#// it definitely feels like they're screwing us over compared to the other games

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom is more fun than any 6/10 game that does everything ok but nothing great has any right to be

I'm going to attempt to get myself to post stuff here again even though I don't feel up to it most of the time, just so I don't forget my thoughts on things or forget how to write, and I guess we can start with this one because I just finished it over the past week.

Literally nothing in the game hasn't been done before dozens of times, frequently just as well if not better, but somehow it's still pretty satisfying anyway, and a lot of people who've tried to do those same things have managed to screw them up in ways that they avoided here.

The crafting system was just interesting enough to keep my attention until I finished the game, but it's nothing compared to an Atelier game.

The turn-based combat has a decent number of options available, but it doesn't give you much incentive to actually use most of them and doesn't stand out much in most ways (beyond how amazingly you can break it).

The music is kind of catchy and still stuck in my head, but beyond that it doesn't really stand out in any way.

Most of the art is serviceable and nice enough to look at, but the animations are kinda stiff and a lot of stuff is relatively generic. The character portraits are genuinely pretty good though.

The characters are pretty generic too, and you can guess exactly which stereotypes they fall into right away and be completely right, but they have just enough interactions with each other to make them mostly pretty likeable to spend time with them anyway.

And the story is just a big pile of tropes and cliches, but in a pretty inoffensive way that serves its purpose to move the game forward and be mildly rewarding when things get resolved.

Is it a great game? Absolutely not. Did I have a lot of fun with it anyway? Heck yeah!

It has a satisfying loop of doing quick runs of dungeons to collect materials, going back to town to talk to people and turn in quests, crafting a bunch of new stuff, selling the extras in your shop, and then repeating it all the next day. There's nothing revolutionary, and in a lot of ways it looks and feels like something from like 25 years ago, but they've managed to get rid of a lot of the rough edges a lot of games that actually came out back then tended to have, so there are very few barriers to just playing the game if you get into that loop.

I know Kemco has a reputation these days for publishing D-tier games that are low budget and not very good (and let's be real, the physical copy of Lagoon I still have for the SNES from when I was a kid tells me no one should be surprised that's what they do now because that's what they've always done), but there are some hidden gems in there, and this makes me curious about Rideon's (the developer's) other games. I guess I'll find out when Marenian Tavern Story: Patty and the Hungry God inevitably goes on sale again in the next few weeks.

Also since I can't be bothered to figure out where to edit it into this post higher up or make a separate one for it, here's something Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom got right that much higher budget games that in theory should be much more polished surprisingly often don't: the way the menus feel.

Sure, they could've organized them a little better so you didn't need to dig through so many of them to do certain things like socket orbs into your gear, but they're quick and responsive and have options for filtering and sorting what's in them too. You can also scroll them one line at a time or an entire page at a time, when a surprising number of games don't bother with the latter.

And the real thing they got right that way too many games don't is that they're nearly instantaneous. I think it was World of Final Fantasy (definitely a Squenix game I played in the past year or so anyway) where the menus take a second or two to open up and become interactable, which is mildly annoying itself but made so much worse by the menu and cursor being drawn to the screen right away but not becoming responsive until that second or two is up. It's super obnoxious to visually indicate that you can do stuff when you can't do stuff yet, and I had to train myself over the course of the game to wait before pushing any buttons every time I opened the menu.

Something that's somewhere in between the two is Xenoblade Chronicles 3, where I'm pretty sure the menus take about the same amount of time to open, but the animation of them fading in is used to partially hide that, and more importantly they don't draw the cursor until it's already ready. As soon as it looks like you can interact with it you actually can for real, which feels infinitely better.

Anyway, that's the kind of thing that tons of AAA games manage to screw up that Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom largely avoids. It also mostly manages to avoid doing anything truly great, but just not having tons of little common annoyances goes a long way because they add up.

Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom: it's ok! And sometimes that's enough.

