Pokemon, PSV TV, Skytrex, & Apotheosis.

So, I have not been posting stuff in a while cuz I'm busy (with assignments). I still have assignments now, but I'm not as busy as before.

For the past few weeks, some awesome stuff happened. So I'll summarize some of the stuff (note, I'm doing this on the top of my head, so I may miss some stuff)

Pokemon Direct, and more Poke Stuff:
Holy crap, you get to choose a Kanto Starter?! How awesome is that? And said starter can Mega Evolve too?! Mega Blastoise look so cool!!

Yeah, that was my reaction. Not really a big fan of the PokeBank thing for now, since I can't see myself catching so many Pokemon that I have to use it, but I may in the near future. Some may complain on the USD 5$ price tag, but I think it's reasonable.
While it is true that Pokemon data (in bits) will most likely not be a lot, and that you can store 3000 Pokemon. An estimation of this cloud storage service is that you pay 5$ to store about 5-10 Mb worth of Pokemon data (assuming that you fill all 3000 slots),  from that perspective, it does seem like a ripoff, but bear in mind that this cloud storage service may be used for future generations (which is a good thing), and seeing that so many people worldwide play Pokemon, there needs a maintenance fee for all the servers.

Oh, and Mega Mewtwo X rocks, glad I pre-ordered X. It's like, at the cost of not getting Yveltal as the mascot legendary, I get the more awesome looking Mega Mewtwo X, while they get Mega Mewtwo Y. Fair trade. Also, the fossil Pokemon looks cool too. And a poodle Pokemon that can be groomed, Simba's (I mean, Litleo's) evolution (which looks different depending on gender, similar to real lions) and that cat (?) Pokemon who's stats and movepool depends on its gender all looks cool.

Finally the 1st evolution of the starters were revealed. Do they look weird? Mostly, but it's okay. I don't think there is any 1st Evo Starter that looks good, all of them looks awkward and derpy in some way (like real teenagers, lol). One cool thing about their evo's is their names, possibly revealing what their final form may be (and what typing will it be).

Quiladin's name resembles Paladin, which (to me) is a mounted class that uses lances and swords (Fire Emblem reference). It's more to being a noble knight who may wield magic. From what I've gathered, Chespin and its evo has a Rock and Ground attack in his movepool. I'm hoping that when it is true that Quiladin will evolve into a more badass Paladin, he will have either Rock or Ground armour.

Braixen looks like a Mage, with that wand and stuff. While most starters gender ratio is skewed towards males, Braixen looks like a female Pokemon to me (maybe it's the colour, and the stick reminds me of a witch's stick instead of a magician's staff). While it has some Psychic moves, we may see the final evolution being a Fairy too.

Frogadier took a turn to be more badass. His name resembles Brigadier, which is a high ranking military person. While not the highest rank yet, I think his final form will give him a name which resembles the highest military rank (being evolved and all). He may get Fighting or Dark as his second typing, but we won't know this for now.

Ohhhhh, I almost forgot, you can customize outfits now!!!!!! I'm gonna like this a lot (LOL)!!

Yeah, other than that, that's all I can think of for Pokemon. Next up

PSV TV:
So, a strange announcement (like the 2DS), but it seems like a great idea. After all, most Vita games have the quality of a PS3 game right?

Well, this cheaper PSV lets you remote play the PS4 on another TV too, and you can play PSP games and PS1 games on it. All that at the cost of portability.

But the thing is that the controller that comes with PSV TV is the Dualshock 3 controller (the one for the PS3) and not the PS4 controller. Why is this a problem? Cuz some Vita games uses the touch screen, as in the front (and sometimes back) screen. Dualshock 3 doesn't have that, Dualshock 4 doesn't have that either, but it could be implemented on that small touch-sensitive area in between the analog sticks.

I dunno about you, but the Vita, while having some genuinely good original games, would be better off as a handheld, or it will defeat the purpose of having the Vita as a handheld, but that's just me. Nothing much to say here since I don't own a Vita. But with this PSV TV it will turn the tide of battle for sure, but I think there will be a cost. I mean, is the Vita how a console-handheld hybrid now? Will the increase in sales of the PSV TV cause game devs to make games less focus on the touch screen? Will those game devs also make more console oriented games for the Vita now? It's still hard to tell for now.

