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rivalsilveryuri · 4 months

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wait what is ur favorite gen if it’s not gen 2

OK. so this is the worlds most complicated question 4 me aside from "whats your gender and sexuality" (there are no other questions) like.. UGHHH i literally CANNOT answer this without going on a HUMONGOUS essay not kidding. though if i DO it'll be really rambly.. and. not go anywhere really... (guess what?! point of no return V)

Favourite pokemon gen is a VERY difficult question for me. its easier to say my least favourite gen. Which would be gen 8. because it feels just… boring and forgettable in a way that .. no other gen feels? And is honestly a total mess in my opinion, but.. not in the way gen 9 sorta was? Cause while i definitely have a lot of gripes with gen 9, I do think theres a decent amount of positives and stuff to work with, and stuff that WORKS, and things that really stand out. ..compared to how bland gen 8 felt 2 me. And pointing out which gen im neutral about is fairly easy, aka sinnoh. (might need to really replay it and think it over tbh)

(though theres always one thing that complicates this and its like. the remakes? because sometimes i like a main gen game or hate it, and then i have opposite feelings about the remake, so its like. is the remake…. technically the gen of the origi… ok. whatever, this is a whole complication, i think i'll just go with like. whenever i say favourite gen it just means "favourite region" and remakes can count as well (minus gen 4 sorry ur remake was Like That) to make this easier)

And sayign which gens i Like… But don't tend to feel .. TOO much about ? like kanto… gen 1 has sooo much rep and content that its like.. frlg is fun, (and so is its SECOND remake, good lird) but theres not too much 4 me to chew on .. in . a.. deeper sense? aside from blue, red and leaf, personally. It's not bad! But I don't think anybody's really rearing to say gen 1 is undoubtably the best game mechanics.. visual.. story.. or.. anythin wise. it aint BAD.. but its not really.. much more ta me……

(also i'll specify, mechanics/ gameplay are like.. yes theres type additions, ability changes, oh and the split early on and myah myah and some games have gimmicks and other stuff like mounts, and supposedly bw/bw2 is harder [base game, not hard mode]-

(which. dude did you know. like. this is fucking silly to me but.. upon beating the maingame of black you unlock hard mode. "okay well, whats the issue?" well. upon beating the main game of white. yyou um. get. easymode.) (like im sorry but why the shit would you make DIFFICULTIES VERSION EXCLUSIVES…….. WHO PLAYS THROUGH AN ENTIRE POKEMON GAME.. AND IS LIKE "ah yes wait let me delete my save and do all of that again but like. even easier" W.. WHY… WHY IS… EASY MODE… UNLOCKED… AFTER BEATING THE GAME,, WHY IS HARD MODE A VERSION EXCLUSIVE???? A GENUINELY INTERESTING FEATURE N CHALLENGE?? i know people have probably said this before but its SO baffling to me. what a design choice)

-…but generally the core is the same, and ive never particularly ran into a bump in pokemon games, so it isnt really TOO much of a gripe to me. i love meaningless grinding. i was the worlds most boring little kid, i would start up a pokemon game just to grind to level 40 immediately after getting a starter for FUN. i could watch paint dry for hours i do NOT mind. The only time gameplay comes up is just. How Much is there to do? yknow? how much content.)

but my feelins on kanto are ironic cause i like johto more. sorryyy! i think johtos just more fun 2 me, partly because silver is SOO personal to me, and what they did with kanto was just a more welcome shakeup 2 me tbh. and i like the sort of feeling parts of it give off, and like. yes theres the big hole of like. team rocket being even MORE of a wet fart in that game than b4. likr sure hgss DEFINITELY gave it an overhaul but it still wasnt .. GREAT… since it was the lowest presence an evil team kind of had (until gen 8.) and while yes, they were trying to contact giovanni, and giovanni .. was.. there .. he just got time travel assassinated.. its still kinda.. eh? and being one of the games with a HUUGE identity crisis in the way that gen 2 is forever stuck to gen 1 in a way… gen 1 isnt? but shrug. I don't really mind it. OH and i love silver in crystal. he's so so funny in crystal, whats wrong with him… and i like the legendary beast stuff! i like it, it feels pretty fucking cool.. and eusines funny. pokemon crystal is so fascinatign 2 me i want to pick it apart with my teeth, i love the aesthetic, the music, everythin. (even if the late grind is HORRIBLE) ..but idk if gen 2 is my favourite. We'll.. get back to this later .

SO WHAT IS? Um.

See .. this is kinda where i have 2 now explain a timeline. I KNOW. i know. .. (said through tears) You're just gonna have to sit down with me here because i am so insanely autistic about pokemon. pokemon has been my special interest since i was a tiny pea brained baby. i was literally known purely for pokemon when i was younger because i would NOT shut up about it. (….and here i am writing an unneccesarily long, entire essay. well.) My first game was xy. when i was . uhh .. gosh.. somethin likr… 9? i couldnt finish it because i genuinely couldnt read and got stuck on that furfrou puzzle. i know. its so insanely easy . its unreal. But i gave up. and i didnt have any internet so it stayed that way. for several years. I KNOW. OKAY. leave me alone…

but in the meantime i got oras and. this is when the autism kicked in . severely….. i fucking LOOOVE ORAS . ORAS HEADS LETS GOOO LETS RISE WOOO WOOO IM SOOOOO BIASED. UNREAL-Y BIASED. CRITICAL THINKING DIES HERE WOOOOOHOOOO . and . its a whole thing. i love the way oras looks. its so so so pretty, like. SHOCKINGLY pretty dude. I also really like the weird fusion oras and xy had of like. chibi models, the realistic (? i have no better description 4 this. models used in cutscenes and battles), AND the art. which was definitely unnecessary but i think the eeny weeny models were cute.. Also oras' music. i know its NOT original but i really like the way they remade it. yes the trumpets are almost absent, and some major changes were made to some tracks, which were devisive but honestly? i really like the original soundtrack (because the way rse's soundtrack sounds is really impressive) and the remake is just very lovingly done imo? it just feels nice 2 listen 2…

but . all my.. Current, More Developed Brain Opinions aside. at this point i could read. amazing development. so, i liked lisia. hated brendan. (we had beef.) thought wally was odd but fun, and i REALLY liked zinnia… and of course maxie and archie and their admins too.. and by the way, i liked this game SO much, that i completed the entire pokedex at age 10/11. for fun. so its safe to say i . may like oras. i liked it SO much i then pestered one of my older brothers when he was over to find a tutorial for that segment in xy.. and eventually beat that too. i like gen 6, but i understand a lot of people DONT, and thats understandable. lysandre is SUCH a mess, so are the rivals, but i generally found it charming. though i definitely understand why it was received Very Badly. but xy isnt my favourite.

A few years later, a bit older, when i was then 12.. i played gen 7…. and really liked it. but i dont have too much to SAY about it. (this could honestly be because i didnt replay gen 7 again, having one savefile for my entire playtime. and while i still have an unreal amount of time in usum, i didnt obsessively replay it like i did with oras.) but there's nothing 4 me 2 say that hasnt already been said.. i liked gen 7. completed the dex when i was 12. i liked lillie and gladion and hau, (and i think people either A) dumbed them down way too much, or where excessively critical over hau being. Nice. which….) and team skull.. which is one of my favourite evil teams below magma/aqua, and its definitely one of my favourite gens. but i think… people have said it before but sm had the better story, usum had the better gameplay. usum is JAMMED full of sooo much content its unreal….but i HATE what they did with lusamine. also the ultra recon stuff was kinda … uhh. it was REALLY hyped up in advertising like "oooohhh who are these mysterious people?!?!?" and they just kinda… didnt have a presence??? at all??? like. umm. ok . but i like gen 7. … i like halves of gen 7.

Then . ..gen 8 came out. and uhh. well. I lost a WHOLE lot of faith. cause when it came out almost.. …5 .. years ago .. stars abovr . i got really pissed. cause i HATED IT. i played through it, i wanted to give it a chance, and it was .. fine.. at first. but then i started thinking about it. and thinking about it. and you heard a LOT of things about it at the time. and then i hated it. i hated pokemon . and then i did not touch this game series for the next four years. I heard NEWS about pokemon, but i just kind of grew more spiteful over the years and stuck my head further underground.

#VOICEMAIL #good lird. i am SO sorry for the person i become whenever I talk about pokemon #i never get to ramble about it to this degree . WORDS GET AWAY FROM ME </3 #I HAVE 2 REBLOG 2 ADD PART 2 . HELP ME. SORRY.......

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goldeklee · 1 year

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Splatoon 3 thoughts overall (my opinions and such, feel free to disagree)

Also is long

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Gamemodes:

-Tower Control could stand to have a bigger tower. I feel like it's too small. Probably also shouldn't be allowed to have specials (like Big Bubble or Booyah Bomb) attach to it? Unsure about the last one but it feels kinda bad.

-Clam Blitz is an alright mode where really the only change related to it needed is the map design.

-Splatzones are fine. I've not really an issue with any part of it.

-Rainmaker is probably my least favorite competitive mode overall. It also can be the shortest. I honestly have no idea how to improve it in my own views of the game.

-Turf War I feel like suffers from having everything be decided by the final 30 seconds. Like the rest of the match is just sort of a "screw around" moment. It's fun, but I genuinely can't think of any changes to make to it without making it worse overall.

Matchmaking:

Oh god. This is messy. Easily the messiest part in the game, even if it's not my biggest sore spot. I can't think of any other multiplayer game where everything seems like a stomp in one direction or another. However it handles matchmaking, I don't think it does a very good job at focusing on "fun" but moreso making matches fast. I want an equal power struggle please.

Weapon Balance:

I feel like overall, this aspect of the game is pretty okay. I think some weapons and their time to kill are a touch ridiculous, like the .96 Gal, but I also come from a Halo background.

Really the only thing I'd suggest for the game is to make sub spamming harder as oh boy does that make certain weapons a total nuisance.

Map Balance:

It's kind of a joke that Splatoon 3's map design is basically linear corridors with a wide middle section. There's not much cover, not typically much flanking routes, it makes the weapon balance feel a bit worse than it actually is. Weapons like Rollers for example have a tougher time as they have to shark to get any kills, which is not always easy. As for Chargers, they somewhat thrive in this scene, or at least they did until the torpedo spam started.

Ability Balance:

It might just be me, but I've incredibly mixed feelings on Gear Abilities in general. It's mostly because of two things: some abilities are just *that* good where you'll see it a lot (ninja squid, intensify action, stealth jump) and the time it takes to get certain abilities on your favorite gear is just horrendous. I like a bit of grind, but 40 or so chunks to get a primary is a bit crazy to me. Also I genuinely dislike respawn punisher as a whole.

Fashion Game:

Pretty solid! Aside from Gear Abilities preventing me from just running around dripped out, I find that there's a sizable catalogue of clothing to wear that covers a decent number of vibes. I do, however, kinda wish we had the ability to buy pants. Even if that'd probably mean even more ability nonsense.

Catalog Grind:

It's a free battlepass essentially. I kinda wish it didn't throw out the old one at all as I feel exclusive "you had to be there" things are best saved for actual events like Big Run or Splatfests but that's just me. The Catalog goes relatively smooth, only really having hitches after you completed it, which is fair.

Map and Mode Rotation:

This for me is the biggest sore spot. I cannot tell you *how* many times I've just stopped playing Competitive because I saw it was on maps I disliked and on gamemodes that were painful for the weapon I was trying to freshen up (I like stickers okay?). I suppose it'd be one thing if the gamemode would rotate, but with so few maps in rotation it's gotten to be a thing where my friends and I see Mahi-mahi and just play a different game for a bit.

Salmon Run:

Tons of fun, teammates can be a little... special at times. It's incredibly hard to raise rank with randoms I find. Only thing I can think of that I'd like is maybe less long grates for when high tides come up.

Campaign:

I've not done much on this yet actually, so all I can say is that as an Octoling the immediate racist grandpa was something else.

Things I'd like in the game that likely will never come:

-The ability to "Booyah!" or "Ouch..." once the match is over before the results get tallied. Just to interact with teammates a bit more

-A level editor! I love making maps for games, so to be able to make them for Splatoon would be fun too. Maybe have little mapping contests every now and then with the winners being transitioned into full maps?

-Aforementioned ability to buy pants

-An actual MMR system. Please. I'm begging.

-"Silence Shelldon" button

-Button customization! I don't like special being on Right Stick Click. I want it on L. And I'm sure other people would like some other options as well.

-Mayhaps a more traditional deathmatch mode? Antithetical to the game, I know, but I think making it one of the more casual modes would be nice.

-Ability to skip through the post-match stuff. It takes so long. I just want back in. I don't want to watch my gear slowly level up then spit out a chunk.

-Ability to thank the staff for the meals/drinks

-Let a Big Run permanently mark a map. Destroy it a bit. Make new paths/ cover. Let there be consequences.

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If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope you found it at least interesting to see how I personally view aspects of this game!

#splatoon #splatoon 3 #games #chittering

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tiglo · 8 months

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Deathloop slab only Day 4

so I'm not going to go over what I did over the last few sessions of this challenge because other than like 1 thing I had to do differently to actually finish the game (I'll talk about this at the end of this post) I basically just played the game normally. Flicker and Havoc took away all of the challenge, because when I was thinking of doing this I thought that Havoc and Flicker would be helpful but not that helpful. you could probably beat the entire gam with nothing but havoc and have very little issues with anything. but back to my point, I'm just going to talk about some various things I either didn't mention before or things I found interesting about the game, discovered during the playthrough, and other generally interesting stuff about the game that are vaguely related to the challenge.