[fadebolt]

Yay, a creature poll! ^-^ I've really been hoping for these to return, though considering how the last two targets were Jetfishes and Squidcadas, I was actually expecting to see the other harmless, but helpful Slugcat-sized critters being covered (those being Lantern Mice, Grapple Worms and Yeeks). However, Leeches are still interesting, and I'd be more than happy to talk about them. So I do still very much appreciate the submission from Anon.

Leeches are interesting, because unlike the previous creatures, they can't really be categorized. A lot of people might compare them to Worm Grass, considering how they're both tube shaped, use similar shades of red and blue, and will attempt to swarm, overwhelm and consume most other creatures, save for a couple exceptions. Not to mention, they serve somewhat similar purposes when it comes to gameplay, and they're both generally not killable.

So this comparison is somewhat valid, but a key difference is that the game treats Leeches as creatures, while it actually treats Worm Grass as terrain. This actually has way more implications than one might think, and it causes the former to feel a lot less frustrating to deal with, than the latter. For starters - Worm Grass is both indestructible and immovable. If a dev puts some into an area, it will be present there, no matter what. And because of that, it feels very uninteresting and one-dimensional, especially in vanilla, where even the Gooieduck interaction didn't exist.

Leeches do not suffer from this problem, as they're way more dynamic, by comparison:

They can be hurt by certain things.

They can be moved into different pools, as well as outside the water, where they will dry up and become harmless, forcing them to crawl back into the water.

They can be preyed on by Squidcadas. But they can also prey on the Squids.

Their attack is a somewhat telegraphed leap that can be avoided with good movement.

They can be temporarily disabled by Snails.

They have dens, and it takes a lil while for all of them to come forth into the surface.

And very often, they're not even really dangerous - just minor nuisances that weigh you down a bit (and drain some food, if they're Jungle Leeches).

Point being, is that Leeches actually have a bit of depth to them, despite them being rather simple in concept. Of course, their design is not quite as complex or intricate as that of the Scavengers or the Lizards, but everything they do have is fairly important, encouraging players to be observant.

Now, their main issue is that they don't really have a ton of fluff outside of that, and they sort of feel like they were designed pretty much exclusively to be an obstacle for the player, and not really to be a part of the ecosystem as a whole.

This might seem like a weird sentiment. After all, they do interact with Squidcadas, don't they? Yes, but just think about it for a moment - outside of them (and the player), what can you actually see them interact with? Because aquatic creatures and plants can't be drowned, so they don't ever get attacked, and non-aquatic creatures simply don't tend to go into pools of water that have Leeches in them. As much as I talked about the uninteresting nature of the Worm Grass, at least I have actually seen that thing kill creatures that weren't my Slugcat. And while I may have occasionally seen a creature carrying a Leech or two, the only things I've ever seen them drown is, you guessed it - Squidcadas.

There's also the annoyance factor, which I actually don't think is a problem, weirdly enough. Sure, getting overwhelmed and drowned by them is not fun, and is definitely one of the more painful ways to die in this game. It's slow, it's agonizing, and it leaves you with a very awful feeling. And it feels so bad, specifically because you fully know that it was your fault. There's no RNG element, and there's no 'getting screwed over by janky AI' element either. You screwed up, and that's a reality you'll have to face. Of course, the frustrations do depend on how the game devs use/place them. And honestly, they very rarely (if ever) place them into spots where they actually feel unfair to deal with. (There's D01 in Waterfront Facility, and on Hunter, there's that big pool in Shoreline that you'll first see when entering from GW. Those are really the only two Leech spots I ever actively disliked)

They're reasonable skill-checks. Just ones that feel especially horrible to fail, which was absolutely by design.

So I'm actually going to say that I like them, and I'm being fully genuine here. I definitely wouldn't put them into 'love' tier, as I wouldn't be overly sad if they were to be removed, and because of how they don't really interact much with the other creatures.

