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z-cerulean · 5 months ago

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Soirée, the Paldean Hatterene That Did.

Gonna do a write up about something I've been doing for the past few weeks.

So this story begins with VGC. Watching enough Wolfey videos got me interested in giving it a shot again for the first time since Ultra Moon.

Following some testing, I arrived at a start point: Hatterene. She was more than slow enough to dominate in Trick Room, packs a lot of power, and had reasonable bulk on top. A great pick both as a relative novice and for what appealed to me.

After going through a few iterations of a team, I eventually arrive at this:

This was based on a team by Gerty2Dirty on Twitter. The primary two cores are the same, those being Hatterene and Indeedee for Psyspam, with Torkoal and Hisuian Lilligant as a secondary trick room sweeper and fast option respectively. I made a few moveset adjustments to my liking, as well as altering the last two Pokemon of the lineup (Porygon2 is both a favourite Pokemon of mine and a very solid Trick Room pick, and Kingambit felt like a good fill for the defensive gaps in the rest of the team). While I'm sure there's better iterations of hard Trick Room teams out there, these 6 managed to push through into Master Ball tier, and all managed a Master Rank Ribbon for their troubles, reaching the top 6000 for the October 2024 VGC ladder season.

The entire team might have their own stories one day, but for now, we're going to focus on Hatterene. More specifically, my now Master Rank Hatterene, Soirée.

I had caught many wild Hatenna, Hattrem and Hatterene in a hunt for one with a 0 Speed IV, even finding three with a perfect Speed IV before eventually coming across her. Despite as many good changes for modifying stats as the newer Pokemon games have made, getting low stats is still pretty obnoxious and has to be done the hard way. As some sort of final joke, she also came in with a Jolly nature at base as well (+Spd -Sp.Atk), perhaps the worst possible nature for any Hatterene. Ultimately not a problem due to mints, but something about it stung after how long I'd been looking.

Besides being as slow as genetically possible and possessing a Master Rank level capability to click Expanding Force, however, there's... not much ostensibly special about her. Having to catch so many Hatenna meant I'd stuck to using fairly standard catching methods, landing her in the pretty ubiquitous Ultra Ball. She's not shiny, much like every other Hatenna I saw, and she has no personality marks despite the significant odds increases stacked with the Mark Charm and title power. Her modestly "slightly smaller than average" stature further barely distinguishes her, leaving her ineligible for both the Mini and Jumbo Marks.

It's at this point Ribbon Mastering comes into my attention again. I've been carrying Pokemon through games for many years now, I still have my story playthrough team that beat the White Treehollow in White 2 from 11 years ago. But despite this, I never paid much conscious attention to Ribbons. Most of my Pokemon had at least one, usually a given region's Champion ribbon, but collecting them on a Pokemon was something I'd never particularly gone out of my way for. And, now, with both adult responsibilities and many other games coming out I wanted to play, it felt difficult to justify committing to something like a Ribbon Master project, despite admiration towards those that did it.

Since one successful run, I'd wanted to handle the November ladder with a new team. This proved less than fruitful. Most things I tried didn't feel like they fully clicked, despite my best efforts, and I ended up burning out of teambuilding.

Not quite feeling a break from Pokemon entirely though, a thought occurred to me. As far as ribbons go, Soirée had already done the most difficult one in achieving the Master Rank Ribbon. The Effort Ribbon was a given, and another run of the Academy Ace Tournament for the Paldea Champion Ribbon wasn't a problem either with a reasonably levelled story team, let alone one that was Master Rank capable. The Best Friends Ribbon simply asked for some picnic activities including and besides making sandwiches, and the three achievable Marks in S/V weren't hard more so than tedious (particularly the Partner Mark, why is it like this). Besides all those, the only two remaining ribbons available to her would be in Sword and Shield, plus it would be a reason to push through the Battle Tower finally, having mostly left Sword after the end of my original run.

Though despite all that, some reservations lingered. As mentioned, Soirée is pretty non-descript as far as not just most Hatterenes, but most Pokemon go. On top of that, she could knock out all her Ribbons in just two regions. Would that really make much of a compelling story? Most well-known Ribbon Masters had come from places like a Japanese GameCube eReader. Would there be all that much to tell at the end of it all?

But... then I recalled NeverHappy. A Budew abandoned in a second-hand copy of Platinum, only to be one day found, have value placed within it, and go the full distance with only sheer love and pettiness for fuel. Soirée had already captivated me simply by doing this:

All that mattered was what Soirée meant to me, not how notable she was for anything she wasn't. She could - and would - go as far as she could.

The Paldean portion made sense to finish up first. Ultimately, this was mostly just the three obtainable Marks, two of which (Itemfinder and Gourmet) weren't a huge deal. The Partner Mark was by far the most obnoxious, forcing me to opt for using a hair tie to pull my controller's sticks together after half the rest of my active party got it by coincidence. Fortunately, though, this took not too much longer after driving Miraidon in circles for a while, noticing she had the Mark after accidentally knocking the controller.

A visit to Galar's Battle Tower in my copy of Sword was next up, and was by far the most individually time consuming aspect of the journey. I picked up Sword quite late after passing it up at launch and only going back after playing Violet. The game had been left off after the final Leon fight, with only a brief return later to catch Zacian and do the final Hop battle, so the entire run to Master Ball was ahead of me.

Courtesy of a friend with the DLC I didn't have (will get it eventually but... not right now), Soirée was able to get a serving of Max Soup, and took full advantage of one of the likely few windows she'll get to assume a G-Max form, and presented a more than suitable compensation for her temporary loss of Expanding Force.

I opted for Doubles, both because of VGC and out of personal preference. Additionally, this time Soirée would get a different cohort. Since the Galar Battle Tower doesn't prohibit any Pokemon as long as their learnsets match Gen 8 legality, a not insubstantial part of the run was handled by a few Pokemon I had used a bit less than I'd have liked.

Specifically, her three accompanying teammates were Morning Star, (a Necrozma assuming Dawn Wings form from my years old Ultra Moon run, in consideration for a team on the return of Reg G), Arboria (a Suicune from the Ultra Space Wilds I had reset on to have a decent nature and stats) and my unfortunately unable to be renamed Genesect, which I'd had in the background since an event distribution in 2016. Genesect did, unfortunately, suffer from a limited moveset on account of TR availability, so I wound up opting for a funnier strategy than simply using Iron Head instead.

Ultimately, the Battle Tower posed little issue, taking only one loss to Leon from a poor string of luck. All four pulled their weight, and I'm overall very pleased with the Pipe Bomb Genesect strategy's performance considering the circumstances of its implementation.

Being pretty short, the Galar Champion Ribbon following it was anticlimactic for the final one. The run's last opponent was Piers, so it was more or less a clean sweep.

And that was the end of the journey. A short one, considering most Ribbon Master journeys, but at the end of the day, expressing admiration for the best Expanding Force clicker I'll probably ever have is more than enough.

If you've made it this far, then thank you for following Soirée's short but, I hope, meaningful journey. I'd certainly like to do more Ribbon Master runs after this, and perhaps you'd like to bring your favourite as far as they can go as well.

#pokemon #ribbon master #hatterene #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon sword and shield

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radramblog · 4 years ago

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The inevitable hot takes

Pokemon Presents happened, so of course I gotta talk about it.

Intro Thing

The intro was… cute. It was largely a waste of time, but as a little celebration of the full franchise, I suppose I can’t complain. It’s kind of hilarious to me that fucking Hey You Pikachu got more time in the spotlight than Colosseum, XD, or Battle Revolution, despite being easily the worst spinoff game in the franchise. As did the Game Boy Colour Mobile Phone adaptor, and that didn’t even get released outside of Japan.

The fact that this video had buffering issues, which seemed to be a universal issue from what ive heard, is kind of a travesty. Why the fuck do we still use youtube premiere for anything?

New Snap Trailer 2

Look this game looks fucking adorable but like. I’m not spending 80 entire dollarydoos on this. Assuming it’s largely the same as the original Snap gameplay-wise, it’s going to be an on rails photo game, and that doesn’t really cut it in 2021.

“the professor invented these light up things, they’re called illumina orbs!” bro have you not heard of a flash camera

they literally called it the LENTAL region what the fuck fam

BDSP

That acronym is the funniest thing about this whole announcement. Bondage, domination, submission, and Pokemon. Sounds like a solid Friday night.

The reaction to this has been pretty mixed. I love that Game Freak is actually letting someone else handle this, but I’m worried that Ilca is going to be kept on too tight a leash to make a game that is worth playing if you still have a copy of the originals. This ties in to my other concern- The thing with Diamond and Pearl remakes is that Diamond and Pearl actually kinda suck ass, but just about every issue I had with them was fixed in the third version, Platinum. But the last remakes we got, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, didn’t take nearly enough from third version Emerald, and that combined with the outsourcing leads me to be worried about this being too faithful an adaptation, without any of the improvements brought by later Pokemon design.

The artstyle doesn’t bother me that much, but I know it’s a hard sell for a lot of fans. The comparison to the Link’s Awakening remake is pretty apt, but this doesn’t look quite as good as that, which is kinda an issue. End of the day, though, like with every time people get disappointed by something they literally asked for, the same lyrics are running through my head. “Is this what you wanted? Is this what you had in mind? Because this is what youre getting!” (Thanks, Maynard.)

Oh god, please don’t fuck up the music. DPPt had some of the best music in the franchise, but Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee has the worst soundtrack in any of the games (FIGHT ME.) and this looks a lot like that game.

PL:A

Man this is either gonna suck real hard or it’s going to be the best Pokemon game in years.

Game Freak moving away from the standard formula was frankly inevitable, and I think now is the right time for it- especially since they’ve been able to pair it with a more mainline release. Obviously the animations for the trailer are unfinished- I’d argue they were probably rushed to meet the Pokemon Day deadline- but they have minimum 11 months until the release date, so I’m not actually that worried.

People have been asking for an open world Pokemon game for the better part of a decade at least at this point. The onus is now on Game Freak to not fuck it up, though even if they do it’ll still probably sell millions. I’m hesitantly optimistic for this project, though I will admit that the snippet of Arceus’s theme (which, to be clear, is impossible to hear in game without cheating since they never actually released the Azure Flute event so they’ve never really acknowledged it) got my heart going.

OK, bye lol

Oh, that was…it? Aside from some mobile game stuff and a new raid event for SwSh (Gigantamax Pikachu again, cooooooooool….), there wasn’t basically anything else, and I was expecting significantly more. We still don’t know shit about whatever Pokemon Sleep is, or was, and considering it’s the 25th anniversary I would have expected some merch or something- though for some reason despite being announced on the same day the new Pokemon Shirts designs weren’t part of this announcement. Maybe I was a bit spoiled by the 50-minute Nintendo direct last week, but this felt extremely short.

Anyway, new Plamos when you cowards?

(wait I just googled it they literally have been making new ones just mostly not ones I’d want fuck)

#ramble #pokemon #so no virtual console then?

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askkrenko · 5 years ago

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Krenko’s Guide to Pokemon: Meowth Line

THAT’S RIGHT!

DESIGN:

Meowth’s basic design is very reminiscent of the classic “Lucky Cat,” but wearing its coin as a headdress rather than holding it. Also, Meowth is slimmer, lankier, and more active. It’s a simple design, but it looks good, even if it’s obviously ‘generic cat.’

Alolan Meowth takes that design and makes it extra sassy, which is great. Meowth always had personality, but Alolan Meowth just has more of it. It’s still the lucky money cat, but now it knows it’s cool. Alolan Meowth is behind the gym smoking cigarettes. And your mom told you not to hang out with him but you’re going to anyway.

Look at that guy. He’s not rich because he’s lucky. He’s rich because he’s shoplifting non-stop.

And then there’s Galarian Meowth.

Galarian Meowth will fuck you up. It’s still clearly a Meowth, but it’s feral rather than pampered, hard and tough, with an excess of fur, and rather than having a gold coin, its coin is hard iron. It’s not there for luxury, it’s there to make weapons and armor out of. Galarian Meowth is one of my favorite regional forms, though it does beg the question of when a regional form should start counting as a different Pokemon altogether. Meowth evolves into Persian in Kanto and Alola, and I gotta say... I don’t like Persian. It’s just a cat. It does cat things. It’s boring, it’s uninteresting, and while the forehead gem is something, it doesn’t really feel like a natural evolution of Meowth’s coin as it would if it were more distinctly gem-like instead of just being round. Giving the gem a proper cut could’ve gone a long way here, and yes, that detail would have been hard to show in the first game, but just making it diamond-shape instead of round would’ve screamed “What once was gold is now a ruby.” Losing the coloration on its feet and tail is a problem, too. It just looks so bland compared to Meowth. Also, going from a biped to a quadruped seems kind of like a downgrade.

Alolan Persian is... worse. Sorry, I have nothing good to say about it design-wise. It just looks like an uglier, stupider version of Persian. The color shift is fine, but it now has a fat face and that’s it. Also it’s more of a jerk somehow. Meowth to Persian is one of the worst evolution downgrades in Pokemon. I could respect Persian as its own Pokemon, but it’s hard to respect it as “evolved form of Money Cat.”

On the other hand... Perrserker is the greatest thing ever. It looks like a stronger, tougher form of Galarian Meowth, with its Iron headpiece turning into a full helmet, and its claws combining into something sword-like. It is an angry, viking, dwarf cat, and it just looks like what Galarian Meowth should turn into. Everything about its design builds off Meowth, except it trades some of its goofiness and scrappiness for looking like it’s seriously ready to go to war.

