#(things are still early for Alola so MAYBE it will improve over time)

[sage-nebula]

If you could rewrite Pokemon Sun/Moon with things like better character development and more depth to the Aether Foundation, how would you do it? :D

I mean, these games were such a ridiculous disappointment (especially with regards to the Aether Foundation) that we could be here all day, but …

Let’s get started.

General:

Let the Island Challenge actually be a fucking challenge. I love the concept behind it, and how similar it sounded to the Orange Islands in the anime, and I love the idea of having that instead of the standard Gym challenge, particularly since it allowed Alola to be run under a religious oligarchy rather than the typical League system (even if Kukui staged a political revolution, but more on that in a second). However, the actual Island Challenge itself was pathetic. There was hardly any exploration, the challenges themselves were like teeny-tiny minigames … and considering how interesting or challenging they could have been, it made the entire thing feel boring, particularly since the “totem battle” at the end is basically just a Gym Leader battle, albeit against “wild” pokémon. It’s a cool concept that Game Freak didn’t bother to flesh out at all.So instead, I’d want the Island Challenges to actually be detailed and fleshed out. Give us temples or caves to fully explore. Give us actually challenging puzzles to complete. Make it a blend between Pokémon and The Legend of Zelda. And don’t just have us do a totem battle for every single one, or at least—perhaps there’s a way to pacify the totem pokémon without battling. Maybe you can battle, but you can also find alternative solutions with your team, thereby strengthening the message of unity between person and pokémon and also giving players various different ways to complete their Island Challenge—a way to make it unique to each person. At the very least, don’t just have us go through pretty much empty locations (like Kiawe’s mountain—there was practically nothing there, just a boring hike to the top and then a ridiculously easy “game” before the totem battle) until we hit the end goal. Give us more lore, exploration, and challenge instead of wasting a perfectly good concept.

GIVE. US. BACK. THE. BIKE. Or at the very least do away with the fugly outfit and godawful Ride music. And for that matter, let us use our own pokémon for the Ride feature. I should not have to call upon a charizard when I have a charizard in my party. That’s asinine. 

Similarly, MAKE ALOLA BIGGER, and make it so that we can surf between the islands. Alola feels tiny. Having a tiny region isn’t necessarily new—some of the other regions aren’t that big, tbh—but it feels very compact because you just insta-travel between the islands, rather than being able to surf the distance as you could in, say, Hoenn. Additionally, some of the islands are mini, sometimes only having one city or town. I get that Alola is based on the State of Hawaii, but there were certain design choices that limited exploration that make it seem infinitely smaller, which is a disappointment. Make Alola bigger, or at the very least let it breathe.

Stop having everyone fawn over and worship the player character. It felt so unnatural and got to the point where I wanted to punt all of the other characters into the ocean. The player character—or player, I guess—does not need to be worshiped and have their shoes licked for being “OMGOSH SO AMAZING BEST TRAINER EVAR!!1!!!1!!” by the other characters. I hate that. Let the other characters be incredible, too. Let them recognize their own strengths and talents. Shine some light on them, rather than on this rando child who spontaneously moved to this region and yet is somehow the savior they were all waiting for. I just … hated that, so much. It felt like even more fawning and salivating over how awesome the player is than usual, and it really rubbed me the wrong way.

Put so much more focus on Kukui’s honest-to-Arceus political revolution. Kukui overturned the religious oligarchy that had governed Alola for ages and turned it into a League system because … well, because he felt like it, I guess, and yet this not only goes smoothly, but basically no attention is called for it whatsoever. Now, I know that Nintendo did this because they still wanted to give the player a chance to be the Champion and have an actual throne to sit on while the rest of the characters at the game salivate at their feet (sigh), but that doesn’t change the fact that this should have been met with a lot of resistance and upheaval and should have been a very solid B Plot (if they weren’t going to make it the actual plot), particularly since the end result was an eleven-year-old child who had just moved there and knew nothing of the history or populace suddenly being placed in charge. Like, you would think Hala would take serious issue with Kukui being an upstart and calling for a revolution, but no, he was fine with it because … just because. We don’t know, because Hala didn’t get to actually do much in the main story despite being hyped up as an important character. But as far as we know, everyone was perfectly fine with Kukui’s massive political revolution, and the ramifications this would have on Alola (both domestically and internationally in fields like general politics, finance, et cetera) were completely ignored.So let’s explore that at least a bit. Even if Kukui is still ultimately successful, perhaps show him meeting resistance from people like Hala, and gaining support from people like Nanu (since Nanu doesn’t want to be a Kahuna anymore lol), and people like Olivia being torn. Show the effect this has on the kids, where perhaps Hau ends up coming into conflict with Hala because Hala is against Kukui’s revolution, while Hau thinks it could be interesting and fun, and so they encounter some family strife there as Hau tries to find his own way in contrast to what his grandfather wants for him. Show this coming up again and again, and explore Kukui’s motivations for it more deeply. Why does he want a revolution so bad? Is it really that he wants Alola to have a stronger presence internationally? Does he have personal stakes in that? Will Alola have a stronger presence internationally if they switch to a League system? And so on and so forth. And since he’s the one leading the revolution, make him the Champion, versus the eleven-year-old who literally just moved here and knows fuck all about Alola. Honestly, please give Kukui some semblance of intelligence and let his revolution actually be treated with some degree of gravitas, as it should be. (Alternatively, if Game Freak is incapable of doing this, remove this subplot and let Alolan government stand. We don’t need to be the Champion. It’s not that big of a deal after six bloody generations of letting us do just that.)

On that note, Professor Burnet needs to play a bigger role in the Aether plot. While Kukui is spearheading his revolution, Burnet is studying wormholes and Ultra Space and, as such, should have played a bigger role in the main plot, going up against Lusamine (or at least assisting the kids in doing so) in the process. That she was all but ignored in favor of Kukui, whose research and ultimate goals had absolutely nothing to do with the Aether Foundation, was a huge mistake and (imo) just one of the MANY ways in which Gen VII treated its female characters horribly.So let her be more involved. Actually show her relationship with Lillie, rather than just telling us about it in a couple lines of dialogue. Let her continuously run experiments on the wormholes and dig deeper into what the Aether Foundation is doing. Show her her science contrasts with that of Lusamine’s, in addition to how her parenting contrasts with that of Lusamine’s. Let her show up at various times throughout the plot, including when Aether Paradise is stormed, because this is her field of expertise and, as such, she is damn knowledgeable about it. Let Burnet be the one to point Lillie and the others to the pedestals where they can get the flutes, and let her be the one to direct them when it comes time to play. Basically, actually utilize this wonderful character that was created, instead of ignoring her because she’s not the “main professor” (or more accurately, because she’s female, because apparently this series can’t give us a female professor without upstaging her with either her father (Cedric Juniper) or her husband (Kukui), regardless of how little sense that upstaging makes).

Make the RotomDex optional. This speaks for itself. The RotomDex was obnoxious, and is quite possibly one of the worst companion characters I’ve ever seen in a video game (far worse than Navi, for instance). I hate it. 

