#also a moment of appreciation that 90% of quests don't have a time limit

[lazylittledragon]

completely true confession, the reason i haven't drawn bg3 in a few weeks is because i'm almost at the end of my dorian run and i'm not ready for it to be over so i'm pretending it doesn't exist

[mk-wizard]

6 Things superhero films, games and TV shows do right that the comics should start doing

I love DC and Marvel, and I always will because they shaped my childhood, my standards in comics and more. They also played a huge role in how I learned to draw because I never went to art school. Sailor Moon taught me how to draw women, Dragon Ball taught me how to draw men, Looney Toons and Mickey Mouse taught me how to draw anthropomorphic characters, and DC and Marvel taught me how to do everything else and add to all of the above to make it my own.

However, unlike what the song says, love is not blindness. As ironic as it is, the DC and Marvel comics have fallen from grace to the point where the heroes, plots and relationships are not recognizable anymore. I know characters evolve, change and grow up, but there is a limit especially in good storytelling. I also don't want to be hard on the comics because like I said, I still love them. What I will do instead is mention the top six things the DC, Marvel and other superhero films, games and TV shows nail that the comics should start doing in order to get better and I think they still can.

PS: I am aware that some superhero media that is not in comic format don't have the following qualities, but for the most part, they are.

1- Starting the story over and tell it right (hopefully) this time. - Usually, I am against rebooting and retconning because as a writer myself, I see it as cheating, but in the case of the superhero genre, it goes by a different set of rules. Namely, just as it always ends in an open fashion, it also begins so. With that said, it is perfectly fine to start the main version over if it is taking a wrong turn. In fact, that is one thing I learned to appreciate about the various Spider-Man and Batman cartoons especially when you take into account that they make an effort to not repeat the same mistakes. You don't have to breakup Mary Jane and Peter. You don't have to have Bruce Wayne wind up alone. You don't have to fridge Green Lantern's sweetheart. Most importantly, you don't have to stick with a broken story nobody likes including you. It's fiction not a documentary. You're more than allowed to start over and do things differently. That is how we got Harley Quinn, the version of Mr. Freeze we know now and an Aunt May who can hold her own.

2- The heroes can find love and have families. - Moreover, getting married and having kids does not mean the story is over. I can confirm that it's a new journey and adventure within itself. Plus, why shouldn't you be able to do something your good at AND have a family to come home to? I really appreciate that in a lot of recent TV shows especially, heroes are finally allowed to have successful love lives and families, and still be heroes. If anything, the fact that it is fictional reinforces that they should be allowed to have it all. We all need someone to love and supers are not the exception. Besides, love is a beautiful thing to see and should be painted in a positive light. The same with family because who are we without a family to back us up?

3- Tell happy or fun stories. - This is something I have been saying for a while now. Fantasy is supposed to be an escape from real world problem not be a constant reminder of them. With that said, the fact that superhero cartoons, films and games (especially with the uplifting side quests that allow to just be nice) are moments of levity are really appreciated. Just to give you an idea, I'm going to dare to admit something; I LOVE the episode "I've got Batman in my basement" from Batman the Animated Series because it's fun, cute and I liked seeing average people saving Batman for a change. It is also why I loved the Christmas episode from Justice League. Plus, even when heavy topics are addressed, they usually get dealt with the right way with the hero finding peace. For example, did you know that in the original X-Men cartoon from the 90s, Wolverine moving on from Jean and finding a true love of his own was on the table?

4- The superhero genre can be a a hybrid of any genre not just drama. - It is not uncommon for superhero tales to also serve as a vehicle for other genres too, but lately, comics especially have become type casted as only working with drama and that's depressing. Even action has fallen to the side and that is one of the most exciting parts about superheroes. Why not have superhero media that also serves as a sitcom, comedy, mystery or even a love story (think Lois and Clark)? Plus, not everyone likes soap operas, so having options is very appreciated. Heck, even the superhero shows that are educational like Transformers Rescue Bots and ones that are aimed for kids like Spidey and his Amazing Friends are breaths of fresh air.

5- Have fun and inspire. - The number one thing that attracts us to superheroes is how cool they are not seeing life perpetually punish them for being superheroes. Seeing superheroes be resourceful, creative and even have fun with their powers is fun. Plus, did you know that superhero movies inspired a lot of technology as we know it now namely cellphones? Moreover, superhero anime like Dragon Ball (yes, it fits the superhero genre) and the Batman series inspired people to go to the gym. Supers don't just represent the best version of ourselves, but also encourage us to believe in ourselves and better ourselves with hard work. Watchmen was the exception not the new trend all superhero tales should follow.

