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rimeiii · 1 year ago

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Using What in "Hell" is Bad as an excuse to talk about video game mechanics (pt. 1)

And honestly, not just as an excuse - but also as a way to voice out my concerns for the gameplay.

Because I've been thinking about the game mechanics in What in "Hell" is Bad, specifically the damage instance miss as shown in the gameplay trailer of WHB and how it's something that I personally am not a fan of (as the bitch who cares more about the gameplay than anything else), and I think it all boils down to game design. There's several points to it that I hope I can get through eloquently, but it all does boil down to one key issue:

Consistency.

Now, what do I mean by that?

(more under the cut!)

Also, a disclaimer: ALL of the situations below are based on my thought processes, as someone who likes a challenge in gaming. I play Nuzlockes, I like mainline SMT, I do high Surging in IS3 (currently attempting 11), I play hard Pokémon romhacks, and more. Not everyone will think like I do, and that's fine.

And even though the opening statement is for WHB, at the end of the day I end up talking extensively about my thought processes in building a team for hard Pokémon romhacks, specifically Radical Red, so. Just a heads-up!

Consistency, in this case, is basically a measure of how often a skill/strategy is able to have an effect. The less RNG is required for a skill/strategy to work, the more consistent it is. It's the usual Fire Blast vs Flamethrower debate - would you risk the 85% accuracy for a 120 (gen 1-5)/110 (gen 6 onward) base power attack in Fire Blast, or take the guaranteed hit with a lower base power of 95 (gen 1-5)/90 (gen 6 onward) in Flamethrower? Some would take the Fire Blast, others would prefer the Flamethrower.

Consistency issues usually don't tend to be a thing in most tower defense games, in my experience. Most if not all damage instances are sure hits (unless the enemy has some sort of immunity), and RNG factors are minimal when it comes to inflicting damage. That isn't to say RNG is completely gone from tower defense games - the easiest examples being the butter from Kernelpults in Plants vs Zombies and certain Operator Talents like Mountain's 15% physical dodge or Lin's 50% chance of SP recovery on hit in Arknights. These RNG factors are balanced in a sense that they either have a decent chance for a completely broken effect (butter stopping a zombie completely for several seconds), are ultimately nice bonuses for an already strong base kit (how I feel the dodge on Mountain's Talent is), or works well in accordance to their archetype (how I feel Lin's Talent is, which is boosted heavily and turns her into a stellar unit with her Module, increasing the SP regen chance from 50% to a more consistent 75%).

As a result, having an attack from a ranged unit miss in WHB's trailer, while understandable due to attacking from a distance, is another source of RNG - and while it may be a breath of fresh air in tower defense, as a mechanic I can see it inciting rage. In what way, however?

For me, it's easiest to explain in a Pokémon setting. As a side note, all the screenshots used are from the Radical Red romhack, a romhack of FireRed that has all Pokémon and moves introduced in Generation 9 while including all of the updated game mechanics (minus Terastalization) and being a generally hard game - even with both minimal grinding and Easy mode on.

(OP is trying to catch and evolve all possible Pokémon while leaving all the mind-bending team building in Run & Bun, so she chose those settings)

This is Regieleki's moveset upon capture within the Power Plant Raid Den in Radical Red. Zap Cannon is a supremely strong move that guarantees Paralysis on the opposing Pokémon if it hits, but it only hits 50% of the time. Yet in most situations, you never see this thing run Zap Cannon - despite its side effect and damage. You want to know why?

Its ability, Transistor.

Transistor plus the same type attack bonus (STAB) makes Regieleki deal absolutely ludicrous amounts of damage with its Electric type attacks. A weaker but more accurate Thunderbolt (95/90 base power depending on the generation with a chance to paralyze, but has 100 accuracy) is more than enough for damage because of its damage multipliers, without the chance of it missing. Of course, you could always use a move like Lock On or other ways to boost your Zap Cannon's accuracy, but you're putting yourself in danger because you'll be wasting a turn you can use to potentially pick up a KO while leaving it susceptible to getting KO'd itself.

So, it all comes down to risk vs reward: do you take the risk of a miss/KO to deal insane amounts of damage AND a status effect, or do you take the weaker guaranteed hit that might not inflict the status effect?

Back to WHB - it would seem like ranged units are the ones with a chance to miss, while the melee units all have guaranteed hits. And judging from the footage, it would seem that Paimon is the unit that did most if not all of the missed attacks, which leads me to hypothesize:

The miss might be due to Paimon's passive skill.

Miss chance might be based on unit rarity - because I don't recall seeing Gabriel and Satan miss anything, and they both are of higher rarity than Paimon.

The miss chance is necessary to balance the subclass Paimon is part of.

On paper, this sounds fine - a fresh way to implement a risk vs reward mechanic in team-building, encouraging varied team compositions to maximize damage. However, there's a reason why I placed emphasis on the fact it's on paper, because the implementations as seen in the preview itself is...less than ideal.

See, when someone thinks of risk vs reward, the risk you're taking must be directly proportional to the perceived reward for it to be a viable choice for the player. Otherwise, what is intended to be a high-risk-high-reward move that has some viability will be perceived as high-risk-mediocre-reward without any viability. In other words, if the reward obtained is not worth the risk taken, then the player most likely won't take the risk, and you're not doing this entire "risk vs reward" thing right.

As an example, let's take a look at Unburden Sneasler in Radical Red, in the context of building a team to go against Lorelei of the Elite Four.

Unburden Sneasler by principle is a relatively frail physical sweeper. With Unburden it becomes one of the fastest Pokemon in the entire game provided it loses its held item as its already high base speed is doubled with Unburden. There are several ways it can lose a held item - consuming a one-time use item (so stuff like Berries, Focus Sash, Herbs, and Gems) or using Fling.

So, the question becomes this:

Would you take the chance of Sneasler taking huge damage and/or dying on turn one to be able to strike first and deal immense damage on the enemy in the following turns?

Because Sneasler, despite its weaker defensive stats, has a typing that gives it 6 resistances with only 3 weaknesses (with only one of them being a quad weakness - Psychic). And you're definitely looking for ways to lose your item ASAP to activate Unburden. If you can, for example, knock out Lorelei's Alolan Ninetales on her Hail team before it can set up Aurora Veil (increases the party's defensive stats for 8 turns, as it's holding the Light Clay, increasing the length of these buffs), then you're in a much better position for the rest of the fight, right?

For context, let's theorycraft and look at these Pokémon in a vacuum for a bit. Lorelei's Hail team leads with Alolan Ninetales and Glaceon. Ninetales starts up Hail with its ability Snow Warning, allowing it to use Aurora Veil (which only works in Hail). Her Glaceon has Slush Rush, doubling its Speed in Hail - and outspeeding Sneasler. Sneasler will still outspeed Ninetales, but the Glaceon will likely aim to Earth Power the Sneasler, seeing as it'll deal more damage - especially with the Choice Specs (increases special attack by 50% but locks the Pokemon into the first move it used).

If Sneasler is holding the Shuca Berry (reduces the first Ground damage instance by 50%), there's a chance it's going to survive, while Unburden is activated. You take out the Ninetales turn one with both of your Pokemon (this means you'll also need a Pokemon faster than Ninetales as your other lead), and you can then Close Combat the next turn to deal immense damage and hopefully pick up another KO with your speedy Sneasler. Hell, if the Calyrex-Ice comes in, you might want to double into that slot to get rid of it before it can start stacking boosts!

However, there is still a source of inconsistency in the form of a critical hit. Critical hits deal 50% more damage and happens at a 1/24 chance (starting generation 7). Assuming Shuca Berry with a critical? Even the Sneasler might not be strong enough to tank the Earth Power, with both the Choice Specs boost and Glaceon's high base Special Attack.

But back again to WHB. So, what about this risk vs reward concept in terms of Paimon? Well, based on what we're seeing in the trailer, I don't think the risk of his attacks missing is worth the reward of his utility.

Several things to note. First of all, his regular attacks don't seem to inflict any sort of ailment. His slow seems to be only on skill proc, and unless my eyes deceived me then the damage instance on the skill also missed. Thankfully, the slow is still inflicted on the opponent, but...man. Too many of Paimon's attacks missed (misses were a majority!) - and those that hit aren't even as strong as other units like Eligos (192 damage/hit) and Satan (166 damage/hit). The Pokémon equivalent of this is having Hustle (increases Attack by 50% for a 20% drop in accuracy for Physical attacks), but even then Paimon's accuracy is arguably much worse.

