Sunday, May 12, 2024

A look back at: Mega Moemon FireRed

Heh heh, I honestly wouldn't have imagined this would be something. But it sure is, and doesn't seem to get too far into other resources, instead everything is done well by a team of spriters in order to ensure nice quality. And with it, we have what is generally considered the best of the Moemon games as a whole. Mega Moemon FireRed features mega evolutions, lots of new generation moves, mons up to Gen-6, double wild battles, about six new locations, and even event distributions via password. And while all this is nice and all, really the fun is just trying to get everything in the hack for me. With it being base FireRed, many things are identical aside from Moemon and their trainers. I have even decided to pick up sprite replacement so that for future ROM hacks that don't change their dexes, I can change them into Moemon. What? I like this girly stuff. For the record my main party throughout the game included several picks that I have used in many other ROM hacks prior, and it was Magnezone, Claydol, Emboar, Crobat, Empoleon, and Florges, with Scrafty used for the final Elite Four rematch, Bibarel for the majority of HMs, and a Fearow for flying, plus Swampert, Gardevoir, Gallade, Flygon,  and Riolu were all used prior to deciding on my main party members above.

I guess I can actually use the rest of this post to critique my favorite Moemons, though I won't be providing images of their sprites, go look that up yourself.

Raticate line - honestly I like it. Rattata is a small cosplay but Raticate kinda looks genuine
Furret line - average really. Lots of fur for Furret which makes sense.
Linoone line - Linoone got that sexy hair and Zigzagoon got the obvious raccoon mask.
Mightyena line - well, Mightyena tries to be a sexy wolf girl here.
Nidoqueen line - love how they're all carrying swords
Nidoking line - see above, this is the male version of course but it still works very well.
Dodrio line - I actually kinda hate it. It's a little more difficult to do those that have multiple heads like some Kanto mons have, but they tried by having some small head things added to Doduo and Dodrio. Not a fan though.
Swellow line - Taillow is the better one.
Tangrowth line - Tangela being super messy is awesome. Tangrowth somehow has more volume
Sunflora line - of course Sunkern is cute but I question why Sunflora gotta look middle-aged
Roserade line - I LOVE Roselia's sprite, and Budew's being a baby makes perfect sense. Roserade is kind of odd with the hair but it still seems cool enough.
Jumpluff line - probably the first line where I don't really like all of their designs despite the different colors.
Vileplume/Bellossom line - Glad they didn't overdo the hair with Vileplume. Bellossom is a lame flower girl though.
Arbok line - Ekans is straight up Shantae and I love the middle-eastern vibes from Arbok
Wigglytuff line - not surprising they got microphones and seem like something from Aikatsu
Ampharos line - Sheep herders! Ampharos actually looks menacing
Farfetch'd - not entirely the best
Lickilicky line - so the tongue is the scarf. Very strange. Somehow the pink haired girls are good.
Scizor line - bug warriors! Though Scyther is too small.
Hypno line - awkward hair, okay dress on Hypno.
Swalot line - Turned both Gulpin and Swalot into connoisseur princesses. Awkward designed hair.
Kangaskhan - so this is one with two of them, kinda neat how it at least looks like a mother trying to get into the game.
Girafarig - The other tail is the whip. Real funny.
Tauros - a personal favorite design of mine. Manly cowboy.
Miltank - Well she has some obvious...mammaries
Ninetales line - This one looks like one of those girls you see in every anime that does stuff at some religious shrine and looks super devoted to what they do.
Rapidash line - Flaming good hair and design.
Electivire line - Oddly enough, I think most of the designs are boring. The suit Electivire wears isn't that great.
Manectric line - Electrike is good, but not really a fan of Manectric's.
Zangoose and Seviper - I like these two, they look like warrior cosplayers.
Plusle and Minun - These two are also surprisingly very good. Of course they would be cute cheerleaders! Top tier design for these two.
Arcanine line - All I see is a furry girl.
Castform - The plumpy hair is ridiculous but makes sense. Haven't actually seen the other weather forms.
Chimecho line - Chimecho is somehow VERY GOOD.
Venusaur line - Bulbasaur is the CUTEST, but the line doesn't really get better.
Meganium line - Chikorita and Bayleef are by far and large top-tier Moemon designs. Bayleef in particular is the girl I like. Meganium isn't that good though.
Typhlosion line - Cyndaquil is holding a mask of her Pokemon, while the evolutions act like they are Human Torch. Kinda warm. Typhlosion looks like a JoJo character.
Blaziken line - I'm kinda disappointed in this line, but at least Mega Blaziken is good (one of the few mega forms I was able to see from the front)
Legendary Johto Beasts - Warrior priestesses! Some of my all time favorites, reminds me of the valkyries.
Torterra line - Grass starters have been quite cool, but Turtwig takes the cake with the boyish school looks. Torterra is both okay and good, which is weird to me.
Staraptor line - Goes from cute maid to sexy maid quick.
Bibarel line - for a base form Bidoof has a great dress. Bibarel not as much a fan.
Luxray line - I was sort of expecting it to look like Aoi Tategami from KKPCALM, guess I was wrong.
Pachirisu - cosplay
Lopunny line - honestly what I expected it to be.
Purugly line - Glameow is what I expected. Purugly is skinny and decent.
Serperior line - of these, Servine is the best.
Watchog line - they are scouts, and I kinda enjoy the color scheme on the binoculars of Watchog.
Liepard line - domino mask for Liepard and laziness.
Stoutland line - somehow Lillipup and Herdier are the same size, and Stoutland is too small. Not "intimidating" by any means.
Zebstrika line - Eh, Zebstrika just looks like a Sonic OC.
Florges line - only the red flower variant here. And it looks exactly how I expected.