6- Passing the mantle down for good and with grace. - I love Steve Rogers, Barry Allen, Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker, Clark Kent and all the other heroes from my generation, but I accept that they are heroes of their time and not fit for the modern generation. Heck, I don't think they're fit for my son especially when he starts reading comics. And that is ok. Accepting that these heroes are old is the right thing to do and it's gracious to have them pass their mantles down with dignity. What is so bad about Steve Rogers being able to grow old with the love of his life while knowing there still is a badass Captain America? Or Peter Parker being able to happily marry Mary Jane and have a child with her while Miles becomes the only Spider-Man after long since proving he IS Spider-Man? That sounds like a good way to end a character's arc. Everyone's retirement should be happy and dignified especially the retirement of heroes. It is not a blaze of glory, but you know what? Blazes are overrated.

Anyway, this is all my opinion and things I would like to see in comics again. Do you agree or have some things you want to see more?

Thanks for reading and stay safe.

[retphienix]

I Have A Lot To Say So I'll Read More This.

The short of it?

I'm glad I played Joker- I played it because I wanted to know how DQM evolved when it reached the DS and I got my answer.

It's mediocre. Not bad exactly, I enjoyed playing it, it adds some REALLY appreciated features to the DQM series and if you were playing it at release it had online play which plays well with the post game content which I haven't touched by the time I wrote this:

-but there are some engine/console specific things that made it a drag and there are some parts of the game that are just weaker than the previous games which is amusing since the previous games were simple GBC titles.

And finally, I don't really recommend playing through Joker 1. Can't speak on the sequels, but Joker 1 was a pretty middling experience for me so I'm the wrong person to get a positive recommendation from.

And since the opportunity presents itself: If you like monster RPGs and haven't tried it- go emulate Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 for the GBC, it's really good and also if you emulate you can fast forward the GBC era grind if that's your taste- really a win all around.

On to my rambling:

I debated on writing, rewriting, rewriting, and better presenting my thoughts on this game and the series as a whole but nah, Joker ain't getting that, I'm ramblin'- lol

I will split it slightly between "The ending" and "The game as a whole" though.

Ending:

1:07 - This is slightly a 'game a a whole' thing but honestly it's funny to me that you unlock a permanent repel in this game by doing the main quest. I entered this dungeon feeling strong enough to beat the game, so I just avoided 90% of encounters entirely.

5:00 - I genuinely got a laugh out of Sparkpug's whole deal in this finale. Not story wise, that's fine, no complaints- I mean that Sparkpug is clearly built to be a monster that can carry an ineffective team. He's clearly meant to be bred a few times and a god tier member of a potentially inexperienced player's team- but I literally never used him after the intro.

So during this scene it's supposed to be like "I'm a demi-god monster, you can't possibly beat me" and I'm thinking "Dude, you're like level 10 and shit tier, you can't win, this is hilarious."

Obviously it's a real boss fight and not 'face the monster you once had' but I was having fun roasting him behind the scenes of this recording.

45:00 - What an entirely unexpected change of pace.

Like, I had it spoiled for me by a screenshot that Dr. Snap becomes a monster or something- but I thought maybe he was always a monster or something, and also I got a bad look at him.

HE TURNS INTO A BODY HORROR BEAST, THAT'S NUTS.

Genuinely a highlight of the game.

52:00 - I fucking laughed what a meaningless exchange where the payoff is saying "He was stupid!", it's honestly just silly and dumb but not necessarily bad just dumb lol

55:00 - Not a great 'you won' victory lap. Like at all. Kinda feels like they should have just made this all a cutscene where I appear back at town and see that Solitaire is the leader now etc etc.

I kinda don't understand why it's a victory lap at all? Because all anyone says is "They picked a weird successor to Snap >:(" or "Snap went to the island? I bet he was stopping the calamity :)"

If you have 2 lines of dialogue prepared, maybe don't make a victory lap???

1:00:00 - What a fucking stupid payoff lol

Like sincerely, Solitaire does NOTHING the entire game! She's meaningless from start to finish! And the 'surprise' is that she's the new commish??? And she got the position because she's a rich spoiled brat??? Like LITERALLY that's why????????

What a stupid fucking ending lol

Now her proposed evolution of the contest is fair enough, I mean it's childish as hell, but to be fair- more contests is a fine idea especially since prior games and this game demonstrated the public's interest in watching monster fights. And the goal being to fight her as the final fight is fucking egotistical and stupid- BUT- it does play into the fact that the player didn't get to fight her the whole game so it's whatever?

