NinjaMushi
15 Reviews liked by NinjaMushi
Did you know? It's well documented that first lady Hillary Clinton was an avid player of the Game Boy during her husband's presidency. However, what isn't as well documented is how she loved the handheld system so much that she bought two of them to give to George Bush and Dick Cheney before their inauguration as a symbol of goodwill among the two parties. Bush and Cheney reportedly loved Metroid II in particular so much that the game's plot about the Galactic Federation making up some bullshit about dangerous weapons and sending Samus to SR388 was what inspired the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Hey! Pikmin
2017
This game is so much better than I expected! I love that this feels more like a DS game than a 3DS game. Levels sprawl between both screens and you use touch controls to attack. It’s such a strangely nostalgic experience in the sense it feels like it came out in 2004. Love the ui as well.
A great love letter to the history of
Grasshopper Manufacture and indie games too.
Grasshopper Manufacture and indie games too.
Pikmin 2
2004
A good sequel at first glance, but once you delve deeper into the game the huge list of bullshit shows and ruin your experience.
This is what I think about Pikmin 2, an innovative sequel that brings a lot to the table but at the same time ruins what made the original great. My opinion of the game drastically changed once I got to the post-game of the basic ending, once you get there you get a whole new map to explore and welcome to bullshit city, this part of the game made me realize how flawed the Pikmin's AI is, it shows how dumb they are and once you get into a dungeon of that last stage.
The early game till the end of the base plot of the game is a ton of fun, it brings a lot of cool ideas such as two new Pikmin types with one of them being somewhat useless, the purple Pikmin, and the white Pikmin which is a bit too useful for treasure hunting and his race being only available in caves is really annoying in all honesty.
They gave us a new captain to control making this game also a COOP game! But the main reason they gave us a second playable character is to multitask so one can take a group of Pikmin and the other takes another group to avoid wasting time, but here's the issue with this, it's useless since there's no urgency to do anything fast unlike Pikmin 1! Guess Louie would've been more useful in the first game.
One big change that can seem unnoticeable is how most enemies have a lot less health than Pikmin's 1 enemies making them feel less like a damage sponge and making encounters less long, but it came as a tradeoff, they are also way more brutal and there's a lot of one-hit kill enemies or just ones that eat Pikmin really, really fast like a bunch of big Bulborbs in the caves.
So would that game be an upgrade to the original or just a downgrade? It's a very difficult question, both games do work as standalone releases and none of them just feels like it'll replace the next but the "superior" game would be Pikmin 2 as it's not 2 hours long like Pikmin 1 and there's no time limit, no bombs for yellow Pikmin making these atrocious stone walls in Pikmin 1 gone forever (thankfully) and the overworld maps just feel more balanced and better to explore, for the most part... Do they actually expect me to go there with my yellow Pikmin to break that electric fence past the wooden bridge? Don't they know how hard it is to move Pikmin on a small surface surrounded by instant death threats around them?
So what about the post-game? I'd love to tell tales about them but the last stage is just bad! Well, the overworld isn't but anything in the underground sections just sucks dude, even when they were easy in the early part of the game you kinda just slog through them but you never really have fun, they all look and play the same, the main factor is either "Will it be too easy or just filled with bullshit".
I love the idea of earning a unique item that gives Olimar new abilities after beating the boss of the cave but like I said it just feels the same, it goes on for too long and I wish they were each only like 5 or 6 floors long.
But in the case of the last world, it just shows how badly designed they are, bullshit one-hit traps everywhere like bombs with the 1 IQ all Pikmin share they all urge themselves to go hit something that you didn't order them to or just flock themselves to something at the wrong time like bombs right when they explode and in an instant you just lose like 50 Pikmin out of bad luck and level design.
So if anyone wondered "Is Pikmin 2 difficult?" for the most part it isn't, it's just filled with bullshit at the end.
But at the end of the day, it's still a fun game and beating the game doesn't require finishing all dogshit caves.
This is what I think about Pikmin 2, an innovative sequel that brings a lot to the table but at the same time ruins what made the original great. My opinion of the game drastically changed once I got to the post-game of the basic ending, once you get there you get a whole new map to explore and welcome to bullshit city, this part of the game made me realize how flawed the Pikmin's AI is, it shows how dumb they are and once you get into a dungeon of that last stage.
The early game till the end of the base plot of the game is a ton of fun, it brings a lot of cool ideas such as two new Pikmin types with one of them being somewhat useless, the purple Pikmin, and the white Pikmin which is a bit too useful for treasure hunting and his race being only available in caves is really annoying in all honesty.
They gave us a new captain to control making this game also a COOP game! But the main reason they gave us a second playable character is to multitask so one can take a group of Pikmin and the other takes another group to avoid wasting time, but here's the issue with this, it's useless since there's no urgency to do anything fast unlike Pikmin 1! Guess Louie would've been more useful in the first game.
One big change that can seem unnoticeable is how most enemies have a lot less health than Pikmin's 1 enemies making them feel less like a damage sponge and making encounters less long, but it came as a tradeoff, they are also way more brutal and there's a lot of one-hit kill enemies or just ones that eat Pikmin really, really fast like a bunch of big Bulborbs in the caves.
So would that game be an upgrade to the original or just a downgrade? It's a very difficult question, both games do work as standalone releases and none of them just feels like it'll replace the next but the "superior" game would be Pikmin 2 as it's not 2 hours long like Pikmin 1 and there's no time limit, no bombs for yellow Pikmin making these atrocious stone walls in Pikmin 1 gone forever (thankfully) and the overworld maps just feel more balanced and better to explore, for the most part... Do they actually expect me to go there with my yellow Pikmin to break that electric fence past the wooden bridge? Don't they know how hard it is to move Pikmin on a small surface surrounded by instant death threats around them?
So what about the post-game? I'd love to tell tales about them but the last stage is just bad! Well, the overworld isn't but anything in the underground sections just sucks dude, even when they were easy in the early part of the game you kinda just slog through them but you never really have fun, they all look and play the same, the main factor is either "Will it be too easy or just filled with bullshit".
I love the idea of earning a unique item that gives Olimar new abilities after beating the boss of the cave but like I said it just feels the same, it goes on for too long and I wish they were each only like 5 or 6 floors long.
But in the case of the last world, it just shows how badly designed they are, bullshit one-hit traps everywhere like bombs with the 1 IQ all Pikmin share they all urge themselves to go hit something that you didn't order them to or just flock themselves to something at the wrong time like bombs right when they explode and in an instant you just lose like 50 Pikmin out of bad luck and level design.
So if anyone wondered "Is Pikmin 2 difficult?" for the most part it isn't, it's just filled with bullshit at the end.
But at the end of the day, it's still a fun game and beating the game doesn't require finishing all dogshit caves.
