action, excellent puzzles, and all the platforming in the world at large to find secrets is so so so neat, I love it. Been doing lots of quests on the side. I just beat the Faj'ro Temple and yeah dude this game is fuckin goooooood. Also recently unfolded a decent wrinkle of plot, and this game is fuckin GOOOOOD.
Currently I'm wandering around the jungle area, partied up with a goober and his friend. Anyone want to give me a gentle nudge as to where I'm supposed to be going? I went to the city area and they told me I could enter the temple whenever I wanted, and they gave me a hint to go to the tree in the Royal Grove but I have no idea what I'm looking for, nor can I figure out how to get up near that tree. In the meantime I've done some fun quests and explored a whole fuckin' lot, but I wanna progress the story a bit now.
Last edited:
The temple is directly north of the city, via whichever way you want to round your way to there. You pretty much just follow the road/signs, going either clockwise or counter-clockwise. In order to actually get in, you'll need to do stuff in the village in the SE corner of the jungle, but the game will make that clear when it happens. It sounds to me like you're trying to enter an entirely different optional area.
Thanks @JBear ! Appreciate the small nudge. Dont know how I didnt see the obvious and clear path goin north there.
Cleared the first temple there. This game is super cool. Loved the story beat of Emilie and Lea reconciling and crying, with Emilie apologizing profusely while Lea just says "Hi!" between sobs. Such a good heartwarming moment and got a genuine laugh out of me.
Cleared the first temple there. This game is super cool. Loved the story beat of Emilie and Lea reconciling and crying, with Emilie apologizing profusely while Lea just says "Hi!" between sobs. Such a good heartwarming moment and got a genuine laugh out of me.
Got through all the Krys'kajo temples finally. Man, that was fuckin' tough. Some of those forced battles drove me insane, those puzzles were pretty intense, and that last boss was a LONG fight. Drove me to my wits end. I got pretty frustrated. But I got past it! This game is fun as hell.
Yeah, of all the things that frustrated me in that (series of) temple(s), the boss wasn't so bad. I maybe had just been playing the game too long. The boss was pretty cool once I got a handle on its pattern. And yeah, I'm curious as to how that fight plays out if you beat the ape first!
Love how bits of the in-game game are discussed and talked about by the other players of the "game". Its an interesting way to provide a unique level of metacommentary.
Love how bits of the in-game game are discussed and talked about by the other players of the "game". Its an interesting way to provide a unique level of metacommentary.
I finished last night. It remained good from start to finish. Miscellaneous thoughts:
- I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't touch on the rights of the original players who were violated much (outside of Shizuka's anger, to a point). I guess it's outside the spirit of the game, and not the story they were looking to tell, but it's a fascinating idea that I'd have liked to see explored. Lukas seems extremely chill about it all.
- I'm really surprised that they kind of modeled MMO end-game, including stubs for content to come and various optional gear grinds and bonus modes, none of which you need to engage with to beat the game, but all of which I did.
- I didn't get 100% trophies, but that's because no world exists in which I'd be able to win a dungeon race.
- I bought a v. good doggo, and I loved having him with me for the final dungeon.
- There are all sorts of fun little easter eggs in this game, especially at end game, but my fave had to be bringing Emelie and Lukas to the recreation of his apartment. I also took Emelie on a guided tour of Vermillion laser bridges.
- Even 70 hours into this game, I'm apparently not above banging my head against a puzzle for 20 minutes, only to realize that I'm doing things the wrong way. It happened twice in the final dungeon. >_< (The puzzles in this game are aces.)
- I think I got the good ending? Was there a bad ending? Is it worth using the replay feature to see, if so?
- I hope the post-game DLC comes soon, because if it doesn't then I'll never play it, because I'll have hopelessly forgotten everything to do with this game. And if it does, I hope it reunites Lea with not-Lukas and elaborates on Sidwell a bit. That final Lea dream sequence was a real unexpected swerve. Oh, and more with the crew of the Solar would also be good; they felt under-utilized and under-elaborated.
MrBlarney
(he / him)
Regarding JBear's thoughts:
I'm a year out from playing the game, so my memory might be a bit rusty, but I figured that the deal with AI Evotars was so secretive and that everyone had bigger things to think about at the moment that the question of the rights of the original players would necessarily wait until the post-game chapter. I would definitely expect that there will be more discussion of the fallout of what to do with the AIs in the post-game chapter and I'm sure that AI Lukas will show up again.
I got the 'bad' ending the first time around, it's not really worth going back to. All that's really left to do is to wait for the devs to finish the post-game content. I'm so far out of playing, I've steeled myself on doing a quick New Game + run once it releases so that I can remember how everything works.