Don’t make Team Skull bad guys at all. The idea of having them appear to be criminals (or at the worst being punks) but actually having some heroic moments near the end was one that was kicked around a lot, and was also one that was shamefully wasted by making them cardboard caricatures of villains instead. Instead, it’d be much better if they were instead representative of the terrible CPS system / justice system in Alola (at one point a cop NPC mentions there being no crime despite crime being everywhere, showing how useless the police in Alola are), which could potentially be fuel for why people like Kukui and Nanu want a revolution, thus tying into that B Plot. It would also drive home a message about appearances being deceiving to have Team Skull actually be decent people despite being forced to sometimes steal food because they have none, whereas the Aether Foundation looks pristine but clearly isn’t. It’d certainly be more meaningful than the “they’re comic relief but also still Bad Guys™” message we were given instead.On that note, LET PLUMERIA PLAY AN ACTUAL ROLE, GOD DAMN IT, particularly with regards to Guzma teaming up with Lusamine (if he still acts as her grunt), and Plumeria being the one to confront him over it. If Plumeria is the aneki of Team Skull, let her act like it, and let us see her acting like it. I would have her stepping up and taking charge, the one truly in charge of Team Skull (and even Guzma tbh) because she has her shit together. I would also expand and build upon her relationship with Gladion, with whom she actually does have a good relationship with, so that he, too, had some support outside of Null / Silvally. But more on that in a second.

Give Hau actual depth. The most we get out of him is that he has an inferiority complex, is a bit of a stepford smiler, and dislikes how much of a bully Gladion is to him (and thus dislikes Gladion—and yes, he did dislike him, complete with an D8 reaction whenever Gladion showed up, and their “reconciliation” was rushed af, so I don’t count it).  That’s not really enough, and Hau deserved better. If Kukui’s revolution B Plot was given more focus, inserting that conflict between Hala and Hau mentioned before could spur Hau to really find himself and his own motivations other than what was expected of him + his “having fun” excuse. He could also have his relationship with Lillie explored more, particularly since they were friends before the player character showed up and stole everything, meaning that he should have been more prominent as a support figure for her rather than being shoved to the side so that the player could do it instead (again, rather inexplicably). And as a final idea, perhaps he could be manipulated by Lusamine (whom he seemed to like in the games) into working for her, possibly even for Lillie’s sake (potentially) because he wants to help Lillie reconcile with her mother, + believes Lusamine is doing the right thing, + is potentially even trying to escape the brewing conflict between Kukui and Hala and figures that since the Aether Foundation is removed from it, joining up with them is a safe way to go. He doesn’t know that Lusamine is evil af, of course, and so he (rather like Alan in the anime) is completely manipulated into thinking he’s doing good—but that could spur his development along even more and make him a much more prominent and important character, which would be awesome considering the fact that he was another under-utilized character who, again, deserved better. There’s no reason why he can’t be involved in the plot from multiple angles so that he can exist as more than a simple rival, and I think that would be a good way do it.

Aether Foundation + Aether Twins:

LET. THE AETHER. FOUNDATION. BE. SCIENTIFIC. And I don’t mean general zoological science, but I mean, very specifically, that I want them to be drenched in alchemy and science of that nature. It doesn’t have to be historical, realistic alchemy; in fact, making it strictly realistic would be boring, which is the reason why stories such as Fullmetal Alchemist go the “magical alchemy” route. Nonetheless, I want that. I want the basis of the Aether Foundation to be scientific and alchemical. I want the reason for their existence to be based in the alchemy plot that makes up the A Plot, because these games have been heading toward alchemy for several generations now and it would have made so much sense to have that payoff be here. I want to see experiments, I want to see talk of theories and hypotheses, I want tests, I want—I want the Aether Foundation to resemble Aperture Science Laboratories in a lot of ways, basically.

On that note, the “conservation” needs to be a farce. None of this “well, most of them were good, but it’s just the neurotoxins that made them bad!” bullshit. The conservation needs to be nothing more than a facade in order to gain them funding from the government + good press. Additionally, the pokémon that they “save” could be used in experiments (such as the chimera creation experiments that created the likes of Type: Null) behind the scenes. Essentially, just as Team Skull should have been good with bad publicity, the Aether Foundation needs to be bad with good publicity. LET THEM BE EVIL, particularly since I love the visual contrast between how pure and clean they look, but how corrupt and vile they are beneath the surface. Love that so much.And note, too, that it isn’t necessarily that every single grunt knows the full scope of Lusamine’s plans and is on board with them. Perhaps some of them are in it for personal gain, perhaps some of them are in it because they’re interested in studying science, perhaps they put up with parts that creep them out because they feel the benefits outweigh the cons, et cetera. Not every unnamed Aether employee needs to be evil, they can all have their own motivations for going along with the plan + might only know bits and pieces, but by and large the Aether Foundation should have been our large villainous organization for this game, rather than the half-assed nonsense we were given. And on top of being villainous and corrupt, they should have also been massively scientific, in terms of actually carrying out experiments that we see and using conservation as an excuse / way to get test subjects. Don’t make them charitable; make them corrupt. Go big or go home.

LET WICKE ALSO BE EVIL. My god, Wicke had all the personality of a wet piece of cardboard, and it’s bullshit that she was relegated to just being a motherly piece of cardboard while Faba actually got to be the villain he always wanted to be. Wicke, as I characterize her, would know pretty much everything of what Lusamine is up to, and would be in support of it both because it aligns with her personal beliefs and because she loves and is deeply devoted to Lusamine (what type of love that is would be up for interpretation by the player, but in any case, Lusamine doesn’t return it, she just takes advantage). Wicke wouldn’t truly care for the twins, but would instead be the type to guilt trip them for not also being loyal to Lusamine + hurting Wicke in the process by running away and whatnot. She has that simpering, faux honey approach, similar to Umbridge. She’s allowed to be competent, strong, and every bit a member of the villain triad as Faba and Lusamine.

On that note, let Faba be more of an actual scientist. Let’s see what contributions he has made to the Aether Foundation other than his ego. Maybe he was the one who made the chimeras. If so, great! Let’s see that. Let’s see why Lusamine bothers to keep him around. Let’s see more of a conflict between him and Wicke that isn’t so much that he puts her down and she cowers, but more that she looks down on the fact that he’s here mostly for his own self-interest (+ interest in science + Lusamine lets him do what he wants) and less because of loyalty to Lusamine, whereas he thinks that her loyalty to Lusamine (/ her reasons for that loyalty) are pathetic and that the only thing that matters is, well, science. Like, he’s loyal to Lusamine, but he’s loyal because she’s giving him the opportunity to do / get what he wants, rather than because of personal feelings for her. He thinks he’s using Lusamine. He’s not aware that the situation is actually the other way around. Let’s see that, let’s explore it, and let’s explore how his hubris is in direct contradiction to the principles behind the Philosopher’s Stone and, more importantly, the lion that devours the sun, according to alchemical writings from our own world, long in the past.

