So, due to pre-orders being sent out early a the flood-gates have opened and all of the new info on Black/White has just come pouring in. It was still forthcoming when I left for class at 2pm today, and when I got home about half an hour ago, apparently the entire new pokedex has been revealed.
Bulbapedia seems to be down but Serebii.net has a full timeline of leaked info. I have to say, from what I can see of the new Elite Four, I love them. I'm not 100% on all of the pokemon, but there's enough that I like in order for me to build a good team, and the rest I don't need to worry about.
From what it looks like, this game is just as good as expectations lead us to believe, and I am looking forward to picking up my copy in the spring. Until then, I just need to keep training my SoulSilver team. Which reminds me, I should do that tonight since I"m meeting up with friends tomorrow and we've decided to have a battle or two!
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Almost to the release date!!!
Okay, so we've gotten our last big leak of info before Pokemon: Black/White hits it's release in like 5 days. It revealed some information on characters and a big handful of new pokemon. Unfortunately for me, the information on Darumakka has been minimal since he first showed up. But I guess that just means I get to be surprised.
So let's start with the new pokemon and my terrible opinions on them. Prep for a ridiculously long post...
Let's start with these three. Right now we don't have 100% confirmation, but these three, along with their third-stage forms, were leaked a week or so ago, and then showed up again in the CoroCoro scans, though we're not sure if they've been faked. But since everywhere is reporting on them, I'm going to weigh in as if they're legit.
Up top is Janoby, our stage two for Tsutarja, the grass type, then there's Chaobu, Pokabu the fire type's stage two, and finally Futachimaru, Mijumaru the water type's stage two. They all seem fairly standard for stage two pokemon. The same basic pokemon, just a little bigger and stronger. I think Futachimaru is my favorite of the second stages, even though I'm probably still going to pick Tsutarja to start. The only reason I might give in and go to Mijumaru is what I'm going to discuss next...
The monkey trio (from left to right), Baoppu the fire monkey, Yanappu the grass monkey who we have seen from previous leaks, and Hiyappu the water monkey. These three belong to the leaders of the first gym (seen with them above), Poddo, Dento, and Kon respectively. While I had initially assumed that you fought a triple battle against these three, I was apparently wrong.
I assumed this because when rumors of the monkey trio first began to surface it was said that they were created to help demonstrate triple battles (much like how Plusle and Minun came as a double-battle pair). But in the case of the first gym, you do not get a triple battle against three awesome waiters. You get to fight the one that has a type advantage against you. Which I personally find stupid. It removes a lot of strategy from picking your first pokemon, and also ignores a perfect opportunity for us to see the new battle mechanic played out. It also means I have to fight Poddo instead of Dento if I pick Tsutarja. And I have developed a huge crush on Dento.
The monkey trio themselves I am on the fence on. I'm not fond of Baoppu just because he seems to be a rehashed Chimchar. Not to mention we have Hihidaruma, the fire-baboon, to cover our fire-monkey needs already. The other two I am willing to give a little more leeway since they're something we haven't already seen. But I guess if you have two, you need the third, yes?
On the left, from top to bottom, we have Buffalon, Dangoro, and Mebukijika. Buffalon is obviously a buffalo, though Suri insists on calling it "Afro-Tauros", which is also pretty funny. I'm not a big fan of Dangoro just because what the hell is it? It's like a rock-Oddish except less cute. I am not impressed. I do like Mebukijika though. It's enough to make me train a Shikijika so it will evolve into CRAZY PLANT-ANTLERS DEER. He looks like an ass-kicker.
Down the right we have Tabunne, Monmen (exclusive to Black), Churine (exclusive to White), and Tamagetake. Tabunne seems to be our replacement Chansey, which I am okay with. It is pretty cute and if it evolves, I bet it's evolution is really pretty. I'm iffy on Monmen, but I really like Churine. It disappoints me that I want to get Black (because I like Reshiram better than Zekrom) but then have to get Monmen instead of Churine, which I like much better. I just find Tamagetake to be dumb. I could see it being implemented interestingly on the overworld map, but I just don't like it's giant pokeball mushroom thing.
So again, down the left we have the two versions of Basurao (which are different between the two games), Yorterri, and Choroneko. The only one here that I'm really digging is Yorterri. I'm not a big fan of Yorkshire Terriers (because Suri's is a huge bitch), but it is super super cute, and again I'm picturing it having an awesome evolution. Basurao is okay but we've had piranha before, haven't we? I do like that it's different between games though. I think that is pretty cool. Choroneko just seems to be a rehashed Glameow to me. I like it more than Glameow, but I mean... our past three cat pokemon (Meowth/Persian, Skitty/Delcatty, and Glameow/Purugly) have all been vastly different from each other and I'm a little disappointed that Gen V didn't seem to follow suit.
On the right are Desukan, Ononokusu, Denchura, and Doryuzu. I do not like Desukan. It is interesting, but I don't think it really fits in the context of what we've always had for ghost-type pokemon. It is something very solid and I'm bothered by that for some reason. I like Ononokusu's design, but not quite it's color scheme. Puke-yellow doesn't look good on anything, Nintendo. Denchura is an interesting type combo (Bug/Electric) but it looks too much like a recolored Ariados for me to really get into it. But I've always been picky with my bug-types. Doryuzu is just terrifying, even if I do see him pulling off some cool drill moves. There is just something about serrated blades that makes me uneasy.
We also got a look at our evil organization leader. Leading Team Plasma is Geechisu (left) and his enormous skirt. Definitely space-knights. Given that they have similar motives and that they look similar, I'm putting it out there right now that Geechisu and N are related soemhow. Father and son would be the most typical, but I'm also willing to accept uncle/nephew or ridiculous clone. N apparently also has a choroneko, which solidifies his place as the game's token asshole.
And finally we got some new information on the Dream World...
It also had some cute new art of Makomo. Though I am getting kind of jealous that Makomo seems to get way more face-time than Araragi. Especially since you get your starter pokemon as a gift from your parents instead of from Araragi. But I assume she still at least gives you the pokedex and explains ho to be a pokemon trainer.
But Araragi is at least recognized as the Regional Professor, which makes her cooler. And I'm hoping that SHE is the one to visit me when I beat the pokemon league.
So let's start with the new pokemon and my terrible opinions on them. Prep for a ridiculously long post...
Let's start with these three. Right now we don't have 100% confirmation, but these three, along with their third-stage forms, were leaked a week or so ago, and then showed up again in the CoroCoro scans, though we're not sure if they've been faked. But since everywhere is reporting on them, I'm going to weigh in as if they're legit.
Up top is Janoby, our stage two for Tsutarja, the grass type, then there's Chaobu, Pokabu the fire type's stage two, and finally Futachimaru, Mijumaru the water type's stage two. They all seem fairly standard for stage two pokemon. The same basic pokemon, just a little bigger and stronger. I think Futachimaru is my favorite of the second stages, even though I'm probably still going to pick Tsutarja to start. The only reason I might give in and go to Mijumaru is what I'm going to discuss next...
The monkey trio (from left to right), Baoppu the fire monkey, Yanappu the grass monkey who we have seen from previous leaks, and Hiyappu the water monkey. These three belong to the leaders of the first gym (seen with them above), Poddo, Dento, and Kon respectively. While I had initially assumed that you fought a triple battle against these three, I was apparently wrong.
I assumed this because when rumors of the monkey trio first began to surface it was said that they were created to help demonstrate triple battles (much like how Plusle and Minun came as a double-battle pair). But in the case of the first gym, you do not get a triple battle against three awesome waiters. You get to fight the one that has a type advantage against you. Which I personally find stupid. It removes a lot of strategy from picking your first pokemon, and also ignores a perfect opportunity for us to see the new battle mechanic played out. It also means I have to fight Poddo instead of Dento if I pick Tsutarja. And I have developed a huge crush on Dento.
The monkey trio themselves I am on the fence on. I'm not fond of Baoppu just because he seems to be a rehashed Chimchar. Not to mention we have Hihidaruma, the fire-baboon, to cover our fire-monkey needs already. The other two I am willing to give a little more leeway since they're something we haven't already seen. But I guess if you have two, you need the third, yes?
On the left, from top to bottom, we have Buffalon, Dangoro, and Mebukijika. Buffalon is obviously a buffalo, though Suri insists on calling it "Afro-Tauros", which is also pretty funny. I'm not a big fan of Dangoro just because what the hell is it? It's like a rock-Oddish except less cute. I am not impressed. I do like Mebukijika though. It's enough to make me train a Shikijika so it will evolve into CRAZY PLANT-ANTLERS DEER. He looks like an ass-kicker.
Down the right we have Tabunne, Monmen (exclusive to Black), Churine (exclusive to White), and Tamagetake. Tabunne seems to be our replacement Chansey, which I am okay with. It is pretty cute and if it evolves, I bet it's evolution is really pretty. I'm iffy on Monmen, but I really like Churine. It disappoints me that I want to get Black (because I like Reshiram better than Zekrom) but then have to get Monmen instead of Churine, which I like much better. I just find Tamagetake to be dumb. I could see it being implemented interestingly on the overworld map, but I just don't like it's giant pokeball mushroom thing.
