#then they brought him back in 3's DLC to be the villain and his motivations make so little sense that it puts 3's villain IN THE RIGHT

[semi-sketchy]

I finished Chaos Island again

Odd thing to say, but I had a better time than my first playthrough? Like ok, the way I've been playing is map out the entire island then do the story stuff. No needing to stop and do cyberspace or worrying about tokens, I literally just spin in circles for 10 minutes (or fish, but circles is faster) and I'm good for the entire island. It's been nice.

Yes, Chaos suffers horribly from 2D, but the dash pads are just as bad on Ares and at least when I see an island in the distance, it's easy enough to run around the edge looking for a rail system rather than trying to figure which path that's out of draw-distance leads me to the top of a ledge. I like the wider area without walls sectioning things off.

That's...about where the good parts end, though.

I've been avoiding chests I know for a fact are traversal objects, (I'm actually surprised how well I remember?) but the ground is incredibly uneven to the point you can't properly cyloop some stuff. This is also bad because while you go flying half the time, Sonic also sticks to the ground and makes crossing the few lava rivers an actual problem. You jump and his gravity almost follows the curve of the ledge and dunks you. You have to put in some serious effort to combat the wonky physics here.

The quests have always been my least favorite part of the game, but this is abysmal. Bridge the gap sucks ass because you have no control over where the homing attack locks onto and you keep having to reset because oopsie! Sonic wasted 2 seconds by going out of his way to change the homing reticle two frames before you hit the button! I also had no issues with pinball on my first playthrough, but I get the hate now. Look I like pinball and I like pinball in Sonic, it's the one quest that's on brand for him (I will seriously never understand why cutting grass is an actual required objective in this game), but my GOD is that a bare bones and bad pinball table. The score multiplier also gets reset if you lose a ball, so when it decides to off itself, it pads onto your time. Hacking minigame is an odd choice, but I like it? Maybe I should play Ikaruga...

While I like mapping the island, the part I hate most here is two points are locked behind story progress and this is the only time in the game they do this. It's stupid and I hate it. I hate it because it forces me to do the story and this is the point it gets really bad.

Like Kronos was kinda nothing, Ares was entertaining with Knuckles (even though they were trying to gaslight me about Knuckles never leaving his island like I'm sorry have the last 20 years been a joke to you?), but Chaos actually pissed me off. Tails' dialogue is stupid because it's so clearly written by someone who isn't smart trying to sound smart by using big words to confuse others even though they aren't actually complicated. (mutation is not a hard word to grasp, guys.) That's not how Tails speaks and it completely throws the idea of character voice out the bloody window to fit into an archetype.

Man I wanna play Xenoblade. I'll even take Xenoblade 3 with Alvis being reduced to an ageist computer at this point.

[imthepunchlord]

For all the new things, I kinda wished they showed all of this before SwSh was released, now it's a bit more pricey and I feel like it's kinda rushed. Also for the Mystery Dungeon, I'm excited for that bit I really hope that include all the starters and non starters as well in the final.

I wish they went ahead and pushed back SaS so it’d be released 2020, with this expansion back already included, and the new places we go to can be unlocked during our adventure or as postgame. I would’ve fine waiting and would’ve preferred it, especially to give them a chance to do more with the main story which is pretty weak and made little sense, and Rose was a very forced in villain. Also made no sense in the story climax. Watching playthroughs and seeing the climax of SaS I’m just... 

Its also frustrating that you get to hear about things happening and not actually witness or help. Like, its nice having adults acknowledge that you’re a kid, don’t worry about it we’ll handle it, but at the same time, that’s a chunk of story we have a right to see, and we’re kids in this game, we don’t always do what adults say we should follow and see what’s going on. That could’ve been something optional. Go to event to see what’s happening or skip it to go to the next gym. 

And this is turning into a rant so I’m going to put this below. For those that just want to read my comments on Mystery Dungeon, scroll down till you get to the Pikachu gif, I’ll talk about it below. 

Also there could’ve been improvements with the rivals. Marnie is suuuuper intriguing and I love her, Bede I also like though that’s more me missing mean rivals and man, he’s a brat and I say that with affection. But in the grand scheme of things, they felt pointless. More could’ve been done to include them. And Hop. God, Hop. I know people like him, but from what I’ve seen, he seems like the most annoying “friend rival” made to date. He does not know what personal space is. He waits for you in front of gyms. He waits for you on new routes. He has to comment on almost every move you make in your fights with him. 

I don’t even own the games but just from the playthroughs I’ve watched I’m just... go away. Leave the lead alone. Everywhere you turn, he’s there, waiting for you. It also feels like he only got endorsed because he’s Leon’s younger brother. There’s nothing about him that I like. And, I don’t know why he gets the other wolf legendary? What makes him worthy?What makes him want to be a Professor in the future? That’s out of nowhere. 

Something more could’ve been done with Hop, maybe an arc of him resenting you a little because every match you beat him, and he’s the Champion’s younger brother and you just seem to stay ahead. Maybe let us have more scene of him talking with Sonia since he’s going to be her future assistant. If he’s going to be constantly stalking us and waiting for us, then yeah, let’s at least better build up where his character will go. 

