December Bonus Review #2: Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

I’ve talked about the Pokémon franchise a lot. Both in anime form and in terms of the games. And why not? It was part of my childhood and it’s a franchise I still regularly revisit for relaxation. Except Sword & Shield as they were rubbish. But let’s look at the latest main instalments. Like with Sword & Shield, I’m not going to discuss Gamefreak’s lazy and consumer unfriendly decision to leave certain Pokémon out of the game. I will however be discussing the sorry state of the games at launch. Let’s get started.

Story:

We open with our protagonist moving to the Paldea region and beginning their new life at The Pokémon Academy. After a brief introduction, our young hero is set loose on a treasure hunt which has them challenging gyms, raiding bases of the seemingly delinquent Team Star and chasing down massive Titan Pokémon for mysterious herbs.

The story in this instalment is actually among the best in the franchise. If not the actual best. All three story arcs are really compelling and feature unexpectedly tragic elements that add some serious depth. They also each have their own climaxes and they come together in a really strong way for the game’s finale.

Characters:

This title has some of the strongest characters in the franchise’s history as well. You have Nemona in the gym challenge, Penny in the Team star story & Arven in the Titan hunt. I’ll be completely honest. At the start, I didn’t much like any of them as characters. They all seemed kind of flat but the game does an excellent job of slowly peeling back that superficial impression and showing you the hidden motivations and layers of the characters.

Nemona, for example, starts out looking like an over-eager battle maniac. However, as you progress it becomes clear that she wanted you to love battling and rise to become a formidable trainer because she feels stifled by success. There isn’t anyone around who can give her a good challenge and that’s gradually causing her to become disinterested in something she used to love. Which is a very interesting take on a strong trainer and a compelling way to tackle burnout. Arven and Penny likewise have some highly interesting layers hiding beneath your initial perception of them. Which I wasn’t anticipating because Pokémon characters are usually exactly what they appear to be.

Gameplay:

Let’s begin with the big aspect that needs to be discussed. The state of the game at launch. This game started out with a lot of bugs, glitches, lag issues (even when playing offline) and crashes. We may live in a world where that isn’t uncommon. Where, in fact, games are frequently released in an incomplete state and patched into a more playable framework. For me, this is still unacceptable. Being able to patch games post-launch does not give companies carte blanche to half-ass their releases.

That isn’t the only issue with the gameplay. The open world may be a good idea but they didn’t execute it well. The issue being that the levels of trainers, Titan Pokémon, & Team Star bases are all stagnant. They don’t change based on where you are in the game, how much you’ve completed or your level. What that means is if you start out going to the right of the Academy and clear out a bunch of events there and return to the left side later, the left side will be far too easy unless you want to completely change your party. Which happened to me. I went right at the start and by the time I headed left I could beat anything in one hit. On the opposite end, you can also go too far while exploring and wind up facing opponents who are virtually impossible. This also happened to me. I nearly got wiped by a trainer with a single Pokémon because it was twenty some levels higher than anything I had.

The game also removed the convenient GTS system where you could deposit a Pokémon for trade and someone could take the trade at any time. Which made it so much simpler to get trade evolutions since you could just put in a Machoke, request a Machoke and both you and your trade partner would get Machamps. Some of the new Pokémon also have really annoying evolution methods. There are multiple monsters that evolve from taking steps while walking with you which is just time consuming. The worst, however, is Gimmighoul. Gimmighoul is basically a mimic Pokémon, if you’re dealing with a really ugly mimic. To evolve it you have to find 999 Gimmighoul coins around the map. What makes it more insulting is that its evolution is bloody hideous. It looks like the mascot for tearaway cheese but you have to get it on your Pokedex if you want to complete it and get the shiny charm.

Let’s move on to the positive aspects. First of all, being able to see the Pokémon wandering around on the map is still a positive improvement. I also really like the movement mechanic of having this legendary Pokémon you use as a mount and helping it regain abilities in order to traverse various areas. It’s a good way of blocking player access to certain areas until they’re ready without resorting to something annoying like HMs. The way they do TMs in this is also a better compromise between giving them unlimited uses and just having them break than they’ve done before. What they do is give you the ability to make TMs using items you find and LP. So, you can make whatever TMs you want so long as you’ve had the TM in question. Though I still would prefer to just have unlimited uses like they did in Sun/Moon. I also appreciate the game giving you prizes throughout for Pokedex completion. It makes it more immediately awarding to go through the whole process of catching them all than just doing the whole thing and hoping they’ll give you a prize after. The whole lecture and testing process at the Academy is also a nice touch. It’s like an optional tutorial that offers you rewards for doing it and doesn’t take up too much time.

Then we have the Terastal mechanic. Honestly, it might be the best new game gimmick the franchise has had in a long time. The way it works is that you can use your tera orb once per battle to change a Pokémon into a specific type, at which point it looks like a crystalline figure, and give it extra damage when using moves of that type. What makes it interesting is that you can change a Pokémon’s Tera type. For instance, you could take Gyarados and make it a ground type with all the weaknesses and strengths thereof. So, it’s not broken and over-powered like getting three powerful attacks that also give you boosts. Nor is it team limiting like Megas were. It’s a lot more strategic.

Art:

The issue with the art is that the game has a lot of weird graphical glitches. They’re especially obvious if you watch random people in the background and their janky movements but you’ll also notice bizarre perspective. Like, you’ll battle a child trainer and the grass behind them will be taller than they are. It’s also disappointing that you can’t buy cute outfits for your trainer. You can buy hats, gloves, shoes, glasses, socks and bags but you don’t get shirts, skirts, trousers. Instead you’re stuck with one of four school uniforms. I miss Sun and Moon where you could change your outfit daily and find all kinds of interesting outfit pieces in the shops.

There are some positives. First off, the important trainers (Elite Four, Gym Leaders, Important NPCs) all look really good and unique. Even if they are a little pandering with characters like Iono, the gym leader who streams. Her design is still fecking adorable. The opening character customisation for hair colour, eye colour and hair style is also really good. The Pokémon models have some very nice details. Unlike Sword/Shield, these ones actually look like they’ve been updated and not just lazily imported from the prior generation. The Tera effect is also really nice looking. Like I said, Tera Pokemon look like crystalline figures with little added flair for the tops of their heads. The animation to Tera is also fairly quick and clean unlike the overblown Dynamax animation.

Sound:

The music is pretty solid. It can get a bit repetitive during longer gaming sessions. While there is some unique music for gym battles and such, you’re going to hear a lot of the same music for travelling, wild battles, random trainer battles and such.

