Glen-i

So, quite a while ago, I played through Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness. First things first, at a certain point playing it, I couldn't help but compare it to Pokemon X and Pokemon Y. So with that, this entry to my gaming diary is entitled... Pokemon XD VS Pokemon X/Y A few things to note. Pokemon XD came out in 2005 for the Nintendo Gamecube. It is made by Genius Sonority (Read: Not Game Freak) and is most certainly a spin-off to the mainline Pokemon games. Despite being a spin-off, it plays almost exactly like the handheld mainline games with a few mechanic tweaks. Pokemon X/Y came out in 2013 for the 3DS. It is made by original Pokemon game creators Game Freak. So with that, let's start comparing! No, actually, wait, one more thing. I'm not gonna include number of Pokemon each game has, that's not fair. Of course X/Y will win that one. It came out 8 years later. Now let's start comparing. Graphix! This is an interesting one. I think it's safe to say that the original 3DS is perfectly capable of matching the Gamecube in graphical prowess. It can run a version of Donkey Kong Country Returns quite nicely and that was originally a Wii game. Overworld scenery wise, X/Y wins hands down. XD just looks a bit bland. But it's not that straightforward. Especially if you look at the character models. I know the trainer is customisable in X/Y. But XD's trainer model just looks much nicer to me. Which serves to make this choice hard. So let's look at the visuals in battles. The first thing that jumps out is how empty XD's battlefield is in that picture. But there's a pretty good reason for that. Look at X/Y's battlefield, notice how all the models are very similar in size? They shouldn't be. Let me emphasize the point with hilariously massive Pokemon, Wailord. Look at that guy down there, he's an average-sized adult! Ummmm... Pretty sure Wailmer in XD is bigger than that. OK, that's a shot from Pokemon Colloseum, which uses the exact same engine anyway. So it doesn't matter. XD keeps the Pokemon models to scale, while X/Y just didn't bother. And that really bugs me. Seeing a Groudon that's around the same size as a Sceptile is disconcerting. But hey, at least X/Y's Pokemon models are generally better than XD's, right? Well, yeah, but at what cost? For some reason, X/Y's frame rate can noticeably dip at times, particularly when 3 or more things are on the screen. This game is hardly pushing the system to it's limits, and yet XD is perfectly capable of having up to 6 models of possibly massive size on the screen at once with no issues what-so-ever, so what gives? And by the way, XD's animations are a million times more interesting than X/Y's. You can throw as many Mr.Mime gifs at me all you like, this single animation trumps them all! And there's many more brilliant ones on top of that. So it's still a tough call, but when your game can't handle more than a couple of things before stuttering around, I'm gonna have to give it to XD. XD: 1 X/Y: 0 Storie! Yeah, yeah, who cares about the story in Pokemon games? But it's still a valid point. X/Y is simply an excuse for the gameplay to happen, (Also to shove Yveltal and Xerneas in your face) but my word, it was forgettable! And after the surprisingly decent story of Black/White, I expected a little better. XD's story, on the other hand, tries so hard to be dark and edgy, it kind of falls flat on it's face. But at least it tried! It's completely dumb, but that's far more preferable than a story that's utterly forgettable. So XD gets the point here, by a landslide. XD: 2 X/Y: 0 Gaemplae! Both games have the same basic Pokemon battling mechanic. But XD tries to differentiate itself form the mainline series in a few ways. First, the main method of acquiring Pokemon is effectively theft. You steal them from other trainers. (It's OK though, because this only works for Shadow Pokemon, which only the bad guys use, so that makes it cool, right?) This does really limit the amount of Pokemon you can actually get, which is either good or bad depending on whether you're looking for a kind of restrictive challenge. The other major thing is that the majority of the battles use the double battle method. 2 VS 2, as opposed to the traditional 1 on 1. This is surprisingly refreshing, as double battles open up a lot more strategies, for both you and your opponent. Unfortunately, XD just doesn't have a good overworld, you select where you go on a map and then you can explore that area. Well, I say explore, but each area is very linear... And another issue is that XD's battles tend to take a while. This is no doubt due to the awesomely elaborate animations everything has. It's a price you have to pay for that. That said, the game is quite harder than X/Y. As this video of me playing through the last few moments will show. Skip to 5:48 if you don't want to watch us struggle to get the capture working! PROFESSIONAL! So while XD is still fun, X/Y has more polish to the gameplay that lets it edge ahead. XD: 2 X/Y: 1 Musak! X/Y has a better soundtrack than XD, there's no question about it. So I won't waste your time with that XD: 2 X/Y: 2 Hmmm... a draw, huh? Well, I'm gonna have to break this tie with a question. What game tried harder to add to it's predecessor? XD is a direct sequel to Pokemon Colloseum, and while it uses the same engines, there's a few things that XD added to the experience. On top of the different mechanics Colloseum introduced (Focus on double battles and snagging other trainers Pokemon) XD also had a bunch of optional sub modes, Battle Bingo and the like. But one of the coolest things it did do were the Battle Simulators which provided you with a number of set scenarios (Normally with the odds against you) that you'd have to try and salvage a win out of. It was a proper test of Pokemon battling knowledge and was genuinely cool. So cool, in fact, that Pokemon Black 2/White 2 would later revive it for it's fantastic Pokestar Studios minigame. X/Y gave us... customisable trainers? Which they would then scrap for Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire... Plus, those trainers aren't even visible during battles! XD managed to do that. (It's the small touches, you know) So, despite my beliefs when I first booted this game up for another playthrough, I'm gonna have to say Pokemon XD is more enjoyable than Pokemon X/Y was. Because it actually tried it's very best to feel fresh! And it even manages to surpass a game that would come out 8 years later! In certain areas, anyway. If I want to play a fantastic Pokemon game, I'm not gonna choose X/Y, I'm gonna go with Black/White. If I want to play a different Pokemon game, I'll go with Pokemon XD. XD: 3 X/Y: 2 Gonna go ahead and shove Super Mario Maker in there now that I've done the NWC levels. You can't really finish this game, to be frank. I also don't need to explain why it's marvelous. And with that...