LET THE TWINS HAVE AN ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP. My god, one of the things that bothered me the most was the fact that Lillie and Gladion barely interacted, on top of how under-utilized Gladion was and how Lillie seemed, in so many places, to exist only as a way to further boost up the player and make them feel special rather than getting to explore her story for her own sake. (Right down to giving Nebby to the player, ugh.) To begin with, I want to know more about their past at Aether Paradise. What happened the night Gladion left? Why did he leave without Lillie? I’d like to think there was a fight or disagreement there—that Lillie wanted to stay because she was insistent that perhaps they could change Lusamine’s mind, or that combating her plan would be easier from Aether Paradise, or (far more likely) that it was their duty to stay, that they were family and thus it was wrong to leave. Gladion disagreed, and so he left, leaving Lillie behind when she refused to come with him. This creates tension between them in the main plot, because Gladion resents Lillie for seemingly choosing their mother over him, whereas Lillie resents Gladion for leaving as he did, even though she herself leaves later in order to save Nebby.But over the course of the game, they encounter each other again and again, and slowly their relationship mends. Gladion appreciates that Lillie is now willing to rebel against their mother, while Lillie learns to admit that her brother had good reasons when he left two years prior (even if his method of leaving still chafes with her), and she respects how he has managed to survive on his own (well, with Null). They meet again and again, come to understandings, and ultimately reform the bond of best friendship they had prior to Gladion’s departure in order to stand against their mother TOGETHER in the climax. (So if there are two flutes to be played, the player is standing off to the side watching while the twins play the flutes in restored harmony.) On top of all of this, I would want to modify Lillie’s personality so that she’s more than just the demure, shy, moe girl who worships the player. Gladion shows the C-PTSD he has from years of child abuse by being harsh, closed-off, and cold. While Lillie doesn’t have to be exactly like him and while everyone is different, I feel that Lillie just being ~omg shy~ as a result of her abuse is not only playing into the Good Victim / Bad Victim dichotomy (with Gladion being the Bad Victim), but was also done just to make her someone the player would want to protect at the expense of making her a well-rounded character with a believable personality. So I would want to modify Lillie so that she’s also stand-offish and cold in various ways; where she, like Gladion, feels that she has a unique view of the situation because of her background, where she’s incredibly studious and smart even if she doesn’t battle, where she’s unwilling to open up to others without the others putting in serious effort (such as Hau potentially, pre-game), where she “defrosts” just as much as Gladion does, because girls can be cold and hard as well and she should be no exception, regardless of how feminine she is. Lastly, both of the kids should have been adopted by Kukui and Burnet at the end of the game. I won’t budge on this.

LET LUSAMINE BE THE VILLAINOUS SCIENTIST QUEEN SHE WAS ALWAYS MEANT TO BE. Lusamine’s canonical role / personality is perhaps one of the biggest letdowns the Pokémon franchise has ever bestowed upon me and I’m never going to be over it. Whether she’s actually an Ultra Beast herself or not (and I’m still disappointed that the Ultra Beasts didn’t get to be shapeshifters), she still should have been the mastermind behind everything, the one in control, and the one perfectly aware of everything she was doing, as well as the one wanting to do it because of her own grand plans, rather than just being ~*~manipulated by neurotoxins~*~ and ~*~in need of redemption~*~. So to that end?Lusamine is the actual founder of the Aether Foundation, versus it being founded by her father or grandfather or whatever that NPC said, because I’m sick of this series having women simply inherit positions from male relatives or else be overshadowed by them. Lusamine founded the Aether Foundation as a scientific organization to promote her own ambitions and goals while using pokémon conservation as a convenient cover (as well as a means to get government funding if need-be). She’s the president and founder both, and everyone respects her for it.To that end, Lusamine is blindingly intelligent. Not only does she have a wealth of scientific knowledge across various fields (alchemy is obviously her forte, but she’s also incredibly knowledgeable about chemistry, physics / astrophysics, and various other fields), but she’s also quite knowledgeable in terms of history, various fields of mathematics, and other areas of study. She is very much a Ravenclaw in that she loves learning and studying, but also views the universe in terms of the ultimate question True or Not. She is very interested in the (or at least a, but in her mind she is always right, so the) universal Truth, and seeks to not only claim knowledge of the Truth for herself, but also to grasp it in her hand show the rest of the world / universe that she has it. Right or Wrong doesn’t matter to Lusamine, because both of those things are subjective. True or Not is what matters, more than anything else. She is very, very Ravenclaw. So Lusamine is the Big Bad. I have actual motivations and goals for her in my AU fic, To Devour the Sun, and I won’t get into those here—but if Game Freak didn’t want to make her actually an Ultra Beast, they would change anyway. Instead, we could say that perhaps Lusamine was furthering her alchemical ventures in an effort to grasp the Universal Truth™, much as alchemists of the past were always searching for that very same thing (in a fashion), usually by means of the Philosopher’s Stone. In the context of Pokémon, Lusamine could not only be searching to harness the power of Solgaleo (or Lunala ig, but Solgaleo makes far more sense) for this endeavor, but could also be trying to rip open the Gates between Worlds in order to obtain the Truth (much like Father in FMA:B!). This could potentially put the entire world at risk, particularly since Lusamine wouldn’t exactly care who or what needs to be sacrificed in order to make her dreams reality. To that end, no, she doesn’t care about her children; in her mind, they would be additional pawns that could be used in order to accomplish her goals, and if they disobey then they are cruelly punished—but otherwise, she doesn’t (and has never) care(d) about being a family with them. Mohn isn’t really important, either; he has no bearings on Lusamine’s motivations or desires. If anything, he doesn’t even need to be in the game, at least not as the twins’ father. It’s not like he adds to the plot, and it wouldn’t be the first time kids didn’t have present fathers in this series. (Additionally, if the Johto Rival’s mother is never identified, I don’t see why the twins’ father needs to be.)So yes, Lusamine is frighteningly intelligent, calculating, savvy (she doesn’t take gambles or risks if they can be avoided, generally—once she has everything in place, she won’t risk it for a lesser payoff than she’s planning for), extremely manipulative, and ruthless … with a spiteful or sadistic sense of humor at times (in terms of causing emotional pain, rather like GLaDOS). She uses whatever and whoever she needs to in order to achieve her ends, and while I’m aware that sounds Slytherin, remember, Lusamine does not have precious / important people, does not care about those close to her, and is concerned with the question of True or Not, which is all very not Slytherin and also very Ravenclaw. (And yes, while her actual goals are different in To Devour the Sun, this is the characterization I’m using there, too. She, like Sycamore, is a Ravenclaw. She just also happens to be a very terrible person on top of it. She foils him, in other words, in a variety of ways, on top of having some surface resemblance to Lysandre.)Let her be the true, unapologetic villain she deserved to be. Let her be in command the way she was supposed to be. Lusamine was done a massive injustice in canon and I’ll never be over it. (Oh, and as a final note? She either dies or goes to prison in the end. No exceptions.)

Of course, I’d still love it if the Aether fam were Ultra Beasts as well (and that Ultra Beasts could have human forms), but if Game Freak didn’t want to go that route in canon, then the above is fine as well.

This is all I’ve got for right now. Completely rewriting the plot would take more time (and would likely largely ignore the player, but tbh that’s probably for the best, because the fact that Lillie’s most important was relationship was with the player instead of her brother will never cease to make me salty af), but these are the base ideas I have that would have made me more happy than the disappointing, flat mess we were given. Here’s hoping USUM can improve things, but unless the plot is radically changed, I highly doubt it will.

[punz4lyfe]

Did I wake myself too early for this episode?

Yes. Yes, I did, but you know what? WORTH IT.

This entire episode from beginning to end was an absolute joy to watch. For every frame, I had the most dorky smile painted on my face that grew with each pure moment of this episode. Honestly speaking, this is probably my favorite episode of Journeys, just barely beating the Korrina and Riolu Egg episodes by a small margin. And now let’s go into my thoughts for this one:

1. It was a nice touch to showcase Goh’s introverted nature when in a new area that Ash himself is already well familiar with. He shows this Kukui, Burnet, Ash’s Pokemon, and all of Ash’s classmates. Heck, this nature is also showcased through Raboot and Sobble as well. Again, nice touch, especially since it’s been a while since this particular character trait has been focused on.

2. Kukui and Burnet’s baby. Kukui and Burnet’s baby!! First of, his name, Lei, is ADORABLE. Secondly, how loving he already was of Ash and Pikachu was just beyond pure. #AlolaSibsForever

3. I’ve said this already is many, MANY past posts, but Ash and Pikachu reuniting with Rowlet, Lycanroc, Incineroar, and Melmetal was absolutely heartwarming. From how they instantly went in for a hug to their expressions once they’re all together; beautiful. Positively beautiful. You can just feel the love! Oh, and it was kinda cute on how they instantly attached to Goh when they met him.