Then there’s the issue of pokemon. With it pretty much confirmed they just reused models from gen 7, yeah, there’s no reason to not include more pokemon. If not the National Dex, which wouldn’t bother me too much, then go ahead and add about half. At most, I’d love pokemon included that would make the most sense. Like, lion is a big symbol throughout all of Europe. There should be a lion in Galar, either Litleo or Shinx returning if not a new lion pokemon. And with the expansion packs, yeah, they’re already adding 200 each pack. 

And a lot of this dlc should already be in the game. If 400 pokemon are going to be added in, they should already be there. The new Giga forms should already be there and we should’ve seen the Giga Venusaur and Blastoise the same time as Charizard. 

I’m also salty that there’s no going to Kalos. Maybe it’ll be a future expansion, and that’s a dlc I wouldn’t mind, but those are two very linked countries they’re based on. And Galar truly isn’t a big region. The Wild Area isn’t as big as it could be. Like, it doesn’t have to be BotW big, but it could’ve been bigger than what we got. And if not expanding the Wild Area, we could’ve had Kalos as a new region to go to, and more gyms for us to do. 

ALSO.

I am not a fan of you refacing the gyms and having them act as your “Elite Four”. 

They’ve already been fought. Aside from the first two, you’ve already fought all the star Giga forms they have. Its a really lazy decision. At least, you can have the two first gym leaders come in since you didn’t fight their star Giga forms, and include the other two version exclusive gym leaders as the other two. Just for some freshness in this final challenge. 

I know they’re not big on voice acting, but, they should’ve put some form of VA into these games. Its a little awkward to get animated cutscenes and there’s no voices coming forth. And its at its worst when you get to Piers and you see him singing away, I presume loudly, into his mic and its just awkward cause there’s no voice and you can hear him tapping his foot to the music and its just so off putting to watch cause something is missing: a voice! And you know what’s the kicker? Pokemon has included voice acting before. 

There is no reason to not do something similar, at least for Piers’ intro so its not so awkward to watch. 

And then post game... the official post game... I, I honestly can’t say what is even going on? Those two blonde bimbos, those designs, who agreed to pass them? For sword guy, I don’t know whether I should be laughing or uncomfortable. Its like, an in between especially when his hair flops around. Also, their reasoning, they’re causing chaos in Galar because they didn’t like a book Sonia wrote??? 

The villains in these games are just so dumb.

Like, Rose had a good motive but, he is still forced in. And he activates the climax for no reason. He was promised by Leon that he would help with Eternatus, all he had to do was wait through one match. One match that would’ve been 30 minutes at most, roughly. Yet he couldn’t wait for one match and went ahead and woke up Eternatus, does a video asking for help, and when you arrive, stops you for a battle that doesn’t make sense to have cause he asked for help why is he holding you up with a battle?? 

And Team Yell. Supposed to be like, a 2nd Team Skull and these guys could dream to live up to Team Skull. They can’t. They’re not funny or enjoyable at all. And my friend brought up a good point on the issue of having Team Yell based on punks when they’re supposed to be the “villainous” team. Punks, historically, were rebelling against an unfair system, they were progressive and revolutionary. They stood up for LBGT rights, they stood for having individual freedom, and just wanted to break the restrictions society wanted to place on people, let people express themselves and be who they want to be. 

If you want Team Yell to be a 2nd Skull and play around with punks as their theme, then they should’ve been set up to be red herrings as well. Be wary at first and then later find that they have hearts of gold, and mean well, even if they can be a tad extreme sometimes. And maybe they can help build up the danger of Rose, who in turn wants to paint them in with a bad image since they’re going against him and what’s normal in society. 

Anyway... Sword and Shield honestly should’ve been pushed back. They should’ve been saved for 2020, or even 2021, or however how much time they need. I would’ve been fine waiting. A lot of fans would be. But what we got wasn’t worth the $60 it was being sold at, and definitely not worth the $90 its being sold at with the expansion packs, and as far as I know, these are very, very small areas to explore. Cause as we’ve seen with SaS, they built it up to be big and grand and, well, the Wild Area was smaller than expected and the whole was far shorter than expected. You could beat it in 20 hours roughly. 

I even have mixed feelings on there being no enhanced version, cause these games do have potential, they just needed more time and polish, and then it could’ve worth the $60 price. But also thankful that there’s not another 2nd version and we may be getting a few expansion packs instead. 

Though I do think a lot they’re bringing in should already be in the game. 

Anyway, enough ranting about Sas, onto Mystery Dungeon!

Demo I think could’ve been a little longer, they stop you before you go on the Skarmory mission, I think it could’ve been a better placement to end after the Skarmory mission. 

Anyway, I like the changes so far. I love you can choose a different pokemon if you don’t like what you got from the test. I love that you have an updated move pool, though I feel kinda OP but you also kinda need it for these games cause I remember them being so hard and as a starter that can’t evolve till like, post game, yeah you’re going to need that help. I love that you get to wear a little scarf. Design wise, a little weird at first but it grew on me. Kinda reminds me of Okami. 