Gogoat line - You catch Skiddo on the cycling route. And the best part is, Skiddo is on a bicycle while Gogoat is on a motorcycle. These are also top-tier Moemon designs for me.
Furfrou - kind of a kid who crosses pajamas with cosplay.
Slurpuff line - These two look like rejects from KKPCALM
Butterfree line - Yep, Butterfree itself is top tier, and you get it early enough.
Beedrill line - honestly Beedrill itself tries to be an actual Beedrill.
Beautifly/Dustox line - Beautifly is easily the better one here. Wurmple itself looks weak, and the cocoons are sleepy.
Pidgeot line - I love Pidgeot's face. The rest resemble Parakarry from Paper Mario for me.
Noctowl line - both look like Harry Potter fangirls
Xatu line - I really like these two. Design-wise Xatu is certainly top-tier, they both look like they belong as the tribal leader for their groups.
Raichu line - Raichu is the best, the others are honestly cosplay. Yes, even the event Witch hat Pikachu.
Victreebel line - somehow all of these are very good? Bellsprout is very cute, Weepinbell has a funny face and is still cute, while Victreebel's got the skirt.
Parasect line - This resembles that Chun-li hairdo for Paras, and I love how it's a food server. Parasect has got that Raiden hat too.
Breloom line - didn't like Shroomish in the first place. Breloom is just Street Fighter's Cammy.
Shiftry line - average in my opinion.
Venomoth line - Venomoth is a granny while Venonat tries to be one.
Yanmega line - Love how Yanma is somewhat unique.
Ledian line - arguably more cosplay, don't like
Ariados line - well, Ariados looks sexy, but that's it.
Ninjask line - They're both ninjas which makes a ton of sense. Shedinja is appropriately awkward.
Volbeat and Illumise - if only both of these mons were decent, either way, top-tier designs.
Forretress line - Forretress itself is all over the place, while Pineco is kinda boring.
Slaking line - Vigoroth is quite appropriate.
Delcatty line - One is trying to nya you, the other is just sitting there being sexy. That's it.
Honchkrow line - looks exactly how I expected them to look
Weavile line - Sneasel is better cause of the swords and pirate hat. Weavile looks like a girl who just wants to be a part of it. A huge downgrade.
Exeggutor line - Exeggutor is a top-tier design in my book. Makes it work very well for what it is.
Sudowoodo line - Obvious actress is obvious.
Ambipom line - love how one's a skateboarder and the other's a rollerblader. Oddly enough both are top-tier designs.
Stantler - Very meh.
Kecleon - looks like the nervous geeky kid.
Pinsir and Heracross - Heracross is cuter but both look like cute amazons.
Altaria line - Top tier designs for both. Love those dresses.
Tropius - also top-tier design, looks like the Pacific Islander I would enjoy.
Dusknoir line - Why is Dusclops the only one with a reaper scythe? It should be there for the others.
Togekiss line - they're all actually good. Different eye colors for all.
Sceptile line - Grovyle is my favorite. Another good job on the grass starter. I wonder if Sceptile's sword is longer than it looks in the sprite.
Celebi line - look exactly how I expected it to look like.
Infernape line - Monferno and Infernape are top-tier designs, fit well with "fighter monkey of fire" vibes.
Wormadam and Mothim - Mothim wins by far.
Vespiquen line - This should be better in my opinion.
Cherrim line - I wasn't able to get sun-form Cherrim but I actually like both of these.
Drifblim line - can't think of this line unless I think about the Pokedex entry.
Skuntank line - obvious punk vibes
Leavanny line - Leavanny is obviously good but the rest look boring.
Scolipede line - oddly enough I don't like this line. The pre-evolutions have swords but Scolipede drops it for a smoking pipe?
Zoroark line - One is a punk 3rd grade kid while the other is a furry.
Sawsbuck line - I love Deerling. Sad that we only have spring form in this case for both by the way.
Escavalier line - Escavalier by itself is a top-tier design, maybe even top 10. Karrablast isn't bad either.
Vivillon line - Don't like the pre-evolutions, and the final could have had more variety but it doesn't. Tea is cool.
Emolga - this is a cosplay.
Trevenant line - very good designs. Unsure if I should say top-tier though.
Galarian Rapidash line - the odd thing here is I see these two and they look like they could be Pretty Cure villains instead of decent magical girl heroes.
Seaking line - Goldeen's alright but Seaking's too much.
Gyarados line - oddly enough I think Gyarados is too small.
Kingler line - the hair is way too wacky, and why goggles?
Crawdaunt line - these two look badass.
Whiscash line - Love Whiscash's design a lot.
Ludicolo line - I actually don't like how there's too much to Ludicolo's design. Lombre also looks smaller than Lotad.
Masquerain line - These are both somehow very good! Surskit got crazy hair and skates, but it works out. Masquerain's color scheme and costume work very well.
Golduck line - the umbrellas are kind of a neat touch.
Quagsire line - not actually good.
Poliwrath and Politoed - oddly Poliwhirl has my favorite design. The twintails on Poliwrath are nice and the sandal flying off Politoed is hilarious.
Azumarill line - Azumarill is made sexy but the others are basic.
Slowbro and Slowking - lazy pink-hairs. Slowking is the best.
Milotic line - Feebas looks like a rookie diver. Milotic is a very appropriate mermaid.
Armaldo line - Anorith is VERY CUTE, Armaldo is a downgrade.
Dragonite line - honestly, all are top tier designs. Dragonair is the best.
Blastoise line - another line that is not that good except for its mega (yeah I made my rival had Mega Blastoise).
Feraligatr line - the multicolor hair is what saves this ethnically diverse line.
Swampert line - Marshtomp and Swampert being cool surfer chicks is what makes them top-tier.
Latias and Latios - not bad.
Empoleon line - Prinplup is the best. There's too much with Empoleon.
Floatzel line - competitive-looking water gun-toting chicks? Awesome. Floatzel in particular is a top-tier design.
Lumineon line - very cute mermaids.
Samurott line - hey, they all get nice swords. that's cool.
Seismitoad line - oddly Palpitoad is the best, a top-tier design in my opinion too. But I guess the dress on Seismitoad works well.
Basculin - no thank you.
