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holyhikari · 5 years ago

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Okay. Okay. It’s 2020, most of the world is shut down and the first episode of Digimon Adventure aired yesterday, missing a ‘Butter-Fly’ and with a colon to spare. Life sure is something.

Gotta say I’m relieved. (For now, at least.) Sure, yeah, I got into the hype train for the reboot from the get-go and determined to just have fun, but. If I can picture all the ways something can go wrong — go BORING — down to excruciating details right from the first episode, why not? That’s what brains are for. So that’s what I did.

Should have saved all that energy.

I want to share with all of you my thoughts on this episode, break it down a little bit; how it made me feel, the few character introductions we got, the pace, the plot and its possibilities.

As much as I want to approach this series keeping the idea of authenticity in mind, it is a reboot. They chose a certain set of (popular!) pre-existent characters to explore, to work with; a balance between creating and adapting. And I’m very interested in seeing how they’ll combine the core elements of Digimon Adventure with all there is unique to this generation of kids, teens and, you know it, adults who stuck around.

Since all we’ve got is the introduction to the series, I’ll be contrasting TOKYO DIGITAL CRISIS to how the original Adventure kicked off back in 1999 with ADRIFT? THE ISLAND OF ADVENTURE!

I did try to keep this as coherent and review-like as possible, but there’s a fair amount of fan-girling and it’s all seen through my very biased Adventure-stan-colored lens. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

‘99 starts with an image of our planet, and ‘20 starts almost the same. This time, though, we can see we aren’t alone. ‘The Digital World affecting the Earth’ is something that happens, I believe, in every Digimon reincarnation. In ‘99, it’s deeply affecting our climate. Now, the issue doesn’t seem so drastic that it’s able to reach influence organic matter and mess up many Nature’s cycles across the globe, but it’s still not looking so good for our kids. (It’s the first episode and Hikari and Yuuko almost get train-sandwiched, but I suppose that almost having your head chopped off, courtesy of Kuwagamon, isn’t lovely either.)

Anyway.

I think this Digital World/Network shot isn’t actually part of the episode? I think it’s part of the opening (I mean, not the OP sequence with the song, obviously), and that we’ll be seeing it before each episode starts. Still, it’s an interesting juxtaposition, isn’t it?

A Glorious World is upon us! I wasn’t actually expecting Butter-Fly or anything similar to it, don’t worry. I’m glad the new OP is its own thing! I want Digimon Adventure ‘20 to be as authentic as possible without losing the original’s heart. The song is nice enough. I don’t want to compare it to Butter-Fly, but I’m only human. Give me a few episodes. Gotta let go.

The OP has way more Taichi than the others. No surprise there. He’s our goggle boy. (Still, since they went for a quick throwback to the original opening, it’s a shame only Taichi was shown falling down towards the Digital World).

Everyone got a part, though. Shout out to Takeru and Hikari for being yet again the ominous, powerful baby-faced duo that is definitely up to something.

It’s so interesting that, while the other crests are shown very clearly and surrounded by sparkles, Light and Hope are only shown briefly shining in their partners’ shadows. Why is Takeru so far away from us, why is this so sinister-looking. Hi, mysterious plot. Nice to meet you.

Wherever Hikari is by the end of the OP, it reminds me of Vamdemon’s castle. Maybe she feels connected to Tailmon and follows her somehow? Angemon wasn’t shown in the OP with the older six children’s partners, just Patamon. I wonder if they’ll try to make us grieve for Angemon a second time. It’d work with me. Either way, I imagine we’re in for another last-minute Patamon evolution when everything looks hopeless.

This time, though, we’ve got Hikari from the beginning (yes, I am VERY excited about this, thank you for asking, THIS IS WHAT I DESERVE), and, while I think Patamon is more powerful in regular conditions (as in, Angemon can probably take Angewomon in a fight despite the level imbalance, but as soon as Hikari starts glowing you know who’s winning), he will now be sharing the spotlight with another Archangel evolution… as his friend or as his foe, considering that Tailmon might be a double agent of some sorts in the beginning. Welp.

Anyway. Toei isn’t fooling around, in the OP we can see MetalGreymon in a very scary-looking, glitchy fashion that I’m LIVING for, WarGreymon’s silhouette and, good grief, there’s even a glimpse of Omegamon. Talk about too much information. Maybe chill out a little? (I say this, but the adults already know all of their evos, and the kids just want MOOOOOOORE monstahhhhhrrrrrrsss….which is fair.)

MetalGreymon looks dope here. The others, though, are only shown up to their Adult evolution, even Gabumon. I don’t think they will have only Gabumon and Agumon reaching their Mega forms, and then fusing into Omegamon while everyone else only gets as far as Perfect. Again.

They wouldn’t do this to us. Right? Yeah, they would. Maybe we can have Holydramon/Ophanimon and Seraphimon later on, as a treat. Aaaaaand, depending on how many episodes — how many seasons — this new timeline gets, I’m not giving up hope just yet. Let me have Phoenixmon, Toei, you heartless thing.

Moving on to the actual episode… The first non-Digimon character to show up is the true protagonist. Our queen is back. Our little Digivice thief, Miko herself.

Just you wait, you ain’t gonna be Hikari’s favorite cat-like creature for long.

Speaking of Hikari, LOOK AT THIS WITTLE BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2020 Taichi right off the bat was Taichi for me. He’s talking to Yuuko and yells “Hikariii~” so loudly Hikari hears it from where she stands, the short cutie. Their mom just hands down the phone for her without missing a beat so Taichi can comfort her through whatever she’s worrying about (her summer classes, probably). Such a sweet, natural little moment that flashes both characters out. I want more of that, please.

We’re then introduced to Koushiro! I’m not gonna lie, I cringed the first time I heard him speak. I thought the voice didn’t fit him very well. This impression faded quickly enough, though, and I’m already attached to his new voice. Later, I realized that part of the reason he sounded off to me was because of how nervous he seemed — around Taichi, of all people! In this version, they’re just meeting for the first time, so it’s very in-character for him. Guess I was kinda shocked seeing Koushiro not feeling at ease talking to Taichi. Poor thing is Anxious! And he’s overthinking about Summer Camp! And he’s happy Taichi is his neighbor! That certainly would’ve helped during the Vandemon arc back in ‘99.

Koushiro gets a little bit over his awkwardness upon hearing the news regarding the cyber attack, something he’s curious about, and finally steps towards Taichi instead of away, which is spot on. These two fall into an easy camaraderie, as they SHOULD, and they head to the train station together, where Taichi decides to, I don’t know… run like crazy on the tracks until he gets to the rogue train where his family is and stop it with sheer force of will? Yeah! Sounds like him!

And now to one of the most interesting parts of this adaption, is that they’re showing us the Crests early on and HOW they’re doing it.

Taichi is able to meet Koromon because he’s being brave.

I mean, the first time, he was chosen because of his courage, too, but they all go in together. They’re taken. They’re washed off the Earth. And while Taichi had no idea he was going to be pulled into the Net, he chose to try to save Hikari and his mom (and, a few moments later, he chose to dive in towards Koromon). This time, it feels so much more personal. The screen switched back and forth between the Crest of Courage, Taichi and Hikari, who I believed called his name. The scene worked so well! (Following this pattern, Koushiro gets his Digivice when expressing curiosity, the will to pursue an explanation for what was happening!!!!)

On the other hand, it’s sort of bittersweet they weren’t pulled in together. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they didn’t try to introduce all of them AND the Digital World at the same time again. But… ‘99 established them as a ‘team’ within seconds. It’s interesting, though. I’m VERY curious to see how their bonding will go this time around!

Taichi and Koromon meeting was beautiful. I was worried the soundtrack wouldn’t even stand a chance against the masterpiece that is the original one, but the musing playing was so delicate, so majestic. I felt I was witnessing a precious moment. Also, Koromon’s ears twisting into how we represent the DNA while he was evolving was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SUCH A GOOD DETAIL!!!!!!

It cracked me up when Koushiro said that what was happening was very surprising while not sounding surprised at all. I wonder how long the kid has been looking into the cyber attacks. Oh, and the Network is pretty. Prettier than I had anticipated, though not that different from Appmon’s style, I think? I can’t wait to get a look at the actual Digital World and see if it has that unique feeling and that odd, watercolor painting aesthetic. I hope I can trust the OP:

Did you notice that Agumon giggled a few times? He looked at Taichi with such love, familiarity and devotion and like he knew something. It felt… right. My heart. My poor, poor heart. (I know this Agumon probably has met Taichi before inside of this very Universe, like the Hikarigaoka incident in the original version, but I like to think about Universe-hopping platonic soulmates.)

Overall the sound work was fantastic, but this scene deserves a highlight. The noise of the Kuramon lookalike moving after evolving was genuinely disturbing. And look at how pretty this is:

Speaking of evolution, AGUMON EVOLVING INTO GREYMON WAS THE SHIT. I loved how straight-up FERAL it was, while still keeping the “Digital” part of “Digital Monster” very much present. It reminded me a bit of Hosoda’s Greymon (most amazing Greymon to this day!) in the Digimon Adventure Movie and, now that I think of it, of him fighting in some Tri. Reunion scenes. Scary Greymon is the best Greymon. Yes. I like it when the Digimon manage to disturb and scare me, okay? They aren’t called monsters for nothing.

I mean we got to see his horn literally bursting out of his skin. This is low-key terrifying. 10/10.

BUT WHERE IS THE EVOLUTION THEME SONG

I am: deceased. Cause of death: Hikari’s soft smile when she realizes her big brother managed to help them.

Alternatively, this first pic had killed me on the spot.

FINALLY, we get to see Yamato, and of course, he’s staring down dramatically at Taichi on top of Garurumon like the intense person he is. And, no big deal, there’s a cyber attack in a U.S military base and, uh, apparently the next episode is the 2020 version of Bokura no War Game?!

I— WHAT?!

No pressure, am I right? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be falling off a good ol’ cliff with my camping buddies.

To be honest, if they intended to end it like this, it felt like this should’ve been a special episode. Maybe one-hour-long or so? Why……….HOW……….. They wanna go from the pilot straight to a Bokura no War game tribute?! The very movie that introduced Omegamon. I swear, if Omegamon’s debut is the SECOND episode, I’m gonna break. How is this gonna work. Well, at least they have us… intrigued?