Areas of Improvement:

1. These games never should have released in the state they did. If Gamefreak needed an extra month or two to get everything fixed, they should have pushed back the release date.
2. The game needed the GTS system in place. Especially if they’re going to keep the whole trade evolution mechanic.
3. The game needs a proper open world with scaling difficulty.

Final Thoughts:

For me, the state of the game on release definitely hurts it. The big question is how much does the game itself make amends for that huge misstep? Well, it has one of the strongest stories in the franchise and some of the best characters. It also does take some steps forward and some notable steps backward as well. I would still say these are good games. They’re also a bit disappointing because they could have been masterpieces. With more development and features this could have been one of the best generations. But it released incomplete, suffers from a lack of GTS, improperly executed open world and lack of outfits. I’m still going to give them a 7/10 for everything they do get right. I just really would have liked the effort that went into the story and characters to have translated into effort put into programming.

December Bonus Review #1: Pokemon Conquest

It’s no secret that Gamefreak has people upset at the moment. With them being the latest company to release an unfinished buggy game with the “we can patch it later” mentality, it’s pretty well deserved. But I’m not here to talk about Scarlet & Violet right now. Partly because the crashes have prevented me from finishing the one I got, Scarlet, yet. Instead I’m going to talk about ye good old days before Gamefreak had released a bad instalment in the main line of the franchise and followed it up with a buggy one. Let’s go back to the days of the DS. We were in the 5th generation and Gamefreak partnered with Tecmo Koei to fuse Pokemon with Nobunaga’s Ambition in an attempt at making an amazing tactical RPG that would take elements from both franchises. It didn’t go as well as they thought it would and the game quickly became one of Pokemon’s more obscure offshoots. Let’s look at what happened.

Story:

The story is heavily based off of Nobunaga and the Sengoku period but with pokemon. You play as a young warrior with an Eevee who emerges in a small territory and you have to conquer territory, recruit warriors as well as pokemon and, eventually, unify the region with many powerful warriors standing in your way, including Nobunaga himself.

Characters:

The characters are fine. They’re very simplified compared to the real life versions but that’s nothing new from Koei. There are also a lot of nothing characters you can recruit. Think of them as the equivalent of Lasses, Breeders and other random trainers you battle in the main franchise. Right down to having repeated art amongst them. The pokemon used are a selection from the first five generations. Mostly decent pokemon but you also get some trash like Bidoof and the elemental monkeys no one likes.

Gameplay:

Here’s where the game suffers a lot of setbacks. While the game is generally fun to play it also doesn’t work from a tactical RPG perspective. But let me start by giving you the basics of how the game plays. On your turn you can attempt to recruit new trainers to serve under you, catch pokemon or attack a neighboring territory on the map and try to take it over by fulfilling set conditions within a turn limit. Sometimes the condition is taking over some flags, knocking out all the opposing pokemon or capturing a specific area and holding it for a set number of turns. Each trainer has an ability they can use once per battle and each one can use a single pokemon in battle. So, you still have the six vs six format you’d get in a normal pokemon game. After that the opposing forces get their turns where they might attack you, each other or bolster their strength. On paper, all of that sounds perfectly fine but there are some major missteps in the execution.

The first issue is that the enemy AI is easily exploitable. For example, if you’re attacked by a much stronger force you can distract them with most of your pokemon while you send one to run away and keep its distance until the timer runs out, giving you the victory. Another notable example is with the flag capturing. There’s one stage that you conquer by capturing three flags atop towers. After a set number of turns the wind will knock any pokemon on top of the tower to the ground. This stage is impossible to lose when you’re on defence. All you have to do is gather all your monsters around a single tower, let the opposing forces take the other two. They’ll leave two of their pokemon to guard the flags and every time the wind knocks them down their remaining pokemon will retreat to try and protect those two flags. Meaning that all you have to do is let the cycle continue and wait for them to lose to the timer. I actually used this exploit to train my weaker pokemon on more than one occasion.

Another issue with this as a tactical game is that each pokemon only has one move. So, a ground type literally can’t beat a flying pokemon. An electric pokemon literally can’t beat a ground pokemon. A normal/ fighting pokemon can’t touch a ghost. A ghost can’t touch a normal type. And it’s not like you can even choose the move. Every Gyarados has Aqua Tail. Every Gardevoir has psychic and so on. Keep in mind a lot of these moves hit multiple spots so you have to be very careful of friendly fire which can make it difficult for two allied pokemon to help each other.

The game also limits you in terms of the pokemon each trainer can use. You see, in Conquest, every trainer has one ideal pokemon partner and only that pokemon can reach its full potential with them. Reading data on the warrior can give you an idea of what type of pokemon you’re looking for but it can still be a major pain to try and figure it out. You’re honestly better off just looking up a guide. The way you catch pokemon is by linking with them by pressing the A button when lights fly into a circle and, unlike a traditional pokemon game, EXP in this is measured by how in sync the pokemon and warrior are and the maximum sync percentage is based on the pokemon/ warrior compatibility. Which can suck because you get some warriors with great abilities but their strongest link is with some rubbish pokemon I’m not going to use.

But let’s get a little more into the positives. Like I said, the core gameplay, even with its execution problems, is still fun. The game also has a lot of replayability. First off, there are special campaigns for various characters that you can play through after you beat the main campaign. The game also rewards you by letting every warrior keep their linked pokemon and evolutions in subsequent playthroughs. They’ll be at a lower sync percentage but it still saves you the trouble of trying to find the ideal link again and gives you some fully evolved pokemon early on. I also like the idea of having different objectives in different stages. Even if it does lead to some exploitable AI. It makes each area feel diverse and helps keep the combat interesting.

Art:

My one real issue with the art is the way the trainers sort of pop up in a very flat way to use their powers but otherwise aren’t represented. It would be nice to see them running around the field giving direction. With that said, the battlefields have some very nice designs. The pokemon look good and I do like the way that warlord characters upgrade their appearances to incorporate design elements of their ideal partners.

Sound:

The music and sound effects are both solid. To be completely honest I’ve never been blown away by the music in the Pokemon franchise and this one is no different. It sounds pretty good but I wouldn’t listen to it outside of the game and if I have something to listen to on the telly, I might just turn the volume off and not really feel like I’m missing out.

