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retphienix · 3 years

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I Have A Lot To Say So I'll Read More This.

The short of it?

I'm glad I played Joker- I played it because I wanted to know how DQM evolved when it reached the DS and I got my answer.

It's mediocre. Not bad exactly, I enjoyed playing it, it adds some REALLY appreciated features to the DQM series and if you were playing it at release it had online play which plays well with the post game content which I haven't touched by the time I wrote this:

-but there are some engine/console specific things that made it a drag and there are some parts of the game that are just weaker than the previous games which is amusing since the previous games were simple GBC titles.

And finally, I don't really recommend playing through Joker 1. Can't speak on the sequels, but Joker 1 was a pretty middling experience for me so I'm the wrong person to get a positive recommendation from.

And since the opportunity presents itself: If you like monster RPGs and haven't tried it- go emulate Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 for the GBC, it's really good and also if you emulate you can fast forward the GBC era grind if that's your taste- really a win all around.

On to my rambling:

I debated on writing, rewriting, rewriting, and better presenting my thoughts on this game and the series as a whole but nah, Joker ain't getting that, I'm ramblin'- lol

I will split it slightly between "The ending" and "The game as a whole" though.

Ending:

1:07 - This is slightly a 'game a a whole' thing but honestly it's funny to me that you unlock a permanent repel in this game by doing the main quest. I entered this dungeon feeling strong enough to beat the game, so I just avoided 90% of encounters entirely.

5:00 - I genuinely got a laugh out of Sparkpug's whole deal in this finale. Not story wise, that's fine, no complaints- I mean that Sparkpug is clearly built to be a monster that can carry an ineffective team. He's clearly meant to be bred a few times and a god tier member of a potentially inexperienced player's team- but I literally never used him after the intro.

So during this scene it's supposed to be like "I'm a demi-god monster, you can't possibly beat me" and I'm thinking "Dude, you're like level 10 and shit tier, you can't win, this is hilarious."

Obviously it's a real boss fight and not 'face the monster you once had' but I was having fun roasting him behind the scenes of this recording.

45:00 - What an entirely unexpected change of pace.

Like, I had it spoiled for me by a screenshot that Dr. Snap becomes a monster or something- but I thought maybe he was always a monster or something, and also I got a bad look at him.

HE TURNS INTO A BODY HORROR BEAST, THAT'S NUTS.

Genuinely a highlight of the game.

52:00 - I fucking laughed what a meaningless exchange where the payoff is saying "He was stupid!", it's honestly just silly and dumb but not necessarily bad just dumb lol

55:00 - Not a great 'you won' victory lap. Like at all. Kinda feels like they should have just made this all a cutscene where I appear back at town and see that Solitaire is the leader now etc etc.

I kinda don't understand why it's a victory lap at all? Because all anyone says is "They picked a weird successor to Snap >:(" or "Snap went to the island? I bet he was stopping the calamity :)"

If you have 2 lines of dialogue prepared, maybe don't make a victory lap???

1:00:00 - What a fucking stupid payoff lol

Like sincerely, Solitaire does NOTHING the entire game! She's meaningless from start to finish! And the 'surprise' is that she's the new commish??? And she got the position because she's a rich spoiled brat??? Like LITERALLY that's why????????

What a stupid fucking ending lol

Now her proposed evolution of the contest is fair enough, I mean it's childish as hell, but to be fair- more contests is a fine idea especially since prior games and this game demonstrated the public's interest in watching monster fights. And the goal being to fight her as the final fight is fucking egotistical and stupid- BUT- it does play into the fact that the player didn't get to fight her the whole game so it's whatever?

1:03:00 - This is both the best and worst lol.

This game has no story, like at all, it's fucking empty front to back, and only explodes with like- 1 event at the very end.

This moment is a montage of memorable moments with your 'best friend' Sparkpug. It's cinematically very nice to be honest! Even includes a moment I don't remember at the arena which probably didn't happen lol.

So visually it's cool- I dig seeing the camera zoom out as we run across the beach, and the flashback moments intersplice over us making our way to the scout memorial- that's very well done.

The content is empty lol

As I said there's no story, these moments are nothing lol

And that's that.