Why would you use Paimon if you have much more consistent DPS options, and if you don't find his slow particularly useful or impactful? As far as DPS goes, he's outpaced by everyone else, at 115 damage/hit. A slot that you could've used for another, more impactful unit, is used on a unit that doesn't seem to be bringing that much value into the team.

Perhaps there may be fringe cases where his kit is useful. Or there's a chance his current level as shown on the trailer presents him not at his full potential. Maybe down the line Paimon's archetype might be more usable as the game evolves, too! But as we see him right now, he isn't quite worth the opportunity cost of having another, more impactful unit on the squad, assuming you have alternatives.

Actually, let's talk about opportunity cost. It's a concept that talks about what opportunities are lost when not taking a specific option. Any character, any build, any strategy - basically anything I don't use represents an opportunity cost.

As an example, let's take a look at my current Regieleki build.

With Regieleki's stat spread and moveset, there are several main "modes" this Pokémon can run. It can utilize its speed for a full support build, with the ability to set up Reflect (increases party Defense for 5 turns) and Light Screen (increases party Special Defense for 5 turns) before its opponents while still having a speed control option with Electroweb (hits both enemies in a double battle, weak damage while dropping enemy speed). It can also utilize its Transistor ability to function as a speedy special sweeper, running stronger Electric moves like Thunderbolt (base power 95 with 100 accuracy) or Thunder (base power 110 with 85 accuracy, 100 accuracy in rain). The held items and specific stat builds will differ depending on the mode - support Regieleki would run an HP boosting nature to help with its bulk somewhat, while the special sweeper build would run a Special Attack boosting nature, for example.

Both builds are good, but we're playing a hard romhack here. Realistically I can only bring one Regieleki, because having more than one means I'll be gimping my team in terms of type coverage and resistances. And even then there are other support units that might be worth looking into - an example being the standard Grimmsnarl support build with the Prankster ability (status moves gain +1 priority, helping them proc first, but doesn't affect Dark type Pokémon) and the aforementioned Light Clay, running Reflect and Light Screen (both moves increasing the duration to 8 turns as well due to the Light Clay and are also affected by Prankster) but also bringing additional utility in Spirit Break (damage on a single enemy while reducing their Special Attack) and Parting Shot (reduces a foe's attacking stats and makes Grimmsnarl switch out, also affected by Prankster). Me bringing a support Regieleki as my choice of support means I'll be losing out on both the utility of the special sweeper Regieleki build and the Prankster Grimmsnarl, among other things. They become the opportunity cost of bringing the support Regieleki.

My train of thought, therefore, boils down to this: which option would lead to more consistency and a much easier time in the Elite Four, considering the fact that all the Elite Four members in Radical Red have two potential teams? This will require more theorycrafting, as well as building a team suited for both situations to not get blindsided by any team. I personally am thinking of bringing the support Regieleki build, and I will have to build the rest of my team to capitalize off that - including potentially changing that Volt Switch to Protect.

The same concept applies when selecting your team for a tower defense stage. WHB places a limit of 6 units on the field, and your team composition must be good enough to deal with the enemies with your limited deployment slots. If you let a unit go down, you'll be down one member for the entirety of the stage. In the same vein, if a member doesn't seem to be doing much in your composition, then you'd more than likely consider changing them for another member who can support your current composition better.

All so you can have a consistent composition to clear a stage.

So, I guess why the miss indication in particular is so much of a dealbreaker for me is the utter inconsistency it brings to the table. As much as possible, I don't want to rely on a coin flip to determine if my party lives or dies. Some challenge due to inconsistency is fine - the entire concept of critical hits in Pokemon makes things just that more challenging and thrilling, especially because you can play around the critical hits due to it not having such a large chance overall (and those that do are usually guaranteed critical hits anyways, so you're already looking for contingency plans for those).

This is why I feel having a miss chance as large as Paimon for a character like him is such a bad idea. It doesn't capitalize on risk vs reward well, and in the long run he might just end up being not that good of a character.

And, well...

A challenge based solely on inconsistencies and such huge RNG factors simply isn't a fun or fair challenge at all.

#what in hell is bad #whb #pokemon #radical red #this is just an excuse for me to theorycraft for the elite four in radical red #but to be fair the miss chance in the trailer is such a dealbreaker for me it isn't even funny #i hope it doesn't become the norm for the game #anyways #support regieleki and unburden sneasler leads for lorelei do we see the vision #probably a bad idea but i want to play with my faves #gameplay analysis?????#also considering bringing a kingambit for dps idk #or protean meowscarada #ahh so many choices!!!#using whb as an excuse to talk about other games #i might go back to this post to talk about what makes a unit overpowered/balanced/underpowered #rimei talks gaming

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dadjoke-ness · 2 years ago

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As a fandom, we need to let The Pokemon Company and Nintendo know we are not only okay with delays, we’d prefer them if it made the game better.

Simply put, currently they have to achieve a quota of one game for year - this is because while The Pokemon Company is doing fine financially (merch, anime, and app games actually make them more money) and Nintendo is always going to do fine financially, Nintendo and TPC likely have a contract where games have to make so much a year. This is because Nintendo only owns/controls 33% of The Pokemon Company - specifically the switch game division, so their only pokemon money comes from the games.

However, pokemon is one of their biggest sellers. It’s the only one where they have a guaranteed new generation every 3-4 years, and at least one guaranteed spin off game every year. We don’t see this for many other big name games. Legend of Zelda is allowed delays. Mario is not released this religiously. Yokai Watch (though they don’t give it to the rest of the world) is allowed delays and they take their time to make honestly gorgeous games with awful creatures. The closest we get to this grind is Final Fantasy, and I can name only a handful of stand out characters. Pokemon has this expectation from nintendo - they always come out right before the holidays so people buy them as gifts for Christmas. The pokemon games also boost sales for other parts of nintendo - many players admit only buying a 3ds or a Switch because of pokemon. And the points from buying pokemon let you get other games on sale that you can get for “free” or steeply discounted, as pokemon games give you 300 points each - the games you can get for free with your points alone right now is actually quite impressive and I can personally recommend several of them.

But how do we fix it? Simply put, we need a way to communicate we ARE okay with a new generation taking 4 or even 5 years. The reason for the deadline is because fans got so angry waiting for previous generations that they have to adhere to a very strict “every 3 years” timeline, and have done so since between gen 5 and 6. But I remember back in between gens 6 and 7, a gap of only 3 years, people complaining that the new generation was taking so long to come out, why do we have to wait three years between new generations. That loud backlash for the completely normal wait time made the Pokemon Company and Nintendo unwilling to delay pokemon at all - and that one was already on a completely average timeline. But that is also why after Sun and Moon, we got USUM a year later, the same game but cleaned up and with more features. We got what the game would have been if they were allowed an extra year to work on it.

We need to hold this as an example and push against anyone who complains if the tenth generation takes an extra year. We need to say “yes, but the developers need time to make the game good” and hold that line.

Because while we all agree they needed more time now, in two years I can almost GUARANTEE people will be complaining at how slowly news of the tenth generation comes out, complaining about how much time it takes to get a new generation while playing whatever remake is on the switch.

And we need to hold that line. We need to be able to say “Scarlet and Violet were fun, and we want a game that fun with time given to make it run well. With time given to check for bugs. We want the new generation to have a delay if they need it, and we won’t complain too much if it takes up to an extra year.”

We need to take an example from the Zelda community. They didn’t complain when Tears of the Kingdom was delayed, they’re excited because delaying a Zelda game means that it is going to be friggen GOOD. And we need to send Pokemon the same message, that it is okay to delay something if the delay makes it good.

#Pokemon #Pokemon scarlet violet #Not spoilers #Just a rant?

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pex-zone · 1 year ago

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15, 27, and 75 for the pokemon ask game?

15. Favourite Shiny Pokémon

Shiny Hisuian Zoroark!! Zoroark was my first favourite Pokémon, so Hisuian Zoroark also holds a special place in my heart - and its shiny did not disappoint!

I really like how it’s body is a much darker shade of grey, and I think the purple with the white mane works a lot better than Unovan Zoroark’s purple with the dark mane!

