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Nov 24, 2020 11:19
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BlazetheInferno posted:And here begins the trend that bothers a lot of people about this game; Interesting Plot Stuff™ happens! Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I've rarely found the plot of Pokémon games all that interesting. So I found it refreshing and rather nice that for once there was a responsible adult to deal with it while I focused on what I was actually here for: the league challenge. IMO, the entire sequence with Oleana and the tower could have been cut and little of value would have been lost (Ok Piers impromptu performance was kinda funny, but apart from that).
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Nov 24, 2020 11:29
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Caustic Soda posted:Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I've rarely found the plot of Pokémon games all that interesting. So I found it refreshing and rather nice that for once there was a responsible adult to deal with it while I focused on what I was actually here for: the league challenge. IMO, the entire sequence with Oleana and the tower could have been cut and little of value would have been lost (Ok Piers impromptu performance was kinda funny, but apart from that). Yeah, the entire vibe of Galar is different. You're not the Chosen One, you're one of many kids in an annual competition, and you only get dragged into the plot because your friend is the Champion's brother and you happened to be hanging out with him when everything went wrong. It's a nice change of pace. Much as I love being the super-special hero of destiny, you can only do it so many times. Likewise it was refreshing to battle and catch the legendary as a normal battle with less emphasis on the 'it has chosen to go with you and be yours now beat it unconscious' nonsense. By that point in the game it was obvious I had probably become a better trainer than Leon so it didn't seem too pat that I succeeded where he didn't. In fact it's Hop who gets to 'befriend' his legendary in the normal Pokemon-hero fashion, which is interesting.
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Nov 24, 2020 15:28
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I think it would go over better if it wasn't an obvious patch over cut content. If they'd gone into it intending to write a sports story about becoming the champion, with all the plot focused on the stuff with Hop, Marnie and Bede, it would have been a nice change of pace to not be saving the world for once. But they've got all the stuff about the Darkest Day and the hero kings and Rose's experiments and it's obvious that there's a big save-the-world plot to come, but everywhere that there would have been some dungeon gameplay or something you just get an adult saying they'll handle it up until the point they need a 12-year-old to do the climax. But there'll be more to say about that once we reach those points, I think. This particular scene can still be passed off as just foreshadowing, since we know we're gonna return to Hammerlocke again sooner or later for the gym battle.
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Nov 24, 2020 15:46
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Update 27: Police Officer Bobby Hop's Theme - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST  Folks. I’mma be real with you. Just as we leave Hammerlocke we run into Hop for yet another “let me throw a bunch of stuff at the wall and see what sticks” fight. Unlike in the source material, though, they have a lot to say to each other at this juncture and if they met, they’d have another plot heavy conversation. Two of the last three updates were almost pure dialogue. I think it started knocking on the quality after while. There’s nothing that can’t be covered later. I don’t want to write anymore dialogue in this update. Within the narrative, this fight never took place. But outside of the narrative, I’ll run through it for you. Because you’re worth it.   Well, well, well, looks like someone’s decided to start filling out his party. We kick the fight off with a Ghost/Flying versus a Ghost/Grass Pokémon. I could try and take it out with a Ghost attack, but…   Turns out, all that otherkin wanted was to see a Fire-themed Track Jacket. It cost me about as much PokéYen as enough items to bring back all my Pokémon back to life – clothes are expensive – but, well… As long as Mr. Blobby here isn’t holding an item, it does twice as much base damage (110). For context, the only stronger move my party has access to right now is Bruce’s Pyro Ball (120, 5 PP), and right now most Dynamax moves clock in at about 90 .   … Okay, that was pretty disappointing. On its turn, it also pulls out an attack that falls one hit point short of sending Mr. Blobby into the yellow. Of course, I take him out in the next hit, but that was a bit of a rude shock. Hop’s electric dog goes out in one blow, though.  John Bonham seems to be doing well. I mean, not as well as Bruce. I delayed taking him down because I wanted to see if you break out his signature move, Drum Beating, but he never bothered. Down he went.  Snorlax was another one of Gen 1’s little oddities. The only one in the game sat blocking a thoroughfare where three different roads connected, sound asleep; the only way to wake it up (and catch it) was to go through a convoluted series of events culminating in finding a “Poké Flute” at the top of Pokémon Tower. You know, where you fought the ghost. In order to catch a Snorlax (there’s another name the dictation software already knows!), you had to save an old man by beating up some gangsters, follow his advice and mount an assault on a major corporation to steal their experimental equipment, use that to exorcise a ghost and steal its woodwind instrument, and use THAT to wake the Pokémon up. Sounds about right for Gen 1. E: but wait! I’m an idiot! LiefKatano posted:Sorry if this is overly precise, but this is so close to being correct but it... isn't.  It goes down in one hit. His next Pokémon, being Fire-type and not particularly terrifying, goes down in one hit from Tiddles. Rest in peace, Hop’s team. Again, Hop seems to be varying his team, and this time he has Pokémon that shows some signs of real training. That Trevenant, especially, took a beating like a champ. For players who haven’t taught their Pokémon Low Kick or more generally powerful Fighting moves, I can imagine that Snorlax really loving their poo poo up; Snorlax is a massive, hearty tub of HP with some brutal physical attacks, and even though Normal isn’t really strong against anything, it has so few weaknesses a properly-used Snorlax can just overwhelm anything that isn’t equally tanky or equipped to get past its defenses. We’ve got some promising signs of progress, folks. Route 6 - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST This game reuses a lot of route themes. Anyway, Route 7. It’s kind of a mini-route that looks like the rest of the Routes averaged together. Not much that’s terribly remarkable here –  poo poo poo poo poo poo poo poo poo poo poo poo  Some Pokémon have regional variants, local versions of previously-established Pokémon varieties that have different Types, movesets, and appearances. Why call them regional variants if they’re essentially entirely new Pokémon? Marketing, I think. I dunno, maybe the thread knows better. In Gen 1, Meowth evolved into Persian, a much more elegant cat and the signature Pokémon of Giovanni (both the head of Team Rocket and the eighth Gym Leader). Being the more horrific version, Galarian Meowth evolves into this, which I guess looks better, but it still has that cancerous growth hanging off its chin. In theory, I could have a Persian right now to show off, as you can trade a Galarian one for a Kantonian (Gen 1 took place in Kanto) one, but you get one by trading a Galarian Meowth to some kid in I think Motostoke and if I caught one I’d never get the smell out of my Box. But I have another variant Pokémon in my party. A wonderful variant Pokémon.    