Let's Discuss Video Games

[Reisen]

https://www.humblebundle.com/conquer-covid19-bundle

Humble Bundle just released a new $30 bundle with a whoooole bunch of games that probably a lot of people would be interested in, so I thought I'd share it here! We really recommend Undertale as one of the best games of the last decade, but there's a good number of things worth playing in this

 

(Oh, also all proceeds go to charity for dealing with the coronavirus!)

[Matsuri]

That's do nice. Might have to pick it up before it ends

[BeWyrdPlayGames]

Pokémon Z-A even though it hasn’t come out yet 

no one’s probably gonna read this because it’s so dead

[Lucilyn]

we appreciate Z-A's innovating attempting to include the trainer in real-time battles, it's nice to see Game Freak try new things

 

unfortunately between how tight money is (and games inversely getting more expensive) and growing discontent over Game Freak's "just release it fast regardless of quality" business model since the Switch, this might be another one we choose not to buy

We bought every single generation of Pokemon games (including Gold+Silver, and Ruby+Sapphire+Emerald!) up until Sword/Shield which we didn't buy out of protest, then bought Scarlet/Violet as it seemed a better direction coming from SwSh we wanted to encourage, but then once again didn't buy its DLCs as rather than improve the game's performance, the DLCs themselves lagged (for many people) and once again showed a bad direction

 

and to be honest, as very basic 3D modelers, the flat textures on the grass we saw recently in a Nintendo Direct were kind of the grass that broke the camel's back for us

It's just.. Understanding firsthand how EASY it is to make decent-looking graphics even as a BEGINNER and seeing this "stuck phone out office window, took picture of grass" level effort from Game Freak is something we can't support

There are AMAZING industry-standard techniques to make even flat textures like this look visually appealing for no performance cost ("Normal maps", light-reflecting information that give flat textures the illusion of having depth, let alone height/displacement maps that could generate some actual low-cost detail without modeling actual plants) - that have been in use for DECADES, and seeing Game Freak fail to do things that we can do after learning the absolute basics of game development.. just makes it too hard to support them

 

Sorry, not fun discussion!
People who know they'll enjoy the games should still buy them, and we'll simply be watching Youtubers/streamers we like play them instead

Here's hoping there's some cool new mega evolutions

 

we ARE big fans of Legends: Arceus, despite its pitiful stretched textures in certain places, since the actual gameplay and UI do seem completely finished and polished

Definitely check that out if you haven't already

Edited April 23, 2025 by Lucilyn

[Nightfall]

Honestly, I'm cautiously optimistic about the new Pokemon games.

 

I don't really care about the graphics so I won't go into it.

 

Not Z-A

I kinda wish I had boycotted sw/sh (sword/shield) but it is nice to see one of the largest logic gaps I have ever seen from a villain. I didn't really care to do much with the game after I had finished it. 

 

Yet, I really enjoyed S/V (Scarlett/Violet) I wanted to play those after I had finished them. I also like the side stories but I wish there was a battle tree (or anything similar.) 

 

The Sw/sh dlc was bad, I really didn't care to do anything else with those. The first part of S/V dlc was ok. I liked the concept it, was just poorly executed. The second half was the same but I really like the BBQs and being able to fight all of the trainers again. Although I liked so much, I feel far too many quality of life improvements were pay walled and that is not a practice I approve of.

 

Legends: Arceus is just below S/V in game play in my opinion but I would easily play it replay it. I wasn't interested in the post game but it looks decent for keeping one interested.

I really liked everything about the battles and catching mechanics.

 

Z-A

From what I have seen I think Z-A could be great but I feel it might be plagued by modern Pokemon issues. I feel the wild zones are to small but I like the concept. I also like the tournament thing they are doing it seems really interesting. 

 

Now the battles I really hope are amazing. I love the concept of being able to play the game like the anime and dodging all sorts of moves. I just hope it's not one sided and the opponents can do the same. I also hope we can get some intense battles like the epilogue of Arceus. 

 

Az is the most interesting part. I wonder how much story he can put into the games, hopefully enough to fill in the gaps of X/Y. 

 

I also hope the Lumios city ghost girl get a side story or at least a reference. I know she is most likely just an easter egg but it would be really neat to see lore behind it.

 

I would say more but I would probably have watch the trailers again and maybe a recap of X/Y.

 

TLDR: I actually like the newer games (minus sword and shield) but GameFreak could have/should have done better. I hope Z-A is great. I really like the battle mechanics. 

 

Edit: grammar that I caught

Edited April 23, 2025 by Nightfall