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voltimer · 3 years

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'The Magic of Johto's Level Curve'

(or, 'a leisurely analysis of the singleplayer balance of Pokemon GSC and HGSS')

The Johto games - especially HeartGold and SoulSilver - seem to have a very good reputation. Some often put the aforementioned HGSS into their top 3 or describe it as the core Pokemon experience. I personally agree with this sentiment and HGSS is either #2 or #1 depending on my mood (it usually competes with Black 2 and White 2).

Despite all its praise though, there seems to be an incredibly consistent point raised against it: the level curve. I see it described as unbalanced, janky, and generally bad.

There are two main problems people tend to cite. First is the level progression in Johto itself, with Gyms 5, 6, and 7 not exactly being a smooth progression upwards and then Team Rocket's Archer and the 8th Gym having a notable level spike compared to those last three. Wild Pokemon levels are also usually a lot lower than the major boss fights they are ahead of, making raising new 'mons harder and grinding for boss fights longer. The other problem is Kanto, whose problems can essentially be said to take Johto's levelling issues and ramp them up. The jump from fighting Blue to the Elite Four rematches and Red is also very significant.

What I'm not going to do here is refute that the above isn't true - these level scaling inconsistencies are certainly present. It's also very different to the vast majority of main series entries, whose level curves are more linear and gradual. Gens 5 and 7 even have a feature which multiplies exp gain based on how much lower or higher you are than the Pokemon you defeat which in a way acts like a rubber band around each game's level curve, ensuring you can catch up easily but not go too overlevelled either. Playing GSC and HGSS when the rest of those entries are like that is a bit jarring. Pokemon is so well-known for having quite a formulaic design across its main series and when compared to that formula with regards to level progression and the like, the Johto games do seem a bit off-colour.

What I am going to do though is try to explain why this so-called bad level curve is at the very least not actually that bad, or, if I can convince you well enough, that the Johto games actually have a unique and (what I call) magical singleplayer game design not properly replicated in any other entry. It goes to the core essence of Pokemon's theming, and it fits with the fact that Johto's narrative also happens to put the most focus on those themes than the rest of the series.

When I say the core essence of theming, I mean the very basics of every Pokemon adventure: you, the player, leave home to go on a journey around your region, meeting various people and overcoming various challenges along the way together with your partner Pokemon. Challenges you overcome are all thanks to the bonds you share with your partners and how you raise them with love and care. As you get older, this is the sort of thing in Pokemon that you probably end up taking for granted. It's typical "power of friendship" stuff, and most people will tend to come to conclude through learning about the game mechanics that this sort of thing is superficial and that stats are all that matter in the end. The more modern Pokemon games also have such a big focus on larger-than-life stories with big climaxes featuring the box Legendaries that it's easy to lose this basic level, down-to-earth narrative theming.

Johto is significant for not having any larger-than-life aspects overshadowing its core. Instead, the core takes centre stage. There is no real overarching story besides your adventure. Team Rocket's antics take a sub-plot role but in the end act as a foil to your story, being one of the more major obstacles you overcome. Catching Ho-oh or Lugia is no cataclysm either, but rather a reward for your achievements throughout the game and thanks to your good and pure heart - recognised by the Legendary in question. Moments throughout the game like how you deal with the situation at the Lake of Rage, or the Dragon's Den trial where you're asked questions to test your ideals as a trainer (which, of course, you pass with flying colours) all contribute to this core as well.

The way Professor Oak congratulates you after defeating Lance ties the knot perfectly on the main campaign:

"Ah, <player>! It's been a long while. You certainly look more impressive. Your conquest of the League is just fantastic! Your dedication, love, and trust for your Pokémon made this happen. Your Pokémon were outstanding, too. Because they believed in you as a Trainer, they persevered. Congratulations, <player>!"

These are just examples of the main story events, though,and Johto has a lot more than that. The region is filled with things to do beside the main campaign - Berries/Apricorns, Pokegear calls, the Ruins of Alph and other optional caves, the Bug Catching Contest, and (in HGSS) the Pokeathlon and Safari Zone, just to name a few of the more notable ones. Tama Hero's review of Pokemon GSC talks a lot about this and it's well-worth a watch even beyond the section describing the games' breadth of side content.

Tama Hero also touches upon the supposed level scaling issue, and her response to the complaints is that there is a "sprinkling" of opportunities for small bits of exp gain throughout the game which should help you stay on track in most cases, and where you can't match levels, you can outplay your opponent.

I certainly agree with the latter. It always feels entirely possible to beat bosses at a level deficit throughout Johto. The Johto League is one of the key cases where you'll probably end up at level disadvantage, but I've consistently been able to defeat it with a team of lv 40s on average (so nearly 10 levels behind Lance's peak), and I'm pretty certain that my not-even-10-year-old self did so as well, even though it took me many, many attempts. From various people I've talked to and bits of let's plays I've seen over the years, this seems to be the common experience too. I think only a minority of people have had to grind to match Lance's levels in order to beat him at all. Granted, it might take you a couple of tries at that level disadvantage (or a great couple of tries more, like little ol' me), but that's surely not an unreasonable expectation. The concept of getting stuck at a difficult stage in a game could be called a universal one, and I think most people agree that it's always pretty satisfying to finally surmount a challenge like that. This can even be said about other Pokemon games - Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh also all have large level spikes at the end. In fact, at least when it comes to the end of the maingame, I'd argue Hoenn and Sinnoh have a larger level spike than Johto, but they're not considered impossible or anything

Regardless, though: it's certainly possible to win difficult battles in Pokemon at a level disadvantage. Tama Hero argues that the strategy required to do so isn't something the game teaches you very well, but I think this is a tad pessimistic. In the end I think that most wins will just come down to understanding of more fundamental skills that you've probably learned through the course of the game naturally - using type matchups (gyms are all type themed), using moves with stat changes (the earlygame is full of moves like Growl and Tail Whip), using status moves (no doubt you're going to see the effects of Paralysis and Burns throughout the game at least), and apt use of items (bosses always use potions and often use held items). Players also have more control over the battle than the enemy, with the default Switch mode and a huge amount more items available. It's true that the games don't teach you the deeper, untold mechanics very well, but learning about those only unlock even more ways to succeed for the numbers-minded veterans.

On the topic of those deeper, untold mechanics I also want to talk about something which Tama Hero doesn't mention at all - Effort Values, or EVs. Most of you reading will probably know about these by now, but for those who don't, EVs are hidden values which can increase a Pokemon's raw stats by a certain amount based on the other Pokemon they defeat. They were present in a slightly different form in Gens 1 and 2 in the form of "stat exp" but the premise was the same: your Pokemon grow twofold when you defeat Pokemon, by gaining visible exp for levelling up and visibly gaining stats every time that exp bar fills, but also by gaining stats little by little every time they defeat any Pokemon. Your Pokemon's EVs weren't visible to you in-game until Gen 6 with the Super Training graphic, and numerically weren't until Gen 7 where you can press X on the Pokemon's stat screen to show what are called "base stats".

EV optimisation is crucial to competitive play because the stat boosts they give are quite significant. Competitive players will "min-max" spreads, putting as much as possible into 2 stats to maximise strengths and not wasting any on stats they aren't making use of. In maingame playthroughs, though, EVs will usually end up being a balanced spread because you'll invetivably be facing a variety of Pokemon with different EV yields throughout the game. EVs can also be increased with the Vitamin items (Protein, Calcium, etc.) which you find a handful of throughout the game (and can buy at a premium) and can be used to manually raise EVs, though only to a certain point.

In Gens 3 and onward, a Pokemon can have up to 252 EVs in 1 stat, and 510 in total. At Lv 100, 4 EVs in a stat grant 1 point extra to it. For the singleplayer campaign the conditions are a bit different, but if we assume as a standard that by the Elite Four your EV total is maxed out and you have an even spread, your stats will all be up to 10 points higher than they would be without EVs. In Gens 1 and 2, you can actually max out all of a Pokemon's stat exp values but you're unlikely to cap them all for a good while beyond the maingame so we can consider them about the same as in the later gens for this.

But why is this important?

