Azure NightStriker Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 20 hours ago, Commander said: I honestly wasn't expecting anyone reading this to be too much of a fan of the Trails series...obviously I love that blasted franchise. Onion Graham is my favorite of the main protags if you're wondering. Ah yes I love Onion too. Especially love his S-Craft, Spear of Carrots~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 18 hours ago, DemICE said: It's not weird that you're taking a break when a game that is supereffective vs you suddenly becomes your current activity. It is called attention shift, and is the reason my Chrono Trigger is still in hiatus. I agree that Angie's segment offers a pretty atmospheric experience (see, this is one fight that got nerfed compared to when you last played.). Too bad you missed that secret scene with Anju and Indy. I don't mind multiple pictures stacked on top of each other if they are part of the same scene that you are commenting on in the end anyway. I do hope if you ever reach Grand dream city, your interest towards rejuv is helped some. My uhhh relationship with Rejuv is complicated. I did say the only reason I'm still playing the game is due to this run and for good reason. The reason why I picked this game up is no longer there. And oh, so that scene is found by digging around here. It doesn't matter that much since I'd probably miss it again if I went back and replayed. As for Grand Dream City, I...really am not looking forward to that actually. @Gentleman Jaggi You have to remember that Madelis kind of is the best villain/antagonist we have right now. Madelis. The one that I could go on a tangent for a very long time. Angie is a simple one-off character which simply they appear and then disappear shortly after. For some reason Jan decided to hype her up and make her seem like she's this big deal when I would've played on the mystery. There's quite a bit to digest but I actually don't mind a shallow villain character taking the lead role for a subplot...and I mean it worked really well in Vesperia with Zagi (who you know nothing about for a good chunk of the game). Though she kind of is pointless as you said all she does is say stuff then disappear and has no impact on the characters. It pushes Melia to go alone...which makes even less sense when you think about it. I just like how it wraps up pretty much and I really do think she could've died and we would consider her role finished...unlike everyone else who god know whenever we're getting their backstory let alone have it executed in an okay and easy to understand way. I do wish that instead of "mind control" Angie played with the Darkness in Venam and Melia's hearts as it could have played a much more significant role to connect the dots. I also like how despite being off the deep end, she still holds many points and part of me wishes she didn't have ice powers to see how it'd go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Developers Popular Post Jan Posted October 23, 2018 Developers Popular Post Share Posted October 23, 2018 Quote When I said I was going all out, I wasn't kidding. Since we won't ever get there...I don't get the whole Melia and Venam thing. There was never anything there than them just being friends. Well kind of close friends...which makes it weird considering Ren...mother of god that guy just can't get a break, can he. Now I'm not against having gay relationships in games but...most romances in games are often week as it takes a long time to properly build then execute. That's kind of why I'm not a fan of forcing LBT that one acronym in media. I think it's an insult since these people struggle and it's not just a simple happy ending. I kind of like Modern Family's take on it. Basically if it's included, fine, but don't include it for the sake of representation. All you'll do is get funny looks. I'm not against these elements at all, but for the love of god, try to make sure you know what you're doing. @Commander I usually stay quiet about this thread because I believe anyone can critic/say what they want about the game, whatever, but this post gave me a serious migraine (As I'm sure my game has given you plenty). So here I am. "I think it's an insult since these people struggle and it's not just a simple happy ending." ...You know at least half the dev team is LGBT+, right? God forbid some LGBT characters have one happy ending. The only thing that's insulting here is this comment. I don't understand that, out of the whole game-- a game about magical creatures and "dinosaurs that can control time and space", you point out this as being unrealistic. It's fiction. So what if it isn't realistic? If you want some realistic in depth game about struggle and bad endings LGBT/minorities experience, please look up other titles. I assure you there are thousands of them. I didn't do it to be political, or to put myself on a pedestal and say "Look how progressive my game is, you guys". I did it because I'm gay, and -because- I understand the struggle we go through. It's always the ones who aren't in that situation who think that they can speak for others. Before making a statement about issues you know nothing about, to rephrase, "try to make sure you know what you're talking about." 6 1 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentleman Jaggi Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 10 hours ago, Commander said: You have to remember that Madelis kind of is the best villain/antagonist we have right now. Madelis. The one that I could go on a tangent for a very long time. Angie is a simple one-off character which simply they appear and then disappear shortly after. For some reason Jan decided to hype her up and make her seem like she's this big deal when I would've played on the mystery. There's quite a bit to digest but I actually don't mind a shallow villain character taking the lead role for a subplot...and I mean it worked really well in Vesperia with Zagi (who you know nothing about for a good chunk of the game). Though she kind of is pointless as you said all she does is say stuff then disappear and has no impact on the characters. It pushes Melia to go alone...which makes even less sense when you think about it. You got a point there with Madelis. Never really bothered to rank the whole bunch... I agree that more mystery around Angie would have improved her, but that would probably also require some changes to her character. Right now she's way too straight forward with her madness, so any feeling of mystery would have disappeared the moment you walked through her front door. I guess I might have actually liked her a bit better if I didn't know about that thing with Anju, since then there'd be no hint on the reason for Angie's madness or her powers. As it stands we can assume that whatshisface pulled some ritualistic nonsense on her, aka "because magic". I'd prefer an antagonist with no background to one with a lame background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 On 10/23/2018 at 2:35 AM, Azure NightStriker said: Ah yes I love Onion too. Especially love his S-Craft, Spear of Carrots~ I will never see that S-craft the same way ever again. "My carrot is the holiest of veggies" On 10/23/2018 at 2:20 PM, Gentleman Jaggi said: I'd prefer an antagonist with no background to one with a lame background. This is actually kind of why you often learn of their backstory after their fall or the first meeting kind of unlike Angie. First impressions are everything and a lot of the Angie stuff was added in future versions. Heck, we didn't even know of Anju in V7 (unless someone is going to barge in and correct me). *** Normally, I would keep quiet and let what happened pass, but bloody hell I see the passive aggressiveness and misinterpretation in the status bar so I guess I'll dig a deeper hole to explain something that is probably a bigger thing to everyone but me. So I'm also going to clear one thing up. Toshihiro Kondo is a male, but that doesn't mean he can't write strong female protagonists. The same logic applies with someone being gay not being able to write good homosexual characters. The dev background shouldn't matter, but I can see how I worded it people who are would get upset at some of my poor word choice. I was talking more about the interpretation over the inclusion as yeah, you can include it if you want. If you do not have a spine and are going to lash out at what I say, just ignore the rest of this passage for everyone's sake as I'm going to be blunt when explaining my "insult." Homosexuality is and likely will always be a controversial issue. I'm not going to be focusing on the right or left wing people as they are only going to view this one single way, but I feel most people are somewhere in the middle, myself included. I mean personally speaking when I saw the E3 trailer of The Last of Us part 2 I kind of was weirder out by the kissing scene since it kind felt out of nowhere and honestly whoever designed this was brilliant as that was the thing most people were talking about. Many people haven't played the first game so there was a lot of confusion and people trying to explain, but if you are going to talk about that trailer, that's likely how you'll start it. It works at remembering it and keep discussion as any discussion is good discussion. I'm not sure if the devs were even in control of that trailer. So my personal belief is that controversial topics need to be carefully planned and executed not because of the matter at hand, but how they will be recieved. Let's just take abortion for example. Let's just say that a woman threw her baby off a cliff...which is mentioned at like the 2/3rd point in the game. There's 0 hints to her even having a kid nor does any character react or say all that much. Honestly, I don't know how I'd react to that other than "WTF" and it certainly wouldn't help my thoughts on the matter. Wouldn't say it would hurt either. It does, however, still leave an impression on people. I'm not referring to people who want to include these for storytelling and put in the work, I'm more geared towards media that gives off an impression they inserted these subjects without much thought often being poorly executed or shallow kind of leaving a not very good impression on people. And with issues like these being more vocal and a big deal then 10 or 15 years ago, of course people are going to want to tap in for marketing and money giving off the obligation. Maybe I'm absolutely wrong and very little of these exists. I'd be happy about that. Controversy sells and it sells cheap and easy. There have been plenty of good examples and a lot more good ones in modern times. Argue about it all you want, but Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Yuri on Ice, uhhh...I'm drawing blanks here...are well recieved shows that do these things. I actually wouldn't mind digesting what they did wrong or right, but it still is a controversial issue nonetheless. I really think Mitch from Modern Family nailed the issue in a scene where he's bothered by how someone looked at him saying it's disgusting how people look and treat gays on the street when it was actually a misunderstanding. I don't like talking much about controversial, especially this issue, since people (and this community) stand on both sides and if you talk about any of the negatives, people will get emotional and you'll receive a thousand lashes if you say the wrong thing in the wrong way. I am so thankful this didn't go further than it did. Now let's finally dip into what started this in Rejuv. I will start by saying I do not know what the scenes are like in the future events since I have not reached it, but anyone who doesn't live on a rock around V10...I think, pretty much knows about it. So many people talked about it and weren't there multiple threads? So the nice thing about knowing certain spoilers is that you can often read and analyze pieces of dialogue foreshadowing or referencing the buildup to that event. I don't know if I'm missing something but it feels about as much development as Aelita x Adam. There has been plenty of time to develop this or at least give slight understanding of it but...I honestly feel like that idea kind of came out of nowhere being shoehorned in. That's the impression I have so far and impressions can change. And the only thing I really know about GDC is the Melia x Venam thing which imagine getting there and me having to say it's terrible. I don't know if it is but it has those signs. It just makes me dread reaching there and talking about the possibility of questioning why it was included in the first place. Basically a repeat of this. At the end of the day, the dev and the player will often never see each other, much less agree with their thoughts. Usually my thoughts stay constant on hard ideals but sometimes I have contra...is that the Ducktales theme playing on the Goldbergs...*ahem* Sometimes I contradict myself when I gain new knowledge shifting some of my thoughts and what I think is good and not good. Point is I have reasons behind the things I say, but never know what people are interested in so sometimes I skim over stuff half-assedly. Kind of comes at the price of being free spirited over aiming to be more professional. I'll also never know what Jan or whoever did something was thinking, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't at least take an assumption here and there to talk about why something may be the way it is. tl;dr Praise Angie! I really only put this up for people who wanted to know why I said what I said since I think some silent readers misinterpreted a certain aspect I said and not some kind of apology. If you still interpret what I said that way, fine by me. If you want to read it you can, but if you don't, I don't blame you as I wouldn't either. I'm not here to start fights. I'm here to be the hated and loveable idiot suffering through a game he's not sure what to think on. And for shippers of Rock Hard Bods (Aelita x Adam), I am sorry to inform you, but that ship is unlikely to occur and was merely used as a random illogical ship to use as an example. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outside Indoorsman Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 As a minor question for Commander. If you think there are issues with the story (and I have to admit there are), why not just send a message to Jan? He does seem to be changing how the game works, how people talk, and how things look a great deal every update. Maybe he'll take your ideas into account, so the game "flows" better. (Say, if Crawli did show you the door in his gym at first, but said you could not go through because he had a thermometer or something that showed there was lava on the other side, so it would get you killed at that point). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 3, 2018 Author Share Posted November 3, 2018 6 hours ago, Outside Indoorsman said: As a minor question for Commander. If you think there are issues with the story (and I have to admit there are), why not just send a message to Jan? He does seem to be changing how the game works, how people talk, and how things look a great deal every update. Maybe he'll take your ideas into account, so the game "flows" better. (Say, if Crawli did show you the door in his gym at first, but said you could not go through because he had a thermometer or something that showed there was lava on the other side, so it would get you killed at that point). I thought the development team hated this run. It's not really the Jan post from above but I always felt there was a bunch of passive aggressive comments which is why I don't really even bother thinking about them anymore and focus on my thoughts and randomness instead of prioritize helping them. I'm not going to point out minor issues because I don't think they care at this point. But if you really want a good point in feedback...I really could sum it up by quoting me from a post about a year ago: Quote The Good: -Great visuals and enjoyable mapping (minus a few janky tiles which are very easy to miss) -A very unique and entertaining side quest systems -Some pretty cool and fun unique moves both for opponents and even for the player -Pretty solid early game Pokemon availability -Some very enjoyable humor (even if certain parts aren't to my taste) The Bad: -Characters are overall weak and lack depth -Plot is very predictable at times -Levels randomly spike -Certain leaders and certain bosses are unbalanced making lop-sided difficulty where some fights are absolutely brutal -Player often feels like they are pulled along to move the game forward This was V9 and it does sadly really hold true even now. The level spike isn't as bad now, but HC quests are an issue. One point I will make in people claiming you should do them after getting a gym badge "then why the hell are they available right off the bat?" Natural human instinct or RPG enthusiast will get a sidequests as soon as possible whenever possible (unless there's like a 30 or 40 level difference). Though I will say on the cons side, I do heavily focus on the character point, but the last point probably is the biggest issue to fix. Why do you think people hate Terajuma so much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 21, 2018 Author Share Posted November 21, 2018 Well that was a nice break. This isn't a I'm jumping in to making constant chapters but you'll see an update here and there when I feel like it. Not in December though as December is set for something else which people have been waiting quite a long time for. Anyways, here's something I want to talk about...well things: The big thing I want to talk about is unintended responses to stuff. A better way to call it is manipulation. This is actually a rather interesting concept that's a bit more than playing with gullible people. The simple way to put it is this: because I say it, it is true. When someone puts up a compelling argument over a subject you have not thought much of, sometimes your brain accepts that as the truth instead of making or taking your own stance on a subject. This happens more often then questioning their validity or maybe they are wrong on a subject since they'd be the one with more experience. It leaves an impression and often times people don't explore it more. If I'm very negative on a game, many people who read what I do instead of playing will think the same. Is this a bad thing? No. It might piss people off, but there's actually a good balance between people who like and dislike a game in that aspect. You want to know what the healthiest communities are? The ones I notice are the ones which people can freely speak what they think without really being questioned and even join in on the discussion. There's no backlash for what you do and often it ends up as a positive experience. While it's still better now then it was, you can still have a hard time speaking the unpopular opinion. And a community who only talks about the positives does push people to easily hop aboard the "haters" or overly critical people siding with them. It's because of this little hivemind kind of effect I wanted to not tone down the criticism because I already censor myself already as is, but to throw a little bit of a new challenge on top of that. Some of you may not know it, but I was a teenager who loved the hacking community back when I was like a teenager. Also, I was way more brutally honest back then. One bit of homework for you guys to do is play Raptor Ex and tell me it's a great game because I thought it was really good back in the day. I expect nobody to tell me anything positive because that game certainly didn't age well. If 13 year old me played this game, he'd...probably hate it honestly but let's just say he'd love it as that's what I was supposed to say. So for an added challenge, I'll try to answer why someone would really like these segments if I keep giving things I dislike about something and what I'd change. And I also have another announcement. Due to the huge popularity being the most upvoted post in the run, I decided to take heart and take Jan's advice and do my research on the subject I was talking about. So for the first part of today I shall research my findings and talk about the possibilities of correcting the mistakes with the good old Melia and Venam relationship. I mean I really shouldn't go too much into something I haven't seen, but since the fans asked for it, who am I to deny them of such an interesting topic? Chapter 46: AA Innnkay ...Something tells me nobody will get that. Then again, how many people even understand what I'm saying anyways? *Ahem* I decided to first dig a little bit to at least make sure there was an issue at hand before spouting anything out. Thank you Wikipedia: So what I learned it that there is an actual organization called GLAAD which helps with proper representation on LBGT...I am so bad with acronyms...Basically they show the statistics and give reports how well media is doing on covering them. Just glancing through all this stuff it's mostly saying that this is improving overall, but it's still in the minority. So while I may be retracting my "insulted" statement, I don't think people should root or support a certain way the LGBT characters are portrayed. It's a simple if you don't think something is done right, don't support it as much as it may crush you to never see it again. I'm going to take a shift away from the LBGT idea and shift it back to a central idea: Romance. There is a romance in this game and let's not ride around any other aspect for a moment. Do you support the main character getting into a romance? I don't think a lot of you do. Here's a little blog that can kind of go a bit into it but...I'm not really a fan of how it reads: https://thetempest.co/2018/03/09/entertainment/chick-lit-romance-bias/ Rejuvenation has two very jarring ideas which really aren't explored (let's not talk about Full Moon as I don't want to play it): the player is not the main protagonist and the main protagonist has a relationship. While I can't fully judge the outcome, I can explore everything up to the outcome. And if you don't like romances in works, you haven't seen a good one then. I want to give an example better than trails in the sky since that trilogy is really long...someone will hopefully name a good one for me. Since I know the outcome, we can actually follow the path and see how the outcome is built up. One big thing to note is that we can't see into any characters' minds so we only can see so much. Let's start with a hypothetical question: how much would the game's plot have changed is Venam and Melia were the same age and dating at the start of the game? Personally, I think it would've made the game flow even better, but just let your own interpretation flow. So I did a glance and apparently Melia was supposed to be 15 or 16...and 18 or 19 right now. I thought she was 10 and now 16...and that makes Ren...rather disturbing. We really get nothing out of Melia since she's a naive girl and Venam is uhh...just go back and look at her reaction to Melia's death. So at base they really have no feelings for each other...like at all. No idea why or any of that jazz but probably a good thing we can scrap this. Now we get into everyone's favorite arc: Terajuma. So Melia was thinking about her friends the whole time she was away. I mean that's a natural thing and when they met up they talked which...contradicts the whole save Nim as soon as...will let that one go. Our first clue that Venam likes Melia is that she stood up and reacted when Amber called her out. It's...not so much of a clue when everyone else fawns over Melia. That's all we got. There is the whole thing about Venam carrying Melia in the tower and charging to save her...which is different compared to her mansion personality, but it was just a friend saving a friend. It's supposed to be something like Venam doesn't lose her a second time, but it's really hard to say where she stands on the matter. I could go on but I feel like this wasn't planned until pretty late as I can't really see anything that could be interpreted as a sign. Want to know who wouldn't surprise me if they turned into a couple: Adam and Valarie. You don't need a bunch of scenes to set it up. So we know that these two (and I guess Saki) are really good friends even though I can't remember if it's directly stated. One small detail is that Adam is often nearby Valarie. The thing to take big note of is that he put Valarie before himself deciding to stay behind with the ship. The biggest difference is not the genders, but clearer writing. Everything Venam did, we probably would have seen something similar from Valerie or Aelita if they were in Venam's shoes...for the most part. And since that was probably a repeat of last time, I'll end it on a curious question: What's your favorite pairing (can be canon or not) both in and outside of Pokemon? For me, I'd have to go with Reborn's Radomus x Serra for Pokemon and Mother 3's...I just found the most amazing crackship for mother fans so let's just go with this instead: Spoiler And now for the real show: (Well, well, well look who decided to finally come crawling back. Bow down before your new overlord) And moral of the story: if you don't want something to happen again, throw it back at them so much they are sick of the idea. Good on you if you read that but if you skipped here, let's keep it clean...and fabuuuuulous! Why is the glass stained panel still there? I thought it was destroyed. (Does someone want to explain the whole Ditto and Misdreavus thing? Seriously, Dittos are a man-made thing) (This was the only interesting piece of NPC dialogue) As a side note, the quiz how NPCs still act like the place is frozen. Yeah, I talk to all NPCs multiple times after playing Kiseki quite a bit. (I think Alolan Sandshrew is in the Cathedral...but I forget...but I have something better) So one thing I did was change a Darumaka mystery egg for a Vulpix egg which I have in the box. Still haven't decided if I'm going to use her. (Of course this is still frozen. Couldn't make it easy for us, could we?) (The birds are chirping the flowers are blooming) (You could say it was a...Tropical Freeze here) (Okay so I gotta go visit the lighthouses) (The other two were locked so it's gotta be this one...WHY IS IT LOCKED) I may have accidentally skimmed the dialogue and had to look up a youtube video of how to start it. Funny enough, I didn't even know this lighthouse even existed. (...Why couldn't the reminder girl remind us where you are? So much for being helpful) (Now I can unlock it) Oh yeah, this is a sidequest episode. Just thought I'd add that in. (Well that was informative) (Well that was convenient) (well that was...easy) (Oh I have a story for this pic) So the key items are a little screwy. You actually need a Pokemon with rock climb otherwise a different event will play in which you can't rock climb. So I had to teach Walter Rock Climb and lost Stone Edge...which hurt but Rock Slide is still really, really useful and needed. (That was an easy to remember code. I've had to remember 15 digit numbers before without being able to write them down) (Then there'd be no one to dock about it) (...I'll get to this in a minute) (Hi, I'm here to beat you up for money) Unlike the previous ones, I actually think this one is kind of funny. There's a thing called it's so dumb it's brilliant and the leaving notes at the lighthouses is just that. I'm pretty sure it's scripted the first note will appear in the first lighthouse you visit and so on. It's not obnoxious but just silly dumb fun which I think AA should aim for. These ones are so much better than the first round. (This will probably be a cakewalk) (.................................................................................I should've changed my Pokemon out) Yeah, I should have brought a better team. (It was still pretty easy) (Drew is my new favorite random grunt) (How do you get fired from a terrorist organization? You don't even get paid) (Well...that was anti-climatic) (........Do you even need my help?) (They're staryu btw) And I'm really surprised by this sweet reward: (*Beep* *Beep*) And...now we have this pain in the ass quiz: (5 attempts later) (....I would've guessed bravery but fuck if I know how a mountain can feel) (...This quiz is dumb. Why can't we have a fun quiz?) So time to mention a really cool quiz in Zero no Kiseki aka Trails from Zero. So as a secret side quest, you can take a quiz which tests your knowledge of the basic lore of the world which most of it you probably will learn from the Sky trilogy. If you didn't, you can brush up in the library and answer a bunch of pretty simple questions. Paper Mario was another fun one with Princess Peach. As for this quiz, I would've liked a sound effect and pause to play because sometimes I answered the second question incorrectly. Not a fan of this sidequest. Why haven't people said it's the worst one because honestly it is. (NEO! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in RWBY or...oh right they forgot about you) (Okay...well that happened) ......You can't tell me this isn't the worst HC quest in the game. Shitty game. Shitty reward. At least it's over. Now for another annoying one. (Let's just hop to the battle) (Spoiler: I lost a couple mons but it was an easy sweep) I also fought the grunt on the left before heading back to heal. This is such a letdown compared to the last set. Honestly, it's pretty much a joke. (Would you believe me if I said these guys are still more competent then Xen grunts?) (...Points to Zero no Kiseki) I have a lot of questions right now. Mostly why the hell do they still use paper then? Also, why can't you submit and get rewards from other HC locations. They obviously know when you complete them. I'm just...how do they even know you complete them? I'm asking questions I shouldn't be, aren't I? (I think you're a few weeks off there, hun) (That's just how the world rolls...I swear this grunt is aiming for a harem) (So do I...kind of) (Basically Walter and Loewe sweep through this easily after Pancha falls) (I'm pretty sure it's not that) (And thank god that's the last we'll have to see of them for a while) (Well that was pretty tame...seriously, I probably could have done these back when I was doing the Kakori and still have an easier time then those ones. What gives?) (...I'm having this strange feeling) (FINALLY SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS HOW TO MAKE MY LIFE EASY!) Screw running around trying to find some generic looking NPC in a field of generic looking NPCs (Master...I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm so happy to see you) (...The fuck happened to you. You seem too normal. Did you finally make a score?) (I don't remember a wedding. But I'm down with it if it gets me away from those kids) (...Check the resort. We have a girl with the power to do anything) (Let's see...Geara, Zetta, Saki, Melia, Venam, Madelis, and Aelita. Yep, all the crazies are here. I'll point you to their locations) (Sigh...looks like I'm becoming a stalker. Though don't I do that anyways. Also, how the hell did you get here...nevermind) (...Of course he'd send me looking for weirdos) (...I have no idea what that means. I'm going to slowly walk away) (Yes, ma'am) So basically everyone with "..." is who you're looking for. I thought that was placeholder text until I saw this mission. (...This is gonna be a long day) (...Are these aliens? I'm going to be turned into cheese, aren't I?) (Well ain't this exciting? I'm bored of this. Are you bored of this?) (...Oh finally it's over) (Please tell me this is a gauntlet of 5 trainers) (Sigh...sex has made you too calm...or it the lack of...NO I AM NOT SLEEPING IN YOUR BED AGAIN!) (Can I has it? It'd save me so much trouble by letting me get to the top of a certain...nah, the plot or Melia would destroy it claiming it's the unholy way to do things) (Sure, I need to talk about this for a moment) (And that's our final task of the day) Dr. Jenkel is so boring now. We all liked him because he was so out there and nonsensical. I heard he was toned down but holy shit he was really toned down. I mean it's great to see a good character...or shadow of a good character return but what is there to really talk about in this quest without the nutjob to be the star. It's good...just lacking in crazed tinfoil science man. (alright let's go to the shack on the beach...) (This is the wrong shack...isn't it?) 20 minutes later (Christ that took forever to find. On the bright side, I finished grinding all my reserves up to 55) I didn't put too much effort into the Gastrodon surf sprite. Still fun to look at though. (It's just not the same. First Adrienn, now Jenkel. Why does everything I like have to disappear?) Confession time: Jenkel was actually one of the characters that made me super ecstatic to jump into future chapters of the game. Rejuv has so much charm when it does the wacky stuff and never questions trying to be down to earth or serious. Even if the plot fell flat, I could at least be excited for the wacky or crazy surprises in store. Honestly, I don't think a lot of people play this game for the plot and neither would 13 year old me. It was a bit careless of me to expect a plot that was fun over serious or in-depth. The original Paper Mario was a game all about the journey and not so much the plot. It just doesn't feel like so much a journey in this game. The sidequests do which I think is why I'm so fond of them and want to dedicate chapters to unimportant stuff. (It's a bunch of Clefairy, isn't it?) (Oh great a bunch of tentacle beasts...as if the weirdo next to me wasn't enough) (Let me just find an older version of this to link...holy shit his lines were amazing) (...I have no friends so I have nothing to lose) (...I just need to let something out) I think I speak on behalf of most if not all old fans on this subject: what the hell, Jan. We didn't need a boring professor/researcher type character because we have 3 of those already. Jenkel really stood out in the crowd because of how odd and weird he was. He wasn't really harming anyone or the game's experience since he was a side an unimportant character. I'm looking at one of the old events and I am loving the lines he said. Here, I can't even really remember. Nova I can give a pass because it was tied to another quest in the game. This though, there's really no excuse for this. It's like toning down Reborn's Terra only using English because a quarter of the fandom doesn't like it. So the other 75% lose something they loved about the game just because a good chunk don't like it. I want to remove mapping and graphics from this equation but I want people's honest opinion, not mine. Do you think the changes in Rejuvenation have improved the game? I seriously think this needs to be said. The added sidequests such as the Orphanage and the Anju really added a number to the game, but I think many of the changes have actually brought more harm than good. There's this thing that's called the law of unsatisfactory where a writer isn't satisfied with what they did so they redo it to change it to what they think it better. You'd be surprised how many times the second idea is actually worse. That's something you've got to keep in mind when changing stuff. I always have a copy of the original idea somewhere I can see and make sure I still convey the intent from there when making changes. I often refer to it as the master key and if I deviate too far, we go all the way back to the original and restart from there. It's how I was able to reimagine a story I created 15 years ago and keep around 80% of the ideas and elements from it while expanding on so much more. Completely different story but kept the same core. I say this because I want to talk about changes in Reborn. Reborn primarily focused on improving the quality of the game and not so much the contents. Event Pokemon got new moves, new features were added, and many measures were taken to remove lag. Rejuv is a bit different as maps and story segments were completely rewritten. Some things were cut out like the Goldenwood chase scene. Some stuff having to be cut is fine, but it's starting to stack up tbh. (Nah, just let me rant and scream about Melia or something) (Ngl, that floor with the green light under it makes it looks super retro which is kind of cool) (I would do a Dr. Jenkel impression, but I don't know if I actually have...you know what fuck it. I can't be worse than this) (Deez noob aliens think these scrubs are friends. Lolz! So dumb!) I am terrible with millennial speak so grab a beer because we're going to need it. (Yo dawg, I think deez aliens are controlling them) (Beat their shizzles up. For hizzles) (That was surprisingly tricky...and of course it's Loewe and Walter again) (Did the Inkay see us fighting these guys and think they were our friend? I guess we do spend a lot of time together) (...Hopefully that's the last we see of them for a while) Seriously, I could handle them being like this but maybe a tad bit less involved. This is a good amount of AA though I think they are pointless given Xen does the same exact thing they do. There's really no difference between the two. (Eh, I'll give that one a pass. Not the best but close enough) (You were mind controlling people) (OH DEAR GOD THE ILLUMINIT ARE REAL!) (Well, my luv, that's why we're here. That and cuties are up to no good. Rawr!) Jan, why do you do this to me? Look at what you've created. I hope you're happy...this probably punishment for what I did earlier. Still better than Frenchera...oh god. He's coming back soon. (This ain't it, chief) (Your chief has boobies?) (...It just isn't the same with old Jenkel....it just isn't) (Thanks for telling us. Now I can beat her up without questioning my moral compass) (Pass. Because I can't think of something better) (Y u even use humans? You dun seem to leik them anyways) (Is it boobies?) (I swear his lines were changed but the Inkay weren't making it somewhat jarring. Or is it just me?) ...Did I really forget to screencap that whole thing. Basically it was kind of a massacre until the level 90 which I just Jesus cheesed it then. My team was really beaten by the last fight which made this a little trickier to a ridiculously easy fight. I'd probably have a harder time on the Conkeldurr fight over this one even at this level. There wasn't even a surprise high level Malamar which is what's expected at this point. I just don't get it. Whatever. We won and saved this girl. (Da aliens made you do weird things, lassie) (We r in an alien stronghold off of Terajuma Island) (You probably ran from Angie before being mind controlled) (...Couldn't that one lady do it for a heart scale? Please tell me she does it for free) I really need her for Walter and some other Pokemon. Forget which one. (Yeah. Now I can relearn moves and probably forget about and neglect this lady. Oh Type: Null quest. I should get to finishing that) (You were za awesome, Mandy) (The time is farewell, but my bed shall await u soon) (Oh, I did find something to ur liking. The sexy desk lady shall give it to u) I forgot to record getting the Inkay. I'm not sure if I'll use it or not, but we'll see. I know one fight it'll be super useful for though. And we're done with this chapter so it's time to relax... (This is nice. I just wish the half naked guy wasn't standing so close) I guess we should get to the plot. I actually really enjoyed this segment a lot and there's nothing that could ruin it for... (OH YOU MOTHER FU...) SHE IS SLEEPING IN MY BED! WHY IS SHE SLEEPING IN MY BED AND NOT AMBERS? I STILL AM USING THAT! I DIDN'T EVEN GET A SAY. WHICH ONE OF YOUR ASSES AM I GOING TO HAVE TO KICK AGAIN? On a different note I did some PC digging and remembered all the Phanpy I had to breed to just get our Donphan. Speaking of JESUS! I'm actually going to be changing his name since he was intended to be a joke character. His new name is going to be Veigue based on the Tales of Rebirth main character. I think it's really suited for him. I don't even think I have to describe my feelings towards the pain of breeding him: (I wanted a baby girl) (This is Veigue's Grandma) (Lilina was the first baby having Ice Shard on her so that Jesus could have Endeavor and Ice Shard) (Boulder was just in case I had to Ditto breed when I realized I couldn't get Ditto) Now you met Veigue's 5 Uncles, Grandma, and Mother. His grandfather is a Seel, but his father is none other than the world's greatest Raticate, Ratigan. That lucky rat bastard gets to live the sweet life retired at the resort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemICE Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Weird i had done this sidequest both in v7-8 and in v9-10 and i guess there has been such a big time gap between the two that i didn't realize the dialogues were changed. Also i would have probably hatched the rest of the eggs too and wouldve kept the one with the best IVs... because keeping those as eggs now seems like a bit of a waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 25, 2018 Author Share Posted November 25, 2018 On 11/22/2018 at 12:56 PM, DemICE said: Weird i had done this sidequest both in v7-8 and in v9-10 and i guess there has been such a big time gap between the two that i didn't realize the dialogues were changed. Also i would have probably hatched the rest of the eggs too and wouldve kept the one with the best IVs... because keeping those as eggs now seems like a bit of a waste. I might have to go back and look at the V10 segments of the old Dr. Jenkel areas because I know he was played off as being completely bonkers and we loved him for that. I hope he at least has the "She's hot." line for the one sidequest. I wanted a male donphan with Sturdy, Ice Shard, and Endeavor. It could have been modest and 0IVs all around and I still would've used it. And besides, I'd rather not waste a few hours for something that would not really alter the game experience anyways. It was made as a one off joke for Madame X, but sadly we can't do that anymore. Why would I have spent more time on something I was going to only use once? He's just still around because I got tired of dealing with a lot of this BS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 47: No Texen while driving I'm going to be blunt right now: I ended up grinding pretty much all my reserve Pokemon up to the cap due to the experience I had with this game. It's ironic all these changes were to drive away from Audino grinding, but I'm still Audino grinding because personally the game is a bit on the way too hard side for me anymore. I don't want to deal with the game's difficulty as much anymore tbh. V9 was such a good step in the right direction and I'd consider playing it again. V10 though did a lot of things to streamline it but those leader fights just...yikes. Angie was okay but I'm just not feeling it. I don't mind grinding a little bit and it really only takes about half an hour to train about 14 mons. Probably will train them to level 55 or whatever the cap is before leaving the island. And here comes the hypocrisy: I don't like the new system as much. "But Commander didn't you pioneer this system?" Yes, yes I did...but I didn't at the same time. The idea behind it was to make sure that there was rarely a shortage of exp, but keep it to a reasonable level to where you have to manage your team. I really don't agree with that Exp Share. I have to turn it off to stop from leveling up too quickly as there's really almost no point to turn it off. It was a problem in Gen VI and VII and the issue is still there. You're not managing Exp, you're simply using whatever Pokemon KOs stuff easier until the hard battles where you start stratigizing more. In theory, this is a great system but it just makes trainer battles really, really boring. It's great for mass grinding though, but I'm more of the guy who believes you should only stick to 5-6 Pokemon slowly rotating some out until you start finalizing your team. It's not bad, but it just doesn't give the Pokemon adventure feel like it should. Then again, there's a lot of little core details that make a Pokemon experience that Reborn had that Rejuv lacks. That kind of made me realize something that can really sum up my thoughts: Reborn feels more symbolic of a Gen I-III designed game with its structure but with an actual in-depth story while Rejuv feels more symbolic to the Gen V-VII type games. Reborn is more innovative for its times adding on features that really shake the formula (some of which are highly questioned due to the features) and is really about exploring and getting lost to find new and interesting stuff. It rarely tells you where to go only giving hints on where the story will happen. Rejuvenation is quite a bit more linear and more about the flashiness then the depth. It's much nicer to play and more with the times, but it just lacks the same soul the base game had. It doesn't take much to see why I prefer Reborn as while that game certainly has more faults, it's the pros the really keep me going...even through the glass gauntlet. And now, let's get back to the good part: So let's see where's a good spot to sto...477...btw, I hit 1.4k pics and I haven't even been to Valor Mt yet. This is gonna be a long episode. But this is better than the hell that is the Crawli and Angie segments. I'll take another Blacksteeple over that again (I at least enjoyed parts of that and think it can be salvaged and made great). Oh pics...I should do that more. (How the...I'm...she literally should not have gotten sick that...oh right it's been a month or so. Surprised she's not dead) (I say we let her die. That'll at least get two annoyances off my back. Not like Venam would help if Melia weren't here) (Wait...why did I come here again? Oh right, get that bitch off my bed this instant) (Okay, I just want to say something here...) This makes no sense when you think about it. Why would she only freeze the TM shop with a random special kind of ice but everyone else turned out fine? Easy fix would be that they'd need some super powerful heat source to make the TM but...this is Terajuma so let's stop being logical. It just makes the suffering worse. Just like the fact you can't get Vulpix yet. Well the good one at least. (Magic. Magic is the solution to everything in this game.) No seriously, it is. It's not an awful concept to work with but...it let's a writer go free range with ass pulls. I'll let Stan Lee explain this one: Spoiler It's obviously a joke, but there is something to take away from it. When you establish ground rules towards an unnatural concept, it becomes more relatable and easier to connect with. The Garufa stuff and Melia's power to literally do anything just seem like supernatural powers given to people with little to no explanation. Sure it's draining energy from Pokemon but does anybody really care about that. Who's actually excited or interested reading more into Angie's powers, Crescent's, or whatever that one girl from the Library quest's ones are? And before anyone says Pokemon are to blame, I've seen plenty of RPGs who use unnatural magic mechanics (like Cold Steel) which conflict with traditional magic and modern day "magic". It can work, but most Pokemon players really don't care about story so it wouldn't be a surprise if they didn't care enough to dig deeper. You'd be surprised how many people randomly spout something out just because they don't like it in their "Pokemon games." "Hey Commander, you seem to complain a lot about this game. If you hate it so much, why are you still playing it?" That random stranger, but I cannot actually answer that. The best way I can is that I only hate about half this game. V1-5 (Yes, even Blacksteeple) were actually fine. I think it's a valid complaint that the story stretches itself thin in the worst possible ways. V1-4 were condensed and clean segment from start to finish wrapping up what they started. Sure there were bumps but the good outweighed the bad. Blacksteeple was just disappointing. It wasn't awful but it was draining just how dull it was and whatever good impacts were stripped away at a moment's notice. It just made it long and tedious...but Wall Senpai made it better. She makes everything 10 times better (even if 10x0 is still 0). So now we go back to Terajuma. What is wrong with Terajuma? Look at this scene, it really sums it up quite well. First off, you've got a grade C or D main cast with all of the more interesting ones getting pushed aside. We have Venam, Valarie, Melia, and Saki which Melia is the best one. Very weak characters make for a very weak storyline. All the other characters get shoved out or less involved. Angie, the main villain of this segment, is pretty weak, but she works. The main issue though is this "Melia is the main character" role you keep hearing. She's not, you still are. However, you are treated like a complete nuisance. In a way, it's your fault it's taken all this time to save Nim since Melia could go save her at any time. She has to baby you and tell you everything you need to do to help her. So we're pretty much getting dragged around while Nim is in danger because we're incompetent. It's a terrible segment and if the rest of the game is like that, tell me now so I can jump ship. What about previous areas? Didn't we need help then? Yes, we did. We've gotten ourselves into jams, but it's different. All of the previous times were characters working together and I mean actually working together instead of being prop pieces. Aelita was helping us investigate Keta and the mountain, Mosley was helping us stop Geara, Keta freed us and asked for our help since he knew he didn't stand a chance alone. Saki, Valarie, and Adam worked with you to help get out of prison. Melia is a bit different as she doesn't really want you. The only reason she does is purely due to backup as a safety net. And the rest of the cast kind of lets her just shit on you because she's the leader and she's stress. They also simply follow blind orders from this questionable girl. Let's just move on because after this section it gets a hell of a lot better...which is why I'm somehow still playing this game. We really need to just boot Melia from the screen for someone else...literally anybody. Even...Venam. (Meh, they are insignificant and probably dead) (..........Excuse me, what the fuck) If I was frozen fucking solid, I'd take whatever amount of pain you throw at me to be able to move and walk. This is actually not a terrible plan, but that's a stupid reason not to go through with it when we don't have any other means to resolve it. Oh no, they broke an arm or a leg. At least you're now alive. (...When Saki is the voice of reason, you know shit has hit the fan) (...I suggest it for plan a) (Venam, I think this exposure to Melia has damaged your brain a bit. And why isn't Valarie chiming in...whatever) (...I'm pretty sure Melia isn't even sick...whatever. Just to be shoving anything down my throat. I already experience that enough around Dr. Jenkel) (....Saki is the only reasonable person here, let that sink in) (......................................................................................................) Can I please just get off this island? This is beyond stupid. Geara and Zetta aren't even that threatening and have been waiting this long. Do you really think they are going to try something? If they were they would've done it by now. And Madelis is...being Madelis. (...You are going to be right here, Val. If something happens, you better be able to tell or know. Whatever. Couldn't you find a doctor if you're really worried. This is a bloody resort. Things happen.) (Saki, I'm only going to say this once: you are my favorite of the four in this room right now.) (She fucking flew off the ship. Did you expect her to grow wings and fly back to you?) Saki is literally the only reason we are even here and alive. I don't like Saki, but this is just...I didn't think we could go any lower than we already did but here we are. I feel bad for Saki now. I feel bad for a character I dislike...the world really is coming to an end. (........................Why do I even talk about this game's story anymore?) She's a carefree girl, but when things are serious she takes them serious in her own not serious way. She's a troublemaker and has caused issues and annoyances, but she has her heart where it needs to be when it really matters. And everything she said made a lot of sense yet these two reject her without hesitation. And since time is of the essence, I don't know why they don't go with Saki's plan as breaking through the ice in a destructive manner seems the most reasonable solution. I get when a story takes a long time when you are supposed to be in a hurry for a segment because that's just how game logic works, but when you mention it back in the story and reasoning, it doesn't work. We're not in a hurry so why mention it now? I can't even think of anything positive to say because pull hell this is one really forced scene. GET ME OFF THIS ISLAND, NOW! (If you need me for something, just ask, Saki.) (Yep. She's pissed) (...I just want to say something for a moment) I don't blame Saki for being pissed off. She was being serious but simply being treated as a child who doesn't know any better. That actually would be for a good character development moment, but this is Rejuv and that's not going to happen. I kind of know what happens next so this is disappointing. A good Saki development moment would have made up for whatever this is since the payoff often is worth the irritation of sloppy writing sometimes. (Well my one good solution just walked right out the door, thanks) (...If you all somehow get trapped in a fire, don't expect me to barge in and save you. Have a nice day) Well, I guess there's nothing to do now but end the...chap... (Oh good another character I'm indifferent to. Something tells me I don't have a choice) (What the heck are you looking for anyways?) (Of course it's me) (And somehow you pokemon were able to level up this whole time despite having not badges. Makes sense) (..................................Thanks for reminding me I only have 11 more to go. Excuse me while I cry in the corner) (Sure, what could possible go wrong) Spoiler: It goes horribly wrong. (That's nice of you.) (So Mienshao U-turned into this thing) (Well that escalated quickly) (RIP Loewe) I don't have Joker on me otherwise this would be rather easy. Or Reini. Conk did a number on me. (Oh look. That's an easy Pokemon to heal spam on) (Of course that's my luck) (Of course that's my luck) (Well at least Pancha managed to do something. That doesn't happen a lot) (This is going to be a long battle) (BEHOLD! My trusty steed shall save the day) (Like a boss) (Good job Walter for missing a Rock Slide. Way to make my life harder) (I'm also out of paralyze heals) (This should be easy...) (Christ what did you give these things) (Veigue can easily take this thing down) (............Sigh...and you wonder why I grind to the cap before starting a segment) That was...really, really annoying. This is the Ren issue all over again. Her Pokemon have their best movesets more or less and all have leftovers adding to more tedium than difficulty. Add Bounce to the equation and you've got a very, very annoying fight as it probably took an extra 15 minutes it shouldn't have to beat her. It wasn't difficult but since I forgot my team is rather weak to fighting it just added to the time spent. And please don't give everything leftovers as it adds time watching the heal animations go off only adding to the tedium. Yeah, yeah, I use healing items. I really only have super potions though. (I just want to go to the hot spring and forget about everyone. I'm a broken man who's been shattered thrice) (Oh joy another lady to give me errands) (...do I know you? You look oddly familiar) (Reina...that's a name) (Get out of here right now. You're not welcomed here) (...Ren had a sister? Can I join your search? Seems better than whatever this is) (Nobody tell her I'm the reason he left...or are you talking about Gearen City...this plot is confusing at times) (Oh boy more folklore...wait is this Anju/Angie?) (I'd tap that...Reina, not the prince. We only got to see her face just now) (So we need to find a rock. That sounds easy enough) (If it can melt anything, how are we going to be able to grab it?) (Made up stories are rarely made up from nothing. Still think this is tied in with Anju) (...Great. Where's Saki? I'm starting to think her plan sounds better and better each minute then this goose chase) (By the way, your brother is in Grand Dream City. Just thought you'd like to know) (Doubt it. People like to randomly never appear again) (Eh, it's only unique for being my first name. My last name is Je...oops that's spoilers) (She seemed pretty normal to me. Probably a good fit to Melia's harem) (Oh joy, it's the goose hunt) (Well as long as I can get away from the terrible trio) But before we do that: (I needed this. I really needed this. Who knew this resort business could be so stressful) And now we visit an old friend we haven't seen in a long time: (Hey, I'm so glad you remember me. Good to see you're still here) So I actually have a slight complaint. I know we have all these conveniences to help travel around, but why don't we actually have fly? Seriously. Reborn there was a good story reason due to the lockout, but we need to travel back and forth so much it just seems more convenient to just give the players fly now instead of all this mumbo jumbo teleporting stuff. Just saying. (Was this stairway here before? It's been a while so I don't remember) (.....................................................................................................Go away, Amanda) (Nope, I don't want any part in this) (I'm getting out of here before it's too late) (Fine. I'll progress the plot a little bit) (I'm not in the mood for jokes.) (That's it, I'm done. Go home. End of chapter) (That's something we haven't seen in a while. That was when we first entered Sheridan, right?) (....What about the Poison badge? She doesn't seem to be around, does she?) (.............Wait, what?) Aelita isn't family...that's ominous. Very ominous. (Yeah. Way to let me deal with all your problems. Thanks, Amanda) (Maybe you were adopted? Oh wait you'd have adoption papers. That's something better to not ask) (This isn't going to end well) (Well this is a change in scenery. What happened in the mon...these last few wait a minute...) So it took two weeks to return from the warp fun times. Add 3 days for the blacksteeple. And I don't remember how long we were out at see. Does that all add up to just a month? Someone do the work for me there because I don't want to go find that screenshot. (...Well it is full of perversion and self loathing) (...I got them from a thrift shop for 99 cents) (This guy must really be a narcissist with that many pics on the walls. I only have one of myself, personally. True beauty can only be portrayed in the best of the best pics which these locks deserve) (Remind me to never go to any of his if they're that bad) (...Even the music is terrible) (I legit don't know how that is...is that an Angie poster?) (Seriously...wait are you that guy who tried to capture me at the piers. You asshole) (I'm having Electrode flashbacks) (Why is it here? How did it get here?) (Well at least he has qualifications) (It was the scotch, hun. Ain't no magic in this house.) (Yes, you probably were) This dialogue is so much better than Terajuma. Let's stay here forever. (There's a lot more beer pong and togas) (Yes, yes it is. But if it gets you women, then nobody is going to say no to that...except me. I have too many lady problems in my life for another) ('ey, finally someone doing something. This should happen more often.) (I...wow what a spoiled ass.) (Wow...just...wow) (...Acid as in the drug, the dangerous chemical, or the acidity level like in lemons. It's very confusing what you mean) (How did this guy get the job again? They could've asked me. I'm like Keta's best bro.) (I don't even think this guy even know what a responsibility is. What was his major? Bachelor's in Art?) Something tells me I'm going to get flamed for that. Oh well. (...WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THOSE BENEFITS, ELDER. I WOULD HAVE SIGNED UP FOR IT!) (Well he at least has a brain) (Great, now we have a hissy fit between two toddlers) (Wait, I didn't think you could ban anyone? This ain't a Tales game) (Well that was easy) (Yeah, she probably would have lost anyways) (Wait, when did she say my name? Well I guess I am kind of like a celebrity. Just ask Team Xen) (I probably am) (Says the child to the other child. We could've avoided this completely if you just...didn't lose your temper) (And the ride never ends.) (Wait, why am I banned? You're the one causing trouble) (Maybe in the next episode) (Did you know Tesla has a lot of money?) Tesla...there's something about her I should talk about. Eh, I'm sure it'll come to me eventually. (This is the me in the Rejuv world as I totally have to do that all the time for my sisters) (Oh look it's characters I never wanted to see again. Will we ever win?) (Inevitable revival...good to know.) (That would be a good way to end this but let's continue) I like Texen as he's actually a character with a personality though not one that's well liked. I would talk more about it but I'm drained from Melia and the whole Terajuma debacle, but just know this segment is actually really good and enjoyable. (Uh, if he doesn't we can push the two girls out of the way to enter the cave. You just did it to one what's another one going to hurt?) (Something tells me this will be really dumb) (Aelita and thinking. Those are two words that don't go together) (Oh hey it's Jim. Aren't you supposed to be in HCHQ? Though I guess you do need a side job due to earning minimum wage) (........................That's rather rude) (We're making a whole bunch of assumptions here) (...I'm not normally like that towards other guys, but okay) (Great vandalism. All I need to do is murder and I've broken all the laws I can) (I thought we were done with the contrived plots) (I am imagining this guy the a New Jersey accent. 