Almost all my levels have this, an optional tricky challenge that rewards you with a 1-up (Amiibo Mushroom if it's in the SMB style). Either that, or it's hidden along the way. Striking a balance between do-able and fun is very tricky, it definitely has made me appreciate level designers more. So far, I've been making levels that are possible to complete without even running, I'm assuming that the player has never played a Mario game before, and I feel my levels are better for it. But now that I've done 4 "Worlds", I'm gonna introduce the concept of running, which will allow me to start making more demanding levels. As for your previous point of most things being of no consequence, it's a valid point, but I honestly can't see a way that this kind of game could implement that and still allow the amount of freedom it gives. It's part of the package and it can't be helped.

And suddenly, my extremely artistic* World 4 is up. You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse DCubed was so infuriated that I found an easier way to speed run his water level that he kinda went out of his way to not play along with each levels theme. And now 4-2 has a woeful clear rate. It's not really that hard at all. But he just had to make a point. Why not play them and find out if he did make that point? *Levels may not be that artistic

You might be thinking of the semi-solid blocks. Depending on the type of level you're making, some of these look like bricks. Experiment, and don't forget to shake them a few times to see what you get.

I was waiting for this day... You are not the only one to struggle with Lorithia, because she is genuinely the hardest mandatory fight in the game. There is no question about it! The best way to cope with her is to use Melia as your lead, she's the best for coping with this kind of enemy. Sharla and Riki are the best characters for support because they have good ether attacks as well as being able to heal characters. Using Melia is very different to using anyone else. Use summon element arts and instantly use element burst to really lay the hurt on the opponents. (This isn't normally the way you should use her, but for this boss, she should be the main attacker) Make sure you also have "Burst End" and "Mind Blast" equipped as well. Once her talent art is full, you can use these arts and do insane amounts of damage. Sharla should have mostly healing arts, but make sure she also has Thunder Bullet. Riki should have You Can Do It along with all of his purple arts (Burninate, Freezinate, etc.). These inflict great gradual damage. Hopefully, you've been buying all the art manuals you've seen... One more thing you need to watch out for is the hazardous liquid around the sides. For some reason, the computer AI loves to get pushed in there. So now and again, tell the party to go to you, and once they get to you, tell them to focus attacks again. It is not an easy fight, but you're almost finished with the game, you can do it! I believe in you!