Firstly, the difference EVs make in the above scenario account for what is usually about 5 levels' worth of stats. Depending on your exact distribution, it could be a couple more or less levels' worth in each stat but the bottom line is that they make your Pokemon's strength higher than it may seem based on level alone.

This means that the wild Pokemon grinding that is criticised for being too tedious in Johto as a result of low levels is also better than it seems because even when you don't level up, you're gaining EVs for every one of those you defeat. The stagnant levels in the midgame of Johto also contribute more to your Pokemon's growth than it may seem from the slow level gain. The Pokegear rematches which you gain access to after defeating Team Rocket before Gym 8 may also be a little infrequent, but they also very often give you Vitamins afterwards to add to all of this.

Secondly is what seems to be a fairly unknown fact: in-game trainers do not have any EV spreads. Thanks to the work of speedrunners, we have exact data of enemy trainers' Pokemon to show this. Trainers do have IV spreads based on their "AI level" (more 'advanced' AI levels will have up to 30 IVs across the board) but the difference near-perfect IVs will have on their Pokemon is not as great as the combination of random IV spreads and relatively balanced EV spreads yours.

That 10 level deficit vs Lance is suddenly more like 5 in practice. Some of his Pokemon also happen to have pretty high stats naturally in Gyarados and the Dragonites, and the level deficit will still be slightly present, but once we factor in strategy again, you can abuse their type weaknesses and make good use of items, status and whatever else have you to swing the odds in your favour.

The only way you can find out anything about EVs in Johto is from a NPC in Blackthorn City who gives your Pokemon the Effort Ribbon if they have reached their total of 510, and the only practical way for a player without the technical knowledge to have achieved this is to have spent time throughout the game doing lots of little bits of training - in other words, putting in the effort - to have incidentally capped their Pokemon's EV total. It's only fitting that you find this NPC towards the end of the Johto campaign because it's likely that by this point a couple of your team members will be eligible for the ribbon.

This finally ties back to the point of core theming. EVs are an invisible stat giving your Pokemon an extra edge over their in-game opponents, or, at worst, one closing a gap in strength between them, as a result of all of the time you've spent raising those Pokemon throughout the game. In other words, EVs are essentially the statistical representation of the "dedication, love, and trust" you have for your Pokemon which gets you through seemingly difficult challenges. Levels, then, are only a surface representation of your Pokemon's strength: they create the feeling of an uphill battle, but you can win against the odds by believing in yourself and your partners. It's probably exactly what you thought as the naive and uncynical child playing through a Pokemon game for the first time, and probably one of the ways you made such fond memories of it. In hindsight, this is definitely how it was for me. It is a sort of magic, really.

There is still a big Red elephant in the room, and I do think that the level gap between the end of the Kanto Gyms and Red is maybe too hard to go and beat immediately after even with the power of EVs and such, but Red is by all means a superboss and final challenge of the Johto games, and I don't think it's unreasonable to have to grind for a while to build up for and to finally be able to take his team of Lv 80s on. The same can be said about the Elite Four Rematches in this game and others, Steven in Emerald, or that one Barry fight in Platinum if you do decide to beat the E4 rematches 20 times to make his levels nearly match Red's. If you're setting out to fight a superboss like this, the grind is part of the prerequesites. It's definitely still possible to beat someone like Red with a 10 or even 20 level deficit if you play well, though. I admit, I haven't beaten Red in a long time, but I have beaten Emerald Steven with a ~15 level gap before. Tama Hero also said she has beaten Red with a team of level 50s in Crystal in the review.

I said before that the other games in the series haven't replicated this sort of thing as well. Gen 5 was the beginning of a marked shift away from this design, with its overarching story-driven style and a change to exp gain which would honestly be incompatible with the level curve in Johto. Gen 6, whilst returning to the exp system without level deficit multipliers, saw different means of statistical representations of the 'dedication, love and trust' trio in Pokemon Amie, which can break the game almost as much as the Exp Share when enough Affection is built up. Gen 7 brings back Gen 5's exp system whilst retaining the Exp Share and Affection systems, and actually ends up even diverging from the EV design which went before by having in-game trainers and Totem Pokemon with competitive, min-maxed EV spreads from as early as the Trainer's School. Whilst I am yet to play Let's Go and Sword and Shield, their Exp system with a 'permanent Exp Share' of sorts makes it a huge amount different and from what I've seen and heard, overlevelling is quite easy despite the game being designed around the feature. I really hope that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl at least return to Gen 6's exp mechanics, or better, reunite us with the held-item version of the Exp Share which doesn't make me feel like I'm cheating whenever I use it.

Before I go too off-topic, though, I should probably return to the original thread of this post to make some concluding remarks. What can't be denied that the way GSC and HGSS are designed may not be for everyone. I know for sure that a lot of people prefer to be able to breeze through a Pokemon game at a brisk pace without many roadblocks, but as someone who in recent years has come to appreciate much slower-paced and immersive singleplayer Pokemon playthroughs, I can't help but love the way GSC and HGSS are designed in the way I've explained, or appreciate their unique identity amongst the rest of the series. Coming to think about this has also shed light on why I adored HeartGold as much as I did when I first played it way back 11 years ago. I poured hours and hours into the game, and as a result, its magical design put me under its spell.

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Though I linked to the references I did use when they appeared, here they are again. Do check them out if they're of interest to you!

Tama Hero's GSC review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgtMVKP2T6Y

speedrun.com trainer data for HGSS: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnhgss/guide/k2zij

speedrun.com trainer data for SuMo: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnsunmoon/guide/d2683

Tama Hero (YT) is one of the few people I know who actually makes longer-form Pokemon analysis content besides Aleczandxr (also YT), who whilst not being a 'PokeTuber' has made some brilliant analyses of storytelling through setting in Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto, and just recently, Unova. I did not refer to them here but I can highly recommend their content, at least.

Thank you very much for reading to the very bottom here. This is my first time writing something like this and I appreciate it.

#voltimer longpost #pokemon #gsc #gen 2 #gold and silver #crystal #gen 4 #heartgold and soulsilver #analysis #hgss

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jaybug-jabbers · 3 years

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Pokemon Prism Review

Well I’m currently finishing up the post-game content of Pokemon Prism.

Dang.

What a fun game.

(what follows is an informal review of the game. it got a little long, lol. it has some spoilers for the game, of course.)

My background

To give you a quick idea on my perspective on Pokemon, I grew up with Pokemon Red on the big grey brick Gameboy. After Red, I pretty much stopped playing for many years. My little brother had a Gameboy Color and had Silver, but I never got one myself. Wasn’t ‘til years and years later I found some emulators and played through several generations of Pokemon at once. So, Gen 2 really isn’t nostalgic for me. It’s close enough to Gen 1 to hit some nostalgia buttons, though. I am admittedly somebody who feels Gen 1 is the best gen of pokemon. I don’t care of people laugh or say I’m a genwunner for believing that. Gen 1, I feel, had the raw creativity and charm of the original idea, and it simply sets my imagination alight far more than any other gen does. Those simple pixel designs for those little virtual creatures just opened up a world in my mind. THAT SAID, I did play and very much enjoyed all the other gens of pokemon. I do not shun things just because they are new, and I am not one of those people who says the new designs of pokemon are stupid. I adore plenty of modern pokes.

Blend of Old and New

Anyway! Pokemon Prism, for those unaware, is a ROM hack of Pokemon Crystal. It essentially delivers a brand-new Pokemon adventure for the Generation 2 games. It’s a really neat blend of classic gameplay and modern features. You’ll find species from modern games all the way from Gen 3 (such as Breloom) to Gen 6 (such as Sylveon) but their sprites perfectly integrate them organically into the Gen 2 environment. You’ll get many modern pokemon moves and conviences but also plenty of throwbacks to older experiences. Miss crafting pokeballs from Apricorns? It’s there. Enjoy a simplier time when there weren’t any Natures? Well, there ya go. Really want to call Joey and talk to him about his Rattata? Well, err, no, you can’t do that, but let’s face it, the telephone feature was probably one of the most hated features in Gen 2. :P

But Prism isn’t simply about updating Gen 2 with some modern pokemon, moves and game features. Not in the slightest. It’s full of original mechanics and gameplay concepts, and has tons of original areas and an original storyline. Pokemon is known for experimenting with new gameplay ideas, so it’s really fitting and enjoyable to see these take shape as you play the game. Mining and crafting is introduced in the game, for example, and there are a couple new pokemon types. There’s even a few sections where you can play as your pokemon, Mystery-Dungeon style. Do all of these experiments with new concepts work? Probably not ALL of them– when you try something new, not all of them will work out as amazing as you’d hope. But a lot of them are welcome and fun additions. And the game is bristling with these new ideas! It’s a joy to see so much creativity and novelty.

