Julius

Yeah, because Pokémon Legends: Arceus rolls off the tongue half of the fans still have no idea if they're pronouncing it right! I think, seeing as they're going for a mythical Pokémon this time around, that's what we'd see moving forwards if the Legends series continues, so a return to Johto would probably mean a Legends: Celebi title instead? And I mean I'd be down to go back to Johto now we're getting the chance to go back to Sinnoh. I'm just saying, but a time-travelling game to some extent (the Celebi aspect, even if it's just in an ancient Ilex Forest) and the history of the region (Burned/Brass Tower, Bell Tower, Whirl Islands, Kimono Girls, Kurt and his berry balls et al) would be awesome. Also, and I said it before: Legends games set in Unova for the ancient war and the original dragon story, and one set in Kalos for their war, would be awesome. That being said, I kind of expect them to have a return to Johto be the next pair of Let's Go games, though it depends entirely on where they're at by that point. I could honestly see them being outsourced to third parties if that's something they continue with after the Diamond & Pearl remakes, too, which would buy them plenty of time to figure out and execute on Gen IX (which they could feasibly push all the way to 2024 if they play their cards right). Back to the starters, though, I think the really simply reason we're getting Cyndaquil and Oshawott in particular is because, after we get the Diamond & Pearl remakes, they belong to the starting trios next in line for remakes. The reason they chose these three specifically from their trios might have to do with lore and the inspiration for their designs, but it's been a long time since they've been the focus of marketing campaigns, so I just think it makes financial sense above all else. Rowlet, of course, is the exception to this, but it being part of the 20th anniversary celebrations in a big way and it honestly just being more marketable, in my opinion, than Chespin, is the likely reason it got the nod over it. Oh, and also, I almost expect more Johto links in this game, just from a lore perspective, because of the Sinjoh Ruins event we got in HeartGold & SoulSilver, and how that ties Sinnoh, Johto, and Arceus all together in a way which this game could very easily build upon.

VGC reporting that Google backed out of proposals from both Kojima and Yu Suzuki. I'm sorry, but this is absolutely hilarious to think about. Can you imagine the absolute meltdown from these projects having been exclusive to Stadia, forcing the hands of fans to try the system out?

I don't think anyone's assuming they're infallible, but from the little I've experienced of the graphic novels, I do think it's great to have them on board. What I would say about them leaving the Netflix project due to creative differences is the fact that they chose to leave, rather than being forced out and "creative differences" being the nebulous reason Netflix points to (like we've seen with plenty of potential Star Wars directors since Disney's takeover), gives me a confidence that they understand just how important TLA is to so many people, and aren't comfortable sticking around on a project they're not all-in on. The Netflix project could still turn out great, but the potential of what they could do on Paramount+ is much more exciting to me. I view it the same way I view the Star Wars sequels: should George Lucas have been the only storyteller, and the final decision maker on every story decision? No. But I do think his vision - and an overarching narrative - could have helped it immensely. While I agree that The Legend of Korra isn't as strong as The Last Airbender, it's worth pointing out that it's so disjointed almost entirely because of Nickelodeon's production decisions, rather than the storytelling skills of Mike and Bryan. With The Last Airbender they had the overarching narrative and character arcs planned out, whereas the end point of The Legend of Korra kept getting pushed back as Nickelodeon ordered more and more from them (it was supposed to be a 12 episode miniseries, then got expanded to 26 episodes, and then later 52) while production was going on, and like I said before, in the latter stages the show got shifted over to the Nickelodeon website from the channel, so clearly they weren't given the backing and support that I think the quality of TLA would justify. Heck, they ran up against obstacles from the start on that show, because Nickelodeon didn't want a female lead. I think the escalation of climaxes of each season for these potential end points (Air, Spirits, and Balance) - and each season feeling so separated from the ones around them - shows that they ended up a little hamstrung creatively as a result. Don't get me wrong, there were absolutely some weird decisions made along the way - such as with the example you have - but them having more control, support, and creative freedom, and being able to actually plan something from beginning to end, is a good thing in my eyes. I do appreciate you coming from the other side of it though, because I think it makes for decent discussion, and I think having some reasonable level of doubt is justified. Will Nickelodeon continue to give them the support and freedom here that they're stating they will, or will they get that for one project (the film) before potentially going back on it? I suppose the proof will be in the pudding when a few things from this have been aired, and we're either hooked or somewhat indifferent. I'm very excited, but I am cautious, and I think there is a lot of pressure on whatever story they choose to tell first. I'd love to see more stories about the earlier Avatars - for instance, the second Avatar meeting Wan's Avatar Spirit must have been one weird ride, and Kyoshi just seems a natural pick for her own show at some point - but there's also a lot of space to fill between TLA and TLOK (potential graphic novel adaptations, but also original stuff, like the adventures of adult Aang which we got teases of in TLOK), and of course they could always continue Korra's story or move onto the next Avatar. Heck, one of my favourite parts of TLA is the political intrigue and history of the Fire Nation, so they could totally go back a few hundred years and set up different "Houses"/Families and I would be all about it. Fingers crossed things go smoothly!