Next up, it's

Skytrex:
A few weeks back (on a Saturday), I went to this place called Skytrex. It's basically an obstacle course 20m above the ground in the rain forest. What you do is that equipped with safety gear, you climb up this ladder to the platform of a tree. You travel from one platform to another by completing an obstacle. Some of the obstacles are challenging, and some are easy.

Despite the assignments I had I still went for it because the last time I was there (which was 5 years ago), I enjoyed the experience with my cousins. Now, we're older, and they just opened a more challenging course. Problem is we couldn't find the time to go there together as a group. And I saw some club in my uni organizing this event, so I went away.

I never consider myself to be a fit person, and being there with guys who goes to the gym (or play sports), I felt a bit intimidated, and I think to myself 'I'm gonna suck at this tough course'. How wrong was I.

I was the first person in the entire group to start the course because the two guys in front of my dare not be the first to take up the challenge (and one of them is the rather muscular leader/organizer of the group. Some brave organizer he turned up to be). So I blazed through the place and completed it way faster than I expected. Was it tiring? Yeah, but it was very satisfying.

If you like extreme sports and in Malaysia, you should go try it. Even if you aren't an adrenaline junkie like me, you should go try it, it's very fun.

Lastly.

Apotheosis completed:
After grinding my team for a while, I decided that my team is ready to face the secret route of Apotheosis.
The 20 people I brought are:
Chrom (the convoy), Lissa & Cordelia (Main Healers), My Avatar, all 13 Children Characters, Olivia (Dancer), and two Rallybots.

Needless to say, I restarted a few times due to not being prepared. The first wave (Generals and Clerics) was easy and was completed in a turn to trigger the first wave of the secret path.

Secret Path (SP) 1 was easy. SP2 was easy too, even though the 70 speed Sniper and the Counter Snipers are a bit intimidating.

Funny story for SP3. I didn't know all my units were standing on the exact location where the Sorcerers will spawn. I had to devise a plan to kill them all in a turn or my supports will die. And I did. The general strategy I had for SP3 is to kill all in one turn.

SP4 was by far the toughest one. The Soldier, Snipers, and Tricksters are okay. But the ShadowGift Dark Fliers were annoying. Having such huge range with Hawkeye, I had to make sure my supports are not hit by them. But by far the most annoying units are the Hawkeye, Luna+, Aegis+, Counter, DragonSkin Berserkers. I died so many times from the boss because Dual Guard won't trigger. I had to resort to Nosferatu Sorcerers to weaken him.

SP5 wasn't as hard as SP4, but is still hard. Had to take down the Berserker henchmans with my Magic users. The Sorcerers weren't that tough, neither is the Snipers (since it's the same Snipers in SP2). Anna was surprisingly easy compared to the SP4 Berserker boss. I one-shot her with Inigo (Assassin) paired with Kjelle (Swordmaster), something I can't do with the SP4 boss. I had Inigo use a Bow to not get Countered, and he was able to defeat Anna pretty easily since he was able to outspeed her (Anna's speed is 70, my Inigo hit 84 after rallies and pairups), defeating her.

Finally got the Supreme Emblem and can equip it for bragging rights.

I did learn a lot of things from Apotheosis, and may talk about that in the next post. But for now, that's all.

The 2DS

So Nintendo just announced a price drop for the WiiU (now $50 cheaper), which is could considering the XB1 and PS4 are gonna be released during holiday season, and a console widely regarded as the weakest of the trio being priced this high will not be beneficial to Nintendo.

But enough about that. They also announced the Nintendo 2DS!

The 2DS is a flat handheld, no longer sporting the clam-shell design that the DS, DSi, 3DS, 3DSXL had. It plays all DS/DSi games and all 3DS games, but you can't enable the 3D features on the 2DS like you can on the 3DS.

Ever since they announce this 3DS alternative, I see a lot of butthurt coming from the internet. I'm here to try to not sound bias by presenting a few counter to the arguments going on online.

