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gamergirlshelby · 1 year ago

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Alright I just finished Chapter 1 of Rejuvenation 13.5 and I have many thoughts I want to ramble about.

I want to note that I have done 100% playthrough of version 13.0 a few months after it had initially released, so although my memory is a bit rusty, I will be talking a bit about some of the changes between the versions (i want to note that they're all positive imo)

Also should note that be wary of spoilers for new content for 13.5 as well as spoilers for story stuff since I want to talk about how good the writing in this game is. I've taken a lot of screenshots and will be adding them when i think they fit in my little rambles and stuff.

Without further ado my ramblings are under the read more!

To start things off I wanna just gloss over the beginning scene with Maria and the prologue on the SS Oceana. From what I can remember nothing really changed between those two sections but honestly I think they are as close to perfect if not as perfect as they can be. They give just the right amount of information to set up some of the first main mysteries and plot threads, and I think they do amazingly at setting the tone for the game.

Next I want to talk about how East Gearen has changed, having made some small adjustments to the city to help make traveling through it all the more easier. I'm happy that the changes were minimal enough that walking through the city I still knew where everything was, so everything felt familiar but it had been different enough where seeing everything game me the same sort of wonder and comfort that it had in my first playthroughs.

I think the biggest changes being to the designs for the Gearen lab and the Gearen Help Center (I haven't made it to Sheridan yet so I'm not sure if all of the help centers have been changed to be the same sort of layout, or if they all have a unique sort of look to them). The only change I'm not the biggest fan of is the starters all being lined up in rows as shown above. It definitely makes choosing the starter easier since they're all in one space, but having them all in their own little enclosures had this quaint sort of feeling to it. Still I do think that it was a good change overall, it just doesn't pander to me specifically.

Next change that I want to point out is the ability to take on quests right when you see the npc and not needing to go to the help center. Overall I think everything about quests has been changed to be much easier and more streamlined. The little quest notification does a lot in making finding the details for quests and even just finding quests a lot easier. Overall I'm a big fan.

I also adore the additions of finding some relevant story npcs out in the world outside of big story events and areas. It just adds so much to the world and helps make the world feel more alive, like its really worth saving. Whether its just small dialogue that doesn't impact anything, a conversation that can build up on your relationships with characters, or even having a quick battle, I love these small changes.

Next on the list is the completely new content, with the most notable being Mr. Luck's tent. I'm gonna be honest I am a big fan of him, I love this character archetype of just these mischievous tricksters (probably a more common term for this trope but. y'know the sort of characters I'm probably thinking of) Honestly the whole quest introducing Prism Pokemon was very fun! Melia also explains them later on during the Goldenwood Forest section with the fight with the Prism Nidorino, but I think being able to learn about it early through the quest is fun. Also I am just a huge fan of the contracts and items you can trade in. I'm gonna save a bit though for some of the more expensive items though, at least for now. If I can find a way to grind for the Black Prisms easily I'll probably grind for that ??? contract, but I have no idea what it could be (also 999 is a lot,,,).

Next up I want to talk about the update to Venam's gym! It definitely feels a lot more her than the last one, but I do think there was a bit of charm to the idea that she didn't really get a say in what her gym was like, to the point she made a gym grave yard to help preserve those old gyms. The factory is still there and I'm gonna be honest I kinda just walked there first when it was time to challenge Venam and I was very confused-- Not complaining just a silly thing I thought I'd mention.

Next I want to talk about the Zygarde quest. I think introducing it during the main story instead of pushing it to the side in the help center was a smart move, but I did not realize who Ayuda was at first when I saw him in Venam's gym. I'm gonna be honest though, I don't see myself going out of my way to work on completing the Zygarde quest this playthrough, mostly just cause I'm not the biggest Zygarde fan, but also its just very tedious to look for all of them.

Next I wanna talk about the Goldenwood Forest Section and I just. Wow I think how it was reworked was phenomenal. First I absolutely ADORE how instead of having it be a cutscene you can help out everyone in Goldenwood made the trip feel a lot more impactful. I adored that original cutscene but honestly I think having a few quick quests to help everyone in the area made what was once gonna be one of the best days ever into the worst day ever feel a lot more... real if that makes sense, telling a story through gameplay and not just cutscenes, something Rejuvenation never had a problem with, but I'm glad they made the change here.

Also the fishing quest. Oh my goodness the fishing quest. The mechanical Lairon encounter hinting towards the future mechanical Pokemon you have to fight later on even more intense cause like. This rusty old one can give you trouble if you're not prepared for it, and and the fully functional mechanical Pokemon found later on in the game can be pretty rough, especially since there are so many of them in some sections like in the pearl route of chapter 15. That said there was something really funny to me about the idea of this fisherman having the hardest time trying to get a Magikarp haha.

Next I love the information Melia gives about the mural, how she talks about how the squares couldn't be buildings, since the Garufans hadn't been very technologically advanced. Honestly there being so many differing interpretations for the Garufans and how they handled things is so cool to me, cause I feel like its just like how people who research ancient civilizations are in real life, especially when there isn't a lot of information available. This might be partly because I have this stuff on my mind because I am taking a World Civilizations class rn for my college classes. Karen talking about in the Missing Starly quest that the Garufa were a nomadic tribe that harvested the powers from Pokemon's souls to be able to cast magic. Then in the Hidden Library quest we learn that they hated Pokemon, seeing them as vile pests. Even the idea that their technology was undeveloped is something that gets disproved later on in the story. I just find it fascinating that nobody can seem to agree on what the Garufa were like. I may be pulling at straws here though I just think its cool.

Next is the whole redesign for the Silent Grove. First I think the name itself is new but tbh I may just be forgetting and I don't feel like looking up an old playthrough to check (tbh thats just me being lazy tho). I personally was a big fan of the grove being a small secluded area, but I think the big castle builds on the lore that was first established in the Goomy Kingdom quest, that being what the world was like all the way back before the calamity decades ago, and showing that there where even more castles. Also it just makes more sense that this would lead to the secret Garufa settlement that we explore in the Pearl Route for Chapter 15. Also I love the new statue design being based on the Ranger sprite for Arceus.

Lastly I just wanted to say I think the battle with Zetta being changed to take place in a crater instead of the lake front just makes sense. It didn't make sense to me that the park had been closed off for so long after the Rift Gyrados was dealt with. I know it's because the Gyrados wasn't completely gotten rid of, but before it was just overgrown, but still manageable. This level of damage I could see needing to have a full quest line repairing.

Anyways that's it for my thoughts on Chapter 1 and the Prologue for version 13.5 of Rejuvenation. Hope you enjoyed my rambles and thank you again for reading all of them :D

#pokemon rejuvenation #long post #pokemon rejuvenation 13.5 spoilers #pokemon rejuvenation spoilers #pokemon fangames #this game is so good guys i will shill for it forever please if you havent played it please do and also please talk to me about it #honestly id love to have some more people to talk to about this game this game just makes me so happy to talk about and make fan stuff for #if you have anything to add or talk about relating to the stuff i talked about here i'd love to hear it!#i'll probably end up doing more posts like this it was very fun!

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dreamingdolls · 5 years ago

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Top Ten Games of the Decade

Inspired by my friend @luniil I figured I would try and write down my top ten games of the decade before we ring in the new year. This list is quite obviously going to be extremely subjective. Note that I am limiting myself to one game per franchise to avoid potential bias there.

With that said, let’s kick this thing off, shall we?

#10 - World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

Whatever my thoughts on WoW are today, I will never deny that for a long time it was my main game, barely playing anything else at all. Mists of Pandaria then was by far my favorite expansion. Challenge Modes were a blast, the new Monk class quickly became my favorite and for the most part the writing was great. Pandaria was shrouded in mystery - as Thrall told us in the trailer - and much of the writing reflected that. After years of expansions pulling from the past, this stuff felt new and fresh, while not out of place either. Throne of Thunder is and will probably always be my favorite raid instance of all time as well, with quite honestly every single fight there being enjoyable from start to finish.

#9 - Undertale

The tears. Oh FUCK the tears when I reached that ending. And then the tears when I learned that wasn’t the end at all and there was more if I rebooted the game - they got me with that one. I was extremely late to the party with Undertale, only starting playing it as late as half a year ago, but I was inspired by Rey to try it out and I absolutely loved it. Bonus points for the 4th wall breaking throughout - a trope I admittedly might enjoy too much.

#8 - Hearthstone

This game got me into card games. I mean, I dabbled with some Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh cards as a kid but that was more of a collecting thing than actually playing the games. The polish on this game is honestly amazing from the voice acting on every card, the animations, the trinkets and odds to mess around with on every board... It’s a great game to play when I’m not really in the mood for something too intense and just want to sit back and play some joke decks.

#7 - WildStar / TERA

I’m cheating a little here by listing two games as a pair because both are here for very similar reasons, and I wouldn’t really feel right listing either above the other. I play MMOs. Like, it’s probably my favorite genre. I love the social interactions and as I play on a relatively limited budget compared to most of my friends, the constant updates and stuff to do is a very big draw for me as well. However, I’ve always felt the combat could be a bit... More involved beyond just hitting buttons on a hotbar. WildStar and TERA then seemed like the answer to my cries, taking a more action combat approach to the genre. I *loved* playing these games and it’s unfortunate the communities in both seemed to dry up so easily. Evidently I am in a minority enjoying these, but I have fond memories of both. RIP WildStar.

