Operation Backlog Completion 2025

My Hopes for Pokémon Sun and Moon

 Video games  4 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
May 232016
 

Pokemon-Sun-and-Moon-box-artSince their announcement, I haven’t said a lot about Pokémon Sun and Moon.

Pokémon X and Y were a disappointment to me. I haven’t touched my copy of Y in ages, not even to get any of the event Pokémon. (And I was the sort of person who visited the mall with multiple Pokémon games to get the event Pokémon in all of them.)

But I can’t hold a grudge against the whole series. I might even give Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire a chance after all. And when it comes to Sun and Moon, here are my hopes for it.

Improved Exploration

To me, X and Y didn’t feel like they had a lot of exploration. Sure, the world was 3D, but there wasn’t much of it. Caves, especially suffered. While I’m not a big fan of Pokémon caves, they felt lifeless.

I don’t mind a little linearity, but I never felt a real interest in X/Y’s world. Was it just me?

I hope Sun and Moon have a world I want to explore, with cool locations and side areas. Since the Alola region is a series of islands, it sounds like a perfect fit.

A Good Story

I know, looking for a good plot in Pokémon games is a bad idea to start with. After Black/White, though, I can’t help it. I loved the story in those games, and I have no end of praise for them because of it.

While the main plot of X/Y didn’t do it for me, it had glimmers of excitement… and the Looker side quest in the post-game had better writing than the entire rest of the game.

I’ve also heard the ORAS Delta Episode has good writing.

Pokémon doesn’t need to reach epic JRPG levels of plot, but I hope Sun and Moon have an interesting storyline again, one where I care about the characters and want to know what happens next.

Good Villains

Pokemon-LysandreEven without a strong story, I’ll settle for good villains. You know what my biggest problem with X/Y was? Team Flare. It’s hard to take villains seriously when they look like this.

Lysandre was at least intimidating. He wants to use an ultimate weapon to destroy anyone who isn’t part of Team Flare, then remake a more “beautiful” world.

Except Cyrus did it better!

Cyrus wants to destroy the universe to remake a universe without any conflict. (Or emotion.) He has a more concrete backstory than Lysandre. He’s crazy, but within the context of his insanity, his actions make more sense. (Aren’t the members of Team Flare exactly the sort of people Lysandre hates? Why are they the ones he’s saving?)

All right, I know there are people who like Lysandre better, but I couldn’t help but see him as a less-interesting imitation of Cyrus.

Fun Mini-Games

Pokémon contests, the Pokéathlon, Voltorb Flip, that awesome mining stuff in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum… I want more fun mini-games like that. (What did X/Y have? Just Pokémon-Amie?)

And while it’s not quite a mini-game, the Join Avenue in White 2/Black 2 was the main reason I kept playing my copy long after I finished the main game.

These are a few of the things I hope Pokémon Sun and Moon have. I apologize for my X/Y ranting. What do you hope to see in the new Pokémon games?

E3 2016 Predictions

 Video games  4 Responses »  Tagged with:
May 202016
 

E3-2016Part of the fun of E3 (for me, at least) is surprises that come out of nowhere. At the same time, some announcements can be predicted.

I already have two years’ worth of pipe dreams I don’t expect to see at E3… but here are a few I consider plausible predictions.

(Things that have already been confirmed, like The Legend of Zelda and Mass Effect: Andromeda don’t count as “predictions.”)

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Release Date

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, which is on the list because it’s my most-anticipated game of the year and not just because I love typing its title, is due out this year.

E3 is the perfect time to give it a release date, so I expect to end E3 knowing just when I’ll be able to play it.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

We still have plenty of reasons to be worried about the Final Fantasy VII Remake. What better way to calm (hopefully) fans’ fears than by showing off more gameplay… and explaining just how its multi-part structure is going to work?

Crash Bandicoot

That’s right, there are too many signs for me not to include it. I think Crash Bandicoot is about to return, and I think Sony will announce it this E3.

Mother 3

Mother-3Yep, that’s right. Even though Nintendo’s E3 plans seem confusing at best, I think they’ll sneak in a Mother 3/EarthBound 2 announcement. Last E3, they announced EarthBound Beginnings at the Nintendo World Championships, so the lack of an actual E3 show doesn’t prevent this.

Halo 6

Halo 5 was first teased in 2013 and came out last October. Halo 6 might not be ready for a while yet, but I’d be surprised if we didn’t get at least a quick tease.

I didn’t intend for my headings to form a triangle, but now that they have, it seems a shame to mess it up (even if Halo already kinda does). So I’ll leave it at those five predictions.

What do you think? Will my E3 2016 predictions come true? Are any implausible enough to belong with my pipe dreams instead? And what are your predictions for this year’s E3 show?

New Details About Ace Attorney 6’s DLC

 Video games  No Responses »  Tagged with: ,
May 182016
 

Turnabout-Across-Time-LarryAlong with Ace Attorney 6’s English title and release window, we learned earlier this week that there will be a DLC called “Turnabout Across Time” as well as the two bonus episodes.

Now we know a little more about it.

Turnabout Across Time will be free for the first few weeks after Spirit of Justice’s Japanese release. According to the announcement, it will be a “complete volume” with investigation and trial sections.

It features, Phoenix, Maya, Edgeworth, and… Larry!

Larry is probably the unannounced returning character we heard about, but there are more possibilities I’ll get to soon.

Capcom released a special 11-minute trailer introducing the DLC case. This video is rather insane, but it’s a fourth-wall-breaking skit meant to advertise the DLC, so its contents shouldn’t be taken literally. (Apparently Capcom has made these before. Here’s an amusing one for Apollo Justice.)

All right, let’s take a look at the Turnabout Across Time skit, uploaded by Bolt2nd.

I emphasized that it intentionally breaks the fourth wall, because some people took the trailer’s ridiculous tone to mean the case can’t be canon. (And Oldbag probably won’t appear in the case, since the trailer used her 2D model, unlike Larry.)

The basic gist of the trailer is that the DLC case will involve time travel (probably not for real), and someone whose name begins with “M” will get married.

This character is someone who has appeared in both the original trilogy and the Investigations games. As a result, the most popular possibilities are:

  • Larry (His Japanese name is Masashi.)
  • Edgeworth (Mitsurugi)
  • Franziska (Mei)
  • Maggey (Mako)

Even though Larry is in the case, it’s probably not him. The later part of the video shows Larry was actually being kicked out of the ceremony.

Many people are really hoping it’s Maggey marrying Gumshoe. And you know, I hope so too. I’d like to see Gumshoe again, and it would be nice for those two to get a happy ending after everything they’ve been through.

(However, it’s possible Larry faked the clues entirely, and there is no returning character getting married, just the couple seen in the video.)

7 minutes of Turnabout Across Time gameplay has also been uploaded by Calios.

I’m so happy we can investigate anywhere again.

What do you think of Turnabout Across Time? If it comes West, will you play it? And who do you think is getting married? Let me know in the comments.

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