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Pahrak Model ZX

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Blog Entries posted by Pahrak Model ZX

  1. Pahrak Model ZX
    I made it even simpler this time
     

     
    I was going to go with "Has Lego officially announced it", but then I remembered those BZP articles on stuff found through "guessing URLs" which apparently don't count?
     
    Aside from that one exception though the policy is really, truly, unbelievably, extremely simple.
     
    Feel free to use this handy image when teling people why you're closing their topics or whatever, staff, I won't even ask for anything in return
  3. Pahrak Model ZX
    It has officially been 10 years since the release of the first Mega Man Star Force game (in Japan)!
     
    I already went on about why I love this series a while back. In short, it's a sequel to my first Mega Man series (EXE), it's one of two that I was able to follow from the beginning (the other being ZX), it's fairly standalone so I don't feel like I'm missing a ton of references, and it has great character development not just for the main characters, but even a lot of the briefly-appearing characters you bump into along the way.
     
    Also, I just like the character designs and general mechanics of the universe. Not every reason for liking something needs to be complicated!
     
    Sure, I know it's not in the running for the greatest game series of all time, but still, I love it so much and it's nice to see some people celebrating it. Even Mega Man fans don't spend a whole lot of time talking about it, so it's a nice change.
     
    Hopefully Geo will get a comeback as the anniversaries keep coming. Until then, I'm going to press on with my Star Force fanfic and keep my fingers crossed!
  5. Pahrak Model ZX

    Exclusive, Huh?

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    I fruitlessly check Toys R Us how many times looking for a Greninja amiibo, but one trip to Best Buy
     

     
    I mean, the excitement is stronger than the irritation, this is awesome thank you God
     
    (I feel like the picture is not very creative but I couldn't think of anything, it's actually impressive I was able to balance the thing)
  6. Pahrak Model ZX

    More Remembering!

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    So not only was Final Fantasy V in a commercial recently, there’s going to be a new Mega Man Star Force figure this year?!
     
    This is amazing. I like this trend of my favorite underrated games getting nods.
     
    Next on the list are Sinnoh remakes and a TWEWY sequel.
  7. Pahrak Model ZX
    It would seem my stress has taken the route of producing ideas at a faster rate than I can actually work on them, while simultaneously stopping me from getting too far on any particular one (including the ones I was already trying to work on).
     
    So, a brief look at what I’ve been kicking around lately:
     
    -Shooting Star Sonia 3, of course. Unfortunately I seem to be stuck on Chapter 2.
    -Wall of History, as mentioned previously. The mechanics and prompts are actually all set, and I’m about halfway through the lore, so not too bad.
    -An extended Mega Man ZX fic, probably as a result of replaying ZX just recently. Haven’t quite finished the first chapter and a little unsure how far I’m actually going to get.
    -A brief burst of inspiration on Glimpse of Horizon’s broader idea, but like…thinking I could make it into a novel for actual publishing? For some reason? Did not get far before that fizzled out, but who knows I guess.
    -That new story focusing on Vhisola I mentioned recently, which has exactly one chapter right now. I have some specific ideas about where to go, just stuck on what needs to happen next, naturally.
    -A short Kingdom Hearts fic in which Kairi is aware of how horribly the series treats her. That just sort of happened. I’m going to let it sit for a while, edit it, and probably just post it because I don’t know I just want to finish something and look productive.
    -One MASSIVE new Lego story idea I’m planning to give more information on in a separate post, stay tuned for that one.
    -Three, count ‘em, three separate ideas for Mafia games. Granted one was already complete before this, but now I’m thinking more about it, plus I finally sat down and revamped the Chorus System for another Musical Mafia, PLUS another idea that’s been floating half-formed through my mind for a while and now has been hammered into a pretty fine shape. I don’t want to do so many back to back, but…no one has had a new Mafia game since Hotel of Okoto ended, so…?
     
    And yet I still feel like it wouldn’t be a great idea for me to actually start posting/hosting any big projects. I have a new apartment lined up, I just need to move, but in a few weeks I’ll need to move again because I actually need to stay at my dad’s for a while until my new apartment is ready. Even after that, I’m really searching for a second job because I really need one, so if that works out there’s a question of how much time I’ll actually have for this stuff.
     