All said the ending was a very nice challenge to face with my team- I had to abuse items like mad but I MADE IT! It was a GOOD fight.

The rest I've already said.

On to the game as a whole:

I have issues with this game, but there's good too. It's really like 4 steps forward 6-7 steps back it's weird, it's really weird.

Positives are neat!

> First and foremost- TRAITS!

Monsters in Dragon Quest Monsters have always had a problem with keeping their identity for long. The way I'd explain it to an outsider to the series is that Monsters DO have special stat variance and intended movesets and all that jazz- but the breeding system completely and entirely destroys that relatively early into the game.

While a monster might normally have really high defense and low other stats while knowing buffing magic- breeding, EVEN UNINTENTIONALLY, will have that same monster come out with 9 billion attack and all ice magic.

Monsters in DQM have a habit of becoming canvases for the breeding effects rather than their own mons- and this is undeniably a downside. It makes the game feel unique, it doesn't 'hurt' it, but when by mid-game monsters are more easily identified as sprites rather than strengths and weaknesses or even types (family) it's a slight downer on the series.

Traits fix this a lot by making every specific monster have unchangeable traits which offer things like "immunity to x type of damage" or "higher crit chance"- it's small, but it gives each monster more identity.

> Second and secondmost- SKILLS!

The older games didn't use trees, it used each individual spell as a potential pass on during breeding.

Each monster could have 8 spells, and when you breed two monsters you pass on all 16 spells to the offspring (they don't learn them all at once, they learn them as they level up) as well as the natural spells the monster would learn by level up.

So in the older games it is really easy to end up with a refined and overpowered list of 8 spells on each of your monsters.

Now spells are tied to Skill trees and your monsters can have 3 skill trees total (which are passed on as OPTIONS when breeding).

All to say skills do a lot for removing the "Master of all, weakness of none" spell lists that the older games made trivial to make, now you have to limit your builds and be more specialized- also they added skills like "Attack up" to add more variance to a build- instead of having spells you might just have high stat buffs as skill trees.

Overall I think Skills are an improvement because coupled with Traits it makes each monster feel much more specialized and unique and less like a sprite with no identity.

> Breeding is improved.

This is very much because of skills and traits- again- but also the system is just improved in general. Instead of being told "That's a monster you haven't had before!" and judging your decisions based on the name of the offspring breed, now you get to see a small sprite of the resulting monster to help you decide- ALSO instead of getting 1 result for every combo (to the point where you have to back out and choose Monster A + Monster B and Monster B + Monster A as separate options), you now get up to 3 results to pick between for every breeding opportunity.

It's just better.

> The engine is impressive.

At least to me. This is a DS title using (from what I read) a rework of the DQ8 PS2 game's engine- it certainly looks like it.

Combat models are nice, using moves looks nice, overworld exploration looks nice- it looks nice.

Now for some negative and general nonsense- all of which is more often than not 'weird'.

> I gotta be unfair and say "The Story" first and foremost.

DQM 1 and 2 are not intense story games. They aren't.

But they both knew how to handle their story well for what they wanted to tell, I can and will praise both for their narratives because they know what they are and do it well.

DQM:J does not. It's fucking bad.

Basically: The overall story doesn't exist- you're told to be a spy, but that comes up 1 time towards the end of the game and LITERALLY doesn't matter at any other moment INCLUDING the one time it comes up.

You have NO meaningful objective from the start up until near the end of the game. You show up and have no goal- so you get told to get some crystals with no meaning behind it (not even a lie because they are clearly evil- not even a lie to motivate you! NO MEANING IS PRESENTED! JUST DO IT! TO DO THE CONTEST I GUESS! WHY? SHUT UP!)

So 90% of the game time you're not doing anything meaningful. So what about the islands? Any small narratives to keep things moving?

NO!

NOT AT ALL!

So you go 90% of the game having no real objective, just kinda wandering forward mindlessly- and then the game suddenly goes "Oh! Guy who seemed sus! He's evil! He's gonna unleash the calamity that you were 'kinda but not directly' working towards with your dog! You know, that plot point that's kept vague and paid 0% attention to the entire game? Yeah it's happening! Aaaaand you're done! GG!"

