Game Review #16: Pokémon Sun and Moon

Some sad news for Pokémon fans this morning, as Zygarde's hopes and dreams of getting his own game were found dead this morning in their home on the internet. While the cause of death appears to be natural causes, authorities are investigating foul play on the part Pokémon Sun and Moon developer Game Freak. Outlived by his misleading anime series, Pokémon X, Y, and Z, and several YouTube channels that jumped the gun and began speculation for Pokémon Z, Zygarde's hopes and dreams will be remembered for their unbending will and their way of making people believe in them. In other news, Pokémon Sun and Moon are great.

It would've been odd just 6 months ago to think the Pokémon franchise needed rebooting. Just last year, I renewed my faith in the formula by listing Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver as one of my favorite games of all time. However, I think it’s pretty clear nowadays that Pokémon has been rebooting since just a few years after those games. Pokémon Black and White were clear departures from the usual style, having a far more in-depth story, and clearer differences between versions; Pokémon X and Y changed the whole vibe of the franchise; and now Sun and Moon has come along, scrapping 80% of what’s been considered Pokémon for decades and leaving you familiar with only the basics: Catch Pokémon and try to look cool doing it.

Pokémon Sun and Moon are the newest twin installments in the indomitable Pokémon franchise. The story starts off simple: you’re new in town; you meet a professor who thinks you go on an adventure with Pokémon; you get a Pokémon and meet your rival; and then…well, then it steps into the unfamiliar. In lieu of the 8-gyms-then-Elite-Four-then-Champion structure of the previous 15 games, Sun and Moon features a slightly different system where you must travel across the four islands of the Alola Region to seek out "trial captains" who will have you complete some simple mini-game (find some hidden items; what's different about these pictures; etc.) and then fight a "Totem Pokémon", which is a wild Pokémon with a large boost to defense making defeating it take longer than normal. While a Totem Pokémon may seem like a more challenging fight than a normal Gym Leader, as the game goes on, the idea loses its appeal as one slightly enhanced Pokémon is put in the place of a gym leader with 5. And even with the defense boost, I defeated more than one Totem Pokémon in one-hit using nothing but simple understanding of type-effectiveness. Overall, I think this is representative of the game's difficulty: it's pretty easy, assuming you're not an idiot. The difficulty curve is more gentle than ever, and the new EXP Share system from Pokémon X and Y is back and more "easy mode" than ever. For the first time, I actually felt the need to turn it off because I found myself consistently becoming frustrated whenever one of my stronger Pokémon gained a level, making it more difficult to keep my whole party at the same level. Turning it off felt more challenging at first, but that ended up as more of a slight shock as the game made the mini difficulty leap before returning to its kiddy-coaster pace. In the end, I was able to beat the game's final challenge (which I won't spoil the nature of) completely under-leveled by 2-6 levels on the first attempt.

The story is a boatload of fun. Despite tonal incongruence on a nearly Suicide Squad level, the story holds your attention and has enough "Oh shit" moments to satisfy the little M. Night Shyamalan in all of us. But between the parts that shock you are long swaths of pure, adventurous fun. And that's really what Pokémon is about: An adventure you go on with your Pokémon where you begin to see them as your friends. However, this tone isn't absolute, and the game switches, seemingly at random, between it and a crazy parallel dimension conspiracy that essentially fractures the game between the old style of storytelling in Pokémon (Red And Blue, Gold and Silver, etc) and the new style (Black and White, X and Y). This mix of old and new gets disorienting when a new segment of the conspiracy comes out of nowhere and shoves its way right into the middle of your carefree adventure. 