Swanna line - Ducklett is super cute. Swanna works well.
Accelgor line - weird how you go from knight cosplayer to ninja for this one.
Stunfisk - face is weird, but I think that might be the point.
Greninja line - this is alright.
Barbaracle line - there's too much going on with Barbaracle but that might be the point.
Dragalge line - ooh, an ominous purple orb for Dragalge. Me like.
Clawitzer line - Clauncher just looks like a Mega Man cosplay. Clawitzer enhances on this and tries to make a corrupted Mega Man (X) OC.
Goodra line - Sliggoo's the only one I don't like. Why cover the face?
Tentacruel line - Tentacool sucks but we got a bikini babe with long black hair for Tentacruel. Good.
Pelipper line - Appropriately the two are mail deliverers. Wingull is better.
Starmie line - they managed to make Starmie be very cute, and Staryu not far behind.
Lanturn line - in two minds about Lanturn but Chinchou works well.
Octillery line - these are BOTH top-tier. Love how the Remoraid has a Remoraid-shaped gun. And Octillery getting a bazooka is also great.
Cloyster line - Cloyster has interesting hair and a death skull mask. Making it the better one.
Huntail and Gorebyss - love Gorebyss being a bored mermaid. Huntail is kinda good. Clamperl oddly enough is what I expected it to be.
Qwilfish - a punk girl, what else is there?
Corsola - I actually don't like it.
Luvdisc - I oddly enough like it.
Dewgong line - mermaid-looks done right yet again.
Mantine line - once again, shrine-maiden looks, and they actually work.
Walrein line - Sealeo is the best. Walrein oddly enough has the weight to work too.
Sharpedo line - Top-tier designs here. Pirate chicks, one with a sword and the other with a blunderbuss.
Wailord line - VERY ODD DECISION to make them holy nuns. Very odd decision.
Kingdra line - spiky hair and lots of clothing and jewelry appropriate for a dragon shrine maiden. Not surprised. Seadra is the best design.
Relicanth - aw, such a cute face. For a rock type that's great.
Lapras - flute Lapras is nice. Summer Lapras is better.
Omastar line - actually don't like it.
Kabutops line - they gave Kabutops a better scythe than the Dusknoir line or Scyther. What the heck?
Cradily line - nerdy girls. Cradily looks like some sort of weird mystic.
Phione and Manaphy - both are surprisingly well done.
Carracosta line - okay
Jellicent line - only the female forms exist, because of course. Jellicent is a top-tier design.
Crobat line - it might surprise you but I actually don't like these designs at all, not even Crobat, which tries to be sexy but I think is a bit too much. The others are cosplay.
Dugtrio line - Dugtrio works very well. Love how it has the other heads as puppet things.
Steelix line - Both are nice and tall. Steelix and the armor are wonderful.
Mamoswine line - the pre-evolutions have funny faces but I love the snowboarder vibe of Mamoswine the most.
Glalie and Froslass - Glalie is 100% top-tier, maybe even top 10 design for me. Froslass disappointed me, but Snorunt with its white face is nice.
Exploud line - Loudred and Exploud are great rockers and are top-tier designs.
Mismagius line - cute Misdreavus as a trick-or-treater, while Mismagius is an obvious witch.
Dunsparce - it makes no effort to be cute. That is fine.
Probopass line - they somehow managed to make Nosepass and Probopass good. Wow.
Sableye and Mawile - Sableye isn't that great. Mawile is basically just Venom or something.
Gengar line - the pre-evolutions look like funny maids, while Gengar straddles the line.
Wobbuffet line - weird how both have random dogs with them. I love the noble lady look on Wobbuffet.
Lunatone and Solrock - even though both look like Touhou or fairies or such, they are top 10 designs in my book. Very, very cute designs.
Regis - they're all made to look gigantic. Especially Regigigas and its assets.
Rampardos line - This one tries to be the cleric from Hexen.
Bastiodon line - And this one apparently can lift Thor's hammer.
Bronzong line - most Steel types have great designs overall, but this isn't one of them, sorry.
Garchomp line - basically it's like they want to shank you.
Gigalith line - this is an example of one that gets better and better the more it evolves.
Swoobat line - Swoobat is good, Woobat is ugly.
Excadrill line - Excadrill looks like a communist general which is interesting.
Galvantula line - I'm extremely disappointed how one of my favorite Bug types turned out.
Ferrothorn line - I like the spiky dress Ferrothorn has.
Klinklang line - cute androids, reminds me of Hugtto Pretty Cure's Ruru.
Eelektross line - this one looks like it's trying to do the Smooth Criminal lean.
Haxorus line - Just too obvious with the weapons, should be better designed.
Cryogonal - very average
Hydreigon line - Deino and Zweilous look how I expect it. But Hydreigon somehow deconstructs it and manages to be a good design all the same.
Volcarona line - Larvesta's weird and Volcarona's a cosplay.
Swords of Justice - all with appropriate swords, all good.
Avalugg line - Avalugg is a top tier design with a sword and appropriate ice shield.
Carbink - appropriate cosplay
Golem line - it's odd that twintails work so well here.
Primeape line - this one makes sense for those who love MMA stuff I guess.
Grumpig line - Spoink is better and the pogo stick helps it.
Machamp line - to be honest I expected this to be better than it really is, and it's disappointing.
Clefable line - these are straight from Tokyo Mew Mew I swear.
Marowak line - uh I don't think we're supposed to see Cubone's face there? Ah oh well.
Magcargo line - the fact that both have eggs with their voluminous hair is a nice nod to how Flame Body can help in hatching eggs. I love these designs, top-tier.
Camerupt line - they made them look like packmules on purpose.
Hariyama line - the hands on Hariyama are weird.
Medicham line - interesting monks, bit of a Middle East vibe too. By the way this game did not have Mega Medicham, but every other Mega Stone was available.
Shuckle - low-tier design
Ursaring line - also low-tier designs in all honesty.
Delibird - very obvious Santa cosplay.
Gliscor line - what to make of this? Honestly I don't know.
Spinda - could be better, could have differing patterns.
