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Glen-i

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Posts posted by Glen-i

  2. Posted

    4 hours ago, Cube said:

    The problem with Incineroar it follows two Pokémon that are quite similar, and goes in a completely different direction.

    This is a tale as old as 1996. Some of the most well liked Pokémon are ones that radically change with evolution. Gyarados and Dragonite are prime examples.

    And quite frankly, Pokémon based on cats (and dogs) are a dime a dozen, so I'm A-OK with this sudden lurch.

    Also, Tony the Tiger wishes he was as cool as Incineroar.

  5. Posted · Edited by Glen-i

    Generation 7 consists of Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon, and all of them take place in Alola. This is a region that's based on Hawaii. Yes, there is a big snowy mountain on Alola, best not think about it.

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    Rowlet (ROW-let), being an owl, has Flying type as a second type. It's a good thing that Ice attacks aren't common at the start of the game. Speaking of the start, this game doesn't actually have gyms. It has Island Trials which function somewhat similarly. Rowlet performs the best of the three starters in that early game.

    Dartrix (DAR-trix) isn't as round as Rowlet, so why even bother!?

    If anyone tries to tell you that Decidueye (deh-SIH-joo-eye) is the most popular Gen 7 starter, disregard everything they say, because they are either lying, or completely ignorant.
    Why do I bring this up? No real reason, but as far as I can see, Decidueye fans are some of the most bitter Pokémon fans out there. A certain other starter here just became far more prolific, and they're super salty about it. It's definitely not the least popular, at least.

    Anyway, Decidueye is a weird final starter evolution. Rowlet and Dartrix are Grass/Flying, but despite already having a second type, Decidueye is Grass/Ghost, a very cool type combination. Anyway, I know I said Gen 6 was the start of final starter evolutions having a theme, but I'm not entirely certain what the theme is here, if there even is one. Gen 8 and 9 would be more clear about it. Decidueye is obviously an archer.
    Decidueye's signature move is "Spirit Shackle", an 80 power physical Ghost attack that also prevents the opponent from switching out while Decidueye is in battle. Pretty good!

    But well, Decidueye is... to be blunt, not good. It's got a mostly even spread of stats, which is normally not a good thing in Pokémon. Unfortunately, it's speed and defense stat didn't get the message, being a lot lower then the rest. It just doesn't do anything well because it spreads itself too thin.

    Decidueye's biggest claim to fame outside of the main games is that it was the sole new character (Not counting DLC) for the Switch version of Pokkén Tournament. Unlike most Pokémon in that game, I think Decidueye actually comes off looking quite good there.

    pokken-tournament-dx-new-characters-deci

    Even if the wings are a bit too bright...

    Anyway, more on that Pokémon in a future post.

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    Litten (LIT-n) is probably the most uninteresting starter Pokémon, design-wise. It's just a cat with odd colours! Didn't stop it being far and away the most popular of the three starters when they were initially revealed. Some people are just boring, I guess? Seriously, I looked at the Pokédex entries, and there is nothing interesting about it other then "It breathes fire".

    Anyway, Litten has a rough time in the early game of Sun/Moon, it's effective against none of them and weak against the second Island Trial.

    Torracat (TOR-ruh-cat) has a bell made of fire on it's neck, so it's already more interesting then Litten. But it's still a middle evolution, so eh...

    And now for the Pokémon @BowserBasher was waiting for.

    Incineroar (in-SIN-uh-roar) is easily the most divisive Pokémon of all time. And if I'm right... someone inadvertently proved this point beautifully on the previous page.

    On 15/03/2024 at 9:52 AM, Cube said:

    Also, you haven't even gotten to what is by far the worst case of a middle evolution to final evolution of a starter Pokémon. I used an Everstone for that one to make sure it never reached its final evolution.

    Boy, I'm gonna look really silly if that isn't the Pokémon he's referring to...

    Incineroar is a Pokémon that revolves around wrestling. Specifically, the more performative kind of wrestling you'd see in WWE and such. It likes to show off, and has swapped the lame bell for a kick-ass fire belt. That said, it's great with kids. This is the starter Pokémon you want if you need it to babysit.

    Incineroar's divisive reception began before Sun/Moon even came out! As some concept art of it was leaked beforehand. And is probably why Cube elected to use an Everstone, despite the fact it was never officially shown.

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    Incineroar, the ultimate in boiling kettles.

    Quite a bit of outcry when this was shown. There's a lot of people who just inherently dislike bipedal Pokémon, so Litten evolving into this was an immediate red rag to them.
    I will never understand why some people hate bipedal Pokémon so much...
    You see, I look at that picture of Incineroar slamming a table into Pikachu's face, and it cements Incineroar as an absolutely amazing Pokémon to me! I swear, some people hate fun.
    People were also despairing at Incineroar being Fire/Fighting. They were wrong, mind you, Incineroar is actually Fire/Dark. That's what you get for making assumptions.