Sprites

It should be noted the spritework for these games is A+ and utterly fantastic. There is perhaps 3 or 4 out of dozens and dozens of new sprites that I thought were a tad off? Seriously, they look AMAZING and their animations are perfect and they fit in with the style so well I found myself briefly getting confused as to which were originally from Gen 2 and which weren’t. Saying these sprites are good is no small thing, because they are such a vital part of the game. The backsprites were not shafted, either– something even Gamefreak often shortchanged on back then.

Music

It should also be noted the music in this game is really damn good and has a huge variety. There are tons of classic songs, classic remakes of modern pokemon songs, remixes, and original tunes. There were like one or two tunes I was a bit iffy on, but considering that’s only a few out of so many, that’s impressive. The new bike music and Surfing music are probably my favorites, and they are SO GOOD, and those are especially important ones to sound good, because you typically hear those a lot.

Writing

The writing in this game is fairly solid. Not A+, but still not bad. It suffers occasionally from slightly rough and confusing grammar, and the climax of the story is definitely anti-climactic and very weak. In addition, the post-game story basically does not exist, but that can be excused since most likely more story was planned but they ran out of time. (C&D)

I also felt that at times, the story felt out-of-place within the world of Pokemon and went “too far” in the darker direction. The entire prison sequence, especially, and the frequent mention of inmates being mistreated, pokemon being abused, etc., just felt a bit much. Because this game was largely concerned with replicating the feeling of a true Pokemon game (some hacks intentionally focus on making a story that would never take place in the Pokemon world, like zombie survival horror stories or whatnot), I find it relevant to mention that. All of that said, though, its darker departures were at least not *too* extreme. We don’t get the very jarring and frequent problem of some ROM hacks where it’s full of cussing all the time or intense violence. Compared to those it’s still relatively subtle. And while the NPCs in this game I felt were rude a little too often, (holy crap, it felt like 95% of Naljo and Rijon were crankyass people) I do appreciate the attempts at making people a little more “real” and not quite so freaking happy and idealized all the time like Nintendo tends to do. The dialogue often made me chuckle. It did go a tad overboard with that “realness” (because, hey, a variety of people exist in the world, you know, both rude and polite, optimistic and bitter) but oh well.

So yes, the writing had its drawbacks. But overall, it felt like it was progressing a pokemon-style narrative with some interesting ideas, and wasn’t simply a dreary rehash of the same basic tropes Pokemon has been regurgitating for ages now. I just think if the writing were cleaned up a bit– the grammar cleaned up in a few sections, the plot threads clarified a bit more, and the climax reworked– it could take a “decent story” and make it a great one. There’s definitely some neat ideas there, it just needs polish.

Maps

As to the different towns and locations in this game to explore, there are many. This game is ambitious AF. As I said, it’s FULL of new ideas, features, things to do, and places to explore. Naljo is the region you explore in the main game, but post-game you can wander a whole new region of Rijon (the featured location of an older ROM hack, Pokemon Brown) and beat all the gyms there. In addition, there’s a few towns in Kanto and Johto you can visit (I believe they originally planned to open up all of those regions eventually), AND one town in ANOTHER new region, Tunod. The game’s ambitiousness occasionally outpaces what it delivers, but that’s quite acceptable in my mind, since updates with additions to the game were originally planned. So, yes, there isn’t much to do post-game, but that’s largely because a lot of stuff was going to be added.

Back to the locations, though! It’s an important aspect of ROM hacks. Not everyone is good at designing a good town, with logical building placement, intuitive layouts, aesthetically pleasing locations, and interesting things to explore so it doesn’t feel totally plain and lacks character. I’m pleased to say this game does a great job of it, though. I should point out I have a terrible sense of direction and bad spatial memory. Despite that fact, I found myself remembering important features and where they were located– oh, the Move Deleter house is in Phacelia on the left, the bullet train is in Torenia– and that’s a good sign. Physical travel was not a sloggy chore, and it wasn’t bogged down in a confusing layout. Towns were memorable and fun to explore.

Pacing/Level Curve

Another thing ROM hacks can screw up, because it’s a tricky thing to do, is the challenge pacing. How many trainers? What teams do they have? What levels? Are the Gyms challenging without being insane? I actually Nuzlocked the main part of the game. In my opinion it was well-paced. There’s probably fewer trainers overall in this game than a standard Pokemon game. But it did not take me much extra grinding in the grass– and I was only doing that to play it safe for the Nuzlocke. And that’s GOOD. You shouldn’t have to do tons of grinding in the grass all the time just to have a reasonable shot at the gyms. Pokemon Uranium, sadly, seems to suffer from that issue. So, yeah, the pacing was very reasonable to me, good balance of fair and challenging.

… with one important note. Once you reach the League? Well, we could have used higher-levelled wild pokemon in the cave that served as the victory road. The highest in that cave was level 34 or so, and you were facing trainers with teams ~level 55. That’s a huge gap. Not everyone has the same play style. Some people like to do extra grinding before the Elites. Some people are Nuzlocking and may do extra grinding as a safety buffer. Some people might want to adjust their team & add a new pokemon to their team and need to grind them up from a lower level. For those cases, you NEED decently-levelled wild pokemon to grind on. So, yeah, I really do think the Seneca Caves wild pokemon need a level buff. It would also help with the level gap for the post-game. Trainers in Rijon are suddenly at levels 70ish and higher, and for some folks playing, that’s a bit much and they’d like to do a little grinding first.

Puzzles

This game has puzzles. You have been warned, lol. Apparently a lot of people found the number of puzzles a bit frustrating, or felt that some of them were excessively tricky or annoying. I find it very funny, because usually puzzles are my least favorite part of a pokemon game. But I really enjoyed the puzzles in Prism and didn’t find it annoying or offputting at all. I was sick with a cold through most of my play of Prism, and yet even in my dumb brainaddled state, I didn’t find the puzzles too difficult. I solved them all at a pretty average length of time, even the ones some people traditionally found a little unclear or confusing. (the Ruins puzzle often confuses folks, apparently, but I really didn’t have a problem with it at all.) I was briefly confused on one of the switch puzzles (and it contained an element of bad puzzle design imo– there’s a gap that you can leap down into when normally a gap of that size just gives the ‘run into wall’ sound and is not passable) but not for too long. Even the ice slide puzzles, which I traditionally hate with a passion, were not bad!

All except for one thing. The Magikarp Puzzle. Anyone who has played Prism knows what I mean. Haha, fuck that puzzle man. Even the creator of the ROM hack himself has acknowledged the puzzle was not great, heh. To be honest, I find it kind of hilarious, in a way, though. I mean, obviously it’s a nightmarishly difficult and frustrating puzzle and is intensely exhausting to look at, let alone try to solve. But it’s also kinda glorious in its demonicness. I didn’t spend too much time on it before just looking up a solution to it. It’s tedious and not fun at all, and hey, that’s OK, because even the creator realized that.

pls nerf magikarp

But seriously, outside of the magikarp puzzle, I didn’t just enjoy the puzzles in this game– I felt like they were an important part of what gave this game its character.

Fakemon

There are even a few fakemon in this game! Which I was excited to learn because I thought there weren’t! All of the fakemon are Legenderies. Unfortunately, I don’t care for most of their designs. Like, at all. I think Varaneous and Libabeel’s sprites look really, really shitty. They’re ugly and don’t match the style of Pokemon at all. This feels weird to say, since I love so much about this game, but man, there’s just no way around it, I hate ‘em. Everyone has their own tastes, of course. There’s a couple fakemon I have yet to capture– I’m finishing that up now and the very very last of the post-game. But one fakemon I did capture and ADORE LIKE NO OTHER is Phancero.