Areas of Improvement:

1. This game needed better enemy AI. It’s just way too easy to exploit the opponent’s AI when you’re trying to defend a territory. Easy to the point where you have to wonder if they actually play tested the game.
2. Pokemon need more than one attack. Part of what makes the main series fun is coming up with interesting sets that can allow a pokemon to overcome their weaknesses and you need some selection of moves to do that. It’s a lot less interesting when you know exactly what move an opposing pokemon is going to use just based on which pokemon it is.
3. I honestly think the game would have been a lot more fun if, instead of having an ideal pokemon, the warriors just had a pokemon type they had an affinity for. It would encourage you to catch more pokemon for them instead of just finding their ideal partner and never using anything else because there’s no point.

Final Thoughts:

Is this a great tactical RPG? No. It has far too many exploits and lacks the depth a tactical RPG really needs. Is this a great Pokemon game? Again, no. It doesn’t have the complex battle system or even the variety of pokemon it would need for that. Is this an interesting game? Absolutely it is. The idea behind it was very ambitious and, in spite of its many faults, it is interesting to play and gives you a lot of reasons to play through it again. Do I recommend it? If you’re a fan of Pokemon and it sounds like an interesting idea then yes. If you’re more interested in tactical RPGs and you really want something with a lot of depth, complexity and challenge, no. For myself, I did generally enjoy my time spent with the game and I did spend a lot of time playing it. More than I have some generations of the main series. With that said, I can’t play too much at once. I’ll beat a campaign and then take a break from it because the flaws do start getting to me. I’m going to give it a 6/10. It’s decent but it could have been so much greater.

Pokemon: Celebi Toki wo Koeta Deai

I’ve reviewed quite a few Pokemon related anime as well as the games themselves. This time around we’re looking at the fourth film from 2001. So, this was during the time of the best game generation, 2. Let’s have a look.

Story:

We open with Celebi being chased by two counters, Houndoom and Scyther. Surprisingly for the anime, the type advantage seems to actually matter and Celebi seems to be in trouble. Until a young boy, Yukinari, comes to the rescue and the two go forty years into the future to escape. We enter the present day with Satoshi, Kasumi & Takeshi taking a ferry to explore deeper into the Johto region. They go to a treetop village in search of interesting Pokemon and they just so happen to see a bright light and find the young boy from the past. The group then has to contend with a Team Rocket Pokemon poacher who’s using special Dark Balls to turn Pokemon evil. So, kind of the plot of Colosseum but before that game existed.

The big problem with the film is that the environmental themes get overly preachy. It really wants to emphasise the importance of protecting the woods. And, like many environmental works geared towards children, they undermine their message by having the damage that gets caused be easily fixed for a happy ending. You don’t need to protect the environment, Kids, the fairy magic can fix any damage that gets done. Literally the most counter-productive way to discuss environmental issues. It’s also a little weird that the film goes out of its way to put Celebi against type counters but doesn’t worry about type matchups at any other point. I mean, Satoshi puts a Bayleef against a Scizor and multiple protagonist Pokemon are shown as having good matches against opponents they should have no problem with. So, I really don’t know why they’re going out of the way to use type matchups against Celebi.

On the positive side, the pacing is pretty solid. The film has some slow, quiet moments to showcase the beauty of the forest and allow the atmosphere to build. It’s also pretty good about introducing its important elements early. There are also some cute scenes of Celebi just playing around that are reminiscent to the scenes in the first Pokemon film with Mew while also being their own thing.

Characters:

The characters are barely worth mentioning if I’m being honest. The main cast is the same boring trio we’re already familiar with. The only thing semi compelling about Yukinari is the twist that you get at the very end and it’s very much a case of “if they’d leaned into it earlier and actually gone somewhere with it it might have been interesting.” The antagonist is just a one note arsehole who couldn’t get hired as a CEO and decided to join Team Rocket as a backup.

Art:

OLM did a pretty good job with the artwork. The Pokemon look good. The nature scenes are very nice. The animation is pretty well done. The character designs aren’t the best. The antagonist looks really dumb. The side characters are just kind of boring looking and I’m including Yukinari.

Sound:

The acting is fine. Matsumoto Rica, Hayashibara Megumi, Iizuka Mayumi, Ueda Yuuji and all of them deliver decent enough performances. They’re just kind of limited based on how dull their characters are. The music is fine as well.

Ho-yay:

There isn’t any.

Areas of Improvement:

1. If you’re going to have environmental themes, don’t go over the top with them. I get it, trying to keep the planet habitable by ourselves and dogs is very important. But when you go over the top, it hurts the message you’re trying to convey. It makes it seem like environmental villains are these over the top caricatures and makes it difficult for people to recognise the more subtle, actual environmental villains who are usually causing damage for expediency or profit.
2. If you want your message to stick, you can’t have everything undone through magical means. And I understand that that means you can’t have a fully happy ending but sometimes a bittersweet ending just works better.
3. The characters really need more development. I understand that your main trio along with Musashi, Kojirou & Meowth aren’t going to change ever but at least do something with your side characters and the film’s antagonist.

Final Thoughts:

This film is pretty mediocre. Its ideas have some potential and seeing Celebi play around happily is cute but those ideas ultimately fall short through underdevelopment and it ultimately doesn’t do much. My rating is going to stand at a 5/10.

May Bonus Review: Pokemon Sword & Shield

It’s no secret that I don’t like Pokemon’s Generation 8. But the main grievance I’ve talked about in that regard is the way they ditched a lot of fantastic Pokemon like all the generation 2 starters, Ekans, Houndoom, Misdreavus, Mightyena, Seviper & more and most of what they added to replace them is rubbish like a fucking apple, whipped cream and the worst fossil Pokemon of all time. So, what I’m going to do is discuss the game without any more mentions of the Dexit situation and explain why, even ignoring that, I still think it’s the worst generation of Pokemon games.

Story:

The basic story is one every Pokemon fan knows by rote at this point. You start out in a small town, you obtain your first Pokemon and you take the gym challenge. I don’t really have an issue with the formula. If I did, I wouldn’t have played through every generation of the games with multiple playthroughs for most of them.

I will say the execution is pretty dull and the “evil team” you face throughout the game is the worst in the franchise’s history. Sword & Shield tries to do the same thing as Sun & Moon where the villainous Team you face is kind of pathetic but there’s a more powerful group up to something shady in the background. But in Sun & Moon there was some strong intrigue and even the pathetic Team had some memorable members. Guzma, Plumeria and Gladion. Team Yell is just boring. There are no interesting segments with them that can even come close to comparing to Po Town. And the characters who tie the threads together like Gladion and Guzma don’t exist in Sword and Shield. And all the stuff that Rose is up to is basically ended in ten minutes with very little build up. So it’s all just very half-assed.