So again, down the left we have the two versions of Basurao (which are different between the two games), Yorterri, and Choroneko. The only one here that I'm really digging is Yorterri. I'm not a big fan of Yorkshire Terriers (because Suri's is a huge bitch), but it is super super cute, and again I'm picturing it having an awesome evolution. Basurao is okay but we've had piranha before, haven't we? I do like that it's different between games though. I think that is pretty cool. Choroneko just seems to be a rehashed Glameow to me. I like it more than Glameow, but I mean... our past three cat pokemon (Meowth/Persian, Skitty/Delcatty, and Glameow/Purugly) have all been vastly different from each other and I'm a little disappointed that Gen V didn't seem to follow suit.
On the right are Desukan, Ononokusu, Denchura, and Doryuzu. I do not like Desukan. It is interesting, but I don't think it really fits in the context of what we've always had for ghost-type pokemon. It is something very solid and I'm bothered by that for some reason. I like Ononokusu's design, but not quite it's color scheme. Puke-yellow doesn't look good on anything, Nintendo. Denchura is an interesting type combo (Bug/Electric) but it looks too much like a recolored Ariados for me to really get into it. But I've always been picky with my bug-types. Doryuzu is just terrifying, even if I do see him pulling off some cool drill moves. There is just something about serrated blades that makes me uneasy.
We also got a look at our evil organization leader. Leading Team Plasma is Geechisu (left) and his enormous skirt. Definitely space-knights. Given that they have similar motives and that they look similar, I'm putting it out there right now that Geechisu and N are related soemhow. Father and son would be the most typical, but I'm also willing to accept uncle/nephew or ridiculous clone. N apparently also has a choroneko, which solidifies his place as the game's token asshole.
And finally we got some new information on the Dream World...
The Dream World is accessed via PC, and you play mini-games there. If you do well at them, you can bring the Dream World's Pokemon back to BW with you. Aerodactyl, Lotad and Magikarp are pictured as examples of terrain-specific Pokemon in the Dream World, as the latter two are in ponds while Aerodactyl is in the sky. Also, it turns out that you don't need to catch Munna to access the Dream World - Makomo lends you her own.- Via Psypokes
It also had some cute new art of Makomo. Though I am getting kind of jealous that Makomo seems to get way more face-time than Araragi. Especially since you get your starter pokemon as a gift from your parents instead of from Araragi. But I assume she still at least gives you the pokedex and explains ho to be a pokemon trainer.
But Araragi is at least recognized as the Regional Professor, which makes her cooler. And I'm hoping that SHE is the one to visit me when I beat the pokemon league.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Just checking in at the moment.
So, the newest Pokemon games, "Black Version" and "White Version" come out in Japan in less than two weeks. The influx of leaked info has been minimal lately and mostly confined to info about the new anime arc, "Best Wishes". I am debating actually watching it because I have developed a huge crush on Dento and I want to see more of Araragi.
While new info is slow now, I'm expecting it to explode in two weeks when the games finally get released. I'll do my best to keep up, but since I'm heading back for my final two semesters at SVA on the 7th, and will therefore have classwork to keep up with, I don't know how much info I'll be able to give.
On the upside, my first Senior Series class is "Anime Workshop". This is a class on exploring different types of anime and it's influences. So we'll be watching a lot of classic anime films ("Akira", "Naussica", ect.), and I'll have those to write about while I'm in the class. The whole "Aizen is a total psycho" arc of Bleach also seems to be hitting it's final stretch, so once that ends I am sure I will have a long and meaningless post to write about that. I'm predicting I'll have some things to say about Bakuman again in the near future as well.
So stick around. We've got lots coming.
While new info is slow now, I'm expecting it to explode in two weeks when the games finally get released. I'll do my best to keep up, but since I'm heading back for my final two semesters at SVA on the 7th, and will therefore have classwork to keep up with, I don't know how much info I'll be able to give.
On the upside, my first Senior Series class is "Anime Workshop". This is a class on exploring different types of anime and it's influences. So we'll be watching a lot of classic anime films ("Akira", "Naussica", ect.), and I'll have those to write about while I'm in the class. The whole "Aizen is a total psycho" arc of Bleach also seems to be hitting it's final stretch, so once that ends I am sure I will have a long and meaningless post to write about that. I'm predicting I'll have some things to say about Bakuman again in the near future as well.
So stick around. We've got lots coming.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Blogging about everything today.
Yeahhh.... I've been slacking off this week guys. Sorry. I've been out doing things pretty much every other day, so it's understandable right? But while I've been at ti I've watched more K-On, some clips from Hetalia, listening to the soundtrack from "The Road to El Dorado", and started reading "Yankee-kun to Megane-chan", which is absolutely hilarious. I'm still a long way from caught up, but it's fantastic, so far so I'd recommend taking a look at it if you've got some time to kill. I also went to a family reunion in there somewhere.
In pokemon news, we got another new pokemon revealed -- Yanappu.
A grass-type monkey is a weird combination to me, and I'm not totally sold on the broccoli growing out of his head, but I suppose he could be an interesting grass-type to work with if you're into that sort of thing. However, he's probably not going to be on my B/W team.
This pokemon isn't actually a reveal so much as a confirmation. We got a picture of a figure of this pokemon back in July, but up until now it wasn't confirmed as an actual pokemon in the games.
I've been playing SoulSilver again, finishing up some things that I've left hanging, such as chasing down roaming legendaries and doing the spiky-eared Pichu event. Suri's been helping me shuffle pokemon over from my copies of Platinum and Diamond to help me finish my pokedex. I also got a Japanese Wigglytuff over the GTS that has pokerus, so I've been infecting my pokemon with that slowly but surely. This is the first time I've ever had pokemon with it, so that's kind of exciting for me.
On a complete shift of subject, this week's "Bakuman" reminded me just who the team working on this was -- The pair who did "Death Note".
Mashiro and Takagi are currently planning a five-chapter story are in "Perfect Crime Party" that involves a rival trying to expose the club. Listening to them plan it out, it sounded a lot like the rivalry between Light and L, but with a lot less murder. Not that this is a bad thing. "Death Note" was written very well, even though I never finished it. I'm really excited to see how the next chapters play out and if "Perfect Crime Party" can beat Iwase and Eiji's crossover between "Crow" and "+Natural".
If you're not reading Bakuman yet, now is the perfect time to start. VIZ's translation has just hit stores, so the first volume is available. Go pick it up, and then catch up to the scans. then in November we can all go out an pick up volume 2. Especially if you're into the process of making comics, the physical volumes are worth picking up because VIZ has thrown in a little something extra for us -- Ohba and Obata's thumbnails for some of the pages! Getting that little something extra between chapters really sealed the deal for me. With how important the thumbnails are for Mashiro and Takagi within the story, getting to see Ohba and Obata's made it all the better.
Ahaha, I guess I managed to write a decent blog entry after all. I'm pretty impressed, since I didn't intend to. I'll try and do another update soon. It will probably be about Scott Pilgrim since I need to finish reading that and go see the movie.
In pokemon news, we got another new pokemon revealed -- Yanappu.
A grass-type monkey is a weird combination to me, and I'm not totally sold on the broccoli growing out of his head, but I suppose he could be an interesting grass-type to work with if you're into that sort of thing. However, he's probably not going to be on my B/W team.
This pokemon isn't actually a reveal so much as a confirmation. We got a picture of a figure of this pokemon back in July, but up until now it wasn't confirmed as an actual pokemon in the games.
I've been playing SoulSilver again, finishing up some things that I've left hanging, such as chasing down roaming legendaries and doing the spiky-eared Pichu event. Suri's been helping me shuffle pokemon over from my copies of Platinum and Diamond to help me finish my pokedex. I also got a Japanese Wigglytuff over the GTS that has pokerus, so I've been infecting my pokemon with that slowly but surely. This is the first time I've ever had pokemon with it, so that's kind of exciting for me.
On a complete shift of subject, this week's "Bakuman" reminded me just who the team working on this was -- The pair who did "Death Note".
Mashiro and Takagi are currently planning a five-chapter story are in "Perfect Crime Party" that involves a rival trying to expose the club. Listening to them plan it out, it sounded a lot like the rivalry between Light and L, but with a lot less murder. Not that this is a bad thing. "Death Note" was written very well, even though I never finished it. I'm really excited to see how the next chapters play out and if "Perfect Crime Party" can beat Iwase and Eiji's crossover between "Crow" and "+Natural".
If you're not reading Bakuman yet, now is the perfect time to start. VIZ's translation has just hit stores, so the first volume is available. Go pick it up, and then catch up to the scans. then in November we can all go out an pick up volume 2. Especially if you're into the process of making comics, the physical volumes are worth picking up because VIZ has thrown in a little something extra for us -- Ohba and Obata's thumbnails for some of the pages! Getting that little something extra between chapters really sealed the deal for me. With how important the thumbnails are for Mashiro and Takagi within the story, getting to see Ohba and Obata's made it all the better.
Ahaha, I guess I managed to write a decent blog entry after all. I'm pretty impressed, since I didn't intend to. I'll try and do another update soon. It will probably be about Scott Pilgrim since I need to finish reading that and go see the movie.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
More New Pokemon Black & White Info
So it's time for more leaks and new information on pokemon and characters from the new Black and White games. This news came to me a little suddenly, and surprisingly via a commented on DeviantART.