The ED is so Yamato-focused it’s almost weird that his voice actor isn’t the one singing lmao. That amount of Yamatoness got me by surprise. Some of the pics look like a PowerPoint presentation of CD cover ideas for his yet-to-exist (or not) band… and I say this lovingly, okay? I love him so much.

This is my favorite one!

I lost count of how many times I listened to this song!! It also got me hooked up. What’s up with Takeru and how the writers took the whole Angel aesthetic to a whole new level?! Is he sick? Is he dying? Is this why Yamato is so sad and lonely throughout the ED?????? EVERYONE GO BEFRIEND HIM. I heard he’s a good friend.

Be right back, I’m gonna tattoo this pic to my face.

Bonus commentary!

I bet I wasn’t the only one looking for random cameos whenever they showed us crowds. Didn’t find anyone we know, but I’m sure this will change. 02 characters cameos, I’m ready for you.

Soooooooooo the Tachikawa own a tech company this time?? For all we know they own Japan. That’s scarier than the Diablomon-like virus giving Trump a headache. If so, Mimi is gonna be way more spoiled than before. Oh, dear.

I HOPE WE SEE MORE OF THESE PIXEL BABIES! That was a perfect Easter egg.

If none of these icons at the bottom is the Digimon Analyzer, then what’s the point of my entire existence?

I can’t wait for next Saturday! Even if solely to yell “WHY??????” at my screen.

I can’t thank you enough if you read this far!

#digimon #digimon adventure psi #psi spoilers #bea with the tea #I SPENT THE WHOLE DAY WRITING THIS AND........ IT'S NOT EVEN GOOD.......... OK #long post

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tumblunni · 6 years ago

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Brainstorming about my yokai watch ocs: Dimmy and Gorgeous Ambassador, the most cutest family

* My Dimmy's name is Blythe and they are nonbinary. Gorgeous Ambassador is male and i dont have a name for him yet. I was thinking maybe try and make up a dub name for kageusuo (anime exclusive pre evolution) that sounds like it could have been his nickname as a human? Cos his story is that he used to be a wandering mercenary in ye olde ninja times, i feel like itd be fitting.

* Blythe is the main partner of my protagonist in my yokai watch lp, basically the jibanyan of the anime of my heart. Their personality is mostly similar to the Dimmy in the anime, but i feel like theyre maybe older and more powerful than the average Dimmy? Like a weak low evolution yokai thats stayed unevolved for centuries and is actually more skilled and world weary than you'd assume. Protag just got lucky that she bumped into this one super magikarp, lol! Also i like to draw them looking more teenage age by just taking the regular Dimmy design and making the tail extra super long. They stand roughly twice as tall as the protagonist and can wrap around her shoulders like a scarf :3 Blythe is however totally unaware of their super powerful mega skill and is very self depreciating and low confidence. But Mallory totally sees them as a cool older sibling mentor figure and is always trying to figure out ways to make their tol squiggle friend feel included and valued :3

* the way Gorgeous Ambassador comes into the picture is that he was actually the same sort of figure to Blythe! Back in the ninja era Blythe was partners with another human, but he passed away in tragic circumstances and it led to their current depressed self. However he actually reincarnated as a yokai and has been trying to find his lil sibling ever since! I feel like he was a failure samurai who tried to protect people but was so weak he never could. And he was always broke and starving and begging to do any sort of miscellaneous jobs for anyone or even let them punch him in the stomach for a few coins. And he had just as much self confidence issues as Blythe but he coped with it by becoming a compulsive liar instead, always boasting and trying to sell himself as some legendary hero to keep from facing the truth. Since Blythe was a cute lil babby yokai at the time, they always believed their human master's tall tales and looked up to him, which made him feel really guilty and try harder to work on becoming someone this kid could be genuinely proud of.

* Blythe was first born as a household spirit. Cos i was thinking about what Dimmy would be before it became a ninja, since the medallium description says it 'got a job as a ninja to put its powers to use', so like it isnt really a ninja yokai but just a yokai thats a ninja? I guess?? I figured that the idea of being an invisible shadow supporter fit with household spirits/domovoi/zakishi warishi (probably mispelled that) and the various other similar creatures in mythologies all over the world. Just the idea that theres some sort of being that protects your house and if you give it offerings and take good care of the place it will protect you and your family. So yeah its my headcanon that thats how Dimmys are born, and that theres probably many variants wearing different outfits inspired by whatever type of humans they guarded. Tho yeh ninja is a job that works really well with their abilities so it makes sense itd be the primary representative of the species in the games.

* Human-dude-who-would-become-gorgeous-ambassador first met Blythe when one of his various failed attempts to get a job happened to cross paths with the family Blythe was guarding. This family didnt believe in such old suspicions and never gave offerings to their household spirit, so it stayed small and weak and was almost fading away. Baby blythe didnt know why their humans didnt love them, even though they tried so hard to bring good luck and clean the fireplace and stuff. So they felt a sense of kinship with this poor failure samurai who was begging for food on their doorstep. The humans of the household spat in his face and turned him away empty handed, but the tiny yokai snuck some rice from the pantry and gave it to him. They were surprised that he was able to see them, and he gave them the first thank you they'd ever had!

* Addendum note: i feel like gorgeous samurai was cursed with being able to see yokai from a young age and its part of whay made him so determined to become strong enough to protect people. Perhaps his biological family was killed by an evil yokai and nobody ever believed what he saw? And he wandered japan trying to save other people and always failing and being blamed for what happened, since nobody could see the real culprit. This reputation of being a liar when he wasnt = he ended up actually lying about how he was totally fine and not sad and also great and not hating himself. Its not really something he can control anymore, its like a stress response and it keeps getting him in trouble but he cant stop. "Yes sure i can save the day, i'm awesome!" only makes things worse when he inevitably loses again, whic only makes his self confidence worse and traps him further in the lies...

* so anyway, he became friends with this lil babby yokai and kept coming back to visit them and tell more tall tales of his grand adventures. And eventually he managed to help Blythe come out of their shell a little and agree to leave this house where they were only fading away. Haunting him instead, the lil shadow soon flourished back to full health from being loved for the first time. And their new big bro would always give them the biggest share of all the food even when he was starving, and always wasted his money buying things for them, and knitted them lil scarfs and just HE WAS A GOODEST BIG BRO! They also made a great team, and he was finally able to fight evil yokai with a yokai of his own helping him out. Things were good for a few years!

* Eventually though, they faced a foe too strong for them to defeat. (Not sure yet who it is, cos it could be cool if they faced it again in the present day for a rematch?) Blythe's human friend ran into a burning building to save the people being attacked by this yokai, but because he was already gravely injured he didnt manage to make it out in time. And blythe was just a tiny bab who wasnt strong enough to carry his unconcious body to safety. So their last memories of him are of crying and begging him to wake up as the house fell apart all around them, and eventually the flames swallowed him up. the tiny yokai just ran and ran away from their shame, and never saw an ashy figure rising from the ruins and calling their name...

* eventually after years of struggling alone and lacking meaning in life, Blythe had a chance meeting with our protagonist and thus begins my yokai watch 1 lets play! At the same time their yokaified big bro is still out there searching for them, and maybe one day theyll meet again...

* also i wanna go with the pre-evo the anime added of Gorgeous Ambassador evolving from a sad depressed vampire lookin dude. Even if the whole circumstances here are vastly different! But we dont really have any info on what kageusuo's powers or stats would be, so i guess i'm free to mess around with that? I like the idea of it being vampiric just cos i feel it looks like that. But instead of drinking blood maybe its a hunger for shadows? Which is actually beneficial to humans and makes them less overshadowed aka the opposite of Dimmy's power. So if you ever feel that you're radiating charisma with perhaps a slightly lighter shadow, maybe youve been inspirited by this guy! And then the evolution into Gorgeous Ambassador doesnt actually change anything at all, except just looking more fashionable and confident (which is absolutely a lie). His power already made people more fabulous while being unable to affect himself, he just worked a bit harder on himself to try and catch up with everyone else. Self care vampire!

* oh and in this interpretation the way that kageusuo would be integrated into the gameplay is that Gorgeous Ambassador would get a new ability that lets him switch forms in battle, rather than it being a separate yokai. (Tho would still have a separate entry in the medallium just for conveinience of being able to view both character models whenever you want) Stuff that causes low confidence would make him poof between forms, and itd just be something like more attack based vs defense based, or maybe having two separate personality stats so its like his AI is slightly more versatile than the usual frustratingness of most yokai? Srsly im still so annoyed at so many yokai that have two mutually exclusive moves and the ai is stupid about using them at the wrong time to cancel each other out. Like how Dimmy can be given the AI personality to focus on attacking and thus take advantage of its auto-skill to be good at dodging aka a glass cannon. BUT also one of its skills gives that same status to an ally instead, which by definition takes it away from itself cos 'dont target this other guy' means there arent many other options. So you cpuld alternatively play dimmy as a supporter who exclusively protects others with that ability BUT the annoying part is that even when you set an AI profile to one particular move it still only makes it LIKELY to do that and not guaranteed. So every now and again your attacking dimmy will cancel its own buff to protect an enemy, or your supporting dimmy will forget to support abd instead buff itself despite not having the attack stat build to take advantage of it. Plus you cant have both and switch between modes mid battle, so thatd be REALLY useful if one yokai actually could do that, and also could change stats to fit! Im not sure how to give it a trigger condition thatd let you sorta change at will but also not be 100% easy and overpowered. I was thinking tying it to his confidence could mean missed attacks turn him into kageusuo and critical hits turn into gorgeous? But thatd be TOO uncontrollable...

* oh actually i think maybe i'll nickname him Amber! Just cos my brain just mispronounced gorgeous ambassador and It Kinda Works??? Also its a kind of name that sounds very pretty but also has connotations of gentle shyness, i think. Matches the duality of his fake boastfulness vs his true self doubt.