Characters:

This may be the first generation of Pokemon games where there aren’t any interesting characters. Sun & Moon had Lusamine, Lillie, Gladion and a Professor who moonlights as a luchador. Just to name a few. X & Y gave you a team of rivals who were all advancing in their own ways and gave you plenty of interesting scenes with them. You also can’t discount Lysandre who was a pretty compelling villain. And every other generation has had their stand out characters. In this one, the rival characters are boring. The villains are rubbish. The only way any characters stand out is via their designs. Again, it’s like they completely half-assed it.

Gameplay:

A lot of the gameplay mechanics are familiar. You have turn-based battles with up to six Pokemon. You encounter wild Pokemon in caves, tall grass and in the water where you can weaken and capture them. Let’s talk about the areas where this generation differs and whether they’re for better or worse.

First of all, you can see wild Pokemon roaming in the world. I know, it started with Let’s Go Eevee and Pikachu, but it is still something new over prior generations. And it is actually an improvement since you can more easily avoid wild Pokemon you don’t feel like dealing with and encounter ones you actually want more easily. There is one problem. Mainly, the game has a central wild area where you can encounter all kinds of Pokemon, but a lot of them are uncatchable unless you have the right badge. Which means that you can run into a Pokemon that’s only a slightly higher level than the ones you’re using but not be able to catch it. Or you could encounter a rare shiny Pokemon that the game won’t let you capture.

Another problem I have with the wild area are Max Raids. Max Raids are basically encounters with wild Dynamax Pokemon that you have to battle with help. They’re really tedious and annoying to go through but doing them is helpful because they give you rare items and the special currency that lets you buy TRs and special Poke Balls, including Quick Balls. TRs are like old TMs from when they broke after one use. Because that was a good mechanic that needed to come back, right? You can get the special currency from raid battles, examining glowing dens and from glowing wild Pokemon. It’s a really grindy element and not in a fun way.

Let’s talk about Dynamax. This may be the worst game mechanic in the history of Pokemon. It’s highly over-powered, making battles far too easy and the graphical flair that goes with it is very overdone. Basically, there are specific battles where you can Dynamax one of your Pokemon for three turns, doubling its health bar, and allowing you to fire off three very powerful attacks that also grant you status boosts, change the weather or set up terrain for you. I only used the Dynamax mechanic in a battle once because the game is way too easy with it. And this is coming from a franchise that’s already really easy.

Mechanics like the Festival Plaza, Poke Pelago and Pokemon Refresh have all been replaced with vastly inferior versions that contribute to making the game significantly less fun. It’s also worth noting that the Surprise Trade mechanic isn’t really worth doing because half the time you get blatantly hacked legendary Pokemon with website nicknames, forty five percent of the time you get super common stuff that you would never want and maybe five percent of the time you get something not hacked that you might actually want to use. You didn’t get nearly that level of hacked shite in the older generations. So, I don’t know if Sword and Shield just have weaker protections or what.

Art:

I have a couple issues with the artwork in this. First off, the Dynamax stuff I already mentioned. Secondly, the graphics are barely an upgrade over the 3DS Pokemon games. You would expect more of a leap forward when you’ve got more advanced hardware. Especially when you consider how much more power the Switch has than its predecessor.

To the game’s credit, there is a nice amount of clothing options and other ways to customise your trainer. I do like being able to do that.

Sound:

I’ll be honest, I turned off the sound after about an hour and listened to something else in the background. Part of it was that the game was just boring and tedious to play but part of it was that the sounds were just kind of in the same vein as every Pokemon game and it’s all stuff I’ve heard before. Since I’ve literally been playing this franchise since 1999.

Areas of Improvement:

1. Put some effort into your story-telling. Just because you have a tried and true formula that’s not a good reason to just throw in the expected beats and toss in a skeletal story that probably took ten minutes to write. Seriously, it’s like somebody wrote a very basic outline and the higher ups at Gamefreak looked it over and said “good enough.
2. Have some characters with personality. It really doesn’t take much to make a character in a Pokemon game memorable. Look at Tierno in X & Y who wants to make a Pokemon dance troupe. Giving him that simple motivation, having various encounters with him and seeing the way he moves when challenging you is enough to remember him. But this game suffers from a “creative” team that just didn’t care.
3. We don’t need Dynamax. Having a simple mechanic like the Z moves was perfectly fine and it gave you a quick, grandiose moment to the battle without being over-powered and overblown.

Final Thoughts:

The folks at Gamefreak clearly didn’t care when they made Sword & Shield. Everything from the poor narrative, lack of interesting antagonists, lack of compelling characters in general and barely improved artwork and animations are characteristic of lazy, unmotivated and un-invested work. When you couple that with some truly terrible game mechanics, you definitely get the worst main line game in the franchise. Possibly the worst game in the franchise in general. I certainly can’t think of a spin-off that’s worse and I have played a lot of the spin-offs. Hell, I a hundred percent completed Conquest.

I can’t say the game is all bad. It does retain some of the gameplay elements that make the franchise enjoyable. You can just find all of them better executed in basically any other game in the franchise. I give Sword and Shield a 3/10. I really can’t recommend it over prior entries and it’s one I’m definitely not going to play through again, personally. If I’m being honest, I probably won’t even put it in my Switch again as I really don’t want to suffer through any more Max Raids or play the DLC.

Pokemon: Kesshoutou no Teiou Entei

It’s time to look at the Pokemon franchise yet again. From back before they traded a good portion of their Pokemon for Galar’s mostly shit ones. Yes, I’m still a bit salty about the Dexit fiasco. In any case, I’ve talked about the first two Pokemon films already. And it’s time to look at the third.

Story:

We open with a young girl named Mii. Her father is a researcher studying Unown. He’s at the ruins when he vanishes. Mii receives a box with Unown tiles which she uses to accidentally summon the Unown to her home. They quickly go to work granting her wishes which results in them sealing her off, crystallising the area around her and giving her an illusory Entei. Satoshi, his companions, his mum and Professor Ookido all arrive on the scene. Illusory Entei captures Satoshi’s mum to take on the role of Mii’s mother. While Entei plays the role of Mii’s Papa… At least Entei can’t have eggs so Satoshi doesn’t have to worry about any half siblings. Putting that detail aside, Satoshi and his friends have to break into the crystalline area to save his mum.

There are a couple huge problems with this film. The first is that it makes this huge deal about being Entei-focused, but we don’t even get a real Entei. We get the illusion of Entei created by Unown. Which eventually turns against the Unown even though they created it and are, theoretically, sustaining it. Why don’t they just blink it out of existence the moment it goes against them?