The best part of Pokémon Sun and Moon is, unsurprisingly, the design choices. None of the new Pokémon are weak in design. In my opinion, there's something to love in all of them. I personally love Mudbray; I had one on my party named "Derphorse" throughout the majority of the game, and I fell in love with the little guy. Also, there's tons of crazy new concepts: Z-Moves, crazy powerful attacks that a Pokémon can use if it hold the right item; Alolan forms, redesigned versions of older Pokémon; Ultra Beasts, which are...kinda like...weird aliens? I actually don't really know what Ultra Beasts are. Well, whatever's going on there, I happen to like it. And that's not all. Sun and Moon also does away with HMs which used to be necessary for progressing through games but were not particularly viable for actual battling. They've been replaced with the new Ride System, where you can ride on a Pokémon and use its specific capabilities to get through obstacles. This provides a far more elegant solution to the age old problem of how to block you from progressing past where you're supposed to be. And besides these technical design choices, the game's aesthetic is one of the most fun I've seen in a while. Being based in a cheery adaption of Hawaii, it's hard not to goofily smile along with the lovable inhabitants of the Alola region.

In the end, Pokémon Sun and Moon provides an experience that feels more like Pokémon than anything before it, while somehow also feeling as though there's nothing on earth like it. In some unimaginable twist, Pokémon Sun and Moon both perfects the formula and turns it on its head, refining all the things we loved about the old games and adding in things I never even knew I wanted. Long before we knew much of anything about Pokémon Sun and Moon, I heard rumors that the next games after them would reboot the franchise. I'd just like to say that these rumors are completely untrue; Pokémon Sun and Moon is very much a reboot of the Pokémon franchise, and I am totally ok with that, because Pokémon Sun and Moon get "Artistic Mastery to a Tear Jerking Extent"(9)/10. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go catch most of them. I would catch ‘em all, but I also have school and the internet and, ya know, other video games, and there’s, like, 800 of those little buggers now. No thanks.

Game Review #15: Overwatch

When I first learned about the upcoming feud between Battleborn and Overwatch, the pioneers of the Hero Shooter genre, I won't hide anything from you, I didn't exactly give them a fair trial. At first, I more or less dismissed them both as I hadn't really had time to take a look at either of them. Then, I saw one trailer for Battleborn and fell for its Borderlands-like charm and interesting blend of MOBA and FPS. I defended it against Overwatch fans whenever I saw a thread comparing the two. But soon I came to realization that no one was really on my side. So I played both betas. And then I made my final decision. This article is not a comparison. This is an argument for Overwatch as Game of the Year and a couple of sentences of involving Battleborn. Let's begin.

Overwatch is an online hero-based first-person shooter from our good old friends at Blizzard. In it, you choose from 21 unique characters(and counting) to complete objectives in a team of six facing off against an opposing team of six. Each of the characters are fully fleshed out in unbelievably original ways, bringing the game's world to life. The entire roster has a complex, fully-realized back story that truly makes good on Blizzard's promise to make "characters, not classes". However, it's a shame that to even scratch the surface of these characters' histories, you need to rely on sources external to the game. While the trailers for the game are fantastic, they almost make it more painful that there's no story mode or any considerable single player. However, between character voice lines and minor pre-game interactions, you get a good sense of their personalities, and, as I've said time and time again, a little personality goes a long way. 

Meanwhile, in terms of gameplay, the characters' diversity shines through and through. Every single character has completely different abilities that are always more or less exclusively their own. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the characters are so different from one another, they could each exist in their own individual games and no one would notice. One character builds turrets that target enemy players. One character has a bow that behaves like an actual bow. One character is more or less just Call of Duty(but I still love him because we're basically the same person give or take a few years...ok, a lot of years). They all function differently, so if you get bored, you're not "bored of playing Overwatch", you're "bored of playing this character", meaning you can just switch and essentially play a completely different game. However, this doesn't hold true for the game's modes. While the game makes a point of preferring objective-based matches over kill-based matches, much like my beloved Splatoon, Overwatch doesn't bring anything new to the party, instead opting for the more travelled path of "capture/defend the point(s)", "escort the payload", or "both". Though this isn't all bad, seeing how there is such thing as "too much innovation", this cycle of objectives can get tedious to the point where you can still get bored  after some time, even with 21 different play styles to choose from on those modes. 

The graphics are great. They aren't realistic by any means, but the art style is exactly what it intends to be: A flashy mix of anime and Pixar movie that really is a lot of fun to look at. It perfectly fits the level of action the game creates and is easy on the eyes, even for hours-long play sessions deep into the night.