The final Meowth form is Gigantimax Meowth which... is funny. Look, it’s not a good design, it’s not a reasonable design, and Meowth shouldn’t even really have a Gigantimax Form, but longcat is long, and that’s hilarious, so I’m just going to give it a pass. EVOLUTIONS: You know what I love seeing? All three Meowth forms evolve at level 28. That’s it. It’s great. No muss no fuss. Now, there is room for a third form in there, but we’ll get to whether it needs it later. A baby version of Meowth was designed for gen 1 and slated for gen 2, but it was cut both times, which is good because Meowth is early game enough that there’s no need for a pokemon that’s just Meowth but weaker. G-Max Meowth exists, and it’s honestly the best example of a gimmick G-Max. While a lot of weak G-Max pokemon just have no use, G-Max Meowth’s special move, G-Max Gold Rush, just spits out coins, up to 99,999 each battle. I gotta say, I’ve used G-Max Meowth, not for competetive battles, but to fill up my pockets with dosh late game.

TYPING: Kantonian Persian is a Normal type, whcih means Immunity to Ghost, Weakness to Fighting, and not strong against anything while being resisted by both Rock and Steel. It’s just not a strong type, and it’s mostly good for bulky, defensive Pokemon that get a lot more out of only having one weakness than they lose from not having any type coverage. Persian is not that Pokemon. Alolan Persian is Dark type, which is generally better. Three weaknesses, two resistances, and an immunity, though it’s only super effective against two types and resisted by three. It’s fine overall, but nothing special. Perrserker is a Steel type. Steel is the best type in the game, bar none. Ten resistances and one immunity just makes any Steel Pokemon with stats that matter hard to kill. And it’s coverage isn’t that bad, super effective on three types and resisted by four. STATS: Persian and Alolan Persian have 5 sub-par stats and good speed. The thing is, speed 115 may be a lot, but when you’re attacking at 70 (Kantonian) or special attacking at 75 (Alolan), going first isn’t enough to win the day. Perrserker, on the other hand, eschews speed in favor of having 110 attack and significantly higher Defense than Persian. While its stat total is the same 440, having high defense and Steel Type means it can take hits far better, and its high attack stat means getting hit by Perrserker actually hurts. ABILITIES: Kantonian Persian has limber (immunity to paralysis) and Unnerve (opponent can’t eat berries) but it’s strongest ability is Technician. Technician increases the base power of moves of 60 power or less by 50%, meaning Bite is suddenly better than Crunch and Theif’s suddenly an actual attack and... uhh... ... umm... This ability would be a lot better if Persian had more attacks at 60 power. Well, it buffs Fake out from 40 to 60 at least, and free damage is free damage. Alolan Persian also gets Technician, but isn’t any better with it. It’s hidden ability, Rattled, increases its speed if it’s hit by a Bug, Ghost, or Dark move or if an opponent uses Intimidate on it, which is... mediocre. Weak to Ghost and with poor defenses, that’ll likely just kill it, though it does resist Dark... But its speed is already high enough that an ability that sometimes raises its speed isn’t going very far.

Its final ability, Fur Coat, gives it actual competence. Fur Coat doubles its defense. That’s it. Going from base 60 defense to base 120 defense is huge, even before factoring in defense from IVs, EVs, etcetera. This is the only ability worth having on Alolan Persian. Comparatively, the other two abilities are nothing. And this isn’t even the Hidden Ability. Perrserker has three abilities, two of which are very similar. Its first ability, Battle Armor, protects it from Critical Hits. It’s not fancy, and it is decent, but the other two options are simply better. Tough Claws increases the power of all of Perrserker’s attacks that make contact by 30%, which is frankly a lot of them, while Steely Spirit increases the power of its Steel Type moves by 50%. Obviously, it’s only going to have one Steel attack in a normal build, and as this is Iron Head, it will gain the boost from Tough Claws as well... So here it’s more of a meta question which you want: The strongest STAB attack possibly with an effective base 120 Iron Head, or more power spread out on your other moves.

MOVES: Kantonian Persian has slightly higher Attack than Special Attack, but not by much, so the fact that it learns Nasty Plot means there’s incentive to build it as a Special Attacker. Alolan Persian always wants to be a Special Attacker.

Even with Technician, Persian’s attack lineup just isn’t great. It can use Fake Out for free STAB damage, which is nice, but after that, a physical build is relying on Body Slam for its STAB damage, which isn’t exactly the best, though the chance to paralyze is nice. Then for coverage, Bite and Play Rough are options, as is Gunk Shot, but there’s really nothing special going on here. U-Turn allows a hit with the switch, but it’s still only a 70 power hit. Persian did have some better attacks, like Double-Edge and Return, in previous generations, but those are currently missing from its lineup. All in all, Persian’s moveset doesn’t really do anything physically. For Special Attacking, Persian can learn Nasty Plot. The only Special move it gets via level-up is Power Gem, which is pretty poor unless you really need the coverage. On Kantonian Persian, Hyper Voice is your STAB Special, while Alolan uses Dark Pulse. For special attacks, Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt add some nice coverage, and Technician can turn Icy Wind into an actual attack. Persian can also learn Foul Play, which is a solid, if sometimes unreliable, Dark Attack that doesn’t require investment in the Attack stat. Alolan Persian can get Parting Shot, which reduces the enemy’s Attack and Special Attack before switching out. With its speed, this will often mean weakening an attack before your other Pokemon takes it. Honestly, I think most of what I’d want to do with a Persian would just be to annoy the opponent and get in some free damage. Fake Out, Foul Play, U-Turn or Parting Shot, and Body Slam or Dark Pulse in case staying in seems reasonable. With Persian’s Speed, Fake Out and U-Turn/Parting Shot will often just be two free hits every time you have to switch Pokemon. Perrserker, on the other hand, is a physical attacker with physical attacks. Iron Head is its obvious Steel attack. U-Turn is U-Turn, I don’t think I need to keep justifying ‘get a hit in when switching’ except here it’s ‘with an actual attack stat and maybe an ability to do +30% damage.’ Close Combat offers some great coverage and a lot of raw power, and Seed Bomb, Gunk Shot, and Play Rough are all great attacks, too.

And if you’re feeling cocky, Perrserker can get Swords Dance. On the other hand, if you’re feeling worried, Amnesia plugs Perrserker’s low Special Defense to let it tank longer.

Generally, I think Iron Head, U-Turn, Close Combat, and whatever other move you need for coverage on your team is the way you want to go.

And if it’s 2v2, hey, Perrserker gets Fake Out, too. OVERALL: Kantonian Persian is a very weak Pokemon, with abilities that don’t help it and a move pool that isn’t really built for anything. Alolan Persian is a lot better, primarily thanks to Fur Coat, but also by having Parting Shot with high speed, allowing it to repeatedly mess with enemies. But they’re also both really stupid pokemon that are just ‘lawl I’m a cat’ and don’t have anything interesting in their designs even though the Meowths are so cool. Perrserker’s all around solid and exactly where it needs to be. Its already high attack is bolstered by a +Attack pair of abilities, its high Defense stat is bolstered by Steel type, so it can hold its own without trying anything tricky just as long as nobody sets it on fire. Or knows Earth Power. It does not fare well against Earth Power.

#Krenko's Pokemon Guide #Meowth #Persian #Perrserker

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crystalelemental · 5 years ago

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It’s been a reasonable amount of time (over a year) since the last playthrough, so I picked up Pokemon Platinum. I am, once again, having a lot of fun. I’ve decided to use a team entirely of Pokemon I have never used. Basically, pull a LeafGreen, just go almost entirely new. Except this time, I can actually go entirely new, but will be hacking to get Skuntank because I don’t have Diamond anymore and it’s exclusive to that game and I want to run it. The current team is Cherubi, Buizel, and Chingling. It’s bee pretty fun, though man are they underpowered compared to what I’m used to. I’m used to the starter at least kicking ass, and trying to run train on Gardenia with Drifloon or Staravia. These three do not have the raw power to do that.

Cherubi is funny, because Leech Seed stall, but I do intend to give it Sunny Day/Solarbeam. It’s kinda like the Hypnosis/Dream Eater Gengar I ran in LG, it just sounded more fun. Buizel turned out Rash natured, so my plan is to have a more mixed set approach with Surf, Waterfall, Crunch, and Ice Beam by the end. And Chingling, nice enough, turned out Modest, so we’ll be going for high damage Chimecho. I’m actually excited to run Chimecho. I’ve never run it before, but I like it well enough.

That said, wow is the transition from LG to Platinum intense. I don’t consider Gen 3 to be easy by any stretch, but it’s not that tough either. Maybe that has more to do with move coverage or raw power level of the opponents you fight, but I’m constantly surprised by what Platinum throws at you. Roark has Cranidos with Headbutt, and goddamn does that chunk everything. Gardenia has a nice spread of Pokemon, ending in Roserade, who is an unholy terror. I’m always surprised how tough it is to take on early gym leaders in this game. Though I guess Misty had Starmie, and Wattson had Manectric and Magneton, and Lenora had Watchog. So it’s not really unheard of for serious evolutions to be in play by Gym 2, I suppose. But like...you know what, I think I get it now.

I am absolutely one of those people who feels like Pokemon games lost their teeth. Like, yes, they’re games for kids, but you can have a sense of challenge to their fights, I promise. Gen 6 started that shift, and honestly I chalked it up to EXP Share being busted as hell in that game, and the generation before it having EXP scaling that prevented overleveling almost outright. But that’s not it. I’ve played Gen 6 and 7 with Pokemon at the same level. Gen 6′s Gym Leaders still really aren’t that tough at all. Gen 7′s trials can be hard, because they figured the only possible way to invoke challenge was to cheat, but I feel like that just shows they lost focus and ambition.

These mid-generations, 3-5, gave us Gym matches that went in with a gameplan, and the intent to kick your ass. Like, Pokemon games tend to introduce a counter just before a boss. Taking FRLG, Mankey shows up before Brock, you get Oddish or Bellsprout before Misty, Diglett before Surge, Vulpix or Growlithe right before Misty, etc. It only slightly stops after that, but considering you need to Surf to reach Blaine, and the final fight is Giovanni, you’re going to have a Water type now. They even hand you Lapras for free. This isn’t anything new. But with Gen 3 and onwards, I feel like there’s at least an attempt at having the Gym Leaders be prepared for that counter. Platinum especially. Yes, Roark’s team can be beaten if you have Turtwig or Piplup. Oh, except they’re not particularly quick, and Cranidos at a similar level might outspeed and Headbutt you into submission with its absurd flinch chance. If you picked Chimchar, or just don’t want to use them, you basically have Psyduck, Machop, or Budew. None of which are all that fast, and could be Headbutt into submission as well. Especially Budew, who’s also fairly frail. So you think maybe you can tank with Geodude or Onix, but Onix doesn’t have great attacking moves to get past the first two, and Geodude...actually Magnitude probably gets past a majority of the team just fine, as long as his own Geodude doesn’t chunk yours too hard. Because Cranidos has Pursuit. Which is neutral for Rocks. And its attack is absurd. Like, you need two checks to his team: a good Water or Grass to handle the first two, and then maybe Geodude or Onix can take Cranidos safely. Barring leveling beyond what’s standard, or pulling a good nature/IVs, Roark can pose a threat.

Or Gardenia. Grass type, right? Super weak to everything. If you brought Chimchar, you probably can sweep just fine. You also get your bugs in advance of this fight, which have a 4x resistance to Grass. You also might have Staravia, or if you really went for it, Drifloon. All solid picks. Oh, except Turtwig has Reflect to half your Flying damage from Staravia, Cherrim has Leech Seed to slowly break down Dustox, and Roserade hits so hard that Drifloon’s pathetic defenses tend to let it down. I had to bring in my Staravia for this fight. My team couldn’t do it on their own. And even then, Staravia was beaten.

Like, that’s what I mean. I feel like gym leaders used to have a real game plan. Even if you brought the counters that were carried with you, they had a plan to work around it. There are still hard counters, but they’re probably not the ones you think they are anymore. Like, Bronzor? Pretty much immune to everything Gardenia can do, unless it gets hit with Leech Seed, so even that doesn’t actually work and no, these Gyms did not fuck around. I kinda miss that. I miss the gyms actually having a way to possibly work against your team, instead of “Here’s the bug gym, we have exactly one possible method to check Fire if you’re using that starter, but god help us if you brought any of the flying types” situation. I’m not saying there were never situations like that before modern games. But it really does feel different, going back to older games and packing what I expect to be a good backup counter if things go south with the main team and still watching the counter struggle.