27. Overall Favourite Generation

Gen 5! It was my first generation actually - I got into Pokémon somewhat late, after watching my cousin play Platinum! My family often frequented Blockbusters to rent games and movies, and I got my parents to rent a copy of Pokemon Black, and fell in love with it. I was sad to have to return it, but I understood that’s just how things worked. The following Tuesday, my mum surprised me with a present after school - she’d bought me Pokemon Black!

But yeah, it’s my favourite generation partially because of that sentimentality, and I genuinely think it was a good generation - the plot was great, it introduced some awesome Pokémon (and I actually still really like how the game forced you to use Unovan Pokémon during the main game in BW), and the sprite artwork was the best it’s ever been - I would still vastly prefer the Gen 5 sprites to the 3D models.

75. A Pokémon I Feel Is Overrated

Can I be controversial and say Garchomp? I know people love it, I’ve used one myself during a Nuzlocke of Pokémon Y, and I understand it’s a good Pokémon.

But I also feel like there’s no real charm to it’s design or lore - sure, I’ll admit this is a purely subjective point of view, and I’m sure there’s Garchomp fans who see things that I don’t - but it often feels to me that people like Garchomp purely because it’s a strong Pokémon they likely had on their teams in Gen 4.

Link to Ask Game here!

#sorry this took so long I literally did go through the shiny dex on Pokémon Database #pick out my faves. And then pitted them against each other until one won #I had to make sure I was being accurate when I told you my favourite shiny LMAO

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neon-moon-beam · 3 years ago

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Reassurance Posts Master List

I’ve noticed here and there people reblogging some of my reassurance posts and putting in the tags that they often come back to it. I’m glad my posts are helping other people! And if you like these posts, please reblog them! I made them specifically to be share for the people who may need them.

I’m compiling the current posts I have here for easier access. This list may be added to in the future: Compilation of potential evidence that Ingo will go home (Posted February 12th, 2022, subject to edits based on content updates and if a DLC comes out, or other info or potential evidence is found)

Evidence That Ingo Has Not Been In Hisui For Years (Posted April 20th, 2022, edited to include details from Hisuian Snow June 22nd, 2022, subject to more edits if more information is available)

Breaking Down The Known Ways Ingo Could Have Gotten To Hisui + My Theory Based On The Most Likely Option (Subject to change if more information comes out)

Something to take in consideration with the timing of Pokemon Masters EX

My thoughts on whether or not Ingo is “too necessary” to Hisui to return to Unova

Ingo’s character model hinting at Gen 5 remakes?

Ingo’s Inclusion In PLA Was Possibly To Hint At and Hype Fans Up For Revisiting Gen 5

Possible Reasons Why Ingo Was Not In The “Thank You For Adventuring With Us” Image Depending On What Information The Artist Was Given

My thoughts on PLA possibly taking place in an alternate universe, given discrepancies between Sinnoh’s history in DPPt and BDSP, as well as the devs’ reluctance to officially consider characters the ancestors of other characters (written in two parts, may be expanded on later if I feel I have more to say)

I try to only go with what we’re given in PLA, what we’ve seen in other games as far as how characters with amnesia have been handled as well as the overall tone of the series, what evidence we have or don’t have for how Ingo got to Hisui, etc. I try not to veer into speculation with nothing to back it up.

Also please do not come at me in reblogs or DMs with theories or headcanons about why he won’t go home or Submas angst content. I make these posts to reassure people who are genuinely worried characters they have come to love aren’t going to be OK. Of course I don’t know what will happen, but I noticed it was hard to find any content that was hopeful that post-PLA Ingo and Dawn/Lucas would be returned to their proper time and place. I’m not attacking anyone who likes angst, or likes or prefers the idea that people don’t go home, etc. I just want to keep things reassuring for people who want or need it, as well as myself.

I hope my posts continue to reassure people until we get confirmation as to how things go post-PLA.

Also, bl*nkshippers dni--I will block you.

#submas #ingo #ingo pokemon #warden ingo #emmet #emmet pokemon #pokemon legends spoilers

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torterragarden · 2 years ago

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001 pokemon specifically x and y bc im making you take pity on Kalos

Fine 🙄

Favorite character: Shauna because of the rivals she has the most discernible personality, she's pretty funny and likable. Diantha is very cool and very hot but really doesn't do enough or live up to her potential so. yeah idk I think Shauna

Least Favorite character: Lysandre makes my head hurt trying to understand what the fuck he's about. He makes me like Chairman Rose more by comparison and that says a lot

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): uuh Shauna/Serena is boutiqueshipping I think, right? Anyway, that's one. perfectworldshipping is pretty funny so that's another one. idk if phaesporiashipping counts cause Cynthia isn't actually in XY but if it counts then that. I don't know of any other Kalos ships sorry

Character I find most attractive: Diantha, I really love her design. The old movie star vibe she's got really does it for me. Plus she's Champion so like #girlboss even tho she's one of the easiest Champions to beat

Character I would marry: Diantha. See above

Character I would be best friends with: uuh... Diantha? I guess?

a random thought: I really don't dislike XY as much as I make it sound like lmao I don't dislike it at all really, it's just that there's nothing about it that makes me want to play it over any other Pokemon game. Like I just don't Care about it is all

An unpopular opinion: Here's a big one, I never liked megas. A mechanic that only benefits like 30 out of hundreds of Pokemon, most of them being Pokemon that were already strong and popular anyway, was never that interesting to me for a casual playthrough, and only like 5 megas were even viable in competitive so it wasn't any more interesting there. And none of the Pokemon who got megas were gen 6 Pokemon despite the mechanic being introduced in gen 6? not even the starters? Oh no but lets give megas to the Kanto starters, hell lets give our special little guy Charizard two. come on. At least the Galar starters got gigantamaxes eventually and there were still plenty of gen 8 Pokemon that had them from the start. Also literally the only one that looks good is Mega Sableye, and that's just because it's regular Sableye but with ruby eyes and a big gem to hide behind. Every other mega is at best Fine and at worst ugly as shit, because the design philosophy for megas seemed to be "it's [Pokemon] but cooler, and cooler means busier". Have you seen mega Garchomp? Have you seen what they did to my boy? Disgusting. I never want to see it again.

My Canon OTP: "otp" is too strong a word for it but boutiqueshipping. That fireworks scene was so romantic coded this IS canon idc

My Non-canon OTP: phaesporiashipping. I just think Diantha and Cynthia should kiss

Most Badass Character: Diantha, at least in theory

Most Epic Villain: no. I am not giving Lysandre and credit lmao

Pairing I am not a fan of: I really don't know enough of the Kalos pairings to know which ones I don't like specifically, if it's obviously gross and bad for the obvious reasons etc etc then yeah throw it all out but like I don't Know

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): LYSANDRE. Also Diantha. How did they set her up to have an opposite philosophy to Lysandre in her first scene and then just never have her play a part in anything involving him later

Favourite Friendship: Shauna and Serena I guess, or Shauna and whatever the male player character was if you prefer. Calem? yeah

Character I most identify with: Sycamore because I am also a dumb idiot villain apologist

Character I wish I could be: I would sooner die than be French

#ask #saintoflostmonsters #thanks i guess. or sorry

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heckyeahponyscans · 3 years ago

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As a pokemon fan, pokemon fans complain about everything to a degree. at the time, a lot of people who started with gen 1/2, were aging out of pokemon by gen 3. So it was often the case of 'look how adult I am by not playing something aimed at younger people'. However now a days its still considered a very solid game, and people enjoy it. Gen 5 had so many complaints on release despite the fact that its legitimately one of the best pokemon games that was ever made.

sword/shield are the recent ones everyone seams to 'despise' at first because they decided not to continue on with adding every single pokemon in the pokemon games. And the tree textures were bad. (Understandable complaints as the game could use more polish, but I really thought it was fun.)

Anyway I loved beast wars as a kid. I don't remember much about it, but it was so good! I mostly remember a character not surviving, (Which i'm being vague about for sake of spoilers as I know its still possible to watch the show.) and the Wasp character. Waspinator is still just so good. Think his story was that his speech pattern took a long time so they just kept having him be attacked/injured so he couldn't talk much. Which ended up making him so beloved by fan and creator that they didn't die when they were planned too.

Oh yeah, that character death . . . I know the one you speak of and watching that episode still makes me cry. So good.

On Pokemon, I'm not part of the Pokemon fandom (like part of the community) but I'm a Pokemon fan in the sense that I watch the anime sometimes (loved the Sun / Moon season) and play all the games.