Another big issue is that the antagonists are Unown. Yes, it’s expected that the Pokemon anime doesn’t follow the game mechanics. But it still doesn’t work when you have a Pokemon that everyone recognises as incredibly weak in the role of the big bad. It would be like having a Caterpie, Weedle or Magikarp in that role. Unown literally learns one relatively weak move and that’s it.

It doesn’t help that the plot is basically stolen from Star Trek Next Generation’s The Bonding. Wherein an alien life form decides to take the role of the mother of a child who lost his mum during an away mission. Except that episode had much stronger execution and the main characters appealed to the aliens offering the illusion rather than to the child taking comfort in the illusion.

Aside from that, the plot is… tolerable. It’s very sanitised, basic and not all that interesting. It’s all about going out and making connections because sitting in an enclosed room with illusory Entei just isn’t the same as having real friends.

Characters:

The usual cast is in play. Satoshi, Takeshi, Kasumi and Team Rocket all make their appearances and have their usual, bland personalities. Mii is just a lonely kid. The Unown have no apparent motive behind their actions. They take her father because…. they needed him to get a pokemon to baton pass them some nasty plots and agilities to make them viable. They show up at her house because…. Code of Hero is the best Transformers episode.

Art:

The artwork is pretty well done. The Pokemon look good. The under-stated CG effects used with the Unown give them an otherworldly feel without making them look out of place. The action sequences look pretty nice. About the worst you can say is that the crystalline backgrounds are a bit boring.

Sound:

You can’t really fault the acting in the Pokemon franchise. Iizuka Mayumi, Matsumoto Rica, Ueda Yjui, Hayashibara Megumi, Miki Shinichiro, they’re all very talented professionals. Even if this won’t be listed as one of their best performances, it’s certainly one where they’re all performing well. The music is pretty nicely done too.

Ho-yay:

There isn’t any. The closest thing we get to romance is Satoshi’s mum playing house with Illusory Entei.

Areas of Improvement:

1. If you’re going to make a group of Unown the antagonists, give them some personality and motivation.
2. If you’re going to focus your advertising on Entei, make it a real one instead of Illusory.
3. If you’re going to lift your plot from Next Generation, at least do it right. Put in some stuff about dealing with loss and have Mii have to move on like Jeremy had to.

Final Thoughts:

I’ll be honest, this is the worst Pokemon film so far. The first one was okay. The second was mediocre but basically passable. This one is a bit shit. Not horrendously so, but a bit. With antagonists that any fan of the games is going to have trouble taking seriously as a threat, the big draw character (Entei) being an illusion and a plot that was done in a vastly superior fashion by Star Trek,  I’m giving it a 3/10.

August Bonus Review: Pokemon Snap

Pokemon Snap was first released in Japan in early ’99. A year and a half later, we got to play it. It’s been a fan favourite of the franchise since. Let’s take a look and see why.

Story:

You take on the role of a Pokemon photographer challenged with travelling through various locations to get wildlife shots of Pokemon. So, not a story driven game by any means.

Characters: 

There are two characters, the photographer who barely speaks and Professor Oak who looks through your pictures and measures them to make sure the Pokemon you photographed is in the exact centre. Honestly, Oak comes across as kind of an anal old shite in this. You can take a very nice sideways picture or action shot and have him complain because “the Pokemon wasn’t in the centre” or “Wasn’t facing the camera on account of being sideways.” I suspect he might not be much of an expert on photography.

Gameplay:

The game controls very simply. You’re on a rail, going at a consistent pace through various stages. As you progress you unlock items like apples, pester balls and the poke flute to make it possible to get better shots of certain Pokemon, unlock new paths and find secrets.

That’s one of the game’s strong points. There are a lot of secrets to uncover. And, to its credit, there aren’t any that are overly obtuse or finicky. About the most difficult they get is “use an apple to get Pikachu into position, play the poke flute, quickly photograph Zapdos.”

There are, however, enough to make the six main stages highly replayable. Yeah, I know there are technically seven stages. But the last one is just a stretch where you’re getting photos of Mew so I’m not counting it here. You also want to go through stages multiple times to get shots of specific Pokemon since you only have sixty possible pictures per stage and there’s always a certain window you have to get shots of any given Pokemon or special event. Some of which you can’t get in the same run. For instance, if you’re really going for pictures of the Charmander horde at the Volcano, you probably won’t get pictures of Moltres. Or if you’re going for the Arcanine pictures at the end of that stage you won’t get the Charizard pictures.

It really is impressive how much content they crammed into those six main stages.

About the worst thing I can say for the gameplay is that Oak’s ratings can be a bit stupid at times. He basically looks for a few things, the size of the picture, whether the Pokemon is facing you, whether it’s in the centre of the picture and if there are other Pokemon of the same type in the shot. Which can mean some nice looking shots get low ratings.

But it is a very consistent rating system, so you shouldn’t have trouble taking pictures he approves of. And there is the option of saving pictures even if you’re not using them for his Pokemon Report. So, you can keep the nice shots that he isn’t going to like.

Art: 

For the Nintendo 64, this was some very nice artwork. By modern 3DS/ Switch standards, it can look a bit polygonal but for back then, this looked fantastic. For comparison’s sake, when this came out Generation 2 hadn’t been released and the 3D models we were used to for the franchise were from Pokemon Stadium. Which came out shortly before this and looked nowhere near as good.

Sound:

The music is nice and fun. The Pokemon make noises both when they move around and when they cry out. They pretty much nailed the sound design. One interesting aspect is that the poke flute actually plays different melodies at different points. Which is a nice bit of variety.

Final Thoughts:

Pokemon Snap is a fantastic game. The photography element is pretty unique and the exploration is surprisingly deep given the limited stages. I’d give it a 9/10. That being said, I’m sure you all noticed the lack of “Areas of Improvement.” That’s not because the game has none and there’s a reason I’ve been wanting to discuss this game in particular.

In early July, an interview with Game Freak director Masuda Junichi resulted in him basically saying there wasn’t a sequel to this game in the works, because they can’t think of something very unique to do with it. After all, they can’t make the same thing again.

Now, putting aside how absurd that is when the Pokemon franchise itself is built on very small, incremental changes from generation to generation and the most unique they’ve gotten was trading gyms for trials that are basically like gyms only with fewer trainer battles.