* Oh and i also thought of maybe having Blythe evolve into Casanono, even though you cant do that in canon. I feel like turning into a pretty humanoid would be a good way to symbolize their growing confidence ans casanono/casanuva has a big nonbinary aesthetic in my opinion. Plus of course the fact casanono is a variabt of a confident yokai thats actyally shy. Originally older brother dude was gonna be a casanuva to match, until i heard about Gorgerous Ambassador and decided it fits him better (especially with that new anime form!) So now im thinking maybe have Blythe be both casanono and casanuva at once, similar to their bro's form switching? But itd be more like casanuva is a rare super saiyan esque powerup when they experience rare moments of confidence. Im pretty much just doing this because SADLY casanono is a joke character who is literally mechanically forced to be useless in battle. Its ability makes it harder to catch yokai which ia already goddamn difficult, and it wastes a skill slot too. As opposed to Dimmy who has a similar personality of always being ignored and depressed but its abilities are actually beneficial. Itd suck to go from Blythe being my mvp to being unable to use them at all, so this would be a way to still always draw them as casanono in comics to match their actual personality, but using casanuva in battle cos.. Well.. Yeah its the functional one of the two. Level-5 if youre listening please make casanono useable in future games!! Casanuva is absolutely the worst one personality wise so it sucks that the game agrees with his ego that he's great and also punches his depressed counterpart into the bin of ignoreness DESPITE BEING SUPER SYMPATHETIC AND RELATEABLE AND ALSO CUTER COLOURSCHEME

Anyway thats all the thoughts i have so far. Except oh also itd be funny if throughout the whole story blythe keeps talking about their dead brother as if he was the super best most serious hero and then when the protagobists actually meet him he's this gaudy dork XD

#bunni plays yokai watch

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jinjojess · 6 years ago

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Oh, All-knowing Jess, hear my call and drive away my doubts: how was received in Japan the datamining of the beta of Pokémon Gold? What do you think about it? Are some Pokémon you like or want in actual games? (Personally, my favourite is that creepy Pinsir, for some reasons it reminds me of the Kaonashi from Spirited Away!)

You know, that’s a good question. I’ve seen some fanart and reactions on Twitter, but I didn’t really follow it much, sorry!

To make it up to you, I will now review all of the betas:

Chikorita!

Yay! I think I’ve made it very clear that I am a big fan of this little plant nugget, so I don’t have much to add really.

10/10

AAAGGGGHHH?!

What the fuck is this thing? How does this relate to Chikorita or Meganium, who are both largely unchanged from their beta designs? Where are the eyes? Like I’m diggin’ the tiny smug face-looking thing at the top of the bulb, but what’s the deal with the huge single eye down below? Where did the legs go? Why does the body shape change so drastically in the in-between stage when both the first and third stages are quadrupeds?!

0/10 would not trade Bayleef for it

Meganium

Whew, okay. Back on familiar ground here. Meganium is likely my least favorite of the Johto starters’ final forms, but I still like my big, dumb boy.

8/10

Tepkon

Awww~!

So unpopular opinion, but for a long time I really disliked cyndaquil’s design. I’ve come around to it these days, but back when GS came out, it really put me off. This thing is absolutely adorable, and though the design isn’t super inspired, I still fucking love it.

7/10 wouldn’t trade cyndaquil for it, but would love to see the design reworked for future games

Chubby quilava

This is like quilava’s cousin who grows up to discover that he’s actually more of a bear than a twink. Really like it–seems very cuddly.

7/10 like quilava better but I support this thicc boi

Kirara

Seriously, this is basically just Kirara from Inuyasha. Not as crazy about this design as its pre-evos, especially since it seems like it’s trying to edge in on arcanine’s floof territory. An okay pokemon, but not a fave.

6/10 would not trade typhlosion for it

Baby Nessie

Totodile was one of those pokemon that I had been low-key hoping for, but I gotta admit that this is one adorable little fucker. Look at its stubby limbs! Its cute snoot! Its pudgy tail!

6/10 would not trade totodile but would love to see in another game

Let me clear my thoat (I hope ya don’t mind)

I am…less enthused about the middle evo. The eyes are cute and the little shy smile is to die for, but the…ballast? on its throat kind of looks like a giant boil and I’m not really here for that.

4/10 no thanks I’ll keep croconaw

Dragonair but with legs

The final evo I like a bit more–it looks like a dragonair that struck up a deal with Ursula the sea witch so that it could pursue its land-dwelling love. Now that the gem isn’t jammed right up under the chin it’s less off-putting, and the kind of fang-looking necklace is a Good Look.

6/10 still prefer feraligatr but GameFreak please dust off this design

Hoot-Hoot’s just really into henna right now

I’ve never been a huge fan of hoot-hoot, and I kind of like the extra markings. I assume they were taken off to make the design less busy as well as giving it a fanned tail, but I think I’d actually prefer this one.

5/10 would replace regular hoot-hoot with this one

It is the night

Okay, here we go! Now this is a cool-looking pokemon that would make training up a damn hoot-hoot worth it. Noctowl is a decent pokemon in the game since it means you get access to psychic moves early in the game, but I’ve always thought the design looked too goofy. I like irl owls a lot and this design really speaks to me.

8/10 go back in time and give teenage me this bird instead

Mareep

There’s not a ton to say here other than they lightened up mareep’s fleshy bits in the final release, and I like mareep quite a bit so there we go. Instead, I want to draw attention to this disaster of a backsprite. What am I even looking at? A giant ball of cotton candy that rolled through a bunch of broken candy canes?

9/10 I mean I like mareep, but I gotta take off a point for that awful backsprite

Flaaffy

Flaaffs seems largely unchanged. I’m pretty partial to this boi as well, especially since I had one following me for a bit in my Japanese Soul Silver game.

8/10 I like flaaffy, but fuck that name spelling

Ampharos

One of my fave Gen 2 pokemon! Doesn’t seem to have much different about it, though I did always question where the delightful floof went. I mean we get it back in the mega evolution but still. What was that about, GameFreak?

9/10 docked a point for lack of floof

Mikon

So this is clearly a pre-evo idea for vulpix, and it’s pretty damn cute. I love that with the addition of this member to the family, it’s confirmed that the line increases its number of tails by 3 every time it evolves. I like this, but I’m not entirely sold on it. The face lacks some detail and I feel like the design isn’t different enough from vulpix to really feel necessary.

7/10 it’s cute but I don’t think vulpix needs a pre-evo

Mahou Shoujo Green

This tangela pre-evo is pretty cute, though the body underneath kind of reminds me a bit too much of oddish. I mean maybe it’d be cool to look at the oddish line and the tangela line and see how two related species had off-shoots, but I am not really the biggest fan of baby pokemon as an institution so these will all be a hard sell for me, sorry.

6/10 again, cute but unecessary

Tangrowth as imagined by CalArts

I loved tangela a lot back in the day, and tangrowth is a really interesting pokemon as well…however this one has a little bow and ringlet hair so like, no contest, really.

9/10 this should be an alternate evo option for tangela (perhaps for females?)

i could be your angle or yuor devil

So this one is kinda cool in concept. It’s clearly drawing influence from Japanese kites, and the scary face might be an evolutionary feature designed to scare off predators…that or it’s a flying/ghost or flying/dark type and the angel imagery is the ruse. Either way I fucking love this thing.

10/10 I want this concept revisited

Qwilfish

I like qwilfish a lot! It’s got cool typing, it can perform decently on a rain team, and it’s based on a pufferfish. It’s definitely an underdog in the wider world, but not in my heart.

10/10

The Fish Who Lived

I have…reservations about this evolution though. As cool as it would be to have a qwilfish evolution, this just isn’t doing it for me. It’s kinda cool that it’s shaped like a naval mine, and the Harry Potter scar is pretty cute, but I can get over the dead-eyed stare.

4/10 yeah no I think I’m happy to wait for better evo ideas to come along

Pichu

Pichu’s cute enough I guess but I’ve never liked it as much as pikachu and sure as hell not as much as my boy raichu. However if the baby version was this roly poly cutie, I think I’d be more into it. This style of pre-evo harkens back to the good ol’ days of fat pikachu, and therefore I must doff my cap to it.

8/10 with a bit of polishing I would take this over pichu for sure

Cleffa

Okay, so of the baby pokemon, of which I am generally not fond, cleffa is by far my favorite because of how cute it is. This is also extremely cute. I like picturing the trainer being able to just grab the thing by the little knob on its head if it’s heading toward danger. Plus that tail nub is so cute! I don’t know that I could choose between this version and the actual cleffa.

9/10 would be a 10 but Nate once said “what if cleffa’s hands were its nipples?” and now I can’t unsee it

Igglybuff

Iggly has always reminded me of the Powerpuff Girls, but this beta version is so…delightfully round. God, it’s like hypnotizing how round it is. You wouldn’t have to show this from above to trick someone in a silhouette quiz. The tiny, wide-set eyes are also both piercing and kind of unassuming, which I can’t decide is cute or terrifying.

8/10 think I’d swap this guy in for the existing igglybuff

Quagsire!

I freaking LOVE quagsire. It’s so derpy, I love water/ground types, and just everything about it is cute and makes me want to hug it. The only problem with it in this beta is that there’s no wooper.

10/10 bring wooper with you bro

Natu

I’ve always thought natu was cute and really neat in concept, but I’ve never actually sat down and trained one. This sprite isn’t too different from its final one, but it is missing the color scheme, which is one of the reasons I like it.

6/10 stop being so washed out!

Xatu

Also largely unchanged from its final design, though I do prefer the Silver sprite where its wings are spread. (And I’m sorry about this, but some of the pictures will have bits of other sprites in them, since it was hard cutting these all down in Paint with a trackpad.)

7/10 very unique

Prince(ss) of the sea

Is this a pre-evo of goldeen and seaking, and I can see why it was cut. Who thought either of those would be popular enough to warrant a baby form?

2/10 fuck yeah was a meme guys, it wasn’t sincere

Marill

Marill’s okay. I think it’s fairly cute, and the design they went with using smaller ears and non-clown feet is better imo. Plus this is really minor but it’s bothering me that despite the codename “pikablu” this sprite is pink.

6/10 solid cute pokemon, but the final design is better

Finding Flounder

So I’m a big fan of lanturn because of its digimon-esque eyes and its cool typing. Chinchou I’m…eh on. This cutie though, I could get used to this.

8/10 cute eyes are better than terrifying cross eyes I’m sorry

Clanker’s Cavern

As I just said, I like lanturn a lot. However, this is a shark with an anchor attached. That’s like if you left dhelmise and sharpedo at the day care on the same day an enemy team spilled plutonium all over the yard. It’s so stupid! I love this thing so damn much.