'ey we're working here. Bah! Forgedaboudit!) (Yeah. We went through the second easiest gym puzzle in this game. Keta's was easier) (His family must be bakers) (Money is power as they say) (I didn't know you were a connoisseur of walls as well. Very well, we shall feel the walls together) (Just a warning that I'm an expert. I've been working up to the day Wall Senpai and I reunite) (MMm...now that's the stuff) (I'll touch something else if you'd like~) If Texen and in-game Commander had an actual conversation, it'd probably be glorious since they both have egos and I could see Mander teasing Texen so much. That or be enthralled by those hot steamy walls he's touching so hard. (I'm dying. I could totally see Texen and I getting along. Though I do it in a not serious manner) (Besides, she's way more into Melia's) (She found a hole) (Wall know the answer to that) (I thought you didn't want to take responsibility. And that is doing that...aren't we here to battle?) (...HALF A MILE! That's definitely not half a mile. We're probably not even a quart of a mile) That's a nonsensical measurement but what do I know. (Finally, now I can get revenge for the whole Aelita fight) (Babe, I'm a weird magnet and you're pulling me in) (I'm part redneck. You don't question a redneck as they do some of the weirdest things) No seriously, I'd say a good chunk of my family tree are rednecks. I'm literally the only one of two gamers in my entire family tree which I at least know 100 of them. There was a third but he died due to a car crash. I think one of my uncles is only going to be alive for a few more months and my great grandma died 3 years ago. A number of them are in questionable health and one is in an asylum. There's a reason I don't really ask much about my family history. I have plenty of stories though despite that. (So let's see how good he is) (I really like his vs sprite for some reason. And no, I'm not paying money to get a VS sprite) (How did I?) (Well that was obviously anticlimatic) (Wow, did I do that?) (I just told you what was wrong with me. I inherited 50% of my genes from crazy and 50% from rednecks. That's not a good combination) (Probably both) (Eh, it looks fine to me) (What the hell did Neved do to screw you up...I just realized THE PONYTAIL IS BACK! HOOORAY!) I missed the ponytail so much. (The battle didn't even last...oh yeah Veigue may have done that) (Okay, now I have to say something) So this is basically one of those things where you didn't have a say or choice on a questionable matter. I don't think any of us would destroy a guy's gym just because he's an ass one time. It's pretty childish and rather off putting that we'd do this simply because Aelita told us to over a stupid reason. We didn't even know if Texen would allow us or not. Aelita just assumed that. This is more of an annoyance and should be a major complain but is minor or not even an issue...due to the dogpile mess we already have. If this was the biggest issue in the game, I'd say it would be doing fine or on the right track. (Oh look, he's pissed you destroyed his gym) (To be honest, I think that's a fair request since we did destroy his gym. Though I wouldn't if he didn't let me in the cave) (Yes, yes it did) (I love how demonic it looks now) This is why I'm okay with how it turns out because it's a visual thing. Good visuals can often make up for poor executed storytelling or even mediocre ones. That's just something to take good note of which is often why I sometimes say story doesn't matter. Execution does though. I prefer a good story over strong visuals, but if a game has good visuals effectively used then it's about as good in my eyes. (We did something bad. Wait, I did something bad) (Oh god...I killed another wall. How will I ever explain this to my waifu) (I hope those workers are okay...they are going to need overtime pay to fix this though) (YOU ALMOST GOT US ALL KILLED! Thanks, Aelita. I'm starting to think Saki is the one with the brains in the group. Maybe she wanted to kill Amber to avoid an additional hassle) (How did she know the whole room wouldn't flood? Oh wait, she didn't.) (Get in line, buddy. Pretty sure all of Xen wants her dead for her dad) (You could say...he's really...hot headed. He's really inflamed by what just happened. This was a real scorcher) (Is LSPD Lumiose State Poloice Department. Or am I thinking too much of Crossbell?) (Better watch out because that's a burn coming your way) (We should probably get this done and leave as soon as possible) (Yes, onward...but first let's explore) (I...have no idea where I'm supposed to go) (Oh look a Cyndaquil Egg. Don't need it, but I'm not going to say no to that) (Too bad I'm not going to use it) I try to use Pokemon I've never used before just to keep that fresh experience. You can also see I played this part not all that long ago. I do try to not get too ahead of the game when making these parts. And honestly, I like Texen. He's like a perfect stereotypical frat boy which clashes with Aelita's rash and childish nature. This is the Rejuvenation I like. Not the whole big group trying to stop a big bad and going off together from plot point to plot point. Just simply silly conflicts with ridiculous resolutions like this. I don't care if it's a bit jarring because it's fun to see. It might be a month before the next chapter but I'll just let you know that the next few chapters should be better quality from me because there's a lot of stuff I liked from them. Also, I really like how my noble steed became an official member of the crew instead of just a surf sprite. RIP Unforunat though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerogatoryTrainer Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 14 hours ago, Commander said: The main issue though is this "Melia is the main character" role you keep hearing. She's not, you still are. However, you are treated like a complete nuisance. In a way, it's your fault it's taken all this time to save Nim since Melia could go save her at any time. She has to baby you and tell you everything you need to do to help her. So we're pretty much getting dragged around while Nim is in danger because we're incompetent. It's a terrible segment and if the rest of the game is like that, tell me now so I can jump ship. You're still the main character of the game but you certainly aren't the main character of the story. And yes that is what it feels like because we're the only one constrained by rules unlike every other character who can just ignore them whenever they so please. 14 hours ago, Commander said: I don't blame Saki for being pissed off. She was being serious but simply being treated as a child who doesn't know any better. That actually would be for a good character development moment, but this is Rejuv and that's not going to happen. I kind of know what happens next so this is disappointing. A good Saki development moment would have made up for whatever this is since the payoff often is worth the irritation of sloppy writing sometimes. There should really have been a "fuck you guys, I'm going to help Saki" route in this. Would have taken that in a heartbeat after what happens to Aelita. 14 hours ago, Commander said: I don't think any of us would destroy a guy's gym just because he's an ass one time. Well...speak for yourself. Wanton destruction is a great stress reliever, don't you know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dex Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 Aw man the flamer got deleted. I was actually kind of amazed someone was this upset at you for criticizing this game. Also, I said on DT's run and I'll say it here, Jan's doing an awful lot just to pad out going to the mountain. Like Geara and Zetta could have long since tossed NIm into the lava and we'd probably never know until it was far too late. Texen may very well have the dumbest hairstyle in a pokemon game. He has a severe case of helmut hair/cow lick. It's actually amazing. Obviously the only reason he's popular is money. Also Texen's gym battle, funny thing he's still FAR stronger than Keta was. Feel sorry for the poor sucker starting out that has to challenge him. The Aelita battle was par for the course for Rejuvenation, some of these battles are flat unfair. Either due to team selection of what is available (early game) or the opposing team having far better moves that what you could hope to have at the moment. Keta's battle with most of his mon's having elemental punches stuck out to me the most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veterans Azeria Posted November 26, 2018 Veterans Share Posted November 26, 2018 Quote I'm going to be blunt right now: I ended up grinding pretty much all my reserve Pokemon up to the cap due to the experience I had with this game. It's ironic all these changes were to drive away from Audino grinding, but I'm still Audino grinding because personally the game is a bit on the way too hard side for me anymore. I don't want to deal with the game's difficulty as much anymore tbh. V9 was such a good step in the right direction and I'd consider playing it again. V10 though did a lot of things to streamline it but those leader fights just...yikes. Angie was okay but I'm just not feeling it. I don't mind grinding a little bit and it really only takes about half an hour to train about 14 mons. Probably will train them to level 55 or whatever the cap is before leaving the island. And here comes the hypocrisy: I don't like the new system as much. >Doesn't mind grinding on Audino trainers for up to an hour. >>Complains about regular trainers being boring with the Exp All. What's the difference between spam Pokemon that KO's stuff easily on regular trainers and Audino grinding? Practically nothing except one is actually productive in terms of story progression. Most regular trainers aren't meant to challenge you or be interesting as much as be sources of experience so you can progress through the story cleanly. There is no actual issue in this, especially given that Reborn and Rejuvenation actively encourage the use of multiple Pokemon in a rotation. Reborn falls somewhat flat in that regard however given that the sources of exp through the story itself is frankly quite low from personal experience(I've run through with 0 grinding several times and come up severely underleveled.) Meanwhile the Exp All allows for this and more(Defensive Pokemon like Dusclops or Toxapex very often have low damage output and take forever to level up, so for those that LIKE those Pokemon, it's a massive turn off from using them) as well as keeping a regular team on track at all times without having to spend more time than that given to you by the story itself, which prevents you from becoming disengaged with the story for that reason. Quote "But Commander didn't you pioneer this system?" Yes, yes I did...but I didn't at the same time. The idea behind it was to make sure that there was rarely a shortage of exp, but keep it to a reasonable level to where you have to manage your team. I really don't agree with that Exp Share. I have to turn it off to stop from leveling up too quickly as there's really almost no point to turn it off. It was a problem in Gen VI and VII and the issue is still there. You're not managing Exp, you're simply using whatever Pokemon KOs stuff easier until the hard battles where you start stratigizing more. In theory, this is a great system but it just makes trainer battles really, really boring. It's great for mass grinding though, but I'm more of the guy who believes you should only stick to 5-6 Pokemon slowly rotating some out until you start finalizing your team. It's not bad, but it just doesn't give the Pokemon adventure feel like it should. Then again, there's a lot of little core details that make a Pokemon experience that Reborn had that Rejuv lacks. You did not pioneer this system. Stop trying to take credit for something you never did. A hard level cap is nothing new, it's been done in rom hacks several times, Suzerain properly introduced it to RMXP and all you did was copy that system, - incompetently I might add - into Hardcore. Quote It's not bad, but it just doesn't give the Pokemon adventure feel like it should. Then again, there's a lot of little core details that make a Pokemon experience that Reborn had that Rejuv lacks. That kind of made me realize something that can really sum up my thoughts: Reborn feels more symbolic of a Gen I-III designed game with its structure but with an actual in-depth story while Rejuv feels more symbolic to the Gen V-VII type games. Reborn is more innovative for its times adding on features that really shake the formula (some of which are highly questioned due to the features) and is really about exploring and getting lost to find new and interesting stuff. It rarely tells you where to go only giving hints on where the story will happen. Rejuvenation is quite a bit more linear and more about the flashiness then the depth. It's much nicer to play and more with the times, but it just lacks the same soul the base game had. It doesn't take much to see why I prefer Reborn as while that game certainly has more faults, it's the pros the really keep me going...even through the glass gauntlet. I'm sorry but what? Barring the 18 gym leaders thing and field effects(neither of which are THAT innovative much as just extending something the main line games/anime did further) a lot of Reborn's features were already found in other fangames. Full dex? Classic Fangame feature. Online? Scripts for this date back to before Reborn was even well known whatsoever and far before it added them. IV/EV Checking? Around since 2013. And then there's blatant lies such as; "It rarely tells you where to go only giving hints on where the story will happen." when the game very much outright tells you where to go. Victoria straight up tells you to go to the Obsidia Ward, Florinia does the same with Onyx and Jasper, Taka with Beryl, Fern with North Obsidia and so fucking on and forth, making up facts like this just makes you look like you don't know what you're talking about, which really, you don't. Seriously. The sidequests are more vague but surprise surprise, there's sidequests in most rpgs, and acting like there aren't several places you can explore on your own time without story involvement in Rejuvenation is just outright wrong. It doesn't take much to see that you're heavily clouded by nostalgia and making up facts to support your argument. Quote That was...really, really annoying. This is the Ren issue all over again. Her Pokemon have their best movesets more or less and all have leftovers adding to more tedium than difficulty. Add Bounce to the equation and you've got a very, very annoying fight as it probably took an extra 15 minutes it shouldn't have to beat her. It wasn't difficult but since I forgot my team is rather weak to fighting it just added to the time spent. And please don't give everything leftovers as it adds time watching the heal animations go off only adding to the tedium. Yeah, yeah, I use healing items. I really only have super potions though. And here's some more making up facts. I had a look at Aelita's Normal team on that fight in V10: Quote #------------------- STUDENT Aelita,4 6,HYPERPOTION MIENSHAO,49,EXPERTBELT,BOUNCE,UTURN,BRICKBREAK,POISONJAB,1,,,,JOLLY,31 LUCARIO,50,FOCUSSASH,CALMMIND,AURASPHERE,PSYCHIC,FLASHCANNON,0,,,,ADAMANT,31 HAWLUCHA,51,SITRUSBERRY,XSCISSOR,FLYINGPRESS,BOUNCE,SWORDSDANCE,1,,,,JOLLY,31 BLAZIKEN,50,MUSCLEBAND,BRAVEBIRD,PROTECT,SKYUPPERCUT,BLAZEKICK,1,,,,ADAMANT,31 CONKELDURR,50,LEFTOVERS,DRAINPUNCH,POISONJAB,KNOCKOFF,ROCKTOMB,0,,,,ADAMANT,31 SCRAFTY,49,LEFTOVERS,REST,BULKUP,KNOCKOFF,DRAINPUNCH,2,,,,ADAMANT,31 Yup. Best movesets. Leftovers on everything. Super annoying for a guy with very few fighting weaknesses on his active team, who was pretty much several levels over her solely because he didn't want to deal with the difficulty anymore. Frankly if you're going to criticise the game, please actually just stick to points where you have actual facts to back up your points instead of making things up to make it seem like you're not just bad at Pokemon. Quote (I don't even think this guy even know what a responsibility is. What was his major? Bachelor's in Art?) I would overlook this as just another really bad joke but when there's several people in this community that do the Arts in University/College or whatnot, one of which is a member of our Dev team I might add, this comes off as just in bad taste and borderline disrespectful. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 27, 2018 Author Share Posted November 27, 2018 8 hours ago, Dex said: Aw man the flamer got deleted. I was actually kind of amazed someone was this upset at you for criticizing this game. Ask and you shall receive: Even if you didn't ask. This was just a good way to put this here Spoiler Yeah, yeah it's techincally against the rules, but am I the only one who actually thought this guy was funny? I'm not one who likes to support this, but I fucking kind of deserved that. Since I cannot give him a like, I shall rename Magneton Yeetder in honor of this man. Though I am a tad disappointed he didn't have the balls to say it on his official account. I also forgot I got owned by a Linoone. I'm terrible at this game, but we all knew that already. And do you know why I picked Magnezone... So he can suck on Yeet nutz. (It's not Commander if there isn't a godawful joke) But seriously guys, don't do this because it's against the rules. Honestly, I don't care so much because I've expected this kind of stuff to pop up for a while and all it does is give me material to work with (I do tend to roll with the punches). I don't promote this kind of behavior (which I kind of am...but it's Yeetder) but if you say something, I'm not going to report or delete it. I might ask you to stop if an argument breaks out, but that's it. If you think I'm a shithead, feel free to call me a shithead. And also, I too lose a lot of brain cells making these chapter. I'm more impressed on how much of the run he's read. 14 hours ago, DerogatoryTrainer said: There should really have been a "fuck you guys, I'm going to help Saki" route in this. Would have taken that in a heartbeat after what happens to Aelita. That's probably planned DLC for the cheap price of $29.99. It's also required for the true ending. 8 hours ago, Dex said: Also, I said on DT's run and I'll say it here, Jan's doing an awful lot just to pad out going to the mountain. Like Geara and Zetta could have long since tossed NIm into the lava and we'd probably never know until it was far too late. Texen may very well have the dumbest hairstyle in a pokemon game. He has a severe case of helmut hair/cow lick. It's actually amazing. Obviously the only reason he's popular is money. Also Texen's gym battle, funny thing he's still FAR stronger than Keta was. Feel sorry for the poor sucker starting out that has to challenge him. The Aelita battle was par for the course for Rejuvenation, some of these battles are flat unfair. Either due to team selection of what is available (early game) or the opposing team having far better moves that what you could hope to have at the moment. Keta's battle with most of his mon's having elemental punches stuck out to me the most. Padding isn't a bad thing as long as it's good. Radiant Dawn Part 2 was pure padding but it was sure fun. I don't think it was that big of a deal as Nim simply was just good bait and they really had nothing better to do. Madame X thought they were dead and if they came back empty handed they'd be dead so them waiting a month on the mountain probably wasn't that big of a deal. They spent a year in the dark realm already so what's one more month. Yeah, yeah, I know the whole Madelis thing debunks that, but it's not that ridiculous when you think about it. Where else could they hide and devise a plan? I...like Texen's hair as weird as it is. It reminds me a bit of the birdkeeper's from HGSS or FRLG. I can't remember which one or was it DPPt? I can't really judge poor Texen's team as the only thing he did was Metal Sound with Lucario. I forgot to mention I LOVE the idea of pummeling a gym leader like that as it's so different than the norm. The logic behind it was a bit off, but everything else about that whole thing was fantastic. Jan has a talent for the simple and fun stuff which I think people don't realize that's a lot of what I love about Rejuv, but the plot is just such a big focus it may come off as I hate the entire game. I was just drained but I really should have went into more details. As for the Aelita battle, it was more my team over anything. It was just kind of something dealing with a Drain Punch Conk with...lefties I think (hell if I remember everything). I think Scrafty had Drain Punch as well. Mienshao I know took up some Hyper Potions which lasted even longer with Bounce. Then Hawlucha did the same thing with Bounce. It must've come off more than "Well that was annoying and kind of reminded me of Ren." It's not that bad and Joker could've come in an had an easy time. --------------------------------------------------------------------- As for what Az said, I'm just going to say I read parts and kind of move on. I'll at least correct a couple things: The level limiter is a shared script between Redux and Rejuvenation which the code is nearly identical with the only differences being slight alterations both made by Fish. I haven't looked as Insurgence's but that one is likely different. The original one I made was rather messy and poor but it gave the idea across there was a better way to go about things. And when I say Fish, I mean Sardines. If we want to talk about where the level limiter originated, I know the original Fire Emblem is one of the earliest with the class system. I think I deserve at least some credit bringing it to the Reborn community, but whatever. I do know the ends and outs of the system quite well, but it doesn't matter. Think what you want to think on the matter as it won't change or help the issues with it. Something I like to do is watch what people say. That's where most of my ideas and changes come from. Sometimes I overreact, but that doesn't mean I don't take notes. Everybody who picks up a fan-game pretty much knows how to play Pokemon. Nobody is bad at Pokemon either. So if one person is struggling, more likely than not somebody else is in the same boat. It's the why someone is complaining is more important. Instead of pointing out someone is factually wrong, think about why they feel that way. What does proving me wrong help the game in any ways? At the end of the day, it's simply food for thought. And yeah, I've taken feedback and criticisms from Rejuvenation (both on and off the site) on the system and am looking for ways to address and try to give something for those guys to work with. I have a few ideas that people may like they aren't big changes, but small things always help. As for the Audino thing, I'm surprised you didn't pull up any of the pre blacksteeple posts about mean complaining how much a pain in the ass it was to grind the old fashioned way. If there's an easy way to grind, I'm going to take the easy way over worrying about having enough Exp and a good team for a boss/bosses. We saw how well that went with Crawli...and Maria. Just saying it might be a bit too easy to grind. It's not a terrible thing, but it really pushes away from establishing an official team. What are my main 6 Pokemon I use? If you guessed Walter, Loewe, Gaius, Veigue, Pancha, and SEC, I'd be surprised. --------------------------------------------------------------------- And now for the main show: Chapter 48: Return of the King I want to start off with this: This run has hit over 20k views and that's a lot of replies. Some people may say that's not that much or most of the replies are probably mine, but I really do want to say thank you. Without all of that, I probably would have upped and quit a long time ago...which some of you probably would like. I won't name any names...*cough* Yeetder *cough*. And as a bit of advice to others: going the extra mile does really pay off even if it may feel like too much work. We've come a long way and this journey has changed us...except not really. Only change is me slowly growing more insane after each chapter...and less funny. I blame it on my evil twin, Yeetder. When in doubt, blame Yeetder. I'm going to have way too much fun with this chapter. And as a warning, Yeeter grows stronger the angrier I get so I must control my temper or else he may become too powerful. At all costs, you must keep me away from Venam. The world must not experience such evil. I fear it may bring an end to it. So this time we shall have a nice relaxing episode over the usual. (Judging from all the debris from the nearby island, I'd say probably not) (Yeah, I just tried it and it didn't work. Looks like we're stuck here) (This elevator is sexist. Of course it does what the woman wants and not me) (If it's another factory, I'm going to leave and find something to...I should check the orphanage. I wonder if Mosley is doing alright.) (Oh thank god it's not another factory) (...oh no. NO! NO! NO!) His power...I feel his power rising but I can't take it. Why does he have to be here? Well, we've handled worse. Let's just get this over with. That Saki path is looking mighty fine right now though. (Does anyone in this game not lie and deceit? Besides you, of course) (Couldn't we have stepped over him? No? Okay.) (You seem...different. This is a surprising improvement) (Are we still in Carotos? It doesn't look like it.) (I'd ask what he'd gain from being in an abandoned mountain, but this is SEC we are talking about. You never know what is coming out of his mouth) (Madelis really didn't think this SEC thing through, did she? On second thought, a mobile SEC would be scary.) (How did Cera get past you? That's what I'd like to...oh right telepor...why did she need the elevator?) (No, I think Aelita has improved. Still rash, but less rash and more obedient. It's like training a puppy. The annoy you until they start listening...and she's cute) (That was...really short. Huh. Why couldn't the rest of this segment be like that?) (There's the SEC we know and love. Well know, not so much love) (Please have a Shadow Pokemon. We haven't seen one of this in like forever) (And here he shall go) (It's 6v3, buddy. You were going to lose) Only reason I have screencaps is because I surely thought he'd have a Shadow Pokemon. Well that was disappointing, but hey, I can't complain too much. He did give us one of our main members...who's not here right now. (Except Team Xen. They deserve to die for what they're...oh yeah that's your boss...you do deserve to die) (Great. At least bring Shadow Pokemon next time. It at least helps the suffering) (Don't tell me we're traveling to the past. That's the only way he'd know what's yet to come. Unless he's from the fu...no more time talk. It's a headache) (Good grief. Even Aelita was sick of dealing with him) (Time? I'm pretty sure we have all the time in the world given Geara and Zetta are very, very patient. They must be practicing a recital) Something I didn't realize when making the band joke was Jenner was in a band going back to WLL. I only played Chapter 1 but that has potential to being one of my favorite fan projects. I know it's a lot of work, but I'd love seeing another side game like that. I also really want to know what happens, but I gotta wait to catch up T_T. (I'm having deja vu. Didn't you way that the first time we came here? I'll take poison over lava though) (How did this happen? Man, that factory must really have taken a lot of fuel to function...wait didn't it function on lava? I really need to reread that segment) (This'll be the third most awkward date I've been on. The first two involve a certain blonde girl) (I'm wondering what the skunk is referencing. Oh well have another shiny I'm not going to catch) And I had a 50% chance of heading away from the plot...turns out I went the wrong way: (I'm pretty sure we have no idea where we're going) (Oh look it's the stalker squad) (I see what you did there, Jan) Deborah and Esther are not the most known but pretty important Biblical figures in the Bible. It's kind of a nod what Jan based the idea of Arceus being based off of the Catholic Church. I should've looked at the other maid names to see if they shared the same theme. Though I only know who Esther is due to the Veggie Tales Movie. Those things really did a good job and are fun to watch. (I don't think Aelita even knows who these guy are) (She has herself to blame for that. She was the one who invited me to her church then imprisoned me) (Something tells me it won't be that easy) (We're so going to lose this race. I already went the wrong way to trigger this event and have to go back) (That looks like something a 5 year old scribbled. What even is that supposed to be?) (Oh boy, I remember the last time I played a game with a maid. It wasn't fun.) (...No, this isn't fun) (Let's not.) Before we do that, there's something important we need to read: (Ouch! That's a terrible way to die.) (...So that's why my feet have this burning feeling. I thought it was just a rash) And part 2: (This mountain is beyond saving at this point. Man, you gotta feel so bad for Keta) And part 3 since I missed it: (Only Sandile can be found here) (Soon, I'll come for you, random TM) After one pain in the butt search later (I can only do so many before I lose it), (No, that was an awful game. Do you see the high encounter rate here? Do you think it's fun dealing with that? "Use a repel" they say. Those cost money.) (...............Are you the daughter of the maid I did in the past? Or did she do me?) (This is why you don't stick your dick in crazy) (Yeah, I don't think I need to explain what happened here) As a side note, Wisp Bone learned Flare Blitz. He finally has a fire stab. (Finally. Now I can get out of this blasted mountain) (The only thing immune to corruption is corruption itself...that can only mean...) (Be careful, Aelita. I think this is Yeetder's lair) I know I should be making fun of a user, but some regular here made an account purely to flame me. I think it's fair game at that point since it's not a real person. No, Yeetder is a state of mind. (Sure...but first...) (So we get both the bomb and the wave here. Nice!) (Do you think the ancients will mind if I take a pee break here? It's those blasted waterfalls) (Don't mind me. I'm just going to ignore you for a second) (What do they mean by...) (Oh, now I get it) Finally, it's been like forever since we did a puzzle. (Wait, weren't you just downstairs?) (Well obviously the front door is to progress the plot so let's just keep go...) (OH NO! NOT YOU AGAIN! GO THE HELL AWAY!) This really is Yeetder's lair. Only he would bring something so evil into such a sacred ground. (...I really should've brought a better team) (At least I can Veigue Endeavor + Ice Shard Cheese it) (Well that wasn't too bad) (.......Let's go back to the entrance...something tells me I'm not supposed to be here) I think this is a glitch due to the fact you can get to the end before doing this scene: (Oh it's magic. It must be evil magic. That is the only explanation) (Aelita, do you really think that's going to work? Remember what happened in Goldenwood. I swear if you pass out on me again, I might submit myself to Yeetder) (At least you now resort to violence more. Violence solves everything...except saving Nim) (Sure. Whatever. Just stay out of my way.) (Give up. These people can't be reasoned with. They offer themselves as sacrifices when they lost a Pokemon battle) (Oh look, she's speaking your language now) (And to the trash, go the spoiled) (And now we do puzzles. Hooray!) (I'm pretty sure Saki is working on a plan. There's also Plan B. We're not screwed) (Again, we're like the slowest people in Aevium. They'll probably be done by the time I get it.) (And now it's puzzle time) (That was a pretty easy puzzle) (Just a what? A ruse? A game? A run made for entertainment purposes?) (Correction: I'm doing the running. Aelita is just sitting there bossing me to move statues. This is bad for my back) (You guys really want Angie back. Wasn't she kind of about to die?) (...I like the other one better. Can we have her again?) (...Aelita, forgive me for all the terrible things I've said about you in the past. You are so much better then the rest of the Melia gang) (And battle time. This will probably be rather easy) (...Of course I get burned) (And paralyzed) (Pretty sure Loewe KO'd whatever that was) (I really should've brought Gaius with me. Damn water types) (Well at least that is over with. Hopefully I'll be able to heal soon) (Well I beat both of them in a battle so all that's left is Cera) (YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! ANOTHER ONE! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!) Only one being is so evil he'd throw a second one just to make me suffer even more. So I don't have it but Loewe was the only one able to do damage and barely lived to activate Torrent Aqua Jet. All I have left was Veigue with 1 HP and this happened: (It's a crit hit wonder) Yep. I barely won due to a critical hit. I'm not dealing with running back through that mountain so this is what my team looks like: (This is why you should always bring a grass type. Damn maid) And now time for more puzzles: (Oh good the last puzzle. I don't know how much more I can take) (Wait...did I do the wrong puzzle?) (._. All of that work just for this. What a great reward.) (After 15 tries due to Veigue dying, I got it on the first try. Too easy) I'm really stubborn on the healing. And now for the other puzzle: (Well that was rather easy) So what I actually did was screencap the answer statues and use them as a reference where what goes where. That's one nice thing about the forums. It's not a difficult puzzle as all you have to worry about it making a wrong move locking a statue in the wrong spot. Still, I had a lot of fun with that. At least it isn't a headache level Ame puzzle. Some of those are brutal. (PLEASE NOT ANOTHER STATUE!) Thank the lord there wasn't another one. I would've had to backtrack to heal. (We are probably a couple miles underground. This whole thing could collapse on us easily. So no, no need to worry) (I never could figure out how to get down to get that TM) (The only good thing in this situation is there's not a character in sight that I hate....I don't want that to end) (Eh, I was distracted by puzzles. I can't keep myself away from those babies) (...Why do we need a flashback of this? We were there like 5 minutes ago) (Go away Esther. Nobody loves you. Not even Angie) (...We literally had no other way to go) (Oh look, all of this was for nothing) (This should be an obvious answer. I wonder what the other options do) (It was probably Yeetder's doing. He can't make it too easy to get his treasure) (I do like the emphasis thing here) (I have a book. Does that count?) (Well that was disappointing, but we had a puzzle so all is forgiven) (Who would ever know...Crescent. Oh Crescent, where are you? We need your Deus Ex Machina powers right about now) (Oh yeah. I've missed that old lady. I wonder how she's taking all of this. Aelita and I did kind of go off the grid for like a month) (Huh. We just had a chapter without a major battle. That feels anticlimatic. At least this isn't Blacksteeple where we went chapters without battles) So two things: The first is that I stopped the chapter here because it leaves just enough for the next part. I usually go with 200-400 pics trying to finish on a climatic battle, but sometimes it just doesn't work that way. The other thing is that I'm probably surprisingly silent on this segment. Other than getting my ass kicked by what are probably considered easy fights, there really isn't anything I had to say. The Texen segment was great, but this was just really meh. It's not bad, but it just means everything passes, but I didn't see anything that stood out too much. The SEC segment was short and to the point which I liked better than...our other experiences. I will say that this Aelita is better than the older Aelita as her character traits aren't blown out of proportion. She's still headstrong, but not to the degree she was. That's a good level for a main character and I honestly kind of wish she was the protagonist now. She's a likable character, she has quite a bit of development, and still has a lot of room for growth. She also has good chemistry with the PC and they bounce of each other rather well. And yeah, yeah, the guy who likes circle jerking Rejuv isn't complaining because he can't find anything to complain about. I...really do have a self-destructive mind. It's a good thing I don't listen to my conscience. Next 3 chapters whenever they come out will certainly be quite the treat. It may be more surprising then me seeing a third Kingdra statue. Fuck those things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted December 3, 2018 Author Share Posted December 3, 2018 Chapter 49: Cera Minting the Past I'm still terrible at chapter names, but what else is new. So one thing I want to clear up is the whole "Because I'm complaining about a battle means that I'm terrible at the game." Really? I have gotten slightly worse over time just not spending as much time on Pokemon, but I'm probably better than people may take me credit for. I'm also worse than people take me credit for. Spending god knows how long on a mod for a "harder" version of Reborn has done me both good and harm, but that's not the point. When I say I have an issue, I'm not pulling things out of my ass as you may expect. Let this sink in: Crawli, other than Narcissa (which was by pure luck), is the leader who took me the least attempts, but I still said he was too hard. I'll recap every leader fight with how many attempts it took (or a rough guess) me along with my thoughts of the designs: V9 fights- Venam (2 attempts) - It's a good first fight since we've had enough battle to get the hang, but nothing in this fight is too punishing other than possibly Toxic Spikes. Seviper is a good ace pretty much making it the main threat and the true challenge of the fight. Keta (1 attempt) - due to the quests being available beforehand, this fight is very easy to blow through so whatever challenge was there was kind of blown away. I liked to think of it more as Keta not being able to focus due to having a very unclear head shown by his spirit half in the grotto. It didn't earn a badge so it didn't really matter all that much. I do think keeping it to singles right now is a wise choice since it appeals and helps newer players get better at the game slowly. Revenant Keta (1 attempt) - I loved the idea behind this fight as it was a "trim the fat" kind of fight. I really think keeping it to 3 really strong Pokemon probably would've worked better, but I know it's supposed to be a WLL reference in the new version. I was using a weak team (remember, we don't have all that many good options for newer players) so I thought it was just right, but it's easy to see why other people could think it was too easy. Marianette (5 attempts) - To sum it up: The fight was the Bewear and nothing else. Everything just felt so underwhelming compared to that which is kind of think heavily nerfing the Bewear and giving everything else a decent boost would have made it work rather well. Mostly just nerf Bewear though. Narcissa (1 attempt) - This is a just right kind of boss since she didn't hit too hard, but she wasn't easy to take down either. If you had a type advantage you could make great use of it and be rewarded for playing smart. This was a very fun fight and I was worried it was going to be outrageously hard, but it really wasn't. I had a team with a huge advantage against her so it should be kind of easy then. Valarie (3 attempts) - So something of importance is that post Narcissa is not a very friendly area to grind Pokemon off of to get leveled up or even close to proper levels. This was added with the fact you were kind of soft-locked into a small area of the game. So while Valarie might be considered too easy, there was a lot of stuff that if she was too hard would pretty much turn people really off of this game considering we were in a very, very story heavy scene with little else. You could pretty much beat her with any team so long as you planned your moves and steps. V10 fights- Valarie (2 attempts, but didn't win) - The Qwilfish steamrolled through my entire team that was 5 levels above it. Qwilfish is not a weak Pokemon, but when someone gives advice of "Just have something that can take it out" pretty much as advice to win the battle, is that really a good battle? The game probably had a lot of changes in the previous areas, but bloody hell this was a huge step in difficulty from V9 Narcissa. This fight would've broken me and the run would've stopped if not for the V9 fight existing. I don't even know how good or bad the rest of her Pokemon are because I didn't have a single thing to handle the Qwilfish. Crawli (2.5 attempts) - Okay, so the first one was kind of a meme because I had two Pokemon who would've absolutely dominated Shelly and Bennet in Reborn get absolutely destroyed because I wasn't expecting something of that level to be thrown. So that was a reset after round one. Anyways, the issue isn't so much his design, but from a defensive perspective. We don't have a very attractive set of Pokemon to the casuals and this team hits very, very hard so you could be brutally annihilated due to A) the sticky web move B) Fire Damage being severely crippled due to rain, and C) Rock Slide flinch fun. You need a team more tailored to take it down which fortunately you do have access to older areas now. It definitely could use some toning down because that's a lot of things thrown at you which none of the other fights really did before to that extreme. Angie (5 attempts) - She's just right, but a little on the hard side. If you have type advantages, you can make really good use of them to combat against her. Fire type were pretty crippled because I didn't destroy the field, but there's so many ways to try and stop her that it doesn't feel restricted or limited and you could use almost any team to win with little worry. I've only felt 3 of 9 Gym leaders or a third were really an issue. Valarie and Crawli kind of are the ones to take note and that was the switch over to V10 so of course I'm going to assume all the other leaders before followed this idea. The game had a HUGE shift in difficulty which it's kind of like going from E17 Serra into E18 Serra which due to a mechanic change made her quite a bit more difficult. I'm not sure if that was a good change as the more difficult a game is, the less people are interested in it (and if anyone says Dark Souls, I will cut you). More vocal people would like it better because they have all already been through this with Reborn so it would come off as way too easy unless the difficulty was amped a bit. Y'all are gonna think I'm stupid for suggesting this, but I think there's a way we can meet in the middle and it's like very little work to do. So the modes are: Casual Mode (aka Easy) Normal Mode (Reborn Style) Intense Mode My suggestion would be to change them to this: Normal Hard Intense You would set this selection through a loop given a little bit of a description of what each one does (which is why you wouldn't have to put Reborn Style on Hard) before confirming if this is the difficulty you want. Afterwards, I'd leave a message that the difficulty can be changed at any time using a gym terminal (or whatever those things are called). I told you, it probably sounds rather stupid without context so let me just break it down and explain. The big change is there's no "easy" mode as while it still is the same difficulty, the game doesn't treat it so much like it's frowned upon which people new to these kinds of games would probably jump to first to try this game out. Hard mode would read "for experienced players" more or less and people who are very familiar with Pokemon would pretty much jump towards that one and...it no longer needs to be compared to Reborn. You also can't complain so much about something being too hard on hard. Intense is for the thrill seekers. The most crucial thing for this to work is the ease of access to the difficulty levels. I'm not sure if the option being in the menus is too glitchy or not but there's really no point in the difficulty change being that tedious and hard to do. Those Jan ports are a good location if the options menu is not possible or practical. So many games with difficulty options are doing it this way and there's really no justified reason not to. What, are you worried that someone is going to lower the difficulty just to get past a boss so they can keep having fun? More often then not, someone might try playing on harder difficulties for fights since there's now consequence in doing so and they can just adjust the difficulty back down in case it's too hard. This sounds like such a pointless change, but it's worked time and time again. Players are curious and it's just like pressing the red button. Someone's going to push it. I probably would've done some of the intense leaders or at least showcased them a bit with my ass being handed to it, but it's just a pain to change it right now. And changing the difficulties and giving descriptions would give me a better idea what is trying to be designed in terms of difficulty as right now I'm just going off it trying to be like Reborn for battles as it is Reborn Style. Also my impression of what people who don't like this run think of me: *hurr durr* Rejav sux Melia ass so bad. Y u gutta chan all dat shit az it waz better before. Alzo da baddles sux even more azz 'caz zey 2 hurd far me. I ez fanny guy. Plah Reducks instad of zis sit game. *hurr der durr* So fun fact: I am too tired to argue with people by the end of each chapter so I have a hard time even caring to respond back to those kinds of people. If you hate the run, don't read it or better yet, make your own. Your perspective might start changing afterwards. And ain't nobody going to be complaining about a third big Rejuv run on the website. I don't mind being third or fourth or whatever either. Plus you talking about this run only benefits me. And anything I say pretty much brings more benefits than harm to Rejuv. I just want to clear that up as anything I say or do really only hurts me and not so much the game. And besides, it is kind of funny or pitiful if someone gets mad at someone getting mad at a video game or hating it. It's almost like my opinion matters. But seriously, I know there's a lot of things I do that can be annoying or aggravating which I do try to be more self-conscious to avoid but I don't filter my thoughts too often. I've also done plenty jumping the gun. So let's talk about the other thing: Redux. I am working on both simultaneously and after spending a long time on both it's hard to do one without talking about the other. Do I think it's the best thing ever? Well it was originally me just designing Reborn the way I wanted to play it so I hope I like it, but it's flawed and definitely has bundles of issues some of which I'd love to fix but I don't want to put in the hours focusing no fixing them. I could shred on my own work and make it look like trash if I wanted to revealing certain things and such, but what's the fun in that. I probably won't mention it here anymore but I ain't gonna be quiet about the Rejuv battles though. It probably does give you impressions that I hate them...and it's not exactly the case. I hound Alex and Azery for the changes they made because they are literally doing the same thing I am, but for a much broader audience. I just did a QA (quality assessment) test of Serra just yesterday and what probably would've felt fine for them, I ended up nerfing, not because it wasn't beatable, but because she was doing too much damage and there weren't enough counters to properly combat that. She lost about 4 levels on each Pokemon and a number of items were changed. That was a fight that was perfectly acceptable, but I felt should be nerfed. It's not something you get good at in the snap of the finger. Going into a fight with a really bad team is such a good way to QA test because it gives you a better idea of what needs changed and adjusted. And believe it or not, Serra is still on my radar for a second run because I'm not particularly fond of how she fights, but she passes for right now. I'm not saying to do things my way, but since there are two people dedicated to the system it should be able to be more consistent in difficulty. I say Valarie and Crawli are too hard, but in reality it could be that Angie is too easy. All I know is that it set itself to be like Reborn so that's the benchmark I have to use when comparing. That's something I'll sort out before talking about future battles though. I'm also a proud supporter Pokemon Memeborn. Anyways, this may sound contradictory but while I tell people who hate the run not to read it, it doesn't mean I don't take what they say into consideration. If you have a point, you have a point no matter what and sometimes you can take that and use that to your advantage. I'm not going to lay off so much on the rants (considering what's coming), but I will try to find something else to do other than the constant bashing. Wow, I really need to stop talking so much. Now let's get back to the new and improved, but actually just the same show but lamer run: (That's certainly one way to open a chapter) (Hold on...let me look at that sprite) I see what the spriter was going for but it looks a little off tbh with it being an L. A fitting L, but a weird one nonetheless. Not really sure what you can do to make it look like his hair was burned off. Tiny details are sometimes night impossible to do. Also, Ninetales . When are you gonna gimmie mine, Jan? (Elder...we vandalized a home. I think that's at least justified for a temporary ban) (Wow, he thinks lighting someone's hair on fire is an offense. Isn't like an everyday college occurrence?) (For the love of god, Texen. Don't put disturbing images in my head) ("And I advise you to shut the hell up" would've been a classic line) (Absolutely nothing. No really, she did almost nothing) (Did he just...kick an old lady into the water? I don't know if this man is bold or stupid) (Did she just go down a waterfall and live? How did she not stop? How fast is this current? How is she alive?) We should check on her. But first, (I have never been so happy to see a Pokemon Center. Veigue can only live for so long) Btw, this is how battles work in a nutshell for me: Spoiler This would make more sense if Veigue was still named Jesus. It's stupid but I'm only posting it because that Samurott's face is priceless (Well she went down 3 waterfalls down a fast current so...she's perfectly fine) (That's as close to getting a girl wet as Texen...this is a family friendly run, I promise) (Weren't there like 20 witnesses? Why isn't anyone doing anything? Oh right. Nobody does anything in Rejuv outside of Melia) (I would like to be Sensei now. Though Master Sensei Commander just sounds like a weird title to compensate for something) (Contracts. It's always some bloody contract.) (...Why couldn't you be Sensei? You are the only down to earth character in Rejuv) (Aww...btw, what did Texen even get a degree in? He sounds like one of those theater kids) (I uhhh...kind of know, but I don't know why that would be a reason not to. This whole plot is confusing) (Oh thank the heavens. Aelita used her brain. If certain others did that, we wouldn't be in the predicament we're in now) (Why do I think of Gogo from Final Fantasy every time I see that word. I have no idea why) (Those Garfuas are everywhere, man. Jenner probably has some stuffed in his closet) (It's Reburst, but lame. Never read the manga, but it looked cool enough) (Cue the fetch quest in 3...2...1...) (So what do we have to do to get you down there?) (Who could she have...Vivian?) (Dark Magic is definitely not something to be messed with. Just ask Fire Emblem...except Fates. That doesn't count) (I suddenly don't think this is a good idea. Shouldn't we at least go see what Saki is doing? She had a decent idea...no. Of course not) (Silly Aelita, people are treating you like a child because you are one. I didn't know you wanted me to baby speak to you) (Says the girl who got one-shot by a Mewtwo, passed out from being choked by a Gengar, got captured and tortured in Prison, had to be dragged around by Valarie, and took a month just to get one gym badge. You've got a great reputation). (Pretty sure Sheridan means "This place sucks. Let's burn it down and build a resort.") (If annoying her to death actually works...) (Wow, that actually worked. Maybe if I annoy Geara enough he'll throw Nim at me to stop) (Something tells me the opposite is going to happen to all of us. I mean the game is hyping these things up left and right. They are way more hyped than the gym battles.) (No, we are going right here and right now. I want my stone and I want it now) (Thank you, Jan for the instant warp) You know what I don't understand, why are we stuck with the most boring characters of the whole selection for the main cast? I mean the elder isn't like the most exciting but even she's way more interesting then Melia. It's really hard to find those scenes boring as it shows le gasp character growth of Aelita realizing she's matured and doesn't need the elder aka her mother figure as much anymore. This is stuff I've been asking for on characters over 20 chapters ago. Texen was also here for the perfect amount of time not overstaying his welcome as being here for too long on screen might end up making him very stale. I'm just trying to find words because I have been so pessimistic due to the slog I kind of forgotten what a nice story experience is in Rejuv. It's simple, down to earth, and it actually makes sense. Its when stuff like this comes up that I kind of wish we had a talking protagonist in Rejuv in contrasts to the so many chapters before where I'm glad they didn't because we don't need anymore cockstrocking Melia. I don't hate Melia, but she would have been a much better deuteragonist over the protagonist. I will make something clear: the playable character does not have to be the protagonist but usually are due to the player controlling them. Robin and Chrom are probably the best example of what Melia and the player should be. Why does Robin and Chrom work where Melia and the player don't. Yeah, yeah we aren't talking about Awakening's story, but Chrom and Robin make a pretty good pair which is a bit harder to argue. They work because they complete each other. Robin helps Chrom get out of jams and Chrom supports Robin and encourages them to keep going no matter how rough things get. And despite those two being some of the weakest main characters in terms of depth, that idea works so well and why so many people like the two (and always think of them as best bros). Melia and the PC are best described as Goku and Krillin. How's it feel to be worthless? It's probably just better to leave this where it is at, but if someone goes "alright, we're actually going to dedicate a lot of time to fixing the Blacksteeple and Terajuma segments, does anyone have suggestions?" that'd be a rather amusing attempt to fix what is pretty much agreed upon the worst part of Rejuv. And add that Saki path already, Jan. (Pretty sure underground city above a town has been done like 1,000 times. We just assume something is below half the time nowadays) I know what I said so don't correct me. (Who the heck is Tommen? I don't remember him. Actually, I don't think grunts have names) (Battle time?) (Okay, hold the phone) It says his name is Tommen and then it's ???. How has this mistake not been spotted for like 2 years? (Yes, I know. I saw your name before) (Dully noted. Get better ink next time, buddy) (Sheer determination and vines is my guess) (This guy has been here a month. Talk about hardcore. Everyone probably thought he was dead) (Wait, how do we even know the Magma Stone is here? Are we during this out of pure hope?) (If it was, where's Crescent when you actually need her? I probably could bug her to giving us the stone) (Huh. That was easy) (And convenient.) (Oh he has that book that translates text. If only it worked for Kanji. My life would be complete) (Aren't those the gen...IV HGSS heal tiles? Can't remember if it's Gen IV or V) (Actually it might be FRLG Lavender Tower. It's been so long since I played that game) (That seems easy enough. I don't mind doing it. Not like anything bad happens to people standing on switches) (I don't mind standing on the switch) (I seriously don't mind sitting one out. I usually do all the work for nothing anyways) (Yes, it will. You're one of the few people in the game I actually like.) (That's true. I hate standing in one place for a long time too) (It's hereditary. That and I'm the only one with a high success rate here. Guess I have no say) (Okay. Guess we're teaming up with Granny) (You're doing great. I'll be back after an hour.) (If someone told me I'd still be working on this run after a year, I wouldn't have believed them. WHY DOES THIS THING TAKE SO LONG TO DO?) (Is this the Shouta thing or some WLL? Don't answer that) (Oh no...Snoop Dog, he's returned. Yeetder, what have you done?) (Does some nerd want to explain this for me because I thought heat rose or something so it wouldn't be centuries old.) (We shall. If you weren't an old lady, I'd be making so many innuendos about now) (They really should drag Madelis's ass back here and see the damage she's done and lock her up down here. I think that's a fitting end to a character like her) (Meh. I predict it'll be an easy battle. I have Veigue after all. Nothing can stop him...except Qwilfish) (Oh look dying maids. We totally haven't seen that before) (How does that even....that's a stupid question. Just more nonsense in a world of nonsense) (...Yep. Time to go. Let's just leave and find Saki. I'm sure she has a good idea by now. Or a bad one. Either way it'll work in my favor) (Gee...what did you think would be behind a 1000 year old sealed door? A dry mushroom?) (You probably should've had that message left outside the door) (Remember this, I'm going to use it against Jan later) (And of course it's in a single Pokeball. I call hax) (Well she did kill half her own men) (Can I pay it in hearts instead? Love makes the world go round...and gives everyone else points) (Ask anyone. I really don't know the meaning of giving up as every time I quit, I just come right back) (Isn't that what Frenchera said? Actually, I feel like a lot of characters have said this) (You want to kill us, but you tell us to stand back...brilliant strategy there. 10/10 planning) (So he's supposed to be scary, but he's really not. He only nearly destroyed the world once. Just once. Then another time brought havoc due to earthquakes. Third time he was just a troll appearing on the box art but not being in the game. He really likes to ruin stuff.) (Garufans have some really weird hobbies. Why would you spend so many resources trapping Groudon? Don't tell me they also did it to Regigigas?) I just find it amusing Groudon is trapped while Giratina was just roaming around casually. (Who the heck would complain about getting a legendary? It's a legendary.) (Oh joy another legendary Pokemon battle. My favorite...not) Getting real tired of this theme. Real tired. So yeah, because I do less caption I rant less. Coincidence? I think...actually totally. Unless I see something really big that I want to talk about right that second, I'll probably save my thoughts mostly towards the end of a chapter or a really big scene. But...here's the problem: we've seen this song and dance in the game multiple times. Remember Amethyst Cave? This is pretty similar to that scenario. And random NPCs dying is just done so much I don't think it even is given much thought. Angie did sacrifice the rest. These are merely props. I'm going to use Cold Steel as an example of what a character vs a prop dying feels like. This is CSII spoilers so if you plan to play the game don't read this: Spoiler One of the places you go back to and visit is the town of Celdic. You visit there twice before this event unfolds and you can talk to a large amount of NPCs each who have a unique set of dialogue. I also want to mention it has been 2 years since I've played this game. So what happens on the third visit is the town was raided and many of the buildings were damaged or destroyed. One of the things you can do is visit the church. I may get mixed up which one was injured since it's been that long but one of the injured I think was the girl with the boy who argued and teased her regretting the things he did. Another was the local farmer with his partner from the capital leaning over him wishing it was him on that bed instead. Another one was the waiter at the pub which she was supposed to take the day off but went to work anyways. It actually really hit home that these were people I recognized in the game and more than props just filling the beds and it really added to making the scene all the more impacting. The gut feeling is that all these people got hurt due to one person wanting to flex his power on innocent people. People's lives were ruined from something so pointless. I think another pretty iconic death was in Ocarina of Time with the unknown soldier who you talk to hearing his last words before he died simply doing his job. That is one thing that I will criticize Reborn and Rejuv on is just tossing deaths left and right that the big ones really aren't as impacting. Sure it's mostly baddies that die, but it's not different then when they were alive, is there? Rejuv does this a little bit better by giving more random NPCs more personality and stories though some are not quite so clear. It's all these minor NPCs that save what save what I'd say would be a sub-par experience. Don't take that as an insult please. Rejuv is a very, very flawed game and not admitting that would just be pure ignorance. What I can't really decide is if it's a good game held back greatly by its negatives or is a mess which manages to show it can be good or even great. Actually, now would be a good time to explain my feelings towards this game. I don't hate Rejuv. And many of my negative thoughts would be more on the lines of forgettable over flaws if I was doing a normal playthrough. This run is like a second trip through this game letting me catching things I missed and maybe see things in a new light I wouldn't normally. I probably would speak better of Rejuv because of this run than I would if I played it like a normal player. A lot of things I complain about other RPGs can do and even some of my favorites do it as much if not worse, but I do think it's better to point that out than to be silent. So one thing I didn't talk about is the maid game which I hated at first but I kind of like the crystal hunt looking back even though it technically is just pointless padding. Then the game goes and does stuff that I'd even say surpasses a lot of what Reborn does. One of them was the theater play. This created a rather polarizing experience as when the game is good it's a blast, but when it gets bad, it really, really drags on. Normally, I have a pretty good idea if I'll really like a game or not by this far into the game...this is a first where I still don't know. Rejuv is a good Fan-game and probably going to be one of the best and a rather unique way to approach the story being very anime inspired making for some vibrant visuals throughout the game. As a game in general, Rejuvenation had potential to be better than Reborn. When you play a variety of RPGs, you normally don't talk about hacks and fan-games because there is a giant field and most of those are considered terrible. Reborn is among the best of the best in terms of how well made fan-games are, but it's