I got the 'bad' ending the first time around, it's not really worth going back to. All that's really left to do is to wait for the devs to finish the post-game content. I'm so far out of playing, I've steeled myself on doing a quick New Game + run once it releases so that I can remember how everything works.
So I'm sitting at about 52 right now, item level a bit higher than that, and I'm getting a bit pooped on exploring/questing/treasure hunting/etc (there is a LOT to do in this game, holy cow). I'm guessing I'm at the end-end game now, because a big crazy story beat happened and now the next thing I'm supposed to do is storm the Evoground and do the thing. My question, how high of a level should I be for all that? Am I in a good spot or would it be good to grind a bit? I guess I could just go find out for myself. I'm just reluctant to because I find this game pretty anti-fun when it's too hard.
For instance, I nearly lost my mind thinking the game wanted me to beat Shizuka! Thankfully the game spared me after I lost three duels in a row or whatever it was. I only got one round off her, it was ridiculous. But I'm also not sure if I was just under-leveled for that because I'm fairly confident you can win that duel, it just wasn't going to happen for me. I like difficulty in games, but I can't do twitchy-bullshit difficulty.
For instance, I nearly lost my mind thinking the game wanted me to beat Shizuka! Thankfully the game spared me after I lost three duels in a row or whatever it was. I only got one round off her, it was ridiculous. But I'm also not sure if I was just under-leveled for that because I'm fairly confident you can win that duel, it just wasn't going to happen for me. I like difficulty in games, but I can't do twitchy-bullshit difficulty.
I'm afraid I can't be of much help. I can tell you that I felt dramatically over-leveled for the end-game (which you are indeed at) and just kind of blew through it, but I was level 64, so.
IIRC, I was about level 58 for the duel, and I also did not succeed, although I came close. I'm surprised how much of a level difference there is, though, since I went there about as soon as it was available, and I've had EXP-reducing gear glued to me for most of the game (to improve item drop rates).
IIRC, I was about level 58 for the duel, and I also did not succeed, although I came close. I'm surprised how much of a level difference there is, though, since I went there about as soon as it was available, and I've had EXP-reducing gear glued to me for most of the game (to improve item drop rates).
I've been doing some quests and fighting mandatory battles, but pretty much any fight that wasn't mandatory I've been avoiding ever since Maroon Valley, which is probably not the best idea. Like in outdoor areas I have just been running past everything. I've gone back to Sapphire Ridge and ground myself up to about 54 now, but man it's sure taking a while. Then again, if Shizuka was supposed to be wildly difficult, maybe I'm overthinking things, and should just get on with the rest of it.
Wow, I've been lapped in my own thread, I'm still stuck back at the jungle area. Sadly, I'm a bit stalled and I have to push myself to play more - I'd really like to get back to the zany, 4th-wall-busting antics like the escape from the red wastes. But I'm glad to see everyone excited about this game! It deserves more attention than I generally see it getting.
Okay, game beaten now! That final boss was a fuckin' doozy. Glad there was a checkpoint at the midpoint of the fight. Also glad they brought back the "hacking" thing, and get to do quadrillions of damage to the boss by the end because that's always a good time.
Some of those final dungeon puzzles had me STUMPED. One of the earlier ones (the shock/frost one on the first floor, I think?) took me easily at least an hour to figure out, which, once I realized the solution I felt sorta dumb, but also not really because they were fuckin hard. I'm pretty certain at least one of them I did "wrong", because there was a bunch of stuff laying around that I didn't even utilize. Specifically, the last fire/wave puzzle on the... 2nd or 3rd floor? I think? It had a torch you could shoot an elemental shot through that went into a "slow-motion" orb and then bounced around to hit a bomb. There was a bunch of those swirly green portals all over the place, and a switch up on a ledge, and a whole bunch of destructible rocks in the way of everything. There was also one of those cubes that teleport around if you hit it with a Wave shot and then get that shot to hit a green portal thingy. But I straight up never used the block, because I couldn't fuckin figure out how to get it out from behind the destructible rocks. Instead I discovered if you timed your initial shot into the slow motion bubble correctly, you could hit the bomb with two Fire shots simultaneously, which would send the bomb flying and break all the rocks I needed to get to the switch I had to press. I have no idea if that's what was SUPPOSED to happen, but that's how I solved it, and I truly have no idea how I was supposed to solve it otherwise.
