#but like playable zelda was a HUGE reason why i loved it so much (i am lesbian) so i will prob still enjoy it for that reason | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

danni-dollarsign · 4 years

Text

A Critical Look at “Pokemon: Sword and Shield” From a Casual’s Perspective...

A/N: Hey! if you’re reading this, then thank you! I don’t know why, but I thought to myself, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool to write a pointless essay about a Pokemon game?” And then I realized today was the 1YR anniversary of SWSH, so I figured I might as well just do it! So even though I’m late and probably nobody will really care to read all this nonsense, I wrote it! If you’re interested in all the analyses of PKMN SWSH, but aren’t too invested in the technical mumbo-jumbo used by the more hardcore fans, then maybe you’ll enjoy this.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that I’m literally just some rando on the internet saying my opinion. None of this should really be taken SUPER seriously - it’s mainly designed to provoke thought rather than try to argue any specific idea. So if I say something that you don’t agree with, you got two options: 1) Draft a constructive comment or DM to me and we can discuss calmly like adults, 2) shake your idea and ignore this. There’s really no need to get heated up over a video game essay, of all things, so let’s not do that lol.

But other than that, yeah! If you’re interested in more stuff like this from me (in-depth analyses of Pokemon games from the perspective of a low-key casual), lemme know! I’d love to chat with anyone about this awesome series.

So, without any further ado, let’s get into the essay (warning: it’s like ~8k words).

Introduction...

Welcome to the wonderful world of Pokemon! Love it or hate it, Pokemon has had a huge impact on popular culture in countless countries in a number of different ways, sparking memes, dreams, and happiness everywhere! It holds a very special place in my heart - Pokemon was a game that I got to share with my two older siblings, was one of the first fandoms I got into, and was a big reason as to why I grew to love creative writing so much after writing a couple fanfictions for the games. I’ve been playing Pokemon ever since my brother gave me a copy of Pokemon: Ruby and have been a devoted fan ever since. While I may not be super into the strategy and damn near mathematical aspects of gameplay, I’d like to consider myself a relatively knowledgeable fan with enough extra knowledge to give a look at one of these games from a casual, yet analytical view. So what game other than the newest title, Pokemon: Sword and Shield, with its release anniversary being today? In this casual online essay, I hope to describe all my thoughts of Sword and Shield (which I’ll shorten down to just “SWSH”) from the perspective of the everyday Pokemon fan.

General Gameplay...

Many top-title games of Nintendo are best known for their simplicity: in Super Mario Bros, you’re a mustachioed red guy jumping on monsters to try and save some random princess (who may or may not be in this castle); in The Legend of Zelda, you’re a green elf-looking guy slashing wildly at monsters with a sword given to you by some old guy in hopes of defeating some ultimate bad guy; and in Pokemon, you’re a child wandering around the region catching monsters who also accidentally saves the world before becoming the very best (like no-one ever was). And while the games themselves have grown from that initial stylistic simplicity, some have lost that creative in-depthness in favor of being playable for children. This is probably the biggest issue with the newer Pokemon games as of late.

Regardless, let’s look into the playability of SWSH.

It’s played like your regular Pokemon game; you’re a kid who journeys to become the Champion of Pokemon Battling with your friend, catching monsters known as “Pokemon” with pocket-sized balls dubbed “Pokeballs.” But I’m sure you’re all aware of that information, and are instead asking “Well, what’s the deeper plot?” Yeah, no, that’s it. You’re a kid catching Pokemon to become champion - oh, and you also accidentally save the world from a power-hungry businessman - but that’s neither here nor there.

Plot aside, the game is a bit barebones. It’s pretty linear gameplay (literally linear - the map of the Galar region is almost exactly a straight-line waltz from Postwick to Wyndon, which is a bit weird after dealing with the giant, sprawling maps of earlier generations) where you travel from place to place, beating gyms and catching ‘mons, before getting into a couple scuffles and becoming champion. For an RPG-styled game, it comes off as much too simplistic for older fans (I’d even reason that it’s too simplistic for younger players, as well). While I will say, I don’t exactly miss the days of hopelessly wandering around a pixel city, trying desperately to figure out how to move on to the next town because the answer to the puzzle is hidden in this giant area that my little peanut-brain couldn’t figure out at the time. But it is a bit demeaning to get “Hey, do you know where to go?” and “Hey, follow me so you don’t get lost!” and “Oh, yeah, want another tutorial on how to easily catch Pokemon for the fourth time in a row?” every two seconds in a city where there’s only two places to check out.

But we can’t really discuss the gameplay of Pokemon without discussing the highlights of the region. Ever since the transition from 2D to 3D, Pokemon games have begun a trend of gimmicks - which I like to call “battle enhancers” - that they use to add uniqueness to their games. X&Y had Mega Evolution, Sun and Moon (and USUM) had Z-Moves, and now we have Dynamax! As we all know, battle enhancers are the strategy by which the player uses some extraterrestrial/magic stone to physically enhance one pokemon at a time for a certain period of time - in the case of Dynamax, the pokemon either grows in size or changes in form, gaining the ability to use special type-based attacks for a duration of three turns.

Honestly, I think it’s a pretty fun mechanic! Dynamax combines the good components of both Z-Moves and Mega Evolution - new forms, awesome moves, and a ticking clock. It adds a bit more strategy to the battle enhancer, where the player actually has to plan out who and when to Dynamax (though it’s really not that hard - most everyone will save it for their ace or the pokemon with the type advantage at the very end of the battle, because that’s what you do). But it’s fun and creative, making the battle a bit more exciting when you see your beloved ace become gargantuan on a field while the audience chants in excitement. Initially, I was skeptical of the battle enhancer, but once I threw myself into the game and really got into it, I felt it was fun and cool for the region. My feelings were further improved when I learned that Dynamax was inspired by the idea that the Nintendo Switch had the potential to be played on the TV as well as in a hand-held mode. The idea of turning pokemon “big” on a “big-screen” is really just so cute to me, really. Overall, it’s a fitting concept that is paired well to the game when everything is considered.

But when you look beyond the Dynamx experience to find more content in the game… there’s really not much else. Many people (including me) were ecstatic to hear about the free-roam areas in SWSH - the Wild Areas. Here, you can do all the fun grinding stuff that makes Pokemon games a bit more challenging and fun - hatching eggs, shiny-hunting, running around in circles, Dynamax dens, etc. But when looking at other Pokemon games, that’s really it. Let’s examine Pokemon: Sun and Moon, for example. This game really shines not just for its refreshing setting and compelling plot-line, but also for it’s amount of cute and quirky mini-games to be enjoyed for a good while outside of the main story. Pyukumuku Chucking, Mantine Surfing, the Alolan Photo Club, Ultra Warp Ride Travel - a good handful of mini-games that appeal to different kinds of people! All of these mini-games aren’t just tossed in there, either - they have a fitting place in the culture of the world and add to it, rather than just reiterating it. But when you look for mini-games in SWSH, you won’t really find anything aside from just battling. Sure, there’s the Battle Tower, as well, but I’ll personally say that I’ve never been a fan of the concept of post-game NPC battle buildings. For a hardcore player, they might be fun, but as a casual who can’t devote the time to really dig into understanding how IVs and competitive breeding works, they’re really no fun. Not to mention that nothing is really being added or developed with these battle buildings; they don’t add to lore, they don’t add to the culture of the region, you don’t even really gain anything from it - they’re pretty much just places to battle the occasional familiar face and that’s it. While I’m sure plenty of people adore these facilities in the games, I’ve never been too partial to them (I’d even prefer those god-forsaken casinos over another goddamn battle frontier).

But my biggest problem lies with the release of the DLC. While I’m not against the idea of DLC in general, both The Isle of Armour and The Crown Tundra left a bitter taste in my mouth when I started thinking about the issue of playability in SWSH.

I have always been more invested in the storyline of Pokemon games rather than the battling aspects. Usually I’ve always just gotten through the main story, then wandered around to find extra post-game content or mini-games, and then moved on to other games. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing - I just figure that the games have served their purpose for me upon completion, so rather than bore myself wandering around and doing things that don’t interest me, I go find another game that has more story-based content. That being said, I finished SWSH in less time than any other Pokemon game (I’d say somewhere around twenty hours, complete with me running around in circles like an idiot before rushing through content intermittently); as a result, I was no longer actively playing the game by the time the DLC was announced.

I’ll be honest and say that when I learned about all that was being offered in both sets of DLC, I felt a bit betrayed. I’m well-aware that Nintendo is a corporate business, and therefore will always prioritize financial gain over their fans’ lasting enjoyment of their titles - that’s just a fact of life. But I couldn’t help but feel like I paid a bunch of money for the bundled titles, only to play a game that hardly could be considered worthwhile or satisfying without added headcanons or fan-works, and then get told that extra content is available that may or may not add satisfaction to the experience that’s already long since ended for me. It was just a bit disappointing - and I’m not talking about the whole “Dexit” deal (I actually was on-board with the idea of having no real National Dex - I felt it added realism to the games and would force players to get to know the new Pokemon instead of just choosing the same team they always have since Gen 1 or whatever). My gripe is that I paid for a whole game, wasn’t satisfied with the result, only to hear later that the content that I might have been missing is available to pay for? That’s incredibly annoying. Not to mention that I was further disappointed after learning about the contents of the DLC, but we’ll get into that later.

Overall, the playability of SWSH is very basic, but can be enjoyable if you suspend belief and just enjoy it for what it is. When it comes to storyline, it’s not much of a game, and doesn’t sport much post-game content besides battling.

Immersion and Ambience...

Many of my friends can attest that I tend to like silly, fantastical concepts because I personally love to throw myself into the universe being offered to me. Pokemon is really no different - the games have always sported a very immersive experience for me thanks to the combination of interesting regions and evocative music (especially the music).

I think that most every Pokemon fan has a specific region, city, and music theme that sparks a plethora of nostalgic emotions to the point of near tears. For me, that’s always been Pokemon: Platinum, the Twinleaf Town theme - just staring into the rippling reflection of the pond by the player’s home, listening to that beautiful synth clarinet playing that nostalgic melody - it makes my heart beat with so much fervent passion that I hardly have the words to describe it! And I think that sense of nostalgia - regardless of whether or not those memories are old or new - has always been a strong-suit for Pokemon games. They always have the ability to inspire such deep emotions in me and other alike in a variety of ways, further adding to the ability to immerse us into the game’s world. And whether your favorite area is as simple as Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh region, or as agonizing as Rock Tunnel in Kanto, it’s the spirit of certain cities/towns/routes that further add to the immersion of the world in question. But how well does SWSH hold those values? Spoiler Alert: Not very well.

SWSH, in the end, is still a Pokemon game - so the setting is very vibrant and colorful and everything that can hold my attention for long periods of time. But the problem arises when one begins to progress through the game and continuously forgets what’s where and where’s what. A lot of the map is painfully basic (again, due to the literal linear nature of the Galar region) and the cities themselves kind of lack their own real originality. There was an attempt at unique cities that’s become iconic of the Pokemon franchise, but it doesn’t really stick. I think most people would agree with me that the only real memorable areas in the main game were Slumbering Weald, Ballonlea, and Spikemuth, and each of these areas have their own set of problems that also make them a bit difficult to fully enjoy. At their core, most all Galarian cities have the same basic set-up: basic green plants (if plants are in that area at all), the same brick roads that lead either to the gym or to a route leading in/out of city to another city, and a giant gym/key building in the center of it all. And that’s really about it. No real interesting buildings except for gyms and Rose Tower (and I guess technically the hotels), no extraneous locations that aren’t directly related to the plot or to gimmicks - it’s very bare-bones and really can take you out of the experience.