Just to clarify my thoughts on the art style a bit further: I'm not writing the whole thing off, but it's the way the NPC's and player character look which is off to me. That's the part to me which looks like a mobile game, they've gone the chibi route, but completely the wrong way in my eyes. Individual fingers and thumbs? A camera angle where, from behind, you can't see the player character's body? Those clown feet? Watch Lucas's waddle towards Dawn in Jubilife and tell me that it doesn't make you shudder. Legitimately looks like some knock-off Playmobil figure. The lighting and shading on Lucas in that battle when he throws Piplup out, on buildings, and just generally on structures and objects in the environment looks so...off to me. It's such a shame, because I think it looks it's best when you jump into a battle. Also, no-one has mentioned it, but they managed to pull off the Dialkia statue in Eterna in 3D, and I think that's the highlight of the whole trailer for me.

This was a rollercoaster of emotions Totally agree. I've always been a bit confused about how online discussion often boils down to you either being vehemently for or against something, as if you can't be happy for others getting something they've been waiting for, indifferent, or just accepting of it. It's funny sometimes too, because it's clear you might be coming from the same place as someone else (such as a love for Pokémon) but have different perspectives on things, and obviously that's okay. Does the Sinnoh remakes getting shafted (when compared to previous remakes) hurt? Sure. Will I probably moan about it until they hopefully share more details outlining that there's going to be some reason to play this rather than go back and play Platinum instead? Yeah, that's pretty likely. But I'm not going to shout louder than everyone else. More power to you if you're a fan of that art style, but the way it looks is just not for me. And do I care about any of those anniversary events for mobile apps they announced during this event? Not in the slightest. Totally stoked for anyone who enjoys them, though! As someone who dabbled (at best) with the original Pokémon Snap at a friend's house at some nebulous point in my past, I'm very excited for it, and I still think it looks better visually than any other 3D game in the franchise so far. It is a tough one to gauge, though, because it being Pokémon aside, like I think @MindFreak mentioned in that game's thread, I don't think beating your own high scores is as appealling these days to most players. Is it to do with attention spans or some of the near universal parts of modern game design, or a bit of both? I'm not quite sure, but I can see this game having a huge drop-off when it comes to player engagement after its release weekend, which I feel is a bit of a shame. Though it'll still seem like hotcakes, so I don't feel that bad. Though, as ever, a port of the original wouldn't hurt in helping to appreciate this either...