Magmortar line - Magmar is a kick-ass top-tier design. I actually had to breed to get Magby by the way.
Torkoal - looks like a happy meemaw
Aggron line - more swords and steel justice, I like.
Tyranitar line - Pupitar has the best design, looks like a cool ninja. The others suck.
Snorlax line - Snorlax is what you expect. Munchlax is cute.
Absol - oddly enough this is also top-tier for design.
Aerodactyl - very cool, top-tier design
Charizard line - I'm, oddly enough, disappointed with this. The cute Charmander is decent, but the rest feel like cosplay to me.
Jirachi - looks how I expected it to.
Lucario line - Lucario is fearsome and I like that.
Toxicroak line - They both look mischevious. Cool, but Lucario's better.
Carnivine - surprisingly decent
Abomasnow line - kinda half-expected them to look like they do.
Conkeldurr line - I'm not really impressed. These are very close to the actual Pokemon.
Throh and Sawk - karate and judo boys. Throh actually looks like a guy from River City Ransom.
Archeops line - these are alright
Vanilluxe line - Vanilluxe itself is top tier and they got two girls to do it.
Druddigon - love it, top-tier
Braviary line - not bad for tribal Indian references. Though oddly I can only get the Paradox form via event, the normal Rufflet and Braviary were unobtainable.
Heatmor - she got a good flamethrower
Durant - too big
Mandibuzz line - Mandibuzz is good, Vullaby not so much.
Tyrantrum line - Tyrantrum has a huge sword, why?
Aurorus line - the faces being white is nice, but the design could be better.
Noivern line - probably the best-designed bats.
Fearow line - look like Roaring twenties girls.
Sandslash line - boring. Which makes sense considering how bored Sandslash looks.
Rhyperior line - in hindsight, I thought they were good but they're really not
Magnezone line - the Usagi Tsukino hair on Magneton is the best design. Some of it is retained in Magenzone too, but I don't like what she sits on. Magnemite is okay.
Houndoom line - they went for sexy on Houndoom, wow.
Donphan line - they went overboard on the cup size on Donphan here.
Cacturne line - well, this could be nice, but I know a better cactus mon.
Flygon line - Trapinch is creepy cute. The others do improve a bit.
Skarmory - top-tier design here.
Claydol line - Baltoy is funny cute. Claydol looks too much like a Touhou.
Salamence line - don't like it. At all. Especially Bagon's mouth.
Metagross line - interesting how they all have big freakin' hammers. It works out.
Hippowdon line - goggles are a very nice touch.
Drapion line - both feel like cosplays but Skorupi and the skirt are better.
Krookodile line - Krokorok has the best design here and feels the most Indiana Jones-like.
Maractus - This is the better cactus Moemon. Prove me wrong.
Darmanitan line - Both look like funny fiery chicks
Scrafty line - Scrafty is a huge improvement over the ugly Scraggy here. Actually looks like an evil hoodrat.
Sigilyph - kind of a cosplay here.
Cofagrigus line - Cofagrigus is the better one, and I love how she actually resembles a pharaoh.
Golurk line - these are cosplays
Bisharp line - these are dead center average
Persian line - Meowth looks like a cute schoolgirl while Persian is a seductress.
Granbull line - these two are basically the opposites of above
Muk line - I have to wonder, is their hair the sludge? Not too much a fan.
Weezing line - Now I still love the pirate inspirations, and these work out very well. Top-tier designs.
Banette line - Banette has a creepy cute stare.
Alakazam line - I think Alakazam is too brown. Kadabra has the best design.
Gardevoir and Gallade - Kirlia has the perfect ballet design here. Gardevoir is too much of a cosplay while Gallade and the swords work out.
Jynx line - Smoochum is a cute little princess while Jynx is a socialite girl. Very appropriate.
Mr. Mime line - just some jesters, nothing else.
Smeargle - a nerdy artist? Okay then...
Hitmons - all are physical men and actually hot.
Blissey line - The egg for the pre-evolutions check out well. The stethoscope on Blissey is a nice touch to the nursing role but the hair is Chibi-Usa Tsukino's in full view.
Electrode line - It looks like Electrode is pregnant here. Very weird vibes, especially since you guys give it dynamite. Oddly I don't know if this Moemon design could be better in any way.
Porygon-Z line - Porygon2 wins in design, Porygon's blocky design is also good. Porygon-Z looks like it's hypnotized.
Ditto - OH NO
Eeveelutions - all except Jolteon I like.
Rotom - There's only one form and it LOOKS like the Ice form but it's not. For that, this design is bad.
Emboar line - Loving the big cup size on Emboar, and the morning stars make them cooler.
Musharna line - Musharna's top tier. That's all I got.
Audino - half cosplay half weird
Unfezant line - the thing that bothers me the most is that Pidove, the base form usually with the childish-looking girls, looks the most like a granny. Unfezant by the way has a mask, kind of like the male form somewhat.
Garbodor line - it's actually amazing that Garbodor looks like a loving-and-caring mother with voluminous green hair and looks very, very pretty. Top-tier.
Gothitelle line - Kind of looks like what I might expect out of this.
Reuniclus line - They're all quite cute. Except Reuniclus, oddly.
Beheeyem line - Beheeyem looks like a cool code breaker.
Chandelure line - maybe I'm just tired, but I don't see how the Chandelure face on her dress is any good.
Klefki - someone ought to make this sprite better
Unown - they're all very creepy with white faces and I guess they really did do all the symbols
Legendary birds - I guess they did decently enough with these five
Deoxys - since this is based on Fire Red we only got the attack form and I actually don't like it that much.
Mewtwo - she looks like a sexy overlord
Mew - and she's got the bubblegum pop look
Spiritomb - this one is WILD
Victini - I guess it's fine but it's got a weird face and the wings don't make sense.
Chatot - Just painfully average
Lilligant line - this needs to be way more extravagant.
Chesnaught line - quite average, guess it's because it becomes a rough Fighting type soon enough.
Alolan Ninetales - last one, kinda princess-y which is nice.

