Since the bandwagon for this has appeared...

[Captain Cadaver]

During the original run of the manga, not very likely since little supports it. Post-Daizenshuu, it's possible Toriyama made that retcon given some select Daizenshuu entries, though said entries are filled with a lot of problems even without retcons (eg. the idea of Boo acknowledging Goku) and it may be the anime played into influencing them due to Toriyama's forgetfulness.

 

[Keedounan]

What were the 10 coolest FMA abilities? What did FMA from 2003 do better than FMA:B and/or the manga?

Also, and on a completely unrelated note: do you intend to play The Last of Us someday? It's apparently, it is free for PS+ users, and the price is otherwise at around 20€ in France (which is more or less about 22$). This could be worth your while.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

What were the 10 coolest FMA abilities?

#1 - Gluttony's stomach
#2 - Strongarm alchemy (mainly due to Armstrong rather than the ability itself)
#3 - Scar's creation and destruction
#4 - Flame Alchemy
#5 - Greed's Ultimate Shield
#6 - Pride's shadow manipulation
#7 - Father's sun creation
#8 - Chimera creation
#9 - Freezing Alchemy
#10 - Transmutating souls into armour

What did FMA from 2003 do better than FMA:B and/or the manga?

The earlier series' slower pacing up to the 5th Laboratory events allowed for more time for the viewer to connect to some of the characters such Trisha or Nina, making the series' most dramatic events such as the Chimera reveal have far more impact. That's about it though since as soon as the 5th Laboratory events start, everything is done better in FMA:B/the manga.
There are some parts from the earlier events I'd say work better than the manga or 2003 series though. Starting off with the Freezing Alchemist as a major threat that allowed for Mustang's introduction in a pure spectacle had a lot more impact than him stopping a train robbery and helped foreshadow the eventual reveal of Wrath's identity. I also prefer how Yoki was handled in FMA:B as the manga/2003 series introduced him as a very typical early villain of the week with a generic elitist personality. The way FMA:B introduced him would give first-time watchers some level of mystery in what his link to Ed was and the eventual reveal resulted in one of the best comedic moments in the series.

Also, and on a completely unrelated note: do you intend to play The Last of Us someday? It's apparently, it is free for PS+ users, and the price is otherwise at around 20€ in France (which is more or less about 22$). This could be worth your while.

I may play it at some point. I'm not typically into zombie stories, though there are indeed exceptions to the rule after having completed Telltale's The Walking Dead series (and recently completed replaying the first 3 seasons + Michonne via The Complete Collection).

That said, how would you say The Last of Us' story compares to Telltale TWD Season 1?

 

[Keedounan]

That said, how would you say The Last of Us' story compares to Telltale TWD Season 1?

While I don't consider The Last Of Us' story to be unique by any means, I think it is told in quite an effective way. The complementarity between the gameplay and the story is a good part of that. Though there is a greater focus to the two main characters, so the others aren't as developed out as as, say, Kenny. Some of them still manage to stand out, though. The game also has a great deal of emotional scenes as well. While I personally still prefer TWD Season One, the gap isn't wide.

I recommend the remastered version to get all the DLC content immediately.

 

[Keedounan]

Speaking of the Telltale's The Walking Dead, how would you rank the characters (in a top 10 at least) in terms of badassery? What would be the best/worst moments in the game?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

#1 - Clementine
#2 - Lee
#3 - Kenny
#4 - Carver
#5 - Molly
#6 - Javier
#7 - Jesus
#8 - Jane
#9 - AJ
#10 - Lilly

To expand on all this, Clementine sewing her arm together, the struggles of her holding onto her ideals and morals in this world and enduring having her leg amputated all cement her as #1. The entirety of S1E5 speaks for itself on Lee's placement. S1E5 and Season 2's entirety helped make Kenny next with his survival ability and being able to hold onto some form of leadership despite all his tragedy. Carver's way of ruling with an iron fist and the foreshadowing he places going into the Season 2 finale help with his rank. Molly is next for how much she endured in degrading herself for the sake of her sister as well as her survival ability. Javier is next for his growth compared to his pre-apocalypse self, especially if opting to accept responsibility as Richmond's leader in the Season 3 finale. Jesus cutting down walkers on horseback speaks for itself. Jane had a lot of good survival tactics to teach Clem, though is inferior to Molly in terms of enduring hardship. AJ is next due to his age being a major factor in making his feats even more noteworthy and Lilly is there for similar reasons to Carver in her Final Season appearance, particularly during the prison scene.

Best moments, in semi-particular order:

- Season 2 finale when playing the best ending (Letting Kenny kill Jane and staying with him).
- Season 1 finale if going the mercy-kill Lee route.
- Carver's death
- Clem criticising James' pacifistic ideology
- Javier VS David (both routes)

Worst-moments:

- Killing walker Kate in the save David/Gabe route (how were the nearby walkers not all surrounding Javi when he did that loud scream?)
- Letting Lee turn in the Season 1 finale (goes against all that was set up thus far)
- Both routes of helping Jane kill Kenny.
- The Final Season's opening narration (no explanation on why Clem and AJ didn't go back to Richmond despite ANF's ending setting it up).
- Javi's plot armour in ANF Episode 1's climax.
- A new one I noticed about S1E5 if having let Ben did prior. Why did the group leave collecting something to pull Christa out to an either one-armed or heavily fatigued Lee?