In a hard contrast, I’ll give the example of Generation 1’s region set up - every city has its own personality that also matches the feel of the region as a whole. Every city is based on colors, and each city is themed after that, respectively (i.e. Vermillion City, the city of sunsets themed around the color orange, is home to the Pokemon Fan Club and the kick-ass electric-type gym that initiates feelings of excitement; Lavender Town, the noble town themed around the color purple, is home to the Pokemon Tower and spooky spirits that inspire feelings of somberness and reticence). Obviously, this isn’t very realistic, but the trick isn’t to replicate reality - it is to inspire reality. The Kanto region is incredibly creative, and therefore is easy to immerse oneself into the world because it’s become a world we are actively interested in. We know that it could never truly be real or plausible, but that hardly matters when we are so enthralled with the colors and set-up and feeling of the towns. We don’t really get much of that in Galar. It probably isn’t such a great idea for your final city - being Wyndon - to feel blank and lifeless when compared to minor cities in the region. And even when we find cities that hold that uniqueness we desire like in Spikemuth or Ballonlea, there’s really no other reason to be there longer than just beating the gym. It’s sad, really. Spikemuth is such a interesting, creative-looking town home to such cool characters, and yet there literally is only one path to get in and out of the town - the town isn’t even given small houses to investigate like literally every other city in the region. It’s a waste of potential! The fact that I can’t investigate such a promising setting that inspires me really takes me out of the world, reminding me that this is just a video game in which you move from Point A to Point B. It’s no longer a fantasy world for me to explore, but instead a line at the DMV to get my Drivers’ License. The only real good thing about this is that fanfiction writers get so much free-reign when it comes to writing about the city - the only thing we really learn about the city is that it’s underfunded and gloomy and that’s literally it. I would have really liked to see more inspired cities around the region where things outside of the main plot can be done, but hopefully this is just a problem we’ll see in this region.

Probably the most important aspect of immersion (in my opinion) is the music. With the potential to make or break a game for me, I hold a lot of expectations on the music found in video games (I’ve been classically trained in music since elementary school, and have always had a fondness for video game music). Pokemon music has always been some of the most inspiring pieces of art in my life - whether it be the kickass battle suite of Champion Cynthia, or the somber piano melody of Emma’s Theme, the music of Pokemon has always been the first thing I notice and analyze whenever playing the latest title. That all being said, I have quite a few notes to make in regards to the soundtrack of SWSH.

I’ll start with the pros, first. Generally, every main title has had its own feel when it comes to the soundtrack - DPP was jazzy and smooth, Sun and Moon was based on popular Hawaiian music meshed together with classic Pokemon synths, RSE was all about the horn section (trombones and french horns all the way!). SWSH, at the end of the day, isn’t much different. The region is inspired by the UK, so it’s no surprise to discover that the soundtrack was inspired by popular British Rock. As a result, a lot of themes went really hard, keeping a hint of individuality even when some battle themes hosted similar instruments. The biggest appeal of the soundtrack, I believe, was found in the little moments, namely the cheers of the gym battle themes. I think it’s safe to say that most people get super hyped when they hear those rhythmical chants coming to life whenever in the final leg of the battle, right when you begin to Dynamax. That’s amazingly exciting, never failing to suck me into that exact moment to gather the power of God and anime to defeat my opponent. While I wasn’t totally rocking out to every single song that came on, I was pretty satisfied with the music of SWSH, overall. It’s not too bad, and hosts a few bops that I still seek out to get my blood pumping.

But, as to be expected, there are plenty of cons when it comes to the soundtrack of SWSH. I could go over this for hours and hours, detailing complex definitions of music theory and basic song comprehension, but I’ll just make this nice and simple: it was really bland.

Note that I said “bland” and not “bad” - the music is fine in my opinion, I just wasn’t feeling the same feelings as I had in previous Pokemon titles. It all felt like Pokemon music, but not much else. It was like remembering hints of a memory long-lost, but you don’t really care about to dig deep into your mind for context. Towns had music, routes had music, pokemon and characters had battle themes, yada yada yada, nothing really to write home about. If I had to pick a song that honestly, truly invoked emotions beyond “Oh it’s battle time, now”, it would have to be the Battle Tower Theme, and that’s most likely because it was written by someone else entirely (Toby Fox, also known as the creator of Undertale and composer of super hard-hitting jams). And the worst part is that I never would have even been able to hear the Battle Tower theme because I hate battle buildings (which is more of a personal problem, I know, but still). Honestly, I would have preferred hearing that theme as compared to Champion Leon’s battle theme - I feel like his champion theme was very bland and lifeless, simply holding all the required elements of a Pokemon battle theme just because that’s what has to happen. It’s uninspired, faceless, and corporate, only to be completely foiled by the unique blast of energy found in the Battle Theme, which just screams “Prove that you’re the best!” over and over to me (also known as a big theme in the Pokemon games, especially in SWSH).

That’s not to say that every other theme in the game was terrible. I much enjoyed Marnie and Piers’ battle themes, but for a different reason. As we know, Piers and Marnie host a more “punk rock” style when compared to literally everyone else in-game, a trademark of Spikemuth citizens. With their occasionally cold and prickly (no pun intended) personalities, their themes go a bit harder into rock-land as compared to characters like Hop or Bede. There’s no conflict of style there - it’s “punk” with “rock”, loads of guitars and bass with a hint of synths to keep that Pokemon flare, and fits a bit better in the setting of the world. Mild conflict arises when we start looking at characters who aren’t rockstars or idols - let’s look at Bede’s theme, for example. While it really isn’t a bad theme (it’s actually, dare I say, a bop), I wouldn’t exactly say that the resulting pieces fit neatly together like they do for the Spikemuth duo. Bede’s theme requires a lot of synths to accentuate his more flamboyant and immature personality, but also holds ties with the rock guitars while also trying so desperately hard to sound like a Pokemon song. Now, I don’t think “Pop Synth Rock” is anything bad, per se; I just feel like the added rock elements didn’t do much to add to the musical representation of our cliche jerk-face “rival”. It feels like the rock elements were an after-thought rather than a planned layer of musicality. I could really say the same thing about Hop’s theme, but then I would have to re-listen to Hop’s theme because I always forget what it sounds like even after listening to it a second before.

A big problem is that not many of these themes hold lastingly memorable motifs/melodies, which is a personal pet-peeve of mine in games where the music is highly esteemed. In pretty much every battle theme (except the generic pokemon encounter theme, which is the same melody in every Pokemon game, only with variations added to fit the music theme of the region) is just an on-going strip of notes that sound nice when playing the game, but if you tried to pick out the specific melody-line of that character, it’s a bit of work to really find anything. Let’s look at a more concrete example: Lusamine’s battle theme from Pokemon: Sun and Moon is up on my list of most memorable battle themes, and will do well without the extra influence of young me’s nostalgia seeping in like it would with earlier generations’ battle themes. Lusamine, as we know, was the elite antagonist of the game, being the leader of this esteemed Pokemon protection group who later is revealed to be using Pokemon for her own demented goals of perfection. Almost immediately, the player hears the signature accents of the harpsichord playing the prime motif before the piece digs into a full orchestration. It doesn’t sacrifice anything for the sake of “sounding like a Pokemon song”, nor does it sacrifice anything for the sake of keeping with the musical inspiration. Instead, it focuses on being exactly what it needs to be - a musical representation of Lusamine, hosting orchestra-based instruments (piano, violas and cellos, horns, violins, light pad synths, etc…). Most anyone can pick out a handful of memorable motifs from her theme (the main horns melody line, the harpsichord melody line, the mid-section cello and piano melody line, etc…), and those remain in our unconscious. So, it’s no surprise that when she becomes the “Mother Beast” later on, when the player hears hints of those signature melody lines becoming distorted in the madness of the new battle theme, it invokes a particular emotion that fits elegantly with the subject matter of the plot right then. In short, it’s musical storytelling done right. In SWSH, we don’t have that extra omph of emotionally-nostalgic motifs; instead, we just get songs that play in the background of this video game, and that’s really it. If you don’t like the song, good news - you’ll probably only hear it once or twice, depending on who the NPC is. If you do, then you’re out of luck for the very same reasons. This game lacks a very basic hint of soul to its soundtrack, which is really such a jarring idea especially when you realize that they paired up with a composer who arguably has mastered the idea of musical motifs (Fox).

This really isn’t just SWSH’s problem, either. I also went through a similar heartbreak in S&M during the final stretch of the main game; after battling Lusamine and saving the region from the threat of Ultra Beasts (more or less, anyway), we the player go to challenge the champion, who is revealed to be Profession Kukui since there really is no true champion for the newly-made league. It’s hard to go from an exciting, powerful battle theme like Lusamine’s to some generic, cardboard-cut-out version of a champion battle theme for Kukui. It’s hard to invoke any sort of emotional appeal when there’s no real inspiration to be felt in the music; with no emotional connection, there is no emotion. It’s, once again, just music that plays in the background of a video game. A similar experience happens in SWSH with the player’s match against Champion Leon; though we have the potential to gain an emotional connection to a Leon Theme motif, we don’t get that. Instead, we just get music that is programmed to be exciting for our championship match that will undoubtedly change our lives forever. Bland, boring, anti-climatic - all for the sake of coloring in the lines. This has been an on-going problem in Pokemon games for years in which the Championship Battle Theme is less interesting than the Evil Team Battle Theme, which probably isn’t a good idea. It’s annoying when your villain has a better theme than the literal strongest trainer in the region - it ruins the chances of likability for the region’s “good guys” and overall is anti-climatic when it is finally time to become champion.

Overall, the ability to immerse someone like me in a game is very important when it comes to retaining players. While SWSH isn’t the worst Pokemon game when it comes to immersion (considering the fact that I actually beat the main game, which I can’t say for other main Pokemon titles…), Game Freak certainly could stand to learn from the game’s shortcomings.

Creature and Character Design...

The monster design is arguably one of the most controversial topics when it comes to any Pokemon game. Some people only care about the designs of Gen 1, others accept everything but Gen 5, and a select few could rant for hours on the stupidity of literally every Pokemon design in the franchise. Regardless, the design of the Pokemon native to the Galar region is an important topic of discussion when analysing the potential for enjoyment of the game. After all, I’m an artist who loves drawing all my favorite characters as well as my favorite Pokemon, so understanding the designs of these beloved figures is vital to understanding the game in general. For sanity’s sake, I’ll only be discussing new Pokemon introduced in this region, and will be ignoring all previous pokemon that aren’t regional variants.

Overall, the designs of the latest Pokemon are satisfactory. Because of my tendency to always suspend belief in fantasy works, I’ve very rarely had much to hate about Pokemon designs (not even in Gen 5, though I don’t particularly like any of them aside from the game cover legendaries). SWSH didn’t really bring much to the table when it comes to brand-new Pokemon, but the ones introduced are fitting and interesting: the Dragapult line, all three starters (even if I did laugh for literal hours at the discovery of Cinderace’s typing), Wooloo and Dubwool, Yamper and Boltund - just to name my top favorites. And I was totally invested in the designs of the game cover legendaries, Zamazenta and Zacian, since they held cultural relations with the region’s inspiration and therefore had actual meaning within the game besides just being cool mythical creatures. Nothing really outright bothered me with the designs or pokemon choices in this game; as I mentioned earlier, I was okay with the idea of no National Dex for this region, and that all the pokemon allowed in this game matched with the region well-enough.

But, of course, it’s not without faults. I found there to be a substantial lack of original legendaries in this game - we only have three real legendaries to catch in the main-game, four if you consider the DLC. We had a similar problem in Pokemon: Sun and Moon, but it was later amended with the introduction of Ultra Beasts (which can technically be regarded as legendary Pokemon, albeit from another dimension and not technically Pokemon). In SWSH, we are only given the option of catching more than two legendaries if we buy the DLC - this is remarkably disappointing for those who are interested in seeing new, unique Pokemon designs. I know many fans are constantly frustrated with Game Freak’s tendency to overuse Gen 1 Pokemon, but the fact that nobody is bothered by the running trend of being able to easily catch a bunch of previous games’ legendaries is beyond me. It’s essentially the same thing, overly relying on the fanbase’s sentimental nostalgia rather than moving forward to create new creature designs. I know for a fact that so many people would have been excited to catch Pokemon with cultural significance (maybe like elf Pokemon that resemble that of Seelie/Unseelie fairies, or more Pokemon that resemble chess pieces, or maybe more Pokemon that follow a theme of medieval artifacts - there are many possibilities), so the fact that they skimped out in favor of making people pay for nostalgia is ridiculous to me. This was a majority of the reason why I rejected buy any of the DLC content - why would I pay for Pokemon I’ve technically caught before? I mean, I guess it can be more for the kids who have never encountered the older legendaries, but then again, wouldn’t it be more beneficial for your game to have Pokemon that actually represent the new region? Instead of just stealing other games’ legendaries for the sake of saying that you have them, they could have just worked a little harder to design maybe three or six more cool legendary designs and centered those guys around the two DLC locations instead of just having Calyrex for The Crown Tundra. At the end of the day, it’s really just a cash-grab; the only reason I could ever see myself understandably buying the DLC for SWSH would be because I wanted to interact more with my favorite NPCs, but then again, I can just look at screenshots on Twitter and feel just as satisfied.