Basically there's just nothing going on in this game, it's all background noise until the last 10% of the game. And that's lame.

DQM1 had a light story- but from the very intro cutscene you have a clear objective which makes every action you do seem relevant as you are working towards that goal.

From the start of the game you know "My sister is gone! The king says a magic wish can get her back! I'll go do that!" and then you do!

DQM2 has a much better story!

You have a goal from the start (The kingdom is physically dying and you have to save it by getting a new plug!) AND it has stories for each world you visit!

THAT'S MILES BETTER! THIS GAME COULD HAVE DONE THAT FOR THE ISLANDS!

Anywho. Story is lacking and empty and lame especially when DQM2 has a similar format but does every part better- you have a clear objective you're working towards AND side stories to keep the light narrative moving!

WTH!

The spy plotline doesn't matter! It could have been used to build suspicion on who's the good guy!

The islands are so empty of story!

DQM2 has a fun mix on how a rival character works which makes every world interesting to see how they get involved!

This game has a rival that does NOTHING!!!!!!!!!

It's just such a step back from the previous games, it's weird to see DQM 1 land a solid simple story and DQM 2 build a great format to expand the story going forward- and then DQM:J just slams its head into the dirt and wipes out.

> Game's slow.

The engine switch is a good thing overall, but it makes combat slower (a lot), adds loading screens to combat (primarily), and they didn't bother speeding up the grind from previous games.

Because of the grind still existing which isn't a problem in and of itself- the game becomes SLOW AS HELL because the engine makes that grind take longer.

Also world exploration is slow which is to be expected when moving from 2d to 3d, but this is countered by adding things to the world to find or do- and Joker tries but it's still noticeable. The world exploration isn't a problem, it just stands out alongside the combat being slow as hell.

The engine change was a great thing- but it feels like they should have put more work into speeding up combat to counter the slowdown of load times and flashy animations.

A GOOD WAY TO FIX THAT MIGHT BE XP!

> Music ain't great in my opinion.

DQ has amazing music. This game has some weak renditions in my opinion. The CELL HQ theme song is a pretty good poster child for the worst there is, but just in general even the better music is lacking compared to the chiptunes of the GBC or the better mixes of the main series.

Maybe it's unfair, it's a DS game, I don't know, I just know I ended up just muting most of the game because it didn't sound great. I played the GBC games OSTs instead for a large portion of my playthrough. I listened to videos instead for the bulk of the game.

It's just not pleasant to me, sorry to say.

> XP!!!!!!!

I'm being a spoiled ass on this but yeah!

XP SUCKS IN THIS!

There aren't good placed to grind until you beat the game! (apparently)

The first level blatantly has too low xp which makes you grind before you can tackle the boss of the island- and the late game has you mindlessly grinding low xp rewards in order to be ready to face the final boss.

It's WEIRD!

Why is it so low!

> Tech is weird!

I could ramble on this alone but here's the short version:

DQ has a unique fantasy world aesthetic that each game has explored in its own way. It's basically "swords, magic, monsters, and charm- things feel light but aren't afraid to get scary sometimes :)"

This game... doesn't.

This game has fuckin' tech watches, jet skis, TOWER PCS????

This ISN'T dragon quest on a world building level.

It's like, contemporary modern world but with slimes.

And that could be good I guess, but it feels so fucking weird to see PCs right alongside swords and axes and a dracky.

Like... why?

It's a poor aesthetic according to my tastes. Maybe I'm an ass for that. The tech is weird.

All to say, in a poor rambling "I gotta get this out of me" kinda way, is Joker was fine.

I enjoyed breeding. I enjoyed seeing the engine. I enjoyed the unique additions like a 'hero monster'.

But I also had to grind mindlessly on a slower game.

I had to endure a story that forgot to show up until the very end.

I sat there thinking about replaying the older ones the whole time.

It was fine.

It's mediocre.

I'm glad I played it.

