The Smash Ultimate Diaries -- ACT III

So I’m trying to decide whether Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is better than, worse than, or equal to Homecoming, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really matter.  While I have reservations about giving modern-day Sony’s movie division any credit or praise, a good movie is a good movie, and Miles Morales’ big screen debut is more than simply “good”.

It’s worth watching for its presentation alone -- an animated movie that doesn’t feel the need to play with kid gloves by default.  Granted there are times when the movie gets in its own way with possibly too much style -- during my viewing I thought a few times that it’d be better if they toned the AV down by 10-20% -- but it’s a critical hit more often than it misses.  Kingpin is the definition of an “absolute unit” design-wise, and seeing some of this stuff in motion makes me hungry for more.  Not just a sequel, but for other movies to be emboldened to give the style (or something like that) an honest try.  Like, Disney, maybe mimic this instead of another live-action remake?

The funny thing about the movie is that, while Homecoming stepped away from the origin story affect, Spider-Verse revels in it -- to its benefit.  Fair move, considering that we’re following Miles now.  Still, even if you’re wary of another superhero origin story, there’s more than enough meat on this movie’s bones to keep you satiated.  Shout-outs to this movie for making parents that feel like real people; this version of Jefferson isn’t just trying to run for Jesus like Spider-Man PS4’s Jefferson, and --

Wait, I feel like I should be talking about something else right now.  Oh, right.  Smash Bros.  Let’s talk about it one more time…with a focus on World of Light.  Because I beat it, and talking about that is…well, it’s necessary, I think.

The Smash Ultimate Diaries -- ACT II

Hey, welcome back to another post on my newfound crack addiction.

I had a friend come over recently, and he asked me what I thought of Smash Bros. Ultimate.  My answer, without hesitation: “It goes without saying, but this is the best Smash yet.”  I didn’t think that was a controversial statement -- can’t imagine a lot of people disagreeing with me, though we’ll see what the verdict is a year out from release -- but naturally, my brother chimed in to say “Ehhhhhhhhhhh, I dunnoooooooooooo…”  Naturally.  Because naturally, he pines for the days of Melee.  Except for that time when we played Melee again, and we all decided (in an unspoken decree) that that was a mistake.

Okay, sure, it’s not as if Melee is the worst or anything.  But the game is old enough to drive now, and holding it in unrivaled esteem does it, the franchise, or us no favors.  Even if you’re the type to uphold it for its gameplay/tournament merits, can we at least meet halfway and agree that Ultimate has the best visuals, presentation, sound design, and content thus far?  Can we?

I bet we can.  And with that out of the way, let’s talk about more Smash Ultimate stuff.

Re: RE: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

How to become a Game of the Year 2018 contender instantly -- irrespective of actual game quality or even a full release -- as explained by Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Step One: KILL EVERYONE YOU LOVE.

That’s…pretty much the only step.

Pokken Tournament DX is pretty rad.

I mean, I’m pretty sure that’s obvious to anyone that’s been playing the game since the original Wii U release (God rest your noble soul), but as you know, I’m always late to the proverbial party.

Technically, I should be even later than I already am.  Even though I’ve had multiple opportunities to grab Pokken Tournament DX in theory, in practice the schedule -- such as it is -- refused it every time thanks to an extra buffer of simple reasoning.  “Can’t get it now because [insert major game release here] is about to come out.”  “Can’t get it now because my backlog is too big.”  “Can’t get it now because I need to write about JRPGs that progressively erode the fibers of my soul.”  And as I type this, I’m literally less than six days away from the release of another fighting game, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle -- thus meaning I have to spend hours with that to gain basic competency.  And tomorrow (again, as I type this) Zamasu and Vegito drop in Dragon Ball FighterZ -- and I haven’t played that game in two solid months.  The inevitable session with my brother to celebrate is going to be a massacre.

So you know what?  Screw it.  I’ve got to do something for me.  And what better way to be a selfish twat than with a purchase I may end up regretting 8.56 seconds after I upload this post.  Let’s dig into Pokken Tournament DX.

Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Switch-mas!

I mean, granted it’s not Christmas yet -- assuming you’re reading this on upload day instead of that hallowed holiday -- but it’s close enough.  It’s the highest without going over.  Also, we’ve apparently been in Christmas Mode since…I don’t know, before Halloween.  So it’s fine.