8/10 it’s way too similar to other existing pokemon, but I still kind of want it anyway

Homsar

This thing kind of scares me. The gaping mouth, the wide eyes, and the fact that it clearly would inhabit deep parts of the ocean all make me want to nope out. That said though, I respect it.

6/10 glad they came back to this idea with elektross

Crobat

If you’ve ever battled me in one of our local or online tournaments, you will know that I have a soft spot for crobat. I think golbat’s design is kind of terrible, zubat is simplistic yet kinda cute, and crobat gets to be both cute/cool and also not suck completely in battle (see what I did there?). This design seems mostly unchanged.

8/10 a very good bro

Most likely to drive an airbrushed van

This paras pre-evo looks like it’s inspired by a lovely whimsical creature from Wonderland or Fantasia. I kind of like having a pre-evo to show that at the start the sinister mushrooms allow the baby para to call the shots, biding its time until takes over the entire nervous system as a parasect. Really not feeling the face, though.

5/10 cute, interesting idea, but I don’t know if I want to add more baby pokemon to the mix

Spinarak

I have some mild arachnophobia, but I actually rather like spinarak since it’s so adorable. This version is a little more true to life and not as adorable. Also wtf GameFreak stop giving your arachnids six legs!

5/10 very much prefer the final design but kinda reminds me of the little jumpy bois I catch and release from inside my apartment sometimes

Ariados

Again with the six legs thing. Ugh. Anyway, this beta version of ariados is actually much cuter than the one we ended up getting in the final game. I’m pretty lukewarm on ariados in general (my spider boi of choice is the far superior galvantula), but look at this thing’s face! Look at the face on its body! It’s cute even when it’s trying to be scary!

6/10 why did we not get this adorable boi?!

Skarmory

It’s skarmory. That’s it. A pokemon that I like in theory but have never been super into his design.

5/10 respectably cool but not my cup of tea

Alphonse Elric’s head in chibi form, screaming as his body melts

Here it is. My favorite of all of the beta sprites. This thing is so fucking wonderful in part because I have literally no idea what the hell it’s supposed to be. What is this?! What type is it supposed to be? What is it based on? Is it a pre-evo of an existing mon? Why is its mouth parted in an eternal screech? These questions do not necessarily have answers, and I am a sucker for mystery.

10/10 GameFreak please bring this idea to life just so that I can get closure

Mine! Mine!

So I see what they were going for. It’s a baby form of doduo, with three baby bird heads and a big puff of feathers to make it look like a brood peeking out of a nest. I respect the idea, I do. Too bad it also conjures up images in my head of rat kings and other fused abominations.

5/10 a good idea that didn’t pan out so well

[Obligatory Undertale Reference]

Sunflora would actually probably be more intimidating if it had an evolution rather than a pre-evo, though. I’m no big fan of sunflora, but I gotta say that this sprite is way better than the one we ended up getting.

6/10 replace existing sunflora with this bullet seed-spewing former skiddo

The Littlest Babaar

I’ve never really been into elephants as a species. Like they’re cool, but they’re pretty middle of the pack for me in terms of my animal preferences. As a result, I always found donphan kind of disappointing. However, I do like phanpy quite a bit, if only for the fact that it’s goddamn adorable. This sprite is a bit plain, but does bring the cuteness.

6/10 prefer the final design but this one ain’t bad at all

Donphan

The Don hasn’t changed much at all as far as I can tell. I’ve never trained one in Gen 2, so is its backsprite really just its trunk? If so, hilarious.

5/10 congrats! you exist!

That’s the statement of the grave mint, Doublemint

I can’t decide if this was intended to be a pre-evo for ghastly or if it’s supposed to be a new ghost type (perhaps later replaced by misdreavus?). Either way it’s an interesting concept, and I can imagine the pokedex entry now: “Born from the souls of fetuses who were eaten in-utero by their siblings. Since they feel they were destined to be twins, they find each other shortly after death and fuse together so that they’ll never be alone again.”

7/10 not the most original design but damn we had a shortage of ghost types back in the day

Girafarig

Girafarig is one of those pokemon that I always wanted to be more competitively viable because I think it has a unique design and could fill a cool niche. I like that the final design has the tail as an evolutionary measure and that there’s a smaller brain in it, just like some real life creatures. That said, we really missed out on getting a face full of evil uniraffe in the backsprite. Man, this is a real tough choice.

7/10 let’s keep girafarig as is and try out this concept on a different mon

Smeargle

This version of him seems a bit more…simian than his final, kinda canine design. Not sure if I dig it. Also, have you noticed that Gen 2 felt obligated to have a ditto/mew type mon that could mimic all the other mons? I feel like this concept gets revisited every so often and GameFreak thinks we’re none the wiser.

5/10 flesh beret just isn’t okay

Coin Kitty

So I know I said I’m against baby pokemon on principle, but the fact that this thing never saw the light of day upsets me so much. It’s so. fucking. CUTE.

10/10 go back in time and replace skitty with this

Betty Boop’s best friend

I get the feeling that this dark type cat got recycled into the purrloin line, but this one is way cooler imo. It references the old adage of “belling the cat” and I think that this pokemon line could have had some really cool sound-based signature moves (sorta similar to the whismur or jangmo-o lines).

9/10 not feeling the bipedal thing, but still a really neat concept I’d like to see

Luna

Again, I love the idea of a pokemon based on a fable. I can see why this particular design didn’t get used, given how simple it is and how closely it resembles umbreon if you just glance at it, but I’d love to see this revisited.

7/10 spruce up the design a bit and get back to me

Politoed’s wild ride

So when I first met politoed I felt he was a bit too…cutesy? Like the rosy cheeks were a bit much. This guy feels a bit more like he belongs in the poliwag line, though he doesn’t look like he’d be as bouncy.

6/10 might replace existing politoed design, might not

Slowking

Though I prefer slowbro as my yadon evo of choice, slowking is pretty awesome in his own right. Not a big fan of the clown ruffle, but honestly it’s kind of a minor setback all things considered.

7/10 remember how he could randomly talk in the 2nd pokemon movie? That was fucked up.

Unknown

All of these cool, unsued beta designs, and this one gets to stay in?

1/10 don’t talk to me right now, GameFreak

Ledyba

It’s ledyba. One of the bug types I’m actually not really all that into. Pretty sure this is the sprite actually used in Gold.

4/10 fine just not for me

I see you

Ledian’s deal as a superhero is kinda cool, even if I don’t particularly care for the actual design. And I gotta say, it’s preferable to the ever-watching eyes of this thing. Those stars aren’t natural; they’re tattoos for each trainer its killed.

3/10 I feel like I need to go lie down

My Little Shetland Pony

Clearly this is intended to be a ponyta baby form, and while I commend the idea of a foal version (or maybe a Shetland or something?), you may notice that there is very, very little to set this pre-evo apart from ponyta. Like it and and rapidash aren’t exactly the most daring design-wise, so stripping it to the essentials doesn’t really work.

5/10 this is cute as all hell but it has no reason to exist

Espeon

Though I get shit all the time for liking espeon the least out of all the eeveelutions, I do still think the design is neat, and the fact that it draws from the nekomata myth is fascinating. Backsprite is a bit janky in the hips department–yet another unrealistic beauty standard, amirite ladies?

7/10 I personally don’t think there are any bad eeveelutions

Umbreon!

My absolute favorite Gen 2 pokemon! Not many changes between this and the final design, though I will say that this one looks a lot more terrifying–the hole eyes are worse than the red ones somehow. Still, love.

10/10 listen this is my personal rating

Alolan Shellder

This one is so fascinating to me. It’s obviously the chompy boi from slowbro and slowking, which in the pokedex is referred to as a shellder, but perhaps this is a unique evolution that only happens when it disconnects from the slowpoke? I am really upset this wasn’t actually used in the game, because getting to have this thing on the same team as slowpoke, slowbro, and slowking would have been like when Banjo-Tooie introduced the mechanic that let Banjo and Kazooie split up.

10/10 give me, dammit!

Garbage Pail Kid

Again with the baby form for a line that already is known for extremely simple designs. Grimer and muk are literally just piles of slime of differing sizes. (Shut up, Alolan forms weren’t a thing til later.) So basically this baby form is fucking adorable, and I’m loving the thing that could be a nose but I’m choosing to interpret as a mouth with a single tooth. It’s just that…who needs this?

7/10 cute, but not necessary by any stretch of imagination

Are ya feelin’ lucky, punk?

Okay, so this beta is a) way cooler than remoraid ended up being, and b) makes the evolution line make SO MUCH more sense. I can definitely see why it was changed, especially since censor-happy America was a legit market by that point. And I guess the revolver barrel part of the design still persisted in Gen 2, but still.

5/10 booo censorship!

TANK!

Octillary’s name also makes way more sense with the original tank design. I mean I can kinda see why this changed, but like…Digimon was over there with a creature in the anime just literally called Tankmon who shoots shells at elementary schoolers so I don’t fucking know.

7/10 I like octillary as is, but this is a much more interesting design

WWE fan

Okay so real talk, I am not the biggest fan of tyrogue’s design, but what was even going on here? What’s with the frog hat? Is it a safety helmet? The general hitmonlee body shape combined with the baby boxing gloves for hitmonchan was pretty cool, but this is not something I’d look at and think “Yes, this will grow up to be a humonoid fighting type.”

5/10 it’s…cute? I guess I just don’t see what’s going on here really

shaga;lsdkfhahdgajspd[f

NO. JUST NO. THERE ARE TOO MANY THINGS HAPPENING HERE, TOO MANY LIMBS, TOO MANY EYES, JUST NO. HITMONTOP ENDED UP BEING SILLY BUT AT LEAST IT WASN’T THIS MANGLED BODY HORROR NONSENSE.

0/10 for reminding me of claydol and my own mortality

Pupper

This is going to come as a surprise, but I’m glad they didn’t introduce a baby form of growlithe. The growlithe and arcanine line includes 2 of my top 3 pokemon ever and as cute as this is I don’t think it would fit aesthetically. It looks like a spaniel that doesn’t match the shisa vibe of the growlithe line. That said, I would love to see it as a first form for a different line of perhaps…ground type doggos?

9/10 please give us some floppy ear dog designs, GameFreak! new doggos!

Like, nya

I do think the hoppip line (except for the last evo) is pretty cute, and this one reminds me a bit of an in-training digimon so I’m liking it. That said, I think the designs we got were better.