#pokemon platinum #pokemon

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snow-slayer · 5 years ago

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A Bunch of Good Things from 2019

*I don’t do things consistently, so there’s chunks of time I just forgot to write. So the blank spaces are days where I could not recall the exact good things that happened.*

January 1: Started the year off right by hanging out with @nah-young, eating some delicious leftovers from New Year’s Eve and working on a puzzle. Also caught a shiny Delibird in Pokemon Go as the first catch of the year. 2: Had a headache at work, but went home to take care of myself. Dad and I talked for a long time about money and taxes without arguing. I have also discovered a future hobby I want to get into: 3D printing. 3: I cranked out four solid hours of studying. I’m going to ace the Auditing section of the CPA exam. I feel it in my bones (especially when I finally stood up and stretched). 4: My ‘other mom’ (one of my best friend’s mom) took me out for a belated Birthday lunch to our favorite Thai food place, and I enjoyed more mango sticky rice. It’s one of my new favorite desserts. 5: Did some epic New Year cleaning. Caught up on laundry, filed away my 2018 paperwork, and did some 2019 taxes. Finally on top of things! 6: A puzzle day! I connected a big piece of the sky to the side on the Lion King puzzle. I’ve still got a lot to go, but progress is being made. 7: As usual, I both surprised and pleased the teller at the bank when I moved some money from savings into my IRA. They wanted to know if it was for tax year 2018, but I could tell them last year was maxed out and it was for 2019. 8: Got to practice my training and supervising skills with @arrowhearts. 9: Spent the night at Lucy’s (she’s a cat). She’s the sweetest cat though, and was cuddling in my lap for so long! She even held my finger with her paw for like ten minutes. I love her. 10: It’s been forever, but I finally sat down and played some video games. I’m replaying Arkham Asylum again and really just exploring every nook and cranny I can find. 11: Might have started a new Francis story line ... Whoops :) 12: Helped Jane clear an apartment and acquired many new tools and art supplies to use. 13: Snow! It was snowing before bed, but I still woke up at 5 am to about 4 - 5 inches. Activated my dad gene and started shoveling at 5:30 am (sorry neighbors to the house I was dog sitting at). It’s so pretty out! 14: A quiet day, but I did some work for Jane and gamed some more. Can’t wait to start Arkham City when I get 100% on Arkham Asylum! 15: I took my coworker a basket of fun snacks from Lotte for her Birthday. She’s so excited to try them all! 16: Donated blood today and when I went to get dinner on the way home, I got a free salad! The entree was already free and I ordered a side salad. I pulled out my wallet to pay, but the coupon covered it, too! 17: Treated myself to breakfast on the way into preschool (my new volunteer place since the teacher I followed to several elementary schools is now at). Also ate some amazing home cooked food for lunch with @nah-young before going out for ice cream. 18: Did some very early spring cleaning to prep for my next yard sale and straighten up a bit. 19: Beat the storyline and finished gathering all of Riddler’s trophies in Arkham Asylum. I do still need to finish up the additional content for 100% completion. 20: Working with Jane to help clean out an apartment again and got stencils to use for my art (the ones with shapes of different sizes). I had wanted to get me a set, so I really lucked out. 21: Started reading a book for fun. Lol, I forgot that I can still read non-accounting things for fun. 22: Sent out 1099s at work. It’s always a dreaded part of the year, but it’s taken care of! 23: I started uploading my old Franmouche stories to AO3. I forgot that I’d written 185 pages of them. At least if someone else likes my rarepair, they have lots to read. No guarantees on the quality, but there is quantity. 24: Made fun penguin cutouts for the preschool class I volunteer at. Then studied for nine hours on campus. A busy, yet productive day. 25: Finished watching all my lectures for the next portion of the CPA exam! So much auditing knowledge!!! 26: Panic alleviated. My check engine light had been on for a few days. Usually it’s just a gas cap issue so I was worried, but after readjusting the cap again (which usually fixes it) and an oil change, the light went out! 27: Played some Pokemon Go for four hours with @arrowhearts and Lyla. No Kyogre, but at least we each got a Groudon. Plus, the weather was beautiful for this time of year. 28: I found a dollar today while sweeping the parking lots with my dad! I’m gonna be riding this wave for a week. (Fun fact: my dad and I used to go bike riding on Sunday afternoons/evenings in the local parking garages and look for pennies. We’d always get bragging rights when we found a quarter or more. We still get excited and tell each other of the day’s finds when we find a few coins while we’re sweeping). 29: Had a bit of a headache, but managed to get through it so I could finish the workday. Then I get some well deserved rest. 30: Met up with @nah-young for some fries and ice cream! 31: My annual physical went well! Took care of a couple test we’ve been putting off, too, and they weren’t quite as bad as I thought they’d be.

February

1: I had such a productive day in the office, even for a Friday. Special thanks to @arrowhearts for helping me move all (24 years worth) of our files. 2: Started off the day a little rough and feeling low, but I decided to go up to campus, and I’m so glad I did. I was able to help a bunch of people get to their destination. Also hung out with @nah-young and @arrowhearts in a sketchy room. 3: Technically today (starting at 1 am). Had a great talk with @nah-young about a lot of things including our friendship. Successfully avoided the Super Bowl (which I heard sucked, so that was a good use of my time). 4: Had a really good conversation with my dad for almost an hour. We had some fights earlier in the year, but it was nice to be able to connect some. 5: It’ll be silly to look back on, but I thought I lost a reference letter for a scholarship applicant, but realized I could find it on our shared drive. Such a relief! 6: I tried Duck Donuts for the first time today. One of our board members brought me and a coworker a half dozen each. 7: Caught a Miltank in Pokemon Go! I thought I missed my chance, but there was a special running, so I got it. 8: Just heard we got a new boss at work, so it’ll be nice to be full staffed again. 9: Started working on a painting for @arrowhearts. It might be my first completed artwork of the year. 10: A lazy day, but I flipped through a book on home decorating. You know, to plan for my future house. 11: Officially started working for Jane’s business. We’ll see how it goes, but at least it’s an extra couple of hours per week. 12: Finished a dog sitting job, and I’m super thankful to be sleeping in my own bed again. 13: I gave Lucy, the sweetest cat ever, a piggyback ride and it was the cutest thing ever. I was on my knees and forearms trying to get Lucy to boop my nose when she just climbed on my back and sat down. I rose up on my knees and hands and she did the “i’m not so sure but I’m going to stay here” stand and let me crawl across the floor a while before finally jumping off. I love this cat. 14: Took the auditing section of the CPA exam. I feel much better about this one than I have about the other two. We’ll see on the 26th. 15: Such a busy day at the office! It was productive, but just a lot of work. 16: Even though I just too the other exam, I managed to get a lot of studying done. 17: Mamaw and I got to chat and work on the puzzle for a while. It was nice to hang out with her since I haven’t done son in quite a while. 18: We had some really good food at our investment club meeting today. Sheppard’s pie (like meat and mashed potatoes), salad, this great cracker dip (I have no other details other than feels like sharp cheddar finally shredded with a hint of spice in some sort of sauce). 19: Our new executive director started today. I think I made a pretty good first impression! 20: Started playing Arkham City again. We had a snow day and even my office closed, so I made the most of my day. 21: Lol and today I finished the main storyline of Arkham City. Accidentally, because I was doing side quests, but Batman got mad when I tried to go finish some before the last mission. 24: I am obsessed with Excel, but I figured out a formula so that it would total certain categories even if they weren’t in order. Plus I learned how to make a drop down menu (on two versions of Excel). Guess who’s budget looks beautiful! 25: I caught a Latias in Pokemon Go. Not having much luck with the water legendaries. I wonder if they don’t like me because we picked the grass starter. 26: I passed the Auditing section! (and instead of keeping it quiet, I made a point to tell some people). Then @nah-young and I went to dinner to celebrate our successes of the day and just have a nice chat. 27: Good news: I starved off a migraine that was starting on Feb 26. Maybe this new method will help them from getting bad. Just took an Aleve with some hot tea. 28: Went on a Pokemon run, and I found $20 blowing across the yard when I got home! A nice find for the year.

March 1: I’ve been really getting into “Ghost Story” by Peter Straub and had so much time to just sit and read while it rained. 2: I watched “Spiderman: Enter the Spiderverse” today. An epic movie and I highly recommend it! I also have several new costume ideas... 3: Officially started working on my Library Comic Con cosplay. There’s not much to show, but it was nice to start costuming again. 4: Hiked up to the nearby bubble tea. It was good! I got a mango green tea creama. Next time I know I have to mix it up before I start drinking it. 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: Started replaying Castlevania IV. It’s been a while since I beat it, so hopefully I can still finish it! 11: I have proven myself an Excel deity. Well, at least Jane thinks though. She needed a spreadsheet for something and had some ideas so I whipped it out in five minutes flat with a bunch of formulas she didn’t even know were possible. I’m quite proud of it. 12: Lol, speaking of excel, I was geeking out over my budget with one of our board members. She was showing me how she built her itinerary in excel for her next trip and I got to show off my budget. 13: 14: 15: It was fake St. Patrick’s day at work, so I got to show off my green Riddler suit. Apart from being mistaken as dressing like a leprechaun a few times, I received a bunch of compliments on it. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of that suit jacket. 16: Tagged along with @nah-young to her grandfather’s birthday party and watched Bohemian Rhapsody. Apart from the timeline inaccuracies, I really enjoyed it! Look at that: two new movies in one month. 17: First big leaf job of the season. I guess the first major landscaping job. Dad helped out, so it made life easier. 18: Investment club meeting went well, and I ended up staying late to chat and help clean up, but it was enjoyable. Also had some great tiramisu from Trader Joe’s. 19: 20: 21: It was a downpour today, but I also made a 20 minute Costco run. Parking was great, the lines were short, and I managed to balance everything without a cart. Success! 22: Finally got around to doing invoices. It’s such a weight off my chest to take care of them. 23: I had the house to myself, so got ample studying done, played some pokemon, and treated myself to some bubble tea. Got myself a bunch of good pokes from Community day. 24: Another lovely day to sit and hang out with @nah-young. I always enjoy our hour long conversations just sitting in my car in her driveway. I also finished the lectures for the BEC portion of the CPA exam. 25: I found a gift card loaded with $30 today. It had been thrown into the dumpster, so a little gross, but it washed off nicely. 26: Ran up to the local library to turn in my books (look @arrowhearts, I did it the day before they were due and didn’t have to make a midnight run). I wasn’t going to check out more books since I already had some checked out from another library visit (I go to many branches due to my job and often check out a book or two, resulting in cycles of books due at different times), but I did anyway. I started reading Area X, too, and so far, I’m really enjoying it. 27: Our family’s accountants think I’m a bit weird because I was so excited to get my tax papers back even though I owed money. I was just like “cool!” to all the facts and things on my sheets, which is apparently not what they’re used to, but one of the new tax laws works in my favor as small business income is taxed at a lower rate or something. 28: 29: 30: I love Annihilation in the Area X series! I haven’t plowed through a book that fast in years. 31: I was catching up on my business spreadsheets and it turns out I had the most profitable March since I started my business :)

April 1: No April Fools jokes, which is always a huge plus. 2: 3: 4: Took the BEC section of the exam and then clocked in a bunch of hours for the Foundation. Jubilee is almost here!!! 5: 6: The Jubilee is over!!! What a relief! A lot of things went well, and I heard it was a lot of people’s favorite. Not sure what actually happened because I was stationed at check in/out all night, but hopefully the silent auction results are good. Huge shout out to @arrowhearts and @nah-young for getting me through the night! 7:A quiet morning of returning the Jubilee to the Foundation. Plus some other landscaping. 8: I know everyone at work is saying I should take time off, and I didn’t, but I’m actually feeling blessed that I have the physical and mental stamina to keep working on things. Plus, I need to catch up with post Jubilee stuff. 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: Got to talking with my art dealer for a long while and we exchanged headcannons and ideas. 20: Had a nice Pokemon run with @arrowhearts‘ dog. Plus, enough work to keep me out of trouble X) 21: A very busy Easter. I moved a huge mound of mulch. It was half the size of my car. Hopefully the home owner will like it. 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31: I’ve been feeling behind, but I finally knocked out a really important thing at work today. Got our annual applications in!

May 1: 2: 3: My gauntlets for my comic con costume look so cool! They’re a little stabby (there’s staples on the inside, although I should be able to tape it down for safety), but overall look cool for a first draft. 4: A long day, but I feel like I was really able to help my friend and her family, which is nice considering how much they do for me. 5: The event that happened wasn’t good, but I’ve been humbled as to how well our house was kept and motivated to try and become more organized. 6: Dad and I were chatting today, and we could even touch on topics in a civil manner. It was quite nice! 7: Just found out I passed the BEC section of the CPA exam! I’m 75% CPA!!! And no cavities were found after my dentist appointment :) 8: Frantically working on my costume, but my head piece looks really good! 9: Mom even chipped in to help. We rigged up a steampunk mask I have (which doesn’t fit on my head right) so that I can actually wear it. 10: I’ve been fasting for Ramadan and I think my body and I are finally on the same page. It was a rough start this year, but I’m looking forward to focusing on being thankful for what I have and working on self discipline. 11: Library Comic Con! My costume is a bit rough, so no final pictures, but I have plans to make it better! 12: It was a busy Sunday. Lots of lawns, but thankfully the weather was cool. 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: Had a nice meeting with my boss. I keep feeling like I’m not on top of things or she’s disappointed, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Plus, she said I did great at the finance committee meeting, so that was nice. 18: Although I scared everyone I worked with all day, I was able to donate blood even though I had been fasting. 19: I saw the tiniest inch worm while I was pulling weeds today. It was more like a quarter inch worm and it was just trying so hard to climb up my arm when I found it. I also saw the first lightening bugs of the year. As a bug type Pokemon trainer, I’m quite pleased with all of this (less so with the mosquitoes though, as I got my first bite of the season). 20: I have found a nice way to keep cool at the property Dad and I work at. I’m allowed to douse my head, neck, and hat with the hose, and man does it feel good! 21: I received many compliments at the executive committee meeting for all my hard work on the budget, the Jubilee, and finance committee. 22: Caught up on reconciliations at work (finally). It’s been just a nightmare, but I’m happy they’re done. 23: Another me day. I’ve been taking Thursdays off and got to game for a bit but also accomplish a lot of laundry and studying. 24: Had a good meeting at work to discuss the future of the nonprofit I work at. Plus I finally made a phone call I didn’t want to make. 25: Went to a foam helmet making class with a coworker. I’m super excited to start trying out this style, and I think the sample we made in class can easily be used to make a helmet for Vile. Might have purchased a few things to go with it :) 26: Found a new drink that I love from Kung Fu Tea! Also got to rewatch Coco, which is always good. 27: Part of my afternoon spent working with Jane was changing her screen saver. It was set up for one photo of pictures, but some were so fuzzy, so we set up new pictures and I got to add my fuzzball to the reel. 28: I visited one of Jane’s friends to discuss dog sitting and we had such a nice conversation afterwards. 29: I found a four leave clover today while mowing lawns. It’s been years since I’ve found one, so that was exciting. 30: I plowed through about 6 hours of studying for the FAR portion of the CPA exam. Only two more lectures and then onto multiple choice! 31: Filled out a form at work (finally). Now I just have to hope my boss will sign it and have it notarized.