Remember that time I had to take a break in the middle of the paragraph back at Turffield to catch something? That was an Eevee, possibly the Pokémon franchise’s second most marketable face after Pikachu (there’s a reason one of the Gen 1 remakes carried its name). Among players, though, it’s most noteworthy for having more possible evolutions than any other Pokémon. Eevees in Gen 1 didn’t evolve naturally; instead, they had three evolved forms you could access by using special items on them, each of which had a strong elemental theme. At first, Eeveelutions only came in Fire, Water, and Electric flavors. In Gen 2, they added day- and night-themed versions (Gen 2 was very proud of its day-night cycle), then other generations added other versions and by now there’s the better part of a dozen different things you can turn your Eevee into. Me, I chose the Ice-type version, partly in honor of the upcoming Gym, partly because it absolutely obliterates anything that gets in its way. It’s pretty nuts. I’ll go into some of the weirder parts of Ice-Types and their history when we get to Circhester and stare down its trainers.   Would you believe I didn’t actually notice Route 8 was an archaeological dig until this playthrough? I’m not sure WHAT I thought it was, but I didn’t notice all these ruins. I’m perceptive  ! It’s also a complicated mess of ladders and walls and tall grass that exists specifically to turn me around. It just does not end!  It does give me a chance to show off Sporkle here, though. Normally, Ponyta evolves at level 40, but I gave it an item that puts that on hold because this form is way cuter and we are far from playing optimally here.  What was that? Well, whatever it was, it was further down the path, so I probably don’t have to worry about –    My first time through, I was not expecting to see this creature. I didn’t get a good glimpse of it for a while, I just thought it was some weird centipede thing. But no, Falinks is a miniature phalanx. I thought it was just about the best thing ever, caught one, named it Hunk Bunch, and kept it in my party for a while – only to learn it was a gimmick Pokémon outclassed by the rest of my party. There’s a reason I specifically cited it in the OP as a disappointment   . On the other hand, I ran into this thing on my way to the exit. I actually thought it was a piece of masonry (since the camera blocked my view of its crab part), so it took me completely by surprise when it obliterated Sporkle (not that that’s hard, he’s as tough as tissue paper) and badly injured Bruce (a much greater achievement). It’s the first Bug-type I've ever wanted to use since Gen 1. This thing’s probably gonna show up in my party at some point.   You see these two office workers? They gave me a harder time than Opal. A large part of it comes from me misjudging Types – unfamiliar with either of these creatures, I looked at the left and thought “Fighting” and the right and went “Rock”, both of which didn’t fit the bill – but they also made smarter tactical decisions, hitting my weaknesses more efficiently than most trainers have so far. They downed Dietrich, nearly took out Mr. Blobby and Bruce, and did a little damage to Tiddles, too. Fortunately, I’m currently out in the open, which means I can cook – and cooking (when done right) basically works the same as a Pokémon Center. Full heal, right down to PP.  The second chunk of the Route is as ice-themed as the Gym at the end, ranging from environment…  … To the Pokémon. Plus, we get a dialectal joke!  Unfortunately, it naturally hails around here, which deals bit of damage to non-Ice-Types every turn, but while that would be an issue with a longer route, the only reason you can’t see Circhester from the entrance is because it wraps around a bit. Circhester - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST      You know what? Let’s call it here. There’s plenty to see in Circhester, so I’ll probably end up devoting a couple updates to it in its entirety. Before you go, I need a name for my Glaceon. Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 06:05 on Nov 28, 2020 |
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Nov 24, 2020 18:42
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Glaceon is probably my favorite of the Eeveelutions. That being said...  Gamefreak hates giving it good moves.  Nowadays, the Eeveelutions all essentially have the exact same moveset - they get a low power STAB move at evolution, and then one every ~10 levels or so, with all of them learning things like Bite or Quick attack. Unfortunately for Glaceon... you don't get a good special-type ice move until level *40*. (which, I'm assuming is why you didn't use it until now?) As for TMs... the only other half decent move for it is Shadow Ball, but we already have Mr. Blobby, so. It's one of the best users of Ice Beam, and Freeze Dry is situationally great (I *love* moves that buck the type-chart), but other than that...? Of course, keep in mind that I'm one of those crazy people who demands wide and varied movesets on all my pokemon, despite the fact that the game can generally be won by mashing the A button. 
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Nov 24, 2020 19:16
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Falconier111 posted:
I've just looked it up and I'll tell you why I'm so disappointed by Falinks. Not because it's an underperformer. But because the Spartan Phalanx-themed pokemon for some unfathomable reason doesn't have an evolution into a Roman Legion. I mean come on, it's a no-brainer!
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Nov 24, 2020 19:20
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Falconier111 posted:In theory, I could have a Persian right now to show off, as you can trade a Galarian one for a Kantonian (Gen 1 took place in Kanto) one, but you get one by trading a Galarian Meowth to some kid in I think Motostoke and if I caught one I’d never get the smell out of my Box. Much as I love Kanto Persian, there's a much better use for that traded Meowth. In the Isle of Armor DLC you can make an item that lets a pokemon Gigantamax rather than just Dynamaxing, and Gigantamax Meowth can net you a lot of money pretty effortlessly post-Championship. Falconier111 posted:You see these two office workers? They gave me a harder time than Opal. A large part of it comes from me misjudging Types – unfamiliar with either of these creatures, I looked at the left and thought “Fighting” and the right and went “Rock”, both of which didn’t fit the bill – but they also made smarter tactical decisions, hitting my weaknesses more efficiently than most trainers have so far. They downed Dietrich, nearly took out Mr. Blobby and Bruce, and did a little damage to Tiddles, too. Excadrill gives everyone a hard time. It's a real beast. I really like Circhester. It's based on Bath and it's very pretty. In honour of that, I vote to name your Glaceon Alexander after the recently deceased Marquess of Bath, who sadly died from covid earlier this year. He was a complete and utter lunatic in all the best ways.