6/10 cute but like existing hoppip

Gardnyar

Again, prefer Skiploom.

5/10 not a fan of the flower for some reason

Nyancat theme plays in the distance

So I like this better than jumpluff personally, even if the other is probably a more unique design.

5/10 jumpluff’s limbs bother me, but lbr I was never going to train one anyway

New this Easter

Mr. Mime, I think we can all agree, is an unsettling design. That’s its whole appeal, really. Mime Jr. is cute enough I guess, but this is a tiny clown egg that looks like it’s learning to ice skate for the first time!

6/10 get your derpy clown nose out of here, Mime Jr.

Agatha’s apprentice

Smoochum is…well, she is. She’s kinda cute, and I think I prefer the finished design to this one since it looks way too similar to grown up jynx. Plus it raises some uncomfortable questions about it being born with ganguro make-up and hair (in a style that looks like E4 Agatha’s for some reason). This smoochum looks like it’d be taken out to sit alone at the bar in the club while wearing booty shorts that read “Mama’s Lil’ Bitch” across the back.

4/10 this makes me uncomfortable, and the hair is too close to Agatha’s

Which way to the Chao Garden?

Elekid is one of few baby pokemon I like, but hot damn this thing is adorable. It looks like a tiny, wingless bee with a halo.

7/10 can this be recycled as something else?

Bart Simpson

Really what keeps me from fully embracing the magmar line is largely the fact that they all have butts on their heads. These spikes are way more appealing to me, and so I would have loved having this one in the game.

8/10 is it still too late to redesign magby?

Bellossom

Not too many changes from the beta. I am digging the shoujo sparkles going on around her, haha.

6/10 not a big bellossom fan but a well-design pokemon nonetheless

Audrey III

Nope, I don’t like this, no sir. Where would this even go in the evo line? Is it supposed to be an alternative to victreebel? Cause this isn’t much better, guys.

1/10 I will give it one point since it looks like it could cut a rug on the dance floor

Miltank

A good, solid pokemon I’m pretty fond of (once I got over my salt from the Whitney battle). I like her as a female counterpart to tauros. Nothing too astounding but still fun and cute.

8/10

Fire Seal

I feel like there’s folklore here, but my tired brain isn’t coming up with anything at the moment, sadly. Not a really detailed design but those tend to be more my favorites anyway. Trying to figure out what this was replaced by in the final game but I’m having a tough time figuring it out.

7/10 we have a lot of seals, but this is the only FIRE seal

Delibird

I see we chose the path with more subtlety in the end.

4/10 not really a big fan of delibird

Hanshin Hopeful

Okay, I know I said earlier that the screaming pile of goo was my favorite, but this line is also my favorite out of these beta designs. This one upsets me because this would have been such a great cultural addition! Osaka (represented by Goldinrod City in the games) has a baseball team called the Hanshin Tigers, which everyone in the area is a fervent fan of. Not only is this unbearably cute, it could have been hanging out in like a little baseball stadium area or something in or around Goldinrod.

10/10 how could you leave this out?!

Nandeyanen!!

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Why did I not get this?! The Akihabara of Osaka is even called “DenDen Town” (Electric Town)!

10/10 we’ve missed our chance and now amends cannot be made

Talk to the wing

Is this supposed to be a farfetch’d evolution?! It doesn’t make a ton of sense aside from the waterfowl connection, but like…how pissed would you be if you were farfetch’d? This is kinda cool. I’m not super into swans or anything, but the masquerade/crime fighter mask is a neat detail.

5/10 I could see this being used interestingly, even if I’d probably not use it

Hitori Kakurenbou

I love this concept. Look at this! I know it was basically recycled for shuppet’s line, but this is so much more hardcore. Now this is a pokemon that can use curse appropriately.

10/10 personally like this one better than shuppet, if I’m being honest

Hsien-ko

This is the most Chinese pokemon since arcanine, oh my god. It’s a panda jiangshi. A panda jiangshi! Imagine it hopping after you adorably, ready to leech life you to death.

9/10 it’s not as cute as the pre-evolution, but still–panda jiangshi!!!

Murkrow

Not a lot of changes going on here either, aside from the more obvious witch’s hat design. Unsure if I like this one better or regular murkrow.

7/10 good flappy friend

*uncomfortable cough*

Blissey’s design is a bit too busy and frilly for my tastes, but it’s certainly a lot more acceptable than this. I get what they were going for: a heart on top of its head to represent healing and whatnot, but it just came out so…so yonic in nature that I have to wonder about the person responsible for this design.

1/10 not entirely awful but good lord

Scisor

Here’s the boi, only this time with eyes on his little crab claws! It’s cute but later got used for hydregion instead, and I dunno, I kind of prefer scisor as is. Still think scyther looks cooler, but a good strudy boi.

6/10 for the puppet shows it could give to entertain all the baby forms on this sprite sheet

Pinsir Noh Pinching

Here’s your fave, anon! You’re right that it seems to have a blank Noh-like mask on its face, as if a huge pinching bug wasn’t terrifying enough for you. That said, I kind of like the really creepy vibe, and poor pinsir got left in the dirt by his rival scyther once Gen 2 hit and gave scyther an evolution but nothing for his clampy comrade.

6/10 we could still get a pinsir evolution, guys

Houndour!

As you might expect of me, the houndour line is a close second to umbreon for Jess’s Favorite Gen 2 Pokemon. It combines two types I love, fire and dark, into this edgy but adorable package–what could I not love about it? This design is actually even better than the final one, because look at that sick-ass spine highlighting the ribs that got left in!

10/10 you cannot half ass edge; that misses the point

Houndoom!

Houndoom, meanwhile, looks pretty much as I remember him in Gold. And there’s nothing wrong with that–his design is fucking amazing. Man, kids, back in the metagame in Gen 2, houndoom was firmly in the top tier. Ah, I remember those days…

10/10 like a shark, houndoom has passed through decades without major tinkering to its evolutionary design

Baby yeti

Long before froslass burst onto the scene, this little bundle of deceptively charming horror could have been the first ice/ghost type. Yes, yes, it’s very adorable upon initial inspection, but once you look a bit deeper, you notice that the pokemon itself is actually black as night, with two piercing Jawa eyes, and the happy fur coat is another creature that’s been skinned and put on like a hoodie. Amazing.

10/10 I’ll take four

Wampa

I started on Star Wars references in the last entry and I gotta keep it going. Anyway, the evolution of tiny, arctic Buffalo Bill up there is even more fearsome, with claws and pupils! It’s even somehow found a way to make its fur covering evolve with it, having it sprout huge fangs (yeah I know, adults probably hunt larger creatures for clothing, but let me have this).

10/10 this so should have been a thing

Pon de Lion

I wonder if perhaps this design was meant to be an alternate form or evolution of porygon, or if this was an entirely different species based on toys (presumably to pad out the number of steel types). It’s an interesting idea, certainly, but I 100% get why this design got scrapped–it was a lawsuit from Mr. Donut waiting to happen.

Ugh

Did you know that horses produce 10 gallons of saliva a day? I now do thanks to Nate quizzing us over vacation last weekend to see if we could tell the difference between real animals and pokemon based on factoids. Now, lickilicky was not a new evolution I embraced with open arms, but man, it could have been so much worse.

2/10 I can’t say there’s no appeal (that mustache is great) but it just looks slimy and no thanks

Steelix

It’s steelix, unchanged from this beta to the final game.

7/10 I just think it’s neat

Sunken Master

I would like kingdra so, so much more if this is what it looked like.

9/10 this is goddamn cool and no one can convince me otherwise

Shadow the Edgedog

I’m not gonna lie, I fucking love this stupid design. It’s an electric dog with super sayain hair.

10/10 fuck you, I do what I want

Oscar Myer

Do I find this design cute? Yes. Do I personally like it more than entei’s? Yes. Do I think it’s a better design than entei? No. It’s a bit too plain to really give off that legendary feel, but for me? I’d totally take this in a game. Also at least the last two have actually looked like dogs. The Legendary “Dogs” we got were a tiger, a lion/bear hybrid, and whatever the hell suicune is supposed to be.

8/10 I am a simple woman with simple needs

Jen Kira

I see people likening this design to Nina Tucker, but I actually don’t see that. It looks more to me like a special edition My Little Pony toy from the 80s released to promote The Dark Crystal. I dig it, even if it’s my least favorite of the three OG doggos.

8/10 if only some of the pizzazz of this design was afforded to fiery boi up there and we’d be onto something

Rook

This weasel/otter type thing is really cute, and perhaps was a concept idea for what later became sentret? I’d say I would want to see it again, but I kind of get the feeling we already did get the concept revived in the mienfoo line.

6/10 glad we got to see this one again

Ho-oh

Doesn’t seem too different from the sprite in the final game, and still a good design. That said though, I’m noticing that there’s no lugia in these beta sprites. What the fuck is that?!

7/10 got bros over this ho(-oh)

Togepi

This little bugger was introduced so early in the anime that I’m not surprised that its design was firmed up by the time the demo came out. Togepi’s okay I guess, but again I don’t really tend to like baby pokemon and I got kind of over-exposed to it in the anime.

6/10 cute but not a fave

Snubble

SNUB PARTY!! Snubs has the dubious honor of being the only dog pokemon I actively dislike. I like granbull so I can put up with it temporarily to get it to evolve, but this does a lot of things on my Dislike Checklist: aggressively pink, check; clown ruffle, check; appears to be wearing a dress, check.

4/10 not a fan

Boscoe

This early version of aipom looks like Marsupilami if it had been created by the Fleischer brothers. Something about this design just isn’t Right, but I can’t put my finger on it. I think it’s the 1930s American animation style face combined with walking on all fours? Either way it creeps me out.

3/10 though aipom is a very middle-of-the-road pokemon for me, it’s a helluva lot better than this abomination

Leafeon Prime

If you had asked us kid pokemon fans back in the days of Gen I what pokemon we’d most like to see in the future, I imagine “grass type eeveelution” was near the top for many of them. It just made sense–you had the leaf stone just sitting around, not reacting to your eevee, and it was so blatantly conspicuous. I had my own grass type eeveelution design I’d made called “Thorneon”, the design of which I might share at some point, and I was far from the only one.