I think @Dcubed was implying that this is more the future of the series as a whole, and likely the general direction Gen IX will head in, rather than being the start of Gen IX itself. I'm inclined to agree with @Glen-i that this is a Gen VIII game simply because it lacks a new region and will likely lack new Pokémon, and it being so different to other games in the generation visually and in terms of its engine isn't much of an issue anymore, because that was thrown out of the window in Gen VII with the Let's Go games. Honestly, with this being so experimental and such a drastic change from what else we've had before it this Gen, I think the Let's Go games are the closest thing we can compare them to. It's an experiment, and I think they'll see how it does before it truly impacts the "real core series" games (honestly, the lines between core series games and generations are just becoming blurrier and blurrier). I do think that they were wise to brand it as its own subseries, "Legends", like they did with the Let's Go games, because it gives them space to pivot if it somehow, against all odds, manages to flop. If it does, they can just wave it away as being it's own subseries and not bringing much over to the "real core series" games, but either way, with Let's Go too, I think they really want to set Legends up as its own thing they can come back to (original dragon and the Ancient War in Unova next? And then the Kalos war after that? Heck, I'm down) and are using this as a testing ground at the moment for the more radical potential changes to the norm. The lack of settlements (seriously, what a great job they've done of contextualising an empty world ), the new rolling mechanics, lack of trainers, etc., isn't what I would expect to make its way over to the next generation of games, but rather the open world design philosophy, should it prove a success. Will it be as open as this appears to be striving for? I'm not totally sure, but I would imagine so. If we consider that they've got outsourced remakes coming later this year, this game at the start of next year, and the potential to plug another year or two up with the possibility of an Expansion Pass and/or Let's Go games set in Johto? Then they've effectively bought themselves until either 2023 or 2024 before we saw Gen IX, at which point I would be very, very surprised if it doesn't end up being a mix of more traditional mechanics (trainer battles, capture mechanics, etc.) with an open world like they're attempting to realise here. And the fact that this easily has the highest sales potential of any Pokémon games since the original games, on a Nintendo console which is destroying sales records, doesn't give me much confidence that Game Freak won't continue down this line of development moving forwards. I noticed that and loved it, and I also love that no-one knows how the Cyndaquil line and Typhlosion could fit in. Something I haven't seen mentioned here is the fact that Piplup will be available in the wild in Sinnoh for the first time in this game, at least going off this trailer. The fact that it isn't in the wild by the time we get to modern times Diamond & Pearl/their remakes to me suggests to me that it's either a victim of over-hunting as the Sinnoh region's choice of water-type starter Pokémon. And considering we're the ones making the first Sinnoh Dex...does this make us responsible?