As you all may remember, I got excited about Hihidaruma entirely because of the prospect of a little rolly fire-breathing daruma doll as a possible pre-evolution. Those who keep tabs on me elsewhere may even remember me drawing up "Daruhi", a made-up 'this is what I hope we get'.
In several palces I declared that I would totally give up on fire types if there wasn't a little daruma for me to love and cuddle and burn things with. I was do dead set on this pokemon happening, that I was almost completely convinced that it wouldn't. Because that's the kind of luck I have.
Well, this morning, I woke up and checked my messages on DA, to find a comment left with a link to this:
This is Darumakka. A little rolly fire-breathing daruma doll.
Thank you, Nintendo.
It's not quite Daruhi, but my design was based a lot on Hihidaruma. Darumakka seems to be a lot more red, and to have ignored the idea of appendages entirely. Which I am okay with. I think Daruhi is a little cuter, but Darumakka is still adorable and I will be catching one as quickly as I possibly can and never letting it evolve.
I guess while I'm here, I should talk about some of the other new information too shouldn't I? Okay, but only because I love you guys so much.
Emonga is that flying squirrel on the top left. Typing is, obviously, electric/flying. Which seems contradictory. It's ability is static, which is always handy. My first thought was "Oh look a flying pikachu." It seems to be following in the tradition of Plusle/Minun and Pachirisu. Unnecessary, but cute.
Below that is Gigaiasu, the high pressure pokemon. I'm not sold on this one really. It seems like Heatran and those "chromastone" aliens from Ben 10 had a love child. I'm sure some people will like it, but it's not a pokemon I'd have on my team. nice to see a rock type that isn't brown/grey for once though.
Then there's Victini who I have already covered in the past, but since we have a little more information I thought I should take another look at Butt-Wings here. It's official typing is Psychic/Fire, which just seems weird to me, it is the "Victory Pokemon", and it's ability is "Victory Star". Clearly this is why it is made of V's. It does not, however, explain the butt-wings.
To the right of Victini is Shikijika, who doesn't have a species type yet, but it's elemental typing is normal/grass, and it has the ability "chlorophyll". Apparently, in different weather or climate or something, Shikijika will change colors. It reminds me a little too much of Shaymin for me to be totally okay with it. I'd be more okay if Shaymin wasn't a legendary, but I want to believe that, for some reason, Shaymin is a rare mutation of Shikijika that further somehow mutated a sky forme and flew off to Sinnoh or some reason.
On the bottom are a still unnamed swan and caterpillar pokemon. The caterpillar seems to be yet another poor-man's Caterpie, but I'm hoping it will turn into something that is not just another poor man's Buttefree. I am a little excited about the swan, just because I can name it "SodeNoShirayuki". I'm hoping it's got an Ice typing instead of just water, but I find that doubtful. However, it is very pretty, and I could see it having a gorgeous evolution or a super cute pre-evolution. (Maybe even both? Eh, Nintendo? Wink wink, nudge nudge?)
And of course there were some new human characters released...
Aloe is one of the new gym leaders. I'm sorry guys but the first thing I thought of was Aunt Jemima. I am praying to god that no one takes that the wrong way, because I love that brand of products. And I'm sure Aloe is a great lady. But... I mean... C'mon. You see it too, don't you guys?
Then there is Dento. Dento doesn't seem to be a gym leader. there's how Bulbanews describes his anime counterpart (who, I assume, plays the same role in the games)...
Honestly, that sounds pretty awesome. And he walks around dressed like a waiter? C'mon, Nintendo. Are you trying to win my heart? Because it's working. "Pokemon Sommelier" is my new favorite job right after "Treasure Hunter" in this series.
And then we got the grunts for our new pile of bad guys, Team Plasma, who look like they are trying a little too hard to be medieval knights in outer space. I'd be far more receptive of this outfit if it didn't have the ridiculous hood, but guys that just totally killed it for me. I will never be able to take these guys seriously. I hope their executives and boss at least don't have hoods like that. Then maybe they'll be a little threatening.
So, more and more, this game is looking pretty great. I'm still not excited for it like I was with HeartGold and SoulSilver, but it looks like it's going to have some great stuff. And I cannot get over Darumakka and how much I want it forever.
As you all may remember, I got excited about Hihidaruma entirely because of the prospect of a little rolly fire-breathing daruma doll as a possible pre-evolution. Those who keep tabs on me elsewhere may even remember me drawing up "Daruhi", a made-up 'this is what I hope we get'.
In several palces I declared that I would totally give up on fire types if there wasn't a little daruma for me to love and cuddle and burn things with. I was do dead set on this pokemon happening, that I was almost completely convinced that it wouldn't. Because that's the kind of luck I have.
Well, this morning, I woke up and checked my messages on DA, to find a comment left with a link to this:
This is Darumakka. A little rolly fire-breathing daruma doll.
Thank you, Nintendo.
It's not quite Daruhi, but my design was based a lot on Hihidaruma. Darumakka seems to be a lot more red, and to have ignored the idea of appendages entirely. Which I am okay with. I think Daruhi is a little cuter, but Darumakka is still adorable and I will be catching one as quickly as I possibly can and never letting it evolve.
I guess while I'm here, I should talk about some of the other new information too shouldn't I? Okay, but only because I love you guys so much.
Emonga is that flying squirrel on the top left. Typing is, obviously, electric/flying. Which seems contradictory. It's ability is static, which is always handy. My first thought was "Oh look a flying pikachu." It seems to be following in the tradition of Plusle/Minun and Pachirisu. Unnecessary, but cute.
Below that is Gigaiasu, the high pressure pokemon. I'm not sold on this one really. It seems like Heatran and those "chromastone" aliens from Ben 10 had a love child. I'm sure some people will like it, but it's not a pokemon I'd have on my team. nice to see a rock type that isn't brown/grey for once though.
Then there's Victini who I have already covered in the past, but since we have a little more information I thought I should take another look at Butt-Wings here. It's official typing is Psychic/Fire, which just seems weird to me, it is the "Victory Pokemon", and it's ability is "Victory Star". Clearly this is why it is made of V's. It does not, however, explain the butt-wings.
To the right of Victini is Shikijika, who doesn't have a species type yet, but it's elemental typing is normal/grass, and it has the ability "chlorophyll". Apparently, in different weather or climate or something, Shikijika will change colors. It reminds me a little too much of Shaymin for me to be totally okay with it. I'd be more okay if Shaymin wasn't a legendary, but I want to believe that, for some reason, Shaymin is a rare mutation of Shikijika that further somehow mutated a sky forme and flew off to Sinnoh or some reason.
On the bottom are a still unnamed swan and caterpillar pokemon. The caterpillar seems to be yet another poor-man's Caterpie, but I'm hoping it will turn into something that is not just another poor man's Buttefree. I am a little excited about the swan, just because I can name it "SodeNoShirayuki". I'm hoping it's got an Ice typing instead of just water, but I find that doubtful. However, it is very pretty, and I could see it having a gorgeous evolution or a super cute pre-evolution. (Maybe even both? Eh, Nintendo? Wink wink, nudge nudge?)
And of course there were some new human characters released...
Aloe is one of the new gym leaders. I'm sorry guys but the first thing I thought of was Aunt Jemima. I am praying to god that no one takes that the wrong way, because I love that brand of products. And I'm sure Aloe is a great lady. But... I mean... C'mon. You see it too, don't you guys?
Then there is Dento. Dento doesn't seem to be a gym leader. there's how Bulbanews describes his anime counterpart (who, I assume, plays the same role in the games)...
"With an abundance of knowledge and experience, Dento is a "Pokémon Sommelier", who checks ("diagnoses") the compatibility between a trainer and their Pokémon, gives them advice on how to become better friends. Is the actual condition what is expected?"
Honestly, that sounds pretty awesome. And he walks around dressed like a waiter? C'mon, Nintendo. Are you trying to win my heart? Because it's working. "Pokemon Sommelier" is my new favorite job right after "Treasure Hunter" in this series.
And then we got the grunts for our new pile of bad guys, Team Plasma, who look like they are trying a little too hard to be medieval knights in outer space. I'd be far more receptive of this outfit if it didn't have the ridiculous hood, but guys that just totally killed it for me. I will never be able to take these guys seriously. I hope their executives and boss at least don't have hoods like that. Then maybe they'll be a little threatening.
So, more and more, this game is looking pretty great. I'm still not excited for it like I was with HeartGold and SoulSilver, but it looks like it's going to have some great stuff. And I cannot get over Darumakka and how much I want it forever.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
In the hopes that one day I can play Atelier Marie.
Before I get started, I want to thank whoever linked my Saturday report for Otakon on facebook. It drew in a lot of traffic. I also want to welcome the new followers. It warms my heart to know people are actually reading this thing and it's not just me shouting into the dark.
Today I want to talk about something very near and dear to my heart. It is a game that I have fallen in love with, even though I haven't gotten to play it -- Atelier Marie.
For what it is, Atelier Marie doesn't get the credit it deserves in the western market. This is most likely because up until recently the Atelier franchise was struggling stateside. All we had was Atelier Iris, which iv'e heard is a bit different from the traditional games, and Mana Khemia, which is a spin-off of the Atelier series. More recently we've gotten Atelier Annie for the DS, which I have played multiple times and adore (and have covered here once), and are coming to Atelier Rorona for the PS3 (I'm not sure if this has hit the US market yet. I need to check my release dates.)