So yeah, I’d have appreciated this a LOT in Gen 2. I was disappointed it wasn’t introduced in Gen 2. However, promises of a grass type eeveelution in Gen 4 got me to finally pull the trigger on getting a DS to play Diamond and Pearl, and that turned out to be an execellent decision. So maybe it was better that they kept this idea incubating for a bit longer.

10/10 I like leafeon and I also like this design–particularly like the vine bits that look like scars

And so there you have it! All 100 beta sprites reveiwed by yours truly.

Hope it was worth the wait, anon!

#ask #anon #pokemon #gs beta #long post #opinions

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ladala99 · 5 years ago

Text

Pokemon Presents Reaction and Speculation

Video here if you want to watch it first.

Pokemon Smile

I am so far out of the target audience here. Yet another entry into the health series of games, though! Pokemon go (outside and walk), Pokemon Sleep, and now Pokemon Smile (after you brush your teeth).

But hey, kids might enjoy it!

Pokemon Cafe Mix

The artwork is really cute, and I’ll probably try the game when it comes out. Games that are puzzle-based tend not to be my thing, though, and free-to-play with Microtransactions never helps. At this point in the presentation I was like “yeah, this is going to have nothing for me, isn’t it?”

New Pokemon Snap

Pokemon’s own first person shooter gets a new entry for the first time in over 20 years!

I didn’t grow up with Snap. I was a Playstation kid, not an N64 kid. But it seems like it was a fun game. I don’t think I’ve seen a game quite like it.

Unlike a lot of people, though, I’m not that impressed with the animation. Yeah, new animations is nice, but the way the Pokemon move still doesn’t look quite natural. They move stiffly and turn abruptly, and this is especially obvious watching the Brione and Primarina swim. Let alone Pikachu eating the apple and it very suddenly changes states.

Some stuff looks good, like Blastoise eating an apple or Pidgeot grabbing that Magikarp, but other stuff could be better. If this was a game where these events happen in the background, this would be acceptable and even better-than-average. But it’s not. It’s a game entirely based around taking pictures and focusing on these events, which are pre-programmed if it’s anything like the original.

That’s not to say I don’t like it or won’t be getting it. I’ve just seen a lot of current-gen and even past-gen games that make their creatures look like they actually exist in the world way better than this one does.

Pokemon GO stuff

It’s mostly just telling us stuff that’s been in the game for a bit. Megas are pretty exciting, though. I’m looking forwards to seeing how that ends up working.

And the Galarian Farfetch’d is a very nice event, since Farfetch’d is an Asia-exclusive regional normally, and I was worried the Galar version would be equally limited, especially as it has an evolution.

Sword and Shield

Expansion pass coming out today, so I’m looking forward to seeing the list of Pokemon that have been added (mostly to see if Minun is in that list). The way the Zeraora event is going down is also very cool.

Other than that, I don’t have Sword or Shield as of right now, so I can’t say much about it. But Isle of Armor release is one of the times I’m allowing myself to reevaluate if I want to buy it (if it ends up making it worth $90, which is a tall order).

Another Announcement Next Week?

That’s certainly exciting. It’s Pokemon Company, not GameFreak, so I can’t say it’ll be main series, but perhaps the background contains clues?

Top shelf we have Politoed/Sudowoodo/Ampharos, can’t quite tell what’s in the middle aside form the Galar starters.

Middle shelf we have a Sandshrew and an Alola Sandshrew, both unpainted, Ho-Oh/Lugia/Lapras/Mewtwo/Typhlosian/Feraligatr/Entei/Raikou/Suicune, a Slowpoke and a Lapras.

Bottom shelf has Detective Pikachu merch, Umbreon/Eevee/Espeon, and on the sides a regular and a black Pikachu.

Black Pikachu? Is this a BLM thing, or something else? There’s also a disproportionately large number of Johto-region Pokemon hanging around.

I don’t think it’s a new main-series game, though. The Crown Tundra isn’t out yet, and I really don’t think they’ll announce a new main-series game at least until that releases, if not a few months afterwards. So while many people are saying Let’s Go to Johto, I have my doubts.

Would a Shadow Pokemon game be a possibility? Well, I have my doubts on that too. Colosseum and XD don’t play that much differently from a main-series game, and being on the same system would cannibalize hype for Crown Tundra just as much if not more than Let’s Go to Johto would.

But what else would merit its own announcement?

Again, this is the Pokemon Company. They do more than just video games A movie would be a very real possibility, and the Detective Pikachu merch could be a hint towards that. Another live-action movie of the Detective Pikachu series (or in a similar vein) would be big enough to merit a standalone announcement.

So that’s my guess. Another live-action Pokemon movie, this time featuring many Pokemon from the Johto region, and a black Pikachu.

#pokemon

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crystalelemental · 7 years ago

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And now, every change in the tiers, with my personal opinions on how long it will last:

Gardevoir-Mega moved from OU to UU - Probably not that long, honestly. I don’t really see Mega Gardevoir not being a massive threat to lower tiers. While there are a lot of bulky things down there as well, I just feel like she is very much that in-between Pokemon that isn’t bad enough to be in lower tiers, but isn’t good enough to stay above either.

Jirachi moved from OU to UU - Approximately 10 minutes, give or take.

Machamp moved from NU to RU - Good.

Banette-Mega moved from UU to RU - EXCELLENT

Moltres moved from BL3 to RU - Probably wise? Moltres could be great, if it didn’t have to rely on shit accuracy all the time.

Kingdra moved from BL3 to OU - Again, good. It’s terrific in Rain.

Nihilego moved from OU to UU - THANK YOU GOD, shame it’s going to be either suspect tested or quickbanned. Xurkitree was in a similar boat, and it’s gone. Nihilego will not be long for this tier, I fear.

Mantine moved from RU to UU - Good for Mantine.

Gallade-Mega moved from OU to UU - If not at the same time as Jirachi, shortly after. Base 110 speed is far more significant, it’s way stronger and has better offensive options. If Mega Gallade stays UU, I will be stunned.

Tornadus moved from UU to RU - Oh wait, the regular one. Yeah, that makes sense.

Hawlucha moved from UU to OU - Alright, I can get behind this. Will either stay there as it turns out to have use, or drop right back down too UU based on usage next time.

Ampharos-Mega moved from OU to UU - Fair. This is where Ampharos used to be, so it makes sense it would return.

Latias-Mega moved from OU to UU - Now this...this I am unsure of. On the one hand, I do wonder if the bulk is too extreme on the Mega. On the other, Gardevoir is down here, and is going to overshadow this by a LOT. I think Gardevoir would go first, but Mega Latias may not be far behind.

Manaphy moved from BL to OU - Again, fair. I think Manaphy’s good enough for it.

Heracross-Mega moved from OU to UU - I’m not saying it doesn’t work, but I am saying I am afraid. Thank god we have Mega Gardevoir...

Drapion moved from NU to RU - I’m going to miss Drapion on that NU team I ran 3 times. It does have a solid typing, and some pretty good tools, so it’ll probably do okay.

Abomasnow-Mega moved from UU to RU - See you in NU next round, buddy.

Decidueye moved from UU to RU - You know, I just found out Decidueye was UU by usage today, and was surprised. Apparently, so was everyone else.

Meloetta moved from BL3 to RU - Fair. I think Meloetta performs well above her tier, so this makes sense to me.

Dragonite moved from BL to OU - Dragonite was below OU? Surprising to me.

Absol-Mega moved from UU to RU - HELL YES. This is where Absol belongs. It is far too frail. The offensive presence and speed are amazing, but any wall can reasonably stop it. It belongs here.

Altaria-Mega moved from OU to UU - Okay, this I’m okay with. Mega Altaria’s stats aren’t that great, and it has a lot it can do and wants to do, but can’t do them all. Because it has to pick, I think it’s fine down here.

Ninetales-Alola moved from UU to OU - I can see this. Aurora Veil, good speed, and starting Hail is a really good niche. I wish regular Ninetales has a niche like this...

Quagsire moved from NU to RU - Again, fair. Unaware is a really good ability, and it only has Grass coverage to fear. Quagsire is good.

Froslass moved from RU to NU - Again, probably fair. Froslass has like no power behind its attacks, and Spin-blocking with Spikes is not a sufficient niche.

Smeargle moved from OU to UU - I think this makes sense. Smeargle has a lot of utility, but isn’t that threatening once you know what it’s doing. It’s not even that fast. Everyone knows what Smeargle does and is ready for it. UU seems fine.

Manectric-Mega moved from OU to UU - NO NO NO NO NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY TIER. The worst part is it might stay. Krookodile with Moxie doesn’t fear it at all, and is pretty strong in UU. Going to get stronger with Nihilego around. God, this sucks...

Camerupt-Mega moved from UU to RU - It was NU last gen, wasn’t it? While it seems to have a niche in OU, the drop doesn’t surprise me. It really does have trouble outside of Trick Room.

Heracross moved from BL2 to UU - I feel bad for Mega Heracross. It’s always sad when the mega inhabits the same tier as the base form.

Nidoqueen moved from UU to RU - Surprising. I don’t know why, but surprising. Nidoking probably works better, with higher offense and speed, but Nidoqueen can work just as well. Probably because it runs bulk sometimes. I dunno, surprised about it, but probably will stick.

Audino-Mega moved from RU to NU - No surprise here. Have fun, Mega Audino.

Hoopa-Unbound moved from OU to UU - Oh god, poor UU. This isn’t going to last. It’s so strong, it’ll break everything down here no sweat. Good luck, UU.

Rotom-Wash moved from OU to UU - You know how I keep complaining about Scizor being UU, even though it kinda fits in now? Rotom-W is the same deal. I cannot fathom how this happened. It’s always been an OU staple, for as long as I can remember. Seeing it in UU disgusts me, but I can’t say it’s not going to fit in down here. Just...disappointed.

Tsareena moved from UU to RU - Now THIS is excellent. I’m saddened that this is where Tsareena belongs, but it is. I wish Tsareena had better stats. I wish it had the tools to just smash the game beneath her fabulous heels. But she doesn’t. And until they fix that shit, this is where she belongs. Because GameFreak hates Grass types.

Zygarde-10% moved from UU to RU - I don’t know enough, but it sounds like Zy-pupper doesn’t have enough power behind it to be much threat, similar to Mega Absol. So this probably makes sense.