I happen to know about Phancero’s designer, because I saw their design years ago. They apparently were approached by the team and were asked permission for the use of the design, which is awesome. I won’t rant again about Phancero here because I already ranted about it before, and literally could keep ranting for pages. :P But yeah, it’s a totally creative and awesome pokemon both in idea and execution, and by FAR my favorite fakemon ever created.

Conclusion

This is the best ROM hack I have played in years and probably ever. I haven’t played hundreds of ROM hacks, but I have probably played dozens over the years. I think they are a creative and wonderful expression of the pokemon community, but let’s be honest. There’s a lot of really bad ROM hacks out there. There’s even more ROM hacks that have a lot of potential but are never finished or anywhere near completion. (And that’s perfectly understandable. People run out of time, they have real life get in the way, etc.) The fact that not only did a ROM hack of this caliber get made, but was 95-99% completed? Is fantastic. It was an intensely massive project and I cannot begin to imagine how much work it must have been. Pokemon games are normally developed by an entire team at a company, and folks are paid to do it. The comparatively small team of devs who made this game in their spare time and implemented these amazing things had to do it all on their own. It’s no wonder it took as long as it did for them to finish it; and the amount of effort SHOWS. There is so much loving attention to detail and polish to Prism. (I mean, yes, there’s still some bugs and the occasional unfinished bits, but of course there are, those were going to be finished, but then the C&D hit)

Most ROM hacks are just strong in a few areas, because it’s one or two people who have strengths or interests in a few things. So, you’ll play a hack with a really good story but terrible fakemon and mapping, or you’ll play a hack with fantastic designs of new areas, but no new story, etc. Prism kinda has everything, though. It really did feel like playing a new Gen 2 game.

(It’s now almost 11pm and oh god where did the time go. I have a problem with being concise. :P This was far longer than I intended but thank you if you’ve read this far!)

This is a repost on a new blog. The original post was on Jan 17, 2017.

#pokemon #pokemon prism #pokemon fan games #pokemon rom hacks #mycontent #spoilers #pokemon reviews

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recentanimenews · 6 years

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Ogata's Voice Actor like's Golden Kamuy Because Both Humans and Animals Get Skinned!

Golden Kamuy's official website is releasing a series of interviews with cast and staff over the course of the Spring season, which we're translating and brining directly to you! They started things off with the character designer, Ken'Ichi Onuki, followed by animal designer, Ryo Sumiyoshi, the art director, Atsushi Morikawa, firearm designer Koji Watanabe, prop designer Shinya Asanuma, composer Kenichiro Suehiro, and director Hitoshi Nanba.

But they didn't stop there! They interviewed Kamikaze Boy from MAN WITH A MISSION about Golden Kamuy's opening theme, "Winding Road" and THE SIXTH LIE, the creator/performers of the ending theme "Hibana"! They're making their way through the voice cast, starting with Chikahiro Kobayashi and Haruka Shiraishi, the voice actors behind Sugimoto and Asirpa, Hochu Otsuka, the voice of Lt. Tsurumi, Jouji Nakata, the voice of Toshizo Hijikata, and now Kenjiro Tsuda, tho voice of the cold-hearted Hyakunosuke Ogata!

Tell us what you thought of the original manga.

It was a big, energetic story, with a lot of unique types of characters and a really dense plot. It doesn’t feel like a modern story somehow, which actually makes it more interesting. All of the expressions in it are so powerful, and it just has this incredible sense of passion in it. I think one of the reasons for that power is that it’s set in old Japan, not the modern era, and in the Hokkaido frontier.

What was it that left the biggest impact on you?

The strong characters, I think. Tsurumi especially is incredible [laughs]. The hero, Sugimoto, is covered in scars, and I think that appearance contributes to making his character what it is. Also, it’s a story about ripping off people’s skin in order to find gold nuggets, so the story itself packs a punch. The people in it are like wild beasts. They kill and skin lots of animals, and they’re willing to do that with humans, too. Maybe taking off a human’s skin isn’t that much different than taking off a bear’s pelt if you’re trying to survive in the Hokkaido wastes. It’s a tough story to read, but it’s really interesting. I think the fact that a lot of the unnecessary humanism you’d see in another manga has been removed is what makes this one so great.

Tell me how you felt when you got the role.

The character and the story both seemed really interesting, so I was very happy. I was so excited, saying, “Oh, wow! This looks so fun!”

What was your impression of Ogata?

He’s a very cold, unemotional character. He never lets his emotions surface. Of course, there are a lot of emotions he’s feeling underneath, but they never surface in a way you can see. It feels like when he’s talking to you, he’s not really communicating anything at all. Compared to conversations with normal people, it’s just a little more low temperature, you could say.

You mean when he talks, it’s hard to tell how much real emotion he’s putting into it, right?

Correct. There’s a scene in episode 9 where he talks with Tanigaki, but it’s hard to understand what he’s actually feeling [laughs]. In that scene, Tanigaki can’t figure what position he’s speaking from. As the story continues, you start to understand where he fits in, but at the start it’s really hard to tell the difference between the lies and what he really thinks. That mysterious aspect of his nature is what makes him so attractive, I think. And his cold character makes him the perfect sniper, which I also thought was kind of neat. But he also likes to lead people on, which makes him a really intersting character.

When he comes back in episode 9, what did you think of him?

I thought it fit the character very well. Tanigaki comes back home to Huci’s house, where he’s been staying, and Ogata is there. But he doesn’t know why he’s there or what he wants. Then Ogata leaves without doing anything, but it’s actually a feint, and he tries to snipe Tanigaki from outside [laughs]. I thought it was a really wonderful scene.

When you first read the manga, did you think Ogata would be this big of a character?

Not at all. The first time I read the manga, he felt like somebody whose role in the story was to give the heroes someone to defeat [laughs]. He falls off the cliff in the battle with Sugimoto, and then doesn’t come back for a long time. In episode 9, he comes back after a long absence, and I think anime viewers were in for a big surprise.

Did Director (Hitoshi) Nanba and Audio Director (Jin) Aketagawa give you any special instructions with regard to the role?

They mostly let me do my thing, I think. He’s normally just a very cold, calm character. But when you read the manga, every panel his expression changes, and sometimes he actually looks kind of happy. For those lines, I consulted with the director, and we decided to keep these nuances. For episode 2, I was a little too expressive, and he gave me some advice to tone it down. For a character like Ogata, balance is everything. He’s not the type to just go all in one direction. He’s kind of delicate. But that doesn’t mean that he’s extremely on edge, either. He’s a human being too, so it’s interesting as to when he has feelings, which means that the question is how you play out those feelings on top of his base character.

Are you the type who comes up with a plan for the role before you start recording?

I do come up with a basic idea, but not much more. I think when you’re actually recording the lines, they need to fit in with the other dialogue around them, which is why the director makes those decisions from an overall standpoint. Sometimes, even if it might seem just fine to play a certain scene unemotionally, if you look at the flow of the overall story, it’s better to be more dynamic. In that sense, I try to leave a lot of blank space in my acting.

There’s a lot of really famous people on the cast. Tell us what it was like at the studio.

The story’s pretty tense, but it was very relaxed at the recording studio. The atmosphere was great. All the older actors seemed to be having a lot of fun, and the main stars, (Chikahiro) Kobayashi and (Haruka) Shiraishi, were cheerful and down-to-earth in a way that really spread to the rest of the cast.

Are there any scenes or lines that you thought really got at the core of who Ogata is?

He hasn’t had a lot of screen time yet, but I’d say the line in episode 9, which was in bold in the original manga: “Time to go Tanigaki hunting.” From Ogata’s perspective, trying to kill Tanigaki is the same as a hunt. When I played the role, I wanted his cold, cruel nature to really come across. In episode 9, he talks a lot more than he did before, right? During his first appearance, he barely had any dialogue. When I was recording episode 9, that felt like the first episode to me.