#6 - Pokemon B/W2

I had to really think hard which Pokemon game I would be listing here. One way or another one would get a spot but I wasn’t sure which. I loved mega evolutions, and regional forms were an amazing idea too. For all the hate Sword/Shield have gotten, I’ve still gotten a ton of fun out of them as well. But ultimately? All of these I liked for a gimmick. Megas, Regionals, Raids... Each of them a great idea but none of them defining the core experience. Black/White 2, on the other hand, was the first game where I wanted to get my main team to 100, and where I actually wanted to put thought into my main team as opposed to just kinda rolling with whatever I run into. The story was great, the returning characters were great, and the variety of Pokemon in a playthrough was incredible. Easily one of the best Pokemon games of all time.

#5 - Super Smash Bros Ultimate

There isn’t a world where this couldn’t make the list. I grew up with Smash from the N64 days. I love the crossover aspect and seeing everyone return in one game, plus newcomers including, at last, BANJO? This game is why I bought a Switch in the first place, and it continues to be one of the best decisions I’ve made. For the first time I’ve dabbled in competitive play as well, and I’ve been loving every moment of it, even the losses. World of Light was a blast to play through and having each character’s Classic mode follow it’s own theme was brilliant. Ultimate indeed.

#4 - Mario Galaxy 2

HOLD THE PITCHFORKS! Had it not been for my one game per franchise rule Odyssey would have made it on to the list. However, between the two, Galaxy 2 easily wins out as the better game. Odyssey had a lot - to the point of fatigue in some cases. Yes, there are 880 moons versus 242 stars, but a good chunk of the moons felt tacked on towards the end of the game. Galaxy 2 on the other hand was a blast from the very first star all the way to the last. It took the idea of Galaxy and made it easily ten times better, and where most people are hoping for an Odyssey 2 or Sunshine remake... I’m lowkey praying for a Galaxy 3.

#3 - Skyrim

Skyrim is not perfect. I’m going to say that right away. Plenty of bugs including some gamebreaking ones are about. But with that said, I still got an easy 350 hours of joy out of the game and still have stuff left unexplored. See, being that I’m gaming on a budget longevity is very much a part in how I rate games. I’d rather buy a good game that lasts me forever than an amazing game of 5 hours with no replay value, and Skyrim is full of the former. And while it might not be perfect, it’s still got a lot of good things going for it on top of that replay value. That is why it deserves it’s spot on my list.

#2 - Life is Strange

Excuse me while I cry my eyes out please? There isn’t much I will write on the actual story here as I don’t want to spoil things for Rey (with whom I’m replaying the game as of late) or any other reader that might pick the game up, but few games have made me as emotional as this series. There’s some cheesy jokes that might be trying a bit too hard, but in general the actual story is brilliant.

#1 - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers

Dear reader, let’s run back through the previous points I’ve made in this post for a minute before we properly dive into the number one pick here. I’ve mentioned a love for MMOs and their social aspects. I’ve mentioned a love for stories that aren’t afraid to shake the norm up a little. I’ve told you about valuing replay-ability, which the job system in FFXIV definitely offers. And, I’ve mentioned a love for games that make me cry my heart out.

Shadowbringers got all of that and then some.

Never did I think a MMO’s story could bring me to tears quite as badly as Shadowbringers did. I always kinda accepted well, a MMO is just that first, RPG second, prioritizing the online experience above a coherent story. Shadowbringers took that and threw it in my face, telling me no, damnit, I can do both. Even characters I wasn’t all that fond of on a personal level, the game does such a great job at establishing them that if they kill anyone off my face is full of tears in a matter of seconds. But they don’t even need to go that far. The storywriting is strong enough that even without shock value moments I’ve bawled my eyes out on my keyboard. Shadowbringers is a heartbreak in the best way possible, and that’s not even mentioning the music or hell, the actual gameplay yet.

“Remember.. Remember us. Remember, that we once lived.”

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shyguycity · 5 years ago

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Goty 2019

Hey. It’s game of the year 2019 baby. By now you know the kinda justice we seek on these streets, so no long-winded introductions, except to remind you that these aren’t reviews, and honorable mentions have been moved down to the bottom this year because we're evolving.

12. Super Kirby Clash (Switch) - A free to play online Kirby spinoff centered around combat that features microtransactions sounds like an awful idea on paper, and yet it’s somehow my most played multiplayer game of 2019. I won’t try and present the game as anything more than what it is, which is basically a very (very very very!) simplified, arcade-y Monster Hunter game with a very (very very very very!) cute aesthetic. But as a recent convert to Monster Hunter and a longtime Kirby lobbyist, it turns out that that’s all I need to play a game for nearly 100 hours. The four classes all have varied abilities, gameplay and roles to play, and there’s nothing more satisfying than freezing time as the mage in the middle of an enemy’s jumping animation. I found the microtransactions to be completely fair, as I spent around 10 dollars total on the game and never found myself hurting for apples (the game’s main currency and the only one you can buy with real money) to upgrade my equipment. This isn’t a game I would be able to recommend to everyone, but if it’s your type of thing then it’s going to be very much your type of thing.

*Image credit: 505 games

11. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Switch/PS4/Xbox One/PC) - Despite horrible first impressions from my backer copy of the Switch version, Bloodstained really ended up delivering the true Castlevania: Symphony of the Night successor it promised to be, and I had a fantastic time with it (after trading in my Switch version and begrudgingly purchasing a PS4 copy). While I love almost all of the Castlevania games in their own ways, even the best entries post-SotN didn’t end up feeling much like SotN. Bloodstained, meanwhile, wears its inspiration on its sleeve. Or rather on its wolf hood and gas mask combo.

Obscure, bizarre, and goofy secrets are around every single corner of the castle. I mean, like, really esoteric ones that I can’t imagine having found without a guide. From the myriad of hidden (and very challenging!) boss fights, to trophies popping for playing a piano while having a fair familiar out to entire sprite based areas, the surprises never stop being thrown at the player. It adds so much goofball flavor to the game that’s missing from just about any other entry in the genre, and it does the brunt work in giving this game its identity.

Not only are the secrets plentiful and good, but the combat is also excellent; much like a couple entries in the latter Castlevania games, just about every single enemy in Bloodstained has a chance of dropping you a shard upon defeat, and each one gives your character Miriam a new ability. Some of these are simple passive buffs, while others completely change your combat options. From ghostly portrait guardians to giant dentist drills coming out of your hand to summoning disembodied dragon’s heads, the shard system is never not entertaining, and leaves the player so much room for experimentation and realizing their ideal build it’s actually a wonder they were able to bug test this thing at all. And truly, the main issues holding Bloodstained back from true greatness are its technical issues. Which is a shame, and seemingly an issue on all platforms. But if you can handle a hard crash here or there, you’re in for a treat.

10. Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch) - I never thought I would care at all for any Fire Emblem game. Certainly, I saw the appeal of them prior to Three Houses, but they just never seemed like something I would want to devote a lot of time to. But putting the game in a school setting and recontextualizing your soldiers as students really made a huge difference for me, and I bonded with the characters in the game in a way I normally reserve for my Pokemon teams. And unlike Pokemon, I can marry my students, which is beautiful and horrifying.

There are definitely issues with Three Houses. A silent protagonist has no right starring in a game like this, especially with all the emotional story beats the game is trying to pull off. The writing in general was also all over the place, ranging from odd decisions with both the characters as well as the overarching story (some of this is remedied by replaying the game multiple times and going down different routes, but I put 60 hours into the game and couldn’t even finish two paths, so that’s a bit unrealistic). Lastly, the monastery that serves as your school needs just a tad more variety in activities to do in between the battles, as what started out as my favorite part of the game became a chore for the last dozen or so hours.

All of that said, I am anxiously waiting for the sequel, as the foundation that’s been put down here could lead to something truly special. As it stands, this is the best secret Harry Potter game ever made, and that alone is going to have a lot of appeal to a lot of people.

*Image credit: Gamespot

9. Resident Evil 2 (PS4/Xbox One/PC) - Truly, I have never been more stressed out when playing a game than the first time I had to start dealing with Mr. X. Yes, on each subsequent playthrough (of which I did many!) and even encounter he became less of a threat and more of an annoyance, but much like a good horror movie, that first time will remain embedded in my brain as one of my most memorable gaming moments.

And that kinda sums up Resident Evil 2 as a whole for me. An amazing, unforgettable start in the police station, followed by a somewhat middling second act in the sewers, and ending on kind of a weirdly short whimper in a very tonally different setting than the rest of the game. And that’s without getting into how disappointingly similar the “B” playthroughs of either character were to their “A” counterparts. It was all still great, mind you, and the gameplay and scares remained excellent throughout. But man was that first act in the police station something truly special, and I’m hopeful that the eventual remake of 3 keeps more of that tone throughout.

8. Pokemon Sword/Pokemon Shield (Switch) - Cutting hundreds of Pokemon was pretty close to the bottom of my list of concerns going into the latest Pokemon. The series hasn’t really grabbed me in a major way since Black and White on the DS almost 9(!) years ago, and I had largely accepted the idea that I was finally growing out of the franchise. While this 8th generation of Pokemon titles is far, far from perfect, and in fact doubles down on a lot of the aspects I don’t like about modern Pokemon games, Sword has become my favorite entry in the series in a very long time.

This is down to two things: my favorite batch of new Pokes the series has ever had (Galarian Farfetch’d, my prince............) and the introduction of multiplayer coop content with raids. The former is subjective I suppose (but seriously, Galarian Farfetch’d), and the appeal of the raids is going to be dictated by how into repetitive content you are and if you have people to raid with. I’m fortunate enough to love repetitive tasks in video games, especially repetitive tasks that amount to fighting and capturing giant monsters for rewards, and to have a partner to enjoy those repetitive tasks with. We lost entire weekends to hunting down new raid opportunities in Sword, and this feels like the first major step the series has taken in nearly a decade to try and reengage me in a meaningful way.