#pokemon #smogon

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thewidowstanton · 7 years ago

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Keaton Hentoff-Killian, tight wire, Chinese pole and hoop-diving artist, Circa ensemble

American circus artist Keaton Hentoff-Killian, who comes from St Louis, Missouri, was born into a circus family with an illustrious background. His mother is Jessica Hentoff, who founded the St Louis Arches youth circus performance troupe and Circus Harmony, and is a founding member of The Big Apple Circus and Circus Flora. His grandfather was Nat Hentoff, the renowned jazz critic and historian.

Keaton attended the National Circus School in Montreal and graduated in 2016, having specialised in tight wire. He has performed with numerous companies including Circus Flora, 45 Degrees/Cirque du Soleil at the 2015 Pan American Games opening ceremonies, Circus Harmony and Le Fabuleux Cirque Jean Coutu. He joined the leading Australian troupe, Circa, as an ensemble member in 2016 and now heads to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with its show Humans, which runs from 4-26 August at the Underbelly’s Circus Hub on The Meadows. Keaton chats to Liz Arratoon.

The Widow Stanton: Tell us about your family. Keaton Hentoff-Killian: My mum [pictured below] started circus when she was in college. She became a trapeze artist there and toured professionally with American circuses until she was in her mid-thirties. Then she started her own circus in St Louis, where she did a youth circus. I started there. My dad’s an electrician. He actually did the lights on one of mum’s shows and that’s how they met. I have three older sisters and one little brother. My youngest older sister, Elliana, is in the circus and is an aerialist, and my brother, Kellin, is a juggler.

You started circus at a month old. What were you doing onstage at that age? [Dryly] I was playing the baby…

[Laughs] Well done! Thank you. I was on top of elephants and horses and getting tossed around, all that old-school circus stuff.

When were you first aware of being in the circus? I don’t know… circus has been part of my life forever. When I was three or four I was onstage but I was so tired I just lay down and went to sleep. That kind of stuff would happen on a regular basis because, you know, when you grow up onstage you don’t know the difference all the time.

And what was it like having such a famous grandfather? I didn’t know he was famous until a couple of years ago. I knew he was a writer and everything but I had never read one of his books. I didn’t really do any research; he was just my grandfather. Then I was at his apartment in New York and there was a photo of him and John Lennon and I kind of froze. I was like, ‘I know that guy. How did that happen?��, and then I found out. I actually just finished a book of his, Listen to the Stories, yesterday. It’s really great!

Was his apartment completely filled with records? Records and books to the ceiling. He passed away just a couple of months ago, and we had to start cleaning out his apartments. He had two and one was just to the ceiling stacked with books; it was ridiculous.

Being born into the circus, was it inevitable that you would make it your career? Really I was just grasping at anything normal. It seemed almost forced upon me, the circus life. There wasn’t really any way around it and I just kind of tried to hold on to anything other than circus. I really like to read and be around books and spend time at the library so a librarian seemed like a natural job choice for me… but here I am onstage.

Here you are. What pushed you back to circus? I have a very competitive nature and growing up I had a couple of friends in the youth circus with me; I’d known them for years. They were older than I was and they’d gone off to a circus college. That really kind of sparked a little fire in me and I decided to give it a shot as well.

Why did you choose tight wire at Montreal? I didn’t choose it, actually [laughs]. Up in Montreal you have four-day audition at the school. On the last day they try you out on a couple of different disciplines. They tried me out on five, one of which was tight-wire. One of the coaches thought I’d be really good at it. I’d never really done it before; I could walk forwards and backwards, you know, do the basics, but that just came from youth circus. He was one of the jury members and decided that he wanted me on tight wire and I wanted to go to the school, so I decided to give it a shot and spent four years training. I did Chinese pole and Chinese hoops as complementary disciplines.

Were you happy with that choice or might you have liked to be an aerialist or…? When I started the school I wanted to do duo trapeze as a porter but I’m quite small so it doesn’t really work out unless there’s a flyer smaller than I am and there wasn’t. Tight wire was one of the disciplines I knew I wasn’t going to be able to learn anywhere else and I thought I might as well learn something I couldn’t learn in the future. The complementary disciplines were just fun things to do on the side, so yeah, overall I was happy.

What’s the hardest move you learnt on tight wire? That would have to be the back tuck. This is a trick I wanted to do the first time I stepped on a wire at École National de Cirque (ENC) and it took me until the end of my second year to confidently throw it on a 6ft-high wire. It took another year to be sure enough to put it into a performance.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start it? I think most people who want to start see how far along other people are skill-wise and get a bit discouraged, but with absolutely everything in life circus just takes passion and dedication. Also not limiting yourself to just circus is critical in what this art form is becoming. Familiarise yourself with dance, acting and other forms of art and it will help you understand and love circus so much more.

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How intense was your training in Montreal? I've heard they push you quite hard… Yeah [laughs]. ENC is one of the most prestigious circus schools and they really like to keep that title, I think. They definitely push the students as hard as they can to really get the best out of us. But I think as well all the students going to the school want to get pushed that hard. They’re there for a reason, they’re there to be the best so it’s not undesired stress or unwanted aggression from the coaches; it’s really coming from both the coaches and the students to get pushed that hard.

How did you then come across Circa? I saw one of their shows, Beyond, while I was at school in Montreal, and I really liked their style. I liked that all of the artists were used throughout the show, that there was a lot of personality. They weren’t over-performing anything. Later I saw their show Carnival of the Animals. I have a friend, Tim Fyffe, who is also in the company, who graduated with me, and he was talking about how he sent some stuff in to creative director Yaron Lifschitz and was talking to them. I asked for the contact information and sent my stuff in as well. Tim and his porter, Seppe Van Looveren, joined the company a couple of months after I did when we finished school.

Has Circa managed to fit your disciplines into a show yet? Tight wire hasn’t been in many Circa show recently but I got to do it in the outdoor show Depart that we did in England just a month or so ago, which was really nice. We were rigged up between two trees overlooking a lake when the sun was going down, it was beautiful. It was really great fun.

Was that your first outdoor show? Professionally yes, but growing up in the circus we used to perform all over the place. I performed in front of symphony orchestras, outdoors, indoors… under a ceiling that couldn’t even hold a two-high, once in a cave… it was crazy.

How did it all work with going to regular school? Actually I was home-schooled so that helped quite a bit. My mum was my school teacher, my circus coach and my mother, which at times was quite draining and difficult, but we managed to get through it all and now she’s just my mum.

Have you spent much time in Brisbane or has it all been travelling? Yes, I’ve spent quite a lot of time there. After I joined the company I spent three weeks creating a show called Reclaimed Pianos and another week creating a show called 31 Circus Acts in 30 Minutes, which is a Circa show that had already been done. Then I spent a couple of months touring those shows, plus Carnival of the Animals, then came back to Brisbane, learnt What Will Have Been, toured that, came back to Brisbane, spent three weeks creating Humans, which we’re doing now in Antwerp, came back to Brisbane spent a couple more weeks creating One Beautiful Thing, toured that, came back to Brisbane to train What Will Have Been before going on this mega-tour.

Is it still Lauren Herley and Daniel O’Brien in What Will Have Been? Yes. I was hired to be the third member of that show and it’s definitely one of my favourites. We’ll be starting it again in October.

And One Beautiful Thing, that was with the Indian artists, wasn’t it? Yes, the Mallakhamb acrobats.

Were their poles anything like Chinese pole for you? Oh, we tried it out, but that is tough. I had a couple of classes with them on it, but it’s almost the opposite. For us we want as much padding and clothing on as possible on our poles because they’re quite sticky and rigid and can rip your skin. Their poles are very slide-y and you want as much skin contact as possible on them. The shape’s a bit different but the root of the technique is quite similar.

So what can you tell us about Humans? I was on the creation of Humans and the whole concept of the show was to get us, the artists, to really showcase who we are onstage together, what we can make and really push the boundaries of what we can handle onstage. So there’s definitely a lot of demanding scenes and acrobatics that are quite intense for us. But it’s really hard to explain this show as a whole. I guess Yaron was trying to express the freedom we have as artists to create and let us really put something together that showcases who we are as acrobats and artists, while still coming in and shaping the show into something incredible.

Have you had any mishaps onstage? I threw my back out while we were in Romania doing Opus, during the show.

Did you have to kind of crawl off? No, [laughs] I finished the show. It was a bit difficult because I couldn’t bend forwards, but backwards was OK. You just kind of power through it and let the adrenaline run but then after the show I had to lie down.

Do you enjoy Circa’s way of involving the artists in the creation? I think it’s one of the largest draws for acrobats to Circa, to be able to have that freedom in what we do. Every night in the shows we’re allowed to change up the scenes if we like, we’re allowed to do new tricks and completely change an act for what we think would work better. They are very allowing in that aspect, which is really incredible. Not a lot of companies give you that freedom.

You’ve worked with Cirque du Soleil, who are stricter… I did opening ceremonies in Toronto for the Pan American Games with them – it’s a subset of Cirque du Soleil – and for that everything was on counts. I had to know the music exactly, I had to hit every beat, there were cameras that I had to face… That was one of the most stressful things I think I’ve ever done. I had to repeat the same actions every single night. It takes a different kind of mentality to do that. In my opinion it’s more of a gymnast mentality, but at the same time I have great friends in the shows who are amazing artists. It’s a different world.

Do you have any hopes or ambitions for the future? About a week or two ago I hit my one-year mark with Circa so I have another year on my contract. After that I have no plans. I really enjoy the company and the way it’s set up, and how I get to do different shows and how I’m not stuck doing the same routine quite often. So if I sign for another two years it’s not like I’m signing into the same show for another two years; I’m signing in to five new creations and a world tour or a plethora of different opportunities, so I’m quite happy staying on with this company and seeing where it takes me. If not, I really have no clue.

In the long term might you like to follow your mum into social circus? Yeah, so when I finish performing I hope to take over my mum’s circus, Circus Harmony, in St Louis, or start my own wherever I end up. If I have a family, wherever they are, but that’s down the line. I hope to perform into my thirties if possible.

Did you come across Rudi Mineur at Circa? He proved that you can go on and on… Yes, but Rudi is a machine. He’s something else. I’ve met him and he’s stronger than I think I’ll ever be. That man is incredible.

