Author Archives: Kappy

REVIEW: Pokemon X/Y

by

I apologize for my three week’s of a missed post – I’ve been swamped with schoolwork and playing the game I will be reviewing for this post: Pokemon X!

Pokemon X and Pokemon Y came out a couple weeks ago, and it’s been everywhere. So why is it so popular? I think it’s because of the new Mega Evolutions and the 3D battle environment, but there’s a lot more to the game that’s changed that I want to review, so let’s dive in!

Let’s get the main story out of the way. It’s yet another “You’re the greatest” story where all you do is win and save the world from some dude who wants to make the world “beautiful” blah blah blah. The story doesn’t really interest me, as none of the games really have. This has been the formula for the Pokemon franchise since the very first game. The only games in the main franchise (I’m excluding Coliseum and XD: Gale of Darkness, both of which I enjoyed) that’ve tried to really have a story are Black/White and Black2/White2, and even then, those didn’t impress me, although it was cool to see the game try to have a real plot.

The game looks very pretty. Definitely the best-looking Pokemon game to-date. The battles are fun to watch, the move animations are very cool and hit a chord (for me, at least) of a time when I played the hell out of Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Stadium 2. Where Black/White and Black2/White2 attempted to merge more 3D into the world, X/Y adds onto it splendidly. The france-esque style is really cool. Love the themed cities.

The music is pretty forgetful save for a few towns, cities, and the INCREDIBLE gym leader music. One of my favorite gym leader themes in the entire series.

Onto the great stuff: NEW TYPE, PIKACHU TALKS, MEGA EVOLUTIONS, AND MORE!

Pikachu actually talks like he did in Pokemon Yellow, my all-time favorite game in the series. If they had shown that in a commercial or something I would’ve been sold right there.

There’s a new type: Fairy. This type is probably the best type in the game, resisting Dark, Bug, and Fighting, being immune to Dragon, and only being resisted by Steel, Poison, and FIre. It’s super-effective against Fighting, Dark, and Dragon. It’s incredible, and with this new type comes some old Pokemon with new flavors, like Mawhile, The Raltz evolutionary line (excluding Gallade), the Marill evolutionary line, and Jiggly/Wigglytuff. It’s cool to see a new type come in, for both casual and competitive players, but as a competitive player I think it’s great to see something shake up the type chart.

While there were only 66 (Or 69, I can’t remember) new Pokemon added to the game, there’s also the additions of Mega Evolutions, special evolutions that certain Pokemon can reach if they hold their respective mega stone. These Pokemon are more powerful and many of them look really cool and give some otherwise unnoticed Pokemon a re-entry into the series, like Pinsir and Kangaskhan. Old favorites like Gyarados, Alakazam, and Gengar were also given Mega Evolutions, and of course, the game’s mascot mega, Mewtwo, is there. Some Pokemon, like Charizard, have two separate mega evolutions. It’s cool, although I’m hoping more are released as DLC like event Torchic with access to the mega stone that transforms Blaziken into Mega Blaziken.

Also, the ability to style your character with clothes and hair styles is a really nice change. When you play a lot of Pokemon, you see a lot of the same avatar. It’s nice that you can put your own flair to your avatar. Also, nicknames appear when doing local battles, which is a really nice addition because some people (like me) put a lot of thought into their nicknames, and to let other people see it is awesome. On the nickname note, the filter is really strict. Sometimes you’ll find a name isn’t accepted because you’re accidentally using a word that is bad in another country, which means it isn’t allowed, but that’s a small price to pay for being able to show off your nicknames!

And probably one of the best additions to the game is Wonder Trade, an online trading service like the GTS (where you could trade with people from around the world), but instead of requesting and offering Pokemon, you pick a Pokemon to offer, and the game randomly selects someone else on Wonder Trade and trades the Pokemon they offered with yours. That’s it. Random trading, and it’s addicting. You can burn quite some time just by Wonder Trading, and sometimes you get some really cool Pokemon. I got a Jolly Charmander out of it just a few days ago.

On the competitive side, it’s very clear that Game Freak and TCPI are trying for competitive growth. It’s been a very gradual increase in helping out competitive players as the competitive side has grown, and now it’s coming out in full force with Super Training, a feature that allows you to make your Pokemon stronger with a kind of fun little mini game, and lets people who have no idea what the term “EV Training” means still have good Pokemon. It’s clear that more competition is wanted, and from what I’ve heard and experienced talking to more casual players, Super Training is pulling off its job very well.

Pokemon X/Y have a lot to offer to new and old players. As one of the Red/Blue/Yellow players, this game is refreshing. Everything is very polished, mechanics have been changed (for the better), and it was just fun the whole way through. I haven’t found myself enjoying an in-game Pokemon experience this much since Heart Gold/Soul Silver, so kudos to X/Y!