June 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: Took the (hopefully) last CPA exam. It was nice as I spoke to an elevator engineer before the exam and it helped to calm my nerves a bit. 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: Wasn’t sure what day to put this on, but @nah-young and I hung out for hours just sitting and chatting on the cats’ back porch. 15: Successfully navigated into DC with the help of @arrowhearts (and had an interesting laugh about her being my son...? Oh well, at least we got to give the people sitting outside a show as we left the building with two rollie office chairs each). 16: Started working on my Halloween costume. I’ve abandoned the idea I originally had and will be switching to a different Mega Man X character (fun fact: it was a costume I originally intended to make before being introduced to Scaramouche back in 2017) 17: It was a scorcher, but had a slurpee for the first time in almost a year. I’m so thankful for the 7-11 within walking distance of where my dad and I work on Mondays. 18: I’ve officially passed the CPA exam! Now onto the next steps... 19: I have been struggling with telling people good news, but I did make an effort to inform some people about me passing the exam. 20: Told some more people about the CPA exam and just trying not to stress. I got celebratory milkshakes for my family after dinner. 21: My coworkers are so sweet. They brought me in a cake and we had a mini celebration. 22: 23: 24: 25: 26:Found a praying mantis while mowing. She kept standing where I wanted to mow, so I got to pick her up and put her somewhere safe (with lots of snacks for her!) 27: 28: 29: So glad I went to see Detective Pikachu with @nah-young and @arrowhearts! I really enjoyed it! 30: 31:

July 1: A new fiscal year! I did manage to get a good bit done on my latch hook. 2: A sudden thunderstorm took me off the weed pulling job early (i.e. a perfect opportunity to read). 3: It was quiet in the office. Too quiet ... yet super productive! I processed so many gifts and letters. 4: I don’t really celebrate, and spent a lot of it working, but played some pokemon in the rain. It was a warm day, so the cool rain felt so refreshing! 5: A jammed packed day with trashrooms, a bank run, and more pokemon quests! I completed another 15 and hatched a new pokemon. Plus I finished another book: Dr. Death. 6: A busy day, but I was able to finish everything so I can take the next day off completely (for once). Again, apologies to @arrowhearts for dragging you out and getting caught in a downpour so I could get some bubble tea! 7: 8: 9: 10: Unboxed my unicycle! Not sure when I’ll ride, but it’s ready when I am. 11: 12: 13: 14: The vanity is back in my bathroom! Dad’s renovating it, and it’s been a slow process, but I finally have a sink! 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: Spent a few hours working on cleaning the basement, and I’m finally seeing some of the fruits of my labor. 21: 22: 23: 24: Officially finished the Vile helmet! 25: Just started a new dog sitting job, and the house is right on top of a pokestop. Guess I’m going to have a full item bag again! 26: Finally got myself a memory stick for my PSP. I’m replaying the Maverick Hunter X game ... because I can! 27: Got three team rocket grunts in one day at the one stop. 28: Plowed through the Vile portion of Maverick Hunter X. Lol, I probably make it harder on myself since I only use my favorites, regardless of if they’re good against the boss. 29: Had a huge crab and shrimp dinner at Jane’s house. 30: Hung out and ate delicious homemade butter chicken with my best friend’s mom (she’s basically like my other mother). We laughed and chatted, showed off our latest projects, probably kept the neighbors up, and just had a good time until like 2 in the morning. 31: Welp, it wasn’t a raid day for armored Mewtwo, but @arrowhearts and I did defeat more Team Rocket Go grunts in the rain.

August 1: Chatted with @nah-young for a few hours and I’ve got a new place to eat on my radar! 2: I kept feeling like I was letting my boss down because I couldn’t answer her questions/didn’t understand, but she insisted I was handling myself well, and found the information she needed later. Plus, she’s very complimentary of my work and appreciates my transparency and work ethic, both of which I work hard on and value. 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31:

September 1: 2: 3: It’s official! We’re having a Halloween party at work. If my new schedule turns out, I’ll be at work on that day and will show off a costume. Not sure if it will be the one I’m working on, but I can always recycle an old one. 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: I had such a good ripstik run. @nah-young and I practiced for a good while yesterday (and she did her first trick, too!). I guess it’s nice to see the fruits of our practice since we’ve been working off and on for about a month. 16: Had the investment club meeting at my house. I didn’t get to cook everything, but I picked the recipe and it turned out well! 17: I finished “Every Tool’s a Hammer” by Adam Savage (from Mythbusters) and I really recommend it. It’s such a great book for anyone who makes or creates. It’s a fun read and chocked full of helpful hints. 18: I decided to start reading the Naruto series. I’m enjoying it so far! Now I just have to wait for the next to volumes to be available from the library. 19: I started replaying Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase. It’s amusing, although I’m a little rough. 20: 21: 22: 23: I’d been on the fence about taking a vacation early next year because I want to save up for a down payment, but after talking to my dad, I decided I’d do a little something. I still need to work out the plans (and make sure the people I want to visit are free), but I’m looking forward to it! 24: 25: 26: There’s a chance I might be going full time at my office job, so dad encouraged me to take the day off from trash rooms. I still got up early, but knocked out a bunch of chores, finished Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase, finished a drawing, and cleaned in the basement a bit. 27: Lol, I just realized I have three cycles of books checked out again. I started reading The Wicked Years series. I’m trying to set aside time each night so I can read a chapter or two before bed. 28: I made the pattern for my gauntlets! I’m actually trying to do it the right way and making measurements, creating an accurate template, and just generally taking my time. 29: Part 2 of the gauntlets: They’re made! My template worked and I spent a couple of hours slowly forming and shaping them. I still need some practice on the gluing component, but at least they feel sturdy. 30: Started replaying DK 64 again. I really love this game. Besides Gauntlet Legends, it’s probably my favorite N64 game we own. 31: Got rained out at work, but managed to take it easy in the afternoon and just generally keep ahead with laundry.

October 1: Today officially marks the first day of working full time at my office job. They added ten hours a week, so now I’m working 4 days at 10 hours each. It’ll take a little adjusting. I’m happy for the extra hours! 2: I sent out invoices on time for once! 3: It was my fuzzball’s 16th Birthday today! Someone also brought in some really yummy snacks to work that were leftover from a meeting. I also managed to create templates for the leg gauntlets and cut them out of foam. I’m just rolling with the motivation now, and would like to have Vile finished by Halloween (keep reading to find out if it was finished). 4: Really just having a good time playing DK 64. Knocked out Gloomy Galleon, so all that’s left are my favorite levels! 5: 6: 7: I have leg gauntlets formed. Lol, I guess I should look up the name... All that’s left is the chest plate and cape! 8: I lucked out! My coworker can’t go to a book signing even this weekend and asked me to get her book signed since I’m going. It was the perfect opportunity to get my hands on a copy of “Where the Crawdads Sing” which I wanted to read before this weekend. 9: Making some headway on the costume again! Arm and leg gauntlets have the plating and base coat of plastidip. 10: I finished “Where the Crawdads Sing” within 48 hours of having it my possession. That’s such a huge accomplishment to read something so quickly and eagerly! 11: I was plowing through my to do list at work. I knocked out 11 items. Woo! 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: My Halloween costume is finished *gasp* before Halloween! Barely, but it counts. 31: I won the most creative costume at work! Well, tied for first, but that’s cool.

November (whoops, I really forgot to write this month) 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31:

December 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: My coworker is back! She had been on extended leave for a while, but now she’s back. She bring such a positive and fun attitude to the workplace. 13: 14: I’m officially 25! I worked a few hours in the rain, but got a lot done (and saw Lucy, my favorite cat I cat sit). Instead of going to a steakhouse for dinner, which I’m not a fan of, we ended up going to somewhere I did enjoy. Overall, it was a nice and quiet celebration. 15: 16: 17: I finished the Naruto series today! It was a good series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Going to take a manga break to work on a few novels I have checked out and then decide which series to start. 18: 19: A busy day again. Knocked out two leaf clients for the year and went to see three bands perform at a local music club. I stayed out way too late, but had a great time hanging with a friend, one of the performers, and the performer’s friend. 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: Hung out with my brother and grandmother. I crushed them in several games! 25: Went to my coworkers in the afternoon and dueled for the first time in quiet a while. They wiped the floor with me, but I had fun with my deck destruction deck. 26: 27: Ended up hanging out with Jane for a while and just chatting about everything. We’re seeing eye to eye on a lot of things, so it was nice. 28: Finished my leaf jobs for the year! Time to relax. 29: 30: 31: Welp, ended up being sick and missing out on the intended New Year plans. I guess I did start the year with a migraine, so here I am ending it with one. After I rested up, I did start playing my favorite video game. Plus, I frantically read “Hey, Kiddo!” before the end of the year

Notable stuff

Highlights: Passed the CPA exam Officially hired full time

Books read: “Ghost Stories” “Every Tool’s a Hammer” “Where the Crawdads Sing” “Wicked” Naruto series “Hey, Kiddo!”

Movies watched: Spiderman: Enter the Spiderverse Mary Poppins 2 The Princess and the Frog Pokemon Lucario

#2019 in review #2019 #a year in review

2 notes · View notes

moistwithgender · 7 years ago

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for some godforsaken reason, (one of) my backlog(s) has a field where I subtitle a game with...a mood? A joke title? Action Button Dot Net-style bottom lines? I have no idea what the purpose of it became, but it was intended as one of the many ideas I tried at overcoming my executive dysfunction. By clarifying the “feeling” I would experience by playing the game, it might help, I thought. Eventually the idea spiraled into nonsense. I also listed the lengths of the games in an attempt to make things feel easier to approach. None of these ideas worked, sometimes a bitch just got to give up on the day and go to sleep early.

if anyone’s curious, here’s a list of some of those titles (apologies in advance, some of these involve obscure jokes):

Hebereke (NES): Famicomfy Lagrange Point (NES): “The Limits of Technology!!” Lizard (NES): Vore

Dragon Quest III (SNES): Grandma’s RPGs Gunman’s Proof (SNES): This Ain’t Zelda! Marvelous (SNES): This Might Be Zelda Tactics Ogre (SNES): Clinging Together Tengai Makyou Zero (SNES): This Ain’t Steinbeck!

Cubivore (Gamecube): Like They Do On The Discovery Channel Luigi’s Mansion (Gamecube): Hideki Konno’s Ghostbusters Pikmin (Gamecube): Littering is Helpful

Pandora’s Tower (Wii): Eat Your Heart Out

Snake Pass (Switch): Babysitting Your Own Body (stolen shamelessly from Tim Rogers’ Assassin’s Creed streams) Breath of the Wild (Switch): Zelda 3: Link’s Awakening

Pokemon Prism (GBC): Fuck Copyright Wario Land (GBC): Getting Drunk While Platforming

Boktai (GBA): I Have The Power Of God And Anime On My Side Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade (GBA): Stop Critting My Son Mother 3: Claus’ Journey (GBA Romhack): Potential Other Reasons To Be Sad Wario Land 4 (GBA): Getting Horny While Platforming

Shiren the Wanderer (DS): Rudyard Kipling’s “If”

Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland (3DS): Someone Else’s Nostalgia Fire Emblem Echoes (3DS): My Children Keep Going To War

Phantasy Star (SMS): Alien Literature Wonder Boy III (SMS): Gingerbread Gallantry

Alien Soldier (Genesis): You Will Play The Way I Decide Because I Said So Dynamite Headdy (Genesis): Jim Henson Did The Music For Sonic 3

Metal Gear Solid (PS1): Tactical Pseudoscience Action Parasite Eve (PS1): Scaresoft Suikoden II (PS1): Making Friends Along The Way

Gravity Rush 2 (PS4): French Gainax Simulator (in hindsight, a “French Gainax” sounds like a sex term) Yakuza Kiwami (PS4): The Only Videogame ZOMBI (PS4): In Another World Without My Smartphone

Ultima IV (PC): Ludic Archaeology The Neverhood (PC): A Broken Clock Is Right Twice A Day

#curry plays games #long post

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nuzblog · 7 years ago

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November 25th, 2017

The second generation of Pokemon is my least favorite. It is the generation with the most lackluster Pokemon designs, an absolutely borked level curve, garbage Pokemon distribution, and a whole mess of other design issues. But then... all of those criticisms are based on my experience with SoulSilver. Perhaps things will be different playing the originals? I do think they made some pretty important improvements over generation 1, fixing a lot of those games' issues. Hard to say at this point.

Now, before I discuss my entry into the world of Johto, I think it is worth discussing rules. Since my last attempt at Blue ended successfully, I think I'm going to keep the same general ruleset for a bit longer. The only real question the new mechanics in the game brings up is that of eggs - do hatched Pokemon count as acquired where they are acquired as eggs, where they are hatched, or what?

For this, I think I'm going to use the logic that I can't exactly breed a Pokemon I don't already have, and say that, with the exception of gift eggs such as the Togepi one in this game, eggs are essentially free. If I ever want to spend a chunk of time while nuzlocking to breed for better natures, abilities, egg moves or IVs... then I'm freely allowed to do so. That's the simplest thing, I think.

It's also worth mentioning what does and doesn't count as an important battle for this game. At the moment, I'm only counting the battles against the rival and against gym leaders - I can heal after either, and I must match party size for both.

Oh, and then there's the matter of Pokemon Boxes. In Gen 1, a Pokemon would be identical when retrieved from the box as it was when it was put in. In Gen 2 and onwards, Pokemon Boxes heal the Pokemon put into them... which is no good for a restricted-healing challenge, right? I think my solution here is that, while Pokemon can be put INTO the box whenever, they can only be removed from the box under one of two circumstances - either on the other end of a battle that I had to restrict my party for (in which case, the boxed Pokemon needs to be at full health when boxed), or when healing at a Pokemon Center. Which, yes, means my box usage is limited too. That's the only way I could think to keep it fair.

Now that that's out of the way... I started playing Pokemon Silver at 2 AM, on the 25th.

NITE

After speaking to Oak, setting the time, naming myself Sheen, and getting the game started, I make my die roll for my starter. In this generation, I find all 3 starters pretty lackluster, but Chikorita is a cutie that stays cute, and Totodile has a solid charm to it, so I would be happiest with either of those. Naturally, then, I get the worst possible result - Cyndaquil, a Pokemon that I find completely unimpressive, and that others around me have a tendency to call far worse things. So, maybe not optimal in terms of me loving it. That's fine.

