#pmd liveblog

[heaven-dope]

guess who!!

[misterradio]

[cresselia voice] you two should kill yourselves... now!!

[front-facing-pokemon]

[pyromaniac-cyndaquil]

*patrick star voice* now I'm gonna starve :(

[mosstardust]

I wish I didn't have the plot points of this game in my head. Some of them, at least. I remember something vaguely about the starting Beheeyem, but that's the extent of it.

Anyhow, the starting dungeon! It's definitely one of those. A good tutorial, if not for the whole type chart (I am a Mudkip in a Grass dungeon). Still great.

[acerikus]

Me: I'm halfway through Luigi's mansion 2 so I really should get back to it, but I also just started botw and kinda wanna enjoy that so I can eventually get totk, but I really should also try to play kena at some point since I started it and haven't used my ps5 in months, and I kinda wanna replay undertale and deltarune now I've factory reset my laptop, and-

Also me: haha pmd eos go brrrrrr

[dragonagesummer]

these are the same picture

[wild-battlebond]

dex says dedenne use radio waves to communicate… i wonder if it ever interrupts actual broadcasts?

[heaven-dope]

WHEN CAN I EVOLVE QUIN IS SO DOGSHIT LOOK AT THIS CLIENT WHO IS HALF HIS LEVEL AND HAS ALMOST AS MUCH HP...

[misterradio]

skittys sad sprite makes me want to scream just look at that

[onlyhereforghosttrick]

A painting- or at least, a photo of one.

There's a letter attached.

Dear Makoto,

How are you?

I'm sorry you had to miss out this year.

We got a Smeargle to take a little sketch of us to send to you instead, hope this makes you feel better.

He said that it'd be better if we were all fully in frame next time, but I don't know what he meant by that... We're all there, aren't we? Regardless, though.

I do hope Aigiel's getting better... I know you haven't gotten an update in a while, but I'm sure she's fine- the girl's taken a fair few falls, and gotten up anyways.

For new additions to the group this year, though...

Ephim finally convinced Minato to tag along. (I don't know what they're doing in the photo either, but I think some part of him was enjoying it too.)

A new pair- Safira and Higashi, bottom left of it. I gave talking to them a try, and they seemed familiar somehow nice. Apparently they helped stop the natural disasters of the air continent.

There's also Feysara, the Eevee girl- that's her talking to Auren on the right. She's polite, if a bit quiet at times. I have a feeling you'll like her.

Well, hope you're doing alright, partner.

Happy New Year. I'm glad we made it this far.

With love,

Minami

Well. Happy New Year!

This post has been set to go up at sometime in the afternoon/evening of the 31st, meaning this is some of this year's last hours.

So, I'd like to thank you while I still have time.

Thank you all for everything you've done for me, for being so friendly, for caring as much as you have- I don't think I'd be here without all of you.

Now, for some more fun stuff- I don't have refs or anything but I can at least give a lowdown on the picture.

Chronoconvergence is my current idea for a collective name for my PMD stuff, likely to be replaced once I think of something better, but it stands for now. ...I am still too lazy to update tags though.

As said in the letter, Ephim the Lucario is doing ...whatever that is with Minato (Bulbasaur) on the left, with Safira (Skitty) and Higashi (Wooper) talking with Minami (Grovyle, yes, The Grovyle PMD2) right below.

Taking center stage are Everus (Fraxure) and Spark (Ninetales), my Gates team, with Ephris (Mew) hovering close by alongside Serri (Celebi, again, yes, The Celebi PMD2). also nearby is Feysara standing far off to the right

Lastly, is one that might require a bit of explanation- Auren (Dusknoir, you know the drill) talking with... Feysara, the Eevee mentioned in the letter. Just one small problem. Feysara is someone else's name.

Well, Feys (as I've effectively renamed her) is the protagonist of the fic I've been trying to write for a while now called An Empty Reflection which is also meant to serve as the opening act to a grander story called New Future's Dawn. Her story is yet to be told, but I hope to do so soon!

I want to promise when my next big thing or whatever will be but really, I'm probably gonna end up liveblogging Vivid/Stasis Chapter 5 for a bit so I might be occupied with that. As this goes up, I'm probably just finishing up what is effectively meant to be me re-familiarizing myself with the game as a whole.

But just know that writing is not abandoned, and art is not abandoned, both just planned to be pushed to the side as I write this. I'm probably at least thinking of writing by the time you're reading this, so not all hope is lost.