Anyway, 2017.  What a year.  Not what I’d call the best year in terms of politics and global events (and let’s leave it at that), but man.  Games on games on games.  Remember that borderline-lethal deluge of games in the first third of the year?  And I say borderline, but it wouldn’t surprise me if people actually bit the dust because of what dropped.  Persona 5, Nier Automata, Yakuza 0, Nioh, Resident Evil 7, and more -- with personal props going to Tales of Berseria, the secret top-tier RPG I’m only mildly butthurt about vis a vis its inevitable overshadowing by higher-profile titles.  But part of the reason we had this deluge is because Nintendo chose to release the Switch in March.  And boy, is it a doozy.

I’m not going to spend any time raving about Breath of the Wild because of course it’s the GOTY.  Instead, I’m going to focus on four other Switch games I’ve put some time into -- and I hope you do, too.  Make yourself or some friend or relative happy…which to be clear can be done just by giving them a copy of ARMS.

Don’t worry.  I won’t talk about ARMS any more in this post.

How it Feels to Play Super Mario Odyssey.

Oh, come on.  Of course it’s good. 

It’s Mario.  It’s a first-party Nintendo game.  It’s a continuation of the momentum the company has built up over the past year or so, given the release of Breath of the Wild back in March.  I feel like I shouldn’t even have to say it at this point (for fear of it becoming utterly pointless lip service), but here we go again.  Even if this is another Mario game, it’s one that manages to break the mold while staying familiar -- adding twists to the established formula so that it takes on its own character.  As it should.  So for that reason alone, I’m confident in saying that Super Mario Odyssey is a good game.

But you know me by now, I hope.  It’s not enough to say it’s good.  We need to cut through the surface and figure out why it’s good.  That’s where the real meat lies.  Well, either that, or a few pints of blood that are bound to spray all over our collective faces.  

But let’s keep this E-rated for now, eh?

Re: ARMS

This may come as a surprise, but I think that ARMS might be a weird game.  I don’t know, I haven’t quite decided yet.

When You Switch Upon a Star

*clears throat*

When you Switch upon a star

Makes no difference who you…uh…wait, hold on…

Crap, coming up with Nintendo-themed lyrics for this song is harder than I thought.  So forget it.  I got a Switch.  There.  Enjoy your song.

How it Feels to Play Breath of the Wild.

You know, lately it seems like I’ve been having a hard time coming up with titles for blog posts.  Not because I’m drawing the proverbial blank; no, it’s more because I’ve got so many ideas for titles that I end up getting paralyzed in my seat.  I feel like I’m getting close to the end of Tales of Berseria, but even if I’m not, I’ve still put in enough hours to say something substantial about it -- but the problem is that I’ve gone through about six separate titles without typing out a single word.

That’s one example, yet it’s not the only one.  Here we are, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild firmly in the midst of gamers -- in its final, retail form, armed and ready for mass consumption.  Where do you even begin with the Wii U’s final game (worthy of major headlines, at least) and the Switch’s first game (of the same quality)?  There are plenty of options -- like a blanket statement of whether it’s good or not -- but I think I’ve come up with one possible answer.

That answer is a question: as of right now, if I had to sum up Breath of the Wild in one word, what would it be?

And the answer to that question (which in itself is an answer) is this: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is raw.

Is Nintendo Doomed (For Real This Time)?

Not to immediately slaughter the momentum of this post by taking an axe to such a clickbait-worthy title, but the short answer to that question is a pretty firm nooooooooooooooooooooo.  It’s not over for Nintendo until they pack it up and scatter across the earth -- and that probably won’t happen with a new, mysterious console waiting in the wings.

With that said, I’ll be damned if there hasn’t been some sobering news recently.  And that’s not the worst of it.  I thought about starting this post off with “Man, Nintendo’s had a rough couple of weeks.”  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it’d be more appropriate to say “Man, Nintendo’s had a rough couple of months.”  But then that didn’t seem appropriate, because you could just as easily say “Man, Nintendo’s had a rough couple of years.”  And depending on your perspective, you could even say “Man, Nintendo’s had a rough couple of generations.”

I’m starting to think that being Nintendo is suffering.

So How Good is Pokémon, Really?