I think we should all keep an eye on Ogata as the story proceeds. Let’s end with a message for the fans.

Thank you for watching Golden Kamuy. I finally got to come back to the story as Ogata, and run my hand through my hair and look really cool onscreen [laughs]. I’ll do my best to live up to everybody’s expectations, and hopefully go a little beyond them, as I act out Ogata’s character. This is a fun, vast, and brutal story, and I hope you’ll watch it till the end.

---

Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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rochajackson · 4 years

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How Fast Can You Grow Grapes Miraculous Unique Ideas

And due to the growing season, it won't need much besides regular water and can drain quickly.For a good drainage has a moderate amount of water in soil with a small amount of time since it can bear fruit.It can be used to make wine and dinner of his grapes growing along a trellis covered with soil.Some people think that grape growing information: if you could serve them fresh to the common mistakes in the coming year.

In our case, that soil composition is very popular.This is because the soil will give an idea of starting from scratch, you could get the foundation for the winter and for water to run on.You too should know that grape growing has a very pleasant activity.There are grapes like Concord grapes requires accurate knowledge and earnest effort.Do not let the roots up to you, depending which kind of climate that's best to plant your grapes were developed to be successful in growing them, and they require a trellis for exteriors is of utmost importance.

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The research has demonstrated that grapevines growing are segregated into two major colors red or white color.Therefore you should take care of this current and modern society that hunger for and desire grapes.For example planting grapevines all day long, then that will engage in growing grapes and making your own vineyard can take this long to begin planting the grape is also beneficial in reducing the grapevine's exposure to sunlight, pruning and caring for your place or location.Also avoid excess soaking of roots in dry open areas for more vigorous grape vine.All grapes are used to make wines commercially where a trellis system is firmly established.

It can take this long to realise that you will need a soil with lots of profit due to their Rose labels.Decide whether you return on investment is justified.Always ensure that you search for trellis designs and architectures to give some pointers regarding the soil that is well drained, receives plenty of sunshine so do some research on growing Concord grape crop, enhance the quality of soil.Given the fact that grapes tend to get into whatever way of growing grapes, many gardeners fail to take care of the root of the oldest fruits in the composition of the few reasons as to why a lot of commitment.Many people grow grapes since they can provide solid anchoring and airing capabilities for the red types it will only remove the plastic bag.

By trimming you can use more insecticides.They also grow less foliage compared to other varieties of different types of grapes is also through photosynthesis that grapes love the summer growing season.This is how in demand and simple to get the best weather for growing came from the list of things including the kind of nutrition to maximize the sunshine they can be a little perplexing, but if you feel that drainage in any site where you decide to start with the proper growth and health of the grape plants receive the sweeter the grapes will be one of the grapes are usually seeded and are incapable to withstand the weight of removed canes in each container.Growing grapes you plant the grape cultivars have their feet all the knowledge about the cultivars that you probably know that grapevines love sandy or gravelly soils are almost always well-drained.On the other hand, a lopper or a cool area.

After selecting a variety, the next time you sip on that glass of your wine tasting and choose wisely.Make it a good salad, wine, or jelly taste depends on where you can also grow in trellis and fences.They are as old as the berries start to drop.Though there is no single way in growing grapes and destroy the infected leaves.If you found this little overview interesting.

Be sure to water your newly planted grape plants every day during the grapes with its own distinct flavor and aroma, which is what you can then take on the south side of a good root system is the second summer comes to the trellis for the production of wine.You will have a big impact for the growing Concord grapes.In transferring it from a wide variety of plant.Furthermore, this will spoil your plants from dying.The chosen spot suitable for grape growing is a problem for some growers.

Transplant Grape Plant

There should be strung between 2 and 5 feet.You will discover that grapes are processed, they naturally produce excellent quality of your grapes.If quick planting isn't feasible then you should get some super growth on your grape vines have enough time to grow, they are planted.Grape growing needs a lot of patience and hard work and what kind of hobby.You can easily fond yourself with regards to the best location for grape growing soil would need three years, on the web, or chatting to loved ones who've got a green skin.

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Make sure that the varieties suited to grapes, central California for instance, when it is a venture that anyone can do is to put in the coming year.As summer progresses, vines go dormant in the soil tested.Always repeat the pruning process each year.Gardening of any type of grapevines suitable for wine production.Although these fruit in the wine ferment and change into wine.

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Grape Plant Not Growing

However, with a positive effect if the soil and the demand for both you and there's nothing better than their American parents.Otherwise, they probably will not be producing fruit for the grapes to mature.These are known for their own weight, thus the trellis can be rather complicated.Find out which grape varieties that had extremely tiny seeds.Aficionados are enthusiastic and happy to share with the quality of the day.

You can easily differentiate these two in water.So what is stopping you from growing your grapes will grow.This juice grape is suitable for grape growing can be produced from the occasional application of some fundamental concepts.It is also the best out of at least once a week or more, often depending on the location where there are nine factors that influence the grape vines every year as the flower clusters developed, it is too rich in nutrients, it can bear fruit.Grape growing for a specific location is concerned, grapevines are in the market today are now only a few grapevines and planting the grape that can be planted 1 inch deeper than the grew in the wild growing on the taste of grapes, you should see if and what kind of trellis, arbour or lattice to support the root system of the most important aspects that result in having poor growth.

#How Fast Can You Grow Grapes Miraculous Unique Ideas #Grape Trellis Next To House

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dippedanddripped · 5 years

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Why ‘Made in Italy’ has such appealBY AMANDA RUGGERIMade On Earth

The story of the world's trading networks told through eight everyday products.

The luxury handbag is a symbol of style and craft like no other.

As Italian artisans face competition from emerging markets, the traditional model of design has been thrown into flux.

Ever since humans have needed to cart around their belongings – particularly tools – they’ve carried bags. Prehistoric rock art in northern Australia, for example, shows a warrior-like figure with a satchel over his arm. The 5,300-year-old mummy of Otzi the Ice Man, carried a backpack – and wore a pouch attached to a leather belt – on his journey through what are now called the Tyrolean Alps. Ancient Roman soldiers carried satchels made from leather or goat’s hide that look almost exactly like the kind of messenger bag you might see in a shop today.

In some ways, these bags are a far cry from the expensive “it” bags you see being carried today. In other ways, they’re not so different at all – each of those early bags will have been skilfully crafted by hand, an approach that still underpins many modern luxury handbags.

One of the main threads that runs through the history of handbags – and persists even in today’s industrialised economy – is the power of craftsmanship. This belief in the value of a bag made by experts steeped in experience has held sway ever since handbags became more than a practical necessity. Today, the heart of this artisanal trade in handbags, as it has been for decades, is Italy.

Looking over the colourful harbour of Palermo, Sicily, Studio Sarta is one of some 4,500 leather businesses in the country. Established in 2017 by siblings Giorgia and Fabio Gaeta, it is also one of the country’s newer handbag companies. Much of the studio’s approach is modern, too. Studio Sarta’s handbags are chic and elegant, featuring clean lines and a contemporary aesthetic. Their business sense is equally up-to-date. Their Instagram account, which features striking shots of their products modelled against moody landscapes and industrial-chic interiors, is one main aspect of their marketing strategy.

But the foundation of that Sarta style is traditional Italian craftsmanship. Their creations use Vienna straw, a traditional material used in Sicilian bag-making, handwoven by local artisans in Palermo, as well as leather sourced from Tuscan tanneries.

“Studio Sarta was born from the idea of developing contemporary design objects both for the person and the house – not just bags – that use the know-how of our local artisans,” says Giorgia. “The Italian tradition of tailoring and craftsmanship is one of the fundamental elements.”

In fact, every step of the process – from design to prototype to production – is done by hand. At the Tuscan tannery, workers clean the raw hides, then tumble them in a giant tanning barrel with vegetable-based dyes – a process that can be as much as five times more time-consuming than industrial tanning, but which cuts out many chemicals and toxins.

“It is hand-dried and buffed entirely by hand to obtain the characteristic aged effect,” Giorgia says. “The ‘vegetable tanning’, which has origins in prehistory and in Tuscany is at its maximum splendour, is a traditional and widely recognised technique.”