And don’t get me wrong: Pokemon has a long way to go to bring me entirely back into the fold. The dungeons are nonexistent, the routes are largely completely straightforward affairs, the post game content is so light that “barebones” feels like a generous descriptor, and the performance issues in the wild area (the game’s more open, free roaming space) are inexcusably awful when played online. I hope by the time the 9th generation games roll around that we’ll get a bigger advancement than what’s been seen here, but to me, this feels like an all around better made product than any of the 3DS entries, with or without Galarian Farfetch’d.

7. Risk of Rain 2 (Switch/PS4/Xbox One/PC) - The original Risk of Rain is a personal all-time favorite, so seeing the developers successfully make the jump from 2D to 3D while still maintaining everything I love about the first game is a truly remarkable feat. Both games sport essentially MMO-lite combat with abilities dictated by cooldowns and items that you get from chests and bosses, with rogue-like progression and permadeath. That’s a lot of jargon even for me talking about video games, so essentially: keep shooting things and powering up by grabbing items and defeating bosses, and when you’re dead you’re dead (bar a specific item), rinse and repeat.

It’s deceptively simple while being endlessly replayable. The true fun comes in when playing with other people, as every character plays completely differently, and figuring out builds for each person on the fly is extremely fun and rewarding. This also means that if you start getting bored of one character, simply play a different one on your next run. Add in an extremely moody sci-fi aesthetic (including one of my favorite soundtracks of the year) and that’s Risk of Rain.

The main issue with Risk of Rain 2 at this point is that it’s simply unfinished, and won’t even have an actual ending state until spring of 2020. This doesn’t hamper my enjoyment of the game much, hence it being on this list, but I imagine a lot of people would be bothered by it. The developers have done a great job of updating the game at a decent pace so far though, and every major patch has come with a new character, among a ton of other things. And if I’ve already gotten this much enjoyment out of an early access title, it’s exciting to think about a feature complete version down the line. And hopefully that feature complete version of Risk of Rain 2 includes the Chef character from the first game *ahem*.

6. Astral Chain (Switch) - In a year full of some real dang weird yet shockingly great games, Astral Chain stands tall as probably the weirdest surprise of them all. You’re a future cop fighting invisible ghost demons from an alternate dimension with your own invisible ghost demon chained to you through some high tech handcuffs. That’s just the first half hour of the game, and it ratchets up the anime nonsense many magnitudes over in the course of its 20ish hour runtime. And it’s great and stupid.

It’s not just the plot that’s over the top, though. Coming from developer Platinum Games, renowned for their nonstop super sweaty action portfolio, Astral Chain spends just as much time tasking the player with exploring its world, characters, and lore as it does asking you to punch enemies the size of skyscrapers (or bigger). It’s a formula that works shockingly well, as I found myself enjoying the downtime segments just as much, if not more, than the action portions of the game. And the action that is there doesn’t really play like your typical Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, either; the player character, while critical to pulling off combos and the like, is not your primary damage dealer, with that role being fulfilled by your five “legions” (the aforementioned ghost demon buddies), all of which have different strengths, weaknesses and abilities. The gameplay ends up feeling kind of like a realtime Pokemon game by way of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and no sentence I’ve ever written has been as cool as that one.

I do think Astral Chain falls a bit short in the combat department, at least compared to other games in the genre. It’s a bit too simplified, despite how crazy looking and overwhelming the actions you and your legions end up doing can be, and I think that the obligatory Platinum-style grading system in this is very poor - it doesn’t seem to grade overall performance so much as it just wants you to constantly be switching your legions in the midst of battle. Which is a great lesson to teach your players, but I would also like if anything else about my combat performance seemed to have significant weight on my grade. Having said all that, it’s a flaw that I found much easier to overlook in the midst of battle when I sent my wolf legion ahead of me, biting and tearing its way through a cluster of enemies, while I hung back inside of my punching legion, finally able to fulfill my years-long Star Platinum “ora ora ora” fantasies.

5. Anodyne 2: Return to Dust (PC) - There’s a lot going on in Anodyne 2, and I fear trying to describe it in words, not only because of all the jargon I’d inevitably have to use, but also because I’m not sure I can do the game justice. To that end, here’s a brief trailer of the game to get you started:

youtube

If you find that trailer at all intriguing, Anodyne 2 is definitely for you. And if you’re still skeptical, know that the game has far more to offer than just its (beautiful) low-poly aesthetic. While visually it’s obviously most evoking Playstation 1 era games such as Mega Man Legends, in terms of the tone of its writing it strikes a pretty peculiar balance between Earthbound and Nier: Automata (names I do not invoke lightly!). The visuals aren’t just an aesthetic choice, either - throughout the game you find yourself in 2D overhead areas, solving puzzles inside of the minds of other characters, and these varying layers of abstraction serve to further the game’s message and atmosphere. And it’s all of these things combined that pushed Anodyne 2 over the edge of “memorable” and into the realm of “haunting” for me.

It’s a game that wants to be played and experienced by everyone; you can tell how much love was put into every single corner of the world, every line of dialogue, and each and every single goofy joke. Steven Universe (another seeming inspiration of the developers) is the only other piece of media that has reminded me of just how lost and alone I’ve felt at various stages of life, while choosing not to dwell on that and instead using it as a launching pad to remind me of just how far I’ve come. As the game itself says, Anodyne 2 is a game about life, and I’ve rarely come across one that felt so full of it.

4. Judgment (PS4) - With the release of Yakuza 0 a couple of years ago, the Yakuza games went from a series I was vaguely aware of in my periphery to maybe my all-time favorite video game comfort food. They’re silly, melodramatic, sad, and beautiful, tonally swinging back and forth like a large imposing guard wildly trying to hit Kiryu with a couch section. Most importantly, they manage to feel heartfelt and personal in an age where high budget games seldom feel anything of the sort. I was initially hesitant, then, to play a spinoff that threw aside its entire cast of established characters for a crew that dabbles in detective and lawyer work; I didn’t think there was much of a chance that this new band of very handsome crimeboys with hearts of gold would be able to compare to Kiryu, Majima and the like. How glad I was to be wrong, as Judgment is now maybe my favorite of the Yakuza games I’ve played.

By pulling further out (but not completely away) from the culture of organized crime as the central driving factor of the story, you no longer need to memorize a dozen different yakuza organizations and all of their subsidiaries and patriarchs within, nor do you have to try and remember which side is feuding with who. And that isn’t to say that the story doesn’t have just as many twists and turns; it does, and despite the larger scale of the stakes, ends up feeling more focused and personal. I also found it easy to bond with the two main characters, Yagami and Kaito, as not only do their personalities play off of each other very well, but they simply share more screentime together than I’ve ever seen Kiryu get a chance to do with anyone. Truly, the story ended up being one of my favorites in the entire medium, and I fell in love with the characters to the point where I got misty eyed during the credits.

With regards to gameplay, it’s a Yakuza game. Which means a lot of running around Kamurocho, talking and shopping and playing minigames and brawling. Since the player character in this entry is a detective, there are various mechanics and events related to the profession, such as investigating crime scenes and tailing suspects, but they’re by far the weakest part of the game, and you shouldn’t come to this game looking for incredible detective gameplay. Instead, come to the game for literally everything else it offers, because it’s a fantastic experience all around, and a great jumping on point for anyone unfamiliar with Yakuza.

*Image credit: Steam user Symbol

3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PS4/Xbox One/PC) - Frankly, I did not much care for Sekiro for the majority of my first play through. Specifically, I dreaded its boss fights. To go from the sheer joy of being able to dispatch a courtyard full of enemies in any way I pleased in the game’s relatively free form stealth sections, to being killed in a matter of two or three hits to every single boss and miniboss was frustrating; how could I not groan when I started that duel with Genichiro at the top of the castle, knowing full well that I was going to be stuck there for a few (or more) frustrating hours? It wasn’t until the fight against the protagonist’s father figure, Owl, hours later at the same location as the aforementioned Genichiro fight, that something clicked. It only took around 30 hours, but suddenly, instead of approaching the situation like a Dark Souls or Bloodborne boss, I was not only being defensive, but I was being aggressively defensive, parrying nearly every single blow. Suddenly it was me standing in place, baiting out my opponent’s attacks only to throw the force of his own momentum back at him. Suddenly combat made sense in this damn game. And suddenly I was dead again in a quick three hits after inhaling some magic gas that prevented me from being able to heal. But that was ok! Because suddenly this game was amazing, and suddenly I had completed it four times and adored every second of it (except for that fucken four form final boss with no checkpoints).

I still stand by my (and a lot of other’s) original complaint that the disparity between the freedom offered in the rest of the game compared to the unflinchingly rigid roadmap you have to follow in fighting the bosses is jarring game design, and it’s very fun to imagine a version of Sekiro that lets you approach bosses any which way you like. On the other hand, no other game that I’ve ever played, not even Sekiro’s predecessor and my favorite game of this console generation, Bloodborne, has come anywhere close to making me feel this cool when fighting bosses. And that’s a mighty impressive accomplishment on any game’s part, speaking from the perspective of an overweight, sweaty, hairy, very uncool man.

But really, fuck that final boss though.