We’ll ignore all that and focus on ways they could change up the Snap formula to make it more unique. Now, if anyone from Game Freak happens to see this, these ideas are free. Use all or some of them to your heart’s content. Which is why this time around I’m trading the usual “Areas of Improvement” segment for

Sequel Ideas:

1. Add in various filters. Here’s the thing, I hate all those stupid filters you can put over your photos on your phone or when uploading them. However, a lot of people absolutely love them and I could see people sharing their in game photographs online using the in game filters and just having a grand time.
2. Have various Pokemon in stages that you can feed to befriend. At this point, they can follow you around throughout the stage and do various special things. Imagine having a Growlithe following you, doing backflips and other various cute things you could snap pictures of.
3. Have actual branching paths. I know, the N64 hardware wasn’t really at the level where you could do this. But on the Switch, you could absolutely have points in a stage where you could go down different routes for pictures.
4. Give the photographer a partner Pokemon. I’m not going to say that this should be transferable to other games, but if you had a partner Pokemon they could help open various paths, be sent out to interact with wild Pokemon. Hell, you could even let players dress it up in little outfits. Eevee would be good for that. So would Vulpix.
5. Have a Transforming pod. Here’s what I’m thinking. Give players a ride pod similar to the one you’re in in the first game, but this one can transform into a submarine for underwater stages/ stage segments or into a zeppelin for aerial parts.
6. A proper zoom lens. The first game pretty much has no options for sizing pictures. In this one, let players zoom in a fair amount. This could be used to get some nicer close ups or get good aerial shots of Pokemon on the ground.

So, there you go. Any two of these ideas will give you more of a difference between Snap & Snap 2 than most main franchise Pokemon games have from their closest sequel. You’re welcome.

Pokemon XY: Remember when Megas weren’t a source of shame?

Yes, we’re back to talking about Pokemon, a franchise so long running that there are adults who weren’t born yet when it started. I was, but I’m old and crabby. Any way, I was asked to review this particular part of the anime. So, all of you get to read me ranting about all the aspects of this anime franchise that get on my nerves. Besides, with Sword and Shield coming out soon and eliminating the Megas, it seems a good time to talk about when Game Freak was super proud of that element.

Story:

We open with Satoshi travelling over to the Kalos region leaving Unova and all the Pokemon he “befriended” there behind. He meets the siblings, Citron & Eureka, and begins his journey to beat all the Kalos gyms while catching new Pokemon he’ll inevitably leave behind when he moves on to Alola. Unfortunately for him, Musashi, Kojirou & Meowth are still following him to steal his Pikachu.

I should note, the anime does not follow the game’s mechanics as much as it makes nods to them. Which I can’t really complain about. It would be even more boring if Pikachu had to dodge every attack because any hit would smash its frail defences and knock it the fuck out.

The biggest problem with the series is just that it’s all very repetitive and formulaic. You can pretty much tell exactly what’s going to happen in an episode the moment the scenario is introduced. Satoshi will even say he hasn’t decided which gym to go to next after every gym match, even against the 7th gym when there’s literally one option left.

In all fairness, the series can have a real sense of fun to it. And Team Rocket’s goofy schemes can be entertaining even if we know every one is going to end with them getting blasted into the air and saying “this feels bad.”

Characters:

This is where the big problem in the series lies. The main characters are dull. Really, excruciatingly dull. Satoshi has no personality whatsoever. He’s just vaguely amicable. Which is part of the problem with the franchise keeping the same protagonist from region to region. The dude can’t learn any lessons without repeating old territory. He also can’t develop as a character because every writer who works on the anime has a cemented image of him and what he’s supposed to be. And it is hard to see him as having a real connection with his pokemon when he has a long history of saying goodbye to them at the slightest provocation.

Then there are his companions. Citron is a boring sciencey boy who makes machines that blow up and is vaguely nice. Eureka is an excitable child who thinks every Pokemon ever is cute. Even the shite ice cream cone no one likes. And tries to get her brother a bride whenever she thinks a woman is pretty. Serena is a girly girl with a crush on Satoshi because they met once in camp when they were all of eight.

The best characters are Musashi, Kojirou & Meowth. Just because they’re allowed to be bad and revel in that but there’s also a real attempt at making them sympathetic. Every member of the group gets some episode or other that showcases the better part of their nature. This also serves to make them more enjoyable than the main cast as well as more complex.

Art: 

The artwork is fine. There are some pretty cool battles. The characters look fine. And the Pokemon look like their game counterparts. I don’t really care for most of the 6th generation Pokemon personally, but that may be because I’m old and grumpy. You damn kids and your cotton candy pokemon and your slime dragons and your key rings and your pogs and your street sharks.

Sound: 

The acting is fine. Everyone is perfectly competent but most of the characters are so boring they don’t have much in terms of complexity to convey. Which is why our best performances come from Hayashibara Megumi, Miki Shinichiro & Inuyama Inuko. The music is decent enough too. Not great but functional enough.

Ho-yay:

There are some moments with Serena and Sana. Eureka’s obsession with pretty women also seems to be a strong indication that she won’t be dating men when she gets older.

Areas of Improvement:

1. Ditch Satoshi as the main protagonist. Honestly, I think the Pokemon anime franchise would be a lot better if each region featured a new protagonist. You could get more complexity for the character without having to undermine their bond with their pokemon to show off the new region’s creatures.
2. Have some surprises. I get it, this is a children’s anime and they can’t get too complex with it. But at least have some events that are mildly against the grain or that subvert expectations. Maybe even let the villains win in some minor way that isn’t too bad for the heroes.
3. More personality for the protagonists. A big part of the issue with them is that the writers try to make them too squeaky clean good. Give them some real flaws to overcome that can lead to some interesting interactions. It would make the series a lot more interesting.

Final Thoughts:

Pokemon XY isn’t a bad series. However, it’s not a good one either. It’s like that last Pokemon film I reviewed. It’s a mediocre series that’s probably enjoyable enough for the target audience, but doesn’t provide much for anyone older. Even slightly older like teenagers. I’ll give it a 5/10.

Pokemon: Maboroshi no Pokemon Lugia Bakutan- The Time Team Rocket Saved The World From Devastation

For those of you who weren’t around in ’00, or were too young to remember, Pokemon was still at an early point. Before there were a billion games including spin-offs and enough merchandise to bankrupt an entire nation. And we were all eagerly anticipating Silver & Gold in 2001. What’s that? You got those games considerably earlier? Well, in the EU we got them in early 2001. In any case, we were all gathering every scrap of information we could and this film promised us a first look at Lugia, even though the games were already out elsewhere and we’d seen her image on the Internet. Regardless, a lot of people were excited to see this film in theatres. I wasn’t allowed to because we were poor and theatre tickets for me and all three of my siblings were pricey. But I do remember what a big deal this was for a lot of people my age. I’m still not going easy on it.