When the leather arrives at Studio Sarta, it is cut and sewn together with Vienna straw, according to Giorgia’s designs.

This blend of craftsmanship and contemporary style has resonated with buyers. In the company’s first year, Studio Sarta sold 200 bags. Now, they sell 1,000 a year. Most of their clients are in Italy, France and the UK. In the next few years, they hope to expand to China.

Made In Italy

Across Italy, the tradition of leather-making has such deep roots that even many of the country’s major fashion houses got their start with leather, despite being known for a plethora of different products today.

Prada began as a leather goods store in Milan in 1913; Gucci, a leather goods store in Florence in 1921; Ferragamo, a leather shoe store in Florence in 1927; Bottega Veneta, a leather goods store in Vicenza in 1966. In the 1970s, even Roberto Cavalli, best known today for his sand-blasted jeans and vibrant, wild prints, first made a name for himself by inventing and patenting a procedure for printing on leather.

“You think about the story of the handbag, and you think about Gucci 100 years ago,” says Riccardo Braccialini, chief executive of the international bags and leather goods fair Mipel. “We have a tradition.”

“But,” he adds, “the real movement came after the Second World War.”

Before that, handbags were manufactured in several areas: around Frankfurt, Germany; Geneva, Switzerland; Paris, France; and parts of England. But after the war, as fashion became industrialised, there was a need to make products at scale. And to do that, it was best to have all of the necessary components – from fabric manufacturers to designers to distributors – in one place. Italy was that place.

By the 1960s, benefiting from their booming economy and from the fact that their goods were cheaper than those made in other parts of Europe, Italians had become “the most powerful force in the market”, says New York Times European style correspondent Elizabeth Paton.

That was boosted by the Italian tradition of artisanship – one that continues today.

“‘Made in Italy’ is one of the most powerful brand names in the world. It has a global cachet,” Paton says. “That reputation for high-quality craftsmanship and design has made Italy, until now, the beating heart of luxury manufacturing.”

But in today’s industrialised world, can that tradition continue?

Industrialisation

“It is certainly not easy, but we like to think that it is possible to make the artisan tradition coexist [with industrial manufacturing] in the global market,” says Giorgia of Studio Sarta. In fact, she notes, e-commerce and social networks mean it’s possible for artisans to sell straight to consumers, reducing the distribution and resale costs of traditional retail via high-street shops.

The internet also means a brand can communicate directly to its consumers – and in as little as a single Instagram post, can tell a story about “what only artisan products can offer: the humanity that there is behind the entire production chain, from the procurement of raw materials, to the realisation of the product”, says Giorgia.

On a larger scale, research collected for Assopellettieri, Italy’s national leather-goods association, paints a complex picture of the Italian industry. Italy is far and away the biggest exporter of leather goods in Europe, selling €6.8 billion (£6bn) of them in the first 10 months of 2018 alone. France, which exported €5.7bn (£5bn) of leather goods over the same period, is the only other EU country that comes close. Italy’s industry also is growing: from 2017 to 2018, Italy’s leather exports increased by 10.3%. And the majority are handbags, which make up more than 60% of Italy’s leather exports by value.

But that growth wasn’t evenly spread – while sales grew, the number of businesses fell. Italy saw 45 leather goods companies become inactive, a 1% drop in overall business numbers from the previous year. Meanwhile, the most growth has not been in traditional leather-made bags, but those made from alternative materials like plastic, cloth or straw. While leather handbag exports rose 6.2% in value compared with 2017, exports of bags made from substitute materials rose by 19.4%.

Italy’s workforce also is ageing. “The next generation in Italy are just not proving that interested in learning a lot of the craft of their parents and grandparents,” Paton says. “So, a big task for luxury brands and artisans is, how do we convince the youth that there’s something worthwhile about maintaining this reputation for the country and learning these skills, when so many want to move to cities and work on computers?”

Underlying all of these challenges, of course, is the economic reality of artisanship: making bags by hand is far more laborious and expensive than it would be in a factory.

Even Braccialini admits that some of these pressures are taking a toll.

“It’s becoming more industrialised and less artisanal,” Braccialini says of Italy’s handbag industry. “In one way, it’s what globalisation is: the smaller disappear and the bigger take over.”

But, he points out, “That is not an Italian story – that is a world story.”

Demand

Even so, artisanship isn’t likely to disappear from Italy’s handbag industry anytime soon.

Some of that is thanks to Italy’s big brands themselves, many of whom depend on handbags and accessories to keep their profit margins high: one report by Deloitte found that handbags and accessories were the fastest-growing part of the luxury market aside from perfumes and makeup. It’s no surprise that these same brands have popularised the concept of the “it” bag.

In the 1950s, major fashion houses like Chanel began to make what are now iconic bespoke handbags. It wasn’t until the 1980s and 1990s, though, that the trend exploded. In the 1980s, Hermès introduced the Birkin bag and Prada its nylon backpack; in the 1990s came the Fendi Baguette, Christian Dior’s Lady Dior, Balenciaga’s The City, and a relaunch of Gucci’s Jackie bag. And compared with other trends, the values of some of these “it” bags have endured: in 2017, an Hermès Birkin bag sold at auction for HKD2.9 million (£284,000).

But many labels recognise that it isn’t just the branding that is important to consumers, but the craftsmanship too. In fact, in some cases, people want something more than an “it” bag. “The truly wealthy, the real millionaires, they will not want to buy LV Louis Vuitton or Gucci because they are too commonplace,” Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group, told CNBC back in 2012. “Rich people are getting richer and they want exclusiveness and more self-indulgence.”

And few products are more exclusive, of course, than something hand-crafted or bespoke.

As a result, some major fashion houses are investing in manufacturing schools in Italy to help train new generations to craft bags by hand. This is also a necessity so that they can keep up with growing demand. By value, the biggest importers of Italian leather goods are Switzerland (an international hub that then ships many products out to other countries), France and the US – followed by Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan.

China is ninth. But its demand for Italian leather goods is growing fastest of all. The country’s market for these products has increased in value by 21.3% and in quantity by 18.8% year-on-year. Already, the country is the world’s second-biggest market for luxury goods worldwide.

But there’s an irony at the centre of Asia’s demand: despite its appetite for Italian handbags, it produces an extraordinary number of its own. The difference? Asia’s tend to be mass-produced… and far more affordable.

In fact, there are so many Asian handbags, at such seductive prices, that even Italians buy them – lots of them. From January to October 2018, 123 million kg of leather goods entered Italy from abroad. Almost 60% were from China.

In terms of value, these goods paled in comparison to what Italy was sending out. The average price of the imports was €21.42 (£18.74) per kg; Italy’s outgoing goods cost €134.19 (£117.37) per kg. Still, the convenience and cost of these imports are yet another challenge for Italy’s handbag makers.

“Globalisation has really put pressure on the traditional Italian market, particularly that boom in cheap foreign labour from close by, like eastern Europe, to further afield – India, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam. That’s lured many companies, including luxury brands, into moving abroad,” Paton says. “Luxury is still a really big deal for Italy – it’s 5% of GDP and employs half a million people – but these changes have really put a lot of pressure on the country.”

Still, it seems unlikely that the power of the luxury handbag is going away anytime soon. Part of its pull is how it combines function with status. “Obviously, a handbag has a utility. It has a purpose. We all need to carry phones and wallets from A to B. But it’s also value for money,” Paton says. “A thousand pounds is a huge amount to spend on a bag. But if it goes with everything, and you wear it for the next 10 years – you feel like you own a piece of that heritage or brand or culture.”

Unlike some clothing patterns, a handbag is also something that can appeal to people of all shapes, sizes and ages. “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what size you are or what shape you are. Any woman can hold a handbag,” says Paton. “Much like jewellery, a luxury handbag for lots of people is associated with a moment in their lives – an anniversary, or a work cheque. That’s what makes it so powerful.”

Even as the price gap between hand-crafted bags and their mass-produced counterparts grows ever larger, people are increasingly seeing value in owning a unique product not quite like any other.