2. Dragon Quest Builders 2 (Switch/PS4/PC) - When we were around 10-years-old, one of my best friends, Patrick, used to host fairly regular Lego-building sleepovers, where everyone built whatever they wanted, and our creations were then showcased to the rest of the group. Being that the group consisted entirely of pre-pubescent boys, this meant building various robots or cars, all of variable quality/ability to stand upright. During one of these nights, in lieu of the usual deathbot piloted by the ghost minifig, I instead constructed a little bunker for the ghost - a place where, after a long day of being forced (by me) to pilot his mech suit and commit unspeakable acts, he could hang up his ghost hat and be forced (by me) to ponder the morality of his actions. It was just a tiny little room with the necessities: bed, table, bookshelves and pizza, but when presenting it to my friends I proudly declared that the bunker was also located at the bottom of the ocean, a factor that couldn’t be visually represented due to the harsh limits of time, Lego pieces and my ability. I was pretty proud of my cool-down chamber, but if memory serves correctly, it was Patrick’s no doubt boorish creation that was the apple of everyone’s eye. And who am I to try and convince a room full of my peers that actually, a secluded room where you could read in peace for all eternity was much cooler than a punching gorilla bot?

This is all to say that I have never been a creative type, especially when it comes to building. I had previously played Minecraft and the first Dragon Quest Builders, and while I enjoyed them, there wasn’t quite enough there to make me want to engage with them on a level beyond just playing them like any other game - I don’t think I ever built anything in DQB1 that wasn’t required for the sake of progression in the main story, and the less said about my Minecraft efforts the better. Builders 2 expertly sidesteps this issue by wrapping its building mechanics around an engaging and hearfelt story (I got teary-eyed multiple times!), great characters (especially the main character’s mysterious best friend/partner in crime, Malroth) and a lovely localization. It also encourages more freeform building than the previous game by tying the progression of the story to the progression of your main, customizable island. You don’t ever really have to go off into the weeds on your own in regards to building, but the game gives you so many opportunities to fill in the blanks on premade templates that you eventually just become comfortable in doing so. It’s hard to stop myself from gushing about the game, to the point where as I type this I’m questioning why it’s “only” number 2 on this list.

And thanks to DQB2, for the first time in 20 years I revisited my first creative endeavor: the underwater solitude bunker, this time no longer held back by the technology of the day, instead fully realized in digital form. Built as far down as the game would allow my character to dig, hidden beneath the still waters of a reservoir inside of a pyramid, it is truly a testament to mankind’s ingenuity. And it is wicked. Naturally I had my artist (and DQB2 fanatic) girlfriend visit my game’s world so she bask in my true brilliance. I gleefully guided her down to the catacombs and down the intimidatingly long chain that dangled into the deceptively still depths. After a brief swim into the murky unknown, we arrived at our hidden destination at the bottom of the earth, where she was greeted by the sight of my submerged masterpiece. A wry smile snaked itself around my lips, as I knew, was absolutely certain, that within seconds, once she had made it through the de-pressurization chamber at the entrance to my paradise, I would be hearing the words of someone simultaneously shocked, awed, and hopefully only a bit jealous. Instead, I was met with a few seconds of silence followed by a patronizing “Well, I’d have never thought to build something like this.”

So, I guess that’s why Builders 2 couldn’t quite reach the number one spot: true art is never appreciated in its time.

1. Hypnospace Outlaw (PC) - No piece of commercial art has ever felt like it was made for me in the way that Hypnospace Outlaw does. I grew up on the internet during the time period this game’s alternate reality take on the 90s internet is drawing its inspiration from; I have talked at length, to anyone who will listen, about how this early incarnation of the internet felt more like a physical space than it does now, and how much I miss the days of stumbling on to weird Geocities sites, meeting people in AOL chatrooms, and the early days of pirating. I met my first girlfriend through the internet, as well as my current one. The vast majority of the friends I’ve made in my life would not have happened without the internet, and not just because of distance; the internet allowed the younger me to be the person I was too insecure to be in person, and to develop my own voice. I owe who I am to the people I met in freeware fanmade Dragonball Z games and IRC chat rooms, and I think that’s kind of fucked up and magical, and it’s all kind of a miracle that I’m not even more of a mess of a person than I am today. And the developers of this game have clearly had those experiences, too.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Hypnospace Outlaw is for everyone, because it’s absolutely not. It’s essentially a detective game, but you’re solving cases by investigating user made internet pages circa 1997, and the “cases” you’re working on are largely things like bullying and copyright infringement. In other words, you’re mostly just reading gaudy websites and figuring out more about the back end and exploits of the Hypnospace experience. It is incredibly specific and niche and, as someone that sorely misses staying up until 3 AM downloading Winamp skins, I can’t stop thinking about this game, even months later.

I wrote a longer piece on the game on this very blog, and instead of rehashing anymore of it here, I’ll just direct you that way. Though if I may, I’d like to give one last endorsement for the game for any hypothetical person reading this that’s on the fence about trying it - if you’re the kind of person that somehow finds yourself reading this game of the year list, and have made it this far down the page without getting bored, I promise you that you’ll find something to love about Hypnospace Outlaw.

Honorable mentions (for games that were either not originally released in 2019 or I still wanted to briefly touch on):

Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition (Switch) - Somewhere in between listing the original release of Dragon Quest 11 as my 7th favorite game of 2018 and now, it went from being “a really great JRPG” to “one of the best games I’ve ever played”, and in all honesty should have probably been at the top of last year’s list. A beautiful, unmatched experience all around.

Overcooked! 2 (Switch/PS4/Xbox One/PC) - The Overcooked games are possibly the best coop games I’ve ever played by merit of them actually requiring communication between players. Framing the game’s mechanics around cooking food, a universally understood act, is brilliant.

Baba is You (Switch/PC) - This is the most clever puzzle game I’ve ever played. Hell, it’s probably the most clever game I’ve ever played period. What prevented me from truly falling in love with it was that every single puzzle after the first couple of worlds became the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do in my life. And while that did make solving those puzzles equally satisfying, the thought of dedicating multiple hours each to stumbling through dozens and dozens more of single screen puzzles was a bit more than I was able to handle. Still, for any puzzle fans, there are some genuinely jaw-dropping moments in this that shouldn’t be missed.

Kirby’s Dreamland 3 (Switch/SNES) - The things I didn’t like about DL3 as a single player game are exactly what makes it a great coop Kirby game, which was a way to play this game that I never had the pleasure of experiencing until this year when it was re-released on the SNES Switch app. It’s skyrocketed up my list of favorite Kirby games, as well as become my favorite SNES coop game. Also, Gooey.

Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to) (PC) - I don’t quite qualify this as a game, as it’s more of a message in a bottle app with a very warm and charming aesthetic. But if you’ve ever wanted to anonymously reach out to strangers and tell them things are going to be all right while listening to some calming music, this is the thing for you.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Switch) - I have a deep, deep fondness for all three of the Luigi’s Mansion games (the GameCube and the original game were my first launch day purchases!), and 3 is by far the best game in the series. Every single moment of it was some high degree of charming and/or cute, and it’s a game I would feel confident in recommending to just about everybody. However, while I truly loved my time with the game and will no doubt replay it years down the road, there was nothing inside of it that really left any kind of deep impression on me. It’s a summer blockbuster in a kid-friendly spooky form, and that’s great for what it is.

Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch) - Mario Maker 2, sequel to what I would consider to possibly be the best game Nintendo’s ever made, is by far and away my most disappointing game of the year. It’s still an amazing toolkit, and I’ve been very satisfied with the levels I ended up making. That said, the gaming landscape has changed a lot in the 5 years between the original and the sequel, and with Nintendo’s nigh complete silence regarding updates coming to the game, I can’t consider it to be anything but a massive disappointment. And maybe that will change! But as of this posting, there’s been almost nothing to keep me coming back to the game a mere few months into its life, and that’s a huge problem. All of that said, it’s still a fantastic game and value, especially if (like most) you didn’t get a chance to play the original due to the console it was stuck on.

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ipcearn · 3 years ago

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Okay, okay

I’m gonna give my little opinion nugget on Pokemon Legends Arceus

I am now in the post-game, I battled Volo and Giratina - and what an amazing fight that was - I caught God Arceus and I have the shiny charm (and got my third full odds shiny, one of which is an alpha Shinx)

I have not yet finished the content added by the Daybreak update but I am slowly making my way through it

But honestly, I love this game

It might be one of my fave Pokemon games so far - and the only gen I didn’t play is 5 (I think I have Black somewhere but I never finished it, it was right at the time when I graduated high school and I had other things to worry about)

Nothing will ever beat my nostalgia tinged love of Emerald as the game that really kindled my adoration for the series and that was the first game where I ever finished a full living national Dex, and I tended to enjoy most of the other games despite also seeing a lot of their flaws

PLA too has a number of flaws that shouldn’t be disregarded

While the loading is pretty fast, I really don’t like that forced returning to the village - and don’t come at me with hardware limitations; if Breath of the Wild can run that smoothly on the Switch, with a fantastic open world, then so should Pokemon be able to; and I want to state I own a regular v1 Switch

I wish the Pokemon models themselves were just a little bit smoother and from time to time I had some minor visual glitches particularly in caves - granted I am a rather forgiving person when it comes to this and it didn’t hinder any of my gameplay, so I had no problem ignoring those things - hells, my game did not even crash once so far

Do I wish some of the terrain textures looked different or more varied? Fuck yeah! Pokemon is the highest grossing media franchise, they have the money to put behind their projects to make them absolutely amazing and look absolutely amazing

(I am gonna have some words about Scarlet and Violet at the end of this, just you wait)