Pikmin 2
2004
Pikmin 2 is one of the worst sequels I’ve played that has received some degree of critical acclaim. For those not versed into the Pikmin series Pikmin 2 for Nintendo Gamecube is a sequel to the hit launch title that set out to address many of the contemporary criticisms of the first game by dramatically overhauling many aspects of the franchise’s overlying systems and presentation. In my view these changes to narrative tone, progression structure, and game feel don’t really coalesce into an overall completely satisfying package.
The story is centered on Captain Olimar and his assistant Louie returning to the Pikmin planet in order to find treasures that can help him pay back his employer’s corporate debt. I usually say with Nintendo reviews the plot is simple but works as a vehicle for the gameplay and to an extent that is the case here but I can’t help but feel as though more could’ve been done. The first game had this unique sense of isolation to it that gave it a fantastic atmosphere and the day system synergized with the ship crash plot to give the game a tense mood. Not saying the more comedic tone of Pikmin 2 wasn’t a valid direction to take the series. Hell, if anything I think the game’s light jab at capitalism with the treasure hoard being IRL product placement in this (implied) apocalyptic planet and President character being this incompetent shortsighted oaf that doesn’t understand the concept of predatory loans is neat. I just wish the game had tied this theme of destructive consumerist capitalism into the gameplay loop more but hey its a mass appeal kids game they were probably never gonna go that far. To me the biggest fault in Pikmin 2’s story isn’t necessarily this shift in tone or even an inability to fully capitalize on its anti-capitalist themes but rather how it fails to use its gameplay in a synergistic way with its narrative. To get into this I will need to address overall game structure and how things have changed since the first game.
Pikmin 2 has four main additions to the franchise formula including Purple & White Pikmin, upgrades in the form of the both consumable spicy/bitter berry sprays & permanent upgrades for your space suit, and an additional captain for multitasking. All these tools are promising on paper but never really come together into a cohesive package of interesting choices for one simple reason: caves.
Caves are basically combat oriented dungeons where Olimar will earn much of the treasure to pay off his debt. This cave system does not gel with any other choice the developers make even on a baseline level. The way the combat in Pikmin 1 was set up (and that is largely carried over here) is you throw or swarm the Pikmin horde in a vague direction towards your opponent and avoid attacks aimed at your captain and Pikmin using a combination of movement and whistling. This has a level of impreciseness to it that meant your Pikmin lost in combat were effectively a resource tax you had to play around in the time limit system to ensure you gathered the 30 ship parts in 30 days. Since time doesn’t run naturally in the caverns and the time limit doesn’t really exist on a macro-scale (in other words there is no alt ending system) sans as a form of leaderboard tracking you effectively end up with very basic combat with little gameplay tension. Losing a Pikmin is less “ NOOOO NOT MY REDS!” and “more ugh time to grind more Pikmin”. Unless you run low on troops this game can devolve into the very tedious pattern of killing a ton of enemies and playing 52 pickups with the treasures left behind. Needless to say this creates a ton of dead air. The developers must have realized this at some point in development as this game has assorted layers of mass Pikmin grave creators like roaming enemies, falling bombs, and various flavors of instant kill attacks to create tension via low Pikmin counts close to boss areas. Some of it a player can counter play (as an example: boulders are usually telegraphed with sound effects and a discolored ground texture even before the drop shadow reveals itself thus giving you plenty of time to whistle Pikmin out of the way) but a lot comes off as artificial difficulty on a first playthrough. A lot of falling bomb rocks only seem to trigger upon trying to pick up a treasure for example. Pretty much the only two of these hazards that felt interesting on a decision making level were the boulder which incentivized playing with a smaller squad to scout out a location before tracking down the loot and the waterwraith, an Aliens: Isolation or Metroid Fusion style instant kill enemy chase sequence tied to a timer which forces you to grab the treasure quickly. These are the few moments in the game that really have any sense of tension. In short, most of these hazards feel less like engaging gameplay challenges and more like a resource threshold you have to clear by grinding Pikmin.
Speaking of grinding Pikmin, doing that for two of the species in this game is a complete pain in the ass that shows the reason a lot of these stylistic choices don’t go together. New to Pikmin 2 are white and purple Pikmin. White Pikmin can dig stuff out of the ground, carry things around quicker, and sacrifice themselves to most enemies for a massive amount of inflicted poison damage while Purple Pikmin are the muscle of the squad that can stun enemies in combat by being thrown and act as strength equivalents to 10 normal Pikmin in the context of the carrying weight mechanic. I do actually like the game play choices they ask of the player in terms of party composition (you have a 100 slots, how many do you want allocated to these just as perishable excess utility Pikmin vs tried and true puzzle solving Pikmin species?). The problem comes from the rarity of these two new species. Since Whites and Purples can only be grown via underground transferring of other species troops via Candypop buds. You end up with a large time sink for dungeon preparation. Want more white Pikmin as prep for those annoying Pileated Snagret boss battles or a poison barrier in the Awakening Wood? Better be ready to take a trip to the Subterranean Complex’s third sub-level with any extra red Pikmin you have several times over. Want 100 Purples for that time sink 1000 carrying weight dumbbell in Wistful Wild? Dear god your poor soul shouldn’t have decided to go for all treasures.
Oh and did I mention that Yellow (due to electric gates, negating some instant kill attacks and the strength of being more able to easily hit various bosses significant more easily with vertical mobility) & Purple Pikmin (stun locking enemies with throw) are overwhelmingly more useful then Red, White, and Blue Pikmin (all of which serve as very basic keys to certain treasures) further exacerbating this design choice to limit Purple growth to caves as it sorta naturally draws a casual players’s eye to this bad pacing for dungeon preparation. Sure players might optimize the fun out of everything (a common retort I see to poorly balanced gameplay systems online) and balance isn’t everything but I feel like it's safe to say that a spammable combat unit you get during the first dungeon trivializing combat is pretty different from say saving great scientists in Civ 5 to exploit that game’s research payout algorithm. Both are pretty gamey and take away player expression but one is much more likely to be noticeable and thus employed by a casual player playing the game for the first time. Maybe if Pikmin 2 didn’t employ cheap design tricks with its falling bomb rock and enemy spam that heavily incentivized unfun, optimal strategies like purple grinding I wouldn’t be making this review but I guess what I am trying to say is that it isn’t just a case of Pikmin 2 being unbalanced it's that the unbalanced aspects are actively brought to the four front via its sloppy dungeon design which in turn is informed by a lack of temporal consequences to Pikmin grinding due to the lack of a day system.
I could go into more detail on other new aspects of Pikmin 2 that reinforce this point with the bitter spray and captain punching upgrades but I’d just be repeating both myself and other folks in the online discourse surrounding this title. Instead I wanna turn my attention to another aspect of the game I think hasn’t gotten as much attention as a gap between the designer's likely intent and the final product: the shoddily implemented multi-tasking system.