Jungle Leeches are a tad different, and would probably get a 'neutral' or a 'dislike', not because they irritate me, but because they didn't exactly add much. They can mostly be found in Outer Expanse, where food is plentiful, the spawns are light, and water areas where they could actually be dangerous are not overly common, so they don't ever end up being more than just a minor nuisance. But I really don't see why they needed to exist, other than to just have more new creatures in Downpour. Maybe if there was a little more to them, I could see it, but unfortunately, the only thing they have going for them is a lengthy dry-out duration, and the food draining mechanic, which simply isn't enough, at least in my opinion.

But the good news are that Jungle Leeches are extremely rare, even in the Downpour campaigns where they do actually show up. (Which are the 5 that come after Hunter. Kinda convenient how they don't show up in the 3, where they would be the most troublesome, eh?) Most of 'em are blue and red, and those absolutely get a 'like' from me!

Thoughts on leeches I already know the awnser to this I just think it would be funny

[reaperheir]

to show what i’m talking about:

2: you want vampires? you can get them in nightlife which takes your sims to the city!!! you want werewolves? well, they’re included in the pets ep which means you can live as pets which NOT ONLY gives you the werewolf lifestate, it also gives you the opportunity to buy cats, dogs, guinea pigs, and birds!!!!

3: you want vampires AND werewolves??? well, here they all are in ONE (1) PACK! not only vampires and werewolves, but also has fairies, ghosts, and witches!!! live your best supernatural life!! pets???? oh yeah, you get cats, dogs, birds, guinea pigs, SNAKES, TURTLES, LIZARDS, DEER, AND RACCOONS  in  our  pets  pack, we’ve founds ways to improve on ALL the packs!!!!!

4: you want vampires????? uh. yeah. you have to buy that in a single pack which costs $20 and it ONLY gives you vampires nothing else :/ you want werewolves? uh. ALSO a separate pack that costs $20 AND ONLY gives you werewolves, nothing else. oh??? peeeets???? uhm, no. we have no pets. buuuuut here’s cats & dogs... by the title’s name, it ONLY gives you cats & dogs, so don’t get mad at us for lack of animals we told you in the title’s name !!! which btw, for cats & dogs only - it costs you $40. you want guinea pigs????? yeah, that’s gonna cost you another $10 - no birds or lizards btw we can’t make those. we still don’t have deer, BUUUUUT  for $40 more fucking bucks we can give you cows, chickens and rabbits!

[saihahas]

The sheer brilliance of the Pikmin shorts

And how their success shows that a cartoon with no dialog can excel in quality.

This is going to be seperated into three portions, for each short! Short 1 will be titled in RED. Short 2 will be titled in BLUE. Short 3 will be titled in PURPLE.

SHORT 1

Short one, The Night Juicer, is my least favorite out of the three. Granted, I still really enjoy the short! But it's not memorable in comparison to the other two. It's the shortest, and plays off of what Pikmin are named after! For those not aware of Pikmin lore or the games, Pikmin were named based off of Pikpik Carrots, which are very popular on Capitan Olimar's home planet, Hocotate.

This short begins with a very cute title sequence, showing Pikmin just doing Pikmin things! Which the series is exceptional at.

The first short starts with a Red, Blue and Yellow Pikmin watching Olimar make himself an unassuming red smoothie.

A lil squeaky sound effect is made when Oli puts his hands on his hips, thats all.

ANYWAYS-

The Primary Pikmin trio all run up to Olimar as he finishes up his cup, but stop after glancing over to the side of the blender, seeing a cut up Pikpik carrot they mistake for a Red Pikmin.

This sends the trio into a frenzy, freaking out and running away from Olimar.

Oh and this

Consider my timbers, shivered. Olimar creepily walks towards them, as if it was a horror movie. The trio fantasize what will become of them once Olimar catches them, while trying to get as far away from him as possible.

Olimar corners them in the storage closet, and the trio fear the worst. Only for Olimar to daintily push them to the side, and pick up two pikpik carrots for another smoothie.

All in all, this short isn't bad! It's cute and simple, a jokey horror trope. It simply suffers the fate most pilot episodes do. The other two are much less Olimar centered, and shine as a result.