Laughing my head off here at how quickly people forget about RRP. 1 year, guys! You seriously can't remember that far back?

Went to activity feed, searched for the NNID of the level creator, found the level, copied the URL of my pic, and you know the rest.

OI! You are not allowed to have an opinion until you actually play through Puzzle & Dragons Z. And seeing as I'm the only one who has finished this, I'm the only opinion that matters! That game is easily in my top 5 games of 2015!

Another time! @peterl0's Plumber Platform Peril - 457 I still can't figure out how to find people's posts on an internet browser... EDIT: There we go! Also did @Cube's Pipe House Gone back and edited in some pictures on my previous post now.

The eagerly anticipated (Shut up, it totally is!) World 3 is now up! In case you're a total meanie and you're not following me. You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse

I've got a few more times down. I can't figure out how the hell I'm supposed to find the comments I made to provide pics though, so someone is going to have to verify them for me. @Kaepora Gaebora&\#39;s Super Speed Run In The Sky 64 - 486 @Woz's Super Ice Path Speed Rush 2 - 10 @Dcubed's 1-2 Down Below, To and Fro - 486

Well, if it's any help, I go for the "One theme for one level approach" whenever possible. If it's good enough for Nintendo, it's good enough for me. Finished my "World 3" now, will be posting it up tomorrow.

More new characters!? Oh lord, the excitement of the character build-up is gonna drive me nuts again! The Ricky dream rises from the grave to torment me with the possibility of Ganondorf getting punched in the face by a boxing Kangaroo!

Damn, that Xenoblade Representation is super spoileriffic! Then again, Smash Bros. has a trophy of that character, so it's not the first. Seriously, don't look at it if you haven't finished Xenoblade. It is kinda awesome though. Not gonna lie, that alone has made me kinda interested now. As long as it still has Britishness.

Hard work and determination. Fine, I'll give an actual hint. Once the path starts to branch, you need to stick to the bottom of the screen, do that, and it's completely possible to run through without stopping. Figure the rest out yourself. Props to @Dcubed though, it's a very well-designed level. He claims 280 is possible, but I don't see how. He keeps going on about some nonsense with the "momentum of a moving platform"

So... Am I the only one playing this then? Fine, quick impressions. - Plague Knight is tough to control, his speed suddenly shifts when he bomb jumps and it takes a lot of practice to get right. - The sheer amount of customisations he can have for his main weapon is mind boggling! I've only done 3 levels and I already have over 20 ways to customise it! And I'm not even counting sub-weapons, which are different to Shovel Knights. - Bosses are ridiculously chaotic with Plague Knight, which makes them even better! - I know this is common knowledge, but the sprite work really is fantastic! - Music is great too!

50. Almost there! It's only a matter of time.

Gonna submit one time. @Dcubed's "W1-4 Left & Right, Time to Fight" Proof it was me. I'll be sure to edit in more times when I get them. (I'm assuming that people aren't allowed to submit times from courses they made, right?)

It doesn't.

@Dcubed! Get on that! QUICKLY!

Cool idea! While they're not designed to be speed ran (?), I'd like to submit a few of my levels. You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse HARD PATH ONLY! I want your screenshots to have the Mystery Mushroom at the end. You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse

So I'm sure have been noticing that I've been playing through all of the N-Europe levels so far. Ran out of time, will have to carry on tomorrow. Left lots of comments though. SOOOO much more fun then the majority of levels I play in 100 Mario Challenge!

My much anticipated World 2 is up for your amusement. 4 levels in the Mario Bros. 3 style. If you're not following me, here's the code for G2-1. 9846 - 0000 - 003D - 1AA3 Because there aren't Amiibo Mushrooms, I've put a 1-up Mushroom in each one. Try to find them!

You can't deny that. NoE is the sole reason we even have some games. Xenoblade comes to mind. In fact, Shulk in Smash may not have happened if it wasn't for them localising Xenoblade. Can you believe America aren't getting Yoshi's Woolly World for over a month still?