Can you pick out a couple of career highlights so far? Circa is the first company I worked for professionally out of school and it’s also the first time I went to Europe and the first time I went to Australia. So every time I get off the plane and I’m in a new city or country it’s a huge rush to me. Every time I step onstage somewhere different, in a different atmosphere, it’s again nothing I’ve ever experienced, so right now, every time we change a city I get flooded with new experiences and new moments that I’ve never had before, so it’s hard to pinpoint a real visceral favourite moment.

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Keaton will appear in Circa’s show Humans from 4-26 August at the Underbelly’s Circus Hub on The Meadows during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Picture credits: Jessica Hentoff, Circus Harmony; Depart, Tristram Kenton; One Beautiful Thing, Jeff Busby; Humans, Pedro Greig

For tickets to Humans, click here

More Circa tour dates

Keaton on Facebook

Twitter: @CircaPresents @circusharmony @FollowTheCow

Follow @TheWidowStanton on Twitter

Read our interviews with tight-wire artists Lucas Bergandi and Hanna Moisala

#keaton hentoff-killian #jessica hentoff #nat hentoff #circa circus #tight wire #circus harmony #ecole national du cirque #humans #edinburgh festival fringe #Underbelly Circus Hub #lauren herley #Daniel O'Brien

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tumblunni · 7 years ago

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More minor thoughts and things for the Dragon Mom Game! Its not super developed yet, but I’m thinking more on what sort of gameplay it should have. And can i just say THANK YOU SO MUCH for the positive reponse on this idea!! I’ve never got 8 notes on one of my dumb idea posts before!! Usually at best I just get 2 likes by my close friends, lol

* I’m still having trouble settling on a design for the main character species, I’m even not sure anymore if I want it to be an insectile dragon or just a complete dragon or just a complete insect or a dragon or insect mixed with something entirely else AAAAA And even just amoung the different cool caterpillars i was inspired by, I can’t decide!! * So i definately think I’m gonna go with the idea of a magically evolving species with a big ol skill tree of player choices. Even if it makes no sense! But i mean, dragons can do anything! XD So maybe your various skills and stuff could also give you appearance traits of all different cute and cool insects! BUNNI NEVER HAS TO CHOOSE EVER AGAIN

(post is getting long so more under the cut)

* Relatedly, I’m wondering whether I should give the player a ‘respec’ option? Cos.. I mean.. it would be even more immersion breaking if you could de-evolve at will, I think. it at least could make some internal sense in-universe if we say that evolving is a natural part of this creature’s life cycle. And it would seem a bit overpowered if they could freely discard and re-evolve whenever they felt like it. You could just defeat any problem you encountered, and not even have to worry about making a skillset that functions well at everything necessary to survive. BUT on the other hand, permenant choices in a skill tree with a lot of options can be a big problem depending on how much the player gets to know about each option beforehand, yknow? It sucks when you play a game and you find out you have to start all over when you;’re six hours into it, cos you somehow screwed yourself over with one bad choice and had NO WARNING. I’ve been recently playing the (very fun!) remake of Sonny for steam, and in that game every boss is so wildly different that you often have to respec your entire build to find a way to beat them. Which works well with how its basically a giant boss rush game where grinding is optional and respeccing is available whenever you want for a small amount of ingame currency. The no-respecs achievement is possibly the most difficult one! So yeah, I’m kinda worried I’d accidentally create a game like that, even though this genre doesn’t work as well with that level of difficulty. But also infinate respecs don’t work for this genre either... So I’m thinking maybe respeccing WOULD be possible, but it would be in a very limited quantity and you’d have to go through some hidden sidequest to get it. Maybe there’s one special plant that causes these dragons to reset to their basic state? And maybe it could have a cost, like it makes them very sick so you sleep through like a week or something. Or your stats are lowered for a few days, or your overall lifespan is decreased? I’ll have to think more about balancing it well!

* I’ve been thinking more and the cache-based gameplay could really be really cool as the primary form of challenge in the early stages. Your biggest obstacle is knowing that food and materials can expire, and that your ability to carry things is limited, and that you only have a certain amount of time each day to go around and then find your way back to a safe shelter to sleep. At first you might be quite desperate, eating everything you find as soon as you find it, and only being able to venture out a little way away from your nest. But then you start building cache locations and temporary shelters around the world, allowing you to move further and even be able to slowly carry some rare distant item back all the way to your main nest. The epic three week quest to move a single log! Being dragonmom is suffering! XD But it could be really rewarding to see that early difficulty be flushed down the toilet as you develop your skills, opening up the world and presenting new challenges to replace it! * And there could even maybe be multiple ways to solve the problem! This could be the first opportunity to make the choice between being a herbivore or carnivore, carnivore would be adapting more towards the ‘eat it now, constantly be searching for new food’ play style. You’d be stuck living within that limitation forever, escaping it just through becoming way better at dealing with it. You get a food source that’s basically everywhere, and gives you more nutrition, you turn the terrifying enemy predators into nosh and get to feel the ultimate catharsis of dooooom~! And you can become powerful enough to carry more stuff, and to affect the environment more and create shortcuts, and you need to worry less about finding a perfect shelter cos you have less enemies and you’re more hardy against the weather.

* Thoughts about the basic animal language system! I’m wondering about what sort of symbols it could use? Like, maybe it could just be intuitive pics of items and lil stick figure dragons and stuff. Here’s a few examples of default rpgmaker MV icons:

(tho these were some of the only ones useful for a dragon game so I’ll have to make my own) Alternatively, they could be like actual runes or heiroglyphs or made up fantasy letters. I tried googling around for something similar from a game, and all I could find was this thing thats apparantly from Spyro Skylanders? The disadvantage of that system is that it’d be less instantly intuitive what symbol means what. But that might even work to its advantage, cos it encourages the player to get started memorizing all the symbols instead of being complacent that everything will always be obvious. I wanna ease them into the puzzles, but I still do want there to be puzzles, yknow? i just think it would be a very cool concept! Oh, and of course having it look like a real language makes it feel like a real language. Woo! But maybe it could put more emphasis on the unusual nature of the language if its more pictoral? I DUNNO!! I’m bad at choices!! I’ll just have to work hard to make some endearing lil dragon doodles of what everything looks like to them. Thats the best compromise!

* oh!! A cool and unusual idea for one of the evolution skill branches!! Maybe you could take deliberate penalty devolutions? Maybe picking one of them gives you extra skill points to spend on others, or maybe its like.. sacrificing the ability to learn a new skill in favour of some additional stat boosts instead. And maybe even certain penalty evolutions could lead off into a longer tree of penalties with an unexpected bonus at the end! i was thinking a good one of these could be the ability to lose your sight. It could lead to boosters to all your other senses, and even the ability to eventually gain some sort of complicated telepathy sense that’s even better than eyes! Gotta put up with a while of waiting though. oh, and cos you’’re like a buggy dragon thing, maybe eye evolution would be Lots! Evolved eye! evolved eye! evolved eye! evolved eye! next evolution: eye!! achievement unlocked: spider. Oh, and actually the placement and type of eyes could adjust depending on what other evolution route you’re on! Thats be a cute bit of aesthetic. or maybe you could just choose the eyes regardless of what bug you are, and make the google eyed moth of your dreams~! It could be more tricky to make a fully customizeable character model though, rather than just a bunch of regular bugs. I mean, this is gonna be a pixelart game, its not like Spore with its big ol animation engine for all kinds of crazy leg combinations.. RANDOM THOUGHT! a dragon with eyes all down the sides of its body would be mega scary. maybe that could be part of the herbivore side evolutions? Realistically, scary appearances are more common for non-scary animals that evolve them to frighten off predators. Lots of caterpillars are actually kinda body horror disturbing looking, I cant stop being scared by the one with the huge swollen head with an optical illusion to look like a snake. It even manages to scare the predators of the predators of its predators! O_O Also actually having eyes all over your body instead of just markings would probably be really useful for spotting all those enemies. Spooky baby is the biggest fraidy cat ever!

* If I go with the idea of you gathering more children as the game goes on, then it could be cool to have all sorts of different sidequests to find the different eggs. Like maybe you can’t adopt the egg of a snow dragon unless you relocate your nest to a colder area where it could grow up healthy. Tho it’d suck if the game was forever limited that way and you had to leave your kids alone in various areas around the world or else they Die. So maybe its just for while the kid is a newborn, or maybe its that you have to nurse the egg in a certain environment in order to hatch it. i’m gonna say for the sake of gameplay conveinience that these magical dragons can just go into stasis in their eggs and survive forever, only hatching when they get their daily dose of mom hugs. Cos it would kinda suck if you had to make the decision IMMEDIATELY when you find an egg, especially if the eggs required certain things in order to be hatched. It would be super tragic to find this baby struggling to live and then you have to watch the egg go cold and die just cos you didn’t progress your stats fast enough. Magic eternal eggs is the best solution! Actually, maybe that could even be a good plot for a super rare egg you could unlock! You could find an ancient dragon species that was thought long extinct, and then get to raise a cute lil fossil son. Could be funny if they’re like an ancient megafauna version of your species! ‘My son iz larj but i luv heem’ He could carry the rest of his siblings around :3 Oh and maybe one of then could actually be an older child that you adopted after you found it cold and shivering next to its dead mother. It could be after you defeat some big boss, and find out that you were too late to save this poor fellow dragomom :( So then maybe that kid would start off more distrusting and disobedient at first, but to make up for it they’re already a fairly high level with some skills already. And maybe your choice of name for them would be limited at first, and then you can rename them properly once you finally win them over. You only get to choose one symbol at first, the kid is automatically named like.. Other [name]. Otherleaf, my smol untrusting beb!

* A SUPER SAD POSSIBLE IDEA Maybe there’s a small chance of finding the ghost of your kids when they die? There could be some sort of super mysterious and spiritual part of the forest that you can explore later on in the game, and there’s a random event to find a little baby shade in the fog that seems to remember you. And you can bring them home and its just like they never died, except they look a little spooky and they can only appear when the sun goes down. So you might wanna evolve the nocturnal skill so you can be with them. oh, and maybe when you get them back their name would change? Adds or replaces part of the symbols. they become Empty-[name]. And they can never grow up :( But still, imagine this lil ghost puff all happily curled up in a big hug pile with all their siblings, after so long wandering lost and alone!

#dragon mom game

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