In total, Overwatch is a prime example of how much imagination can be applied to the decades-old FPS genre to make something fresh and new. It stands on it's own as the forerunner of a new, exciting genre, a pioneer of what could end up as an industry staple. Meanwhile, from what I've played, Battleborn is...Smite...in first-person. And while Battleborn's characters have little more depth to them than the assumption that you find them to be (and I quote) "Badass", Overwatch makes no such assumptions and, because of this, ends up making you feel, not just "like a badass", but like a Superhero, a character with unique, extraordinary abilities and a real purpose. Because of this, I believe the Overwatch is the best game I've played so far this year, and, with the year half over already, the board looks set for it to stay that way. So, I give Overwatch "Blizzard's Game of the Year Acceptance Speech"(10)/10. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to delete all these "Dad bod 76" photos from my phone before letting my friend borrow it. It's a bit of a bad habit...https://youtu.be/Nmv2g9M08Gk

Game Review #14: Never Alone

It's been quite a while since I've played a game that I've genuinely heard nothing about. The Internet has more or less abolished mystery leaving an over-informed society with that expects nothing less than the ability to know everything about the game before they touch it.  But for smaller games, while one still can gain this knowledge, it's a bit harder to come by, being less well-known and thus less searched for. So when I got Never Alone, I knew I could find out what it was, but I decided that I didn't want to find out. I went in not knowing a thing about it. I didn't even know what genre it was until I started it up. I don't know how this affected my experience; maybe I had no expectations of it, so I didn't hold it to any standards; maybe not having heard anyone else's opinion made it easier to form my own; whatever it was, I definitely think this is going to be one of my more objective reviews...or less objective depending on how you look at it. Though I suppose this should also serve as a little reminder, to myself and my audience, that there is no such thing as an objective review, and I'd like to thank everyone who's read my reviews for respecting that fact and respecting my opinion. Now on to the review:

Never Alone, also known as "Kisima Inŋitchuŋa" (however the hell one might pronounce that), is a 2.5D puzzle-platformer in the vein of "Limbo". The twist is that you need to guide both Nuna, the little girl, and The Fox, the fox, across each level. The fox and the girl have very different capabilities, meaning you need to master both of them and know when to switch between them in order to complete your objectives. While this probably seems like an interesting mechanic, the novelty gives in quickly to frustration as the game's problems set in. The game's physics re actually quite uncomfortable. You expect them to either be a little floaty or a completely realistic, but it really isn't very much like either, instead being some odd weighty-ness that's just as hard to work with as it is to read about. This leaves you guessing where your jumps will land you up to the very end. While I was playing, I felt that I was dying more often to my inability to understand where my jump will take me more than anything else. Another annoying thing is that halfway through the sub-4 hour game, the game throws a complete curve-ball by completely changing the way one of the two characters functions (in a way that I won't spoil), forcing you to basically learn a whole new game right in the middle of one you were enjoying. And the worst part is the character's new abilities are some the most annoying in the game. I'm trying not to spoil it because the game's story is actually quite good, but just know that the new game you'll be learning won't be quite as fun as the one that was cut short.

On another note, the game's puzzles are actually quite enjoyable. After you get past the game's odd mechanics, putting them together to progress is actually quite cathartic. And that's a catharsis you'll need after banging your head against a wall for so long (as in your head will literally collide with a wall after your jump didn't quite make it over that hole). A big part of the game is using both character's abilities to move platforms around so that you can get from point A to point B. Figuring out the right way to make this happen in each level is just the right balance of challenge and reward to make you feel like you're really getting work done.