In Pikmin 2’s pseudo-midpoint (paying off the debt) you get a mock credits sequence in which Olimar accidentally leaves Louie to fend for himself on the Pikmin planet. In theory this should be a needle scratch moment after the player has gotten attached to Louie as this helpful partner that helped you grow your corporate bank account via the multi-task function. In practice this ends up being a bit of a wet fart of plot point that sorta makes the true ending feel less like a Lethal Weapon like capstone on Olimar and Louie’s unlikely friendship kinda and more just abrupt due to how little you need to use the multi-task function in game. Over the course of my all treasures playthrough of Pikmin 2 I can only think of seven places I was heavily incentivized to use the multitasking feature:
1) The Valley Of Reposes multitasking tutorial.
2)The three berry grinding locations in Awakening Wood, Perplexing Pool, and Wistful Wild.
3) A stone elevator in the yellow onion spawn in
4)The Perplexing Pool’s “Massage Girdle” treasure.
5) A boss known as the Ranging Bloyster that requires constant switching to stun lock him into vulnerability.
Since Louie can theoretically just be chilling at your base or cave floor entrance 90% the game with little repercussions (and generally I’d say sticking to one captain or treating the captains as a universal party is the path of least resistance most of the time) you as a player never really develop an affinity for the second in command thus you end up with a kinda ineffective climax with the only interesting stuff being the implication that Louie might’ve been controlling the final boss to cover up his role in the company going into debt. The game doesn't really do much with this so I don't really have much to add to that other than it sorta being emblematic of Pikmin 2 as a whole of a bunch of good ideas that never really come together in the end.
Pikmin 2 isn’t all bad. There is some nice quality of life changes with Pikmin party management, some of the writing in the treasure horde is generally pretty funny, the arcadey challenge mode is a huge step up from the first game but it just didn’t take into account how much of the franchises appeal and structure of its core mechanics resided in its use of time scarcity to create tension.
The story is centered on Captain Olimar and his assistant Louie returning to the Pikmin planet in order to find treasures that can help him pay back his employer’s corporate debt. I usually say with Nintendo reviews the plot is simple but works as a vehicle for the gameplay and to an extent that is the case here but I can’t help but feel as though more could’ve been done. The first game had this unique sense of isolation to it that gave it a fantastic atmosphere and the day system synergized with the ship crash plot to give the game a tense mood. Not saying the more comedic tone of Pikmin 2 wasn’t a valid direction to take the series. Hell, if anything I think the game’s light jab at capitalism with the treasure hoard being IRL product placement in this (implied) apocalyptic planet and President character being this incompetent shortsighted oaf that doesn’t understand the concept of predatory loans is neat. I just wish the game had tied this theme of destructive consumerist capitalism into the gameplay loop more but hey its a mass appeal kids game they were probably never gonna go that far. To me the biggest fault in Pikmin 2’s story isn’t necessarily this shift in tone or even an inability to fully capitalize on its anti-capitalist themes but rather how it fails to use its gameplay in a synergistic way with its narrative. To get into this I will need to address overall game structure and how things have changed since the first game.
Pikmin 2 has four main additions to the franchise formula including Purple & White Pikmin, upgrades in the form of the both consumable spicy/bitter berry sprays & permanent upgrades for your space suit, and an additional captain for multitasking. All these tools are promising on paper but never really come together into a cohesive package of interesting choices for one simple reason: caves.
Caves are basically combat oriented dungeons where Olimar will earn much of the treasure to pay off his debt. This cave system does not gel with any other choice the developers make even on a baseline level. The way the combat in Pikmin 1 was set up (and that is largely carried over here) is you throw or swarm the Pikmin horde in a vague direction towards your opponent and avoid attacks aimed at your captain and Pikmin using a combination of movement and whistling. This has a level of impreciseness to it that meant your Pikmin lost in combat were effectively a resource tax you had to play around in the time limit system to ensure you gathered the 30 ship parts in 30 days. Since time doesn’t run naturally in the caverns and the time limit doesn’t really exist on a macro-scale (in other words there is no alt ending system) sans as a form of leaderboard tracking you effectively end up with very basic combat with little gameplay tension. Losing a Pikmin is less “ NOOOO NOT MY REDS!” and “more ugh time to grind more Pikmin”. Unless you run low on troops this game can devolve into the very tedious pattern of killing a ton of enemies and playing 52 pickups with the treasures left behind. Needless to say this creates a ton of dead air. The developers must have realized this at some point in development as this game has assorted layers of mass Pikmin grave creators like roaming enemies, falling bombs, and various flavors of instant kill attacks to create tension via low Pikmin counts close to boss areas. Some of it a player can counter play (as an example: boulders are usually telegraphed with sound effects and a discolored ground texture even before the drop shadow reveals itself thus giving you plenty of time to whistle Pikmin out of the way) but a lot comes off as artificial difficulty on a first playthrough. A lot of falling bomb rocks only seem to trigger upon trying to pick up a treasure for example. Pretty much the only two of these hazards that felt interesting on a decision making level were the boulder which incentivized playing with a smaller squad to scout out a location before tracking down the loot and the waterwraith, an Aliens: Isolation or Metroid Fusion style instant kill enemy chase sequence tied to a timer which forces you to grab the treasure quickly. These are the few moments in the game that really have any sense of tension. In short, most of these hazards feel less like engaging gameplay challenges and more like a resource threshold you have to clear by grinding Pikmin.
Speaking of grinding Pikmin, doing that for two of the species in this game is a complete pain in the ass that shows the reason a lot of these stylistic choices don’t go together. New to Pikmin 2 are white and purple Pikmin. White Pikmin can dig stuff out of the ground, carry things around quicker, and sacrifice themselves to most enemies for a massive amount of inflicted poison damage while Purple Pikmin are the muscle of the squad that can stun enemies in combat by being thrown and act as strength equivalents to 10 normal Pikmin in the context of the carrying weight mechanic. I do actually like the game play choices they ask of the player in terms of party composition (you have a 100 slots, how many do you want allocated to these just as perishable excess utility Pikmin vs tried and true puzzle solving Pikmin species?). The problem comes from the rarity of these two new species. Since Whites and Purples can only be grown via underground transferring of other species troops via Candypop buds. You end up with a large time sink for dungeon preparation. Want more white Pikmin as prep for those annoying Pileated Snagret boss battles or a poison barrier in the Awakening Wood? Better be ready to take a trip to the Subterranean Complex’s third sub-level with any extra red Pikmin you have several times over. Want 100 Purples for that time sink 1000 carrying weight dumbbell in Wistful Wild? Dear god your poor soul shouldn’t have decided to go for all treasures.