1. There's no hinges in this console like the 3DS. Instead, it's flat, and it's ugly as hell.

I do agree that the design of the 2DS is rather odd (it looks like a piece of toast to me), but you have to consider why they designed this console -it's for kids 7 and under (or around that age group).

One of the things that make the DS/3DS/GBASP flawed is the hinges, it breaks rather easily, especially in the hands of a child. It is especially flimsy in the DS era, and it's a sad sight to see children crying when their DS/3DS snapped and they can't play. The hinges are also one of the main reasons why parents are hesitant on getting the 3DS as they fear of it breaking (and not be able to get a refund, or something).

The 2DS is much sturdier and would be able to withstand mishandling by children, and it will most definitely get the support of parents.

Also, if you think that you're not a 'clumsy person' and would most likely take care of your 3DS well, you have to know that sometimes, shit happens and your 3DS breaks.

2. It's so big and bulky.

So is the 3DSXL, Vita, and whatever tablet you use. Most of the time when you carry a 3DS or a Vita, unless you have a really big pocket, you would keep the handheld in your bag, like you do with your tablet. So just do the same for the 2DS, what's the difference? Also, the 2DS isn't really that big if you compare it to your tablet, and it is very likely to be able to be handled by a 7-year old, let alone a grown man.

3. Why pay for a handheld that doesn't have 3D when you can already turn off your 3D anytime on the 3DS.

Simple, it's a cheaper alternative for people who wanna get a 3DS but can't afford it. It's not only priced at a low low price of $129.99, but it's also released on the same day as Pokemon X & Y, a kid-friendly mega-franchise. Imagine a parent walking in and getting both a 2DS and a copy of Pokemon for only $170, which is the price of a 3DS during the price cut. Isn't that a good deal?

4. No additional circle-pad pro/ Mono-audio

Again, the targeted user of this console are kids who aren't likely gonna play a lot of games that require an additional circle pad like Kid Icarus: Uprising or Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate. However, it's kinda sad that you can't use the CPP like you can on the 3DS/3DSXL, but I'm pretty sure they'll develop one soon.

Regarding the mono-audio, again, target user. They aren't likely gonna be able to differentiate mono and stereo. Plus, you can still use stereo when you plug in your earphones, and if you're the type of person who likes to listen to your 3DS game's music, you would most likely be listening through a headphone instead of listening through the speakers.

I guess that's all the problems I can address for now (and all I can think of). I am aware that the name '2DS' will cause a hell lot of confusion in the game shops when parents ask them why aren't there any 2DS games. But if you think about it, calling it a 3DS isn't a suitable name too, since it's not 3D enabled. They can't just call it the '3DS Flat (with no 3D)', so I do hope that the confusion in the name won't be too bad.

One thing cool about the 2DS was from what I observed. I noticed that it was flat, meaning like a tablet, and I thought to myself 'Nintendo is trying to compete with the tablet using industry, with the 2DS being flat like a tablet, but with buttons, and more suitable for slightly hardcore gaming'. A few hours later after that thought, they revealed that the 2DS is actually one screened, where the borders between them is just there to avoid confusion and all. The top screen is actually a touch screen like the bottom screen, only covered in some thick plastic, meaning....

The 2DS is a 3DS tablet with buttons, and no 3D. Wow!

To end this 2DS post, here's a message to all butthurt gamers.

The 2DS is not meant for you and may not be meant for you. I know it's sad to not be able to buy a 3DS without the 3D unless you buy a 2DS, hopefully they'll create a new 2DS next time. Also, I think that the 2DS won't be a failure like the GameBoy Micro, but it won't be as successful as the 3DS. So, just deal with it, or I'll hunt you down with my axe.

eShop games

Having $46.50 of eShop credit left on my 3DS (which I'm saving for Ace Attorney 5), I can't help but have this feeling that even this amount of money is not enough to pay for the game and the DLCs that come with it (special outfits, whale chapter).

I'm guessing that I will be reloading an additional  $50 into my 3DS in the near future. While I know that is a lot of money pumped into the 3DS, I wanted to top up this much because I feel like downloading 2 eShop games, which are:

Bit Trip Saga

I don't really have any reason to buy this game, other than the fact that it will be on sale this September on the eShop, selling at $5(!) from $15, I heard that it's even more expensive before, at $40, so this game is quite a steal. All I know that this game is a rhythm platformer, I hope it's good.

Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

Gonna get this game for free on Club Nintendo (yay!). Since the only LoZ game I played was a 3D one (OoT), I thought I would give a 2D Zelda game a try. If I like it, then I may get Link Between Worlds for the 3DS.

There's other games like the newly released SteamWorld Dig and Attack of the Friday Monsters that I might be interested in getting, but I'm still not sure about that.

As much as I don't really care about indie games (as of now), there is one particular game that I really do wanna play, and it's a shame that it's not on the 3DS, and that's

Yup, this super awesome flash-game looking, no combo needing, two-buttoned parody fighting game that is selling for $10 on Steam and PS3 and PS Vita. I really like the idea of a fighting game that is deconstructed to just the mind games, and that's Divekick for you. 

When I saw the game on a fighting game stream a year or two ago, it looked fun as hell, especially with the custom two-button arcade stick that they used. Now the game is out, and it looks fun as hell. I really hope it will be released on the 3DS, I'll download it without a second thought. 

Sure the graphics are unacceptable by many, but for a game that uses two buttons, it has a lot of depth to it, and it is a plus to have so many hilarious fighting game references to other fighting games, and to the fighting game community. 

Did I mention how awesome of a drinking game this will be?

Anyways, that's all I have to say. I dunno how many eShop games will I get, maybe more recommendations from friends will convince me to get other eShop tittles. 

3DS update 18.8.13

In anticipation of Ace Attorney 5 (and the very high likelihood of it being a digital-only release, dammit Capcom!), I have topped-up 50 USD worth of eshop credit to my 3DS.

And since my balance became $55.50, the first thing I bought was the last few Fire Emblem DLCs that I have not bought and was hesitant to buy due to lack of money. I bought Challenge pack and Apotheosis.

I have completed Apotheosis normal path. I didn't do much preparations, and I didn't change the skills of most of my units (even though it was necessary to do so in order to not suck in this map), and I didn't have all my units stat-capped, which resulted in 2 deaths (good thing I played casual). Needless to say, even with me thinking half of the time with below-par battle prep and completing the map with just 2 deaths, I'm pretty sure this map isn't that difficult for Normal Route. Secret Route on the other hand will be tough.

So, new gameplan for secret route. I need all my children characters stat-capped, money-grind more for more forged weapons, but more weapons and staves, train up my 2nd rally-bot Katarina (whom I got for completing Apotheosis normal path), bring Olivia in, change the skills of my team before entering the map, and most importantly of all, not letting any units die (cuz I'll be playing it seriously this time).

And while preparing for Apotheosis, I'll be attempting the 3 Challenge pack maps.

Yeah, that's all.

Mega Pokemon, and some Pokemon Digimon comparisons

So yesterday (for me), they just unveiled some leaks from the Coro-coro magazine for some news regarding Pokemon X & Y (these leaks are almost always true by the way).

They announced three new Pokemon. One is a rather adorable pre-evolution to the Pokemon Gogoat which has already been revealed earlier, one is a rabbit that looks really dumb/derpy looking, and one being a cross between the hamster Hamtaro and Raichu, and is most likely gonna be the Pikachu knockoff variant of the new game.

But that's not the most interesting news from there.

The big news (and I mean really big news) is the unveiling of 6 Pokemons that are considered to be Mega-evolutions to already existing Pokemons. The 6 Mega forms revealed were Blaziken, Lucario, Mawile, Absol, Ampharos and Mewtwo (whose form we've already seen before).

So, what do I think about this? I'm actually excited for this. It remind me (and a lot of others) of Digimon, and I don't really mind that since I'm a fan of Digimon too. Though I think this will create a lot of balance issues and raises a lot of questions. Like why did Blaziken and Ampharos - being Stage 2 Evolutions - get a Mega Evolution, and why Blaziken - being a starter - have one to begin with. However, it is stated that there will be more Pokemon having Mega forms, but not all Pokemon will have it, so hopefully (for the sake of balance), each starter has a Mega Evolution.