Hell yes let's see him go off the deep end and slowly lose his sanity I did say reportedly and sure, it totally could be the case that they found an older actress than they found for Sokka. But when I look at the rest of Netflix's insanely big catalogue of shows, there is a whole lot of romantic triangle/drama stuff, so I don't think it's so crazy that they would lean harder into the Zutara angle (I mean, it's one way to make things different, that's for sure). As for remaking it, I suppose you could argue that, in itself, could be the issue with something like this: the original is almost universally beloved by its fans, is critically acclaimed, and has gained a massive following over the last few years in particular with very high expectations as a result of the original show's quality. Is that fair? Perhaps not, but I feel like it would have been more interesting if they focused on expanding the world, rather than retelling the story in a way which the original creators clearly won't interested in them following through on. I look at it almost like a Final Fantasy VII Remake situation...except, even if you didn't like that game and loved the original, it was doing a whole lot more than simply retelling and expanding on the original story. It's definitely a difficult and fine line to walk. I've always been somewhat wary of live-action remakes of animated content, simply because, unless it was down to budget constraints, there's a reason it was told in that medium. In Avatar's case, bending the elements is something they went with because not only was it a great way to express characters and their heritage, but the show had to be made in a way where fights could take place without blood being spilt and sharp weapons flying around, due to it airing on Nickelodeon. Some level of restraint is often a great thing when it comes to creativity, and I feel like they utilised the medium incredibly well. Hey, I hope the first attempt at adapting that story to live-action goes well, but if it doesn't - like with most remakes, I guess - there's still the original to fall back on. And yes it is the first attempt. I don't know what you're talking about. Totally agree. There's been some terrific 2D animation in the West over the last decade or so (immediately springing to my mind is Adventure Time and Over The Garden Wall), but simply not enough, and it's been tough seeing fewer and fewer 2D animated films from Western studios. You look at how anime has grown in popularity over the last few years, and how the Demon Slayer movie has destroyed much of the southeast Asian box office over the course of the last few months, and it's clear that there's an audience for quality storytelling in 2D animation. Thank goodness too! About the original stuff, don't get me wrong, I hope we see lots of original stuff too! It's just a lot easier to speculate about what we already have I guess plus, I do think - unless they already have something in mind and fully planned out, which in fairness is totally possible - it would likely have the fastest turnaround time. I was thinking of The Search trilogy in particular, and was thinking less of a dedicated series (though I guess a miniseries could work?) and more about a film adaptation of that story. It's one of the only graphic novel sets I've checked out from them (though this news certainly makes me want to go back and get to the others!), and it follows the thread left at the end of the main show regarding Zuko and his mother. I think it would make sense to adapt it for a number of reasons, the main one being because it serves as something of a continuation to the Last Airbender story, so you know the demand would be there from fans for it, and it would have an established audience. Also, originally it was actually pitched as a television movie, but Nickelodeon rejected it, which means that even if there might be some fat to trim from the print version, they likely have plans around still for that original television movie version. I know the Kyoshi graphic novels have been received really positively too, but I haven't read them yet, so can't comment on how well they might translate, but many - if not all, maybe? I'd have to fact check that - of the graphic novels had Michael and/or Bryan work on them. As for retreading stories already told, while you could consider it from that perspective, I think it's always worth considering the potential hurdles in other countries to get access to these graphic novels, and adapting these stories would get a lot of fresh eyes on the story. I don't think any ATLA fan who has already read a particular graphic novel would be against it (speaking from my experience with some of the Star Wars canon novels, graphic novels, and fully rigged episodes which haven't been adapted for The Clone Wars, I can tell you that most would probably be ecstatic about it), so long as that's not all they end up with, and by all means, it looks like there's - thankfully - plenty in the works! As for Toph vs Bumi, if I'm remembering right, that was from a comic and set in the third Book of ATLA, so I don't think it's a great example of what I mean, though I do agree that would be better off as a short if it was going to end up being adapted. I'm fairly sure that probably ended up in last year's anthology The Lost Adventures, where they collected a lot of those comics in one place, so yeah, definitely not suited to be it's own standalone story like some of the longer stories might be. Yeah, I feel like I've pretty much talked myself into catching up on the graphic novels and comic stuff now, though I'll try to save it until I'm caught up Attack on Titan S4 and get up-to-date with My Hero's manga!

I've been thinking about this a lot since watching the trailer last night, and...SAME! I think it's episodic? So I would have to imagine that that's why it's only being announced for mobile at the moment, I fully expect this to get a console version once it's complete, like we saw for XV Pocket Edition! And is it me or is it totally evocative of what we saw with the Sinnoh remakes today? Chibi/simplified character models in the overworld based strongly on the original look, yet jumps up to modern standards inside of battles? Found that super strange!

Yeah, definitely! For me all it did was remind me that they had a boat load of apps which they're making an absolute killing on.

Right, this is exactly how I feel. Does it have Platinum content at all, even if it's just a Delta Episode situation? Do we get a fully fledged Battle Frontier, or is it just the Battle Tower? How about Sinnoh forms, Z-Moves, Mega Evolutions, Gigantamax, etc.? I mentioned it in the Presents thread, but that music even sounds like the original MIDI music. We haven't seen the case covers, which I think is a bit odd, and might suggest that we get Primal Forms or something for Dialga and Palkia. But other than that extrapolation, I'm finding it difficult to see - so far - why you would wait for this instead of playing Platinum, besides QoL things like faster battle animations, being able to play it on a bigger screen, and visual updates like the better looking battles (I'm landing firmly on the side of the overworld and chibi models looking borderline like a mobile game).