Oh and did I mention that Yellow (due to electric gates, negating some instant kill attacks and the strength of being more able to easily hit various bosses significant more easily with vertical mobility) & Purple Pikmin (stun locking enemies with throw) are overwhelmingly more useful then Red, White, and Blue Pikmin (all of which serve as very basic keys to certain treasures) further exacerbating this design choice to limit Purple growth to caves as it sorta naturally draws a casual players’s eye to this bad pacing for dungeon preparation. Sure players might optimize the fun out of everything (a common retort I see to poorly balanced gameplay systems online) and balance isn’t everything but I feel like it's safe to say that a spammable combat unit you get during the first dungeon trivializing combat is pretty different from say saving great scientists in Civ 5 to exploit that game’s research payout algorithm. Both are pretty gamey and take away player expression but one is much more likely to be noticeable and thus employed by a casual player playing the game for the first time. Maybe if Pikmin 2 didn’t employ cheap design tricks with its falling bomb rock and enemy spam that heavily incentivized unfun, optimal strategies like purple grinding I wouldn’t be making this review but I guess what I am trying to say is that it isn’t just a case of Pikmin 2 being unbalanced it's that the unbalanced aspects are actively brought to the four front via its sloppy dungeon design which in turn is informed by a lack of temporal consequences to Pikmin grinding due to the lack of a day system.
I could go into more detail on other new aspects of Pikmin 2 that reinforce this point with the bitter spray and captain punching upgrades but I’d just be repeating both myself and other folks in the online discourse surrounding this title. Instead I wanna turn my attention to another aspect of the game I think hasn’t gotten as much attention as a gap between the designer's likely intent and the final product: the shoddily implemented multi-tasking system.
In Pikmin 2’s pseudo-midpoint (paying off the debt) you get a mock credits sequence in which Olimar accidentally leaves Louie to fend for himself on the Pikmin planet. In theory this should be a needle scratch moment after the player has gotten attached to Louie as this helpful partner that helped you grow your corporate bank account via the multi-task function. In practice this ends up being a bit of a wet fart of plot point that sorta makes the true ending feel less like a Lethal Weapon like capstone on Olimar and Louie’s unlikely friendship kinda and more just abrupt due to how little you need to use the multi-task function in game. Over the course of my all treasures playthrough of Pikmin 2 I can only think of seven places I was heavily incentivized to use the multitasking feature:
1) The Valley Of Reposes multitasking tutorial.
2)The three berry grinding locations in Awakening Wood, Perplexing Pool, and Wistful Wild.
3) A stone elevator in the yellow onion spawn in
4)The Perplexing Pool’s “Massage Girdle” treasure.
5) A boss known as the Ranging Bloyster that requires constant switching to stun lock him into vulnerability.
Since Louie can theoretically just be chilling at your base or cave floor entrance 90% the game with little repercussions (and generally I’d say sticking to one captain or treating the captains as a universal party is the path of least resistance most of the time) you as a player never really develop an affinity for the second in command thus you end up with a kinda ineffective climax with the only interesting stuff being the implication that Louie might’ve been controlling the final boss to cover up his role in the company going into debt. The game doesn't really do much with this so I don't really have much to add to that other than it sorta being emblematic of Pikmin 2 as a whole of a bunch of good ideas that never really come together in the end.
Pikmin 2 isn’t all bad. There is some nice quality of life changes with Pikmin party management, some of the writing in the treasure horde is generally pretty funny, the arcadey challenge mode is a huge step up from the first game but it just didn’t take into account how much of the franchises appeal and structure of its core mechanics resided in its use of time scarcity to create tension.
Pikmin 2
2004
not as good as pikmin 1 no matter what they tell you
i adore this game both for its narrative and for what it represents, but man some of the gameplay had me so frustrated.
If TSA has millions of fans I am one of them. If TSA has ten fans I am one of them. If TSA has only one fan and that is me. If TSA has no fans, that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against TSA, I am against the world.
Persona 3 FES
2007
i might be biased in this review because i had the whole story spoiled for me because i actually had dropped this game twice(over the course of a year), watched the movies and figured that would be my p3 experience. there was always something in my head telling me to play it, so i finally cracked and decided to beat it and not drop it. going in knowing everything made me enjoy it less, probably. and that kinda sucks. but it is what it is.
8/10
i dont like the gameplay. tactics is fine when it works, and is a pretty cool concept. makes you feel like youre actually leading a group, lol. however it doesnt work a lot of the time. even then, my biggest critique on the gameplay is how rng based it is. it is very clearly the first incarnation of the one more system, and thats a theme youll see a lot with this game. growing pains. they struck gold with the hybrid rpg-social sim but there are visible growing pains from the transition of what p1 and 2 were to what it the series became that wouldnt be ironed out to perfection till 4 and 5. some examples are better gameplay and party member social links for the dudes, and not forcing a harem. despite all this, persona 3 still feels the most organic of the nusona trilogy to me. the characters dont just congregate around the mc, they each have their own aspirations and connections to other party members. their second awakening isnt tied to the protag. the characters can't go to tartarus some days because they have other stuff to do. all this makes it feel like a very organic experience, wheras in 4 and 5 it can feel like the world revolves around you. hmmm what else...
the soundtrack is banging as expected. i think i prefer the movie osts more tho. cant go wrong with light in starless sky
i enjoyed my time with persona 3. i think its the weakest in the nusona trilogy, but im a sucker for the persona games and thus i still enjoyed it a fuck ton. even cried at the ending despite knowing what would happen
pro tip: tartarus grinding is slow and boring,battle animations take forever que up some mid romcoms/slice of life anime and video essays on squeenix games to at least have something to listen/watch while going through tartarus. turbo mode is very helpful, lol
8/10
i dont like the gameplay. tactics is fine when it works, and is a pretty cool concept. makes you feel like youre actually leading a group, lol. however it doesnt work a lot of the time. even then, my biggest critique on the gameplay is how rng based it is. it is very clearly the first incarnation of the one more system, and thats a theme youll see a lot with this game. growing pains. they struck gold with the hybrid rpg-social sim but there are visible growing pains from the transition of what p1 and 2 were to what it the series became that wouldnt be ironed out to perfection till 4 and 5. some examples are better gameplay and party member social links for the dudes, and not forcing a harem. despite all this, persona 3 still feels the most organic of the nusona trilogy to me. the characters dont just congregate around the mc, they each have their own aspirations and connections to other party members. their second awakening isnt tied to the protag. the characters can't go to tartarus some days because they have other stuff to do. all this makes it feel like a very organic experience, wheras in 4 and 5 it can feel like the world revolves around you. hmmm what else...
the soundtrack is banging as expected. i think i prefer the movie osts more tho. cant go wrong with light in starless sky
i enjoyed my time with persona 3. i think its the weakest in the nusona trilogy, but im a sucker for the persona games and thus i still enjoyed it a fuck ton. even cried at the ending despite knowing what would happen
pro tip: tartarus grinding is slow and boring,battle animations take forever que up some mid romcoms/slice of life anime and video essays on squeenix games to at least have something to listen/watch while going through tartarus. turbo mode is very helpful, lol
While the roster is not as impressive as later games, the movement system and advanced techniques make this game much more fun. The competitive community keeps the game fresh and fun. Even if the game only has around 11 viable characters depending on who you ask, the skill ceiling and unique gameplay possibilities are virtually limitless.