But a lot of modern RPGs owe their thanks to Atelier in one way or another, and Atelier all started with the one and only Atelier Marie. I've been completely in love with the artwork from this game for years now It's heavily influenced by Alphonse Mucha, who is one of my favorite artists. Some images are even reworkings of his illustrations.
Even with how Atelier has slowly been crawling into the western market, we still have not, and most likely will not, see any of the games from the original Zarlberg (Salberg?) continuity that started with Atelier Marie. Even if the franchise does finally become popular here, I doubt NiS (who is localizing the games) will go back and bring us Marie, Elie, Lilie, Violet, and Judie.
The closest we've come was Tokyopop localizing 4 out of 5 volumes of the manga "Atelier Marie and Elie: Zarlburg Alchemists". However, they dropped volume 5 when the going got tough. I have Japanese scans of all 5 manga, and have gotten the basic idea of what goes on in volume 5 (the ending is very clear from the visuals, and is fantastic.) but I'd love to actually get to read it.
Finding merchandise for what is, essentially, a dead fandom in the west has been a challenge, but I've managed to get some doujinshi, a guide book, a poster from the re-release of Atelier Marie And Elie, and matching figures of Marie and Elie. They're basically the stars of my collection of things, and I'm glad I was able to find anything at all. But it doesn't bring me any closer to playing the game.
However, there is still some hope for that. There is an Atelier Marie translation project that some fans are working on to make a playable rom of the game for English language fans. I've been following the project for a while now, both on the blog and on an Ar Tonelico forum and just quietly offering support.
But now I guess I'm going to make a little bit of a rallying cry? If there's anyone who has the time and ability to help with translating or coding, please drop these guys a line. If not, spread the word and see if there's anyone who can. I'd love to see this project completed and get to play Atelier Marie one day.
Today I want to talk about something very near and dear to my heart. It is a game that I have fallen in love with, even though I haven't gotten to play it -- Atelier Marie.
For what it is, Atelier Marie doesn't get the credit it deserves in the western market. This is most likely because up until recently the Atelier franchise was struggling stateside. All we had was Atelier Iris, which iv'e heard is a bit different from the traditional games, and Mana Khemia, which is a spin-off of the Atelier series. More recently we've gotten Atelier Annie for the DS, which I have played multiple times and adore (and have covered here once), and are coming to Atelier Rorona for the PS3 (I'm not sure if this has hit the US market yet. I need to check my release dates.)
But a lot of modern RPGs owe their thanks to Atelier in one way or another, and Atelier all started with the one and only Atelier Marie. I've been completely in love with the artwork from this game for years now It's heavily influenced by Alphonse Mucha, who is one of my favorite artists. Some images are even reworkings of his illustrations.
Even with how Atelier has slowly been crawling into the western market, we still have not, and most likely will not, see any of the games from the original Zarlberg (Salberg?) continuity that started with Atelier Marie. Even if the franchise does finally become popular here, I doubt NiS (who is localizing the games) will go back and bring us Marie, Elie, Lilie, Violet, and Judie.
The closest we've come was Tokyopop localizing 4 out of 5 volumes of the manga "Atelier Marie and Elie: Zarlburg Alchemists". However, they dropped volume 5 when the going got tough. I have Japanese scans of all 5 manga, and have gotten the basic idea of what goes on in volume 5 (the ending is very clear from the visuals, and is fantastic.) but I'd love to actually get to read it.
Finding merchandise for what is, essentially, a dead fandom in the west has been a challenge, but I've managed to get some doujinshi, a guide book, a poster from the re-release of Atelier Marie And Elie, and matching figures of Marie and Elie. They're basically the stars of my collection of things, and I'm glad I was able to find anything at all. But it doesn't bring me any closer to playing the game.
However, there is still some hope for that. There is an Atelier Marie translation project that some fans are working on to make a playable rom of the game for English language fans. I've been following the project for a while now, both on the blog and on an Ar Tonelico forum and just quietly offering support.
But now I guess I'm going to make a little bit of a rallying cry? If there's anyone who has the time and ability to help with translating or coding, please drop these guys a line. If not, spread the word and see if there's anyone who can. I'd love to see this project completed and get to play Atelier Marie one day.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Slightly behind on poke-news again.
So I've fallen a little behind again on presenting the forthcoming news on Pokemon Black/White. I'm here to rectify that today and get myself all caught up before I head to Baltimore this weekend for Otakon 2010 (which you can expect a full report on when I get back). So strap in kids, this one's going to be a little long...
So let's start with what's fresh, shall we?
This is Victini. It's the third legendary pokemon for Black/White that's been revealed so far, and has #000 as it's Isshu pokedex number, which is a first. Otherwise there's nothing we really know about it.
Except that it has butt-wings.
God just look at those things. How does it expect to fly with those? Upside down?
I'm not really sure how I feel about Victini at the moment. As far as being the "cute" legendary, I think it falls short of what Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, and Shaymin have been. It reminds me more of Rotom, since it's very pointy. And I really wasn't a big fan of Rotom for some reason...
Still, if I ever end up with one, his name will be "Butt-wings". I'm a jerk like that.
Okay, we're gonna go left->right/top->bottom with these.
Gochiruzeru - The Celestial Body Pokemon
More like the Apathetic Pokemon, judging by that face. I'm not really 100% on it, since I can't tell much about it, but it would make a super cute gijinka. I don't know why most psychic pokemon have to have this serious, unplayful design like their whole lives are such serious business. Of course there re exceptions... Though Gochiruzeru really looks like it should have some dark in it's typing, and it bothers me that it doesn't.
Kibago - The Tusk Pokemon
Kibago seems to suffer from "Gen III" syndrome, as I call it, where some of the pokemon just seem like they're taking the place and being the "poor man's" version of a pokemon from another generation. Kibago seems to be the poor man's Larvitar. Of course this could easily be rectified by having it not end up as something that looks like Tyrannitar. We'll have to see.
Rankurusu - The Amplification Pokemon
One of the exceptions to the "serious business psychics" is Rankurusu. This thing honestly looks like the biggest bundle of fun in the world, and depending on what comes of it, it may be my new default psychic. Seriosuly, it looks like a huge bean bag chair that I want to cuddle forever.
Koromori - The Bat Pokemon
This is right up there with Giaru for me. We really didn't need a "poor man's Zubat". Zubat was frustrating enough. And I'm just not sold on the design. Hopefully it will evolve into something totally kick-ass to make up for it.
Wargle - The Valor Pokemon
The kick ass pokemon with the silly name. Warrrrgle. I could say that forever. I want to catch one and name it "Uncle Sam". I'm glad to see an eagle-like pokemon finally instead of a bunch of falcons. Variation is good, folks. Wargle with "brave bird" on it would probably just make my life.
Minezumi - The Lookout Pokemon
Minezumi looks like it's taking the place of Rattata and Bidoof, which is a shame I guess? But he's got a very classic "pokemon" look to him. I just wish he wasn't apparently so bipedal. I think he's kind of like Bidoof and Hoot-Hoot got genetically spliced.
Musharna - The Trance Pokemon
Okay, so I said I was on the fence about Munna, but it evolves into this thing which is super cute. Not to mention you need to have one of these pokemon in order to use certain cool new features in the game like the Global Link and the Dream World, and I refuse to miss out on features like that.
The Global link allows players to either battle on line or have access to the Dream World. The Dream World, from what I can tell seems to expand on what the Pokewalker did for HeartGold/SoulSilver.
I can see myself wasting SO MUCH TIME on this. It sounds insanely fun, and I think it's a clever way to bring in pokemon from other regions without having to do massive amounts of trading from other games.
Plenty of other new features have been announced too, and on the whole they sound totally fantastic. A feature called "Passing By" allows players to "seamlessly and instantaneously connect with nearby players", though I'm not entirely sure what what would consist of. "Live Caster" allows players to video chat, though I could see this feature turning ugly pretty quickly. And then there is "Feeling Check" which measures "Compatibility between players". There's some mini-games involved and it just seems like a cute idea.
And then of course there is the new feature of Triple Battling. I'm on the fence with this. Bulbanews has a great article from their "Looking Forward" column on the subject of triple battles, and I find myself agreeing pretty solidly with it. It could be an amazing new feature, it could be a mess. Right now we haven't really seen it in action so we'll just have to wait and hope for the best.
And now, finally, we come to my favorite part... New characters!
On the left is Cheren, your responsible, dependable dude friend who wants to be the new Champion. On the right is Bel, your excitable derp of a gal pal who's going out into the world against her father's wishes. These are your two best friends. From what I can tell, they seem to play the same role as Barry in D/P/Pt, except now you get two of them. Bel, on the whole seem to just be a female Barry.
Then we have "N", playing the role of the antagonist, much like Silver in the Gen II games/remakes.
This leads me to believe he's kind of like Cyrus from Gen IV, and therefore is totally out of his mind. I am hoping that I get to beat him up and tell him he's an idiot at some point in the game, because the female player character totally looks like she could kick some ass.
And then there is my favorite new addition to the cast...
Mokomo, the other Isshu professor.
That's right. This region is full of lady professors, running around and doing crazy pokemon science. This game is amazing. I want a game just about Araragi and Momoko, the pokescience-pals.