SHORT 2

Short 2, Treasure in a Bottle, is my second favorite of the trio, but it definitely is close to overtaking short 3. This series is devoid of Olimar entirely, focused on Pikmin interacting with eachother. (And our protag, a Red Pikmin's desire for the shiny)

Short 2 starts out with a Red Pikmin, lets call him Steve, in a field chasing a butterfly. He gets distracted by a bottle, and proceeds to stare at his reflection in the glass.

The ramune is giant in comparison to Steve, and then he notices the shine of the marble inside. He screams in excitement, before scaling multiple objects to reach the top of the ramune bottle. (After falling off a grass blade gently)

Steve marvels at the marble, and hops into the bottle. He notices the long way down from where the marble lies and shudders, determined to roll the marble out. He attempts several times to do so, and on his last attempt, the marble gets stuck. After a few seconds, the marble falls and steve lands at the bottom of the bottle, and can't get out. While stuck, a trio of a single red, blue and yellow Pikmin come across Steve!

After laughing about how silly he looks inside the bottle, the trio tries to come up with a plan to break Steve out. Blue suggests filling the bottle with water, so Steve floats to the top and can be pulled off. Steve quickly shuts the idea down, as all Pikmin aside from blue Pikmin can't swim. Yellow has a much more direct approach, grabbing a bomb rock and allowing it to detonate, launching the bottle into the air. Steve flies out of the bottle, but as the bottle lands on the ground, Steve falls back into the bottle.

The three watch a trio of blue pikmin latched to eachother trying to pull down a butterfly, before a purple adds too much weight and the butterfly gets away. The trio has an idea, and like that Steve is saved!!!!

But not without taking the ramune with him ;)

SHORT 3

The final and longest Pikmin short, Occupational Hazard, is easily the best of the three in my opinion. It has Olimar present, but he isn't the focus of the short, the pikmin doing their thing are!

The short starts off showing some Pikmin taking apart pieces of a large machine, carrying bits ans pieces along, with come cute slapstick type comedy throughout. The camera pans out, showing how small the pikmin are compared to PNF-404 (Earth)

A quick pan later, and Olimar appears! He's using his whistle to direct Pikmin on where to go, much like in the games. The Pikmin are catapulting eachother, two go down, one comes up. They all carry the bits of metal to the Reasearch Pod, which assesses value. The Pod takes a brief leave, panning over Olimar and the Pikmin.

What a great shot

A yellow pikmin gets catapulted, offering a bent nail, which Olimar declines. The pikmin tosses the nail over the edge, hitting a white pikmin on the head. (Which they are VERY angry about) Two blue attempt to pull up a purple Pikmin, which was definitely unsuccessful, followed by a very angry white Pikmin yelling and taking his spot, only to be flung into the stratosphere after two purple Pikmin come down the catapult.

Back to business as usual.

The camera pans to some yellow Pikmin making their way inside the machine itself! Some yellows are carrying materials, but two stop and notice a small bolt. One touches it and gets shocked, followed by both touching it, and their leaves sprout into bulbs and flash, as they made a current! A blue tries to join in on the fun, but dies, as they can't conduct electricity. Poor guy :(

A small group of Pikmin sneak off to some pipes, ready to go have some fun! A blue Pikmin kicks a red through a pipe, and we get a cute transition to the other side of the pipes! A yellow pulls out a mushroom, a red and blue pull out screws and, there's a cute mario reference with a red Pikmin! Our lovely gang finds an odd looking pipe and decide to check it out, only for it to have been the snout of a Blowhog! It spews fire before emerging from the pipes, nearly burning the group. Luckily for them, some red Pikmin take on the Blowhog, because they're fire resistant. The red Pikmin are playing with thr Blowhog, despite it still chasing their friends around breathing fire. Luckily AGAIN, the Blowhog trips, and lands in the mud, its snout being filled with it. Naturally, they decide to have fun with the mud.

Back to Olimar and the construction site, my absolute favorite piece of pikmin media occurs. (Spliced 4 convenience, sound on!!!)