At this point, I took a short break to figure out my nickname scheme for this one. I think attaching a guessing game to this one is pretty silly, because it's not really a puzzle of any kind. If you already know about the thing, it's obvious, and if you don't, then it's impossible without Googling. Also literally only one person has ever indicated any interest in this guessing game for name scheme thing, so like... I don't feel bad about forgoing it for this playthrough. The theme for this run of Silver is that I'm using the titles of songs by Neil Cicierega, who is my favorite human being. His musical projects include Lemon Demon, for his original music; Deporitaz, his far older, mostly instrumental stuff; his mashup albums in the Mouth series; one-song wonder Sunshine and Grapes; and his internet filmmaking prowess often extends to music as well, with some oddities being exclusive to videos on his Youtube channel. If you're unfamiliar with his work, I encourage you strongly to get familiar.

I name my Cyndaquil "IndieCindy", for the song Indie Cindy and the Lo-Fi Lullabies, off the album Dinosaurchestra. You can listen to that song here. I'll try to link the songs when I mention the name of the Pokemon named for them.

From here, I start the trek to Mr. Pokemon's house. What kind of name is that for a character? Mr. Pokemon? Like, really? Also, you know how in Gen 1, there is a single short route that is designed to be navigated in two directions between the professor's lab and the macguffin that lets you start actually playing the game proper, Pokeballs and all? In Gen 2, there's a fairly lengthy route with Cut trees and ledges that don't actually make the return trip any better, and then a city, and then a route North that is bisected (but half of it is cut off with a Pokemon Battle, which is tbh a pretty smart way of restricting your path compared to most Pokemon games) and lengthy and again, clearly not designed with a hasty return in mind. Oh, and there's a red herring path off of that first route.

Anyway, I make the trek. Maybe it's supposed to feel like a burden of an errand? If that's the case, then mission accomplished, but it still sucks not being able to train anything other than IndieCindy the entire time. By the by, I didn't realize that they started the starter off with a berry attached! I actually think that's pretty cool. I mean, the "Pokemon are holding items" mechanic is new to this game, so adding a held berry to the starter Pokemon is actually pretty clever. It does also keep me from having to use the Pokemon Center in Cherrygrove. I do purchase some Potions there though. And, I get the Map for my PokeGear.

The walk to Mr. Pokemon's house is generally uneventful. I pick berries (Hey! It's BERRY!), I fight stuff. I get the Mystery Egg and Pokedex, I walk back. But first I fight my rival!!!! Now, in Gen 1, the first rival fight was scripted immediately after both you and your rival get your starter. As such, the playing ground is equal - both combatants are at the same level, and both essentially have just one normal type attack of equal power and one status move. In this game, however, the first battle is on the other side of two full routes worth of encounters. I was around level 8, but if I really wanted to, I could have been grinding even higher. I had Smokescreen and a solid stat advance. In other words, I got a head start. Meanwhile, my rival had just stolen his Pokemon, and for that matter, while mine came with a berry and I had since equipped a fresh berry to it, his lacked the berry. So, it was an easy battle. I'm not sure if this was a good or bad design decision. Future games have gone back and forth on this change - Gen 3 also has plenty of grinding time before fighting your level 5 rival, but Black and White have you fight both your friends before even leaving your house. I think it's just different, and not better or worse necessarily. Which, is fine.

Anyway I beat ???'s Totodile, and move on to Professor Elm's lab. Interestingly, this is my infinite healing spot for this game, because Sheen's mother apparently doesn't love him. I mean, all she does is take a cut of his money to spend on the stuff she wants, and doesn't even heal him. Messed up! I, of course, make sure my mother doesn't get shit. I have enough issues about my money being co-opted by my family already, I don't need it to be happening in the virtual world too.

I get to name my rival, and his name is Luster. Since I'm playing Pokemon Silver, I think Sheen and Luster are reasonable names for the characters. I also get 5 Pokeballs, and NOW the game is open to me!

I caught a Rattata on Route 29, named it Jaws... and promptly fell asleep.

DAY

I woke up and started playing again around 4:30 PM, because I'm working overnights so my sleep schedule is now the weirdest. On the way to Cherrygrove, I stopped at Route 46, and caught a Geodude, whose name is Rock Star. Now THAT's useful. After all, the first gym is flying type. I could have got an Onix in an in-game trade in Violet City, but that means forgoing Togepi. Not that I really am interested in using Togepi... but just getting a wild rocky boy is really more optimal. I heal my new teammates at Elm's lab, and start grinding Rock Star and IndieCindy a bit. Mostly, this is so that it will be night-time in-game, and the Hoothoot I want will be available on Route 30.

NITE

Surely enough, once I do pass enough time, I do see that Hoothoot, who I catch and, after careful consideration, I name Drinky-Bird, before realizing that T.I.M.E. would have been WAY better. The Name Rater is in Goldenrod, so I can fix this pretty soon, I guess. I box Jaws away, and move on with the game. Going towards Violet, I get Youngster Joey's digits, so that I can get obnoxious phone calls about his failed attempts to catch Hoothoots ever 20 minutes or so. Hooray.

On Route 31, we get our first brush with the duplicate clause as I first encounter a Rattata before finding a Bellsprout. Now, I LOVE Bellsprout, so this would rule... if I didn't JUST use a Bellsprout in Blue. Now, I know Nuzlockes are all about working with what you get, but I just... I would find that so boring. I loved Penthes, I can't just tarnish his memory like that. I catch the Bellsprout, name it Stickly, and box it.

In Dark Cave (which has awesome music, by the way. One of the best songs in the series, just about, I'd say), I catch...!! A Zubat! Amazing! I call it King Bob and box it too, when I arrive in Violet City. I also heal when I do, since I was running low on PP. After a touch of grinding, to get a STAB move (Ember, Rock Throw and Peck) onto everyone, I head into Sprout Tower. My encounter there, a Gastly, sadly goes down because getting moves that could actually touch the ghosts also increased my power too high to not oneshot them. Oh well. First wild Pokemon murdered instead of caught. It happens!

I ascend the tower, getting as much XP as I can out of it, and also the Flash HM, which is... basically useless. Hooray? Encountering Luster but not fighting him here was pretty cool. I then fight the gym trainers, before briefly diverting over the the Ruins of Alph to catch an Unown, mostly for funsies.

It's J. I name it Worddis, and try to figure out its Hidden Power type. First, I test it on another Unown, which is Psychic type. It does neutral damage, ruling out Psychic, Fighting, Dark, Ghost or Bug type Hidden Power. I head into Sprout Tower, and try it on a Gastly, where it also does neutral damage, ruling out Normal, Poison, Grass, and Ground. I head to the route, testing it on a Hoothoot, and AGAIN the damage is neutral, ruling out Electric, Ice or Rock. I then enter the Dark Cave, and try it on a Geodude... and it's STILL neutral, ruling out almost every other type EXCEPT for Dragon. So... Dragon Hidden Power. Absolutely useless. Thanks for nothing, Worddis. Welcome to the box.

I heal again in Violet City, since I had one leftover from my battle against Luster, and I battle Falkner and his weird ass level 9 Pidgeotto.

As you might expect given the fact that my Geodude must be at least level 11 to know Rock Throw, making it higher leveled AND being super effective and STAB... it's basically a joke. IndieCindy returns to my party, and I grab the Egg from Elm's Aide while I'm there, counting as my Pokemon for Violet City.

Route 32 grants me a Wooper, which... rules! I haven't used a Wooper, but its typing is great (4x Grass weakness is a fine trade for an Electric-immune Water type!) Its name is Rainwater. I grind it up a bit, teach it Mud Slap, and make the trek back to Elm's lab to heal again before I stop playing for the 25th, so I can catch Farfetch'd in Pokemon Go and also go to work.

NOVEMBER 26th, 2017

When I get home from work around 5:40, I keep playing, because I'm a disaster. Berries respawned, so I grab a few, although I don't go too far out of my way for them. I keep heading down Route 32, reaching Union Cave. I find pretty quickly that the cave's only new Pokemon for me is Onix, which would have made that in-game trade even uselesser. I heal using Route 32's Pokemon Center before venturing further into the cave, which I guess counts as Johto's first dungeon? It's so short and easy with Rainwater. I do end up finding the Onix while going through, and I name it My Trains. I consider using it instead of Rock Star, for that eventual Steel typing... but I decide to keep Rock Star for now.

On the other side of the cave, on Route 33, I catch an Ekans, who I name Goosebumps. Can I just say how pleasing Ekans' sprite in this game is? Maybe it's because I just had to spend a whole game that is, quite frankly, ugly as sin, but something about the direction of this Ekans sprite is just... so nice. Noticing this, I recalled the long-abandoned endeavor of the "Pokemon Sprite Guy" to review the sprites of every Pokemon to determine the best. He ended up choosing Ruby/Sapphire's, but somethng about how this Ekans is facing away from the direction most sprites face is really pleasant to me.

As I'm walking to Azalea Town, my egg hatches, and I have a Togepi! I name it Cookie, and keep it, My Trains and Goosebumps boxed. I speak to Kurt, and enter the Slowpoke Well, catching my Slowpoke first. Luckily, I get a female one. Why luckily? Well, so I can name it Amnesia. I box it too, though. I have a perfectly servicable Water type.

IndieCindy evolved beating the rockets in the well! I heal once I'm done, and head in to fight Bugsy...

Who is also a total pushover. Cindy's got Fire, Drinky's got Flying and Star has Rock. Bug is weak to ALL of these, and Bugsy's ace, Scyther, is DOUBLE weak to Rock.

I didn't realize this game had the Twins trainer class in it, though. Weird, given its lack of double battles! Might they have intended to include doubles in this game but not had the time or cart space? Anyway, seeing two trainers send out one Pokemon each, one after another, definitely reminded me of the encounter I had in Pokemon Sun where I was definitely expecting to be fighting all 5 Team Skull Grunts at once in a Horde Battle a la the Aqua/Magma Grunts in ORAS... but since Gen 7 hates every type of battle that is newer than Gen 3, it's just a single encounter with 5 Pokemon.

That's where I stopped playing, and it's been a few days as I put off writing this. But now it's written! ... Of course, I can't quite post it until my blog looks nice, and this literally took me all day, and I have a headache and I just want to play more, but I can't until I get my Pokemon Silver blog theme looking choice. Blugh.

#pokemon #entries #pokemon silver #nuzlocke #lemon demon

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kyndaris · 7 years ago

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The Hard-Hitting Questions

So, I found this posted on a blog I was following and thought I might break it all down and answer these questions as honestly as I could.

1: Do you try to stay away from walkthroughs?

It depends on the game. Usually, I do try to play through blind but in games where it is best to max stats/ relationships/ unlock codex entries, I will often use a walkthrough so that I won’t miss out on certain scenes or events. Otherwise, the only time I would use a walkthrough is if I were stuck.

2: Company you're always loyal to?

I would say that rather than a company, I am far more loyal to a franchise. Whether that is Kingdom Hearts or Assassin’s Creed.

3: Best game you've ever played?

This is a difficult question as there are many things that make up an excellent game. For me, the best game that I’ve currently played is the Witcher 3. It has all the hallmarks that I adore: from being a role-playing game with active combat, as well as a thrilling story to tell. The runner-up would be the Uncharted franchise that drew me in even when I had yet to own a Playstation 3. The bombastic set pieces and the effective story seemed like a must play for me.

4: Worst game you've ever played?

I can’t quite say that I’ve played many ‘bad’ games. The one game that I could not invest in was Soul Sacrifice. Despite my best efforts, it simply was not the type of game that caught my eye.

5: A popular series/game you just can't get into no matter how much you try?

Oh, let me list the many popular game series in the world that I have yet to try. First and foremost would be the Monster Hunter franchise, followed by Metal Gear Solid, Dark Souls and Resident Evil.

6: A game that's changed you the most?

I doubt that there was a game that changed me the most. There have been games that have made me pause and reflect on the nature of things such as Bioshock Infinite and Prey. Though the most influential game that hooked me on a type of gaming would have been the Shadowrun revivals. I never thought crpgs (computer role playing games) with their asymmetric gameplay would have drawn me in but the mixture of strategy and role-playing statistics slowly but surely drew me in.

7: A game you'll never forget?

The game that I will never forget is Kingdom Hearts. It was one of the first games that I played and it was the one that had me salivating with anticipation. The union of Disney with these strange JRPG tropes was a match made in heaven that I could not help but crave. Most likely due to the fact that I have always been a lover of Disney films.

8: Best soundtrack?

Is it cheating if I simply say Final Fantasy? As in the entire franchise? However, if I had to choose a singular soundtrack, it would have to go to Child of Light. I adored the soundtrack found therein.

9: A game you turn your volume off every time you play it?

After a while, I tune out the music from arpgs (action role-playing games) with its endless clicking and loot drops to lure you further down the track. Some examples would include Diablo 3 and Victor Vran.

10: A game you've completely given up on?

The best example that comes to mind is Soul Sacrifice. After a while, I simply could not click with how the game played. The endless grind for better loot and items based on an ephemeral scoring of performance was more than I could bear and in the end, I traded the game in.

That and Codename STEAM. Mostly due to the fact that there was no tangible reward in the game and the enemies you faced only became more difficult.

11: Hardest game you've played?

I do not often play hard games but the two games that I have yet to complete are Jak 2 and Jak 3.

12: Shortest time you've beaten a game in?

I would say roughly eight to ten hours. It was either the first Uncharted or The Order 1866.

13: A game you were the most excited for when it wasn't released yet?

Back when I was younger and quite impressionable, the game I was most excited for was Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. I told everyone that I met how hyped I was for the game (only to later learn it was on the Gameboy Advance and I would not be able to play it until I managed to sneakily download an emulator), going into clear and crisp detail when I went to Disneyland near the end of 2004.

14: A game you think would be cool if it had voice acting?

This wouldn’t be a game per se but I thought it would be cool if Link had a proper voice instead of his usual grunts. Most games these days have voice acting so it’s hard to peg one down.