A bit of a weird showing for me overall, even if the two reveals colour my impressions to be really positive in the end. The opening anniversary montage, just like the one we got in 2016 for the 20th anniversary, was great, but showing as many of the core series and spin-off titles as they did and then only having an update on one spin-off title in New Pokémon Snap was a little odd. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but it ratcheted my expectations up a little. Seeing New Pokémon Snap again was good, and I'm glad we got a better look at it this time around, seeing as it wasn't in the Direct last week. Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl is a weird one for me. On the one hand, hey, we're going back to Sinnoh, but on the other hand, everything I'm reading and seeing is saying "faithful remake", which makes me pretty concerned that other than it looking different visually (in battle and in the overworld, which is a shame because in battles the character models look great!) and having some modern QoL improvements (such as faster battle animations) it's very much just a modern reskin of the original games with very little to get excited about. I'm not even sure at this point if we should be expecting Platinum content to work its way in or Mega Evolutions, Sinnoh forms, etc., because unless I'm misremembering, "faithful remake" isn't a term they've thrown around before. Also, pretty sure the music in the trailer is MIDI - it at least sounded exactly like it did in the original games - so I hope that's not a sign that they're just going to phone in the soundtrack and bring over what will practically be the original OST. It's hard to be too mad with Pokémon Legends Arceus on the way though, at least it's nice to see Game Freak showing some ambition for a change, even if it looks rough. Fingers crossed things go smoothly there with development and they're able to get more out of the game than this first look showed off (world looks pretty barren if I'm being honest). Overall, despite its short length, I think it was a solid Pokémon Presents, and Pokémon Legends is finally Game Freak showing some ambition and trying to experiment with the series to figure out its future, which I'm a big fan of, and it's telling that a lot of people who don't play Pokémon have their eye on this; I'm struggling to think of why this couldn't potentially try to challenge the sales figures of the original games, just given its premise and potential. The lack of news on other spin-offs or ports of older games was a bit of a disappointment to me, too, but maybe we'll get some stuff announced throughout the year? I think it had more to offer than last night's State of Play and last week's Nintendo Direct, even if you aren't a Pokémon fan. I'd score this one an 8/10 - too much Sinnoh?

It's confirmed to be both for physical and digital versions, found this at the bottom of their press release for Intergrade:

Goodness knows at this point, and same goes for the Legends game. I would lean towards this being the next main series game, seeing as that's how the remakes have been categorised before, and Legends I think is more of its own subseries, like Let's Go was. It's a chance for them to experiment while claiming it's a main series game, basically This one is being developed with a third party for the first time, in my opinion is a clear step down in visual ambition from the games directly before it (and even the Let's Go and 3DS games), and it's unclear how it will connect in terms of battle mechanics being incorporated (Gigantamax? Mega Evolution? Z-Moves? Sinnoh forms?). Then again, inside of battles, it does look closer to Sword & Shield...so yeah, I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I think the line between generations and what's considered spin-off/main series is definitely being heavily blurred here. Also, nice to see the original Diamond & Pearl font making its return! And the text boxes too? Seems a very faithful remake, wonder what this means for Platinum content... Personal preference I guess, but this looks nowhere near as good as Link's Awakening to me. Richer colours, sure, but the chibi character models in the overworld genuinely look more like what we'd expect from a cheap mobile effort. It's not for me (in terms of the art style). Different art style from Sword & Shield, for sure, but until we see more I'll reserve my judgment on just how it stacks up. Colours really pop off the screen with practically the same palette as the original games, though, which I am a fan of!

Yeah, I wanted to wait until we get the direct video before passing judgment on its performance in a stream. And now that's up... ...it looks just as bad, so now I can say it looks very rough frame rate is very rough, textures ain't great, but it is worth noting that this is the furthest out we've ever seen a "core series" Pokémon game from release (I imagine Legends is going to be like Let's Go and be it's own subseries? Though depending on how well it sells - and even it ships like this boy will it sell - I could see them taking a lot of this into Gen IX). Safe to say how we define the core series is once again being brought into question, though. Anyways, to have that be the case for their first open world attempt? That's down to poor decision making internally, but I'm happy they shared it with us nonetheless. Seeing as they announced who they were working with on the Diamond & Pearl remakes, I'm surprised we didn't find out they were leaning on Monolith Soft for this a little bit; it just makes sense. Anyways, this is easily the most ambitious Game Freak have ever been. We'll have to wait to see how it turns out, but more power to them for giving it a try.