The game's story is equal parts fun, emotional, and (God, I never thought I'd write this but) educational, and it keeps you engaged by use of all three. The main game's narrative tells the story of a native Alaskan girl meeting a fox and befriending it. They then decide to go off on a journey to find out where all the snow is coming from. If this seems like a familiar narrative style to you, that's probably because the story all the various mini-stories you go through in the game are based on tribal myths from Alaskan culture. Punctuating this story-telling technique, the entire game is narrated beautifully in said culture's native language giving off the vibe that you are being told this generations-old legend by a real tribal story-teller. And if you see all this culture and still want to know more, the game includes "Cultural Insights", unlockable clips of what, all strung together, could be considered an in-depth documentary on native Alaskan culture. These clips are completely optional but definitely  help to give context to your actions in the game so I recommend watching them. Even without this context, the game tells a compelling story about how bonds between friends can conquer all evils. Ok, yeah, I totally just made that phrase up but I'm sure any who's played the game would agree that it sums up the story pretty well. 

The game's art design is odd and often ugly, but this design is apparently intentional, giving off the feel of traditional "scrimshaw" art. Many of the game's cutscenes are displayed as moving 2D images on a flat plane that makes this design choice even more apparent. So even though at first glance the graphics can look a bit muddy or last gen, over time it becomes easier to see that the game looks exactly like it wants to look and that's actually quite beautiful. The music is a bit more contemporary most of the time but sets the tone quite nicely, so a little nod to that. 

In total, while Never Alone doesn't quite succeed as a platformer, it does succeed as a puzzle game and as an atmospheric look into native Alaskan culture through accurate recreations of it embedded into the game's structure. So, I give Never Alone/Kisima Inŋitchuŋa "The Icy Winds of the Artic Juxtaposed with the Warmth of Friendship"(8) out of 10. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to throw snow at an animal to see if it'll be friends with me. That's how it works, right?

Game Review #NotGonnaJinxIt Looty Dungeon

After the absolute madness that was reviewing Pokkén Tournament, I think I've more or less drained myself of the ability to explain game features. Ya know, I think I could use a refresher: Something that I can explain in two sentences and then just yell about it for a couple minutes... Oh yeah, mobile phones...

Looty Dungeon is a tap-based, Rouge-like dungeon-crawler for iOS in which you take one of the multiple heroes, most of which you unlock with in-game currency, through a randomly generated dungeon avoiding damage-inflicting obstacles, killing monsters, and gathering sweet, sweet loot or rather sweet, sweet the same coin over and over again. You can then use these coins to buy new heroes to repeat the process. The number of coins you need isn't terribly high, but the hero you get is completely random so the most reliable way to get the hero you want *cough*pirate*coughcough* is to buy it with real money. This isn't that evil of a way to slip in micro-transactions, especially due to the game's fully single-player nature, so I'll let it slide. In fact, I don't have too much of a problem with micro-transactions normally, so I let a lot slide but this one in particular I wouldn't suggest directing your rage at. Oh, by the way, if you hadn't put the pieces together, the game is on the style of Crossy Road. Kinda forgot that.

So I think that's about it. Wow, it really is pretty basic. But that's ok, ya know? Looty Dungeons is an incredibly fun and lovable game that will have you yelling when you mistime a trap, grabbing every coin you can get your hands on, and eyeing the huge library of heroes, vowing to catch 'em a– or rather to collect each of them. The simplistic controls are easy to pick up but can take time to master once you find yourself trying to slip through particularly tricky traps. All the pieces fit well to create a great time waster game and an excellent obsession game. So, Looty Dungeon gets "Mankind's Self-Destructive Desire For Loot"/10. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go light more torches. Pro tip: that actually does something if you do it enough times.

UPDATE April 2016: Face Reveal and PAX East.

Music Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF5bqgqteKQ

A Letter to Final Fantasy XV

Dear Final Fantasy XV,

Please, PLEASE, don't suck. There's just too much riding on your shoulders at point. You hold in your hands the future of your franchise and for the love of God, please don't drop it!