1:03:00 - This is both the best and worst lol.

This game has no story, like at all, it's fucking empty front to back, and only explodes with like- 1 event at the very end.

This moment is a montage of memorable moments with your 'best friend' Sparkpug. It's cinematically very nice to be honest! Even includes a moment I don't remember at the arena which probably didn't happen lol.

So visually it's cool- I dig seeing the camera zoom out as we run across the beach, and the flashback moments intersplice over us making our way to the scout memorial- that's very well done.

The content is empty lol

As I said there's no story, these moments are nothing lol

And that's that.

All said the ending was a very nice challenge to face with my team- I had to abuse items like mad but I MADE IT! It was a GOOD fight.

The rest I've already said.

On to the game as a whole:

I have issues with this game, but there's good too. It's really like 4 steps forward 6-7 steps back it's weird, it's really weird.

Positives are neat!

> First and foremost- TRAITS!

Monsters in Dragon Quest Monsters have always had a problem with keeping their identity for long. The way I'd explain it to an outsider to the series is that Monsters DO have special stat variance and intended movesets and all that jazz- but the breeding system completely and entirely destroys that relatively early into the game.

While a monster might normally have really high defense and low other stats while knowing buffing magic- breeding, EVEN UNINTENTIONALLY, will have that same monster come out with 9 billion attack and all ice magic.

Monsters in DQM have a habit of becoming canvases for the breeding effects rather than their own mons- and this is undeniably a downside. It makes the game feel unique, it doesn't 'hurt' it, but when by mid-game monsters are more easily identified as sprites rather than strengths and weaknesses or even types (family) it's a slight downer on the series.

Traits fix this a lot by making every specific monster have unchangeable traits which offer things like "immunity to x type of damage" or "higher crit chance"- it's small, but it gives each monster more identity.

> Second and secondmost- SKILLS!

The older games didn't use trees, it used each individual spell as a potential pass on during breeding.

Each monster could have 8 spells, and when you breed two monsters you pass on all 16 spells to the offspring (they don't learn them all at once, they learn them as they level up) as well as the natural spells the monster would learn by level up.

So in the older games it is really easy to end up with a refined and overpowered list of 8 spells on each of your monsters.

Now spells are tied to Skill trees and your monsters can have 3 skill trees total (which are passed on as OPTIONS when breeding).

All to say skills do a lot for removing the "Master of all, weakness of none" spell lists that the older games made trivial to make, now you have to limit your builds and be more specialized- also they added skills like "Attack up" to add more variance to a build- instead of having spells you might just have high stat buffs as skill trees.

Overall I think Skills are an improvement because coupled with Traits it makes each monster feel much more specialized and unique and less like a sprite with no identity.

> Breeding is improved.

This is very much because of skills and traits- again- but also the system is just improved in general. Instead of being told "That's a monster you haven't had before!" and judging your decisions based on the name of the offspring breed, now you get to see a small sprite of the resulting monster to help you decide- ALSO instead of getting 1 result for every combo (to the point where you have to back out and choose Monster A + Monster B and Monster B + Monster A as separate options), you now get up to 3 results to pick between for every breeding opportunity.

It's just better.

> The engine is impressive.

At least to me. This is a DS title using (from what I read) a rework of the DQ8 PS2 game's engine- it certainly looks like it.

Combat models are nice, using moves looks nice, overworld exploration looks nice- it looks nice.

Now for some negative and general nonsense- all of which is more often than not 'weird'.

> I gotta be unfair and say "The Story" first and foremost.

DQM 1 and 2 are not intense story games. They aren't.

But they both knew how to handle their story well for what they wanted to tell, I can and will praise both for their narratives because they know what they are and do it well.

DQM:J does not. It's fucking bad.

Basically: The overall story doesn't exist- you're told to be a spy, but that comes up 1 time towards the end of the game and LITERALLY doesn't matter at any other moment INCLUDING the one time it comes up.

You have NO meaningful objective from the start up until near the end of the game. You show up and have no goal- so you get told to get some crystals with no meaning behind it (not even a lie because they are clearly evil- not even a lie to motivate you! NO MEANING IS PRESENTED! JUST DO IT! TO DO THE CONTEST I GUESS! WHY? SHUT UP!)

So 90% of the game time you're not doing anything meaningful. So what about the islands? Any small narratives to keep things moving?

NO!

NOT AT ALL!