IMO Sun / Moon was the best game, which as I understand it isn't something a lot of Pokemon fans would agree with me on, lol. But it was the only one that really made me love a region instead of going "well, that was pretty cool."

I'm not picky when it comes to playing Pokemon games, it's mostly about building and bonding with my team. And I like doing nuzlockes, so my perception of games is also influenced by, like, how many Pokemon are available on each route.

I disagree on Black / White being great, it was the third weakest game in terms of story IMO. But I will save that for another post because I have A LOT to say on it. (I did enjoy playing it, like I said I'm not picky and also I loved the Water starter, but wow after all the online hype I was expecting something better. For context, I played it for the first time last year.)

Pokemon Sword / Shield is just genuinely bad. The story is incomplete and just so sloppily laid out. But the biggest technical flaw is that Exp Share was permanently on. It was so frustrating trying to keep my team at a level that would make the game challenging. Plus I like switch training. It gives me the illusion that I'm actually "training" my Pokemon. I know that's not everyone's preference, but that's what the toggle was for. #bringbackthetoggle

#Pokemon #Pokemon Sun and Moon #Pokemon Sword and Shield #Pokemon Black and White #Pokemon X / Y had the second worst story in case anyone is wondering #but it's also one of my favorite games to play because it has a great variety of Pokemon #but yeah the story was pretty stupid

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thealexchen · 3 years ago

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i’ve actually read both of the articles that you mentioned earlier! I could see where both of them were coming from at varying points, though shannon liao’s struck me as a tad harsh, as someone who felt very seen by Alex, particularly with regard to her asian-american identity, and the cultural details and familial attitudes you see displayed throughout the game (especially in episode 5.) I could see why others would like them to be more overt, but they’re still present & relevant as is, imo.

I'm happy you read and enjoyed them! Well, since we’re on the subject, I might as well give my fuller thoughts about all this. This answer got horrendously long, so I'm putting it under a read more. I really wanted to talk about this more fully, so thank you for sending this ask!

I definitely see Robert's point in his article. Alex didn’t need to be Asian for the story of True Colors to be told, but it’s still meaningful that she is so that Asian fans and fans of color can look up to her and feel represented. The Chens buck a lot of stereotypes too: Mrs. Chen was not a “tiger mom” and her kids and husband remember her fondly. Mr. Chen doesn’t push Alex and Gabe to excel in school, and in fact neither Alex nor Gabe went to college, but they still had happy futures. Alex isn’t the best friend or the Asian schoolgirl or the dragon lady or the Asian nerd. But at the same time, when Robert says "Alex never really talks about her thoughts on Chinese culture,” that’s like— well, what’s wrong with talking about it? Why not talk about it more explicitly? The words “Asian” and “Chinese” and “Vietnamese” aren’t even used in the game when "gay" and "lesbian" were, and that's a little disappointing.

I figured people would figure out Alex was at least Chinese because of her last name, but I saw some streamers unsure of what Alex’s ethnicity even was (“Alex is… Chinese, right?”). That was disappointing because Asians tend to be treated as a monolith when we’re so internally diverse. Also, it’s completely possible to miss that Alex and Gabe are also half-Vietnamese. Their mother’s name is Giang “Wendy” Chen, a Vietnamese name, but that’s only in the credits. There’s far less Vietnamese (and Southeast Asian) rep than Chinese, so I wish that had been made more explicit.

In Life is Strange 2, Sean and Daniel’s struggles (personal and institutional) were centered around their identity as half-Mexican boys. True Colors almost seemed to be going in the opposite direction in that Alex’s Asian heritage never really becomes plot-relevant, but Alex and Gabe’s background comes into focus in the last chapter.

Part of Shannon’s critique was that because Alex’s parents aren’t in the picture, the game can’t explore Asian culture through a familial lens. There is some truth to that: for children of immigrants in particular, their parents are their strongest (and sometimes only) link to their race and culture. I thought a big missed opportunity was exploring Alex’s possible sense of isolation and struggle to reconnect with her Asian heritage after being separated from her family.

After growing up with two Asian parents, eating Asian food, celebrating Asian holidays, likely speaking Asian languages, etc. it would have likely been disorienting and lonely for Alex to suddenly be raised by non-Asian foster parents and lose all those traditions all at once. Possible comments like “I really miss Mom’s pho” or “Do you know how difficult it is to find hoisin sauce in the stores around here?” could have inferred more at that specific kind of loss and isolation in Haven Springs. The game touches upon this very briefly when you look at Gabe’s shrine, and Alex does comment “I don’t even know if I’m doing this right… but I felt like I had to do something.” In this way, I find it especially poignant that she still held onto cultural traditions after so long.

But I still thought Shannon’s critique was overly harsh. The little details really do add up, like in Alex’s childhood home, and meant a lot to me too. And most importantly, there was representation behind the scenes too: Alex was voiced by two(!) Asian American women and the lead writer, Felice Kuan, is Chinese. I think Alex naming her mouse Shu-shu was my favorite detail. Because it’s the one detail you can’t miss. Every streamer remembers Shu-Shu’s name and loves how cute she is and they can probably infer it’s a Chinese term. It just is so visible and empowering in that way and my heart felt warm every time I heard someone say “Aw! Shu-shu!"

But that doesn't mean Alex's Asian heritage didn't matter at all. I really appreciated that Alex's backstory still mattered because she came from a poor, working-class immigrant family. Her life circumstances were used for drama, but none of Alex's suffering was racially motivated and that felt tastefully done. I’m gonna paraphrase a comment I saw on alliebeemac’s playthrough of episode 5: "It's no coincidence that both Alex and Ryan lost their mothers at a young age, but because Ryan's father was a military veteran and had a high-paying job as a Typhon foreman, he got to keep his childhood whereas Alex's entire world was torn apart... And if you want to look at it even more metaphorically, the white patriarch Jed was able to preserve his own image as a hero and 'good old boy' of Haven by literally sacrificing an immigrant family to the mines with the expectation that nobody would come looking for them. Whether you're an immigrant or whether you're a foster child, the system is saying 'we don't care about you.'"

And at the end, Alex tells Jed, "You want to look away and pretend the men you hurt weren't people. But I won't let you.” It's a deliberate stand against Jed (a white man)’s dehumanization of poor laborers, including her Chinese immigrant father. Jed isn't explicitly portrayed as a racist, but his actions come from a privileged, and subsequently racist and classist place. For me, it worked better than LiS2's portrayal of racism because it was subtler and more personal. Alex stands up against Jed out of a personal sense of justice for her brother (and her father).

Do I wish we had more? Yeah, absolutely. I wish Alex got to actually speak Mandarin or Vietnamese in the game because that's so rare in games, even though I knew that would be unrealistic because Erika Mori is Japanese. I wish the character artists had at least made a version of Alex and Gabe’s models without shoes, because it just didn’t look right to see them wear shoes in the house (especially in bed??) and even LiS2 had Sean and Daniel in their socks in some scenes. I wish Alex and Gabe talked more about their family while Gabe was still alive and Alex could have had that comfort of someone who misses the food and customs they used to celebrate. But like I said, one piece of media isn’t gonna please everyone. And Asian representation in particular is so tricky because not only is there not enough of it, but Asian Americans are so diverse and come from so many different backgrounds. Children of immigrants are going to feel more connected to their Asian heritage than third or fourth gen kids or mixed race kids for example. Everyone is going to have a different definition of “Asian culture” and “accurate representation.”

But on a meta-level, it really means so much to simply have an Asian face on the box of a major Western game ❤️ Like even just seeing the way Alex's eyes crinkle when she smiles or how other characters find her attractive (like Steph’s note during the LARP preferring Alex’s natural black hair), it feels so affirming. It’s incredible to see an Asian girl be called the hero of her own story, to see her succeed and fail and cry and laugh and fall in love and kiss another woman and be comfortable in her bisexuality. It acknowledges that the queer community includes Asians, that Asian girls can also be curvy, that Asian girls can and do struggle with mental health. And like Erika Mori said, Alex is a fully-realized character and that’s what makes her so compelling, first and foremost. She also has a strong moral compass and dreams and fears and is such an incredible role model for people of all backgrounds, and that’s what makes her identity as a queer woman of color so much more meaningful.