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Nov 24, 2020 19:23
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Falconier111 posted:Snorlax was another one of Gen 1’s little oddities. The only one in the game sat blocking a thoroughfare where three different roads connected, sound asleep; the only way to wake it up (and catch it) was to go through a convoluted series of events culminating in finding a “Poké Flute” at the top of Pokémon Tower. You know, where you fought the ghost. In order to catch a Snorlax (there’s another name the dictation software already knows!), you had to save an old man by beating up some gangsters, follow his advice and mount an assault on a major corporation to steal their experimental equipment, use that to exorcise a ghost and steal its woodwind instrument, and use THAT to wake the Pokémon up. Sounds about right for Gen 1. Sorry if this is overly precise, but this is so close to being correct but it... isn't. Saving the old guy (Mr. Fuji) comes last in the sequence to get the flute. First is raiding the Rocket Base for the Silph Scope (separate from raiding Silph Co. Tower, but that's to liberate it and Saffron so you can, uh, challenge the gym. yep.). Then you use the Silph Scope to analyze and beat the everliving tar out of the Marowak ghost (in Let's Go it's just exorcising it). Then Mr. Fuji gives you to flute to wake up Snorlax. Also there's two Snorlax.
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Nov 24, 2020 19:37
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Don't feel bad about getting rocked by the office worker duo. While Hippowdon may not be exceptional, its partner in that fight most certainly is. Excadrill, introduced in Generation 5 is pretty drat awesome, and being partnered with a Hippowdon made it even scarier than usual, since it either had Sand Rush or Sand Force as an ability. The former boosts Speed in a sandstorm, while the latter powers up Rock, Ground, or Steel type moves in a sandstorm. Combine that with Hippowdon's Sand Stream ability, and you ought to be afraid. Also, if Crustle is the first Bug type you've ever wanted to use, there's still room for you to be amazed. Bug types kinda exploded around Gen 5. We got the cool rear end Vespiquen, as well as the move X-Scissor right beforehand in Gen 4, then 5 just really got the Bug renaissance rolling. Leavanny, Scolipede, Escavalier, Galvantula, Durant, Volcarona, and Genesect all came from 5th Gen. Vikavolt, Golisopod, Buzzwole, and Pheramosa showed up in 7th Gen, and I'm sure you're familiar with the cool bugs SwSh gave us. I even left out several other Bug types we've gotten.
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Nov 24, 2020 19:40
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Excadrill was the other MVP of my Sword nuzlocke (and also one of my Battle Tower teams). That thing is a monster. No shame in struggling a bit against one of those. It's sure fun to use, though.Black Robe posted:I really like Circhester. It's based on Bath and it's very pretty. In honour of that, I vote to name your Glaceon Alexander after the recently deceased Marquess of Bath, who sadly died from covid earlier this year. He was a complete and utter lunatic in all the best ways. I'll second this name suggestion, that works. That said, for quite a bit into my first playthrough of this game, I could not for the life of me remember the name of Circhester and consistently referred to it as "um, Bath" or "that town that isn't Bath". This was definitely one of the more distinctively recognisable towns to me (okay, I've actually been to Bath, that's probably part of it but still), although I couldn't say why it became ice town except that the game needed one of those.
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Nov 24, 2020 21:02
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Sword_of_Dusk posted:Don't feel bad about getting rocked by the office worker duo. While Hippowdon may not be exceptional, its partner in that fight most certainly is. Excadrill, introduced in Generation 5 is pretty drat awesome, and being partnered with a Hippowdon made it even scarier than usual, since it either had Sand Rush or Sand Force as an ability. The former boosts Speed in a sandstorm, while the latter powers up Rock, Ground, or Steel type moves in a sandstorm. Combine that with Hippowdon's Sand Stream ability, and you ought to be afraid. Of course, if you do get one on hand, then you have a very heavy-hitting shitwrecker to call upon when needed as I learned in my runs of Pokémon Black.
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Nov 24, 2020 21:34
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LiefKatano posted:Sorry if this is overly precise, but this is so close to being correct but it... isn't. Welp. Can I just quote this in the post? Blaziken386 posted:] I haven’t included in part because I only settled on using a rotating party a little while ago and in part because I forgot it existed . As for the move set, I plan to use a lot of TRs. Out of curiosity, what’s the relative PokéExperience level of people in this thread? Most of the posters are Pokévets, but I’m curious if there are latecomers or people unfamiliar with the franchise reading this, too. Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 05:12 on Nov 25, 2020 |
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Nov 24, 2020 21:39
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Falconier111 posted:Out of curiosity, what’s the relative PokéExperience level of people in this thread? Most of the posters are Pokévets, but I’m curious if there are latecomers or people unfamiliar with the franchise reading this, too. I'm an official Pokémon Professor (TCG/VG judge), and used to play the video game competitively until 2016's competitive format disgusted me enough for me to quit. also I was never that good at playing competitively. I like judging better
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Nov 24, 2020 22:17
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I used a Falinks (named Leonidas) for most of my Shield run. He was an MVP.
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Nov 24, 2020 22:29
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I've been reading the thread on and off, but it's been pretty fun since there's not a huge amount to really focus on. This game is Pokemon, so it's still alright, but it's probably the most basic the series has been since XY. Ah, such is a yearly release cycle. Otherwise, uh, I'm one of the biggest Pokevets out there and if you read my LPs, you would too :Pquote:
Though considering I wrote an almost exact scene in my Etrian Odyssey LP, I guess you're a big fan! I was always unsure how much OC dialogue to put in, but there are definitely times in the story where it's natural to have a lot of back and forth and you're handling it pretty well.