    But, depending on how this goes, there is a distinct possibility I could have an extremely productive fall. So I guess that’s pretty cool.
  8. Pahrak Model ZX
    Alright, now that my most recent playthrough of X is done, I wanted to try to compile some of my thoughts about the game.  XY gets a lot of flak so I wanted to evaluate just how much of it felt earned.  Oddly enough, this is my fourth playthrough of X; adding Y that means I’ve gone through Kalos five times now, which might make me look like a hypocrite when I say I’m disappointed in it.  In short, XY is a fine pair of games—as I would argue most if not all Pokemon games really are—but in comparison to other entries in the series it falls flat.
    It’s been said before that all Pokemon games are essentially the same.  If you like the core gameplay loop, you’ll be able to enjoy yourself no matter which one you pick up.  XY nail that aspect.  I like Pokemon games, so I can have fun playing XY.  But when multiple options are placed in front of me, when I want to play Pokemon and have to pick which Pokemon game I want to actually sit down and play, what is it that might lead me to choose XY over any others?  This is a question to be asked of every Pokemon game, and I would argue the only time a game can objectively fail in this regard is if the answer is only down to wanting to use a specific Pokemon who appears in a specific place in this specific game.  I replayed X because I wanted to use another Aegislash and a Tyrantrum, which I could only really do in XY.  This was helped by realizing I could finally train a Toxicroak early on, you can get a Steelix through an in-game trade, and by jumping through a few hoops I could get Leafon along for the ride, plus knowing I’d get Crawdaunt with a little patience.  I wouldn’t even be considering it if my sister hadn’t happened to find her copy and given me a good deal.  For me at least, that’s really all it came down to: happenstance and Pokemon distribution.  Because really, what else does Kalos and only Kalos have to offer?  Mega Evolution is in ORAS, so…I’m hard-pressed to think of anything.
    I don’t mean to sound like I hate Kalos.  As I’ve said before, it has a lot of potential: it’s a sprawling, wide-open region structured to mitigate backtracking by looping back in on itself at key points, has a Dex that includes numerous favorites from all past regions and one of the nicest-looking batches of newcomers (while also introducing the interesting concept of Mega Evolution), and the locations you visit all feel very distinct from each other.  But playing XY feels like using a Pokemon you know Mega Evolves but can’t find the Mega Stone for: while it might have all that potential, not being able to tap into it just leaves you feeling underwhelmed and somewhat frustrated when you have to move on.
    No matter what anyone says about Pokemon only needing a barebones story, I feel like the root of this problem lies in the lack of effort put into XY’s narrative and characters.  Following Gen V was certainly an unenviable task, but XY took such a huge step backwards here that the experience ultimately feels hollow, like just another typical Pokemon journey with nothing truly special or unique about it.  Things just kind of happen, with no real sense of continuity or build-up as you drift from one place to another.  There are scant few characters you’re actually given reason to care about: Korrina and maybe Wulfric are the only Gym Leaders who feel like they had the slightest amount of effort put into them.  The Elite Four in any game tend to be somewhat unremarkable so I’ll give them a pass, but Champion Diantha also doesn’t feel particularly fleshed out, having only two brief appearances outside the League that frankly don’t amount to much.  I’m sure there’s nothing new I can say about Lysandre; Sycamore is fun enough that he’s maintained a following; the player’s friends…well, that’s a whole thing in and of itself.
    First off: friendly rivals are not bad.  XY seems to be where people started to really rage about this, but their amicability is not what makes them fail as rivals.  Honestly, I don’t even view Shauna, Trevor, or Tierno as rivals—you only fight them twice each, and they’re not tough because they don’t care about battling.  Which is fine!  I recall seeing a claim that XY was about how everyone enjoys Pokemon differently, and now that I’ve taken another look, it’s clear to me that the friend group was indeed designed with that in mind.  Trevor is the player who wants to fill the Dex, Shauna is the player who just wants to spend time with their Pokemon, Tierno is the player who thinks up unique and oddly specific goals/challenges/themes for their playthrough, and Calem/Serena is the player who only cares about the battles.  That’s genuinely interesting!  However, the game doesn’t quite explore this idea or these varying approaches, they’re all just sort of dumped in front of you sporadically.  Your friends could all use a bit of work, especially Calem/Serena who’s entire personality seems to be “I’m your neighbor and I like Pokemon battles.”  They’re present enough that they’re certainly a rival, but they’re the flattest we’ve had since Gen I.  I’d say if the other three were given a bit more time to shine, showing why they appreciate Pokemon in the way they do and emphasizing the strengths of those approaches, they’d all have been much better received.  For Calem/Serena, I think the most interesting approach would be to take it all the way and have them be a strict and serious competitive battler, doing lots of catching and breeding and EV training without thinking of their Pokemon as anything more than tools; this wouldn’t even necessarily lead to them being antagonistic, in fact the disconnect between them being nice and polite to people but heartless and mechanical towards their Pokemon could be quite fascinating.  But, at this point, I think we’ve ventured off into extremely unlikely territory…
    Ultimately, I think it’s that hollow feeling that lends XY so well to being replayed.  You can get through it by caring remarkably little about what’s going on around you, because, well, there isn’t much there to care about in the first place.  But there’s just enough to let you know that there could be so much more—and maybe chasing that is another factor of wanting to replay it.  While I absolutely adore Sun and Moon, Kalos undoubtedly got the short end of the stick: it needed an updated rerelease perhaps more than any preceding paired versions in series history, yet it was dropped unceremoniously so that SuMo would be released during the same year as the 20th anniversary (despite being much closer to the 21st…).  XY feels unpolished, and Game Freak chose to move on rather than try to give Kalos the polish it needed.  Unfortunately, that’s still the way I feel.
  9. Pahrak Model ZX
    [Don't link to sites with forums! -Takuma Nuva]
     
    Oh, and it was updated to mention a new trailer, which can be found here. It's in Japanese, of course, but it gives you a much better view of how much of Isshu/Unova has been covered by the glacier.
    Anywho, my thoughts on the article are below.
     
    -Take that, Zekrom and Reshiram! You thought you were so cool having two signature moves while Kyurem had one. Well now Kyurem has three signature moves! MWAHAHA…although now I’m beginning to think its type doesn’t change when it changes form. I so wanted Ice/Electric and Ice/Fire…well, he can still learn more Electric or Fire moves, right? …Right?
    -Set two years after Black and White…I now fully expect to see Black, White, or N as a final boss like Red was in the Johto games. Do not disappoint me.
    -There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Kyurem is directly responsible for this glacier spreading across Isshu/Unova, right? I mean come on, the English name for its signature move is “Glaciate.” The Japanese one is “Frozen World.”
    -300 Pokémon can be caught? Please, PLEASE let none of these Pokémon be new! Pokémon, I love you, but you’re seriously running out of good ideas. Generation V Pokémon are at least 80-90% fail, excluding awesome exceptions like Gigalith. Wait…I WILL be able to catch a Gigalith again, right? And what about Scrafty? (It looks ridiculous as heck, but it’s a powerhouse!) And the starters are the same, right? Because I already planned out a team…
    -Hm, new player characters…or are they in fact Black and White but two years older?! Of course, that would ruin my hopes for them being the final boss…meh, whatever. I’m not exactly impressed with their appearances, but I’m not too broken up about them. Oh, and apparently the girl looks like Sailor Moon? That’s what everyone is saying, but I know nothing about Sailor Moon.
    -Rival…wait…will we be able to name our rival again?!?! Because not being able to name a rival was one of my biggest disappointments in White!! If we can name our rival again…! I need to start thinking of a name right away!
    -New Gym Leaders? Will any of the old ones be returning? And what about the Elite Four and Champion? The Pokemon League is frozen! Anyway, I have nothing to say about Shizui the Surfer, but Homika…do we really need another Poison gym? There are so few of them for a reason: Poison is the most worthless Pokémon type. That’s why it’s the only type without a legendary. (Of course, I’m not bashing ALL Poison types. Nidoking and Venusaur are cool with me.) Also, she reminds me of a character from…a different video game series. One that I would be surprised to find someone at the Pokémon Company liking…
    -…Um…Professor Akuroma? Why do you have an Articuno feather glued to your head? I know Pokémon characters have weird hair, but you’ve got Yu-Gi-Oh-level weird hair…
    -You start in a city this time? Guess it makes sense—Isshu/Unova is based on New York after all. And thank God we finally have a Pokémon Center in the hometown! It’s SO frustrating when you beat the Elite Four, get sent back home, and then have to hike up to the next town, dealing with pitifully weak Pokémon or wasting Repels, just so that you can get the Pokémon you taught to Fly out of your PC!
    -Wait a minute…they still haven’t told us who the villains are! Well, I suppose Ghetsis is still alive, free, and evil, so maybe he’ll bring back Team Plasma…and then maybe N will bust in with his Tao Dragon and team up with you and Kyurem in a Double Battle… *imagining the awesomeness*
    -I’d also like to know what happened to Cheren and Bianca…if Cynthia will make another return in this game…if we’ll get to fight Morimoto again, or maybe some other developer who inserted his/herself into the game…you know, things like that. Ooh, and will Keldeo be distributed at the time of release like Victini was with Black and White? Because I was having trouble picking a good Water type, and getting a Keldeo would solve that problem.
    -Wait…it looks like you can’t get to the P2 Laboratory…how are you supposed to get the cassettes for Genesect? I mean he hasn’t been officially revealed yet, so when they do distribute him, it’ll probably be for Black and White 2. Why would you distribute a Pokémon to a game where the location of his special items can’t be accessed…? Meh, there’s probably another place you can get them now. Or maybe they expect you to trade Genesect back to Black and White, get the cassettes, and then trade him back…
  10. Pahrak Model ZX
    I recently ordered the three Mega Man Star Force games off Amazon so I could play through the whole trilogy. In case you’re wondering: Dragon, Berserk X Dinosaur, and Black Ace.
     