But granted, most of my issues are with the visual parts only

The gameplay is actually what I care about, and that I absolutely adore

I love the new capture mechanics where you can throw your balls in the overworld, backstrikes and stun-items and I sincerely hope they will keep some of those mechanics for the future

Dishonored and Assassin’s Creed are some of my fave games - and with the second one, a big guilty pleasure of mine - because I love stealth mechanics so being able to sneak up on Pokemon and catch them that way is right up my alley

Now we can definitely argue about the boss fight-mechanics - I beat Kleavor without ever pulling out my team because I didn’t really get when I could use my team against it and instead just pelted the poor thing with the balms until it had enough of my shit - and I will fully admit that I just pressed ‘continue’ on the Arceus fight since when a Pokemon game feels harder than all my playthroughs of FromSoft games - it’s mainly the lack of healing, I think - I feel no remorse to skip as much of the fight as I can on my attempts

I definitely liked parts of those mechanics, but I also get that since Pokemon so far had been a fairly casual gameplay experience before, adding what I mentally called Dark Souls mechanics isn’t going to be as much fun for less abled people and will essentially stop them from progressing

So I hope they will keep that feature either optional or out of other main line releases

Now - as someone who has no friends to trade with on the switch - I was very thankful that PLA is a singular edition game and I can get every Pokemon for the Dex, including the legendaries... even if it seems like you have to make a choice at some point Adaman all the way

I love the Dex mechanics since it really makes you feel like you are actively building a Dex for the first time, and I do like that a perfected page’s reward is a higher odds shiny chance so I can essentially ignore it for the ones I don’t want to shiny hunt

I have never been much of a shiny hunter - my first ever was a full odds Zubat in Emerald when I didn’t even know what shinies were, I just saw the green bat and wanted it for the hell of it - but it is so easy in this game even right from the start - my first full odds shiny was during my very first mass outbreak, when I was still a bit unsure what exactly mass outbreaks were, but it did result in me being startled by a shiny Ponyta (granted not as special since you later get a request that lets you get another shiny Ponyta but now I also have a shiny Rapidash without giving up my shiny Ponyta)

There are probably a couple more minor things I meant to mention, but can’t think of right now

PLA is probably the first Pokemon game I was happy to pay full triple A price for since for once it definitely felt worth it

Which does lead me to Scarlet and Violet

Oh boy

It’s way too early to announce them, in my opinion, particularly with how the trailer looks

Or rather, I don’t mind them showing off the game like this, if it had a release for late next year

One thing the Switch titles really and very obviously suffered from is how close to each other they released

During the 2D games this might have been easier to manage, but with the Switch ones, the way these titles have been rushed and underdeveloped is very, very hard to miss

I enjoyed Sword and Shield a lot, since they did try a lot of new stuff, but they were also very terrible when you look at what a Pokemon could potentially do - looking at a number of the other Switch Nintendo titles

Now, I will hold final judgement until Scarlet and Violet release, and there are definitely things I very much think look promising during the trailer

But I wish Nintendo would take the time to take in the response to PLA and then build on a main series game based on that, as well as Sword and Shield

we fully ignore the clusterfuck garbage that BDSP is here

#shut up ip #pokemon #damn this got long #i want to reiterate this is my personal opinion #i will prolly get violet when it releases tbf #purple is one of my fave colors and while I have my reservations about any switch pokemon game #i am intrigued enough i guess

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cyanoticfireflies · 4 years ago

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Pokémon Sword Avatar Challenge Playthrough Part 12

This is it, folks! Our second to last update and our last update of the main game (the pre-credits game). It’s been an enjoyable playthrough using some fun new Poke-friends that I hadn’t gotten a chance to use before.

If you missed Part 1, it’s available HERE. If you missed Part 2, it’s available HERE. If you missed Part 3, it’s available HERE. If you missed Part 4, it’s available HERE. If you missed Part 5, it’s available HERE. If you missed Part 6, it’s available HERE. If you missed Part 7, it’s available HERE. If you missed Part 8, it’s available HERE. If you missed Part 9, it’s available HERE. If you missed Part 10, it’s available HERE. If you missed Part 11, it’s available HERE.

Let’s go beat the Champion!

We gear up to go into battle against Leon, but oh? Oh my. Rose has apparently lost his mind. Well, what to do. I mean, obviously go stop him from absolutely destroying everything. I’m telling you, if Macro Cosmos had just invested in renewable energy we wouldn’t be in this mess. Now we have to save the planet. Again.

We go with Hop back to the Slumbering Weald to find the Sword and Shield Pokemon of myth. Gee, wonder how the games got their names. Amazing. I love our mother watching us run off into the place we’re forbidden to go where we passed out last time after hearing that Rose is trying to recreate a storm that almost destroyed the region and she’s just smiling and waving like “I’ll make pot roast!” Muuuuuuum….

We gather up a boatload of goodies laying on the ground, including TM86 Phandom Force, one of my favorite moves which absolutely no one on our team can learn. Of course. We meet up with Hop and as soon as he mentions the fog it gets even worse. And out walk the two Pokemon of legend, all chill like “Yeah, what’s up?” I’ve gotta say, the shrine for the sword and the shield is a gorgeous little cut-scene. That place looks really cool.

The sword and the shield are rusted and worn down, but I’m sure they’ll still be usable because plot.

We head to Hammerlocke to meet up with Leon at the stadium. Raihan is waiting for us outside to basically warn us that things are bad. I mean, Rose is trying to summon the Darkest Day, so yeah. We head inside where Oleana has apparently decided to stop being crazy long enough to be helpful. Helpful enough to drop the big name: Eternatus.

Does the basement remind anyone else just a little of where we fought Xerneas/Yveltal in X/Y? Just me? Okay.

Rose is so dedicated to protecting the future that he doesn’t care what happens to the present, which is astonishingly poignant in many ways right now. At least he looks like he regrets it as the angelic choir kicks in. (“Seph-i-roth!”) His line-up is so Steel-type heavy that Okama the Centiskorch pretty much one-shots his way through with just a quick Hyper Potion from us since he’s a little slow. These Macro Cosmos battles were why we took the time to replace our Orbeetle and Vanilluxe to get a Fire-type on the team.

I’m so glad giving Rose a beat-down was enough to bring him back to his senses. Too bad we didn’t manage it before he decided to cause the regional apocalypse. We take the lift up to the roof and yeah, okay. That dragon is… not intimidating? Maybe it would have been before Giratina. But whatever! Leon’s got this. He’s just got to toss a Pokeball and… oh, right. It’s never that easy. Thanks, Charizard, for the quick save!

When Eternatus wants to battle we take it down quickly with Aleyla’s Psychic blasts. Easy peasy! But, of course, Eternatus isn’t going down so easily. It rises up into the sky like a black hole above the roof and, yeah, okay. *That* looks much more intimidating! Good job!

We just have to stick it out for a couple of turns while we’re unable to move. This feels familiar. Hop has the idea to raise the ancient Sword and Shield and, interestingly enough, it works! The ancient Pokemon hear our call and teleport to our rescue or something.

Now it’s four-on-one with possibly my favorite version of the regular battle theme. That high piano? That guitar? Dude. Xacian and Zamazenta are ready to fight, armed with the legendary tools of war. It’s a good chance to see what each of the legendaries does with Xacian hitting a Howl and Zamazenta immediately putting up Light Screen. Us nailing Psychic is doing about as much damage as the Behemoth moves, so Eternatus goes down in no time at all. We get the chance to catch it, and we have one Premier Ball – I can’t resist.

The sun comes out, showing that we’ve ended the Darkest Day!

I think they could have really expanded this part of the story, personally. But okay. It is what it is. Most of my complaints with this game are about the rushed legendary plot.

Three days later we’re back and ready for the Championship Match. Before that, I do pause and take a look at our Eternatus. Technically since it’s a Poison-type, we could chuck it onto the team. But it’s only level 60, actually five to nine levels lower than our base team. It’s Lax nature so more Defense and less Sp. Defense with the ability Pressure which is really not that interesting. Oh well. Just curious.

We go to the stadium and face off against Leon. Stupid pose and all! I send out Rajuna the Greedent again Aegislash to nail some Bites since we won’t need Rajuna for most of the fight and she can tank Sacred Swords. The Attack drop from King’s Shield is a pain but not enough to keep us from taking Aegislash to a sliver before Leon uses a Full Restore. On our very next attack we land a critical hit Bite, taking Aegislash down just like that.

The only option for dealing with Seismitoad is Makuda the Flapple. One Grav Apple is double super effective and ends that Seismitoad before it can let off a single attack. Makuda is just too good, you guys! Team MVP.

Aleyla the Mr. Rime goes up against Haxorus, but we get hit with a brutal Iron Tail that brings us down to a single hit point! How do we survive? Our first Freeze-Dry freezes Haxorus! We’re going to do this! Except… Haxorus thaws on the first turn? We only have one hit point! Haxorus goes for the finishing Iron Head – and misses! A second Freeze Dry takes it down. That was a rollercoaster from start to finish!

We switch into Amal the Dreadnaw to deal with Cinderace, the evolution of the Scorbunny neither Hop nor I took at the beginning of the game, which is a precious little call-back. Not so precious that we don’t destroy it with a single Liquidation, but still precious.

We go back out to Makuda to deal with the Dragapult, pitting dragon against dragon (dragon wins!) We get some unfortunate Paralysis as we trade in and then awful luck getting paralyzed against Dragon Breath and actually have to pull Makuda out and switch Okama in. Makuda, we were just praising you! Okama can hit hard with Crunch, enough to end this battle.