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Nov 25, 2020 00:08
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Crosspeice posted:I've been reading the thread on and off, but it's been pretty fun since there's not a huge amount to really focus on. This game is Pokemon, so it's still alright, but it's probably the most basic the series has been since XY. Ah, such is a yearly release cycle. Otherwise, uh, I'm one of the biggest Pokevets out there and if you read my LPs, you would too :P I, uh, I haven’t read your LPs . I think that was just convergent evolution. But thank you for the compliments! I do find balancing dialogue, plot, and character development at times, especially now that the main four’s characterization has started drifting away from their canon versions as they develop as characters.
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Nov 25, 2020 03:38
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Yoooooooo, Glaceon! My joint-2nd favourite Pokemon! God, I wish it got better moves thoughFalconier111 posted:Out of curiosity, what’s the relative PokéExperience level of people in this thread? Most of the posters are Pokévets, but I’m curious if there are latecomers or people unfamiliar with the franchise reading this, too. I've been playing since Gen 1, though i initially missed out on Gen III and the Sinnoh games until i got my own DS when the Gen II remakes came out. The only main game I haven't played yet is this one due to a lack of Switch in my life yet.
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Nov 25, 2020 14:31
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Falconier111 posted:Out of curiosity, what’s the relative PokéExperience level of people in this thread? Most of the posters are Pokévets, but I’m curious if there are latecomers or people unfamiliar with the franchise reading this, too. Played every gen since the start, have replayed all of them many times. Never interested in the competitive scene but I know the main games pretty well.
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Nov 25, 2020 15:19
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Falconier111 posted:Out of curiosity, what’s the relative PokéExperience level of people in this thread? Most of the posters are Pokévets, but I’m curious if there are latecomers or people unfamiliar with the franchise reading this, too. Oh, I should probably answer this. I played the original games obsessively as a child, but some combination of peer pressure and incipient genwunner energy had me completely abandon the series when Gold/Silver came out. Returned to the series as an adult some five or six years ago, in part due to the influence of my partner (who hasn't stopped playing these games since the beginning) and in my usual obsessive way decided I needed to learn everything. I have some fairly significant gaps in my play history as a result; when I came back to the games I replayed the originals again, spent a couple years 100%ing everything in gen 3, then jumped into fangames for a while and picked up the proper games with Let's Go/Pokemon Go/SwSh when those came out (I missed a few console generations but had a Switch so that was a convenient time to jump back in).
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Nov 25, 2020 16:33
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Falconier111 posted:Out of curiosity, what’s the relative PokéExperience level of people in this thread? Most of the posters are Pokévets, but I’m curious if there are latecomers or people unfamiliar with the franchise reading this, too. Now I do Competitive Pokemons™, but only for fun. There are people who get super into smogon analyzing, ie "well with this specific EV spread this pokemon will survive a boosted STAB from the current meta with 1.7% HP, so  ", which is gibberish to me. I'm a competitive player along the lines of "This team is dumb, but it'll maybe catch some people offguard in ranked battles"I am a Tragic Adult™ who can look at most pokemon and tell you my immediate opinion of them, usually along the lines of "I love it's design but why the gently caress is it a physical attacker with that moveset"
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Nov 25, 2020 17:16
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Falconier111 posted:
Been around since Gen 1, and have played at least one game from every generation. Usually multiple times. I don't have too much competitive knowledge, but I know a pretty good chunk of things about in game stuff.
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Nov 25, 2020 19:18
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Blaziken386 posted:I started playing in gen 3, and got super into it in gen 4 - right as it was abruptly Uncool™ to do so - and just stuck with it since then. My level of experience is mostly the same as this, though I don't actively participate in competitive so much as pay attention to it from outside and sometimes find it useful for tips and for getting a more holistic picture of boons and banes of various mons. Design still mostly comes first for me, though.
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Nov 25, 2020 19:33
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I got Blue and Gold when they came out - I remember there was a magazine ad for Gen 1 before they came out, and I assumed the title of the game was "Creatures" because "Pokemon" was clearly some nonsense corporation name or something. I don't really remember why I never got any of the later ones. Just moved on to other stuff, I guess. I do remember being strongly unimpressed with the spiky robots on the box art of Gens 3 and 4.
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Nov 25, 2020 19:48
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I played Pokemon Blue when it came out, watched the anime with my little brother (and of course he totally imagined himself being the very best ace trainer), and lost steam playing through the various Gens on emulator because gently caress grinding on wild encounters to Gym-appropriate levels.
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Nov 25, 2020 22:38
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Falconier111 posted:Out of curiosity, what’s the relative PokéExperience level of people in this thread? Most of the posters are Pokévets, but I’m curious if there are latecomers or people unfamiliar with the franchise reading this, too. My quirky old story is how I got my copy of Yellow. I was coming home in a taxi from an event with my parents, and as we exit the taxi, my foot dragged a bit and managed to kick out a lost purple Gameboy Color with a Pokémon Yellow cartridge inside onto the street. I already had Blue by then, so I was amazed at finding someone had lost their Gameboy wholesale. Surprisingly, both the Gameboy and the Yellow cartridge work fine despite the hard fall onto asphalt and it raining heavily that night. To this day, I've never been able to find the original owner, and it's been so long I no longer even remember the original name (or how their Pokédex turned out in that run) in the existing save file before I overwrote things with my own run.