#life is strange true colors #listc #asian representation #answered asks #anon #alex chen #gabe chen #chen sibs #life is strange #true colors #true colours #lis: tc #life is strange 3 #my post

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glapplebloom · 2 years ago

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Spoilers: Where’s the Beef

Something I’ve been noticing since my last review was how critical I am when it comes to Ponies Vs when it comes to Sonic. Different teams. Different Properties. But it can’t just be because I’m a bigger Sonic fan than a Pony one. Besides Origins the Last Sonic Game I actually bought was Mania. And before that Generations. Meanwhile here I am following Gen 5 while re-reviewing all of Gen 4. So what gives.

I think the biggest factor is what I said Tuesday… I enjoyed the stories where characters who don’t have a lot to work with get the focus. This leads me to two conclusions: 1) My preference to have a tie-in story stick with canon 2) the Sonic Cast needs a lot more to work with. While there are times IDW’s stories don’t make sense, most of the time they’re perfectly harmless, so that leads me to conclusion 2.

Sonic is the main character of the Franchise. And the most we know about him is he’s blue, he’s fast, and he likes helping people. One of my favorite Sonic Stories from the Games comes from Sonic and the Black Knight where we see Sonic’s expressing the two most important traits for him: his desire for freedom and his need to help others. IDW I believe does a good job at this as well as showing how those same positive traits can be a negative.

He wants to give people a chance. It worked with the likes of Knuckles and Shadow but failed with Eggman and Metal. And because he kept him alive, the Metal Virus event happened. As difficult of a situation it was, Sonic kept true to himself and eventually did help fix the mess giving Eggman that much freedom. But while Sonic has mandates to keep him from being more to work with, others don’t have that problem.

The Pre-06 Timeline showed just how well Sonic’s Cast of Friends can work. Tails develops to be his own hero. Knuckles is sotic and can be enjoyable at times. The Shadow Trilogy showed a pretty interesting story for the Edgy Hedgehog. Even 06 gave Silver some interesting developments that could be a good story. Then after it, it was only Sonic all the time. Sure, there was Chip, but most of the time it was less about the story and more about the game.

With the Comics, they can explore things that the games won’t. For example, a recent comic has an interaction with Blaze and Knuckles. Two guardians with one asking for advice from the other. It's such a great interaction that you just don’t see in the games. By having stories where they don’t have to worry about Eggman, we get to learn more about these characters as actual people than playable avatars.

So that’s basically why I enjoy IDW Sonic more than IDW Ponies. Is it me saying Sonic’s Crew need more fleshing out? Probably. But at least we’re still getting stuff from both franchise.

#other

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lino-know · 3 years ago

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MASTERLIST + everything you need to know

sth about me ::

hewwo there, i’m a ‘02 liner and you can call me seong (성). you can use any pronouns you want with me because my preferences literally change every few days - but I do prefer they/them over all of them. pansexual, ot8 stan, i love all of them but occasionally minho and chan jumps out of line and takes over my life

correction :: seungmin has now officially taken over my life and I’m ghosting minho on bubble more than chan has been ghosting us, so suffice to say my relationship with skz is going extremely well

this blog is my contribution to stayblr and is largely skz-centric, though occasionally I might write for other groups as well, because if there’s one mark of a multi-fandom fan is that we’re fickle :’). skz is literally the only 4th gen kpop group I’m familiar with, so if you don’t want to see any 3rd gen group content floating around just tell me and,,,i’ll move them elsewhere.

what i mostly do in this blog ::

post about stray kids and how wonderful they are, i.e. just screaming over them, rambling etc :> I occasionally write. only occasionally.

also because I,,,do sadly have a life I only get my news about skz on this hellsite and possibly on ig, so yeah. pls don’t count on my blog as a reliable source of news because it really isn’t :’)

feel free to send in asks about literally anything! I promise I don’t bite (unless you violate my dni list) - it’ll be great to interact more with this community :D

(I also dabble infrequently in astrology so feel free to ask me about that too, I guess :p)

COME JOIN MY 100 FOLLOWERS ASK GAME HERE!!

dni list ::

— racists, islamphobes, anyone who believes that china is to blame for covid — homophobes, transphobes, terfs, literally if you’re anti-lgbtqa+ please get out — conservatives, trump supporters — misogynists — minors pls don’t interact with my 18+ posts, focus on school,,, (by minors I mean under the age of 18, even if your country’s age of consent might be 16)

— STRAY KIDS (스트레이 키즈)

SONG SERIES :: these are oneshots/drabbles inspired by skz’s lyrics or MVs, and are not entirely focused on relationships with the members. the reader may be present as the member’s partner, but only as a background or supporting character. the focus is on the member and the linkage with the song/MV.

READER INSERTS ::

bang chan

#4 :: angst | in which chan is there for you, despite it all | TW: depression

lee minho

seo changbin

hwang hyunjin

#2 :: angst | in which hyunjin helps you through your worst nightmare of losing him

han jisung

kim seungmin

#1 :: angst | in which seungmin finds you and lifts you up, even in your darkest moments | TW :: suicidal thoughts, depression

#5 :: fluff | in which seungmin gets jealous of you having fun with your friends, but makes up at the end

yang jeongin

#3 :: angst | in which jeongin loses himself and you help him regain himself

SERIES ::

MISFITS (reader x lee know)

— historical au! | enemies to lovers | adventure — rating :: pg (as of yet) — summary :: in which you and minho are travelling bandits who steal things for a living, but he has an uncanny talent for getting in your way and finding where you are. also known as me speed-running the enemies to lovers trope and squeezing it into the span of god knows how many chapters. — schedule :: updates every tuesday — chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3 | chapter 4 | chapter 5 | chapter 6

18+/NSFW READER INSERTS :: (minors pls don’t interact)

bang chan

#2 :: gender neutral!reader | size kink, pet names

lee minho

#1 :: fem!reader | sex toys, edging, slight sadism, brat taming, overstimulation

#7 :: gender neutral!reader | revenge sex, degradation kink

seo changbin

#6 :: fem!reader | public sex, fingering

#9 :: fem!reader | hate sex, choking kink

hwang hyunjin

#5 :: fem!reader | mirror-sex-but-not-really, corruption kink

#10 :: compulsion | gender neutral!reader | dom! reader x sub! hyunjin, bondage, dubcon, bdsm undertones, use of aphrodisiacs

han jisung

#8 :: fem!reader | denial, fingering

lee felix

#3 :: gender neutral!reader | daddy kink, cock warming

kim seungmin

#4 :: fem!reader | sadism, deepthroating

yang jeongin

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elfdragon12 · 3 years ago

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So I've seen Pokemon and Transfomers fandoms both complain about their "G1" diehard fans...

But... I gotta say... They really don't hit the same. Maybe it might be that I've seen less gratuitous Transformers "geewunner" whining becoming a fan in 2021 than I've seen gratuitous Pokemon "genwunner" whining growing with that fandom. Probably because the TF geewunners are less likely to be on Twitter or Tumblr than Pokemon genwunners. I'm also the same age as the Pokemon genwunners, so I'm more inclined to roll my eyes.

On the flip side...

New Pokemon content doesn't change the old content. It just adds to it. If you're bellyaching about gen 5 because you love gen 1 so much, it's silly because gen 1 Pokemon and storylines will always be the same. Gen 5 just has a new set of characters/Pokemon and happens in a different location. And gen 1 has 2 different remakes, so, if you just want to play gen 1 on a new handheld with updated graphics, it will be there and almost entirely untouched outside of updated gameplay. (Also, genwunners are dumb because gen 2 is the superior gen.) Along with that, a lot of the complaints genwunners have about new gens typically apply to their beloved gen 1 ("Pokemon based on real animals" as if Geodude, Ditto, Magnemite, Koffing, Grimer, Onix, Clefairy, and Jigglypuff don't exist). And the TV show is the same one that's been going since I and my siblings turned on afterschool cartoons in the mid/late-90s. There's no reboot.

New Transformers content... Does change things. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Like, cartoons and comics don't age like video games do. If you can't bare with new content, your preferred adaptation will always be there and accessible. However, if you are open to new content, your most favorite character is likely going to be completely different... If they're even present. Like, Starscream is pretty much the only constant--largely the same in every version. Prowl from TFA is in no way, shape, or form the same character as he is in G1. Arcee is worlds different in TFP than G1. Optimus is totally different in G1, TFA, and TFP... And this isn't even going into the comics. Ironhide is not the same in the Bay movies or TFA or G1... Even outside of the original, I'm not a big fan of what TFA did with Beast Wars characters (I will loudly proclaim how Rattrap gets done dirty outside of his original iteration because it's like other writers don't even really understand who Rattrap was).