not one that's really easy to approach so casually. It more or less has just the right amount of difficulty to attract and keep people around, but sometimes goes overboard with its dark elements. Rejuv isn't as dark and does thrown in a lot of RPG staples. It should be the more approachable game regardless of quality. It lacks polish. That's the problem. The difficulty is skewed to make sure fights are harder, and the story is hit or miss with it only being remembered by how ridiculous it gets which some is very unintentional. It's a fun game, but it needs more focus and fleshing out in early parts to keep players wanting to continue. And that all goes back to Terajuma. Seems that that's the one thing that's the most criticized and complained about. So for a fun challenge, let's say I was in charge of designing a complete revamp of the Terajuma segment. There are some restrictions though: I cannot change the player's path, I cannot add or change the order of the battles, and I cannot add any characters to the cast that weren't involved before. This'll be a fun challenge as I try to make going through Terajuma a blast to read or die trying. That's a full scale chapter so don't expect it to come out soon though. Redoing the wall scene easily is going to be my favorite thing. That'll be a fun nod to one of my favorite movies. Now let's go back to doing a run. (Wow...she's kind of cute. Why do I have a thing for crazed cultist maids?) (Maybe I should have brought a better team) (Well that backfired) (Now come! My noble steed shall pull us to victory) (The beast has been slain. Onward, my steed. Yah!) I love this Gastrodon. Why haven't I used one of these sooner? I really didn't think Sir Pearl would pull his wait but he's surprised me. I'm tempted to make him a permanent spot on the team...after the Grass leader. Walter, Loewe, and Veigue are the only permanent members so far. I'm considering dropping a bunch of guys from the train list. We'll see. (I think it's dead, Cer) (...You took it down in a Poke ball...) (I just beat your master in a battle. How does that make me weak?) (Yep. And I'm guessing Cera is out of Pokemon thanks to that thing) (Okay, getting sick of this cultist and Arceus stuff) Not really against this on Jan, but if you make a fan-game, for the love of everything don't make a cult group or a crazed or evil church organization. That trope has been driven almost to death. It was cool I'd say 8 or so years ago, but so many games have done something around it that it's just predictable and boring. It's actually abnormal to have church do things like sermons and helping the poor. It's also a kind of boring and lazy way to make an antagonist. Their drive against the protagonist is the obsession of a higher entity to believe what they are doing is for the greater good. If you do try it, at least make them more down to earth or sane. There's plenty of ways to actually go about it. Though I will say I am a bit disappointed Angie is going to return. I really think her being a small antagonist with a very minor role was perfect and bringing her back would simply dampen her character or make her not likable. The most familiar example I can think of is Corey and he someone how survived his suicide and showed up later in the story. His role is done and it was short and simple. That brings me to Cera. I'll talk about her in a little bit. (Isn't that a spot in heaven or something? I dunno. Never read the Book of Arceus) (Well that was convenient) (Joy. She's about to get the Magma...) (Well that's different) So it's a minor detail, but I would've preferred if we actually controlled the character to pick the stone up. It's not a major complaint, but we are a silent protagonist and it's important to feel like we're in control of ourselves. On the other hand, I do like that our character actually accomplished something instead of being a worthless loaf like many of the other cast members. (What is she doing with that old lady?) (Oh joy, we have to make a choice here. Just let the hostage go and nobody gets hurt) (Guess we're going to let grandma die) (Yes, I need it to save Nim to cross lava which I totally haven't been able to do for the last few chapters) (Pretty sure the rest have no idea about this plan, but whatever. Yes, I have to save them) (...That too is a fair point) (Oh boy, I'm not sure what to do...though I should probably keep the stone) (I'm going to leave a bunch of space while you take a guess at what I chose) While I do kind of know what the consequences of the choices are, I'll always pick what I believe is I would choose for a first run. So which one do you think I picked? Any guesses? I mean it's pretty obvious given the captions Also, how is your day? It's night for me so I'll say it was nice. What's your favorite color? Or your favorite hobby? I mean I gotta fill this blank space up with something. At least it isn't song lyrics Or poetry. Bleh. Poetry. Do you think this is enough space? I think it's enough space. Time for the results: (Yes, I gave the stone to her) (Please don't kill the old lady...please don't kill her anyways) (On the bright side, I don't think Angie will hate me as much. Maybe she'll be on my side...still a better ally than Venam) (Don't ever come back) So I believe the elder actually dies if you don't give her the stone. While I do have the lava board, I probably wouldn't have given it to her anyways as I figured there'd have to be some other way to get that TM later. Also, I totally would've traded it for that Groudon. Anyways, the elder may be old, but there's still a lot of questions left and she is the one piece of Sheridan that is keeping the place together or at least Aelita together after all that happened. Both the stone or the elder may turn out to be useful later as well. Cera likely will not care about the stone after Angie's return so we may be able to retrieve it later. We cannot revive the dead. It may sound stupid to give up the stone, but we aren't that desperate yet as we had a couple other options. I kind of wish Saki would've stepped in and save the day as that would've tied in nice with the story, but sadly that didn't happen and we get something else. We'll get to that when we get there. There is something else to talk about: Angie. I said I wish Angie was gone, but I actually feel this should've happened the way it happened. What I wish happened was an extra scene where you see Cera free Angie, but Angie dies due to the overexertion of her powers. She said she was close to death when Kress froze her. That would then leave Cera all alone with her purpose in life stripped away from her. That's a dangerous character you don't know what to expect from and rather interesting to see what became of her during the whole offscreen time. If you didn't give Cera the stone, Cera would then still be desperate to find a way to save her even if she knows in her heart it's pointless as she's going to perish soon due to the event that unfolded. It's much more interesting to let Cera develop over simply letting her be second fiddle to Angie which we know what to expect from her. I think this was a good way to actually divert expectations as Cera feels like a nothing character which her playing a bigger role than Angie would have been a nice surprise. (Yes, you said that already. So did Keta. You should really play more importance in your life over being a martyr here) (If it's inevitable, then it doesn't sound so much like a made a bad choice) (Probably not for a few versions) (Well I just had a couple heated moments...I'll stop) Love how we just leave the unconcious Groudon there instead of trying to catch it. (NOPE!) (Don't be. I made my choice) I can't really judge how well the choice was but it was an interesting idea. If it doesn't add anything later, it's a skewed choice where it tells the player material is more important than people kind of cancelling the morality of the choice. If letting the elder die is part of a good ending, that'll bother me a little bit. I hate when killing off characters is the right choice. (Maybe she's sleeping. She has a habit of passing out after an intense battle) (Nope. Still don't see her) (I was just kidding...geeze) (No, just...wait if she passed out, how did we get out? Was it that soon?) (That's not possible. Remember what he said) (Oh no. Not this again) (...It's almost as if we have short term memory.) I hate flashbacks of things that happened 10 minutes ago. It's lazy and annoying. Now if it happened like 10 or 20 hours ago with easy to miss information, that's a bit of a different story. Even then, that's still stretching it. (Don't tell me it's some eternal sleep. I ain't kissing that girl to wake her up) (......Well at least it isn't a guy) (What did we do?) (Great, now I have to play hide and seek) (Well that was easy) (Am I going to have to face him in a boss battle? I didn't think Gnosis existed in this game) (And he vanished) I have no idea what happened and I don't care. Tommen didn't really have a personality anyways. I...also suddenly remembered Derogs random powers thing. Do you want to know what I got? I got the greatest power of all: Not having to bathe every day. I've been reading previous parts since I caught up. I just wanted to check one thing about the choices and saw that. I also just read what happens if you keep the stone...I'm going to use a spoiler box which I don't think you should read: Spoiler ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? It's literally the same exact choice except one you get a TM. That's bullshit. At least kill the elder if you are going to pull that kind of shit. I can't believe I made the wrong freaking choice as it's a good old illusion of choice except I got screwed out of a TM I needed but not really. Great. Just fan fucking tastic. Great game design right there. And it didn't even matter as the stone was going to be able to melt Angie anyways. I just got freaking jipped man. And I thought I made the smart choice but NOPE! What a fantastic way to end a chapter. I really should not have read that. So I do take back what I said on that choice. It's good to provide a big decision like that when it means something. I kind of think that was a dick move as it really should have ended the same way regardless if you're going to make the other choice have no consequences. I'm not mad about my choice because that's on me. I just can't believe that. This game is a rollercoaster to talk about. It does a lot of really good things then one of these slams you in the face. So I guess we see Angie regardless. We were so close. So close but I screwed it all up by looking at the other choice. I think the golden thing is that a future story segment could have been avoided is if the player ran and fought uhhh...Cera for the piece of Magma Stone. Like that's such a simple solution, but we got what's coming up eventually. I'm done and over that for right now. From a story perspective at that moment, I like the handing her the stone option as it flows better. I think this sums it up: Spoiler Days I've gone without losing it in a rant: 0 Sigh... (I think we both need a drink right about now) (Oh backstory, wonder if that's going to be covered in WLL or V10) (I fucked up. I fucked up real hard. I'm as bad as Melia. Wait, no I'm not. She is the reason I'm doing this whole convoluted thing) (The others are going to kill me. But nobody wanted to go with Saki's plan) (If we listened to Saki, nobody would have had to die) (...Even when I don't lose somebody I lose somebody. WHY DOES EVERYBODY I LIKE LEAVE ME?) (.......Great. Now we'll have to find some ancient magic to undo it or something) I'm going to be honest, I don't think Aelita is permanently dead or in this state. She's an important character and those seem to find ways to get out of situations like this through one asspull or another. If Aelita is actually dead or permanently out of the story, I would have been impressed pulling off the balls to do that. I mean stuff like this is very common, but actually staying dead is a different story. But I wouldn't have guessed they would've thrown something like this at you randomly in the middle of a segment. Then again, I wouldn't have guessed Texen either. (...Gonna guess that's supposed to be "and" there) (Remind me to do this because I probably would totally forget.) (I feel like even more shit because I got nothing out of this. She died for nothing) (Oh right because I totally have a bunch of Shadow Pokemon on me. Oh wait we haven't seen any in who knows how long) (...uhh...we have plenty of time. I don't think Geara and Zetta are going to do anything to Nim. You can't catch a fish without the bait) So I think how they killed off Aelita right now is actually really good. It gives a premise that the Garufa are not good people and more likely are dark corrupted souls. It's kind of like Fire Emblem's dark magic in a sense. I know some people probably aren't a fan of this and the whole people having powers but I actually think it's a fascinating idea that can work really well...if done right. It's still too early to tell on that concept's execution but it is something that can go horribly wrong given it's a Pokemon game. The redesign of this place was spectacular and a great improvement. I didn't even know this was pretty much just a tiny cave originally. Some people may not like the added padding but I think it was a good choice, but it was needed much, much earlier in the game to break up the story segments. We've been jammed with a lot of dialogue and story at a very continuous rate which is due to how steamlined the game focused on being. It's Orre fever in a way. Because there's not much exploration to break up the story and side stories, it can be draining when things are meh or just okay. It can lead those things to be worse than they are which is Blacksteeple and Terajuma in a nutshell. And these added a lot more dialogue and padding on top of a pretty padded story. I see what was trying to be done but it's just draining and simple things can set people off like mad. I don't hate Rejuvenation as I said before. There's a lot to be improved upon (some which probably isn't possible within reason), but there's only two things I really, really hate now that I've cooled off and kind of have adapted to the abrupt changes the new version shifted to. The first is that magma stone choice. It was a good idea, bad execution over such a trivial thing. It's not a choice, but a "Fuck you" for picking one option. The other is just Venam. I don't think she's a good character due to having nearly 0 development despite being a character with some of the most screentime, she actually dampens good aspects of other characters, and she's all over the place to the point I don't even think Jan knew what he wanted to do with her. Melia may be an easy to dislike character, but at least she's consistent. I think now is the best time to do an analysis and try to say why Venam is the way she is. I really hope Jan explains or fleshes out why Venam is the way she is because that isn't normal. **** Venam is a scarred child whose happiness burned from a single building. She is not one who easily got close to others and on that day she lost who two closest friends and an already cold person grew colder. It tore her up and changed her as she got older. Those memories didn't go away as while she still kept the rocker image inside herself she decided to take on a rebel persona. In a sense, she was an unlikable beast. And beasts tend to be lonely creatures. This beasts hated being lonely so she did the one thing she knew that'd grab attention. She acts like an obnoxious brat so that others would take notice of her being this daring bad to the core rulebreaker. This got the attention of two people: Sam and Evan (whatever her two random friends were) as they loved this daring bad girl and all the crazy things she did. She was happy or so she thought. Two others came into her life: one was a boy with illusions of becoming a savior. Another was a blonde girl who knew nothing of the world she lived in. The two would become close, but she'd become especially close to the girl who loved her for who she is and not what she thinks she is. Time had changed and once again she was happy. Though there were those who were concerned about this radical behavior. Jan and Venam's Mother (Chasity) probably pushed Venam into a leader role to try and help her mature out of this rebel stage. And then the blonde girl suddenly vanished, but Venam was not worried. She was, but she knew Melia was invincible and nothing could take her down. She was a tough girl but she couldn't show her feelings so she put on an act. She was tough and had a funny way for asking for help. A new trainer was there for her friend, but she still wanted to make sure they were really a friend. They were and this trainer and her other friend went on a search for this blonde girl, and were stricken with terrible news. It seemed the invincible Melia had met her end. At first, Venam did not believe what she was hearing and took her anger out on Zetta. On the inside, she was weeping, but could not show that as everyone would think of her as weak and pathetic. She simply kept up the tough act and said they'd get revenge in time. It is unknown how she spent her time while we were away on our adventures but one could likely take a good guess that it had to do trouble. And trouble was there when we saw her again. This time in the form of a mansion. And this time the stakes were ever higher. Their souls were the playthings of a madman only escaping because of fate in the form of a little girl. This was the final straw for her two other "friends" as they realized this fun thrill ride was unhealthy especially with how close to being killed and Venam would do it all over again it seemed. She didn't learn a damn thing after all. Venam out in anger and rage for even more of her friends leaving her. Was it truly at them or herself? After all, she was the one who put others in danger for the thrill. One would think events such as these would change one's outlook on life, but she was a beast only good at one thing and that's what she'd continue to do. Only this time, she was truly alone. Though there was one word that stun her: Saki. That was an old wound she was not ready to come back to yet. Our paths would cross once again when Venam set sail for Terajuma. This time it was to scam people out of their money. She was in for a surprise when what was lost had been found. Venam had many emotions running through her head with a bit of anger taking charge only to swing fully back to joy. Perhaps there was more, but an outsider such as ourselves wouldn't be able to tell from a glance. And something odd happened as Venam was willing to stop her wicked ways in order to keep a friendship strong. Likely she would've given up all the money to be with Melia if she had to. The two likely had a grand time while we did all the work finding out where to go next. It's actually due to how the earlier drafts of the story, but Venam in the original most likely had to keep doing her job as the gym leader or something. Not important. Besides the Melia and Venam stuff ain't that interesting both considering in and out of them developing a romance. Now switching back to story mode. And now we return to Venam to grab her most valued treasure: A CD given to her by Amber. While Amber may have treasured it, I believe it to be something much more to Venam. One would call it a coping mechanism. Venam never had much of a happy life after the original trio were separated. This CD was one thing that made her happy and certainly wasn't something she'd part with. She decided the best way to handle this situation was to turn these next few segments into an episode of desperate housewives. Gonna switch back to normal me from now on because there's a lot to explain that's not ambiguous guesses. So Venam and Amber are hostile to each other, but when Amber falls through, Venam worries which is out of character for her. She didn't show as much worry for her two rando friends or even Melia. She jumps down and the two aren't as nasty towards each other. I believe that it's actually a broken friendship where neither one is willing to be honest with the other to renew it despite both secretly wanting the old times back. Amber and Venam are two sides of the same coin so what we see in Amber can often be applied to Venam. Both are likely very unhappy and the reason they can't get along is due to an event that happened in the past (we'll find out later). Nobody knows what happened, but Amber believe Venam framed her to get rid of her. Venam didn't, but Amber isn't willing to believe that. We are missing one piece of the story: why Venam? I believe Venam did something reckless that set off a fire but it was clearly framed by neither of them. It just looked like Venam did something. Anyways, Amber runs off and Venam says she'll go talk to her. I believe this is out of pity or realization Amber might be feeling the same way she does. Then the spite cycle continues. Amber blames Venam for ruining her life, but Venam is pissed for being blamed for something she didn't do. And Venam did the Venam thing and took one of Amber's Pokemon out of anger. Venam's a weird character and maybe that's her way of getting back at being treated wrong. And now we get to the 4 way fight. I don't know what Saki's deal is in this whole situation, but there's one detail that really is one to take note of. Amber lashes out on Melia for being a perfect child. Melia is Amber's replacement. Amber likely knew about Melia way before her first meeting but we'll get to that in a future chapter. Venam responding back that she doesn't care about what Amber calls her, but don't go after Melia can be taken a number of ways. The first is the real one which is that she's slowly falling in love with Melia and wants nothing bad to happen to her. The way I would've liked it to be is something meaning "She's not your replacement, so don't take it out on her. Take it out on me instead." It gives off that Venam still cares about Amber and that maybe there's a slight chance they can resolve this decade cycle of hatred. The Angie segment would actually be really good to help solidify Venam as being this caring girl who puts her friends above anything, but this is unfortunately Melia. I really like the idea of Venam being a really caring girl hiding her true self becoming a tough rebel chick because that's what will get her attention and bring her "friends". She always would be a problem child because you can be a troublemaker and still care deeply about your friends. It just means you have a harder time making it. This is Melia so now for the reveal of what Venam's character pretty much is really like. She's a bad egg because she can be a bad egg. She only acts differently around Melia out of love in Terajuma. She's willing to change her ways and go to the extremes just to be with her. Classic Beauty and the Beast type story starring Angie as Gaston. I want to clear something up as well. Venam acts differently towards Melia than any other character in the game, including Ren. This does not mean someone's in love. Does that mean everything I said holds some ground? Not really. That's just a draw-up of what Venam could be like and means nothing without events or hard context to support it. Small ambiguous events aren't going to cut it. My Ren write-up had support from multiple characters and especially using Narcissa to tie it all up. Venam and Melia happening is fine, but I don't find that type of character interesting. Hopefully that'll tie you over for a while. Next time though, it's sidequests and honestly, I think these next two chapters might be my favorites to talk about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemICE Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 The leaders i omit are those that i have nothing to add: Keta is now a double battle, and can be quite a rollercoaster, yet fun. Revenant Keta was a pretty big jump in difficulty, especially on intense, but at least normal got toned down. I tried to cheese the game this time arouna and he still made it difficult for me to do Marianette That's subjective. The biggest issue i had with Marianette was her Ambipom lead with the power to ohko stuff with fake out and tail slap/beat up. I was lucky i had my trusty Solrock and the AI was too dumb to use Beat Up. Valarie Intense Valerie continues to be an easy fight for me, and this time around, nothing changed about that. I didn't even prepare for the qwilfish. I just used what i thought would be the best lead from my team for the situation and succeeded. Crawli... you call him too much, but every time i have fought him, i didnt struggle much. I also helped some people who struggled with him, using their own teams, and was able to beat him in 1-2 tries. So i can't share the sentiment at all. If a fight has objectively good pokemon but still does not require excessive struggling, i think it should be considered fine. I do agree with th difficulty mode name changes tbh.... You will probably feel sorry about Madelis in the future... Also yeah the two choices are indeed too similar damn shame. The picture with the car is so good. The samurott face is like "Wait.. did we win? How? and when?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outside Indoorsman Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 I really liked your critique on the whole chapter, Commander. But er... you said you did Where Love Lies, right? Apparently a plot point (though I only understood this myself because I read up the TV Tropes page) was that Spoiler Neither Venam or Amber started the fire - someone on TV Tropes thought that it was implied that the person who was trying to kill Taelia/Vivian/Aelita/Maiden of Reincarnation and tried to blackmail Kenneth/Keta into doing it was responsible for starting the fire to kill Kenneth's friends (Tesla, Jenner, and the others), and it sort of makes sense. No clear indication who was behind it yet, though (The person who blackmailed Kenneth and may have framed Amber/Venam for starting the fire). And I loved the investigation into Venam's personality, by the way. And the one that you did on Ren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted December 13, 2018 Author Share Posted December 13, 2018 On 12/4/2018 at 3:12 AM, DemICE said: The leaders i omit are those that i have nothing to add: Keta is now a double battle, and can be quite a rollercoaster, yet fun. Revenant Keta was a pretty big jump in difficulty, especially on intense, but at least normal got toned down. I tried to cheese the game this time around and he still made it difficult for me to do Marianette That's subjective. The biggest issue i had with Marianette was her Ambipom lead with the power to ohko stuff with fake out and tail slap/beat up. I was lucky i had my trusty Solrock and the AI was too dumb to use Beat Up. Valarie Intense Valerie continues to be an easy fight for me, and this time around, nothing changed about that. I didn't even prepare for the qwilfish. I just used what i thought would be the best lead from my team for the situation and succeeded. Crawli... you call him too much, but every time i have fought him, i didnt struggle much. I also helped some people who struggled with him, using their own teams, and was able to beat him in 1-2 tries. So i can't share the sentiment at all. If a fight has objectively good pokemon but still does not require excessive struggling, i think it should be considered fine. I do agree with the difficulty mode name changes tbh.... You will probably feel sorry about Madelis in the future... Also yeah the two choices are indeed too similar damn shame. The picture with the car is so good. The samurott face is like "Wait.. did we win? How? and when?" I'm going to grind a few facts down for you to understand. Everything might be simple to you but even Pokemon players may struggle to get into a game if it's too deep into the mechanics. Let me lay down some facts: it's actually asking too much for a normal person to know about all 800 or so Pokemon. 