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Nov 25, 2020 22:48
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Update 28: I Love the Snow So Much Circhester - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST  Welcome to lovely Circhester, the local equivalent of Bath (it may also be related to Cirencester, but don’t quote me on that). The degree to which its inhabitants are obsessed with snow is kind of alarming; you’d think by now the residents would’ve gotten used to it, but no, a solid third of NPC dialogue is just talking about snow, while most of the rest talk about snow-related things.  I mean, I kind of get it, but still, how does he make a living?   I guess it’s just a foodie town. The devs must’ve gone, “we want a restaurant with a fire theme in the ice town, so let’s abandon any pretense at thematic naming and just call it Bob’s Your Uncle”  . One of the NPCs mentioned you can buy curry ingredients here, but as far as I can tell they were a filthy liar. Gym Lobby - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST   I was SO CLOSE, too. Down to her last Pokémon. I mean, I have some ideas on how to right that wrong next time, but…   This is the first time I’ve seen you really express negative emotion in a while. Feeling better? Yeah, actually. I ran into Bede. D’you hear what he did at Stow-on-Side? Mate, I watched the MC drag him away. Then I ran into him on my way through Hammerlocke. Cor, really? How’s he doing? I’ve never seen him so defeated. I actually felt sorry for the poor bastard. I know, right? You sound like you care. We talked in Hammerlocke, too. He apologized, like, sincerely, and ended up spilling his life story after a bit of prodding. And… He’s kind of full of poo poo, isn’t he? Excellent deduction, Sherlock! Eh, gently caress off, Watson. I think he’s so full of poo poo because Rose spoonfed it to him. If half of what he said about him was true… Actually, I did some digging on him before I went to challenge the Ghost Gym. It’s kind of heartening to know Rose is a manipulative person, not just a businessman. Exactly. And Bede was so BUSINESSLIKE about it, all “of course he denied me anything approaching parental affection unless I worked to earn his favor and then he gave me pat on the head” like that’s something normal people do. I’m not sure if it qualified as abuse, but it definitely qualified as emotional neglect. Are you still attracted to him? Gloria, I was NEVER attracted to him. But you like pushy boys! I mean, yeah, but not like THAT. God no. Now, though? I just pity him. … To be honest, now I can’t stop thinking about who’s the Sherlock and who’s the Watson in our relationship. Oh, that’s easy. I’m both. Then what am I? You’re the Mycroft. Oh, I am AT LEAST the Adler.… With that out of the way, we have somebody to visit!   I heard a Wishing Star fell to you! That means you were chosen by the Wishing Star, and that also means I got a Pokéball for you!He gives us a Moon Ball, which is more likely to catch specifically Pokémon that evolved using a Moon Stone. That’s boring. I mean, thanks, but I don’t even know which Pokémon it’d help me catch  . Well, whatever. Let’s go face down the Ice Gym.   Gym - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST Have you folks ever heard of the critical hit problem? It’s an issue that shows up frequently tabletop RPGs, where it’s more likely to cause a negative impact, but it can apply to other kinds of RPG in the right circumstances. It goes like this: if player characters and monster have an equal chance for their attacks to crit, the situation actually disfavors the players. Monsters are, by nature, disposable; in the vast majority of RPGs, players end up killing them in droves. A crit against a monster just makes it go down faster and the combat a little safer. However, a crit against a player character will have much more impact because a dead PC can completely throw off a battle plan, drain the party’s reserves to bring them back, or just pop someone the character they’ve been suspended knows how long developing. Likewise, if a monster prioritizes attack, its lower defenses don’t mean as much because you can always have another one around the corner; if a PC does so, they risk a lucky hit pasting them against the floor. Ice is a lot like that. Ice-type moves are very powerful and often have a chance to inflict Frozen, probably the single most broken status effect in the game. On the other hand, Ice has a huge swath of weaknesses and it’s ‘mons tend to be fragile. While it’s hardly difficult to spec out your party to resist Ice, an Ice move at the right time can turn a fight and an Ice-type used strategically can cause a lot of damage. The Ice Gym is the other Shield-specific gym, its Sword counterpart being Rock-type; both are potent Types with big weaknesses but a lot of damage potential. My first time through, this Gym loving wrecked me. Let’s see if that holds up.     This time around, the Gym Challenge is an update of get another Pokémon/JRPG standby, the fragile floor puzzle (there’s probably a technical name for this but I don’t know it so I don’t care). Your goal is to navigate through an area without stepping on fragile parts of the floor, which will drop you to lower levels or send you back to the start. This time around, they hide the tiles and give you a couple of little dowsing rods you that let off purple rings every time you close in on one; if you walk onto it anyway…   … You fall in, complete with a split-second Looney Tunes air-run. It then just pops you back at the start or, after you beat someone standing on a middle platform, it starts you from there instead.  Once you beat one of the subsections, the camera pans over it, breaking all the tiles you missed. Because I was playing and writing at the same time, I ended up hitting most of those tiles in the first one.  For the most part, the trainers in here are about as intimidating as they always are, but they do have just enough of a bite to drain your PP little bit before you hit the Leader. PP is far more difficult to restore than HP, so each Trainer’s Pokémon taking several hits to go down – and there are more than a few Trainers in this Gym – starts to actually impede you. Not much, but hey.  The last of the three sections is covered in the same fog effect we saw all the way back in. They also pipe in disembodied voices that tell you to stay calm and keep moving. It isn’t very helpful. What IS helpful is that the tiles stay broken after you step on them, meaning you can just press forward and bump your way around the (impassable) holes you just opened up.  We do get an uncharacteristic gently caress you from Shield right here; once you step on this last platform, the fog clears. See the purple there? That last bit of snow between the platform and Gloria is a breakable tile there to mock you. Granted, once you trip in you just go back to that platform, but it’s the closest thing the game is given me to a middle finger yet.  Still got past pretty easy.    You won’t be able to escape when I freeze you solid. And after that… Well, you’ll see. I think you’ll find my style is quite severe. Love that ice rink light effect.  Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow - Battle! Gym Leader Music (HQ) I can only find so many SwSh Gym Battle remixes, sue me.   So I go into this with a plan. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, so I’ll lay this out now; you know those monster lists I’ve been posting? I don’t check them before the fight and instead go in blind. My plan, therefore, is based on the generic assumption that Melony here uses mostly Ice Pokémon  . We start by having Bruce hit this first Pokémon with a Pyro Ball to Instakill it, then switch out for something tailored to the next creature. Then I’m told I’m fighting something called a “Darmanitan” and I have no idea what that is, so I send out Baklava and it goes down easy. Next up is…  … That, which just looks fascinating. That ice cube head regenerates after taking a hit, letting it give Baklava a run for its money before it dies. It ended up dragging it down to one hit point before I got him back in his Pokéball and it out of the fight.        (Imagine you see little hearts flying out, I missed getting them even with my frantic screenshotting.)     Her final Pokémon is a Gigantamax Lapras, one of Gen 1’s signature Pokémon (and one of Ash’s in the anime). Or, at least, I consider it one of MY signature Pokémon from Gen 1. I especially liked one of its moves, Aurora Beam, just for the concept of shooting concentrated aurora borealis at an enemy. This Pokémon does not do that.    Instead, it does this. It’s an impressive display that could have taken Dietrich out in a second hit, and it might have taken out Bruce in one (I switched him out because Lapras is part Water-type). But it never got the chance. She outsped it and hit it too hard for it to get off another shot.     Well, I guess it would be more like falling from here, right?  … Young with such ability is quite grand. Here, take this sparkling Ice Badge! For some reason, I can’t help but imagine my son challenging you after you become the champion. If that time comes… Give him a right thrashing, would you?Her son is the Sword Gym Leader  .We won! Two more Gyms out of eight to go. My first time through Shield, Melony picked me up and used my face to wipe the floor. She was completely Goddamn terrifying. In retrospect, I think I just didn’t kit my team out for dealing with Ice-types and kept getting caught by surprise every time it turned out I just assumed I understood the type interactions. She took out four of my Pokémon, twice as many as any other Trainer in the game (including the postgame); the only reason I won is because my two remaining Pokémon, both weak to Ice, had enough neutral moves to overwhelm what was left of her team. This time… This time, I brought Baklava. The last time a Pokémon savaged me so badly while I was trying to catch it was Murphy, but unlike Murphy, Baklava proved his worth immediately at the next Gym. Honestly, he was the turning point. Had I not tossed Mr. Blobby into the box, my team would have fallen into the same typing trap its predecessor did. I’m sorry, younger self. It turns out, strictly pre-planning your team and never cycling it out is inferior to setting up a rotating team of good Pokémon. Or, at least, it is when training new Pokémon up isn’t an interminable grind. Also just realized I could have named him Mr. Krabbs.   
Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Dec 13, 2020 |
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Nov 26, 2020 05:02
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I know we were talking about the badge design in this game being extremely lackluster, but...the Ice badge is a literal ice cube. to the (Dyna)max.
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Nov 26, 2020 05:29
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Pokémon Info for this update: Melony does indeed use all Ice types, though Lapras' additional Water typing makes using Fire a poor idea against it. Also, that Darmanitan is actually a regional variant. Normal Darmanitan (introduced in Generation 5) are Fire type. While most have Sheer Force as their ability, they have a Hidden Ability called Zen Mode. Those with Zen Mode change their form when their HP gets to 50% or less, becoming Fire/Psychic and changing around their stats. Darmanitan are fairly dangerous, being fairly fast and having a monstrous 140 base Attack. Sheer Force makes them even scarier, removing any beneficial secondary effects if a move has some, but making the move more powerful in return. Galarian Darmanitan are full Ice types. They are a scary Ice type too, with those stats. If a Galarian Darmanitan has its HA, it becomes Ice/Fire when Zen Mode activates, which is cool. Their standard ability, Gorilla Tactics, is far more useful though. Gorilla Tactics powers up G.Darmanitan's Attack, but restricts them to the first move they used until they faint, or switch out. It's essentially the Choice Band in ability form. As for Ice types in general, it's Ice type attacks that are powerful. Ice as a type is defensively poor, as F111 noted, but the serious problem is that most Ice type Pokémon are built like tanks when their type doesn't work well with that build. Galarian Darmanitan showcases how Ice can be truly threatening when on a mon actually specced to the type's strength. Lastly, choosing a set team is not necessarily inferior to swapping mons around. It all depends on the types you choose, and the move sets each Pokémon have.
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Nov 26, 2020 06:11
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Falconier111 posted:I guess it’s just a foodie town. The devs must’ve gone, “we want a restaurant with a fire theme in the ice town, so let’s abandon any pretense at thematic naming and just call it Bob’s Your Uncle” I wanted to buy food there too and was disappointed I couldn't. I wonder if that line is a mistranslation, since you can buy "Bob's Food Tin" from some NPCs as a curry ingredient... you just can't actually buy it from Bob's. Or at all in Shield actually, it's one of the two version-exclusive curry ingredients because that totally had to be a thing, gamefreak what is wrong with your design sensibilities. (In Shield you get Bach's Food Tins instead, which I think are supposed to be from the seafood restaurant in Hulbury.) I hate this gym gimmick. It's somehow incredibly frustrating without having any interesting gameplay to it since you can just get through on trial and error, and the drat rumble feature goes nuts all the time because you're supposed to use that as an indicator for where the pits are. (It's the same gimmick in Sword, except it's all sand instead of ice.) It's kind of a shame her Darmanitan didn't get to do anything, because that's an absolutely hilarious pokemon and one of my favourites in this gen. Hers in particular has a very silly gimmick, it has its hidden ability which means that when it gets low on health, it turns into an angry snowman that is also on fire and starts bouncing all over the place. Its normal ability is lots of fun too (it effectively gets a built-in Choice Band), but it's probably for the best that Melony doesn't use that. I had some interesting luck with one of these, it actually came to my camp when I made a curry and offered to join me without battling, so of course I had to use it on my team and it ended up being one of my MVPs. The whole thing with her son is kind of weird, honestly. She talks about him in this game and he appears on one of her trading cards, but he never appears anywhere in the game since he's a Sword-exclusive character. And in Sword, nothing acknowledges Melony's existence at all, there's literally zero mention of her anywhere. It's a strange asymmetry and I don't know what they were trying to do. Edit: the thing about Gorilla Tactics is that you can slap a Choice Band on top of it, and they stack. It's ludicrous. You can also use a Choice Scarf and get the effects of both choice items simultaneously.