And I do think it's fair* if you were personally close to a story and excited to see a new take on it to feel upset when you find that most everything you love about it has been completely changed and is almost unrecognizable to what you've loved. (*To a certain extent. If you're screaming at kids because they like Cyberverse over G1, you gotta take a chill pill.) While there are Transformers geewunners that truly do carry it too far, I do hold sympathy for fans who just want something that genuinely reflects what they loved as a child. Acting like everyone who cares about/prefers G1 is just some geewunner whiner is disingenuous and in bad faith.

#personal opinion #You may have your preferred Pokemon gen #Mine will always be gen 2 because of broader exploration and I feel some of the best Pokemon

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smallersocksx · 4 years ago

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My Problems with the Pokémon Journeys Anime

Pokémon Journeys as an anime has divided the Pokémon community in so many ways but in particular last week’s episode has sparked a lot of debate and personally, I had mixed feelings about the end result. So, I thought I would write down my opinions on the Pokémon anime in its current state and comparing it to some of the previous anime.

I feel the need to say this: these are my opinions I am just as entitled to my opinions as you are to yours, so you don’t have to read this if you don’t want to. Secondly, this will probably be a long post but I’m going to split it into sections so it’s hopefully not too overwhelming.

But these feelings have been building up and up and I think I’ll feel better writing them all down and getting them off my chest to some extent.

Introduction:

So, I’ve essentially been a fan of Pokémon for as long as I can remember particularly watching the anime when I was very young. The anime didn’t really begin to stick with me though until around AG and DP in particular. The first Pokémon game, I played was DP which is why I have a particular fondness for that series and that cast of characters and Pokémon.

I didn’t watch the series as intently around the time of BW because I found Iris’ character rather annoying and I understand she developed and grew as the series went on but that initial characterization of her kind of ruined the series for me. But I did dip in and out of the series mostly for Ash’s Snivy.

My friend recommended that I watch the XY series and I fell in love with the cast and the storytelling that the series provided as it reminded me of DP. Sun and Moon was a good series as well providing fans with some of the most heart-breaking and tear-jerking episodes to date. (And Rowlet).

When they announced that Journeys was Ash travelling around the world instead of staying and travelling in a specific region, I’ll admit I was sceptical. To be honest, I kind of preferred the old formula particularly as I’m a creature of habit myself but I decided to give this new series a chance as the premise did sound interesting and there was the potential for Ash to reunite with some of his old travelling companions.

With the benefit of hindsight, I realise this was one of the problems: the series kind of relies heavily on the nostalgia provided by older fans.

The Premise:

The whole premise of Journeys was Ash and his new friend, Goh travelling the world and there lies one of the series biggest problems. For a series that is meant to be about travelling around the world, a bulk of the series has been set in Kanto in particular Vermillion City where Sakuragi/Cerise Lab is situated. Now that shouldn’t be a problem as Ash and Go need a place to stay and go home to. The problem is we are nearly 60 episodes into the series, they hardly seem to leave Vermillion City or Kanto for that matter.

I went through all the episode synopses released so far to see how many episodes Ash and Go travelled to an alternative region. In this case a visit to a different region only counts if Ash and Goh (and Chloe) visit the region therefore episode 32 wouldn’t count:

Johto – 2 episodes

Hoenn – 4 episodes

Sinnoh – 2 episodes

Unova – 2 episodes

Kalos – 2 episodes

Alola – 1 episode

Galar – 11 episodes

Arguably, as this is meant to a Gen 8 anime, its not particularly shocking that they have visited Galar the most especially as Ash hopes to battle Leon someday. Nevertheless, the initial premise and selling point of the Journeys series is travelling the world and yet only 2/5 of the series so far has been set outside of Vermillion City. They promised the world (no pun intended) and are kind of falling flat…

Goh and his goal:

Now Goh is certainly a character that has divided the community some love him and some definitely hate him. Personally, I’m in the middle, I like Goh’s personality I thought his rational and logical personality made him a great counterbalance for Ash. The problem I have with him is: his goal, his rapid character development, and his status as a protagonist.

1) His Goal:

Goh’s goal is to catch every Pokémon in existence and considering there over 800 Pokémon that is a lofty goal to begin with. Initially, I thought it was an interesting goal as we never had a character wanting to catch every Pokémon as there are some trainers in the anime universe who only specialise in a specific type, some who catch only cute Pokémon, some who only catch evolutionary lines etc. Therefore, I thought this was an interesting goal and wondered how they would execute its portrayal and there lies the problem…

Goh was named after the game Pokémon Go and is essentially being used as a walking advertisement for Pokémon Go and the Let’s Go series as his gimmick is throwing a Poke Ball at a random Pokémon which can get pretty old very fast. I honestly didn’t understand the need to create a character to promote these games as it has been 4 years since the release of Pokémon Go. Arguably, they could be trying to re-ignite the hype around Pokémon Go as after the initial excitement a lot of people stopped playing or uninstalled it as it was taking up a lot of space on their phone.

One of the things, I particularly love about the anime series is not only the human cast gaining character development but their Pokémon as well. Around the AG series, the writers really begun improving on giving each Pokémon their own unique personality traits as well as traits of their species. It gave the Pokémon more depth and made them memorable for example there’s Dawn’s prideful Piplup, Brock’s weird and wonderful Sudowoodoo who would salute every time he came out of his Poke Ball, Clemont’s gluttonous Chespin and Serena’s shy Eevee to later a confident Sylveon. The list could go on and on but I think you get the point. Therefore, this gives me my second issue with Goh’s goal.

Goh’s goal is to catch every single Pokémon currently in existence, with so many Pokémon, there is difficulty feeling any attachment to them. Cinderace and Sobble (and now Grookey) are the Pokémon Goh is most seen with, needless to say, Cinderace underwent a lot of development and was interested in battling which to be honest I found a little strange as Goh’s goal doesn’t particularly align with Cinderace’s interests. Nevertheless, it is clear that Cinderace is Goh’s ace and utilises him when he does need to battle. Sobble didn’t receive any development until 26 episodes after his capture. However, aside from Cinderace and Sobble we don’t feel any particular attachment to his other Pokémon, one strength is that anime does give each of his Pokémon some spotlight like Goh using his Goldeen to teach Jinny’s Feebas how to swim elegantly but aside from that.

My final issue with Goh’s goal is development, from a story-telling point of view his goal isn’t that engaging like with some of the other goals we’ve had in the series. Take Dawn for example her goal is to be Top Coordinator in order to do that she needs to win 5 Ribbons, participate in the Grand Festival and win the Ribbon Cup. On paper it sound simple but it’s not, we have Dawn’s arc where she lost twice in the Performance Stage fell into depression, lost confidence in her abilities and was uncertain as to whether or not she was a good coordinator. It wasn’t until she befriended May and competed against her that Dawn found a renewed sense of confidence in her abilities, even after that Dawn still lost a few contests before being able to compete in the Grand Festival where even then there were a few rough moments like her battle with Ursula.

My point is even though Dawn (and May’s) goal looks simple on paper they had a lot of struggle to get there. Whereas, with Goh’s goal and the current execution of it, I don’t get that same sense of story-telling especially when he’s already caught a Legendary Pokémon, there just isn’t that same level of struggle. The most I could see Goh struggling at this moment is not catching a Pokémon the first time round.

2) His rapid development

One of the biggest issues I have with Journeys is pacing and development, and this issue isn’t just exclusive to Goh. In the beginning, Goh is a rookie trainer after catching Scorbunny and as we saw in the Flute Cup his lack of battling experience caused him to be eliminated very quickly and yet 29 episodes later, he’s defeating a Flygon with a Fire-type and using a technique Ash had once used himself in his battle against Grant. I understand Ash and Goh are close friends and understandably their traits are going to rub off on one another for example Goh’s logic and caution has rubbed off on Ash to the extent Ash had his Dragonite use Dragon Dance in his battle with Korrina. Before this, we’d never seen Ash use these types of moves in his Pokémon battles. I have no issues with Goh developing as a character, everyone loves good character development, my issue is with how rapid it is.