But not all is lost in terms of designs. Now let’s get into my favorite design portion of this segment and discuss the NPCs.

First, we’ll dig into the rivals. Personally, I really enjoyed the rivals of this game; while Pokemon is definitely running on a formula, I still was able to find enough about the three rival characters to genuinely enjoy their presence whenever they came on screen. I suppose we can expect to keep seeing this new Pokemon Trainer Rival Formula: Kind of Annoying but Too Sweet to Hate BFF Rival (Hop), 2 Edgy 5 U Rival (Bede), and Some Pedo’s Waifu Material Rival (Marnie).

Hop is arguably one of my favorite Pokemon rivals of all time (right up there with Gladion from S&M). He’s one of the only Pokemon characters to get a realistic character development over the course of the game’s playable story, which really humanizes him and makes up for his occasionally annoying personality. Over the course of the game, Hop goes from silently residing in his brother’s shadow to learning to stand on his own without needed any outside validation; much to my surprise, it’s not some half-hearted transition. Hop doubts himself during the challenge, as evidenced not just by his dialogue but in the way he actively changes his team to try and be more competitive like everybody else. I remember feeling so heartbroken in realization that Hop stopped using his beloved Wooloo, which is rightfully paired up with the excitable boy. The idea that Hop uses Wooloo, a normal-type cute Pokemon that generally wouldn’t be used in a competitive team, really adds more dimension to his character; when he learns to enjoy himself instead of letting his doubts overtake him, he returns to using Dubwool and his favorite team, demonstrating how he would prefer to have fun as himself than be someone he isn’t. I found that to be a really wholesome theme to his character, one that we haven’t really seen in a Pokemon game yet - it was a pleasant surprise! Hop is sweet and kind, always wanting to motivate the player even when he’s in his own internal turmoil. With all that added with his adorable babyface and goofy/awkward preteen disposition, he really makes for a likeable rival character.

The next rival to be introduced is none other than our classic Mean Boy rival, Bede. He’s a character the fanbase is a bit more accustomed to due to previous titles’ rivals (i.e. Green/Blue/Gary Oak from in R&G/B, Silver from SGC, technically also Gladion from S&M…), so are quite a few expectations placed on his character as a result. Also true to the typical Pokemon Jerk Rival, he has a complicated homelife (he comes from an orphanage, as we later learn) and has a similarly complicated parent-child relationship to the leading antagonist of the game (in this case, Chairman Rose). Bede constantly assumes himself to be better than he is and isn’t afraid to be a total prick about it, choosing to bully Hop upon winning battles against him to boost his own inflated ego (though there’s hints pointing to Bede actually having rather low self-esteem). All things considered, I liked Bede as a character about as much as one can like a mean rival archetype, but I was more than pleased to discover his transition to a more likably mean-spirited character when he later returns to the game to challenge the player after being disqualified from the challenge. While we’ve had a likeable mean rival before (namely Gladion), Bede is something of his own entity with how he actually has an attempt at character development that leads him to a mini-redemption near the end of the game. He’s really the first mean rival to have a transition from total jerk to slightly-peeved tsundere, which was probably a good idea on Game Freak’s part so that we wouldn’t be left with a character we downright hated after the way Bede quite literally destroys Hop’s confidence. It’s nowhere near as impressive as Hop’s character development (which isn’t super impressive to begin with, but let’s ignore that fact for a bit), but it’s still interesting to see in a monster-catching game about being the best you can be.

And then, of course, we get to the cute-girl rival, Marnie, also known as the place where I get a bit mad again. I’d like to say that I absolutely love Marnie; she has an adorable design and interesting personality that captures my attention whenever she has screen time. But she serves one purpose in this game, and one purpose alone - being the main cute girl rival of the game. Marnie has the potential to be a similarly interesting rival (cute design that meshes “punk” with “cute”, has a wholesome and fun dynamic with her gym leader older brother, uses a Pokemon that isn’t considered to be a “competitive” choice as her ace, has a cool/cute personality…), and yet we probably only talk to her about five times over the course of the main game. Little is done with her character - in fact, the only real thing she does in the game other than becoming the next dark-type gym leader is that she helps the player sneak into Spikemuth after the gates have been shut by the remarkably-harmless Team Yell. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I would have loved to have seen more done with her character. With the boy rivals being more fleshed out than her, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth because the female rival is the one left with a blank personality (and I’m not just saying that because she hardly smiles - that’s really one of the only things we get about her that gives her an actual personality). My frustrations are further exacerbated because this has always been an issue in Pokemon games, in which the girl rivals are so barebones for seemingly the only purpose of serving as some neckbeard’s waifu that they can input a personality they desire despite the fact that she’s canonically a minor. Why put in the time to give dimension to Hop and Bede, but not Marnie? And we know for a fact that Game Freak has to recognize the lack of personality given to Marnie, especially since they had previously come out with Lillie’s wonderfully sweet character arch in S&M and USUM. Personally, I feel that it was because they didn’t feel like having a more punkish girl character who also had traditionally feminine-coded interests (she’s known to have been distracted during the gym challenge by the boutiques) and ultimately decided to just not give her any further personality other than that, perhaps fearing that it would dissuade the gross creeper fanbase from latching onto her. But that’s really just speculation, so don’t take any of my nonsense too seriously. Really, I’d just rather we had a girl rival with more personality to match the other two rivals so it wasn’t so annoyingly unbalanced.

Moving on from the rivals, we get into the designs of the League Staff of the game. In most other Pokemon games, I’d never really been too interested in the gym leaders; they had always been more of minor bosses, just faces that you saw for a couple of seconds before pummeling their ‘mons and moving to the next city. But in this game in particular, there was a sudden transition from simple puzzle master to a full-on celebrity figure. I really enjoyed this! It was so nice to actually have some information on the gym leaders other than what type they sported; suddenly, they have personalities and interests - they become real to the player. Not to mention that there really is a gym leader for everyone to enjoy, thanks to their unique personalities and styles.

I’ll be a bit honest and say that some of their clothing designs are remarkably stupid for even an anime-based RPG game (I mean, I know we joke about Leon’s terrible sense of fashion in the fanbase, but can we just pause and ponder what Piers’ wears? I mean, a leather jacket with spandex? Metal boots and a work-out tank??? What is he wearing?!), but it isn’t exactly distracting. In Western cultures in particular, we can see a trend towards the glamourization of the “athleisure” style, or athletic wear designed more for everyday use rather than just working out. It was kind of fitting to see this be the primary style for the gym leaders, who can basically be described as hierarchical sports stars. Weird? Sure. But in the context of the world, it all fits together, and once again adds to the immersion aspect of the game.

Looking at our main antagonists, they are designed quite well. Chairman Rose is designed to be quite easy and fun to hate (at least for me) - he’s an important-looking businessman who’s very impressed with himself, paired up with a beautiful yet terrifying subordinate woman who does most all the hardwork for him (...actually, they kind of remind me of an antagonistic Cl. Mustang and Lt. Hawkeye from Fullmetal Alchemist…). They also had noteworthy battle themes that popped a bit more than other battle themes in the game.

While they hardly count as antagonists, I’d like to also make a brief mention of Team Yell. They’re more annoying than anything, which is a trend that I’m not too sure how I feel about yet. It was definitely more likable coming from Team Skull, that’s for sure. I would have liked Team Yell doing a bit more damage, having them be a bit more unruly and controversial before evening them out with the whole emotional appeal of them cheering on for Marnie in hopes of saving their ruined town. But they weren’t too terrible in my opinion.

I could talk for hours on the champion of the region, too, Champion Leon. He’s a really fun and charming character overall, less of the supremely wise and powerful champion that we’ve seen in older gens and instead being a more quirky but worthwhile opponent on the path towards the crown. But I definitely preferred him more as a character than as a champion; even though his team changes depending on your starter, it’s not too challenging of a fight if you know what you’re doing, especially when you immediately know what his ace pokemon is (something we don’t really learn in other gens about the champions). While I’m sure the idea of a powerful but transparent champion can be done, Leon doesn’t really stand up as a powerful trainer when compared to other champions in the franchise. But he’s definitely still a fun, interesting character concept that I am grateful for in this particular game.

When it comes to the designs of the primary NPCs and Pokemon, SWSH continues to talk that line just above mediocrity. Not too bad, not all that great, but definitely not something to be forgotten. I’d reason that the primary strength of this generation lies within the characters that are introduced.

Uniqueness vs. Status as a Pokemon Game...

In regards to the uniqueness - how well this game stands on its own as an individual concept rather than just another Pokemon game - I’m a bit divided. On one hand, I’m a bit saddened by the watering down of content and constant reliance on concepts from older games. But I can also see that SWSH introduced a lot of interesting ideas that have inspired so many fans for this generation. And while yes, this gen didn’t have much to offer in terms of new Pokemon, new scenarios, or new lore, I do think that it does hold its own when compared to the other games in the main series. New characters are introduced to the player, all of which having good (and bad) traits that allow for lots of fan-created content with their essence; a new look into a brand-new battle enhancer that requires a different strategy than those of previous battle enhancers; a new culture found within the Galar region that can inspire many more thoughts and theories on the Pokemon world as a whole in a number of ways. We cannot pretend that SWSH isn’t an influential game just because it wasn’t ground-breaking; even with my extreme distaste for the Black and White games, I still admit that they led to important decisions and ideas that led to the creation of games I did enjoy. So, as its own entity, I think that Pokemon: Sword and Shield really has a lot of offer and would probably be an amazing game for a younger player who’s just getting into the Pokemon universe.

But I think that a lot of us long-time fans can agree that this game doesn’t quite match up with the others in terms of giving those real “Pokemon game” feelings. The problem with big-titles like this is that the company tends to lose sight of what really makes a franchise so influential isn’t the stuff found at face-value. It’s not the creatures or NPCs or game mechanics or design or any of that garbage - it’s the feelings we get when all of those things reach that perfect harmony. It’s the rumble in my chest whenever I listen to that famous intro-sequence of my old Pokemon: Ruby game; it’s the fire in my eyes when I went back to challenge Pokemon Trainer Red for the tenth time that night back in my old Pokemon: Heart Gold game; it’s the tears I cried when I watched the only interesting character, N, leave my playable character after his emotional spiel following the defeat of Ghetsis in my long-since abandoned copy of Pokemon: White. At the end of the day, Pokemon is more of an emotion I get rather than a game I play, and I think this is an idea that few people can recognize for themselves. And while I’m aware that I literally just spent several thousand words bagging and praising this game for all those face-value aspects, I also know that when you add that extra little bit of care to your work, go a little further with a character you know someone will adore, or try something new with that new battle theme, there comes a sensation that goes beyond that of love for a silly fantasy game. I’d like to think it’s something akin to inspiration.

Conclusion...