Professor Mokomo seems to play a role similar to Mr. Pokemon from Gen II. She's a friend of Professor Araragi's and eventually gives you the "C Gear", which is Gen V's pokemon trainer multi-tool, after you do her some kind of favor. A favor which I hope includes Araragi somehow. These two look like they would be the most ADORABLE best friends. I could see them growing up together and following around pokemon and studying them.
So that's things as they stand currently. Right now this game is looking like it is going to pack more awesome than I can handle. There's apparently going to be big differences between the two versions, so I'm going to have to play both. This bothers me a bit because it will take forever.
So let's look forward to it all together!
So let's start with what's fresh, shall we?
This is Victini. It's the third legendary pokemon for Black/White that's been revealed so far, and has #000 as it's Isshu pokedex number, which is a first. Otherwise there's nothing we really know about it.
Except that it has butt-wings.
God just look at those things. How does it expect to fly with those? Upside down?
I'm not really sure how I feel about Victini at the moment. As far as being the "cute" legendary, I think it falls short of what Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, and Shaymin have been. It reminds me more of Rotom, since it's very pointy. And I really wasn't a big fan of Rotom for some reason...
Still, if I ever end up with one, his name will be "Butt-wings". I'm a jerk like that.
Okay, we're gonna go left->right/top->bottom with these.
Gochiruzeru - The Celestial Body Pokemon
More like the Apathetic Pokemon, judging by that face. I'm not really 100% on it, since I can't tell much about it, but it would make a super cute gijinka. I don't know why most psychic pokemon have to have this serious, unplayful design like their whole lives are such serious business. Of course there re exceptions... Though Gochiruzeru really looks like it should have some dark in it's typing, and it bothers me that it doesn't.
Kibago - The Tusk Pokemon
Kibago seems to suffer from "Gen III" syndrome, as I call it, where some of the pokemon just seem like they're taking the place and being the "poor man's" version of a pokemon from another generation. Kibago seems to be the poor man's Larvitar. Of course this could easily be rectified by having it not end up as something that looks like Tyrannitar. We'll have to see.
Rankurusu - The Amplification Pokemon
One of the exceptions to the "serious business psychics" is Rankurusu. This thing honestly looks like the biggest bundle of fun in the world, and depending on what comes of it, it may be my new default psychic. Seriosuly, it looks like a huge bean bag chair that I want to cuddle forever.
Koromori - The Bat Pokemon
This is right up there with Giaru for me. We really didn't need a "poor man's Zubat". Zubat was frustrating enough. And I'm just not sold on the design. Hopefully it will evolve into something totally kick-ass to make up for it.
Wargle - The Valor Pokemon
The kick ass pokemon with the silly name. Warrrrgle. I could say that forever. I want to catch one and name it "Uncle Sam". I'm glad to see an eagle-like pokemon finally instead of a bunch of falcons. Variation is good, folks. Wargle with "brave bird" on it would probably just make my life.
Minezumi - The Lookout Pokemon
Minezumi looks like it's taking the place of Rattata and Bidoof, which is a shame I guess? But he's got a very classic "pokemon" look to him. I just wish he wasn't apparently so bipedal. I think he's kind of like Bidoof and Hoot-Hoot got genetically spliced.
Musharna - The Trance Pokemon
Okay, so I said I was on the fence about Munna, but it evolves into this thing which is super cute. Not to mention you need to have one of these pokemon in order to use certain cool new features in the game like the Global Link and the Dream World, and I refuse to miss out on features like that.
The Global link allows players to either battle on line or have access to the Dream World. The Dream World, from what I can tell seems to expand on what the Pokewalker did for HeartGold/SoulSilver.
There is a 'Dream World' where Pokémon have their own rooms to play in, and are able to play mini-games with other Pokémon. If a Pokémon is befriended in the dream world, it is able to be taken back to the player's game. Hence, this allows Pokémon not native to the Isshu region to be obtained. To send a Pokémon (the Pokémon must be placed in in the PC box) to the world of dreams, the Game Sync feature (part of the C Gear) is used.- From Bulbanews's article on the Coro Coro leaks.
I can see myself wasting SO MUCH TIME on this. It sounds insanely fun, and I think it's a clever way to bring in pokemon from other regions without having to do massive amounts of trading from other games.
Plenty of other new features have been announced too, and on the whole they sound totally fantastic. A feature called "Passing By" allows players to "seamlessly and instantaneously connect with nearby players", though I'm not entirely sure what what would consist of. "Live Caster" allows players to video chat, though I could see this feature turning ugly pretty quickly. And then there is "Feeling Check" which measures "Compatibility between players". There's some mini-games involved and it just seems like a cute idea.
And then of course there is the new feature of Triple Battling. I'm on the fence with this. Bulbanews has a great article from their "Looking Forward" column on the subject of triple battles, and I find myself agreeing pretty solidly with it. It could be an amazing new feature, it could be a mess. Right now we haven't really seen it in action so we'll just have to wait and hope for the best.
And now, finally, we come to my favorite part... New characters!
On the left is Cheren, your responsible, dependable dude friend who wants to be the new Champion. On the right is Bel, your excitable derp of a gal pal who's going out into the world against her father's wishes. These are your two best friends. From what I can tell, they seem to play the same role as Barry in D/P/Pt, except now you get two of them. Bel, on the whole seem to just be a female Barry.
Then we have "N", playing the role of the antagonist, much like Silver in the Gen II games/remakes.
He regularly challenges the player in order to confirm his ideas of justice. He calls Pokémon "friends", but one of the screen shots shows him saying that he wants to split humans and Pokémon and divide them to create a black and white world. He has the unique idea to set Pokémon free from people, and looks for the power to bring his idea to reality.- Again, from Bulbanews's article on the Coro Coro leaks.
This leads me to believe he's kind of like Cyrus from Gen IV, and therefore is totally out of his mind. I am hoping that I get to beat him up and tell him he's an idiot at some point in the game, because the female player character totally looks like she could kick some ass.
And then there is my favorite new addition to the cast...
Mokomo, the other Isshu professor.
That's right. This region is full of lady professors, running around and doing crazy pokemon science. This game is amazing. I want a game just about Araragi and Momoko, the pokescience-pals.
Professor Mokomo seems to play a role similar to Mr. Pokemon from Gen II. She's a friend of Professor Araragi's and eventually gives you the "C Gear", which is Gen V's pokemon trainer multi-tool, after you do her some kind of favor. A favor which I hope includes Araragi somehow. These two look like they would be the most ADORABLE best friends. I could see them growing up together and following around pokemon and studying them.
So that's things as they stand currently. Right now this game is looking like it is going to pack more awesome than I can handle. There's apparently going to be big differences between the two versions, so I'm going to have to play both. This bothers me a bit because it will take forever.
So let's look forward to it all together!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Catching up on Pokemon news.
Okay, so while I let this blog idle, more and more new information about the two new versions of pokemon, Black and White, have been surfacing. I wasn't really interested at first, since it was all about the new mechanics and changes to the basic structure of the game. I didn't really care about any of that. Pokemon is pokemon is pokemon, y'know? But with some of the recent reveals, I've gotten a little more excited about the upcoming 5th generation of the franchise. So I'm going to start with the newer information and work my way back, beginning with what I am most excited about...
FEMALE REGIONAL PROFESSOR!!!
I am pretty psyched by this. This is the first time we've had a female professor, and she's pretty young, and she is GORGEOUS. The name that's been released is Professor Araragi. Who knows what we'll get in the way of a tree-themed American name for her. But she looks like she's energetic and ridiculous, and that her wackyness can be chalked up to being into CRAAAAZY SCIENCE instead of being old.
There's also been a handful of fresh new Gen V pokemon released and I have a variety of opinions on them all...
So first is "chiramii", the chinchilla pokemon. A normal type. It. Is. Adorable. I've loved chinchillas for a long time, since my best friend has raised several, and I'm glad to finally see a chinchilla pokemon in the lineup. If it eveolves, I hope it stays adorable.
To the right is "shimama", which is some kind of electric zebra. Awesome. Awesome. I hope it evolves into an even more badass electric zebra. If my party wasn't already electric saturated, I'd probably take him in. I may raise one anyway if he's common enough. Especially if he evolves into something awesome. i'm thinking kind of an electric Rapidash since he's rather ponyta-like.
And on the bottom is "meguroko", a dark-ground gator pokemon. He's also adorable. I'll lprobably catch one and just have it sit around since I don't keep ground types around, but he's still pretty cute. He's classified as a "desert crocodile", so I'm wondering what sort of area you'll end up having to go to in order to find him. That should be some fun news.
Now onto the group that I'm on the fence about...
First is "hihidaruma", the "blaze pokemon", obviously a fire type. I am assuming that since 'daruma' is in his name, and by his eyes, that he is based on daruma dolls. I adore darumas. And he looks like he'd be a second stage pokemon, which makes me hope that he evolves from a little rolly fire-breathign daruma. Because if he does, I will bring that thing into my party and never let it evolve because oh god that would be so cute. I have such a soft spot for darumas.
To the right is "munna", a psychic type... pig... thing. If it evolves into something kind of pretty, I can legitimize this, but otherwise I'm just not really into it. It's a pretty bland design and there's nothing really interesting or special about it. It's jsut a pink pig-shaped thing with some flowers on it's butt. I guess we'll see.