The only flaw (and this is a minor flaw) is that the game is way too easy thanks to Exp. Share being reverted back to Gen 1/2. This means that, instead of your Pokemon holding items, it’s an item you turn on and off that gives experience to your whole team. Combine this with you basically getting a team for free (two of which are Lucario and a Kanto starter with their respective Mega Stone), and the game becomes incredibly easy. My entire team was level 80 against the Champion’s level 63 Pokemon at the end. Not challenging at all.

If you’re at all interested in Pokemon, get this game. You won’t regret it!!

Just sayin’.

P.S.: Holding your DS upside down is not a good way to evolve a Pokemon, but that’s how you evolve one.

P.S.S.: If you ever see someone named SwagTrain, that’s me!

Input Delay and Granularity, CRTs and digital display

by

Zankoku's avatarCruel Edge

frames

I figured I’d touch on this topic since I’ve been pretty heavily advocating the use of LCD HD monitors for gameplay lately. Yes, the best monitors with the lowest input delay on the market still average about 9ms of input delay (0.54 frames). Yes, Fox and Falco’s Reflectors in Melee hit on frame 1. And, yes, that does mean that this all can make a difference. But how much of one?

So there’s something that gamers who like to talk big on frames and monitors and input delay don’t really look into even though it potentially makes a huge (nearly one frame) difference, as well – the fact that the game still runs on 60 frames per second. So, common knowledge is that if you happened to input something on frame 0, the action takes place on frame 1 onward. This is because there’s no way for the game to…

View original post 482 more words

Shameless Twitter plugs!

by

I apologize for the lack of a substantial post – I’ve had quite a busy couple weeks since I’m trying to finish all my homework so I’m not cramming after The Big House 3, a national Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament I’m attending. So, today, I’m going to direct all of you to my two parody Twitter accounts!

Last Monday, while playing Smash with some friends, one of them came up with the idea to make a parody account of me as a super ignorant Smash player. Another friend made a version of it where I’m British.

DISCLAIMER: 300 Pound Kappy is extremely vulgar. I find it hilarious, but for those who don’t enjoy such language, you’ve been warned.

300 Pound Kappy: https://twitter.com/300PoundKappy

136.08 kg Kappy: https://twitter.com/136kgKappy

Enjoy! Expect a special post about my experience at The Big House 3 after next weekend and a review of the MMORPG Neverwinter in two weeks!

Just sayin’.

REVIEW: Mario & Luigi Dream Team

by

Finally, after weeks of not being able to, I have been able to play through a significant chunk of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, possibly one of the best Mario RPG‘s I’ve played so far. Let’s not waste any time and jump on in!

Plot:

Mario and company travel to Pi’llo Island to vacation and, of course, something goes wrong. Antasma, a villain hellbent on taking over the world, kidnaps Peach and forces Mario to venture into the Dream World via Luigi once Luigi opens the Dream World accidentally and frees Antasma from his dreamy prison. Dreambert, the prince of an ancient race called the Pi’llos, asks of the help of the Mario Bros. to save his people and stop Antasma, to which they agree. I won’t spoil anything (because, well, I haven’t finished the game yet. I’m close!), but Bowser does get involved, and some of the stuff gets crazy!

But, a typical Mario plot. Nothing to be laugh at, though, as the Pi’llo history is actually quite complex, and the plot is pulled off in dreamlike (ha!) style.

Characters:

So, let me get this out of the way: I never played Bowser’s Inside Story. I will, I swear, but I haven’t yet. So I didn’t know who Starlow was when she was introduced here. However, she’s a little nagging. She’s not an awful character, but I’m definitely not a big fan. The new characters are great, especially since Dreambert is very serious and has to interact with the goofy world of the Mario & Luigi series. It’s very funny.

Mario and Luigi themselves are great, as usual, and the random characters the bros. encounter are fantastic. The dialogue in Mario RPG’s have always been fantastic, and this game is no exception. The dialogue is crisp and witty, and I found myself laughing on more than one occasion!

Also oh MY GOD POPPLE IS IN THIS GAME IT IS INCREDIBLY HYPE!

Gameplay:

The gameplay is the BIG seller, here. In the over world, you are either in the real world as the Mario Bros., or in the dream world with Mario and Dreamy Luigi, a version of Luigi conjured up by Luigi as he sleeps. This Luigi is more Mario-like thanks to the dream embodying Luigi as Luigi wants himself to be. In the dream world, Luigi can also manipulate his dreams through Dreamy Luigi, able to conjure up hundreds of himself to perform certain actions and movements (such as stacking to make a tower of Luigis or like a top to spin into the air). But that’s not even close to the best part.