Anyway this game was fucking cool as hell. 2020 is an insane year for fucking good indie games on the switch. Not sure if I enjoyed this more than Phoenotopia, but I enjoyed this game a whole fucking lot. There were some real emotional beats in this game that actually got to me, and the story/world is fucking engaging. The puzzles were top-notch, although sometimes a lot for me to try and digest. Some of the combat was a bit frustrating, but it might be that I was a bit under-levelled (or appropriately levelled and this is how the game was meant to be experienced, perhaps?).
10/10, everyone should play this game, it fuckin rules.
Some of those final dungeon puzzles had me STUMPED. One of the earlier ones (the shock/frost one on the first floor, I think?) took me easily at least an hour to figure out, which, once I realized the solution I felt sorta dumb, but also not really because they were fuckin hard. I'm pretty certain at least one of them I did "wrong", because there was a bunch of stuff laying around that I didn't even utilize. Specifically, the last fire/wave puzzle on the... 2nd or 3rd floor? I think? It had a torch you could shoot an elemental shot through that went into a "slow-motion" orb and then bounced around to hit a bomb. There was a bunch of those swirly green portals all over the place, and a switch up on a ledge, and a whole bunch of destructible rocks in the way of everything. There was also one of those cubes that teleport around if you hit it with a Wave shot and then get that shot to hit a green portal thingy. But I straight up never used the block, because I couldn't fuckin figure out how to get it out from behind the destructible rocks. Instead I discovered if you timed your initial shot into the slow motion bubble correctly, you could hit the bomb with two Fire shots simultaneously, which would send the bomb flying and break all the rocks I needed to get to the switch I had to press. I have no idea if that's what was SUPPOSED to happen, but that's how I solved it, and I truly have no idea how I was supposed to solve it otherwise.
- Not much of a spoiler or even a thought, but my switch straight up errored-out and closed the game right in the middle of the ending montage. I got pretty upset, especially since I had no idea when I saved last, and thought I'd have to fight the final boss again. But luckily, when I started the game back up and continued, it didn't just pick up after the final boss, it picked up like right where it left off in the ending montage. Which makes me think perhaps its a known issue and this was the fix.
- So, I'm pretty sure Sidwell and C'Tron are the same guy?? That has to be the case, right? Judging how there was a post-credits scene of C'Tron in the vermillion wastelands, making a remark about how he agrees the cliffs don't make sense, which is something Evo-Lukas had remarked on back when we were there initially.
- I got the bad ending initially. It was so hilariously abrupt that I didn't know what to think of it. If you want to know, the only actual difference between the bad and good ending is that Sergey says he has BAD news instead of GREAT news, and informs the First Scholars that Instantainment has banned all Evotars and confiscated/deleted all the existing data of Evotars. Basically, Lea dead, yo. Emilie collapses in despair. And then, the end! You end up in that weird meta-space as Lea, where you are told "the future is locked" and it allows you to go back into the game before you started the Vermillion Raid. Once I went and did that turing-test sidequest, I went back and started the vermillion raid, and the game straight up gives you the option to skip literally everything after that (the raid, the tower, even the final boss), and watch the GOOD ending play out, which I totally took the game up on. Good ending was a lot happier! And now I have a save game in the meta-space where I will be able to revisit and do the post game once it's available.
- The end of Gautham was... extremely dark.
- I'm still not 100% clear on what things in CrossWorlds were the "real" world, and what stuff was the "game" world. Like, there was the cargo ship and all those people, which all seemed 100% real-world stuff, right? And everything in the playground was instant-matter stuff. But I had thought that maybe some of the people in the playground were real people, but based on how the game world reacted to Gautham walking around in the tower, that seems like it would be more apparent if real people were existing in the playground, right? But also the game world didn't react to Gautham that way when we first saw him in the Vermillion Wastelands, when Lea was initially brought there, right? So I guess those were real buildings. And I'm guessing the lizard-people on "Shadoon" were all made up for CrossWorlds and not real. (I played the game for a long time thinking that a lot of the "in-game" stuff was "real"). Anyway. I'm pretty sure almost everything was "in-game" stuff except for SOME environmental stuff, but hard to say what.
Anyway this game was fucking cool as hell. 2020 is an insane year for fucking good indie games on the switch. Not sure if I enjoyed this more than Phoenotopia, but I enjoyed this game a whole fucking lot. There were some real emotional beats in this game that actually got to me, and the story/world is fucking engaging. The puzzles were top-notch, although sometimes a lot for me to try and digest. Some of the combat was a bit frustrating, but it might be that I was a bit under-levelled (or appropriately levelled and this is how the game was meant to be experienced, perhaps?).
10/10, everyone should play this game, it fuckin rules.