Whew! Anyways if you want to anime your Pokemon experience this is a fun game to try out.

Sunday, April 28, 2024

A look back at: Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria


Yes! I'm finally done with this one. There's a ton to cover here, the excellent battle system from the first game returning, the finishing strikes (known as "Soul Crush" now), the 2D puzzle-solving being more complicated, goodness gracious I have way too much on my plate! But that's how the RPG player does it. You gotta customize like crazy to get the best out of everything. Even if those Einherjar are temporary, they are significantly more useful than in the last game due to how equipment is now set up to help with added effects. Plus Sealstones. Can't forget those! Ah, and I love the breaking of enemy parts and the fun break mode. Making the battle system semi-action RPG was a weird touch that oddly enough I actually didn't find too bad either. The tutorials thankfully helped ensure that I understood that complex battle system more.

Overall what Valkyrie Profile 2 does is expand on the original game's mechanics and cut out the stuff that actually was easy to criticize about that game. I think the time limit in that game was a problem, and having to send Einherjar up to Valhalla and giving them equipment to go along and saying bye to a potentially powerful member was, as unique as it was, robbing of awesomeness. Here, releasing an Einherjar is just fine, since they appear as living again and give rewards, plus you don't have any time limit and can hold on releasing them until it's necessary. The game has tons of battle strategies surrounding them, their equipment, and certain other things, to the point where it can be doing a million damage points to your enemies. Which, by the way, is necessary for the Seraphic Gate stuff. Hoo boy.

Okay, enough gushing about the good, the bad thing is actually oddly enough the game's overall plot. I mean, you can tell that since Alicia has Silmeria inside her, basically every other character has a dark secret to hide. Except Arngrim cause he's Arngrim I guess, just a genuine badass. But most people can tell Leone is Hrist from a mile away, and Dylan as Brahms may be a surprise, there was at least one hint with how he mentions what kind of person he is. And those who played the first game know EXACTLY what is Lezard's deal. It was interesting how the plot shifts from Alicia trying to get back home only to be treated poorly, to having to run from Hrist, to accidentally BONDING with Hrist, and then Lezard hijacks everything. He takes Odin, the valkyries (including Lenneth, yeah, she's the creator Lenneth from the "A" ending, but you can tell Lezard had something up his sleeve for her) and tries to pull a Kefka on everyone. Nasty guy. But it really sucks to see all that hard work and all the main characters die except for Rufus and the valkyries (well, they are just souls at the end of it all). Brahms decides to die in that twisted world, both Lezard and Odin are gone, and Alicia unfortunately just took Lezard's stab from Gungnir. I loved her full valkyrie transformation too.

Essentially speaking, Lezard screwed up the original Valkyrie Profile's timeline by removing the event of Silmeria being trapped in the crystal, instead it's Brahms, and then Lezard continues to ruin things by taking what is Odin's later on. And it just feels like a kick in the pants for those who loved the original Valkyrie Profile, which I certainly did. That game was hard but WORTH IT. This one, well, it was enjoyable on all ends but the plot.

Saturday, April 6, 2024

A look back at: Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits

Well I can consider this franchise more or less done. Got no intention of playing through End of Darkness, since it is quite polarizing in terms of what it offers. This one kinda is like that, except it's much more cherished, and honestly seems to be the fan favorite game in hindsight. Though if you ask me, I love the fast pacing of the very first game the most still.

Thankfully Twilight of the Spirits proves not to be a slump. The idea to play as one protagonist and then shift gears to the other one as the story goes helps splendidly in storybuilding. We see respect, or lack of it in many cases (like many RPGs it seems that hatred for other races just HAS to be a thing, and things overall get ugly in quite a lot of scenarios. Quite graphic to have Darc get his wings broken in his chapter, you know. Or Delma trying to backstab him, or Camellia backstabbing twice. Yeah, the Deimos chapters are full of this. Kharg at least gets some respect from everyone who's not a Dilzweld soldier, and his do-good nature arguably makes him the weaker protagonist since he doesn't face the hardships Darc has. Lilia is the mysterious girl who of course brings everyone together in some way, and of course Darkham and then later the Divine Ruler/Lord of the Black Abyss are the main enemies in the end of it all.

Gameplay wise, it's like Makai Kingdom and Phantom Brave as a tactical RPG with freeform movement. The Spirit Stone distribution system is actually not bad, and the tension gauge is a great way to do makeshift unite attacks like in Suikoden. I actually went ahead and did some arena battles, something I didn't have the time to do in the previous games because I do have spring break hours for now. It was worth it, even if it did make some of my guys overpowered. Not as bad as the second game's pacing, but not better than the third game's and DEFINITELY not better than the first game's. The pacing of battles at least isn't very intrusive on my time and schedule, at least until you get to the final floating castle, thankfully. As a whole, this franchise was so fun.