By trailer, for sure they’re adding more pokemon in. Lucario is seen in the team, when before, you only saw Lucario as a statue in Red Blue, I believe? Its been a long time. But they only had Gen 1-3 in RB, and Lucario is there so I would think they’d add in a lot more pokemon. 

For starters, I’m hopeful that beating the game, if you replay, you’ll get more options for the starters to play as and have as your partner. I’d loooove to have a chance to play as Popplio. Mega Evolution is confirmed, I wonder if regional forms would also be playable, like if we could evolve into Alolan Marowak or be one of the other two regional Meowths. Otherwise, everyone you could be in the old game is there, with no gender restriction! You can be a female Cubone! A male Eevee! A female Cyndaquil! I’m so happy about that since as a kid, I wanted to play Cyndaquil but never got it in the test and had to look it up and was bummed that it was male only and I wanted to be a girl. 

My biggest hope though is that with this, we’ll have a chance to play two player, since you have a team of two usually, and your friend or sibling or SO can play your partner. 

I am pleasantly surprised with it so far, though I will be holding off when its released in a few months, just going to listen to all reviews once they beat the game and if its very positive, cause SaS had a strong start and then went down hill with Gamefreak rushing it and cutting corners. I’m hopeful for this remake but cautious still. 

[enby-prompto]

FFXV Ask Meme!!

tagged by @chocobutt-trash >3 thank yooouuu

Instructions:

To celebrate a year of FFXV and the end of the first year of updates, let’s spread the FFXV love! I haven’t seen a tag meme like this for FFXV yet, so I decided to make one. If you see this and want to, copy/paste this list and share what your favorite things about FFXV are.

Favorite Chocobro: Prompto, but not gonna lie, Ignis comes real close

Favorite Guest Member (including Ravus and Libertus from DLC): Aranea, I love the dynamic she brought to the party and how her personality eeks out progressively while still being a badass Dragoon

Favorite Minor Character(s): Weskham. I would totally love more DLC featuring Regis and the gang, and think Weskham’s character got sidelined a lot in the main game. He owns a totally impractical bar in a totally Empire controlled city HOW

Favorite Villain: Ardyn (surprise), I love to hate him. He's fascinating, his motives are constantly in question, and honestly I think he’s hot af. I've always had a soft spot for queer-coded villains in early cinema, and while Final Fantasy has a thing for them too, Ardyn is the first to be overtly masculine in comparison to the main character to the point where it’s toxic, and I like that dichotomy. And, well, he wins?

Favorite Kingsglaive Character: Regis and Luna, for the first’s lack of agency followed by the latter having full agency for all of two seconds. The rooftop scene with Luna and Nyx is my favorite because it's when she has the most personality.

Favorite Astral/Divine Being: Levithan because she cranky and hates things. I feel that.

Favorite Character Overall: Prompto

Favorite Weapon: Ulric’s Kukris because it's so fast and so cool and so annoying to find

Favorite Location: The Vesperpool, and it's not because of fanfic I swear (okay, maybe a little). Mostly because it reminds me of FFX, and I love the dialogue and animations it triggers (the guys checking their boots) and Stylieff is SO COOL

Favorite Quest/Questline/Hunt: Legit, I love the frogs. SONIA IS THE SHIT. I love her and her research.

Favorite Boss: Ravus, because that fight is so traumatic in the context of the storyline. At least for me, that's when shit really starting feeling real, because you can be brought back, and I never hated Ravus, and his fate is so sad. It's difficult, more so than Ardyn, because of the ethics.

Favorite Daemon/Monster/Monster Family/etc: I love Tonberries. They suck. I love how they've been updated. Because they suck.

Favorite Song: Valse di Fantastica, which feels like a copout, but I can't listen to it without crying. It's a beautiful waltz, and I'm a sucker for ballroom dancing, and a really good dance will make you feel the ups and downs of a good tragedy. Cough.

Favorite Boss Theme: A Retainer’s Resolve from Episode Ignis, because I love desparate Final Fantasy strings.

Favorite Non-Episode DLC/Update/Event: I surprisingly love Comrades because I have friends to play it with that I wasn't expecting to have (hey #promptosquad), but also the AC Festival because I'll be damned if that wasn't the most character Noctis is given in game

Favorite Episode DLC: Ignis. His fighting style comes way easier to me, and the plot is good AND I LIKE THE MULTIPLE ENDINGS, haters can fuck off. That being said, Prompto’s is a super close second because WHY would Ardyn go so far out of his way to build up Prompto like that when he could have just killed Ignis? I have a standing bet that someday I’ll beat Ep Prompto on normal. It hasn't happened yet. Idk idk.

Other Favorites of Note: SONIA I love her, so much.

I tag @eli-the-writer-guy @blackiechuu @mercurialstephie @bludhavenblues @zombielucia @killerninjadominique @xliaxtasadako