In conclusion, Pokemon: Sword and Shield is far from perfect. With a number of faults and disappointments, I can understand why a lot of fans were less than interested in giving this game the time of day. But I also want to say that this game deserves to be understood and appreciate for what it is, for what it’s done. Who knows what sort of new ideas this game has inspired? Whether it be in the name Pokemon game or someone else’s passion project, I am confident in the potential that this game has to bring someone’s dreams to fruition. It already has inspired so much amazing fan-content from the community; after so many years of being away from the fandom, SWSH was the game that drove me right back, giving me the drive to once again indulge in my middle-school days of sketching out my latest comfort character or writing out a million headcanons in a way-too plot-heavy story. Many fan-creators in this community feel the same as me, I’m sure, so it would be untrue of me to say that this game was anything less than what it was: a fun, simple game that prides itself in its characters and potential rather than complex combat mechanics or some corkboard-plot nightmare. It’s a game meant to be enjoyed, so we must remember to find our enjoyment wherever it can be found. For me, Pokemon can’t really do much wrong, but also is held up to a level of expectations that I can’t quite understand even for myself. This, at the end of the day, is a video game from my all-time favorite franchise; so long as I can find enjoyment there in it, then it’s worth it. In a world filled with nihilism and cynicism, it’s nice to visit a land where you’re wise to try and be the very best like no-one ever was, to be the next best Pokemon Master.

#pokemon #Pokemon Sword and shield #pokemon swsh #swsh #sword and shield #game review #game #analysis #review #post mortem #(does this count as post mortem???)#casual gamer #essay #video game #food for thought

5 notes · View notes

bumblekscript · 4 years

Text

from BlueTidalGamer to Kyle: Do you have any favourite games that you'd consider a guilty pleasure?

Questions answered by Ian Flynn and Kyle Crouse

Episode link

Kyle: Well, I don’t really feel guilty about them, like

Ian: [laughs]

Kyle: is that a thing? Like, I understand that maybe I should guilty about them but I don’t

Ian: Close enough

Kyle: Sure, I mean, I don’t feel guilty about liking Sonic Heroes [laughs] I will acknowledge that it has massive problems, but I still like it and that’s fine, I’m fine with it, and so, I think a lot of it has to do with the music, but I also do find it kinda fun, it’s a bit repetitive having to play through the same stages with similar character multiple times in order to finish it, but on that same token, it’s actually kind of relaxing in a way, in that way, there’s definitely frustrating points, the special stages are hot garbage, they’re not good, they’re not good, they are not well done, the final battle against Metal Overlord as Super Sonic, no. It’s completely broken, I still don’t understand how it’s even supposed to work, because there’s so many like, invisible walls everywhere and it’s just, that’s completely broken, but I don’t know there’s still something about it that’s appealing to me, I like it better than Sonic Adventure 2, which is probably going to make people very mad to which I say

Ian: Sacrilege

Kyle: To which I say, come at me bros. I also love me some Warriors slash Musou game oh ho, they are so fun, just slaughtering down complete armies as a freaking like god, is awesome, it is so awesome, it is so cool I love them, especially Hyrule Warriors, which is funny, because I’m not like a huge Zelda fan, I like Zelda games but I’ve never been like super into them, and I’ve not played all of them, but for some reason Hyrule Warriors just hits me right perfectly, because even though I haven’t played many Zelda games, I’ve seen and played enough of them to know a lot of what they are referencing, so I can still appreciate it for the references, and because I like Zelda character, Zelda characters are great, I just you know, the games I don’t necessarily sit down and play all that often, so

Ian: I think the magic balance with Hyrule Warriors is that it’s indulgent in all the right ways, you are playing with the world’s best written fanfic, and you are given the power of a god to just lay waste to all the bad guys, until you are given the power of a god to lay waste to the good guys, so that you can lay waste to the bad guys again, as the good guys again, and it’s so good

Kyle: The fact that almost everybody is playable in some form or another, whether they’re good or evil is brilliant, it’s perfect, I can’t wait for the next one, I can’t wait for the age of calamity it’s gonna to be so

Ian: We’re not gonna get into that topic, or we’re nor going to finish the show, because I’m gonna go on and on and on and on and on

Kyle: Yep, that might be something we have to break out the actual episode numbers for, to talk about at some point

Both: [laugh]

Kyle: I also do have a soft spot for the Dead or Alive series, the fighting game specifically, I’ve not played the dating sims, but the fighting games, I like them, they’re silly, it’s a very just kinda stupid, fanservice-y game, but it actually has some pretty good fighting mechanics too, so it’s not all just silliness, I still stand by Super Princess Peach, I think it’s a pretty good, fun little platformer, people criticize it because it’s a game staring a woman focused on emotions, but here’s the thing, the whole point of the game is that Peach is the only one who can control her emotions, no one else can, Mario and everybody else is overcome with emotional strife, and she has to go out and be the one to, who actually has control over her emotions and be the one to save the kingdom, so, I think that’s a nice kinda twist of an old school formula, Golden Axe: Beast Rider, I like just because it’s stupid, I like stupid games, that’s my thing, apparently, same with Lollipop Chainsaw, it’s completely stupid, Metal Wolf Chaos is the same way, they’re just dumb, they’re just dumb fun, and that’s all I want in video games a lot of the time, just something to turn your brain off and have completely stupid things happening, that’s really all I want in life, really, because I’m sick of my brain [laughs] so, those are some of my guilty pleasures, I suppose, I’m not guilty about them, but you know. What about you Ian? what are some games you might, you enjoy but not necessarily

Ian: Going to admit to it?

Kyle: Going to admit it, I suppose

Ian: Ah shoot, I haven’t really thought about it because the question was posed to you, I didn’t think about it

Kyle: [laughs] Well, you know I always turn it around back on you sometimes

Ian: [laughs] I guess I feel a little dirty with just how much time I’ve spent on Tales of Crestoria, which is a very buggy gacha, and I mean, gachas in and of themselves kinda feel dirty because it’s a thinly veiled attempt to get your money, some of them are better about the gameplay than others, but you know that down at the bottom of it, they want you to spend money to get thing, I like getting the thing, I’ve never been suckered into spending money on it, and crestoria itself is, the bugginess aside, Kyle, the game wouldn’t load half the time when they launched because of a bug in the chat system

Kyle: [laughs]

Ian: You literally couldn’t go to the guild management screen because it would try to load the guild chat and break the game, it was, anyway

Kyle: Sounds like a mobile game to me, especially newly launched mobile game

Ian: And the drop rates are just atrocious, but I’m a fan of the tales of series, I’m really fond of the design aesthetic, the localization on the story is top notch, the music is solid, and who cares if most of the game is running on auto as I, you know, do something else, and just hit the button so I can get the thing, so I can level up the characters, so I can hit auto, so I can hit the thing and it’s completely a skinner box, but darn it, it’s a nice skinner box, I like the box, I press button, people do swingy anime thing, explosion, yay

Kyle: Sometimes you just need a nice boost of

Ian: Endorphins

Kyle: Yeah, sometimes, you just need a nice endorphin boost sometime you do, it’s fine, why do you think I like stupid games with dumb or no stories that are just button mash action, it’s the same kinda thing

questions can be asked at: [email protected]; On Twitter @BumbleKast; Comments section on any YouTube video; Through Ko-fi support; Patrons can post on Patreon page and the Q&A channel in the Patreon-exclusive Discord

#Bumblekast #bk121020 #Ian Flynn #Kyle Crouse #PriorityQ&A

2 notes · View notes

mrauthor3ds · 5 years

Text

SSBU Canon Power Tier fixed

-= SOME EXPLANATIONS =-

Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Wario - These seven are the star children - people blessed with great power. So it makes sense to scale them with each other. Donkey Kong and Wario in particular have demonstrated feats correlating with moons, both small and big. So, it’s likely that the rest follow suit as well.

Link, Young Link, Toon Link - While Link may not have the same magical prowess as Zelda or Ganondorf, he can still hold his own against massive armies. Young Link and Toon Link, still being kids, are just a step behind him. I could put Young Link on Country-scale with adult-Link if we consider the Fierce Deity Mask, but it is a situational equip (only usable in major boss battles).

Kirby - If you ever doubted Kirby’s boundless power before, Planet Robobot straight-up describes him as having infinite power. This can well justify how he can scale up to just about ANY threat to planets or reality.

Fox, Falco, Wolf - I initially considered putting them in Peak-human, since they’re just pilots first and foremost. Then I remembered that there’s a bunch of different guns and explosives that they can use in Assault. So they get a pass in City-scale.

Ness, Lucas - These two were a couple of the trickiest to lock down. I know that Ness is granted power from the Earth itself, but we don’t see that power helping much against Giygas - so the power he received is still ambiguous. Lucas’s power was a little easier to get a grasp on, though. We know that he earns higher levels of PK Love as he unseals the Dark Dragon - a mysterious being that holds together the Nowhere Islands. They seem just big enough to be a country, so that’s the best lowball I can think of. Ness might be in a similar ballpark, since he and Lucas both contested evenly with Porky’s vehicles - and it’s implied that the one in Mother 3 is an improved model.

Captain Falcon - This is mainly based on the anime, where he seems to draw power from the Reactor Might, a cosmic fragment that he protects. While it doesn’t really make his punches planetary, the Falcon Punch we saw still gave off enough energy to suggest that his strength is in the megatons. Since Mario’s castle-punting feat has similar energy, I felt it best to put Falcon in Continent-scale as well.

Daisy, Diddy Kong, Bowser Jr. - These three aren’t star children like Peach, Donkey Kong, or Bowser. However, they’ve at least proven to keep up with the star children in their casual levels (Daisy even launched Bowser away once). So, Country-scale seems a reasonable place to put them.

Sheik - Why is Sheik in Country-scale when Zelda is in Continent-scale? Aren’t they the same? Well, yes. But the Sheik persona wasn’t just for concealing Zelda’s identity - it also concealed her power. So this is technically a self-imposed handicap on Zelda’s part.

Marth, Lucina, Roy, Chrom, Ike - Each one has led massive armies from the frontlines, and that’s besides wielding blessed weapons. It’s reasonable to believe that they can hold their own in battles against whole nations.

Mewtwo - I initially considered Planet-scale since it intended to spread a hurricane across the world. However, that hurricane didn’t spread fast enough to cause quite enough destruction, so its power is likely less than planetary.

Mr. Game & Watch - He supposedly represents all playable roles in the Game & Watch series. And most of these roles are of employed in high-risk zones - construction, deep-sea diving, even the military. While not canonically any Duon, he’s still clearly a tireless worker.

Meta Knight, King Dedede - Even though Kirby is in ?????, these two are in Planet-scale? Well, they can certainly keep up with Kirby’s own planet-busting strength and sometimes speed (Meta Knight can actually fly across the galaxy as fast as Kirby flies on his Warp Star), but they don’t have the same malleable power as he does. And, well, the day is typically only saved by Kirby’s hyper-adaptability.

Pit, Dark Pit - They’re certainly tough angels, but owe most of their successes to the powers and weapons granted by gods much stronger than they.

Pokémon Trainer - Wait, why is he ranked? Well, I figured I’d rank EVERY fighter available. And Pokémon Trainers in the main series show a great deal of superhuman stamina - falling long ways, traveling and biking tirelessly, going through very hazardous environments...No ordinary kid can manage all of that!

Sonic - I’m being kind of generous with this, as Sonic’s own strength and durability haven’t really stacked up to most other characters in the Continent tier. Though that is compensated most of the time by his Super Transformation - while it lasts, of course. Still, it can be hard to hit him when he pays attention, and he’s been able to compete neck-and-neck with Mario in the Olympics for the past 12 years. So I’d say this spot is secure for him.

Olimar - This tier was made JUST for him. And for Alph, too, but this Tiermaker didn’t have Alph, so...

Villager, Isabelle - They’re both in Peak-human mainly by how tirelessly they work.

Rosalina & Luma - The only other fighter in the ????? tier, and for good reason: Rosalina’s cosmic magic is unfathomable. She can pilot the Comet Observatory all across the galaxy, communicate with others from afar, and possesses strong telekinetic power. And that’s just part of what we know! She’s somehow lived for centuries, and together with the Lumas, they possibly have the power to restore destroyed galaxies! Her power couldn’t possibly be constrained to just planetary...!

Palutena - ...So why is Palutena in this category? Isn’t she a powerful goddess? Well, yes, but it’s implied that she’s among the weaker gods in the Kid Icarus world. We do see her capable of conjuring powerful storms and slinging around huge landmasses with her telekinesis, but nothing really suggests that her own power is planetary. In fact, all the other gods, by their own power, also rank at continental-scale at best...possibly.

