If you're only playin' games
Apr. 7th, 2011 11:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impersonaMY POKAMANS
And I'm showing you them for lulz because I tend to name my Pokemon after my RP characters.
Her name is Deona, you know, GENDERBENT BANDOM AU Deona. She is a Zebstrika, an Electric-type zebra and my team's Ace Pokemon. She didn't use to be an ace though - Kol can tell you that numerous times she could hear me screaming "DAMMIT DEONA DIED AGAIN" because her first form, Blitzle, was weak as hell. Now she is so boss that I can plow through a lot of my enemies with her alone. I always manage well with Electric types, and she's probably the best one I've had yet.
His name is Rio. I He's an Emboar (left), which is an evolution of the super-duper adorable Tepig (right) who I picked as my starter Pokemon. I freaking love pig-type Pokemon, and even decided that the next time I play through a game, it's going to be with an all-pig team. He's a pretty good Pokemon too, but tends to kill himself a lot because his best attacks have recoil to them. And I let my Pokemon die for the greater cause (me).
Rio was the name of a pig guardian my Sailor Purple Pirate character had, back when I was running a Sailor Moon/Rainbow Brite game. I miss that god-damn-stupid game even to this day.
Her name is Rae. Ugly sonuvabitch, isn't she? She is a Hydreigon, and my team's highest level Pokemon and the Special Attack sweeper. It's a Darkness/Dragon type, which I guess doesn't make a lot of sense for Rae, but the first form of this Pokemon had a black bowl-cut hairdo that totally reminded me of Rae:
It used to be cute but it growed up ugly. Such is the fate of most Pokemon.
His name is Roimata.
hahahahahahahahahahaha
Finding a male of this kind of Pokemon, the Gothita evolutionary line, is actually rather rare. But I caught a male one, and decided that it was only appropriate to name him after the only male character I had who'd be able to pull off this look. Also, Roimata's special Ability is Frisk, so I get to snicker to myself "heh heh Roimata Frisked the enemy". He's actually not a very good offensive Pokemon, so I put him in there to paralyze the oppenent and put up all kinds of screens and defenses so another Poke can just knock the next few opponents out problem-free.
His name is Sengyou, after my male Nyosen in Restless Heavens, and a recent addition to my team. I thought he'd be a good defensive type, but this bitch goes down with a slap and I'll probably have to replace him. SORRY SENGYOU YOU AREN'T EVEN COOL AS A POKEMON.
THIS CHARMING LAD IS MARCUS.
His name is Marcus because when I encountered him in the wild, it was my Deona who was trying to kill him. But this Pokemon, Audino, used an attack called Attract on Deona, which made her so infatuated with him that her attacks kept on missing. So of course I had to capture him and name him Marcus. He used to be on my main team, but he kind of sucks too except for Doubles battles.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
A Cofagrigus named Rick.
A Joltik named Dusti.
A Cubchoo named Franjo.
A Reshiram named Warren (look at dat hair!).
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand a Piloswine named Asiel.
As for the actual quality of Pokemon Black and White, I was actually happily surprised. The Pokemon game series are repetitive, and usually don't do enough to set one Generation of games apart from the previous one, but I felt that Black and White had enough changes visually, story-telling, and gameplay-wise that it actually put a little jolt in my system.
This is certainly the first game in which the story actually seemed to carry any weight, and it's probably because they took a bit more time to flesh out your rival characters, the Gym Leaders, and the bad guys. There is CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT in this game zomg, which used to be virtually exclusive to the Rival character, usually revolving around his Crisis of Faith after you kick his ass for the twentieth time. Pokemon games used to be all about throw-away characters, but they've gotten better at reusing them for a better sense of world and plot-advancement. Yeah, this is the first time I ever enjoyed a Pokemon game for its plot (if you don't count the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, which are fucking brilliant stories).
I swear to god though there was a super-creepy scene with the Big Bad coercing my (female) player character into a Ferris Wheel cabin with him, and I was flailing like "DON'T ASSAULT MY GIRL DEAR GOD" but to the game's credit that's the first time I ever cared so much about the safety of the player character. The Big Bad ended up being a redeemed woobie in the end, but the good kind of one who was a Woobie All Along and was directed by a puppetmaster.
This was also the first game since the original Blue/Red in which I actually felt like I was on a new adventure, and I actually felt a sense of unknown and anticipation. Part of this was because the game starts with an entirely new set of Pokemon, and you don't get to see any of the oldbies until you've already beat the game. Part of it is also because there are a lot of hidden and blocked areas in the game for you to explore, and there is so much post-game content that I'll be happy for a while.
In terms of gameplay, I found myself having to be a lot more aware of my own strategies going into battle. I really am a Power based player who prefers to plow through Pokemon with high-powered attacks - I really don't have the patience for inflicting status effects or putting up walls. With this game, I felt like I just could not advance until I learned how to be more adaptable. My Roimata used to be loaded with powerful offensive attacks, but still would get plowed all over. Once I decided to switch her into a status-inducer/shield though, she became a much more valuable member of the party. None of the other games ever pushed me to that, and given all of the curveballs they throw you in terms of Pokemon type combinations (Ground/Ghost? Steel/Fighting? Ground/Steel?), you really have to be a lot more aware of your typing and the well-roundedness of your team. Like, the developers clearly went out of their way to make it so that you can't doze off and still expect to beat the game.