4. Bewear, Stufful, Mimikyu, Mareanie! Don’t walk off-frame now! We missed you all too!!

5. Lana meeting Goh via fishing line was a very nice callback to how Ash met her in the Sun and Moon series. More props to these nice touches.

6. Ash reuniting with Rotom Dex was amazing, especially his reaction to Rotom Phone like many of us were expecting.

7. The battle between Goh and Kiawe was an absolute curbstomp like we anticipated, but hey, awesome to see a Z-Move again! And Goh did not pull some kind plot-induced win this time like he did for the Karate Master and Flygon. Thank Arceus.

8. OMG the Lillie and Gladion moment!! Many of us thought their appearances would just be dumbed down to a flashback, but no! They had an actual scene to themselves showing us how they’re doing on their search for Mohn! I absolutely live for this and I hope we get more moments of this later on. (maybe their own little mini series hopefully please writers gimme more of this i need it)

While I adore this episode with my entire heart, there are a few problems I have with it, albeit, relatively minor ones that can honestly be summed down into nitpicks:

1. Ash’s Champion title was never mentioned. Like, at all. You would think it’d be a big deal because, well, y’know, Ash is the very first one. With Kiawe challenging Goh to find out if he’s worthy of being Ash’s friend, it would’ve been a great opportunity to at least slide that fact in, setting up the huge gap of experience between Ash and Goh which would then motivate Goh to improve on himself after he loses the battle. Oh well, maybe next time. (Title Defense episode maybeeeee?????)

2. I feel like there could’ve been more done with Ash’s Pokemon, both current and from Alola. As I’ve said in my predictions, since Ash bringing his entire current roster was leaked, I was anticipating some kind of cute greeting session between them and his Alola roster, especially since it could’ve been a nice 4-4 sort of thing. I’m not kidding when I say the picture above is the only frame of Ash’s Pokemon from both sides together, let alone Ash’s current roster appearing. Overall, I just feel there was some kind of missed opportunity with this.

3. While many loving faces obviously returned, there were also some strangely absent. Samson Oak, Kiawe’s Charizard, Burnet’s Munchlax, and even Lusamine in Lillie and Gladion’s moment.

4. I know there will likely be more Alola focused episodes, but I feel Goh could’ve caught at least one or two more mons in this episode. Just catching two, especially with all what Alola can bring in mind, just feels too small for him.

5. This kinda goes back to point 3, but WHERE’S TAPU KOKO?????? The dude is basically Ash’s second Alola father, so WHY AREN’T WE SEEING HIM GREET HIS TWO SONS????

6. I honestly feel Ash could’ve given a slight mention of Naganadel and Nebby instead of having the two completely forgotten about the entire episode, but hey, I’m sure we’ll see them again in future spisodes.

Again, these are just nitpicks on my part, and even with them in mind, I still adore this episode to a very over excessive amount. Fans of the Sun and Moon series will definitely get a huge kick out of this like I had, so if you haven’t seen it for yourself, please do! Okay back to sleep.

[pkmnjesus]

5 years of the PokémonJesus

Before the night comes to a close, I would like to personally reflect on today’s importance (thus the reason for the Takeover queue). It’s been 5 years since I officially became engaged with this fandom that has really became a weekly routine of mine when new episodes come out. This is really just to put my thoughts out there in the blog archive, so I would prefer if no one reblogs this. P J’s beginnings started all the way back with Serebii Forums...

2013-2014 (The Pokémon forums Era)

I have been lurking in the fandom as early as the Best Wishes days, and often visit sites like Serebii Forums or tumblr’s Pokémon anime tags around 2011. I usually talk Pokémon online when it comes to the games when battling or trading in certain chat rooms (was really active during the Gen. IV era of games), but never really talked about the anime with. I have been a spectator to the discussion while the BW saga was rolling a long, then I decided on September 26th 2013 (which was the airdate for the final BW! episode in Japan) to create a serebiiforums account under the username PokemonJesus123, just in time for the start of the XY series which I was mad hyped about! I WAS A FAN SINCE DAY 1...some y’all just tagged along in XY&Z NO LOYALTY xD . My serebii profile is still there actually, so you can try to find my old inactive page if you want lol (my avatar was me holding up my 3DS in a cringey way...looking back why tf did I take that photo lol delete later). Coming into 2014, I joined tumblr as well under the url name you see right before you. Never changed it, and probably never will. The origin of this name you ask? You’ll just have to ask me personally for that story 😉 I absolutely joined tumblr out of pure boredom to view and follow blogs I was a fan of. I had no intention of posting whatsoever. Oh, and I made a Twitter account under the P J name too! Follow ME :^)

2014-2015 (Thursday LIVE! tumblr era)

After a couple months of finally creating a tumblr account and actively posting on serebiiforums and bulbagarden, XY episode 50 (the episode where big lips Nini/Nene debuted) was the first EVER Pokémon anime episode I ever posted about in my blog. I was still new the #pokeani tag (funny story, I didn’t really knew what it meant back then besides to tag it lol), but I got as much as around 30-100 notes. Seeing those notes already got excited that it pushed me from making it a weekly thing since I had a livestream to watch it every Thursday night and screen-cap it. My goal from the very beginning was to try to be the first one to post about here, like what the Japanese fans do on Twitter under the #Anipoke tag. Of course, most of my notes came from either an AmourShipping post or a Serena post. I’m not going to lie, I was really a huge Serena fan when the series first started. I rambled a lot too getting hyped for Citron/Clemont episodes because he was probably my favorite character at the time xD

2015-2016 (A growing blog)

This was the era I started to do special long posts in celebration with Pokémon’s 20th anniversary. Around this period is where my blog was in a developing state getting like 2 or 3 followers every week. And trust me, there were A LOT of posts that I regret posting, but I learned to watch my words every week and say the right things (I really try not to trigger anyone here). I took a couple of weeks off when new episodes aired since I was really busy with college, or I wasn’t into XY filler episodes that much. Would usually tune in live when Team Flare was involved or anything with Squishy/Puni-chan (I absolutely ADORED Bonnie/Eureka in this arc), but I didn’t post that much on tumblr...unless if there was like an AmourShipping moment that happened xD. The hype for Gen. VII was already looming, and I kinda got bored from the anime A BIT. When Ash-Greninja came into the picture however, I got excited again! Then the Kalos League happened, and the anticipation of Ash’s journey hit a climax! We all know what happened, and the rest was history...

2016-2017 (GIFmaking era)

So the Sun & Moon anime happened late 2016, and the hype for a new series was within me again! This is when my blog REALLY started to boom, as well as the birth of my Pokémon Discord server PokéTōku. My notes were higher than over compared to what I posted from XY. One possible reason is that a lot of pokeani bloggers from back then weren’t really interested in Sun & Moon (probably because of the animation change), so I was one of few who still stayed for the ride and that really benefited my blog’s exposure. I absolutely loved Lillie’s character development, and I also did not expect myself to enjoy Lana/Suiren’s character so much! Brock & Misty’s was a huge highlight for me as well seeing my childhood come to a modern-day Pokémon series. I was surprised to have popular people reblog my stuff that destroys my notifications per second. I was even flattered when popular pokéblogs such as shelgon, corsolanite, chasekip, and a few others followed me. Back then I really wanted to get a lot of notes, but at this point I just wanted to be myself and post screen-caps that I feel like talking about. The series also motivated me to start making GIFs since I finally had access to Adobe Photoshop through my university’s application benefits. Later in 2017, I graduated from college and it gave me more time to improving my blog. Also, can you believe it took me 3 years to get 1,000 followers? If you asked me from day 1, I would have never expected to get that much since I had no idea about tumblr’s audience.