Random thing #1

Loop stress must buff all drops instead of just dropping rare loot more often. so I got the Sepulchra very early on this time and I found that for whatever reason it hardly did any damage to anyone I shot it with, when in my first casual playthrough it was a guaranteed one-shot headshot on basically everything but the collector. then when I did my final loop I tried to snipe Wenjie from not very far away and she tanked 6 headshots, so either the Sepulchra got nerfed between June and now or loot quality does more than just drop rare stuff more often. I hardly used the Sepulchra because it just couldn't kill anything this time around and I'm wondering if I should have gotten another one to compare before I reset my progress to playthrough another challenge run (which is honestly not really a challenge run and I won't be doing posts about this current one but I plan on it for the next)

Random thing #2

Apparently the Rapier is considered the meta by the community, it's the weapon I've used the least just because it's loud, slow to fire, and I thought it was just too niche to ever justify giving it a loadout slot. But the community disagrees. The actual worst weapon is much harder to figure out, I looked at a bunch of tier lists and a few reddit threads, the only weapon that wasn't ever called the worst in the game was the Strelak Verso which doesn't mean it's the best it's just generic enough that no one actively dislikes it. I saw the Constancy Automatic at the bottom surprisingly often, it's really not a bad weapon it's just very underwhelming for the first unique weapon most people will find; it's really just a Limp-10 with a finicky reload. but the one people called the worst most often was the PT-6 Spiker so the next challenge run will be with just that, even though I like the Spiker more than silenced Tribunal or Limp-10

Random thingy #3

Julianna randomly invading even though I had invasions turned off was a persistent problem throughout the run. I have no clue why but just based on behavior they were all the bots that invade in single player mode. she never dropped anything all that useful so I never really mentioned it except for the first time she invaded after I switched to friends only. I think there are ways you can force the game to have Julianna invade, this theory is mostly from me playing as Julianna and finding that some really good players seemed to be grinding Julianna in Updaam at night. like I would unintentionally invade what appeared to be the same player multiple times and every time he had the safe in Colt's apartment open so maybe reading the note from Julianna always forces one and other locations also have triggers like this, again I haven't tested this at all and the wiki doesn't mention it anywhere

Random Thingy #4

it took me a bit to figure out how I could actually kill Julianna because the dueling pistols are obviously not a slab and all slabs are nullified in the core. eventually I figured out I could open the door, activate Aether, then shoot her from outside the door.

#deathloop

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housebeleren · 2 years

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Throne of Eldraine Limited Card Re-Evalauations

We’re almost ready to go nuts with Theros Beyond Death, but before we do so, I want to wrap up Throne of Eldraine. One of my favorite parts of evaluating every set as they preview is revisiting them as the format is winding down to see how my assessments changed. In some cases, I’m just plain wrong, and that’s almost the most fun. Since I rate cards on a 5 point scale, I won’t bother with anything that only changed half a point in my assessment from the start of the format to now. Only cards that I missed by a full point or more. Let’s go.

Initial Rating: 1.5 New Rating: 2.5

I... don’t really know what I was thinking here. My only guess is that I was too distracted by it being more expensive than Raise the Alarm and had too much memory of Sworn Companions being mediocre to think about it properly in context. But Instant speed makes this incredibly more playable, and I frequently used it as a combat trick to take out opposing X/1s or just gain some life then chump block. Plus, the go-wide deck in Green/White was real, and this card was great there. Now watch as I completely overestimate Omen of the Sun...

Initial Rating: 2.0 New Rating: 3.0

I got too caught up in the 3/1 for 2 mana trope, and didn’t appreciate just how good Adventures were going to end up being. This card is playable in almost every deck, but it was straight up nuts in a dedicated Green/White Adventure build, where it could save a creature from removal, let that creature go on its Adventure again, and still come down to trade with something else. The card is flexible and cheap in all modes, and that total package was just greater than the sum of its parts. (In direct contradiction to what I said in the initial rating.)

Initial Rating: 1.0 New Rating: 2.5

Whew, I was quick to dismiss this one. Turns out, the format was grindier than I anticipated, making all aspects of this card better. Ramp was totally viable, and jumping from 3 to 5 mana often put you cleanly ahead of your opponent. I think I’ve gotten a fresh hand off of it at least once every time I’ve drafted it, and that’s pretty impressive for what initially looked like a Commander gimmick. It also has the benefit of being an Artifact, which several Blue cards care about. I’ve had it not work, but usually I’m pretty happy to see it, and it’s quickly become one of my pet favorites in the set.

Initial Rating: 2.5 New Rating: 3.5

My initial rating on this card is entirely due to the triple-Black mana cost, and my assumption that it would be harder to draft monocolor (or heavily skewed 2-color) than it turned out to be. Mono decks are completely viable in this format, as are 10/7 Land splits, making Ayara completely viable if you pick her early. In mono-Black, she’s more like a 4.0, because she just does so much, but I think the new rating of 3.5 is correct, given the constrictions needed to make her great.

Initial Rating: 1.5 New Rating: 2.5

I don’t feel too bad about this one, since a lot of people underestimated what turned out to be one of the most reliable Black finishers in the format. It has a lot to do with how grindy the games could go, since this definitely is not what you want to see against a blazing fast start. But most games went pretty long, and the card advantage netted by this was very real. Sure, you wouldn’t play a 4/5 for 7 mana on its own, but coming with a discard spell attached is a surprisingly powerful package.

Initial Rating: 0.5 New Rating: 2.5

I really missed this one, didn’t I? It went on a roller coaster, first being pretty ignored until people started playing against it, then it became all the rage once people saw how it performed, to the point that many people overdrafted it. And it eventually settled somewhere in the middle. Not every deck wants it, but several do, and it has the potential to just grind the game to a halt. To be clear, this card is severely unfun, and was a contributor to the fact that there were games that ended in natural decking simply by drawing every card you have, one at a time. At first blush, it looks like Blood Reckoning, which is mediocre for sure, but the life gain tacked on makes it so, so much more frustrating, since it effectively gives all your creatures -1/-0 on offense as well. Let’s hope there aren’t any sleeper asshole cards like this hiding in the next set.

Still salty about the design here. I desperately wish this card were White and granted Lifelink & “can’t be blocked by creatures with power 3 or greater.” (Aka turns your creature into a Beloved Princess. I will die on this hill.)

Initial Rating: 2.0 New Rating: 1.0

As far as how it actually performs, this was the first card I dramatically overestimated rather than underestimated. My hunch is that I expected the format to be much faster than it was, and that Haste would matter more than it did. As is, the format lent itself towards long board stalls, and the value of this as a way to push through extra damage diminished significantly.

Initial Rating: 2.5 New Rating: 3.5

I correctly estimated that any power in this card lie pretty much entirely in its ability to generate Food. What I failed to estimate is just how good that would be. The Food deck was one of the best decks in the format, and if you were lucky enough to draft this dumb bird, you’d be completely set, as it both ramped you into your big Green threats and enabled the Food payoffs. But even in a deck with zero Food synergies at all, it effectively reads 3G+Tap: Gain 3 life. And that is a pain in the ass card if ever I’ve heard of one, especially in a format prone to stalls.

Initial Rating: 4.0 New Rating: 3.0

RTFC for fucks sake. I totally misread this and assumed it drew a card for every non-Human creature that hit, instead of being capped at one per combat. Make no mistake, it’s still good as-is, but the format proved especially harsh to mister leaf kitty here. By the time he came down, the board is usually already cluttered and the removal was abundant. In Green/Blue, he goes up a half point, since there are fliers to help get through, but he so underperformed my initial expectations in general. Mythic Uncommon, this is not.

Initial Rating: 2.5 New Rating: 1.5

We end this with a Land, which is unusual since they’re usually pretty easy to evaluate. The thing with Tournament Grounds is that its restriction is really actually a major drawback. Not being able to use the colored mana to cast removal or non-Knight creatures turned out to be a liability, and it was especially punishing with Adamant in the set, as most of the good Adamant cards were Instants & Sorceries. Lastly, given how much monocolor was drafted, very few 3 color decks actually got made, and I found I’d usually rather have more basics than a conditional fixer land that didn’t work with half the cards in my deck.

So that’s it. I grossly misvalued 10 cards for Throne of Eldraine Limited. Which is actually pretty decent, if I do say so myself. I had 12 for Core Set 2020 and 16 for War of the Spark. Let’s hope I can get even better for Theros Beyond Death!

#MtG

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prof-peach · 3 years

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If you could cross over two of your favorite games, which would you choose? Please explain, why that crossover would be a good match.

Oh you’re going to regret asking this one, I’m bout to GET SERIOUS.

So Pokemon, obvs, I love the whole world it’s built in, but the games imo are REALLY boring, I haven’t enjoyed one a lot since gale of darkness, the main ones just are a little too linear obvious plots, pretty standard setups for story and style. Speaking of style, the games lack personality, the models aren’t animated well, moves have no dynamic energy or visual difference at times, and the turn based battle style just feels kind of, I don’t know, old? Slow? Just doesn’t suit what I enjoy personally, gives me a FInal Fantasy vibe and I just cannot stand the speed at which things happen in those games, plus not into 3rd person ‘let’s build a team of people’ much, but that’s a problem for another time. With this all in mind, the game I wish would happen is like gen20 Pokemon, far future sadly, I doubt I’d see it in my lifetime but god I’d be happy if I did!

Ok so take the newest Zelda graphics, the visual treat that was BOTW, open world, puzzles, not JUST combat, you got side missions, hunt the chickens, find missing pets, parcels, items, whatever. Love it! The horse taming?! Amazing you funky little game. Now take the bad guys and beasts from that. And put Pokemon in instead. Give them the diversity, the life and believable natures that BOTW gave the animals, I followed a frog in BOTW for 15 minutes, and it was a great experience, it felt like it was believable. Above world spawning, ACTUAL difficult gameplay, rare spawn rates, make dragons hard to get again, cmon, it’s too easy now, make it so we need a certain set of Pokemon for certain tasks. Water types big enough to carry you will be able to get you to new areas, rock types that can help you climb mountains faster, or break through blocking boulders. Actual towns with more than 4 houses in them, shops, barns, farms, homes. Like little link with the heat, maybe ice types would struggle in volcano areas, or bug Pokemon not be so comfortable in gale force winds. Give the weather more of an effect on your partners. Mounts, don’t even get me started that Pokemon Let’s go had you able to ride any of the larger species, but swsh did not???? Bitch please, give me my rideable Pokemon. The wild area too was far too closed, limited, online was laggy and a mess, camping is limited, let me do more with my team. Pokemon for me is all about the actual creatures, how they live with humans, and the many wonderful things they’re capable of. Yes of course it’s cool they can fight, but like what else you know?

I’d love a game that lets me buy a plot of land, maybe plant things, custom build things. I’m a sucker for the fallout4 settlement builds when they’re modded to hell and back, they’re fun! It can be a really calm and creative process. If I could do that and skip the main campaign and all the battles for a bit? Amazing, it sound perfect for me. I am that distracted hoe collecting flowers while the kingdom burns in the background. Side quests are everything to me. Let me give homeless people enough money to get them in a home? Let me adopt Pokemon that are stray around the town? Plz oh plz bring me a Pokemon game that allows me to work WITH my team to do more than KO other species. I want to save and buy a plow for my buddy gogoat, and grow amazing foods to sell to get currency to spend in decorations, to spoil my team. Give me actual game consequence, if I ignore that sick and injured Pokemon I find in the wild, later maybe it’s family don’t want to help me out with a different problem, too stricken from grief. I am all about the average bits, the old women who need help, the lost pets board in town, the general day to day stuff. Let me get cosmetic items for the Pokemon I keep, cute outfits, special gemstone items, let me actually live with them, or even feel remotely like they’re realistic.

Ok so in game, if it’s looking like BOTW it’s pretty beautiful but also stylised, I’d have it so you can send out a maximum of 3 Pokemon from your 6, using bumpers and such to throw them out. If you hit the trigger you switch from controlling the human trainer, to the Pokemon you’ve targeted with a standard lock on targeting system. You then can be the leader, but be the Pokemon. You could technically defeat the game without a human if you wanted, which incorporates the mystery dungeon games I think, and caters to that crowd. I’d love to see the use of attacks out of battle, things like using water gun to grow plants, using ember to start a campfire faster and stave off the cold. There’s no consequence to Pokemon anymore, and I think that’s where it’s lost me. I have to admit I miss the days of a poisoned pokemon fainting if you don’t heal them soon enough, I miss gym battles that were actually tough, damn, try picking charmander in red and beating brock without grinding in viridian forest first, it’s not easy. And I loved that. Yes it’s a child’s game, it will never be difficult again, but god it’d be nice to have a bit of a challenge, or maybe a difficulty setting, so some could play it with hostility turned off, great for kids, or you can be n adult like I know so many Pokemon fans are, and play it on expert mode and ACTUALLY have to work hard to beat the game. Alternate skill trees anyone? Train gun a fire type to ACUTALLy combat water moves?? Please! Cmon! It frustrated me that every challenger has pretty much a systematic set of moves to use to win. Grass opponent? Fire attack spam until you win. It’s dull, so at least with very difficult tricks to either find or learn in game would make it more achievable if you can send that fire type in and I don’t know, train them so much the heat evaporates the water mid-battle and you suddenly have a shot at winning. Pokemon has taught me that if you work hard enough you can achieve something, but the games just have such strict ways to win. Feels wrong.

In terms of battling, let us BE the Pokemon, let us learn to dodge, train our speed, train our defence, make a team of truly tough Pokemon instead of just, average? Some species have a cap on their skills, a squirtle has lower stat points than a Charizard, but you can’t ever change that? Let me choose the Pokemon I believe in, and let me work with them until they’re just as good, if not better than the game tanks. This would also make online battles more interesting. Everyone picks the top trio. Fairy, dragon, legendaries. And yknow what? It’s boring. That one IRL fight with the monster Pacharisu that won in the world tournament with follow me and the situs Berry? Unbelievable, I love that little rat so much because of this, so let us all have a chance to build a team that’s strategically viable, strong, and potentially a winner formula, even if they aren’t fully evolved, or the biggest Pokemon in the world. Yeah maybe you have to grind way harder with your unevolved Pokemon, but you get to the end game and win, because you put love and time into species that you enjoy, not just good fighters.