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Nov 26, 2020 06:27
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 Gigantamax Lapras's G-Max Resonance has an interesting effect (compared to most Max and G-Max Moves, at least, which lean more towards offensive effects) - it cuts the damage your team takes by half (in Singles) or down to two-thirds (in Doubles). It's the same effect as Light Screen and Reflect, and more specifically (as in if you check the Info Tab it'll show up as it) it shares an effect with Aurora Veil - an Ice-type status move that, well. Does Reflect and Light Screen at once. The catch is, of course, that it has to be hailing, a requirement G-Max Resonance lacks.It's one of the few G-Max Moves that's just a hard improvement over the regular Max Move, imo, though that might just be because I feel like hail is... a terrible, terrible weather effect. (also this is late but I'm fine with being quoted for whatever)
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Nov 26, 2020 08:40
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Falconier111 posted:Also just realized I could have named him Mr. Krabbs. You can rename him in any Pokemon centre, just talk to the guy with the cat behind the coffee counter on the left. You can rename any regularly-caught Pokemon infinite times, though traded ones can only be renamed once. (And ones with names using a different alphabet can't be renamed at all for some reason, my shiny Chinese Mewtwo will forever have a name incomprehensible to me.) It's also worth talking to the same guy whenever you catch a new Pokemon or someone evolves, to see if they can learn anything good from earlier in their movelist. Gamefreak really love giving Pokemon really good moves at level 1 and then again at level 65 or something. Explopyro posted:I hate this gym gimmick. It's somehow incredibly frustrating without having any interesting gameplay to it since you can just get through on trial and error, and the drat rumble feature goes nuts all the time because you're supposed to use that as an indicator for where the pits are. (It's the same gimmick in Sword, except it's all sand instead of ice.) The Switch Lite doesn't have the rumble feature. It's almost impossible to see the visual cue from the detector thing because usually you're facing away from the camera and it's in front of you. It was pretty much impossible for me to get through the first time without just throwing myself down every pit so at least I'd know where they were. On subsequent playthroughs I followed a guide, gently caress that noise.
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Nov 26, 2020 09:55
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LiefKatano posted:
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Nov 26, 2020 22:33
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Falconier111 posted:
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Nov 27, 2020 14:05
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Quantum Toast posted:In Galar? Just the Clefairy and Munna/Musharna families, basically. (Also the Jigglypuff and (both) Nidoran families, but they're only catchable in the DLC.) Handy if you happen to want one, but I think it's the most niche of all the ball types. The main purpose of it nowadays is literally just for style points, because why would you need a special ball for something that specific when Quickballs exist
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Nov 27, 2020 22:29
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Blaziken386 posted:fun fact: IIRC, in gen 2, the moonball didn't even work as intended - it was supposed to target Moonstone Evos, but because they made a mistake in the database, it had a better catch rate on pokemon that evolved via *burn heal*. Incredibly niche use and it didn't even work! I actually read about a similar screwup with Fast Balls earlier when I was double-checking those evos. It was supposed to work best on any pokemon with a 10%, 50% or 100% chance of fleeing battle, but it only triggered properly for the first three pokemon on the 10% list (Magnemite, Grimer and Tangela) and absolutely nothing from the other two lists.Still more useful than that Asbestos Ball though.
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Nov 27, 2020 22:58
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Update 29: An Absolutely Fantastic Poster Circhester - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST   Circhester has some really great restaurants. I got some things I want to talk to you about, so let’s head to a restaurant to celebrate your win! Did you see Bob’s Your Uncle on your way to the Gym? The one with that frozen food mascot on it? Oh, that – you’ve only ever had those ready meals. The real thing is loads better, trust me. So, how are the troops? I looked over that article you sent me the other day – I’ve been trying out a bunch of different curry recipes. Still not sure how good a cook I am, but… I bet your Pokémon appreciated anyway. Oh, they do. In fact…… Yeah, about that… You probably shouldn’t badmouth Rose in this town. At least not in anybody’s earshot. Why not? You know how maybe two thirds of the buildings around here look pretty old and the other third look brand spanking new? Sure. Before Rose moved in a couple decades ago, Circhester was basically on the edge of collapse. It didn’t have much to export beyond pet Snom, no local industries, the tourist trade was collapsing since the bath wasn’t comfortable for humans anymore – turns out that’s what happens when Galar particle concentration builds up in water – the whole town was falling into poverty. But as it turns out? Circhester has the highest GP concentration in the country outside of Hammerlocke. Most of the power plants are underground so you don’t see them, but Circhester Power Generation Services – and that’s a Macro Cosmos subsidiary, by the way – employs a solid 10th of the town and provides energy for half of Wyndon. Plus… Actually, I’m not sure you know this. You know why Rose basically runs the Challenge? I assumed it’s because he just bankrolls the whole thing. That’s true, and that’s a part of it. But before MC moved in and started tapping it proper, Gym battles didn’t rely on using Dynamax every five. Heck, Spikemuth didn’t have access any at all! I mean, it still doesn’t, but they have Piers to hold it together. Then Rose came on the scene and started finding ways to tap into Galar particles in large quantities. Next thing you know, power costs drop by a third across the country, the old Gym in Wyndon closes since the city drains all the Galar particles in the area to keep itself running, and Rose funds and builds a replacement Stadium here. He put Circhester back on the map. Between CPGS, the Gym, and the Hero’s Bath - which is now functioning because the concentration’s dropped from all the facilities pulling on it – and he has his fingers in basically everything.… So what you’re saying is Circhester is a giant company town. Well, not quite, but it has the most MC employees of any town in Galar – and that’s including Wyndon – and a lot of them have that cult thing going on. Bottom line? Don’t call Rose names or they’ll spit in your food. Actually, speaking of GP concentrations – Hiya! Beat you there Oh, that reminds me. Actually, Sonia, can I talk to Gloria one-on-one for second? Sure. It’s kind of hard to order here, but I know my way about the menu; I’ll pick some stuff out for you. Much appreciated. So. I’ve been doing some thinking. Normally, I’d make a joke here, but I get the impression this is serious.  