NieR: Automata
2017
Best game I’ve ever played. A moving and philosophical story that takes a deeper look at the meaning of life and consciousness. The gameplay is phenomenal: combining combat with a bullet hell that is easy to approach and play on repeat, this game implements the UI in the storytelling THROUGH gameplay.
Nier: Automata understands the human psyche, will pull your heart strings, and make you think even more deeply about what it is that makes you human and the value of life, memories, and experience. Not for the faint of heart.
Pi: “Life is shitty, this game is shitty. But, even so, who else will live your life?” (Pascal’s Village)
Nier: Automata understands the human psyche, will pull your heart strings, and make you think even more deeply about what it is that makes you human and the value of life, memories, and experience. Not for the faint of heart.
Pi: “Life is shitty, this game is shitty. But, even so, who else will live your life?” (Pascal’s Village)
NieR: Automata
2017
Over the last few months, I have watched my roommate play through Nier: Automata, and playing it vicariously through him has cemented my views on this game as not only one of the best video games ever made, but also as one of the most important games ever made.
There's a lot of reasons for this and I think the first thing to address is this game's thematic identity. I think more so than maybe any other game, the themes carry Nier: Automata over any other element of the story. That isn't to say that the plot, characters, or setting are lacking, just that its themes are not only so vast and complex, but also so well realized and constantly present throughout the game that they take center stage. The human condition, nihilism, the value of life, theodicy, honoring others, hope, fate and defiance, the cycle of hatred, empathy and otherness, consciousness and evolution, and repetition. These themes (and likely many others that I don't remember off the top of my head) are so crucial to who we are as people, and handled in a believable way in the context of the story and in the context of the medium of video games, that I continue to think about them years after playing it myself and even more so on this fresh playthrough. I think that a lot of modern JRPGs can be too big for their britches with the subject matter that they try and tackle, and as a result don't end up landing as much as I think they want to (imo Xenoblade Chronicles is a good example of this, not to mention Persona 5's shitty ending); some also are very implicit and subtle, which can be very rewarding but also can struggle to make a bold first impression (Souls games, for example). Nier: Automata doesn't fall into either of these categories, and I think it's ability to stratal that line is not only commendable, but brilliant.
What I especially appreciate is how it also manages to be ambiguous with its themes and its ending. Every route in this game has a very different tone and very different implications compared to other routes. Most of it is a very depressing game, but at the same time its ultimate ending is inherently hopeful. It balances both of those philosophies, but challenges the player to discern for themselves which side they will pick. We see that in whether you choose route C or D first, we see that in the text options that are given to you at the end of route E, and we see that in the final dialogue between the pods where they acknowledge that it's entirely possible that their choices might lead to the exact same outcome, continuing the theme of repetition that the game has maintained since you hit start. However, the possibility also exists that something else may happen, and that's where the game ends. Such an open-ended, philosophical question feels earned because of how it doesn't preach any philosophy as correct throughout the entire game.
Beyond its themes, Nier: Automata is important for how it challenges conventions of the medium. Narratively, this wouldn't work as anything other than a video game, but beyond that it completely challenges concepts of diegetic elements in games, sound design and dynamic mixing, genre combinations, playing online, UI, meta elements, being a sequel, real-world references, and especially new game+. I don't think I really need to elaborate on this. I feel like the industry has been at a point in the last several years where innovation consists of pushing hardware or reinventing games that have existed for over a decade, but this game at least in part attempts to redefine how games are made, and I think it's much more successful.
Visually, the game is stunning, and I really didn't appreciate it until this playthrough. I love the visual effect with the lighting engine when the game gets darker; light seems to reflect off of every speck of dust in the air while making the player character and enemies into silhouettes. The game definitely struggles to render buildings in the city ruins, but most environments look stunning (abandoned factory, amusement park, copied city, resource recovery units, the bunker). I'm extra impressed by the diversity in attack animations with all the different weapon combinations you can have. The 3D anime style looks super good and doesn't look like its trying hard to replicate a 2D art style in 3D.
And if there's one highlight above everything else, it's this soundtrack.
Holy
Shit
Keiiche Okabe is such a fucking mastermind. I can't do his work justice with words, but if you've played it you know what I'm talking about. My second favorite soundtrack. Ever.
So the obvious question with all this praise is: why only 4.5 stars?
I have two critiques with this game that I think do limit this game to some degree, and both of them have to do with the gameplay. The first is that there is absolutely no concept of difficulty balancing here. The beginning of route C was such a humungous difficulty spike for me on my first playthrough that I almost dropped the game; side quests are basically mandatory for getting enough experience in routes A and B to make it through to the second half, and while the side quests are great, it almost seems like the game forces you to do them to be at a competent level, which I can't stand by. At the same time, you can turn the game to easy mode and have the game GRIND FOR YOU! When I first played the game I did this after getting into route C for real, and left the game running for like an hour while I did other stuff, and came back and was level 99. And that's how I beat the game. Why is this something you can do?! It's funny, and kinda cool, but there is no semblance of challenge whatsoever after route A.
The second critique is that the combat system itself is not great. I know that this is a really common complaint, and I used to not care as much. I really like the hack 'n' slash X bullet hell gameplay enough to not mind the lack of depth, not to mention that, again, the animations in combat is astounding. But in the second half of the game, especially when you become really proficient with hacking enemies as 9S, it really sinks in how most fights play out the same. It's not NEARLY as broken and braindead as Nier: Replicant, but it starts to feel really trivial (ironic, or maybe intentional). It also doesn't help how there are only a handful of different types of hacking games to play as 9S.
I think what suffers most are the boss fights. There aren't a lot of them (especially after route A), a lot of them are against big spherical robots, and as a result of all this a lot of them are very unmemorable. The fight against 21O I legit forgot even happened, and watching my roommate play it, he tore through the whole thing in like 30 seconds and it kinda made sense why I forgot after watching that.
However I will grant the game this: I think the gameplay being kinda lame makes it more approachable to a casual audience, and for a game like this, I would want it to be as accessible as possible. I wish a better balance could be struck, but I think there is merit to that fact.
I think these two things are significant enough to where I can look at them and believe in good conscious that the game could have been a lot better if these issues had been addressed.
But despite these two things, this is still one of my favorite games ever, one of the best games ever, and one of the most important games ever. Reexperiencing this has been incredible, especially watching another person who I care deeply about experiencing it for the first time.
There's a lot of reasons for this and I think the first thing to address is this game's thematic identity. I think more so than maybe any other game, the themes carry Nier: Automata over any other element of the story. That isn't to say that the plot, characters, or setting are lacking, just that its themes are not only so vast and complex, but also so well realized and constantly present throughout the game that they take center stage. The human condition, nihilism, the value of life, theodicy, honoring others, hope, fate and defiance, the cycle of hatred, empathy and otherness, consciousness and evolution, and repetition. These themes (and likely many others that I don't remember off the top of my head) are so crucial to who we are as people, and handled in a believable way in the context of the story and in the context of the medium of video games, that I continue to think about them years after playing it myself and even more so on this fresh playthrough. I think that a lot of modern JRPGs can be too big for their britches with the subject matter that they try and tackle, and as a result don't end up landing as much as I think they want to (imo Xenoblade Chronicles is a good example of this, not to mention Persona 5's shitty ending); some also are very implicit and subtle, which can be very rewarding but also can struggle to make a bold first impression (Souls games, for example). Nier: Automata doesn't fall into either of these categories, and I think it's ability to stratal that line is not only commendable, but brilliant.