Perhaps Pokemon? We have yet to hear the voices of the characters running around.

15: Which two games do you think would make an awesome crossover?

I never much thought about it but it might be interesting to see a crossover between the Uncharted franchise and the rebooted version of Tomb Raider. Lara Croft and Nathan Drake heading on an adventure together, each trying to one-up each other when it came to their knowledge on ancient civilisations. That or perhaps even bringing in a little Assassin’s Creed.

16: Character you've hated most? From what game?

There hasn’t been a character I’ve truly hated in a game. While the Luxord battle in Kingdom Hearts 2 gave me the most grief, I did like that buttery British accent and his stylistic leanings.

Now if we were talking about novel protagonists, I have one clear answer: Quentin Coldwater from The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman. If the book series were ever adapted to game form, be sure to find that on the top of my most hated character list.

17: What game do you never tell people you play?

I don’t think there’s a game that I have played that would warrant it being a secret. Gaming itself is almost a guilty pleasure when it comes to conversation and only comes up in conversation with people I know that are fellow gamers or who I know actually dip their toe into the hobby. Otherwise, I keep quiet about my interests.

In saying that, there was a Barbie adventure game on the original Playstation that one of my friends had. We played it together but it was nothing to write home about.

18: A game you wish your friends knew about?

Most of my friends know all about the games that I play since I now post impressions and reviews on my tumblr. But I do think Child of Light and the Danganronpa games are deserving of a shameless plug every now and then.

19: Which game do you think deserves a revival?

Croc: Legend of the Gobbos.

20: What was the first video game you ever played?

I would have to say Pokemon. The first gaming ‘console’ I received was the Gameboy Colour along with Pokemon Blue. I simply had to ‘catch ‘em all.’

21: How old were you when you first played a video game?

Roughly five or six? I don’t quite remember.

22: If you could immerse yourself in any game for one day, which game would it be? What would you do?

That’s a difficult question. I never much thought about immersing myself in a game but rather living in the world of a game. It’s a debate I’ve often had with myself - whether it should be in a far-flung fantasy world or in one couched in reality.

I would say it would have to be a game either in the Mass Effect universe or perhaps the more recent titles of Final Fantasy. I would like to see myself as a mercenary or a soldier but truth be told, I would be out exploring the new world I found myself in or in a menial position out of danger.

But if I could immerse myself in any game for a day, it would have to be an MMORPG where I could focus on the social aspects of it, as well as dive into enjoying the joys of freedom found therein.

23: Biggest disappointment you've had in gaming?

Most of the time I shy away from games that would prove to be disappointing. As a gamer, I like to be informed and so I try to read as many reviews as I can. The biggest disappointment I found came through in my first time playing through Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I had high expectations after ploughing through Skyrim.

Another game that proved to be quite disappointing was Kingdom Hearts re: Coded. The worlds were almost an exact copy from the original title on Playstation 2 and even the plot felt recycled.

24: Casual, Hardcore, or in the middle?

I like to think I sit somewhere in the middle. I’m not extremely hardcore but I do like some of my games to have a little challenge (even though I much prefer story to being pounded into dirt by enemies).

25: Be honest; have you ever used cheats (like ActionReplay or Gameshark)?

Back when I first discovered real-time strategy games such as Starcraft and Warcraft, I also picked up a number of cheats to make my life easier. I was not very good at micromanaging when I was eight and the stories seemed to sparkle with an intoxicating allure.

26: Handheld or console?

Despite my numerous handheld devices, I would have to say I am a console player at heart. Most of the time, my Nintendo 3DS and Playstation Vita are played whilst plugged into the power supply. I like to go on gaming binges if there’s ample time.

27: Has there ever been a moment that has made you cry?

There have been a couple of moments. One in my immediate memory came from Tales of Berseria. I felt a strong connection to Velvet Crowe and the struggles she faced throughout the game touched a part of me I had never known.

The first moment when I had the urge to cry came in the ending moments of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. It was only ruined by the terrible line (but after much hewing and hawing over it, it actually made sense in context). Still, I would have rather it have been far more poignant and heartfelt than what it had been.

28: Which character's clothes do you wish you owned the most?

The first thought that came to mind was Roxas. But really, I like most of the clothes that can be found in the Kingdom Hearts series.

29: Which is more important, gameplay or story?

Story is the most important aspect of a game (at least in my opinion). It’s the one thing that keeps me going as I usually find my interest flagging when story is not the main hook. Tetris is good for a couple of minutes but it is not something I would be able to play for eight hours on end.

30: A game that hasn't been localized in your country that you think should be localized?

Obviously the Dai Gyakuten Saiban series. I was severely disappointed to hear that we won’t be seeing a Western release and I sincerely adore all the games that involve table slamming, finger pointing and strange twists on actual legislation.

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nyashizura · 8 years ago

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Tagged by dat @tsubomi-yumemiru-rapsodia

What is a song that defined a moment/event in your life? Why? What was that moment/event?

Oh my god... this is gonna be a long list. I actually have so many so I’ll put as many as I can think of

My parents divorce - Slipknot - Skin Ticket This was one of my rougher times? I rly just hated everything My foray into “heavy music” - Breaking Benjamin - Topless This is a really big moment in my life cuz I love metal and heavy music in general and this is what started it all :) Probably the origin of my aspirations to git gud at music (which I am not)

Descent into idol hell (you knew this was coming) - Zurui no Magnetic Today So one day my sis just told me to listen to this song and I was like “alright”. The song had a cool as fuck synth over some distorted guitars and I was like WOOAAAH I NEED MORE then i watched all of the love live anime in like 2 days and now Im here so thanks sis

If you were a Pokemon gym leader/elite four, what type would you specialize in? Imma be a steel type cuz im cold

What is your favorite reptile? Why? I like snakes cuz they dont need much maintanence and they’re cute

What anime archetype do you think you’d fit the best? I think I’d be that one kid that just fucks around but is actually kinda smart

Do you have a favorite font? What is it? Why do you like it? OH MAN LEMME TELL YOU ABOUT COMIC NEUE its like comic sans but better

Which post you’ve made yourself on your current URL has received the most notes? When did you make that post? Why did you make it? Oh man I made a snow halation ukelele cover and it was lit (insert fire emoji) I got like 40+ notes? Mostly cuz I annoyed everyone and bugged them to give me notes xD I made it for a secret santa thing with me old network. I actually thought I was p good friends with the person that I made it for but?? apparently not. Imma make a saint snow cover soon so look out m8

European noodle dishes or Asian noodle dishes? I am biased as I am asian. Hakka mee over spaghetti anyday

What is your favorite flavor of juice? Non sugary

Which brand of ballpoint pen is your favorite? Soz I dont use ballpoint xDD G-2 gel pens are my fav

Have you ever traveled outside your home country? If yes, where have you been? If no, why not? Ive been to so many places that I’ve actually kinda lost count... I know I’m privileged but my most memorable ones so far was going to the US to meet my uncle ( a good 2 weeks of solid fucking around in New York), going to Australia to check out unis with my bro and fam and we had a grand ol time in Canberra n stuff, I went to Taiwan on a school trip and it was cold af which was a good change from hot malaysian weather xDD We fucked around a lot it was a lot of fun and OF COURSE JAPAN mmm japan so much lovelive stuff... I’ve been to Japan twice but the first time I didnt know love live so i was like ???? while my sisters freaked out xD but the second time we were all in idol hell together and it was a blast (plus universal studios harry potter mMMM)

Contemporary of Victorian architecture/interior? Why? I’m not particularly a big fan of contemporary victorian interior design cuz I was forced to research it for 3 months for art xDD but in all seriousness I like a mix of modern style interior design with some victorian influences. 10 facts (??? def not gonna finish this xDD) 1. I play guitar (play is a broad term, more like berate my self for not being good enough) 2. Has a weird music taste - From Progressive metal to idol music to reggae to rnb to contemporary rap Im all over the place sorry not sorry 3. I dont think I’m a particularly interesting person 4. I’m in a constant state of anxiety for not having many friends?? Like 30% of my friends are online and I love em (including em heh PUN (said in the history of japan style fusion jazz vocal chordal thingy)) and 69% (heh) is not even like friends?? just acquaintances while that 1% is like that one close friend that I have but we’re not even that close anyway so I feel very alone :))) 5. I love my siblings very much even if they dont love me back 6. I’m passionate about studying music in the future 7. I have.... black hair?? I can’t think of anymore facts lmao

Its 1 am I gotta sleep I got school tmr

I cant think of any questions sorry xD Do this if you wanna

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cryptoveins · 6 years ago

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Blockchain Gaming Part IV: The road ahead

This is Part IV, the last in a multi-part comprehensive series on blockchain-based gaming by Zane Huffman: Twitter @jeffthedunker

The series is a culmination of historical accounts and interviews with a number of blockchain and crypto based game projects, sprinkled in with opinions on the current state and opportunities within gaming. Disclaimer: One of the active clients Zane works with is XAYA.

The Road Ahead

Despite the current shortcomings and inefficiencies in today’s blockchain gaming niche, there is an inherent value behind this emerging field of online gaming; companies and individuals are working day in and day out to build infrastructure that will hopefully enable blockchain games to take that next step to realize their potential.

Layer 2 Developments

As is seen by gaming on Ethereum, mainnet blockchain gaming isn’t really practical on a global scale. Alternative chains, like EOS, Tron, and Steem do gaming better, but they’ve only eased the symptoms rather than struck at the cause. While these networks will continue to grow and improve alongside one another, others are looking into building out solutions on secondary layers better suited for the high-speed, high-frequency requirements of online gaming.

Lightning Network (Bitcoin)

The average cost to send a Bitcoin transaction is currently more than US$1. High transaction fees make on-chain Bitcoin gaming impractical. Fortunately, alongside the ballooning transaction costs, Bitcoin’s second-layer scaling solution, Lightning Network, is attempting to grow and mature.

The Lightning Network is an ecosystem of interconnected payment channels. The organization can be visualized as similar to a spiderweb. Lightning Network users transfer funds into their Lightning wallets, then send on-chain transactions to form payment channels to-and-from other entities. Each payment channel requires a single BTC transaction to open and one more to close.

When payment channels are established, Bitcoin can be sent back-and-forth in real-time at no cost. Users can all send and receive elsewhere in the network so long as a route can be formed from start to finish. In other words, if Node A is connected to Node B, and B is connected to Node C, then A can send BTC to C by routing through B. The fees for routing across multiple players is negligible- one US penny can fund hundreds of thousands of transactions.

In regards to gaming, these Lightning Network payment channels can be utilized by players to connect to one another and to online games in order to send and receive Bitcoin without the burden of transaction fees and confirmation times. Unfortunately, Lightning Network development is still limited by Bitcoin’s non-turing complete Script language, which makes 100% blockchain games still a ways off in a complex online game setting. As Lightning Network is still a new creation, there are also worthwhile concerns pertaining to the security of LN funds and activities.

Regardless, there are a number of games operating on the Lightning Network and in development that leverage the network in different capacities. The first game to go live was Satoshi’s Place on Feb. 9 of this year. Satoshi’s Place is a pixelated canvas that anyone can paint on, in real-time, through LN payments of one satoshi per pixel. The rogue-like Hammercoin game that was created before the CryptoKitties craze is making a comeback with Lightning Network integration under the name Hammerland.

Source: Satoshi’s Place

Christian “Mandel Duck” Moss is a leading game developer on Lightning Network. He is a noted developer in the Bitcoin community for his lineup of SaruTobi games. At the Bitcoin 2019 conference, Moss was crowned victor of the LN hackathon for his LN game trilogy. These games include a two player arcade fighter Blockchain Fighters, a Pokemon GO-esque geocacher Asgard, and a local western dueler Quick Draw.

Moss explained that he chose to stick with Bitcoin because he didn’t see alternative chains as long-term solutions to scaling issues. “Many other projects switched to other chains. However, I felt this was kicking the can down the road as these other chains seemed dubious or experimental and didn’t solve the scaling issue other than through more centralization or less use.”

Now that Lightning Network is maturing and gaining steam, Moss is excited for the future of LN gaming. “I think [Lightning] allows new types of game play, particularly with micro payments and streaming… the open, permissionless nature of the Lightning Network allows this process to be trustless and also streamlined as anybody who is already on-boarded into the lightning network ecosystem can experience Bitcoin in a game without having to deposit or create an account.”

Looking ahead, Moss is anxious for the first solid, existing games that are enriched by adopting LN. Moss also alluded to some ideas he’s got in store, “ I do have ideas for several games that could only be made by lightning so perhaps we could get a new class of gaming all together!”

Plasma (Ethereum)

Plasma is Ethereum’s next solution for throughput and scalability. Plasma is a mechanism through which child chains run parallel to the Ethereum mainnet. Funds are swapped on and off of these child chains and the operators have full control to specify and build out their chain as they see best fit. The goal for Plasma is to create a system through which the many Ethereum DApps can exist on independent child chains, leveraging the resources and security of Ethereum without burdening the network with the transaction volume and stress associated with the other network activity.

Of course, Plasma is the global alternative to Loom’s gamified DAppChain solution. Loom’s approach is great because its suite of tools and resources make building the chain and developing the game much more accessible for developers. However, Plasma has broader implications, as it gives complete control to the chain operator and leaves consensus and propagation in the hands of the user, whereas Loom Network is the sole validator and propagator of all DAppChains.

Plasma is still in development as part of the broader upgrade to “Ethereum 2.0”, which looks to arm Ethereum with a number of second-layer scaling solutions to better equip the network for worldwide adoption. In that regard, Loom still has the upper hand, as its DAppChains are live and games are already running as these side chains alongside Ethereum.

The role of Plasma in blockchain gaming on Ethereum is still very much speculative, though it is likely that a number of gaming DApps will make the switch when the infrastructure is in place to do so.

One shortcoming of these side chains, on Plasma as well as Loom, is the “wait period” required to move assets from child chains back to Ethereum mainnet. As a safeguard against users attempting to move assets to mainnet that they don’t own on the child chain, a lockup period of one to two weeks is established for validators to reject fault transaction requests. The Lightning Network is optimal here, as Bitcoin is moved on-and-off Lightning Network with one regular transaction in either direction.