Robin - Why is Robin a tier above the FE protagonists? Well, simple. Naga herself points out that Robin possesses the same power as Grima, even though he hadn’t succumbed to the Fell Dragon’s power. So, it’s reasonable enough to scale Robin’s full strength with Grima’s power - which, may I remind you, devastated the Archanean continent in the future.

Shulk - I may get some flak for this, but let me explain. Shulk used the combined power of three Monados - Zanza’s, Meyneth’s, and his own - to reshape his world. We know that much. But first, he had to combat Zanza, a being who essentially lorded over the world. Shulk’s Monado could match with Zanza’s Monado alone, sure. However, it also had the influence to neutralize the logic-manipulation of Zanza’s “godly defenses“. Still, this means that this Monado at least has the ability to bring down a mighty planetary being.

Corrin - Is it just because he’s an avatar character like Robin? Well, somewhat. It’s already stated early in the game that those that carry the blood of the First Dragons can easily handle whole armies on their own. That does sound like the other FE protagonists, but it goes further. Those with First Blood can influence the very land around themselves through Dragon Veins. Some can even wield divine weapons. In fact, Corrin’s Yato is believed to hold the power to devastate the world if misused - maybe its full power isn’t that ludicrous, but its Omega form is powerful enough to match with one of the First Dragons, Anankos (who can manipulate an entire dominion). And that’s not even bringing up Corrin’s dragon shapeshifting...

Joker - I’m gonna get a lot of hate for this, I bet...Anyway, this placement in Country-scale is based on his strongest Persona, Satanael, which serves as a counter to Yaldabaoth. However, while Yaldabaoth does merge the Metaverse into reality, we never see this extend beyond Japan. So while Yaldabaoth’s power - and in turn, Satanael’s - is great, nothing proves that it eclipsed the entire world. And even then, we only see Japan’s populace cheering on the Phantom Thieves (which triggers Arsene’s evolution into Satanael).

#super smash bros ultimate #canon #tier list

8 notes · View notes

mhall070 · 5 years

Text

MY SUPER SMASH BROS STORY

I first played super smash bros in 08, when brawl was new. It belonged to my mom's ex's nephew's friend, me my brother my mom's ex's nephew and his brother all played for countless hrs (funny with the 4 of us it really was super smash BROTHERS). Now I first played smash before I new what smash was so it was really just a fighting game with a bunch of familiar faces to it. My mane was Mr game & watch I only played him because he was visually the most impressive character (being flat and all), my brother played snake because he was a solder the nephew would play sonic and his brother would play rob cuz he looked like wall e.

Unfortenently this fun would not last for I had forgotten all about it in the 3 yrs it was absent from my life. 3 yrs later in the last month of of middle school I did not rediscover smash but it was first introduced to me. It was super smash bros 64 I fell in love instantly with its bizzar game play and mechanics, but most importantly with the characters and settings. The first character I played was jigglypuff because no one else played her and she was the only unlocked character. The connection with jigglypuff and I was strong and would be indefinite because she was so quirky and fun, I enjoyed being a nuance to my friends while having my ass handed to me. Note ssb64 is when I first met my partner so you could say smash is a love story. After a while I new I had to own this game so I asked my mom for super smash bros, yep those were my words, I never specified I wanted ssb64. On my next birth bay I received a videogame as my gift it was super smash bros brawl (in my opinion the most ambitious game in the series). As I played through with my brother we shuffled through an onslaut of options like music choices and modes like saving photos and replays it was amazing, and don't get me started with subspace emissary. The story mode was almost to much fun being so dramatic and hilarious, it really was something to behold. In super smash bros brawl there were a few more characters I found I had a great fondness for. They were Zelda & sheik, falco, marth, and the ice climbers whom I would not learn were from the previous instalment for some time and the newcomers were zero suit samus, Lucas, pit, toon link, and rob. It was also brawl that introduced me to my favorite video game franchises, like metroid, star fox, zelda, and f zero. When we first returned to the fighter select screen a memory from the past suddenly changed the way I looked at this game series. My life was suddenly just like the entangled crossover mess that was the game, it was like meeting an old friernd who had always been there, and it was then I decided super smash bros was the greatest video gaming experience of my life. Not long after completing brawl I discovered super smash bros melee instantly I new I had to own it, so I bought a copy and a GameCube cuz I didnt own one. It took me a stupid long time to unlock every character and stage (melee stages explained). I was surprised to learn that some characters in melee didn't make it to brawl, only one of wich I really fall in love with. Roy was one of many characters that were sadly cut from the next instalment. And I mean clones they were everywhere in melee and all but absent from from brawl. As for other characters I grew especially fond of the ice climbers and their gimmicky play style. Unfortunately super smash bros melee modes were a bit lackluster compared to brawl. Say for adventure mode wich was surprisingly deep, it really made you feel as if you were traversing through the games the characters belong to, unlike subspace emissary. But where I believe super smash bros melee really shines is in its game play and mechanics. It feels like a movie hopping around with explosions and lightning fast movements and it's technical input options that make the competitive scene so alluring (I'm a casual player BTW), unlike brawl wich is slow and sloppy and ssb64 wich in my opinion is worse. All things considered it is perhaps the most well put together game in the series.

Some time later super smash bros for Wii u and 3ds was announced, I was shocked, I believed ssbb was to be the last game in the series. I couldn't believe it, smash for handheld and home it was unreal. The first installment in the series I could truly enjoy the hype for, it was fun aside from being a skeptic of all the leaks that would later turn out to be true. First I shall say I accurately predicted paluteana would be a playable character, second the biggest surprise was definently pac-man (didn't think he'd be possible), and third I was crushed to learn ice climbers would not make the cut because of the 3ds and I'd resent it for that reason. Not only that but I new the 3ds version would be inferior so I waited for the Wii u version. I stood out side the game store late at midnight to get my copy early. And I played for hrs, my favorite addition to the game had to be 8 player smash I allways wanted more action. I must say the roster of this game is one of if not the strangest with the cutting of semi clones like wolf and Lucas and the return of clones, specifically Dr Mario, of all the melee characters you'd choose to bring back why him over mewtwo, and the inclusion of dlc later. Nonetheless I did receive a few new characters to enjoy in paluteana, villager, the mii fighters, and corrin. Speaking of dlc I was not surprised by the announcement of mewtwo as dlc and I am glad both Roy and Lucas returned and Ryu I new you couldn't represent capcom with just megaman. The other game modes in Wii u and 3ds were interesting to say the least, target blast was fun but I still prefer target smash, master and crazy orders were amazing but hard, smash run was certainly the best thing about the 3ds version oh yah I did get a copy and a 3ds because I didn't have one. Oh and people, smash board isn't comparable to subspace emissary or world of light so, stop comparing them. The inclusion of amiibos really can make the game interesting but ultimately (pun intended) aren't very fun, however that won't stop me from buying all the amiibos I want. Now taking all this into account super smash bros for Wii u and 3ds allthough is flawed is also endlessly entertaining.

Then one day my partner came up to me and said, MERDY (thats my name) there's a new super smash bros game coming out. We watch the teaser and the thoughts just start rolling in, what characters will there be, what stages, what items, what modes, I was ready for all the answers but I would have to wait. I can say before the big "everyone is here" reveal I knew the ice climbers would return I also new there was no way they'd pass up another chance to add a story mode. World of light and spirits for that matter are probably the best thing to happen to smash, it's so complex and in depth it's creative and bewildering, it may not be as enveloped in worlds as adventure mode and we may not be able to enjoy the creative level design Masahiro Sakurai brought to subspace, however world of light has one thing the other two don't, customisation and the choice to play how you want, it's not as linear as adventure mode or subspace, and your fights aren't chosen for you. As for other game modes, I should first say 2 great new additions are video editing and vr mode, anyway you might as well go back and play some of the earlier installments in the franchise because ultimate leaves a little to be desired. Say for smash mode wich has lots of fun and well we can't talk about smash mode or super smash bros ultimate as a hole without mentioning it's shining star. The characters in super smash bros ultimate really make the game, I always dreamt that all the character from past installments would be in one game together. Of course I still had my predictions and surprises, first I accurately foresaw chrom, Simon, king k rool, technically hero (I really predicted erdrick only), and banjo & kazooie. Second I did not suspect, daisy, dark samus, and incineroar, although it was not a surprise ridley's presents in the game is highly appreciated for I am a huge metroid fan, BTW inkling was a no brainer. And I should mention the only new character I really enjoy playing is king k rool. Before the last section I wanna reminisce the things I'll miss about super smash bros. I'll really miss board the platforms, race to the finnish, 3d models of the characters and stages on select screens, event matches, coin launcher, boss battles, master and crazy orders, trophy rush, trophies, smash run, and good online gameplay... oh wait that was never a thing. I must state I'm sorry this story kind of turned into a critique, but super smash is first and foremost an experience and looking back now my life has be influenced by it, learning to grow strong and live big, and I can tell you super smash bros still is both a brotherly and love story for I still play with my brother and partner frequently. As for the future I can't say, ssbu is still growing and I personally believe it'll be Sakurai's last game in the franchise and video games are starting dwidle out of my life. Nonetheless it will be an unforgettable experience and I plan to continue to share it with all the world as it should be, being the largest crossover event in the history of entertainment, how can you even avoid it.

Waluigi for smash!!

-------------------END-------------------

#super smash bros #super smash bros brawl #super smash bros melee #super smash bros ultimate #super smash bros for wii u #super smash bros for 3ds #ssbb #ssb #ssbm #ssbu #super smash bros special #ssb4 #jigglypuff #2008 #2014

1 note · View note

botwblog · 5 years

Text

Hi all, I made a new blog just to analyze the BotW 2 Trailer

First of all, hello! Okay, so, Breath of the Wild is getting a sequel. When? Not sure, but here’s the trailer in case you missed it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fr1Z07AV00

Everything below will be an in-depth analysis of the trailer. If you want to go in blind, check out now.

Alright, first things first. Where are we in time?

We can assume that this takes place after the first, it’s obvious. But when? something to be talked about, I’m sure. My guess is within the year after the first takes place. Zelda was persistent on getting the kingdom in order, and I don’t think she’d wait around

Alright, about the trailer now

the red stuff at the bottom here is called Malice, what Ganon was made of/oozed out in the first game:

A couple of things worth noting:

- This isn’t Sheikah language. Color’s off and so is the way it’s written

- It’s hard to tell from an image, but that text is spiraling up, out of Ganon

Next up, this mural:

Looks like Ganon riding a horse while wielding a trident. Nothing too big here. The look reminds me of his Twilight Princess getup

The two are clearly in ruins of some sort, not sure where or why, however.

The crystals remind me of Luminous Stones. And if that is what they are, then maybe they server another purpose here? They’re the same color as that text floating around Ganon.

Also, what looks like a new mount. My friend, ( @empressofsquids ), pointed out that it looks like a Yak, which very much could be true.

From what I can see here, it looks like the two are adventuring around Hyrule, the supplies on the animal’s back being where they keep their stuff.

Nothing huge, but I just thought it was worth getting every detail I could Now, here’s where things get interesting:

We get a look at all three here. Zelda’s sporting a new shorter haircut, and Link’s got a new tunic. Looks like a blend of the Hylian Tunic and the Champion’s Tunic.

The place they’re in looks like it could be a tomb of some sort? Certainly Ganon wouldn’t just be dropped in any crevice or hole they had laying around. Admittedly, this is one of my weaker points but I thought it was worth mentioning

Next up we get to look at a rat being absolutely game-ended by Malice:

I noticed that the Malice here almost looks like hands reaching out, and I don’t believe the only reason for grabbing that rat is just to eat it or whatever Malice does.

Maybe corruption? The way that Malice works, it wouldn’t surprise me if it has the abilities to turn good things bad

Then, we get a look at this neat little bridge in a cavern

I say little, but I mean huge.

Is it possible we’ll get the entire first game’s map with the addition of a vast underground area to explore? I don’t see it being impossible, albeit unlikely.

Nothing much worth note here other than obvious signs of age on the bridge, and the cavern being very large. Covered in luminous stones(?)

Just another look at Zelda’s new hair. Love it

Now this:

This is one of the most gripping parts of this trailer.