The visual style took me a little while to get used to. I spent a while saying 'All of these Pokemon are ugly' but they grew on me in time. In all of the previous games you are used to looking at people from a bird's eye view, so everyone looked adorably fat from your perspective. But now that the view is more on-the-ground and '3D' you see more of their torsos and limbs, and I spent the first few hours weirded out by how skinny everyone was. I was also stunned into shock by the presence of non-white Pokemon trainers including two Gym Leaders and an Elite Four Member (WHO LOOKS LIKE DEON.
IN FACT:
THERE ARE THREE ELITE FOUR MEMBERS WHO REMIND ME OF RP CHARS - ONE FOR DEON, ONE FOR SHOUJO MARA (IF JANE DRESSED AN UNCONSCIOUS AND DRUNK MARA), AND ONE FOR VAL. My rage is infinite cause the fandom is shipping not!Mara and not!Val all over the place and I'm just DYING for fic of not!Mara and not!Deon but he always ends up with the blonde girl instead, I HATE FANDOM.
THERE IS ALSO A GYM LEADER WHO IS TOTALLY RUCHIEL, ESPECIALLY CAUSE SHE IS A FLYING-TYPE TRAINER AND HAS HER OWN PLANE, AND A GYM LEADER WHO LOOKS LIKE BASS/SENGYOU IF HE CUT HIS HAIR. HE'S AN ARTIST TOO.)
(This is my favorite fanart of all the characters btw. I like this one too but VAL GET OFF OF MARA, JESUS I HATE FANDOM)
Also the world of this game, Unova, IS FUCKING BASED ON NEW YORK CITY. Your player character's hometown is Staten Island! Midtown Manhattan is a desert! Central Park is a dreamland! Broadway is an amusement park town that features Pokemon Musicals! Hoboken is a mining town run by a Texan stereotype! Union City is now a mountain range! The Bronx has dragons! You can't see it on the map but hilariously roughly where Long Island would start is a small coast town filled with villas and rich people THE POKEHAMPTONS XDDDDD There is even a place where you can go on the Battle Subway (located where Penn Station would be), which visually is identical to the New York subways and sometimes this stupid game makes me want to put down the DS and cry with how much I miss New York.
...In short, I really love this game!
And I'm showing you them for lulz because I tend to name my Pokemon after my RP characters.
Her name is Deona, you know, GENDERBENT BANDOM AU Deona. She is a Zebstrika, an Electric-type zebra and my team's Ace Pokemon. She didn't use to be an ace though - Kol can tell you that numerous times she could hear me screaming "DAMMIT DEONA DIED AGAIN" because her first form, Blitzle, was weak as hell. Now she is so boss that I can plow through a lot of my enemies with her alone. I always manage well with Electric types, and she's probably the best one I've had yet.
His name is Rio. I He's an Emboar (left), which is an evolution of the super-duper adorable Tepig (right) who I picked as my starter Pokemon. I freaking love pig-type Pokemon, and even decided that the next time I play through a game, it's going to be with an all-pig team. He's a pretty good Pokemon too, but tends to kill himself a lot because his best attacks have recoil to them. And I let my Pokemon die for the greater cause (me).
Rio was the name of a pig guardian my Sailor Purple Pirate character had, back when I was running a Sailor Moon/Rainbow Brite game. I miss that god-damn-stupid game even to this day.
Her name is Rae. Ugly sonuvabitch, isn't she? She is a Hydreigon, and my team's highest level Pokemon and the Special Attack sweeper. It's a Darkness/Dragon type, which I guess doesn't make a lot of sense for Rae, but the first form of this Pokemon had a black bowl-cut hairdo that totally reminded me of Rae:
It used to be cute but it growed up ugly. Such is the fate of most Pokemon.
His name is Roimata.
hahahahahahahahahahaha
Finding a male of this kind of Pokemon, the Gothita evolutionary line, is actually rather rare. But I caught a male one, and decided that it was only appropriate to name him after the only male character I had who'd be able to pull off this look. Also, Roimata's special Ability is Frisk, so I get to snicker to myself "heh heh Roimata Frisked the enemy". He's actually not a very good offensive Pokemon, so I put him in there to paralyze the oppenent and put up all kinds of screens and defenses so another Poke can just knock the next few opponents out problem-free.
His name is Sengyou, after my male Nyosen in Restless Heavens, and a recent addition to my team. I thought he'd be a good defensive type, but this bitch goes down with a slap and I'll probably have to replace him. SORRY SENGYOU YOU AREN'T EVEN COOL AS A POKEMON.
THIS CHARMING LAD IS MARCUS.