What I especially appreciate is how it also manages to be ambiguous with its themes and its ending. Every route in this game has a very different tone and very different implications compared to other routes. Most of it is a very depressing game, but at the same time its ultimate ending is inherently hopeful. It balances both of those philosophies, but challenges the player to discern for themselves which side they will pick. We see that in whether you choose route C or D first, we see that in the text options that are given to you at the end of route E, and we see that in the final dialogue between the pods where they acknowledge that it's entirely possible that their choices might lead to the exact same outcome, continuing the theme of repetition that the game has maintained since you hit start. However, the possibility also exists that something else may happen, and that's where the game ends. Such an open-ended, philosophical question feels earned because of how it doesn't preach any philosophy as correct throughout the entire game.
Beyond its themes, Nier: Automata is important for how it challenges conventions of the medium. Narratively, this wouldn't work as anything other than a video game, but beyond that it completely challenges concepts of diegetic elements in games, sound design and dynamic mixing, genre combinations, playing online, UI, meta elements, being a sequel, real-world references, and especially new game+. I don't think I really need to elaborate on this. I feel like the industry has been at a point in the last several years where innovation consists of pushing hardware or reinventing games that have existed for over a decade, but this game at least in part attempts to redefine how games are made, and I think it's much more successful.
Visually, the game is stunning, and I really didn't appreciate it until this playthrough. I love the visual effect with the lighting engine when the game gets darker; light seems to reflect off of every speck of dust in the air while making the player character and enemies into silhouettes. The game definitely struggles to render buildings in the city ruins, but most environments look stunning (abandoned factory, amusement park, copied city, resource recovery units, the bunker). I'm extra impressed by the diversity in attack animations with all the different weapon combinations you can have. The 3D anime style looks super good and doesn't look like its trying hard to replicate a 2D art style in 3D.
And if there's one highlight above everything else, it's this soundtrack.
Holy
Shit
Keiiche Okabe is such a fucking mastermind. I can't do his work justice with words, but if you've played it you know what I'm talking about. My second favorite soundtrack. Ever.
So the obvious question with all this praise is: why only 4.5 stars?
I have two critiques with this game that I think do limit this game to some degree, and both of them have to do with the gameplay. The first is that there is absolutely no concept of difficulty balancing here. The beginning of route C was such a humungous difficulty spike for me on my first playthrough that I almost dropped the game; side quests are basically mandatory for getting enough experience in routes A and B to make it through to the second half, and while the side quests are great, it almost seems like the game forces you to do them to be at a competent level, which I can't stand by. At the same time, you can turn the game to easy mode and have the game GRIND FOR YOU! When I first played the game I did this after getting into route C for real, and left the game running for like an hour while I did other stuff, and came back and was level 99. And that's how I beat the game. Why is this something you can do?! It's funny, and kinda cool, but there is no semblance of challenge whatsoever after route A.
The second critique is that the combat system itself is not great. I know that this is a really common complaint, and I used to not care as much. I really like the hack 'n' slash X bullet hell gameplay enough to not mind the lack of depth, not to mention that, again, the animations in combat is astounding. But in the second half of the game, especially when you become really proficient with hacking enemies as 9S, it really sinks in how most fights play out the same. It's not NEARLY as broken and braindead as Nier: Replicant, but it starts to feel really trivial (ironic, or maybe intentional). It also doesn't help how there are only a handful of different types of hacking games to play as 9S.
I think what suffers most are the boss fights. There aren't a lot of them (especially after route A), a lot of them are against big spherical robots, and as a result of all this a lot of them are very unmemorable. The fight against 21O I legit forgot even happened, and watching my roommate play it, he tore through the whole thing in like 30 seconds and it kinda made sense why I forgot after watching that.
However I will grant the game this: I think the gameplay being kinda lame makes it more approachable to a casual audience, and for a game like this, I would want it to be as accessible as possible. I wish a better balance could be struck, but I think there is merit to that fact.
I think these two things are significant enough to where I can look at them and believe in good conscious that the game could have been a lot better if these issues had been addressed.
But despite these two things, this is still one of my favorite games ever, one of the best games ever, and one of the most important games ever. Reexperiencing this has been incredible, especially watching another person who I care deeply about experiencing it for the first time.
This review contains spoilers
In the subway station in Nimbasa City, there's one train line not reserved for the Battle Subway. If you take this line, you'll find yourself in a small town in northwestern Unova called Anville Town. This town is optional. Many players probably went several playthroughs without ever finding it. It consists of a couple buildings, a railroad turntable, and a bridge.
On weekends, the bridge is packed with people. You can trade various items with these people, and it's nice, but it's not really anything super important. The turntable in the center of town has a different train car on it every day, and an NPC will tell you details about whichever car is on the turntable.
One of the cars that can show up on the turntable is the one that takes you to Anville Town in the first place. If you talk to the NPC about this car, he'll say, "Isn't it just so cute? This one is a little slow and heavy. When it runs, the whole train sways. The train car is the same model as a Single Train. Because it is an old train car, I hear the maintenance is hard, but it's the one I always ride, because I loved it as a kid!"
The music that plays in this town is unique—as is every other town theme in Unova. There are no repeat tracks between towns. The Anville Town theme is serene, perfect for late-night background noise to calm the nerves. The song itself is called "A Lullaby for Trains."
A lady in town can be seen playing the flute. And if you walk close to her, a flute gets added to the arrangement.
---
In my opinion, Pokémon Black & White are the peak of what the series is capable of. They certainly have flaws—and at first, those flaws were all I could see. Some of the Pokémon designs are outright ugly, and many of them borrow concepts from previous generation Pokémon (particularly from Kanto). The palette of the region is largely muddy and muted. The early routes are littered with bad Pokémon, and I often find myself getting a second team member very late, even after the second gym.
If someone told me Generation V was their least favorite, I'd understand. It's how I felt for a long time, and I remember it getting a lot of flak when it was new. But I'm glad that its reputation has turned around in recent years, and that more people are starting to see its merits.
---
Mechanically, the starter trio of Unova is my favorite of any generation. Emboar plays very differently from the other Fire/Fighting starters, being more of a glass cannon than a sweeper. It always makes me sad when people see the type and don't give it a chance, because it's actually very fun to play!
Serperior, on the other hand, is my favorite Pokémon of all time. Its unorthodox combination of high speed and high defenses makes for a very unique single-player tank, with the ability to whip out first-turn status moves like they're nothing.
Samurott has a bit less mechanical identity than the other starters, but is still a nice alternative whose movepool has a fun range of secondary effects.