    Important things that I learned/was reminded of include the following (forgive the disorganization):
    -Harp Note is awesome.
    -If you’re feeling lonely, an alien will possess you.
    -If you like being alone and are descended from an ancient civilization, you can get your own sentai/magical girl transformation without needing the aforementioned alien.
    -Jammers are cool. So are Murians.
    -The prototype design for the Fire Leo transformation looks cooler than the final version.
    -Playing Dragon version makes Gemini Spark MUCH easier to handle.
    -The whole Pat/Rey thing is really heavy for a kids game.
    -Zack should have had more character development, and maybe a Wave Change.
    -The Real and Wave worlds are steadily blended together as the series goes on, which is a very nice way to show technological advancement.
    -Getting all transformations in one version is cool. Waiting for a specific Battle Card to initiate a transformation is not.
    -Getting an ability that lets you start every battle transformed is cool. Especially when it doesn’t take up Link Power to equip it.
    -Libra Scales SP is, for whatever reason, harder to find than the other SP bosses.
    -Geo X Sonia and Geo X Pat are awesome ships.
    -Luna is bossy and takes the fun out of tsundere…but it’s not her fault.
    -Mr. Shepar is a perfect teacher.
    -Plesio is adorable.
    -Burai is Vegeta.
    -The endings are all pretty similar, so it gets a bit repetitive.
    -“Whazzap” is probably THE worst name for a country ever.
    -Wave Command Codes are broken. Incredibly fun to use, though.
    -Noise Kaizou Gear is less broken, but for some reason they still took most of it out of the English version of SF3.
    -Pat should’ve had more importance after SF1. He also should’ve been able to form a Brother Band with Geo at some point.
    -What’s really cool about the final chapter of Star Force 1 is that it involves you doing things in the Real, Wave, and Cyber Worlds. SF2’s finale keeps you in the Wave World, and SF3 ends with a Cyber Core.
    -Several characters could’ve used more development, especially specific EM bodies *cough*UMAs*cough*
    -Burai Noise makes me glad I don’t have friends.
    -There should have been more work put into justifying FM-ians changing sides (Lyra, Taurus, apparently Cygnus and Wolf…)
    -Harp Note should’ve gotten the second Noise Control Program (you get Ace Program, she gets Joker Program and vice versa). And then you can fight her when she’s Noise Changed, and half-way through she’ll Finalize. It would’ve been awesome.
    -It would’ve been neat to have a bonus for beating a boss while in the Noise Change based on them, but not all of those bosses are in this game, and I can understand there being concerns about having too many bosses.
    -Ace is awesome.
    -More interplanetary travel would’ve been cool. But maybe they’ll do more of that in the next series…if there is a next series…
    -I wish there was a way to influence what Noise Changes and Illegal Data you get.
    -It frustrates me to no end that V3 bosses can pop up ANYWHERE in SF3.
    -The name/title “Crimson Dragon SP” kinda falls flat in comparison to “Andromeda Infinity” and “Ra Mu Xa” (whatever that means). Probably because every boss from SF1 and 2 had SP forms.
    -It infuriates me that Vista Point was removed in 2 and 3. It was such an important location in SF1!
    -The end of SF3 is a satisfying conclusion to the series. It also leaves it open enough for fanficition!
    -Something I’m a little unclear about…during the battle with Crimson Dragon, Mega Man Finalizes for a scripted battle. Is that the only canon instance in which he Finalizes? It would make sense—Noise builds up over time, and at that point he’s IN the Meteor Server. Maybe he was always in Form Out at first, then switched to Color Out at some point in the story, until Finalizing in that battle? Hm…
    -I may dislike Luna as a person, but as a character I feel she has very steady development over the series.
    -Geo also has really good development. SF1 shows him learning to reach out and let people in. SF2 deals with him getting comfortable with his role as Mega Man and finding out just what that role is. SF3 shows him confidently settling into that role and leaving behind the last remnants of his tendencies for isolation.
    -Jack, despite only being around for the last game, also has some pretty good development.
    -As I understand it, SF2’s bonus chapter and all the bosses you have to fight in it are all in one area, which is very convenient. It’s annoying to reach a gate or satellite and have to pulse out, find something, and come back only to hit another gate/satellite. At least SF3 doesn’t require you to hunt down random encounter SP bosses…
    -Before and during SF1, FM-ians = Skakdi.
    -Checking up on Planet FM in SF3's bonus chapter was really neat.
    -I really, really want to know the remaining members of Project-TC.
    -Also, the Mega Man Star Force Official Complete Works is an awesome art book.
     