Unfortunately I am beholdent to Todd-idiot-Howard, and I love the Eldrescrolls and fallout games (before they got dumb, not that I don’t play the new ones. 76 I’m looking at you, you big asshole game.) honestly I hate online games, so none of that junk, just a good old fashioned open world sandbox game is plenty. Games for me are an escape from others, not an invitation to socialise. To each their own of course, and I do play online games sometimes, just pretty short lived ones, over watch and rdr2 for example. Would they be sometimes better on private servers? Yes of course, fallout76? Want to play with others? No. I do not. Please leave me alone. And if you buy a private server you’re feeding the monster that is Todd Howard, the man the myth the asshole, then we’ll get more bad games like 76. I just so desperately want the Pokemon company to see what a beautiful potential game they’ve got on their hands, that could be suitable for far greater audiences, but instead they’ve focused on the kids. It’s fine, it’s functional, but it’s lost to the fans from day 1, that are all 20+ years old now and want something meatier to play, something far more broad and inclusive. I also hate that there’s no wheelchair option in any Pokemon game. Like cmon, it’s not hard to include that.

In short, BOTW + Pokemon, with a sprinkle of open world sandbox to it, less fighting, more fun. Or, at least both options. Sure, go fight everything, great, but I want to farm carrots over here with 6sunflora, plz let me have some peace.

Edit: I forgot about harvest moon, chuck some of that in there too.

SECOND EDIT: someone in the comments mentioned to put this in Unova? Plz love yourselves, this game would be ALL MAPS. Stuff one singular location, this is the ideal game, put every map in it, join them, put islands in, make them more explorable, more detailed!

#pokemon #not peach #OOC

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girlyliondragon · 2 years

Note

OK BUT RE: POKEMON BDSP YOU'RE LITERALLY SO RIGHT? i had my team sharply overleveled for literally everything just because i was enjoying running around and catching things/casually grinding, but when i hit the elite four, despite feeling like i got a really solid team together, i got wiped over and over again until i had to eventually cheese it with max revives and full restores. it was genuinely not fun at all, nor was it really all that satisfying to finally beat after nearly putting down the game for good after it. it burned me out, and kept me from picking it back up in favor of other games. :/ i'm still pro difficulty-settings so that the people begging for competitive battles can get them, while us out here who are just in it for a good time can not deal with an absolute slog of a "challenge" out of nowhere 😔

YEAH YOU GET IT, IT'S LIKE. I don't mind Pokemon having instances of allowing itself to be harder, the E4 especially but THE BDSP E4 IS TAKING IT A LOT TOO FAR. I agree with all of this Anon, with how tiresome it is to those that really wanted to just play 4th gen again and then get to this and they're just... it's bad man. It's bad for casual play, this game is so casual until this. If I may ramble (Rant, and I mean really really rant) again...

This, imo, is what we need difficulty settings for, the fact that Pokemon is so against a difficulty setting outside BW2 (where it didn't even matter anymore???) makes the instances where they DO put difficulty in the game so shocking and unfair. The fact that it was THIS where the game devs have decided "Ya know what? Fuck Faithfulness" is what's frustrating because once you actually see how rough it is compared to the rest of the game, it makes you wanna go "But why NOW??!!" in a way. They decided to be UNfaithful in the wrong spots, and the E4 is the biggest offender to it all.

AND ALSO TO ADD, The E4 is supposed to be hard yes, people keep saying this in defense of this E4. But it's not supposed to be so much to the point it literally spits on everything that the Pokemon games have stood for the whole time, you know?

All the other E4s in Pokemon games up to this point were doable WITH your ingame team. And NEVER inforced shucking your ingame team for a more competetively built one to try and match up or otherwise "lol fucking pleb, struggle". I've not played below Gen5 in terms of official games, so Imma list those I did play. Note, yes I play the easy way with healing items and Switch mode in-battle, and I will not speak about Post-game rematches:

BW2: My first E4 + Champion. There was a difficulty spike, but not too much that is unbearable. The E4 is rough, and strong, with good movesets, but I could beat it with my Ingame team. The champion was hard, I actually came very very VERY close to losing once, but it wasn't because of Perfect EVs/IVs and Competitive held items. It was just difficult. Especially since imo Dragons are really good in this game. I won it.

This E4 + Champion: No perfect EVs/IVs, No held items outside Aces (Excluding Iris's Druddigon, but that is it as an only exceptional other), Movesets/Abilities were built with what the Pokemon could get ingame, no hidden abilities. Only Champion has 3 full restores. Held items for every team member are only acquired in Challenge Mode post-game

XY: The easiest E4, we know that, partial to both the EXP share allowing us to easily make our way to a bearable level, but also the teams were easy to counter, as we had a great roster to choose from. The Champion was also very easy. But it imo is the most beautiful E4, so there's some props somewhere. Beatable with an Ingame team, you can barely struggle.

This E4 + Champion: No perfect EVs/IVs, No held items outside the Champion's Ace vio Powerup, Movesets/Abilities were built with what the Pokemon could get ingame, no hidden abilities.

ORAS: This was MY game for Hoenn. I never played OG Hoenn and after this I never want to. I can't remember much from this one unfortunately as it's been a while since I've played, but I DO know it wasn't too painful either, very strong, no huge spike, you can beat it with an Ingame team.

This E4 + Champion: No perfect EVs/IVs, No held items outside the Champion's Megastone, Movesets/Abilities were built with what the Pokemon could get ingame, no hidden abilities.

SM/USUM: Not AS easy as XY and USUM actually let itself get stronger. And by that, it brought in a slightly better AI, but not overtly so to where it could overpredict you, and even then you could predict it back. But outside that, again, both beatable with Ingame teams, a slight step up from XY, with USUM even moreso. If the rest of the E4s could be like this, I would not ask for more.

This E4 + Champion: No perfect EVs/IVs (There are DEFINITELY some applied though, especially in USUM, but not to where they're requiring you to think hard on how to beat them or overgrind), No held items outside Aces ala a Mega Move being Z-Move, Movesets/Abilities were built with what the Pokemon could get ingame, no hidden abilities.

SwSh: Aka "The Champion Cup Finals". Basically merging Victory Road and the E4 into one spot until you get to the finals which is actually the E4 but not without the Semis to add. Mega/Gigantamax actually allowed some of these to be hard, but even then outside that it isn't super easy either, I had to overlevel a little, but all and all it is a VERY fun battle and you're riled up with the setting to push you through and see the stakes. But it is beatable with some hunches, such as Leon being pretty difficult, especially his Charizard, which had me coming in clutch a few times. Hooooooowever. It is beatable with an ingame team (btw, sensing a pattern here?), and a lot of Pokemon have such great movesets in this game you can build around that difficulty with your own firepower. My Cinderace was MY Ace because of that versatility. Believe me when I say this is a fun one and imo my most fun final ring of Battles in a Pokemon game to date.

The Champion Cup: No perfect EVs/IVs (There are proooobably definitely some applied though, but not to where they're requiring you to think hard on how to beat them or overgrind), No held items outside Aces ala Gigantamax (Excluding Hop), Movesets/Abilities were built with what the Pokemon could get ingame, no hidden abilities.

AND NOW BDSP'S E4.

With how fucking sadistic this shit is the closeness to its acronym being BDSM is actually really fucking accurate actually, because you cannot get through this final hurdle without being a fucking masochist. HERE WE GO.

I'm gonna skip the bullshit because you guys have seen it already. Reminder, this E4 is in a game where, outside the very basic standard tutorial: Does not prepare you for competitive battle, does not tell you battle strategies outside "switch your Pokemon in if types don't match up", AI is very weak and very predictable up to this point and otherwise is standard until this wall, does NOT teach you OR THE CHILDREN PROBABLY PLAYING THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME about EVs, IVs, and how they work, where oh my god Imma say rn kids have CRIED playing this shitty E4, they do NOT think about EVs/IVs and shouldn't! Anyways... Game does NOT speak about how the E4 has upped their game, not even a little hint, there's no talk about say, trainers never getting to beat it by the time they got there because their teams were not up to snuff. No hints, nothing. You are NOT PREPARED for this, the game actually plays AS USUAL UNTIL you get to the E4, where everything just flips itself right sight fuckways and all that casual play you've been doing is fucked in the ass.

I will list everything the E4 + Champion has, and compared to the last couple I listed, pay attention. This E4 + Champion:

Has 300+ EVs in all their stats for the E4, near perfect in their best stat and spread across the board in the others. The champion has PERFECT EVs in EVERY POKEMON and very likely IVs as well. You KNOW that Garchomp is perfect EVs, IVs in everything except Sp. Atk, and Jolly nature which is what Smogon teams use over Adamant because Speed is key in competitive.

EVERY POKEMON has a held item that is COMPETITIVELY FITTING or fitting for their movesets. Aaron? Watch out for that fucking GUTS FACADE FLAME ORB HERACROSS. That Drapion Ace he got? It Has Scope Lens AND Nightslash, an already high critting move that will likely do so almost every time with that thing. Ol' Bertha? Leftovers on her Quagsire to stall you. Resto Chesto Ace in her Hippowdon. Who the fuck puts Leftovers on a Lopunny? Flint, because he needs just one last bit of health to get a third HJK in to fuck you incase he misses. His is so bad. He has a Steelix with LIFE ORB to come with its HIDDEN ability I'll get to later. Rapidash has a WIDE LENS for that Hypnosis. AND THAT FOCUS SASH INFERNAPE which fucks you in the ass if you're not A: Getting rid of the fucking Driftblim fast enough, and 2, Got a way to slow it down or get rid of it. Lucian? Screener Mr. Mime with Light Clay. Girafarig has a Mental Herb so that you can't taunt it from Trick Rooming before Bronzong can, Medicham has a MUSCLE BAND with its ability Pure Power. Life Orb Alakazam. Cynthia? Expert Belt to make super effective moves on her Roserade hurt more. Flame orb for her Milotic's ability to kick start Marvel Scale unless you override it in that same turn. Wise Glasses so that her Special Lucario can hit 10% harder. Yache Berry for her Garchomp so that you don't 4x effect it with Ice.

Holy FUCKING shit and we're not even done.

Movesets are COMPETITIVELY built to match their held items AND Abilities, and are in like to what Competitive team builders create. I mentioned the Night Slash and Resto Chesto. I mentioned the Screener Mr. Mime. Drapion has Sniper to add to its bullshit crit. Steelix's moves all have a secondary effect. You know the Trick Room tactic. Infernape's less powerful moves are all Punch moves to coincide its ability. MAY I REPEAT THAT THAT DRIFBLIM'S MOVESET IS LITERALLY BANNED FROM SMOGON FOR HOW BROKEN IT IS???? The AI is SMARTER to add as well with these movesets, it predicts you when you're trying to SE move their 'mons and will switch accordingly. Beginners and Kids cannot predict this AI, as it was shitty before, and now it's ramped up at the last second. This AI is just below a competitive battlers AI, excluding the constant switching outs and predictions, it's still close. Oh yeah and to add, no, a lot of these abilities you can't just have ingame without work, because FUCKING HIDDEN ABILITIES WHERE IT HURTS:

Flame Body Rapidash, SHEER FORCE STEELIX, IRON FIST INFERNAPE, Sap Sipper Girafarig, Magic Guard Alakazam so that it can Future Sight your ass, I'm amazed Bronzong didn't have Heavy Metal for that Gyroball because why not screw us over even more??? Rough Skin Garchomp juuuuust incase you decide to physically attack it while you're barely living on that one last mon. :DDDD /s Holy helling shit this is MORE HAs IN AN INGAME TEAM EVER. And this is the first the E4 has ever had them in their teams as well I believe.

Oh yeah and I forgot to mention they ALL ABUSE FULL RESTORES. Fucking OVERKILL much???

And you know what makes me sour about all of this?

This is the result of people keeping pushing for harder and harder and harder E4s. People don't specify what they mean by this. Higher levels are not what it is as it just means more grinding, but it's became so clear to me now that those that praise this E4 did not mean smarter AI, or higher levels. USUM had smarter AI, and it was still not enough.

No, They wanted a fucking competitive E4. An E4 that would NOT be beatable with an Ingame team. I cannot beat this fucking thing with an ingame team without pain, kids and beginners and casuals cannot beat this fucking thing with an ingame team without struggling their asses off and abusing the affection. I'm gonna have to box my fucking team that I grew attached to this whole game, and make a whole special team SPECIFICALLY FOR BATTLING THE E4, and then box that team when I'm done with that shit just so that I can get on with my fucking life. That Empoleon, who I might add, I named after a best friend of mine with the intent on taking him to the endgame, with the intent on seeing that final CONGRATS screen with Empoleon so that I can screencap and go to that friend and shout "LOOK YOU HELPED ME WIN! :DDD", I'm not gonna be able to do that unless I overlevel like hell, and that is only gonna burn me out and hate this fucking E4 even more than I already did. That affection system, you're gonna wish you never hated before because you NEED to abuse it to win this otherwise. I love the affection system, I love when it procs, but I shouldn't need it THIS BADLY. It is REQUIRED to win at this rate. I know damn well if I beat the E4 now, I won't be happy, I will just be glad the hell is fucking over. It drains you and leaves you empty if this is not something you're actually used to, and reminder, competitive teams Vs ingame teams ALWAYS lean towards the former's favor. I've played Wifi battles with an ingame team once in XY, I know my shit in that regard. I've tapped into the competitive battling market for this franchise for a few years before going back to casual. Been at this for years, Casual, then competitive, then quick retirement back to casual.