Unovan Pokémon tend to have quite unique playstyles. There are a lot of duds in the dex—Unfezant, Maractus (it's cute though), Mandibuzz, Heatmor, Liepard, to name a few. But there are many more that I could use on several playthroughs and never get bored.
For example, Krookodile is a very well-loved Pokémon with good stats and a wide movepool. It also has two abilities that are both equally good in very different ways; Intimidate helps it tank hits, and Moxie turns it into a fearsome sweeper if it can get going. You could play Krookodile across two different playthroughs and get two very different experiences.
---
I've probably played this game 8 or 9 times, and I'm still finding new things to appreciate about Pokémon I previously thought were worthless.
I always hated Vanilluxe like everyone else—until I realized that it had great mixed attacking stats, just enough speed and bulk to make use of those stats, and that the two types of moves it learns happen to be super-effective on the entire latter half of the game's gyms. Now I love it, I appreciate its silly design, and I name it Jerry on every playthrough that I use it (updating to Ben+Jerry when it evolves).
Just this last playthrough, I realized that I had been completely neglecting a few Pokémon that may actually be really fun to use in a single-player context. So many times while building teams for this game, I thought, "this Pokémon would be so much better if it had a good buffing move." Then I realized that X items are basically buffing moves that always go first, always raise the relevant stat by two stages, and—unlike some other games in the series—are repeatably and cheaply purchasable early on, in Nacrene City.
Even though I'm still working through the postgame at the moment, I'm already imagining a new playthrough where I make use of new Pokémon with this trick. You could use Klinklang with X Specials to make use of its slightly bigger special movepool, or use X items on Audino to make its absolutely massive movepool more usable. I don't know for certain if this strategy will work out, but that's the fun of a new playthrough!
---
The world of Unova is a place I can visit again and again. Each town has its own identity, a place that feels lived in & vibrant. Nacrene City is built from disused warehouses, and it has a local museum and a vibrant art scene. The residents of Lacunosa Town stay inside at night, fearing a monster. Nimbasa City is a hub for the entertainment industry, with a musical theater, sports stadiums, a theme park (which houses the gym), and a large train station to bring the tourists in.
The game's art style does a very good job at portraying the character & charm of these locations. The use of 3D models to represent scenery is much more pronounced here than it was in the Generation IV games, and the visual effect works well. In my opinion, the games strike the perfect balance between 2D and 3D, a balance that was somewhat lost in the transition to full 3D. There are certainly things I love about all of the 3D games—but there's no denying that the 3DS games run like ass, and the Switch games tend to have rather poor texture work.
Here, the game runs smooth as butter, the battle system is lightning fast, and the fully animated sprites help make each Pokémon feel alive. The animated sprites can be a little off-putting at first—all the aliasing around the edges kinda reminds me of early seasons of Ed Edd n Eddy, with their squiggly-line style of animation—but I've grown to really love it otherwise. I still kinda wish the series improved upon this concept, at least for a couple more generations. It would've been especially cool to see this style brought to a region with a less moody tone & muddy palette, like Alola.
Sun & Moon are my next favorite games in the series, and they really share quite a lot with Black & White—a bigger emphasis on story, a new approach for the gameplay, and a surprisingly good cast of characters for a Pokémon game. In fact, on that last point, I'd actually say Sun & Moon have Black & White beat. While N is probably my favorite human character in the series and Bianca is one of my favorite rivals, I'm not the biggest fan of Cheren, and there's not really any other characters in the story with a shred of depth.
---
On the note of N: I think he is single-handedly what makes the story of Black & White work for me. Honestly, the plot of Black & White gets praised a lot, and while I think it's good, I don't think it's quite as good as people make it out to be.
The whole Team Plasma plotline is basically the same rigmaroll of "villain has reasonable goals, proceeds to kick babies and destroy crops to prove they're bad" that you see in so many games these days. Team Plasma spread the idea that Pokémon are abused by people, and no one in the good corner even attempts to make a counterargument to that. It's mostly just "prove that Pokémon like their trainers by beating Team Plasma in a battle, or something." No big deal, it's a Pokémon game; there's just not as much here as people would make you think.
However, N's character arc is my favorite part of the game.
This game explores abuse in a surprisingly tactful way. N has been manipulated by Ghetsis from childhood. Ghetsis exposed N only to abused Pokémon, in the hopes that someday he would become a charismatic leader who would convince people to release their Pokémon. He plays N for his own personal benefit, and does not give a rat's ass about N's thoughts and desires. When N begins to falter on Ghetsis, Ghetsis calls him "a warped, defective boy who knows nothing but Pokémon," apparently without a shred of self-awareness. Seeing N reject Ghetsis's worldview, broaden his own horizons, and start to see the good in the world is cathartic every playthrough.
It's certainly not complex. It's not a deep dive into the dynamics of abuse, and it's not all that thought-provoking. Really, it's mostly confined to the final scene, as that's when the game finally admits that Ghetsis is the bad guy. But for a big series to pull a character like N off without forcing forgiveness on them is cathartic. I think, more than anything, it's what makes the story of Black & White work.
---
In the modern day, I'd suggest playing White Version over Black; the version-exclusive content is much better, and I think the story is slightly more symbolically interesting. Also, the White version of Opelucid City is much more cozy.
That's about all I have to say on this game. It's a great Pokémon game, highly replayable, and has a surprising amount of mechanical depth. The story, while simple, is mostly well-executed. It's about the most perfectly-crafted a Pokémon game can be.
On weekends, the bridge is packed with people. You can trade various items with these people, and it's nice, but it's not really anything super important. The turntable in the center of town has a different train car on it every day, and an NPC will tell you details about whichever car is on the turntable.
One of the cars that can show up on the turntable is the one that takes you to Anville Town in the first place. If you talk to the NPC about this car, he'll say, "Isn't it just so cute? This one is a little slow and heavy. When it runs, the whole train sways. The train car is the same model as a Single Train. Because it is an old train car, I hear the maintenance is hard, but it's the one I always ride, because I loved it as a kid!"
The music that plays in this town is unique—as is every other town theme in Unova. There are no repeat tracks between towns. The Anville Town theme is serene, perfect for late-night background noise to calm the nerves. The song itself is called "A Lullaby for Trains."
A lady in town can be seen playing the flute. And if you walk close to her, a flute gets added to the arrangement.
---
In my opinion, Pokémon Black & White are the peak of what the series is capable of. They certainly have flaws—and at first, those flaws were all I could see. Some of the Pokémon designs are outright ugly, and many of them borrow concepts from previous generation Pokémon (particularly from Kanto). The palette of the region is largely muddy and muted. The early routes are littered with bad Pokémon, and I often find myself getting a second team member very late, even after the second gym.
If someone told me Generation V was their least favorite, I'd understand. It's how I felt for a long time, and I remember it getting a lot of flak when it was new. But I'm glad that its reputation has turned around in recent years, and that more people are starting to see its merits.