And then there is "mamepato", the baby pidgeon pokemon. It's your standard normal-flying type that we get every gen to replace pidgey. It's pretty cute even though It's basically a slightly altered starly. But he serves his purpose and maybe he'll have some cool variations in his evolutions.
And then there was this...
"Giaru". The gear pokemon. Steel type. The poor man's alt-type magnimite. and as it is, I hate magnimite. Though aside from diglett, I've never been fond of any of the "clump" pokemon. Let's sut move on before I get frustrated...
So here we have Reishiram (left) and Zekrom (right), Black and White's legendary pair. They're both dragon types, with Reishirom's secondary beign fire, and Zekrom's secondary being elecrtic. I'm glad to see the "big" legendaries (the version mascots, and larger bodied ones) going back to looking more organic. The past couple of generations, they've been looking a little robotic or mechanized for my taste. Not to say there weren't some I liked, but it's a direction that I'm glad this version took.
I'm a bit more partial to Reishiram, since I think he looks like (as I once described it) "Lugia after getting stuck inside a pillow", but I also do like Zekrom, and I think they're an interesting and very balanced pair. Though that should come as no surprise since they are the Yin and Yan pokemon.
Now it's time for me to get into stuff you already know about...
Like the Gen V starters. Tsutarja, the grass type, Pokabu, the fire type, and Mijumaru, the water type. I'm pretty okay with all of them, but like most people my preference is Tsutarja, or as the itnernet has come to call him, "Smugleaf". And if Nintendo doens't name him that officially, we will all be sorely disappointed, and will all just nickname him that anyway. It's how the fandom works. They should know that by now.
My real problem with Pokabu is that I could see his evolutions being HIDEOUS and that just doesn't fly with me, especially for a fire-type starter. Fire starters are supposed to be badass. Water starters are supposed to end up hideous.Grass types kind of come and go in whatever direction they want in their final stages. But I predict Tsutaraja turning into a badass.
Mijumaru is cute, and he'll probably turn into something pretty neat looking, but Tsutarja just has the best look, so he kind of turned me away from the little beaver-otter or whatever it is. It's still cute though. I don't care what anyone says.
And then we have the new player characters, Black, the male, and White, the female. I'm pretty indifferent to Black, since I'm a chick and rarely use them (though I used him in SoulSilver, but I covered my reasons for that already). But I am in love with White. It looks like the 80's threw up all over her. Which is kind of hilarious and great. Black seems fairly standard as far as the male protagonists go, but I'm curious to see how he fares in the way of personality.
Our player characters are a bit older this time, though I'm not sure by how much. And we have a new, once again wrist-mounted trainer tool, which I like. Even the pokedex got a hefty redesign:
Nintendo has said that Black and White are going to take the series in a very new direction, and a lot of the information that's surfaced has really pointed in that direction. I'm eagar to see where this new direction takes the franchise, and I hope it's somewhere good.
FEMALE REGIONAL PROFESSOR!!!
I am pretty psyched by this. This is the first time we've had a female professor, and she's pretty young, and she is GORGEOUS. The name that's been released is Professor Araragi. Who knows what we'll get in the way of a tree-themed American name for her. But she looks like she's energetic and ridiculous, and that her wackyness can be chalked up to being into CRAAAAZY SCIENCE instead of being old.
There's also been a handful of fresh new Gen V pokemon released and I have a variety of opinions on them all...
So first is "chiramii", the chinchilla pokemon. A normal type. It. Is. Adorable. I've loved chinchillas for a long time, since my best friend has raised several, and I'm glad to finally see a chinchilla pokemon in the lineup. If it eveolves, I hope it stays adorable.
To the right is "shimama", which is some kind of electric zebra. Awesome. Awesome. I hope it evolves into an even more badass electric zebra. If my party wasn't already electric saturated, I'd probably take him in. I may raise one anyway if he's common enough. Especially if he evolves into something awesome. i'm thinking kind of an electric Rapidash since he's rather ponyta-like.
And on the bottom is "meguroko", a dark-ground gator pokemon. He's also adorable. I'll lprobably catch one and just have it sit around since I don't keep ground types around, but he's still pretty cute. He's classified as a "desert crocodile", so I'm wondering what sort of area you'll end up having to go to in order to find him. That should be some fun news.
Now onto the group that I'm on the fence about...
First is "hihidaruma", the "blaze pokemon", obviously a fire type. I am assuming that since 'daruma' is in his name, and by his eyes, that he is based on daruma dolls. I adore darumas. And he looks like he'd be a second stage pokemon, which makes me hope that he evolves from a little rolly fire-breathign daruma. Because if he does, I will bring that thing into my party and never let it evolve because oh god that would be so cute. I have such a soft spot for darumas.
To the right is "munna", a psychic type... pig... thing. If it evolves into something kind of pretty, I can legitimize this, but otherwise I'm just not really into it. It's a pretty bland design and there's nothing really interesting or special about it. It's jsut a pink pig-shaped thing with some flowers on it's butt. I guess we'll see.
And then there is "mamepato", the baby pidgeon pokemon. It's your standard normal-flying type that we get every gen to replace pidgey. It's pretty cute even though It's basically a slightly altered starly. But he serves his purpose and maybe he'll have some cool variations in his evolutions.
And then there was this...
"Giaru". The gear pokemon. Steel type. The poor man's alt-type magnimite. and as it is, I hate magnimite. Though aside from diglett, I've never been fond of any of the "clump" pokemon. Let's sut move on before I get frustrated...
So here we have Reishiram (left) and Zekrom (right), Black and White's legendary pair. They're both dragon types, with Reishirom's secondary beign fire, and Zekrom's secondary being elecrtic. I'm glad to see the "big" legendaries (the version mascots, and larger bodied ones) going back to looking more organic. The past couple of generations, they've been looking a little robotic or mechanized for my taste. Not to say there weren't some I liked, but it's a direction that I'm glad this version took.
I'm a bit more partial to Reishiram, since I think he looks like (as I once described it) "Lugia after getting stuck inside a pillow", but I also do like Zekrom, and I think they're an interesting and very balanced pair. Though that should come as no surprise since they are the Yin and Yan pokemon.
Now it's time for me to get into stuff you already know about...
Like the Gen V starters. Tsutarja, the grass type, Pokabu, the fire type, and Mijumaru, the water type. I'm pretty okay with all of them, but like most people my preference is Tsutarja, or as the itnernet has come to call him, "Smugleaf". And if Nintendo doens't name him that officially, we will all be sorely disappointed, and will all just nickname him that anyway. It's how the fandom works. They should know that by now.
My real problem with Pokabu is that I could see his evolutions being HIDEOUS and that just doesn't fly with me, especially for a fire-type starter. Fire starters are supposed to be badass. Water starters are supposed to end up hideous.Grass types kind of come and go in whatever direction they want in their final stages. But I predict Tsutaraja turning into a badass.
Mijumaru is cute, and he'll probably turn into something pretty neat looking, but Tsutarja just has the best look, so he kind of turned me away from the little beaver-otter or whatever it is. It's still cute though. I don't care what anyone says.
And then we have the new player characters, Black, the male, and White, the female. I'm pretty indifferent to Black, since I'm a chick and rarely use them (though I used him in SoulSilver, but I covered my reasons for that already). But I am in love with White. It looks like the 80's threw up all over her. Which is kind of hilarious and great. Black seems fairly standard as far as the male protagonists go, but I'm curious to see how he fares in the way of personality.
Our player characters are a bit older this time, though I'm not sure by how much. And we have a new, once again wrist-mounted trainer tool, which I like. Even the pokedex got a hefty redesign:
Nintendo has said that Black and White are going to take the series in a very new direction, and a lot of the information that's surfaced has really pointed in that direction. I'm eagar to see where this new direction takes the franchise, and I hope it's somewhere good.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
SoulSilver Is Where It's At, Kids.
It's pokemon time kids.
It seems that regardless of getting it the day it came out and playing obsessively for three days, I've fallen behind everyone else since I had to take a break to go to class. I'm currently training my party up to level 25 (they're at 22 right now) in order to get my fourth gym badge. I have friends who are already fighting the Elite Four for the first time. Hopefully devoting my weekend to pokemon will catch me up.
But guys, this game is just as glorious as I anticipated.
Suri and I preordered. I got SoulSilver because it is the best and I have a massive crush on Lugia (and have since I was little) and Suri got HeartGold because it's required of us to have opposite versions. I kind of expected him to buy both, but I guess not. Either way, I really had to fight him on this because SoulSilver is where all the fun is and Ho-Oh is a jerk. Tru fax.
Pre-ordering came with a spectaaaacular bonus -- Lugia and Ho-Oh figures, depending on which version you bought. The only reason I bothered pre-ordering is because this Lugia figure is SO GLORIOUS.
The Ho-Oh? not quite so much. Lugia is doing this magnificent "rising from he sea" kind of thing. He's got water flying everywhere, dripping off the spines on his back, generally being a total badass. Ho-Oh is in a fairly typical pose for him, with some fire around his butt. Not that impressive. It would be disappointing if it was any other set of legendaries and I thought of them on equal terms, but I've never been that into Ho-Oh so I don't really care.