His name is Marcus because when I encountered him in the wild, it was my Deona who was trying to kill him. But this Pokemon, Audino, used an attack called Attract on Deona, which made her so infatuated with him that her attacks kept on missing. So of course I had to capture him and name him Marcus. He used to be on my main team, but he kind of sucks too except for Doubles battles.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
A Cofagrigus named Rick.
A Joltik named Dusti.
A Cubchoo named Franjo.
A Reshiram named Warren (look at dat hair!).
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand a Piloswine named Asiel.
As for the actual quality of Pokemon Black and White, I was actually happily surprised. The Pokemon game series are repetitive, and usually don't do enough to set one Generation of games apart from the previous one, but I felt that Black and White had enough changes visually, story-telling, and gameplay-wise that it actually put a little jolt in my system.
This is certainly the first game in which the story actually seemed to carry any weight, and it's probably because they took a bit more time to flesh out your rival characters, the Gym Leaders, and the bad guys. There is CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT in this game zomg, which used to be virtually exclusive to the Rival character, usually revolving around his Crisis of Faith after you kick his ass for the twentieth time. Pokemon games used to be all about throw-away characters, but they've gotten better at reusing them for a better sense of world and plot-advancement. Yeah, this is the first time I ever enjoyed a Pokemon game for its plot (if you don't count the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, which are fucking brilliant stories).
I swear to god though there was a super-creepy scene with the Big Bad coercing my (female) player character into a Ferris Wheel cabin with him, and I was flailing like "DON'T ASSAULT MY GIRL DEAR GOD" but to the game's credit that's the first time I ever cared so much about the safety of the player character. The Big Bad ended up being a redeemed woobie in the end, but the good kind of one who was a Woobie All Along and was directed by a puppetmaster.
This was also the first game since the original Blue/Red in which I actually felt like I was on a new adventure, and I actually felt a sense of unknown and anticipation. Part of this was because the game starts with an entirely new set of Pokemon, and you don't get to see any of the oldbies until you've already beat the game. Part of it is also because there are a lot of hidden and blocked areas in the game for you to explore, and there is so much post-game content that I'll be happy for a while.
In terms of gameplay, I found myself having to be a lot more aware of my own strategies going into battle. I really am a Power based player who prefers to plow through Pokemon with high-powered attacks - I really don't have the patience for inflicting status effects or putting up walls. With this game, I felt like I just could not advance until I learned how to be more adaptable. My Roimata used to be loaded with powerful offensive attacks, but still would get plowed all over. Once I decided to switch her into a status-inducer/shield though, she became a much more valuable member of the party. None of the other games ever pushed me to that, and given all of the curveballs they throw you in terms of Pokemon type combinations (Ground/Ghost? Steel/Fighting? Ground/Steel?), you really have to be a lot more aware of your typing and the well-roundedness of your team. Like, the developers clearly went out of their way to make it so that you can't doze off and still expect to beat the game.
The visual style took me a little while to get used to. I spent a while saying 'All of these Pokemon are ugly' but they grew on me in time. In all of the previous games you are used to looking at people from a bird's eye view, so everyone looked adorably fat from your perspective. But now that the view is more on-the-ground and '3D' you see more of their torsos and limbs, and I spent the first few hours weirded out by how skinny everyone was. I was also stunned into shock by the presence of non-white Pokemon trainers including two Gym Leaders and an Elite Four Member (WHO LOOKS LIKE DEON.
IN FACT:
THERE ARE THREE ELITE FOUR MEMBERS WHO REMIND ME OF RP CHARS - ONE FOR DEON, ONE FOR SHOUJO MARA (IF JANE DRESSED AN UNCONSCIOUS AND DRUNK MARA), AND ONE FOR VAL. My rage is infinite cause the fandom is shipping not!Mara and not!Val all over the place and I'm just DYING for fic of not!Mara and not!Deon but he always ends up with the blonde girl instead, I HATE FANDOM.
THERE IS ALSO A GYM LEADER WHO IS TOTALLY RUCHIEL, ESPECIALLY CAUSE SHE IS A FLYING-TYPE TRAINER AND HAS HER OWN PLANE, AND A GYM LEADER WHO LOOKS LIKE BASS/SENGYOU IF HE CUT HIS HAIR. HE'S AN ARTIST TOO.)
(This is my favorite fanart of all the characters btw. I like this one too but VAL GET OFF OF MARA, JESUS I HATE FANDOM)
Also the world of this game, Unova, IS FUCKING BASED ON NEW YORK CITY. Your player character's hometown is Staten Island! Midtown Manhattan is a desert! Central Park is a dreamland! Broadway is an amusement park town that features Pokemon Musicals! Hoboken is a mining town run by a Texan stereotype! Union City is now a mountain range! The Bronx has dragons! You can't see it on the map but hilariously roughly where Long Island would start is a small coast town filled with villas and rich people THE POKEHAMPTONS XDDDDD There is even a place where you can go on the Battle Subway (located where Penn Station would be), which visually is identical to the New York subways and sometimes this stupid game makes me want to put down the DS and cry with how much I miss New York.
...In short, I really love this game!