Everyone here knows that my blog doesn’t really follow “traditional” tumblr methods such as tags or making specific posts and what not (since I’m not really that into the tumblr culture lol...I’m just here for fun doing my own thing), but I hope I’ve brought something different to your dash experience 🙃

2017-2018 (Making friends)

From 1,000 to 2,500+ followers the next year. You’d be surprise how small that still is compared to the other popular Pokéblogs that joined tumblr later than me, but I’m still grateful for that number. My hype for movie 20 was crazy! I’d always make a post about it when a new trailer was out. But just like Sun & Moon, not everyone was looking forward to the AU it produced. The Let’s Go games shared the same fate as well since everyone didn’t want another Kanto, but I always defend the things that deserve a chance! I fairly enjoyed movie 20 though, and was the first movie that I posted screen-caps and GIFs for in this blog, even made an experience post about it watching it in the theaters! What’s MOST important to me during this time was actually interacting with some of my followers...or should I say friends now :) Out of the 5 years I’ve been here (not counting serebiiforum peeps I’ve known since 2013), I only recently talked to some of you around 2017. My interactions with people here have been awesome (for the most part at least lol) from sharing interests, geeking out over the anime, sending memes xD and concerns when P J isn’t feeling P J. You know who you are, and THANK YOU for cheering your boy up in times when I needed it despite not telling you about it <3 Going back to PokéAni hype, my next excitement attack was when they announced the Aether Foundation and Ultra Beasts were getting involved in the main story. It really makes up for no Alola movie...but hey we still got 1 year left, so maybe there’s hope?

Despite the brief breaks I took, P J’s activeness in the fandom has reached its highest when I managed the time to do scheduled posts and even started a few mini-blog series this year. Even during stressful times, I always make it an effort to find time and contribute to the fandom. I honestly don’t care if I get any asks because I know who the real homies are ◉‿◉つ A special shoutout as well to all the people that joined my Discord server through this website. I couldn’t have reached 100+ members without some of your blogs ^_^ And to the lurkers out there (I know some of y’all are creepin’ in the shadows of my blog without liking anything), you may not know it but I love you people too ლ(́◉◞౪◟◉‵ლ)

Anyway this is just a summary of my journey here so far, and if you’d to hear a more in-depth story on some toxic things I’ve experienced in this fandom just message me. I personally don’t like venting out stuff in public because it just promotes more negativity, and I’m not about that. I will make a separate post on my feelings toward the schedule change maybe next week, and an appreciation post (5th tumblr blogaversary) for my specific followers January 2019. I am still preparing for that because there are so many people (even ones I don’t even talk to) I want to thank ❤ Moving forward into my 6th year, I probably won’t make another post like this anytime soon...but I am very hopeful for the future of the SM series and possible Gen. 8 anime late 2019. I also do plan on making some PokéAni-related stuff in my YouTube channel when the time is right, and have the resources to do projects. Keep your eyes out fam 👀LET’S F’N GO!

[pokemaniacal]

Rockruff and Lycanroc

Lycanroc comes in two varieties, one associated with the day, and the other the night.  The way its path is chosen is a new one for split evolutions: Rockruff evolves differently depending on which version of the game you have, Sun or Moon, though wild Lycanroc of the opposite form can be found on both games.  This is put down to the “influence” of Solgaleo and Lunala, which could mean almost anything and doesn’t appear to have any effect on other Pokémon in Alola.  In future generations we can probably expect this to become a straightforward day/night fork like Espeon and Umbreon.  Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are planned to add a new Dusk form with characteristics of both, which requires a unique Rockruff with the Own Tempo ability to evolve between 5 and 6 pm, on either game.  The solar “Midday” form is wolf-like, and feels to me like a more “natural” evolution of Rockruff than the lunar form, keeping Rockruff’s colour scheme and emphasising his most distinctive feature, the “collar” of stones.  The lunar “Midnight” form is werewolf-like, as hinted by Lycanroc’s name, which seems to derive from “lycanthrope” (from the Greek λύκος/lukos, wolf, and ἄνθρωπος/anthropos, person); the same connotation goes through all of his alternative names in other languages, some of them via the French loup-garou.  Modern werewolves tend to have a specific laundry list of traits like vulnerability to silver and the ability to transfer their curse via a bite, which are not properties Lycanroc shares, although his posture could be taken from the human/wolf hybrid forms of many modern werewolves, and of course he has the most important feature of all: a connection to moonlight (werewolves transform when exposed to the light of the full moon).  He also gets eyes that glow blood-red in battle, for an added sinister air.

The lunar form seems like a much more drastic change from Rockruff, with a shift to a hunched but bipedal posture and an obvious colour change from brown and cream to a striking crimson, as well as the replacement of the stone “collar” with an impressive and luxuriant white mane.  I’m not sure how I feel about one of these evolved forms being clearly so much more divergent than the other – like the solar form is the “true” one and the lunar form is “deviant” – because the whole context of their links to the two versions of the game implies that they should be “balanced,” equal and opposite, but both obviously natural progressions from Rockruff, in the way the “Eeveelutions” are.  This comes through quite strongly with the twilight form, which you can tell is supposed to be a merging of the sun and moon forms’ traits by the way they talk about it, but comes across as much closer to the sun form (and might even work as a Mega Evolution of the sun form).  I’m not sure whether the design has messed up the ideas it’s trying to convey, or I’ve just misunderstood what it’s trying to convey.

Where the sun and moon forms do act as opposites is in their personalities.  Lycanroc’s solar form, provided it is raised well, retains and even accentuates Rockruff’s loyalty and sense of duty, but becomes disciplined and honourable instead of playful and affectionate.  The lunar form, on the other hand, becomes aggressive, violent, and uncontrollable, with a battle style that centres on goading opponents into reckless attacks and then crushing them with overwhelming force.  The Sun and Moon website is careful to point out, however, that a good relationship with this Pokémon in the Rockruff stage will carry over to a strong bond with a lunar Lycanroc.  It further claims that Rockruff will often leave their trainers for a short time to evolve (regardless of which evolution it takes), which could be a reference to “lone wolves” that have left their packs to avoid competition with their parents and siblings.  This is generally a temporary status; a lone wolf can find a mate and start a new pack, and Rockruff will return to their trainers after evolving.  However, there are also wolves that remain solitary indefinitely, and there is a kind of mystique that surrounds them as symbols of individualism and dark, brooding strength.  That seems to fit Midnight Lycanroc – but it’s actually Midday Lycanroc that are explicitly said to hunt on their own rather than in packs.  I don’t think there’s any official word on lunar Lycanroc at all – on the one hand, their sociopathic disposition seems like it wouldn’t lend itself to complex social behaviour, and in the absence of any other information maybe we should assume they act like solar Lycanroc… but on the other hand, maybe it makes just as much sense to assume the reverse, since these forms are paired opposites.  The description we’re given on the website says that Midday Lycanroc “lives solo in mountains and deserts, not creating a pack… and they live without interfering with one another, which helps to avoid unnecessary fights,” which seems like it’s meant as a contrast with a Pokémon that does create a pack and embraces unnecessary fights – otherwise, why else would you mention it?  Maybe Midnight Lycanroc have super-complex social structures mediated by constant supremacy duels?  I don’t know, and I don’t think Lycanroc wants to tell me.