    It was fun, and I’d definitely recommend the series. Except maybe SF2. But I’d recommend at least watching some videos about it between playing 1 and 3. I can't say which is my favorite, but I think SF3 is the most fun to play thanks to Noise Change. Anywho, still want to look up some videos on the bonus chapters of 2 and 3 and try to beat Dragon Sky in SF1.
     
    Wave Battle!!
    Ride On!!
  11. Pahrak Model ZX
    . 
    My thoughts:
    -As someone who's still salty about how long it took to get anything more than names with Sun and Moon, I'm glad they showed actual footage, the starters, and the region
    -Graphics/areas look real good
    -The full direct mentions something about people and Pokemon working together to shape the industries of the region, and that sounds like it could be real interesting
    -Looking at the Galar region map...this is probably based on a real place, but at a glance it just feels artificially linear. I'm guessing you start at the south and just keep going north until you beat the game? Not a deal breaker, but I'm hoping there's more to the region that when they showed here.
    -The starters all look kinda the same. And bad.
    -I don't see Pokemon following the trainers...
     
    At this point, I'm not impressed. I really, really hope those starter designs aren't indicative of the overall design aesthetic of Gen 8 Pokemon. There seem to be a lot of returning Pokemon in the trailer, so I'm optimistic for a smaller amount of new Pokemon with a lot of returning favorites in the regional Dex, and that's how I like my Dexes. Ideally I would like more Mega Evolutions, but I won't riot if we don't. I might riot if we don't get new regional variants, though.
     
    Happy Pokemon Day, I guess?
  12. Pahrak Model ZX
    The time has come, folks.
     
    With the Judge Slizer’s timeline sinking into the void, the Judge Coronet and the Ice Coronet have met up for one final battle.
     
    The winner will determine the fate of the remaining scraps of the Slizer population. The loser…well, I’m sure you can guess.
     
    Are you ready to do your duty? For Coronet and Cancellation?
     
    (It’s Slizer Mafia 3 yo, come on down for a disk-throwin’ good time)
  13. Pahrak Model ZX
    Just got to see the new DBZ movie, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! Still looking forward to when Super goes beyond it, though. It also made me realize one of the things I love most about Beerus and Whis: in this movie they flat-out admit that the only reason they don’t destroy Earth is because they like the food. Not for any reasons involving human beings themselves, just their food. It’s great.
     
    The reason I find this so refreshing is because it’s always bugged me that sci-fi or fantasy or pretty much anything with multiple species always has some bit about how “Special” humans are. Higher races will always spare/become attached to humans and say something about the species having unique ingenuity, or possessing great capacity for change, or being inherently kind, or some such nonsense. And I can’t help but feel that it’s, well…kind of pathetic, honestly.
     
    It’s like, somewhere along the process of coming up with these mystical races, we become aware of the limitations of our own human existence, yet we still want to put humans in the story so that we can have a self-insert easily-relatable species/main character. So we add in this hastily-written cliché line about how humans are special, to console ourselves and justify our inclusion in the work. As someone who hates himself I understand the desire and the benefits derived. But it’s been going on for so long that I feel it’s become very transparent.
     
    Why should a god of destruction from deep space take interest in a species who has probably never produced a (pure-blooded) fighter with a power level of even 100,000? (Or, on a related matter, why should a 2,000 year old time-travelling alien be invested in the self-worth of every individual human being?) Sure, we want to say they would, because we’re human, but looking at things objectively, it just makes no sense.
     
    I guess Beerus and Whis’s interest in human food still counts as “something unique to humans”, but it’s very different—this is a skill, something that can be learned rather than something we’re told is intrinsic and not able to be imitated by any other species out there. These two maybe could learn to make Earth food themselves, if they put in the necessary effort, but they’re lazy and figure it’d be more convenient for them to just leave the humans alive to keep cooking for them.
     
    And I love it.
  14. Pahrak Model ZX

    A New Tournament?

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    So I’ve been thinking I might want to run Technic Tournament 2 soon. My original idea was that future versions of the game would each have a specific theme in what fighters were involved, but now I’m thinking I should hold off on that—TT2 will be more or less the same as the first, just trying out some new system tweaks so that I can perfect the basics before trying any of the theme ideas.
     
    As for what changes will be made, Nevermore gave me two suggestions at the end of the last game: that there should be limits on how many times a player can use each type of promotion, and that there should be more levels of promotion success than just “succeed” and “fail”. I want to implement both of these, probably like this:
    -How many times you can use each promotional method depends on your specialty in that method. If you have a 5 or 4 in that method, you can only use it once per round. If you have a 3 or 2 in that method, you can use it twice per round. If you have a 1 in that method, you can try it three times per round.
    -Like before, when you promote I’ll roll a die, and if the result is equal to or less than your specialty you will succeed. How much money you raise, however, will be determined by the exact result, with lower results giving more Widgets. So, rolling a 1 will give you the most Widgets no matter your specialty, but if your specialty is 1 than that’s the only way you’ll get any Widgets as opposed to getting at least some if you have a higher specialty.
     
    I’m also thinking of reducing the number of points you can use in your profile. Last time it was 15, and now I’m thinking it’ll be somewhere between 10 and 13—as before, you can distribute these between the four promotional methods however you want, but one individual specialty cannot exceed 5.
     
    Another idea was that, after the four rounds are done, there will be a Title Match where the fighter who won will go against Granite, the Defending Champion from last tournament.
     
    There wasn’t a whole lot else I could think of to try out. Maybe, for the fighter going against the fighter who raised the most money in the previous round, they’ll receive a small amount of Widgets before the round even starts, to give them a headstart of sorts? Though that was just from trying to find a way to work in that cheesy subtitle I wanted to use, eheheh…
     
    For anyone who might be interesting in playing Technic Tournament 2, what do you think of all this? Do you have any other suggestions? I’ll try to make at least a few more posts before I start it—last time didn’t have too many players, so I’m hoping I can do some sort of pre-release campaign to get more attention. And, to that end, why not give you the fighter list early?
     