The last Pokemon is his Charizard, and this is what we’ve been holding Haku back for. Charizard is faster and Gigantamaxes, getting off a Max Rockfall that is very, very fortunately not a Ground-type move. But then his next move, G-Max Wildfire, is enough to take Haku down. That… didn’t go as planned. We send out Okama to make the sacrifice as we use a Max Revive on Haku, but it wasn’t actually necessary. In a moment of sheer irony, the sandstorm caused by Charizard’s own Max Rockfall does enough chip damage to take it down.

I’ll… I’ll take the W!

And just like that, we’re the new Champion of Galar! Look at the pride on Mum’s face! Look at Hop’s joy! Of course Bede and Marnie are too cool to smile, but you know they’re feeling it too. Ooh, fireworks!

#pokemon #pokemon sword #pokemon sword/shield #avatar challenge #water tribe #let's play #pokemon gen 8 #pokemon gen viii #generation viii #generation 8

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arkus0 · 7 years ago

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Pokemon Nuzlocke Result by Arkus0

If you've been reading my updates, you will know I recently did a Nuzlocke run of Pokemon Red Version. I used my original cartridge on my old Gameboy Color, no emulators for me ^^. The image I submitted is a sprite collage of my final team and all those I lost during the game (Red=Lives, Blue=Fainted).

I played the Nuzlocke following these rules:

Any Pokémon that faints is consider dead and I will store in the PC for good (no sense releasing them when I can store them for after the challenge).

I may only catch the first Pokémon encountered in each area, and none else. If the first Pokémon encountered faints or flees, there are no second chances. If there's a static encounter in the area, I am allowed to capture them despite already capturing a Pokémon in that area. It's Gen 1 so the Shiny Rule doesn't apply. The only exception I'm making is when catching a Red Exclusive that my brother requires for his Pokedex, but I am not allowed to ever use said Pokémon or the one he trades me for it.

I must also nickname all of my Pokémon, and I will be using a Lantern theme, naming them after a random character from the Green Lantern comic series (will use a random generator for added laughs).

If I black out (lose all Pokémon in my team) it's a Game Over and I lose the challenge. Hence I'll play the rest of the game as normal just to get the remaining Red exclusives my brother needs.

Species/Dupes Clause: Adjusting the first encounter rule to prevent the me from having to catch multiple of the same Pokémon, for the sake of variety. Generally this means that I can keep fighting Pokémon in the area until one is encountered that has not been caught yet, which then immediately counts as the first encounter.

No using the Master Ball

No catching/using Legendary Pokémon

If I have no Pokémon that can use a certain field move (e.g. Cut, Surf, etc) that is required to continue through any given point of the game, I may catch another Pokémon that can learn said field move. However, it cannot be used in battle for any reason, and must be permanently boxed as soon as I get another Pokémon that can use said field move.

Modifying the "first encounter only" rule for the Safari Zone, allowing any encounter until I catch one Pokémon in the entire area.

Finally the Challenge only starts once I get my first Pokeballs, so any encounters before then do not count as I am unable to catch them.

It was a fun playthrough and I can see why people would play the game this way as it does add a bit more difficulty, forcing you to treat each battle carefully, for one wrong move and you may lose a team member. After completing the game my team consisted of: Relok Hag - Venusaur (survived) St Walker - Flareon (fainted to Mewtwo) Braach - Haunter (survived) Anti-Mnitr - Snorlax (fainted to Mewtwo) Fury-Six - Graveler (survived) Despotelis - Seadra (survived) I want to give special notice to Fury-Six who apart from Relok Hag being my starter, my Graveler is my oldest surviving Pokemon since I caught him at Mt Moon. Also St Walker was my best defense against Psychic types due to having the highest special stat without being weak to them. And lastly Braach, he was a speedy little power-house to my team and he survived a boss fight with Mewtwo thanks to his hypnosis allowing Fury-Six to finish the job. I will now show you a list of those Pokemon I lost during the game: 1. Rattata - Vice 2. Ekans - Norchavius 3. Spearow - Antipathy 4. Pidgey - Mogo 5. Oddish - Zilius Zox 6. Beedrill - Chummuck 7. Diglett - Alan Scott 8. Mankey - Gion 9. Growlithe - Graxus 10. Rattata - Guygardner 11. Gloom - Clypta 12. Electrode - Herupa 13. Snorlax - G'Hu 14. Spearow - Bro Hymn 15. Doduo - Shedd 16. Dodrio - Miss Bloss 17. Ditto - Parallax 18. Lapras - JaneJordan Will I ever do another Nuzlocke with the other games? Maybe in the future. Pokemon and Sprites (C) Gamefreak and Nintendo

#pokemon #red version #nuzlocke #nuzlocke challenge #sprite

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friday4econlive · 6 years ago

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Monopolistic Competition of the Game Market and Fallout 76

My daily life usually includes me playing a video game somewhere. I really don’t pay attention to price trends in any other sort of medium, so it was difficult for me to see any sort of economics happening in the real world around me; however, there has been recent news in the gaming industry that I thought related to what we learned in this class pretty well.

I believe that the gaming market is a monopolistic competition. This is because there are a ton of game companies both big and small. Some include Bethesda, Nintendo, Sony, Bandai Namco, EA, Ubisoft, Blizzard, etc. Most of these are big name companies, but there is also a huge amount of smaller game companies. This fulfills one part of the definition of monopolistic competition: many firms. Each of these companies make their own spread of video games all differentiated from each other, which is the second part of the definition for monopolistic competition. Some of these games are of different genres and are dissimilar because of it, like Riot’s League of Legends is a MOBA and Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity is an isometric RPG. Even games of the same genre are differentiated. Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. franchise and Capcom’s Street Fighter series are both fighting games; however when compared to each other, the two are vastly different.

Because games are different and most of the time cannot be substituted for one another, I sometimes have trouble deciding if I’ll like a new game series or not. I usually turn to YouTube for gameplay footage and reviews in order to gauge if I’d be interested in the game at all. Now for a game series that I have already played and enjoyed, I usually just buy the game after watching some gameplay to hype myself up for the game.

I have been a Fallout fan since 2011, just after Fallout: New Vegas was released. I purchased a pack that had Fallout 3 and New Vegas bundled together. After playing a bit of 3, I instantly loved the game. I then brought that love for it into New Vegas and loved it even more. The lore of the game, learning about all the unique NPCs, and doing multiple playthroughs to see all parts of the game. I loved it all. I then learned that Fallout 1 and 2 exist and that Fallout didn’t just start at 3. Fallout 1 and 2 are vastly different games than 3 and New Vegas, but I still loved those games because they had the same sort of aspects that I loved from the Fallout series. Fallout 4 came around in late 2015, didn’t like it as much because there was a lack of variety in the story, but it was still a pretty good game. Earlier this year Fallout 76 was announced, and I was excited because I could finally play with my other friends who enjoyed Fallout. About a month ago there was a beta for the game. I watched some gameplay for it, and it had a lot of problems with just existing as a game. At this point I wasn’t worried about the problems with the story and quests because I saw game breaking glitches and major stuttering problems. I hoped these would be fixed before it was released, but just a few weeks ago Fallout 76 was released. With all of its problems intact, and It wasn’t just me who was thinking about not buying this game.

Some content creators and reviewers were able to play the game before the beta happened, and they described their issues with the game. This caused some people to cancel their orders for the game, but some held on waiting for the beta so they could test it themselves. The beta was very similar to the version that was played early. These content creators were bashing the beta causing even more people to cancel their pre-orders. At this point I, along with a lot of other people, had almost assuredly given up on buying the game.

The purpose of a beta is for players to give feedback to the developer so they can make changes and overall improve their game. This was not the case for Fallout 76. The beta was released at a pretty good time in the development cycle for the game; however, the game was released too early, 2 weeks after the beta, for Bethesda to make any meaningful changes. The “finished” product was very similar to the beta, still a lot of glitches everywhere. This caused even more Fallout content creators to warn potential players about the problems with the game.

All of these negative opinions decreased the demand for this product, which, according to a simple supply and demand curve, should decrease the price of the product.

Most of the time, new games from AAA publishers will usually stay at the normal $60 price tag for their games for a long time, changing after the game has been out for a while. Successful games like Red Dead Redemption 2, HITMAN 2, Pokemon Let’s Go were released at around the same time that Fallout 76 was, and they have retained their full price. Really new games don’t usually drop their prices for black friday due to the unfair treatment to people who just purchased the game for full price on launch day. Notice how I said “usually”. Fallout 76’s price dropped to $40 on black friday. It was released on November 14, black friday was on November 21. It dropped price literally 1 week after release because it was so bad. I considered buying it at this price, but none of my friends were going to buy it so I didn’t.

According to the cost curves in long run Demand in a monopolistic competition is equal to the Average Total Cost. In the short run it can move to be above the ATC to run at a profit, or below the ATC to run at a loss, but they always sell the quantity where Marginal Costs equals Marginal Revenue because when running a profit, this is the quantity that maximizes profits and when running a loss, this is the loss minimizing quantity.

Now Fallout 76 is in no doubt running at a loss as evident by the price drop and overall negative reviews of the game (it got an average critic score of 53 out of 100 according to metacritic and an average user score of 2.7 out of 10).

Fallout 76 is a live service. It is always online and needs a player base spending money on the game through microtransactions to keep the game afloat. They planned to have this game to continue to evolve and update as time went on, but people need to be playing the game in order to make these things worthwhile. Because of the cost of maintaining servers and constantly creating patches and content updates for this game, an Average Variable Cost may actually be a part of this graph, and if P ever dips below AVC it would be a good idea for them to shut down the production of this game as stated by the shutdown rule. If this were to happen, then even if I bought the game in the future, I might not be able to play it to its full extent 20 years later like I do for Fallout 1.