Game Channels (XAYA)

Relative to projects listed previously, XAYA is certainly a lesser known development. Regardless, the blockchain gaming tech introduced by this project competes with the best of the niche. As the evolution of the successful Huntercoin experiment, XAYA is a custom blockchain made specifically for gaming by some of the core team members and developers of both Huntercoin and Namecoin.

The philosophy behind XAYA is that in order to solve the issues associated with blockchain gaming of cost, speed, and scale, a network needs to be created specifically for the purpose of housing blockchain gaming activity. In July of 2018, alongside a $3 million ICO, the XAYA mainnet launched as an ecosystem geared to take blockchain gaming to the global masses.

There are several unique components of the blockchain that separate it from Ethereum, EOS, and others. Unlike most other blockchains, XAYA is language agnostic- there is no global contracting standard. Developers can build on the network in whichever coding language they prefer. By default, network transactions embody a gamestate / game input value pairing, so more nuanced game moves or logic create no larger network burden. A mechanism called “ephemeral timestamps” represents a trustless system for anti-cheat. XAYA utilizes a proof-of-work consensus mechanism through which the network is partially merge-mined against Bitcoin to leverage the resources and security of the Bitcoin network.

Beyond these peculiarities, XAYA also introduces a gamified state channel scaling solution coined “game channels”. Like payment channels on Lightning Network, any number of players can connect to a game channel as a peer-to-peer alternative to an online server with a single on-chain transaction. When connected to the game channel, players broadcast and take in dozens of transactions each second in real-time in the same manner they send and receive packets of information on traditional online games. Player inputs are bundled into their constant stream of transactions, and when no inputs are made, the transactions read empty.

Game channels are headed by Dr. Daniel Kraft, CTO of XAYA, Namecoin core developer, and leading contributor to Bitcoin Core. This tech was peer-reviewed and published in 2016 in Ledger Journal and currently operates in an early alpha, showcased by a proof-of-concept “XAYA Battleships” game.

While the game channels and XAYA tech appear to have potential, this network represents the most nascent of those listed, coming about more recently than even EOS. This blockchain has yet to go through the same “battle testing” as their counterparts and still must prove themselves in terms of security and reliability in production-ready gaming in mass capacity.

Enterprise Adoption

Initiatives regarding the improvement and evolution of network infrastructure to handle blockchain gaming is an invaluable endeavor, but equally important are the strides made in the business world of gaming. Players across the video game industry are beginning to appreciate the market that blockchain gaming will one day grow into, and several groups across the board are allocating resources in hopes of becoming among the first to capture the audience and market share of this budding niche.

Blockchain Gaming Alliance

The Blockchain Gaming Alliance is a league of industry leaders in blockchain gaming and traditional gaming alike with the mission of aiding members in their development and growth in the aspirations of merging these two groups and introducing blockchain gaming to the global masses. Some of the board members include Enjin Coin, Spells of Genesis creators EverdreamSoft, and ConsenSys. Ubisoft represents the board as the primary interest from the traditional gaming space.

From their introduction, the Alliance fosters two primary missions:

Raising awareness about how blockchain can transform games and improve or disrupt existing business sectors.

Accelerating adoption by overcoming existing barriers through innovation and by catalyzing efforts to create actionable industry standards and best practices.

These missions are categorized further as three priority objectives:

Encourage the development of standards and share best practices.

Advance public understanding.

Provide an open and inclusive platform for discussion and engagement.

As the pioneer blockchain gaming groups from traditional and cryptocurrency backgrounds alike are all working to solve the same problems and build towards the same goals, the cooperation of players across the board into this coalition may help to accelerate development and fast-track blockchain gaming adoption in the coming years.

Soccer Manager

Soccer Manager is a franchise of free-to-play football manager games based in Europe. Last year, they announced their plans to develop their next game, Soccer Manager Elite, as a 100% blockchain game on the XAYA network. Last month, Soccer Manager released a document that provides concrete information on the various gameplay and economic mechanics of Soccer Manager Elite in preparation for the upcoming beta.

At over 25 million downloads globally, this makes Soccer Manager the biggest player in video gaming to unveil a blockchain game. There are rumors of corporations like Ubisoft experimenting with the use of the Ethereum blockchain in some capacity, but no conclusive evidence that blockchain games are in development by these players.

In Soccer Manager Elite, there are a finite number of clubs that are directed by groups of user shareholders. Each club has a user manager, appointed by the shareholders, and football players signed by the club with cooperation from user agents. Well-performing clubs turn a real-world profit used to pay manager salaries, sign players, and profit shareholders.

The game is poised as an ultra-hardcore evolution of the football manager genre. Upon release, Soccer Manager Elite very well may become the first example of a complex blockchain game that pushes the bounds on its niche and expands the possibilities of the market it resides within. If successful, Soccer Manager Elite may encourage major games across other gaming genres to explore blockchain technology as a way to enrich the capacity of their offerings.

Cocos-BCX

Cocos2d-x is arguably the most popular open source game development engine in the world. Cocos boasts more than one million developers and over a billion players on games powered by Cocos2d-x and Cocos Creator. Industry titans including Square Enix, Bandai Namco, and Nintendo have utilized the software for creation of games enjoyed by millions. Additionally, the comprehensive suite of tools and resources are poised to make game development in the Cocos ecosystem intuitive and accessible to all.

After raising $40 million in the second half of 2018, Cocos expanded into the world of blockchain with the Cocos Blockchain Expedition (Cocos-BCX). The purpose of Cocos-BCX is to build out the same tools and resources on their primary ecosystem for blockchain game developers on the Ethereum network.

More recently, Cocos-BCX has also expanded its goals to promote interoperability for blockchain games- enabling development and gameplay across different networks, Ethereum or otherwise. On June 6, Cocos-BCX also launched its own Cocos blockchain. Similarly to XAYA, the custom Cocos chain is built specifically with the goal to house highly scalable, highly efficient gaming DApps.

One of the major critiques of blockchain gaming is the difficulty for mainstream developers to get involved. Blockchains alone are a foreign concept to most, and developing games that can propagate on top of and interact with blockchains is an even greater battle. One of the largest projects in terms of accessible game development building out a platform to service blockchain game development speaks magnitudes in terms of attracting and encouraging future developers into the blockchain gaming space.

MLB Champions

In the first quarter of 2018, near the height of the altcoin frenzy, Major League Baseball announced its intentions to build a crypto-collectible game on Ethereum called MLB Champions. Through a cooperation with blockchain game development studio Lucid Sight, Major League Baseball is looking to build a game around the minting and distribution of virtual bobbleheads represented as non-fungible ERC-721 tokens.

The first bobbleheads were minted near the end of the 2018 season. Although it was a short season, MLB Champions saw over $1 million in marketplace trades of digital bobbleheads. Headlines were made on September 21st, 2018 when the Los Angeles Dodgers held the first ever “crypto bobblehead” night, in which 40,000 NFT bobbleheads of fan favorite Dodgers were handed out.

This 2019 baseball season has seen a massive expansion in the offerings of MLB Champions. Now, users can set lineups and place predictions through bobbleheads and game cards in accordance to real world MLB games. The bobbleheads rank up and improve when they real world counterparts play well, and accurate game predictions earn in-game rewards that can be used to buy more cards and bobbleheads.

For many, the gameplay and offerings of MLB Champions are quite literally a dream come true. Sports fanatics of all ages have dreamed about a day when their collectible baseball cards and figurines had dynamic properties that corresponded to the players and teams they love and follow. In the future, gameplay may expand as an evolution of baseball manager games where players set lineups and buy packs of cards in hopes of building the best possible team and winning their leagues.

The security component of the Ethereum NFT’s also has massive implications for a collectibles industry that has been crippled by counterfeiting and scarcity concerns. Somehow, the “greats” always end up uncovered at garage sales for pennies. Provably scarce and guaranteed authentic MLB Champions NFT’s carry an intrinsic value that was previously not possible in the physical baseball card field.

Now that there are sports franchises in other professional leagues, like the NBA and NFL, it’ll be interesting to see if Lucid Sight or other game studios put out MLB Champions alternatives for other sports leagues. This could lead to an interesting interoperability across professional leagues. Just this past month the NBA, in partnership with Dapper Labs, announced the upcoming launch of a blockchain-based digital collectible platform called NBA Top Shot.

Into the Future: Speculation and Anticipation

The fundamentals suggest that blockchain gaming has potential for radical real world impact, and groups across the board are working to build the tech that will allow this niche to realize that potential. Looking ahead, what blockchain gaming milestones should be followed closely, and what might a blockchain gaming future look like in a broader view?

Race to OASIS

The OASIS is a virtual reality universe set inside the best-selling Ready Player One novel and following Hollywood movie. Set in a dystopian future, the OASIS is an all encompassing VR experience where global citizens escape the dim prospects of reality while taking on whatever character and living out whatever adventures they like in the online world.

Gamers and sci-fi media alike have both fantasized and feared a future gaming universe similar to that which is presented through RPO. Thus far, ventures in this regard have fallen flat as the current scope of technology can’t quite handle a development in this magnitude in a manner that is still accessible for the average consumer on standard laptops and desktops.

Players in blockchain gaming suggest that blockchain technology is the missing link. The ability to offload costs to a global network while simultaneously maximizing the empowerment and autonomy of the player makes blockchain a potentially key ingredient in the OASIS recipe.

Several groups have already formulated their plans for bringing Ready Player One to reality (minus the dystopian future, hopefully). Enjin Coin plans to do so by building out an intricate “Enjin Multiverse” of games of all sorts using universal sets of Enjin Coin items and avatars. XAYA seeks to utilize game channels as shards in infinite VR universes coined “decentralized realities”. Decentraland is creating a world and providing the tools for players to build and play exactly how they want in a VR environment controlled by them.

Of course, as blockchain gaming continues to mature, these cryptocurrency startups will be joined and rivaled by enterprise counterparts, such as Ubisoft and others.

Shifting the Paradigm of Gaming

The trend in video games over the past several years has been pay-to-win freemiums, early access cash grabs, and DLC normalization. Players are paying more and more for experiences that carry decreasing amounts of content and decreasing amounts of fun. Indie developers are forced to join the trend or be swallowed up along the way. Nobody is happy, and this trend is ultimately unsustainable.

Blockchain gaming gives players and developers a new, creative avenue for symbiotic interactions for the mutual benefits of creator and consumer. If Blockchain games become a legitimate alternative to freemium games, emphasis will shift away from addicting cash grabs back to exciting, fruitful, and fun games. As this shift takes place, studios all the way up will be see a greater push to adopt more modern game ecosystems or lose out on market share.

The core components of blockchain gaming, such as item ownership, interoperability, and real world value, shift the paradigm towards a value-oriented means of online gaming, where developers are encouraged to make gaming environments that create value, and players are rightfully rewarded for capturing that value. When gameplay and virtual assets are assigned real world value, everyone wins!

New Gaming Genres

There have been allusions earlier in this document to new gaming genres that are being fleshed out, “human mining” gaming being one of them. Lightning Network developer Christian Moss believes he has some game ideas up his sleeve that were previously inconceivable before the advent of Lightning Network.

As the tech behind blockchain games continues to grow and mature, the scope and bounds of blockchain games will continue to expand, and increasingly exciting and unique gameplay genres will emerge. The “Race to OASIS” has only just began, but in the future there may be a whole new genre of “autonomous universe” games which all mimic experiences similar to OASIS.

Virtual Economy of Blockchain Gaming

These potential blockchain games of the future are also interesting for the role their virtual economies will play. As gameplay and items will carry real world, non-zero values, emphasis in these games will inevitably place heightened interest on economic factors and activities. There are some niche examples of traditional games with thriving virtual economies, but the centralized authority of the developer in these situations is far from ideal.

In many cases, these economies exist as grey or black market endeavors through which participants risk having their accounts terminated. Even in games where the developers permit or even encourage real world value exchange, the role they must play as a facilitator or regulator makes it very difficult, even impossible, for potential virtual economies to take off.

In a future global economy that will certainly see radical shifts due to automation and AI, it will be interesting to see if different positions and activities in the “play-to-earn” economies of blockchain games may introduce a new class of virtual employment.

Final Thoughts

This nascent industry of blockchain gaming has quietly been grinding momentum for almost a decade. With numerous heavyweight players in the blockchain space and video game industry alike beginning to seriously explore potential future applications of blockchain gaming, it becomes more evident that the question of mainstream blockchain games is a matter of when, not if.

About the Author

Zane was first exposed to Bitcoin in 2013 through a gaming community that utilized Bitcoin. Since then, he’s followed gaming closely while immersing himself further in the cryptocurrency space. In 2015, he began working as a freelance writer for several crypto news blogs, and today continues to work as a freelance writer for various projects and websites in the space, primarily focusing on educational and technical content. His pinpoint area of focus within cryptocurrency continues to be gaming.

https://cryptoveins.com/2019/08/blockchain-gaming-part-iv-the-road-ahead/

#Blockchain #Digital Assets

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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The Top 5 Must Play RPGs for Every Video Game Console

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The Top 5 Must Play RPGs for Every Video Game Console

The gaming market is monstrous. Right now there are six consoles, three handhelds, and the ever present PC you can buy games for. That’s 10 different ways you can get your game on, so if you’re someone who doesn’t have the ways or means to buy all 10 platforms and every halfway decent game that arrives for any of them, you’re probably wondering which way you should go to get the most bang for your buck. I’m a bit of a gamer nerd, and so for you, I’ve collected the top five available games (in the stores now) for each console for each particular genre. Based on reviews, user comments, and my personal experience, these are the best ways to go.