This is why I laugh when people say that this E4 is StIlL ToO EaSy (Which by the way SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!) because they're either competitive battlers so this is just a standard to them, or they're fucking lying through their fucking teeth. Ya'll telling me you actually LIKE being this burnt out???? KIDS AND CASUALS AND BEGINNERS play this game too. Do you think a Child is gonna find this easy? No, this E4 is traumatizing, not just Cynthia, the whole thing. I got so angry at this E4 I literally got ill and had one of the worst migraines ever and had to force myself to put this game down and I officially quit. I NEVER get this sick/pained playing a Pokemon game, E4s I've had some hiccups with a few times but they never made me sweat or burn up from how tense I get, they never made me furrow my brow so hard to where my face hurt, they never made my eye strain faster than now, they never gave me terrible headaches, they never made me get to the point I literally had to put the game down because I was getting severely ill from stress. This may sound exaggerated and dramatic, but I do not do good in immense stress, I literally get sick for months with a bad stomach and have had risks of getting ulcers and needed to get the f away from the source to get better and get on pills for months. This is reminding me of that. I stay the fuck away from WiFi competitive battling BECAUSE of this. And hell, I'll even go as far as to say that WiFi competitive battles are FUNNER than this!

This E4 does nothing but appease competitive battlers who forgot that the main demographic of this game is not for them, it never WAS for them. It's supposed to be doable to kids, and still be friendly to beginners getting into the games and casuals who still play. But this E4 has made BDSP officially Beginner/Casual/Kid unfriendly. There's this person on YT (You probably know who if you look up "BDSP Rant" or similar) who listed all the things wrong with Pokemon, and he put E4 last/at the top because he knew everyone and their mother that likes this would disagree. When he talked about the E4 he showed a screenshot of a child BREAKING DOWN after battling the BDSP E4+Cynthia. That sounds... harrowing. Especially since this is WORSE than OG DP's E4 for kids. People joke that Cynthia was traumatic for them in their childhood. Well I hope they know that this entire E4 will be traumatic for children getting into 4th Gen today. I'm dead serious. I hate Gen 4 now because of BDSP because I don't want to go through this shit again. This is horrible, kids should not get this stressed out over a video game that is supposed to be fun for them. Give them some challenge, sure, but not... this.

I hope to Arceus and all the demi-pokegods in the world that Scarlet and Violet don't take a page out of this game with its E4. I hope they keep this game Kid/Casual friendly. That doesn't mean make it easy that babies can do it, nobody says this when they complain about the E4. I want a game I can play without losing my shit this hard. They want this shit? Beg for a difficulty mode to be a standard FIRST so that they can put this shit behind the hardest mode.

To cap this off:

If I want WiFi battle hard, I'd go play Smogon where I can choose to do so, and where I know from the damn start that it is meant for more competitive players, and isn't forcing me to do it. But keep it out of the fucking Pokemon games Storymode!

#Pokemon #Em speaks #Ask Em #Wow RANT Alert #Long post

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puckngrind · 3 years

Text

Leave Her Wild: 1.1 - N. MacKinnon

Author's note: This is a parallel to chapter 1 but via Nate's perspective. I started it thinking this was the way I was going to write the entire series but got going and never came back. In honor of the birthday boy, I figured might as release this unedited blurb.

Warnings: swearing

Word count: 900

Series masterlist / Puck ‘n Grind’s masterlist

Swipe.

"Took you long enough!" Tyson groaned as Nathan manages to open and shut Cale's condo door with pizzas in hand.

"What's wrong with you?" Cale emerges from the kitchen.

"Nothin', birthday boy? Really, you jackasses put birthday boy as my pick up name?" Nate lied through his teeth at what was wrong with him. Cale clearly read his face well.

"I'd say it was the best name ever for the birthday boy!" JT chirps from the couch.

The boys eat a piece of pie each before deciding to head out to play spike ball in the park across the street first. Nate nods at the man they passed in the hall then turns when he swears he hears a tiny whistle come from the stranger. Shaking it off they emerge from Tyson and Cale's building. Nathan fishes the game out of his Jeep then looks up before crossing the street.

"You good dude?" Tyson asks.

"Yeah, totally man. Just thought I saw people staring out the window. Must've been nothing." Nate hands the bag to Tyson a tad harder than Tyson was expecting.

"Sure." He coughs out.

The game was intense specially with the unseasonably warm start to September they were having in Denver. The boys were drenched in sweat by the time they crashed back at Cale's. Gaming started after more pizza and drinks. You would never know these were grown men and not teenagers by the trash talking gaming that was being spewed across the living room. Nate was distracted by adding some "Damn dude." comments here and there until finally he didn't start the next game. He retreated to a corner and started tapping on his phone. "Fuck." He thought it was in his head but when all three guys turned around he realized it was not.

"Talk. You have been different since you got here." JT states.

"How the fuck does tinder work? Or I don't know, Bumble?" Nate taps on his phone again.

"Wwwwhhhhyyyy are you all of a sudden interested in dating apps? Nate looking to get some?" Tyson blurted out then got hit with a pillow by JT. "Sorry." He whispered.

"There is a girl I met. She lives here. I this building. So I thought if she was on one of those damn apps I could find her cuz all I know is that she frequents the pizza place, lives here, has the cutest twang but also maybe midwestern voice, and her name is MacKenzie." Nate looks up to see his teammates all with their mouths hanging open.

"Here." Tyson hands over his phone. "And I fucking swear if you swipe left on someone I would totally go for I may in fact hurt you."

"Like you could do that." Cale retorts.

"Fine, I would sent Z after you." Tyson shook his head verifying he meant business.

Nate started swiping. He was looking for any version of her name. Mac, Kenzie, MacKenzie, Kenz... but really he was focused on her hair and that sparkle in her eyes. He did not notice that all three were standing around him.

"Swipe riiiiggg..." Tyson starts looking at Nathan's quick swipes left on his account.

"You aren't important here Tys." JT scolded.

"Check Instagram, Twitter, Facebook." Cale suggests.

"I don't fucking have Facebook." Tyson announces.

"I do." Nate sheepishly admitted. The shocked sounds escaping the group made him laugh quietly.

The boys spent the next hour unsuccessfully sleuthing for MacKenzie with no luck.

"She's our age, right?" JT questions flipping through the multiple results for MacKenzie on Instagram.

"I mean... she looked like she was. You know I'm bad at that shit." Nate blew out in frustration. "I guess..."

"We can keep looking Mac or go to the pizza place..." Cale taps his forehead trying to come up with more ideas.

"Yeah, no. Yeah. It was a good try. Maybe I'll run into here again, but Denver is a big ass city." Nate lays his head back on the couch.

"But this building isn't." Tyson sing-songs out.

Nate threw himself into pre-season training the rest of September. A visit from his mother set mind into work mode. She always had a way of making sure Nate was on track even from thousands of kilometers away.

"I'll see you in a few month, eh?" Kathy MacKinnon hugged her son tight.

"Whenever ya want." Nate squeezed back.

"And whatever is nagging at you, please fix before the season is in full bloom." Kathy placed her hand on his cheek patting it slightly. How she read her son like a book was something Nate only wish he could understand. He nodded not sure exactly what she was speaking of but went with it. "Enjoy the youth event next week, Son." She loosened their embrace to head towards TSA.

"Will do." Nate waves watching fish out her passport.

Nathan and Cale walked out from their locker room area to the sound of about forty kids or so attempt to skate.

"This should be fun." Cale elbowed Nate. "Mac?" He waves his hand over Nathan's face.

"It's her." Nate whispers.

"It's who?" Cale tries to follow his gaze but only sees a very tall, brunette man surrounded by kids.

"Mac... Kenzie." Nate can hardly speak.

"Pizza girl? Where?" Cale almost yells out. Nate ignores him and makes his way to the ice feeling a tug and goosebumps explode over his body.

#nate the great 29 #nathan mackinnon #nate mackinnon #n mackinnon fic #hbd nate mac #leave her wild fic #companion blurb

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voltimer · 3 years

Text

'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.

_____________________________________________________________

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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iam-kenough · 4 years

Text

Will you ever notice me? (Arthur Morgan x Original Female Character)

Chapter 15 Summary: Dutch and his boys found a girl hidden inside wrecked shack near their camp. She introduces herself as Iris and starts leading outlaw life with Van der Linde gang, quickly developing feelings towards one, special cowboy. However there is big year gap between them and Arthur sees Iris just as a kid...And girl won’t take that!

Authors notes: I quite like this one! I warn for smut, kink and age gap! It’s just another chapter and you can find the rest of them following masterlist on my blog if you want to read more of my fanfiction. Hope you gonna enjoy it! Words count: 2847 - I can't sleep! - Iris groaned suddenly, turning to her back and spreaded arms - For God's sake, make it rain, or I'm gonna drown in my own sweat.

- Well - Arthur smirked, lookin' at her in weak light of oil lamp - In your tent you were undressed.

- Pervert - Iris scoffed, getting up and jumping above him, as man layed on cots edge.

- Where are ya goin' now? - he asked surprised - Yer not going to your tent, are ya?

- If I have to undress then I'm gonna do it in the best way - she exclaimed, grabbing a towel from his things - Fancy skinny dippin' with me, or you too prude? There was some advantages of living near lake. Maybe mosqitous here were insufferable, but in hot days like this one it was more that a blessing to dive into cold water. It was also beautiful to watch, as moon was reflecting on it's surface without any creases on windless nights. There was small platform leading from the shore into the water and stopping where the water was deeper.

- Catch me if you can! - Iris yelled with playful tone, running past Arthur suddenly, clapping his back on the go. She undressed herself on the go not slowing down even for momment and jumped right into the lake, splashing water everywhere.

- Ya can't swim! - Arthur said mockingly unbuttoning his union suit quickly.

- Yea, I just reminded myself - Iris catched platform with both her hands, looking at Arthur with playful smirk on her lips. Arthur noticed he's being observed and tips of his ear became red. He turned around.

- I can close my eyes if you want - Iris purred.

- Please, do - Arthur became even redder. She couldn't see that but he felt like fool already. Iris shut her eyes and she suddenly felt water splashing on her head. Arthur quickly got up to the surface and shaked his head quickly like a dog, hundreds tiny droplets falling all around.

- Well, well - Iris said - Now what, prude? His gaze averted and now all he was dreaming about were pouring more liquor into his mouth 'cause recklessness were stepping away to let place for embarasment.

- Haven't done that before, or what?

- Not with someone, okay? Iris bite her lower lip, aproaching him slowly, barely feeling bottom of the lake. She looked into his eyes and their bodies touched. Arthur shivered, not sure what to do with his hands so embraced Iris shyly.

- I'm not gonna fall apart, come on, squeeze me a little, cowboy - girl teased. Arthur did and it was amazing, her soft curves resting against his chest. He felt sudden rush of adrenaline and his hands slipped down, squeezing her butt. Iris shivered and moaned inside his ear.

- Oh god - he whispered. It was beyond what he expected to feel right know, especially it wasn't their first time alone. And yet, he couldn't help but blush like teenager.

- Iris's my name - she said. Arthur started peppering her face with kisses, then nibbled on her ear a little, one of his hands going to her neck to choke her a little. He was carresing column of it under his palm, looking Iris in the eyes. Oh, Iris knew that gaze. He wen't from shy and cuddly mode to sexy one in a glimpse of time, like always. Arthur Morgan had this kink on dominating his girl as much as possible, making her fully obedient and Iris loved to play that game, pretending to be harmless and shy.

- Will you be good girl tonight? - Arthur's voice was deep and low, coming from his guts.

- Maybe - she whispered, streching the word on her tongue.

- Better be - he whispered too but in voice that was taking no demands. Arthur's eyes darkened and it was similar gaze to what he was wearing during robberies

- Or I will get angry.

- And do what...?

- For stupid question there will be punishment - his hand went up and grabbed Iris's chin, squeezing it along with her cheeks. His thumb carresed girl's lower lip. Arthur lifted Iris with swift move and she surrounded his hips with her tights, soft and velvet skin against his rough one. She grinded herself against his cock, letting moan escape her lips.

- Just like that, babygirl - Iris moaned again as he slid two fingers inside her without any warning - Yes, go on for me, don't hold yourself back - his voice was husky, making girl tremble, and his breath was hot against her face. He smelled like cigarettes, whiskey and gunpowder. She was yelling and weepin', asking for more and squeezing him between her thights, feeling climax coming but it never did.

- Get out - he growled, pushing her away - And go lie down on the towel, babygirl.

She quickly got onto the shore, looking past her arm. It was like a deer running away from the wolf, except this deer dreamed about being hunted. Iris fell down, feeling soft towel against back. Arthur pinned her down immidiately.

He parted Iris's legs not thinking about being gentle on her for even a second and looked at her with grin plastered to his lips. She gasped as his cock was stroking her wet cunt.

- Needy, aren't we? - Arthur grabbed her neck again, this time harder and entered her quickly. She cried out, but only from surprise and rocked her lips to adjust to Arthur's size.

The thurts were rythmical, with every one there came moan, grunt and slap of Arthur's thighs against Iris's hips. Iris shut her eyes and her head went blank, no thought important enough to steal moments highlight.

- Oh no no, open them, baby...I wanna watch you fall apart - he purred and slipped thumb inside her mouth, smirking with contentment when she sucked on it.

Brunette opened her eyes and they were glimmering. Iris loved the thrill when Arthur was dark and intimidating during sex and tears in her eyes were causen by pleasure and adrenaline. He loved to watch her like this and he wiped tears away with his calloused thumb. His breath was speeding up with every minute.

- A-Arthur - his name slipped away from her tongue, as she was trembling under his touch and his gaze. He turned her around suddenly and with brutality. He spanked her and squeezed her ass right after, reentering her cunt again. Arthur pushed her face to the ground, leaving her hips high in the air and continued fucking her hard.

- What do you want now, hmm? - he growled like an animal - Tell me and I'm gonna do it, you earned it for yourself.