 

[Keedounan]

Is there any update you might want to do for your top ten of the best characters of Telltale's TWD?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

I'd probably remove Jane and replace her with Carver at #10. She had a lot of influence on Clem's experience in all routes, which allows her to edge out a step above Molly, though there's nothing excusing her manipulation of the AJ situation as being anything other than needlessly out for blood with Kenny. Meanwhile, Carver remained a stand-out villain for the series due to his intolerance towards failure in conforming to his order whilst the foreshadowing for how the group would react to Kenny as well as Clementine's desensitisation to violence in some optional routes (particularly telling AJ to shoot Lilly) give him more impact than later villains like Joan or Norma, the former of which's characterisation can be summed up as just "the greater good" that had already been done plenty of times at that point and the latter is nowhere near as intimidating in the power she has as Carver or even Joan were.

 

[SSJ2]

Can't remember atm but do you have ps4 or xb1?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Both, though I only really play XB1 nowadays. I may be going back to using the PS4 to play the Yakuza games though.

 

[SSJ2]

What do you play currently on XB1?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Replaying Telltale's The Walking Dead: The Final Season and may get Gears 5 at some point. I'm mainly just waiting for DB Kakarot after seeing all the footage of it.

 

[SSJ2]

Do you think new DB game good?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

With all I've seen of it, I'm actually expecting it to be the best DB Game yet, with it essentially combining Legacy of Goku/Buu's Fury's RPG elements with a fighting system more streamlined for a 3D game. Also, the cutscenes alone blow anything prior out of the water.

 

[Keedounan]

What's your top 10 character designs for Telltale's TWD?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

#1 - Chuck
#2 - Season 2 Kenny
#3 - Jane
#4 - Clementine (all seasons)
#5 - Molly
#6 - Lee
#7 - Marlon
#8 - Bonnie
#9 - Carver
#10 - Pete

To sum them up, Chuck's appearance tells us all we need to know about his character and enough to believe he's been homeless for a long time. Kenny's look in Season 2 (particularly post-Episode 3) helps with the unhinged aspect added to him after Sarita's death. Whilst I don't like the rise of extremely short-haired girls in modern media, Jane is an exception when it makes sense with the world she's in. Clementine's growth as a character each season match her development well and Molly's hooded jacket helped gave her some mystery in her introduction. Lee is fine as a protagonist design and it can make many scenes believable regardless of your choice, though I wouldn't say he has anything that presents his character traits well. Whilst Marlon has a big fashion faux-pas, it helps sell how try-hard he's being at seeming unique enough to maintain his leader position, complimented by his reaction if you choose him when answering Violet's question of who will die first. Bonnie is amongst the top 10 for being fairly dishevelled compared to many other characters, which overall makes her one of the most realistic looking characters when it comes to the zombie apocalypse setting. Carver sells his intimidating presence well in looks alone, though that causes a lot of nuance to be lost in his introduction. Finally, Pete is someone I can buy as being quite the veteran and I have little to say about him beyond that.

 

[Papasmurf]

Rate the following Shonen protagonists:

Kenshiro

Ryo Saeba

Joe Yabuki

Hanamichi Sakuragi

Yusuke Urameshi

Gon Freecs

Atem and Yugi

Light Yagami

Naruto

Luffy

Ass Ketchup

Toriko

Shinji Ikari

Edward and Alphonse

Didn't include Galu as you reviewed him just today, or Ichigo as he'd be an obvious 1/10 2

 

[Fantastische Hure]

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[youtube]05sJHM0cVW8[/youtube]

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[youtube]Ra4JYKt_Lgo[/youtube]

 

[Captain Cadaver]

[mention]Kenshi[/mention]

Many of them may require individual character assessments as to explaining their rating (though I've already done ones for Light, Luffy and Naruto in Pages 34, 35 and 40 of this thread), but as far as purely the ratings go:

Kenshiro - 8/10 (Part 2 would lower him down to a 7 or 7.5 if including it)
Ryo Saeba - 5.5/10
Joe Yabuki - 10/10
Hanamichi Sakuragi - 6.5/10
Yusuke Urameshi - 6.5 or 7/10
Gon Freecs - 7/10
Yugi/Atem - 3/10
Light Yagami - 5/10
Naruto Uzumaki - 3/10
Monkey D. Luffy - 2/10
Ass Ketchup - 1/10
Toriko - 5/10
Shinji Ikari - 9/10
Edward Elric - 8/10
Alphonse Elric - 7.5/10
Kenshin Himura - 8/10 (not included, but worth mentioning anyway)

Ichigo could even warrant a 0/10 after the first arc when being reduced to near enough a nothing plot device 2

[mention]Fantastische Hure[/mention] Both are ones I have mixed feelings on. On one hand, the multiple instruments make a catchy piece and their juxtaposition matches L's major changes in personality. On the other hand, the upbeat nature doesn't match L's portrayal nor their use in scenes, nor do the choice in instruments with more orchestral instruments being a better fit.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

I've been watching this series called Higurashi lately. It looks like a scary series, but is also kind-of sad. Still weird at times though. The OST is gr9 though.

Spoiler

[youtube]jouJeRWF56U[/youtube]

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[youtube]zZqdyBp3U7k[/youtube]

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[youtube]kypmDySS_DU[/youtube]