---
Mechanically, the starter trio of Unova is my favorite of any generation. Emboar plays very differently from the other Fire/Fighting starters, being more of a glass cannon than a sweeper. It always makes me sad when people see the type and don't give it a chance, because it's actually very fun to play!
Serperior, on the other hand, is my favorite Pokémon of all time. Its unorthodox combination of high speed and high defenses makes for a very unique single-player tank, with the ability to whip out first-turn status moves like they're nothing.
Samurott has a bit less mechanical identity than the other starters, but is still a nice alternative whose movepool has a fun range of secondary effects.
Unovan Pokémon tend to have quite unique playstyles. There are a lot of duds in the dex—Unfezant, Maractus (it's cute though), Mandibuzz, Heatmor, Liepard, to name a few. But there are many more that I could use on several playthroughs and never get bored.
For example, Krookodile is a very well-loved Pokémon with good stats and a wide movepool. It also has two abilities that are both equally good in very different ways; Intimidate helps it tank hits, and Moxie turns it into a fearsome sweeper if it can get going. You could play Krookodile across two different playthroughs and get two very different experiences.
---
I've probably played this game 8 or 9 times, and I'm still finding new things to appreciate about Pokémon I previously thought were worthless.
I always hated Vanilluxe like everyone else—until I realized that it had great mixed attacking stats, just enough speed and bulk to make use of those stats, and that the two types of moves it learns happen to be super-effective on the entire latter half of the game's gyms. Now I love it, I appreciate its silly design, and I name it Jerry on every playthrough that I use it (updating to Ben+Jerry when it evolves).
Just this last playthrough, I realized that I had been completely neglecting a few Pokémon that may actually be really fun to use in a single-player context. So many times while building teams for this game, I thought, "this Pokémon would be so much better if it had a good buffing move." Then I realized that X items are basically buffing moves that always go first, always raise the relevant stat by two stages, and—unlike some other games in the series—are repeatably and cheaply purchasable early on, in Nacrene City.
Even though I'm still working through the postgame at the moment, I'm already imagining a new playthrough where I make use of new Pokémon with this trick. You could use Klinklang with X Specials to make use of its slightly bigger special movepool, or use X items on Audino to make its absolutely massive movepool more usable. I don't know for certain if this strategy will work out, but that's the fun of a new playthrough!
---
The world of Unova is a place I can visit again and again. Each town has its own identity, a place that feels lived in & vibrant. Nacrene City is built from disused warehouses, and it has a local museum and a vibrant art scene. The residents of Lacunosa Town stay inside at night, fearing a monster. Nimbasa City is a hub for the entertainment industry, with a musical theater, sports stadiums, a theme park (which houses the gym), and a large train station to bring the tourists in.
The game's art style does a very good job at portraying the character & charm of these locations. The use of 3D models to represent scenery is much more pronounced here than it was in the Generation IV games, and the visual effect works well. In my opinion, the games strike the perfect balance between 2D and 3D, a balance that was somewhat lost in the transition to full 3D. There are certainly things I love about all of the 3D games—but there's no denying that the 3DS games run like ass, and the Switch games tend to have rather poor texture work.
Here, the game runs smooth as butter, the battle system is lightning fast, and the fully animated sprites help make each Pokémon feel alive. The animated sprites can be a little off-putting at first—all the aliasing around the edges kinda reminds me of early seasons of Ed Edd n Eddy, with their squiggly-line style of animation—but I've grown to really love it otherwise. I still kinda wish the series improved upon this concept, at least for a couple more generations. It would've been especially cool to see this style brought to a region with a less moody tone & muddy palette, like Alola.
Sun & Moon are my next favorite games in the series, and they really share quite a lot with Black & White—a bigger emphasis on story, a new approach for the gameplay, and a surprisingly good cast of characters for a Pokémon game. In fact, on that last point, I'd actually say Sun & Moon have Black & White beat. While N is probably my favorite human character in the series and Bianca is one of my favorite rivals, I'm not the biggest fan of Cheren, and there's not really any other characters in the story with a shred of depth.
---
On the note of N: I think he is single-handedly what makes the story of Black & White work for me. Honestly, the plot of Black & White gets praised a lot, and while I think it's good, I don't think it's quite as good as people make it out to be.
The whole Team Plasma plotline is basically the same rigmaroll of "villain has reasonable goals, proceeds to kick babies and destroy crops to prove they're bad" that you see in so many games these days. Team Plasma spread the idea that Pokémon are abused by people, and no one in the good corner even attempts to make a counterargument to that. It's mostly just "prove that Pokémon like their trainers by beating Team Plasma in a battle, or something." No big deal, it's a Pokémon game; there's just not as much here as people would make you think.
However, N's character arc is my favorite part of the game.
This game explores abuse in a surprisingly tactful way. N has been manipulated by Ghetsis from childhood. Ghetsis exposed N only to abused Pokémon, in the hopes that someday he would become a charismatic leader who would convince people to release their Pokémon. He plays N for his own personal benefit, and does not give a rat's ass about N's thoughts and desires. When N begins to falter on Ghetsis, Ghetsis calls him "a warped, defective boy who knows nothing but Pokémon," apparently without a shred of self-awareness. Seeing N reject Ghetsis's worldview, broaden his own horizons, and start to see the good in the world is cathartic every playthrough.
It's certainly not complex. It's not a deep dive into the dynamics of abuse, and it's not all that thought-provoking. Really, it's mostly confined to the final scene, as that's when the game finally admits that Ghetsis is the bad guy. But for a big series to pull a character like N off without forcing forgiveness on them is cathartic. I think, more than anything, it's what makes the story of Black & White work.
---
In the modern day, I'd suggest playing White Version over Black; the version-exclusive content is much better, and I think the story is slightly more symbolically interesting. Also, the White version of Opelucid City is much more cozy.
That's about all I have to say on this game. It's a great Pokémon game, highly replayable, and has a surprising amount of mechanical depth. The story, while simple, is mostly well-executed. It's about the most perfectly-crafted a Pokémon game can be.
Assassin's Creed III
2012
Do you guys remember that Smosh song?
Robot Arena 2 is a very special game to a tiny subset of the internet who adore the sport of robot combat. Since this came out in 2003, there still hasn't been a true successor that does a better job than this - there are some in development that are shaping up to dethrone this, but for now, thanks primarily to the modding scene, this remains the best complete robot combat game out there.
Of course, that's not to say it's flawless, or even especially great, in it's vanilla form at least. The Havok physics engine is crazy at the best of times, crashes are frequent, the AI can be cheap assholes and the limit on repairs are a nightmare considering that the AI is free of such restrictions.
Still, it's freeware these days so....what the hell?
Of course, that's not to say it's flawless, or even especially great, in it's vanilla form at least. The Havok physics engine is crazy at the best of times, crashes are frequent, the AI can be cheap assholes and the limit on repairs are a nightmare considering that the AI is free of such restrictions.
Still, it's freeware these days so....what the hell?