This round: RPGs. The Japanese RPG market exploded in the 32-64 bit days, blowing out with a new game seemingly every week. You can blame Square for that one, bringing to the stores amazing game after amazing game, which immediately spurned every other company to release whatever dreck they could muster to keep you pumping money into their pockets. Nowadays there are hundreds of options out there, and the Japanese market isn’t the only one around. North American companies have their own answers to the RPG boom and now it’s a veritable flood of options. Here are the top five for each option you’ve got.

PlayStation 2 – The PlayStation brand name has been the home of quality RPGs since PS1 first rolled out with Suikoden and Final Fantasy games in the mid- the 90s. This list was hard because there are so many left off. Dark Cloud 2, Final Fantasy X, the Shin Megami Tensei games and much more deserve recognition, but alas these are also long as hell, so if you had more than 5, when would you ever finish them. You may notice I exclude the PS3, but I can’t really offer any PS3 RPGs for you until they’ve actually been created. We’re waiting.

1. Shadow Hearts Covenant – The Shadow Hearts series took on a serious following after this entry, one of the greatest RPG releases of the generation. It’s taken on the fantasy RPG genre blended into the realms of reality, bleeding over in church and demonology lore. Taking place in the 19th Century and following the legend of a young woman and her unfortunate destiny, it can be enjoyed alone or along with its predecessors Koudelka and Shadow Hearts (I).

2. Disgaea – This is probably the best strategy RPG released for any console ever. Released by Atlus, a brand name that has grown in and of itself of recent years to the respectability that names like Square and Level 5 now carry with their games, Disgaea is about the young prince of hell and his quest to regain his domain after being awoken. With more than 200 hours of gameplay here, count on playing for days on days. And it’s funnier than hell. These are great characters.

3. Suikoden III – The Suikoden series is the cult series. Of course, it’s slowly sliding out of cult status and into the mainstream with releases occurring every couple of years since this one. The best in the series with the possible exception of Suikoden II, Suikoden III tells the story of a huge cast of characters, all intricately entwined with one another. You play through the tale of their war, but as seen through the eyes of each character. Truly epic.

4. Final Fantasy XII – The newest release, released only two weeks before the PlayStation 3’s release, this game redefines the epic scope of prior Final Fantasies, literally reaching for the stars. Each character is fully realized and a part of the action, their story an intricate part of the game. There’s no fluff here, and the rebuild of the decades-old RPG formula was all for the better, working for the complete and total betterment of the game and hopefully the series.

5. DragonQuest VIII – Dragon Quest has always been huge in Japan, but only now did it find the same success here in the US. Dragon Quest VIII is the huge (extremely huge) result of Square Enix’s jump to full 3D glory in their series. The graphics are incredible, the characters hilarious and deeply involving, and the story arresting. The battles aren’t half bad either. And the usual monster catching glory is intact. A long game, it will keep you busy for days.

Gamecube (and Wii) – The Gamecube got shorted on the RPG options, much like its big brother the N64. Nintendo lost a lot of their clout with the RPG crowd when Squaresoft jumped ship in the 90s and they’re still trying to earn it back…so far to little success. But, the future looks bright, as Square Enix is finally producing games for the Big N, and Nintendo’s own work includes more forays into the RPG market. Here’s hoping for more, because the Wii is perfect for the format.

1. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – The newest Zelda adventure, Twilight Princess, is by far the best reason to own a Nintendo Wii. The game is a masterpiece on almost every level, to the point I’m almost willing to call it the greatest game ever made. We’ve heard this a lot, that this game is the greatest. That it surpasses what Ocarina accomplished 8 years ago. And as my own favorite game, it’s hard to ever put anything above Ocarina in terms of scope, depth, and innovation. No need to go into detail. Read my review of it here for more thoughts on why it’s so amazing.

2. Tales of Symphonia – The first really good RPG for the Gamecube, and still one of the only ones really. The newest entry in the hugely popular (in Japan) Tales saga, Symphonia was a huge, fun, well-told game. The characters were fun, the battle system is one of the best around, and the action was fully inclusive and crafted a long game. Symphonia was the Gamecube owning RPG fan’s one saving grace.

3. Skies of Arcadia Legends – Originally released for the Dreamcast, Skies of Arcadia was given a second life on the Gamecube, again fated to anonymity due to the failure of the console. This is a great game. It tells the story of two sky pirates who must traverse the sky ocean and save the world from a shattering war and so on. You attempt throughout the game to build your pirate rank and build up your ship. It was one of Dreamcast’s must have games and the same for Gamecube. Unfortunately so few actually had it, and now it’s not exactly easy to find.

4. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker – The infamous Wind Waker. Nintendo’s foray into cell shading and the horrible foray into ocean mechanics. This game is still amazing. It’s Zelda after all, but it’s flawed on more than the basic levels. It’s hard to get around. The ocean is huge, and the game is short. But the parts you play, in between sailing around Hyrule are beautiful and incredibly fun.

5. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door – The Big N rounds out the five with another in-house effort. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door was a return to the Paper Mario fun they coined in the N64 days, this time around with the RPG elements the game seems to work best with. Incredibly easy yes, but fun as hell at the same time.

Xbox (and X360) – The Xbox, not surprisingly saw no Japanese development. Every game listed below was produced in English Speaking countries, mostly Canada actually. The style is noticeably different, but the quality is equally incredible. The strive for realism by Western developers can be seen in each of these entries. Although the lack of humor is equally as prescient.

1. Elderscrolls IV: Oblivion – The Xbox 360 has some serious horsepower. Not only is there room to spare, but the graphic output is insane at the time, and what better way to show this off than with an Elderscrolls game. Monstrous, huge worlds in which you can freely roam wherever you want and interact with your environment. This game is huge and intense. Hundreds of hours can be spent just wandering around and completing the main quest. As for getting the rest done. Who knows how long you could spend on there.

2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Star Wars games were starting to get a bad rap for a while until Bioware arrived with the first full-fledged Star Wars RPG. Built on the click and wait for the action of the D&D ruleset games, KOTOR was a brilliant game that took Star Wars fans back a few thousand years to the height of the Jedi/Sith wars. It also had one of the most surprising and amazing endings in any game..ever.

3. Elderscrolls III: Morrowind – And another Elder scrolls game. This one was equally as huge as its sequel and had just as amazing graphics for its time. Elderscrolls truly stretches the imagination in terms of open world RPG exploration and making a game that will take a long time to finish. A truly wonderful game.

4. Jade Empire – Set in a fictional ancient China, Jade Empire comes from the makers of Knights of the Old Republic, and while not nearly as large in scope or length, the game utilizes an array of different combat styles and elements that make it sheer fun to play. It’s shorter and simpler than the original games from Bioware, but they make up for it with the attention to detail and the battle system upgrades.

5. Fable – Touted as an amazing achievement in world interface, Fable turned out to be a little bit of a letdown. It was smaller, shorter, and less engaging than what was claimed, but it was still a solid, fun game to play. Starting as a bland adventure you could become either entirely good or entirely evil through the actions committed during a quest. The characters are generic, the quests forgettable, but the options given to play through them all are still fun. The ending, however, leaves something to be desired, and they could have done with a few more reasons to openly explore. For a sandbox RPG, it was surprisingly linear.

Game Boy Advance – Yup, no DS games. I imagine soon, with the release of the new Pokemon game, and the surprising announcement of Dragon Quest IX coming exclusively to the DS, the RPG options there will explode, but for now your best bet in the RPG realm on handhelds is with the Game Boy Advance. Here are a few of the best.

1. Golden Sun – It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not legendary. But, it’s good solid fun, and for the size and expectations o f a handheld console it’s still pretty fun. I enjoyed it for a few reasons. First off, the gameplay is top notch. The battle system is built around a simple premise and sticks with it, but it’s still fun. The story is nothing special but it reminded me a lot of the 8-bit glory days, keeping me involved without making it impossible to keep up when I have to turn the game off every 20 minutes. Solid play and go action

2. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire – Pokemon has been around for almost 10 years now, a regular entry in the Gameboy RPG market, really the only entry in that market, and a damn good one. By the time this pair was released (the usual duplicate games with slightly different monsters in each), the same gameplay was reused a good four times and starting to get a little old, but it’s still sound gameplay, and who doesn’t like to collect as much of something as they can. I’m older yes, but I still enjoy the mindless capture and battle system of Pokemon. It’s cathartically simple.

3. Final Fantasy IV – It’s technically a port, but a damn good port at that. I loved this game back in the days on the SNES and the idea to bring the 16-bit Final Fantasies to the GBA made me as happy as can be. This was a game I love to play, but feel goofy loading into my PS2 and sitting down to play. It’s a perfect bus play, and it plays just as great as in 1992. The classic tale of Cecil and the Red Knights never fails to capture my attention from start to finish. Of course, when Final Fantasy VI is released, I might have to replace this with that one, as we all know that VI is the greatest of them all.

4. Riviera: The Promised Land – Atlus has been bashing the PS2 market with top notch games for three plus years now, with their fantastic strategy and alchemy RPG games. They bring Riviera to the GBA with the same pedigree, a solid RPG that plays to the GBA’s strengths as well as any. It’s essentially a screen to screen game. You don’t control your surroundings so much as go from page to page within them, but the battle system is amazing and the different options and acquires immense. The story, like any Atlus game, is the real selling point and actually got me to play through it twice.

5. Final Fantasy Tactics – The portable version of the PSone classic has sucked more time from my life than any GBA game I’ve ever played. The 300+ missions are each 30-60 minutes long and the customization options equal length. This is a long game with a lot of gameplay and a fun little story. You’re Marche, you’ve been sucked into a book into the magical land of Ivalice and now you are a knight. Go!

PlayStation Portable – When the PSP first released fanboys dreamed of amazing ports that would bring their favorite games now out of print back to life in handheld format. At least one made the leap, but for the most part, RPG development on the PSP has been lackluster, and while Japan gets the Suikoden I and II pack and promises of Final Fantasies, we wait for a decent anything to play. Final Fantasy compilation anyone? Anyone at all?

1. Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth – One of the most sought after games from the PSone days, Valkyrie Profile was an amazing RPG that no one played and then no one could play as it was out of print. Ranging from $100 and up on eBay, the promise of a re-release for the PSP was a godsend for fans out there always interested but too poor to afford it. It’s a solid game at that. With rebuilt cinematics and PSP controls, this entry leads into the new PS2 game wonderfully and finally lets the rest of us play through Lenneth’s adventure.

2. Monster Hunter Freedom – Never a real big fan of the Monster Hunter games, I can still see their draw. You go and you hunt monsters. Simple as that. There’s little to hold you up, and there’s online play. It’s like Pokemon without the pesky storyline or purpose.

3. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim – A port of a port. This was originally released for the PS2 and before that, the PC, and has been watered down in between. The same classic Ys gameplay is intact, overland map, onscreen battles and fun little characters in a charming, if simple story. It’s good solid fun for a portable and tells a decent story. Even if the controls are a little broken.

4. Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade – One of the launch releases with the PSP, Untold Legends is an overhead hack and slash RPG without a conscious. It doesn’t strive for amazing storyline or gameplay, just simple hack and slashes glory and it does it pretty well. It was fun because it was simple, made in a very short development cycle from the time the PSP was announced. Oddly enough, though, the sequel was nearly as good.

5. Tales of Eternia – Alright, technically it still hasn’t been released in America, but you can import it from Europe and play the English language version (or Japan if you speak Japanese). But, it’s a tales game, a pretty good one at that. Technically it has been released here too, as Tales of Destiny 2 in 2000. Unfortunately, it got completely ignored as the gaming world moved on to the PS2. This is a great game though and perfect for the PSP. Complete and intact are the great Tales battle system and one of the better Tales plots. Saving the world from the Great War was never quite so fun as in this one.

PC -The PC has always been a home for the more hardcore of gamers. The cost of constant upgrades and intensity of a PC game are legendary, and only the most hardcore amongst us are capable of keeping up. Accordingly, the games below match that mindset, though more than one of these games managed to break free of the limitations and become monstrous worldwide phenomena. I’m looking at you Blizzard.

1. World of Warcraft – Okay, so duh right? Well, some of you are probably palpitating over my choosing this above some other MMORPG, but too bad. Everyone plays this one, including myself and it’s just plain fun. Having spent hours of my life in this game and knowing that I can go back whenever I want without fear of being destroyed because of the MMORPG laws of survival (never leave), this is a great pick up and play a game in a genre where that almost never exists. Huge, tons to do, and always fun even when you’re grinding, WoW is still the best.

2. Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn – The Baldur’s Gate games are some of the best RPGs to come out of the PC age of D&D ruleset RPGs. It’s big, it’s long, it’s fun as hell. The challenge of figuring out what to do, how to upgrade your characters and make the game the most it can be were always the number one reasons to play these. The story is pretty awesome too. Don’t forget the Dragon. That dragon is a bitch.

3. Diablo II – Diablo II stole my entire summer my sophomore year of high school. This game was amazing. It took everything Diablo did and blew it up times ten. The ability to find and receive unique weapons that 1000 of your friends would never find kept you playing over and over again. And it was simple. Click, click, right click. F1. That’s it. Nothing to it. And when you finally unlocked the Cow level, then you were the true God of Diablo.

4. Elderscrolls IV: Oblivion – Many of you probably can’t even play this yet. I still can’t. I only know of it because I have a friend who upgrades his computer ever three weeks seemingly. This game is a beast of the highest order, demanding a lot from your system but delivering even more. Monstrous, huge worlds in which you can freely roam wherever you want and interact with your environment. This game is huge and intense. Hundreds of hours can be spent just wandering around and completing the main quest. As for getting the rest done. Who knows how long you could spend on there.

5. Neverwinter Nights – Another D&D ruleset game, but one of the best no less. It’s huge, monstrously huge. And tack on the expansions and you’ve got 200+ hours of action to play through. The biggest seller on this one though was the ability to craft and write your own adventures as a DM with the toolsets and host them online, ala D&D, but with graphics. The sequel doesn’t quite hold up to the original, but still, carries the same weight and fun factor.

I’m a self-avowed unemployed writer, working on a semi-constant basis to try and overcome the need to go and work a real job.

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