Comments 644

Re: It Looks Like Gold And Silver Will Feature In The Next 'Pokémon Presents'

Shepdawg1

Come on, Nintendolife, That is NOT a hint.

My evidence: the Dortmund Regional Championships VGC Finals match that they uploaded three days ago links to Pokémon Sword and Shield…when that game isn’t used (or even talked about in the video) at all. Same with the one they posted for the Knoxville Regional Championships Top 4 match between Luca Paz and Toler Webb uploaded 12 days ago.

The fact that such an obvious mistake happened twice leads to one conclusion: those game connections you cited are not applied by the uploaders themselves (or at least they weren’t in these instances). Not to mention, the music used in that short isn’t even from Gold and Silver.

And for crying out loud, the article from Nintenduo used as a source even mentions that YouTube applies those Game tags to help facilitate searching for videos and that it could be a mistake.

@Olliemar28 I would greatly suggest editing or even deleting this article.

Edit: Looks like an addendum has been added. It’s not much, but hey, it’s something.

Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Mario vs. Donkey Kong?

Shepdawg1

I’d say 7/10 as well. It’s by all means still a good game, and the remastered presentation is quite nice (albeit the music still isn’t super memorable).

But, the new content isn’t super compelling. It’s basically just 34 new stages (plus the 16 bonus levels which have unique stage designs for their micro bursts of gameplay). I admittedly haven’t tried Co-Op, but it does sound good for a playthrough with a younger gamer. The Time Attack mode isn’t really a new feature since they stripped out the score system of the original, which required fast level completion to get the Star rank for a level, and just repurposed the urgency aspect from that as Time Attack. The game is also easier as fall damage has been completely removed even in Classic Mode. And they toned down Mario’s characterization. In the original, he frequently expressed his frustration at DK and would laugh in his face at two separate points in the story. Here: none of that. Just standard, all-around good guy, kinda boring, corporate-friendly Mario. Makes this feel a bit sterile as a remaster.

The amount of content is also disappointing given that it’s a $50 game. 10-12 total hours of content is a bit light, especially when 80% of the game is recycled. I’m personally surprised they didn’t include level creation and sharing tools, which the series has prided itself on since the second game. Given how the game’s level design is grid and tile-based, I can’t imagine adding level design tools would’ve been too taxing.

So yeah, ho hum remake, but still a good game.

Re: Round Table: Let's Talk About Palworld - Comparisons, Controversy, 'Copying'

Shepdawg1

A fantastic read that really sums up my thoughts on Palworld as well. I knew from the get-go it wasn’t truly copying Pokémon in terms of gameplay and that the genre doesn’t line up with Pokémon per se. And this is where I think a lot of the Palworld defenders perceive the other side incorrectly. From what I can tell, most Pokémon fans don’t think it’s ripping off Pokémon from a gameplay perspective, but from a creature design perspective. And I 100% agree. A lot of the Pal designs are WAY too close to Pokémon designs that I personally can’t shrug it off as purely coincidence. Couple this with the statements from the Pocketpair CEO that he’s more interested in making games that will sell or are trendy rather than making something unique, as well as Pocketpair’s previous and upcoming efforts, and the only thing Palworld comes off to me as is a cynical, low-effort cash grab that is banking solely on controversy and trends to make money. Pocketpair just doesn’t strike me as a studio that wants to be artistic with their endeavors.

And I’m not saying games have to be deep or profound to be artistic. I like being able to feel the developer’s passion for their projects come through their games. Even taking a bad game like Balan Wonderworld. I can tell they were trying to make something special with that game. It was just poorly directed and designed. Going back to Palworld, I don’t see or feel the developer’s passion, which sours me from ever wanting to try it.

Re: Pokémon's Former Chief Legal Officer "Surprised" Palworld Got This Far

Shepdawg1

-Do I think this is plagiarism? Absolutely.
-Do I think a legal case will be brought about? Hard to say. I’m sure Pokémon would love to sue if they can get the evidence.
-Will this game kill Pokémon? I respond with another question: Did Yokai Watch or Temtem do it?

My opinion is: bring on all the competition in the monster catching genre. More variety is good. But Pocketpair hasn’t done much to convince me that they aren’t anything more than a lazy studio content on ripping off bigger things for the sake of a quick buck.