Also, another thing revealed about the Megas are that they are an in-battle form only, and have to use a held item to make them stay that way, which I think is fair enough, since being a Mega, I would expect that to have better stats than their normal counterparts, and it is confirmed that some of the Megas have some absurdly ridiculous skills (Adaptability MegaLucario and Speed Boost MegaBlaziken). Plus, there are rumours that some of the Mega forms with give the Pokemon brand new typing (Steel/Fairy for MegaMawile perhaps?). Overall, I hope the balance that they're about to give these Pokemons are enough to make other Pokemons viable when fighting them.

Another thing announced was a new Gym Leader who's specialty is currently unknown, and will show the player how Mega Evolution works. Honestly, I wouldn't expect someone who looks like a roller derby girl to be that one person who will explain Mega Pokemons.

I mean, really?

Also, while I am a fan of both Pokemon and Digimon, I enjoy seeing all the butthurt going on in the Pokemon fandom on the new Mega Pokemon. I don't mean to be mean but, some of the fans can be pretty ignorant about Digimon and just dismiss it as a Pokemon ripoff without actually trying to watch it without the mindset that it is similar to Pokemon (which is not by the way, aside from the -mon suffix, and that their monsters evolve).

To me, I think that Gen V has made some changes into the Pokemon world in some of their design and evolutions/form changes that it reminds me of Digimon. For example, I really like Haxorus a lot because it's design really reminds me of a Digimon (but still retaining that Pokemon feel to it as it is not an overly complicated design), and has been one of my favourite Pokemon of Gen V. Also, the Kyurem forms strongly reminds me of DNA Digivolution/Jogress Evolution in Digimon Adventures Season 2 (which came out in the year 2000), and I honestly don't mind these changes made to Pokemon (but I think that Black/White Kyurem is one ugly legendary). 

All in all, I can't wait to see what more stuff will be revealed until October arrives. I haven't decide which starter I'll use (that is usually determined by how cool the Stage 2 evolution looks). 

That's all, I guess for now. Pokemon and Digimon are equally awesome!!

Beaten Ocarina of Time 3D

No wonder it was considered a revolutionary game for its time. The game is really good.

Even though the music is the only thing that wasn't remade I personally think it's fine. At least you know that aside from graphics, this is a game that's almost 15 years old from listening to the music, which I think was pretty catchy and nice to listen to.

Completed the game in 33 hours in my blind run of the game. The only times where I needed an online guide was when I was wondering why I'm stuck at the water temple (turns out I wasn't, lol), and during the thieves' hideout, because I didn't know you could talk to the carpenters who were stuck in the prison to trigger a mini-boss battle.

Overall, the game is alright, not too challenging (even though I did get stuck for a long time a few times in some of the temples), I would attempt their Master Quest some day next time, and probably to all the sidequest in the MQ run since I didn't do it in this run. The only thing I got from sidequests were the fire and ice arrows, and all the great fairy spells and skills.

Anyways, that's all I guess, since I have assignments piling up that I need to finish by next week.

Got my Kingdom Hearts 3D and Ocarina of Time 3D

Didn't play much of Dream Drop Distance. Played a whole lot of Ocarina of Time.

Ocarina of time is really fun. I mean, I can understand why some people say the game is overrated since it's being regarded so highly by many despite some of the faults it have, but it's still an incredible game.

Since getting the game on Tuesday, I've already completed several of the dungeons, including the dreaded Water Temple. The Water Temple gave me some trouble for like 3 hours or so mostly because of the keys and the doors. The fact that changing water levels are quite tedious, and the fact that you need to methodically check every piece of secret you can find makes it kinda tedious, and that is probably the reason why I got stuck for 3 hours because I thought a certain door was locked and needed a key (when I didn't have any), but in reality it may not have been locked (or a timed lock, I dunno) or I might have mistaken it for another room that was locked.

Right now, I've completed the Shadow Temple and the Thieve's Hideout, should be heading to the desert soon, or completing the challenges in the Thieve's Hideout first. The Shadow Temple was somewhat annoying in a sense that if you lose to the boss, you need to travel really really far just to get back and face him (not really fond of that).

Anyways, I should be completing the game some time next week.