So you go 90% of the game having no real objective, just kinda wandering forward mindlessly- and then the game suddenly goes "Oh! Guy who seemed sus! He's evil! He's gonna unleash the calamity that you were 'kinda but not directly' working towards with your dog! You know, that plot point that's kept vague and paid 0% attention to the entire game? Yeah it's happening! Aaaaand you're done! GG!"

Basically there's just nothing going on in this game, it's all background noise until the last 10% of the game. And that's lame.

DQM1 had a light story- but from the very intro cutscene you have a clear objective which makes every action you do seem relevant as you are working towards that goal.

From the start of the game you know "My sister is gone! The king says a magic wish can get her back! I'll go do that!" and then you do!

DQM2 has a much better story!

You have a goal from the start (The kingdom is physically dying and you have to save it by getting a new plug!) AND it has stories for each world you visit!

THAT'S MILES BETTER! THIS GAME COULD HAVE DONE THAT FOR THE ISLANDS!

Anywho. Story is lacking and empty and lame especially when DQM2 has a similar format but does every part better- you have a clear objective you're working towards AND side stories to keep the light narrative moving!

WTH!

The spy plotline doesn't matter! It could have been used to build suspicion on who's the good guy!

The islands are so empty of story!

DQM2 has a fun mix on how a rival character works which makes every world interesting to see how they get involved!

This game has a rival that does NOTHING!!!!!!!!!

It's just such a step back from the previous games, it's weird to see DQM 1 land a solid simple story and DQM 2 build a great format to expand the story going forward- and then DQM:J just slams its head into the dirt and wipes out.

> Game's slow.

The engine switch is a good thing overall, but it makes combat slower (a lot), adds loading screens to combat (primarily), and they didn't bother speeding up the grind from previous games.

Because of the grind still existing which isn't a problem in and of itself- the game becomes SLOW AS HELL because the engine makes that grind take longer.

Also world exploration is slow which is to be expected when moving from 2d to 3d, but this is countered by adding things to the world to find or do- and Joker tries but it's still noticeable. The world exploration isn't a problem, it just stands out alongside the combat being slow as hell.

The engine change was a great thing- but it feels like they should have put more work into speeding up combat to counter the slowdown of load times and flashy animations.

A GOOD WAY TO FIX THAT MIGHT BE XP!

> Music ain't great in my opinion.

DQ has amazing music. This game has some weak renditions in my opinion. The CELL HQ theme song is a pretty good poster child for the worst there is, but just in general even the better music is lacking compared to the chiptunes of the GBC or the better mixes of the main series.

Maybe it's unfair, it's a DS game, I don't know, I just know I ended up just muting most of the game because it didn't sound great. I played the GBC games OSTs instead for a large portion of my playthrough. I listened to videos instead for the bulk of the game.

It's just not pleasant to me, sorry to say.

> XP!!!!!!!

I'm being a spoiled ass on this but yeah!

XP SUCKS IN THIS!

There aren't good placed to grind until you beat the game! (apparently)

The first level blatantly has too low xp which makes you grind before you can tackle the boss of the island- and the late game has you mindlessly grinding low xp rewards in order to be ready to face the final boss.

It's WEIRD!

Why is it so low!

> Tech is weird!

I could ramble on this alone but here's the short version:

DQ has a unique fantasy world aesthetic that each game has explored in its own way. It's basically "swords, magic, monsters, and charm- things feel light but aren't afraid to get scary sometimes :)"

This game... doesn't.

This game has fuckin' tech watches, jet skis, TOWER PCS????

This ISN'T dragon quest on a world building level.

It's like, contemporary modern world but with slimes.

And that could be good I guess, but it feels so fucking weird to see PCs right alongside swords and axes and a dracky.

Like... why?

It's a poor aesthetic according to my tastes. Maybe I'm an ass for that. The tech is weird.

All to say, in a poor rambling "I gotta get this out of me" kinda way, is Joker was fine.

I enjoyed breeding. I enjoyed seeing the engine. I enjoyed the unique additions like a 'hero monster'.

But I also had to grind mindlessly on a slower game.

I had to endure a story that forgot to show up until the very end.

I sat there thinking about replaying the older ones the whole time.

It was fine.

It's mediocre.

I'm glad I played it.