I'm done now :)

#RetPlays #Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker #Dragon Quest #Dragon Quest Monsters #Dragon Warrior Monsters #DQM #DWM #DQM:J #DS #Nintendo

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rpmemesbyarat · 3 years

Conversation

RP Meme from "Rock & Rule" Part Two of Two

You know, love's not what you think

Love is anything you make it

How can I let you feel my love, feel me, and still feel free?

I may not have the answers now. So what?

They keep this place locked up tighter than a hummingbird's tweet.

By the way doll, who're you?

They just don't understand us new women.

After all, every now and then a girl's gotta get out and dance, catch my drift?

I do it every Saturday night! Let's go!

With your funk and my spunk, we don't need much time to find some real hot action!

We're on our way to the Twilight Zone!

My beast; their nightmare.

Magic? Magic, shmagic!

You bumming out on me?

Let's get out of here before we get caught.

No one can send it back.

Raising a real demon could be real bad for your image.

The liability costs would be enormous.

Wars have been started for less!

When I want your opinions I'll give them to you.

We're in the clear.

Oh yeah, the ladies will love this.

You never told us we were concerned.

Aw, are you gonna tuck us in, too?

I was just beginning to like ya, ya little scumbag.

I know she hangs around an uptown club.

You got to listen to my side of the story now.

It was not my fault that night at all those cops were supposed to be on the take; I am on the level!

Now we're even, fink.

Now we're even, right?

Follow them, yes, but don't interfere.

Oh boy! Mutants in the foyer of the club! Isn't it neat-o!

Eww, watch your step!

You let mutants in and it spoils everything, know what I mean honey? They just don't know how to dress.

I got uppers and downers, inners and outers, screamers and shouters, and things that make you go sideways

I know that I see you, and I'm hoping that you feel the same.

Come on and dance

I don't even have to know your name

Hey, come on, there's a booth over there.

Anyhow, he's kinda cute, but this guy had just gone too far so I told him he was a real waldo and I broke his fingers.

This is no time to be lying around!

This could be trouble.

Just keep an eye on them.

Sit tight honey, check this out, they're playing my song!

Whatcha looking for? The girl of your dreams?

Please deposit another dime, your three minutes is uuuuuuuuuup!

Get off the street!

What a pleasant, and unexpected surprise.

Perhaps we should invite him on up for a spell?

There there, come to daddy.

I've got everything I need.

I want everything too

It takes time

Okay, it's showtime.

Look, forget it. I won't sing.

I offer you fame, riches, and a crack at the top, you refuse.

I'm very disappointed.

What are you doing to them? Stop! Stop!

Our word is good enough for me.

You could have killed them. You, you're totally crazy!

Shall we see them off?

How are you boys doing?

I promise, I'll get you outta this.

You're working with the best now.

Survivors described the destruction as "evil," "spooky," and "wow, bad karma, man."

And it smelled just like cleaning fluid, and all it made me do was wanna, like, wax the floor, so like, can you tell me, like, is this concert for real, or is it just another rip off?

I need more power?

I will raise this demon, I will not fail again. Its power will be mine.

I know you love the thing I've got.

You've never seen the likes of me

You think he's acting but he is not

I'm the match, and I'm the pyre

I'm the power seldom used a lot

I'm the big bad thing that makes you shake.

You will worship me, of course

I'm the oracle

I'm the conduit

There is no question that I am it!

He looks so cool, but he's hot

Can you tell the difference between good and evil?

Gosh, we're here.

Hey boss, boss, wake up!

There is no longer black or white, good or evil. We've evolved beyond that.

We all must have our own personal view of right and wrong.

Is what we are doing evil?

'Evil' spelled backwards is 'live.' And we all want to do that.

So until next week, boys and girls, goodbye, and be good!

Destiny has revealed itself.

Take me with you wherever you go.

We can cancel. Nothing else matters. Just us.

Let's go away together.

Fiji? Disneyland? Fantasy Island?

You're a very clever girl.

I've enjoyed your little game but tonight the game is mine.

I like you, and I like this town

You guys just blew the whole show!

Your hometown puts a smile on my face

More! Boost the power, now!

Whoa, that's enough. Too much!

I just had this crazy dream where you were a real nice guy.

Get serious.

Ooo! My head feels like an eggplant!