Story:

We open with a collector, we’ll call him Kivas Fajo, in his advanced aircraft base. He’s after the legendary birds, Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos. He hopes to acquire them and draw out Lugia so he can capture it as well. Then he’ll make them all wear their outfits, sit in their chairs and entertain his guests. Little does Kivas realise that capturing the birds will throw the planet out of balance causing upheavals and, possibly, the end of the world. It’s naturally up to Satoshi and his companions to deal with the situation.

Now, I’m not going to worry about spoilers too much since the Pokemon anime is kind of predictable and formulaic. Plus this film is around twenty years old if we’re going by the original Japanese release. So, moving on to the first problem with the narrative. Kivas suffers from a serious case of “dumb villain.” This dude accidentally brings Satoshi and his group aboard his airship, then he leaves them alone so they can easily interfere with his operation and foil his plans. Another problem is that the film has a lot of pointless moments. All the Pokemon converging on the islands for the confrontation and then doing fuck all, the scenes with Professor Ookido & Satoshi’s mum, they just don’t seem to contribute anything.

You might argue that the Pokemon converging is to illustrate the importance of taking action even when things look bleak, but they actually do nothing so it doesn’t really work.

The best thing I can say for the narrative is that it has some pretty neat action moments. The whole fight sequence with the birds is pretty amazing. The Lugia reveal is also nicely done. The film shows a lot of bubbling underwater and uses a bunch of other tricks to obfuscate Lugia’s appearance before finally bringing it out at the climax in a massive jet of water. It’s a strong, well-paced reveal.

Characters:

The characters are kind of under-written and not very interesting. Satoshi does whine too much for my taste. One thing worth mentioning, however, is that Satoshi’s companions are basically useless while Team Rocket acts heroically. Which is a weird decision. You wouldn’t expect a children’s work to give the spotlight to the petty villains.

But it does. Kasumi & Kenji help pull Satoshi out of the water once and that’s basically it. Aside from that they stand around picking particles out of their anuses. And Pikachu was already working on getting Satoshi to shore. So, if Pikachu had thought to grab Lapras’ pokeball from Satoshi’s bag, they would have been completely pointless. They don’t even bring out their Pokemon to try to free Zapdos & Moltres from their cages. Musashi and Kojirou bring out Arbok and Weezing. They also go to Satoshi’s rescue when he comes to an impasse and things look hopeless. Then they dodge attacks from legendary birds to get him to the artefact he needs to save the world. And they very nearly sacrifice themselves so the world can be saved.

Art:

The artwork looks fine. Kivas’ airship looks a bit out of place when compared to the rest of the art. There’s also a fail with Doctor Uchikido’s completely ambivalent facial expression while she talks about the potential end of the world. The action sequence with the birds is the highlight in terms of art. And seeing Lugia use Aeroblast is really cool. The whole sequence with Musashi and Kojirou taking an inflatable raft up through a bunch of caverns looks cool even if it does not follow proper laws of physics. The sequence with a speed boat going up stairs is the same way, except not nearly as cool looking.

Sound: 

The acting is pretty good, actually. Hayashibara Megumi is always great. Miki Shinichiro does a good job. Hiramatsu Akiko & Matsumoto Rica are both good. If there’s a weakness it’s Kaga Takeshi as Kivas. And that’s not so much his fault as it is a natural result of him getting a boring character who isn’t very expressive. The music works decently enough.

Ho-yay:

There isn’t any. It’s not like the Pokemon franchise is going to toss in an Utena reference or something.

Areas of Improvement:

1. Make the villain basically competent. If our heroes had to actually sneak aboard and make their way to his collection, it would make for a more interesting sequence than him just letting them loose without watching them. You could even have Kasumi & Kenji create a distraction so they can actually do something of value.
2. Either have all those Pokemon try to interfere with the battle or leave them out. Like I said, the sequences with all of them converging just end up being pointless since they just watch and lick their own genitals.
3. Have Doctor Uchikido show some emotion. If the world is ending, you aren’t going to look vaguely bored like it’s a situation you get every Thursday. There’s a difference between composure and just not giving a shit and her reaction is very much not giving a shit.

Final Thoughts:

If I were watching this as a youngster back when it first came out, I’d probably enjoy it in the moment and quickly forget all the details. Watching it now, however, it does not hold up very well. While it has some good moments and the basic artwork and acting generally work well, the antagonist is forgettable and overly stupid. There are too many “plot points” that do nothing and too many characters who sit around scratching their asses. Ultimately, I’ll give it a 5/10. It’s one of those mundane children’s films that has quite a few obvious issues because the writing staff didn’t really care or think kids would really notice.

Pokemon: Mewtwo no Gyakushuu: Send in the Clones

If you’re part of my generation, or younger, chances are Pokemon was part of your childhood. I’ve reviewed one anime based off of it, the relatively short Pokemon the Origin but there have been a bunch of series for it, many of them going well over a hundred episodes. Today, we’re looking at Pokemon: Mewtwo no Gyakushuu, a film based off of the main anime line. Now, the general consensus among older fans of the Pokemon franchise is that the games are still fun and various improvements like reusable TMs, more trainer customization & the elimination of HMs in favour of ride Pokemon are touted as proof that they’re getting better. The opposite is true for the main anime. Most older fans say it was fine when they were kids but totally doesn’t hold up, often citing the overly repetitive formula & Satoshi being a toolbox. But let’s look at the film and make our own judgements.

Story:

We open with a group of scientists entering the jungle to investigate reports of Mew sightings. I remember when Mew was supposedly around that bloody truck but that was all lies and the hours we spent trying to make her appear were all in vain. In any case, they don’t find Mew but they do find one of her fossilised eyelashes. Which is weird because good luck seeing any eyelashes on Mew. But whatever, they take the eyelash back to their laboratory and decide to use it to clone a stronger version of Mew. Unlike the rest of their clones, they manage to make him stable but they have to sedate him due to the trauma he experiences after mind melding with the other clones. He wakes up and loses control, killing everybody and destroying the lab. He’s picked up by Sakaki who puts him to work, but makes the mistake of telling Mewtwo that he will serve humans. At which point Mewtwo tells him to suck a shiny lime green fart and destroys his headquarters. He returns to the island and swears revenge on humanity for trying to use him and thus begins our story proper and we get to see our main protagonists after a good twenty minutes of set up.