I'm done now :)

[nostalgicphile]

Different anon here about Gillian/Scully. The fact that Gillian doesn't campaign to change Scully is nothing new, I believe. I usually watch the show & rarely the bts things so I can't be wrong but what was her opinion about the pregnancy and Scully as a mother? Or Scully giving William for adoption? David - I think - he had more input in his character but again I don't remember what was his contribution in the later seasons except having Diana be Mulder's ex & writing the script in which (conti

.. in which Scully gives up William. (I think FS had issues with that but David and Chris convinced him it was better for Mulder & Scully not to have a baby for the movies) and he refused to return for more s9 episodes  because he felt the show is Mulder’s quest and he didn’t want Mulder to be an Obi- Wan type of character (I totally respect that) & he also wrote some shippy moments in s7. But other than that I don’t know how he feels about Mulder leaving Sculy & his baby or any of the other th            

… or any of the other things. That’s why I don’t get it when people (shippers mostly) start petitions for David & Gillian to write episodes for s11, I’m not sure how in touch they are with the characters and the core of the characters and why people love them and identify with them. I’d rather CC, GM, DM, JW, VG (hopefully), HG, FS and the rest of the writers to write them. (Of course GA & DD had some great observations about the characters (I tend to agree with D’s comments on the DVDs for…          

… especially for the early seasons very much -I love his input on Mulder in Memento Mori & much more but I’m not sure if I trust him to write an episode after “The 6th extinction” / “Amor Fati” & the messiah storyline he wrote. (sorry if you love these episodes but I prefer the more grounded mythology of Morgan & Wong & early Carter) PS. Maybe I’m the minority but I enjoyed s10 more than IWTB and I’m hopeful for s11 because I think the writers understood the criticism, but I miss Rob Bowman & 

 If people believe CC is a stubborn showrunner then they haven’t seen shows with stubborn showrunners. CC writes a certain way, that’s true but he is not the only writer and if you ask Vince Gilligan, or one of the Morgan brothers or James Wong they’ll tell you CC encourages his writers to bring their visions in, to tell their own stories, he doesn’t order a story and they write, they have freedom. James Wong talked about that last year and how it’s different from the way shows are written today.            

********************

Hi anon. First, thank you for all your comments - I appreciate your input in the discussion. There is a lot to unpack here and, unfortunately, I have limited time; but I wanted to post your messages, so I’ll respond to what I can now….maybe others can offer their input too.

From what I recall, David used to chat casually with Chris about story ideas (I know Avatar was his and he has story credit on several other episodes) and sometimes he offered enough meat to get his name in there. David directed ‘William’ and also has a credit on the story, though I really can’t recall specifically who wanted to write William out. (It was such a horrible mistake, imo, I’d hate to put it on David without firm evidence to back it up.)

But to get to the meat of it: I personally don’t necessarily want David and Gillian to write for this next stack - especially since when they do write, they want to direct, and that could mean shortchanging their presence in the episode (s). I personally would rather see them on the screen, together, whenever possible. I also don’t expect David and Gillian to “fix” all that is wrong with TXF. I guess I just want them to lose some of their seeming apathy towards their characters. Whenever anyone questions them about their characters, they either:

- don’t know (see David’s response at a con very shortly after filming S10….he seemed to have little idea what was happening with the MSR);

- don’t care (”Chris knows what he’s doing. We trust him.”)

- don’t seem to regard fan or media concerns about the show/movie quality with any merit (”IWTB didn’t do well and killed the whole movie franchise? That was because of The Dark Knight.”) 

David and Gillian are smart people who are so active in the production of their other shows (Cali, The Fall). Yet, when it comes to TXF, it’s like they’ve totally given up. They don’t seem to really understand why people like it and, at times, they don’t even seem to be fans of their own show. They are just like, “I trust Chris, we show up and do our jobs.” I also strongly believe hardcore fans have lost credibility because we did so much whining in the ‘90s…now that there really are strong issues with the show, they view us as impossible to please.

I guess I find it hard to believe that, given that TXF cannot happen without them:

- David and Gillian can’t influence the show quality i.e., script approval;

- they don’t demand any answers as to where the story is going, what is happening with their characters, and how the FINAL season ever is going to end;

- that, after playing these people for so many years, that they are so ill-equipped to offer any input into their characters.

As for Chris’s style and the freedom he gives writers: with that freedom, there are huge discrepancies in character presentation and development. Do the Mulder and Scully in MASMTWM even remotely resemble the people we see in Home Again? There is zero consistency in how they are written. So, yay for writer freedom, but too bad for people looking for characters they recognize.

Maybe it’s selfish of me to want more. Maybe it’s too much to ask for David and Gillian to act as a form of checks and balances. Maybe I’m just a tired, cranky old fan. ;)