We've got to rescue her.

I've had it with the hero business.

It's true. I saw them together. I've had it.

Everybody! Freeze!

Oh no! We'll never make it!

Aw, shit.

Whatever it is, it's evil.

DESTROY THEM ALL!

We ain't evil, are we?

It's our one desire

This song sends love through

Look! Something's happening! It's going back!

No! No No! They can't stop you!

Don't go! Please don't go!

You can't do this to me!

How about that show!

You get the greatest show ever!

Let's hear it for these kids, and hope that this never happens again!

#rp meme #rp memes #rp starters #roleplay meme #roleplay memes #roleplay starters #rock and rule

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newx-menfan · 4 years

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X-Force #1 Review

*Spoilers!*

The issue starts with villains (that suspiciously look like DC's Bane and Black Mask...), in an anti-mutant group the Domino has infiltrated. Domino gets caught when they do the blood ceremony. (BTW, through this whole scene I just kept thinking about the blood ceremony in 'Scream Queens' season 1😂😂😂)

Back at Krakoa, Beast is tracking a strange animal that they don't know how it got on the island (for all we know-Logan probably just assaulted a student 😂). Logan does his usual 'happiness makes you soft speech' (way to be the f*****' downer Logan!) .

We then cut to Black Tom investigating something coming through one of the gates- which is just revealed to be Kitty and the Marauders...

Jean (looking atrocious in this particular panel 😮) is psychically talking with Tom and senses something else aboard the ship. It's revealed to be Piotr, whose Facebook status should this year just be 'been going through some s***'... (the breakup with Kitty has not done wonders for Piotr's character development...😬).

We then cut to an airport with some shady looking passengers boarding a flight to Honolulu.

Xavier and Sage talk about Domino's disappearance before Xavier goes through a portal to Sokovia to celebrate the signing of the treaty. (Tip- Never drink Champagne handed to you when people mention you living forever...).

We see the return of THE. BEST. CHARACTER. EVER.- the Morlock’s local DnD wizard healer! (Also this panel is really nicely done!)

The plane to Honolulu unsurprisingly is hijacked ...

The Krakoa security system picks up Domino’s bio signal and Tom criticizes the security of the island. Just as Xavier gives his rebuttal- the island is attacked.

During the chaos, Xavier struggles with not wanting to leave his people...but also knowing he's the target (seriously Xavier, the time to have an moral crisis is not now!...).

Logan is trying to track the shooter, and Beast brings up how apropos his comments were (personally I think Logan just jinxed it...).

Just as Wolverine, Jean, Beast, and Tom gets to Xavier the issue cuts with their looks of horror and the helmet broken on the ground.

Opinions:

I never thought I'd say this, since X-Force has been in a rough place the past few years and this was the book I was the least excited about.... but X-Force is the best book so far!

The plot is engaging and doesn't drag, the characterizations are well done, and it fits the tone set up by HOX/POX...

I fluctuate between really loving this art style...and really disliking it. There's certain scenes that are done really beautifully and it fits...and then others where it's kind of jarring.

Hopefully this won't all change the minute QQ is added, although once again I do think this book is a good fit for him.

So far the biggest problem with the current Wave 1 X-books lineup was that they all to varying degrees felt so jarringly off from the original premise.

Reading these books so far has FELT like different writers and not always very cohesive from Hickman's HOX/POX .

X-Force FEELS like an offset of HOX/POX and the world building Hickman did.

Really the ONLY criticism that can be made is that this was SO OBVIOUS. Xavier and the team SHOULD have known this was going to happen and been better prepared (seriously guys...did you learn NOTHING from the KYOST era?!).

People really SHOULDN'T have been running around like chickens with their heads cut off 🤦‍♂️

Overall...this book still really blew me away despite this story being...kind of obvious and predictable...

Theories:

Either-

A) Mystique was totally masquerading as Xavier and the 'real' Xavier is in Sokovia...

OR...

B) Random wild animal/possible mutant that was foreshadowed actually saved Xavier/killed shooter...

#spoilers #review #X force #x men #house of x #powers of x #Benjamin Percy #Joshua Cassara #Marvel

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