Not to start this off with a tangent, but I have to ask a question: which theme song from the Pokémon anime is your favorite?

I know that -- by virtue of being the first of the bunch -- the first theme is undoubtedly the most popular, and holds a special place in the hearts of gamers the world over.  (Voltech Pro Tip: look up Powerglove’s take on the song for a metal delight.)  But I think it’s important to at least give the other songs their fair shake, especially with so many songs collected over the years.  Compilations are fully available on YouTube, and I listened to one a while back.  Some are good.  Some are…less good.  But you know what?  My favorite of the bunch is the Galactic Battle theme -- which is weird, because I haven’t seen a single episode of that season.  I don’t even know what season the show’s on right now.  Twenty would be my best guess.

The takeaway here is that the sheer number of songs codifies the franchise’s enduring legacy.  You know you’ve made it big when a compilation of theme songs creeps past the thirty-minute mark -- and while there’s no guarantee that everyone will like everything you do, at least you’ve put something out, right?  There’ll always be people that buy in wholesale, no matter when they decide to do so.  We should celebrate that; newcomers, veterans, and everything in between can come together and enjoy something magical.

And now that that thinly-veiled argument against the “genwunner” mentality is out of the way, let’s press on with gusto.  And lots of fancy balls.

Two consoles enter, one console leaves!

The title implies as much, but this is actually pretty cut and dry.  So let’s get to it and not think about Mad Max any longer than we have to -- because it’s just going to bring up thoughts on Fury Road, and I imagine that would be a pretty big distraction.

Alternatively, it could bring up thoughts of the recent Mad Max game, and I imagine that would plunge readers into the depths of despair.  Maybe.  I haven’t heard the most glowing recommendations for that one.

Let’s discuss Splatoon (Part 2).

So I have a theory that everyone in Splatoon is secretly a cannibal.

Okay, maybe not everyone -- because I have my doubts that shopkeepers like Sheldon and Crusty Sean could even take a good bite out of someone.  But you’ve seen the Inklings by now, right?  Every time they open their mouths, they show off some seriously sharp chompers.  TV personalities Callie and Marie casually talk about eating seafood, and both of them wear sushi-style hats.  Chalk this up to headcanon, but are we 100% sure that Inklings that lose an Ink Battle aren’t eaten alive as punishment?

Maybe death just has no meaning for these undersea people (who live on the surface for some reason).  They reincarnate endlessly during an Ink Battle, after all.  But it may go further than that; lose a battle and go back to the lobby, and you’re a different color than when you started -- so maybe the losing Inkling got devoured, and you start playing as a substitute.  Or if you win and go back to the lobby, you play as an Inkling who dug your original Inkling’s fresh styles, and adopted his/her outfit to pay tribute (and try to look cool).  That’s probably not the case, but hey.  It gets the gears going.

In some ways, that might be what makes Splatoon secretly great -- because even in the absence of an hours-long narrative, I can’t help but feel excited by the game’s world.    Learning more about it?  That’d be preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty coooooooooooooooooool.

Let’s discuss Splatoon (Part 1).

Really?  Are you actually reading this?  Like, you’re seriously ready to read a post on Splatoon?

You know I could pretty much say #GoodGuyNintendo and end things right here, right?  Is there anything more that needs to be said?  Is there?

*sigh* All right, let’s do this.

2014: The Best Year Ever

No, really.

No, really.

No, really.

Season’s Wii-tings II: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Previously on Cross-Up…

“Sometimes I wonder if I’m a hypocrite.  And then I remember that I am, so I go about my business.  But then I remember that I brought up that point for the sake of a blog post, so I guess I’d better go into detail.”

Okay.  So in the last post, I mentioned that I tend to have a bad reaction whenever the Game Grumps go back to the NES/SNES well -- playing 2D platformers and such on an extremely regular basis.  It’s true that they can get a lot out of them comedy-wise that I appreciate, but then I remember how much fun it was for me (and the Grumps, I bet) for Dan to experience Shadow of the Colossus for the first time.  I suppose there’s always Steam Train -- or failing that, the Best Friends Zaibatsu -- to offer up something fresh, but it still leaves me wary.