This game is an irreversible blemish that hit Bethesda, and could possibly mar the future of the gaming world for them. Some people are now more skeptical of Bethesda’s games due to this happening, and are worried if this will affect their new games coming down the line including a new game in the Elder Scrolls series and also a brand new IP called Starfield.

Alec Whyte

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icefireeclipse · 7 years ago

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Ice’s Annual Post for 2017

Below is a list of cool/important/interesting things that I did during 2017 in order of month. They’re mostly in order by when they happened but a few may be out of order. The list is long so I put a Read More underneath if you’re interested. Enjoy!

January

Played Home is Where One Starts on Steam

Started watching Sailor Moon Infinity Arc

Started playing Pokemon Moon

Finished Jumin’s Route on Mystic Messenger

Had to drive to work at 6am because I forgot to return a button

Finished Seven’s Route on Mystic Messenger

Started re-learning my French just in case I move to Europe

Started considering moving to Europe after I finish college

Started my 2nd semester of college

Saw Hidden Figures in theatres

Met the woman my father began dating (spoiler alert: I like her)

Helped my mom and sister with tearing out the carpeting in the living room so we can get new flooring

Got a Robin Amiibo for an early birthday present

Cooked something for the first time this year that wasn’t ramen or hot chocolate

February

Celebrated my 19th Birthday

Got locked out of my car for the 1st time, coincidentally on my birthday

Got Pokemon Sun as a birthday present as well as a water bottle and some gift cards

Ran into an old teacher of mine from elementary school

Visited the World Market for the 1st time

Tried a candy bar from Britain for the 1st time

Learned how to make coffee

Started rewatching Ben 10 Alien Force

Finished my training at my job

Went to a seminar about refugee’s for my Diversity class

Signed up for a college tour that I ended up not going to because of Mother Nature

Played Awkward Dimensions Redux for the 1st time

Finally got into the main story for Mass Effect

March

Went to see Logan in theaters

Saw Finding Dory and Sausage Party for the 1st time

Got my dad a jar of herring for his birthday

Finally made a playlist on Youtube just for music

Started playing Penumbra Overture

Got my first $2 bill this year, and frankly first one in Many years

Continued to play Mass Effect

Bought a hot chocolate at a gas station for the 1st time

Purchased Mass Effect 3 off of Origin

Got a Origin account just to get this game

Spent the 1st day of spring getting a car wash

Rediscovered my love for Halestorm

Started listening to more music by Set it Off (instead of just 1 song)

Pre-registered for KitsuneKon 2017

Went to a Transgender rally for the 1st time

Went to a rally of any kind for the 1st time

Wacked a pinata for the 1st time in a few years

Played field hockey in a college room

Attended a girl choir concert for the 1st as a member of the audience

April

Finished Penumbra Overture

Started watching Season 2 of Shingeki no Kyojin

Came out as Queer to my Diversity Class (1st time I came out in public not to friends or family)

Decided to minor in Political Science along with my History Major

Joined Reddit

Downloaded We Were Here and Medusa’s Labyrinth on Steam

Finished Mass Effect for the 1st time

Played through Mass Effect a 2nd time as a Renegade Sentinel

Attempted to use my debit card for the 1st time

Finally visited my great grandma’s grave after 7 years

Started watching Clannad

Got a gift card for Easter

Got free food at work because of Employee Appreciation Day

Started a test draft for The Fire Underground

May

Finally finished Huniepop

Started playing Serena but didn’t like it

For the 1st time, I have a friend of mine who works at the same job as me :)

Finished my (technically) 1st year of college

Played Super Smash Bros in order from 64 to Wii U for the 1st time this year

Redid the floors and got the kitchen walls painted at my mom’s house

Started working on painting and adding new floors in the living room too

Purchased Alan Wake on Steam during it’s Sunset Sale

Watched Tom Holland’s Lip Sync Battle (Yes that’s important)

Stepped into a Spencer’s for the 1st time (though it was only at the very front of the store to look at posters)

Started planning for my new Yarny cosplay for Kitsune Kon

Watched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 twice in theatres

Bought a bikini for the 1st time (I usually only wear a tankini while swimming so wearing a bikini is huge for me)

Watched Steven Universe: Wanted and fell in love with Lars all over again

Worked during Memorial Day, but got paid more because holiday :D

Got my 2nd smartphone ever, a Samsung Galaxy S7

Ate a sandwich with a square bun for the 1st time

Updated my blog theme for the 1st time this year

June

Witnessed a felony traffic stop with arrests and everything for the 1st time

Celebrated my cat’s birthdays by giving them catnip

My parent’s divorce was finalized, same day as my cat’s birthday

Played Emily is Away for the 1st time

Returned to Mirai Nikki, an anime I never finished

Only just figured out Patrick Swayze died via a documentary (oops)

Attended my friend’s graduation party

Finished my 2nd and 3rd simultaneous playthroughs of Mass Effect

Started playing Mass Effect 2 and Life is Strange

Finished Episodes 1 and 2 of Life is Strange

Found out what the Grapefruit Technique is for some reason

Donated to Markiplier’s Charity Live Stream for Ablegamers

Kathryn mentioned my name (Icefire), my comment and thanked me for donating! :D

Purchased over $59 worth of games during Steam’s summer sale including Bioshock, Mirror’s Edge & Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition

Finished Life is Strange Episodes 3, 4 and 5 in the span of a few days

July

Played Blade Ballet for the 1st time

Played Monopoly and hung out at irl friend’s house for 3rd of July

Purchased Gone in November on Steam

Started watching Big Brother with my sister

Made a Yarny doll for the 1st time

Used an ATM for the 1st time

Attended Kitsune Kon for the 7th year

Almost didn’t make it to the con because I had stomach issues the morning of the con

Bought a lot of buttons, posters and dvd’s, etc from the con

Debuted my Yarny cosplay at the con

Went swimming for the 1st time this year

Continued unpacking things from my dad’s apartment before he moves

Toured the college I’m attending in January for the 1st time

Had to redo my financial aid application

Learned how to transfer funds from savings account to debit card. Horray for adulting!

Discovered the joys of Etsy

Toured my dad’s new house for the 1st time

Attempted to expand my storage on my Mac as I’m starting to run outd

August

Discovered StoreEnvy

Finished Mass Effect 2 for the 1st time

Began my application for transferring to a 4 year college

Finally put my posters up in my room at my dad’s house

Went Up North with my mom’s family for a weekend

Wore a bikini in public for the 1st time

Purchased VIP tickets to the Evanescence Concert

Bought VIP tickets for the 1st time

Found out my dad got engaged

Found and caught my 1st ever Shiny Pokemon (Shiny Haunter in Moon)

Tried VR for the 1st time

Went camping with my dad, his girlfriend and her family for a weekend

Started my 3rd and last semester at the technical college I’m at

Purchased Layers of Fear, Bioshock 2 and Remember Me on Steam

September

Met my dad and his fiancee’s new cats Ying and Yang

Officially got Accepted into the 4 year college I applied to

Finished Mass Effect 2 for the 2nd time

Started Mass Effect 3

Downloaded Origin

Bought tickets to see Diavolo from America’s Got Talent

Suffered from allergies for most of September

October

Attended an Employee appreciation day at my job

Visited a Counselor regarding my transfer to a 4 year college

Ordered a Christmas gift from my job

Finished Mass Effect 3 for the 1st time

Pre-registered for Kitsunekon 2018

Ate a fried egg sandwich for the 1st time

Submited my AP scores to my new college

Found a spring jacket that I lost back in Spring

Found over $20 in said jacket

Got an unofficial tour of the campus I’m going to in January by friend

Went to see Diavolo on tour

Played The Old City: Leviathan on Steam

My job got a bunch of renovations (paint, appliances, new products, etc)

Purchased Soma, realMyst, Plague Inc, Undertale and other walking simulators during Steam Halloween Sale

Attempted to play Penumbra Black Plague but dealt with screen resolution issues

Started playing Layers of Fear on Steam

Caught Primal Kyogre with just one quick ball in Pokemon Alpha Sapphire

Finally beat Pokemon Alpha Sapphire after over a year of not touching the game

November

Turned in my “final” report for my Technical Reporting class

Went back to playing Pokemon Moon

Signed up for my classes for January

Finally got to see Thor Ragnarok in theaters after 4 years of waiting!

Got my “final” report graded, 96%!

Got back into the Thor fandom

Got my mom some bubble wrap and salt water taffy for her birthday (she loved it)

Started playing Overwatch for the 1st time

Discovered You Suck at Cooking Youtube Channel

Purchased a bunch of games for Black Friday (Overwatch, Dragon Age II and Inquisition, indie games, etc)

December

Had my annual review at the Gas Station I worked at and got a raise!

Went to see Evanescence in Concert for the 1st time since 2011!

Went to Madison for the 1st time in about 4 years (last time was just a few days before I started my Tumblr account)

Tried sweet Sauerkraut for the 1st time, it tasted okay but it was kind of strange eating sweet sauerkraut

Got my best friend some bubble wrap as a gag gift for his birthday

Went to my sister’s holiday choir concert

Finished a final and got a 90% on it (Ethics Class)

Procrastinated on said final and other final project

Got introduced to Round Planet by BBC

Finished Season 7 of Overwatch Competitive with Silver Rank

Started getting invested in Yugioh (abridged and the manga)

Got the Synthesis (Evanescence) album for Christmas

Also got Pokemon Ultra Sun AND Ultra Moon for Christmas

My dad officially got married so I now have a step-family as of this month

Didn’t get to go to their wedding (it’s a long story)

Worked in Receiving at my job for the 1st time

#Ice's Annual Post #Ice says a thing

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nuzblog · 7 years ago

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Sunday, October 22nd, 2017

Hello there. My name is Sterling, which you may very well know already. I could bore you with details about me but I'd really prefer not to.