And as a last note... This combination of characters being alive and such is not canon, even if we all (or at least I) wished otherwise. Well, Happy New Year. It's been a hell of a ride so far and I can only hope it gets better from here.

[eonveil]

eve . he/him . mid 20s . white . my wife ❤️

icon by tawnysoup! <3

recently moved from spyres

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

art blog . ko-fi . toyhouse

‪‪❤︎‬ i like pokemon (main series, pmd, and anime) a whole lot. it's my lifelong special interest.

‪‪❤︎‬ currently rewatching all the pokemon anime for the second time! i'm on johto league champions (season 4) right now.

‪‪❤︎‬ i'm working on an original pmd story called ties that bind and will post about my ocs a lot.

‪‪❤︎‬ my other most frequent interests are in stars and time, legend of zelda, hunter x hunter, and pinnipeds. there's other stuff as well but those are my main interests.

‪‪❤︎‬ i really love my wife.

‪‪❤︎‬ i'm a digital artist and my art blog is @primarinite! my art is f2u with credit as long as it's not commissioned (unless you are the commissioner), non-fandom or art of my ocs. reposting is fine as long as i'm asked first and credit is given.

‪‪❤︎‬ tags i use (subject to change, all of them except my pet tags are tagged on this post for ease of access):

bwark: my posts

wonder map: my art

ttb: my tag for ties that bind-related stuff

bug/minnie/maizie/harley: my/my family's cats

character tag: posts i tag with characters from media i enjoy

fav mons: my favourite pokemon

anipoke lb: my liveblog tag for rewatching the pokemon anime

wonder mail: asks

sky jukebox: music

dni: you're bigoted in an capacity (including zi0nist and transmis0gynist), and/or you fetishise ped0philia and inc3st, including in fiction. i know people don't take dnis seriously but idc i will block if i see this shit.

that's everything i think. thank you for reading and have a swagful day <3

[ifbench]

Gates to Infinity

During my initial PMD playthroughs, I was considering skipping Gates altogether, as I had heard almost nothing but negative things about it up until that point.

However, my friend who I was liveblogging my PMD playthroughs to, she said that Gates to Infinity was good, too.

And so, after completing Rescue Team DX and Explorers, I acquired Gates to Infinity.

Quite possibly the best decision to get a game I've ever made.

As while Gates to Infinity is not my favorite game of all time, it's the game that brought the most to me, that affected me for the better the most.

As while games like Mario and Luigi Dream Team are amazing fun experiences that I treasure dearly…they didn't change my life like Gates to Infinity did.

It was Gates to Infinity that caused me to stick with PMD. It's what inspired me to start writing Eternal Shadows. It's what led me to meet so many amazing people. It's why I'm still talking about PMD today.

No other game has brought me so much happiness in the long term as Gates to Infinity has.

It's a bit silly why I started Eternal Shadows in the first place, really. I was playing through Gates to Infinity's opening, and it was so different from both Rescue Team DX's and Explorers'. It had an air to it that neither of those had.

2020 me thought it felt a lot like Kingdom Hearts, and I decided to write a PMD opening with very heavy Kingdom Hearts inspiration as a proof of concept.

That "proof of concept" is what is now known as Eternal Shadows.

Beyond how it personally shaped me, though…Gates to Infinity is a truly wonderful game.

Some may say it's a downgrade over Explorers. That it took things away from what made Explorers so great.

And…I would agree with that second sentence, in a way.

Gates to Infinity does remove a lot of stuff from Explorers. No personality quiz, severely limited Pokemon roster, no Spinda's Cafe, no IQ, no long second story in the postgame, and no purple Kecleon or Kangaskhan.

But Gates to Infinity doesn't need to be Explorers. It's not Explorers. And much of what it removes, it adds something new in its place.

While there's no personality quiz, for the first time, you can choose your protagonist's species, a feature that would remain in newer games.

IQ is gone, replaced by the much less grindy Team Skills system. No longer do you have to grind for gummis so your partner won't walk over exposed traps.

There's no Spinda's Cafe, but you build something similar through Paradise. You can build your own facilities, talk to your recruits in the town you have built, and it even serves as a hub.

There's no postgame story to the magnitude of Explorers', but what is there, is something unlike anything Explorers or Rescue Team gives you. It might not be as long, but a story doesn't need to be long to be good.

And while the loss of the purple Kecleon, Kangaskhan, and the large Pokemon roster could be considered objective downgrades…they don't ruin the experience at all, at least for me.