For too long now, Final Fantasy has been the subject of intense mediocrity and a sheer lack of ability to catch up with its former glory. 10 was good; 11 was an MMO so that's not a fair comparison; 12 was fine; 13 was meh if you could get through to the end; and 14 was another MMO. So, we haven't had a truly great Final Fantasy since it reached the double-digits. That's a gap of 2 console generations without a stand-out game from the franchise that was once considered the pinnacle of role-playing game excellence. And I'm aware there have been tons of other Final Fantasy games outside the core 14, but none of them are true stand outs either. I enjoyed Type-0 HD, but I don't want to just enjoy it; I want a Final Fantasy that's Game of the Year material. Especially after 10 GOD DAMN YEARS of development time. At this point, if you doesn't do well, Square Enix could easily see that as a big flashing sign reading "You can't make a good Final Fantasy, anymore!" And that's not the end of it; that could easily signal the beginning of the end for all the retro franchises of our childhood. If Final Fantasy falls, who knows what's next. Dragon Quest? Zelda? MARIO?! If this one game happens to not be very good, the entire industry could shift into utter chaos.

And I think the worst part is that if you end up being bad, it would be for all the wrong reasons. In two stellar demos, you've proven that your combat and graphical capabilities are exactly what we wanted. At this point, all you need to prove is that you won't get boring. I know that your story won't be boring (or at least I hope I can count on it not being boring) but one thing that could seriously screw everything up is if you just don't have very exciting quests. That's it. That's what would screw up the entire industry and kill off a crap ton of retro franchises: boring quests. Do you realize what this means? All you need to do is have too many fetch quests and suddenly, the entire world changes. 

But ya know what: I think you can do it. I played the demos and they feel amazing. Combat is intensely satisfying, the graphics are unbelievable and the game just feels like the Final Fantasy we've been waiting for, the Final Fantasy we deserve. So take flight. Be free and make gamers everywhere see your true form. But if you can't do that, just... Please don't suck.

Sincerely,

The Lone Kid Icarus Fan, a concerned JRPG gamer

Game Review #12: Pokkén Tournament

I am quite interested in being the very best like none other has ever achieved. Confining an undisclosed thing of some sort is my factual examination; making said thing stronger is something I believe to be a virtue. Pokemon is very good. Am I making myself clear enough? I was a child in 2008. I know what it's like to buy a turn-based JRPG because of an anime adaption that includes flashy combat not at all reminiscent  of said JRPG and then fall in love with it. And I know what it's like when they dangle a product that much more closely resembles what you came for in front of your nose and then wait several years before they mention it again only to release it in arcades, and then when they do release it on more practical consoles, they only do it in Japan and wait months before bringing it west to you, and by then your mind is so ready to love the game, you lose sight such luxuries as "opinions" and accept that regardless of quality, the game will go down as the best thing to ever exist. God damnit, I'm talking about Pokkén Tournament!

WARNING: If you're not interested in a complete regurgitation of every feature in the game, please skip to the picture of the Fire Emblem games.

Pokkén Tournament is a 3/2.5D Fighter that plays similar to Tekken/Street Fighter. If you're confused, it's because these slashes represent one of Pokkén's many oddball ideas that lead you to ask "Why not just make it a simple Pokémon fighting game?" Fights begin in the "Field Phase," an open, 3D arena with free movement and the camera fixed on your opponent (actually a lot more like the Naruto Shippudden Ultimate Ninja Storm games than anything). As fights progress, one fighter is bound to use some move that will cause a "phase shift", changing the arena into a 2D plane where fighters with movement fixed to left, right, up and down until another phase shifting move is used. A large part of fighting is knowing when to shift the phase and knowing which moves will do that effectively because phase shifts make the opponent's damage "final" (or at least that's the word I like to use). During fights, as you take damage, your health bar will lower but the part you lost will remain as a faded green bar segment, and if your opponent causes a phase shift, that bar segment will disappear, making that damage final; but if you cause the phase shift, you'll get some of that health back. Phase shifts will also force your opponent to quickly switch up their tactics to accommodate the completely different battle style. 