Playing has been a lot of fun. I've loved having one of my pokemon trailing along behind me at all times. Turning around to talk to them produces ADORABLE results, except in pokemon centers when they just get really lazy.
It's amazing how attached a person can get to some programmed pixels. My quilava (named Rayearth because I am a dork) got angry at me for trying to take an item from it and just kept making angry faces at me every time I talked to it. It was fairly upsetting.
The pokewalker has also been a lot of fun. Simple little battles, item finding... I like earning new routes and connecting with friends. I haven't done a whole lot of it but it's been a pretty good time so far.
For the record, I decided to play as a male trainer.
I could claim it was for the sake of nostalgia, since because I never played Crystal I never played a female trainer in Gen II. But really, it's because I didn't want to play as Strawberry Shortcake.
I don't really like her hat, even if the overalls are adorable. And the male trainer has a black and yellow hat, and that's enough to sell me. Either way, I'm playing as a dude, and I am loving it.
The one thing that I do truly miss is Sinnoh's Underground.
The Underground was my favorite part of Gen IV. I loved this place. It was my favorite thing to do. Item hunting became a passion of mine. It's how I made all of my money. It was my favorite thing about Gen IV and made up for the HORRIBLE FAILURE that is the battle frontier. I wish there was some way to include it in SoulSilver, but i suppose I understand why it wasn't.
So I guess I'll makee another post on the subject once I've played more. Take care, kids.
It seems that regardless of getting it the day it came out and playing obsessively for three days, I've fallen behind everyone else since I had to take a break to go to class. I'm currently training my party up to level 25 (they're at 22 right now) in order to get my fourth gym badge. I have friends who are already fighting the Elite Four for the first time. Hopefully devoting my weekend to pokemon will catch me up.
But guys, this game is just as glorious as I anticipated.
Suri and I preordered. I got SoulSilver because it is the best and I have a massive crush on Lugia (and have since I was little) and Suri got HeartGold because it's required of us to have opposite versions. I kind of expected him to buy both, but I guess not. Either way, I really had to fight him on this because SoulSilver is where all the fun is and Ho-Oh is a jerk. Tru fax.
Pre-ordering came with a spectaaaacular bonus -- Lugia and Ho-Oh figures, depending on which version you bought. The only reason I bothered pre-ordering is because this Lugia figure is SO GLORIOUS.
The Ho-Oh? not quite so much. Lugia is doing this magnificent "rising from he sea" kind of thing. He's got water flying everywhere, dripping off the spines on his back, generally being a total badass. Ho-Oh is in a fairly typical pose for him, with some fire around his butt. Not that impressive. It would be disappointing if it was any other set of legendaries and I thought of them on equal terms, but I've never been that into Ho-Oh so I don't really care.
Playing has been a lot of fun. I've loved having one of my pokemon trailing along behind me at all times. Turning around to talk to them produces ADORABLE results, except in pokemon centers when they just get really lazy.
It's amazing how attached a person can get to some programmed pixels. My quilava (named Rayearth because I am a dork) got angry at me for trying to take an item from it and just kept making angry faces at me every time I talked to it. It was fairly upsetting.
The pokewalker has also been a lot of fun. Simple little battles, item finding... I like earning new routes and connecting with friends. I haven't done a whole lot of it but it's been a pretty good time so far.
For the record, I decided to play as a male trainer.
I could claim it was for the sake of nostalgia, since because I never played Crystal I never played a female trainer in Gen II. But really, it's because I didn't want to play as Strawberry Shortcake.
I don't really like her hat, even if the overalls are adorable. And the male trainer has a black and yellow hat, and that's enough to sell me. Either way, I'm playing as a dude, and I am loving it.
The one thing that I do truly miss is Sinnoh's Underground.
The Underground was my favorite part of Gen IV. I loved this place. It was my favorite thing to do. Item hunting became a passion of mine. It's how I made all of my money. It was my favorite thing about Gen IV and made up for the HORRIBLE FAILURE that is the battle frontier. I wish there was some way to include it in SoulSilver, but i suppose I understand why it wasn't.
So I guess I'll makee another post on the subject once I've played more. Take care, kids.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Atelier Annie - Part 1
So it's been... a month since my last post? But I have a (not very) good reason for my absence... I've been playing Atelier Annie pretty much non-stop since February 14th.
You maybe unaware, but I am completely obsessed with the Atelier series of video games. Specifically, Atelier Marie. Tragically, this franchise has been mostly doomed in the US and has seen minimal release over here. (Which has been slowly changing, thank god.) It's something I whine about to anyone who will listen on a regular basis.
But on Valentines Day, my boyfriend and I were at the mall and dropped into gamestop because I was in the hopes of wandering across a used copy of Katamari Damacy. Not finding it, we decided to stare at the DS games and talk about pokemon and complain about how expensive the Bleach games are for a while.
That was when Suri looked up at the top shelf and spotted a game I would have completely missed due to being a shorty -- Atelier Annie.
I bought it on the spot and have been playing it obsessively for the past month. I've beaten it three times since the day I bought it and am midway through my 4th playthrough. Now, I haven't been playing constantly, even if I have been playing a lot. (After all, I've had school to deal with too.) This game is pretty quick. Personally, I wish it was a bit longer, but I suppose I should expect as much from a DS game in comparison to a console game. I can get through the whole of Atelier Annie in about three days if I play a little when ever I have a spare half an hour or so.
But as quick to play through as it is, this game is fun and incredibly challenging. As I said, I've beaten the game three times and have not been able to meet the highest objective. I've only gotten two different endings, and man on my third playthrough I seriously hauled ass to try and make Meister. But no go.
I guess I should probably tell you all about the game before I continue rambling on and on about how much I love it and you, your mom, and everyone you know, should rush out and buy it and get them to bring more Atelier state-side. I'm going to swipe a quote from TVTropes that sums up Atelier more accurately than I could ever do.
This is one of the things I love most about Atelier. Your primary means of driving the plot is not roaming the land kicking ass and crawling dungeons. It's sitting in your workshop for days on end making the best fucking items you can make and selling them to people that need them. Of course you do go out and stuff happens and you fight monsters, but it's a vastly different progression than, say, Final Fantasy.
The plot of Annie is a little ridiculous, but therein lies the charm. You play Annie, a young girl from a family of well known alchemists. Annie herself has no desire to do all the work involved in being an alchemist and just wants to "marry up" so she won't have to worry about any of that.
Annie's parent,s sick of her just laying around, go to Betner, her grandfather (I have no idea if he's maternal or paternal.), and complain. So, in his infinite crazy-old-man wisdom, he kidnaps her in her sleep and has her move across an ocean to Sera Island, where a resort is being set up.
Annie wakes up in the company of a fairy named Pepe who Betner asked to be your alchemy teacher. He gived you a letter from Betner that explains the situation, which Annie realizes is ridiculous (and maybe a little illegal). He's soon joined by Hans, a young member of the committee at the head of the restoration.
Hans explains about the resort development and the contest between all of the alchemists involved, all competing to make Sera Island a popular resort over the next three years.
Now I need to step in and warn you not to be afraid of the phrase "three years". This is (obviously) not in real time. It is not a long period of time to get through. it is actually notoriously short. Especially when some higher level items take nearly a week to make, not including any time you need to make the items it takes to create them. Not to mention anywhere from one to three or four days to travel from your workshop to your resort facilities or places to gather items (and time spent there). The time adds up really quick, guys.
But back to the plot...
Hans takes you to the opening ceremony of the development project and, for some ridiculous reason (this is Atelier after all), the king puts up the right to marry one of his children as a prize for the alchemy contest. Marrying a hot prince? Hey isn't that Annie's goal in life? Nothing lights a fire under a girl's ass quite like the prospect of not having to do actual work ever again.
So he has you do a quick assignment (Making a sign for your shop.) and then he explains a bit more about how playing works. then you're given your second assignment, get some access to gathering points (to get ingredients for alchemy) and then you're off and running.
Year 1 is mostly about getting your alchemy skills up and building resort facilities (like a theme park or a spa) and getting to know the game's NPCs. It's not until year two that plots start cropping up.
So next time I'll cover the things that go on in year 2, all of the NPCs you hang out with, and the developing plot. Though a post on Ace Attorney Investigations may come before that since I'm midway through playing that, and Suri's currently got my copy of Annie so he can enjoy the fun that is Atelier.
You maybe unaware, but I am completely obsessed with the Atelier series of video games. Specifically, Atelier Marie. Tragically, this franchise has been mostly doomed in the US and has seen minimal release over here. (Which has been slowly changing, thank god.) It's something I whine about to anyone who will listen on a regular basis.
But on Valentines Day, my boyfriend and I were at the mall and dropped into gamestop because I was in the hopes of wandering across a used copy of Katamari Damacy. Not finding it, we decided to stare at the DS games and talk about pokemon and complain about how expensive the Bleach games are for a while.
That was when Suri looked up at the top shelf and spotted a game I would have completely missed due to being a shorty -- Atelier Annie.
I bought it on the spot and have been playing it obsessively for the past month. I've beaten it three times since the day I bought it and am midway through my 4th playthrough. Now, I haven't been playing constantly, even if I have been playing a lot. (After all, I've had school to deal with too.) This game is pretty quick. Personally, I wish it was a bit longer, but I suppose I should expect as much from a DS game in comparison to a console game. I can get through the whole of Atelier Annie in about three days if I play a little when ever I have a spare half an hour or so.