I’ll use Dawn’s arc as an example again, I loved it because it was well-paced, in the first season of DP Dawn was overconfident in her abilities which led to some losses particularly towards the end of the first series and Dawn didn’t fully recover from this until nearly midway through the second series of DP. Arguably, Ash’s influence has caused Goh to develop an interest in battles but I feel like we haven’t seen him go through enough battles to justify the level he is at.

3) His status as a Protagonist

To be honest, I didn’t realise Goh has a protagonist status until someone pointed it out to me, I just saw him as another one of Ash’s travelling companions. This is one of the biggest issues Goh haters have with him and that’s feeling as though Goh is taking the spotlight away from Ash and there are a lot of episodes focusing on Goh. Arguably, Ash has taken on the role of mentor like Brock had done once for him. However, my issue with Goh’s protagonist status is that I don't feel like Goh's goal justifies him having it, even in episodes focusing on Ash and his participation in the World Coronation Series, Goh still manages to catch a Pokémon which as I mentioned before it got old pretty fast. I can understand some people would see this as a good thing they are both closer towards their goals but if an episode advertises its going to focus on one character, I want it to focus on that character.

In some of the previous series when May, Dawn and Serena were participating in Contests or Showcases, Ash would generally put his training the back burner and support his friends. Likewise, his travelling companions would support him during his gym battles. In some cases, Ash would even get ideas for his own battles from watching them compete like the Counter Shield from Ash watching Dawn and Ambipom.

Sometimes, I feel like Goh is there for the sake of being there like in Episode 56, I honestly felt like him and Scyther/Scizor didn’t need to be there. The episode did focus on Ash and Farfetch’d relationship improving but I felt like the only reason Goh was there was to have his Scyther evolve their presence at the training camp didn’t really contribute anything to the story.

Ash and his Pokémon:

Whenever Ash starts a new journey, he always starts with a clean slate leaving his most recent Pokemon with Professor Oak or Kukui. One of the things that excites fans the most is guessing which new Pokemon from the new generation Ash would catch. Arguably, since Sun and Moon, certain traditions have been turned on their head. Some of these traditions included:

Ash catching the regional bird e.g., Starly, Pidove, Fletchling etc.

Catching at least one of the region’s starters

Although, in Sun and Moon, Ash never caught the regional bird and it was one of the first series with Ash not having a water-type either. However, in this current series, Ash only has 2 Generation 8 Pokémon being Farfetch’d (which will evolve into Sirfetch’d) and Dracovish. This is kind of understandable as Ash isn’t based or travelling around Galar but to be honest it’s still disappointing.

As many of you know, in the most recent episode Goh caught Grookey completing the Galar starter trio (which I’ll cover later), however, a majority of the fandom wanted Ash to have Grookey as they felt personality-wise Ash would be compatible with the Chimp Pokémon and it would continue the long-held tradition of Ash catching one of the new region’s starter Pokémon which is why this latest capture has sparked a lot of controversy with some people calling Goh a thief.

Personally, I would have liked Ash to catch Grookey but in one of the earlier episodes like when they first visited Galar. The reason for this being the storyline development and I know many will argue Ash is a Champion he doesn’t need a starter at this point but Leon in the Sword and Shield games took on and trained the starter that was left over after the Protagonist and Hop had chosen theirs. However, as I mentioned earlier one of the things, I love about the anime is each Pokémon having their own personality and character but also their own traumas and trials to overcome alongside their trainer this can be particularly reflected in the case of Ash and Infernape.

I am not trying to suggest they re-create the Ash and Infernape storyline with Ash and a Grookey but one of the ways a Pokémon develops as a character is through evolution or in some cases like Pikachu and Bulbasaur choosing not to evolve and finding strength in staying the way that they are. Pokémon when they evolve can go through personality-changes whether that be good or bad but having a Pokemon at its first evolutionary stage allows us to go through that development and journey with them.

Which is one of the issues, I have with the series, Ash caught two fully evolved Pokémon being Dragonite and Gengar. Before anyone gives me any grief, I love Dragonite and Gengar’s personalities but as they are fully evolved, we don’t get that same sense of development as we’ve had with some of Ash’s other Pokémon. The only development I could see for these two is potentially learning a new move or overcoming a stronger Pokémon alongside Ash. But having two fully evolved Pokémon makes it difficult to go on a journey of development alongside them. There is also the fact, Dragonite and Gengar are meant to be incredibly strong Pokémon and yet Ash hardly uses them.

Another one of the biggest issues in Journeys as previously mentioned is Ash not fully utilising his team. Whenever, a battle occurs Ash either uses Pikachu or Lucario, the others are kind of pushed to the side and that annoys me so much particularly with Farfetch’d and Gengar. I’ll start with Gengar, Gengar was abandoned by its previous trainer and told to wait in an abandoned building that would later become Cerise Laboratory and in the earlier half of the series (before Riolu) Ash utilised Gengar a lot like in his battle with Visquez and Team Rocket but after Riolu came along Ash used Gengar less and less. In Episode 57, Gengar was taking its anger out on Renji, Chloe and Chrysa and Chloe pointed out that it may have been angry Ash left it behind. This is what I found frustrating; Ash is kind of repeating the behaviour of Gengar’s previous trainer.

Next is Farfetch’d, personality-wise Farfetch’d reminds me of Ash’s Buizel and Hawlucha, with how prideful and aloof it is. I feel like the writers thought they couldn’t flesh out Lucario any further so they decided to focus on Farfetch’d and after two Farfetch’d-focused episodes I can’t help but feel that Farfetch’d is going to evolve in the next episode and that’s what annoys me, that is lazy writing, they haven’t given time to develop Ash and Farfetch’d relationship although it has definitely improved since Episode 56, I feel like it’s too soon. Farfetch’d has so much potential to grow as a character before evolving as I previously mentioned evolution in the Pokémon universe can contribute towards development and I feel like for Farfetch’d they’ll use it in a positive light as Sirfetch’d are noted for their fighting spirit and noble personality. But, as I mentioned before, I would have liked to have seen more development before an evolution.

Then there is Dracovish, this was a completely unexpected capture, however, many fans were surprised by how strong Dracovish was in the games. However, Dracovish was captured in Episode 50 and nearly 10 episodes later, we haven’t seen it… On the other hand, many of Dracovish’s Pokédex entries state that it can’t breathe unless its underwater, therefore, applying that logic to the anime world, may make battling with it difficult...

Team Rocket:

One of the biggest complaints’ viewers have is the series use of Team Rocket. Particularly, using their use of the Gacha machine and using them to create easy conflict. I love Team Rocket; they are basically lovable idiots to me. They’re meant to be “bad guys” but we’ve seen on many occasions they’re kindness and compassion such as rescuing a bunch of wild Ekans and Koffing from a Pokémon hunter and releasing their Arbok and Weezing to protect them whilst they distract the hunter, Meowth sympathising and trying to cheer up Litten following Stoutland’s death are just two examples of their kindness.

Nevertheless, the Journeys series has been utilising them poorly using them as convenient plot device and in my opinion Team Rocket deserve so much better than this. Initially, a lot of viewers may have found the Gacha device interesting but much like Goh throwing a Poké ball at a random Pokémon it got old fast. Similar to one of my issues with Goh, we don’t feel any attachment to the Gacha Pokémon they use unlike other series where they had their own Pokémon which I’ll get on to in a minute.

I feel like the writers missed a huge opportunity, as one of the initial selling points of the series, particularly to the older fans was nostalgia. Team Rocket keep some of their old Pokémon in Team Rocket Headquarters and as the series seems to like staying in Vermillion City, Team Rocket could have collected their old Pokémon and use them similar to when they brought some of their Hoennian Pokémon to Sinnoh. I loved some of Team Rocket’s Pokémon like James’ Mime Jr. and Inkay and Jessie’s Gourgeist and her Yanmega was noted to be strong.

Moreover, in series such as AG, DP and XY they expanded on Team Rocket’s role outside of trying to steal. Jessie showed a promising career in Pokémon Coordinating (particularly in DP) and Pokémon Performing, I loved how she became a rival for Dawn and Serena and particularly in XY, Jessie showed maturity in her loss in the Semi-Finals much to Meowth and Gourgeist’s surprise compared to when she begrudgingly congratulated Dawn on her victory. I just loved the fact in these series they expanded on Team Rocket, showed their friendship and support for one another whether it was cheering each other on from the side-lines or willingly helping Jessie in her pursuits of fame and glory. I realize in Journeys, it’s a bit difficult to expand on Team Rocket’s role in this way but they way they are currently using Team Rocket is to be honest kind of insulting to them as characters who we’ve watched grow over the years.