Re: Random: The 'Pokémon-With-Guns' Game On Steam Is Yet More Homework Copying

Shepdawg1

I find the discourse behind this game immensely intriguing. You’ve got the people pointing out design similarities to the point that it appears to be blatant asset theft. You’ve got people who, if the asset theft is real, are fine with it as it’s a way to “stick it to the man” and let the big corporations and companies hurt. You’ve got people who are defending the game saying that being inspired by previous games isn’t wrong (which it isn’t). And above all else, it seems that the people who are playing this game are enjoying it, to the point that it appears to be going viral, especially with all the discourse surrounding it.

My opinion: I am fine with a game that is inspired by previous games in the genre, and I encourage it. Take Temtem, for example. It’s obviously inspired by Pokémon, but you can tell the devs want to make it a similar experience while also wanting it to stand on its own. In that game’s case, to say you won’t play it because it’s not Pokémon is short-sighted and a disservice to the amount of hard work the devs put into it.

Palworld, however, is way too obvious with what it’s doing for me to consider it anything other than a scam. It makes me ask, “Okay, these devs clearly know how to make a fun game, so why are the creature designs so similar to Pokémon to the point that I can easily name the Pokémon they are ‘inspired’ by? If they really wanted to make something unique and creative, why do they appear to be blatantly copying and tweaking assets?” The only answer to these questions, in my opinion, is that they’re doing it just to make a quick buck. With that in mind, their strategy becomes obvious. Create a game on the cheap, use elements that make people go “Wait, I recognize that!”, and all the discourse surrounding the game will market it for us. All press is good press. We don’t care what kind of reputation the game has. As long as people talk about it and promote it, we’ve already won.

To me, this game is a cynical cash grab that was cleverly crafted to be as clickbait-y as possible. And we, as the people who are making discourse on Twitter and engaging with articles like this one, are the ultimate losers because we’ve given them exactly what they want.

Re: Soapbox: If You're Not Playing LEGO Fortnite, You're Missing One Of The Best Survival Games

Shepdawg1

The marketing for this game was kinda bad. When they first revealed it, I had no idea what kind of game it was, so I just immediately defaulted to “Oh, it’s just a new mode for Fortnite. Pass”. And I think a LOT of people had that same mentality. Now that I know it’s a survival sim game…I’m still not too interested since those games aren’t really my thing, but they just needed better messaging at the start.

Re: Zelda Producer Responds To Fans Who Want A More "Traditional Linear" Adventure

Shepdawg1

A big reason I enjoyed dungeons pre-BOTW is because of the new toys they would reward you with. It got me excited to see how I could use it outside the dungeons. With BOTW and TOTK, due to the nature of those games, they can’t reward you with anything in the dungeon that makes a significant difference outside the dungeon.

I think the open-world approach is still best, but they need to bring back compelling dungeon rewards, like a Hookshot. And then, integrate those rewards into exploring the world. That’s a tricky balance to do with an open world, but I think it could work.

Re: Soapbox: 20 Years On, It's About Time These Pokémon Games Got Switch Remasters

Shepdawg1

Hard disagree. For context, I never played either of these games as a kid, but I am a massive Pokémon fan and heard these games were legendary. I went into XD largely blind sometime around 2019 and was ready to fully enjoy it.

I HATED IT SO MUCH! The gameplay is painfully slow (to the point that OG Diamond and Pearl are looking at it and saying “Damn, pick up the pace, why don’t ya?”), the graphics are terrible even by GameCube standards, the music is obnoxiously repetitive (I swear the tracks are so short that they loop after only 30 seconds, which would be fine if the music was actually good), and the poorly balanced difficulty makes grinding a necessity (add this onto the already plodding gameplay).

All taken together, XD is just awful, and from what I’ve heard, Colosseum is worse than XD, so I have no desire to ever play either game again. They can stay on the GameCube for all I care.

Re: Poll: What's The Best RPG Starring Mario?

Shepdawg1

My personal ratings are probably not too different from the majority of other players, but I did have a few strange choices:

-M&L Paper Jam: 6/10 - I knocked this a few points down for missed potential. They could’ve done so much more with the concept of the two worlds mixing, but they really didn’t. Instead, it’s just a very by the numbers M&L game, and it has an astounding lack of polish with how many glitches there are.