On this day (which is yesterday at the time of writing), I began my third consecutive attempt to do a Nuzlocke Run of Pokemon Blue. I intend to play through every generation of Pokemon in chronological order, using original versions (so no remakes; for the original two generations I will be using the virtual console, and for the latter five I will be playing the original cartridges.) I further intend to begin documenting this quest using this site as a sort of diary, which will be updated whenever the game I am nuzlocking is played, which will probably be daily for a while, but then I might get a Switch, or Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon might come out, and it might become less than daily.

To start out with, let's quickly go over a few things in terms of background.

The Pokemon series started with the release of Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green in Japan, on February 27, 1996, 19 months before I was born. The games were RPGs based on the childhood play of creator Satoshi Tajiri, who as a young boy in Machida, Japan, would collect beetles and have them fight other kids' captured insects. With 151 unique creatures to collect, trade, battle and love, from typical adorable cats and dogs to awe inspiring kaiju, to creepy-cute moths and bees and strange animated plant monsters, and things even weirder than that, the franchise had something for everyone. It made a huge splash in Japan, and when it was rereleased in the United States, it was accompanied by an animated show aimed at children and a trading card game, all of which connected like a plug into the outlets in the minds of children all over the world. It became a global phenomenon practically overnight, with scores of magical monsters becoming household names, and the concepts becoming core for game design. The series is still going, and while nothing since the first generation has become quite so culturally pervasive, the franchise is a well known and renowned one all the same. Every few years new games come along, with a new setting, a new story, and a set of new Pokemon hovering around 100. In seven "generations" (Red/Green/Blue/Yellow, Gold/Silver/Crystal, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, Black/White/Black 2/White 2, X/Y, Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon), the number 151 has become 804 (and counting, since Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon aren't out yet and may very well have a few new Pokemon.)

You probably know most of that already, but it is important to lay this kind of groundwork so that nobody is confused.

A Nuzlocke Challenge is a specific sort of self-imposed challenge that some players of Pokemon games use to combat the game's otherwise relatively low difficulty outside of PvP. It gets its name from a webcomic that originally simply called the challenge "Pokemon Hard Mode", but featured a Nuzleaf who was named after John Locke from LOST, who became a memetic character inside and outside of the comic, and the challenge is now named for that Nuzleaf. (If you're unfamiliar, Nuzleaf is a grass type Pokemon from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, that looks kind of like Pinocchio and evolves from an acorn and into a tengu. LOST was a bad show by the guy who for some reason got put in charge of both Star Trek AND Star Wars afterwards.)

The original Nuzlocke Challenge used the following rules:

1. You may only capture the first Pokemeon you see in each area. 2. Any Pokemon that faints is permanently dead, and can never be used again.

Later players of Nuzlockes have modified and expanded those rules, and today, many rulesets exist. Some mitigate the difficulty of these two rules, some make it harder, and some merely add a new spin to things. But in order to be a Nuzlocke Challenge, these two rules are the bare minimum.

Now that I've given you that background, I'd like to go ahead and list out my own ruleset, which I will be using not just for my playthrough of Blue, but also for all consecutive playthroughs, with the potential for minor tweaks and edits inbetween games and also early on into this first playthrough.

1. I may only capture the first Pokemon I see in each area. 1a. No Ball Clause - No wild encounters count until I have access to Pokeballs. 1b. Duplicate Clause - If the first encounter in an area is a Pokemon I have already caught, and they have not died (even if they have evolved), that encounter can be ignored in favor of the next one. This can be repeated until a unique Pokemon is found. 1c. Shiny Clause - A shiny Pokemon can be caught at any time, if one is encountered in the wild, unless the encounter is scripted. 2. A Pokemon that faints in battle is permanently dead, and can never be used again. A Pokemon that faints outside of battle, such as by poisoning, can be restored to life at a Pokemon Center. 2a. If I ever white out, and my whole team is fainted, it does not matter if I have living Pokemon in the box; my player character is considered dead, and the run has failed. 3. When an important trainer battle occurs, such as one with the rival, a gym leader battle, a battle against an admin of the villainous team, or another battle against an important NPC such as an elite four member or the champion, my party must have exactly as many Pokemon in it as theirs does. 3a. 6 Pokemon team for the Elite Four and Champion challenge at the end. 4. Each Pokemon Center provides only one opportunity for me to heal my Pokemon. When I finish an important battle, I have another chance to heal at the nearest Pokemon Center. I can hold onto this second heal, but I cannot accumulate a third. 4a. Healing outside of Pokemon Centers is infinite, including at home or in strangers' beds. 4b. Struggle Clause - If I run out of PP on all damaging attacks, I am allowed to heal at the nearest Pokemon Center if, and only if, all of my Pokemon are already at full HP.

Those are the major, overarching rules. Other notes include that I will be determining starter randomly when my character has the option unless I have tried and failed with two of them and have not yet tried the third, and that every Pokemon will be nicknamed. A Pokemon nickname cannot be reused for the same species if that Pokemon dies, and a trainer nickname cannot be reused if that trainer dies. (If, on the other hand, I complete Blue with a Pidgey on my team, and I am named John and my Pidgey is named Butts, I can use the name John for my player and the name Butts for a Pidgey I catch in future games, until they die.)

Got all that? Good. Now we can begin.

Well. Actually, first I'm gonna run through what happened on my first two attempts lightning fast.

First attempt - Player name was Red. Bulbasaur, named Metreedon, was my starter. Caught a Rattata, named it Mickey; it died. Caught a Nidoran (Female), named her Lexi. Caught a second Rattata, named it Minnie, it also died. Reached Level 8 with Metreedon and Lexi, and then fought the second rival battle. Was sorely beaten by Blue's Pidgey.

Second attempt - Player name was Satoshi. Charmander, named Sally, was my starter. Caught a Rattata, named it Remy. Caught a Pidgey, named it... I can't actually recall. Progressed all the way to Mt. Moon, beating Brock along the way. Was done in by the first encounter with a Team Rocket Grunt in Mt. Moon, and his illegally evolved Level 16 Raticate.

NOW we can begin!!

(A note: between that writing above and this writing below, I slept and then woke up and then went to work and then worked and then went home. I did not play any Pokemon Blue on the 23rd, but I will today, the 24th. Probably.)

I began my Pokemon journey, naming my character "Gary" and my rival "Ash", at the suggestion of the game. I can't help but feel as though Red being the far and above more popular version was an intentional move on Game Freak's part, given that these names are reversed both in Pokemon Red, and in the English translation of the anime. (I have not played the Japanese versions, but it is my understanding that a similar switch happens with the names Satoshi and Shigeru.) The Blue/Red suggestion switch is a little less notable, since that's a simple matter of the game you're playing. That said, while some of the names have turned out a little cringey ("Hilbert" and "Hilda" in particular), I think the "canon names" changing from depending on your game version to depending on your character's gender starting in the third generation was a good move.

Moving on, I go through the typical motions; I grab my Potion from the PC, I walk into the left-hand square of grass north of Pallet Town, get stopped by Oak and brought to the lab. There, I pick my starter, who, given that I've already rolled a Bulbasaur (using a random number generator) and a Charmander (using a physical six-sided die), I decide to be Squirtle. I name my Squirtle "Shelley", since gender doesn't exist yet and I can do whatever I like. (Not that gender ever really exists.) Squirtle is my favorite of the three starters in this generation, with Wartortle being my preference of the family, so I'm excited to use Shelley. This, of course, counts as my Pokemon for Pallet Town.

My rival battle in the lab is the most clutch it's been, for some reason, which is odd given that I'm now armed with the most useful statistic-affecting move alloted to the starting movesets of the three starters in this game, Tail Whip. I am reduced to one health, very nearly a game-ender, so I use my potion on the chance that my foe will use Tackle instead of Growl (Bulbasaur is faster than Squirtle here.) I win the battle with full health, but one less Potion, which are at a dreadful premium until Pewter City.

I journey north to Viridian, taking the opportunity to grind in the grass a bit. I get the potion from the advertiser, the parcel from the mart, and then head back south, delivering it to Oak. I now have a PokeDex, but more importantly, since I'm definitely not filling that out, the PokeMart in Viridian will now sell me some PokeBalls. I head North yet again, purchase five, and head south, catching a Rattata in Route 1 along the way. I name my Rattata Lemmy. I could talk about what made me use that name, but I think I will leave that a mystery. The first person to correctly guess what my name scheme is for this run through (before it ends) will get... a Pokemon from the run traded to them in Sun or Moon? Hidden Abilities, yo.

I left off the game grinding back and forth in Route 1, taking maximum advantage of the unlimited healing that my mother provides. This is not a privilege I'll have forever (although I will probably have it back when I get Fly?), especially since, as I recall, there is a temporary point of no return on the other side of Mt. Moon, which, even if Mt. Moon weren't inhospitable to those who are already desperately in need of healing, would make it impossible to take advantage of my mother's generosity.

Current team is Shelley the Squirtle, Level 8, from Pallet Town; and Lemmy the Rattata, Level 6, from Route 1.

Riveting, I know.

See y'all for the next entry.

#pokemon #nuzlocke #pokemon blue #entries

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