- L-let me come, please-

- Beg for it, yeah, just like that - Arthur squeezer her boob and pinched on the nipple a little causing her legs started to shake. Iris's moan was louder than any other before, when she came, her walls tightening around his cock in very pleasant motion. But he had other plans than just that. He pushed her on the back again and with cock in his hand, Arthur spilled the load on Iris's body, mainly cleavage and face. He smirked, looking down on his deed.

- Just like this, you little bitch - Arthur snarled, giving her gentle slap on the cheek - Tell me something you know I wanna hear.

- T-thank you, Mr Morgan, it was amazing - Iris's voice was quiet and shaky as she needed to calm down now, going back onto the earth, 'cause he just fucker her to the moon and back.

Arthur smirked ugly, proud with himself and kissed girl on the forehead. It was good to be back.

Arthur Morgan was shy when it came to woman, especially the woman he didn't know well. Although, his relationship with Iris was going fast and he wasn't waiting for long to show his true colors, which was being dominant, cold and sarcastic in addition to soft highlights. One could say he conquered Iris and now it was obvious for Arthur she's gonna stay by his side. It could sound bad, but it was hitting Iris just right, when instead of goofy cuddling everyday, he rather smack her ass and call her a brat. Everyone had their kinks and those two were a perfect match. It wasn't Arthur couldn't been caught off his guard, especially when he was hugged unexpectantly, or when he heard something sweet from Iris's mouth, who he was adoring more than anything deeply inside. However Arthur liked it rough and if anyone wanted to hear he loves them, they had to earn it. But being with Iris reminded Arthur one thing - he tried to be a family man in the past, but with his rough lifestyle and bad manners he would never fit in. Iris was a sparkle in the dark showing him that direction he chosed was indeed the one what thrilled him the most. He'd rather rob and kill with her by his side instead of settling down, forcing himself to do so. And with her Arthur could be forever young. Iris was taking steps slowly, placing feet after feet in the grass. She was hunting. Her target stood right in front of her, showing it's back completly, not expecting an ambush. She jumped onto it.

- Jesus, you frickin' brat - Arthur hissed, turned his torso around and slapped back of Iris's head. She giggled.

- What's up - girl said, wrapping her hands around him - I heard you go huntin'.

- That's what I am after now - he said.

- Can I go with you? - she blushed briefly, hanging onto his arm now.

- I don't know, I wasn't planning to take traitors who sneak on me. Iris pecked his cheek and looked at him with a playful smirk, holding her hands behind back. Arthur shaked his head and then he felt his satchel became lighter the moment she pulled away.

- Did you just pickpocket me? - he looked at her and his gaze darkened. Iris just loved to trigger him.

- Maybe - she said in innocent manner, showing him his journal and when he tried to grab it, she backed off again.

- I don't have time for that - he scoffed - Give it back.

- Sure, just gonna sneak a little peek, you've been so much into sketching lately I wonder what's occupying you so much - girl purred and started to backing off slowly as Arthur was approaching her.

- Don't make me bend you and slap you, honey - he hummed in inpatient voice.

- Maybe I wanna be slapped? Or better, spanked.

- You'll get none of that then. It will be surpsise, not sure you'd like it. Give it back if you're smart girl.

- No way! - she giggled and without any thinking she climbed up the tree he tried to pin her to. She was clearly a cat in some ways, was Arthur thinking.

- Come on! - he growled with impatience, throwing her stormy gaze.

- What we got there...- Iris hummed - Ooo! There was whole bunch of pages where Arthur captured her naked. The were different angles and some of drawings were naughtier than girl would expect. Arthur was blushing furiously, hiding face under brim of a hat. Then he grabbed her ankle and make her fall, not even thinking about catching Iris. If she wanted it rough, she's gonna get it the worst way.

- Ouch! - she landed very unladylike on her ass - That wasn't nice at all!

- You weren't nice - Arthur tore journal from girl's hand and hid it, this time assuring himself satchel is closed properly.

- Come on, that's me you drew anyway! And why would you even bother to do that? - she clinged onto his arm again, bating her eyes innocently.

- Feelin' daring today, aren't we? - he shook her off, reaching for his bow and attached it to horse cargo. Arthur lowered his hat even more so she wouldn't see his face, because it showed greater weakness now.

- You still haven't said if I can go with you! - she started brushing his horse to help before going, as Iris hoped, with him.

- Can you? - Arthur sent her a snap on the nose.

- I mean I would if you need me... - she blushed herself briefly and took his hat away, putting it on her head. Now Arthur's rosy cheeks was exposed and he scoffed, looking away to pretend his examining repeater in his hands.

- You will do. 'Fcourse if you gonna stop babbling this much, woman. The weather was good, nothing too windy since it wouldn't help them to sneak properly. Sun was kissing Iris's face and she hummed a song with joy, throwing small looks towards Arthur, who seemed to ignoring her completely, looking after any broken branches or pawprints.

- Jesus, would you shut up - he finally hissed with impatient tone - I won't catch shit with you singin'.

- You're right, sorry - Iris said without any sign of being actually sorry, and started fidgeting on her bow.

They were walking around and it didn't make any sense for Iris but suddenly Arthur made gesture, stopping her and he put finger up to her lips and one gaze was enough to understand. In front of them appeared enormous deer and it's fur was amazing, almost golden, when the antlers, Iris thought, were bigger than her. She looked at animal in awe.

- Do you like it? - Arthur whispered to her ear with seductive tone - I could give you the pelt so you would make our bed more warm with it, hm? What about that?

It was one of most lovely things he would offer her so far and Iris nodded with excitement. Arthur smirked, grabbing her face by chin and squeezing it. Then he got up without making any sound and sent an arrow directly into deer's head, 'causing an animal to howl in agony. Iris gasped, it was living creature after all and sometimes it made her sad to kill deers. Iris was caressing pelt Arthur skinned from this amazing deer. It was a little bit dirty with blood but she didn't mind, nothing a bit of cold water couldn't fix. Arthur on the other hand was all gore, as he threw animal on his horse's back with visible difficulty. He was panting and wiped hands from blood against his jeans.

- We could sell antlers, too. There are people who fancy things like that as decorations - Iris said with small voice, her doe eyes shy as their gazes met.

- Really? - Arthur looked at her with playful smirk on his lips. He got cocky when was looking at Iris, who simply admired him without any hesitation, still being amazed with soft pelt. Man told himself that he did great job, giving unusual gift to her little lover.

- And it's gonna feed us for ages. You did amazing, darlin' - there was warmth and pride in those words as she caressed his forearm slowly.

- Tell me more - Arthur closed gap between them her and grabbed into his arms, throwing her onto his horse like she was just ragdoll. Then he got on too.

- Your shots are always the best ones...will you teach me someday? - Iris continued to sugarcoat him.

- Not till I'll know my time is coming to an end, you wouldn't need me anymore - he scoffed and Iris blushed, caressing his ribs as she was looping her arms around Arthur's body. His heart was beating strongly and girl could hear it's vibrations.

- I'll always need you, Arthur - she replied with honesty and that made him grin widely, like a boy who just got his first kiss. She couldn't see it thought, as her head was resting against Arthur's back. They were going slowly, it was hard for Arthur's horse enough just with them in the saddle, not talking about deer that rested on the back.

- And yet you weren't good girl today. Wanna tell me why? - he cooed with great dose of mockery in words.

- I wanted to fool around with you for a bit, I know that maybe you don't get the idea, but sometimes I can't tell if you are angry, sad or if it's just your face, so I just try to cheer you up, Sweetpea.

- Fool around, eh? - Arthur smirked, getting all cocky.

- I'm sorry if you did not like that - she said and shrinked behind his back being intimidated by his roughness a tad bit.

- Being sorry won't save ya tonight from me, darlin' - Arthur chuckled darkly, but caressed Iris's hand a little bit. She squeezed him tightly, purring like a cat. Arthur just loved the way he was making Iris feel, and the only better thing was how this girl made his stone heart go soft.

#arthur morgan x oc #arthur morgan x original female character #arthur morgan x reader #arthur morgan rdr2 #arthur morgan fanfiction #arthur morgan x original character #arthur morgan smut #arthur morgan fluff #arthur morgan angst #arthur morgan romance #arthur morgan low honor #low honor arthur morgan #rdr2 #rdr2 fanfiction

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smash-64 · 3 years

Text

Ok so I typed up a super long review of Starlink: Battle for Atlas, and I spared nothing in what you might call a scathing review. It’s below the cut, but if you’d like the TL;DR part, I’d summarize it as follows:

The Starfox stuff is fun, but the rest isn’t. 5/10

Starlink Battle for Atlas review

Being a huge fan of Starfox, I’ve had my eye on this game for a very long time. However, the whole “toys as games” thing was a huge turnoff, coupled with the fact that apparently even getting the physical version meant you needed to devote 15GB of storage space to the game, which makes no sense to me.

Anyway, I watched the reception closely, and it was pretty lukewarm, at best. People generally had very little to say about the game, so I only ever occasionally looked into whether it was on sale or not. Luckily for me, I got my hands on a 400GB microSD card for my Switch at the same time that the digital version went on super sale at 70% off, so I decided the time was right to try it out.

The Good

The Starfox team is at their graphical best in this game, by far. They looked great in Starfox Zero, but they look exactly how I pictured they would in my most fantastical dreams from when I was little. They all move smoothly, have perfect fur and feathers, emotive expressions, and they just fit so well with all the other characters in Starlink. There is a wide variety of allies and NPCs in this game, and they all have just as wide a variety of races and species. One guy looks like he should be a grass type Pokemon. I really think the character design is fantastic in this game. The fact that the entire inclusion of Starfox was an afterthought, yet they all fit in so perfectly is really a huge victory for Starlink.

In addition to how they look, the Starfox team also sounds great. They got the original voice actors back for Fox and Slippy (and I do mean the originals from Nintendo 64!), and the rest of the squad, plus Wolf, came back from the 2011 remaster of Starfox 64 for the 3DS. That game was a great remaster, and the voice work was phenomenal. The characters and their personalities all shine through just as you expect them. They banter slightly less than on the N64, but part of that might just be because sound bytes were at a premium on that system, so they had to pick and choose what lines to include more carefully. So, I don’t think you can really count that against Starlink, which is a game that can include just about as many lines of dialogue as it wants. Fox, for one, has a TON of dialogue and I loved every bit of it. I kind of wish I lived in the Seattle area so I could hear Mike West’s radio show (and hear Fox’s voice all the time), which is how Nintendo discovered him for the original voice of Fox McCloud way back in 1997. Another great piece of work here.

In what very well might have been the source of the “Star Fox Grand Prix” fake leak a few years ago, there is a planet called the Crimson Moon where you can take part in what is essentially pod racing with your Arwing. Now, I really did not enjoy the pod race scene of Star Wars Episode I, and aside from Mario Kart 64, I really don’t find racing games very rewarding. However, these racing levels are actually pretty fun. There are hidden shortcuts you can take, plenty of obstacles, and the computer racers are actually fairly difficult. I honestly found myself getting really into these races. The only downside is, there aren’t very many of them. They’re also kind of long, which is no problem for a veteran of N64’s Rainbow Road, but I was a bit surprised at the length of some of the courses.

The Meh

The music, which I have come to believe might be the element of games that really determines whether I just like a game, or love it, is fairly generic. It sounds like your average Marvel movie soundtrack, except without any real bangers. The Corneria remix is too short and not often played, and the Star Wolf theme is the same deal. That’s just about it for Starfox music, and the rest of it is just so generic that I can’t even comment any further. A real letdown for me, although it doesn’t particularly take away from the game or produce any grating tracks.

The difficulty was a mixed bag as well. I played about 70% of the game on Hard mode because I’m very experienced with Ace Combat and Starfox games, so I thought I’d be fine with the air/space combat. But, the difficulty slider didn’t really make the game more difficult, it just made it take a lot longer. I guess that could be seen as a good thing for people who get upset about dying really quickly on harder difficulties, but it felt like a way to cheat at padding the game’s playtime. I ended up lowering the difficulty just so I could finish faster.

The Starlink characters are a really big missed opportunity. They all have very distinct personalities, but I was shocked at how little content actually featured them. They each have a backstory cutscene that highlights them, but those scenes are so short that it’s more of a 30 second elevator pitch than anything else. None of the characters have more than a sentence or two to comment about said cutscenes, and none of them ever show any growth. Even the “main” character of Mason is basically the same by the end of the game. Although, I do think their designs are excellent and their personalities stand out from one another well enough.

The Bad

Spoilers ahead for the next three paragraphs! The story itself is pretty crappy. I’m still not really sure what was going on or why the Equinox (the main ship) was where it was. In more than one of the character-specific backstory cutscenes I already mentioned, they talk about Earth. So, ok, we understand that almost everyone on the Equinox is human, that’s fine. But...how exactly did they get here and why do they want to recapture the solar system of Atlas? As you play, you essentially claim territory in the name of Atlas, but it’s not clear at all who that exactly is. Does that mean the Equinox is in charge? Is there a government somewhere? Military affiliations or alliances? Because plenty of territory seems to be independent, in addition to enemy-controlled territory. Maybe there was a single line of dialogue I missed somewhere.

But, ok, we just want to fly spaceships and shoot stuff, who cares about politics! Well, there are still issues with the story because I honestly could scarcely care less about any of the plot in this game, which makes it tough to get into any of the battles or things at stake. The entire Starlink team was so unimportant that I literally never used ANY of them even one time, and the game never encouraged me too, either. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the unparalleled writing and character development of the Kiseki series of JRPGs, or maybe I just really don’t like the storytelling methods and style of western RPGs, but I feel like the story should make you WANT to learn more about characters. Instead, I was just constantly asking questions like “Why does any of this matter?”

Now, that would be a totally unimportant question if the game was all about space battles and explosions and pew pews, but it pretends to have this really deep, engrossing story with characters wracked over the (spoiler!) kidnapping and death of their leader and captain. We barely even get to know who this dude is before he’s kidnapped, and then the rest of the story is so bare-bones that most of what we’re “supposed” to be feeling has to be completely assumed under the guise of “Well, I guess he was the captain so we’re supposed to feel bad, right?” He did apparently act like a father figure for many of the Starlink pilots, but we are only briefly told that in those previously mentioned 30 second elevator pitches. We never actually see it.