All right, then. Go ahead. … I’m not sure I want to win the Challenge anymore.… Of all the things I expected to hear, that was not one of them  . I think… I’ve definitely had good things happen to me on this trip, but for the most part, it’s been pretty miserable. I keep banging my head against Gym Leaders and other Trainers, but even though I win eventually – usually – I just end up pushing myself in my Pokémon too hard. And yet, it’s like… I’ve been told the Gym Challenge is supposed to be about having fun. Yeah, exactly! I like my Pokémon, and I like battles, but the competitive thing… I’m not philosophically opposed to it or anything, but I feel like… I really don’t want to a lesser version of my big brother anymore. I’ve been trying not to say it. I mean, not that that’s all you are, but… You keep trying to echo him and his achievements and it just doesn’t work because you’re you, Hop, not him. If that makes any sense. No way. What on earth would you even be DOING here? I get the gist. What I like most about all this, I think, is learning about my Pokémon. Yeah, training them is a part of it, but I like getting to know them from every angle. I think I like getting to know Pokémon. I think that’s what I want to do. Like, going forward. Hell, I’ve been reading a textbook on Psychic-type biology off my Rotomphone before hitting the sack and ENJOYING it. Considering asking Sonia for advice on where to apply? No, it has to be! Definitely. I don’t intend to drop out of the Challenge, though. When or lose, I’m going to see this through to the bloody end and still do my damnedest to win. If I lose, then I’ll be disappointed, but I’ll live. But if I win, I’ll do it my way, using the Pokémon and the techniques I like. Not what I think Lee would do.… I’m proud of you, mate.  Thanks, I guess? That’s – GUYS!  That’s… A very nice dirty old picture. It’s a missing tapestry. It has to be!Once Upon a Time... - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST We can’t know that just by looking at it. Maybe it’s a fake? Or a copy? No. Well, maybe it’s a copy, but the style is too close for it to postdate the four in the Hammerlocke vault. Well, it’s just the Brother Kings looking sad… Wait, there’s no sword or shield. Do you think that meant Zacian and Zamazenta left them at some point? Sonia! Sonia, do you know what happened to Alfred the Unifier’s bodyguards at the end of their lives? Nobody mentioned anything that I read… I don’t think anyone knows! Do you think they just leave every time their work is done? And I bet they go back to the Weald every time! They must hide out in the temple until they decide it’s time to come back out! But, how do they tell, is the question. Maybe an internal clock? Maybe – but I was thinking about the Bath. It’s infused with Galar particles, right? And we know from from the geoglyphs and accounts of Alfred’s reign that Pokémon Dynamaxed during the Darkest Day… Maybe they detect Galar particles! Okay, look, I hate to butt in, but I’m a little bit completely lost. Oh man, we never caught you up on the Darkest Day, Hop? I think I see our orders on the counter. Gloria, Hop, let’s sit down and get something in us. Then you get the full briefing.One briefing and very spicy meal later… Circhester - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST   They say this is where Zacian and Zamazenta came to rest after patrolling the realm at the height of Gudelic’s reign. Nowadays only Pokémon really use the Hero’s Bath, though… Speaking of which, I think it’s time I really grill you on what exactly you saw in the Weald. Both of you, especially now that you know what’s going on, Hop. We can always use an outside perspective. Honestly, it was… Bloody hell, it’s been almost 2 months. I barely remember it at this point. Just… I saw a big red wolfy thing that howled and spat fog the bunch. I’ve already told you everything I remember. Actually, though, I had a thought. Go ahead. Several years ago – not long after you and Leon went after the Championship, from what I remember – YOU got lost in the woods and came back with gaps in your memory – like us, but a lot more severe. Do you think you might have had a run-in yourself? I don’t think so. Well, I guess it’s possible. I don’t remember much – actually, come to think of it, I do remember loads of fog. And – you said… He said a wolf, right? Yeah?… But – but, but a red one? Yeah… I thought…blue…its… Sonia, you all right, mate? She… She just froze. Is this normal? Do people do this? Earth to Sonia, are you still in there? I’m lost, do you– She's about to fall over, catch her! What – okay, I *oof* I got her! Put her down and check her eyes. Are they dilated? A little bit, yeah. Gloria. I think one of those Pokémon put something in her head.
Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Dec 13, 2020 |
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Nov 28, 2020 05:11
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...So your added plot is going with "The secret history is so obvious that the only way Sonia didn't figure it all out before the game started was that she was brainwashed into being unable to put the clues together." As opposed to the original excuse that "Humans spent ages trying to write the legendary wolves out of their own legend and give all the credit to the human rulers, so the remaining clues weren't actually where anyone would have thought to look."
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Nov 28, 2020 05:41
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Psychic types, man. Not even once.
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Nov 28, 2020 07:03
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MightyPretenders posted:...So your added plot is going with "The secret history is so obvious that the only way Sonia didn't figure it all out before the game started was that she was brainwashed into being unable to put the clues together." Eh, (spoilers for reasons covered inside though it won’t give away the plot) on the one hand, speaking from the inside, so to speak, I think you’re kind of overestimating historians. The field as a whole has such a huge problem with siloing/subdivision between that we sometimes need outsiders to come in and point out obvious connections between fields; see the story of Janet Stephens, revolutionary archeologist and New York hairdresser, for instance. They put a lot of this together by digging through untranslated books (which historians likely wouldn’t be able to pull on) and making inferences between apparently unrelated subjects. Plus, this is all circumstantial evidence based on an assumption that’s kind of outrageous. Unless they had some serious evidence they’d be laughed off; neither of them has actual training as a historian and it shows. On the other hand, while this all might seem obvious to a historian, most readers are not, and if I failed to imply how precarious their conclusions actually are it’s more my failure as a writer and less you not picking up something obvious. I have no idea how to fix that and I’m not going back to rehaul the plot dumps so In an unrelated note,  E: Actually, going to need to go back and tweak the ending of the last update, not by much, but… Nothing to see here, folks! 
Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 02:43 on Nov 29, 2020 |
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Nov 28, 2020 21:40
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