     
     
     
    That already covers all the RoboRiders (and then some), and I only need to do one more to cover all the Slizers, those pre-Bionicle lines are so small it’s such a tragedy
  15. Pahrak Model ZX

    802 Already

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    It still feels like Gen VII just stared, but we’re already getting the last Pokémon in the current National Dex order!
     
    Stop by GameStop between now and the 23rd to get a code to download Marshadow, the very first Fighting/Ghost type! It’ll also come with Marshadium Z, letting Marshadow use its unique Z Move, Soul-Stealing Seven Star Strike. How cool does that sound?
     
    Just about a month until Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon! With the reveal of new Ultra Beasts, I can’t help but wonder if more Mythicals are programmed in as well, meaning we could get another few years of Gen VII. I hope we do, I can’t afford a new console.
  16. Pahrak Model ZX
    If you live in America, try to avoid going out if possible, since I hear Black Friday gets really, really intense.
     
    But if you do go out, and if you play Pokemon, try stopping by a McDonalds with free Wi-Fi to get Hoopa via Nintendo Zone.
     
    Or, maybe put that one off, since it's available until December 23rd.
     
    Safety first! Pokemon close second!
  17. Pahrak Model ZX
    It’s decided: Slizer Dome US will be posted in G&T on Wednesday, August 10th!
     
    Come by next week and you can throw yourself into the Throwbot Slizer world! Choose any of the eight planets to live on, work to enhance your abilities, and battle fierce Elemental Monsters to prove that you are worthy of being named the Champion of the Galaxy! Signups will remain open for only 48 hours after posting, so don’t miss it!
  18. Pahrak Model ZX

    On Allusions

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    References to G1 tend to bring with them surges of people advocating a connection theory, using said reference as proof of said connection. It seems that there's a misunderstanding of something that shows up a lot in reboots: allusion.
     
    Any reboot will naturally allude to the previous iteration(s) of the concept. Allusions tend to enrich the enjoyment of a work for anyone who gets them, and when they’re specific to a certain franchise, the creator has a much higher chance of providing this enrichment for a large number of people. An allusion is not, however, proof that the work takes place in the same continuity as the thing it is alluding to.
     
    For greatest relevance to this situation, let’s use for example an individual franchise that constantly reboots itself: Final Fantasy. There are an immense number of names and ideas that are endlessly recycled through every iteration of Final Fantasy, but it does not mean that all Final Fantasies take place in the same timeline. The Bahamut of Final Fantasy III is not the same Bahamut who appears in Final Fantasy XIII. Squall’s Lionheart Gunblade and Lightning’s Lionheart Gunblade are two very different weapons, not to mention the extremely different Lionheart Keyblade in the neighboring Kingdom Hearts series. And while I’m sure there are a myriad of things shared by VII and XI, Midgar is not on the map of Vana’diel because the two games are in different continuities.
     
    (Heck, if we’re including Kingdom Hearts in this, most to all of the FF characters who show up there look directly transplanted, but they all have new backstories—none of those games are in the same continuity as Kingdom Hearts.)
     
    Yes, Final Fantasy does include some continuity-hopping. But that’s the thing: the characters are moving between different continuities, because they do not inhabit the same one. Gilgamesh got lost in the space between worlds and shows up in a new one every now and then; Dissidia takes place in a world where powerful entities pull in characters and locations from multiple worlds, and ends with everyone vanishing as they return back to their homeworlds. These are localized crossovers between the different continuities, which are quite profitable when a series has been going on for decades. But the continuities still remain separate.
     
    You can allude to something without it being in the same continuity. With a reboot, this is expected. Lego’s just telling us old fans they know we’re out here, not that G2 is a continuation of G1 (or any variants thereof).
  19. Pahrak Model ZX

    Ideal Worlds

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    We already have confirmation of Hercules, Big Hero 6, and Tangled worlds for Kingdom Hearts III, hopefully they’re going to reveal more soon, here are some I want.
     
    -Atlantis was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Rewatching it recently I wasn’t as impressed, but still, it’d be nice to see, and it even has the Heart of Atlantis as a thing so it would work almost too well.
    -Everybody complains about Agrabah but I want it back. Ideally with a good adaptation of King of Thieves, which I need to rewatch.
    -Honestly I want Space Paranoids back. They went through all the trouble of integrating it into the plot, and Radiant Garden is probably going to be back, so I hope they go pay Tron another visit, it’s only fair.
    -It’s been forever since I’ve seen the Jungle Book, but since they’ve been trying and failing again and again to put it in I hope they finally get it onboard. End the struggle.
    -Something Pixar. Or everything Pixar. Pixar.
    -A new Lilo and Stitch world that covers more than just the opening of the movie.
    -I’d like the 100 Acre Woods back too actually, it’s a charming little diversion world that brings a lot of positivity with it.
    -I’d like Destiny Islands back as a playable world, which it hasn’t been outside of KH1 and rehashes of it.
    -A Muppets world, with a line similar to “This boss fight is brought to you by the letter X and the number 13!”
    -It’s be cool to see the Pride Lands come back.
    -Not exactly a world, but I’d like a post-game area like the Cavern of Remembrance in KHIIFM. It’s always fascinated me and we haven’t had anything like it since. Or bring back the CoR itself, with story relevance, that’d be super rad!
     
    …Wait, this trend is talking about Kingdom Hearts worlds, right?
  21. Pahrak Model ZX
    I was thinking about making some of the more powerful items harder to get. Rather than just selling them at the shop, I could present them in an auction mode. Every so often, a new auction would be announced, and a rare/powerful item would be offered at a starting price with players able to place bids to decide who wins it. Still just a very rough idea--I'm not sure how often these auctions would take place, if they would have time limits, or even what specific items would be restricted to auctions (maybe items currently priced 15,000 or more?).
     
    Any thoughts/suggestions?
  23. Pahrak Model ZX
    If you didn’t hear, Pokémon Bank has been updated! You can now use it with Gen VII games, transfer Pokémon from Gen VI to Gen VII, and transfer Pokémon from Virtual Console Gen I games into Gen VII!
     
    Bank now also has a National Pokedex function, which registers all the Pokémon you have in all games connected to it, making it even easier to keep track of your progress. Still hoping they update Sun and Moon with the National Dex, but this is pretty neat.
     