The biggest narrative issue is one that’s pretty common to kid’s films. It has one of those situations where something terrible happens to one of the main characters and, just when it looks to be over for them, the power of love and friendship comes to their rescue. It doesn’t really make sense for Mewtwo to grab Blastoise, Charizard and Venusaur when he already has clones of them. The ending twist with the lesson being lost for most is a bit bullshit too. It also is a pretty predictable film in a lot of ways but it is a kid’s film and they aren’t as good at recognising the usual media patterns so, it’s fair enough.

One interesting thing is that there is some pretty dark stuff. Mewtwo kills a lot of people, one of the researchers wants to clone his dead daughter, there’s a Fearow trainer who tries to fly to Mewtwo’s island through the great storm and is never seen again. Guess that guy doesn’t get a happy ending. On the plus side, the trainer who fishes up his corpse while looking to catch a Staryu will get some free Pokemon from his bag. She’ll have to release the Jynx with the racist nickname, though. Since you can’t rename Pokemon you get from other trainers.

That being said, I do like the set up stuff at the start. It actually explains quite a few things, like why Mewtwo has deep-rooted issues with the humans and why Charizard Blastoise & Venusaur look strangely contrasted to their originals compared to the other clones. It also sets up the main moral of the story which is all about the circumstances of our birth being irrelevant because “we’re all living beings.” It has some funny moments too. Mew trolling the rockets is pretty good. I also kind of like Meowth not fighting with his clone because the claws look like they hurt. And the Pokemon brawling without restraint or even using their special attacks because they aren’t under any kind of control is kind of a nice touch to illustrate just how worked up they all are. And I do appreciate that the film puts some effort into explaining away some regular shounen tropes. Why does Charizard fare better in the initial fight against the clones than the other starters? It’s not that he’s the protagonist’s Pokemon, it’s because the opposing Charizard uses Seismic Toss, which is a fixed damage move.

Characters:

This is undoubtedly one of the big areas where the main anime doesn’t hold up. The characters are just very bog standard and dull. The only character who kind of veers away from that a bit is Mewtwo and even he’s ultimately a pretty standard misunderstood antagonist. He just wants to find a place for himself in the world.

Art:

The artwork looks pretty good. They put in quite a bit of detail. I rather like the chibi Mewtwo we see at the beginning. The action is pretty good and there are some nice background details. About the worst I can say s that some of the slower scenes also involve some stilted, slow animation.

Sound:

The actors do a fine job. There are some really good ones including Hayashibara Megumi as Musashi & Ichimura Masachika as Mewtwo. You won’t find anyone’s greatest performance here, but they’re capable enough. The soundtrack is made up of “that song.” You know the one, “that sad song,” “that rising action song,” “that intense song.” It’s largely standard, is what I’m saying.

Ho-yay:

Really isn’t any romance just in general. Ho-yay or otherwise.

Final Thoughts:

Mewtwo no Gyakushu is a decent film. It has its strong moments and some solid action but, in general, it’s just too predictable and generic to be of particular interest for adults. If there’s a child in your life who you want to watch a film with, this one would make a pretty good choice, provided the kid likes Pokemon. Since it won’t make you want to shoot down a Fearow trainer or anything. My rating for it is going to be a 6/10. Next week, Elf wo Karu Mono-tachi. Because I’ve been too positive as of late.

Combining games for fun and profit

Lately, we’ve seen quite a few games released that combine the mechanics of two different games. Dynasty Warriors with both Zelda & Dragon Quest. Etrian Odyssey with Mystery Dungeon & Persona. Tekken with Pokémon. And that’s just to name a few. On one hand, it’s easy to understand why this happens. It’s an easy way to do something new with a franchise while also using game mechanics that are tried and true, even if they are such for a completely different game franchise. It’s also undoubtedly true that some of these combination games have been really good, melding elements of the two games for something that manages to be, strangely enough, unique.

Yeah, I’m not going to slag off the practice itself. Instead, I’m going to give you a list of five game combinations I’d like to see. Sorted by the one I’d like to see the least to the one I’d like the most.

5. Pokémon & Endless Ocean.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Endless Ocean, the idea is that you’re a diver mucking about underwater in various areas, interacting with marine life to learn about them including feeding and petting them. You even get dolphin friends to swim around with you. It’s a very relaxing game. Imagine how perfect that format would be for a game where you take the role of a Pokémon professor. You could explore various environments, not just the ocean but the forest, mountains and such, while studying wild Pokémon and gaining information for your Pokédex in the most world-building Pokémon game to date with an emphasis on exploration and environment rather than on battling. It wouldn’t be for every Pokémon fan but I’d certainly buy and sink hours of time into it.

4. Metroid & Borderlands

It’s no secret that I love most of the Metroid franchise, except that one game that basically nobody liked where Samus had Daddy issues for some reason. The games are about exploration and making your way through hostile worlds. However, one thing they haven’t really taken advantage of is the fact that Samus is a bounty hunter. Which is why I think it could benefit from taking some cues from Borderlands. Giving us a Metroid game with city hubs and quests. They could even adapt the gold rewards system to have Samus unlock armour, missile and weapon upgrades instead of just having her lose her power-ups and have to relocate them, usually attached to random statues.

3. Dragon Quest & Dissidia

Having a Final Fantasy based fighting game, that isn’t Ehrgeiz or anything like Ehrgeiz, was a brilliant move on Square-Enix’s part. And I’d love to see the same kind of treatment given to their other big RPG franchise, Dragon Quest. just tweak the mechanics a bit to be more suitable for the franchise and you’d almost certainly have a hit.

2. Persona & X-men Legends

The great thing about this combination is that it would work either way. You could have a more action-oriented Persona game where you can switch between characters readily and summon your personae for special attacks or a more traditional X-men RPG with an emphasis on the character dynamics. Which would also have the benefit of letting characters who don’t really work with the Legends style of gameplay, characters like Shadowcat, Mirage & Karma, take active roles in the party.

1. Fire Emblem & Neptunia

I know, I’m weird. That being said, I would love to see a more action-RPG style Fire Emblem game  where enemy soldiers are scattered throughout a map and you can avoid or engage them while making your way through the map. Where scavenging for materials is a big deal. With a female cast and where the Support conversation system is combined with Neptunia’s Lily rank system for a bit more of an involved dynamic when your ladies reach C, B, A or S-rank. Honestly, it could easily replace Blazing Sword as my favourite Fire Emblem title if it had characters and a narrative on par with it. Even if it couldn’t really include perma-death with a more Neptunia style battle system.

There you have it, some game combinations I, in all my eccentricity, would personally like to see. Feel free to leave your own ideas for cool combinations that haven’t been done yet in the comments.