Except when they play something like Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze.  I wanted to stand up and cheer when they started a playthrough on that…which is ass-backwards, considering that it’s pretty much just a 2D platformer that just happens to look amazing.  So that pretty much means I’m a hypocrite, right?  Like, I just want the Grumps to play the games I like, and what I want to see?  That’s the impression I’m getting, unfair as it may be to some of the funniest guys online.

In my defense?  There’s a reason why I want them, and everyone, to play Tropical Freeze.

Season's Wii-tings II: Shovel Knight

Sometimes I wonder if I’m a hypocrite.  And then I remember that I am, so I go about my business.  But then I remember that I brought up that point for the sake of a blog post, so I guess I’d better go into detail.

Like a lot of people, I’m a fan of the Game Grumps.  Whether it’s the original Jon era or the current one with Arin and Dan, it’s still a series I tune into routinely.  Sure, not every second of every video is a laugh riot, and their regular stumbling blocks are problematic (I’m surprised I lived through their Wind Waker playthrough, given how long it took them to leave the first damn island), but on average?  Team Grump is pretty good. 

Still, I have to make a confession.  Whenever the two of them decide to play through an old-school NES/SNES game -- platformers, typically -- my heart ends up sinking.  I mean, Team Grump has access to a monstrous library of games, both from fan contributions and a museum-sized collection.  Out of all the choices available, why opt for something like Super Adventure Island?  And why do that as a months-later follow-up to a game like Shovel Knight, the premiere love letter to old-school games?

Crap, did I just give away my opinion on Shovel Knight?  Great.  Now why would anyone want to read this post?  I might as well just post pictures of cats or something.

Season's Wii-tings II: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

I have to be honest: I don’t really care for the title.

I get it, of course.  There’s a Smash game out for the Wii U, and there’s a Smash game out for the 3DS.  How do you set them apart?  Say as much in the title!  But man, isn’t that name such a downgrade?  We had Melee, and then we had Brawl, and now we get…for Wii U?  Why not Showdown?  Or Riot?  Or -- well, I guess those are all the good ones.  But the point stands.

That’s pretty much all I’ve got in terms of complaints.  I could nitpick, I guess -- and I probably will -- but other than that?  Look, I seriously don’t think I need to tell anyone reading this that this is a good game.  If you have it, you know that already.  If you don’t have it, then you’ve probably heard as much by this point -- and I’d argue that you should buy it, especially if you have a Wii U. Generally speaking, just going over some of the ins and outs of the game would make this post completely pointless.

So let’s do something different.  Let’s start with a question: why this game?

The Smash Diaries (Day 5)

So I decided to check the Smash Bros. wiki to see if there were any nuances I missed in the new game -- you know, to try and make some of those intangibles more tangible.  I already knew about the Tekken-style rage effect built in (get hit a lot, do more damage), but the wiki suggests that not only is there increased knockback, but also the inability to act out of hitstun.  It seems like a minor thing -- and it is, because not every player even knows what hitstun is -- but that nuance does mean something in the long run, especially for those who care immensely about the under-the-hood mechanics.   Among other things.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that whether you’re aware of the changes or not (or if I am, in all fairness), Smash 4 feels more…well, I don’t want to use this word exactly, but since I can’t think of a better fit, let’s go ahead and use “legit”.  I don’t know if this game will replace Melee as the EVO standard, if it’ll be able to exist simultaneously, or if it’ll just be cast aside by the old guard.  But I think it’s at least capable of making it there, and being welcomed by the fighting game community. 

Which brings me to the point of the day: Nintendo’s master plan.  Or my vision of it, at least.

The Smash Diaries (Day 4)

Before I get started, there’s one thing I have to mention: I’ve been playing this game exclusively with the Wii Classic Controller Pro (the one that came with Monster Hunter Tri).  As I’ve established by now, I don’t have any problems with the Wii U GamePad; the issue is that playing Smash 4 means completely un-learning how to play with a GameCube controller.  This has been…an issue on a consistent basis.  I need to get used to the new controller, but it’s the closest facsimile to the GC pad I’ve got right now.

So yeah, no commentary on how the GamePad figures in this time around.  So let’s put our focus back on the game -- though before we do that?  Let’s have a moment of silence for my brother’s GC pad.  After years of smashing, it finally gave out on him. 

Just as well, though.  It had a lot of exposed wires.