Something very big in these shorts are exaggerated reactions as well as music and sound effects playing to convey a specific feeling. Pikmin do not speak, and neither does Olimar. But in these shorts, their small soundbytes are able to convey what the pikmin are saying to eachother. This method of sound design is done extremely well, and I would argue to say that if these shorts prove anything at all, it's that nintendo could make a TV series that has no dialog whatsoever, and still have the audience rolling on thr floor laughing.

Back to the mud buds, we get a few more shots of them playing before yellow gets distracted. The shiny strikes again. Yellow walks into a large oil drum, and picks up a screw. Deeper in the drum, another sparkle catches his attention. Yellow picks the second up, and finds himself at a place with several odd colored objects. One of which he kicks.

It's a Bulborb!!! And its MAD. The mud buds are in trouble, and they're running as fast as they can from the Bulborb, who gets a red and blue Pikmin into its mouth. The two manage to get out through its nostrils, giving the others enough time to make a plan to outsmart the Bulborb.

A giant glove comes out of nowhere, halting the Bulborb and hypnotizing it, before flinging itself onto its backside. The glove was being controlled by an entourage of Pikmin, and the Bulborb catches on rather quickly, biting the glove and flinging the mud buds out. They all hide in a wheel rim(?) and some slapstick ensues.

Fed up with the mud bud's antics, the Bulborb kicks the rim, but hurts his toe instead. Poor guy,,, but he had it coming.

With a cute fanfare, we quickly return to Olimar, who has scaled the machine! But now his attention turns to the Bulborb that has been oddly fascinated with the rim.

The Bulborb finally manages to free the car wheel, throwing it into the air! Once it hits the ground, the mud buds all fall out, much to Olimar's dismay. And the way he struggles while whistling for the pikmin's attention is a BIG mood for people who've played the game before.

The mud buds start running to Olimar after hearing his call, much to the Bulborb's dismay. A chase ensues, and the Blowhog appears again, with its fire abilities regained. Rhe Bulborb continues to give chase, with two Pikmin meeting their demise. Everything seems hopeless, as the buds and Bulborb are huddled into the scoop of the machine.

And we get thrown back to the yellow Pikmin's party, with several linking to eachother and sparkling. One's foot touches the other's head, completing the current and turning the machine on.

The scoop gets sent upwards, as Olimar falls and lands on a lever, causing the scoop to let loose the contents inside. Right when it seems the buds are going to hit the ground along with the Bulborb, their leaves sprout into flowers! They gently float to the ground, while the Bulborb was.... not so lucky. A heavenly light shines as the gang ascend, with triumphant music in the background.

Oh and then all 97 pikmin left go ham on the bulborb.

The machine begins to deconstruct, and fall apart. More sadly relatable whistles from Olimar ensue, and uh

This happens.

After clearing the explosion, Olimar and the Pikmin look upon the wreckage, as the Pod reappears, and takes a value of the entire machine. The Pod asseses that the wreck is 100,000,000,007 pokos, and Olimar makes a triumphant pose. The white pikmin from earlier comes crashing down during the Fin. screen.

Now for my personal thoughts, while I have had some spread throughout, my final cohesive thoughts are as stated down below. Pikmin as a franchise has been dead for a while. We got a reboot of Pikmin 3 this year, and these were reuploaded from the WiiU era. The overwhelmingly positive response from the community as well as non-pikmin fans is second to none. These short style, no dialog cartoons have worked for Nintendo for years. (If anyone remembers the Yoshi and Poochy shorts I love you) This series is phenomenal at conceying emotion, or the volume of the situation, without saying a single word. The pikmin scream in excitement, they make their little noises in anger, dings and drones are placed perfectly, so EVERYONE can understand the situation. I fully believe that more companies should view these cartoons as cartoons, and give them the spotlight as well. Each short remains the length it has to be, and shows some fun content at that. The Pikmin interacting with eachother and behaving the way they do is adorable, especially when in the Pikilopedia from the games, Olimar mentions specifically they act like toddlers. Toddlers who help him not miss his own kids as much, while stranded on PNF-404.

If you wanna give the series a view for yourself, I'll provide the thinks below!!