    Incineroar's signature move is "Darkest Lariat", an 85 power, physical Dark attack that ignores any stat changes the opponent has. The secondary effect isn't all that, but it's the strongest Dark move Incineroar can learn, so it's still good.

    Incineroar is an absolutely amazing Pokémon in battles. It has a ridiculous amount of moves, which means it can fulfill all sorts of roles, and it has the stats to back it up. This makes it a Pokémon that has sort of dominated the Doubles competitive scene because it's impossible to tell what kind of role it's fulfilling, making it a dangerous Pokémon to predict.
    And even better! Incineroar gets "Intimidate" as it's Hidden Ability! Intimidate lowers the attack stat of the opposing Pokémon whenever it enters battle and is the bane of every VGC battler.
    Blaziken may do one trick extremely well, but Incineroar can comfortably fit in any team you make. It is easily the second best starter of all time competitively, and it's not even close.

    Anyway, I'm not the only one who thinks Incineroar is great...

    incineroar.png

    Incineroar is the latest Pokémon character to be added to Smash Bros. Weirdly enough, it was revealed in a trailer alongside Ken from Street Fighter. I don't think I would want to be the guy who had to tell Capcom that "We're gonna show a trailer where Ken gets upstaged and utterly wrecked by some kind of wrestling tiger."

    Masahiro Sakurai has gone on record saying that the Pokémon choices he had for Smash Ultimate were Decidueye or Incineroar, and he went with Incineroar because Smash didn't have a wrestling based character. This is the reason Decidueye fans are bitter, in case you didn't realise.
    Even in Smash though, Incineroar is weird. It's the only Pokémon that has their shiny colouration as a costume option (Why every Pokémon character doesn't have that baffles me), and it's Side Special is a completely made up move.
    You see, every Pokémon's Specials in Smash are based on an attack they can learn in the actual games. Incineroar's Side Special consists of Incineroar Irish Whipping his target into conveniently appearing wrestling ring ropes before hitting them with a clothesline, assuming you get the surprisingly difficult timing. Smash calls it "Alolan Whip", and it doesn't exist in any Pokémon game! Also, Incineroar has the most personality out of any starter Pokémon, and Smash really leans into that with the animations. Seriously, it's facial expressions are wild!

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    Sometimes, when starter Pokémon are revealed, you can just tell which one is going to be the unpopular one. Sorry, Popplio (POP-lee-oh), people just couldn't get past the nose.
    Yes, really. That's the reason. I'm not even joking. It's so pathetic and petty.
    It's pretty good in the opening game. Pity it all goes downhill from here.

    Brionne (bree-AHN) is... Well you get the gist with middle evolutions by now.

    Primarina's (PREE-muh-REE-nuh) very much based on an opera singer, which makes me think that the theme with Gen 7 starters is various forms of entertainment, but Decidueye makes me feel that might be wrong. Anyway, Primarina is Water/Fairy. The Fairy type was introduced in Gen 6, as a way to keep really strong types in check. But this just means that Fairy Pokémon are the new overpowered type. Unfortunately, it doesn't save Primarina from being anything other then mediocre.
    The signature move this Pokémon learns is "Sparkling Aria", a 90 power, Water Special attack. Which sounds great, except that it also heals the target's Burn status.

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    OK, sure...

    Primarina is a decent choice for playthroughs, just because of it's typing. But don't bring it into a serious competitive battle, you'll be laughed out of the arena.

    And that's about it, Gen 7 is relatively recent, so these Pokémon will naturally have less appearances outside of the mainline games. But what's your favourite? Are you that weirdo who says Primarina?

    Yeah, it's Incineroar for me, and it's no contest. Which is impressive, considering I think Litten is one of the most boring Pokémon ever.

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  6. Posted

    It's official! Super Mario Maker has been beaten!

    If you're not aware, people have been striving to complete every legitimately uploaded level in this game before the servers go down.

    I say legitimately, because there was one level left for a while, called "Trimming the Herbs". But it turns out that the uploader used a TAS (Tool Assisted Speedrun) to clear the level. So in a lovely coincidence, the last legit level cleared was "The Last Dance".

    • Thanks 1

  7. Posted

    51 minutes ago, killthenet said:

    I think it could work for an RE game to let the player go anywhere they like from the start, as long as the map is relatively small, but it would still be a complete upheaval of conventions of a series that isn't really in need of an overhaul or reimagining. 

    This is a big time publisher. There's no such thing as small when it comes to open world as far as that's concerned.

    If more games were like Lil Gator Game, I probably wouldn't hate it as much.

  9. Posted · Edited by Glen-i

    3 minutes ago, Julius said:

    I ask because I remember World advertising free updates for new monsters, weapons, armour, etc. at times, with some paid-for cosmetics perhaps and of course Iceborne being a paid-for expansion, whereas with Sunbreak I remember seeing some more complaints about it as an expansion compared to Iceborne, as well as some saying the "events" were more a case of recycling things. Again, can't comment on that stuff and happy to be corrected, but that seemed to be the sentiment I've seen floated around. 