Again, not Sheikah. Almost looking divine. Soft green glow, and golden accessories with wired accents

For comparison, here’s a Sheikah monk:

Golden accessories, yes, but not with the same matte finish, and the monk certainly isn’t covered in it.

The similarities being that the former’s hand is as bony as the ladder’s, and they do have similar colored accessories

Now, whatever it is... it seems to be just an arm. But it’s got Ganon tight by the chest, and it seems to be sprouting Malice from where the two are touching. We can get a better look at the jewelry here, further cementing the idea that it is not similar to the Sheikah’s

About Ganon here, I don’t believe he is behind this new threat. I’ll explain more in a second, but first:

I don’t know what the context for this is, but I don’t like it. I believe Link is reaching into the text, maybe? Whatever the case may be, it didn’t like it.

Sending Link back while he grips his arm in pain as the text is entering? Will we get new powers for Link? Maybe without the use of the Sheikah Tablet, which I haven’t seen at all in the trailer on either of the two.

Now, honestly this isn’t much. It could be Link helping Zelda climb a wall, it could be him catching her last second, whatever it is, I think that at some point the two will separate. Zelda getting some playtime, maybe? Even if only for a bit

Now, this temple could be one of two things in my mind: 1. Ganon’s tomb, or where the Malice/hand are being held

2. Where Link and Zelda will first enter the underground area

It’s certainly extravagant, with the two pillars near the stairs resembling hands.

This is a closer view of the thing above the door, but I’ve no idea what to make of it.

Now this. This is interesting. You can see Link’s arm being grabbed by whatever was grabbing Ganon. Is Link comatose during this? It looks like he’s lying down, and I’m not sure of a situation where Link’d just offer his arm to this entity.

Limp fingers, definitely passed out now if he wasn’t previously. Not sure what to make of it. Could this hand be responsible for corrupting Link? Will we get another Dark Link bossfight in the game?

Ganon’s being grabbed by this thing. Again, I don’t think that this is Ganon’s choice to do this. Could it be that he awakened this entity and it sought to possess something more powerful than itself?

Link and Zelda get seperated here, the floor beneath her caves and she’s sent down. Link remains stable. Maybe a part of the game where Zelda and Link are trying to get back to each other, leading too parts where you play as both Link and Zelda? I really want a playable Zelda, if you can’t tell...

Now, it looks like Zelda is confronting Ganon here, alone. Not sure why Link isn’t here given that he was with her when they first found him.

My thinking with this, is that Ganon is dead, or at least his physical being is. The orange glow on his head IS reminiscent of Sheikah tech, maybe turning blue at some point? I truly don’t think that Ganon is behind it at this point, something far greater than the three bearers of the Triforce is at play.

The way the head moves is unnatural, and I don’t like it at all, not a single bit.

I think that Ganon got the short end of whatever stick he wanted, and is being used as the host for this Magic Green Hand(tm). They’ve got a much darker tone set for this game, and I hope they lean into it. The way Majora’s Mask was the successor of Ocarina of Time.

The last major part of the trailer is this:

Hyrule Castle is now airborne.

Aside from the fact that there’s a castle in the sky, I also notice that Death Mountain seems to be inactive, or at the very least not spouting anything into the sky. Could what’s happened underground have affected the above world as well? Worth noting that that point of view is likely from the Great Plateau. Would it be fair to assume that it will be the same starting point for the second game?

Now, about this language:

I have a couple of ideas, but none concrete.

There are about 5 - 6 languages in the Zelda universe

To get straight to the point here, the language used here reminds me of the ancient typography used in Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening. The best example I can find of it is here:

Definitely not 1 to 1, but it’s worth noting that it’s similar

Thanks for reading all the way through, I spent a lot of time writing this and I hope it was worthwhile to someone. Have a nice day! Hopefully we get some new news for the game soon enough.

Also, I get that I may have sounded rambly, wrong, or even stupid in some parts, and I am capable of mistakes. Call me out

Lastly, I would love to hear your thoughts about the trailer, reblog, share, spread it around. I love to hear ideas and opinions about the game. Lastly, add me on Discord at Gremzie1#5023

#botw #loz botw #loz breath of the wild #the legend of zelda #zelda #link #breath of the wild #ganon #ganondorf #analysis #breath of the wild 2 #botw2 #theory

5 notes · View notes

screwydarhyme70-blog · 6 years

Text

Reasons why I believe Bandana Waddle Dee will (and should) be in Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Okay so for anyone uninformed, this is Bandana Waddle Dee and I believe he has a huge chance of making it into Super Smash Bros Ultimate as hopefully a playable character or as an assist trophy. I will be listing a bunch of reasons as to why I believe this Good Boi has a great chance of making it into smash.

Reason #1: Lack of Representation

Here we can see the top 20 best selling Nintendo Franchises. If we look at the top 10 franchises, we can see that most of these series have lots of representation (Mario, Pokemon, Legend of Zelda) or have one to no fighters due to a fighter encapsulating what that series is about (Animal Crossing, Brain Age, Game & Watch). The only 2 series that suffer from this regard are Kirby and Donkey Kong. It’s very likely we will get King K Rool and Dixie Kong as playable characters as Sakuari seems to be catering to the fans. It would make sense that Kirby should also receive some new fighters as Kirby has evolved into one of Nintendo’s more popular franchises as of recently.

Reasons #2: Kirby Star Allies/Kirby Return to Dreamland

One of the problems with Kirby as a franchise is that coming up with characters for Smash is difficult. Mostly because 1.) Kirby can most likely due what this character can do as well and 2.) Most potential characters for Smash from Kirby are villains who come and go. Bandana Waddle Dee is different because 1.) He has been shown to be able to wield more than just a spear but also a parasol too and 2.) He (and Galacta Knight) are the only characters who consistently show up in Mainstream Kirby Game with exception of Kirby, King Dedede and Meta Knight. No only that, but Kirby as a franchise changed dramatically when Super Star Ultra came out as every mainline game afterwards followed and improved the Super Star Ultra formula. Super Star Ultra also gave us Bandana Waddle Dee’s first true prominent role as Dedede’s most loyal servant. He has shown up in every mainline game ever since Super Star Ultra and even has bigger roles in some spinoffs than Meta Knight and Dedede (Team Clash Deluxe, Rainbow Curse, Battle Royale). He was even playable in Return to Dreamland as the last canonical character for multiplayer (players get the option to play a different colored Kirby or a storyline character). He’s recently been playable and is unique for being the only character able to wield the spear. To put it simply, He represents the new formula of Kirby, A formula that has been pushing sales and has increased the popularity of the Kirby Franchise.

Reason #3: Sakuari

Sakuari is an amazing lead developer and he tends to favor his own work. It’s mostly why we got Dark Pit in Smash 4. Bandana Waddle Dee is technically his creation, why not add this good boi in. Also Star Allies mentions he deserves a prize and he hasn’t receive it. Maybe his prize is to fight in Smash. I could find it likely that this is the case as Sakuari use to work for HAL so it’s possibly HAL slipped in a hint that Bandana Boi is gonna be in smash.

Reason #4: Popularity

When selecting a character, Sakuari tends to choose characters who are popular with fans. This game is a lot of fan service with the inclusion of Ridley, Inkling and other characters. Bandana Waddle Dee was among one of the top picks for the Smash 4 Ballots in Japan. Another huge reason of popularity is Waddle Dees. Waddle Dees are just as important to the Kirby as Kirby. So much so that there is just as much merchandise on Waddle Dees as there are Kirby. They have been in every Kirby Game, UNLIKE Dedede and Meta Knight. Bandana Waddle Dee is usually seen as the leader/representative of the Waddle Dees.

Reason #5: Moveset

Movesets are always tricky for new characters but Kirby characters are different. Smash was based on Kirby which is nice since that allows Kirby and Smash to flow very easily. Star Allies and Return to Dreamland have already given us a good template for Bandana Waddle Dee’s Moveset. However, an interesting note about Kirby Characters is how they blend multiple abilities into their moveset. For example, Kirby has cutter, fighter, stone, hammer, ect. Meta Knight represents Sword, Wing, Tornado, Ninja, Suplex and Master (from Amazing Mirror) and Dedede represents Hammer, Throw, High-Jump and Suplex. Bandana Waddle Dee should also pull from other abilities. For example, he could use spear for his specials, his back air is the beam aerial move from kirby games. His throws are all parasol throws. He could even use clean/stick to represent star allies and/or use elementals for his attacks. He has a suprising amount of final smashes to choose from. Since Bandana Waddle Dee is the representative of both the helpers and waddle dees, it would be fitting if he used the star sparkler from star allies. He could use the Flare Beam from Return to Dreamland. He could even borrow Dedede’s Old Final Smash as his own. But personally the new final smashes are quick and powerful and the only fitting final smash would be...

(real talk: Bandana waddle dee punching his opponents with the force to potentially crack popstar, an earth sized planet, in half is pretty metal and awesome and would be a great way to remind people of his debut).

In short, Bandana Waddle Dee would be easy to create a fun and unique moveset and would make him the first spear user in smash.

Reason #6: The King Himself

Please Watch This Clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peex1AJLrko

That is Dedede’s new Final Smash. It’s awesome but what is it? That is Masked Dedede and it has lately appeared in many Kirby games as a more challenging fight to the regular Dedede Fight. Well His Final Smash actually references the debut of Masked Dedede as the arena is the same as the one in Revenge of the King with the Fence and His Icon on the floor. No other Masked Dedede Fight has the fence and boxing ring so it must be based on the one from Super Star Ultra.

Now Sakuari is putting insane amounts of Detail into this new smash game. And we don’t see any audience in Dedede’s Final Smash. If you look, you may notice Bandana Boi in the Audience of the original fight. How can Sakuari forget such an important detail.

There’s more with Dedede though. For example, Dedede’s inclusion was a tricky one. Sakuari has stated that he always wanted Dedede in the game ever since 64 but only was able to in Brawl. Sakuari shows humility by not trying to give us too much Kirby in Smash despite Kirby being a major character to the series. This is further backed up by how Kirby was nerfed from 64 to Melee, showing that Sakuari doesn’t want people to believe he loves his franchise too much. We got Dedede and Meta Knight in Brawl as they gave the Kirby Franchise some new hope, and problems. Meta Knight and Dedede had to be heavily nerfed as they were top threats in Brawl. There is a pattern here. Kirby characters are strong, so the next game they get nerfed and the focus shifts away. Then the next game introduces new kirby characters and the cycle continues. Smash 4 did not focus on the kirby franchise too much. So that could mean the inclusion of a new character?

One last reason associating to Dedede is this stage.

This is Fountain of Dreams. One of the most gorgeous stages in all of Smash Bros History. It is also one of the most competitive as it is 1 of 6 stages used in Melee Singles. It is the home and origin of the “My B”. Why is this important. This game is a game catering to the fans, casual and competitive. This stage is associated with Kirby and Dedede’s Battle in Nightmare in Dreamland as this was a true fight for the protection of Dreamland; this is one of the most serious fights between Kirby and Dedede. Despite all of this, it has NOT been revealed Smash Ultimate yet. And to make matters worse, almost every other Kirby stage (with the exception of 3DS’s Dreamland) has been announced so far.

Why wouldn’t they announce. Either 1.) It wasn’t made for this game which I find unlikely because it is a fan favorite both competitively and casually or 2.) they will reveal it with Bandana Waddle Dee. Think about it, Bandana Waddle Dee is King Dedede’s Loyal Servant but he’s also Kirby’s Best Friend. What better way to reveal Bandana Waddle Dee then to have Dedede and Kirby Fight and him to break up the fighting and be revealed?

Reason #7: Datamine

Last major reason I can think of (at the moment). But a datamine was shown before Smash Bros Ultimate at E3 for Yoshi’s Wooly World on the 3DS about amiibos. Nothing major; however, the only changes were to the Daisy costume was changed for multiple amiibos and Waddle Dee? What other games would Waddle Dee come from other than Smash Bros?

Conclusion: I want the Bandana Boi in and with all this evidence, I’m still unsure because Sakurai is unpredictable but we shall see, I’m going to still cross my fingers thou.