Ok spoilers done, but I’m not. The enemies that you fight in this game are also horribly boring and repetitive. We get about 10 enemies in total throughout the entire game, and most of those only have very slight variations. They try to spice it up a bit by adding in “elements,” but about 70% of what I fought ended up always being the fire type anyway. Sure, we get five or so “boss” type enemies, but they’re not particularly special, either. Most of these enemies are copy-pasted all over the planets you visit to give the impression of a planet full of activity, but really it’s just the same things over and over.

The real issue here is how the Big Bad, a bird guy named Grax, is supposed to be really feared but we only get like two cutscenes about him. His army is completely faceless. It’s really shocking that we got significantly more development from the Star Wolf team almost 25 years ago on the Nintendo 64, and all of that was delivered in five second one-liners spread through only a couple levels!

All I’m going to say about the “toys as games” thing is that it’s stupid and clunky and should never be used, especially the way they make you mount the ship onto your controller. What an absolutely idiotic method. I can understand having a portal like they did with Skylanders. Still not a fan, but you can toss something onto it and it doesn’t weigh down your controller. If it was required to play, I would have never even tried this game.

Gameplay is supposed to be the real winning point here, with an honestly unbelievable amount of content available for each planet you visit. I think there were six or seven planets you could visit, so there was actually a ton to do. But I can’t imagine beating my head against the wall so many times on each planet to complete any of it. If you really enjoy grinding, monotonous, pointless gameplay, then by all means, try this game.

Conclusion

I mean, if you like Starfox, I think you’ll have at least some fun with it. The Starfox levels are fun, and it feels like legitimate Starfox content. It also shows that Starfox could branch out into something different, but I’m not sure I’d be a big fan of it going such a repetitive route with regards to gameplay. If a game like this were fully devoted to a Starfox story, and not just including Starfox as an afterthought, then I do think it could be a good game. But as it stands, Starlink: Battle for Atlas is an example of something that looks and sounds great, but revels in gameplay mediocrity and fails at story-telling. 5/10. If there was no Starfox content, it’s honestly a 3/10.

#i'm not even going to tag this with the game because it's pretty harsh

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crystalelemental · 3 years

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I did it! I have completed Sacred Stones hard mode. That was...an event.

I’m torn. On the one hand, that was too bad, and honestly offered some fun challenge to the game. On the other, it’s hard to say what in that was Hard Mode, and what was me deciding to not use any of the grinding maps for the first time ever. It’s probably a bit of both, but without having a working knowledge of what Normal mode’s challenge level is like, it’s hard to say what Hard mode’s is doing different. That said, certain things were far more engaging this time around. And by certain things, I mean most of the game.

The first big divergence was Chapter 9 in Eirika’s route. I usually have Ross as a pirate, who can easily clean up the others on the water. Turns out, when you don’t, they all go for the house across the sea, and you have to have a flying unit ready to go down there before they can destroy it. I also decided not to use Vanessa, so Tana had to do this. At level 4. Yeah. That was fun. In fact, Tana turned out really well for a unit who struggled like hell to catch up. Level 4 is pretty behind by the time she arrives, but she still managed to be MVP.

Chapter 13 in Eirika route was a massive difference. I have to admit, I always looked at this one as kinda dumb, because it’s just a huge block of enemies you have to charge in to, and then another block of enemies showing up behind you after several turns. But oh man, without grinding and being decisively overleveled, this map was a challenge. And not like, a bad one. I beat it first try. But there was actually thinking involved in how to approach and handle situations that arose. I liked it a lot.

Chapter 15 was an interesting change as well, mostly just in the boss fights. Again, I’m used to just using my overpowered units to crush everything, but that doesn’t work here, so I had to plan. But it’s really just...Valter. He is scary. I never had to deal with him in this state, but oh my god. Tana was the only unit who could naturally avoid getting crit, or KO’d if Pierce went off. Everyone else was either (1) very much going to get crit, (2) going to get hit twice, or (3) did not have enough HP to survive a Pierce activation. Beating Caellach helps negate the critical hit problem, but the doubles and constant threat of pierce makes him scary even with that.

Chapter 16 is when shit got real. So hey, things I never knew because I don’t play on hard mode, apparently siege tomes can crit! So purge fucking annihilated me twice because of random crits! When I finally tried to play safe, a thief spawns in at the far right, meaning you have to go through them to get to the thief. And then if you have only one unit over there, you better make sure they’re good, because Luna tome Druids start spawning in. And Luna, while not the most accurate tome, hits like a truck, and has a high crit rate. So like, if it does hit you? It’s a problem. It took a lot of doing to get through this one.

Chapter 19 was bullshit hard. In a lot of these chapters, if I lost or got set in a bad situation, a lot of the time I could pinpoint when it was my fault. I didn’t check range, or damage, or account for critical hits (which I don’t know how to calculate, so that one’s tougher). But this map? This fucking bullshit? This one sucks. The constant reinforcements are devastating, there’s essentially no way to get a proper foothold on progress toward Riev. You have to tank it out. And the upper portion of the map similarly needs support. Meanwhile you have to get two thieves to two different places on the map to get all the treasure, and if you’re too slow about it, a bunch of Warriors and Generals spawn in on the bottom right near the chests and start wiping everything out. It’s a brutal time. But moreover, I feel like this was the only time where it wasn’t my fault if I lost. When I lost in this map, it was because Eirika decided she didn’t need to dodge any of the 35% hit rates, and just got bodied. Or Ephraim would, or Tana. Even with maxed out support conversations between Eirika/Tana and Ephraim/L’Arachel, there were still situations where the numbers just ran poorly, and there’s nothing I could do. So like. This is the one chapter that actually felt like full-on bullshit.

Chapter 20 was...terrifying, frankly. The outset was funny. The first time through I’m like “Oh yeah, I know how to beat this one, Myrrh is deployed to the left and kills everything.” And the first little zombie man got a crit with his Steel Sword and killed her instantly. So like. Okay, that’s my bad. But the subsequent attempt she survived, and it turns out the “Myrrh kills everything on this map” approach still works in hard mode. Tana helped. The slow progress around the map is pretty tedious with all the reinforcements, but it’s not until the very end when shit gets real. You know. When the fucking spiders and wolves start showing up. Those wolves are stupid fast, and the spiders stupid bulky, and there are so goddamn many enemies. I had to do everything in my power to just beat the boss and seize before we all died from the second wave of the things.

All in all, it was fun, but the last two main chapters felt like there were just too many bullshit reinforcements, and Chapter 19 in particular feels like the first time I’d consider the threats presented to be unfair. But I will give the game credit as being a lot more fun than I’ve ever gotten to experience, thanks to not-grinding.

Also, playing through Eirika’s route after playing Ephraim’s last...I gotta tell you, I like Lyon a lot better in her route than Ephraim’s. At least here he’s actually presented as kind-hearted and well-intentioned, as opposed to Ephraim route that wants to simultaneously push the idea of Lyon being that dick-envious of Ephraim that he’d willingly cause all of this, while also simultaneously being controlled by the Demon King anyway and thus not even offering the meager resistance he shows in Eirika’s route. At least in Eirika’s route, he tries.

All in all, pretty fun! I have no idea if I want to play another Hard Mode Fire Emblem game, though. Listen, it’s not the game, it’s me being a weenie. I don’t like losing characters, but I also don’t like having to completely reset progress. So like. I don’t know how I’d feel playing a harder game. I know Sacred Stones is considered super easy, so the idea of trying something harder is...concerning. Maybe I’ll try. But like. I need a minute.

#fire emblem sacred stones

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beyondtheborderridiculous · 4 years

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Why I love A3! and am content being stuck in actor hell

In this essay I will

No seriously. I really love this game and I have no otaku/weeb friends irl that would ever play this with me. And I just want to fangirl and have no other outlet than writing a massive post just spilling out my love for this game. Read at your own risk, lol.

For me, what makes me fall in love with a game, more than their game play, is their story. I play games for their stories because I am a story lover. I love stories so much, that I majored in literature, lol. So for me, I only really play games that are story-centric. But even though I’ve been playing video games for as long as I can remember, I suck at them. My coordination is always so bad, and I’m so bad at grinding, that sometimes, when a game is too hard, I stop playing halfway through and never end up finishing the story out of frustration. There’s a lot of games on my switch and other apps that I’ve played that are on hiatus due to this reason.

But A3! is really simple to play. Took a while for me to get the game mechanics of it, and I was a bit confused at first, but unlocking the next chapter is a pretty simple feat. (The fact that I downloaded this game during the period where all the main story acts were accessible also helped.) So I got to read all of Main Story 1 and I FELL IN LOVE.

I fall in love with stories if I fall in love with the characters. And as a story consumer I am so impressed by the amount of thought the game developers had for each and every character.

My first impression of how the story would unfold was that Sakuya would be the main focus of this game and that other than Masumi, the other characters would fall to the way side. Sakuya was your typical shounen hero character, the optimistic, untalented but hard working guy (the Naruto in the early arcs of that series). He’s not my favorite type, but I understand that he’s a necessary and in my first impression, the most important character of the story. Then there’s Masumi, the kuudere/tsundere talented bishounen who’s the rival (i.e. the Sasuke). The fact that he falls in love at first sight with the player (or Izumi) was a hilarious surprise, and he became an instant fave. I know that some don’t like his obsessive yandere tendencies, but I find them hilarious and am quite fond of them (but I would never condone it irl). Honestly, during Harugumi’s act, I honestly thought that the focus would solely be on them. But it wasn’t.

Tsuzuru got the chance to pursue his dream of becoming a playwright and he dwells into some regrets of not pursuing his dream earlier. (The fact that he straight up dies after each script is written cracks me up every time. Seeing it in the anime adaptation killed me.) Citron is the comic relief. He’s necessary to gel a team of strangers together. But during this act, his past and background is hinted and it doesn’t seem to be all sunshine and rainbows (To be honest, and spoilers for the EN server here, but before I read Main Story 2, I straight up thought that Citron came from a different planet, lololol). And then Itaru. Chigasaki Itaru my man, my all time fave. To be honest, when I first saw him I didn’t have a favorable impression. The prince-like bishounen is the type I dislike the most. But he’s an otaku? A closet gamer? But to be honest, even when that was revealed, I didn’t think much of it. I initially thought, ‘Oh, they made a gap mode character, cute.’ And again, I thought that he would be put into the backdrop. BUT THEN HE WANTED TO QUIT AND HARUGUMI PERFORMED A STREET ACT TO CONVINCE HIM TO STAY AND I DIED (Omg, Citron in the anime adaptation killed me). I thought that only Sakuya and Masumi would be the focus, but I was very very pleasantly surprised to find that all characters had their own major screen time (Maybe save for Citron. His was kind of the smallest, but that’s for a reason. At this point, I’m tempted to make a first impressions vs. current thoughts post of every single character. Would anyone be interested in me doing that?).

By the end of Act 1, I fell in love with Harugumi. And to be honest, I was apprehensive of reading Act 2. I became so invested in Harugumi, and now I have to start a new journey with a new set of characters? I just wanted to read more about Harugumi and I was disappointed because I thought that I wouldn’t see those characters again. But again, I was pleasantly surprised to see that that wasn’t the case. Act 2 is Natsugumi’s story, but Harugumi characters were sprinkled here and there. And I thought that it was cute that Temna, a really prideful actor, looked up to Sakuya and asked him for advice. And then you have Sakuya saying that he didn’t really do anything as a leader, LOL. Save for sleeping on the stage together. And then Temna proceeds to follow this advice by going to Izumi and saying that after much research, the answer to a better team was sleeping together. LMAO TEMNA YOU IDIOT (I love you)! Natsugumi’s story was adorable, and I adored it.

Main Story 1 is the introduction and formation of every troupe. By Act 3, I was expecting it to become repetitive. What was impressive to me was that it wasn’t. Every single character is so vastly different from one another. They have their own personalities and fully fleshed out backstories. In Main Story 1 alone, that’s twenty characters. That’s highly impressive, especially like I mentioned beforehand with Act 1, everyone got their own screen time and character development. And for those that didn’t it’s because there’s a reveal/plot twist later down the line that’s at least hinted. You don’t always see that in t.v. shows/anime/manga with an ensemble cast (Voltron Legendary Defender, I’m staring at you. But that’s just one example, there’s others too).

But the game developers didn’t stop there. For each of those twenty characters, the writers developed not only their personalities and backstories, but also their own personalized relationship dynamics with other members of the company.

Each troupe is very unique in their dynamics. I have a very hard time picking a favorite troupe because I am just so fond of them all. The relationships that the members have with each other in each troupe is so different, so special. I think the reason why I love anime/manga so much is because found family or nakamaship is usually a prevalent theme in them and I am a sucker for these. One of my favorite genres is slice-of-life just because I love reading relationships, whether they be platonic or romantic. And each troupe has these in spades.

BUT IT DOESN’T END THERE.

By Act 3, I thought that I figured out the pattern. Harugumi supported Natsugumi during Act 2, so in Act 3, Natsugumi would do the same for Akigumi. And then Harugumi will fall to the wayside. But I was pleasantly surprised again (do you see the pattern here?) to find that wasn’t the case. Fucking Itaru became the outside support/advice giver for Banri LOL. What made me fall in love with the game even harder, and what made me impressed with the game developers even more, was that not only did they write relationships within the troupe, but they also created and personalized intertroupe relations for ALL TWENTY CHARACTERS. Like how?! That’s so much work and so much to juggle with! As an avid story reader, that was just so crazy impressive to me.

So that’s just me geeking about the narrative and character and relational development. Let’s talk about the gaming side of things, shall we?