    Monster Hunter as a whole has always reused things from previous games, so it's not surprising that some things from World was reused here. Those complaining about it are clearly people whose first game was World.

    As for how they dish out content in Rise, it's pretty much the same as the way World did it. Various free updates with new things, and a big massive expansion that you pay for.

    But the microtransactions definitely got more brazen with Rise.

  10. Posted

    6 minutes ago, Julius said:

    I really can't imagine that this bodes well for Monster Hunter Wilds at all.

    Ship has already sailed on that series. Both World and Rise have you pay to edit your character, as well as a ridiculous amount of gestures and cosmetics for purchase.

    It will most certainly get worse with Wilds.

  12. Posted

    Gotta say, wasn't expecting a Spirit Battle where different Assist Trophies show up!

    That's never happened before!

    Glad I had a reason to trial run that bonkers Koraidon spirit though. It's really good, and now I have nothing to use it on.

  13. Posted

    Fast travel microtransactions is definitely a new one to me.

    This is precisely why Baldur's Gate 3 is so well received. But no, can't be copying the huge hit if it means not nickel and dime'ing the customer! That'd be silly!

  14. Posted · Edited by Glen-i

    2 hours ago, Cube said:

    It doesn’t change the nature of the questions in any way, it’s just a pointless novelty to make them seem more interesting than they are.

    Gonna have to stop you there, mate. But there is a point to this. Well, was. These days, it definitely is only a thing because it's become symbolic of the show.

    Back before Jeopardy was first broadcast in America, quiz shows there had become embroiled in a number of scandals of rigging. Contestants that were deemed popular were routinely given the answers to questions to ensure they win and return in future episodes. The most notorious examples were "21" and "Dotto".

    So when Merv and Julann Griffin pitched their idea to broadcasters, they suggested they reverse the format and give contestants the answer and have them provide the question.

    Yeah, I know. That idea wouldn't stop potential for rigging, really. But it did convince viewers that there wasn't anything of the sort in this show. (Probably helps that Jeopardy wasn't rigged, mind)

    Safe to say, it saved American Quiz Shows.

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  16. Posted

    11 hours ago, Jonnas said:

    Is the game good in its own right without all of that multiplayer stuff?

    Absolutely, the only thing I'll say is that once you get to the tavern, you can use it to create the other three members of your party.

    You would not believe the amount of times I've seen people overlook this and play through most of the game with one character.

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  17. Posted

    14 hours ago, Dcubed said:

    The minigames are all 100% hot fire though.  You can’t say it’s the lamest Mario Party when Mario Party Advance and Mario Party 8 exist.

    You know that mingames alone do not a good Mario Party make.

    Also, Advance doesn't count, and I'd still rather play 8 then 4.

  18. Posted · Edited by Glen-i

    21 hours ago, Jonnas said:

    Mario Party 4 is sooo much better.

    Wow, how can someone be so incredibly wrong!?

    The mushroom system in that game is god awful! They're all you ever get and when you can't use the double dice one because it makes you skip the star space, that's how you know it sucks.

    It also goes at a snail's pace, and the boards aren't very interesting.

    It's the lamest Mario Party.

  19. Posted

    15 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

    Is there even an end to the game or is it just a question of surviving as long as you can and that's it?

    There is a win condition for each stage. Don't expect to reach it at the start, though.

    And yeah, the unlocks are basically what people consider the main meat of 100%-ing the game.

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  20. Posted

    55 minutes ago, RedShell said:

    It's crazy how different it is when you're just starting out though. The difficultly level in this game is completely inverted, it's actually a lot more challenging at the beginning than at the end. :heh:

    Well, yeah. The mindset goes from "How the hell do I survive!?" to "What do I need to make the framerate go as low as possible?"

    • Haha 1

  21. Posted · Edited by Glen-i

    6 minutes ago, RedShell said:

    So let's just all agree to no camping on there! :D

    Actually, I think this is my preferred solution.

    I like stages where some characters might have an inherent advantage, it can make the random character choice feel a bit more dynamic. In this case, having a "Safe Zone" for when someone gets a Final Smash or an item that is immensely powerful, but temporary, like the hammer, to escape to, is fine by me.

    But you do need a Gentleman's Agreement to not bring the pace of the match to an absolute halt by exploiting it.

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  22. Posted

    Oh cool, I'm not the only one then. And I don't even have a backlog anymore!

    You know, except for games that I'm waiting for a sale on.

    For me, it's just the increasingly diminishing returns on more powerful hardware. Visually speaking, generational leaps just no longer impress me. And let's face it, stronger hardware won't fix problems like frame rate, because they'll just use said stronger hardware for graphical upgrades, and games will run just as well as they do now.

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