    When transferring Pokémon from VC to Gen VII, here’s how they’re updated according to Serebii:
    -They all have their Hidden Abilities! Unless the species doesn’t have a Hidden Ability, of course.
    -Nature is “based on experience”? Not very specific…
    -Guaranteed to have at least 3 maximum IVs.
    -Gender is random.
    -EVs are wiped clean.
    -There’s also a chance of being made shiny based on what their Gen I IVs are!
     
    Don’t forget that a Bank pass costs money, though. (I thought I had enough but taxes pushed it a few cents too high.)
     
    Oh, and using Bank from now until October 2nd will get you Mew’s exclusive Z Crystal! And that still leaves 2 more event Z Crystals to look forward to.
  24. Pahrak Model ZX
    Version Exclusive Spirits:*
    VioletRose: Exo-Toa, Cahdok, Toa Norik, Akamai, Akamai Nuva, Akamai Newva, Thulox, Cyber Hordika G, Dread, Space, Destiny Fighter, Aku Knight Red: Eshi, Optimus Flare, Fossil of Dinosaur, Powered Noise, Venusaur, all RoboRider Spirits, Contrivance, Dark Keyblade Master, Sentiment of Darkness, BionicleTwayblade: Sorcerer Variant, Sniperahk, Sonicspeed: Dark, Flame Turbine, Offense Program, Advanced Program, Terrain Program, Heartless Composer, Zekrom, Vegeta, Magna Convoy, Destiny Beater, Nightmare Keeper, Jack Corvus, Shinryu, Heartless Wyvern, Joker, Batman, Green Lantern, Fortissimo
    HonoredSoul: Exo-Armor, Gahdok, Toa Iruini, Wairuha, Wairuha Nuva, Wairuha Newva, Morak, Cyber Hordika F, Omni, Time, Destiny Mage, Aku Knight Blue: Thread, Megafreeze, Shuriken of Shinobi, High-Speed Noise, Blastoise, all Slizer Spirits, Gurren Lagann, Keyblade Samurai, Sentiment of Light, BionicleTwayblade: Mercenary Variant, Gunnerahk, Sonicspeed: Light, Freeze Turbine, Defense Program, Support Program, Elusive Program, Heartless Swordsman, Reshiram, Son Goku, Armada Jet Convoy, Destiny Cheater, Daydream Keeper, Queen Virgo, Omega, Heartless Soldier, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Solar Program
     
    Unobtainable Spirits:*
    (Some of the Spirits on this list can be obtained through special optional quests.)
    Any Spirit with over 200 FE, Irene, Enterprise, Destructia, Enchantress, Vanquisher, Leadfist, Nighturai, Experita, Fictivalkyrie, Weavalkyrie, Protectivalkyrie, Les Quatre Frères de Lame (and corrupted and purified variants), any fully upgraded Makuta, Golden Tahu, Krahka, Striking Venom, the Destroyer Emblems, the King Bohrok, Susanoo
    In addition, the “mascots”, Wildflower and Elder Toa, cannot be found outside of specific gameplay events.
     
    Ailments and associated Elements:
    (Most status ailments only last one turn unless otherwise noted, with the exception of burn and poison, which last indefinitely unless otherwise noted. Rahaga and Dragon have a chance of causing any random ailment.)
    --Burn: causes 20 dmg every turn; associated with Fire
    --Paralyze: the target is unable to act at all; associated with Stone, Earth, Steel, and Thunder
    --Immobilized: the target cannot move, but can still attack; a sub-ailment, treated the same as paralysis
    --Freeze: the target is unable to act at all; associated with Ice
    --Confuse: the target has lower accuracy and evasion, and may sometimes harm themselves; associated with Air and Water
    --Poison: causes 10 dmg every turn; associated with Jungle
    --Blind: the target cannot see, which lowers their accuracy and evasion; associated with Light and Shadow
    --Silence: the target is able to move, but cannot attack; associated with Psionics
    --Sleep: the target is unable to act at all; not associated with any specific Element
     
    Spirits that don’t appear in the wild:*
    Any Spirit obtained by combining other Spirits (Plasmoids, Crystal Armors, Metalloids, Elemental Union: Grim Reaper), Chronicler 08, the Toa Kaita Newva, Ikhav Warrior, Sentiment of Light, Sentiment of Darkness, Human Program, Bugged Program, Perfect Program, Jet Magna Convoy, Singing Dragon, White Infurno, Deep-Freeze, Hurricane, Tsunami, Lightning, Protosteel, Landslide, Morbuzakh, Power Scream, Genius, Earthquake, Ninja, Wizard, Light, Shadow, and Dragon
     
    Spirits with additional Spirit Tracker restrictions:*
    --Undead Cicada and Nikila are treated as 180 FE Spirits when being tracked
    --Trynahk, Aguni, BurningAguni, KendoLobo, Beowulf, Kuma, KoriKuma, Daipen, Kaze, ZephryKaze, JetSilphy, Beetle, MetalBeetle, RhinoKabuteri, Loewe, JagerLoewe, Raihi, Grumble, GigasGrumble, Arbor, PetaldraArbor, Rana, CalmaraRana, Mercury, and SakkakuMercury are treated as 200 FE Spirits when being tracked
    -- Exo-Barraki, Seeker of Darkness, Freeshooter, Silent Hero, Fading Memory, Luna Diviner, Graceful Assassin, Destined Key, Savage Thunderbolt, Shadow Toa Kopaka, Locutus, Alda, EmperorGrey, and MagnaGaruru cannot be tracked until you are Level 7.
     