Chloe, Yamper and Eevee

I’ll get this out the way, I honestly love Chloe, and I’ve loved her development so far, I think they’ve gotten the pacing right for her when they’ve given her focus. I think many people like Chloe because she is similar to Serena, in the sense, she doesn’t have a goal and is discovering what she wants to do in life which is something a lot of people find relatable. I think what would be interesting for Chloe’s character if she does decide to be a Pokémon Professor after initially feeling as though the idea was being forced on her by her peers. Anyways, one of the biggest issues with Journeys is pacing, it takes ages before they actually decide to give a character development and ever since Chloe got Eevee, I feel as though Yamper has been pushed to the side (which is kind of ironic as Chloe calls Ash out on this) and I know Yamper is Professor Cerise’s Pokémon but Yamper acknowledges Chloe more than his own trainer. I feel like a great way to use Yamper was for Professor Cerise to actually give Yamper to Chloe when she was old enough to have a Pokémon, as a lot of Chloe’s earlier development was a result of her bond with Yamper.

Next is Eevee, I love Eevee it is one of my favourite Pokemon, but I also feel similar to Goh, she’s a walking advertisement for the Let’s Go Eevee game as she is unable to evolve. However, the fact that Eevee is unable to evolve makes her a good match for Chloe who is uncertain of her own dreams. Nevertheless, what I don’t understand is why they are trying to promote one of their older games in a new generation (especially when Lana’s Eevee (which don’t get me started) should have filled that role). Also, with Chloe catching Eevee, arguably, she should be joining Ash and Goh frequently, this could allow for Chloe and Eevee to develop and find their own path but aside from joining them twice in Galar, they’ve hardly left Kanto. Which is frustrating because I love Chloe and Eevee and I don’t want it to be another 20 episodes before we get any development from either of them.

Structure

I’ve realized that above I’ve kind of been focusing on the characters and some of the issues surrounding them. Arguably, one of Journeys biggest issues is structure or lack of it for that matter and pacing. Everything is all over the place but I’ll cover each section.

Pacing:

One of my biggest gripes with the series is pacing, lately we have been having back-to-back filler episodes and I don’t mind having filler every now and then to give us a break as you don’t want a show to be too content-heavy. And I don’t mind when the filler is at least entertaining but that Gulpin episode from two weeks ago was absolutely pointless, I’m sorry. So much stuff has taken place off-screen and Ash went up by 500 ranks to Rank 415 they could have taken out some of the filler episodes and used it to show Ash training at least or put it towards actual development for characters like Chloe and Eevee or Farfetch’d.

Another issue, I have with the pacing and I think a lot of you will hopefully agree is the pace of Goh catching a legendary Pokemon (which I’m in the middle about). Normally, around the end of the series, all of the respective characters have found or are closer to their goal like Dawn and Serena coming Runner-Up in their respective competitions or having confidence to keep pursuing their goal. This is normally, in the last series of that generation’s anime adaptation but Goh’s already achieved such a huge milestone towards his goal in the second series. I can’t help but feel as though this has been completely rushed.

Continuity:

Continuity in Journeys is strange, I can see it as a strength and a weakness. I’ll start off with the positives, continuity-wise I like the fact that Journeys at least references to past episodes and characters for example episode 57 Chloe’s younger brother says he’s going to a sleepover at his friend, Jinny’s house, the girl with the Feebas from episode 31. Or episode 47, Goh uses his prize from winning the Pokémon Eating Contest to have a dessert tour around Unova’s Castelia City. These small examples of continuity are something I can appreciate. But I can’t help but feel some of the past characters returning are merely fan-service for the older fans, so far, some of the character returns haven’t really contributed to the series’ narrative aside from the Alola episode contributing to Goh’s development.

A good example of utilising a past character is the Wallace Cup arc, with May and Dawn helping each other out of a losing streak and allowing Dawn to renew her confidence. I think no matter the outcome, both Coordinators gained something from the tournament even if Dawn lost to May, I think she would have had a regained her confidence but winning the Aqua Ribbon allowed her to re-affirm her self-belief and skills.

Episodic vs Linear:

Now I’ve watched a few videos on this to have a better understanding, the reason why Journeys feels so unstructured is that for some reason the writers chose to go down an episodic route instead of linear. The best example I know of episodic storytelling is Phineas and Ferb where characters and elements are introduced and can come back. But utilising episodic storytelling in a series like Pokémon feels like an unnatural choice we’re meant to be following these characters and their journeys towards achieving their goals whereas in a linear narrative this would be a lot clearer.

The Setting:

A lot of people have an issue with the fact that a series, that promises travelling the world, it really fell flat. As I have previously mentioned, so far only 2/5 of the episodes have taken place in other regions, most of the time Ash and Goh end up staying in Vermillion City. With the way things are currently being executed, I honestly would have preferred a Sword and Shield anime, with Ash at least travelling around Galar, it would allow for the Galar story to be more fleshed out instead of shoe-horned into a four-episode arc and with the announcement of the Sinnoh re-makes, I feel as though they are going to promote that in some way in the anime later on. (Perhaps with a Dawn cameo).

As I’ve been writing this, I’ve kind of realised one gripe I have with the anime that has become rather blatant as of late. That is the commercialism in the anime, I understand the anime is utilised to promote the game and re-makes of games but with this latest series the commercialism is blatant and honestly annoying. An early example of using the anime to promote a game was the Johto arc in DP to promote HeartGold and SoulSilver. Whereas, currently we have Goh, the human advertisement for Pokémon Go and Chloe’s Eevee promoting Let’s Go Eevee (which I honestly don’t see the need to advertise older games).

The controversary with Grookey…

Needless to say, the latest episode of Pokemon Journeys has sparked a lot of debate and anger particularly from Goh haters who have declared him a thief and are dropping the anime. There are some people who don’t mind Goh catching Grookey, they may have disliked the storyline they used for Goh to catch Grookey. I’ve made my feelings clear, that I would have preferred for Grookey to have been introduced much earlier and for Ash to have caught it.

However, I do have an issue with the way Goh caught Grookey as I can kind of understand why people are calling Goh a thief, I wouldn’t go that far maybe immoral at the most. The initial concept of Grookey belonging to Team Rocket was interesting but the whole story falls flat when they don’t give us any backstory like how did Team Rocket catch Grookey? why was Grookey so desparate to stay with Goh? was Grookey being mistreated by Team Rocket?

Honestly, if Grookey was being mistreated by Team Rocket, I’d understand why it’d want to leave them but this is Jessie, James and Meowth, the trio that released Mimikyu and Mareanie since they didn’t want them to be left in Team Rock Headquarters because they’d thought Mimikyu and Mareanie would be unhappy. So, I honestly can’t see the mistreatment storyline.

Also, the fact that Grookey smashed its own Poké Ball to gain its freedom kind of undermines other storylines that have seen Pokémon being abused by their trainers as they could have arguably smashed their Poké Balls to gain their freedom. Although, you could argue there is an element of fear in these cases.

I feel like if they built up the story more, I may have been more accepting but I kind of find it hypocritical in the sense Goh wants this Pokémon that belongs to someone else and it smashes its own Poké Ball to be with him. Whereas, its bad when Team Rocket try to steal someone else’s Pokémon but its okay for Goh because he’s the protagonist. Considering this is a kids anime that kind of sends the wrong message. I honestly would have found it more interesting if Grookey decided to stay with Team Rocket that would have been an interesting twist with Team Rocket having a starter Pokémon on their side. Plus, we know, James loves his Grass-types.

Conclusion:

Basically, I needed to get this off my chest and honestly, I feel much better for it. No Pokémon anime series is perfect by any means but lately I feel as though the writing has taken a huge dip and it has taken the enjoyment out of the series. I’m still trying to give the series a chance and hopefully I can warm to Grookey under Goh’s ownership, I think if the episodic formula has taken away the storytelling element that I love about the Pokémon series.

I have honestly never seen a Pokémon anime divide the community so much but I’m hoping that things begin to improve particularly if Ash’s Farfetch’d evolves in the next episode.

#pokemon journeys #pokemon #pokeani

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