Friday, March 29, 2024

Pokemon ROM Hack walkthroughs

It really does suck that we have lost the GBAHacks site. I guess due to the inactivities, broken links, and possible strikes, it had to happen. And I did have a number of walkthroughs for ROM hacks submitted to Knuckle San so that they can be of help to those who can't understand the crypticness of certain ROM hacks. In that case, I'll just have to post them on PokeCommunity and here. This post will of course be updated accordingly whenever I finish a walkthrough and a ROM hack.

Just to be clear, these are links to walkthroughs. I'm not here to distribute ROMs.

Full walkthroughs:

Pokemon Adventure Yellow Chapter + Blue Chapter + Gold Chapter + Green Chapter

Pokemon Altair and Pokemon Sirius

Pokemon Ash Gray

Pokemon Dark Cry: The Legend of Giratina

Pokemon Dark Crystal

Pokemon Dark Rising 2

Pokemon Dark Rising: Order Destroyed

Pokemon Dark Violet

Pokemon Grass Jewel

Pokemon Grass Jewel 2

Pokemon Hyetology

Pokemon Luria

Pokemon Metal Red

Pokemon Nameless

Pokemon Polka Aqua

Pokemon Polka Aqua 2

Pokemon Scorching Scarlet

Pokemon Sky Twilight

Pokemon Snakewood

Pokemon Stigma

Pokemon Sweet

Pokemon Vega

Pokemon Victory Fire

Pokemon Voda Red

Touhoumon Cirno

Partial walkthroughs/Pokedexs/Other stuff

Pokemon Liquid Crystal

Pokemon Mega Power

Pokemon Nameless (battle arenas/department guide)

Pokemon Resolute

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

A look back at: Pokemon Polka Aqua 2

Two years ago I reviewed Polka Aqua 1, and now, it's sequel. More sitcom/movie characters, same setting, but different ways of making it through. Tons of modifications to existing Pokemon, many new moves, changes to stats, possibly some changes to types, and Pokemon up to Gen-8. The author even had the gall to include every single legendary up to this point, including the Isle of Armor ones. And of course, lots of Lv100 full team competitive trainers, which is the difficult part, while the gameplay makes itself SEEM easy because you can easily get many decent items in PokeMarts at relatively cheap prices at every PokeMart. Base stat totals are all over the place, making Pokemon like Altaria, Azumarill, and Blissey more viable than some legendaries (it's so unorthodox for BSTs that Salamence for example is basically a joke now). Surely enough, I like having this much to do.

Back in Polka Aqua, my team had five Pokemon in it that I actually decided to also have for this rom hack, just because I liked using them then. Those were Empoleon, Delphox, Swampert, Altaria, and Chesnaught. I also had spiky-eared Pichu in the first Polka Aqua, however for this game, I decided my Electric type was gonna be Luxray, which, oddly enough, was my starter for this game (you can choose between Shinx, Sandshrew, and Spheal here). So other than that change, and the fact that my Altaria this time was shiny (it was a fixed-encounter Swablu in Portland, and I think fixed encounters have better shiny odds), my team was the same.

You know what, speaking of shinies, I'm actually gonna criticize this bit, because some shiny colorations, I'm personally not the biggest fan of. I liked green Beartic to be frank, so why the change to it? And navy blue Blissey is super weird. A lot of blue shinies that are really weird, Raikou and Entei, and even Groudon and Gallade are kinda awkward to see. Also having to keep the Pokemon at the number 386 was a harsh decision when subtracting Pokemon overall, that and the methods to getting Volcanion and Meloetta (which would take the most work overall) were still around. Oh, and I wasn't able to fill the Pokedex here cause I for some reason could not find Carbink. So this is still in to do overall.

I've finished a full walkthrough of this and will put it up eventually on this post. With that said I will announce that I will not be working on any future walkthroughs for Pokemon ROM hacks. The reason being is that I will actually get to modifying my other Pokemon ROM hacks, starting with my Victory Fire walkthrough. That was the first one I ever did, and all things considered, since the author of that hack has updated things extensively, I figured I'm going to redo my Victory Fire walkthrough. Following that, I will help out Allen Ceedos with changes to Pokemon Resolute (if they show up) and perhaps even go back to my Snakewood walkthrough considering a (unofficial) new release was on PokeCommunity. So that's what's going on with ROM hacks right now.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

RPG Ranks: Up to 180

Time to do one of these again, which means I am just inserting in the ones that I recently played into a master list and writing blurbs. You know the drill, this is my personal ranking of each RPG I played, with 180 being the least favorite and 1 being the most favorite. Let's see how the new games ranked too. Read the very first RPG Ranks post to see blurbs for all of the blurbs, I guess.

180. Deep Dungeon 3 (#114)
179. Golvellius: Valley of Doom (#21)
178. Hydlide: (#53)
177. Deep Dungeon (#112)
176. Startropics (#12)
175. The Guardian Legend (#15)
174. Deep Dungeon 2 (#113)
173. Minelvaton Saga: Ragon no Fukkatsu (#118)
172. Shining Wisdom (#52)
171. Popful Mail (#103)
170. Deep Dungeon 4 (#124)
169. Ys. (#96)
168. Secret of the Stars (#107)
167. Dragon Quest (#76)
166. Dual Orb II (#86)
165. Ys. III (#123)
164. Ys II (#102)
163. Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna (#144)
162. Majin Eiyuuden Wataru Gaiden (#19)
161. Dragon Quest II (#79)
160. Crusader of Centy (#8)
159. Orphen: Scion of Sorcery (#131) 
158. Magic Knight Rayearth (#48)
157. Digimon World 4 (#174)

It's really hard for me to rank most Digimon titles mostly because there is just so many mechanics. Yet ironically, the game that I found the simplest also is my least favorite of the bunch. Imagine if you will, the Lord of the Rings game on the Gamecube, as well as the hack and slash gameplay which I'm personally not a fan of, and you have this game. Unfortunately, it's definitely not balanced for single-player gameplay without tedious grinding, so it's certainly gonna be a low one.