I’m pretty familiar with app gatcha games as I’ve played my fair share of them. A3! strangely focuses more on the story aspect than the game aspect, which I am totally okay with. But what impressed me from the gaming perspective was how A3! handles events. Most gatcha games I’ve played, the event story line had nothing to do with the main story (SWD Obey Me and FE Heroes being prime examples here). Events were used as fanservice in order to get money from the consumers. And my first event was the Summer Beach Episode, so I initially thought that that was the same case for A3!. But it wasn’t.

When Main Story 1 ended, I was satisfied and at the same time I wasn’t. The story was good, and it ended well, but I wanted more. The game seemed to hint at more, so would I ever get more? And then I find out that all of the events (or most of them anyway) is the continuation of Main Story 1. That’s crazy!!! As a gamer, and as someone who has a family member that works in the gaming industry, I was crazy impressed because I haven’t seen this done before. I thought that that was immensely smart on the game developer’s part. Honestly, I know that not everyone plays the events in app games. But by making the events canon, and not au, gamers will be more inclined to play the event games. And I also know that it’s crazy easy to get bored of games, especially if the main story ended or the gameplay/story line isn’t that interesting. But the beauty of app games is that they could constantly be updated; their stories could continue to be added to. And with A3!, the event story line dwells deeper in these character’s backstories. Remember what I said about me initially thinking that the story will only revolve around protagonist and rival character? With each troupe play event, the lead and support actor constantly change. Everyone straight up gets their time to shine and their character development continues. Along with their relationships with others within the company. As someone who’s already invested in these characters, there’s no way that I would miss these events! I’m determined to play all of them! And that’s why I really think that the game developers came up with a smart strategy to get their gamers hooked.

My biggest regret is that I downloaded this game recently, so I missed the prior events. PLEASE, LIBER AND CYBRID, I WOULD PAY MONEY TO HAVE ACCESS TO THE PREVIOUS EVENT STORIES. I don’t need the gatcha cards pertaining to these events, I just really really want to read the previous event story lines. I am forever grateful to yaycupcake that I was able to read what I missed (and the future events), but it’s not the same as experiencing it myself.

What’s also smart, is that you have to read the event story lines, or else you won’t be able to completely understand Main Story 2. There’s aspects of things in the event that Main Story 2 will touch upon. So as a consumer, you really do want to participate in all the events.

Let’s talk about Main Story 2. I somehow discovered that in Main Story 2, each troupe is going to get an additional member (the BRBrookies). And I didn’t know how I felt about that. I liked the dynamic that each troupe has now. Wouldn’t an additional member ruin that? And could I really get myself to like these four new characters? The joke’s on me because I severely underestimated the game writers. You would’ve thought that I would have more faith in them since they impressed me so much. But I was a fool. Main Story 2 is great, and it didn’t seem like anything was pulled out of nowhere because it was all hinted at either in Main Story 1 or during the event stories. And each rookie is a perfect fit for their troupe and each troupes’ bonds continue to grow stronger and I cry every time. I can’t wait for it to come to the EN server.

Now I’m a talk about the music.

For a while, I was aware that in the otaku/weeb community, that there was an idol craze. But I never understood it’s appeal. This game is starting to make me understand, lol.

I may not have understood the idol craze, but I do like vocaloid. When I first listened to vocaloid, I thought that it was weird that I was listening to a computer program sing. But what really attracted me was the stories told in the songs (again, story lover here). As an example, I’m going to talk about Evillious Chronicles. The Evillious Chronicles told a story in each song that was all a part of a story, and it was also my introduction to vocaloid. Storytelling through songs was just genius to me, and I fell in love with it. Granted, I know that it’s not new to vocaloid, and that not every vocaloid song is part of a series or tell a story, but it was what drew me in.

So vocaloid may seem like a tangent here, but to me, the A3! music was kind of like vocaloid. I accidentally stumbled on it when I was actually searching for someone doing a gameplay video of the Alex in Wonderland event. I couldn’t find any, but instead I discovered Alice in Wonderland Go Go. I gave it a listen, and fell in love with the melody. The music fit the theme of Alice in Wonderland so well. And then I listened to Susume Pirates next. It fucking slapped. These two songs became my gateway to A3! songs.

I’m a go on a bit of a tangent here, but I’m a talk about the voice actors for a bit. As someone who’s also pursuing voice acting, I always appreciate when voice actors go the extra mile for their fans. Despite the vastly polar opinions of Voltron Legendary Defender, I adore the voice actors for their contribution to the fandom. Especially Josh Keaton (Shiro’s VA). So imagine my surprise, that I discover that not only is the Main Story completely voiced in A3! (which is very impressive and high production for a f2p app game), but the voice actors sing too in these songs too!

The A3ders sing the theme song. But each troupe has their own song, and each song is so vastly different from each other because these songs reflect the dynamics of their specific troupe, and I love that. But not only are there troupe songs, each character has their own song! And once you read the main story of each character, their song just becomes so much deeper! I give mad props to the song writers for tailoring each song to fit the character. I’m not going to lie, I bawled while reading the Manju Fist event, and then when I listened to Taichi’s character song afterwards? My mom thought that someone died since I was crying so hard. And did it end there? No! There’s a song that’s fucking tailored after every play! And they’re all bops!

The amount of times that A3! has impressed me is just way too much to count. It’s a fucking amazing game, story wise and music wise. And the love that the developers have for A3! is just so evident, and I love that. It definitely deserves its five star rating, and deserves an even bigger fandom here in the west.

So there, that about wraps up my massive essay on my love for A3!. If you read this far, I tip off my hat to you. If you also want to talk about A3! hit me up! I need someone to fangirl with, lololol.

#a3!#mankai a3!#fangirling #oh man this is hella long lol #should i do the first impression vs. current thoughts as i mentioned before?#because i have feelings about every single character #talk A3! with me someone lololol

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am-imagines · 5 years

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Unsteady. Alex Morgan Imagine.

This was requested: could i have one where R gets injured during a game and alex is super worried? like maybe she gets a concussion or smth and has to be taken out etc etc. you can end it however you want!

I hope you like it!

Adrenaline runs through your veins; makes your heart pump faster and fuels you to play harder. You’re focused on the game; winning every ball you can and leaving it all on the field. You’re trailing England by a goal and the match has become rocky since then.

They closed the defensive line trying to protect the partial win. Finding spaces is hard so you pass the ball to someone that can create them. Tobin has magic on her boots and creates the chance for a swerve. Alex is running behind you and and her presence pulls the mark. It leaves you free for a split second, enough for you to jump and connect the ball.

You don’t even know if you scored when the pain hits you out of the blue.

Everything happens so fast; one moment you’re going for the header and next you’re falling awkwardly. You land on your back but you don’t have a chance to protect yourself as you land on your back and your head hits the ground unceremoniously.

A groan escapes your lips while blood drips from your open eyebrow.

The whistle is blown and your eyes find Alex kneeling next to you in a second.

“How bad is it?”

You don’t need her to answer when the look of horror in her face is enough. If you had to take a guess, you’d say some stitches are needed. The other player was a little too late and apparently decided your head looked close enough to the ball and go for the header.

“Fucking hell!” Tobin says as soon as she sees you.

Well, there’s your answer. Soon your teammates approach but most fail to conceal the shock on their faces. They are calling the meds frantically and you know that it looks way worse than what you feel, probably due to the adrenaline still in your veins.

“You’re gonna be okay,” Alex mutters.

“I know. You don’t call me hard-headed just because.”

That earns you a soft chuckle but worry is still clear on her face. Your need to comfort her takes the best of you and without thinking, sit down to try and reach out to Alex. That’s a terrible idea and a new flood of blood runs down your face.

The headache is new and you know there’s no way Jill is letting you continue.

“What are you doing?”

Before you can answer, the meds reach you and tend to the cut on your brow immediately. It’s not as bad as the blood can make them believe, at least you think so, but they’re still going to take you out off the field. More worrisome is the fact that as soon as you get up, dizziness overcomes you.

Alex wraps an arm around your waist as soon as she notices; it’s hard to hide the fact you’re unsteady but refuse to be carried away.

There’s not much they can do to you on the field, so they take you to the locker room to check in for a concussion and patch you up. When it’s obvious you do have the aforementioned concussion, the doc tells you is gonna be a week before you can play again.

It sucks, but you know it could have been worse.

You stay in there until the game ends, it’s the longest half an hour in your life, until the team comes strolling in. They all look concerned, but they accept what you tell them. Except Alex. Her eyes betray her true feelings and you extend your hand towards her.

“How did it go?” You ask as she takes your hand.

“We won.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you!” Christen says before giving you a hug.

“Wait, does that mean I scored?”

“Hell yeah!” Rapinoe answers patting your back. “But try not to kill yourself next time.”

You chuckle and shrug nonchalantly. It really wasn’t your fault but you’re also not gonna stop fighting for the ball. It’s what you do; grind till the last second. It’s inevitable to end with a few bruises.

“I make no promises.”

Alex punches you on the arm with her free hand before trying to pull away. It’s not a playful hit either and you’re in alert mode. You don’t let her go when she tries to walk away and you search her eyes for the answer.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“You’re an idiot.”

Understanding washes over you at her words. She’s still worried; too afraid to relax even when you’re relatively safe. So, you open your arms to her and after a moment of hesitation, she accepts your embrace. You can feel her shaky breath against your neck and you tighten your arms around her.

“I’m okay, Al.”

“But you’re not!” She exclaims against your shoulder. “You were bleeding so much and I...”

It isn’t often you get to see Alex this shaken up. She’s almost trembling on your arms and the sight is so foreign that even the team shuts up. They usually love to give you crap for your crush on Morgan, but this time they were all worried.

They understand Alex’s need for comfort.

“I’m gonna be okay.”

With gentle fingers you lift her face until your eyes meet hers and then you decide to take another risk.

You lean forward; slowly and tentative, waiting for her reaction and giving her a chance to pull back. She doesn’t. Instead, she meets you halfway. Her hands find their way to your shoulders, keeping you steady when the world spins around you.

Maybe it’s a side effect of the concussion, but you blame it on Alex.

You’re smiling by the time she pulls back and there’s no weight on her shoulders. She offers you a smile and you’re blown away. That’s the Alex Morgan you know; always leaving you breathless.

“Took you long enough,” Tobin teases as she changes.

“Look who’s talking, Heath.”

She looks confused for a moment until you subtly point towards Christen.

“Oh.”

Just then, Press turns her attention towards Tobin and you’re blinded by the “reserved for Tobin Heath” smile on her face. Those two are equally clueless.

“‘Kay. Time to get you changed and into the bus,” Alex says.

“Alright. But you might need to hold me all the way to the hotel. I’m still a little unsteady.”

She rolls her eyes and steps away from you.

“Ash! Get that nerd into the bus, please.”

“Hey!” You protest.

“What?” Alex looks at you with a very smug grin on her face.

“I love you.”

That stops her in her tracks while Ash and Alyssa help you get changed. You don’t want to be carried but they’re kind enough to offer you a bit of support out of the locker room and into the bus. Alex sits next to you with a huff but promptly holds your hand.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Yeah, you said so before.”

“But I love you too.”

This time you’re a hundred percent sure the concussion has nothing to do with the butterflies in your belly.

You take every risk you can, and sometimes, they pay off.

#alex morgan imagine #alex morgan imagines #alex morgan x reader #uswnt imagine

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oswaldsirius · 4 years

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Ooh, you're playing A3? I'd love to hear your opinion on the gameplay, user interface, and overall enjoyment of it after you've had a chance to explore it. I have limited room left on my phone for new apps, and am not convinced that A3 is going to be my cup of tea. TIA 😁

I meant to answer this last weekend and then everything went sideways so I’m going to do it now!

I’ll be honest, I’ve never really played a game like this before. Before I got sucked into Cybird’s Ikemen series last year (omg it really wasn’t that long ago wtf it feels like forever), most of the games on my phone didn’t really go beyond Candy Crush kind of level of involvement. So getting into this one was interesting to say the least!

I didn’t pay much mind to the hype I was seeing on Twitter about it because I wasn’t interested in downloading another game to suck away my time. But it came and I told myself to try it. Clearly forgetting that I have two modes: don’t care about the thing and it is the only thing I care about. That being said, I’m not sure if going in blind helped or hurt me for the beginning but I’ll put a few of my thoughts under the cut!

My ignorance aside, I really didn’t know what to expect going in and I definitely would have done some things differently. I’ve got a bad habit of wanting to get into the meat of games right away and forget that, even though you shouldn’t, if the game offers you that free set of pulls, do it until best boy comes home. But I wanted story so I just kept going and also didn’t really have a best boy since I hadn’t paid attention to anything online.

User Interface

Colour me mildly confused and overwhelmed when I first logged in and saw so many things (also shush, Itaru, we all know you’re gamer trash but we love you still). The game will give you prompts and tips as you’re going through the prologue and first starting, but as I was playing after I’d tucked into bed I wasn’t the best at retaining and struggled a little.

That aside, once I buckled down it was straight forward enough. Everything is nicely labelled for what it is and the first time you go in, it will give you another explanation of what to do. Easy enough to follow and it all is laid out rather well. Even when you go into any of the menus, everything is still straight forward and easy to figure out where you want to go.

Gameplay

There’s...a lot to do XD. Story, Actors, Plays, Earn Cash are all their own different thing to do. I found it very time consuming to bounce through all of them in the beginning because every time I was almost out of energy, I’d level up and find myself going right back into it to use up my energy again. I actually quit MLQC’s because I got to the point where it felt like too much grinding trying to level up once you hit a certain point but this one at least made it a little more interesting for me in that there were so many bonuses along the way.

Story is exactly that. Main story chapters are here, along with the backstage stories you unlock from different cards, and a couple other types. They flow really well and it’s super easy to find them. I also love that once it’s unlocked you have it and can reread it as many times as you want, no having to go back and replay anything to try to get a scene.