But as quick to play through as it is, this game is fun and incredibly challenging. As I said, I've beaten the game three times and have not been able to meet the highest objective. I've only gotten two different endings, and man on my third playthrough I seriously hauled ass to try and make Meister. But no go.
I guess I should probably tell you all about the game before I continue rambling on and on about how much I love it and you, your mom, and everyone you know, should rush out and buy it and get them to bring more Atelier state-side. I'm going to swipe a quote from TVTropes that sums up Atelier more accurately than I could ever do.
"Okay, you know how every RPG has the grand heroes chosen by fate to become wonderful friends and stand up to the evil sorcerer/empire/corporation/monster and keep it from destroying the world?
This game is not about them.
You know how in almost every RPG, buried about halfway down the final dungeon, sitting next to the second to last save point in the game there's a shopkeeper who has every healing item in the game and every weapon or bit of armor that doesn't require an epic quest? The one who leaves you wondering: "Just how in blazes did she get down here? I'm the ridiculously powerful chosen one and it's almost impossible for me to do it so how did a lowly shopkeeper pull it off"?
This game is about her."
-Anonymous Internet poster, succinctly summing up the spirit of the entire franchise.
This is one of the things I love most about Atelier. Your primary means of driving the plot is not roaming the land kicking ass and crawling dungeons. It's sitting in your workshop for days on end making the best fucking items you can make and selling them to people that need them. Of course you do go out and stuff happens and you fight monsters, but it's a vastly different progression than, say, Final Fantasy.
The plot of Annie is a little ridiculous, but therein lies the charm. You play Annie, a young girl from a family of well known alchemists. Annie herself has no desire to do all the work involved in being an alchemist and just wants to "marry up" so she won't have to worry about any of that.
Annie's parent,s sick of her just laying around, go to Betner, her grandfather (I have no idea if he's maternal or paternal.), and complain. So, in his infinite crazy-old-man wisdom, he kidnaps her in her sleep and has her move across an ocean to Sera Island, where a resort is being set up.
Annie wakes up in the company of a fairy named Pepe who Betner asked to be your alchemy teacher. He gived you a letter from Betner that explains the situation, which Annie realizes is ridiculous (and maybe a little illegal). He's soon joined by Hans, a young member of the committee at the head of the restoration.
Hans explains about the resort development and the contest between all of the alchemists involved, all competing to make Sera Island a popular resort over the next three years.
Now I need to step in and warn you not to be afraid of the phrase "three years". This is (obviously) not in real time. It is not a long period of time to get through. it is actually notoriously short. Especially when some higher level items take nearly a week to make, not including any time you need to make the items it takes to create them. Not to mention anywhere from one to three or four days to travel from your workshop to your resort facilities or places to gather items (and time spent there). The time adds up really quick, guys.
But back to the plot...
Hans takes you to the opening ceremony of the development project and, for some ridiculous reason (this is Atelier after all), the king puts up the right to marry one of his children as a prize for the alchemy contest. Marrying a hot prince? Hey isn't that Annie's goal in life? Nothing lights a fire under a girl's ass quite like the prospect of not having to do actual work ever again.
So he has you do a quick assignment (Making a sign for your shop.) and then he explains a bit more about how playing works. then you're given your second assignment, get some access to gathering points (to get ingredients for alchemy) and then you're off and running.
Year 1 is mostly about getting your alchemy skills up and building resort facilities (like a theme park or a spa) and getting to know the game's NPCs. It's not until year two that plots start cropping up.
So next time I'll cover the things that go on in year 2, all of the NPCs you hang out with, and the developing plot. Though a post on Ace Attorney Investigations may come before that since I'm midway through playing that, and Suri's currently got my copy of Annie so he can enjoy the fun that is Atelier.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Another post about video games.
So. I've played a little more Wind Waker, and I have one question.
When will this game start being fun?
I'm on the Rito's island now, trying to get up to the crazy dragon so it will stop rampaging. Except I am charged with the impossible task of throwing a bomb halfway across a pool of lava into a jar. I spent about three hours on this task last night and continued to fail.
This frustration aside, I've realized that the Rito aren't really all that bright. Several of the Rito people spoke of how their spring dried up. So, I blew up the rock that was clogging it. And then... All of them still talked about it being dried up. Including one standing on a balcony overlooking the spring. I've taken a coding class. I know it's not hard to have dialog changed after an event. I'd be satisfied with even a "HO'SHIT THERE'S WATER AGAIN!"
Then again, if this spring, which is being filled with ash, thanks to being inside of a volcano, is their primary source of water, I suppose I can understand why they are not really that bright. And also jerks.
The better part of today has belonged to Pokemon Trozei. Suri passed it off to me a while ago because he didn't want it. When I took it, I didn't know what I was getting into. You see, I have a problem. When I play a puzzle game, I get pretty hooked on it. I will play it for hours straight, weeks at a time. I don't LIKE playing puzzle games. They frustrate me because they are pretty high maintenance. If you lose focus for just a second you're totally screwed.
I made it through the first round of the adventure mode and am currently on some kind of secret hard mode. I am impressed that there's some kind of logical reason for rescuing a bunch of pokemon to be in the form of a puzzle game. That was pretty clever, even though I can't remember what it is.
The Bleach filler seems to be winding down. We've gotten to the big boss and the evil plan and all that nonsense. I've got a lot to say about it, so when it's done I guess I'll marathon it and write a post about it.
I'm getting a new laptop in the near future, so with wireless internet in my grasp again, I'll be slightly more mobile in my otakudom. I'm gonna go back and look over some things I've checked out recently and hopefully get posts for them up soon.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Late To The Party - Wind Waker Edition
So, a million years after everyone else, I am finally playing Wind Waker on Gamcube. Not that I bought a game cube more than like a year ago. >__> I just never bothered. But I was sick today, and broke out the copy of Wind Waker I borrowed from Suri two months ago and decided to play a little.
I haven't gotten far. I'm in the stupid bird fortress, getting arrested left and right by pigs and being unable to properly swing from lamps. I'm also not having fun with the camera controls because they are a right pain in the ass and do not always do what I want. All the while, Tetra is screaming at me through a magic rock and it is really not helpful. It's like a less annoying but not nearly as useful Navi.
But I've been having fun running around under barrels, enjoying the visuals of the game, and anticipating everyones Wind Waker jokes finally making sense.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Pokemon - Old Memories & New Excitement
I was in fifth grade when Pokemon first came out. I saved up for weeks for the $25-ish that the game cost. (I didn't get an allowance as a kid. I have no idea how I did this.) I got Pokemon Blue at first. I started with Charmander I think, because I wanted to be a badass and Charmander was supposedly the hardest to start with. None the less, I was hooked right away.
I was part of the in crowd as far as pokemon went, back when it was at the very height of it's popularity. I had Blue, Red, and Yellow (again, with a lack of an allowance, I don't have the slightest idea how this happened), had Pokemon Pinball, and Stadium, played the TCG, watched the anime religiously, and even had one of those pocket pikachu things.
I would kill to have one of these again.
And just like any other pokemon fan at the time, I was totally stoked over the release of Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver. My dad got me both for christmas that year, because he's pretty much the greatest dad ever. I pretty much abandoned Gold in favor of Silver, because I had (and still have) a crush on Lugia.
After that, I stopped buying the games. I ended up being a little bit of a purist and was a little frustrated by the Generation 3 pokemon for some reason I really can't explain. Pokemon took a back seat to other interests until 2007 when I heard news of a Mew giveaway to celebrate the American release of the 9th or so movie, "Lucario & The Mystery of Mew". It was only available to the Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald versions. Suri offered me a copy of one of his, and thus I ended up with my own copy of Pokemon Ruby.
Let me say, I was not impressed. I mean yeah, graphics and all had vastly improved, but it just was nothing compared to Gold and Silver. I still have the game somewhere, with like 5 totally legitimate Mews on it, but I can't find the thing for the life of me.
I picked up Pokemon Diamond when it came out, and got Pokemon Pearl for Suri. A year later, when Platinum came out, Suri got it for me for my birthday. They were all fun, even if Platinum didn't have nearly as much nuclear winter as anticipated, but still, I missed Gold and Silver.
But then the rumors started to fly. Generation 4 would have remakes of Generation 2, just like Generation 3 did for Generation 1. Nothing was ever confirmed, so I just ignored it and was annoyed that they even tried to get my hopes up.
Then back in December '08, it was confirmed. HeartGold and SoulSilver were happening. I was stoked. I've been watching release information like a hawk, marveling at the updated graphics, the additions and restorations. I made the happiest noise imaginable at the prospect of my beloved raichu, Amphy, being able to follow me on my journey. I've proclaimed more than once that these games will likely be perfect and they will never need to make another one.
It's a Christmas miracle.
And just yesterday we got a North American release date. March 14, 2010, just five days after my birthday, HG/SS is going to arrive in the states. I've been keeping myself excited by raising my team in Platinum and looking at Lugia merchandise that I can't afford because at the moment I'm broke.
But hopefully I won't have to scrimp and save every penny like I did back when I bought Blue Version back in the fifth grade. Oh the advantages of have a boyfriend and a release date close to my birthday.
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