The combat is where it’s at for this game. In the over world, you battle with Mario and Luigi in classic Mario & Luigi style. Again, the battle animations and timing for the hammer are from Bowser’s Inside Story, and so they looked really cool to me. The badge system is also from there, and while it’s cool, I wish it was more like the original. A small complaint, however, completely negligible once you get to dream world combat.

In the dream world, Mario fights by himself against a small army of enemies with Dreamy Luigi powering him up. That means when Mario jumps, he has the power of at least 20 Luigis added on. Those same Luigis rain down on your enemies after you jump, or the Luigis create a giant shockwave with their hammers after you hammer the ground. It’s a really cool way to show that Luigi is still part of the battle.

And, just as there are Bros. Attacks in the real world with Mario and Luigi (which are awesome), there’s what’s called Luiginary Attacks, which are literally Luigi being a god. He stacks, he creates a giant hammer, he becomes a living Katamari Damacy and then has Mario kick him. The possibilities are endless, and fitting for a game that represents the Year of Luigi. His attacks are ridiculously cool.

AND, to add onto that, it’s harder in the dream world because if Mario dies, it’s game over. Goodbye builds of Mario being the powerhouse and Luigi being the tank; in the dream world, Mario gets bopped because of his low defenses, so you’re punished extra hard for being hit. On the flip side, Dreamy Luigi gives him more HP and BP, but it’s usually not enough.

To put it in perspective, I’m running Super Crit Bros. (where I only upgrade Stache), and my Mario takes roughly 35-50 damage from the small army enemies, and that small army attacks multiple times in one turn. I’ve gotten multiple game overs from regular dream world fights.

I’m not knocking that difficulty, though. I love it.

Oh, OH, and before I forget, Luigi bodies giant enemies by turning into a giant Luigi. They feel epic. I felt epic bodying them. Everything about giant Luigi is epic.

Atmosphere:

In classic Mario & Luigi style, the atmosphere is RPG-like, yet super-goofy. The dialogue, as I said before, is on point and very funny. There are a lot of reference Easter Eggs. The areas are nicely designed, the 3D is cool (especially during some Bros. Attacks), and the art style is cool. I really like the Dream World designs, especially the longer ones. Most of them are just short mini-levels, though even those are well-designed and not cumbersome.

What I really liked here was the music. Most of the music is great, especially the battle music, and ESPECIALLY boss music. I first heard the music when facing Bowser and Antasma in the beginning of the game, and it felt way more epic than it should’ve because of the music that was playing. Seriously, go to YouTube and give it a listen – it’s great.

Other than that, this is good, but nothing spectacular.

——

If you love Mario RPGs, get this game. If you love the Mario & Luigi series, get this game. If you have a 3DS get this game.

In short: GET THIS GAME.

Score:

Plot: 7/10
Characters: 10/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Final Score: 9/10

Just sayin’

Schedule Change

by

I apologize for missing two weeks (once again. LOL). Over the past month my schedule has been changing dramatically. On top of me going back to school, I am also out of retirement in Super Smash Bros., and so I have much less time than I expected to have.

With these schedule changes, I’ve decided to go back to posting a blog entry every two weeks instead of every week, and they will be moved to Friday. The first entry with this change will be this Friday, the 20th.

Just Sayin’.

Betting with salt

by

I apologize for no post last week, I got caught up in a busy week and was unable to write one. That’s okay, though! Today is Labor Day, and so there will be a post!

Many of you may find yourself with nothing to do today. That’s bad. If you’ve got nothing to do and are a fan of hype and fighting games, I suggest you waltz on over to saltybet.com, sign up for an account, and start betting!

Salty Bets is a fictional betting arena that utilizes the game Mugen to set up AI against each other and duke it out. You start with 400 Salty Bucks, and can bet as much as you want (minimum 1) on who you think will win in a best 3 out of 5 matches. The AI and characters range from being ridiculously broken to god-awful. I’ve witnessed some AI that just run around and jump, but don’t attack.

If you go below 0, you get 10 Salty Bucks and are in the “Salt Mines“, a place where it’s hard to make a lot of money. I don’t know how much you need to officially make it out of the mines, but I think it’s once you hit $100 Salty Bucks.

What’s REALLY fun about Salty Bet is the chat. because it’s streamed, there’s a chat for people to talk while betting and watching the matches, and it is incredibly entertaining, especially when there’s an upset. It’s hard to describe the chat – it’s something you have to see and experience yourself.

A warning, though, the chat is very vulgar. If you’re not a fan of vulgar language, I wouldn’t pay mind to the chat. I, however, go almost exclusively for the chat.

Have fun betting!

Just Sayin’.

P.S. if you see SwagTrain on the bettors list, that’s me!