800 Pokemon. This is on top of your knowledge of the metagame and abilities. There are thousands of little things players would need to know to actually be really good at Pokemon. Most people who play this game won't even know half of them. Hell, I don't know the nature table off the top of my head and I just learned about Catsup berry's existence (I know little about berries). When you know a great majority, Pokemon will be easy to you. That applies to pretty much any RPG. Even SMT can be easy and those are known to be brutal. As for the things you said: Keta: It's the first true doubles boss battle so throwing too much too early may end up stinging more than helping a game's enjoyment. Better to be a bit on the too easy especially since this isn't a badge. I thought the original fight was perfect in this since. I don't know the team so I can't speak much else. I don't think it's bad showing fight formats can change though. Revenant Keta: Lapras, Ninetales, Lucario, Roselia, and Gabite. Every single one of those is a major earlygame threat. Roselia is a scary mon and can be ace worthy but it is pretty pathetic compared to the other Pokemon here. Ninetales is fast, tanky, and has a respectable attack stat WITHOUT the sun. Lapras is the famed early game tank since it's so hard to dent. Lucario is a nuke but pretty easy to balance. Gabite is...what the hell. Do you want Doubles Florinia in Redux look easy because this is how you make that look easy. This is a designer's worst nightmare scenario as you have to tone down everything and sometimes gut what makes a Pokemon good to make this even balanced. No idea why the original 6 fighting type Pokemon was cut though I haven't finished WLL so what do I know? Marianette: So Ambipom can even be a late game threat so that's to no surprise. Normal is a weird type to work with as it's so varied and full of surprising Pokemon. You can definitely throw a lot of interesting surprises to the unprepared. One thing to note is that you can't really prepare for a normal type leader because the game doesn't really forecast that well. Definitely important to give good forecasting early on in a game. Valarie: Marianette you can at least have somewhat of a guess, but Val you are given no time and it's the most inconvenient and random. Something I did was ease up on the difficulty for the Devon Corp PoNR (Point of No Return) as you can't do much if you're stuck on this segment. But you are thrown into a new map with little need to explore. The first time going through the game (back in V6) this was hell. I didn't have a team to even handle Water types since Water is one of the strongest typings in the game. You have to take into account that people are going to have very, very unoptimal teams given the fights they went through. Crawli: The issue with Crawli is that he has a lot going for him that if you don't know about it ahead of time, it can be a bit too much. Nobody likes fights getting nerfed but there's a point where you just need to be reasonable. Crawli has rain, a near perma sticky web, and some solid Pokemon with hard hitting moves plus rock slide flinching. I had a team made to hard counter him and I was struggling which...that's not a good sign. The average person would just sit the game right down then and there if you put too many tough fights too early because it's just draining. If you lowered the IV stats and removed Thunder from Galvantula then that fixes the main issues. I mean I'm not trying to fight an argument but we're not on different sides. You people should focus on intense mode and help give it adjustments to make it more enjoyable for the fandom. There's no reason for me to say much on it as it's not something suited for me. Let's flip it on the opposite scale though and say a fight is too easy on normal mode. Who loses then? The "players" because it wasn't super enjoyable? They just say it was a bit too easy and move on. There's very little negative effects for one fight feeling too easy. If things just become too hard, then it pushes someone to drop. Erring on the side of too hard benefits nobody when a hard mode exists. Believe me, it's one of the biggest mistakes even AAA titles have made. (Shudders about Tales of Vesperia's early game). On 12/4/2018 at 3:02 PM, Outside Indoorsman said: I really liked your critique on the whole chapter, Commander. But er... you said you did Where Love Lies, right? Apparently a plot point (though I only understood this myself because I read up the TV Tropes page) was that Reveal hidden contents Neither Venam or Amber started the fire - someone on TV Tropes thought that it was implied that the person who was trying to kill Taelia/Vivian/Aelita/Maiden of Reincarnation and tried to blackmail Kenneth/Keta into doing it was responsible for starting the fire to kill Kenneth's friends (Tesla, Jenner, and the others), and it sort of makes sense. No clear indication who was behind it yet, though (The person who blackmailed Kenneth and may have framed Amber/Venam for starting the fire). And I loved the investigation into Venam's personality, by the way. And the one that you did on Ren. I haven't finished WLL only getting chapter 1 done. I am doing a run on it eventually but I felt getting the main story done first should be a priority. Maybe I'll jump back if I'm getting real sick of this like Blacksteeple. I would've guessed Mr. Blakeory played a role in it. I'll find out about it eventually but for now we venture forth into the next chapter of Pokemon Rejuv --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 49: I Wanna Be the Very Quest Like No Quest Ever Was So today is Mander's random game of the day which is Yoshi's Wholly World. I can't believe I've been putting it off for so long as it's such a fun game. I did not really like Kirby's Epic Yarn, but this is that but better and an actual challenge. Platformers could really take notes from this as while there's no lives system, dying means you have to restart at the checkpoint BUT you need to recollect everything after the checkpoint again leaving the same consequences of dying but without the lives. Also just picture me failing hard at World 1-8 because of stupid Burts with their jump mechanics. Also, I play as Robin Yoshi who looks amazing. Anyways here's some random things that will be important later: (Uhhh...I just never did this for some reason until now...still not going to use them) And now for a mix of two quests at the same time just to confuse you which one I'm on: (Yes, yes I can....is that a talking squid?) (Seven last I checked. Unless Jan's going to pull a Life of Guardians on us) (...Pretty sure that's the...whatever magical stuff from the Garufa. Or the radiation from the mountain. How am I not dead yet?) (...Mothers of the world, never name your child after a military rank) I blame Gai because now I'm thinking about the name Daddy for the protag. Still better than my suggestion...Mah Boi! (...That's what I've been doing so fair's fair) (I see your lie in your name) (I needed someone to suffer and I couldn't think of a better suited cave for the job. It's got Digglett's and everything) (NO, WE ARE NOT GOING TO USE MORE MAGIC! I've suffered enough as is) (...Given what we just went through, this can't end well) (You should not do that. It wouldn't do any good) (Sigh...so they sealed legendarys to protect their ancient artifacts) (Excuse me while I take out my frustrations on this door due to my stupidity) (You don't happen to have a magma stone on you, do you? I'd help you out in exchange for it...no? Okay) (I actually don't know where it is) So I did see bits of this in Derog's run and one of the coolest little details got axed sadly. Like that was such a fun and smart little reward for exploring. Anyways we pick up this: (I don't remember what it is but it's probably bad) And we run around looking for stuff when we come across this: (I...didn't realize I found it that quickly_ I'll talk about the April event later because we have the bigger sidequest to deal with. (Wait hold up!) So I noticed it said J and R and I figured that meant Jenner, but I don't actually know who the R would be. Don't particularly care though but maybe it gets explained. I don't really even remember how this event went down in V6 but you could do these fights rather early. (Oh look another legendary I can't have.) (That...is the Madelis thing to design. Why do people have an obsession with blowing stuff up?) (And why are there so many drill down here? Oh right Amethyst. Guess those are kind of valuable) (I'm probably known as random whiny guy who doesn't shut up otherwise known as McWhiteHaired Le Doofus) (Pretty sure I met your brother. He died a hobo....you're going to get me killed, aren't you?) (...How do you get fired from a terrorist organization...especially that terrorist organization. They make Team Flare look competent. You had to pay to work for them) (Don't lie. It was the porn, wasn't it? It's always the porn when it comes to these things) (Sure you didn't, buddy) It's probably some Pulse or Melia's doing. Or Crescent. Pick your poison. (I am able to locate the classiest of walls at ease. I guess it's better than a door) (...The heck is an it? Some birthday or something) (...This sounds like Xen's work.) (...Are you implying it still isn't? Seems pretty linear to me) (Well looks like we have to keep flipping all those panels. Good thing I've been doing that all this time) (We're just going to skip that) (Only Regice and then I should be home free) (I want to check something) Huh. The both say A362. I was wondering if it'd get changed or not being a different robot. I guess not. (Oh, that's what those blue things were for. I thought it was just blue for the sake of being blue) (Well that's not a good sign) (Why would you bury someone here of all places? Yes, I know about THAT one) (...Something tells me this is a bad idea. Touching buttons doesn't do anyone any good) (If you touch that, I will kill you if whatever happens doesn't kill us first) (...I know this is asking a lot from a dumb grunt, but DON'T touch that button) (YOU MOTHER FU...) (I just hope it's a wild Pokemon) (Please let it be a Porygon) (I'm fine with a roggenrola) (That's...not good) (Turn this damn thing off) (YES! Can you not understand the silent protag yelling at you?) (...I'm getting too old for this crap) (Yes, it'll come out of that dog house just like a good dog would) (...Yep. Today is the day I die) (...Though if this is a clone, I might be able to...) (Gee...what was your first clue) (Where did this smoke...oh right Snoop Dogg. Can't be around Xen without smoke) (Do not inhale. You will begin to see questionable things) (It's too much. I can't breathe) (Great, did we find a way to revive the dead?) (....What even are the grunts getting out of this? Money? Was that ever explained?) I mean I really don't remember what Team Xen is and what their goals are. Kind of pathetic given they are the main villains of the game. They want souls and something about Melia likely linked back to the past with Indy which their costumes are based off of. The J and R people likely are what made Madame X since this could be the machine that created that copy. Maybe to revive the dead. I don't know. (He can't even take an L to be Manly) (Oh hi mom or daughter. We never did establish that) (You really need to get you facts straight, faker) (This imposter does not know what a sacrifice is, do they?) (If you can fix the burning fire I went through, yes please) (Pretty sure nobody even remembers who you are. You had like 1 hour of screentime. Then again, that's more than most) (Yeah...) (Not yeah...) So it's battle time. (Loewe proves he's the best with Razor Shell and Aqua Jet combo) (Yeetder will eventually be renamed, I promise) You probably can guess what happened here. (This is my only steel type so that's probably bad he's almost dead) (...Good job for being worthless, Walter) (Time for the backup plan) (When in doubt, sweep them out) So Nancy's team isn't too bad. I am a bit overleveled due to preparations but it's pretty good for a random surprise fight. I did kind of know about it ahead of time otherwise I probably would've struggled more. Points for Walter not doing a damn thing. (You were the one who challenged the very best to a fight...) Hold on, I want to go back and look at something: That's a little disappointing that she's not the same level as the partner team was. This could've been changed in V10 but I don't think it was. Kind of a bit disappointing we don't fight her at full power. (Is this supposed to be a horror move because it looks like it) (It's about time we dealt with another one of those. Just let me heal up and...) (I said let me heal!) (Well...this is awkward) I also knew about the no healing thing. I didn't realize it was level 70. Yeah, have fun with this if you aren't prepared. And cue what was almost one of the most hilarious victories ever. (I didn't know what hidden power I had and thought it'd kill) I don't know why it spammed Fire Blast but I'm not going to question when the RNG blessed me with luck. Let's just say Sir Pearl won this, okay. (Yep, I still have that move on it. Never know when it'll come in handy...perhaps sooner rather than later) (Well that happened) (Tell me about it. I just saw...what looked like an Undertale boss) (Came, Jan. Came. It came...just like your mum) (I don't know so probably) (I better get a nice reward out of this, buddy) (...Is that a coincidence?) So I'm going to tell you my thoughts before doing this segment and my thoughts now. Before, I thought this was a really cool event being a surprise boss battle with a back to back dimensional rift and it was so nice to be able to actually face your mother and her team. Going back and looking at it a second time, I kind of realized it's very lacking which is why I was very quiet the whole time. The idea behind it is actually, really, really good, but it's just the wrong sidequest at the wrong time. Let me explain. We literally just experienced a grunt being booted off of Team Xen and learned nothing of interest from them. Now we have it again and haven't gotten any further. I know Manny came first due to V6, but neither really has much to add when this had so much potential to be interesting. Traitors or deserters of the opposite side are often the most interesting characters in a storyline giving a perspective you normally could not see. And both act idiotic to boot. I don't mind dumb grunts, but these are grunts being dumb for the sake of being dumb. It gets old and we're not even done experiencing it yet. That was a minor issue. The bigger issue I had was that this was pretty much a surprise factor and going back really didn't have much substance. What this is supposed to be is haunting memories of the grunt and the player which the player likely still had their mother on the mind. You'd think it'd try to be a bit more emotional and get into the feelings haunting the player, but it pretty much is just "you let me die, now battle!" It's not bad, just disappointing. That was a really big and emotional event and I would've liked to see it tied in and represented better here. It's kind of a waste not to give the player some development. This is why I hate silent protags. Just because a character cannot talk does not mean they have to be an empty husk. Let's move on. (WLL players probably will recognize this place. I haven't seen too much, but I know what this is) (Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while) Vivian was the name the elder mentioned before. I don't know much about her but I think she's the purple haired girl Kenneth is searching for in Episode 1 in WLL which is who he leaves to search for. Don't spoil that for me. (Huh, I never noticed the pot of flowers. That's a rather nice detail) (.........Wait, then whose grave is in Keta's...let's go back in time) By the way, anyone is free to use my pics to reference or show an event to explain something or whatever. You can't really forge and say they are your own given the white haired man in them. That's the nice thing about written runs is that they have a lot of the story and dialogue documented and easy to remind yourself what happened. I tried going back but it didn't seem I screencapped what the sign said. I'm guessing it's either just a garden shrine or one made for Taelia since I believe her grave is in the cave shown above. That's a little disappointing. But thinking on that, why is there such a big emphasis on poliwag and frogs? I never really understood all those statues. (I have no idea who this belongs to) (Is that Narcissa's?) Narcissa = Narcissism. Huh. I wonder if that was intentional for the name choice. Fitting for Goldenwood if not exaggerated to the extreme. We'll get back to this in a minute. (She died at age 50. Damn, she died young and she looked good for her age) I'm not sure if this is a reference to a real life person or someone Jan knew. Sometimes game devs make small acknowledgements to people who passed away such as what Super Mystery Dungeon did for Iwata. Another famed one was in Avatar the Last Airbender's Leaves from the Vine. It's a fun thing to talk about but I didn't do my research or even think to ask about it at the time I was playing through. That's like one of the best questions to ask people about to see if it meant something more. (And your mother's name is Larissa) (...This is going to get weird, isn't it?) (Funny how my enemies appreciate me more than my friends) (...I walked right into that one) (IT WAS WORTH IT!) (Thank you for that...) (Did he just...what? What just happened?) Funny how we learn one tiny detail that really didn't add much, but that's not what I want to talk about. This is another time that a grunt randomly vanished upon us. Is that a coincidence or is it tied to being with Xen? I really hope we get an explanation on that because I didn't think he was a spirit like Keta was. This is what I think happens when you join Team Xen: you pretty much sell the soul to the devil. If you betray the group, you die and your spirit disappears. This would tie in to the other grunt's death which is why he tried hurrying back to the Garufa temple. That would also explain why he didn't pass out or lose his soul...that's why he didn't think much about the second part. He didn't have a soul. If the Xen grunts are tied to this contract, I applaud you Jan because that's some actually nice attention to detail for drafting a plot. I don't think it is, but that actually makes sense. Rejuv is making sense, guys. I swear it's these sidequests. Anyways, the death scene was nice and fine, but only if we find out more about that "it" later. (And now we go under) (...Hello there) (What does this game have against mothers?) (And now I have a Litwick) I'm debating if I'll use it or Midreavus since I have really used either all that much. There's not enough Dusk Stones to pass around sadly and I don't think they are minnable. And do you remember that magnet? Yep, we're doing that next. (Yeah, who would have guessed a magnet would be a pain in the ass to find) So I'm going to have to think @DemICE for telling me that artist quest gave you a Magnet otherwise I never would have done this event which would have been a damn shame because it's one of the best. If I every forget a quest with a bit of lore to the world, please let me know but don't tell me the contents. I do like doing sidequests in games but I'll skip some if it's really tedious. (Finally I get to have my own Ralts) (Why is it still purple?) (It's going to kill us, isn't it?) (This is a bad idea) (Oh thank god we're both alive) (I'm just glad we both have our limbs) (...Great roaming Pokemon. Those our my favorite) (...........Pass.....) I really get around because next I did the April quest: (Seriously, I just kind of randomly do stuff on a whim) (...Do I finally get to have my own legendary?) (Am I going to get a Nebby? Oh happy days) (...Isn't this like that Necroza thing or something. I haven't played USUM) (Wow, another person making me do all the hard work for them) Speaking of Moon Dial, where the heck is Regice? I don't think there's anywhere else to explore in Amethyst cave so did Jan really just cut it? I think in V6 you faced all three but my memory is a bit hazy since I never really did finish all of that quest. (So...you praise me for running around. That sounds like somebody I know) (Just so we're clear: you're going to be the sacrifice if need be) (.................It took you years to...I shouldn't be talking given how long this run has been going on) (Hey ho) (Please be a Solgeo...please be a....) (You're kidding me, these two? I caught them like 30 chapters ago) (Well this was a very disappointing quest) (Maybe they just wanted levitation. I think it'd be cool to be able to levitate) (...Can you explain Team Xen to me then?) (What is it with things made of rocks having an attraction to me?) (If they want Rock Hard Bods to become a thing, there's been a minor setback) (Go ahead. I got nothing to lose) (This probably is not a good idea. Still better then pushing flashing buttons though) (This calls for some random music) Spoiler ...I wanted to pick something not obvious...don't judge (How can you tell? They don't have mouths) (Well that escalated quickly. When did this become date night?) (...We never speak of this ever again) (...what if you're an empty husk?) (Well that was certainly something I don't want to talk about) (......I'd like to go back to the dancing part now) (Sigh...of course the aren't) (This is that thing you see in nightmares) (................................................That's it?) (Great we can now play Pokemon Fusion with this game. Fantastic) (...I don't want it either but...I do have a Lunatone and Solrock sitting in the PC) (You have a sister. Is she as crazy as you are?) (...Wut?) (That's what we call partner or companion. Weirdos) (...I probably shouldn't answer that) (I prefer the crazy one, honestly) (Uhhh...she's alive. Is that acceptable? Not my fault nobody could protect a statue) (I'm not sure that's a good idea) As for the April event, it's nice and really does its job well introducing the fuse mechanic through dancing. It's kind of a clever way to explain it. As for April, I'm not too fond of her but that's because we don't know much about her. We did get a little background information on Nim, but so little that it doesn't particularly really have much to go off of. They are probably descendants of the Garufa or some branch/tribe still around and active. Okay, let me explain something and it's not related to this event as it's honestly one of the better scenes in the game. Here's why I don't care particularly too much about this info. We have a very weak base getting bits of the lore explained but it's so little that my interest can only last so long before I don't care. It's why I dislike it in Reborn and it really bit the game in the back holding off answering so many questions. I don't know much about Aevium, the Garufa, or Team Xen so throwing a tiny bit of info just doesn't make something we don't know much about interesting. I'm going to break it down a little bit more though. The Garufa had such a strong introduction using the sidequest at the start to introduce it and then give us a bit of info little by little. It was a good pacing until around Marianette's segment where it just kind of gave us one more thing before stopping until now. Like we were building up to a good base and possibly making the prophecy interesting and then it gets ignored. Adding too how long it takes to make chapters means I'm going to forget and then have to look back to make sure I really understand what's going on (it's not that complicated) and less connections are built. They aren't mysterious yet the game is now trying to make it that way which is confusing. I just think we needed to know a little bit more a little bit earlier to keep it interesting since it's now been kind of stripped down to dark magic users who seal and preserve their history. Get a stronger baseline for these people and I think it'd be fine imo. Are these people good, evil, corrupted, wise, or simply curious. Pre fates Fire Emblem Dark Magic is a good bit of lore to read up to kind of see what I'm kind of talking about. Aevium doesn't really need much but I've kind of stopped paying attention to what kind of region. I just know it's random islands where we go around to collect badges. I know we get history of a lot of these places and why they are the way they are but that kind of stopped right after Goldenwood. I don't know much about Kakoriki Village, the Resort, or any place on Terajuma other than it's hot and has a lot of rangers. The first island was honestly rather good because it gave us a little bit in each town like Gearen is kind of the capital where a lot of trainers live and quite a number of businesses and production goes there which in return causes a lot of waste in the sewers. Sheridan is a peaceful village but is slowly dying and people leaving due to Keta's actions and his betrayal for reasons I kind of forget. Goldenwood is very unfriendly towards visitors due to events that happened long ago. These places did have a conflict but they just felt more alive over any place in Terajuma which I can't even remember how to spell Kristillite and Kako...Crawli's place. And it probably needs it to help break up all the story driven stuff going on. Maybe there's NPCs who say stuff, but Kristillite I definitely know they mostly talked about Angie and the cold. Then there's Team Xen. They want energy from Shadow Pokemon and humans called Quinessence (cough FE7). It's not really that much to go off of as we have all these random people working on the same side really being vague for the reasons they do what they do. It doesn't help that Madame X is nothing more than a warmonger giving all she does is kill and throw fear. They only key we have is that it has something to do with a prophecy which really doesn't get explained or really explain why killing people coincides with what they want to do. Sorry to bring Reborn in but we know exactly what they've been doing right from the get go: driving people out of the Reborn region. They were terrorists and that was their goal and why we needed to stop them. It was simple. Xen has all these little things stitched together not very explained to the point I only recognize them due to their over the top idiotic grunts. That's not really that interesting. Now I'm not saying reveal the whole plot or keep it an open book, but it's best to leave at least something of an impression or to perk your interest in the mysteries to be revealed later on. Though it has to be set up in a way that you know the question will be answered and not like the Xen grunts who vanished since that's more a "WTF" then wondering what happened reaction. There's a lot of those when something of importance gets revealed and the others we just get more and more questions. We should have a strong understanding of Xen and why they are targeting Aevium at this point, but we don't or really even a good understanding why. We have good guesses but guesses aren't factual proof. Also here's the fusion: I'm indifferent to is actually since Levitate would've made this so useful since that ability helps combat ground types but we'll have to wait and see if I use it because I kind of have Walter and Joker who do the same jobs this thing does. I also originally didn't like the sprite but now it's only okay. Lunatone's nose doesn't really work for this. I'm going to keep this next part brief since not much happens: (How the heck did you guys get down here?) (...It's a ghost town. I'm surprised locals would be interested in this place given that) (You've clearly never been to Lavander Tower then) (...Play Eternal Darkness. I guarantee it's scarier) (Oh look, a Gen 1 reference) (Oooh spoopy. I'm scared!) (If you live in Goldenwood, this place is safer) (...Okay...) (Oh good story time!) (...No thanks, I already got one) (Yet you need 7 to get down here) (Lame.) (I already used Scraggy so into the box you go) (Please be a dusk stone.) (That's 'cause her name isn't Melia) (I'm suddenly getting Beowulf vibes from this. Wasn't the monster's name Grindle?) (Did anyone learn anything from the Tower of Babylon?) (What a bunch of worthless filthy peasants) (...well that's a shitty reward) Really, Jan? A consumable items very out of the way. Sure it's good for the one use but is it really that valuable given it can be only used for one battle. No like we don't have other ultimate cheating devices. So these next two pics need explaining. (You see that NPC in the corner) (That's where she was standing) I get that it's a nod to the Gen IV haunted house but that was creepy due to things happening at random or even not at all. I think the little girl leaving a room off screen was the creepiest of all. The game really made use of fourth wall breaking there. But it is a nice little detail for those who paid attention. (I wasn't expecting this so I didn't save) (And the Poke Ball has yet to fail me) (And an obscure game character reference nobody will will get is fitting given I forgot about you) (...Thanks game. Couldn't have remembered without ya!) Being serious, I wish more games did this for long sidequests when you complete an important part as it's pretty easy to forget about them. A reminder never hurt anybody...unless it's constant. Then it's annoying. (I totally couldn't tell from the Pokedex entry) (Hey, we can actually go inside his house) And let's read personal information because we can: (Huh. Looks like he made a current diary) (I'm guessing it's this place) (...That's kind of sad) (...Remember the name Sheridan Wetlands? Seems like Crawli wasn't the first to know about it) It's a very minute detail but that does explain why Xen knew about the location and built the backup lab there. (What isn't uncharted territory at this point) (...That name seems familiar) (Is this guy related to me?) (...) So I made a strawpoll just for kicks: https://www.strawpoll.me/17034825 Don't let me down, readers (It's a Cozy place) (I...need to visit the wetlands now that I have Rock Climb. Wow, there's a lot that I missed) (Oh good a geo...why does this game like to troll me the minute after I rant?) (Time for me to whip out the dictionary) I mostly do this so I remember what the heck the word means when I go back and look at older parts. I probably used to know what this word meant when I was younger but I haven't taken a geology class in 10 or so years. (Ugh...this is giving me a headache) So let's back this up a little bit. So we're on an island which water from the sea goes around the Sheridan Wetlands, into some type of river which then splits into a couple streams here...I think. That I'm pretty sure is not an estuary but someone can correct me there. https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/thesaurus-category/american/parts-of-lakes-rivers-and-streams Someone use that and tell me what exactly the water layout of this place is because I'm going to go insane trying to remember stuff when I was like 13. (That...is a nice name and not confusing)) (I hope the other journal isn't as much of a headache) So I had actually forgotten about that journal which is a nice explanation of this place and ties in a little bit with the plot. We still have a lot of unanswered questions which is a damn shame since Matthew likely could have helped fill us in on more...but wait, there's more! (Don't mind me continuing to mess with your stuff) (I wouldn't use lovely in that sentence) (We can take a guess who won that argument) (This still gets me every time) So a while back I made a status using that pick which I think that is one of the funniest lines in the game. I totally wish that was her middle name because that would make this even funnier. And looking at Poscriptum, Matt is like the future successful version of that character which makes me rather interested in that fan-game. I may livestream it, but I don't think I'm going to do a written run. It's such a shame I overlooked the thing because pics really don't do it justice. (That's a name I haven't heard in a while...actually we heard it a lot. But since Melia hates him we're supposed to hate him for being "evil") (Did Jenner drop her on her head....that would explain so much) (Veronica Hellonearth uhh...whatever her last name is makes me cry on the inside) (Yeah! Party at Jenkel's) And continuing to the next entry: (This is why I don't want to have kids) (Something tells me he was forced into this marriage) Seriously, Matthew is like my favorite minor character in the game now due to this and Hellonearth. (Gee...you should see her now) (Trust me, sir. It just added more problems onto my plate, but at least she's not my number one priority) (That's a name I haven't...wait...it's those assholes) (Another name I so love and cherish) Okay, Saki isn't that bad. She just doesn't get proper development being stripped to a gag character which I think is a bit of a shame. (That...definitely wouldn't bring balance to Gearen. It'd be quite the opposite) So it probably is saying that Amber and Veronica had quite the strange relation. It either means they were besties or forced to get along with each other, but I think it's the former based on their story. They just likely fought a lot due to their personalities so Saki would be a voice of reason to calm it down. Doesn't matter that much. (...I wonder what kind of surprise they'd throw) (Okay, maybe I should explain some stuff) So this actually ties a bit into WLL which it actually hit me who each of these characters were: (Matthew died his hair, nice!) (Well, I can certainly say they didn't leave the r&r behind after that) (Uhhh...which one is Maddie? I'm guessing that's Saki's mother) (That...actually is touching and really thoughtful) And that would be our happy ending...but there's one more passage: (That's not good) (Someone had a fire extinguisher, right? RIGHT?) (...Let me guess: magic) (...at least the kids were safe) (I hope nothing important was in there) (Just like a forest fire) (Probably was Garufa magic knowing this game.) (...All this just from one equipment fire) (...Well we at least knew Jenner made it) (He must've wrote this soon after the incident given his words) Let's just break this part down for a moment: I assumed Cas was short for Chasity but it could be someone else. Maddie is a character I have not met in WLL or Rejuv yet so I don't know who exactly that is. You just have to imagine what Matthew is feeling as he was the one who suggested the idea which kind of would make him feel like he burned down the city. On the flip side, he literally risked his life to save the three kids grabbing and pulling them out of there. Now let's continue: (You don't say) (Goldenwood, grow a pair because Gearen suffered a hell of a lot more than you did and you don't see them attacking people) (Something tells me this isn't going to end well) (Let you go and try to recover from this tragedy?) (I have no idea