156. The 7th Saga (#77)
155. Final Fantasy Legend II (#46)
154. Final Fantasy Legend III (#54)
153. Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger! (#17)
152. Ranma 1/2: Treasure of the Red Cat Gang (#121)
151. Grandia III (#133)
150. Final Fantasy (#2)
149. Final Fantasy Legend (#43)
148. Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn (#143)
147. Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds (#142)
146. Lunar: Walking School (#44)
145. Silva Saga (#119)
144. Great Greed (#47)
143. Tenchi Muyo! Game Hen (#93)
142. Phantasy Star II (#16)
141. Silva Saga II (#122)
140. Lufia & The Fortress of Doom (#6)
139. Robotrek (#101)
138. Final Fantasy Adventure (#105)
137. Warsong (#56)
136. Final Fantasy II (#135)
135. Dragon Quest IV (#94)
134. Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya (#129)
133. Shining Force (#106)
132. Shining in the Darkness (#82)
131. Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom: (#146)
130. Wild ARMs 4 (#136)
129. Phantasy Star III (#71)
128. Romancing SaGa (#61)
127. Dragon Quest III (#89)
126. Princess Crown (#126)
125. Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum (#153)
124. Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (#147)
123. Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World (#154)
122. Breath of Fire (#9)
121. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (#75)
120. Wizardry: Proving Grounds for the Mad Overlord (#141)
119. Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (#157)
118. Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen (#158)
117. Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen (#159)
116. Phantasy Star (#3)
115. Dragon Quest V (#104)
114. Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (#84)
113. Earthbound ZERO (#88)
112. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny (#161)
111. Realms of Arkania: Star Trail (#164)
110. Digimon World (#171)

Hours of gameplay went into this one, I assure. Also am not the biggest fan of a fully-AI-controlled battle system, but there's a ton of immersion in that you can use one Digimon, train it in many, many ways, and care for it. It's arguably the best game on premise, but not in gameplay or even storyline. Plus, the annoyance of having your Digimon fade and become anew, especially at crucial points, can actually be quite the dealbreaker.

109. Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon (#145)
108. Chocobo's Dungeon 2 (#165)
107. Jade Cocoon (#58)
106. Koudelka (#163)
105. Vandal Hearts II (#162)
104. Digimon World 3 (#173)

The most alright game in the Digimon World saga for me. It felt like a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game without the mystery dungeon stuff, and well I haven't even touched that series yet. Arguably they did a great job with the plot here, even if it gets a bit silly sometimes. Probably the best overall battle system, one-on-one, a fun evolution mechanic, and I guess if you're into card games you might like this too? I'm not the biggest fan of that one but I can see others liking it.

103. Tales of Destiny 2 (#176)

Where oh where is my English localization? This is a game I desperately wanted to play, and much to my chagrin I had to play it untranslated, thank goodness someone was able to provide a text FAQ on it, because it would very difficult otherwise. In either case, this is a Tales game, which is generally quite fun and is only down here because it didn't get translated, and while being graded on how well you do in battles is a gripe I have, this one pulls many familiar elements of the first Tales of Destiny and makes a worthy-enough sequel. Complete with a memorable villain even for a Japan-only title.

102. Digimon World 2 (#172)

This one's got the real mystery dungeon vibes of the Digimon World series, and I actually really enjoyed it compared to the first title. And the three-on-three combat system is a load of fun...except that it's incredibly slow-paced, along with the "attack missed" corollary that shows up when it really shouldn't. The combat is very standard turn-based stuff otherwise with hammy voices which are fun. Getting new Digimon is a complex procedure which unfortunately can contribute to excessively-long play times. Good thing I did this during the summer when I had the least amount of work to do!

101. Wild ARMs (#22)
100. Star Ocean: Blue Sphere (#109)
99. SaGa Frontier 2 (#132)
98. Dragon Quest VI (#116)
97. Sailor Moon: Another Story (#37)
96. Star Ocean (#67)
95. Final Fantasy III (#55)
94. Tales of Eternia (#136)
93. Xenogears (#30)
92. Odin Sphere (#34)
91. Spectrobes (#152)
90. Illusion of Gaia (#51)
89. Langrisser II (#73)
88. The Legend of Dragoon (#60)
87. Final Fantasy IV (#4)
86. Kartia: The Word of Fate (#63)
85. Lufia: The Ruins of Lore (#139)
84. Final Fantasy V (#65)
83. Romancing SaGa 3 (#83)
82. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (#140)
81. Mystic Ark (#137)
80. Dragon Quest VII (#127)
79. Wild ARMs 2 (#24)
78. Vandal Hearts (#160)
77. Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land (#156)
76. Dragon Quest VIII (#138)
75. Thousand Arms (#69)
74. La Pucelle: Tactics (#117)
73. Threads of Fate (#1)
72. Tales of Destiny (#39)
71. Suikoden IV (#66)
70. Wild ARMs: Alter Code F (#29)
69. Sword of Mana (#14)
68. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (#62)
67. Legend of Legaia (#80)
66. Lufia: The Legend Returns (#36)
65. Star Ocean: The Second Story (#98)
64. Secret of Evermore (#10)
63. Secret of Mana (#110)
62. Seiken Densetsu 3 (#120)
61. Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant (#148)
60. Soul Blazer (#42)
59. Arc the Lad III (#179)

Time for the Arc the Lad Collection to show up on this countdown, and quite frankly, all of them will be together, as they are all fairly solid entries as Playstation RPGs. The third game is the sleeper hit of the collection overall, the art style is better, there's a number of discrepancies, but makes itself a super interesting sequel game due to it taking place AFTER an apocalypse had occurred. It's almost entirely mission and merit based too.