-Paper Mario: Color Splash: 8/10 - I know this follows the Sticker Star style of Paper Mario games (which I gave a very deserved 4/10), which isn’t ideal, but I will die alone on this hill and say Color Splash is just flat out fun. I don’t even really consider this an RPG. To me, it’s more of a tongue-in-cheek adventure game with RPG battles thrown in to mix up the gameplay. Emphasis on tongue-in-cheek because holy crap, this game’s writing is so clever! So much funny banter with Huey and other characters that it just makes me happy. I consider this a hidden Wii U gem that PM fans refuse to play because it follows Sticker Star’s gameplay. Please give this game a chance!

-Paper Mario: The Origami King: 5/10 - I was so ready to like this game after Color Splash, and the trailers made it look super fun. What I took from it was that it was immensely boring. The battles take WAAAAY too long, and the ring puzzles got old. And the writing just wasn’t fun. Not bad, but not fun. It just feels like there was a decided lack of character with this game. I quit after the first boss and have no desire to finish it.

Re: Surprise! Nintendo Is Officially Working On A Live-Action Legend Of Zelda Movie

Shepdawg1

And for today’s WTF moment…this!

I’m looking forward to it. While I think animation could suit Zelda better, I think the live-action route will definitely draw in the crowds more. I’m curious to see who they get for Link and even more curious to see how they characterize him and other Zelda characters. But, we’re probably not going to hear more from this project for at least two years, so we’ll just wait and see.

Re: Poll: What's Your Switch Controller Of Choice For Super Mario Bros. Wonder?

Shepdawg1

I was initially split on this. I can tolerate the direction buttons on the Joycon more than most, but even I’ll admit that they’re far from ideal. I like the Pro Controller, but the DPad on it is pure trash and using the analog stick for a 2D game is less than ideal.

And then I remembered I had the SNES Pad. It is perfection for this game. Absolutely top tier!

Re: 3DS And Wii U Online Play Ends In "Early April 2024"

Shepdawg1

I’m honestly not surprised and not really upset by this. Yes, it’s a loss, but what percentage of Nintendo fans are actively playing online in 3DS and Wii U games right now? The biggest losses will be Mario Maker Wii U and the 3DS Pokémon titles, but not much else, in my opinion. I just don’t see this as a massive loss.

Re: Internal Xbox Email Details Desire To Acquire Nintendo

Shepdawg1

I mean, any company in their right mind would want to own Nintendo. I’d argue that, barring maybe Disney, their brand is the biggest brand in all of entertainment and their IP is second to none. But I seriously hope Microsoft NEVER acquires them. Microsoft is trying to turn gaming into an Xbox monopoly, and monopolies are never good for consumers or business.

Re: Pokémon Company's COO Addresses Issue Between Release Schedule And Game Quality

Shepdawg1

Well…it’s something…

Really, though, in my opinion, they need to do more and meatier spin-offs (i.e. not on phones), commission outside developers to work on remakes or alternate takes akin to Legends Arceus, and then Game Freak should make a new generation every five years (as opposed to three), and all the core series games should get supplemented with DLC over the course of two years. It gives more time for development (which is what’s really needed at this time), spin-offs make the wait between games more bearable, and it keeps content steadily coming.

Re: Pokémon World Championships Disqualifies Scarlet And Violet Pros Using Hacked Monsters

Shepdawg1

Using genned Pokémon shouldn’t even be a thing anymore. Scarlet and Violet make building a competitive Pokémon stupidly easy. I’ve got dozens of Ability Patches, Ability Capsules, Tera Shards, Mints, Bottle Caps, Vitamins, and Stat berries all from playing the game normally, and the upcoming Mochi are going to make it even easier. Why travel all the way to Japan if you’re going to risk getting caught with hacked Pokémon? It’s not that hard!

Yeah, it saves time, but you need to be ready to accept the consequences if you get caught taking the risk. And saving time is hardly an issue. Make your team on Showdown first where you can endlessly test and edit it on a whim and then spend the time to build it in game.

Re: Review: Pokémon Stadium 2 - A Sequel Of Gold (& Silver) Standard

Shepdawg1

Unfortunately, the Stadium games just don’t have the same usefulness on Switch without the GameBoy connectivity. Without that functionality, you’re left with only using the Rental Pokémon, which is far from fun when trying to complete anything beyond the Round 1 stuff. The mini games and quizzes are a blast, but when that’s all the game really offers, it definitely isn’t worth a 9/10. I’d give this version of the game a 7/10 at best.