why this one is tiny. He must not feel as important as the others) (Don't tell me you...) (Damn. Like damn, dude) (...Ouch! I don't like the look of that) (...Well this was obviously a setup) (Well, looks like Matthew got screwed for nothing trying to be the hero. That really sucks) (That's what banishment does) (Maybe she's a Tales protag in the making) (Was this council full of idiots? Banning people due to an accident. Permanent community service I'd understand, but banishment. This really is a Tales game) For those who don't know, most Tales games have the protag banned from the village due to an attack of some kind on it. I know it happens in Symphonia, Graces f, and I'm pretty sure Phantasia at the very least. Xillia and Vesperia banishment were for a different reason. (That...clearly didn't work out for the best given what happened in the Villa) (And somehow she's here with us. You can have her back) (And she's been throwing Venam through the roof ever since) (You gotta feel sorry for the guy. He really had nowhere to go) (...That has to hurt saying good-bye and never seeing your daughter ever again) (Man, this is going to be a great character analysis) (...if there is a next time) (And that's the end of the story) Actually, there's one more passage but ho boy we have a lot to talk about. When writing the Amber analysis I actually didn't know about this which it would be fun to look back and see how close I got towards reality. (I wouldn't want to touch this either after everything that happened) (Yes, yes it does. With or without your parent) (She...probably did) So I just want you to imagine something. Imagine being told your father left you as I'm not sure Veronica even knows the truth. It would make sense it was never explained but I'm not sure if it's ever going to be explained to her. You just have to imagine she really despises him for leaving and being selfish. At that point, she probably wants nothing to do with him. (....That's not eerie. But hey, the 3 of them are okay which is all that matters) (Did you guys bro fist? You need to do that) (...When did he get married? I don't remember that part of the story) (So Melia was two years younger and now they are the same age...guess we can add that to the list of things we didn't need to know but are relevant) (At least Jenner isn't forever alone now) (How the hell did Venam not figure that out? Like, she saw Jenner before and now he has a 10 year old child) (I probably would too.) (Too bad that wasn't the reason. Probably was forced upon him) (Well at least they have tourists to make a business and a living. Was Tesla rich before she moved? I don't remember) (No, you totally should) (I shall bid you good day, kind journal...and you got me) I am going to wait until the end since we are pretty much there for the chapter but I will say that my reaction was pretty much "Holy shit! What the heck did I just witness?" We have a lot to talk about. (You live on a couch. I actually feel sorry for you) So I had to sleep on a couch for a month. It kills your back after a while. Though how does he afford a train when he can't even buy a bed? Probably government funding for his banishment. (That looks about the kind of house I'm bound to eventually live in) (We don't care about this) (And history lesson over...whatever did happen to that third one? I haven't played Gen VII) (And the Phione Army in Terajuma doesn't?) (I hope he likes boxes because he's gonna be living in one) (At least he's still proud of his daughter) (And I may or may not have forgotten this detail and had to run around like an idiot finding him later) (And becomes a Silvally) (And I did figure that out and even had it on me) And that's it. There's still bits of sidequests and miscellaneous things left but that's all I'm cranking out from V10 since I'm told I should fight Amber in V11. Funny how I say a run is on hiatus yet I still crank out chapters, but I have the patience of a badger when it comes to waiting and putting stuff off. These were actually pretty fun segements but I think we all know what took the cake given I thought the Silvally quest was going to give me pretty much nothing but a Pokemon. Matthew is one of the best characters in Rejuv and what I would argue on of the best written character in Pokemon Hacks/Fan-games. I could go into an in-depth analysis but this is the first time I really don't have to for a good understanding of the character. So when you first meet this guy, he seems rather questionable being this guy who got banished from the town he lived in and in a very isolated location from anything. This is on top of a highly secured lab. If that doesn't ring any bells as suspicious, you need to play more RPGs. I think what really surprised me is how selfless of a person he really is to the point he puts others before himself. While it was an accident, he took the blame because he did make the suggestion, but also to make sure none of the others' lives were ruined due to it. Saki did have other places to go, but none of the others really did. He was left with nothing and alone which actually usually leads to depression especially given how downhill his life went. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed and this actually really defines his character and why he isn't depressed. He tends to make the best of any situation even finding peace and enjoyment in a little part of the world he calls his own. He was even nice enough to assist us in reviving this Type: Null. He was also really good buds with Jenner and kept in touch or tried to, at least. He's what I'd call a nice guy with an actual character really making the best of any situation. Even knowing his daughter likely despises him. Now the other thing I want to talk about is the actual banishment of these people. It was an accident, yes, but that doesn't change the fact a bunch of people died due to it. Just imagine one day your brother, father, and three good friends died due to a simply accident on top of many citizens you know. People need to direct their blame at something which was either at someone or the fact the city was poorly structured. They decided to throw it against the ones at fault which they never wanted to see again for doing a terrible thing even if it meant a false conviction like Amber. While it may be extreme, it's not actually that unbelievable something like this would happen. It's actually a pretty realistic situation though it would not likely resort to banishment. It would probably still be a good idea to leave nevertheless given not very many people are going to like you and you may bring harm to your friends and family. This actually got me thinking and I feel the WLL cast and family being the focus and pretty much the only important characters in the plot probably would have made it much, much better. They tend to be the ones that are very established and the more interesting characters to talk about and analyze. Though I would say to ax Melia and rewrite the plot not to include her. That would leave more focus on Jenner who is rather interesting and we could actually get more story around him instead of Melia shutting him up all the time. One of these days, I'll do a Jenner analysis since he's always been a character that interested me but he felt nothing more than a near worthless extra. And now I want to play WLL some more, but I should at least get to the end of V10 before doing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemICE Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 Sadly i had probably not noticed those journals sitting on the desks before. That was so much content. One of the chests in the ruins SHOULD have a Dusk Stone, you either have not found it yet or don't have access to one yet. So you are finally considering PostScriptum. I was trying to persuade you try it but dunno what changed now Are you gonna wait for the next version (which isn't coming anytime soon)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted January 8, 2019 Author Share Posted January 8, 2019 Hi, long time no see. Actually, it's only really been a month. So I'm going to be doing something strange but it probably is needed or at least something people may want to see, but it's going to take a little bit of time. Anyways, I've been working on Redux and that is getting to be done. So we have a little bit of a dilemma in that the game has really changed and I kind of just want to plow through it again. So I'll be making a new save file. Don't worry, everything will make sense soon. It's gonna be a pain in the ass since the easy method doesn't work but I'm curious what people will vote for who the protagonist will be. And yes, I will be using whoever wins. So vote away while I work on the pain in the ass part. Trust me, it'll make sense soon. https://www.strawpoll.me/17189466 Edit: Pic so you can see who the normal protagonists are: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted January 9, 2019 Author Share Posted January 9, 2019 I got the pain in the ass part done so let's continue with our Rejuv... Oh no... Okay, now it's explanation time. Am I completely redoing the run? Yes and no. Let me try to explain it the best I can. Jan spends a lot of time redoing areas which he has redone Gearan City once again and so many overworld sprites got a revamp. This is going to be a repeated thing I'm going to say throughout about it may be too much, but I want to say that this time it paid off. I can't say the same will happen for another go around. The issue isn't with how good or bad it is, but often times devs to this and it leads to botched or half finished endings. A strong ending is actually pretty rare as devs often are low on budget and pretty much are exhausted by the time they get to that point. There almost always will be a point where you are going to go into half ass mode because these things take years to do. This isn't one of those you should listen to me, but more of a warning not to exhaust yourself trying to get everything right. I mean I tend to dream big, but the reality part of my brain kicks in and tells me that not all of that is possible with my limits. I feel a lot of these areas went from good to don't change at all. Now let's get into what I'm actually covering: it's going to be a combination of changes and a jog through the past. Due to that, I don't need as many pictures so you won't get as heavy of rants or long sections of dialogue unless it's really changed. The beginning is probably going to be the longest part but there is another piece to what I'm doing and we'll get back to that. Now let's jump to the next chapter (I debated if these would be Chapters N-1 or 50) Oh shit...I forgot response(s) On 12/13/2018 at 4:13 AM, DemICE said: So you are finally considering PostScriptum. I was trying to persuade you try it but dunno what changed now Are you gonna wait for the next version (which isn't coming anytime soon)? I just looked at a short LP of it and it's kind of like a Monkey Island protag which could be amusing. The things that turned me off was the sheer amount of NPCs in the game pics which gave me the impression it was loaded with generic dialogue. It's really hard to tell if a game is good but I tend to err on store bought games over free ones when deciding between two. Kind of the the Zero Escape series which I actually can apply that in the beginning so yeah? I only recommend 999 though as the other two are a ho boy explanation. Now back to being on topic where I often go off topic. ------------------ Chapter 50: A Leap Through Time (We'll go over it in a minute) (Sorry I missed the first half) (...what a shitty bedtime story) So something about Bedtime stories in games is that the answer is right in front of us. There's a lot more to this story as you saw back during the Amber chapter with the puzzles as it also included a Darkrai. I think the story has two different meanings though. The first is an event yet to come in which Melia is the Zorua hence why she uses Zoroark a lot (could even be linked to Mosley), but also an event that had already happened. The Golden Apple would clearly be the gifts of the Garufa being able to use their powers which you could see why someone would both fight and bond over it. Perhaps it's an event that we will have to renew. I cannot say how important these events are, but likely this story is telling us the future and/or the past and we see the effects of it. Hard for me to say how thought out it was not knowing the full plot. (I just added these pictures because her mom looks like a Samurai viewing her form the side) (Okay, this is actually important) So player awareness is a dangerous tool to mess with as it can really botch the game. It's absolutely a great tool for a satire or comedy type game which I totally think Rejuv could've really pulled off, but we'll have to be realists and that's certainly not the direction Rejuv is trying to go for. People think the serious tone is the most effective way to make an enjoyable game, but honestly, I could say it's what ruins them since everyone goes that route. I honestly don't mind turning my brain off and enjoying games about nonsense once in a great while. This could be a turn off, but I do want to wait and bring up a major point. (a picture is worth a thousand words) There's probably more to this story but I don't exactly know every little bit about it. I do wonder looking at the picture now if Maria's mom is giving off a nervous smile since she's looking off to the side and away from her husband. Not sure if that's too much thought or on the right track. (Is that the city Anju wanted to know about? I don't remember) (Pretty sure Indy got a new sprite...if that's Indy. It's hard to keep track of people in this game) (It was a sound) (And the cycle begins once more) (I think I know who she's talking to) Remember how Maria was talking to the player? I think that's what Madame X is referring to. This would be very meta but when you restart the game, the cycle repeats itself. Why on earth would Madame X know that? Well it is possible she is Maria/Melia, but...I'm not going to assume that just yet. Things make more sense about her when you think about it this way: what if Madame X isn't alive? Her ace is the symbol of death so that could be symbolic to someone who has stared into the Abyss and is willing to do the extremes to stop it. Think of it like this for example: Melia couldn't be sacrificed because if she is Maria she would have been sacrificed causing the fading in an out moment. Why? It's possible her soul was split in half creating Madame X (with X symbolizing life). We would go down a rabbit hole of explanations as one possible thing is that she knows what will happen, but has to do these things to ensure the world is shifting on the right path. (And she forgets it soon afterwards) (Because we need to flip the event trigger) (And snap back to reality) (Okay...) So this is the actual event and the other event was looking into a mirror which is unusual as I think both happened. Perhaps it is two different worlds which she has jumped across or maybe something else. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish fact from fiction but I hope this gets answered sooner rather than later as Maria and Marianette are the same age. (Pretty sure this is why Melia is so important) (And that's all the intro) I didn't think I would be quite dedicated to this run so this kind of is nice to look back at knowing more about the game and have documentation of the intro to refer to. The rest is going to be big skips since we've (Yep, that is what you think it is) I'll be going over the rules and restrictions I put on myself at the end of the run. And yes, I did modify the game a little bit which I'll also explain. (Another detail I learned is that she's in GDC...though she probably said that and I forgot...but look at that face) (Yep. Your boy is back in action yet again) It was kind of close as a lot of people voted for Bubblegum girl but our white haired protag named... (MY NAME ISN'T MARIA!) Yeah, that's such an easy fix I'm surprised a careless mistake like that was made, but also how. Still not a fan of this new menu. I mean it looks nicer but I prefer being able to see everything. (We will be speeding things along) So I don't remember those fountains having animations, but nice touch regardless. Not much for the ship itself has changed but it looks much better than the original one. But on the not so nice changes... (Sometimes I wonder about Crescent) So...I don't really like the new Shiny Gothitelle. That may be more for my general distaste in shinies in general. Let's take a moment and step out of the fan-game world. Shinies are so rare you may not even see one for years. Back in the Gen 3 and 4 era, I'm sure many people didn't really have an idea they existed other than the fact of Shiny Gyarados. Now let's jump into fan-games. The rate is still 1% which is still quite rare. We're thrown two character early on now with shiny Pokemon. Yeah, that can be a bit aggravating similar to the whole not being able to use a legend but everyone else can dealeo. End of the day, shinies are less of a deal in this game and despite being custom ones, feel less special. Not really a pro nor a con, but a fact. I just don't really like them in general. Probably doesn't help my thoughts on Crescent. The issue with her though isn't her character but the early game storyline. You do something, doesn't work, someone does an asspull to resolve it. Beginning of the game through Angie in a nutshell. Nothing you do matters. (Even now I'm still bound to beds...despite Jenkel losing his role) (Time to go into theory crafting) We really haven't seem much of Blakeory but it would make sense if he was in cahoots with Team Xen. After all, they'd need money to do the things they do. Don't think they are, but you never can tell. Would also make sense how they easily found the boat an attacked it. (.........Time to get murdered) I'm not really sure how I feel about Piano Lady getting a custom sprite. She just is a nothing character everyone loves. She appears twice and then was kept being brought back. I just don't get it. It's kind of like the Orderly John thing. It's probably because I'm like the black sheep of the community with my tastes being different, but who knows. I will say I find her role on the boat amusing, but I think she stayed on the screen too long and was used a bit too much. I did say one-off characters can really leave a good experience. A good example is Randall from Reborn. You don't expect him to show up again so it's a nice surprise you can check on how he's been. (I never noticed this until now. Still the even engaging "..." bonding) (I miss the ginger) So team Xen got some sprite redesigns, but do you know the saying "Don't fix what isn't broken"? I feel that applies here. I feel the changes to their sprites make them less interesting to look at and pretty much now look like Rocket Grunts. I don't know why the decision to change them was made but I always liked the Team Xen design. I know it was only slightly changed but it doesn't look as good for some reason (I blame the female hair color change). It's not bad, but just not as good. (First it's tentacles) (And now it's wet) (I've seen enough...okay, I'll stop) So Nastasia now appears using some sort of teleportation device with an "N" symbol that my "catlike reflexes" missed. Nice touch and more logical than bloody Melia's explanation on how to get places. Nastasia seems to know quite a bit about technology so her having something like that is in the realm of sense. Though that then loops to the Madelis/Nastasia given they have such similar roles. (Time to break down the scene change) So the difference from last time is that Narcissa shows up when we do and our "Mom" wants us to take her Pokemon and run. I guess that makes more sense than one mon, but of course it's going to end the same regardless. I don't even remember my boat complaints but whatever they were are probably gone. (...I guess Neved had a lot of me time since our Blacksteeple Hiatus) You know when you aren't sure how you feel on a subject, but will probably sound more racist than it really is. That's my thoughts on this. I don't really know why the skin change. It looks overall better but...it's just weird especially given the whole Val might be his daughter thing. I'm not really against it, but it feels jarring since I'm used to the original one which didn't look too bad. Kind of different compared to Amaria who I really didn't care for the design given it was pretty much Hilda. I'll see what his VS and in-battle look like later before giving a final judgement. It's fine. Just something that will take me a bit to get used to. (And I missed the Talonswoop. Oh well) But for changes I like... (Okay, let's all admit this is really cool) I love chapter segregation in which we see a chapter screen. Also thank you for including a save at the start of the chapter. I like this change as it helps break up and divide segments. (Grunts in a nutshell) (Bye Tesla. You're still my favorite) (I'm sad. I'm going to have to go through this suffering all over again) And now for the one thing that people are confused about and it's really talked about for a certain "Mega Ring": And yes, this is spoiler but this is a run so that's to be expected: (Free ride to Hoenn, hmm...) (Well that's a rather sudden decision) (Oh hello voice of reason. I missed you) (And good day!) I missed some of the dialogue but basically it's a free trip to Hoenn. Here's what happens if you say yes: (...I'd actually be yelling. "PLEASE DON'T SINK! Please don't sink!") (I guess I am in a better place) (Are you kidding I have zero...well I guess finishing the run would be one) (I actually have never had a pina colada) (...But who will I have Ice Cream with?) (Huh?) (I destroyed Rejuv...wasn't I doing that already?) (Best. Ending. Ever.) (...well that happened) So let's break this down. It's honestly one of the few times I've laughed my ass off in the game this hard. It's easily the funniest addition with the music being the icing on the cake. Too bad it kind of is getting ruined. Like this is such a great game over that it's worth seeing just for the sake of seeing, but some of you are aware of the whole discord thing. Basically people are going around saying this is part of the Mega Ring quest. I know it's a joke, but I'm going to be the guy to say that it's not funny. People have been doing this kind of shit for years and it died out for good reason. It also just leaves people confused and may end up dedicating hours to figuring out what is supposed to be a quick joke or laugh. It's one thing to tease, but this is more or less tricking someone and playing with their desperation instead of being helpful. I really don't think that's right as now half of you are on my never listen to list. Congrats! I'm not mad (I figured it out way before even reaching it) just disappointed this gag went this route. I'm going to clear this up now: this is basically an alternate ending or bad ending to the game. I even checked the game events themselves to make sure. There's nothing special about it and this is all there is. So if you think there's something else to this, there isn't and don't let people make you think otherwise. It's worth seeing still as it's pretty funny and you can hit try again once you get a game over it seems so you don't lose any save data. There's nothing to worry about seeing it. Those are the good kinds of game overs. I'm pretty sure there's no Mega Ring as well. Everything else people say I think is actually true, but I have no idea anymore. (Look at all the fine ladies on the street) I still wish these binoculars had dialogue. Wasted potential. (...Oh boy, my favoritest mostest character ever) Amaria hasn't changed but she doesn't ride the ignorance train as much so it's much, much better. Pretty sure a lot of her lines were rewritten as they flowed better. Either Jan is reading this run and agreed or just noticed that and wanted to change it. Could have honestly been either. (Well this is new) So I'm just going to say this. DO NOT CHANGE THE LAB FROM THIS! I feel like this is more or less just perfect for the design as it is really unique and stands out. Kind of gives off a school and lab type place and I think it works. The original was fine, but I looked and the events and I kind of see why it got changed. I wasn't trying to spoil myself, but mostly trying to figure something out. Remember how I have a really old save and spent a lot of time grinding? I was going to make this just a run to see the new changed but...it's going to be part of the official run. Now I know what you're thinking "What's going to happen to Loewe, Walter, and the rest of the gang?" well... (I didn't forget) No, you aren't imagining things. This is everyone from the original run in the PC. And no, I don't have the Shared PC mod working to do this. If you really want to know, I just commented out wiping the PC when starting a new game. I tried so many other methods before that, but this is the only one that worked out. Which reminds me: the new multiple saves system is nice, broken, but nice as it makes save swapping easier. I don't know why it breaks for some files but not others where you have to open up the game again since it crashes. Anyways, I don't have the pic of what to do on hand for anyone interested nor a script since I removed the comment, but it's pretty easy to do for those wondering how they can transfer their Pokemon to a new game. It's not the Shared PC mod I'll say once more. I'll go more over this once we hit the end. (Hi Flora. We haven't met, but I like you...I think. This better not be a Venam complex) (We'll get back to her in a minute) (And that's how she got the hat...not by sending box tops in like the rumors said) (Hold it! There's one thing we need to cover) So something Gearen City did was add in a few NPCs who will show up later. I'm indifferent to that. The scene here has some background noise which can be cool or funny, but usually only when dialogue is going to be boring or long. Not a bad thing here as I guess someone could go "Oh, I remember that guy in the lab!" I personally like it, but I don't want to encourage people to do it. But if you want to spend the time going for it, then go for it. Doesn't really add much value, but I always enjoy a good Easter egg. (I liked her better without the hat) (I thought they said they were bro and sis, but oh well. I'm just going to assume it still is or I skipped some dialogue) (Get it? 'cause she uses Fire mons...I'm going to run out of captions soon, aren't I?) (Well that's a new sprite) I might be imagining it but it looks like everyone was polished a bit. Whatever overhaul people did for them was worth it. And by people, that probably means Zumi, but I don't know if anyone else does spriting and I don't want them to feel left out. Jan does everything so it all goes...HOLY SHIT THOSE FLOWERS BELOW LOOK AMAZING! Y'all need to calm down with the new graphics as I can't take it. Too much too soon. (Totally not suspicious) (I wish my chalkboard doubled as a monitor) (...hold up...you know the drill) I love this new Jenner sprite. I always wondered why Jan and Jenner were in the same place, but now it kind of works since Jenner is an instructor. His new design is really more suited for that role as well and he honestly just looks better. Good changes so far. (Or he's a scientist. Guess he has that look as well) (She's getting way too excited about this) (And now for the one bad change) So this is kind of Phoenix Rising styled Pokemon selection. It's not bad, but the old one was better because it was a big connected area. I really liked that more as it reminded me of Phenac City Gym and that was such a cool idea. It's fine though and I understand that since the map got redone some things had to be cut. The pro is that mons are easier to find and select and Oshawott still tries to follow you. But it's not as cute since it's trapped in a tight space. It's certainly not a game changing experience. Now let's just get to the part where I show you what mon I picked: (This thing) It was either this, Froakie, or Fennekin since those are the only three starters A) I don't have already and B) I haven't used before. I did do something with it in Debug because I realized the perfect name for it and I didn't feel like completely going back and soft resetting for a girl. I would have though. (I guess I didn't need Loewe for this fight) (You're about as weird as I am. Guess that's okay) And we also kick Ren's butt, but I think your imagination would be better than the actual fight and totally not because I forgot to screencap it. I don't remember the explanation in which he uses Jenner's mons to explore, but that does make a lot of sense as it's similar to the Wally situation in Gen 3. Another good change. Something tells me I'm probably going to end up liking Rejuv a lot more going through it again but faster. But no, we're probably not going to go this slow for all of the game as I expect the Goldeenwood chapter to be like this size in its entirety. Maybe even put Blacksteeple in there as well kind of short. (...WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?) Ignoring the implied torture shipping, I'm sure you noticed the yellow words. I could care less about them but they are pretty needed for Pokemon Players since people don't read. Then when I make that assumption, it's wrong and people actually can read. You just never know so that is a smart move. And wow, this episode came out fast if dialogue got overhauled like this. (And I got a bunch of stuff back) And here's the crew I'm going to be running with for now: So all-in-all there's been a lot of good changes. Now, you may have noticed a few things. Many of the mons on my team aren't available yet. That is true, but I also pretty much beat these guys before so it'd probably not be interesting to do it again. Also RIP Aqualad as I wanted to name the starter that as a nod the old Swordmaster himself. Should also name something based on Veigue's Grandma given I had to leave her behind to transfer all of them. Anyways, I'm doing intense mode, but there are going to be some restrictions which are as follows: 1) No items in battle (both me and the opponent) 2) Set Mode 3) No changing the terrain cheese (Unless absolutely needed) I had to mod the script files in order to do this so opponents will no long use healing items in battle which is always one big annoyance for me. I also removed the disobedience bit of code so technically I could have plowed through the game if I really wanted or can if I want to skip a fight. I do have a plan to use this down the line. And other than Debugging Popplio into a female and renaming it, I'm not going to be using Debug either. Everything will either be a mon from the old run or a newly trained up one. I also carried over a bunch of my inventory from the original run like stones, gems, candies, etc so I didn't lose much outside of TMs. Should've taught SEC sludge bomb. Depending on the response, I may end it once I get past Angie unless people really, really like it. I'm doing this for two reasons. The first is to have videos of all the old leaders, but the bigger reason is to show people I ain't full of shit when I complain about battles and it being a me issue more than a game issue. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dex Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 I started a new save slot for Version 11 as well. East Gearan is way different so far. The fake out Game over with the trip to Hoenn made me laugh, and honestly it just looks way better. I'm eager to see what else is changed. Kinda bummed about the Starter Room, the previous version was honestly way more appealing but like you said something had to be cut. Also Intense mode, why do you hate yourself Commander? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedAlert Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Well, that was quite the interesting read. First of all, hurray Intense Mode! And hurray Aqualad/Karin! (I actually used Aqualad as a nickname for my Swampert on an earlier run from way back on Emerald) Although my Rudolph is better That being said, it's heartening to see someone play the same game with the same starter with the same level of difficulty, since it gives you a set intitial point with the possibilities of branching out to form unique teams with varying sets and abilities. It makes sense to me that you'd want to start over since the game is so different now - I just updated to V11 in my latest episode of my intense run (n-no, I'm not advertising) and I'm already overwhelmed with the amount of differences. I have to admit that a lot of the changes are good, as you say but there are some things that I would have personally not preferred, but oh well, that's life for ya. Some of the new character designs are really well polished, and it seems like the overall graphic design has been retouched to make the game all the more fresh and pretty to look at. About the theory you have concerning Madame X, I have to say that it just feels to me that it's too unsubstantiated to be true, thought I'm not denying the possibility at all in a game like this. I can see the reasoning behind it, since the process of dying/half dying can be the motive for her warped sense of reality, or her apparent accumulated wisdom. It explains to us a good deal that she has lived through the process which is why she permits certain events to happen and acts with deliberate effect on others. I'm glad you brought up the bedtime story again, because it just led me to a new train of thought. Seeing that the opening sequence deals with the bedtime story for a good amount of screens, I can't ignore the implications it may have on the story. It's just too big a thing to just overlook. The connection between Mosely and Melia through the Zorua and Pangoro story make me consider the idea of all of them being the same person => Melia = Maria = Madame X = Mosely. Melia attempts to become a normal type gym leader at first, but circumstances force her otherwise. Those circumstances are instrumented by Madame X through Team Xen for some purpose. Madame X does not want her proceeeding down the same path as her previous life - Maria, again for some purpose (probably because it may end up in her becoming the leader of team Xen? Idk). Mosely is an abandoned child traveling with just her Pangoro. It could be that a dynamic split due to the interceptor's actions (or the tampering of the space-time continuum yada yada) caused one individual to split into two - Mosley and Melia. The initial friendship between the Zorua and Pangoro and the ensuing enmity could be a reference to the singularity of the two, i.e. "The two were inseparable" later which resulted into two discrete beings. This brings in my point - who are we in this game? Why are we the interceptor, capable of traveling through time? Is it a gag reference to our ability to reset the game playing as many times as possible? It is through us that Venam was able to sneak into the mansion, because of our vague broken power to transverse timelines. Of course these are just theories out of the air and of course there are several problems with them, but the links between some of the plot points are too strong for me to think otherwise. I look forward to your journey through Aevium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDoggyDog Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Looking forward to your thoughts going through Rejuv again, Commander! Will you be doing sidequest stuff in this run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 On 1/9/2019 at 11:53 AM, Dex said: I started a new save slot for Version 11 as well. East Gearan is way different so far. The fake out Game over with the trip to Hoenn made me laugh, and honestly it just looks way better. I'm eager to see what else is changed. Kinda bummed about the Starter Room, the previous version was honestly way more appealing but like you said something had to be cut. Also Intense mode, why do you hate yourself Commander? It's actually not that bad so far. While I am using some illegal mons, that's just because A) they are easier to grind up and B) I already did this once so I thought Intense mode would make a second go more interesting. I do suck at battling so we'll see if I have to turn it down later. I made it through Rift Galvantula so far. And note: never bring water and flying types to an electric type battle. On 1/9/2019 at 6:14 PM, TDoggyDog said: Looking forward to your thoughts going through Rejuv again, Commander! Will you be doing sidequest stuff in this run? I'll only be covering changes as I want the old parts to be brief but that does include sidequests and such if they are part of the changes. I'm also happy I can get Eevee now. Yay! @RedAlert I may have been playing the Nonary games which deal with that kind of stuff but...anyways, it's never a bad idea to talk about abnormal subjects and introduce and discuss them. There's a very massive world out there and you can't exactly know about every element possible in a story. Time travel alone has two different theories behind it. (Thank you again ZTD for teaching me how the other one works). As for the player, I can't exactly speak about them too much since we don't know much about them or even if they are human. But it's probably Crescent's kid given the context. --------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 51: Ludicrous Speed Guess What? We're going to be doing all of chapter one this chapter. It's gonna take a couple days, but we're doing it. But I do want to cover one rule of thumb of mind first given that it's gonna take me like a year to get to that part. Let me break it down on what I know: this game has a lot of ties to Reborn. Jan has worked with Ame on Reborn for a few things so it's no surprise he would reference it or at least pay some homages to it. From what I've gathered accidentally seeing stuff in RMXP and the discord spoilers, I have a pretty good grasp of where things lie. It's not as bad as people make it out to be, but I think I'll try to make sense where I find issue in it (and it's not where you think). I'll be putting this into a spoiler just to warn you guys. Spoiler So first thing I want to cover is Aya being in the game. I'm not sure if it's in the current release or is a future plan but it's there for some odd reason. Accidentally saw this figuring out how to transfer my mons. Having a cameo appearance or even a sidequest with that character isn't that bad and actually can be a really cool addition. Like I'd say this is the one thing that should be done and that's pretty much it for Reborn since it'd be a cool thing for players of both games but not really take away from Rejuv being its separate thing. Looking at it though, I think this might have been a collab with Ame since it says collab on it. It's actually something I wish more games and companies did since they can be some really cool moments. Remember when TV shows used to do it. Good times. The thing I think a lot of people have issue with is the whole meteor thing and also the card. I do think the game leans way too much on the reference side and really didn't need any explicit references since it has a boatload of them already. Eli and Sharon are Aster and Eclipse, Gearen City being similar to Reborn City, a leader dying early on, a disaster happening right at the start (does it matter if one was a train and the other a boat?), the Absol showing up, and the big bad being very mysterious. If you take issue now, you probably should have been looking a bit deeper. The meteor doesn't bother me as much thinking on it now...so long as it isn't involved in the plot or at least very little involvement. Maybe it's just there to explain how Arceus can be in two places. Want to know what my issue is? I looked and noticed something called Neo Gearen City. I then thought: maybe it's that the clouds and storm had gone away and the maps needed to be lighter, but...seems like it's supposed to be that the city got renovated. Gee...I wonder what plot point that sounds like. Reborn it was pretty obvious the city was going to get fixed at one point but it did surprise me how much different it became. That was the point though given there were big focuses on it. I don't really get why Gearen City had to get the same treatment. It just...looks like straight up copying in my eyes. Maybe if it weren't for all the similarities I'd let it slide but they all pile up after a bit of time. So I do think it goes and uses way too much which never is a good thing. Game breaking? No, but it'll never leave a good taste in my mouth thinking about it. Not trying to diss you, Jan, but I'll never see Rejuvenation as a Reborn sequel. The two game take different directions in terms of story and design. That's not really good enough reason to avoid doing references towards another fan-game. In terms of players in Rejuv we could group them as follows: People who played Reborn and liked it, People who played Reborn and didn't like it, People who haven't played Reborn, and People who don't know what Reborn is. Let's just say 70% of the playerbase is the first category since most people who played Reborn have played Rejuv. Not a big deal that 30% of players won't really care for Reborn references, right? Not exactly. Let's just say that 30% of the first group really dislike games with a lot of Reborn references in it. That would mean half the fanbase dislikes them. And the more added the more the dislike ratio goes up. And there's really no benefit gained from doing this. It's also perfectly fine to show inspiration from another game. Smash Ultimate was inspired from Persona 5, but you certainly wouldn't call them the same game. Trails of Cold Steel took a lot of inspiration from the Persona series which are a lot closer compared to the first example, but they still manage to do their own things and both stand out. But you didn't need references to see the connections and ideas brought in from it. It also could have been pure coincidence. I'd have to look up sequels with new directors but I know a good example of where things go wrong is Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (I swear why is every sequel with Dawn end up bad to most fans. Radiant Dawn, Dark Dawn...) as people hate that game purely due to it being a Symphonia sequel and that it doesn't live up to that game's legacy. Rejuv isn't there yet, but it's teetering on that line which the reception would end negative at the end. Jan and Ame accel at different things as Ame really nailed the puzzle designs, some very, very creative battles, a unique story approach (which is hit or miss to most), and generally better exploration as it feels like you are venturing in a vast world. Rejuv really nails the colorful and vibrant feel and has better graphics. Sidequests are on par with each other. We could fight each other day and night, but the term "Inferior Reborn" isn't so hard to slap on it the more it tries to make itself to be like it. And I'm not trying to say the game is ruined or terrible, but just explain why you shouldn't add too many references to a game you were inspired by. I don't even like touching other people's work as I really do avoid touching Reborn's main plot as much as possible. It just feels wrong and every time I have to edit a story event in Redux due to a change in battles, it's like stabbing myself with a knife painful. So while it may not look that way, I really hate doing story changes but sometimes it's needed. It's also why I hate story connections from other people to a game if they aren't the original creator. Wasn't a big fan of the story connections to Awakening in Echoes (and RIP Marth appearance) despite the fact that it was probably the Awakening writers who made it. Just felt like shameless advertising then. Anyways, rant over and it is what it is. I'd have to really play the segments of the game to really judge them fully. That's just kind of my stance. Now back to the goo part. (Bitch, I was one badge away from getting past you. I got an army who could beat you down right now) The mapping is similar but some things got moves around and the bridge was added. Oh that bridge. (Huh. Wasn't expecting that) It looks better. And the more I look at it, the more I like it. I'm starting to wonder whether or not Jan is taking points from this run. Also I really like the touch of how the doors open. My first impression was that it's just a fancy Poke Center, but I think it works better than the old one as it's more pleasing to look at. The inside got redecorated as well. And yeah, we're doing the quests. (Not much changed here) I don't remember if she floated down from the roof but this event felt the same with maybe some altered dialogue. I didn't mind it before but I really did like her comment on how irresponsible the trainer was. Who bloody loses their Starly? That's like one of the best mons in the game. Hell, I wouldn't mind snatching it from her. Don't think she'd notice. And here's one big difference: (Oh god. Not the face! Not the face!) (...I think I'm in heaven. Nevermind, I'm not. Saki is here.) (I actually have done that during one of my jobs. It's fun) (Hooligan. Imma show you a hooligan) (Wait...we can do that? I'll sure you for the million you charge me. I'd be eating good for a while) (Bruises on the other hand...) (...Commander will remember this next time Sakai is in danger) (Probably revenge from the previous chapters) (I guess I am a street rat given I have no house) (I wish I had a helicopter) (You're saying that like it's a bad thing...I'm kidding. I don't want Saki to die. Take Venam instead) (...what?) (So go out and fish?) (...okay, I'll admit that is a good line) (Well that was certainly a greeting) (My feels) So I would say that introducing all these characters early is kind of pointless, but I gotta admit that was a great Saki scene. She's really started to grow on me as being an immature and looked down upon character due to it. I don't really mind her anymore. It does take me a while to warm up to some characters. I don't think she's a good character, but she's decent. Now I don't think any of this changed: (Well that explains why Melia is a future engineer student) (Nah. We got stuff to do) So you saw that detail. I guess that does make a bit of sense. It's a stretch but it's more logical than her just having natural talents. I would like to see more on Jenner though and his knowledge as that'd be interesting to look at. Anyways, I'm starting to think Jan has just been taking notes on things I rant about which more power to you since you fixed it and it flows better. Still blows me away Jan managed to make something that seemed impossible work. Melia still has issues, but there's really no way of avoiding it due to the plot. We'll go into that later though. But now... (SCREW YOU FOR GETTING 300 POKE OUT OF ME!) So this guy is tough. He has a hippo which is really strong at this point in the game. It's a bit of Paper Mario TTYD where this guy blocked the entrance but you could beat him at any point in the game to get rid of him. Same dealio here. But why did you have to give him sitrus berries. Those things are almost as annoying as potion spamming. Almost. (I just Veigued this again. Figured now would be the best time to get levels up. (Probably should've went back to him as you'll be in the PC forever) Well that was an interesting event but not really much to say. I just wanted to include it to show the difference. However... (Well this is new) (Just give me the money and I'll do whatever. I certain bridge guy beat my ass twice) (Guess we're back to errand boy) (Oh it can fail in so many ways such as the girl falling in love with me instead) (Show, don't tell. This man gets it) (So he be a stalker. Nice!) (But...that's a cute girl) (......If he falls in love with me, Imma kill you) (At least he's easy to recognize) (That sounds like me. I'm a broke hobo. 250 for a burn heal is outrageous) (If only you weren't gay, this would be a great bonding experience) (Yes, yes he did) (Now you're thinking. That's dangerous) (So a uhhh....Rawst Berry, right?) (Good thing I prepped and got a burn heal) So I'm just gonna say, I wish he gave you a bit of money as well to buy a present. I know you get the money back but it would've made more sense that way. This is a minor nitpick though and I'll finish the event before going over the rest of my thoughts, but as you can tell, this quest is different. (Do you know how hard it is to find a white haired man in this city? Every corner looks the same) (He did...I mean yes, he knew exactly what you needed.) (Yes. Eric is very thoughtful. He knows what to give a guy) (...I dunno what defines cuteness.) (YES! That means I get paid in full) (No problem. Easy money) (Congrats! I'm happy for you...just don't invite me to the wedding. Well you can, but I ain't being your flower girl) (...You owe me 250 for the burn heal) (I don't mind doing errands like this. Beats Terajuma) (Easy way to become broke) (I did and you have me a nugget. What a nice guy) I actually really liked this quest...despite the controversy we don't talk about. I thought the original version was lackluster which this one really kind of nailed what the quest should have been. Jan still had the "he's gay" surprise but it was brief and Eric didn't disappear right afterwards. I don't think it really mattered if it was a guy or girl which is the way it should be for a simple quest like this. Wonder if we'll get to see them later or if they are hanging out together. (Oh boy here we go again) (And now we get to talk about this...) (..........) Yeah...let's not talk about this because I hate it since it's an asspull since the original was a stone that made sense but Arcanine was axed and now this is the solution. Would've preferred a Pikachu gang honestly. I don't mind an over the top situation like stone convenience, but I think this was stretching it. (And I didn't record it) The fight was uneventful. Az said I cheated since it couldn't touch Litwick (why didn't it have bite) but actually it just kept hitting itself with confusion on Karin KO'd it without any help. Litwick did nothing and also didn't have flash fire. My luck is pretty funny as I'm either super lucky or have terrible luck. (Wet and full of holes. Like this event) (Hey, it's Luca. The one NPC nobody remembers but is part of the mansion chapter) (Uhhh...I may have spent 20 minutes grinding. Gotta abuse that partner up free heal) (What do you think two girls in one room will do? Ren? U okay?) (Oh. There's something I forgot to do) (This will probably be a cakewalk) (THIS IS NOT A CAKEWALK!) I guess we'll deal with this later. (Pretty sure this dialogue is the same but I wanted to show Melia's new sprite) (Well that was uneventful) So why am I using "illegal" mons? There's two reasons: 1) They're in my PC so why not and 2) If I don't use these guys now, I wouldn't use them in the future and stick with what likely is a more generic team to get by. Litwick actually is about on par with Shuppet in strength. Let that sink in. Sure I get a better Will-o-wisp user but it's the same deal. I'm not going to go for the most OP mon in my PC as I could just steamroll with the main crew to show new dialogue. So why not show off Litwick since nobody can use it since it's placed so late it'd only be good as a Chandelure. I also have limits as I can't use Mr. Mime, Sewaddle, Floatzel, etc so some of these are just fillers until I decide on a team. When you see the vids, you'll realize how irrelevant that fact is as most of the mons I caught in this run are doing the work. (...I have a 40 minute video proving otherwise) (And the rest is the same) Dialogue has been altered a bit so it's hard to remember what exactly is new and what remained untouched, but it gives the same general idea. We're really testing my memory as I haven't gone back to chapter uhhh 3 or something to sort that out. Now let's deal with her. And I planned to only do leaders at this point so I didn't make a recording. But we'll do it Mander style to explain what was going on. (Granberia loses about half her HP in exchange for I know what you're think and I will answer your question: yes. (That takes care of issue number one) (And...not as big of issue issue) (Intimidate is useful and my number one go to skill) (So is Baby-doll Eyes) And that was the point where I kind of lost the first time. So I had a few attempts but I used Nick Cage on Rockruff which worked. (Of course Charjabug the other big threat just had to paralyze me) (And down went the rock) So there was a switch which I used the bat there. And this is also another point where I lost, but here's how the good battle went down -Luxio KO'd Pickapeck -Switched in Litwick to Will-o-Wisp Stenee -Eventually KO'd Stenee with Embers from Fletchinder. Pain in the ass with Synthesis -Karin (what Popplio's evolution name is) used Icy Wind to take out Sandyghast before dying to Charjabug -Litwick Will-O'd Charjabug before dying -I think Swoobat was the one to finish it off. Either that or Nick cage. -Passimian came in and KO'd Luxio, Nick Cage, and Cordelia. Though Cordelia did manage to do some damage (she was the chipper) And finally... (Thank you Swoobat) And yes, I did obtain Swoobat legitimately by giving it a haircut and running around while hatching some eggs I neglected to hatch. Did you know that the left half of West Gearen is a big circle and easy to run around? Well now you know. (And that was a well earned victory) (Never doing that...oh god she's gonna have Lycanroc. Help me) (That's one dead team. Also, they are kind of trained up) (This is why you use your lights while driving kids) Don't remember if that NPC was in the older ones or not. But it's there, I suppose. (Nah. I wanna explore) (Oh look, another familiar face) (I just evolved two Pokemon from friendship, and I'm working on another 3. And I waited a year and a half to finish a mod and I've been working on a run for a year and half or close to that. I have patience to spare, lady) (At least she's honest) (Thanks for the Zinc I'll never use) At least they sell for a decent price (Now I'm thinking of Hocus Pocus) (I wonder who would actually win given each is weak to the other. My bets are on the Walter wannabe) Btw, I did catch a Rockruff to trade to the one lady. I did use Debug to rename it though. That's the only reason I'm going to use Debug though. That and to check stuff/fix it. You get the idea though. I'm not using it for Rare Candies and if it means I have to grind for an hour instead, I will grind for an hour. I told you I have patience. (We know how this all went down) (Boo! Give me Ren back) (At least she doesn't look like a litt..whoops. I should probably change that. I just used the legacy sprite since that's what I used in V10 for my sprites) (Yeah?) (Well that was a pain in the ass to kill) Praise Olivier. I know I used Roselia quite a bit but...I needed something else to grind given everyone is near the cap. Exp All is gonna be a godsend. (Not gonna use since I have Gaius) (And whoops I missed the blue screen moment. Not that blue screen but a shade...you know what I mean) And if you're wondering what's going on and where the Melia battle is well... Spoiler My soundboard is awful and hates RMXP so you'll have to deal with some Audio hiccups or in this case an audio over it since the audio was corrupted. Everything past Rift Gyarados is fine though. Now for some fancy jumping... (Why is this thing even here) (Speedracer is awful. You'll see in the videos later) (The new design is okay but...I think I liked the original version better. I didn't get the female) (Ah, Eli. You never get old.) (...I'd go with sell. And Zetta must have a lot of patience dealing with these people) (Never change, Eli. Never change) (...DO IT! JUST DO IT!) (Yeah, I don't think it'll be that easy. Especially given the giant vortex of death in the lake) (I didn't record this video either. Sowwy) (Nor did I screencap. Sowwy again) Not much really happened if memory serves. Misdreavus got some KOs but it was mostly my mons doing the KOs and Melia doing jack to help. I am overleveled though which we experience some turned table in chapter 2. You didn't miss much here. (Surrender we done) (Careful. She hasn't gotten her shots yet.) (...Even though she's out of mons to use) (She may not, but I would...nevermind I won't. You're gorgeous) (And that's the end of those hooligans...for now) (And now for the moment you've been waiting for) I'd like to take a moment and say that the new rifts look super cool. Looks more like a hole ripe through space. Also this burn I think is new: (Oh so that's where you've been all this time) And...battle time! Spoiler These aren't very eventful so I'm not going to comment. I know one of them I forgot I was on shift which is why I stayed in despite having the option. I have honor, if nothing else. I'm only in shift for the sake of grinding on random trainers. (And it's that time again) (I really wish he got knocked in with us). (And then he pushes us in) (That's different) (That moment when you expect it to be a long segment but suddenly it's boss battle time) I think this change is good as it's less "edgy" and really short which I feel these segments should be given you did a battle and an exploration segment even if said segment is short. (And you know what time it is) Spoiler (They never did explain how she was able to do it. Not like this is the first game to ever have minor plot holes) (Oh hey, they explain why it's still alive) (I kind of miss the fact it poisoned the water to weaken it. Minor nitpicks though) (So no BS teleporting. Well that's certainly something) It's pretty cut and dry what got changed here. Zetta got a better burn and Melia doesn't have an OP af move. Guess that solves another issue in the plot. Wonder when Jan finally lost it and changed that. It's a good change though. (I think the dialogue was altered but basically the same.) (She knows Jenner is a traitor) (I'm guessing this better ties in with WLL) (And we're all gonna die) (Melia is pretty ignorant charging straight at the enemy when just escaping) (Jenner is face palming on the inside) I mean Melia has a point in which Jenner sent her in a trap despite knowing it was a trap. Doesn't mean it's a good idea to go shouting at him with someone suspicious in the room. (I love how confused Madelis is. I am too) (And I wasn't expecting this and freaked out) (Well this is new) (Well that ended badly) I used Yawn and I didn't save. I didn't expect the fight nor the one shot. Guessing the RNG is not on my side today. Probably could do it with two Ancient Powers but that'd require a boost. Well the dialogue isn't much different other than Madelis is impressed. There is a slight error as you see in the comment above. There's an easy fix as you can store the player name in a variable then call the script back for it. That's what I did for the party system. But yeah, I'm really glad this became a thing as playing as other characters. It's a concept that is not common in RPGs but temp party members always seem cool to me. It was a good surprise though I'm not expecting it again for a while. (Beauty? Am I qual...yeah I think Jenner is the only one who qualifies) (Explanation time) So imma blow your mind for a minute and you can blame ZTD. So you may be thinking "Melia is the damn luckiest girl in the world" and has absurd luck, but it actually could be the opposite. Let's just use the multiple universes theorem for a moment. Let's say that there's a universe for every situation Melia uses Metronome. Basically, Melia failed a thousand times, but we're in the one timeline that actually succeeded. But we don't know what happens in the thousand of other universes since we can't see them. So this one near impossible outcome was expected to happen given that is what this timeline's destiny is. Confused? It'd take me a minute to fully explain but it's not as bullshit (still bullshit) as you may think. (Wut?) (Well this is certainly new) (City not...whatever. Or vicinity. Learn2word Jan) (Well that was...something) (I guess I'm irrelevant. Good because I don't wanna face that houndoom) (I'm guess Nastasia and not Madame X) (Bye ginger with too much dialogue and ego) (Yes, there's a lot of 'em. Where do you find these kinds of people?) (This dialogue is the same) (Over the top camera angles are new) (That certainly is new) Can we just take a moment to appreciate that awesome new animation. So much cooler than a random warp. I never said I didn't like flashy as I love flashy. One way to make me go into Praisemander mode. But...the rest plays out the same so read if you want. Imma skip down. (Well nothing came out of that). Nothing else really changed so now you know what time it is: (I beat up a ton of them too) (And cue da boss battle) We're going to end on the Venam battle since the dialogue is all the same. If you're interested just go back to that chapter to read it. But here's what we've been waiting for. Spoiler As for that fight, I feel like it could be toned up a little bit but the mon selection is fine. She's just lower than the exp growth curve as I had like 10 mons at the cap which at least 5 of them were from this run itself. It's whatever since it is the first gym battle and it's meant to give you a taste and see if you're ready or not. As for my strat, it was pretty simple: keep Swoobat alive until Seviper so that I could take things out quickly. Mereanie was something I wasn't sure if I could one shot which is why I did the switch. I definitely had plenty of ammo to spare as I was expecting a Posium-Z strike. I was prepped a bit too well for this fight. As for the episode itself, it pretty much solved my main complaints on top of adding an extra little with that Melia fight. Episode 1 was always my favorite as it was tame with a mix of misadventures and it really nailed how to handle the pacing even if you didn't need a huge area to explore like Gearen City. I guess I really, really like it now with very little to complain about. Maybe tone up the cap here but I tend to explore then do story. It's a habit as sidequests often get locked out if you don't do them right away in RPGs I play. Also can't really think too well since my knee is killing me since I pulled it. On a side note, let me know what battles you want me to record as it's pretty easy for me to do these. These were boring battles so there's not much for to talk about (even the gym battle was anticlimatic) and there's not fail compilation since I did everything in one attempt. I'm only going to be doing main story battles unless you want me to do special fights like Novae or the Conk fights. Or if you want me to only do gym battles I can just do those. It's really not that big of a deal since it's just mostly a push of a button and an upload. Anyways, I gotta get further since this is more or less enough for a chapter I have right now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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