58. Arc the Lad (#177)

Honestly, my personal favorite of the Arc the Lad Collection. This is because the game can be completed in about a week, which is super impressive for a grid-based tactical RPG. It's so barebones you don't even get equipment or shops, everything is reliant on growing stats and farming items. Its length is the selling point for the eventual sequel which would certainly take a lot longer for an RPG, with very little in sidequests to worry about.

57. Arc the Lad II (#178)

It may be the highest-ranked of the Arc the Lad games, but it's arguably the most exhaustive. You've gotta grind and even when you are finished with one storyline plot point, the enemies in the next segment are already much tougher. And with all these characters (plus recruitable monsters), you're talking several gameplay hours. Not to mention they made the fast-paced combat system much slower compared to its predecessor. Its plot is a HUGE selling point, and bringing back old characters also greatly helped it a lot.

56. Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (#7)
55. Tales of Phantasia (#18)
54. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (#26)
53. Breath of Fire III (#13)
52. Brave Fencer Musashi (#59)
51. Breath of Fire IV (#28)
50. Paper Mario (#64)
49. Growlanser III: The Dual Darkness (#74)
48. Suikoden Tactics (#81)
47. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (#31)
46. Romancing SaGa 2 (#78)
45. Suikoden III (#38)
44. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (#128)
43. Suikoden V (#108)
42. Grandia (#32)
41. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (#175)

A game that LOVES to throw tons of customization is gonna be a Final Fantasy game, natch. This one breaks the fourth wall a ton of times, gives plenty of options to what you can do and where to go, it even goes CYOA as soon as you have a world map! Like Arc the Lad III, this one is heavily mission-based, and is about being as normal as possible, or so it should be. But this game does have the biggest issue of that damn Judge system, which restricts the fun heavily. So it's not the best Final Fantasy Tactics game as a result, just a load of fun when it's fun.

40. Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice (#57)
39. SaGa Frontier (#97)
38. Might and Magic IX: The Writ of Fate (#169)
37. Wizardry 8 (#149)
36. Pokemon Yellow (#151)
35. Pokemon Red/Blue (#150)
34. Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer (#168)
33. Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven (#166)
32. Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor (#167)
31. Crystalis (#5)
30. Final Fantasy VIII (#85)
29. Final Fantasy IX (#115)
28. Tales of Symphonia (#180)

The most colorful and perhaps most accessible Tales game out there due to its fame as a Gamecube title, Tales of Symphonia features so, so much content that you will get lost in it undoubtedly. Fun skits, great shops, good customization of character equipment, titles, EX Skills, cooking, man there's a lot, but it actually doesn't detract from the primary gameplay experience, improving on the previous titles one step at a time. Now if only there wasn't so much racism being thrown by characters.

27. Earthbound (#99)
26. Skies of Arcadia (#90)
25. Treasure of the Rudras (#87)
24. Phantasy Star IV (#92)
23. Chrono Cross (#40)
22. Final Fantasy VII (#50)
21. Terranigma (#68)
20. Grandia II (#41)
19. Makai Kingdom (#170)
18. Final Fantasy X (#155)
17. Vagrant Story (#70)
16. Final Fantasy Tactics (#95)
15. Suikoden (#27)
14. Suikoden II (#33)
13. Breath of Fire II (#11)
12. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (#130)
11. Bahamut Lagoon (#125)
10. MOTHER 3 (#111)
9. Live-A-Live (#49)
8. Wild ARMs 3 (#35)
7. Final Fantasy VI (#45)
6. Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (#23)
5. Phantom Brave (#91)
4. The World Ends With You (#100)
3. Chrono Trigger (#20)
2. Valkyrie Profile (#25)
1. Soul Nomad & The World Eaters (#72

Sunday, March 3, 2024

A look back at: Tales of Symphonia


A game that's basically about combating racism, but you gotta do it right, basically.

The most popular Tales game, albeit PROBABLY not the absolute best. I honestly think that the battle system still needs better work, since the linear motion mechanics of old still apply for a 3D battlefield and the game's got no ambush mechanics to speak of. Plus, having to use techs or attacks constantly just to LEARN new ones can get stale and the randomness I don't appreciate. Maybe it's luck stat? I don't know. Regardless, it's also good practice to use every character you can at least once to ensure what they are capable of. Lloyd's the most obvious, and perhaps the most fun, but I've experimented with using spellcasting of Raine, Kratos, and Zelos (usually to gain their techs), and then using other fighters like Kratos, Zelos, and Regal. Lots of possibilities here, just like there's lots of possibilities for relationship-building and sidequests. Jeez, there really had to be that many. You can find cursed objects, rebuild an entire town, duel with a defected ninja, etc. I think I may have actually missed only one major quest, the Niflheim one, but dammit I got TOO MUCH WORK TO DO that I really don't have time for it all.

Hence the somewhat rushed way I managed to complete this at the beginning of March. But I took good time on weekends and other off-periods to make the most of things, and the plot of the game was worth it. Tons of character development, save for maybe the last few playable characters, and arguably for relationship building it's very likely you'll wind up with Colette and Genis on the first go. I certainly loved the idea of screwing with the "chosen one" gimmick, how it really sucks to be Chosen and how many other Chosens have failed. There were plot twists all over the place besides that, and the main villain's goal of ending all discrimination is noble, yet his methods turn to "basically just kill everything". Which frankly sucks, because all of his motives are drawn by the fact he had a sister and that somehow being a half-elf is somehow the worst of both worlds. Yeah, I can see some people not liking the villain now.

But there's a lot of variety in Tales of Symphonia, tons of things to just do, and tons of ways to play this game that there's no one way to really do it. Heck, I managed to beat the final boss without a major healer character (alright Zelos had healing spells and I primarily controlled him, but he doesn't have revival or status-healing spells and also I did overlevel for the boss since I did optional bosses first). It's worth at least one try. And now I have Dawn of the New World on my bucket list for later too.