The distinction between the solar and lunar Lycanroc forms’ battle roles is mercifully straightforward.  Both are powerful physical attackers with mediocre defences, which is not a terrible thing for Rock-types to be, since Rock hits a lot of things for super-effective damage.  The Midday form is much faster than the decidedly average Midnight form, but that extra speed comes at a fairly steep cost to its defences, leaving Midday Lycanroc quite fragile, while Midnight Lycanroc can at least claim to be passable.  No word yet on the new twilight incarnation, but it seems like a reasonable guess that it will have stats midway between the other two.  The solar Lycanroc, then, is fairly specialised towards a sweeper or revenge-killer mindset, whereas the lunar form’s natural inclinations are a bit less clear.  Each form gets three attacks that aren’t accessible to the other: Quick Guard, Quick Attack, and the signature move Accelerock for Midday; Counter, Reversal and Taunt for Midnight (at least, in theory – Taunt isn’t on Midday’s level-up list, but is available as a TM, and to add insult to injury, Midday is probably the better Pokémon to use it because of his high speed).

Midnight Lycanroc’s exclusive moves produce exactly the fighting style described in his flavour text: forcing foes to attack directly with Taunt, turning their physical strength against them with Counter, and becoming ever more incensed as the battle goes on with Reversal.  The only problem is that Counter and Reversal are not great attacks.  Reversal requires you to hang around at 1 HP, or close to it, for multiple turns to get any benefit, while Counter will probably only work once in a battle, has to be timed perfectly if you want to actually kill something with it, and doesn’t do anything to special attackers.  Neither of them are actually terrible moves, just very tricky to use to their full potential, and if you’re going to take either, Lycanroc should probably be equipped with a Focus Sash to improve your odds of surviving a strong attack with 1 HP so you can retaliate at full force.  The only really important thing on the Midday form’s exclusive list is Accelerock, best described as a Rock-type Quick Attack.  I’m not entirely certain a Pokémon as fast as Midday Lycanroc actually needs a move like this, especially since his best ability, Sand Rush, doubles his already impressive speed in a sandstorm.  On the other hand, Lycanroc is not a Pokémon who is prone to having a super-packed moveset, so you can just stick Accelerock in as insurance against something even faster than you, or with priority moves of its own (Talonflame, I’m looking at you).

Details are still sketchy on Dusk Lycanroc.  We know he gets both Accelerock and Counter, though it remains to be seen whether he’ll have access to Quick Guard, Reversal, etc, and again, we don’t know exactly what his stats will look like.  We do know he’ll have the useful Tough Claws ability, a hefty +33% damage bonus for “contact” attacks – this doesn’t apply to Stone Edge, Lycanroc’s primary attack, but will significantly improve most of his other physical attacks, making it probably the best ability available to Lycanroc of any form.  Unfortunately, without knowing his exact stat profile, it’s hard to know how this will affect Dusk Lycanroc’s fighting style right now.

Lycanroc gets Swords Dance, and unlike most of the Alola Pokémon we’ve seen together so far, he’s actually fast enough to make good use of it – or, at least, his solar incarnation is.  In theory that should suggest a pretty straightforward moveset; Sand Rush for your ability with some kind of set-up from another Pokémon, Swords Dance, and then three solid attacks.  The trouble is, Lycanroc doesn’t really have three solid attacks.  Your primary attack is Stone Edge, which is great; then there’s Crunch, which is nothing to write home about but basically fine, and then… well, there’s Brick Break, which combos well with Crunch but is starting to get on the low side for power, and there’s Fire Fang and Thunder Fang, which are so weak you’re basically taking them just to victimise Pokémon with a double-weakness, like Scizor.  This is far from an inspiring movepool.  Still, at least solar Lycanroc’s strategy is straightforward.  The poor lunar bastard isn’t fast enough for a Swords Dance sweep to make sense, doesn’t get Sand Rush either, and without Accelerock or Quick Attack, his only priority attack is Sucker Punch, which suffered a power nerf in Sun and Moon, has limited PP, and can be countered by using non-damaging moves.  Lycanroc can also learn Rock Polish, so you can boost his speed that way, but then it becomes almost impossible to justify having Swords Dance as well, and Lycanroc’s base attack stat isn’t high enough to outweigh his lacklustre physical movepool without some kind of boost.  What Midnight Lycanroc does have over his diurnal counterpart is No Guard as a hidden ability, which sets the accuracy of all his moves – as well as all moves that target him – to 100%.  For the most part, the benefit of this is having a 100%-accurate Stone Edge.  That’s not nothing; in fact it’s pretty awesome, but it’s also not Machamp’s Dynamicpunch (the traditional use for No Guard), or even Golurk’s, and remember that it also makes incoming attacks 100% accurate against you (Focus Blast, anyone?).

This is normally the point at which I would describe other options that are probably terrible but at least seem amusing enough to be worth mentioning; the trouble is that not only have I still not come up with anything worth doing with the Midnight form, Lycanroc in general just doesn’t have all that many interesting options.  He is, at present, one of only a handful of Pokémon that can learn Stealth Rock within generation VII (though a bunch of older Pokémon have access to it from the Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby move tutors), which could be important if you don’t have the older games, but it’s a good bet there’ll be a Stealth Rock tutor in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.  Bulk Up is there, but I doubt even the slightly tankier Midnight form really has any business trying a Bulk Up set, since Lycanroc has no healing.  And… I honestly think that’s about it.  Lycanroc’s overall movepool is surprisingly shallow and I’m not sure there’s more than one or two basic strategies for each form.

I really want to like Rockruff and Lycanroc, I really do, because Rockruff is adorable and the day/night thing is at least passingly interesting, but I’m having trouble.  Lycanroc’s forms are both fine, I suppose, but I don’t think they work as well as a pair as they’re supposed to, and the addition of the twilight form doesn’t really change that.  Maybe when we actually see Dusk Lycanroc it will make sense; maybe Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will reveal some new information about them, or about their relationship with Solgaleo and Lunala, that will make the whole idea seem perfectly elegant in hindsight; heck, maybe there’s even a fourth Dawn Lycanroc form that Game Freak are still hiding from us that will render everything pleasantly symmetrical.  The other problem is that Midnight Lycanroc in particular just has so few options I’m genuinely not sure what we’re supposed to do with him, and the extent to which Midday Lycanroc clearly makes more sense is unfortunate.  Part of me is left wondering whether Midday Lycanroc was originally designed on his own as a single evolution to Rockruff, and then Midnight Lycanroc was tacked on later and accordingly doesn’t mesh very well with the other forms – but then again, if we just take Midday Lycanroc as a stand-alone Pokémon, he’s simply not very interesting.  What do you know?  Maybe I do still have it in me to give critical reviews after all…

[sporadicbeepboops]

20 Games I Loved in 2016

The Switch delay. Several big AAA duds. Another year without an official Mother 3 U.S. release. 2016 could have been a disappointing year. (Outside of video games, it certainly took its toll.) But at least from my perspective, the good far outweighed the bad. Virtual reality finally made it out of the gates, and despite some hiccups, it shows real promise. Long-delayed games like Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian somehow made it to store shelves AND surpassed expectations. And love it or hate it, Pokémon Go inspired a genuine pop culture craze the likes of which we’ve never seen before, at least as far as games go. I think all of that is worth celebrating.

Before we get to the list, some quick shout-outs and no-brainer caveats…

2016 was not kind to the Wii U, but the 3DS quietly had one of its best years ever. That’s partly reflected here, but I couldn’t make room for Dragon Quest VII, Fire Emblem Fates, BoxBoxBoy!, Metroid Prime: Federation Force and Gotta Protectors, to name a few. Sometimes it felt like Nintendo was just cleaning out its closet — how long ago was DQVII released in Japan? — but we benefited either way.