    Special Spirit Tracker attachments:
    Later on in the game, you will be able to go on optional quests to upgrade the Spirit Tracker, enabling it to track a wider variety of Spirits.
    --First is the Dimensional Inverter, available at Level 5, which will enable you to track Spirits whose Elements correspond to the opposing Version, so long as you provide an additional charge of one battle to the Tracker and are in the area associated with the Element directly opposed to the Element you are tracking (see below).
    (Element Opposition: Fire/Stone/Earth is the opposite of Ice/Air/Water, Thunder is the opposite of Steel, Jungle is the opposite of Psionics, Shadow is the opposite of Light, and Rahaga is the opposite of Dragon. When using the Dimensional Inverter to track a Spirit, you must be in the area around the town tied to the Element directly opposed to the Element of the Spirit you are tracking.)
    --Also available at Level 5 is the Magnetic Radar, which will enable you to track Vehicle Spirits with an additional charge of one battle to the Tracker. Vehicle Spirits will always be found with a pilot, which is usually random, but if you charge the Tracker to a level where it can track the combined FE of the Vehicle and a specific pilot plus one battle charge to determine which pilot you’ll find with the Vehicle. Also, in VioletRose Version, you will need the Dimensional Inverter to find most Vehicle Spirits, but you will not need to charge both attachments.
    --At Level 6, you will be able to obtain the Symbiosis Detector, which allows you to hunt Parasite Spirits so long as you have an additional one battle charge. The host of the Parasite Spirit is usually random, but if you charge the Tracker to a level where it can track the combined FE of the Parasite and a specific host plus one battle charge to determine which host you’ll find with the Parasite.
     
    The Chain Rule:
    In the past, the nature of Parasite-type Spirits has been abused to create “Parasite Chains”, which combine numerous Parasites and end with one non-Parasite Spirit with extraordinary Fusion Energy values. In VioletRose and HonoredSoul, you can create a Parasite Chain, but the maximum FE cannot exceed 200. A 200 FE Spirit may be given one Parasite, but this is the only exception.
     
    *Lists subject to change
  25. Pahrak Model ZX
    The time has finally come! Bioni-Lords: VioletRose and HonoredSoul has begun! If you've ever wanted to become a Bionicle, feel free to stop by and play!
    Nevermind, it's locked.
     
    Also, you guys remember when I asked for some feedback on a story I was working on? Well, I've been adding on to it, and I wasn't sure about one of the scenes a little bit after the intro I posted last time. Could you please look it over and provide some more feedback?
     
    Creation for Creation's Sake Excerpt 2:
     
    Slizer’s hall had gleaming chrome plating covering every inch of the floor, walls, and ceiling, with not a single hint of decoration—just a straight, silvery, rectangular prism. The exceptions were the large ceiling lamp that hung near the center of the hall and what was directly beneath it: a circular 4-legged table with a smooth black surface. Sitting around this table were Slizer, Rider, Bluetooth, Mecha, Comic, and an empty chair. Each Hapori held five playing cards and stood guard over a pile of about twenty small chips made of white plastic, and the remains of the deck the cards had come from lay nestled behind Slizer’s chips.
     
    “Can we just start?” Bluetooth asked, shuffling the cards in his hands. “He’s not gonna show. Guy’s not exactly acclimated to Hapori life yet.”
     
    Slizer smiled and replied, “Then who’s that?”
     
    Bluetooth looked over his shoulder to see Zadakh making his way down the hall. “...I’m wrong sometimes.”
     
    As Zadakh neared the table, Comic greeted, “Glad you could make it! Have a seat!”
     
    Zadakh sank into the empty chair without a word, appearing as if someone had coerced him into attending. Slizer turned to him and said, “Nice to see you again, Zadakh. Are you playing?”
     
    “Just watching,” Zadakh replied. His tone was steady and uninterested.
     
    Slizer nodded, and everyone picked up their cards. “Alright,” the old Hapori said, “the initial bet is 200 units.”
     
    “By the way, Zadakh,” Bluetooth said as he eyed his cards, “no hard feelings about knocking you out earlier, right? Someone had to do it.”
     
    “Sure,” Zadakh sighed.
     
    “What do you mean by that?” Bluetooth asked. “Kind of a vague answer.”
     
    “Let it be, Blue,” Mecha said. “He probably doesn’t want to talk about it, and I don’t…”
     
    Mecha trailed off and stared into space. A few seconds later, Rider suggested, “Blame him.”
     
    “Right!” Mecha exclaimed. “Right, I don’t blame him. Thanks Rider.”
     
    Rider nodded and tossed two chips towards the center of the table. Slizer leaned over towards Zadakh and explained, “Mecha doesn’t always finish his sentences. Sort of a bug in his programming.”
     
    “My audio receptors work just fine, though,” Mecha said. He sifted through his chips before adding, “I’ll raise you 200.”
     
    “All in good fun, brother,” Slizer chuckled. Slizer’s face may not have been very expressive, but Zadakh got the distinct feeling that Slizer was smiling. “I’ll raise 800.”
     
    “Someone’s confident tonight,” Comic said. “Still, it’s easy to tell when you’re bluffing.”
     
    Slizer shrugged. “I’m perfectly fine with not being a good liar. I never have had a good poker face. I think Zadakh will, though; tough to tell what a Vahki’s thinking.”
     
    Zadakh looked directly at Slizer. “…Yeah. You’re right. I guess one good thing did come from all this.”
     
    “I could tell what he was thinking there,” Bluetooth said. He set his cards on the table face down. “I fold.”
     
    Zadakh’s gaze shifted to Bluetooth. “Never was good at making sarcasm subtle.”
     
    Bluetooth leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Really? From what you were mumbling earlier, I figured you didn’t remember much about your human life.”
     
    “Well I’m pretty sure of that, at least,” Zadakh said, leaning forward.
     
    Slizer put a hand on Zadakh’s shoulder, calmly saying, “Zadakh, take it easy.”
     
    Mecha gave Bluetooth a disapproving look. Bluetooth shrugged and responded, “Just making conversation.”
     
    “Rule #1: Never let anything Bluetooth says get to you,” Slizer advised. “Let’s just say he’s not interested in making friends.”
     
    Bluetooth shrugged again. With some effort, Zadakh relaxed a bit. Slizer said, “Don’t worry—he gets easier to deal with. He’s not as bad as he seems.”
     
    “No, I am,” Bluetooth disagreed.
     
    “Let’s not have this argument again,” Mecha said. “I fold.”
     
    “You always fold!” Comic declared. “Come on, Mecha, take a risk once in a while!”
     
    Mecha casually replied, “If I don’t have a good chance of winning, I’m not going to take it. Even with low risks like this, it’s always good to be…”
     
    A few seconds later, Rider finished, “Cautious.”
     
    Mecha thanked Rider for his help, and then Comic said, “Okay, well, let’s see what everyone’s got! Monochrome brotherhood 4!”
     