As long as we continue to see a handbag as an investment worth making – and while the most high-end brands, and customers, continue to see artisanship as the heart and soul of a luxury product – we will, much like our ancestors, be carrying our belongings in artisanal, hand-made bags for some time to come.

Image credits: Lion TV

Graphics sources: Assopellettieri, Observatory of Economic Complexity

The world’s trading routes have been crafted over centuries and yet remain in a constant state of flux. Made on Earth looks at eight everyday products – from bicycles to whisky, spices to semiconductors – and explores the people, countries and intricate global networks that go into making and bringing these goods to market.

#made in italy #bbc #fashion blog #handcrafted

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returnerofthesky · 7 years

Note

tbh i never knew you were a fan of starfox since you like never post about it lmao

Sorry for taking so long to answer this. Again, trip, staying off of Tumblr, etc. :V

I’d say I’m a fan of Star Fox the same way I’m a fan of Sonic - they were both big influences on me when I was younger (and not just the whole furry angle either), but nowadays I’m only really a fan of... “part” of the series, despite still enjoying the franchise and wanting to see it keep going. Star Fox 2 is my favorite of them all, and the only one I’ve gone back to play more than just once or twice, which probably speaks for itself.

For me, Star Fox feels a lot like how Zelda did in that it feels like the series simply has not been allowed to evolve. It’s gotten so mired in a lot of old traditions (gameplay-wise or story-wise) that it doesn’t seem like a lot of people know really what to do with it, and this becomes a lot more glaring with how few games there actually are in the series. In a lot of ways I’d say that the series has been ��suffering from success” for years, and I think it’s going to take a BotW-style shift in order for the series to truly survive.

Most of that probably sounds vague, so let me put it another way - there’s two things that I think the developers really need to realize:

One, shmups are a really, extremely niche genre nowadays. Maybe back in the 80s and 90s shmups were all the rage, whether they were 2D or 3D, but nowadays shmups basically seem to be interchangeable with bullet hell. Linear corridor-esqe shooters really aren’t a thing anymore, even in indie circles; Star Fox Zero was the last space shooter game that I can remember coming out with a lot of fanfare in a long, long time.

The thing that made me realize this was Dan Ryckert’s review of Zero back when it came out, in which he stated that he liked the game alright aside from the motion controls issue and some minor stuff, and that it felt like the sequel to 64 that everyone always wanted... but nowadays, that still felt incredibly outdated. Like it would have been a really well-received sequel if it had been released back in the 2000s, but nowadays the industry had simply moved on after so many years.

Two, Star Fox 64 is... just kinda alright.

Like, it’s a good game. I’m not going to say something stupid (and untrue) by calling it bad, because it’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination. But there’s no denying that much of the game has aged, even with the 3DS rerelease. The bump in grahpics and sound quality was desperately needed (even if I think I prefer the older voice acting, as it sounds a bit more natural), but, as I said, shmups are a genre that’s fallen out of favor, and a large chunk of 64′s gameplay consists of rail shooter levels. And since the all-range mode, while good, mostly consists of fairly barebones maps with few obstacles or details...

I’m perfectly willing to admit that part of that is personal bias - I’ve talked before about how more arcade-y games and genres (like shmups) generally don’t grab me very well, as they’re usually much more stressful and frustrating for me to play. I find the all-range modes to be a lot more my style, even though they have their faults in 64. But the rail shooter sections in Star Fox have never bothered me as much as, say, Thunder Force (where I repeatedly lose track of everything happening at once and die on the first stage). That said, they’re still not that interesting, and as I mentioned last paragraph, all-range doesn’t fare much better in 64 either.

Of course, despite all that, SF64 is still a really iconic game that commands a lot of weight and respect - but despite being awed by the game when I was a tiny five year old tot, I think that most of what people remember about SF64 doesn’t stem from the gameplay itself. Instead, most of what’s kept the game so well-remembered comes from its presentation; the voice acting, the script full of memorable lines, the scenarios presented for each level, so on and so forth.

That’s not to say that the gameplay itself isn’t good, just that none of it feels like it really... “sticks”. Despite Sector X being about the robot boss destroying the base, I don’t really remember much of the level itself, just the boss fight. Despite Titania being about going to save Slippy, it’s mostly just a slog of fighting birds and other junk before actually reaching the interesting bit (it’s worth noting that Titania in Zero is much improved in this regard, with more variation in terrain and obstacles). All-range mode usually is a lot more memorable to me.

So of course, if 64 is more memorable for it’s presentation than most of the actual gameplay, and if half of its gameplay (shmup) has slowly turned into a niche genre, what happens? Well, as you might expect, I think the series needs to start putting more focus and care into the other half of its gameplay: all-range mode. And funnily enough, I think the developers(es), at least on some level, realize this as well.

If that sounds weird, let me point this out: after Star Fox on the SNES, the sequel immediately shifted gears from a rail shooter to an outright dogfight game, with some small strategy elements thrown in to add nuance to the space shooting. Star Fox 64, despite having shmup gameplay, also included a number of all-range levels and sequences. Star Fox Assault expanded on this with half-shmup, half-all-range, with on-foot sections and more detailed levels since you could go on foot. Star Fox Zero did the same, reintroducing the Walker instead of on-foot sections and making a lot of all-range sequences with impressive details and obstacles.

Do you see what I’m getting at here? The series has always, always, been drifting more and more towards emphasizing the all-range mode, expanding on it in many different ways and in a lot of ways improving and polishing it to the point where it easily could be a highlight. In fact, the reason it isn’t a highlight usually isn’t because of all-range mode itself, but because of other factors. Gyro controls, wonky cameras, iffy third-person-shooter gameplay, etc etc.

Take, for example, Zoness, in Zero. In it, you’re teleported to an enemy base on Zoness and have to infiltrate it without being detected, by sneaking through a main corridor, flying into power generator rooms and disabling the power shield so the place self-destructs (and then you have to escape while it crumbles, obviously). Unfortunately, you’re flying the Gyrowing, making the whole level this slow, annoying slog, and that doesn’t even take into account the aiming controls themselves.

However, there’s an alternate version of the level where you visit in the Arwing instead, and you have to do the same mission but on a seven minute time limit. Utilizing the Arwing/Walker in order to explore and escape the base is an incredible improvement on the level; it’s faster, smoother, and more fun to play - if they stripped out the time limit (keep it, just as a challenge level) and made it the default level instead of the Gyrowing, I bet the level would have been much more well received.

Another example of a really good all-range level from Zero is, of course, Sector Beta, and not just because it basically crams every named character from 64 into one giant love letter. It essentially consists of dogfighting between Andross and Cornerian forces (like Katina from 64), eventually getting through a giant battleship’s shield and infiltrating it in Walker form, and then battling Star Wolf while the rest of the battle keeps going on. There’s no frills or exploration like in Zoness, it’s just pure space shooting, and it’s an excellent level because of it.

For one that isn’t from Zero, anyone remember Sargasso Space Zone from Assault? It’s kind of a combination of both styles of all-range mission, where you have to get inside of the base and destroy some teleporter things while fighting enemies inside, but then after destroying them, Star Wolf pops up and you finish off by having a dogfight with them and other normal enemy fighters.

All of these are solid examples of how all-range mode works, and I feel like focusing more on these levels is where the series needs to head. I wouldn’t necessarily say that shmup gameplay should disappear forever, and I wouldn’t do away with absolutely all arcade-y aspects of the series, either (the high score counter is perfectly fine, for instance, and linear segments can work as small one-offs).

The games need a major shake up in order to survive, and I think making a game focused more around the dogfighting aspect rather than the corridor shooting would work quite well. That’s the reason I compare it to Zelda; it might not have nearly as many games under its belt and be quite as much of a staple, but Star Fox really needs its own Breath of the Wild to catch up with the times. Whether it goes the route of essentially becoming like a Rogue Squadron game, or if it takes Star Fox 2′s concept of light RTS elements and designs a game like it, something needs to give, and considering Nintendo’s recent habit of reviving their games with the right modern touches and the old, less-necessary traditions tweaked or changed, I think they could do it.