There's other flaws, too, like the slow text speed, and inability to choose gender, but I digress, and don't mind them at all.

Gates to Infinity doesn't carry over the letter of Explorers. It isn't a sequel to it in the way that Explorers is one to Rescue Team. But it carries over the spirit of it.

Like Adventure Squad, it still has the heart of PMD.

Yet unlike Adventure Squad, it's not afraid to show it.

Gates to Infinity still tells a heartfelt story about a former human who winds up in a world of Pokemon.

It has well-developed characters, amazing music that uses motifs wonderfully, and a touching farewell scene.

What does being a PMD game mean, really?

Does it mean pixel graphics, macguffins to collect, and guilds?

Or is it the story of a former human, who partners up with a Pokemon, eventually saving the world, before having to say goodbye?

Of course, some might just say "PMD gameplay". And there's nothing wrong with that answer!

The dungeon-delving gameplay is a core part of the experience, too. And sometimes, it makes the majority of the experience, like with Adventure Squad.

And yes, Gates to Infinity has some problems with the mystery dungeons. Repetitive room generation, party members wandering off, and that small Pokemon roster.

But it also has things Explorers doesn't.

It introduces the reunion cape item, my favorite item in all of PMD, and very useful for reuniting with lost party members.

It has outside areas to mystery dungeons, a first for the series, and even sometimes has small puzzles with them.

And without the IQ system, your party members have much better navigation and combat skills by default.

But the gameplay isn't what I love about Gates to Infinity so much. It's its story, characters, and the emotions it instilled in me.

I cried not even 15 minutes into Gates to Infinity, when I heard Ragged Mountain for the first time. I recognized it from Oddity Cave from Rescue Team DX, and…yeah.

I initially thought I wasn't going to be able to name my Snivy partner, but then we get to the future site of Paradise, and he lets me give him a name, in-universe.

Virizion's character arc is wonderful, and I love how she and Keldeo reconcile.

I love Dunsparce's bravery, and how Emolga gives up his spot on the Great Glacier expedition so Dunsparce can go.

One of my favorite moments in the entire game, and even just thinking about it right now is making me start to cry.

I love the first-person perspectives with Umbreon seeking shelter in Post Town, and how Espeon just wanted to do the right thing and feels so guilty for putting Swadloon in danger.

And Emolga!

Emolga my absolute beloved.

I love his friendship with Umbreon, I love his reconciliation and developing relationship with Virizion, I love his goofiness! He's my favorite canon Pokemon character ever!

And not to skip over Hydreigon, either. The Voice of Life is such a cool title and concept, and I love how you think they'll be the villain, only for them to come and save you, and be an absolute dork.

Even the protagonist! Even they have some character to them, and actually talk!

And then the story. Oh, the story of Gates to Infinity.

For a bit of context, I was…not feeling very well mentally when I started playing the PMD games.

It's a bit cliche, but, well…I was feeling pretty hopeless.

And Gates to Infinity took that hopelessness and melted it away.

Its theme of how hope can be found even in the darkest of times, how you can find friends even when you feel like you're all alone…it meant a lot to me. It still means a lot to me.

And the ending…I have never cried harder at a story in my life.

Everyone's final messages to you through the frism, how they remembered you, how even if you may never meet again, how they wanted you to have a good life…it broke me, in a good way.

My second favorite moment in all of PMD, and part of what led me to writing A Way to Reunite.

Gates to Infinity may not be Explorers. It may lack stuff, even important stuff that Explorers has.

But Gates to Infinity has heart. So, so much heart.

It's not soulless, it's the farthest thing from soulless.

Gates to Infinity is a true PMD game, and I'll always love it with all my heart.

I've also compiled my liveblog notes from when I played Gates to Infinity for the very first time, if anyone is interested in reading that, but unfortunately it'll have to be on Discord, as I initially wrote them on Discord, and porting around 5000 words of liveblogging to here does not sound like fun to me.

So, if you want to read it, hit me up on Discord! My username is @ifbench, just like on here.

I hope you've all enjoyed this, and I hope to have my Super retrospective ready soon.

[pyromaniac-cyndaquil]

NOOOOOOO 😭

(cont from here)

[mosstardust]

Welcome to my Pokémon: Super Mystery Dungeon liveblog. I got stuck on a boss when this came out and never got back to it, so I want to start fresh and re-experience this game. And finish it. That part is important.

[ironforest4]

bro is NOT facing the right way

I have known this axew for 20 minutes and I would lay down my life for him no questions asked