Overall, I played fewer games this year, but the ones I did play held my interest longer. Thanks to various microtransactions and DLC, 2016 probably hit my wallet just as hard.

What didn’t I play? Stardew Valley, SUPERHOT, Final Fantasy XV (at least past chapter 2), Frog Fractions 2, Hitman — oh, and I didn’t get to stuff from last year like Yakuza 5 or The Witcher 3, either. Yakuza 4 was pretty solid though.

I left off any new ports of games that came out last year or prior, unless there were substantial additions that changed the experience in a meaningful way. That meant The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and Mini Metro weren’t in the running, while Rez Infinite technically was.

Love making lists, hate ranking items in said lists, just because I’m incredibly fickle. There’s a good chance that I’ll want to shuffle everything around the moment I publish this. But my podcasting buddies are counting on me here, so it’s time to be decisive.

Keeping all that in mind, here are the games I really loved in 2016…

20. The Witness - I’m already cheating because if I’m being honest, I didn’t actually love this game. The Witness takes a couple dozen hours to finish, and I spent at least half of them staring at a notebook, drawing grids, connecting dots, and having no idea how to pave forward. But even if I didn’t love the game, I respect it immensely. I admire Jonathan Blow’s commitment to this singular idea, of taking the kind of puzzle you might see on a restaurant placemat and coming up with every possible permutation of it. And there is of course a “meta” layer on top of that, where solutions to each component change the environment around you — tree top bridges that unfold based on the paths your lines take, or colored glass panels that create new puzzles on top of old ones. It might be cold and off-putting at times, but The Witness is still commendable as the ultimate puzzle box.

19. SuperHyperCube - I bought into PlayStation VR for games like Rez Infinite and RIGs — big, flashy, “immersive” experiences. And they delivered! I’m a very happy PS VR owner, and I hope Sony builds on its momentum this year. (I’m skeptical, but then being a virtual reality early adopter was always a leap of faith.) However, while I got exactly what I expected from most of the launch titles, it's the simple puzzle game seemingly modeled off of “Brain Wall” that I keep coming back to. I turn on the headset to play Job Simulator or Battlezone, but I always play a couple rounds of SuperHyperCube before I’m done. A solid case for virtual reality not as a thrilling roller coaster, but a hypnotic, relaxing voyage.

18. Headlander - The best game Double Fine has put out since Iron Brigade. Free-roaming Metroid-style exploration, a perfect 70s-synth sci-fi score and a fun body swapping gimmick at the heart of it all. I wish there were more vessels for your noggin to control, but there’s a strong foundation here. 

17. Kirby: Planet Robobot - It’s easy to take Kirby games for granted, and that’s especially true of Robobot, which uses the same engine and many of the same powers as the recent Triple Deluxe. What does the former bring to the table then? Smart level designs that take advantage of the new mechs without letting them dominate the action. A novel mechanical world that feels distinct from the typical pastel meadows. New amiibo support. OK, so maybe it doesn’t add that much to the series, but it’s right up there with Super Star anyway. 

16. Pokkén Tournament - This game is a fresher, more enjoyable fighting game than Street Fighter V. It doesn’t even matter (too much) that the single player is pretty thin or that the roster is small. When’s the last time you played a one-on-one fighting game that felt truly new? Pokkén is a great 3D fighter and a great 2D fighter at the same time, which is no small feat. And it’s also a gorgeously animated recreation of those battles we all imagined happening in our Game Boys 20 years ago.

15. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - The popular sentiment seems to be that Madagascar is when this final Uncharted entry really takes off. Slow drama and frequent cut scenes give way to island exploration and memorable shootouts. My take? The back half is fun and the epilogue is lovely, but I could spend an entire game in Nathan and Elena’s living room, or hopping around the globe for the next story sequence. Wherever you stand, this is a fine way to close out a reliable series.

14. Picross 3D: Round 2 - Seven Picross games — eight if you count the Twilight Princess freebie — on the eShop. That’s a lot of a perfectly fine thing. But none of them are Picross 3D. Thankfully, the real deal finally arrived this year, with hundreds of puzzles and a few extra gameplay wrinkles. Worth the premium price tag.

13. Titanfall 2 - The campaign didn’t need to be good. Multiplayer FPS games live and die by their multiplayer, and many developers seemingly write off the single player experience as an afterthought. That’s why Titanfall 2 is such an unexpected treat. The factory, the time hopping, the airborne carrier — all cleverly designed, with platforming gimmicks that would feel just as suited for a Metroid Prime game. I think the reason the new Mirror’s Edge fell flat for me was that this game featured the same parkour moves in a much more exciting package.

12. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE - This crossover game is Persona-lite, yes, but I think that sells the characters and world a bit short. While its inspiration focuses on the pressures of being a Japanese high schooler, #FE is all about the Tokyo show biz scene. Pop music, soap operas, microwave cooking shows — it’s all very goofy, but the game still takes its protagonists’ dreams and ambitions seriously. #FE also makes clever use of the Wii U GamePad, turning it into a tablet/social app that helps keeps the conversations going. Even if you’re not into this particular “scene,” #FE may still win you over.

11. Rhythm Heaven Megamix - I can’t get enough Rhythm Heaven. They could put 20 new musical minigames on a cart annually and it’d make my list every year. Sumo wrestlers, lumberjack bears, monkey slumber parties — all magic.

10. Severed - A Vita game! It’s great to see DrinkBox Studios stretch beyond sidescrollers with this first person dungeon crawler full of grotesque monsters and creepy, colorful mazes. Swiping and poking on the Vita’s touchscreen feels great. The controls are key to Severed’s success; if battles were menu-driven, the entire game would fall apart. 

9. Pocket Card Jockey - I hope Nintendo keeps letting Game Freak be this weird. It’s not just that it’s horse racing plus solitaire. It’s your jockey biting the dust and being brought back from the dead to repay his debt to the angels. It’s the brassy, big band score that accompanies every race. It’s horses with luchador masks and cats hanging from their backsides. Pocket Card Jockey is a miracle of localization.

8. Pokémon Sun - Yes, another Pokémon game. The Alola region is the best thing to ever happen to this series. Previous games had regions based on cities like New York and Paris, but the results always felt half-hearted. In Sun (and Moon), the tropical island setting influences everything from the creatures you catch to the trials you complete. I’ve never demanded a believable world from this series, but that’s kind of what we get here, and it’s terrific.

7. Inside - This is the type of game where the less you know going in, the better. It’s Limbo — a previous Justin GotY — filtered through a twisted dream logic that I still can’t get out of my head months later. 

6. Paper Mario: Color Splash - I know you don’t like Sticker Star. Rest assured: that 3DS oddity feels like a rough draft for Color Splash, which improves upon its predecessor in every way. A textured, vibrant world that rivals Tearaway in its papercraft. Thrilling scenarios like a train heist, an underwater game show and the throwback above. Hilarious dialogue that mostly makes up for the many, many identical toads. I miss the liberties Intelligent Systems used to take with the Mushroom Kingdom, but everything else about Color Splash restores this spin-off series to its former glory.

5. Overcooked - This year’s couch co-op champ. Cooking with a partner is all about communication, and that’s doubly true when the kitchen is split across two flatbed trucks or on an iceberg rocking back and forth. My friends and I love head-to-head games like Smash Bros. and Towerfall, but it’s nice to play a game that’s all about puzzle solving and careful planning together. And I love the wistful stage select music.