(Stick with the Zero aesthetic, though - the mixture of elements from SNES and 64 work juuuuuuuust right to me)

#star fox #sky rambles #Anonymous

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drink-n-watch · 5 years

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Bungo Stray Dogs Season 3 is now over. As much as I miss it, I do like the freedom of not having to go home on Friday evenings to watch anime and write a review for the next day. It really does tie up my going out time. Ever since I started doing episodic reviews I keep telling myself never to do next day reviews…. So OF COURSE, I pick 3 shows for my Saturday post that all air on Fridays… Brilliant!

GRANBELM (Under a Blood Red Moon)

What I knew/thought before seeing the show: I knew next to nothing about the series literally only the title and the Crunchyroll thumbnail. My reasoning for picking it was “I like pink haired heroines”

What the first episode was about: A pink-haired heroine named Mangetsu goes out one evening and gets stuck in a virtual world where magical girls fight with mechas because reasons. She’s very energetic and optimistic about it.

Characters so far: We didn’t get much development since the episode was very action heavy. So far they are pretty shallow but not unpleasant. The two main characters are Mangetsu which is a genki girl archetype and Shingetsu which is a mysterious stoic archetype. I actually liked Mangetsu’s sister the most be we only see her in one scene at the beginning of the episode.

Technical aspects: The designs are cute and I enjoyed the art style. The limited palette establishes a visual identity pretty quickly. I immediately understood something ominous was going on from the colours alone. I was reminded of Yuki Yuna for a while. The voice acting is ok so far and the animation is good but a little jumpy. It comes in spurts.

First Impression: I had a good enough time watching this episode. I enjoyed the first half more than the second but I would continue watching this series based on the first episode. I really don’t have that much to say either way.

Hopes and Fears: I’m enjoying the Magical Girl/Mecha mashup, it’s an interesting genre. The world building has potential and there is a lot of room for this series to grow. I have been lucky with oddball cute girl shows. There is a potential for this show to be very messy though. The first episode did not do a very good job at establishing its world, laws or motivations and my pessimistic side is telling me there’s a big chance everything remains mostly superficial. The fight scenes were a little still and for some reason, I thought this was another mobile game promotion (doesn’t seem to be). Finally, Mangetsu is really striking me as a Mary Sue so far. Let’s see what happens in episode 2!

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FIRE FORCE (Playing With Fire)

What I knew/thought before seeing the show: Oh cool! An anime about firemen. Interesting. They’re athletic, maybe it’ll be a little like a sports! anime. Or a work based Slice of Life…

What the first episode was about: A young man named Shira finally accomplishes his dream to become a fireman (superpowered individuals who fight infernals). Some years ago, people started suffering from spontaneous combustion and becoming infernals, something like fire demons. Those who survived gained pyrokinetic powers which get stronger as they are passed along down generations. As a 3rd gen pyrokinetic, Shinra is particularly powerful but has also been seen as a monster and blamed for tragedies. He now wants to prove he’s a hero instead.

Characters so far: Ok, so this is not a sports! anime by any means but the characters could come from one! We only really get to know Shira but he already has a complex back story and clearly established personality, even a fun quirk of smiling manically when he’s nervous. That’s pretty decent development for one episode. I have high hopes for the rest. Sadly, aside from a few flashbacks to Shinra’s mom, both female characters have been used mostly as fanservice charas so far, which is a little disappointing.

Technical aspects: I actually really like this one so far. It’s probably my favourite style of the three I saw. It has a modern anime look with slightly more reasonable proportions and a variety of silhouettes. In a way, it may be the most realistic looking which is hilarious. The colours are similarly rich but grounded. On the other hand, animation is impressive and fluid. On top of that, the director used a few interesting visual tricks, successive jump-cut transitions in the firehouse, use of different art styles for certain scenes, flashback specific colour palettes… It’s a stylish looking show and I am enthusiastic to see more of it.

First Impression: So this turned out to be a fighting Shonen, complete with an optimistic and determined protagonist who has vowed to be a hero and has a tragic past to conquer. It’s not exactly special, but I really liked it. The universe is quite unusual and the characters have a lot of potential. I’m excited for next week and I’m not surprised this first episode is doing so well.

Hopes and Fears: I was impressed by how well the first episode established everything without it feeling like one huge exposition dump. It even left plenty of time for eye candy fights. They keep praying to an unknown god which I found quite intriguing. It sets up a potential sect or religious/political intrigue. Like I mentioned, two main female characters have some type of suggestive scene whenever they are onscreen unless they’re actively being saved by Shines. To be honest I didn’t mind much but it’s the most basic part of the narrative so far. There is a chance that this will turn into a one-man show/monster of the week type series and Shines doesn’t strike me as charming enough to carry the whole thing. There are some MHA parallels. Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing but there you go!

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Dr. STONE (I’ve loved you over 1000 years)

What I knew/thought before seeing the show: Crunchyroll had been advertising this one pretty heavily and it kept calling it a Shonen. So I thought it might be a JoJo like series or perhaps just a classic Dragon Ball for a new generation. Leth told me it was “insane”.

What the first episode was about: It was “insane’! Taijo is a nice guy who goes to high school, is friends with the eccentric haired Senku (who reminded me of Dexter from Dexter’s lab) and in love with Yuzuriha. On the day he finally chooses to confess, a mysterious event turns all humans into sentient stone statues and they remain that way for 3700 years. When Taiju miraculously revives, the world is a very different place. He finds that Senku has also broken free and together they have to figure out how the restart humanity. My alternative titles for this episode review were “Adam and Steve” but they kind of made the joke in the show so it took all the fun away from it, or “Adventures in Wild Science”.

Characters so far: This one is impressive. Taiju and Senku both have clearly established personalities. Not too deep yet but with some variability. Senku is particularly fun to me as I enjoy a slightly morally compromised protagonist but Taiju manages to play the clear-eyed golden boy without being annoying. Even Yuzuriha has an actual character despite being only given a few minutes on screen and I understand exactly why Taiju would fall for her. The premise and setting give motivation and meaning to all the characters actions. To get this much development and plot in a single episode is quite special. I want t know both these guys better and I want to meet more people as well.

Technical aspects: There’s a sort of classic feel to the character design. I’m not saying it looks old but more like timeless. The very angular lines and hatched shadowing creates a nostalgic look for long time anime fans. The animation seems good although it wasn’t on display so much. Compared to Fire Force, Dr. Stne is much more straightforward in both visuals and direction. I do like that the setting gives us so many lush green panoramas to enjoy. The voice acting was probably the best in this series.

First Impression: They distilled booze. In the first episode!!! I really liked this one. It’s a mix of comedy, mystery, survival and actual science which is right up my alley. A very strong first episode that left me wanting to see the next one right away. I took a note that said only “YAY! Chemistry!” which should probably tell you all you need to know about me.

Hopes and Fears: As you may have noticed, don’t have anything even mildly negative to say about the first episode of Dr. Stone. As far as I’m concerned, if it continues in exactly this way, I will be thrilled. Congratulations Crunchyroll, you picked a good one this time!

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Oddly enough, all three shows I picked had all the same general tags apply to them. I would say I enjoy the technical aspect of Fire Force more than the other two shows, but the narrative and premise of Dr. Stone most! Poor Granbelm is the clear loser of these three, coming in last on every aspect but I still enjoyed it.

I’m going to keep watching all three shows but I haven’t decided if I’m going to keep reviewing them yet. Also, what do you think about this format? Should I split it up into three short posts? I know that would get more view but it seems more annoying for the readers. Then again if you’re only interested in one show you may not want to scroll through all the other stuff. Very few people ever comment on my episode reviews so I’m not expecting much feedback here. However, if you do leave some, thank you in advance!

Friday Night Sampler: Granbelm – Fire Force – Dr. Stone Episodes 1 Bungo Stray Dogs Season 3 is now over. As much as I miss it, I do like the freedom of not having to go home on Friday evenings to watch anime and write a review for the next day.

#action #adventure #anime #Dr. Stone #episodic #Fire Force #Granbelm #Irina is dumb #shonen #super powers

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