#kirby #smash switch #super smash bros #super smash bros ultimate #Bandana Waddle Dee #Waddle Dee #Masahiro Sakurai #PLEASE

43 notes · View notes

shinyzango · 6 years

Text

Ok I mentioned this a few times in the past but here’s the thing with me and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.

I want to love DD, I really do. But I’ve grown with the first 2 games, played them hundreds of times, know them inside out. There is a reason why I consider this series one of my all-time favorites. Yes the games have their flaws (too much dialogue to say an example), but they’re charming. The Lore and characters are amazing. The music is powerful and memorable. The gameplay is fun for being your average JRPG game. And don’t get me started on the amazing sprite work (keep in mind, these cames were for the GBA. Think of Donkey Kong Country. It’s basically the same concept).

Now picture this. After a 8 years gap of no new GS games, Dark Dawn for the DS was announced. To say that I was hysterical is an understatement.

Now let’s not consider the fact that at the time I didn’t have money so I had to emulate it on a flashcard and I had issues finding a working rom file... I played it. I finished it.

...and I was left midly disappointed. There was just so much wrong with the game.

The story is a mess. The Overworld graphics are kinda sucky and it plays way too floaty compared to the past games. The characters are honestly not all that memorable. The gameplay elements that made the previous games so fun are kinda sucky. The music is honestly pretty forgettable (I’ve played DD twice and I can’t remember a single music from it :/). And guess what? Spoiler alert:

HUGE CLIFFHANGER AT THE END. OF AN PLOT ELEMENT THAT WAS WHAT STARTED THE WHOLE GAME AND NEVER GOT MENTIONED THROUGH OUT THE WHOLE GAME UNTIL THE END WITH A “AND EVERYONE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER--O SHIT WAIT THERE’S THAT THING FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME TO TAKE CARE OF REMEMBER? WELL TOO BAD GAME’S OVER U DOUCHE”

But despite all the hate I have for it, there are some things that I liked a lot.

For example, everything reguarding the battles. The inbattle graphics are outstanding, the flow is fast and fun, and the new mechanics introduced are super fun, making even the most basic weapons you get all that useful and interesting. Also loved how they finally designed every single Djinn instead of using the same default design for all of them. And on a side note, I honestly love Sveta’s design, but as a playable character... she’s waaay too OP imo.

Also another Spoiler Alert: I don’t like how they handled the introduction of the party members. I mean heck, you end up getting the last 2 members basically at the last part of the game so you don’t get the time to familiarize with them and experiment with their classes and their unique Psynergies. Case on point, Himi. As a playable character, she got a unique class type and super cool unique psynergies. But up to that point you already got used to have the other party members as your bread-and-butter squad, so she’s just... there. Also the whole Third Eye and Search Psynergy she got is literally a ripoff of Zelda’s Sheikah Tribe symbol and Lens of Truth respectively, and that has always been my biggest pet peeve in DD.

Oh that’s also another thing that pissed me off. They had this fantastic idea of “spicing up” the Reveal Psynergy from the previous games, my favorite Overworld psynergy, and split it into 2 useless psynergies. Now, for those who haven’t played the first 2 GS games, Reveal allowed you to see hidden secrets in the overworld. See a circle of rocks? There’s something in the middle of it. Use Reveal to see through the invisibility and pick the item. See a bunch of checkable jars and barrels? Use Reveal to see if they hold anything in them instead of wasting your time checking every single one of them. And this mechanic was also used to solve puzzles as it would allow you to reveal useful hints on how to proceed. Now, what did they do in DD? They split it into 2 psynergies: Insight and Search. The previously mentioned Search Psynergy, which is literally only used to open up specific areas in the Overworld and render visible hidden objects, instead of just opening a window upon the unseen. And the Insight Psynergy is literally a hint button. I just shows you what objects are interactable with which Psynergy. So yeah, I was pretty pissed off by these.

...OH YEAH, YOU KNOW WHAT’S ALSO VERY BAD IN DD?

NO BACKTRACKING.

You missed a Djinn or any unique item or equipment? WELL TOUGH SHIT, YOU LOST IT FOREVER. The game works on checkpoints. After you reach certain points in the story, something will make it impossible for you to go back to the older areas.

Now picture me, used to the previous games where even at endgame you could go back to any place in the entire map to recover Djinns or secrets I missed. I play through DD with the intention of going back before the end of the game to recover all the Djinns I missed. Just to discover that I couldn’t go back anymore. I was. So angry that day.

*ahem*

...so, to conclude this long rant over Dark Dawn: I really want to love this game, because it had potential. But there are just so many things done wrong compared to the previous games that just makes me cringe at the mere thought of attempting playing it again.

#zango rants about Golden Sun Dark Dawn

25 notes · View notes

mysmashplaythroughs · 3 years

Text

My choices for the final Smash character. (And other general stuff)

Well, figured I would post something. My OOT Zelda post is taking a bit and admittedly I’ve just been wrapped up in other things. I’ve made a lot of progress with playing through the games on my list, having only three games for stages left before I’ve done all the ones I had in place for them. The thing is, two of those are somewhat long games and the other is Minecraft which I’ve just been casually playing alongside everything else for a while now. The Direct yesterday had a lot of pleasant surprises, especially for me with games like Dr Mario 64 and of course Banjo finally being available on a Nintendo console again (would have loved to be able to buy it but I guess I’m glad it’s on there at all...) Not to mention Castlevania Collection (which will come in handy in not too long on my list.)

With the reveal that the final Smash character will be shown in detail on the 5th of October, it’s given me a drive to try and finish the last three games on the stages portion of my list, Minecraft, Final Fantasy 7 (which I beat before but it was on Steam on PC and I lost my save data so I’ve been playing the Switch version again.) and finally Three Houses. Since I want to be in a position by the 5th where I can play through (granted depending on who it is) the game/s related to the final character, I’ve decided for my current playthrough of Three Houses to stop it at a specific point (without spoilers let’s just say the halfway point) along with playing the DLC for the first time. I will come back to it for the next section on my list which are the background and stage hazard characters, with the second half representing the various Three Houses characters who appear in Garreg Mach in the background. My rationale for this is that as I’m playing currently for the stage, it changes a lot in the second half of the game, so therefore that part of the game is better suited to representing the background characters. Call it a copout or whatever you want, I just want to avoid burnout with too many long games at once which has been hitting me a little admittedly. Oh also for context, my first playthrough of the games I went with Blue Lions, this time I’m playing through Black Eagles, I plan to play the other paths when I get to Three Houses for the Spirits part of my list.

So, onto the title of this post. I mentioned in an earlier post plans to talk about what I want/expect for Smash, but seeing as this is confirmed explicitly to be the final update, I thought it was now or never really when it comes down to it. I will admit with this list, I have definite biases, there’s characters I just don’t want (Fortnite Jonesy, Freddy Fazbear), characters I think are fine for base roster but would not bring enough new as the final DLC character to really be justified (and admittedly some I’m just absolutely sick of people saying ‘everyone wants’) such as Waluigi, Skull Kid or Shadow the Hedgehog, and finally, ones I keep seeing people ask for that I just don’t want and don’t feel would fit in Smash (Master Chief, Kratos, Doomguy (I only give him a bit of a pass because of how big DOOM’s legacy is)) I know ‘anything is possible’ and people are always going on about ‘fan rules’ but there are things I think it’s reasonable to think damage a characters chances. I believe if a character’s had a Mii costume added as DLC (eg. Dante), if their game has had a spirit event (Resident Evil) or most importantly to me, they’re an assist trophy, it means Sakurai’s team considered the possibility of adding them and decided not to, representing them in another way. Mii Cosumes I think it only applies to the specific characters who have had DLC Mii outfits as we’ve seen with Kazuya getting in after the Heihachi Mii Costume, but if it’s a character who was a Mii costume in the base roster it doesn’t necessarily count them out (Dixie Kong for example). For Spirit events, I don’t believe they’d have done an event if the series was planned to be added with a fighter, there’s not been any cases of that happening so far, such as there not being a Three Houses spirit event. We know spirits in the base game don’t matter like for Min Min and Pyra/Mythra, but I think with the DLC already planned they wouldn’t then do those series for a spirit event. Assist Trophies, I feel whilst people keep saying about there being an option to switch them off when they’re playable, there was probably lot of work put into making them work as Assist Trophies and it was done to represent them in the game, so I just personally don’t believe they’d suddenly go “Oh actually lets add Waluigi as DLC.” Of course, I do have a big bias with this, I like seeing new stuff with the DLC, or for them to bring something new other than just the fighter. Yes Waluigi could bring ‘Mario Sports spirits’ or something but that’s hardly something not in the game already, not to mention it’d be seeing a character who already has a model in the game, there’d be very little new about him imo.

Anyway, now I’ve probably pissed off half of the people who might read this, my personal wants for characters in Smash are first and foremost that they bring an interesting franchise to the series. Simon and Richter were really cool additions, but even bigger to me was how they brought all the Castlevania stuff, a franchise I love which got so much representation with the stage and even a Dracula boss. A second element for me personally, is I like when it’s a character who has a history with Nintendo. Obviously, this isn’t a dealbreaker and I know they’ve done plenty now who have very few links to Nintendo (although, still even now every character in has had at least one small appearance on a Nintendo console beforehand) but part of why Banjo was such a big deal to me was because of just how intertwined with Nintendo he and Rare had been in the past. This has played into my list admittedly a bit. So, with that all said, here’s my top 5 predictions based on what I think it plausible and I would like for Smash.

5. Crash Bandicoot: Simply put, this isn’t one I personally want, just of all the popular suggestions that I think are workable, he’s the one I’d be most ok with. I believe his legacy in gaming is enough that he ‘deserves’ a spot in Smash. I’ve never been particularly interested in his series, but it does seem like it’d be ripe for adding a lot to Smash with a stage, spirits and music etc. Overall, if I don’t get one I want, I guess Crash is the one I’d be most ok with. (to be clear even if it was Master Chief I’d be fine seeing what’s done with him, only Fortnite really would be one I’d not like in any way.)

4. Dixie Kong: I don’t think this is likely at all, it goes against everything I’ve said before almost, as unlike with Sephiroth or Pyra for example there’s not tons of things Dixie could bring with her not already in the game for the DK series. This choice is purely if I got to add my dream character and since the DK franchise is a really huge deal to me, Dixie would be it.

3. Professor Layton: If this was Smash 4, I’d be putting Layton at number 2, his games were a pretty big deal on the DS and he’s got a lot of history with Nintendo, not to mention seeing Sakurai think up a way to make him work would probably turn out really special. The main problem with him nowadays is simply his series has pretty much ended. There’s a spinoff (which I really need to finish someday) but the Layton series was really at its peak on DS and 3DS. In more realistic terms, I’d love to see a Mii Costume of Layton at least, paired with my number 1 choice would make it fit even better.

2. Dr. Eggman: So, growing up during the SEGA vs Nintendo era, honestly, I never ‘picked a side’. I enjoyed both consoles and I liked Sonic just as much as many Nintendo series back then. In my mind, Dr. Eggman is one of the most iconic videogame villains of all time, he has that same quality Bowser has where he can work as the overall antagonist or a side character and not ever really feel out of character. Apart from that though, fighting in his Egg Mobile there’s all sorts of cool things could be done with him, and being a fair bit bigger I think it’d be different to how Bowser Jr works meaning he wouldn’t be redundant. On top of that, Sonic is one of the series in Smash that arguably is somewhat lacking in content, not to the degree of FF7 of course, but there’s a lot that could still be added, with Eggman perhaps bringing various Badnik spirits with him and there being plenty of awesome music from the Sonic series that could be added. Overall, if they were to add a character who wasn’t from an all-new series as the finale, Eggman would be in my opinion the best choice.