    Comic laid out four of his cards face up, and Zadakh turned his head to examine them. These cards weren’t what he expected—each one displayed one or two characters in red print, including ‘G’, ‘K’, ‘E’, and ‘10’.
     
    What kind of cards are these? Zadakh wondered.
     
    Slizer set down his cards and threw his hands in the air, prompting Comic to laugh and reach for the chips at the center of the table. However, Rider held up a hand, laid out for of his own cards, and stated, “Monochrome bloodline.”
     
    These cards had green print and read ‘S’, ‘R’, ‘B’, and ‘HF’. Comic backed off and sighed, allowing Rider to take the chips for his own. The players all returned several cards back to Slizer, some turning in more than others, and Slizer shuffled the deck and began dealing for the next round.
     
    “Interested yet?” Comic asked Zadakh.
     
    “We can explain it to you if you want,” Slizer offered. “It’s actually a very effective distraction.”
     
    Zadakh thought about it for a few seconds. Bluetooth whispered, “The suspense is killing me.”
     
    After giving a quick glare, Zadakh answered, “Okay. It won’t hurt to learn.”
     
    “Great!” Slizer said. He threw four face-down cards at Zadakh and then reached under the table, pulling out another 20 chips. After giving these to Zadakh as well, he picked up his own cards and nodded.
     
    “Alright, here’s the game,” Slizer said. “Cards have one of four colors and one of nine values. Colors are red, blue, green, and black; values are ‘S’, ‘R’, ‘B’, ‘G’, ‘K’, ‘E’,’10’, ‘HF’, and ‘DC’.”
     
    Zadakh picked up his cards, making sure none of his opponents saw them. “What kind of values are those?”
     
    “They’re abbreviations,” Mecha answered. “‘S’ is for ‘Slizer’, ‘R’ is for ‘RoboRiders’, ‘B’ is for ‘Bionicle’…and so on.”
     
    “The point value of your hand is determined by similarities between your cards,” Slizer went on. “If two cards have the same color, that’s 1 point. If two cards have the same value, that’s 2 points. So, let’s say you’ve got a green ‘B’, a green ‘K’, a black ‘K’, a red ‘E’, and a red ‘DC’—that would add up to four points.”
     
    Zadakh examined his cards more closely and nodded. “Sounds simple. Then we wager our chips before seeing whose hand has the most points?”
     
    “Right,” Slizer said. “Each chip is worth 100 units. When you run out of chips, you’re out of the game.”
     
    Zadakh looked at his chips—20 of them at 100 each meant he had 2000 units to wager. It still seemed straight-forward.
     
    “But!” Slizer interjected. “There are also some special hands that ignore point values. If these hands are played, point-based hands automatically lose, and the special hand highest on the ‘special value scale’ wins. ‘S’, ‘R’, either ‘HF’ or ‘DC’, and any one other value makes a ‘bloodline’. Any four out of ‘B’, ‘G’, ‘K’, ‘E’, and ‘10’ makes a ‘brotherhood 4’—all five makes a ‘brotherhood 5’. Get ‘S’, ‘R’, ‘HF’, and ‘DC’ and you have ‘bookends’. Also, these hands are usually worth more if they’re ‘monochrome’, or all the same color. You got all that?”
     
    This is where things got complicated, it seemed. Still, after going over it one more time, Zadakh was confident he understood it well…or rather, well enough, at least. “I think so.”
     
    “The special value scale is as follows,” Slizer said. “From best to worst: monochrome bookends, monochrome bloodline, monochrome brotherhood 5, multicolor bookends, monochrome brotherhood 4, multicolor brotherhood 5, multicolor bloodline, and multicolor brotherhood 4.”
     
    He paused to chuckle. “I know, it’s a lot to take it. Don’t worry about memorizing the scale—we won’t cheat you. After we share our cards, we begin a new round. All cards played get shuffled back into the deck, and everyone’s given enough cards so that they have five again. Anyone who folded can exchange up to three cards for new ones.”
     
    “I handed in two just now, for instance,” Mecha spoke up.
     
    “So, any questions?” Slizer asked.
     
    “Uh…” Zadakh muttered. “…I’ll just wing it.”
     
    “The sign of a true card player,” Bluetooth commented.
     
    “Okay, I’ll start us off,” Comic said, tossing in five chips. “500.”
     
    Zadakh watched the chips clatter against the table and then looked back to his cards to do the math. He had four cards that displayed ‘B’ in different colors, plus one green ‘G’. If he remembered the rules correctly, that gave him 7 points—not bad at all, but apparently worth nothing if anyone had a special hand.
     
    Bluetooth tossed in five of his own chips. “I’ll see your 500.”
     
    Zadakh looked over the other players. They all wore stone-cold expressions that he was incapable of reading.
     
    Rider said, “Raise 300.”
     
    He’s betting 800 units? Zadakh thought. Well, I guess he can afford to after last round…
     
    “Hm…I’ll fold,” Comic said. “I’ve got a lousy hand.”
     
    “I’ll see your bet Rider,” Mecha said. The table fell silent as Mecha threw in his eight chips.
     
    “…You, Mecha?” Slizer asked. “You never bet! I’m definitely out!”
     
    Rider followed Slizer’s lead, leaving only three players in the game. Bluetooth added enough chips to meet Mecha’s bet, and then all eyes fell on Zadakh.
     
    If it’s true that Mecha usually folds, then he must have a good hand…right? But how much do I really know about this guy—can I trust a random comment like that? Plus, he could just be using that to his advantage as a trick…
     
    “Come on, does it really require that much though?” Bluetooth complained.
     
    Zadakh ignored him. …You know what, this is a good hand.
     
    “I’m in,” Zadakh finally declared. He put eight chips in the pile and laid his cards out on the table.
     
    “…Well, I lose,” Bluetooth mumbled.
     
    “Haha…sorry, Zadakh,” Mecha said. He laid out his cards—all black, with values of ‘S’, ‘R’, ‘HF’, and ‘DC’. “Monochrome bookends. You guys never stood a chance.”
     
    Mecha claimed his winnings and then handed in his cards. The latter action was repeated by the other players, though Zadakh was a bit slow in doing so.
     
    “So…what do you think?” Comic asked.
     
    Zadakh held on to his answer for a few seconds before sharing. “…This is fun.”
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