4. Dragon Quest Builders - Minecraft has always fascinated me, but I don’t do well without direction. That’s why I’m so grateful for Dragon Quest Builders, which breaks down the open world construction into small, manageable tasks. I started off just sticking to blueprints and keeping decorations to a minimum; now, I’m spending hours building up towns the way I want them to look, for no other reason than my own personal satisfaction. Even taking the crafting element out of the equation, Builders does a great job of capturing the adventuring spirit of its parent series.

3. Pokémon Go - I didn’t set out to put THREE Pokémon games on here, and in a vacuum, this is much less satisfying than Pokkén or Sun. But we don’t play video games in a vacuum, and certainly not this one. I played Pokémon Go in Central Park, talking to strangers to find out where the Ivysaur was hiding. Or I played on my lunch breaks, exploring parts of South Street Seaport with coworkers that I had ignored for years. Go’s peak came and went, but it remains one of my fondest experiences of the year.

2. The Last Guardian - Another game that’s more than the sum of its parts. The Last Guardian is finicky and sometimes frustrating. Trico is hard to climb. The camera doesn’t know what to do when you’re up against the wall. So what? How many games feature a creature this lifelike? He may be an illusion made up of A.I. routines, scripted animations and fur shaders, but all of those elements come together in a uniquely convincing way. His evolution from reluctant ally to friend has a subtlety I’ve never seen before. I’m glad Ueda spends as much time focusing on the inner struggles as he does the external ones. Hope it doesn’t take another decade for his next game.

1. Overwatch - I didn’t even know what Overwatch was until two weeks before its release, and even then, I didn’t expect much from it. I had played Team Fortress 2 and thought it was just fine. I knew what to expect. Medics, tanks, builders — that sounded familiar to me. But I was so wrong. Overwatch isn’t just a team-based shooter; it’s the superhero team-up game I’ve been longing for since “The Avengers” was in theaters.

All 23 (and counting!) heroes have their superpowers, and all of them have their jobs to do. What really sets Overwatch apart is when these heroes are bouncing off of each other. Any combination of six is going to have its own dynamics. Mei dropping ice walls to give Reinhardt time to recharge his shield. Junkrat dropping traps to help Bastion watch his back. Mercy gliding up to Pharah to give her rockets a little extra punch. Every battle brings new possibilities and strategies to the table. I’ve played over 100(!) hours and feel like there’s still so much to learn.

But it’s not all serious business either. The colorful personalities, animations, costume designs and more do so much to shape the world, even when I know next to nothing about the overall “lore.” Last year, Splatoon felt like the only shooter I’d ever need, but Overwatch has actually managed to supplant it in my heart. That’s something this Nintendo fanboy never thought he’d say. Can’t wait to see how Blizzard builds on their masterpiece in year two.

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Review Response, DE/Cycle

... Might as well do this, since I doubt either one would reach 10, and this will be the very last time I respond to their reviews.

DE I'm actually doing this a BIT early, as I usually wait at least a week unless the chapter's review count reached more than 10. It's been 5 days, and less than half of the previous chapter, so I'd normally wait a few more weeks. But... meh.

1) *Sniffle*. Agency is my favorite pairing for Pokéspe so this hurt somewhere deep. Hope you get around to updating the Red and Green one.

The... what? I did say that DE is over, right?

Black & White is the favorite pairing for quite a few people, which is precisely why I choose to hammer them over and over.

2) Oh, this is the end? It's so bittersweet!

Bitter... maybe. Sweet? ... Also maybe. DE is over, and I gave Black & White a parting shot instead of a parting gift.

3) That was good.

Thank you.

4) Awwww. But I call BS, it's never goodbye (unless someone dies, heh) It's 'see you later'.. like "yo, miss President guess who just came back as an alola champion blah blah blah." ... probably doodles something to make myself feel better lol.

It really is never goodbye. Except here in DE, since DE is over, so Black and White really never met ever again in the story.

Especially bullsh*t since... in the drama where this scene was taken, they split and... sort of see each other immediately. Then he moves out and... well... that separation sure as hell didn't last long.

But for the sake of "closure", let's say that... it took Black many months to conquer the Alola League, but by then, White wasn't in Unova anymore. And not in Hoenn either. White and her BW Agency would've expanded to Sinnoh before moving onto to another seemingly random ass region. And... both Black and White found someone else in the meantime! Because why not.

5) Never? As in never, never? But those two are...meant to be! *wails*

They are meant to be, and they are meant to separate. They should either die together, or... never see each other ever again. Their dreams conflict too much.

6) Wow what a farewell chapter! Definitely a scene best suited for Black and White. This kind of scenario is was a first in your stories and it was executed well. Hopefully it was the last though because my heart ached a little for these 2...

Was it really the very first time I had a permanent separation story that did not involve a death or physical incapacitation? ... Wow. Well, I always said that Black & White were my... experimental guinea pigs.

I really doubt there are any more "live separations" (as in, permanent separation while both are still alive and well) in my stories. Probably.

Cycle This story's second and last chapter's results were... pretty much what I expected. I think a few months ago, I made a post about how I didn't think that Cycle would be worth ANY effort anymore. Chapter 1 had 13 reviews, so I expected chapter 2 to have between 4 and 6, so less than a third to less than a half. It has 5. As in, exactly what I expected. Which was why I really didn't bother putting in too much detail. Because f*ck it. Why waste the effort.

1) They say that to this day Gold is still trying to display good behavior

Some day, White is going to have her own grandchildren, and they'll ask "grandma, is Gold still trying to be on his best behavior?"

2) And 20 years later, the cycle still continued.

And so the cycle begins aga... yeah, yeah, yeah.

Do Gold_behavior += 1 Gold_behavior -= Emerald_sabotage Loop Until Gold_behavior > Platinum_behavior

3) Man. Poor Gold. He must really think Crystal is the perfect woman to try that many times. One would think that Crystal would realize how highly Gold thinks of her considering how many times he's tried to go out with her. That alone should make her give Gold a chance. He'd do anything for her. Sadly, it looks like that won't come to be. Also, cool side thing that this takes place in the Legacy Universe.

That was the "sweet part" of the story that pretty much everyone else missed. Gold must really view her highly to try endless amount of times. And yet... some thought of this as "Gold is objectifying Crystal".

Yep. Legacy has Cycle in it. Which means, Legacy's Gold would be post-Cycle Gold, which means... he's not like how he used to be in the other stories. And depending on how Legacy treats that pairing, Cycle could actually have a hidden tragic ending. "After all that, Crystal died!"

4) Awe I was hoping something disasterous would happen to Gold... But hey a very fun chapter to read. Definitely had that SE/SR vibe. It was nice to feel that again :)

Sure has been a long while since SE/SR vibe was a thing huh? ... Never again, unfortunately. Probably.

5) Poor Gold. I feel so sad for him. More than like 2 months, and she still rejects him, and it's not even his fault. Cruel Crystal needs to be put down a notch. Even if it's her choice and whatnot, Gold has improved radically. Maybe Gold should do a prank for when she finally goes out with him. Because Gentleman!Gold is too ... boring. He's kinda like Red now, and we don't need another Red. Plus this gets rid of the comedy relief character. And the original CrystalXGold dynamic is ruined. What will they do now? Work together? Bleh.

I suppose Legacy/Cycle Gold is quite similar to Legacy/Cycle Red. But Legacy Red is really nice, and I think having a nice Gold for a change is... nice.

Comedy relief? Pff. Haven't done that sh*t in a long while. I think. ... At least not in a non-"Alternate Lines" situation.

PT: "Look you stupid idiot, you got no arms left!" Y: "Yes I have!" PT: "LOOK!" Y: "... It's just a flesh wound!"

And what would Legacy/Cycle's Gold & Crystal do? ... I don't know. Something off screen, probably.