1. Phoenix Wright: So, yes I am a huge fan of Ace Attorney, it’s a very important series to me so I’m absolutely biased in this. Whilst I understand why there’s plenty of reasons to doubt this happening, I think the chances are higher than people think. Firstly and probably least importantly, but something that I do personally consider is that the AA series has a long history with Nintendo, starting in Japan on GBA, then on DS, 3DS and now Switch, the series whilst not remaining exclusive has never skipped out on a Nintendo console. When it comes to how iconic the series is, honestly for visual novels, I think it’s the most famous overall. So many times when I see people who don’t really play visual novels talk about them they often say things like “so it’s like Phoenix Wright.” This doesn’t mean of course that these people have actually played the games, but they are easily the most recognisable examples of the genre in my mind. (Maybe Dangan Ronpa would also count, but I don’t hear that referenced as often) Add to that how often people recognise “OBJECTION!” as being a Phoenix Wright reference, even if they barely know the series and I’d say it’s pretty iconic. Next, probably most surprisingly to me, Capcom’s only new character in Smash Ultimate is Ken, an Echo Fighter. Capcom has a long history, a huge list of franchises (in some ways arguably rivalling Nintendo themselves with how many iconic franchises they’ve put out) and have definitely had a lot of involvement with Nintendo over the years (I mean, they’ve been involved in a few Zelda games such as Minish Cap). The thing is, almost all of their biggest franchises that weren’t already in Smash have now been represented in various forms, Resident Evil got a spirit event, Dante infamously got a Mii costume, as has Arthur from Ghouls and Ghosts. Of the most recognisable Capcom franchises not represented at all in Smash from Capcom, I’d say off the top of my head, the only two really remaining are Ace Attorney and Okami. Of those two, AA imo is the one that’s more widely known (not to mention has had a lot more entries etc).

One thing that both supports and goes against his inclusion is that he appeared in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 as a fighter. Going for him with that is that it’s been shown he could work in a fighting game before, but against it is therefore it wouldn’t be as surprising to see as it was in that case. I’d argue, due to the nature of Smash as a game, there’s a lot that could be done with Phoenix that couldn’t have been done in UMvC3 (btw, I really enjoyed playing that game). Probably one of the biggest things to me is the stage it could offer. In the Ace Attorney series, the majority of the game shockingly is set in the courtroom, Phoenix Wright being the Defence Attorney (in the original Trilogy, there’s other characters in later games) and there being various Prosecutors he’s faced over the years with the majority of the time the same bald bearded Judge presiding over every trial. The somewhat sedentary nature of the games, where the characters stand in the same spot 99% of the time and cycle through various reaction animations (desk slams, damaged shocked sprites and of course lots of pointing) would be fantastic as a stage. Given how many cameos and things we’ve seen in recent DLC stages, having the courtroom rotate through various prosecutors as well as maybe having Phoenix (when not being played as) appear behind the Defence bench would be something I’d love to see. I realise now I’m going into way more of a ‘moveset ideas’ type thing than I should so I’ll just leave it off with I feel Phoenix would be a really awesome if admittedly controversial choice (with those that wouldn’t have some sort of controversy if they get in becoming a smaller and smaller pool and mostly ones I find personally kinda boring.) and as a final plus would represent a game genre not represented yet overall with visual novels.

So yeah, that’s my personal hopes. I said before, there’s very few characters I’d outright be unhappy with if they got in. I’ve gotten sick of hearing certain choices but either way based on everything so far I trust whoever it is will be done well. I got my wish for Banjo, so anything else now is a bonus. Just as a blog that’s focused on Smash (although, I definitely want to stick to my references and origins of characters lane rather than the whole competitive etc scene...) I wanted to at least put my guesses out there before the final reveal. Looking forward to it.

#off-topic #My Smash Playthrough #My Smash Playthroughs #Super Smash Bros Ultimate #Final Roster #Final Fighter #Predictions for Smash

0 notes

smashingatsonicspeed · 6 years

Text

Returning Franchise/Groups Thoughts

Before I start talking potential newcomers (Though I will at least touch on it a little here) it’s time I give my thoughts on what could happen with each of the series that were in Smash 4 and if anything changes in representation. I’ve said before that I don’t expect too many cuts so most of this is mainly that franchises are keeping where they are but I’ll still try to make a special note with each one

Mario

I don’t really expect anyone in the Mario series to get cut. They’ve pretty much nailed the representation for the most part with the original characters they’ve gotten. Maybe Dr. Mario has a shot at being demoted to alt, but depending just how much ported over the roster ends up. He might stay anyway.

I also suspect that unless Captain Toad (Or any variation of Toad) is a Newcomer in this Smash. We won’t be getting any more Mario characters. No offense to supporters of Waluigi, Paper Mario, or Daisy. But I don’t think it’s time for them.

Yoshi

Yoshi’s probably going to remain solo. The only candidates that could feasibly be a 2nd Yoshi rep is the Baby Mario Bros. and Kamek. Neither of which I think are that popular really

Wario

I also think Wario’s going to remain solo. There’s going to be some hope for Ashley thanks to Warioware Gold. But realistically I think the only chance Wario gets a 2nd rep is if they decide to cheat the system a little and count Waluigi as a Wario rep.

Donkey Kong

Obviously both DK and Diddy will return. And this is also one of the franchises I suspect will just have to get a rep in this game. Whether it be King K. Rool, Dixie Kong, or even both

Retro (That is Mr. Game & Watch, Duck Hunt, and ROB)

I assume all 3 retro characters will return. With a good chance the Ice Climbers take their long awaited return assuming 8 Player Smash doesn’t cause trouble with them. As for any new retros, who knows. They seem to pop up one each new game. So maybe Takamaru will get to join this time around or something. But who knows what Sakurai will have in mind here

Zelda

Everyone from the previous game should return here. Only questions is if Shiek will return to being a transformation or not. Link is obviously going to be BOTW styled but will that mean any moveset changes? We won’t know until we see actual footage of Link. Zelda will probably also be BOTW styled. Though Ganondorf didn’t have his Gerudo form in BOTW. So either they stay with his Smash 4/Twilight Princess design, make a What If BOTW styled Ganondorf, or even make him in Hyrule Warriors style. As for any new characters, I think by now any chances of a character that isn’t some alternate version of the trio isn’t going to get playable. Those hoping for any of the guardians will probably get the same disappointment that those people hoping for Skill Kid, Midna, or Impa got.

Metroid

Samus and Zero Suit Samus will obviously return. Though like Shiek the question is if they remain separate characters. But of course what is always going to be a big topic discussion is if anyone’s joining. Obviously Ridley’s going to be debated once again. But I think a dark horse (no pun intended) could be Dark Samus given Metroid Prime 4 is coming. Dark Samus would definitely be much better received then Dark Pit was. Even if Dark Samus turned out to be somewhat cloned from Samus. It’d at least be something. Even if it’s not the big bone that Ridley would be.

Kid Icarus

I don’t think they’ll be adding more. Much like Dr. Mario, maybe Dark Pit gets demoted to Alt. But as much as I’d like that there’s an equal chance they’ll keep him around anyway. I suppose another question would be about Palutena’s Custom Moves. We don’t know if Custom Moves will return. Given the DLC characters were not given any, that may be a sign they’re on their way out. And if Palutena’s stuck with her default Smash 4 moveset? That’ll suck for Palutena players, because some of her actual good moves are hidden in those.

Fire Emblem

Ah yes the franchise almost everybody complains about their representation. I think for the most part everyone in the previous game will return. Yes even Lucina, Roy, and Corrin. If Dr. Mario and Dark Pit get demoted maybe Lucina does too but I just don’t know. Lucia’s actually kinda popular. And they bothered to bring back Roy from Melee so I don’t know why they’d leave him out again. And I feel Corrin’s a bit of an early bird. He/she would of probably been a newcomer for this game, but instead he got into Smash earlier then we thought he/she would. I think that because I suspect everybody comes back, we may get no more additional Fire Emblem characters this time just to give it a break. Maybe the next Fire Emblem’s protagonist gets in through DLC but otherwise I don’t expect any new Fire Emblem characters from the get go.

Kirby

All Kirby Characters should return being Sakurai’s pride and joy. Don’t know if it’ll get a 4th character or if it’s even necessary to have one, but if they do. It’s probably Bandana Waddle Dee

Punch-Out!!

Little Mac will likely remain solo. Don’t see them suddenly adding another. That is unless… Mike Tyson enters the ring O: (Nah, I’m kidding. Though it would be hilarious)

Star Fox

This one’s going to be a little difficult to figure out. I think both Fox and Falco are safe. But the question is if Wolf will finally make his come back after missing out on Smash 4. Star Fox Zero didn’t do as well as some hoped, so there’s ground for maybe Star Fox remaining where it is. That said maybe they’d save Wolf for DLC to have that hype return like Mewtwo and Lucas was for many. Any other choices likely already missed their chance. Including Krystal.

Pokemon

Pokemon is the franchise that has historically had the most cuts within Smash. So this is incredibly hard to predict. The Pokemon company has been said to be actually a little difficult for Sakurai to deal with. For now I think everyone that was in Smash 4 should return. With the likeliest newcomer being Decidueye to complete the fire-grass-water trio that has left a hole ever since Pokemon Trainer being cut down to just Charizard. Possibly a Gen 8 newcomer for DLC.

Earthbound

Ness and Lucas should be here to stay. Don’t think there need to be any additions from here on out

F-Zero

Captain Falcon without any new games still will remain the only F-Zero character. And that’s just fine.

Animal Crossing

I think Villager stays solo. Though a small chance that maybe Tom Nook, Isabelle, or even Mr. Restti comes into the picture.

Pikmin

If there was any chance Pikmin was going to grow beyond Olimar. It’s too late as Alph is simply an alt. So other then maybe other Pikmin characters also being Alts. Olimar will be solo. Though the real question is how many Pikmin will he have this time. He could have only three at a time in Smash 4. But up to 6 in Brawl

Wii Fit

If there’s any chance at all that for the first time a new series is cut for a reason other then 3rd party issues (Metal Gear) and technical problems (Ice Climbers) then Wii Fit would probably be first on the chopping block. But I doubt they cut her out as much as some will probably be clamoring for it.

Xenoblade

I highly expect Shulk to make it back. And a good chance he’s joined in with Rex from Xenoblade 2. Shulk will likely be the Marth of the Xenoblade franchise I feel.

Miis

I think they are more likely to return in some way. Though admittedly custom moves at least leaves them a little bit in Limbo. But I just don’t see why they’d cut them. The Miis allowed for those who are young (or young at heart) to include real-life characters, impossible ones, or extremely unlikely ones to at least kinda satisfy them. It’d be kind of disappointed to go to this game without that option to create your fighter. Even if Custom Moves is largely removed, I hope the Mii Fighters still return and maybe they’re the only characters with Custom Moves. Even if that comes into conflict with Palutena.

3rd Parties

Now this is the interesting part. I think Sonic, Megaman, and Bayonetta are absolutely safe. All 3 of them have had significant releases or upcoming releases on the Switch. Plus they’d all risk alienating the fanbase should either of them be dropped because they were all included by fan demand of some sort. I think Pac-Man and Ryu are in the middle in they probably will return. I think even if Namco isn’t helping out as much as they did with the last one Pac-Man may stay anyway and if they get Megaman might as well get Ryu again too but they have some degree of doubt compared to the 3 I already mentioned. Cloud’s probably the most likely 3rd Party to leave only because I heard Square can be stingy (I mean we did only get two songs for Final Fantasy. Which is kinda ridiculous). But given that Square isn’t at odds with Nintendo right now and the Switch is selling well. I don’t see why Square wouldn’t love the free promotion for Cloud whether or not the FF7 Remake comes to the Switch. While the risk is always there, I think we’re slightly more likely to actually keep everyone along only because 3rd Parties have gotten huge. Heck, I wouldn’t even be surprised if by the time development has finished and all the DLC released. We have 10 or more 3rd Party characters playable. As for likely newcomers? I think the most likely BASE GAME 3rd party is probably Rayman. While Crash Bandicoot might be a strong DLC candidate.

And that’s all for now, if there’s something that’s announced that leaves some evaluation I may do another post like this. Probably at least a post based on this when the base game’s roster has been revealed when we know who’s returned for the base game and who didn’t. Coming next I will start covering potential newcomers and/or veterans that weren’t in Smash 4 in posts of their own soon enough.

#Super Smash Bros.#Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch #super smash bros. switch #Smash Veterans

3 notes · View notes