The new footage from today's Pokémon Presents:

Old Sinnoh. Feudal Japan vibes. Open world. Rolling?! Cyndaquil, Oshawott and Rowlet starters? Ahhhhhhhh! Being developed by Game Freak, who are turning up and showing they care and still have some ambition left. Colour me surprised (and impressed), even if some of the wide environmental shots looked a little rough. Tonight we feast!

SINNOH CONFIRMED LET'S GOOOOOOOO (but, you know, not Let's Go) Eh on the art style but still I'll take it, even if it is a step down visually from even Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Being developed by ILCA, Inc., directed by Yuichi Idea and Junichi Masuda.

Well, there it is. Final Fantasy VII Remake is great for those who haven't played it yet, even if there is a weird caveat about the upgrades. Great shout by @drahkon the other day on Maquette! Not owning a PSVR headset, Farpoint VR is pretty so-so to me, but cool for PSVR players, and I'm not all that interested in Remnant from the Ashes, but overall it rounds out a very solid month. EDIT: apparently the link to the source on Facebook has been deleted...a very weird week for PlayStation and embargoes! EDIT 2: Comunicado oficial.

Yeah, might be worth sticking that in a spoiler tag @Goron_3, just in case anyone trying to avoid the leaks accidentally ends up opening it glad to hear that you're a fan of it though, that fills me with a bit of hope, whatever it is! Leaks suck, but this being Pokemon... looks back at the last decade of major core series leaks and demos being left open to datamine into the dirt ...not really a surprise

Oh boy, this is weird. So the last gen version of the game is being given away for free without option for an upgrade, and the standard edition of Intergrade will (apparently) be unavailable to those with only the PS+ version. And I still have a hunch that Intergrade and Episode Yuffie are going to be timed exclusive to PS5 and not be seen on other platforms. So unless the last gen version is coming to Game Pass (which doesn't seem totally impossible if there truth to this?), then damn, Square Enix really doesn't seem to care much for their Xbox fans. Nothing too new there though, I guess.

The latter, Julius is definitely the name of a Psyduck!

Me for the next five hours: (it's a joke about being bashed by leeks/leaks)

According to Bloomberg's Takashi Mochizuki, storage upgrade is being prepared for the summer. Yeah, it blows. I know the signs of the power shift have been there over the last few years, but still, shuttering Japan Studio isn't what I expected. While PlayStation retains a strong relationship with many of the bigger Japanese third parties, sure, it seems like such a strange move off the back of a generation which saw many Japanese developers return from the brink. Japan Studio's not profitable for them? They've been in a support role more often than not lately, and they basically got moved to projects where they'd have a smaller role and phased out. I guess it also effectively kills that rumoured RaySpace project which we've heard whispers about over the last few years, unless that's been moved elsewhere too? Obviously I'm glad Astro is staying and Team Asobi are in a strong position, but this still blows. Japan Studio, for me at least, became a seal of quality over the last few years with some of the projects they've helped out on.

In an interview with Fanbyte, director Yasunori Ichinose and producer Ryozo Tsujimoto have confirmed that the game will be available on PC next year.

Reddit user PracticalBrush12 - who in hindsight accurately leaked last week's Nintendo Direct, and plenty of other Nintendo-related things, including Sword and Shield details (I had a look at their post history after last week's Direct) - has apparently leaked two games from today's Pokémon Presents. Like last time, throwing the link to the leaks in a spoiler tag to save people potentially opening it by mistake. Going to be a long five and a half hours steering my eyes away from that Also leaks totally suck, and while it's interesting to look back at after an event, leaking things hours before an event just rubs me the wrong way. Then again, the only leaks about announcements I don't mind are the silly ones, like when developers aren't careful with their laptops when in public, and more important things like how staff are treated internally. Stealing a developer's thunder is stupid, especially when it's one of the more widely known journalists in the industry breaking the news (like that guy whose name rhymes with Mason Schmeier). The only time in recent memory that it's worked in a reveal's favour was with Mario+Rabbids.