Attacks are split across three buttons, Y for light, X for heavy, and A for Pokémon attack. Alongside this, pressing A and X together (it's easier to do than it might sound) produces a counter-attack, which alone is a chargeable attack of low-medium to high-medium damage but can also completely nullify one of your opponent's regular attacks, so if your opponent dares leave a few frames for you to make a move before attacking, you can catch them by surprise and start launching your own combo on them. Then on the other side of the diamond, Y and B together will produce a grab which will throw the opponent into the air for a devastating mini cutscene of pain. Also, grabs are the counter-attacks of counter-attacks, so if you have a feeling your opponent is ready to reverse your combo back onto you, just grab them and you're good. And if you're wondering, yes, a regular attack will counter a grab. This attack triangle is an interesting way to keep combat varied, but you wouldn't be dumb to forget it was there entirely. It's not uncommon to find yourself attempting to escape a combo by randomly mashing regular attack buttons when you probably could've just used a counter-attack and you'd end up in a far better position. And then when you do remember about counters, you'll start spamming them until you get the satisfaction of getting one off or until your opponent realizes what you're doing and responds by grabbing you, pissing you off to the point where you forget about counters for the rest of the match. 

Wow, we haven't even spoken about your two gauges yet. Your Support Gauge fills at a fixed rate specific to the Pokémon it pertains to and can be activated to release a support Pokémon to help you out in some way. Then there's the Synergy gauge which fills up as you fight in some manner that I just can't discern from normal play, and can be used to activate a huge buff in all stats and can be input again to use a big, colorful, cutscene that can take away nearly half your opponent's health bar. (Hold on, I need a deep breath).

These battles of course take place over a variety of Modes, including an Arcade Mode-ish Single Player campaign, a Local Multiplayer that somehow both forces you to use the game pad and makes the game drop in frame rate, an Online Multiplayer that's pretty smooth relatively speaking, and a training mode. And yes, I did just describe any fighting game. Oh sorry, I forgot about you Street Fighter V *air horns*.

Now, if you're still here, you deserve a reward. Here's a summary of the 2016 election:

Now, go take a bathroom break, make a sandwich and get ready for a full analysis.

(Ok I lied; I assumed you would all take the shortcut and skip over my explanation of the game's features but there's one that I seriously NEED to talk about and analyze in the same paragraph.)

So they made it an RPG. A major part of the game is having each of the game's characters gain Experience Points after each fight (Online and Local multiplayer included) and eventually level up allowing you to increase one the character's four stats. These stats can be turned off in Local Multiplayer, but matter entirely in all other modes. This makes absolutely no sense. What is the deal with this system? Why? WHY? This system completely splits the game's audience between early adopters and all the people who got it later on as older players will have much better stats than you. Of course, the game separates people into 25 ranks, so you'll usually be playing against people with similar amounts of play time, but for your first several online battles, as you struggle to learn all the thousands of other systems in the game, you'll be crushed by your opponent's heightened experience and augmented stats. And once you do make some sizable progress in your own stats, it will be become impossible to switch to another Pokémon after that, because all the others don't have that progress so unless you're willing to bang your head against the wall all over again to get your characters all roughly similar in usability, you're stuck playing the same Pokémon over and over again. And this is completely encouraged seeing how at the beginning of everyone's experience with the game, you pick a "partner Pokémon" that appears as part of your player profile and is used in Story Mode. This of course can be changed at any time, but it's highly discouraged and you'll feel like a colossal douchebag who just dumped a Pokémon you once called "Partner" which will feel almost as bad as dumping a girl you said you loved though I suppose I wouldn't know seeing how women tend to avoid getting into relationships with unlovable basement dwellers such as myself... RPG elements in a fighting game made me think about my love life. Nice going Bandai-Namco. Oh, yeah. They made the game. I think I forgot to mention that.

So what do I think of the game? It's complex. It's visually spectacular. It's nostalgic. It's just... Incredible. I've bagged on the complexity and the idiotic RPG elements and the fact that I'm never getting a girlfriend and these people realize, but there really is just nothing quite like being able to finally play out Pokémon battles the way you've always wanted to. Pokkén Tournament is the kind of game we'll, be playing for a while especially with DLC characters being a definite for this game. So, Pokkén Tournament gets "The Blinding Power of Nostalgia" out of 10. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go travel around the planet Earth, looking both far and wide using every Pocket Monster to come to a better understanding of the strength within something or another. Ya know, maybe these lyrics weren't meant to make sense.