Actors confused me a little bit just because you’ve got so many things to do with these damn cards. But again it didn’t take long to pick up all the things they wanted from me and it’s just a matter of buckling down and doing the things.

Plays gives you various ways to level up both your rank and your cards (outside of consuming the weak). It’s obviously slower for the cards because you get a set limit of experience but it also unlocks the backstage stories for characters along with their minichats. Thankfully, I can just let this run with minimal effort because when you level up and suddenly have 200 energy to burn it gets a little tiresome.

Earn Cash nets you the coins you need to spend to level up your characters. It also will give you some items that are required for training characters. Along with some of the damn cutest interactions between characters I’ve seen yet. And you can’t go wrong with all their cute little chibi avatars.

Overall Enjoyment

I honestly had no idea what I was getting into with this, but if my rank says anything, I’m in deep. So god damn deep and it hasn’t even been a month.

I absolutely loved the story. Every time I ran out of chapters I was distressed because I needed more. So back to the plays I went, maybe spent a few gems if I was desperate enough, and leveled up hard and fast. They do an amazing job of making all these guys so unique and engaging that I had to know more about them. Watching all of them grow and come together and just seeing them succeed was so damn good. I’m finished with the main story now, but I’m constantly going back to read parts again because they’re just so god damn good (Chapter 19 in the first act will remain my favourite because Citron, you loon, I can’t stop laughing). They make these characters believable, their stories just pull you in and you want so much more.

That being said, the grind was god damn real the further I got on. Obviously it gets harder to level up as you go on, I get that, but I was hitting it hard to get more chapters and it was never enough. But even when I was grinding, I didn’t mind it. I had enough cards to cycle through and level up in the various ways that I was still getting new things every time I would practice. I’m at the point now where that isn’t so much the case but I don’t mind it because I just turn it on and let the boys do their thing.

I think the only thing that I haven’t completely enjoyed is the main character’s love obsession with curry. I only really bring it up because it’s slammed home almost every time food is brought up and it seems overdone to me for something that’s supposed to be quirky? I could probably count on one hand the amount of times, when she’s in charge of cooking, she makes something other than curry, even when the guys protest how often she makes it. It only takes one of them saying they don’t mind it and she seems to take it as everyone loves it as much as she does. I get that it’s her ‘quirk’, that she loves it and, I mean, we’ve all got our favourite foods, but when she could happily eat it for every single meal that seems to be pushing it beyond something meant to get a laugh. The one time she got seriously called out on it, she tried to get around it by saying that she was making different types so it should be okay right and that just struck me as completely childish for someone who is responsible for several teenagers. But that’s honestly my only true pet peeve with the game and really it’s just a personal problem.

Overall, I’ve seriously enjoyed this game. Each group brought in it’s own flavour to the story so it never felt like you were going through the same motions as the last and I love all of them so much. I cannot wait for them to give us more content even though I dread the thought of how horribly the fave does not want to come home from the gacha and how that probably won’t change.

#a3 thoughts #i'm sorry this is kind of late #but i wanted to do it well and then life and the game got away from me #i hope this helps at least a little for you!#katriniac #tasha replies

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harusha · 4 years

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What are your top pokemon games??

Official or fangame? I’ll just list both. I will say Pokemon Reborn is my top-rated overall if we combine both lists (with HGSS and Collesseum/XD following as 2 and 3 respectively.)

On Official, it’s

1. Heartgold/Soulsilver (My favorite region is Johto, and Ethan is my favorite Pokemon protagonist so…unsurprising. The games are still genuinely good though imo because of the massive amount of content and post-game and QoL stuff like following Pokemon, auto-run, etc.) I also love the nostalgic feeling of the region. Lance is also here, and I like him and his design a lot, not as much as Volkner though. Also Proton is here, and I love the dude so. Pedometer is included here.

2. Pokemon Colosseum/Pokemon XD; I include this together since they’re a duo set in terms of story. XD is the better one gameplay-wise because of the new additions of Shadow moves, more Pokemon choices, QoL changes like saving, etc. but Colosseum is the harder of the two games imo b/c of the sparsity of Pokemon–if you can play it on laptop, mod XD with Pokemon XG for massive QoL changes (Fairy Type, more shadow Pokemon, upped difficulty, etc.)

I like how this set tries new stuff and it honestly showcases how if you the Pokemon IP to a third-party, you end up with something that tries to be different and actually plays pretty well.

3. Pokemon BWBW2; included as a set because of joint story line. Honestly, I feel like BWBW2 are objectively the last great mainline series additions. Even if you didn’t care for the story, they at least tried with it and the rivals. You had the nice rival in Bianca and the “focused/ruder” rival in Cheren, and both encompassed the themes of the game (Truth with Bianca as she realizes her ineptness as a trainer and Ideals with Cheren who strives to overcome his boundaries and the player even if he never can). N is pretty awesome, and I think Ghetsis is a better Lusamine (sorry, idc for how Lusamine’s actions are brushed over and blamed on the space jellyfish). There’s a lot to enjoy in Unova imo.

Also massive post-game stuff like Join Avenue (which encourages one of the main tenets of Pokemon, interacting with others and trading; ex. “Magnemite Coil”), half the region opening up for Post-game (White Treehollow, Kyurem’s abode, etc.). The Legendaries also have home locations for the most part, and their items aren’t just given to you by random people. A lot of stuff to do that isn’t just breeding mindlessly for shinies (I mean I love doing that, but options ya know?) or online battle.

4. Pokemon Conquest; Fire Emblem (or more accurately, Nobunaga’s ambition) meets Pokemon. I like turn-based grid tactic games, and this one’s actually pretty fun. You’re encouraged to roam around and give people different Pokemon to see which ones they’re compatible with. Also another example of what can be done if Pokemon is given to a another developer.

5. Pokemon Explores of Sky (and to a lesser extent since it’s the base, Time/Darkness); you can swap this with Colloseum/XD, BWBW2 or Pokemon Conquest depending on if you prefer Pokemon’s style of play, tactics games, or dungeon crawlers. I like this one since the story’s actually pretty good, the difficulty’s nice, and especially the post-game dungeons and content.

6. Pokemon Platinum and Diamond+Pearl to a lesser extent– the region that actually has a reasonably difficult Elite Four and champion. I love the additions they have like distortion world, the melancholic feel you get at times in the Chateau area and snowfields, and the post-game Battle Frontier. However, the games run so slow without Drayano’s mods. In terms of husbandos, Volkner’s pretty nice as well, and he’s pretty high-tier for me. Cynthia’s here as well, so I guess she counts since she’s a feature every time she shows up.

7. Pokemon FRLG-The definite version of Kanto for me. Sevii Islands, callbacks (callforwards?) to the Johto games with the Rocket Admins, decent difficulty and ability to sequence break somewhat, etc. It gives new experiences for those who’ve played the OG versions, but doesn’t change them drastically. The “you can’t evolve anything outside of the OG 151 before post-game” is stupid though. Lance is here as well, but his half Dragonite/Dragonair team annoys me b/c of how repetitive it is, but product of the time as well and the HGSS first battle had that as well but at least they’re all evolved.

8. Pokemon Red/Blue Rescue Team-I like this one since the story’s still good and incorporates the idea of a human being transported to a Pokemon world, but I just feel like Sky’s gameplay improvements and portraits for everyone trumps this one. I like Gengar a lot and his team. I also think the difficulty on this one (depending on starter and partner) is fairly good at times (The Moltres fight is actually pretty difficult if you don’t have Pikachu or a water type partner).

9. Pokemon Emerald and to a lesser extent Ruby/Sapphire–Battle Frontier, Scott and Smeargle cave (ie. post-game content), beautiful promotional artwork (including ORAS’s), fairly difficult battles at time if you aren’t prepared/going in blind with no excessive grinding (2nd May battle, Flannery, etc.), hidden secrets like Regis and Secret Bases. However, the latter half is so boring with the excessive surfing and lackluster variety. Steven’s here, and he’s a dreamboat even with the sprite graphics.

10. Pokemon Channel and Hey you, Pikachu!-Weird I know. This would be higher if I didn’t think this was a niche pick. It’s just really relaxing, and I want another one, especially if you can get more Pokemon to raise. It’s a lot more fun once you play it. I like exploring with Pikachu and it offers a look into the world of Pokemon as a non-trainer. I really want another one tbh.

11. Pokemon Rangers series (Ranked from favorite to lowest; Shadows of Almia–>OG–>Guardian Signs; all are good but that’s my preference) The gameplay is actually pretty fun, and I wish we got another one. They could use Joycons as a styler. Spencer, Sven, and Lunick are also pretty cute

12. Pokken Tournament- What battles should feel like in mainline if they injected millions of dollars into the mainline, so unrealistic expectation. I think Pokken is a decent fighting game. The moves are nice, and the music is good. This can go lower if you don’t care for fighting games.

13. Pokemon Battle Revolution and Stadium games-They’re mostly battle simulators with some mini-games. The animations are actually pretty lively and fun compared to SWSH’s. I would like to rank this higher, but there is no story mode sadly. It’s great if you want to see what Pokemon would look like in-scale.

14. Pokemon X/Y-I think these are actually pretty nice if only for the fact there isn’t excessive handholding; it’s there but it doesn’t force me to put down the game out of boredom. The outfits are genuinely pretty cute. However, the rivals are ridiculously terrible, difficulty is either too low or unbalanced if you use/turn off exp. share. Let’s put ORAS here as well b/c I think the lack of Battle Frontier and mediocre post-game, getting Lati@s early, etc. drops it down from Emerald. The PSS system is amazing though.

15. Pokemon Trozei and Pokemon Pinball series-Yeah, I’ve played these. Trozei’s actually pretty cool as a match-3 game, and pinball is pinball. You also get slightly more lore into the Pokemon world with Lucy Fleetfoot. I like match-3 and pinball so very much a YMMV. Pop Gates to Infinity and Super Mystery Dungeon here as well. Idk, they just lack the magic of the first two entries.

16. Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Dash, all the other spin-offs I didn’t talk about-they all offer something fun, but I just wish it was either updated for modern times and not released again (like with Snap) or a bit more (in the case of Detective Pikachu and Pokepark series). Pop Puzzle League games here as well. I like them, but they aren’t much besides Tetris games. Same goes for the Pokemon Trading Card games; they’re nice, but not super great imo.

???. Pokemon Box/Ranch/all the other storage games and stuff like Dream Radar-Idk what you’d want me to say since they’re storage space or gimmick games to catch HA Pokemon. You do get Extremespeed Zigzagoon which I love since the little buggers are very adorable.

Bottom Tier. Pokemon SM and USUM. I hate these games. They’re cash grabs (more so than usual) with being $40 a piece and the updated versions being barely changed (and actually feeling like what should have been released first). Incredibly handholding, areas feel half-baked, lacks areas to explore for the most part, Lillie is kinda annoying for me tbh (which hurts because you’re supposed to feel for her and the game’s story hinges on that), and the player is an actual detriment to what they’re trying to achieve story-wise. A big shame b/c Alola is a pretty region and Team Skull is great in concept, but execution is awful. Stated as someone who has bought all 4 versions to keep, and 2 extras for gifting.

Absolute Bottom Tier- Pokemon Masters, incredibly terrible mobage game coming from someone who plays FGO, FEH, etc. lack of meaningful content, grinding but meaningless b/c of said lack of content (ex. FGO gates you with mats but it makes you feel like you’re growing with your servants and offers a story and events to compensate; basically, a sense of achievement). CO-OP is pretty bad when you can just hop over to GBF or something if you want guilds and group content. I’m still gonna wait for Ethan and Volkner to appear though.

Unrated-OG RBGY and OG GSC (the remakes are superior outside of nostalgia factor imo so I think it’d be unfair for them to take a spot), LGPE (didn’t buy them b/c pricing but the colors are vibrant and I love that), SWSH (didn’t buy them because I have opinions on the cuts and stuff and price point doesn’t look appealing for what’s offered), Pokemon Mini (these were included with Pokemon Channel), Magikarp Jump+Duel (Duel was a cash grab and Magikarp Jump is cute but no real opinion on it), Pokemon Go (weird spot where I like it, but I don’t live in an area with safe walking areas so very much area-dependent), Arcade games (I don’t live in Japan for that), Perdue Farm games (they’re flash games made to promote so…), Pokemon Rumble (enjoyable but not memorable for me imo) etc.

Fangames-

1. Pokemon Reborn-150+ hours of content, visible themes that permeate the story and characters, beautiful spritework for some of the areas, intuitive usage of TMs/HMs and some logic (ex. Field Effects that emulate anime battling in turn-based rpg such as Corrosive Field; using Rock Smash to break the glass in some areas to solve puzzles, etc.), actual difficulty that hinges on how much you understand Pokemon (ex. IVs, stats, EVs, etc.) that’s fair but still difficult, puzzles and rewards for exploring and coming back to areas, etc. Fantastic game that I wish Gamefreak had attempted to emulate (perhaps not the darker themes but the ambition basically). Has some kinks with the revolving door of characters and such but still fantastic. Also offers custom shiny sprites, custom egg sprites, and online play like Wonder Trade and battling.

2. Pokemon Rocket Edition-Not done but I think this is a fantastic hack so far story-wise and how it implements its mechanics. You’re a Rocket Grunt, but you aren’t OP. It deals with the politics behind Kanto and Team Rocket. Still being worked on.

3. Pokemon Viridian Version-Another “play as a Rocket” game. Funny yet still can be serious; it takes the tone of the anime and understands when to be serious and when to not be. It feels like it would fit into the canon tone-wise, and deconstructs the “it’s cool to be a Rocket!” thing.

4. Pokemon Gaia-Excellent and a huge callback to classic Pokemon in story. It’s an OG region and offers a lot to do.

5. Drayano hacks- QoL updates but his work actually adds a lot to the games+new events.

Anyways, that’s my list. There’s a lot of Pokemon content, but this is how I feel for the most part.

#long post #i will say Piers is high tier husbando though

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